ã€ŠMy Favorite Game Followed Me!ã€‹


 Chapter 1

    ¡°Anton! Anton wake up!¡±

    ¡°Father, Anton is still sick.¡±

    Anthony Saunders woke up groggily, not knowing the people who were shouting in his ears. The last thing he remembered was he was very sick due to a pandemic disease that finally got to him. Staying in a dingy apartment that his father¡¯s second cousin owned did not help but that was the only place he could go to ever since his parents died.

    Anthony worked in a convenience store and didn¡¯t even manage to complete high school. He was in his third year when his parent died and needed to work at a convenience store to make ends meet.

    Unfortunately, there was a pandemic going on where he lived but he couldn¡¯t not work since he needed the money to eat, pay rent, and pay for his internet. The only hobby that he had was playing games and watching animes, movies, and television shows on his dingy laptop. His favorite game was Diablo II, and he spent an ungodly number of hours playing the game. He even streamed it and earned a small amount of money through the streaming platform which supplemented his pay from the convenience store.

    Unfortunately, even though he was a good gamer, his favorite game that he streamed regularly was an old one. Even if it had loyal followers, it didn¡¯t have many audiences anymore and the majority of its loyal audience was already taken by famous streamers who were much better at the game than he was. He even followed them himself.

    Anthony would have liked to choose another game, but Diablo II was the only game that his laptop could handle, and he really loved it.

    Sadly, when he caught the pandemic disease, he knew that it would take a miracle for him to survive since not only was he malnourished due to the lack of funding, but he also could not afford to buy basic medicine and was too weak to seek help. Nobody even cared that he didn¡¯t appear for quite some time. He knew that his boss from the convenience store probably called him, but he was too weak to answer the phone.

    The last thought that he had was, that he wished to see his parents again and he wanted to play the Diablo II game one last time and then he didn¡¯t wake up again.

    Anthony thought that his consciousness would remain silent forever but then he heard the voices.

    When he looked around, he saw a middle-aged man wearing a tunic that farmers from the Renaissance fair that he once attended wore. The main difference was that it was truly worn out and didn¡¯t have the newness of a costume. The middle-aged man had dark hair and blue eyes and even though he had the sturdy body of a peasant farmer, he looked thin.

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    The other person was a girl who looked about eleven to thirteen years old. The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes as well and was also wearing a linen dress.

    ¡°Anton! I¡¯m so glad you woke up! I thought you¡¯d died,¡± The girl suddenly cried and hugged him and the middle-aged man beside him was teary-eyed as well.

    ¡°You should eat Anton. I¡¯m so glad your fever broke and for a while, we were losing hope.¡± The man gave him a bowl of soup that had what looked like cabbage, leek, and potato.

    Anthony sat up weakly but the fact that he was able to was proof that he was getting better from whatever sickness he had. He started eating the food that the man gave him. It tasted bland confirming the fact that possibly, they had no spices, even salt to add to their food.

    After he consumed the bowl of food, the girl gave him a mug of water then he laid down again feigning severe weakness. The middle-aged man and the girl went somewhere, probably to finish some sort of farm chore, and left him alone.

    As a consumer of tons of web novels from the internet, he knew that he must have transmigrated somehow since he didn¡¯t recognize the man and the girl, and the house looked like those huts that poor medieval farmers stayed in. He was actually waiting to see if some sort of memory would arrive to help him with information but unfortunately, after several minutes, nothing came.

    Anthony did notice something peculiar. On his wrist was his beloved Diablo II game icon. He knew that transmigrators had systems or gifts to be able to become the main protagonists of other worlds and it looked like his transmigrator gift was connected to his beloved game.

    When he looked around, he saw that the man and the girl weren¡¯t around so he began muttering words that might summon the system. He muttered ¡°system¡± and ¡°menu¡± and a combination of the two words, but nothing happened. When he muttered ¡°Diablo II,¡± the icon from his wrist expanded to look like a computer screen hovering in front of him.

    That fact gave him unimaginable excitement since he was seeing the starting screen of the Diablo II game. The Diablo II logo was above the screen as usual and below it were several options. The first one was the usual single-player button. The next option was the same as usual which was Battle.Net but the one after that was Multi-player and he wondered who would he be able to play with. The next option excited him so much because it said ¡°Browser¡± meaning he had access to an internet browser.

    The other options just below the main options were the usual, ¡°credits,¡± ¡°cinematics¡± and ¡°exit Diablo II.¡± The only difference on the starting screen was one of the buttons was saying that it was a browser instead of a ¡°gateway¡± option.

    Anthony found after experimentation that he could control his mind to act like the mouse and he didn¡¯t need to hover his hands and touch the options which would make him look like a moron. He could also summon the starting screen by thinking ¡°Diablo II¡± with the intention of summoning it.

    He mentally clicked on ¡°Exit Diablo II¡± and the starting screen disappeared. It was a good thing that he did since the girl just arrived. For experimentation, he prominently showed the icon on his wrists to the girl to see her reaction but based on her expression, she did not see the icon. When Anthony thought of ¡°Diablo II¡± the starting screen appeared, but the girl did not react as well, meaning she did not see the hovering starting screen. That confirmed the fact that he was the only one who could see the tattoo and the starting screen which relieved him greatly. He didn¡¯t want to be burned as a witch just as he transmigrated.

 Chapter 2

    Anthony Saunders saw in the window that it was getting dark, meaning that it was almost nighttime already. It was a good thing since he would have plenty of time to explore the intricacies of his Diablo II system.

    After a while, the middle-aged man he assumed was his father brought another bowl of food to him. It was still the same stew or soup with cabbages, leeks, and potatoes. He noticed that there was some meat in it and from what he knew from reading, meat was a luxury for the very poor people in these types of settings.

    While he was eating, he observed the room he was in. It was very small, that was separated by a thin wall from the main house. There was only the bed, a couple of chests at the foot of the bed, the window, and then the wall and the doorway to the main house. There wasn¡¯t even a door or even a curtain on the doorway, just an opening. The blanket that he was using was very thin, but he did have a thin pillow.

    He told his father that he wanted to use the bathroom and he was brought by his father outside the room assisting him fully, almost carrying him. The main part of the house was just another room with a fireplace and in front of it were chairs. There was a table and chairs in the middle of the room where he assumed everyone normally ate. There was no other furniture that he could see. There was another room beside the one he was using though. He saw on the fireplace a huge iron pot where the soup or stew was being kept warm.

    The house was built with a combination of stone and wood and from what Anthony could see, even though everything looked shabby, they were very sturdy.

    There were two doors. One located at the front and one at the back of the house. His father led him to the door located at the back where he assumed the bathroom was located and when he saw the bathroom, it was an actual outhouse. The outhouse was surprisingly big and located just to the right. To the left was the backyard which he assumed was the farm. He could see a cow, a goat, and a pig inside a pen located on the left side and he could see the farm beyond it. He could also hear the chickens.

    When he entered the outhouse, it actually consisted of two rooms. One room was where he could do his business and the other was where people could wash themselves. It was separated by a wall. There was actual water on what he assumed was a tightly constructed wooden barrel in both rooms of the outhouse.

    Anthony entered the second room and there was an actual toilet made from wood that he could sit on and there was another barrel filled with water. The barrel had a wooden dipper and surprisingly there was a huge bar of soap. The floor of the outhouse was stone but had a drain in it, meaning he could pour water on the floor and the water would naturally drain to somewhere.

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    He really needed more information about the world since some things didn¡¯t conform to what he knew a medieval setting should have and the soap was one of them. He remembered that this was not the Earth¡¯s past but a parallel world or a different world so he shouldn¡¯t assume too much based on Earth¡¯s history.

    After doing his business and washing himself using soap and water, Anthony went back outside, and he saw that his father was waiting for him. That confirmed the fact that the family did care about him, and it brought up feelings in him that he thought had long been buried when his family died in his previous world.

    The moment his father and he got back to the house, he saw that the girl who could be his sister was on the table eating a bowl of the stew, soup thing.

    ¡°Anton! Are you okay now?¡± The girl asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother him. He is still weak and probably would need to rest more,¡± The man replied for him.

    Anthony was led back to his room, and he lay down on the bed. Night fully arrived and everything went dark. The girl lit up a lamp and the only light in the house was the fireplace and the single lamp.

    He didn¡¯t even know the name of the man and the girl and would tackle that the next day when he was a bit stronger. He would claim that he had some memory loss due to sickness since he didn¡¯t have any choice in the matter. Anthony didn¡¯t receive any memories from the previous owner of the body. The only thing he knew so far was the name of the boy which was Anton.

    Anthony could still hear some noises outside the room, and it was probably the man and the girl doing some sort of household chores that they could do at night. It would probably take them a couple more hours before they would retire, so he decided to explore his Diablo II icon.

    He summoned the starting screen and then clicked on the browser button. It opened a new window, and it had the logo of a very famous search engine. He typed in the date and time on the search field, and it showed the date and the time of his previous world since it showed a few days later the last time he checked using his smartphone.

    That meant that the browser was connected to his previous world, and it gave him an enormous sense of relief since he didn¡¯t have to give up his love of reading web novels or watching animes, television shows, and movies. He tried to check if he could download anything using the browser but unfortunately, it didn¡¯t allow him to download any apps or programs. He could watch anything, search anything but he couldn¡¯t communicate and even make a comment on anything when he tried it on a famous video streaming website. Still, the fact that he could search for anything like instructions on how to create anything would give him an enormous advantage in the new world. Having all the information about his previous world was a huge advantage that would probably give him enormous wealth in this world, but he should take care since he didn¡¯t know the details of this world yet and anything he did could come back and bite him in the ass.

    Before he invent anything that would give him wealth from the information that he has available, he would need to check things in this world first just to be safe. Again, he didn¡¯t want to be burned at the stake as a witch. He then wondered if there were wizards and magic in this world.

 Chapter 3

    Anthony felt his father climb the bed after a while. He did wonder why the bed was a bit bigger and it turned out that he and his father slept in the same room. He assumed that the other room was for his sister.

    He didn¡¯t open his eyes and allowed the man he thought could be his father to assume that he was already asleep. While he was looking at the browser, a thought suddenly intruded. He thought that this world could be the world of Diablo which he really hoped not since that world was very chaotic and very dangerous filled with monsters. Based on his father and sister¡¯s behavior though, there was no indication that they were in any immediate danger. He would strive to find out the next day.

    Anthony clicked on the single player button and the first thing that appeared was a flashing ¡°very important¡± notice page. The page stated that he could only create one character and it would be a permanent one since stat changes of the character would reflect real life. It does allow him to reset his character¡¯s stats and skills once every week so that was good news.

    The notice also stated that the stats of an average person was ten across the board except for energy since that would depend on the person''s magical talent. It also stated that a female person would have fewer stats than a male and that being a teenager would have fewer.

    It also stated that any items that he equipped, their stats, and magical abilities would reflect in real life which meant that if he equipped an armor, its defense and magical abilities would reflect in real life regardless of whether he was wearing armor or not.

    Regarding weapons, it would also reflect in real life but to activate its physical damage, he would need to have at least a somewhat similar item that he would wield in real life. The FAQ then gave an example. If he equipped a sword, its stats and magical abilities would reflect but for him to effectively use its physical damage, he would need to be wielding something sharp and even a knife would do.

    Regarding the magical abilities of a weapon, he didn¡¯t need to have a weapon in real life to have the equipped weapon''s magical abilities and stats to reflect real life. That meant that if he had a sword with plus two to skills, he would still have plus two to skills in real life even if he didn¡¯t have a sword.

    Any spells that he learned in Diablo II, he could wield in real life and that fact gave him enormous relief since that meant that Anthony would have the power to protect himself.

    Regarding inventory, he couldn¡¯t take any items from Diablo II to real life but any items that he equipped or consumed like potions would reflect in real life. He could use the inventory to store items from the real world and those were the only items that he could take out. That alone was a tremendous gift since he could use the inventory as storage space.

    The FAQ page also noted that the Horadrim Cube would still have the same function, but he couldn¡¯t use it to combine things from real life only Diablo II items, but he could still use it as storage space.

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    The notice page also stated that inventory space would function the same as in the original game when it came to storing Diablo II items when it came to grid consumption, but real items would only take one grid regardless of its size as long as he could lift the item using his physical capability. Stacking items were still the same as in the original game but real-world items would not stack.

    It did state that he could use a storage item like a bag or a box to put items inside and the bag or box would just take one grid as long as he could lift them physically so in a way, it could still stack items.

    One important fact about the storage functionality of his inventory, according to the FAQ, items from the real world would have their time stopped so anything or any food that he stored would not decay and would come out exactly as he put it in.

    Regarding the death mechanic, it would still be the same as the original game.

    Lastly, the FAQ stated that all other game mechanics would be based on the original Diablo II Lord of Destruction.

    After reading the notice page, he saw that it returned to the starting page, but a new button appeared below the browser button which was the FAQ button.

    Anthony clicked on the single-player button again and this time it went to the character selection screen. The graphics looked very real as if the characters were real people, but the mechanics would be the original Diablo II Lord of Destruction as stated on the FAQs.

    He decisively chose the Sorceress who suddenly turned into a male sorcerer and was glad that it was not gender locked since he had always loved playing magic users in any game. Why hit things when you could use magic was his motto.

    The character automatically had the name Anton, and he went directly to Rogue Encampment. Everything was the same, the ambiance and the sound. He thought of muting it and accessing the option to mute the sounds and then the game went silent. When he thought of minimizing the game, the screen disappeared but a transparent logo of Diablo II was on the lower right side of his view.

    Anthony was excited to see himself transported to the world of Diablo II and he saw Warriv waiting to talk to him. He wondered what happened to his body in the real world and he saw an option in the corner of his eye. When he expanded that option, it stated that he could switch from virtual reality to on-screen gameplay and when he did, his consciousness went back to his body and his screen had the game on.

    That meant that once he started playing, his body would remain where it was. It meant that he would not be able to play just anywhere. He would need to be somewhere he could be alone or was sleeping to be safe from interference. He switched back to virtual reality and his consciousness went back to the world of Diablo II.

    When he opened the inventory, the only thing that he had was a staff and it didn¡¯t even have any skill. There wasn¡¯t even a scroll of the town portal or a scroll of identify. Basically, his inventory was empty except for the staff.

    Anthony opened his character stats page, and he was dismayed to see that all of his stats were below ten except for energy which was thirty-five. From what he remembered, a level one sorcerer would have ten stats in strength, twenty-five in dexterity, ten in vitality, and thirty-five in energy but he only had nine across the board except for energy which was still thirty-five.

    It did state on the page that he was only seventeen years old and that was the reason why his stats were fewer than normal, and it did state on the FAQ that very same fact.

    Anthony felt sleepy so he exited the game and went to sleep.

 Chapter 4

    It was still dark when Anthony woke up, but his father was not beside him anymore. He remembered the fact that farm life usually started very early. He checked to see on the interface what time it was but there was no time indicated anywhere and when he checked the browser, it said the time and date of his previous world which was five in the morning on a Tuesday.

    He thought first of the game¡¯s capability of switching between virtual reality and on-screen gameplay. He could only play virtually if he were somewhere alone or sleeping but could still play to make sure his character grew using the on-screen option when he was outside because he would still be aware of his surroundings and he would look like he was just staring at something or meditating. Playing on-screen was also the only way for him to be able to use the inventory in real life.

    Anthony closed his Diablo II interface and thought of the things that he would say later to his father and sister. He would need to lie a lot to get more information from them.

    When he died in the previous world due to the pandemic disease he was twenty-three years old, and this body was seventeen. He wondered if this world considered him an adult since from what he knew, place settings like this had their people usually grow up very fast. This meant children who were fifteen years old were considered an adult already, but he knew he shouldn¡¯t assume too much since this place was not Earth of the past.

    Anthony wondered where his body¡¯s mother was. He then smelled breakfast cooking and was glad that he had enough strength to stand up on his own, so he went outside the room.

    When he saw his father and sisters, he could see the delight on their faces in the fact that he was now able to move on his own. They started eating breakfast which was fried egg, bread and cheese, and cold milk on a pitcher and there was water on a second pitcher. This time he could taste the salt on the eggs, and he knew that they had salt and possibly some spices, it was just that whoever cooked the stew, soup thingy didn¡¯t know what they were doing.

    Even though the house looked poor, at least it was not so poor that they had nothing to eat. Based on the food, all of it was possibly from the farm. He was also wrong that there was no furniture. There was a cupboard and some shelves it was just that the furniture were those truly needed in a house. There were no such things as solely for interior decoration.

    After breakfast, he turned to his father and sister.

    ¡°I need to talk to the both of you.¡±

    The man and the girl looked at him wonderingly.

    ¡°I think due to the sickness I had; all of my memories are gone. I¡¯m still able to think logically, do some basic mathematical calculations in my mind, and perform basic mental inferences and that means that I have not become ¡°witless¡± or ¡°stupid.¡± It was just I don¡¯t remember anything at all. The only thing I know so far is my name which is ¡°Anton¡± and the only reason I know that is you two kept calling me that.¡± Anthony drank some water, and he could see the man and girl looked stricken.

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    The man calmed his expression while the girl still looked troubled.

    ¡°Is the only thing you remember is your name?¡± The man asked.

    ¡°No. I don¡¯t remember my name it was just that you two have been calling me that since last night. I don¡¯t remember anything at all. I did not say anything at all last night because I was hoping that my memory would come back while we were sleeping but I¡¯m afraid that it wouldn¡¯t since I can¡¯t still remember anything,¡± Anthony explained calmly.

    ¡°So, you don¡¯t remember us? You don¡¯t remember Mama?¡± The girl asked and she started crying.

    Anthony apologized when he saw the girl sobbing.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize. We knew this could happen since everyone in the village and the outlying farm got sick. At first, everyone thought that it was just normal fever and chills but when everyone got sick, we knew that we had some sort of plague in our hands. We were just glad that it was just fever and chills and not something that could mar your skin or blind you or something like that. Some people died though, the very old and some of the young ones. We even heard some who were the same as you who lost their memories. Thankfully, none became stupid or ¡°witless.¡± They just lost their memories just like you and up until today, no one had regained them,¡± The man said.

    The girl stood up and hugged him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anton. We will help you with your memories. I will teach you everything.¡±

    ¡°We will teach you everything,¡± The man declared.

    ¡°We still have a couple of hours before we need to start doing chores on the farm so we could use that time to teach you things.¡± The man then turned to the girl.

    ¡°Anna go ahead and feed the pig and the chickens and make sure that the cow and the goat are alright. I will go ahead and start teaching Anton things.¡±

    The girl named Anna stood up from the table and went outside.

    ¡°First things first, my name is Anders and the girl¡¯s name is Anna. I¡¯m your father and she is your sister. Your mother¡¯s name, bless her soul was Annette. She died from fever as well when Anna was seven years old, and you were twelve. I think it was the same sickness that took over the whole place, but it could be from something else since it happened years ago, and we didn¡¯t have the money and there wasn¡¯t any cleric nearby anyway. The village doctor tried his best, but your mother still died.¡±

    ¡°Do you happen to know the time and date?¡±

    Anders took a timepiece from somewhere and checked it.

    ¡°It¡¯s about five forty in the morning and it¡¯s a Tuesday.¡±

    Anthony was startled. That meant that the time and day were the same as in his previous world, but he was sure that the date was different, and his father confirmed it by saying that the year was 1224 O.C.

    ¡°I¡¯m forty-four years old and your sister¡¯s twelve and you¡¯re seventeen. Our farm is located in the country of Mendi and the nearest village is called Oakswood.¡±

    Anthony had a lot of questions, but he was glad that his case was not an isolated one. Learning that some people did lose their memories due to the plague that swept the land comforted him somewhat. It meant that he didn¡¯t have to lie too much. He could attribute his inquisitiveness to his lack of memories.

 Chapter 5

    ¡°Since I lost all of my memories, I don¡¯t know how to handle myself on a farm so you and Anna would need to teach me everything,¡± Anthony told his father.

    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t need to worry about that part. We will make sure that you will know what you will need to know by month¡¯s end.¡±

    ¡°I have a question about something a bit delicate. Are there any sort of monsters that we should be wary of and are there magic and wizards?¡±

    Anthony was really curious, so he directly asked his father about some of the things he was curious about.

    ¡°Why are you asking these questions?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just curious since I had a dream about magic last night and I thought it was a memory.¡±

    ¡°Our farm and the surrounding farms for that matter are fairly safe. Yes, there might be some occasional goblins and the undead roaming around in the forest, but they could be handled by our militia and if something troublesome appears, we will send someone to inform the adventurer¡¯s guild in the city. Regarding wizards, we do have a mage¡¯s guild in the city but those were something rarely seen by common folks like us. Normally, a particularly troublesome monster would be handled by mages guarded by adventurers.¡±

    ¡°How does one become a mage?¡±

    Anders looked at Anthony, wondering about the questions that he had been asking but he wanted to take advantage of the fact that he could get this information right now without suspicion.

    ¡°A person would find himself gifted with mana and then they apply to become an apprentice to a wizard. Noble children are different though. If they find themselves gifted in that area, they will use gold to study magic in one of the wizard¡¯s academies. Age doesn¡¯t matter though when it comes to magic. Yes, the young ones would be in an academy but any person regardless of age could find a wizard to apprentice themselves. These are all the common knowledge regarding the subject that I know. Any more than that, you will need to talk to an actual person who knows about magic and mages.¡±

    Anders checked his timepiece and told Anthony that it was already six in the morning and that he would need to do some farm work. He offered to help but his father declined, asking him to rest some more so he didn¡¯t argue with his father, went to the outhouse to take a bath, and went back to the room to rest.

    Anthony thought of the fact that suddenly he had a father and a sister in this brand new world, and they genuinely cared about him or this body. He had been alone for so many years after his parents died. The only relative that he had left was his father¡¯s second cousin and the only thing that man did to show that he was a relative was to rent the least of his apartments to him at a fixed rate.

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    He thought that after a few years of working, he would have enough funds to go to another city and look for a better job after taking his GED and then he would find himself new friends that he would care about and would care about him but sadly, the pandemic struck taking his life before he really got to experience anything worthwhile.

    He didn¡¯t know how to feel about his new father and sister but more than likely, after some time, he would care about them. Right now, the important thing was for him to get strong using his transmigration gift and then once he was strong enough, he could use the information from the other world to get rich.

    Anthony summoned his Diablo II screen and entered Rogue Encampment virtually. The first thing that he did was to check out the non-player characters but upon careful study, they looked real, but they still behaved like NPCs. The FAQ did say that the game would have the original game mechanics and would not follow any brand-new rules. The only thing different aside from him being able to enter the world himself was, that he would be able to reset his stats and skill points once a week.

    He thought at first that he would allow himself to rush the game just like a veteran player consuming potions all the time, but he decided to explore the game slowly since he was in the world himself.

    Anthony spoke to Warriv so he could begin his adventure in the world of Diablo II. His lower stats would be a pain since he would not be able to equip items immediately.

    After speaking to Warriv, he went outside the Rouge Encampment gate to begin leveling up. He saw a zombie in the distance and knew that it would be a pain to kill his first monster since he didn¡¯t have any spell at all.

    The zombie was slow and the good thing about being in the world himself, he could avoid getting hit. Anthony spent a few minutes killing the zombie and the good thing was, his first zombie brought his experience bar about five percent to level two. It was different from what he remembered since based on his memories, without tweaking the difficulty of the game, a single zombie would only give a few percent of experience.

    He carefully looked for another zombie and he was glad to see that he could still utilize the mini-map.

    Anthony found his next monster which was a bunch of goblin-like beings called Fallen and after carefully battling with them, making sure to utilize the staff''s long reach to avoid getting hit, he was able to kill them.

    He walked further, playing as a newbie by exploring the Blood Moor zone carefully and not just following the road. He wanted to make sure that the first zone was fully explored before he went to the next one.  Battling with the monsters was surprisingly making him tired. He thought that sure it would exhaust his stamina, but the actual feeling of tiredness was there.

    After killing about twenty monsters consisting of zombies, fallen, and quill rats, Anthony leveled up to level two.

    He earned the usual which was five stat points and one skill point. He wanted to even out all of his stats, so he added one to his strength, one to dexterity, and one to vitality. Now he had ten strength, ten dexterity, and ten to vitality. He kept the two remaining stats and would use them when he needed them to equip a specific item that required specific stats. His energy was still the highest which was thirty-five. He was still feeling sour about his stats remembering that the original sorceress had twenty-five stats in dexterity at level one.

    Anthony put his single skill point to Ice Bolt. He already planned to be a cold sorceress and he didn¡¯t worry too much about it since he was allowed to reset his stats and skills once a week and he did have a way to reset his skills if needed using the Den of Evil quest option if he finds it truly necessary.

 Chapter 6

    Anthony continued with his adventures in the Blood Moor map and fully exploring the zone without entering the Den of Evil leveled him up to level three. He managed to get several loots so now he was wearing a low-quality cap, low-quality sash, and low-quality boots. He also managed to get low-quality quilted armor, but it had a strength requirement of twelve.

    He did have seven free stat points for leveling up to level three so he put five to energy and two to strength so he could wear the armor.

    He now had twelve stats to strength, ten to dexterity, still ten to vitality, and forty to energy. His life was now at forty-six and his mana at forty-eight.

    For the skill points, Anthony was conscious of the fact that the spells would be reflected in real life so he would need to carefully select the spells he would like to have in real life as well, so he decided to put one point to Fire Bolt located at the Fire Spells tree so he could have fire magic. So now he had one point to Ice Bolt and one point to Fire Bolt. If he were concentrating on gameplay, his spell selections were a mistake since normally to be able to rapidly kill monsters, he would need to specialize but for real-life purposes, it would be better to have more variety for now.

    Anthony knew that being in the game virtually let him experience casting the spell in person. The feeling of having his energy gather at the palm of his hand and form elemental powers was life-changing for him. He felt like shouting that he had all the power of the universe in his hands. He could feel the rush of mana gathering and the moment he released the spell was almost orgasmic.

    He walked to the entrance of the Den of Evil when he was sure that there were no more enemies in the Blood Moor zone. He then cast the town portal spell using the spell scroll that he looted from a monster since he needed to empty his inventory first.

    When he arrived at the Rogue Encampment, he sold off everything that he wouldn¡¯t need and then stored his gold in his private stash to avoid losing it if he ever got killed.

    Anthony then went to an empty field just outside the Rogue Encampment and practiced casting Ice Bolt and Fire Bolt. He wanted to check if he could control the amount of power he could release. For example, for Fire Bolt, could he lessen the mana consumption until he would be able to summon a very small fire on his fingertips or maybe control the Ice Bolt energy to turn it into water? Through practice, he did just that.

    He couldn¡¯t increase the mana consumption because it was set on how large mana it would consume based on the spell level, but he could decrease it to lessen the power and could change some of the characteristics of the spell as long as the change wasn¡¯t in contrast to its original makeup.

    By lessening the mana consumption, he could turn Ice Bolt into a trickle of water and turn Fire Bolt into a small flame that he could use to light a candle.

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    Anthony practiced some more and after about an hour of intense spell practice, he was so tired that he went back to the Rogue Encampment, saved the game, and closed the interface.

    He spent about three hours playing the game, so he decided to actually sleep and woke up at around eleven in the morning. When he stood up, he felt his strength increased to what a normal man should have and remembered the fact that his stats in the game were now equal to an average man.

    He wondered about the increased stats. The FAQ mentioned that an average man would have around ten stats across the board so what would happen if he reached twenty stats in strength? Would he be twice as strong as a regular man? Unfortunately, the FAQ didn¡¯t have that information so he would have to just check once he reached that point.

    Anthony went outside the room and saw that his father and Anna were already inside preparing lunch.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I wasn¡¯t much help this morning, but I do feel fully healthy now,¡± Anthony apologized to his father and sister.

    Anders and Anna were delighted to hear that he was fully healed.

    ¡°After lunch, I suggest that you still rest and we will begin teaching you farm work tomorrow,¡± His father told him decisively and Anthony just acquiesced.

    The lunch they had was just a simple fare. Just bread and cheese and water and after that his father and Anna went back outside to do some more chores. Anthony remembered reading somewhere that farm chores were never-ending, and he was glad of his increased stats.

    When his father and sister were outside, Anthony summoned an Ice Bold but decreased the mana until only a ball of water was floating on top of his hands. He wondered if it was clean enough to drink. He then put the ball of water in a mug and some water splashed on the table. He checked the water and it looked and smelled clean. He tasted it and it tasted like the purest spring water and remembered that it was made from mana. He wondered if it had health benefits compared to regular water.

    Anthony drank the whole mug of water made from Ice Bolt and he felt refreshed. Like drinking Gatorade on a hot summer day without the chemical disadvantages, just a pure unadulterated refreshment.

    He then went and took one candle from one of the shelves and set it up on the table. Anthony then cast Fire Bolt and decreased the mana until a small flame was floating on top of his finger. He then lit up the candle using the flame and it lit up without any problem. He canceled the spell, but the excitement of wielding magic powers was still with him.

    Anthony then thought of using his inventory in real life, so he summoned his Diablo II interface, muted the sound, and opened his character. He opened his inventory and kept it open. He then minimized the game to see if the minimized icon would interfere with his vision and since the icon was very small and located at the bottom right corner of his vision, it was no interference at all. He opened and maximized it, showing him his opened inventory. He then tried to put the mug on the table in his inventory, but nothing happened. He picked up the mug and that was when he was able to put it in his inventory.

    Anthony would need to be touching the things he wanted in his inventory. He took it from his inventory and suddenly he was holding the mug. He then picked up the chair and did the same thing and was able to put it in his inventory. It only took one grid even though the chair was much larger than the mug and when he took it out, he was suddenly holding the chair.

    He knew then that his inventory would help him a lot with his chores like carrying buckets of water from the well to the barrel in the outhouse.

 Chapter 7

    Anthony thought of the fact that he transmigrated but did he? Transmigration, from what he knew was the transferring of the body and soul from one world to another but a quick search on his search engine said that it was the movement of the soul to another body after death, and based on his situation, that was the thing that happened to him.

    It was sad that the boy ¡°Anton¡± wasn¡¯t there anymore. Anthony didn¡¯t know what happened to the kid. Maybe, he also transmigrated or maybe he did die but Anthony was still happy that he was here since he really didn¡¯t want to truly die himself and disappear. The only appreciation that he could give the boy was to live a full and happy life and to make sure that the boy¡¯s father and sister were taken care of and based on the transmigration gifts that he received, he would have the power to do that.

    Anthony was getting a bit peckish, and he thought that he could use the game to eat but based on his gameplay earlier, the only consumable items in there were potions. When he tried to consume the potions, he thought he would encounter a problem like getting too full because of chugging countless potions but when he drank a mana potion just to test it out, the liquid entered his mouth but disappeared immediately not reaching his stomach. He did the same using a minor healing potion and it was the same, the liquid entered his mouth but disappeared immediately.

    He was wary of rushing the game using potions to increase his power fast since that was one of the reasons why. He thought that being in the game virtually would limit how he could consume potions, but the FAQ was right. The game mechanics were the same as the original Diablo II.

    Anthony still decided to take his time playing the game since he would also need to learn how to wield the spell personally and not just click and point. Learning how to wield the mana efficiently would bring him inconceivable benefit and one good example was learning how to produce water using the Ice Bolt spell.

    Since he wasn¡¯t doing anything, Anthony decided to continue playing the game, but he would try to play it using the on-screen option instead of entering the game virtually. He already talked to Akara to check if he could purchase anything that would increase his skills, but his gold so far only allowed him to purchase a Tome of Town Portal which had three town portal scrolls, and a Tome of Identify which had six Identify scrolls.

    He currently had twelve hundred gold coins in his private stash and the least useful item in Akara¡¯s store would cost him three thousand gold coins.

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    Anthony entered the portal that he opened near the entrance to the Den of Evil. He was controlling his character using his mind and it was smoother than controlling it using a keyboard and a mouse. Right now, he looked like he was staring at the fireplace but in actuality, he was currently playing the game.

    His current quest was to destroy all the monsters in the den and halfway through, he leveled up to level four. He was struggling with mana and mistakenly added the skill point that he received to the Warmth skill located in the Fire Skill Tree which enhanced his mana recovery by thirty percent. He could have kept the point or used it for some other skills since he could just drink mana potions but well, he could just reset it later since he was allowed to once a week without using the Den of Evil quest reward.

    He kept the five stat points since he would need to use them to be able to equip items that had specific stat requirements. He continued his way on clearing out the Den of Evil. He encountered and killed the unique zombie, Corpsefire, but sadly, the monster only dropped a couple of blue items, a glove, and a dagger. He identified the items immediately and wore the gloves.

    Anthony cleared the Den of Evil in no time and returned to Akasha to get his reward which was an extra skill point. He wondered where he could put it but decided to wait until he was level six since he was level four already.

    He sold all the items that he did not need, and his total gold was nineteen hundred which was still not enough to purchase a decent staff.

    Clearing the den of evil using the on-screen option was very different from being in the game virtually. It actually only took him several minutes and he reckoned that being in the game personally would probably take longer.

    Since it was still early, around three in the afternoon, Anthony decided to enter the game virtually to practice casting spells. He remained seated in the chair in front of the fireplace.

    Once he was inside, he practiced casting spells diligently. He first made sure that he would be able to cast his spells instantaneously and after a few minutes, he got the hang of it. He then practiced decreasing and increasing the use of mana for the two spells that he had. Sadly, he couldn¡¯t use mana potions because he had a limited amount.

    He thought of resetting the map to spawn the monsters again, but he found out that he didn¡¯t have access to the console command menu. That meant no increasing the difficulty and no resetting the map, at least not until he reached the Nightmare difficulty.

    One good thing was, that he found the option to have a clock in the game. He saw that it was already four in the afternoon, so he decided to exit and wait for his father and sister to come home.

    Anthony could have helped his family by preparing their dinner, but he didn¡¯t know how to use the stove that was powered by some sort of wood, and he didn¡¯t know where the food was stored.

    He decided to do some research using his search engine and he was really grateful that he was connected to the internet. He could avoid the most dangerous affliction of all. Boredom.

 Chapter 8

    While Anthony was looking at a video on how to cook using a wood stove on a famous video streaming site, he finally admitted to himself that he was not a great Diablo II gamer. He wasn¡¯t even that good. He knew how to play the game and he could compare himself to an average player but not the same as the truly hardcore Diablo II gamer. He didn¡¯t know the game mechanics that well compared to the truly famous Diablo II streamers. He even remembered his confusion when he heard about the Fast Cast Rate mechanic.

    The main reason for that was he didn¡¯t have time to be a gamer. When he was in high school, they didn¡¯t have a computer since their family was very poor. Before his parents died, his father gifted him a secondhand laptop and the only game it could run was Diablo II and for some reason, the game was already installed in it. When his parents died, he needed to work to make ends meet and he was truly tired after work. He could only play about half an hour a day and the rest of his miniscule time was spent surfing the internet or watching animes. It was still one of his biggest regrets that he didn¡¯t even finish high school.

    None of those matter now. The only thing that he needed to learn was how to become more powerful in this world so he could have the wealth and security to protect himself and his family and the way to do that was through his transmigration gift. Being connected to the internet would help him tremendously since he could research game mechanics and items.

    Anthony was halfway through watching how to cook using a wood stove when his father and sister came inside the house. He immediately closed the browser and turned to his family.

    ¡°I would have prepared dinner, but I don¡¯t know how to use the stove,¡± Anthony told his father and sister.

    Anna gaped at him.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s true! You¡¯re like a baby not knowing anything!¡±

    Anders admonished Anna.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, you don¡¯t need to worry. We¡¯ll teach you all you will need to know.¡±

    ¡°Can I read and write?¡± He asked his father.

    ¡°I would have said yes since all children needed to go to school in the village starting from seven years old up until eleven and you and Anna have finished your schooling for quite some time.¡±

    Anna took a book from somewhere and gave it to Anthony. When he looked at the book, he was glad to see that he was able to read it which he informed his family. The book was a children''s story about a dog on a farm.

    ¡°And I¡¯m not like a baby. I think I know how to craft stories extremely well. I¡¯ll tell you one after we eat. For our entertainment. What do people usually do for entertainment?¡±

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    ¡°Well men sometimes go to the tavern in the village to drink but here at home we usually tell stories or read books or sing songs. When Mama was alive, she told us the most beautiful stories.¡± Anna said reminiscing about her mother.

    Anders began heating the stove using wood located beside it and Anna prepared the ingredients. It was still potato, cabbage, some carrots, and a little meat from what he saw. When Anna saw him looking, he told Anthony that it was meat from a hare that was hunted by Anders in the woods.

    When the stove was ready, Anders left Anna to handle the cooking and sat beside Anthony.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and talk. I¡¯ll answer any questions you have.¡±

    Anthony contemplated for a bit and began asking his father several questions.

    ¡°Do we have a last name?¡±

    ¡°No. Only nobles have last names.¡±

    ¡°Our names are a bit similar, Anders, Anton, Annette for mother and Anna. Is there a reason for that?¡±

    Anthony¡¯s father smiled when he heard that question.

    ¡°When your mother and I met, we thought it was fate how similar our names were and how we are so in love with each other so we made a promise that our children would have names that would start the same as ours.¡±

    ¡°I would have more questions when I begin learning how the farm works so please expect to be annoyed by how endless they would be.¡±

    Anders laughed heartily when he heard that and even Anna smiled.

    When dinner was made, Anthony complimented Anna since the previous soup or stew was very bland. Anna mentioned that they intentionally made it bland since sick people should avoid eating food that had salt or spices. Aside from the stew, there was also bread which was a bit hard but dunking it on the stew softened it enough to make it delicious. When everyone was done eating their dinner, Anna turned to Anthony.

    ¡°You said that you have a story to tell. You can tell us the story now.¡±

    All of them went and sat on the chairs in front of the fireplace. While looking at the fire, Anthony opened his search engine and searched for a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. He decided to tell the story of The Little Mermaid on how it was crafted by the famed author.

    Anthony began telling the story of The Little Mermaid. He made sure that his tone was low, and the pace slow enough to be understood clearly. He added color and expression to how he was reading the story to make sure that his father and sister were entertained.

    When he came to the part where the little mermaid threw the dagger to the sea and threw herself in it to become foam, Anthony could see his sister cry. The little mermaid becoming one of the spirits of the air due to her self-sacrifice was a bittersweet ending and even his father was a bit teary-eyed by the end.

    ¡°That was a wonderful sad story, Anton. You have the makings of a bard! Can you write it down for me so I can share it with my friends?¡± Anna praised him.

    ¡°Oh, you have something to write with?¡±

    ¡°Of course! We¡¯re not barbarians.¡± Anna ran to her room and when she returned, she brought a notebook and a charcoal pencil with her.

    ¡°It was truly a beautiful story Anton. Thank you for telling it to us. Where did you learn that story?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Remember earlier when I was asking you about mages and magic since I¡¯ve dreamt it? There were a lot of things that I¡¯ve dreamt about and some of them are fading already.¡± Anthony said feigning sadness.

    When Anna heard that comment, she gasped and urged him to write the story immediately before it faded from his mind.

    Anthony wrote the first paragraph first to check his handwriting and when Anders and Anna saw it, they said that his handwriting was as beautiful as a scribe. Anders then admitted that some things would not be answered since what happened to him was not a rare case. Even the others who lost their memory were showing knowledge and capabilities they didn¡¯t have before.

 Chapter 9

    Anthony made sure to write legibly in the notebook that was provided by Anna. He wrote the story of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen by copying the exact wordings that he could see on the web page that was currently opened in his browser. While doing so he thought of his transmigration gift. Regarding systems, he would have to admit that its power, at least compared to the web novels that he had read before, was on the low side.

    First off, he actually didn¡¯t have a system, just the Diablo II game and a starting screen with a browser that was connected to the internet from his original world. The only thing that he could utilize was the inventory. Even though the items that he would equip would reflect in the real world, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take out items from the game outside. It was nice to learn the spells from Diablo II but from what Anders told him, mages or wizards existed in this world and had access to a magic system as well and he didn¡¯t know how his power as wielder of the Diablo II spells would compare to them.

    Anthony wondered again how the magic system in this world works. Was it like the magic of Dungeons and Dragons where a mage or a wizard memorized a spell and when he cast it the spell would disappear from his memory? Did the power wielded by priests and paladins come from gods?

    Next, he really didn¡¯t how to utilize the information he could glean from the internet to increase his wealth and he assumed that it would take extensive research to do so. The only thing that he could think of right now was to copy an invention. Regardless, he was still greatly thankful for the fact that he had that system in place compared to someone who didn¡¯t have one. The very fact that he would still be able to watch movies, shows, and animes and even play browser games greatly comforted him.

    Besides, nobody was rushing him. He could take his time to familiarize himself regarding this world as common folk see it and then when the time was right, utilize his knowledge of spells to introduce himself as a mage. Based on the speed of his leveling up, it wouldn¡¯t take long before he could utilize most of the Diablo II spells. He wondered how it would feel to teleport and could Frozen Orb cause a friendly fire.

    Regarding his name, he still addressed himself as Anthony Saunders, but that man was already dead and gone. He should get used to calling himself Anton since that was his identity now. Maybe someday, when he was powerful and rich enough he could even get a last name for himself and his family.

    Once Anthony was done copying the story to Anna¡¯s notebook, he gave it to her.

    ¡°Do you have more stories? Maybe you could add more stories to my notebook, and we can create a book that we can sell! It could earn us a lot of gold,¡± Anna said excitedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you another one tomorrow night,¡± Anthony promised his sister.

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    Anthony told his father and sister that he was feeling tired and with his father¡¯s permission, he went to their room for him to sleep but the fact was, he wanted to increase his level so he could have more spells.

    While he was lying down, he summoned his Diablo II starting screen. The animation of the Diablo II icon on his wrist expanding to a screen still made him giddy.

    Anton entered the game virtually. He started exploring the Cold Plains zone since he had killed all the monsters in Blood Moor and Den of Evil. The first group of monsters that he encountered were the corrupt rogue spearwomen. He was having a hard time killing the monsters since his skill points were spread out to Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt, and Warmth and he kept two points in reserve for when he got to level six. If he were only playing the game, he would have put it somewhere useful like all of his points to Charge Bolt but since he wanted different spells that he could use in real life, he was spreading his skill points around.

    It would still be the same once he gets to level six. He cleared out Cold Plains and managed to kill the super unique monster Bishibosh which netted him a set item which was a quilted armor called Arctic Furs. He killed a lot of wendigos, fallen and fallen shamans, and halfway through the cave in the Cold Plains zone leveled him up to level six.

    Anton spent five of his stat points on dexterity and five points on energy so now he had fifteen strength, fifteen dexterity, and forty-five energy with two unused stat points. For his skill points, he put a point to Telekinesis, Ice Blast, and Frost Nova. If a veteran Diablo II player saw his skill selections they would have shaken their heads in dismay but since he wanted the spells so he could use them in real life, he chose the spells he thought would be worth having. Again, he wasn¡¯t feeling any regret since even if he made a mistake, he could still reset them.

    Anton immediately used his town portal so he could go back to the Rogue Encampment. He sold all of the items that he didn¡¯t need and went just outside the encampment to practice his new spells.

    The first thing that he practiced was Telekinesis. He wanted to check if he could be like Jean Gray but based on his practice, he could only use the spell to lift things that he could lift physically. Still, an extra hand would be able to assist him in multitasking.

    He wondered if his Telekinesis¡¯s power would grow with his strength just like his ability to put items in his inventory. Right, he couldn¡¯t even lift himself using the spell. More than likely, he would only be able to use the spell right now as an extra hand.

    After about half an hour of practicing Telekinesis, he knew that he would need more time with the spell to smoothen his use of it. He switched to practicing Frost Nova and casting the spell was a great delight.

    The sensation of the gathering mana and the explosion of frost elements gave him a great feeling of power. He practiced the spell for an hour until he could cast it immediately with a single thought. He lessened the mana to a trickle, and he was able to do so. What it did was amazing. It lowered the temperature in the surroundings which would help a lot during the hot season and through practice, he could release the spell subtly enough with a very low mana level that it wouldn¡¯t be noticeable to people. They would only notice that the surroundings suddenly turned cold.

    Anton wondered if a full-powered level one Frost Nova could kill a regular person. When he checked the time, it was already eleven in the evening so he decided to stop since he would need to wake up early the next day to help his father and sister with farm work.

 Chapter 10

    Anton was woken up by his father and when he briefly checked the time on his browser, it said that it was five in the morning. Anders told him that since it was March already, they would begin planting wheat in a week. In the meantime, the first chore that he was supposed to do was fill the water barrels in the outhouse and the kitchen from the well located somewhere at the back of the house.

    When Anton went outside the room, he saw Anna already busy in the kitchen. He followed Anders to the well and there he saw the buckets that he would use to fill the water barrels in the outhouse. His father told him to fill up the barrel in the kitchen first since Anna would need water there, so he acquiesced and used the buckets and fill it up with water from the well.

    When Anders saw that he was busy carrying the buckets and that he was not having a hard time doing it, his father left to do something else. Anton observed his surroundings and when he saw that no one was looking, he put the buckets filled with water on his inventory. He made sure that the game was open and the inventory prominent while it was minimized. He knew that he would be utilizing the inventory extensively, so he always kept the game running on mute, just minimized.

    Anton took the buckets out from his inventory when he was near the door and then placed the water in the water barrel. Based on what it looked like, it would probably take ten buckets of water before it was filled. He saw that Anna was not there, probably getting food from some animals on the farm so he immediately cast Ice Bolt and controlled the mana until a ball of water was hovering above his hands. He added more mana slowly to increase the water and when he reckoned that the water was big enough he lowered it to the barrel. After two castings, the kitchen barrel was filled with water.

    Anton went to the outhouse to fill it up with water using his Ice Bolt spell. More than likely Frost Blast would be better, but he hadn¡¯t practiced with the spell yet.

    The water barrels in the outhouse took about four castings of Ice Bolt to be filled each. After that, he went back inside the house. When he arrived inside, he saw his father and Anna looking at a mug of water on the table.

    ¡°The barrels in the outhouse are filled,¡± Anton informed Anders.

    ¡°Already?! I just asked you to do it a few minutes ago,¡± Anders exclaimed.

    ¡°It¡¯s done. Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± Anton said smiling.

    Anton knew that sooner or later he would have to admit to his father and sister about his magic. He didn¡¯t want to keep doing it secretly and based on their behavior when they were talking about mages or wizards, the profession was respected instead of burnt at the stake. He would give it a day or two more before telling it to them to get a feel for their real attitude about magic.

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    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anton, I have to check,¡± Anders and even Anna went outside to check the barrels in the outhouse.

    Anders and Anna returned after a couple of minutes and looked at him guiltily. Anton laughed and told them it was okay.

    ¡°Why are you looking at the mug of water anyway? Did you trap a spider inside?¡± He joked.

    ¡°No. When Anna drank water from the kitchen barrel, it tasted different. It wasn¡¯t bad or anything like that. I tested it myself and it was delicious, and we can¡¯t understand how the water turned into something like that. It refreshes the body especially if you''re tired. We wondered if a magical herb or insect suddenly got into the barrel. We were thinking of throwing out the water and checking the bottom of the barrel, but we were hesitating since the water was really good,¡± Anders told him.

    Anton decided then and there to tell his father and sister about his magic. He didn¡¯t want to keep lying to them especially if the magic was really beneficial to their body and he wanted to use magic doing his farm chores.

    Anders and Anna were the only people who cared about him on this land and if he couldn¡¯t trust them, it would really be a difficult life. He would deal with any consequences that may arise and besides, it wouldn¡¯t take long before he had all the spells that he would need to survive. He now had Telekinesis, Frost Nova, and Ice Blast. He couldn¡¯t wait to get Teleport and Energy Shield for protection.

    ¡°I have something important to tell you. Can you follow me outside?¡±

    Anton didn¡¯t wait for his family¡¯s reply and just walked out to the back of the house until he reached a tree. When he turned around, he saw that Anders and Anna were following him.

    ¡°What do want to tell us?¡± Anders asked.

    Instead of telling them, Anton cast Ice Bolt slowly and let the magic gather in his hand then he cast the spell to the nearest tree until a bolt of ice struck it.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re a mage?!¡± Anna gasped.

    ¡°Father, remember I was asking you about wizards and magic because of a dream I had? Well, in the dream I had magic and when I tested it out, it seemed I have magic in real life as well. The water from the kitchen barrel and barrels in the outhouse was from a spell that I cast.¡±

    Anton showed them by summoning Ice Bolt slowly and changing it to a ball of water hovering above his hands. He then flung the ball of water to the ground.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to be rich! You kill monsters and claim the bounty from the city lord,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Hold on, we don¡¯t know your brother¡¯s full capabilities and we don¡¯t want him to be in danger so don¡¯t tell anyone, understand!¡± Anders admonished Anna. His father turned to him asking him more questions.

    ¡°Does it have benefits for people to drink your magic water?¡±

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know. What I know so far is that it tastes good, and it refreshes the body. I drank it yesterday and nothing bad happened to me so far.¡±

    ¡°Is that the only spell you know?¡±

    ¡°No. I know four more spells.¡±

    Anton cast Fire Bolt into the tree which started a fire, so he immediately cast Ice Blast into it, but the spell actually tore the small tree down. He could hear Anders and Anna gasping when he saw the huge ball of ice shot from his hands to the tree freezing and snapping it in half.

    ¡°Please move far away,¡± Anton instructed his father and sister and when they were far enough, he released a full Frost Nova which froze the surrounding area.

    His father and sister ran back to him.

    ¡°You¡¯re very powerful Anton. Can you teach me?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anna but I can¡¯t. As you can see, I¡¯m not muttering any incantation or something like that. It¡¯s instinctive to me and from what I can feel, more spells would be coming in soon.¡±

 Chapter 11

    Anton saw that Anna was sad that he would not be able to teach her to wield magic but then again, he saw her expression change.

    ¡°That¡¯s okay Anton. Having a wizard in the family is enough. Once you¡¯re ready to tell it to the world, I¡¯m sure we will be rich! What other spells can you do?¡± Anna asked remembering that Anton told them there was one other spell that he learned.

    ¡°I¡¯m able to move things with my mind.¡±  Anton showed his father and sister by lifting a branch from the ground using Telekinesis.

    ¡°Your spells will be a great help on the farm. We can use it to water the plants.¡± Anders said, ever the practical farmer which made Anton laugh.

    The family went back inside, and Anna continued cooking breakfast for them. Once it was done, Anton, his father, and Anna sat at the table and started eating their breakfast which was some sort of grain porridge and mugs of milk. Anton liked the milk since it was delicious, but he missed coffee so much.

    While they were eating, somebody knocked on the door and Anna got up to check who it was.

    ¡°Father, it¡¯s Uncle Randu from the next farm.¡± Anna invited the man inside the house.

    The man saw Anton seated at the table.

    ¡°Anton! You¡¯re okay now, I¡¯m so glad. We saw your father running to the village to look for a doctor for you but unfortunately, a lot of people got sick, and the doctor couldn¡¯t attend to you,¡± The man called Randu said with obvious relief on his face.

    Anton remembered in his readings that farm folks tend to treat each other well and he was experiencing it for himself which brought warmth to his heart. When he was living in his previous world, he had never experienced any care from other people except his parents when they were alive. People from his world felt like they didn¡¯t care about anybody but themselves. It was so sad to be surrounded by people while he was working at the convenience store but still be so alone and when he got sick from the pandemic, that loneliness was magnified.

    ¡°What brought you here?¡± Anders asked his neighbor.

    ¡°I want to tell you that we heard some dire news in the village. The undead coalition attacked the city of Vondi.¡±

    Anna gasped and even Anders looked grim.

    ¡°Vondi is the city next to Mendi. It¡¯s a couple of weeks horse ride from Mendi to Vondi,¡± Anders informed Anton which put a questioning look on their neighbor¡¯s face.

    ¡°Anton¡¯s memory is gone just like Elizabeth and Luondi from the village,¡± Anna informed Rondi.

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    Randu nodded understandingly and continued with his news.

    ¡°According to the messenger, they would give the city of Vondi at least a week before it was fully conquered by the undead. We also feared that the next city they would attack would be Vondi, so my family was thinking of migrating to the city of Nurmeno.¡±

    ¡°Nurmeno is so far! It¡¯s at least two months horse ride from here!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°We wanted to be far enough, so we won''t be affected by the undead. Between the city of Nurmeno and Vondi was the holy city of Tiande. I¡¯m sure that the pope from Tiande will not allow the undead to run rampant so I¡¯m thinking that we would be safe in Nurmeno, and we have relatives there,¡± Randu said with a worried expression on his face.

    ¡°Thank you for the news Randu. I will need to talk to my family to decide where we will go.¡±

    Randu left saying that he took it upon himself to tell the news to the surrounding farms which Anders told the man that he was a good one for caring for his neighbors. It made the man shy, and he left with his bad news.

    ¡°What are we going to do Father?¡± Anna asked Anders.

    ¡°We have no choice. We will need to leave our farm as well. It¡¯s a given that Mendi will also fall. Randu informed us that the messenger said that Vondi would fall within the week, but I reckoned that it would be less than that, and then the undead would travel immediately to Mendi which would probably take at least less than two weeks because the undead don¡¯t need to rest. We need to prepare so we will give ourselves three days to do that and then we will leave for the city of Nurmeno as well, but it will only be a stopping point,¡±

    Anders paused a bit and drank a mug of water which seemed to give the farmer a boost.

    ¡°I¡¯m planning to bring our family to the wizard city of Zalnothel. Your brother being a mage will help us a lot in that city.¡±

    ¡°I have to tell you something, Father. I have magic that will let us store a huge number of things and everything that we store in my private dimension will not decay meaning we can store a lot of food like fruits and meat, and they will not rot. They will need to be in a barrel or a box or even a sack that I could physically lift before I can store it, but I can be stronger and learn more spells if I meditate for the three days that we prepare.¡±

    Anton told his father that he would need to meditate but in reality, he would play constantly during his waking hours for the three days allotted time so he could level up and learn more spells that would assist them in their travels. Having more power will give him and his family more security.

    ¡°Okay, we will let you do that. Having you learn more spells will guarantee our safety. I will go ahead and go to other farms to collect some boxes, barrels, and sacks that they don¡¯t need and then I will hunt animals in the woods so we could have a huge amount of meat that we can store. Anna will gather all the things on the farm that we can carry like the grains and clothes. We will also kill every animal we have for their meat.¡±

    Anna became sad when she heard that they would need to kill all their farm animals since she treated them almost like pets, but she didn¡¯t say anything. Such was the life in a farm that all animals would become food in dire times.

    After that statement, Anders gave some instructions to Anna and then went outside to go to the surrounding farms to ask for empty barrels and boxes that they could spare. Anton went and sat in front of the fireplace so he could continue playing the game to increase his level. He needed to make sure that he could protect his new family from danger.

    Anton first thought that he wouldn¡¯t need to rush. That he could take his time leveling up and learning how to use the spells properly but apparently the world would not give him a break.

 Chapter 12

    Anton was sitting in front of the fireplace thinking of the situation they were in. He vowed that whatever this new world threw at him, he would strive his best to come up on top. He would not be passive like he was in his previous world, just waiting to die. He would become powerful and successful and live his life to the fullest.

    He entered the game virtually but before his father left he told Anders and Anna that if they needed him for something they would just need to tap on him softly and his consciousness would be back from meditation.

    In the Rogue Encampment, instead of rushing to kill Blood Raven, he went outside to practice Ice Blast for an hour. He needed to make sure that he could utilize the spell in-game and outside in real life impeccably and learning how to control the spell¡¯s mana consumption was a great way to do that. With an hour''s practice, he was able to control Ice Blast with lesser mana to summon a larger volume of water that he could use.

    Practicing his spells made him realize something about the real world. In the game, he could see the monster¡¯s life or what the game called Hit Points or HP and spells had a specific amount of damage depending on the level of the spells and synergies, the level of the monsters and their resistances, and his equipment and then use it that damage to exhaust the Hit Points or HP until the monsters were destroyed.

    Real-life people or monsters didn¡¯t have a Hit Points indicator. When he cast the spell Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt, and Ice Blast to the tree earlier, the tree was finally destroyed, and it snapped in half but there was no HP indicator. That meant that if he cast Ice Bolt, the bolt would behave like an actual bolt that was shot from a crossbow. If it hit a man in his vital area, the man could die immediately but if it hit the man somewhere like an arm, the man would be hurt but not die. There was no indication that an HP decreased.

    With powerful spells like Ice Blast, it would be easier to kill a man since the spell was a big ball of solid ice that would freeze an enemy that it hit but if a creature was particularly large like for example, an elephant, Anton imagined that it would take several Ice Blast before the elephant would die so basically the vitality would be exhausted by the cold and its organ and skin would be damage that would cause it to die so in a way there was still an HP that needed to be depleted.

    He also thought that more powerful spells like Glacial Spike, Blizzard, and Frozen Orb would be particularly deadly but for now, he didn¡¯t know how the spells would behave. Frozen Orb in particular would be particularly tricky since its animation indicated that it would spew countless Ice Bolt everywhere possibly hitting the caster and his friends and allies. That was also the main reason why he needed to practice the spells virtually since they would almost behave the same way outside in real life.

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    After practicing Ice Blast for an hour, he learned the intricacies of controlling the spell just like in Ice Bolt. He wondered if once he learned all the spells in the Cold Spells tree and learned to manipulate their mana, could he emulate the waterbenders of a famous cartoon show that he loved. Imagining himself wielding water and ice powers like a waterbender excited him a bit.

    Anton then went to the Burial Ground to kill Blood Raven, doing so netted him a unique cap and unique ring but he didn¡¯t bother learning the details of the items extensively since low-level items didn¡¯t really give much power.

    Clearing the burial grounds plus killing Blood Raven leveled hip up to eight. He put his stat points to vitality to even his stats out. Now he had twenty to strength, fifteen to dexterity, fifteen to vitality, and forty-five to energy.

    Anton felt stronger but not twice as strong as an ordinary man. He didn¡¯t know how to measure his physical strength, but any increase was a good thing because it would allow him to store more real-world items in his inventory. He figured that his inventory and private stash would be fully utilized by his family.

    It was a bit sad that he couldn¡¯t take out Diablo II items to the real world since gold coins would help his family in these times of crisis, but they would make do. Having the inventory was a great enough gift as it was and looking for more was just asking for trouble.

    Anna tapped Anton¡¯s shoulder calling him out and when he returned from the game, he was told that Anders came back with a cart filled with empty barrels, boxes, and sacks. They began the process of putting things in the storage items. The first thing they wanted handled was their grains.

    At first, Anders insisted that Anton continue with his meditation so he could increase his powers, but he told his father that he would assist them since he recently learned a new spell called Inferno.

    Anna wanted to see what it looked and by the looks of him, his father wanted to check it out as well so they all went outside the woods so they could see how the spell would look. When Anton cast the spell Inferno, fire spewed out from his hands like a flame thrower and his father and Anna were amazed.

    They went back inside to continue handling the wheat grains. When all of the wheat grains were stored in the barrels, they had a total of five barrels of wheat grains and Anton was thankful that his increased stat allowed him to lift the barrel full of wheat so that he could store it in his private stash, so he did just that.

    The next thing they stored inside the sacks were their clothes and they only left some that they could wear for the next three days.

    Anton advised his father that they should allow Anna to cook as much food as she could since it would not spoil inside his inventory, so Anders asked his daughter to do just that.

    His father then told everyone that he would go to the woods to hunt animals and Anton asked his father if he could come since his spells might be useful in hunting the animals. They could even hunt larger ones like bears.

    ¡°Please remember Father that I don¡¯t know anything so you would need to teach me woodcraft. I know we¡¯re pressed for time but learning this would help me a lot,¡± Anton told his father and Anders agreed with him and allowed him to follow him into the woods to hunt game.

 Chapter 13

    Anton followed his father to the woods behind their house. The woods were beyond the farm, and they needed to walk for at least thirty minutes before they arrived at the outskirts of the forest.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing were at the start of spring, there will be a lot of game in the forest,¡± Anders told him.

    Anton nodded and kept following. He tried to emulate the man especially the way he walked and the way he avoided stepping on branches or anything really, but he was failing, although it looked like his father didn¡¯t mind. Anders was carrying a big knife and a bow and arrow that was located beside the door.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Anders whispered to Anton.

    ¡°We¡¯re lucky. Do you see that hare in the bushes to the left?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I see it. Let me try something first.¡±

    Anton could feel the huge rabbit was in the range of his Telekinesis. On experimentation, his Telekinesis spell range was about six to seven meters, but the power decreased sharply the farther away an object was.

    ¡°Can I get nearer to that rabbit?¡±

    ¡°Just a couple more feet. We¡¯re downwind of it so it shouldn¡¯t notice us.¡±

    Anton walked slowly nearer to the hare and when he was about four feet, he used Telekinesis to hold the huge hare in place. The rabbit tried to run but was unable to because of his spell but Anton could actually feel that after a couple of minutes of struggling, the hare would be able to free itself from his hold. It was like he was holding the actual animal on its feet with his hands and the animal kept buckling.

    He cast Ice Bolt and hit the hare on the head killing it since the sharp bolt of ice entered the head without any issue. Anton was surprised by the power and sharpness of the Ice Bolt. He thought that the spell would only knock the hare unconscious, but the bolt actually slid inside its head like a knife in butter.

    ¡°That was something to behold son. I could see ice swirling in your body before that sharp ice arrow formed in your hands and flew toward the hare,¡± Anders smiled at his son admiringly.

    ¡°Thanks. I also have a Fire Bolt and a bigger Ice Bolt called Ice Blast.¡±

    ¡°You should avoid using fire spells to keep us from burning down the forest. The hare looked like it was stuck. Did you do something before you hit it with your ice spell?¡±

    ¡°Remember one of my spells was to hold things using my mind? I use it to hold the rabbit in place, but its struggle would have freed it in a couple of minutes. I assume that a bigger prey like a bear would only be held by my spell for a few seconds before it could free itself.¡±

    Anton put the corpse of the hare in his inventory to avoid the game decaying. His father would handle the butchering later which he was not looking forward to. As a city boy, the only butchering that he had seen was on the internet.

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    ¡°You have a spell that could stop an animal. That would help us a lot,¡± Anders commented when he saw his son put the corpse away.

    ¡°Yes. We need to kill a lot more. From what I gather it would take us a few weeks before we reached our destination, and the meat will serve us well. For eating or selling.¡±  Anton told his father.

    Anders continued walking deep into the forest while Anton followed him. His father suddenly signaled him to stop and stay low which he assumed to crouch down so he did.

    ¡°We got lucky. There¡¯s a small herd of whitetail deer in front of us and from what the signs in the foliage say, there could be as many as five.¡±

    The father and son walked slowly until they saw the herd of deer that his father indicated.

    ¡°Let me try something.¡± He whispered to his father.

    Anton walked slowly and when he felt that the herd was within the range of his Telekinesis, he immediately cast his Telekinesis spell to hold three of the deer by their feet. The other two immediately tried to run away but he cast his Ice Bolt and hit the two deer. He noticed that even though he wasn¡¯t focused on aiming the spell, it felt almost like it had a homing capability. The Ice Bolt hit the two fleeing deer and were killed immediately. He disposed of the other three who were still struggling by casting Ice Bolt to their heads as well.

    Anton¡¯s mana was low, so he immediately maximized the game and drank a minor mana potion. Hunting the animals using his spells felt good to him. He felt powerful and he wondered how the more powerful spells would feel.

    ¡°Good Anton. You were able to kill all of them. It would have been fine for us to bag a couple but you killing all of them was a bonus for us. Normally I wouldn¡¯t condone killing everything but we¡¯re in a dire situation and the fact that they wouldn¡¯t spoil in your magic space will help us a lot. We can also keep the skin for selling. Even though we don¡¯t have the time to treat the skins now, they will not spoil in your space.¡±

    Anton put the corpses of the deer inside his private stash and since they only spent a little time, Anders decided to continue.

    They stumbled on bushes filled with blackberries and blueberries.

    ¡°Ooh, berries! I love them. I forgot to bring a sack!¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I have a two here. I usually bring a couple when I¡¯m hunting and it has become a habit that even though you told me that we can keep the game in your magical space I automatically still brought those,¡¯ his father offered him the sacks.

    The sacks were fairly large, so they filled them with the berries leaving none on the bushes.

    ¡°Again, normally we would leave some, but we will need the berries in our travel.¡±

    ¡°I hope we find some more fruits.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any more sacks. We will need to return anyway by lunchtime, and we¡¯ll get back here to hunt some more and then later I will begin butchering the animals.¡±

    While they were filling the sacks with berries, Anders and Anton heard deep growling and they saw a large brown bear. The bear was running towards them but instead of panicking, Anton cast Ice Blast to stop the bear and it froze the bear stopping it in its tracks. Several more Ice Blast finally killed it. He felt grateful that he immediately drank a mana potion when the battle ended earlier so he did it again to make sure that he would be prepared if an emergency happened again. Entering the game virtually prepared him to face enemies so facing the huge bear didn¡¯t cause any emotional fluctuations on him.

    Anton tried to lift the bear, but he was unable to.

    ¡°Father you will need to cut the bear somehow so I can lift it to be able to put it in my inventory.¡±

    While Anders was cutting the bear, Anton completed filling up the sacks with berries and put them in his private stash in the Rogue Encampment. He was thankful that the private stash was fairly big, and he knew that once the corpses were dealt with and put inside sacks or boxes, it would decrease the space they would take in his inventory.

 Chapter 14

    By the time Anton¡¯s father finished cutting up the body of the bear so he could lift it and put it in his inventory, Anton was told by Anders that it was already noon, so they decided to return home.

    Before they reached their house, both father and son could smell the food that was being cooked by Anna. The fact that the surrounding area was filled with the cooking smell meant that she had cooked a lot of food.

    When they entered the door, Anna greeted them.

    ¡°You¡¯re back! How was the hunt?¡± Anton¡¯s sister asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re successful. We hunted a hare, five deer, and a bear. We also managed to fill a couple of sacks with berries,¡± Anders answered his daughter.

    Anna served his father and his brother their lunch. While they were eating Anna asked if they would continue hunting in the afternoon.

    ¡°That was the plan, but I changed my mind. I will butcher the bear and sell the skin in the village to see if we can get a few coins for it. It would be cheaper compared to regular times, but we will need the funds. ¡°

    ¡°Are you going to help Father in butchering the bear? You will need to learn how to do it,¡± Anna told Anton.

    ¡°I think It would be best if I go back to meditating. I will need to increase my power and learn more spells,¡± Anton was glad that he had an excuse to avoid butchering the animals.

    Anders and Anna laughed which indicated that they knew that Anton was just avoiding getting near the animal corpses.

    After lunch, Anton brought the corpses of the animals to the back where his father usually handles things related to dead animals. At first, he thought that Anders would ask him to bring out the corpses one by one, but he told Anton to bring out all the animals. He suggested to his father to do it one by one to avoid any decay, but Anders told him that he would be fast enough to handle the meat. He just shrugged and brought out the bear, the five deer, and the hare.

    Anders already prepared the barrels and boxes where he would store the meat. He left his father to where he was and went inside the house to continue playing the game to level up his character. He couldn''t wait to get more spells.

    He sat down in front of the fireplace and maximized his game. Before he started, he saw a flashing envelope icon at the lower left corner of his view and when he mentally clicked on it, a message appeared.

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    ¡°New week will arrive tomorrow and resetting of stats and skills will refresh. Please remember that the reset options do not stack.¡±

    Anton read the message and closed it. It was a bit difficult playing the game with his skill points spread all over the place. Yes, he needed them so he could have more spells in the real world but for leveling up, it was difficult. Now since the new week, meaning a new reset option would come within a few hours, he thought that he could reset his skills to specialized like putting them all in Charged Bolt. He was worried for a bit about needing some of the other spells but then again, he would only need to wait a few hours before he could have them again, so he decided to do it.

    The important thing was to level up his character fast and then reset his spells again to get all the spells he wanted to have in real life before they left the farm. So, without further ado, Anton did just that.

    He was level nine now so when he clicked the reset option it asked him if he would like to reset his stats and skill tree or just the stats or just his skill tree. One good thing that he saw on the message page there was a note below that once he turned eighteen, he would earn the missing three stat points because he was a teenager. He chose the option just to reset his skill tree then put one skill point to Warmth for the mana recovery and dumped eight skill points to Charged Bolt. Having a staff with plus three to Charged Bolt would also help a lot since he luckily found the staff in Akara¡¯s shop and purchased it. Now he had thirty-two thousand and some change of gold left. He had been diligent in getting what he thought were the valuable items that he could sell in so much that he wasted a lot of time and town portals to transport them back to the Rogue Encampment.

    Anton started playing and the difference was huge. He was decimating the monsters, and the rogue mercenary was actually helpful. He remembered that when he was playing before in his previous world he always increased the game difficulty using the console command but playing the game normally was a breeze. A single cast of a level eight Charged Bolt just destroyed everything, and the rogue mercenary actually killed enemies.

    Clearing out the Stony Field and Dark Wood and then getting the scroll from the Tree of Inifuss to rescue Cain from Tristram and then clearing out Black Marsh without touching the Forgotten Tower leveled him up to level thirteen. It helped that he even tackled the mostly untouched zone like the Hole or the Cave. He didn¡¯t touch Forgotten Tower since he knew that he would spend an ungodly amount of time in that zone to hunt runes.

    Dumping most of his skill points to Charged Bolt really helped a lot, but he will still reset his skills once midnight comes. The situation was dire and there was a possibility that he and his family would need to leave before the three days allotted time. He would need to practice the spells that he would learn like Fire Ball, Lightning, or Nova to make sure that he would be able to manipulate the mana needed to fully utilize and understand the spells for hours. That was the main reason he needed to reset his skill tree back once the reset option was available.

    Even now, Anton was still worried about having no other spell than Charged Bolt still he needed to do it and he thought that they still had time.

    Anders called him after around two hours to tell him that the meat was already in their storage boxes or barrels ready to be stored so Anton minimized the game and went to gather the items and stored them in his inventory. His father asked him to leave the bear skin and the deerskins since he would leave for the village to sell them.

 Chapter 15

    Anton¡¯s father left after a while bringing the cart with animal skins with him to the village. Anna was still busy cooking, so he went back in front of the fireplace to continue leveling up. This time though, instead of doing it virtually, he did the on-screen option since doing it that way was way faster than doing it virtually.

    The main advantages of doing a virtual experience for his Diablo II game were, aside from enjoying the game fully since he was there personally, he would learn how to wield the spells with precision and would learn how to manipulate the mana that was being wielded until he would be able to use the spells in different ways that intended. Case in point where he could summon mana-infused water using the Ice Bolt spell.

    Since it was important for him to level up fast and he only had the Charged Bolt spell, it would be better to do the game on-screen instead of virtual. He continued clearing out Black Marsh by clearing out the rest of the zone which brought him to level thirteen, and he immediately added the skill point to Charged Bolt, five of his stat points to vitality and five to energy. Now, without counting the equipment, he had twenty-five points to strength, twenty to dexterity, thirty to vitality, and forty-seven to energy. He had ninety-one life and eighty-two mana. His Charged Bolt was level fifteen with an additional three levels from staff already included and one level to Warmth.

    He was about to begin entering the Forgotten Tower to begin his rune and level grind, but his attention was called out by Anna.

    ¡°Father is back!¡±

    ¡°So soon? I thought it would take longer than an hour.¡± Anton said.

    Anton and Anna went outside to meet their father and they saw that the animal skins were still in the cart so were extra barrels and boxes.

    ¡°There¡¯s no buyer for the skins, Father?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°No. I just bought bread, salt, and spices and left immediately. I heard that Vondi was already conquered, and that the undead coalition was already on their way to Mendi. We will complete our preparation and leave early tomorrow morning. Anton, please concentrate on getting more powerful. Leave the packaging to us and we will leave the boxes here beside you so you can store them in your magic space immediately.¡¯

    Anton obediently followed his father¡¯s instructions and went back to the game. He continued playing without entering the game virtually and used the on-screen option. The first time he killed the countess he was able to get the runes Tal and Eth, but he was hoping to get the runewords for the Leaf runeword item. He was worried for a second that he would not be able to farm monsters but when he saved the game and re-logged in, the monsters respawned.

    Before he entered the Forgotten Tower to kill the countess again to look for runes his father interrupted him and asked him to store the barrels and boxes which he did. At first, Anton¡¯s private stash had chipped gems and small rejuvenation potions in them but he needed to sell all of those to empty his private stash so he would have room for real-world things. He did earn a lot of gold and it still made him a little sad that he couldn¡¯t bring the gold back from the game to the real world.

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    ¡°Father, do you need help? I can stop for a moment and help you and Anna in sorting our things.¡±

    ¡°No son. Concentrate on your wizardry. Your power will help us most when we need it.¡±

    Anton acquiesced and went back to the game. He should have been helping his family but the feeling of rushing to level up to acquire more power brought a sense of restlessness that could only be alleviated by him playing the game and seeing his level rising. He finally managed to collect the runes to make the runeword armor Stealth and runeword staff Leaf but unfortunately, the armor¡¯s requirement was level seventeen and the staff¡¯s requirement was level 19 and he was only level fourteen.

    Ander¡¯s tapped him on the shoulder pointing at the barrels and boxes at his feet. Anton immediately put them in his inventory.

    ¡°What time is it?¡± He asked his father.

    ¡°It¡¯s about six in the evening. Time for us to eat.¡±

    Anton saved his game, opened it again, and minimized it making sure that it was always opened in the background for him to be able to access the inventory anytime he wanted. He then joined his family on the table.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t able to assist you in sorting out our things,¡± He apologized to his family again while they were eating.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep apologizing. I decided to let you meditate. We will need your power in the long run. Did you learn any new spells?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father. I learned Fire Ball, Lightning, Lightning Nova, and Frozen Armor.¡±

    Anton avoided mentioning Static Field and Shiver Armor since Static Field was hard to explain and Shiver Armor was mostly the same as Frozen Armor. He also didn¡¯t mention that all of his skill points were in Charged Bolt for now since when midnight arrived, he would reset his skill points, spread it out to different skills, and use the remaining time between then and morning to practice some of the spells outside the Rogue Encampment.

    ¡°As you know Fire Ball will allow me to summon a ball of fire that will explode in the location I cast it to. Lightning will allow me to summon lightning from my hands to hurl at my enemies. Lightning Nova is dangerous since it will allow me to disperse lightning energy to my surroundings and Frozen Armor will allow me to summon a magical armor to surround me wherein if an enemy hits me, there is a chance that they will be frozen aside from the increased defense the spell will provide. I can only show you to them after midnight though.¡±

    Anders and Anna gaped at him when they heard the spells that he learned when he was meditating instead of helping the family in sorting out the things they would bring to their travels.

    ¡°I see it was the correct decision to allow you to meditate instead of helping us.¡± His father said.

    ¡°I wish you could teach me how to do magic too,¡± Anna said sadly.

    ¡°We will need to keep my magic a secret because I know for a fact that it¡¯s different from the magic that wizards in this world wielded. Once we arrive in the city where there are wizards, I will apply to be an apprentice, showing a mage the least of my spells for them to accept me, and when I learn how the magic of the world works, I promise to teach you, Anna,¡± Anton promised his sister.

    After dinner, Anton¡¯s father and sister went back to sorting and arranging their things and he went back to playing the game.

 Chapter 16

    Anton farmed the Forgotten Tower until he had a few more runes but knowing that his inventory space was limited since his private stash was being used for real-world items, he decided to stop farming and continue to the Outer Cloister zone.

    Clearing out the Outer Cloister brought his level to level sixteen. One more level and Anton would be able to wear his first runeword armor which was Stealth. Normally, early-game items were not important but since the equipment stats would reflect in the real world, even low-level items would become crucial in his and his family¡¯s survival during their travels.

    The somber fact about the sorceress spells from Diablo II was that all of them were for the protection of the player like the Energy Shield, Frozen Armor, and Teleport and all the others were for killing monsters. There were no spells that he could cast that would assist his family. At least the Paladin characters had spells that could heal others. He could have picked Paladin, but he wanted to become a mage.

    At around ten in the evening, his father tapped Anton¡¯s shoulder and told him that they were done with packing. He put the remaining barrels, boxes, and sacks in his private stash. He did take note of where their food was so he could take it out immediately when they needed to eat.

    Anders then asked everyone to rest since they would need to wake up early the next day to leave. Anton noticed that there were bags and some barrels on the table.

    ¡°What are those?¡± He asked his father.

    ¡°Those are the things that we would be putting on the cart for appearance''s sake.¡±

    Anna went to her room to sleep, and Anton and his father went to their room. At first, he decided to keep playing but when he lay down on the bed, sleep took him immediately.

    The next day, Anton was shaken awake by his father.

    ¡°Crap! What time is it?¡± He asked Anders.

    ¡°It¡¯s five in the morning,¡± his father answered.

    ¡°Can you give me thirty minutes? I fell asleep. I was supposed to stay awake up to midnight to consolidate my spells.¡±

    ¡°Okay. We will put our things in the cart, and we¡¯ll call you once we¡¯re ready to depart.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father.¡±

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    Anton would have liked to reach level seventeen for him to be able to wear the runeword armor Stealth, but he ran out of time. He went ahead and reset his skill points. He then put a single skill point on Frozen Armor, Ice Bolt, Frost Nova, and Ice Blast under the cold spells tree. He switched to the lightning spells tree and put a single point on Charged Bolt, Static Field, Telekinesis, Nova, and Lightning.

    Finally, under the fire spell tree, he put a single point on Fire Bolt, Warmth, Inferno, Blaze, and the remaining skill points to Fire Ball.

    Anton figured that once he turned level nineteen and wore the runeword staff Leaf, he would become powerful. In the meantime, he was wearing the staff that he bought from Akara which had plus one to Fire Bolt and plus two to Fire Ball. His Fire Ball was now level five and he thought that it was powerful enough for leveling purposes. He would miss his level fifteen Charged Bolt though.

    After a while, his father called him.

    ¡°We finished putting all of our things in the cart. Our horses Maide and Bailey will pull the cart for us without any problem. Before we leave though, we would like to see your new spells so we would know what to expect if you have to use them.¡±

    Anton just nodded but he could see that his father and Anna were excited. When they reached the woods behind their house, it was still dark.

    ¡°The first spells that I will show you are from what I called the cold spell tree, You have already seen my Ice Bolt, Frost Nova, and Ice Blast. This is called Frozen Armor,¡± Anton told his family.

    He cast Frozen Armor and swirling cold energy gathered in his body and formed what looked like swirling snow rotating around him.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful!¡± Anna said, mesmerized by the swirling snow.

    ¡°The next ones are from my lightning spell tree.¡±

    Anton cast Charged Bolt first and swirling electrical energy came from his hands and moved forward to the ground and randomly moved forward to the direction he pointed. Then he cast Lightning and a loud lightning bolt formed from his hand and was rapidly hurled to the tree that he pointed it to, and the tree was destroyed by the lightning energy. Given that the tree was small, everyone still didn¡¯t expect that the power of lightning would be enormous.

    ¡°I will not show you Nova since it¡¯s dangerous. You¡¯ve already seen my Frost Nova so imagine that it¡¯s the same but instead of the cold elements, it would be lightning elements,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°The next spell tree is very dangerous. I call it the Fire Spell tree. You¡¯ve seen my Fire Bolt and Inferno. The next two spells that I know are called Blaze and Fire Ball. I will not cast them here since it could cause a forest fire, but Blaze basically will summon fire to the places that I walk and Fire Ball will let me summon a ball of fire that once hurled at a group of enemies, will explode, and bring forth tremendous damage.¡±

    ¡°I wonder why your spells are geared toward war but in these times maybe that¡¯s the kind of power that you will need that¡¯s why that was the power that was given to you,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of that Father that¡¯s why I would also like to learn the magic of this world so I can learn more spells with diversity.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. The fact that you can kill those undead monsters with a wave of your hand makes me feel safe and I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re powerful,¡± Anna told her brother loyally.

    Anton smiled when he heard his sister say that. After the spell showing, they all went back to the house to eat their breakfast and after that to begin their journey to escape the doom that was coming.

 Chapter 17

    The sun was already peeking from the horizon when Anton, his father Anders, and his sister Anna went to ride the cart to run away to another country where the undead, they hoped, would never catch up. Anton¡¯s father rode in the front seat and would drive the two horses Maide and Bailey. Anna opted to ride beside his father and Anton told his family that he would ride inside the cart to continue meditating for a few more hours and his father agreed.

    Anton planned to practice his spells outside the Rogue Encampment so he would need to enter the game virtually. When everyone was ready, his father drove the horse southeast to get to the holy city of Tiande, then Nurmeno then onwards to the city of Zalnothel but his father told him that there would be many villages between the cities, and it may take half a year before they arrive to their destination. He was aghast by the length of the journey but looking forward to it at the same time since this would be his first true adventure in the new world.

    While they were driving away Anton saw Anna looking back at their house and he realized that they were uprooting the girl from everything that she knew. She grew up in these parts and all of her friends were here as well and they always looked forward to visiting Oakswood village whenever there was a chance. The only consolation that his sister could think of was all of her friends were leaving as well to avoid the undead coalition.

    That meant that the true enemy who disrupted their lives was the undead. Before he entered the game virtually, he joined his father and his sister at their seat.

    ¡°Before I meditate can I ask you some questions?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± His father answered.

    ¡°Are there different types of undead and what are their hierarchies?¡± Anton asked his father who thought for a few minutes before answering.

    ¡°During my youth, I too went on an adventure with a mercenary band. That¡¯s where I met your mother you know. In our adventures, your mother and I encountered a lot of undead and other monsters under the banner of our band. The basic undead under the physical category are your walking dead, the zombies which are composed of different species like your typical zombie, then zombie dogs, and then zombie other animals. Then your ghouls which is a stronger type of undead that can run very fast and is very strong. I know that your zombie was made from a human corpse that was summoned by a necromancer or some type of death magic but for the other undead, I don¡¯t know where they came from so I don¡¯t know where the ghouls came from. Then we have your skeletons with different professions like skeleton warriors and skeleton archers and mages.¡± Anders paused for a bit to think, and Anton saw that Anna was listening closely too.

    ¡°Then we have your strong undead that if we encounter one, we will undoubtedly die. They were called vampires. Vampires looked like your normal human but for the fact that they only come out at night and drink blood. They are extremely fast, extremely strong, and can use magic. Under the spiritual undead, there are your ghosts and wraiths and more, but I don¡¯t know any more than that. Of course, the most powerful of them all are the liches. There are several hierarchies between them, but I don¡¯t know the minute intricacies between the undead like for example there were some who were called just liches and then there were elder liches, emperor liches, and more. To know more you will have to converse with a mage or a scholar.¡± Anders continued.

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    ¡°If vampires can use magic, why are they not called liches?¡± Anna asked and Anders just shrugged.

    ¡°I think vampires were made by other vampires and liches are powerful wizards who didn¡¯t want to die so they resorted to undead magic to continue living. Of course, I¡¯m not sure about that,¡± Anton answered for his father.

    ¡°Do you know how to become a lich? Since you¡¯re a wizard can you become a lich?¡± Anna asked Anton.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to become a lich and if I die, I will be dead and will not become a lich. If a necromancer raises me, I will become a zombie. I think to become a lich you will need to become a very powerful wizard first who knows all types of magic, especially undead magic, and know the ritual to become a lich. I only know the spells that I¡¯ve shown you and I think that categorizes me as a beginner wizard who has powerful spells.¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°How do you know all of this?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°How do I know to cast spells? It was in the dream before I woke up. I think the information that I have was purchased at the cost of my memory and something more that I don¡¯t know anything about, and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s worth it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sad to forget about Mother but if it would help us defend against monsters, Mother would be happy to learn that you have the power to do so,¡± Anna said which brought warmth to Anton¡¯s heart.

    ¡°I agree,¡± Anders said while looking at his daughter approvingly.

    During their travel out of the farm, Anton asked questions about common things like what were the currencies called. His father answered him. It was your typical iron bits, copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins and the conversion was one hundred to one instead of ten to one which was the typical conversion that he had read in novels. Anders showed him what the currencies looked like and to his surprise, his father owned a few gold coins. The coins looked like what he expected them to look.

    Anton then asked the prices of food, a stay at an inn, clothes, a horse, a farm, and more. Although his father gave him the estimated prices of things, it was mentioned that it would vary from place to place.

    Regarding the language, they were speaking what they called the common language which was the same several countries surrounding Mendi. His father told him that the language would only begin to change after five or six countries away in any direction.

    Anton mentioned that he was glad he knew how to speak the language and had not forgotten that part and this sentence actually brought realization and relief to his father and sister¡¯s faces.

    While they were traveling they encountered other people who were as early as them in leaving the village. They talked with their neighbors for a while but since Anton¡¯s family was carrying less than the others, they soon bypassed them.

 Chapter 18

    Anton asked his father a lot of questions regarding the lives of the common people in the places where he¡¯d been. He learned that the lives of the people were hard. Because of monsters, bandits, and the undead, a common village had the chance of suddenly disappearing from the face of the earth.

    Anders told him that they were lucky that their country was safe and that they were able to farm without any sense of fear that suddenly monsters would appear and wipe them out. Yes, there were still monsters but there were only the weak ones that could be vanquished by a common person. Unfortunately, that safety ended with the rise of the Undead Coalition.

    Anton¡¯s father told him that the Undead Coalition started as a wizard country in the North before that was ruled by a powerful mage emperor and his council of mages, but something happened that turned the emperor into a lich, and most of the council to either liches or necromancers. Then they summoned an undead army and conquered the two countries surrounding them. That started the rise of the undead coalition.

    For several years, the Undead Coalition was inside their territory seemingly satisfied with the area they ruled according to Anton¡¯s father. Suddenly they attacked their neighboring country which was Vondi and now here they were running for their lives.

    ¡°Why are the other countries not joining together to destroy the Undead Coalition?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m but a small mercenary turned farmer.¡± Anders answered.

    Anton then told his father and sister that he would need to continue meditating so he went inside the cart to enter the game virtually so he could practice his new spells. He told Anders and Anna that this meditation would be deep so if they wanted his attention, they would need to wake him up as if he was asleep. He then entered the game virtually and went outside the Rogue Encampment.

    The first spell that Anton wanted to practice was Fire Ball since this spell was going to be the primary spell that he was going to use for leveling up. The first practice that he did was to make sure that he would be able to cast the spell at a moment¡¯s notice, without delay or hesitation. It took him about thirty minutes and several mana potions before he was satisfied. The next thing that he practiced was to manipulate the mana density of the Fire Ball spell. After about an hour, he learned how to manipulate the mana of the spell to decrease the size, intensity, area of effect and damage of his Fire Ball spell.

    During the intense practice session, he was able to slightly determine the spell construct of the Fire Ball spell. It was basically different from Fire Bolt since Fire Ball, even if he decreased the mana to the least amount that he could, would still explode when released and touched the intended landing location or thing. That meant that for fire purposes like lighting a candle or campfire, even summoning a ball of fire for lighting purposes, he would better stick to using Fire Bolt since if something happened to Fire Bolt, it would just stick like a bolt, burn the landing area, and not explode. With that hour of practice, aside from learning how to manipulate the Fire Ball¡¯s mana, he also learned how to guide the Fire Ball so in a way, he was able to learn how to have the spell have a slight homing feature.

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    Anton remembered that these types of manipulation would serve him better in the real world but in the game, it would still be better if he hurled that spell using its intended maximum level and mana to do the utmost damage to the game monsters. Also, more time practicing the spell Fire Ball would increase his mastery over the spell but after an hour, he switched to a different spell.

    Anton''s next spell that he would like to study was Frozen Armor. With an hour of practice using the spell, he was able to manipulate the mana consistency of the said spell making him able to increase and decrease the area encompassed by the spell from close to his skin up to the next person close to him which would become a real help in defending his father and sister. He thought that once he increased the spell¡¯s level through items, he would be able to increase its protective range.

    He didn¡¯t forget to review what he learned about the first few spells that he had like Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, Frost Nova, and Telekinesis. This was to make sure that all the learning that he did wasn¡¯t affected by him resetting his skill points which to his happiness, it really didn¡¯t. He was able to manipulate the mana of the first spells that he had even though technically, those spells disappeared for a while.

    Anton then noticed that somebody was trying to get his attention from the real world, so he exited outside of the game and minimized it. He saw that his father stopped the cart at the side of the road and was tapping his shoulders.

    ¡°It''s noon. It¡¯s time for us to eat.¡±

    Anton¡¯s family decided on a simple fare. Just bread, cheese, milk, and water. After lunch, they went back to traveling the roads. His father told him that they should reach the next village by nightfall, and he just nodded.

    When the cart began to move, Anton went back to the game virtually. The next spell that he wanted to practice was Lightning and after an hour, he also began to master the intricacies of manipulating the mana of the said spell of course, he knew that his understanding of the spell was shallow at best, but it was a beginning. He was determined to master all of his spells someday because he knew it would help him a lot in understanding magic.

    The next spells that he practiced were Static Field, Nova, Blaze, and then Inferno. It took him about an hour per spell, so he spent a total of four hours. He was happy with his mastery of the spells so far and was confident that he could use the spells in the real world well when the situation calls for it.

    Anton went outside the game and minimized the game while his character remained beside his private stash so he could access it whenever he wanted. He also made sure that he had a lot of healing potions and mana potions in his inventory since those potions would also reflect in the real world once he consumed them. He just wished that he could the healing potions out of the game to the real world so he could heal his family if they needed it.

 Chapter 19

    Anton asked his father what time it was and was told by Anders that it was already five in the afternoon. His father also mentioned that they should arrive at the next village at around seven in the evening.

    While they were moving forward, they heard a huge commotion in the forest to their left. Anders stopped the cart.

    ¡°Prepare for battle.¡± Anders whispered to his son and daughter.

    The farmer took a sword from the cart and Anton remembered his father saying that he was part of a mercenary band before. Anna was holding a knife while he was empty-handed, although he did have the staff with a plus two to Fire Ball and plus one to Fire Bolt in the game. Its stats would reflect in the real world but once this situation ends, it would be best if he searched for a staff from the forest that he could use in the real world as well.

    It was getting dark, so Anton summoned a ball of fire using the Fire Bolt spell and let it hover above his hands. He tried to move the ball of fire to where the commotion was, and it worked. The ball of fire floated slowly forward where the movement was. The good thing about the spell was the mana spent was the initial cost of casting the spell only and moving and controlling the spell only took Anton tremendous focus.

    Anton and his family then saw a ghastly creature fighting a wolf pack.

    ¡°That¡¯s a ghoul!¡± His father whispered fiercely.

    ¡°If we kill it, will the wolves attack us?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°Usually during this season wolves will not attack people since there¡¯s plenty of food in the forest. I don¡¯t know why they were fighting the ghoul though so if you kill the ghoul please get ready to be attacked by the wolves as well.¡±

    The ghoul looked like a dried-up naked corpse but the way it moved was more animal-like. It moved using its four limbs and was using its hands like an animal would, like claws. He saw that there were a couple of wolves already dead at its feet but four more were fighting it.

    While the ball of fire was still hovering above, Anton tried to check if he could cast another spell, and to his happiness, he could. Practicing mana manipulation did its work and he was glad that he took the time to study and practice his spells outside the Rogue Encampment.

    Anton cast the spell Ice Blast. He still didn¡¯t want to use fire spells since he didn¡¯t want to cause a forest fire. The ghoul was focused on the wolves, so it didn¡¯t notice the spell that was about to hit it. The Ice Blast hit the ghoul and it froze. He knew that Ice Blast would be a very powerful spell in the real world due to its freezing effect. Anton followed the Ice Blast spell with two more Ice Blast until the ghoul shattered.

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    Anton then turned to the wolves to see how they would react to the demise of their enemy, ready to cast spells if necessary to defend himself and his family but the four wolves just howled, looked at their dead comrades, and left. For a moment he felt sad when he saw the wolves'' reaction. They looked like warriors who mourned their fallen comrade.

    Anders walked to the corpses of the wolves and the ghoul followed by his son and his daughter. After examining the corpse of the ghoul for a couple of minutes, Anton asked what they should do with the wolf''s corpse.

    ¡°The ghoul¡¯s corpse shattered into pieces?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°Yes father,¡± Anton replied.

    Using the ball of fire for light, Anton examined the place to see if there were any traces of the ghoul¡¯s corpse but when the ice melted, it was totally gone. His father then asked him to keep the wolf¡¯s corpses in his magical space.

    ¡°Do we eat wolves? Aren¡¯t they infected by the ghoul already?¡± Anton¡¯s father laughed for a second when he heard that question.

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t eat wolves. I will skin them and sell them. During normal times I would respect their corpses as warriors who slew a monster, but we need coins for our travels and their skin would provide us with coins. We will bury the rest once I¡¯m done skinning them.¡±

    Anton obeyed his father and kept the wolves'' corpses in his inventory. The ball of fire was still lighting up the area so when he dismissed it, it was dark already. He summoned it again since the dark scared him a bit. It invoked his imagination that monsters were waiting in the dark and in this new world, sometimes they do wait in the dark.

    Anders asked Anna to get the lamp and she did from somewhere inside the cart. She then tried to light it up using some sort of flint, but Anton summoned a tiny flame on top of his fingers using the Fire Bolt spell and used it to light up the lamp. When the lamp was lit, he dismissed his hovering Fire Bolt, and even with the lamp, it was darker, it would do since they didn¡¯t want to invoke questions from people who might see the floating ball of fire.

    It was truly dark when they arrived in the next village but unfortunately for Anton and his family, its local inn was full of people already, so they went outside to a field somewhere near the village to camp and saw that there were others already there camping.

    Anders and Anna took some camping material from one of the boxes in the cart and taught Anton how to set up a tent. They set up a couple of tents since one of them would be awake during the night for guard duty. Anton¡¯s father told them it was a good habit to start, and they should learn as soon as possible, and the siblings just obeyed their father.

    After the tents were set up, Anders taught his son how to set up a campfire and he followed his father¡¯s instructions closely. Once the fire was going, Anna surreptitiously asked Anton to take out one of the boxes with a pot full of food and since it was still warm inside his inventory, they didn¡¯t need to warm it on the fire. Once they took bowls of food, Anton looked around and when he saw that nobody was looking at them, kept the box with the food inside his inventory.

    Their dinner was good. A stew that Anna cooked earlier that was still hot and fresh, some bread, and water. His father then told them that one good thing about camping was, that they didn¡¯t need to spend their coins.

 Chapter 20

    After dinner, Anna turned to Anton and asked him something.

    ¡°Brother, before we go to sleep can you tell us another story?¡± She then looked at their father as if asking for permission.

    When Anders nodded which was a signal that he would allow it and in all honesty, Anton could see that his Father also wanted to listen to one, he then told his sister that he had some questions that needed answers first.

    ¡°I saw earlier that you tried to light the lamp using a flint. Don¡¯t we have matches or is a match not a thing here?¡± Anton dreaded the answer that they didn¡¯t know what matches were because it meant that this world was more backward than he thought but then again, he did see the soap and their outhouse possibly had an old-school septic tank based on the observation that he did.

    ¡°We do have matches it¡¯s just that we ran out and we never got the chance to buy more. We''re used to using the flint anyways,¡± Anna answered.

    ¡°What about the New Year? Do we celebrate the New Year, and do we have a celebration before the New Year like some sort of winter solstice celebration?

    ¡°Why are you asking these questions? It¡¯s only March and it¡¯s still far away. We do celebrate the New Year and we also celebrate the Winter Solstice during the month of December a week before New Year,¡± Anna answered.

    ¡°The reason I¡¯m asking these questions is related to the fairy tale that I¡¯m going to tell.¡±

    Anna cheered which was heard by their neighboring camp which was a family with two little children and two teenagers. That neighboring family then stood up, went to their camp, and introduced themselves. Apparently, they were from a farm near this village, and they also heard about the invasion and were traveling to another country as well.

    Anders introduced himself then he introduced Anton and Anna as his children.

    ¡°My brother is about to tell a story so you¡¯re welcome to stay awhile and listen,¡± Anna said to the family.

    Anton smiled at the familiar phrase. When everyone was settled he began his story.

    ¡°My story is about a poor little girl who lives in a city somewhere. She had lost her mother when she was young and his father was abusive, beating her and commanding her to sell matches to make ends meet. It was the Winter Solstice, so the snow was falling, and it was very cold. This is the story of The Little Match Girl,¡± Anton began.

    Anton first told his family the story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Since he began with a story from the famed author, he decided to continue telling stories from the author¡¯s collection. He opened his browser and went to the page where The Little Match Girl story was written.

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    Anton made sure to read the story to his audience loudly but with a low tone and slow pacing so he would be understood clearly. He made sure to fill his voice with expression so everyone could feel the emotion of the story. When he was in his old world, he loved watching ASMR storytelling before he went to sleep. It relaxed him and calmed his mind helping him to sleep better.

    Copying the storytellers¡¯ way of speaking was helping him a lot in telling the fairy tale from the famed author. By the end of the fairy tale, Anton¡¯s sister was sobbing loudly and even the two children were crying. The two teenagers from the other family were trying hard not to cry as if wanting to prove they were not crybabies.

    The adults all had sad faces when the story ended.

    ¡°Why do you keep telling sad stories, Anton?¡± Anna said while sobbing. She cried so much that Anders went and hugged her.

    Anton realized that Anna was not crying because of the fairy tale. It was more than that. The fact that their family had to move from all things that were familiar to them, even from their mother¡¯s empty grave due to an evil country broke his sister¡¯s heart and more than likely it was the same for everyone here. The fairy tale was an excuse for Anna and the children to cry out their sadness and worries. The family from the next camp thanked them and brought their children with them to rest.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the story Anna. Next time I¡¯ll tell a happy story,¡± Anton consoled his sister while Anders was still hugging her.

    Anna separated from his father and stopped sobbing although tears were still flowing out of her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright Father. Thank you. You don¡¯t have to apologize, brother. I like your stories it¡¯s just that it was so sad what happened to the little girl, and it touched something in me that there¡¯s a possibility that that could be our future.¡±

    ¡°I will make sure that will not happen to us,¡± Their father declared, and Anton echoed Anders.

    ¡°Sadly, that situation is common in the slums in an average city. That¡¯s just the reality and you both have to open your eyes and learn.¡± Anders told his children, and both nodded.

    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t forget to write the story down in my notebook when we have the chance okay?¡± Anna said and Anton agreed.

    ¡°Both of you go to sleep. I¡¯ll take the first watch. I¡¯ll wake up Anna later and then Anton but don¡¯t meditate during your time. You have to be aware of your surroundings, okay?¡±

    ¡°Can I talk to you for a moment Father?¡±

    ¡°Sure, what¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    ¡°I have access to a tremendous amount of information in my mind, but I don¡¯t know how we can earn funds from that. One example is the stories that I¡¯ve been telling. To tell you the truth, I have a huge repertoire of different stories. Not only that I have access to instructions on how to create different things like soap or how to tan leathers. Things like that.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about our funds since I have saved a lot from my days as a mercenary, and I would like for you to keep that information to yourself for our family¡¯s safety. The best thing that we can do right now is to concentrate on fleeing and to earn funds, we can hunt animals on the way and since you have access to a magical space, we can store the meat and skin and sell them to the city once we arrive.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re correct Father. I¡¯m sorry. Just remember we will need to have sacks, boxes, or barrels for me to be able to store a lot of things.¡±

    Anders nodded to tell him that he understood he then asked his son to rest.

 Chapter 21

    Anton and Anna went to their tents to sleep but he planned to play Diablo II for about an hour for leveling purposes and then practice his spell casting and mana manipulation of some of his spells for also an hour then go to sleep since he would need rest. He wondered if stamina potions would assist him if he was sleepy. He would find out later during his time to guard the camp.

    Anton thought it would be best if he practiced his spells outside a safe location like the Rogue Encampment to make sure that he would master how to manipulate his spells better for real-world application.

    In this current gameplay, he planned to play using the on-screen option and when he was done playing for leveling up purposes, he would enter the game virtually to practice casting and mana manipulation of his spells. He maximized the game and continued playing from the Outer Cloister zone. After an hour of playing, he leveled up to seventeen and was able to wear the Stealth Runeword armor. It brought relief to Anton since the low-level Runeword armor was powerful enough that the stats that would be reflected in the real world would greatly assist in his survival and defense of his family.

    Anton then went outside the Rogue Encampment and began practicing mana manipulation of his Lightning spell. He wanted to learn the minutiae of wielding the said spell so he could apply the details that he would learn in the real world. Even though he had practiced this spell before he knew that every spell in his arsenal would take a very long time to master. After an hour of practicing the spell, he learned how to decrease the mana enough that he could use it to shock others instead of killing them and he also learned to guide the Lightning to have a little bit of homing feature as well though not one hundred percent accurate. Still, every detail would help.

    He finally exited the game and slept after an hour of practice. Anders woke him up and when he asked the time it was around two in the morning. He would need to only stay on guard until four in the morning then he could sleep again until they left. Looking at the surroundings, he thought that maybe having a guard duty with so many people around was overkill since he observed the other camps and didn¡¯t see anyone posting any sort of guards in theirs, but he had to follow his father¡¯s instruction.

    He did feel the increased defense and stats that his new armor the runeword Stealth and was grateful that his equipment would reflect in the real world. He wondered how it would feel to have a full endgame items equipped.

    Anton was actually grateful for his family because if he transmigrated to a different world and he was alone, it would be incredibly difficult for him, and his new family cared about him which he hadn¡¯t felt for a long time. He just wished that he could do something more for them aside from being their mobile offense unit. Even as simple as providing them gold coins and potions from the game would help a lot, alas, his transmigration gift did not have that feature.

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    Since he had access to the internet, he thought about surfing the web but if he missed something, he was sure that his father would scold him, and he didn¡¯t want that, so he concentrated on observing the surroundings. He was tempted to begin his stamina potion experiment but held off because he still wanted to sleep after his guard duty.

    The morning light already arrived when his father relieved him and told him that he could still sleep for a few more hours. Anton gratefully accepted his father¡¯s suggestion and went back to his tent to do just that since he spent a couple of hours last night playing the game instead of sleeping.

    Anders woke him up at around eight in the morning and Anna asked him to take out the food from his magical space inside the tent which he did. When he went outside, he went to the campfire where his father and sister were sitting and gave them their bowl of stew, bread, and mug.

    ¡°Son, if possible can you provide us with water from your spell? I think that water had great health benefits because ever since I¡¯ve been drinking it, all the aches and pains from being an adventurer and a farmer began to recede.¡±

    ¡°Yes brother, I feel more energetic since I started drinking that water!¡±

    ¡°Truly? I¡¯m glad! I will provide it every day then. We¡¯ll carry the water skins for appearance''s sake, but we¡¯ll always hold on to our empty mugs and whenever we¡¯re thirsty, I¡¯ll cast my spell and fill up a pitcher with mana water,¡± Anton told his father and sister.

    After breakfast, they packed everything, cleaned up their campsite, and started their journey again.

    ¡°Father, can you teach me how to drive the cart? I know It¡¯s important for me to meditate but I will need to know common knowledge like driving a cart or riding a horse.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Go ahead and sit with me and I¡¯ll teach you.¡±

    They began their journey with Anders guiding Anton in driving the cart while Anna watched. While they did that, Anton asked his Father so many questions about life in this world so he would be familiar and not seem like an alien or at least a foreigner. His questions ranged from what countries, towns, and villages were near them, what type of products each country sold, who the leaders of the country were, and different types of organizations like mercenary bands or adventurer guilds.

    Anton remembered that in most fantasy portal novels that he had read, dungeons were a large part, and he asked his father if there were dungeons in this world.

    ¡°What do you mean dungeons? Like those places where prisoners were being kept by governments?¡±

    ¡°No, a place like something will occur like a labyrinth full of monsters and then when you kill the monsters, there will be rewards like equipment and gold.¡±

    ¡°Why are you calling them dungeons? There are ancient ruins and places with monsters, and I suppose if you kill the monsters there, you can take the items that were gathered from the failed mercenaries or adventures. You can only earn money from those places, aside from the equipment that you may luckily get, by getting the reward that a government or a nobleman will post as a bounty in case of successfully clearing out a zone. It¡¯s incredibly dangerous work and only powerful men and mages do that sort of thing. Monsters do provide parts and ingredients that wizards use to concoct powerful items and potions with powerful effects but again, I know nothing of those.¡±

 Chapter 22

    Based on his father''s statements, there were no dungeons as Anton knew them in this world. Anders told him that there were places like ancient labyrinths, ruins, and places with monsters and they only gathered there because of the lack of humans in the area. Like animals, they used those places to nest and reproduce.

    Sometimes a location with a monster would become a big problem for the local lord and he or she would hire mercenaries or wizards to clear out the place. Wizards would also commission mercenaries as guards to hunt a specific monster because that monster has parts that the wizard would use for item making.

    Anton didn¡¯t know how to feel about the lack of dungeons that would endlessly spawn monsters that would drop loot when you killed them. He thought that being transported to a magical fantasy world, dungeons would be a part of it, and he would have to do a dungeon dive to earn funds and grow stronger at the same time, but he guessed nothing as convenient as that existed in this world.

    Anders did tell him that the world was incredibly vast and that empires were born and had died left and right and in a lot of places their ruins remained that a person could explore. His father told him that what this world didn¡¯t lack were monsters and forgotten cities which was why he was incredibly lucky to receive a legacy that would allow him to defeat those monsters even if the cost of that legacy was his memories. He told his son that very few people become mages, only the very lucky ones who were born with mana on their body and had the money to enter a mage school or the opportunity to apprentice themselves to a wizard which would take several years.

    ¡°The fact that you learn spells immediately by staring at nothing is like a god looked upon our family with favor,¡± Anders told his son while smiling, showing that he was only joking.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Father. I will make use of this power to make our family safe and rich,¡± Anton promised.

    ¡°Yes! I would like to buy beautiful clothes and ride a magnificent carriage in the city while leaving our mansion and going to cafes to eat sweets and drink tea!¡± Anna said daydreaming and Anders and Anton laughed.

    After a couple of hours of learning how to drive the cart from his father, Anton gave everyone water that he got from casting Ice Bolt, and he did feel that the water from the spell was incredibly helpful. The refreshing feeling that the water brought was really different and more than likely, it was because the water was filled with mana. The mana did dissipate in time so unfortunately they couldn¡¯t store it. They would need to drink it fresh from a newly cast spell to get the benefits. He then told his father that he would go back to meditating to increase his powers some more and his father agreed.

    Anton joined Anna in the cart and maximized his game. He would play while they were moving but he would use the on-screen option instead of going inside the game virtually. He wanted to be a little aware of his surroundings since he didn¡¯t know if monsters would appear just like what happened when the ghoul appeared last night. He wondered if the ghoul had human victims before the wolves battled with it since there were a lot of people traveling to go to another country.

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    The last place that Anton had been when he stopped playing was the inner cloister so from there, he continued with his adventures in the world of Diablo II to increase his power and learn spells.

    He first ran a few countess farming in the Forgotten Tower to get more runes, he was hoping to get a better staff to put the runes Tir and Ral for the Leaf runeword with already an additional Fire Ball level and he luckily stumbled a plus two to Fire Ball with two empty sockets on Akara¡¯s shop. He immediately put the runes Tir and Ral creating the Leaf Runeword and sold the original one that he had since that staff didn¡¯t have extra stats in them.

    He then farmed the countess some more to get the runes for the Nadir helmet runeword, but he was unlucky. He did level up to eighteen and since he now had two extra skill points, he put them immediately to Glacial Spike and Teleport. He saved the game, opened it again, and minimized it.

    He was thankful that he had access to the internet since he could check out website resources regarding what items to hunt and guides on how to make his character more powerful although a lot of those guides would not apply since he needed to keep in mind that he needed to choose spells for real-world application and not just to play the game.

    Anton looked around and everything looked fine, so he entered the game virtually to practice the spell Teleport. After about an hour of practice, he managed to learn a little about how to manipulate the mana that was being used for the Teleport. He was able to decrease the distance of Teleport with the decrease in mana being used, he also fine-tuned in using the spell so he could teleport to places he wanted at a moment¡¯s notice, and he also did it to reduce any feeling of vertigo. He reckoned that it would take more practice to remove the feeling of disorientation whenever he teleports completely.

    After his practice, he minimized the game. Anton saw that his father stopped beside the road with a tree covering them from the sun.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for lunch,¡± Anders told his son.

    Anton took one of the boxes where their food was stored from his inventory so they could get bowls of stew and bread and then he cast Ice Bolt with decreased mana so he could get mana water for them and put it in a pitcher. He immediately returned the box to his private stash to keep the food hot and the family started their lunch.

    ¡°Father, I learned two new spells. They¡¯re called Teleport and Glacial Spike.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, what do they do brother?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Teleport will allow me to magically travel to places that I can see, and Glacial Spike is a very powerful ice spell that will allow me to summon what it described as a shard of ice that will damage and freeze a group of enemies when they were hit by the spell. I¡¯ll show you after our lunch.¡±

    After lunch, Anton and his family went towards the forest, and he cast teleport so he could show his family. They were amazed at how he disappeared and appeared from one place to another. Then he cast Glacial Spike. An elemental ice shard appeared on his hands and when he cast it to the trees, the trees received severe damage and froze. Everyone noticed that the Glacial Spike spell was faster than Ice Blast and Ice Bolt when he cast it.

 Chapter 23

    Anton and his family went back to their cart to continue their travels.

    ¡°Brother, that new spell Glacial Spike, why do you call the ice that you summoned, shards when it looked like just a bigger version of your Ice Bolt?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Well, the actual description was a spike of ice but shards sounded better,¡± He replied laughing.

    ¡°Starting tomorrow, we will stop for a few hours to hunt animals in the forest. We should take advantage of the season and Anton¡¯s magical space. I did get more sacks from the village. Will that be enough son?¡±

    ¡°Yes that should be fine as long as we can put the meat and skins inside some sort of enclosed item, it would save me a lot of space because honestly, my magical space isn¡¯t that big.¡±

    While they continued traveling Anton explained how his private stash worked and how big it was. He explained to his father that his private stash had a total of forty-eight grids in an eight-by-six arrangement. One sack, box, or barrel would occupy one grid and the only limitation he had was his ability to physically carry the said sack, box, or barrel so he could put it on a single grid.

    Anton did mention to his father that he was getting physically stronger too and that meant he would have the physical capability of lifting heavier items meaning they could fit more things in one sack which would occupy less space. One example he gave his father and his sister was the barrel of wheat grain. At first, he could only lift one barrel and that meant that it would occupy one grid but since he was getting stronger, soon they could fit two barrels worth of wheat grain in a single barrel or sack and he would be able to lift it and it would only occupy one grid.

    ¡°Thanks for explaining son. How many grids do you have left?¡±

    ¡°Since I have forty-eight grids in total, eighteen grids were already occupied so we still have thirty grids left although once were settle down somewhere temporarily we will need to rearrange our things to free more space.¡±

    It was late afternoon and soon Anton and his family would need to find a place to camp for the night. While the cart was moving, he observed the surroundings. He never took the time to appreciate how beautiful this world was. Situations forced him to focus on things that he thought would help him and his family to survive but now looking at the forest in the afternoon sun brought forth a sense that he was truly living in a different world.

    The color of the greeneries touched by the golden afternoon sun made the place look like one of those Renaissance paintings that evoked the imagery of a dream of a beautiful life unspoiled by any worries.

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    Anton had never been to the country when he was Anthony Saunders. He lived his whole life in a city full of pollution and garbage. When his parents died, no one cared about him anymore and he never found the time to make friends due to his need to earn money to survive, everything looked even grimmer. His days were filled with gloom and loneliness but his parents taught him better. He never lost hope and kept on struggling with the hope that someday everything would be better. He would earn enough money to take his GED and then find a job that would pay him more with less work then he would find friends and maybe a new family.

    Anthony Saunders then would be happy but instead, he was killed by a disease that ravaged his world. That sickness was supposed to be curable but being alone, weak, and penniless made that disease deadly to him. Now he was Anton.

    His laptop with its browser and Diablo II game was his only consolation in that grim world. It brought forth happiness even though he knew that it was fleeting. With his dingy laptop, he was able to see, through animes and web novels, people and families who were happy. People who had adventure. People with magical powers. People with friends. And now he brought that with him in this new world. It might not have been the full laptop but the browser kept him connected to the only thing that he considered beautiful in his old world which was the internet and the Diablo II game brought him powers that he could use to survive in this world filled with monsters.

    Anton thought that this world was beautiful looking at the scenery but at the same time, it was deadly. Still, looking at himself and his situation, he was...happy? No, excited for the prospect of a new adventure, yes that¡¯s it, he thought.

    He was looking at his surroundings even though he should be playing the game to increase his level but he wanted to see the new world and it was worth it. Soon twilight arrived and covered everything with golden colors. Anders stopped the cart in an already prepared camp which according to his father was prepared by others who passed that way.

    Anton volunteered to look for branches that they could use for the campfire so he walked a bit inside the forest making sure that his family never left his sight because he didn¡¯t know if he could find his way back if he got lost.

    It was easy for him to gather the branches since he was using his Telekinesis spell and putting them in his inventory. He even caught a rabbit and only used his Telekinesis spell. When he thought that he had enough branches he went back and dumped the branches that he gathered where Anders was preparing their campfire and gave the rabbit to Anders for his father to butcher.

    ¡°Tonight, I think we have time to roast some meat. Can you take out some of the deer meat and the spices?¡± Anders asked his son.

    Anton took out one of the boxes where the meat was stored, took some meat that was enough for the three of them then returned the box immediately to his private stash. He gave the meat and spices to his father and he watched Anders prepare the meat for roasting.

    ¡°It would take about an hour before the meat is ready so in the meantime, you can tell us some story Anton,¡± His Father suggested.

    ¡°Yes, I would like to hear a new story as well,¡± Anna said excitedly.

    Anton thought of what story to tell but since he began with fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, he thought that it would be best to go through the author¡¯s collection.

 Chapter 24

    Anton, his father Anders, and his sister Anna settled down surrounding the campfire. They sat on the tree trunks near the fire after they set up their tents while the meat was roasting in the fire tended by Anders. He pulled up the page so he could read the exact story from a site.

    ¡°My story is about someone who was born different from its family and received hate because of it. This is the story of The Ugly Duckling. It was lovely summer weather in the country, and the golden corn, the green oats, and the haystacks piled up in the meadows looked beautiful¡­¡±

    Anton told the story beautifully describing how the ugly duckling was criticized by everyone in the pond and the farm. He could see his sister getting angry at the animals who kept mocking the ugly duckling. He almost laughed at the veritable emotions that flickered through his sister¡¯s face at the different parts of the story. She even became teary-eyed during the sad part when it was winter and the ugly duckling was trying to survive.

    During the last part of the story when the ugly duckling realized that it was the most beautiful bird in the land, a swan with elegant white feathers, and that all the creatures bowed down on its beauty, the last sentence by the swan ¡°I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling¡± made Anna cried again.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re crying again. This was supposed to be a happy story!¡± Anton told Anna.

    ¡°I know. It¡¯s just that the ugly duckling learning that it wasn¡¯t ugly at all but the most beautiful bird in all the land was bittersweet. Now it would live the rest of its life happy.¡± Anna sobbed again.

    Anton¡¯s sister crying for some reason made him laugh this time so he did and surprisingly their Father joined in.

    ¡°Hey stop laughing!¡± Anna scolded them which made Anton laugh harder.

    ¡°Now I want to eat a roast goose. Tomorrow we will roast one of the chickens stored in your magical space,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°That was a beautiful story brother. Please don¡¯t forget to write it in my notebook as well. Oh, don¡¯t forget to write The Little Match Girl too,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°This is also a good location so I think it would be better for us to stay here for a day and hunt some animals in the forest to supplement our meat,¡± Anders added.

    ¡°Who will stay in the cart tomorrow? Anna?¡± Anton asked his Father.

    ¡°No. All of us will hunt for safety¡¯s sake. The cart and the horses will be safe here.¡± Anton and Anna just nodded.

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    After their storytelling, Anders declared that the meat was ready so they began eating. It was one of the most delicious dinners Anton had had for quite some time which was ironic. He came from an advanced world but he was too poor to eat good food. Maybe a big part of the reason why the food was delicious was because he was with his new family.

    Anders told everyone that the first shift for night guard duty would be handled by Anna and he told his daughter to wake up Anton after a couple of hours. Anton didn¡¯t actually plan to sleep at first. He would try to level up his character so he could wear the Leaf runeword staff. It would greatly increase his power.

    He lay down inside the tent and maximized the game. He then fought all the enemies he found in the Inner Cloister. He went through the Jail zone level one to three and the Catacombs level one to three. Finally, he defeated the boss Andriel leveling him up to level nineteen although he needed to kill the countess several times for more experience. This took him about an hour.

    Now Anton had three runeword items. The armor Stealth, his helmet Nadir, and his staff Leaf. His Fire Ball level was eight which was enough for leveling purposes. He added his skill point to Chain Lightning. He added the stats he earned from leveling up to strength. Normally he would have added the stat to vitality but he needed the strength in the real world so he could store more items in his private stash.

    Anton also wanted to put a point to all spells so he could use them in the real world. For the last hour, he went outside the Rogue Encampment and practiced the spell Chain Lightning. Practicing the said spell let him learn how to manipulate its mana with precision but of course, he would still need more time to master the details of the spells but he did learn enough for the spell to be useful outside the game.

    Anton heard Anna calling him so he went inside the Rogue Encampment beside the private stash and minimized the game.

    ¡°It¡¯s your time on guard duty brother,¡± Anna whispered to avoid waking up their Father.

    Anton just nodded and Anna replaced him inside the tent. As taught by Anders, he pointed his back at the fire to avoid the light in his eyes and stared at the surroundings. He didn¡¯t attempt to enter the game or surf the internet. He abided by his father¡¯s rule when taking shifts. He didn¡¯t want any accident to happen.

    After a couple of hours, Anton woke his Father and went to sleep inside the tent. This time he went to sleep directly so he would be well rested the next day during their hunt.

    Anton woke up from the sound of the birds singing in the forest. They were not particularly loud, it''s just that it was different from the sounds he was used to. In the city, he would hear the honking of vehicles, a screech of either an ambulance or a police car siren, or shouting from his neighbors. It was the first time he was conscious of this fact since during the first days of his transmigration, he was focused on something else.

    He remembered reading one of the books of one of his favorite fantasy authors David Eddings that he illegally downloaded on his laptop that the singing of the birds was just them shouting at the others ¡°My tree! My tree!¡±

    Anton went outside and he saw his father warming up the meat in the fire. He gave everyone bread from one of the boxes in his private stash and cast the Ice Bolt spell with decreased mana so it turned into water and put it into a pitcher.

    Everyone ate their breakfast and Anna turned to her brother.

    ¡°I really like this magic water, it¡¯s so delicious!¡±

    Anton¡¯s father told him that it was around seven in the morning and in a few minutes they would start hunting animals in the forest for their meat and skin.

 Chapter 25

    Anton, his father Anders, and his sister Anna went inside the forest after they made sure that the cart and the horses were not visible from the road and were hidden under a tree. They also made sure that the campfire was out to prevent any accidents.

    While Anton¡¯s family was walking, Anders was teaching his children how to hunt. He was teaching them how to walk, how to figure out the wind direction so they would be downwind from the prey, how to avoid poisonous plants, and more. Of course, the siblings would not be able to learn all of that immediately since it would take a long time for a hunter to master his craft but the things he was teaching his children were important because not only it would be helpful in hunting, but it would also be applicable on many things like running in the forest to avoid monsters or predators.

    Anton and his family were lucky. The first prey they encountered was a nye of pheasants. Honestly, he needed to use his search engine for a bit to know what to call a group of pheasants. The nye had four pheasants and Anton was surprised that when they were in range, he was able to hold all four birds with his Telekinesis.

    He stood up and approached the pheasants which surprised his father and Anna.

    ¡°Father don¡¯t worry. The pheasants would not be able to run away. I¡¯m currently holding them using a spell.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to do that,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°My meditations increased my power and the fact that the pheasants were smaller compared to other prey helped me hold on to them using my spell.¡±

    Anders immediately killed the birds and put them inside a sack then Anton kept them in his private stash.

    While they were walking, Anton suddenly thought of a possible loophole.

    ¡°Father, can we stop for a couple of minutes? I need to check on something.¡±

    Anton entered the game virtually. He thought of taking an item from the real world like a box and then putting an item from the game inside that box. Maybe he could take items from the game to the real world but when he tried it, he received a message that he wouldn¡¯t be able to take items from the real world to the game stored in his inventory or private stash and those items could only be retrieved once the user was back in the real world. He was a bit sad that his Diablo II game was really not allowing him to take items from the game but then again, he should be thankful already for all the advantages that his transmigration gift was giving him.

    ¡°We can continue Father. I just confirmed something and I¡¯m done now.¡±

    After around thirty minutes of walking, they stumbled on a huge elk. Anton asked his father if they could use the animal as food and his father assured him that its meat was delicious. Anton cast Ice Bolt one after another aiming for the elk¡¯s head. The elk died when its head was hit by three Ice Bolts. The animal didn¡¯t even manage to run far before it died.

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    ¡°You¡¯re becoming more powerful son. Anna and I didn¡¯t even have to do anything and we will be able to collect a huge amount of prey.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, father. Please put the elk inside a sack so I can store it.¡±

    Anders began butchering the elk so it would fit inside a sack and when he was done Anton stored it in his private stash.

    They walked forward again and this time they heard the animals before they saw it. It was a female wild boar trying to protect its two children from a bear.

    Anton cast Telekinesis on the two piglets to hold them and he cast multiple Ice Bolt on the mother to kill it. After it was hit by two Ice Bolt, the female wild boar died. He cast Ice Blast onto the bear to freeze it which it did.

    ¡°Father, I think I made a mistake. We can¡¯t attack the bear while it''s frozen by my spell or it will shatter and we will not be able to use it. Let''s just go ahead and retrieve the boars.¡±

    ¡°Can we use the piglets?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Yes, they¡¯re delicious,¡± Anders answered.

    The siblings were then surprised at how fast their father killed the piglets and maybe the reason was, that he was not giving his children the chance to ask him to stay his hands so they could raise the piglets as pets. He then stored the female boar and the two piglets in a large sack and asked his son to store the pigs.

    ¡°What should we do with this frozen bear?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°We can wait until it''s all thawed out,¡± Anton answered.

    Anders studied the frozen bear corpse.

    ¡°No, it would take several hours. Let''s just destroy it.¡± Anders then hit the bear with his sword and even though they could tell that the hit was not that hard, the frozen bear shattered into tens of pieces.

    Anton and his family continued forward to hunt more animals. They didn¡¯t encounter anything after thirty minutes of walking. They did encounter something unexpected. They came across a couple of undead monsters feeding on a boar¡¯s corpse.

    ¡°Ghouls again?¡± Anton asked.

    Without asking for permission, he cast Glacial Spike onto the ghouls and since the monsters were busy eating the boar, they didn¡¯t expect the spell and they were hit. Both monsters immediately froze but Anton and his family could see that they were still alive. He then cast Chain Lightning to the frozen ghouls and that killed the two monsters. They didn¡¯t shatter though. When they died, they thawed out and remained as corpses. He guessed that the freezing effect of Ice Blast was more potent than Glacial Spike or maybe something more was in effect.

    ¡°Burn it Anton lest they come back,¡± his father commanded so he cast Inferno at the ghoul¡¯s corpses until only ashes remained.

    ¡°Why is it always undead? Are there no other monsters like goblins or orcs or giant spiders?¡± Anton muttered.

    ¡°The forest does have those monsters but since the Undead Coalition is on the move, expect more of the undead instead of other monsters. I hope we don¡¯t encounter powerful undead like a vampire or a lich though because we can¡¯t know for sure if you¡¯re powerful enough to defeat one,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Should we continue?¡± Anna asked his father.

    ¡°No. If there¡¯s undead here, there could be more. We have enough. We¡¯re not staying here. Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    Anton¡¯s family went back to the campground. After more than an hour of walking they arrived where their cart and horses were and they prepared it for their journey and without further ado, they moved on.

 Chapter 26

    Anton and his family started their hunt early in the morning and it was supposed to last for the whole day but they had to stop due to the presence of the ghouls and the possibility that there could be more, so they moved from the camp.

    It was around lunchtime when Anders drove the cart out of their recent campsite and he told his children that they would take their lunch on the move.

    Anton could tell that his father was worried about the undead they saw on the road and the forest. The invasion was supposed to arrive in Mendi two weeks from now and even then, they were supposed to focus on the capital instead of the surrounding villages but their presence could already be felt.

    ¡°We won¡¯t stop again until we reach the Holy City of Tiande. If we reach a village then we can rent a room at an inn or ask someone to shelter us for coins but there is no village, we will camp by the side of the road but the important part is to be always on the move.¡±

    ¡°We understand father. We¡¯ll follow you,¡± Anton said while Anna nodded.

    They ate bread and cheese and water for lunch and as usual, the family drank the water that came from Anton¡¯s spell work. Anton had to admit by now that the water did have health benefits because even he could feel his tiredness disappearing whenever he drank the water and at night before sleeping, if he drank a mug full of mana water, his sleep was better.

    ¡°Father, can I meditate while we¡¯re on the move?¡± Anton asked Anders.

    ¡°Hold off for now since we¡¯re still too near where the ghouls were. Maybe after we¡¯re far enough away from here, let''s say a day or two away then you can meditate. I¡¯m just wary of something appearing that we need to handle immediately.¡±

    Dusk arrived and unfortunately, they did not reach the next village so they were forced to camp by the side of the road. Anton and his family prepared two tents since one of them would always be on guard duty.

    ¡°Since you still have room in your magic space, we should collect campfire branches and store them there for emergencies,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, Father. We¡¯ll do that when we have the chance.¡±

    Everyone ate the hot stew and bread that was in Anton¡¯s private stash and he provided everyone with a pitcher full of mana water from the Ice Bolt spell. He wondered if there was a difference if he used a more powerful spell like Glacial Spike.

    After eating dinner Anders gave some instructions to his children.

    ¡°Anna will take the first watch and then you Anton then me. You need to go straight to sleep Anton, no meditating or doing other stuff. We need to leave early tomorrow.¡±

    Anton went to bed immediately following his father¡¯s direction and the last thought in his mind was that he wished he could take a shower.

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    A couple of hours later, Anton was woken up by his sister so he replaced her as the night guard for the family. He concentrated on looking at the surroundings making sure that his family was safe. After two hours, he woke up his father and went to sleep again.

    ¡°Anton, Anna wake up! We¡¯re being attacked,¡± Anton woke up from his father¡¯s loud voice after what seemed like just an hour of sleep and he immediately went outside the small tent. He saw that Anna was the same.

    Anders was looking at something beyond the campfire and when Anton looked that way, he saw three ghouls studying them. His father was holding his sword ready for the ghouls¡¯ attack.

    ¡°Are we being followed?¡± Anton urgently asked.

    ¡°That may be the case. The ghouls that we killed earlier could be part of an undead patrol and its leader decided to hunt us.¡±

    ¡°What are they waiting for?¡± Anna asked, visibly trembling.

    ¡°They may be waiting for reinforcement or their leader,¡± Her father answered.

    Anders then instructed his son to kill the ghouls.

    Anton immediately cast Glacial Spike one after another. Even if the ghouls were fast, his spells were faster and the good thing about Diablo II spells was he could spam cast them as long as he had the mana and since he had mana potions in spades in his inventory because he always made sure he did before doing anything outside of the game, he was not afraid to empty his mana reserve.

    The first Glacial Spike hit one of the ghouls and since it was an area of effect spell the other two ghouls were hit as well. The three monsters froze and the several Glacial Spike that hit them shattered the ghouls in tens of pieces immediately killing them.

    The advantage of the ice spell was there would be no corpses left. That meant that whoever would investigate the death of the ghouls would only find traces of water in the area that would soon dissipate. The Diablo II ice spell was so powerful that when a monster was frozen and shattered, the flesh and blood would dissipate with the ice.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad that you¡¯re a powerful wizard brother,¡± Anna said when she saw the ghouls¡¯ destruction.

    ¡°We need to move fast. I don¡¯t want to encounter the patrol leader of the undead. Anton, Anna bring the tents to the cart, and let¡¯s move on. Don¡¯t bother folding them just dump them inside. We¡¯ll deal with them later.¡±

    The siblings followed their father¡¯s command and Anders himself dealt with the campfire and the other traces they left. Anton did hear his father mutter that there was no helping it that they couldn¡¯t erase all the signs of their stay in the camp.

    Everyone was moving so fast as if afraid that a vampire or a lich would suddenly appear. Anton tested the effect of the stamina potion by consuming one and the effect was tremendous. He felt like he drank a ton of energy drinks but without the chemical after-effects. At first, he was moving normally then suddenly he was full of energy. If he could take the potion outside the game, it would have been a great money maker but thinking about it, a lot of items in the game could be great money makers.

    It was still very dark and the horses were wary of moving when Anders started the cart. To resolve the issue, Anton cast Fire Bolt but controlled the mana so it turned into a ball of fire hovering on top of his hand. Then he guided that ball of fire in front of the horse but high enough that it lit up the road. That made the horses move since they could now see the road.

    The spell was taking a toll on Anton though. Not in terms of mana surprisingly since once he cast the spell, only the initial mana was spent but the focus required to guide the ball of fire depleted his stamina quickly which was resolved by drinking stamina potions and he was glad of his advantages.

    The intricacies of his spell craft kept Anton amazed since there were details that he would only discover once he tried them.

    Anton noticed that everyone kept looking at their back once in a while as if they were expecting undead monsters to appear and chase them. This kept the travel tense but surprisingly exciting until the sun appeared on the horizon.

 Chapter 27

    Anton and his family were traveling on the road from the last camp and they were about three or four hours away. Anders didn¡¯t stop even for breakfast. They ate while moving. It¡¯s as if their father were afraid that somebody was chasing them which could be true since Anton killed a total of five ghouls yesterday and Anders told him that the monsters could have been part of a patrol.

    If they were part of a group that meant that somebody up in the undead hierarchy could be leading them and his father was still afraid that Anton was still not powerful enough to deal with something like that.

    Anton could understand his father¡¯s worry. He also wouldn¡¯t want to gamble with the life of his family. The sun was fully up in the morning sky which greatly relieved the siblings since the morning sun seemed to always chase the scary monsters away but Anders still seemed to be worried.

    Suddenly they heard a voice behind them.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this? A group of peasants.¡±

    A very handsome man was effortlessly running behind them. Anders stopped the cart and shouted at the man to not get near them. Anders commanded his children to leave the cart and to stand behind him.

    ¡°Father, what is it?¡± Anton whispered.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to whisper son. It can hear us. It¡¯s a vampire.¡±

    ¡°I thought they were not supposed to come out during the day,¡± Anton asked.

    The vampire laughed when it heard them.

    ¡°Your father is correct child. I can hear you. We can come out during the day though it weakens us but for peasants like you, our weakened state is still like a god amongst mortals. The important thing is do you happen to know what happened to my ghouls? My connection to them suddenly disappeared and you¡¯re the only mortals that I¡¯ve seen for miles.¡±

    ¡°Father let me handle this. Please walk further behind me. I will do something that will affect those near me.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have something that will protect me.¡±

    Anders and Anna stepped far behind him and he only gestured that it was all right when he could feel through his mana sense that they would not be affected by his Frost Nova spell.

    The vampire did not do anything only observed their behavior. More than likely, the monster was confident enough in its speed that they would not be able to get away if they ran and the fact that Anton stayed and was not moving surprised it a bit. Anton refused to call the monster a he since it''s not a male, it¡¯s a monster. Not because it was a vampire but because it had the nerve to hunt him and his family.

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    A slow anger was beginning to grow inside him. ¡°The audacity of this vampire to confront us!¡± Anton thought. He recognized that it was pride. Pride of someone who was becoming powerful. He knew his parents in the old world would disapprove since they thought him better but he liked it.

    ¡°Vampire, I killed your lackeys and I will kill you too you who dare follow me and my family!¡±

    When the vampire heard Anton his expression was entertaining to see. The monster looked like a bully in a playground who was murdering ants then suddenly an ant confronted him.

    Anton walked towards the vampire slowly who was smiling, amused at the audacity of an ant walking towards him. When he felt that the vampire was near enough to get the full blast of Frost Nova, he cast the spell chilling the vampire. He didn¡¯t want to use Ice Blast or Glacial Spike because he didn¡¯t want the vampire frozen. He wanted to know if they could find loot from the corpse of the undead monster.

    The vampire was thoroughly surprised when he received the full blast of the spell and could not react. Anton cast Fire Bolts aiming at the vampire''s head. His most powerful spells were still the ones from the fire tree since he was wearing the runeword staff Leaf which provided plus three to all fire spells and also added plus three to the spell Fire Bolt itself for a total of six levels and since his Fire Bolt had one level, its total level was seven.

    Not only that, since the Fire Bolt spell receives synergy from Fire Ball and his Fire Ball had a total level of eight due to the same staff and Anton also added a skill point to the spell, his Fire Bolt was truly overpowered resulting in the vampire¡¯s head being blasted into pieces. The vampire without a head fell to the ground. Anton wanted to make sure that the vampire was dead so he cast a few more of the spell onto the monster''s head making the vampire totally headless.

    At first, Anton thought that he would react badly to the death of the vampire since this was the first time he killed someone who looked like a human in real life but it was not so. Then again he killed a lot of rogue women inside the game and he was also there almost personally because of him being in the game virtually.

    ¡°Father the vampire is dead. It has no more head.¡± He told his father. Anna made a nervous laugh when she heard Anton¡¯s comment.

    ¡°Can you burn the corpse thoroughly to make sure?¡±

    ¡°I can but we should loot it first maybe it had valuables with it.¡±

    Anders walked towards the corpse while Anton got ready with an Ice Blast floating in his hand just to make sure. His father kicked the vampire¡¯s corpse to check if the body would react and when it didn¡¯t, they checked all of its pockets.

    Anton¡¯s father found a couple of coin purses, a wand, and a spell book. When they confirmed that the vampire¡¯s body had no more items Ander asked Anton to dispose of it.

    He cast the Ice Blast that was floating in his hand and it froze the corpse then he shattered the frozen corpse using another Ice Blast making sure that nothing would remain once the pieces of ice melted.

    ¡°We should hurry,¡± Anders told his children.

    Anton¡¯s family left immediately without inspecting the items they had gotten from the vampire and just to be safe that they would not be traced by any sort of tracing magic, Anton kept all of the items in his private stash. He doubted that any magic in this world could trace items that were inside the game but of course, he was not one hundred percent sure. He didn¡¯t know how powerful the magic was in these lands.

 Chapter 28

    Lunchtime arrived and Anton¡¯s father still didn¡¯t stop the cart. Anders asked them to eat lunch while they were still moving. There was still tension amongst his family and honestly, instead of worrying Anton, it brought a tinge of excitement. He wondered what loot they received from the vampire but his father asked him not to examine it. They would check it out once they stopped for the night.

    ¡°We should arrive in the village of Hareburrow at around dusk if we don¡¯t stop,¡± Anders told his children.

    The issue with their situation right now was Anton couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the road. He couldn¡¯t game or surf the internet because he was afraid something nefarious would attack them.

    ¡°What if the vampire wasn¡¯t alone or maybe the vampire was connected to someone even higher like a lich?¡± Anton thought.

    Maybe that was also the reason why his father was hurrying. At least inside a village, they would be surrounded by people and once they reached the Holy City of Tiande, they would be protected by the holy magics of the priests there.

    That was also the reason why Anders suddenly told his son that they could only check out the vampire¡¯s items once they reached the city of Tiande instead of tonight.

    It was early spring and the surrounding was truly beautiful. The forest was full of green plants teeming with life. They could have taken the fruits of the forest if they had taken the time to stop and hunt game and fruits and berries but because of the undead, they needed to hurry.

    ¡°I¡¯m truly grateful for your magic brother. If you¡¯re a normal person, maybe the ghoul had killed us already, and if not the vampire certainly would,¡± Anna told Anton and based on their father¡¯s expression, he agreed with that statement.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been a mercenary before but I don¡¯t think I could kill a couple of ghouls. Maybe if I¡¯m lucky but three of them certainly mean death,¡± Anton¡¯s father told them not mentioning the vampire since if three ghouls could kill him, a vampire most certainly could.

    The setting of the sun washed the forest in golden colors and luckily, they spied the village before evening truly arrived.

    Anders led the cart with the two horses at the back of the only inn in the village and luckily, they didn¡¯t see any travelers beside themselves which was normal since the travelers could have gone to different routes and that meant they wouldn¡¯t have any trouble renting a room.

    Someone from the inn took Maide and Bailey somewhere with the cart and Anders and his children went inside the inn to eat dinner and rest.

    Anton¡¯s father talked to the innkeeper and rented a single room with two beds for the three of them and they requested dinner to be sent to their room. He also asked if a bath was available and the fat innkeeper said that with added gratuity, anything was possible.

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    Anton and his family went to their room first to leave their things there and brought a change of clothes with them. They were not worried about their stuff being stolen since the only things in their luggage were clothes since the truly valuable stuff was in Anton¡¯s private stash.

    A man led Anton and his father to the baths and a girl led Anna somewhere else which was probably the female section of the baths. When he sank his body into the hot water in the large bathtub, Anton couldn¡¯t help but sigh. His father was also enjoying himself in the bathtub beside his. It had been a long time since his last wash but in reality, it had only been a couple of days. Still, Anton was used to a shower every day and couldn¡¯t help but feel uncomfortable if he hadn¡¯t had any for at least two days.

    At least, Anton was able to brush his teeth twice a day using a linen cloth and baking soda keeping his teeth clean and fresh. At first, he needed to ask his family how they brush their teeth and Anna gaped at him momentarily forgetting that he was unable to remember some of even the most simplest of things. His father then showed him how saying they usually use a combination of salt and herbs. He then asked if they had some baking soda which thankfully they did since Anton knew that baking soda was the best ingredient he could use for his teeth that he was familiar with.

    When he was in the old world, sometimes he couldn¡¯t buy toothpaste due to his lack of funds and he read on the internet that baking soda was the best replacement. Since it was cheap, he bought some for emergencies since it was also useful in cleaning different things and removing smells from things.

    One of the best parts about having the ability to create water from his spells was he didn¡¯t need to wish for tissue if he went to the bathroom. A bucket and dipper from his inventory and soap that his father gave him solve that one hygienic issue. Still going number two in a forest was a new experience for him.

    After their bath, Anton and his family went back to their room, and shortly thereafter they received their dinner. It was some sort of pork smothered in what looked like gravy and bread. Lots of bread. They still prefer the mana water from Anton¡¯s Ice Bolt spell so he provided that to his family.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re inside a village I doubt that we¡¯ll be attacked by the undead but still I would prefer that you don¡¯t meditate for now and due to the situation, I would still need to ask you both to do the guard duty for us,¡± Anders told his children.

    Anton and his sister acquiesced with their father¡¯s command since it was for their safety that he was doing this and they couldn¡¯t help but remember the vampire that attacked them earlier.

    ¡°Are we going to sleep now? I¡¯m not sleepy yet and it¡¯s early. Can we stay in the common room and listen to the music there? I heard it earlier. Maybe they have a bard or something.¡±

    ¡°Okay but just for an hour or two,¡± Their father allowed them since it was still early.

    They all went to the common room and Anders ordered some ale from the waiter while Anton and Anna ordered some juice. The waiter jokingly asked Anton if he would prefer some ale as well but he declined. He was not insecure in his masculinity or age to care about such things. With the experience that he had in the previous world and this world, Anton knew to care about more important things.

    ¡°I want to drink Ale!¡± Anna said which made everyone laugh even the waiter.

    Once the waiter left to get their order, they turned to the minstrel playing a song on a raised dais that served as the common room theater. Anton had to admit that the minstrel had a nice voice. He was singing about farm animals which made everyone laugh. He suddenly missed his guitar.

    Anton knew how to play the guitar and honestly thought of himself as having a nice voice. It was one of his hobbies aside from his laptop but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t play much after his parent¡¯s death since whenever he tried, somebody shouted at him to stop. His dingy apartment had very thin walls.

 Chapter 29

    The next day Anders woke Anton and Anna from their sleep and told them that they needed to leave early. Breakfast was already waiting for them and Anton wondered how early the inn folks wake up to have breakfast ready at this hour since when he checked the time in his browser, it said that it was only five in the morning.

    Anton and his family ate their breakfast and he provided the mana water.

    ¡°That magic of water of yours is truly magical son. I drank two mugs of ale last night and normally that would cause a bit of hangover and headache the next day but now after drinking your water, the headache¡¯s gone.¡± Anders said.

    ¡°You drank four mugs of ale Father,¡± Anna suddenly added.

    Anton laughed when he heard that.

    ¡°Father, I didn¡¯t give the vampire a chance to attack us. Do you happen to know what move it would have done if it was given a chance to do so?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Normally a vampire will use his incredible speed and strength to attack but some use their magic and since we found a wand and book that could be a spell book, there was a high chance that the vampire would have used magic. But then again, he might not have since he considered us as beneath him.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how much is inside the purse?¡±

    ¡°I can take a look.¡±

    Anton opened his private stash and checked the vampire¡¯s purse. He was surprised to see that mentally hovering his mental mouse on the items provided details just like the details on the in-game equipment. He didn¡¯t even need to take out the items from his stash to examine them which was convenient. He also checked the book and the wand and was surprised to see that his inventory and private stash provided him another service which was to identify the items that he put there.

    ¡°We¡¯re in luck father. I don¡¯t need to take out the items from my space. I would be able to see what the vampire¡¯s items were. One purse contained one hundred gold coins and the other one contained one hundred silver coins. The wand would allow anyone to cast magic missiles. It had around forty charges but there were only fifteen left. The spell book said that it¡¯s a novice spell book that will allow someone with mana to learn the spell Sleep. It would allow the caster to cast the spell to others but attacking them would wake them up. My space also didn¡¯t detect any tracing magic and I¡¯m very sure that it would have if there¡¯s any.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of coins! Even me and your mother, after years of doing mercenary work only managed to save ten gold coins at most. Take out the purse with the silver coins and the wand. I¡¯ll keep them and use them for emergencies although I will probably use the silver coins when we¡¯re farther away from here.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re rich! Can I study the spell book?¡± Anna asked his father.

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    After careful thought and due to the fact that its description said that it was a novice spell, basically a beginner spell, Anders allowed his daughter to read the book.

    ¡°Will it not cause any issues? I¡¯ve read somewhere in one of the dreams that I had that if a spell book were read by a non-mage there is a possible backlash although from what I remember, the backlash from novice spells would most likely result in headaches only but still¡­¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Your brother is right Anna. I¡¯m sorry for not being thoughtful enough. We can consult a mage once we arrive in a city. Wait until then and since we earned a lot of gold, we can afford to hire a mage to tutor you.¡±

    Anna was pacified by her father¡¯s promise that they would hire a mage to be her teacher. Anton and his father knew that ever since Anna saw his brother casting spells, they could see her desire to be a mage as well, and the fact that Anton easily dispatched the ghouls as well as a high-ranking undead which was the vampire added greatly to that desire.

    Anton handed the purse with the silver coins and the wand to his father.

    ¡°Oh, the purse is so pretty!¡± Anna said when she saw the silver-lined purse.

    Anders put the silver coins in his coin pouch and gave the purse with ten silver coins to Anna.

    ¡°This is mine?! It has so much money!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s yours and you can only use them for emergencies. It¡¯s your responsibility so take care of it and not lose it.¡±

    ¡°don¡¯t show it or wave it around or somebody will steal it,¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not a moron,¡± She retorted.

    ¡°How do you use the wand?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°Normally for items like that, you would be able to feel it like a sneeze that was about to happen but can control it,¡± Anton told his father based on his experience in using his spells in the real world like knowing if anyone was already in range of his Frost Nova spell.

    Anders then held the wand then pointed it at the wall.

    ¡°Ahh yes, I can feel it. With just a thought I can use the spell in the wand. I even know how many spells it had left and you¡¯re correct, it had fifteen spells left.¡±

    ¡°Can I use it?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°No, we will only use it for emergencies.¡±

    ¡°Do we need to buy more supplies?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°Yes. At first, I was worried about our finances but because of the funds from that monster we had a lot extra now and the coins were the common ones you can see anywhere so we don¡¯t need to hesitate anymore in using them. We will need to buy more spices, soaps, and additional clothing. Let me handle it so it¡¯ll be faster. You and Anna wait for me here.¡±

    ¡°Father, can you check if you can find me a guitar, and if you do please buy me one if it''s not too costly.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a guitar?¡±

    Anton was startled when his father asked what a guitar was. He thought he saw the minstrel playing with one last night but maybe they call it something else here.

    ¡°It¡¯s the instrument that the minstrel was playing with last night.¡±

    ¡°We will not be able to find one here. We should wait until we¡¯re in the city.¡±

    Anders left and Anton and Anna waited in the room.

    ¡°Why do you want a lute?¡± Anna asked his brother.

    ¡°I know how to play an instrument but now I¡¯m not sure after learning that it¡¯s a different instrument.¡±

    ¡°Is it also from your dreams?¡±

    ¡°Yes. How long do you think Father will take with the supply purchase?¡±

    ¡°Around an hour. Why do you ask?

    ¡°I want to meditate so I can learn more spells.¡±

    ¡°No don¡¯t. It¡¯s boring with you staring at nothing and me here just waiting. I know! You can write the stories of The Little Match Girl and The Ugly Duckling in my notebook.¡±

    ¡°Fine and I¡¯ll even add more stories if Father hasn¡¯t arrived yet so If I want to meditate you can just read your notebook,¡± Anton told his sister and Anna cheered when she heard that.

 Chapter 30

    Anders arrived back in the inn¡¯s room after about an hour and Anton only managed to pen the two stories, The Little Match Girl, and The Ugly Duckling in Anna¡¯s notebook. Their father was carrying two huge baggage.

    ¡°Anton put this in your magic space and there are two more in the cart.¡±

    ¡°What are those father?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Those are new clothes and soaps. Anton requested a lot of soap and baking soda for some reason. The other supplies like the spices, bread, and more are in the other two sacks in the cart. I¡¯m also happy that the inn folks cleaned our dirty clothes last night.¡±

    Anna checked the clothes briefly.

    ¡°Father these are just regular farm clothes. Why didn¡¯t you buy something nicer?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have the time and you will not find anything nice here. We¡¯ll buy nice clothes in the city. Even if we receive a lot of coins we still need to take care and not spend it all without thinking.¡± Anders admonished her daughter.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry too much about our finances Father. Once we¡¯re far enough away from here, we¡¯ll go back to hunting and we¡¯ll sell a lot of skin and meat to other people.¡± Anton said to save his sister from further scolding.

    Anders paid the fat innkeeper what they owed and left. It was still early but Anton¡¯s father acted as if they were very late and he could understand Ander¡¯s anxiety.

    While their cart was leaving, Anton saw the minstrel coming out from the inn and running towards them.

    ¡°Boy! It was mentioned by your father that you wanted to know where you can buy an instrument here. I can sell this lute to you. It¡¯s my second one and is every bit as good as my primary instrument.¡± The minstrel said to Anton.

    He looked at his father and Anders understood that Anton wanted the lute but he would be the one handling the negotiations since Anton had no idea about the prices of things. Anders talked to the minstrel away from the cart and the siblings could see them arguing. After several minutes, the minstrel parted with them with a disgruntled face and Anders carrying the lute.

    ¡°You did it Father thank you.¡±

    ¡°That minstrel won that negotiation because we¡¯re in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°But he looked like he was being taken advantage of,¡± Anna protested.

    Anders looked at his daughter disappointingly.

    ¡°I thought I taught you that a major part of haggling is acting.¡±

    ¡°But it was done. You¡¯ve already purchased the lute.¡±

    ¡°No, we''re not done yet. He¡¯s coming back with the case that he intentionally left. I¡¯m sure that he would sell us something else once he returned.¡±

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    Anton was fascinated by the convoluted rules of business in this world. Where he was from, he purchased things with a price tag and had never been to somewhere where he needed to haggle. He¡¯d seen on famous streaming sites that vacationers to exotic lands did need to learn how to haggle with the locals but since he was sure that it would take a miracle for him to ever have an opportunity to vacation, he just watched those videos for entertainment purposes and never learned anything.

    The minstrel came back with the lute case and Anders was correct that he was bringing something else for them to purchase. When Anton saw what it was, he was greatly interested in it. It was a violin and since he had access to streaming sites, meaning lessons in playing the said instrument, he whispered to his father that he wanted the violin as well.

    Anders looked at his son exasperated but still haggled with the minstrel to get the violin. In the end, Anton¡¯s father came back with the lute¡¯s case and the violin and its case as well. The minstrel now left with a huge smile on his face while Anders looked disgruntled.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Father,¡± Anton told his father while he kept the instrument in his private stash and the other baggage as well.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize son. The coins came from the monster you defeated so you¡¯re entitled to it,¡¯ Anders laughed then he started the cart to begin their travel again.

    Anton kept the newly purchased things in his private stash and joined his father in front of the cart while Anna sat inside.

    ¡°We will need to camp on the road tonight since we will arrive in the next village tomorrow night if my memory serves me. I don¡¯t even remember the name of that village.¡± Anders told his children.

    As per his father¡¯s instructions, Anton didn¡¯t enter the game or surf the internet but concentrated on the surroundings. It would probably take a while before Anders was comfortable enough of the distance from where they killed the vampire before he allowed his son his meditations.

    ¡°Father, do you think that wand will be enough to kill something like a vampire?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I have seen someone use this type of item before and it was powerful enough to kill a zombie and maybe a ghoul but more than two are still reaching and vampires wouldn¡¯t be killed by something like this. They¡¯re just simply too fast.¡±

    After a couple of hours from the village, Anton got bored and since he was not allowed to enter the game he took the lute from his private stash. It was a welcome surprise that the lute was in tune and expressed his respect for the minstrel by telling his family that the minstrel was a good man for taking care of his secondary instrument.

    Anton tested some of the songs that he knew on the lute and he found that the lute had a higher pitch than the guitar and the guitar was louder. He had to practice his scales to get the hang of playing the lute and it took him a better part of an hour.

    ¡°Brother you keep playing that sound. It¡¯s so weird, it¡¯s climbing up and then going down. Is it a song?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a song. It''s what we call a scale. It¡¯s a form of practice for those who play any instruments. It allows the player to keep his dexterity and to make sure that he can play any song. Usually, a player will need to spend at least an hour every day practicing scales and that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing now. It also would allow me to familiarize myself with this instrument because the actual instrument that I know how to play is called a guitar which is larger and louder than the lute.¡±

    Anton was happy playing the lute. He remembered the times he spent learning and practicing the guitar and his parents were very tolerant of his strumming and after a couple of years, he became very proficient. He even thought of making covers of playing and singing and then posting them on the internet sites then life bludgeoned him saying ¡°You can¡¯t do anything that will make you happy¡± and life did it over and over again.

    After a while, he started playing Pachelbel Canon in D which was his mother¡¯s favorite guitar piece. When his parents were alive and his mother saw him playing or practicing the guitar, she would always ask him to play the piece at least once every session.

    He thought that with what happened in his life it would sour him from playing the piece but the only thing that he remembered while playing the beautiful song was all the good times he shared with his parents.

 Chapter 31

    After playing the song Pachelbel Canon in D, Anton stopped and kept the lute in his private stash. He stopped not because he was tired of playing. He stopped because his emotions were getting overwhelmed from the memories of his parents and he needed to be focused on the surroundings not sobbing because he missed his dead mommy and daddy. The last thought was disrespectful but he needed a slap on his imaginary face.

    He also thought that Anders might scold him since if he were not allowed to ¡°meditate¡± which meant playing the game or surfing the internet, that meant that he couldn¡¯t do anything else that would take away his focus on looking out for enemies, at least not until they were farther away.

    ¡°That was a beautiful song, Anton. What do you call that?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s called Pachelbel Canon in D.¡±

    ¡°You have been given great gifts. First your spell craft and then your stories, now you can even play songs on a lute that would rival any bard. I didn¡¯t know that your memories are so valuable that you received so many great gifts.¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Yes the gifts that I have received are indeed great as you call them but I don¡¯t sell my memories shorts. It basically meant that whoever gave the gifts took an equal value from me and those included the experiences and memories of ¡°Anton.¡± The love that I have for Father and you and especially for Mother, they took that away. The life that I¡¯ve lived growing up on our farm, meeting my friends and playing with them they took that away. Everything that I was, my identity, they took it away and it was such a great value that they have given equal gifts in return. I know that whoever could do something like that is very powerful and they may have been gods but I¡¯m not going to sell my identity short,¡± Anton said half in introspection since most of those were lies but also the truth since he was talking about the life of the previous owner of the body, the real Anton.

    ¡°that is such a great statement son and I fully agree with you. If I were given that choice I don¡¯t know If I would have the courage to take that trade but as you¡¯ve said, you have not been given one so the only thing that we can do is be thankful and use those gifts for our protection,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry brother for belittling your memories. You are right, the memory of our mother was really valuable and all that you have received was equal to that,¡± Anna said contritely and Anton smiled at her sister indicating that everything was all right.

    ¡°Do you know a lot of songs?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Yes, just like the stories, which to tell you the truth are endless, the songs that I know are endless as well,¡± Anton boasted.

    ¡°Anton never share that information again do you understand me!¡± Andres scolded his son.

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    ¡°Yes Father, I¡¯m sorry. I understand how dangerous such statements could be. I will be more careful from now on,¡± Anton said realizing his foolishness.

    During lunchtime, Anders stopped the cart to rest the horses and feed them the grass that grew on the wayside. One advantage of the season was they didn¡¯t have to bring grains for the horses since there was plenty of forage available but they did bring a lot of grains for the animals just in case and they were stored in Anton¡¯s private stash. They also ate their lunch at the same time which was the food that Anders bought from the inn that they kept in Anton¡¯s inventory to keep them fresh.

    The innkeeper actually was curious why Anders bought a huge amount of food but the power of coins prevented the fat man from satisfying his curiosity. Anton could see that Anders was exultant with his magical space which was able to store a huge amount of food without going bad. It probably relieved any anxiety of possible hunger occurring while they were on the road.

    Anders told Anton that he planned to purchase a lot of food every time they stopped in an inn so they wouldn¡¯t have to cook while camping.

    After lunch, they continued on their journey. While they were moving Anton was surprised that his father asked him to play more songs.

    ¡°I thought you wanted me to focus on the surroundings to prevent any ambush or something?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but Anna and I will be extremely vigilant and you can help by enlivening our journey with music.¡±

    Anton was happy to obey and one advantage that he had when it came to playing the guitar was, that he followed his mother¡¯s suggestion that he learn a lot of classical pieces to make sure that his hands were nimble enough to play any songs that he would like and he was such a mama¡¯s boy that he obeyed her. He distinctly remembered proudly boasting to his mother that he learned a total of ten classical pieces like Concerto in Guitar by Vivaldi which was actually made for lute by the composer. He remembered that his parents were very proud of him, able to play difficult pieces after just a couple of years of playing the guitar that there were even plans of sending him to the music conservatory or music universities after he graduated from high school. He was very happy then.

    Now, he used the music to heal his soul a bit from the abuse that life had given him in his previous world. It would take more than an hour of playing before he was healed but it was a start.

    While playing, Anton remembered the sadness of not being able to play his guitar because of his neighbors¡¯ complaint that it was too loud and he was too tired after work to find some other place to play since he was working two jobs. He despaired when he sold off his guitar when a time came when he needed money to pay his father¡¯s second cousin''s rent due to a delay in his pay from work and to purchase food. Selling that guitar hurt him so much since it was something that his parents bought when he requested it and they had to save the money to do so since they were poor.

    Come to think of it, life in his previous world was very harsh on him and his family but his parents never showed him any despair. They were always positive and because of that, he was always positive even when he became an orphan. He had plans. He planned to take up his GED and get a better-paying job and only one job so he could have more time and find friends. Well now he was here and he had his favorite game with him and it would allow him to become powerful so that he would not receive abuse from life ever again because if it tried to do so again, he would stand up and conquer it with his power.

 Chapter 32

    Anton played a couple more classical pieces then he switched to old seventies and eighties rock music. He didn¡¯t sing since they were still on the road but kept it instrumental. He was surprised and impressed at himself for not making too many mistakes since he hadn¡¯t played for years. More than likely, his increased stats in the game helped with that. After an hour he stopped playing and told his father and sister that his fingers needed some rest.

    ¡°I liked your songs brother but why didn¡¯t you sing?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know. We¡¯re still on the road and possibly since I don¡¯t know my singing voice if it¡¯s passable or bad, I want to try it by myself first at a later time.¡±

    ¡°Okay once you confirm, please sing us a song next time.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the music son. It was very good.¡± Anders told Anton.

    ¡°Can I meditate for a bit Father? Just an hour would do.¡±

    When Anders allowed him to meditate, Anton maximized the game. He planned to play using the on-screen option so he would still be somewhat aware of the surroundings.

    An hour of playing resulted in Anton completing Atma¡¯s quest making him earn a skill point which he put in Enchant. He remained level nineteen though but since he learned a new spell, he could tell his father about the results of just an hour of meditation. Since he¡¯s wearing the runeword staff Leaf, his Enchant skill would be particularly powerful. He also managed to gain the ability to hire a desert mercenary which was good since they have an aura but he didn¡¯t know if the mercenary aura would affect him in the real world.

    Anton hired a combat mercenary. That meant that the aura that the desert mercenary would use was Prayer which was a healing aura. When he hired the mercenary a pop-up window appeared.

    It said ¡°Notice: Since this is the first time you hired a mercenary; you will be informed about the change that was done. The mercenary will use the main character¡¯s mana but you have two options to use the mercenary skills. First, you will have the option to activate and deactivate the mercenary¡¯s use of skills meaning once you activate it, it will be at the mercenary''s discretion when they will use their skills but please be careful since as mentioned, the mercenary will use your mana. Second, you can cast the mercenary skill yourself and the spell would still come from the mercenary in the game but would come from you outside of the game.¡±

    When Anton read the notice, it was a game changer. When he completed the Sister¡¯s Burial Grounds quest, Kashiya didn¡¯t automatically give him a rogue mercenary. He checked why was that and it showed that he would need to hire one and since he didn¡¯t favor rogue mercenaries, he never bothered hiring one. If he did, he would have long been given notice of the change in how the mercenary skill would work.

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    The important part was, since he hired a combat desert mercenary with the Prayer Aura, Anton could activate it and it would heal his party members. He wondered how it would work in the real world.

    When he checked, he saw another option in his game interface. It was the option of activating the Prayer Aura and that relieved him since he would be able to heal his family. He was really worried since he couldn¡¯t take out the healing potions from the game but allowing him to use the Prayer Aura changed that.

    ¡°Father can we stop a bit, there is an important change that happened in my spells,¡± Anton asked his father.

    Anders stopped the cart beside the road. Anton then tried to check how the Prayer Aura would work and when he tried to activate it, there was an instinctive option in his mind on whom he would let the Prayer Aura affect and he could choose both his Father and his sister. He imagined that since the Diablo II party size was eight people, the aura would allow him to heal up to six people at the same time since the party included himself and the mercenary.

    ¡°What is the change that happened Anton?¡± His father worriedly asked.

    ¡°I learned two very important spells that I need to test. It¡¯s a healing spell and a way to enchant my ally¡¯s weapon.¡± Anton told his father.

    Anders and Anna were delighted to hear that Anton learned a healing spell.

    ¡°Can you give yourself a small cut Father?¡±

    Without hesitation, Anders made a small cut in his finger using his dagger. Anton then activated his mercenary¡¯s Prayer Aura and allowed his Father and Anna to be affected. The wound in his Father¡¯s finger immediately disappeared and he could see his mana decreased.

    ¡°Brother I can feel it! I can feel all my aches disappearing!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°The wound in my finger is gone and Anna is correct. All my body¡¯s aches and pain disappeared as well.¡±

    ¡°I wonder If I can heal animals as well.¡±

    Anton checked if he could add the two horses to the ones who could be affected by the Prayer Aura and surprisingly it allowed him to. The horses reacted from all their aches and wounds, even the tiniest ones, disappearing by becoming frisky and Anders needed to calm them down. He then deactivated the aura.

    Anton was so happy. Now he could heal his family and it would increase their survival greatly. That was one of the main reasons why he wanted to become a true wizard of this world by apprenticing himself to an actual wizard. He wanted to learn spells with utility not just spells that could kill and now one of his wishes came true.

    That meant that the best mercenary that he could have was the one that he just hired, the one with the Prayer Aura and he would never change to others.

    ¡°You mentioned two spells. What is the second spell again?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m able to enchant your sword with fire damage and increased accuracy. It will last for three minutes. Let''s try it out. Please take out your sword, Father.¡±

    Anders took his sword out from its sheathe then Anton cast Enchant on his Father. His father¡¯s sword glowed red and it was bright enough that they could use it as a source of light during nighttime. Anders went to a tree and hacked it. Everyone could see the bite of the sword was deep and the tree began to burn.

    ¡°That¡¯s a powerful spell! Can you take out the fire please son?¡±

    Anton cast Ice Bolt and manipulated the spell until it turned into water then cast the spell towards the tree until the fire went out.

    ¡°I¡¯m so happy you can heal now. This greatly relieved me since that meant that if we encounter any accidents or enemies that caused us to get hurt, you can heal us immediately and we don¡¯t need to find a healer,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    Anton and his family happily went back to driving the cart to continue their journey and he felt that the horses were happy as well but it could just be his imagination.

 Chapter 33

    Anton was elated with the Prayer Aura. Not only will it help with their survival, but it could also even help them earn coins from sick rich people. One fantastic advantage that the aura had given him was the ability to add people to a party system. Since he already added his Father, sister, and the two horses, they would always be a part of the party and he would need to consciously remove them. That meant that every time he activated the Prayer Aura, every one of them would receive its benefit immediately.

    As a test, he activated it while they were on the move and everyone felt it. Anna looked at his brother and Anders glanced at his son. Even the horses became more lively.

    ¡°What did you do son?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m testing my healing spell while we¡¯re on the move and guessing from your expressions you felt it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it felt wonderful. It¡¯s as if a warm healing light from the sun suddenly shined down on me.¡±

    Anton didn¡¯t broach the idea of earning coins from the healing spell since he knew very well that rich people had other sources of healing and it could be very dangerous for them to admit to the ability. He turned off the aura after a while. When he checked the time, it was already five in the afternoon so he didn¡¯t continue playing the game since soon, they will stop for the night. He did enter the game briefly to check his desert mercenary and based on his investigations, the mercenary¡¯s behavior was still that of an NPC. Clearly, he would not be mistaking the people inside the game, even if he could enter there personally, as real people. Their behavior and responses were exactly the same as in the original game. He also noticed another difference with the mercenary. Its level was the same as his which was nineteen but from what he remembered; mercenaries were usually lower level than the characters when they were first hired.

    Anders found a good camp so they stopped even if the sun hadn¡¯t set yet. The siblings set up the tents while their father set up their fire. Anton then asked Anna to teach him to take care of the horses and his sister showed him how.

    Anna laughed when he heard Anton complimenting Maide and Bailey while he was brushing their coat.

    ¡°I read that they like it when you talk to them while brushing their coat,¡± Anton commented.

    Anna continued laughing and Anders just smiled but he didn¡¯t stop. He really felt that the horses appreciated his conversation with them. He briefly activated the Prayer Aura and he could definitely tell that the horses felt it and became closer to him.

    Anton and his family sat beside the fire eating the food that came from the inn. Anders clearly appreciated the cold mug of ale that Anton gave him and how hot the food was since it still looked and tasted freshly made. Anders was drinking a huge mug of ale filled with ice cubes that Anton conjured and according to his father, it made the ale especially delicious.

    ¡°I want to taste it!¡± Anna said which earned her a reprimand from their father.

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    Anton told his sister that he had something better. He took an empty mug with cork put some milk, sugar, and a bit of cinnamon shook it thoroughly, and then poured it in a mug filled with ice cubes made from Ice Bolt then gave it to her sister.

    ¡°This is really delicious Mark!¡± Anna said while drinking the almost latte.

    Anton then asked if coffee was available and he was delightfully surprised when he was informed by Anders that it was but its cost was very high.

    ¡°Can you sing us a song brother?¡±

    Anton acquiesced to his sister¡¯s request. He took the lute from his private stash.

    ¡°This is a song about a man longing for his home country which is called West Virginia.¡±

    Anton then began playing the lute and singing the song Take Me Home, Country Roads. He had a tenor voice and whenever he sang, everyone who heard him praised his voice that was why he had a dream of posting his covers on a famous site once.

    ¡°I was right brother. You could be a bard! If the wizard thing didn¡¯t work out, we could still be rich. You can sing your songs and a rich widow from the city will marry you and we can all live in her mansion and go to cafes every day,¡± Anna dreamt which made Anders laugh.

    After the country song, Anton played and sang Ed Sheeran¡¯s song Thinking Out Loud and it was also well received by his family. He carefully chose songs with lyrics that didn¡¯t mention any sort of technology to avoid confusion. He thought that people here could accept songs with names of places or people but technology would certainly bring out questions that he wasn¡¯t prepared to answer.

    Anton sang a couple more songs and then their father asked them to rest. Anders told Anna that she would take the first shift for guard duty then Anton¡¯s next then their father would take the last one. He was a bit nervous sleeping inside the tent since there was a chance that something would happen again that would interrupt their sleep.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m developing PTSD,¡± Anton thought but contrary to his belief, the moment he lay down, he fell asleep immediately.

    After a couple of hours which felt like a few minutes, Anna woke him up for his guard duty. He activated the Prayer Aura thinking it would help with his sleepiness but it only made it worse because all of his aches and pains disappeared. He kept the aura going for a few more minutes because he thought that it was helpful to everyone since based on the snores that he heard from his father, the aura resulted in Anders having a good sleep.

    Anton focused on looking at the surroundings since it was for the safety of his family. The forest at night was creepy though but he made sure that the fire was strong by adding wood to it. After three hours, he woke up his father. He gave an extra hour to his father so Anders could rest well. Then he took the tent that his father was using. He briefly activated the Prayer Aura and it really did make him sleepy so he slept immediately.

    The next time he woke up, it was already bright outside. When he went out, he saw his father roasting some sort of rabbit in the fire. It was a good thing that even if they had a magical space, Anders still kept a lot of things in the cart like spices, grains, and clothing.

    ¡°Can you give me some of your magic water son?¡± Anders asked.

    Anton gave his father a pitcher of water that he made from Ice Bolt right then. He looked around and saw that Anna was still asleep inside the tent.

    ¡°That healing spell of yours was really good Anton. That was the best sleep I¡¯ve had in years. We will leave in an hour so I let Anna sleep. She is still a child so she needs her sleep.¡±

    Anton just nodded and prepared himself some breakfast then he went to the forest to take care of his business. After he was done, he thought of taking a shower. Since no one was in the forest, he could take off his clothes and wash himself with the water created from the Ice Bolt spell and soap from his private stash and that was what he did.

 Chapter 34

    Anton returned to the camp and Anders was surprised to see his son freshly washed.

    ¡°Did you take a bath somewhere in the forest? Did you find a river or something?¡±

    ¡°No, Father. We have a bucket and a dipper in my magical space and I filled it with water from a spell and then used it to wash myself.¡±

    Anders just nodded when he heard that. His father woke up Anna and asked her to prepare herself so they could leave the camp to continue their journey. Anna woke up and she told everyone that she had a lovely sleep. She then went to the forest to take care of her business then ate breakfast together with her brother.

    ¡°I caught that rabbit near here so I decided to cook it,¡± Anders told his children.

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious father,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°It should be. I used enough spices. We should arrive at the next village later before dusk.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I want to take a bath. Hey, wait! Did you take a bath somewhere brother? Your hair is wet.¡±

    ¡°I did in the forest. I filled a bucket with water and together with the soap that Father bought me, I washed myself,¡± Anton calmly said while eating.

    ¡°I want to have a bath too!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have the time. If you had woken up earlier, you could have asked your brother for some water and soap and washed yourself but we need to leave now to get to the next village before dark. You can take a bath once we get there,¡± Anders told his daughter.

    They started their journey with complaints from Anna that it was not fair that Anton got to take a bath and she couldn¡¯t which was ignored by both her Father and her brother.

    While they were moving, Anton asked his Father if it was all right for him to meditate.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s safer now and the spells that you¡¯re learning are truly powerful. So go ahead and meditate. Anna and I will be vigilant.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± Anton said, and then he maximized the game to continue leveling up his character using the on-screen option. He still would not dare to enter the game virtually while they were on the move but if he learned a new spell he didn¡¯t have a choice but to enter virtually to practice it.

    The next set of spells that he would receive would be when he reached level twenty-four and it would probably take several hours before he reached that.

    Anton remembered when he was in his old world, it shouldn¡¯t have taken long to level up his character but due to the circumstances that had been happening like his need to hold off on leveling to make sure they were not ambushed or the need to practice his spells virtually for several hours so he could use them well in the real world, all of those added together to make his leveling progress slow. It didn¡¯t matter so much since he did earn the power to protect himself and his family and rushing towards things without thinking was a good recipe for a disaster.

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    After about an hour of playing Anton leveled up to twenty and he put his newly earned stat points to strength so he could increase his strength and lift more stuff in the real world to store more real-world items in his private stash. He put the skill point in Fire Wall and was surprised by the amount of damage the skill had but the mana cost was equal to its damage. He spent an hour outside the Rogue Encampment virtually to practice Fire Wall and practicing the spell was costly since he needed to consume a huge number of mana potions.

    Learning how to manipulate the mana of Fire Wall was worth all the gold that he spent. He felt like a fire bender wielding a huge amount of fire. Using the spell, he could even dampen already existing fire. He felt that the best use of the spell right now in the real world was to control existing fire but then again, the corresponding mana usage was really too huge but so what. He earned a lot of gold using the town portal to travel back and forth to sell items to NPCS so he would use those to purchase mana potions. After an hour of practice, Anton went beside his private stash and minimized the game.

    ¡°Father I learned a new spell called Fire Wall. It would allow me to summon a wall of fire to hinder and damage my enemies. It also would allow me to control existing fire.¡±

    ¡°You learned a new spell just after a couple of hours of meditating?¡± Anna asked surprised.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really learning something new. It¡¯s like the one responsible for what happened to me already put in the spells there and I just have to relearn them through meditation.¡± Anton explained.

    ¡°Thank you for sharing the details of your new spell son. I¡¯m sure you would be able to find a use for it and it¡¯s good for us to learn the details of your spells so we wouldn¡¯t be surprised in case you need to use them.¡±

    Anton noticed that it was already late in the afternoon and a couple more hours dusk would arrive. His father mentioned that they would arrive at the next village before dusk so they should be arriving soon.

    After a few more minutes of traveling, they all saw the next village. Ander guided the cart directly to the only inn in the village which was located in the center much like other villages all over the world.

    ¡°Father, there is something weird in this village. There are no people that I can see,¡± Anton whispered to his father.

    ¡°I noticed, but there are some inside the inn. Let¡¯s keep the cart here and let¡¯s all go inside. If we notice something dangerous we will leave immediately.¡±

    Anton and his family went inside the inn and they saw the innkeeper behind the bar.

    ¡°Welcome travelers. Are you going to stay for the night?¡± The innkeeper asked.

    Anton found the innkeeper different from the usual. He was expecting innkeepers to either be fat or soft but this one was muscular like a blacksmith or a warrior.

    ¡°Yes, we are. Let us get our things from our cart and we will get back to rent a couple of rooms,¡± Anders said to the fat innkeeper then he directed his children to get outside the inn.

    When they went outside, they saw that their cart was gone and Maide and Bailey were nowhere to be seen. A group of men and women were waiting for them when Anton counted, there were five men and three women.

    There was something off about the people. They didn¡¯t look normal. It was as if there was something savage or feral about them. Anton was certain that they had encountered trouble.

 Chapter 35

    The men and women who were looking at them were strange in Anton¡¯s eyes. They were all looking at Anton and his family as if they were fat juicy steaks and that they had been hungry for several days.

    Anders whispered to his children to move slowly to the side away from the inn¡¯s door and they did then he shouted at the group of people.

    ¡°Who are you and what do you want with us?¡±

    Not one of the eight people answered Anton¡¯s father but they grinned. Suddenly, the blacksmith and a woman came outside.

    ¡°Boys! Girls! We have dinner tonight!¡± The blacksmith told the group of people who were waiting outside for Anton and his family and as one they suddenly turned into wolflike monsters.

    ¡°Son, they¡¯re Lycans! Go ahead and kill them!¡± Anders shouted.

    Anton made his move by holding the blacksmith and the woman with Telekinesis then he cast Glacial Spike at the eight werewolves who were about to attack them. It took a total of three Glacial Spikes before all eight of the werewolves were frozen. Since his father commanded him to kill the monsters he cast Glacial Spike three more times and the werewolves all shattered into pieces. He was glad that Diablo II spells didn¡¯t have any cooldown and could be spammed as long as he had mana.

    The blacksmith-looking man and the woman who turned into werewolves howled when they saw their comrades die but they were unable to move and were easily held by Anton¡¯s Telekinesis spell.

    Anton then summoned an Ice Blast but let it hover above his hands and showed it to the two werewolves that were left.

    ¡°Turn back into human or I¡¯ll shatter you too!¡±

    The two remaining werewolves slowly turned back into humans and it was horrifying to watch that made Anton want to vomit. Due to their clothes ripping into pieces when they transformed into werewolves, the two people were naked.

    The man and the woman had red eyes and were looking at Anton as if they were only waiting for a chance to shred him into pieces of meat.

    ¡°Wizard let us go and we will leave here!¡±

    ¡°Anton don¡¯t listen to that monster. Lycans are savages who eat everything. They must have killed all the humans in this village to satisfy their hunger. This happens sometimes when a group of werewolves band together.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right! We killed all of them and ate them! They were delicious,¡± The woman werewolf shouted at them.

    ¡°Are there any more of you here?¡± Anton asked the man.

    When the werewolves didn¡¯t answer, he cast the Ice Blast that was hovering above his hands to the woman werewolf and it instantly froze her. The man saw his companion froze and sweat beaded into his brows.

    ¡°Talk!¡± Anton commanded.

    The werewolf still didn¡¯t speak so he used an Ice Bolt to shatter one of the arms of the woman werewolf.

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    ¡°There are no more! You have killed all of them! Go ahead and kill that woman and let me go. I¡¯ll leave here wizard and never come back.¡±

    Anton shattered the woman werewolf with another Ice Blast and asked the man where were their horses.

    ¡°They¡¯re at the stable. We saved them to eat later after we have eaten you three.¡±

    That statement from the man caused Anna to vomit.

    ¡°Do you have questions for the man Father?¡±

    Anders asked logistic questions about the werewolves like where they were staying in the village, where they put the remaining bodies of the villagers, and also where they put their valuables. If the man didn¡¯t answer Anton cast an Ice Bolt and struck the man¡¯s limbs. He wasn¡¯t hesitant in torturing the man since it was a monster who ate the villagers.

    When all of Anders''s questions were answered, he commanded his son to end the werewolf¡¯s life and Anton cast a couple of Ice Blasts to freeze the man and shatter the monster into pieces.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry son that you have to learn how to kill so young.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that young Father and I didn¡¯t now kill anyone. I eradicated some monsters who were a danger to us and the world in general.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right Anton. If you have the power, never hesitate to use it to save yourself or your family.¡±

    ¡°That was truly scary Father, brother. When I saw them turning into werewolves I thought we would die,¡± Anna started crying and Anders consoled his daughter.

    ¡°Hey don¡¯t be scared. I¡¯m now a powerful mage,¡± Anton boasted which made Anna laugh a bit.

    Anders and his children went inside the inn and went into the room where the leader of the werewolves indicated they were staying. There he found the monster''s belongings but the only valuable things they found were a purse with fifty-three gold coins, another purse with thirty-three silver, and a third one with one hundred and twenty-four copper coins. Before the monsters died, he told them that these were all the coins of the villagers.

    ¡°Father, are the werewolves connected to the Undead Coalition?¡± Anton asked his Father.

    ¡°No, they were not. They¡¯re monsters but they¡¯re living monsters and they hate the undead with a vengeance. There was a thought in the mercenary band that Lycans hated undead because they couldn¡¯t eat them.¡±

    Anders and his children comb the whole inn to make sure no monsters were left and they also took all the things they thought they might need like all the spices and the nice clothes inside the wardrobes of the innkeeper and his family. Anna found a hand mirror that she liked and she also found several dresses that she thought were beautiful.

    They also found some jewelry that Anders thought was worth keeping. It took them about an hour to go through the inn and collect all the things they wanted to keep. After that, they all went to the stables to check on the horses and their cart.

    It was a bit silly but they never left each other sides.

    When they found Maide and Bailey, they immediately comforted the horses and Anton activated the Prayer Aura which calmed them down. Anders then hitched them to the cart and brought the cart in front of the inn.

    ¡°Are we not going to stay here for the night Father? Anton asked.

    ¡°We are. I just want them ready so we can leave immediately if we need to. We¡¯re going to sleep in the common room after we put some of the bedding there and we will continue to have someone awake at all times for guard duty. Anna go ahead and take your bath in the bathroom. I will go ahead and look around once last time just in case. Can you cast your spell that makes my sword enchanted with fire son?¡±

    Anders unsheathed his sword and Anton cast Enchant to it. Then his father went around to check things out again to make sure they were alone. Anna busied herself by getting clothes and soap from the cart then went to the bathroom to take a bath. Anton was also planning to take one himself later since he felt unclean.

    While waiting for Anna, Anton looked at the things they collected that were put on one of the inn¡¯s tables. Anders told them that they would sort them out later. When Anna returned, he went to the bathroom to have a bath as well. When he was done, he saw that Anders and Anna were there waiting for him. He gave them the food stored in his inventory and they all started eating. After that, Anders took a bath himself and when he was done, he told his children to rest. They would sort out the things they looted tomorrow.

 Chapter 36

    Anton¡¯s father woke him up for his shift in the guard duty. When he checked the time it was two in the morning. Anders told his son that they should let Anna sleep tonight without interruption since she was still a growing child and Anton just nodded to indicate his obedience. His father also told him to wake him up in three hours.

    While everyone was sleeping, Mark checked all the entrances like the doors and windows to make sure that everything was locked. He knew that those wooden doors and windows would not be able to stop supernatural creatures like werewolves and vampires but at least it would hinder anyone who wanted to enter and give Anton and his family enough time to react well to any invasion.

    After his inspections, Anton went back to sit in front of the window so he could look outside and then made a mental plan for his next move. Right now, he was level twenty. He wanted to level up some more so he could hunt items that would make him more powerful but he also needed to take the time to study and practice the existing spells that he already had.

    When Anton first became aware of his transmigration gift, he was ecstatic to be able to surf the internet but so far he never had the time to do so. They were always on the run and always in possible danger which in retrospect held off any form of boredom which was the main reason why he was exultant in getting the power to surf the net. He was deathly afraid of getting bored.

    At this moment he couldn¡¯t even play the game since he was afraid that some sort of monster would come in and eat them so the only thing that he could do to pass the time was to practice manipulating the mana of one of his spells. He decided to practice manipulating Glacial Spike. He had this idea to test if the water that came from higher-level spells would be more beneficial although he didn¡¯t how to do that. The only thing to do was to drink the water from the said spell which he did and to be honest, he didn¡¯t taste anything different.

    It was still the same mana-filled water that brought refreshment to his body but he could detect that the water did have more mana. He decided from now on they would drink it. The next experiment that he would like to test was if the Prayer Aura could regenerate a lost limb but he could only catch a small animal for that.

    Anton decided to check if he could find some sort of rat but there were none. More than likely the wolves'' aura or killing intent or something like that drove the small creatures away. With no other thing to do, he went back to practicing mana manipulation.

    After a few hours, he woke up his father so he could return to sleep. The next time he woke up Anton saw that all the items that they had looted from the inn were already sorted and packed in boxes. When Anders saw that his son was looking at the boxes and barrels, he told his son that he had taken them from the inn¡¯s basement storage.

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    ¡°Father since we¡¯re here already and our stored items are getting larger I suggest we organize everything again. I¡¯m stronger now so we could fit more items inside barrels or boxes and I could still lift them. It would give us more space.¡±

    ¡°Before we do that let¡¯s go ahead and collect all we can from the surrounding houses like their unspoiled food like grains and spices. We also need to find more barrels, boxes, and sacks.¡±

    Anna woke up so they began eating breakfast. While they were eating, Anders told his children his plan of going to every house and taking all the items that they could use then they would arrange them in the inn.

    ¡°Are you sure Father that it¡¯s okay for us to stay here for long?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°The Lycans are highly territorial. They should have killed or driven away all those that could threaten their sovereignty in this area.¡±

    Anton and his family still went together. They didn¡¯t want to admit it but all of them were afraid of being separated and then getting attacked by something. The first house they went to was the house where the head werewolf told them they put the remains of the villagers like their bones. Anders didn¡¯t allow his children to enter the house and when he exited it, Anton felt that it was a good idea since his father who was a veteran mercenary had a pale face.

    ¡°Do you want me to burn the place down Father?¡±

    ¡°Yes we should do that so we can lay everyone to rest but we¡¯ll do it after we leave.¡±

    They went to all the houses and it was a good thing that it was a small village since it took them all morning to collect all the things they wanted to keep. They needed to utilize Mark¡¯s inventory to transfer the items from the different houses to the inn for sorting and arranging. They managed to collect a tremendous amount of things including food, spices, clothing that they could use or sell, a tiny amount of jewelry, and even weapons.

    ¡°Father you should teach Anna some sort of long-range weapon like a small bow or a slingshot since I can cast Enchant on any weapon, anything she wields will be powerful as well,¡± Anton told his father when they saw a small bow from the things they gathered.

    ¡°I know how to handle a switch! Can you enchant that as well?¡± Anna asked excitedly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try it out,¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°We¡¯ll try it out after we¡¯re done arranging all these things.¡± Anders admonished his children.

    They spent the rest of the day arranging and sorting all of their things including the ones stored in his private stash although Anton made sure that they prioritized the food to avoid any form of decay or even losing the freshness and hotness of the cooked food. They needed to test how much weight Anton could lift and it was substantial considering that he only needed to lift the said weight for just a few seconds.

    Anders separated the things they needed to put into the cart for convenience and appearance sake.

    When all the arranging and sorting out was done, Anton was looking at his private stash in delight since the space they had to use remained the same but the amount of items they had was much more sizable than before.

    Anders also explained to his children what items were in the cart like their clothing, some spices, grains for the horses or themselves in case of emergencies, candles, soap, flints, and matches that were stored in a small box, and some animal skins. They made sure that the amount would not be a burden to Maide and Bailey. They also found a carriage behind the inn so they were planning to switch from their cart to the handsome carriage since not only it would be easier for the horses, but it could also be used to protect them from the elements.

 Chapter 37

    Anton¡¯s father prepared the carriage that they would be using in traveling to the city starting then. He had to admit that the carriage would be more convenient than the cart since they would have cover in case it rained and Anders warned them that rain was likely due to the season.

    ¡°The carriage is so pretty. It¡¯s like we¡¯re nobles!¡± Anna exclaimed when she saw the carriage.

    ¡°Anna is right Father. Are we not going to get in trouble?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not. It¡¯s just a carriage and even if somebody says we''re pretending, remember you are a wizard son, and that automatically enobles you in most countries. Of course, we will resort to using that only if needed but anyone who has money can use a carriage, and not only nobles.¡±

    The siblings excitedly entered the carriage once they were done loading all of their belongings there.

    ¡°Ooh it¡¯s comfortable,¡± Anna said excitedly.

    Even Anton who had ridden different types of cars and the subway train was excited, It was his first time riding an old-school carriage. After studying the inside of the carriage, he agreed with Anna that it was indeed comfortable but after a while, he joined his father at the front where the driver usually sits since he didn¡¯t want to treat Anders as a coachman, and even Anna joined them.

    ¡°It¡¯s lonely and scary being alone inside the carriage,¡± Anna said which made everyone laugh.

    ¡°You two go inside the carriage. It''s not normal to have a carriage without people inside it.¡± Anders told his children.

    ¡°I''ll go inside later Father. I have some more questions for you.¡±

    ¡°I''ll join brother when he¡¯s ready to go inside.¡±

    Last night when Anton was in his guard duty he thought of what would happen if he chose another character instead of a wizard for example his second favorite character which was the necromancer. He probably could pass off the necromancer as a unique wizard but there was no denying that the character¡¯s magic was rooted in the undead.

    ¡°What are the people''s opinions on necromancy? Logically speaking, I know that people are afraid of death magic due to the Undead Coalition conquering the countries near them but is death magic not accepted at all?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking this question? Did you receive a spell related to death?¡± Anders asked worriedly.

    ¡°To tell you the truth Father, in the beginning, I was given a choice on what type of magic I could receive and since there was a feeling in magic that I would love it even though I know nothing about it, I chose to become a mage but there was an option to become a necromancer instead and honestly, the spells that I previewed from that profession were terrifyingly powerful.¡±

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    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you chose wizardry instead of necromancy. In the end, death magic is still magic and it¡¯s a road to power but people would still prefer to deal with someone who wields the arcane instead of someone who wields the magic of death.

    Anders paused for a bit then continued.

    ¡°Even if in the case that it happened to you, it would not change the fact that you¡¯re my son and I would still support you.¡± Anders said while looking at him directly.

    Anton became a bit teary-eyed.

    ¡°Thank you, Father. Still, I¡¯m glad that I chose wizardry too.¡±

    ¡°Brother, you said Necromancy was one of the choices that were given to you, Were there others?¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, there were five other professions but once I chose wizardry, all those paths closed to me forever,¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°What were they?!¡± Anna gasped.

    ¡°You can tell it to us but never tell this to others again son,¡± Anders said and was also curious about the options that his son had.

    ¡°Yes, Father I will not tell anyone else. The first one is called a Barbarian. It would have allowed me to wield the powers of an unmatchable warrior. The barbarian was able to wield huge weapons like huge hammers or axes or dual-wield weapons like wielding two swords at the same time. The barbarian got skills that would allow him to summon energies from the earth and fire to assist him in battle. Not only that one of his ultimate powers was to summon a god-like power to descend upon him during battle for a limited time but in that time he would become invincible.¡±

    Anton¡¯s father and sister gasped when they heard about the barbarian¡¯s powers.

    ¡°You should have chosen that!¡± Anna said excitedly and Anton could even see his father had a possible similar thought.

    ¡°No, I would never choose that since it would turn me into some man full of muscles,¡± Anton jokingly said.

    ¡°What are the others?¡± Surprisingly, it was Anders who asked him.

    ¡°Should I continue? I already chose the wizard path and that meant all other paths were close to me.¡±

    ¡°Yes continue! We know that they¡¯re paths that you will never be able to take but we¡¯re just curious brother.¡±

    Anton saw that his father was curious as well so he continued.

    ¡°The next is also a warrior but very different from a barbarian. It¡¯s called a Paladin.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen some paladins before when I was a mercenary. They¡¯re special warrior priests I think.¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Yes, but the one that I would have had if I had chosen it was probably different from the ones that you¡¯ve seen Father. The paladins have what I call aura powers. Their aura was able to do a lot of things. But mostly it empowers their attack to an unimaginable degree. They have unrivaled healing powers and their spells to protect others are on a different scale. The one spell that I had been using to heal was a boon I received. It¡¯s one of the auras of a paladin called the Prayer Aura and it would be one of the very few spells that was supposed to be only available to paladins but it was granted to me since there was a strong desire from me to heal you Father and Anna and the being that granted these gifts probably heard my wish. In the previews that I¡¯ve seen, they have an aura that can freeze enemies and they also have an aura to summon lightning to destroy their enemies and more. They were almost like wizards in a way. Warrior wizards blessed by a god that can heal, empower, and protect.¡±

    ¡°That is something. I would have chosen something like that,¡± Anders muttered.

    ¡°Brother, you mentioned that there¡¯s a chance that you can still use the spell of the other profession that was shown to you, am I right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but those spells will be very hard for me to acquire.¡±

    Anders said that because there were items in Diablo II that granted different skills from different characters. He planned on hunting some of those items because they would be useful to him in real life like those items that could summon monsters since summons could be used to protect his Father and his sister.

 Chapter 38

    Anton thought that it was useless to expound on the other characters¡¯ powers in the Diablo II game to his Father and sister given that the game clearly stated that once he had chosen a character he would not have a chance to choose a new one or switch to a new one but he thought that they were treating the information as some sort of entertaining story which was why they insisted on hearing the details so he continued.

    ¡°The next character that was given to me as one of my choices is called a druid.¡±

    ¡°Druid? I know a druid! He was one of the officers in the mercenary band that I was a part of. The only power I have seen him wield was he was able to shapeshift into different animals,¡± Ander said.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost the same. The druid was given the power to wield the forces of nature and to summon powerful ferocious animals that would help him in battle. In the previews that were shown to me, I¡¯ve seen him summon boulders of fire, raise volcanoes, and raise a hurricane to devastate his enemies. I¡¯ve seen him summon a flock of ravens, spirit wolves, and dire wolves to ravish those that threaten him and lastly, he was able to summon the spirit of plants to heal him and to increase his strength. Oh yeah, he can also shapeshift.¡±

    Anton didn¡¯t tell them that the druid could shapeshift to a werewolf or a werebear given their recent experience and since he would never see him turn into a druid, they didn¡¯t need to know.

    ¡°That¡¯s a wonderful powerful wielder! Imagine if you chose druid I could have a pet spirit wolf with me right now!¡± Anna said.

    Anton laughed at what his sister was focusing on showing that she was still just a little girl.

    ¡°That character does sound powerful,¡± Anton¡¯s father added.

    ¡°The next choice was usually only given to women according to the information that was shared with me but it was also offered to me. It¡¯s called an Amazon. The character had prodigious ability in wielding bows and spears. With a bow, an Amazon could devastate an army with her ability to rain magical arrows on her enemies. Her arrows could possess the deadliest of poisons, explode like a wizard¡¯s fireball, or freeze a group of people like the Glacial Spike spell that I¡¯ve been using. She could also cast her spears that would turn into multiple lightning that would wreak havoc on those who challenged her and once she was powerful enough, she could summon an avatar that looked exactly like her that had the same powers.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I like to be someone like that. You mentioned the word ¡°Amazon.¡± What¡¯s that?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a place ruled by women and its most powerful warriors were women.¡±

    The next two characters were a bit darker. You know about the necromancer since it¡¯s a common profession in this world. It¡¯s basically the same, summon undead or monsters and cast death magic spells. But the last one was dark in a different way. It¡¯s called an Assassin. The character had the spells to hide and wield darkness. He is an expert in throwing weapons like a throwing knife but the most important part is his ability to disappear and then the next thing you will see is his enemies all lying down in a pool of blood.¡±

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    ¡°All the professions that were shown to you were great wielders of magic but they wield them in different ways so in a sense, you could have chosen anyone and you would have been still a mighty magical warrior,¡± Anton¡¯s father commented.

    ¡°You are correct Father and from the glimpses that I¡¯ve seen of the world where they came from, their world was enveloped in a devastating war that left everything in ruins that was why almost all of their spells are geared towards combat. Whoever the being that was responsible for showing all of those to me and giving me the gift to choose was very powerful and I¡¯m quite thankful that I was chosen.¡±

    ¡°We are all thankful. If you have not received those gifts, I¡¯m willing to admit that we would have been dead by now. The Undead Coalition would still attack our country and we would have still encountered the undead monster but if you haven¡¯t had those gifts, we wouldn¡¯t have the power to defend ourselves. Do you think that the being who gave you those gifts is a god and should we worship him or her?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I was not informed about that but one thing I know, he or she didn¡¯t indicate that they require any form of veneration so no we shouldn¡¯t worship them since instead of appreciating it, they might even be offended.¡±

    ¡°You might be correct son. Now you and Anna go inside the carriage and rest. You can even meditate since I¡¯m of the opinion that we are far enough away from the undead vampire¡¯s patrol.¡±

    Anton thanked his father and entered the carriage cabin together with Anna.

    ¡°Brother don¡¯t meditate yet. Can you play your lute first? I want to listen to some songs and can you play a happy song?¡± Anna wheedled his brother.

    Anton acquiesced to his sister¡¯s wheedling took his lute from his inventory and started playing. Since her sister was still a girl, Anton decided to play some songs from cartoon movies from a famous movie production.

    ¡°This song is about a thief, a street rat in a city who found a magic lamp that summons a genie that can grant three wishes. He used one of his wishes to become a prince and this song is about him wooing the princess of the city on top of a flying magic carpet that he also found. The street rat who turned into a prince is called Alladin and his princess is called Princess Jazmin. Normally this song is sung as a duet but I¡¯ll try my best to convey the message of the song.¡±

    Anton then played the intro of the song A Whole New World. When he first heard the song when he was younger, it brought forth the idea of a magical adventure in the desert which was why it was one of his favorite songs. Then he began singing the song. Anton¡¯s eyes were closed while he sang remembering the time when he was a kid and thought that everything in the world was possible. That adventure was waiting for him when he grew up and he would take his mother and his father with him on his adventures and they would have all the food that they could eat.

    Now, Anton was on an adventure in another world with a Father and a sister who cared about him and whom he was beginning to care about as well. Once he finished the song he saw Anna had her eyes closed as well.

    ¡°That was one of the most wonderful songs that I¡¯ve ever heard. Your voice is really beautiful brother. You sounded like a prince,¡± Anton¡¯s sister said.

 Chapter 39

    ¡°Your voice is really beautiful son. Anna is right. If all else fails, you can still work as a bard or at the very least a minstrel and you would still be rich.¡±

    Anton heard his father¡¯s comment from the driver¡¯s seat which made him a bit proud. For some reason, praise from other people did not do anything for him but praise from his parents back then and now from his Father and sister lifted him.

    ¡°Brother, do you know the full story of Alladin, the thief who turned into a prince because of a wish? You should tell it to us!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I do know the full story and maybe if you¡¯re nice to me, I¡¯ll tell you the story someday. Now this song is very different. It¡¯s about some city and the man who works there receiving advice from someone that he shouldn¡¯t lose hope. That he shouldn¡¯t stop believing. The song is called Don¡¯t Stop Believing.¡±

    Anton played the intro of the song and the very different tune perked Anna up. When he belted the rock song, his voice soared like a bird that suddenly got freed reveling in its freedom, and reached the upper limits of his flight in the sky. When he was done with the song Anna kept praising his voice.

    ¡°Brother there is something different about your voice! Something everyone would want to listen to. I¡¯m guessing if girls hear your voice, they will fall in love with you!¡±

    Because of the praise that he received from his Father and his sister, Anton kept playing until Anders stopped the carriage during lunchtime. They all ate some hot stew, bread, and water from the Glacial Spike spell.

    ¡°There is something different about the mana water. It had something more. I don¡¯t know how to explain it,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I used the spell Glacial Spike to produce the water and it¡¯s a higher-level spell compared to Ice Bolt. The taste is the same but the water had more mana. I¡¯m not sure what benefits we would get if the water had more mana but based on my testing, I didn¡¯t receive any damage or negative status effect.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by negative status effect?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I meant I was not poisoned or something.¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just say so? Are you a noble now, using words that we common people don¡¯t understand,¡± Anton''s sister mocked him but it only made Anton laugh.

    ¡°Anna stop teasing your brother.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to sing more songs brother?¡±

    ¡°No, I will need to rest my throat and my fingers. I¡¯m going to go ahead and meditate.¡±

    Anders observed the horses and when he decided that they had enough rest, Anton¡¯s family continued with their journey. The next village that they would arrive at would take them four days of travel but at least they had the carriage now, plenty of food and water and they could even take baths if they wanted to since they had an unlimited supply of water thanks to Anton¡¯s spell.

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    Inside the carriage, Anton pretended to meditate but what he did was maximized the game and entered it virtually. He did warn Anna that his meditation would be a lot deeper than normal so if they needed to get his attention, they would need to shake him well and call out to him loudly.

    Inside the game, Anton continued with the quest of assembling the Horadrim Staff. Battling the monsters in person was different. It was easier to avoid being hit since he could see their attack personally and he was also getting used to casting his spells which he thought was going to be a huge advantage in the long run because his body would be able to remember the details of how to handle mana and how to manipulate mana. At first, he needed to get used to casting spells with a staff in his hands but after a while, he got used to it and he couldn¡¯t not use the staff since it added a lot of power to his spells.

    Anton completed the Halls of The Dead and managed to get the Horadrim Cube which he could also use as an inventory in real life. It was sad that he couldn¡¯t use it to combine things from real life. Then an idea came to him. Could he repair armor and weapons from real life using the game? He couldn¡¯t take out the items from real life into the game but to have Charsi or the other blacksmith repair an item, he didn¡¯t need to. They would be able to fix the items from his inventory. That meant that there was a chance that he could refill the charges on the magic missile wand that they got from the vampire.

    He decided that it was important enough to stop the carriage to test it out.

    ¡°Father, can we stop for a bit? I may have discovered a loophole in one of my spells that could help us greatly.¡±

    Anders stopped the carriage beside the road.

    ¡°What did you discover son?¡±

    ¡°Let me test it out first. Can you give me your sword and the wand first?¡±

    Anders had his sword taken out from its sheathe as per Anton¡¯s instruction and including the wand handed them over to his son. Anton then put the sword and wand into his private stash. When he tried to transfer the sword first from his private stash to his inventory, he received a message window that he would not be able to take items from the real world into the game. The game was really strict not allowing him even that small step so he needed to take out the sword and wand from his private stash into the real world and then from the real world into his inventory. The wand was still the same, it said that its magic missile had fifteen charges while the sword was a regular sword with two to seven one-handed damage and ten over twenty-seven of durability. It¡¯s comparable to a regular short sword in the game. When he tried to imbue his father¡¯s sword with magic using the Charsi¡¯s quest reward he needed to put the sword from his inventory into a small window which of course, he would not be able to do since when he tried he received the message again that he would not be able to take items from the real world into the game. But when he tried to repair the items, he was able to since he didn¡¯t need to take the items out. The sword¡¯s durability went from ten to the full twenty-seven and the wand charges went from fifteen to the full forty charges.

    ¡°Father it was a success! I was able to repair your sword and the wand went from having fifteen magic missiles to the full forty magic missiles!¡±

    Anton gave the sword and the wand back to his father and they all saw the sword looked brand new.

    ¡°Does that mean that I can use the magic of the wand indiscriminately and you can recharge it anytime?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father! Now you¡¯re also a mage able to cast magic missiles anytime you want,¡± Anton said to his father jokingly.

 Chapter 40

    Everyone was admiring Anders¡¯s sword which looked newly forged. Then suddenly it seemed like a thought came into Anton¡¯s father¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Anton that meant that you could repair all the weapons and armor that we took from that village that was destroyed by the Lycans. If we sell those newly repaired weapons and armor, they will look new, and people will pay for brand-new items instead of used old ones. we will earn a lot of coins!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father you¡¯re right. Unfortunately, we only took the items that looked like they could still be used and left the others. Still, we did get a lot and I can repair all of them and you can sell those that you will not use.¡±

    ¡°Once we stop for the night let¡¯s do it. I want to see all the items that we gathered looking brand new.¡± Ander¡¯s looked like someone looking forward to receiving a lot of gifts which made Anton a little happy.

    ¡°Can you only repair weapons and armor bother? Can you repair other things like clothes or shoes or even chairs?¡± Anna asked.

    Anton wondered about that. The Diablo II game only has weapons and armor that you can put in your inventory. The rest were either consumables or quest items.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s try it out. Give me some things that we can repair.¡±

    Anna gave him a dress from one of the bags inside the carriage, a pair of shoes, and a pretty-looking mirror with tiny cracks on the upper part of it. The dress was beautiful like a noble¡¯s dress but worn out and there were some torn parts, and the shoes were also very pretty but also old and worn out.

    Anton put the things inside his inventory went to Charsi and checked if he could repair them and lo and behold another profitable loophole was found. All the items were repaired. The game was extremely strict but thankfully it did allow some small loophole that he could use. The first one was the mana water and mana manipulation, and the second one was the identification function once an item from the real world was stored in his inventory or private stash and now, he could repair all items he put in his inventory from the real world. The magic missile wand cost him a lot of gold coins, but the dress, shoes, and mirror only cost a few tens of gold coins. Besides, Anton didn¡¯t really worry about the gold coins in the game since he could gather them anytime he wanted from the monsters.

    ¡°It¡¯s a success!¡± Anton gave the dress, shoes, and mirror back to Anna.

    Anton and Anders scrutinized the brand-new-looking clothes, shoes, and mirror, and based on what everyone could see, every one of the items really looked brand new and would cost a pretty penny if they sold them.

    ¡°They are beautiful! Father, can I have them please?¡± Anna cajoled his father.

    ¡°Of course. You took them from the village yourself. If I¡¯d seen them, I would have left them since they looked so worn out and old and we did take a lot of things from there that we can have Anton magicked to look new and sell them off.¡± Anders said to his daughter.

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    ¡°Tonight, we¡¯ll find a camp early, lay out everything we found, and have Anton fix them. We¡¯ll choose what we want for ourselves and separate those we would sell. We will become a merchant caravan.¡± Anders said to his children.

    At around four in the afternoon, Anders already stopped the cart beside the road that had several trees. The first thing they did was inspect the place to make sure there were no animals that would surprise them like snakes and boars. After that, they set up a campfire and set up their tents. They still decided to set up tents instead of sleeping inside the carriage since the weather was cool and refreshing.

    Since it was still bright, it would be convenient for them to inspect all of the items. Anton took all the boxes, barrels, and sacks that contained all of their clothing and clothing, armor, and weapons from the Lycan village. Then he laid out a huge blanket on the ground where they would put all of the items since he would have to put the items in his inventory individually so they would occupy one item per grid to have them repaired.

    The first thing he repaired was clothing and shoes for himself, Anna, and his father so they could change into them and repair the ones they were wearing. After they changed to brand new clothes, they really looked like prosperous merchants since every item they wore was new.

    The next items that they prioritized repairing were the weapons and armor. If they laid out all the weapons and armor from the village, they would probably need a second large blanket. After Anton repaired the first set of items, Anders gleefully inspected them one by one. He separated all the items that he wanted for himself into one side and put all the others that he planned to sell into another. Once Anton¡¯s father was done, he put his items into a newly repaired box, and he told everyone that this box was his and contained his personal items. The newly repaired chest looked good, like something a prosperous merchant would use.

    The rest of the items were put into a different sack. The next set of weapons and armor were treated the same. Anders separated what he wanted for himself from those they would sell. After a few more sets of repairs, Anton¡¯s father now had a total of two chests of personal items and four sacks containing brand new-looking armor and weapons that they would sell. Anton didn¡¯t expect that they had taken a lot of items from the Lycan village but was glad that they did.

    Two sacks of the newly repaired armor and weapons were put inside Anton¡¯s private stash and the other two were arranged into newly repaired chests and would be put into the carriage as items they would sell as merchants. The next set of items Anton repaired were the clothing, shoes, and personal effects like combs, jewelry, and jewelry boxes, and even their working tools like their shovel and the like.

    Anton did discover limits on the repair function. Consumables couldn¡¯t be repaired like soaps, flintstones, bread, and others but still, all the things they could repair would already bring them unimaginable profits.

    The jewelry specifically was going to bring them a lot of gold coins. Anders did allow Anna to keep the ones she liked.

    Anton thought that now, he didn¡¯t have to comb the internet to find something to invent to earn gold coins in the real world. They could search for broken and old things, repair them using the game, and sell them off.

    Everyone was so happy with the situation while they were admiring the brand-new shoes and clothes that they were wearing. It took them three hours to finish the repair process and Anton had to summon a ball of fire to light up the area so they could continue inspecting the items.

    Anton and his family ate their dinner happily and probably because of the excitement that happened, everyone was exhausted causing Anton and Anna to sleep immediately while Anders remained awake to guard them.

 Chapter 41

    Anton was woken up by Anna and when he checked the time it was three in the morning. He slept around nine in the evening so that meant that he slept over six hours. He decided he would give his father more time to sleep and wake his family up at around seven in the morning.

    In the meantime, Anton remained vigilant to prevent any people or monsters from surprising them. While looking at the surroundings, he was also practicing manipulating the mana of some of his spells. He took a huge barrel from his inventory and filled it up with water using the spell Glacial Spike so his father and sister would be able to use it for washing themselves when they woke up in the morning.

    The barrel was huge and when it was filled with water, Anton tested if he could lift it and he was able to even if it were just for a few seconds which was enough for him to put the whole thing in his inventory. His character was level twenty-two since he managed to level up earlier and he put five of his newly earned stat points to vitality and five to strength so it was a given that he was stronger. He added the skill points to Fire Ball so he could use the spell to level up more easily.

    After about an hour of guarding and practicing Glacial Spike, he switched to other spells. It was a good thing that he was able to practice even if he was concentrating on the surroundings and drinking stamina potion helped a lot. He decided to drink the potion since he was not planning to sleep anytime soon and the potion did give him a lot of energy.

    While he was waiting for morning, Anton discovered another benefit of repairing the items. It came out fully cleaned, meaning they didn¡¯t have to do anymore laundry. He was so excited that he almost woke up his father and his sister but he calmed himself and let his family continue to rest. What he did was to repair all their used and soiled clothing and all of them came out looking new and clean. He was sure that his sister and his father would be pleased when they found out about this new magical perk.

    Morning arrived and Anton prepared breakfast for everyone before waking them up. When he woke his father and sister, he told everyone that he prepared breakfast, water for bathing, and clean clothes.

    ¡°How did you clean my clothes brother?¡±

    ¡°One perk of repairing an item was they will come out fully clean but take note, if we use something and it became soiled, it doesn¡¯t mean that it would be recognized by my spell as something needed to be repaired so if you don¡¯t want to wash a soiled clothing or item, you will need to break them a little.¡±

    ¡°That is one marvelous spell son. We don¡¯t have to bother washing our clothes which will save us time and will keep us clean.¡±

    ¡°After breakfast, I want to take a bath before I wear my new clothes,¡± Anna said.

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    ¡°There¡¯s water in the barrel there and there¡¯s a bucket, dipper, and soap beside it that you can use.¡±

    Before they left the camp, Anton and his family took a bath and wore new clean clothes. Now they really looked like prosperous merchants or low-end nobles. The two huge chests that contained new armor and weapons would help in their front as merchants and one advantage that they had was, that Anders was an experienced veteran and knew the prices of the equipment.

    One thing that Anton found hilarious was Anna began acting like a merchant princess and their father just rolled his eyes and let her. The girl kept giving commands to her brother which Anton obeyed using his Telekinesis so it made the girl frustrated although his magic was also giving some sort of fantasy feeling that the girl felt like she was commanding an invisible spirit to fetch things for her.

    ¡°Anna don¡¯t get used to that. Once we¡¯re somewhere with people, we can¡¯t let others see your brother¡¯s magic.¡±

    That command from their father made Anna pout a bit. They continued on their journey and the next few days would be on the road since it would take four more days before they arrived at the next village.

    Anton practiced his guitar scale on the lute for an hour then played and sang some songs which his father and sister enjoyed. Anna also kept pestering Anton to tell them more fairy tales and to write them in her notebook. She wanted her notebook to be filled with stories so she could read them as many times as she wanted and Anton promised her that he would before they slept later.

    They stopped during lunchtime to eat and let the horses rest. Anton also activated the Prayer Aura to heal the horses of any sort of bruises that they might have acquired and the horses looked healthier, their coat shinier. Since his Father and Anna were also affected by the Prayer Aura, they started to look very healthy as well.

    Anton¡¯s sister¡¯s skin became smoother and it was turning into the skin of a young noble girl instead of a farmer¡¯s daughter and Anders was starting to look younger than his forty-four years. Anders noticed her daughter''s looks were turning into a merchant princess or young noble and Anna noticed that her father was looking younger.

    ¡°Son, your healing spell is truly wondrous. Your sister is turning into a princess and you look like a young nobleman,¡± Anders said to his children.

    ¡°Father, you are also turning into a nobleman. You look younger and more muscular,¡± Anna told his Father.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that it¡¯s the combination of the mana water and the healing spell,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°The clothes we¡¯re wearing also help a lot,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    ¡°Are we not going to be in danger of being apprehended by lowlifes?¡±

    ¡°I do have the wand and I can use it to scare anyone who will attempt to accost us because we look like we have money.¡±

    ¡°Can we hire someone Father? Someone you can trust and will keep our secrets?¡± Anton told his father.

    Anders thought for a bit.

    ¡°There was a comrade of ours who retired in the Holy City of Tiande. I will go look for him and hire him or ask for recommendations.¡±

    ¡°How many people are you planning to hire Father?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°One is safer but two will be more useful to us. It will take us months before we reach the Wizard City of Zalnothel and we do have funds to hire a couple more people and to add more to our coins, we can buy all the worn-out equipment from the villages that we pass through and once we reached a city, we¡¯ll sell the brand new looking equipment.¡± Anders said excited at the prospect of earning a huge amount of gold.

    Anton settled on the idea of his father turning into a merchant which on reflection was much better than Anders exhausting himself as a farmer.

 Chapter 42

    The late afternoon sun cast a golden glow on everything that made the scenes outside the carriage truly something worth to be seen. At this moment, Anton almost expected Robin Hood to come out and ask them to join their band of merry men or for the unicorn from the animated film The Last Unicorn to suddenly appear accusing them of not seeing her for what she was, a unicorn instead they were seeing her as a regular horse and Anna insisting that we capture her for her very own pet. He suddenly took his lute from his inventory and played the theme song of the movie The Last Unicorn by the band America.

    It was a magical film that opened his eyes as a young child to the magical world of fantasy because after seeing that movie, he looked for films, books, and animations that had similar themes. That led him to his favorite authors like David Eddings, Rober Jordan, L.E. Modesitt Jr, Barbara Hambly, Mercedes Lackey, and more. He was thankful that their local library had a huge fantasy books collection, and he was told by the librarian that it was donated by a deceased fantasy fanatic who gave a huge sum of money to the library with the condition that they would take care of his beloved fantasy books. He had always included that unknown man in his prayers.

    After Anton sang the song Anna commented.

    ¡°That is such a poignant song brother. Is there a story behind the last unicorn in your song?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was about a unicorn in a forest somewhere and she found out that she was the last since the other unicorn was hounded by a lonely old king that was using a magical red bull to gather all the unicorns in the world to drive them into the sea beside his castle so he can look at their beauty and marvel. The unicorn decided to search for the others not knowing their fate and she encountered a traveling circus that was led by a witch and then the witch captured her. She was then freed by a sorcerer¡¯s apprentice who knows little magic and the other animals in the circus were freed. The witch was killed by a mythical harpy that she had also captured, and the sorcerer and the unicorn ran.¡±

    Anton stopped and put his lute in his inventory.

    ¡°Brother please continue. I want to know what happened to the unicorn.¡±

    ¡°The unicorn and the sorcerer encountered a band of thieves, but the thieves followed an illusion that was accidentally cast by the sorcerer and the only people left in their party were the unicorn, the sorcerer, and a woman thief who was also the thieves¡¯ cook. Suddenly the magical red bull by the king encountered them and to prevent the unicorn from being captured, the sorcerer cast a spell that turned the unicorn into a human girl. The unicorn was devastated. Since as you know the unicorns are immortal but being transformed as a human girl, she could feel herself slowly dying.¡± He continued.

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    Anton could see that his sister was riveted by the story and even his father was listening from the opening in the front of the carriage. He then continued with the story telling how they arrived at the castle of the king who captured the other unicorns. The king didn¡¯t suspect her since she looked like a human girl and the prince fell in love with her. In the last part of the story, the unicorn turned back into a unicorn and fought off the magical red bull using her magical horn, and the other unicorns were freed but then she did not know what to do next since she experienced being mortal, she now knew what regret was but even then time would heal her since she was back to being an immortal.

    ¡°That was such a lovely story brother. Can you sing the song again?¡±

    Anton acquiesced with her sister¡¯s request and played and sang The Last Unicorn Again.

    When dusk arrived Anton¡¯s family set up a camp beside the road. When everything was set up, since it was still bright, he recommended to his father to practice using the wand of magic missile to hunt some animals in the forest so he would learn how to use the wand well.

    ¡°You¡¯re right son. How could I use an equipment effectively if I don¡¯t have the experience? Since you will be able to recharge it, I will follow your suggestion.¡±

    Anders then went into the forest holding the wand.

    ¡°I want to use it too,¡± Anna muttered.

    ¡°Maybe Father will allow you to once he is done enjoying it and once we reached a city and earned a lot of gold coins maybe we could buy another magical wand.¡±

    Anton fed the horses and watered them using the water that he conjured from his spell Glacial Spike then he brushed their coat while the Prayer Aura was active. He could see that the horses were starting to greatly favor him being affectionate and all. He also liked Maide and Bailey and knew that he would not be able to part with them.

    After a while, Anders came back dragging a huge boar.

    ¡°The wand is extremely useful! Just three hits and the boar died. I¡¯m going to dress this boar and you put it with the others.¡±

    Anders dressed the boar in no time and Anton kept it together with the others in his private stash. They then ate their dinner while listening to the sound of the sputtering fire. While they were eating, Anton activated the Prayer Aura to make sure that his family would remain healthy, and the spell also relaxed them and made their sleep truly restful.

    ¡°It¡¯s still early son. Can you play a song for us?¡±

    Anton played and sang several songs mainly pop and country songs. He made sure to select those songs without any form of technology in the lyrics that could be misunderstood. After he sang three songs, he stopped for a bit to rest.

    ¡°The songs you sing are mainly love songs. Why is that?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡®Those are the only songs I know. I know that most bards and minstrels have a wide variety of songs that tell different stories but unfortunately, I¡¯m not really a bard or a minstrel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay brother, your songs are beautiful, and you do know other songs. The one that you sang earlier, The Last Unicorn was not a love song and that other one as well about a man who missed his country, that¡¯s not a love song.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right Anna. You¡¯re so smart!¡±

    ¡°I know I am that¡¯s why I¡¯m sure I can also be a wizard so you and Father would have to find me a teacher once we reach a city.¡±

    Anders and Anton laughed and promised her that they would find her a magic teacher. Anders then asked his children to rest so they could leave early the next day.

 Chapter 43

    Anton¡¯s father woke him up and when he checked the time it was four in the morning. That meant that just like yesterday, he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to sleep again. He prepared everything that his family would need when they woke up. He did sleep quite a while, so he was fully rested. Once everything was prepared like the barrel full of water and their breakfast, he also made sure that some of the things that they needed to clean were done, there was nothing left to do, and everything looked peaceful so Anton gave in to the temptation of playing the game to continue leveling up his character.

    He chose to play using the on-screen option since it would be easier to be aware of the surroundings if his consciousness were not virtually inside the game. Anton did take note of the time since he decided to play only for an hour so his father would not notice that his attention was split between the game and checking out the surrounding area. His character was now level twenty-two and the next thing that he would need to do was go to the palace and brave the Harem levels one and two then go to the palace cellar one to three to find the Arcane Sanctuary. He was excited to reach level twenty-four and learn the level twenty-four spells.

    After an hour of playing the game, Anton defeated the Summoner and completed the Arcane Sanctuary. He reached the Canyon of the Magi but stopped playing. He did reach level twenty-three and added his newly earned stat points to vitality and skill point to Fire Ball.

    The sun was already peeking over the horizon and Anders woke up by himself. Anton was glad that he stopped playing the game so he looked like he was concentrating on the surrounding area instead of ¡°meditating¡± although even if his father caught him, he was sure that Anders would be all right with it. After a while, Anton¡¯s father woke up Anna and they prepared themselves for the new day.

    Everyone took a bath since they were getting used to taking a bath every day and changing to new clothes. Anton always repaired their old clothes immediately to make sure that everything would remain clean. One of the reasons why it was taking him so long to traverse the game was, that he kept stopping to pick up items to sell in Lut Gholein or the Rogue Encampment for gold since he would need it to repair all their real-world items.

    Anton also had the theory that using water that he made from the spell Glacial Spike to wash themselves also brought benefits to their bodies. He thought that their skin was smoothening but becoming more resilient and all scars, and discoloration. and uneven skin tones were fading. Soon they would really look like people who had never done a day''s work in their lives.

    ¡°Son don¡¯t forget to repair my wand. I spent twenty-five magic missile charges yesterday when I was hunting and practicing.¡±

    Anton took the wand from his father and repaired it. It did cost a lot of coins but again he never bothered to worry about the in-game coins since he could always collect them anytime he wanted. He gave the wand back to his father and Anders had a satisfied smile on his face when he felt that the wand was full of magic missile charges again. Anton¡¯s father also told him and his sister that they should arrive in the next village the next day.

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    Anders planned to stay in that village for a day to purchase all the old, used, worn out, and even broken weapons and armor. He also planned to purchase used old and broken clothes and things made for the rich merchants or nobles. Anton¡¯s father was excited while he was telling his plans to his children, and he saw that his father had woken up his merchant spirit.

    He thought that Anders¡¯s favorite spell of his was the ability to repair items. All the other spells brought momentary marvel on his father¡¯s face but the repair ability genuinely excited Anders.

    ¡°Father don¡¯t forget to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables while we¡¯re in the village. My space will keep them fresh and fresh fruits and veggies will keep us healthy. Buy me some more soap and baking soda if you can please,¡± Anton told his father and Anders just nodded.

    While they were traveling, Anton told everyone that he would be meditating because he was on the verge of learning new spells. He then maximized the game and planned to continue playing using the on-screen option.

    Three hours had passed when Anton decided to stop playing. He completed Lut Gholein and killed Duriel. He also leveled up to twenty-four and decided to use Akara¡¯s reset since during testing, it was easier to use the Blizzard spell for leveling up purposes. Once he was done with resetting his stats and skill in the Rogue Encampment which he wasn¡¯t worried about since he could do a reset once every week, he was surprised to see that his stats went from missing the three stat points to the regular stats a normal character should have and he wondered when the game decided to consider him as an adult.

    Anton put his stat points evenly to strength, vitality, and energy. The skill points were put on every skill available since he could use them in the real world except for the Shiver Armor and the Chilling Armor spell since they¡¯re practically the same as the Frozen Armor spell. He had two skill points remaining when he was done spreading out the points, but he planned to keep them and put them later on Blizzard and Energy Shield once he leveled up to twenty-five.

    He would need to practice the Blizzard Spell later in the afternoon after lunch by entering the game virtually for him to be able to use the spell well. He wondered if the water produced by the Blizzard spell would be better than the one produced by Glacial Spike. He was sure that it would be since during their testing which in retrospect was really dangerous and stupid since he didn¡¯t know what the effect of the mana water on their body, mana water from higher level spells was better. In the meantime, Anton noticed that his father already stopped their carriage beside what looked like a nice-looking campsite.

    Anders told him once that campsites like this that looked pre-made were scattered around the world and some of them even had wood for fire already prepared by adventurers so when they encountered one and they had the time, they should reciprocate out of respect for everyone who kept doing this good deed.

    Anton helped his father and sister set up their camp for the night and when they were done, they gathered at the fire to eat dinner. While they were eating, he told his father and sister about the new spells he learned.

    ¡°I learned a couple of new spells. They¡¯re called Blizzard which will allow me to summon a blizzard to devastate my enemies and Energy Shield which will grant me a shield made of mana to reduce the damage that I may receive, and that damage would then be directed to my mana pool.

    ¡°You have learned so many spells brother. I wish you could teach me.¡±

    ¡°I wish I could too but unfortunately, the gifts that I¡¯ve received don¡¯t work like that. That¡¯s why I¡¯m also interested in learning magic from a proper wizard so maybe someday we¡¯ll be classmates under a wizard teacher.¡± Anton consoled his sister.

    Anders then asked everyone to rest since they would be arriving in a village soon and they would be busy buying things from the villagers, so he wanted his children to be well-rested.

 Chapter 44

    ¡°Can you demonstrate to us your new spells son?¡± Anders asked.

    Anton knew that the main reason why his father would like to know how his spells work was, that they did not want to be surprised by their effects in case he needed to cast them. And also, they were curious.

    ¡°Sure Father, I¡¯ll show you Energy Shield first.¡±

    Anton cast Energy Shield then a golden ball appeared floating above his head. He found the effect of the shield weird but wasn¡¯t surprised since all spells from Diablo II when cast in real life looked almost exactly the same as in the game.

    ¡°Can you hit me with your sword Father? I want to see the effect of the spell,¡± He asked Anders.

    His father unsheathed his sword and hit Anton with it softly enough that if he were hit with the sword, it would only cause a bruise at most. A translucent magical shield that looked like it encompassed Anton¡¯s whole body that originated from the floating ball appeared and looked like it blocked the sword. Since Anton was also wearing the runeword armor Stealth, his defense was very high so together with the Energy Shield, he didn¡¯t receive any damage. Anders then tried to hit him again harder and harder and even the hardest strike from his father didn¡¯t cause him any damage.

    ¡°That is a wonderful defensive spell son. Now I wouldn¡¯t be afraid to let you receive damage in our stead,¡± His father said then Anders laughed.

    ¡°Will it also block magic?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try it out. Father, can you hit me with a magic missile from your wand?¡±

    Anders took out his wand and then walked a distance from Anton. He signaled his daughter to move away as well. He then used the wand to summon a magic missile and cast it towards Anton. The missile flew but when it reached Anton, it was also blocked by the magical shield that was produced by the Energy Shield.

    Honestly, the spell at level one would only block twenty percent of the damage but he was confident enough of his armor and his vitality to withstand the spell¡¯s damage and even if he got hurt, he had access to a huge amount of healing potions via the game and even had the Prayer Aura from his mercenary that he could activate.

    Anders and Anna exclaimed when they saw the magic missile being blocked by the floating ball above Anton¡¯s head.

    ¡°That ball is pretty brother. It looks like a golden ball. Maybe we can get it and sell it,¡± Anna said jokingly.

    Anders laughed when he heard that and went back near his children.

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    ¡°What about the other spell? The one that you call a blizzard?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°That one is a dangerous spell but let me check if I can cast it here.¡±

    Anton looked at the road and then at the forest. He decided to cast his Blizzard spell in the forest. He thought that the trees should be able to withstand the spells since they do withstand winter every year. He then cast Blizzard in the forest. A gray cloud formed above the location where he aimed the spell and from that cloud, countless Ice Bolts, Ice Blasts, and even Glacial Spikes came down to hit the area where he pointed the spell. All the trees and plants in the area and more than likely all the living creatures as well were devastated by the spell. The spell ravaged the land by destroying everything and when the spell was done, the small area looked like a scene from a cold hell.

    ¡°Oops. I didn¡¯t expect that to happen. I feel sorry for the trees and plants and the small creatures that lived there,¡± Anton said.

    Anton¡¯s father and his sister gaped at the place where the spell hit then they both looked at Anton.

    ¡°That is one scary spell, Anton,¡± Anders said and Anna nodded vehemently.

    ¡°I know and I think that the mana water that will come from that spell will also give us tremendous benefit but I will only be able to produce that water probably by tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to try it out, brother. Your mana water is really wonderful. It¡¯s making me look very pretty!¡± Anna said while admiring her skin.

    Anton and his family went back to their tents and their father asked them to sleep early so they could leave early tomorrow. His father wanted to arrive in the village soon so they could purchase a lot of things.

    When Anton entered his tent, he didn¡¯t have any plans of sleeping yet. He would first enter the game virtually and practice his Blizzard spell so he could manipulate its mana to the point of being able to decrease its mana volume and change it to water that was not too cold but the perfect temperature to drink and bathe in just like he was able to do with Ice Bolt, Ice Blast and Glacial Spike. After about an hour, he was able to do with the spell Blizzard just like what he was able to do with the low-level spells but knew that it would take a long time to truly master the spell.

    He tried to check what he could do with Energy Shield and just like Frozen Armor, he was possibly able to increase its area of effect to include others but that would take a long time and hard work to achieve.

    Anton was woken up by his father¡¯s voice and when he checked the time it was already six in the morning. He was surprised that Anders didn¡¯t ask him to do a guard duty last night.

    Outside the tent, he saw that his father was already roasting some animal in the fire for their breakfast so he took a pitcher from his inventory and filled it with water from the Blizzard spell then gave it to his father.

    Anders tasted the water and turned to his son.

    ¡°This water does taste different. It has something more compared to before,¡±

    ¡°Yes father, It has more mana. Why didn¡¯t you wake me up for my guard duty last night?¡±

    ¡°I decided to let you both sleep since everything looked peaceful and don¡¯t worry I was able to sleep too last night. I want you fully rested since we are going to be busy in the next village. I reckoned that we will arrive there by lunch if we leave within the hour.¡±

    Anders woke Anna and told his children to eat their breakfast and prepare so they could leave early. The siblings did take the time to take a bath from the mana water that Anton conjured from his new spell and according to Anna, the water was much better compared to before.

    Anton¡¯s family started their journey to the new village with a light heart and his father was visibly excited about the prospect of getting a lot of equipment there since what villages did not lack were old and worn-out things.

 Chapter 45

    Anton¡¯s family¡¯s journey to the next village was uneventful so he asked permission from his father if he could meditate so he could become stronger. Anders gave his son the go-ahead even though Anna kept saying that she would like for his brother to stay with her and just play his lute or tell her stories before they arrived in the village.

    ¡°Anna, I need to meditate. Why don¡¯t you create stories in your head instead and then write them down in your notebook when you have the chance? Maybe someday you¡¯ll become a renowned author.¡±

    Anna just rolled her eyes at his brother. He then entered the game to continue leveling up. After a couple of hours, he was able to complete the Spider Forest and the Great Marsh in Kurast Docks. He leveled up to twenty-five, so he immediately put his skill points in Blizzard and Energy Shield. Now he had one skill point remaining. The stats he put into energy since he felt like he would need more mana in the game and real life but if he were playing the game normally, he would have put the majority of his stats in vitality. In the last hour, he went to Rogue Encampment and outside the safe area, he practiced his Blizzard spell some more.

    One advantage that he had was since the game followed the original Diablo II, there was no friendly fire. He could cast Blizzard with impunity since he and his mercenary would not be affected by the area of effect damage of the spell. Anton was quite sure that he couldn¡¯t do the same thing in real life.

    Anton exited the game just in time to hear his father saying that he could see the next village in the distance. He and Anna joined their father in the driver¡¯s seat and according to Anna, the village was as big as Oakswood, the village near their farm.

    When Anders saw the size of the village, Anton¡¯s father smiled since it meant that his father would be able to gather a lot of things from the people there.

    When they arrived at the inn, Anton saw that everyone was respectful towards them, and he realized it was because of their carriage and their clothes. They didn¡¯t look like farmers. They looked like prosperous merchants at the very least.

    Anders left the carriage to the stable hands and all of them went inside the inn. When Anton saw his sister¡¯s behavior, he almost laughed out loud. She was behaving like she thought rich people would behave with their noses raised upwards and walking slowly. To him, it was not rich people''s behavior, but a parody, and Anton was quite sure that the inn folks would have figured her out. But when he looked at the people inside, they were looking at his family in awe.

    ¡°My lord, how may we serve you?¡± A middle-aged man asked Anders.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Lord, I¡¯m not a lord just a merchant. My name is Anders. We would like to hire two rooms. One for my daughter and one room big enough for myself and my son.¡±

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    Anton looked around while his father negotiated for a couple of rooms for them. The inn looked like the inn from a movie set but much more real with its stains and noises. After his father¡¯s talk with the innkeeper, somebody led them upstairs to their rooms.

    While they were walking the man who was leading them informed them that there was a bath downstairs and lunch was available if they wanted to eat. Anton¡¯s father told the man that they would eat in the common room after they settled down in their rooms. Another man was also following them carrying their luggage with him.

    When they arrived in their rooms, they left their belongings there and they all went to the common room to eat. They were not worried about the luggage since there was nothing valuable inside them.

    They arrived in the common room and Anders ordered food for the whole family.

    ¡°I¡¯m so hungry, I wish the food here is good,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°If it is, we should buy a lot so we can have hot meals during our journey,¡± Anton added.

    The food when they ate it was average at best, but they were hot and filling. While they were eating Anders talked to them about his plan of purchasing things from the villagers. Anton requested not to be part of it since he would like to concentrate on his meditation so he could become more powerful.

    Although Anders would have liked his help, his father understood that his son¡¯s power was more important so he told Anton that Anna¡¯s help would be enough.

    Anton reminded his father of his request for more soap, baking soda, and spices for their food. His father told him that they had enough time since they would probably stay here today and tomorrow depending on how many things they could purchase.

    After their meal, he left his father and Anna to their devices and went upstairs to their room. Honestly, the main reason why he didn¡¯t want to join his father was he was not comfortable being surrounded by a lot of people. He had always been an introvert which was why his main hobby before he was busy working was going to the library to read fantasy and sci-fi books then when he was given a laptop, he added playing games and watching animes, TV shows, and movies from illegal websites to his hobbies.

    In their room, instead of playing the game, Anton opened his browser. He then went to a website where he could watch animes and was glad that one of his favorite anime had been updated and as a matter of fact, there were three new episodes. It was about a man who grew up in a modern world where dungeons appeared, and he was the only one who could level up. He was so grateful that his browser was connected to the internet and the sounds that he could hear were exceptionally good as if he were wearing top-of-the-line earbuds.

    As a curiosity, he ran an internet speed test using a website and he was taken aback by the speed that he received. It was so fast that he doubted that he would experience any lag when he streamed a movie.

    Anton also checked if he could watch movies legitimately even though he had no credit card that he could use. Maybe his Diablo II system would find a way. When he went to a famous steaming site, he was happily surprised that he had an account with lots of credit and when he checked it had exactly the same amount of gold coins that he had in the game only instead of gold, it was converted to dollars. That meant he could use his funds in the game to stream movies and animes on famous sites without any problem. The only thing that he couldn¡¯t do was purchase physical things or download programs or applications. He wondered why his Diablo II system did not allow him to download any other programs. Maybe it would be jealous if he played another game but at least he could still play browser games.

    He then went back to the anime website and streamed the latest episodes of his favorite new anime.

 Chapter 46

    Anton felt that he wasted so much time watching one of his favorite anime. He was tempted to watch more but he felt guilty. He should be leveling up his character so he could become more powerful. They were currently in the middle of a journey and they would need that power for his and his family¡¯s protection. Because of that thinking, he closed the browser, opened his game, and entered virtually so he could continue playing.

    Flayer Jungle was completed by Anton and he leveled up to twenty-six. He put his newly earned stats to his strength since he would need to get stronger to be able to lift all the items that his father could fit in a large box or sack so it would occupy less space in his private stash. His stash and inventory were so small, just like the original Diablo II. Normally he would have modded it right now to have a larger stash and inventory but unfortunately, his game didn¡¯t do that. The mechanics were even the old version and not the newly released Diablo 2 Resurrected.

    The only change to the game that happened was the one that was connected to Anton¡¯s ability to use it in the real world like his mercenary¡¯s skill and his ability to manipulate the spell¡¯s mana. The skill points he put into Blizzard and Energy Shield.

    Four more levels and he would have the level thirty spells. Anton wondered how they would work in real life. He hadn¡¯t even tried the Thunder Storm spell yet since he was a bit afraid of casting it in real life. In the game it worked the same way, hitting just the enemies but in the real world, would it only hit his enemies? Who would the world consider his enemies? Those obvious ones sure but what about those with ulterior motives? And then there were those enemies that he couldn¡¯t just kill because of certain real-world implications like the enemy being an officer, politician, or a noble wherein if he killed them, he would be wanted by the country or something. He decided then that on his next reset, he would not put a skill point on the Thunder Storm spell just to avoid accidents.

    All in all, surfing the internet, playing the game, and practicing his spells outside Rogue Encampment took him more than four hours. He wondered what happened to his father¡¯s business. Anton was planning to go downstairs to look for his family when his father opened the door to their room. He was followed by Anna so they could all talk.

    ¡°I¡¯ve purchased a lot of things! There were some broken and old weapons and armor and Anna purchased a lot of old and broken clothes and jewelry. We have someone put them inside our carriage so please take the time to go there and put them in your inventory. I did commission someone to make me plenty of very large sacks so we could put a lot of the equipment in a single sack. Of course, the sacks would not be able to carry the equipment for long since the items are heavy but we know that it was just for us to enclose them in a single container to take less space in your magical space,¡± Anders said.

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    ¡°The things I purchased are very good too. Once you repair them we can sell them for a lot of money according to Father. We were permitted to use the village¡¯s town hall and we set up two tables side by side. One for father and one for me. I handled the things that the women were selling and father assisted me with the pricing and father handled the weapons and armor. Some women even brought pots and pans!¡± Anna said while laughing.

    ¡°Everyone is happy. They get to dispose of useless things but a bit valuable to throw away which earned them coins and we get a lot of items. We¡¯ll have them repaired by you when we camp outside.¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Okay Father, I¡¯ll follow your instructions. I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t there to help you. I did increase my strength a bit so I would be able to lift heavier boxes or sacks.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all right son. We hired a couple of villagers to assist us in lifting stuff. They did inquire about you and I told them that you¡¯re feeling a bit under the weather.¡±

    ¡°I told them that you¡¯re a bit delicate!¡± Anna said then she laughed again and Anton just rolled his eyes at her.

    ¡°I told everyone that we will continue our business tomorrow since I was told that there were some who will be arriving from the surrounding farms to sell us things.¡±

    ¡°One girl asked me what are we going to do with the broken things and as Father instructed me, I told them the truth that we would have them repaired and sold off in the cities. I thought at first that it would cause some of them to hold off in selling things but it didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Who would have the time to do it themselves? They¡¯re not even sure if the things they have are valuable enough to take the risk of having them repaired which will cost them coins and then going to the cities to sell.¡± Anders told his children.

    ¡°Some of the girls are interested in you brother. I guess they want to become a daughter of a prosperous merchant,¡± Anna laughed again and Anders smiled when Anton snorted.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that relationship will not be in both of our future Anna if you really want to be a mage. Since I do, I can only focus on wizardry. I¡¯m sorry Father, it would be probably a while before you have yourself a grandson or a granddaughter.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯m still young and because of your spell and mana water, I was told by some villagers that they thought I was your brother. Of course, they were just flattering me but soon, if we keep receiving your spell and drinking and bathing in your mana water, I will really look like your brother. That meant I would probably marry again.¡±

    Anna gasped when she heard that.

    ¡°What about Mother!¡±

    ¡°Before your mother died, she made me promise that I would marry again but I thought when we were in the farm that it would not happen. But since this situation occurred, I¡¯m not close off to the possibility and I did promise your mother before she passed.¡±

    Anton¡¯s family then went downstairs to eat dinner and this time the inn prepared special food for them. They guessed that the villagers were grateful for the coins they received from Anders and this was one of the things they did to show their appreciation.

 Chapter 47

    While they were eating Anton thought of the coins that he had in his inventory. He remembered the purses that came from the vampire, and he only gave the purse containing one hundred silver coins to his father. The one with the one hundred gold coins was still in his private stash.

    ¡°Father, will you need the other purse from that monster we killed?¡±

    ¡°No. I still have the purse of gold coins from the bandits and together with the silver coins from that monster and the gold coins that your mother and I have saved, I have plenty for our business. That other purse you¡¯re keeping is going to be our emergency fund, but you don¡¯t need to worry. If I don¡¯t grow our funds using your ability, I deserve to be poor and rot in the slums in a city.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry father. If your business fails, I¡¯m still going to be very pretty someday. I¡¯ll marry someone very rich, and I¡¯ll let you live in our manor in the city, and we¡¯ll go to cafes every day and read stories and listen to bards.¡±

    ¡°What is your obsession with cafes?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Nancy, one of my friends visited a city once and she boasted about going to a caf¨¦ and tasting the most wonderful drinks and the most delicious cakes. We all know she was lying but we all let it pass since it¡¯s her story to tell and it¡¯s entertaining enough,¡± Anna said contemptuously.

    Anton laughed when he heard what his sister said, and their father joined him.

    ¡°When are we going to reach the Tiande City father?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Since we¡¯ll probably stop in the larger villages for a day or two, we would probably arrive later than planned. My first plan was to travel without stopping constantly and we would have arrived there in two weeks but now, we¡¯ll probably arrive there in four weeks at most.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll need guards Father. Can you find a couple from the village? It would be better for me personally to be able to meditate without the need to do guard duty. It¡¯s very important for all of us to increase my strength as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right son. I¡¯ll look for two people tomorrow. I hope we find suitable ones.¡±

    After dinner, they all went back to their rooms to get a change of clothes so they could take a bath. Anton and his father would still be able to enjoy the mana water from his Blizzard spell, but Anna would have to do with the normal water since it would be weird for Anton to visit the women¡¯s bathroom.

    ¡°No! I want to bathe in mana water.¡± Anna whined.

    ¡°Well since you¡¯re acting like a princess, you can demand a bathtub from the innkeeper to be brought to your room and I¡¯ll fill it with mana water. Of course, Father will have to compensate the inn for that.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll do it since you did promise me that if my business fails you will take me in your manor once you marry a rich noble,¡± Anders said then he laughed boisterously which surprised Anton since this was the first time he heard his father laugh loudly.

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    ¡°We¡¯ll need to wait until Anna¡¯s bath is ready before we can take our own Anton.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Father. I¡¯ll wait in our room.¡±

    After a few minutes, Anders told Anton that Anna¡¯s bathtub in her room was ready, so Anton filled it up with water from the Blizzard spell then he and his father went downstairs to take a bath. He filled their bathtub with mana water as well and before they started soaking in it, Mark offered to heat it using a spell which he did using his Fire Bolt spell with its mana controlled by him to avoid accident. When his father soaked his body in the hot mana water, he heard Anders sigh.

    ¡°This is one of the best feelings that I have ever experienced. I would guess we can call this water a truly miraculous healing water. I can feel my muscles relaxing and even the aches and pain that came from age and abuse from my mercenary days and my farm work is slowly disappearing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it Father,¡± Anton said while he also sighed when he soaked his body in his bathtub. The feeling was truly wonderful, and he agreed with Anders''s sentiments fully.

    While they were taking a bath, he asked his father some questions regarding their would-be guards.

    ¡°Father, what are we going to tell our guard when it comes to my magic, magic space, and our repair work?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to it. We will tell them the truth since it¡¯s common enough for wizards to hire mercenaries and guards. We don¡¯t have to explain the details of your magic to them since it¡¯s expected that no non-mages would ever understand magic.¡±

    ¡°Are wizards that common that you can find them visiting a village just like our situation?¡±

    ¡°No, it''s not common. It does happen and when it does, it usually becomes the stuff of stories so I¡¯m expecting that whoever joins us will be expecting that their names will be part of an adventure story someday.¡±

    After their talk, the father and son spent an hour relaxing in their tub before going back to their room. It did not help that when Anders saw his son heating his water constantly, he asked his son to do it to his water as well.

    When they arrived in their room, Anton and Anders saw that Anna was already waiting for them.

    ¡°What took you so long?¡±

    ¡°Our bath is different from yours since ours is very hot. I heated them using a spell,¡± Anton taunted his sister.

    ¡°No fair!¡± Anna cried.

    ¡°Father, that reminded me of something. Can you buy a bathtub that we can use on the road? And privacy screens that we can set up to surround the tub, so we don¡¯t need to set it up far from our camp. We can just surround it with privacy screens.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea son. I will find one tomorrow or hire someone to make it.¡±

    ¡°Will it delay us too much?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I too want to have a bath of your mana water every day if I can,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I thought of another good idea! Maybe we can use a bucket to do our toilet business and have my magic repair the bucket if we break it a little to check if it will clean it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a marvelous idea brother!¡±

    ¡°You know what, let¡¯s test it out now. This is very important!¡±

    The whole family went outside the inn, and they didn¡¯t care if all eyes were on them. They borrowed a broken bucket from the inn, went somewhere, and stained the bucket with some dirt. Then Anton put it in his inventory and had the blacksmith in Lut Gholein repair it. When it came out of the game, the bucket looked newly made and very clean.

    ¡°It¡¯s a success! We need someone to create a special bucket that we can sit on to do our business. Let¡¯s draw a design on paper and have a carpenter make it.¡±

    ¡°You handle the design and I¡¯ll go ahead and talk to people tomorrow to have a bathtub and bucket seat made. We will want to rush it and it would cost us a pretty penny, but it will be worth it,¡± Anders said to which Anton and Anna fully agreed.

    ¡°Once it¡¯s made, I will test it out in the bathroom, so we¡¯ll know for sure,¡± Anton said, and his father and Anna just nodded.

 Chapter 48

    Anton and his family went inside the inn and in the common area some people were looking at them curiously but most of them with appreciation in their eyes for spending a lot of coins on the villagers.

    When they returned to their rooms Anders and Anna must have been exhausted since they retired immediately. Anton decided to spend a couple of hours practicing his mana manipulation of some of his spells outside the Rogue Encampment. He focused mainly on the spell Blizzard since practicing the mana of higher-level spells would also train his mind to see the details of how a particular manipulation of mana can somehow change the construct of the spell if the nature of the spell were not different from its basic principles. A good example was gathering the energy of Blizzard and compressing it in his hands instead of allowing it to gather above the aimed location and then changing the nature of the spell to turn into a high volume of water. This could let him summon a huge volume of water to fill up a tank in no time at all and with more practice, instead of summoning a deadly blizzard, he could summon mana rain in an area. That could be very helpful to farmers.

    Anton was quite sure that changing the nature and construct of fire and lightning spells would be more challenging mainly because both spells from those spell trees were more dangerous than ice and water. After a while, he noticed that he spent more than an hour practicing so he decided to rest.

    The next day when Anton woke up his father was already gone. He was sure that Anders was already conducting his business in the village so he went downstairs to have breakfast. When he arrived in the common room, he ordered breakfast from the server and asked about the whereabouts of his father and sister. The server told him his family was in the village¡¯s main hall to purchase things from the villagers.

    He decided to check on them before going to his room to play the game after breakfast. When Anton arrived in the village hall, he saw that his father was talking to a man and when he approached them Anders introduced the man as a carpenter who would help them in constructing the bucket slash toilet. The carpenter was also the man who would assist them in procuring the bathtub.

    Anton¡¯s father then told him that he already spread the word about hiring a couple of guards on the way to the holy city of Tiande. That was the reason why he saw a gathering of fit young men outside the hall but almost all of them looked like farmers who ran away from home. Anna was sitting at a table talking to a woman who was showing her a bunch of old clothes. He took his leave after he asked his father¡¯s permission and went back to their room in the inn so he could go back to playing the game. Right now, he was level twenty-six. He hoped to reach level thirty soon to get the level thirty spells.

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    When Anton got back to their room he maximized his Diablo II game and entered it virtually. It would have been easier to level up if he could control the difficulty of the game but alas there was no console that he could use to type in the cheat code that would increase the difficulty of the game corresponding to the number of players which he would type in therefore increasing the experience gained.

    When he was using the famous streaming site, he was able to summon a virtual keyboard that he could use to type in the videos that he would like to view and the same thing with other movie or anime sites but inside the game, he wasn¡¯t able to summon the keyboard. His leveling speed was fine because the most important part was for him to practice the spells that he received to make sure that he was able to manipulate the mana of all the spells that he learned.

    Once Anton hit thirty which was soon, he would have received all the spells then he would only focus on leveling up and hunting for equipment. In the game, he was able to complete the search for the quest items in Lower Kurast and Kurast Bazaar and this brought him to level twenty-seven. Honestly, he was over-leveled in the location he was in the game.

    After he leveled up, Anton went outside the Rogue Encampment to practice his spell manipulation on every spell that he could and he did it for a couple of hours. When he exited the game it was time for lunch and his father and Anna were probably still busy since they didn¡¯t come to invite him so he went downstair to have lunch by himself.

    In the common room, Anton ordered food from the inn¡¯s waiter and asked the man if he had seen his father and sister. The waiter told him that his family was still in the hall conducting their business. He thanked the man and waited for his food to be served.

    Anton finished his food when his father and sister arrived.

    ¡°Hey! You didn¡¯t wait for us,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know what time you¡¯d arrive.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve bought a lot of things today so you have to go tonight in the carriage to put some of them in your space. We will continue buying things this afternoon. The bathtub and the bucket toilet will be ready by tonight so we will leave tomorrow morning.¡± Anders said to Anton.

    Anton nodded and told his father that he would join them this afternoon since he was tired of meditating. Anders just nodded and called the inn¡¯s waiter to order food.

    ¡°Did you interview potential guards for us Father?¡±

    ¡°I found a couple. The man is a veteran mercenary. He is forty-eight years old but still very strong and the other one is his son who is twenty-four. He is well trained and already had some experience but they have a condition. They wanted to move to the city as well with his wife and daughter. The man got a hold of the information that the Undead Coalition was conquering their neighboring cities. The man is knowledgeable and I¡¯m keen on hiring them and with his family with him, he and his son would be loyal at least until we reached the city. They also did not want to stay in Tiande since everyone knows very well that the holy city will probably fight a war with the Undead Coalition and no one wants to join that.¡±

    Anders paused when their food arrived and he and Anna started eating. Anton waited for them since they looked like they would not be able to concentrate on anything else until their stomach was full.

 Chapter 49

    Anton¡¯s father and sister finished eating their lunch but before they left to continue their business in the village hall Anders asked his son about his opinion on hiring the man and his son as their guards.

    ¡°I¡¯ll abide by whatever your decision will be Father. You know more about these things. What about their traveling situation?¡±

    ¡°According to Lucas, that¡¯s the man¡¯s name, they have their cart. He and his son Devon got their horses, and their cart will be pulled by a single horse. His wife¡¯s name is Nemina and his daughter, she is your age, is called Lunelle. Since you¡¯re fine with my decision, I¡¯ll talk to him. I will also tell him that you¡¯re a mage so they will know who and what they¡¯re protecting.¡±

    ¡°Fine with me father.¡±

    Anton, his father, and Anna went to the village hall to continue their business. He sat down beside his father and watched him buy broken weapons and armor from the farmers who traveled from the surrounding farms near the village. He saw Anna doing the same thing with the women but the things that she was purchasing were old, torn, or worn-out clothes that used to belong to either rich merchants or nobles. He wondered how the villagers got hold of those clothing and why they were keeping them.

    Anders received sellers about every thirty minutes which according to his father was a sign that almost all of those who wanted to sell things to them had already done so. After about an hour Anton saw a man wearing leather armor enter the hall.

    ¡°That¡¯s Lucas. I¡¯m going to talk to him and his son in the inn. It will take us an hour or so since I will also be treating them to lunch. Stay here and accept the things that the villagers and farmers will sell you and tell them I¡¯ll be back after an hour to tell them how much I will be paying for their things.¡±

    Anton nodded and waited for the villagers and farmers for their things. Twenty minutes passed and an old farmer and his wife came in carrying a bundle. The farmer walked towards him.

    ¡°Young man, are you the one who¡¯s buying all those old broken weapons and armor?¡±

    ¡°Yes, grandfather. Do you have something to sell us?¡±

    ¡°I brought a couple of swords but I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll buy them. They¡¯re too worn out and the other one is broken in two. I¡¯m kind of ashamed to even show you these old things but I need the coin.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be ashamed grandfather. We will buy all weapons and armor even if they¡¯re too old or too broken. We¡¯ll pay a good coin for them too.¡±

    The old farmer then took his things from the bundle that he was carrying and the weapons were indeed very old and worn out and one sword was broken in two.

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    ¡°We¡¯ll buy your swords, grandfather. We will need to wait for my father though he is talking to someone and will be back after an hour.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait here. We traveled a couple of hours to sell these old things and we¡¯re happy that you will still buy them. I wished old Norman had come with us. He was too ashamed to bring his broken sword as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pity. We¡¯ll buy everything even if it''s too worn out or broken. I wish the surrounding people didn¡¯t hesitate. Selling these things to us is better than keeping or throwing them away.¡±

    Anders came back and Anton told him about some of the farmers surrounding the village hesitating to sell them their weapons and armor because they were ashamed that it was too worn out or broken.

    ¡°We should hire someone to send the message to the surrounding people Father. This old grandfather is also selling his things and I told him we¡¯ll buy it even if it''s too old or broken.¡±

    ¡°My son is correct old sir. I thought I made it clear when I had someone send out the message to people.¡±

    ¡°Your messenger did arrive and told us that someone is buying old weapons and armor but they didn¡¯t mention about you buying too broken things as well. I reckoned that a lot of farmers would have come if they¡¯d known.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll stay here in the village until tonight so if those farmers receive the message, they can still come here to sell their things.¡±

    ¡°Father go ahead and pay someone to send the message. Our coins will help everyone a bit.¡±

    Anders smiled at his son and the old farmer told Anton¡¯s father that he had raised a good son which made Anton flee the hall and he could hear the farmer and his father laughing. He went back to their room to continue playing the game at least until dinner.

    Anton¡¯s father told him that he hired Lucas and his son to be their guard and they would talk about their employment later during dinner before he left.

    Before that dinner though, Anton was able to defeat the boss of Act III, Mephisto, reached Pandemonium Fortress, completed Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair, and also defeated Izual. He reached level twenty-eight and two more levels he would reach level thirty. He spent three hours doing all of those and Anton spent about an hour practicing mana manipulation outside the Rogue Encampment.

    After practicing his spell Blizzard so many times, he was beginning to become confident in using the said spell in the real world utilizing it to summon huge amounts of water filled with mana. A few more hours would still help though.

    Anton minimized the game and went downstairs when he saw that it was seven in the evening. When he arrived in the common area, his father just arrived together with Anna, their new guard Lucas, and his family.

    Anders chose a corner in the common room where they have a modicum of privacy since they would talk about sensitive matters. They asked the inn waiter to join a couple of tables together and they ordered a lot of food.

    ¡°Anton after dinner I would go ahead and talk to the innkeeper about our request for their cook to prepare a lot of food for us for you to store before we leave tomorrow,¡± Anders said to his son.

    Anton¡¯s family sat at the table to wait for the food while Lucas and his family joined them. He saw that Devon and Lunelle were staring at him with eyes very wide while Nemina, Lucas¡¯s wife was polite enough not to do the same thing. An urge came to Anton to suddenly shout ¡°Boo!¡± at the two young people but held that urge off since he didn¡¯t want their new relationship to start on a sour note.

 Chapter 50

    Anders introduced Anton to Lucas and his family and he saw Anna trying to reign her laughter as she looked at the expression of Devon and Lunelle.

    ¡°This is my son Anton. As I mentioned, he is a wizard. You don¡¯t need to worry about any injuries since he could heal any injuries and he can cast spells to fight off monsters. The main reason why we needed guards is for guard duty since we will be on the road for quite a while, we need to have guard duty at night and my son needs to meditate so he couldn¡¯t join with that duty,¡± Anton¡¯s father was speaking softly so he doubted anyone else would be able to hear their talks.

    Anton nodded to Lucas and his family trying to look dignified which made Anna laugh a bit.

    ¡°We were living in a village near Mendi and as you know Lucas, the Undead Coalition attacked Vondi and all of us here are sure that Mendi will be next so we decided to head to the wizard city of Zalnothel.¡±

    ¡°I understand sir. We will do our best in guarding the young wizard and you and your daughter of course,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already talked about you and your son¡¯s contract and its details so no need to repeat it so let¡¯s just eat. After dinner, we still have a lot of business to take care of so it will probably be late before we can retire in our rooms. You can stay here in the inn in the meantime and we¡¯ll pay for your stay.¡±

    Their server arrived with their food and everyone started eating. While they were doing so Anton asked his father about the bathtub and bucket slash toilet they had commissioned.

    ¡°The carpenter said that he would arrive in about an hour. We¡¯ll inspect his handiwork and pay him once we¡¯re satisfied. I also asked Anna to purchase the things that you have requested and I will talk to the innkeeper and his cook later regarding our food order.¡±

    ¡°Why would you order food later?¡± Devon asked.

    Anders looked at his son and understood that his father would probably share some details of his magic with them.

    ¡°My son has magic that can preserve the food in a state where it will remain the same for a very long time so a newly cooked food tonight will stay fresh and hot even a month from now.¡±

    Deven and Lunelle gasped when they heard that and Lucas and his wife Nemina just smiled. Anton then told everyone he needed to go back to their room and meditate but honestly, he was feeling guilty of foisting all of the work to his father and Anna. He simply just didn¡¯t know how to talk to people in this world normally yet and Anders and Anna understood that due to their thinking that it was because of his memory loss. He really appreciated the fact that when he transmigrated to this world, he was blessed with a family like them.

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    Anton promised himself that he would join his father and sister with the business in the next village so he would learn how everything worked.

    When he got back to their room, instead of playing the game, he decided to procrastinate by practicing his lute for an hour. He wanted to become good enough at playing the instrument so he could have something to fall back to just in case. After practicing, Anton opened his browser and surfed the internet for a bit.

    A couple of hours passed and his father and sister were still downstairs somewhere conducting their business so he decided to check on them. It was very late and the common room still had people drinking some ale. He saw a server nodding off at one of the tables and when he passed by the man woke up.

    Anton was about to ask if the man knew where his father and his sister were when his father entered the inn.

    ¡°Anton! The bathtub, toilet slash bucket, and privacy screens are at the village hall. There¡¯s no one there now since it¡¯s late so once we inspect them, you can put them in your magic space.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so late already Father! You and Anna should rest.¡±

    ¡°We need to leave tomorrow so I would like to conclude all of our business tonight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t a help to you and Anna, Father. I promise that in the next village, I will make an effort to assist you.¡±

    Anders smiled when he heard his son¡¯s apology.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. The cornerstone of our new business is your ability and you can only increase your ability¡¯s power if you meditate. Both me and Anna understand that so you don¡¯t have to apologize.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father, I appreciate that. Still, I need to also learn about how the real world works so even though my meditations are a necessity, I would still need to join you sometimes. I don¡¯t want to be that kind of wizard who is out of touch with the common folks.¡±

    Anders laughed when Anton said that.

    ¡°The reason I laugh is all of us in the mercenary band including your mother thought all wizards were like that. Out of touch with the real world since their mind is attuned to the mysteries of the arcane. Well, that¡¯s the reason we gave ourselves if we received commands from them that were so illogical that we could only gape in amazement. One time a wizard commanded us to get special figs that grow in the middle of a desert guarded by a basilisk when there were only three of us in the band since the others were busy on a mission and that wizard expected to get the fig by evening when he gave the command in the afternoon and the desert was three days travel from where we were!¡±

    ¡°Are all wizards like that?!¡±

    ¡°Not all of them but I would say a lot of there are so I¡¯m glad that you don¡¯t want to be one of those.¡±

    Anton and his father then went to the village hall to inspect the bathtub, toilet bucket, and private screen. They found them adequate so Anders paid the carpenter which based on the smile that grew on the man¡¯s face, was overpaid a lot then the carpenter left. When there was no one in the hall Anton kept the bathtub, bucket, and screens in his inventory. They would arrange everything to save space in his private stash the next day since it was really too late.

 Chapter 51

    Anton¡¯s father woke him up the next day and when he checked the time in his browser it was seven in the morning.

    ¡°Anton, the cook informed me that all of the food that they prepared last night was already packed in sealed barrels. You just need to put them in your magic space. All of the things that we¡¯ve bought like spices, soaps, and more are in your sister¡¯s room. She¡¯s already awake so go to her room and put all of the things in your space as well. We¡¯ve already packed them.¡±

    Anton went to his sister¡¯s room and Anna was not in there but he saw the boxes that contained the essentials they purchased from the village and he put them away in his private stash. He then went to the bathroom to take care of his business and wash up. In the common room of the inn, he saw his father and sister together with their new guards and their family eating breakfast so he joined them.

    While they were eating Anders told his son that all the remaining equipment that they purchased yesterday afternoon until evening was in the village hall so he just needed to put it away and they were ready to depart.

    ¡°Lucas and Devon will be following us riding their horses and Nemina and Lunelle will be on their cart with all of their things. Before we leave we will use the village hall to sort all of our things. I purchased large sacks, boxes, and barrels.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, father. We do need to arrange everything to make sure that we will have enough space so we can purchase more from the other villages and cities and my strength did increase. I¡¯ll tell you if my magical space is nearing its capacity.¡±

    Anton¡¯s private stash was already half full and it was only because they kept rearranging their things. He wished it were larger. He couldn¡¯t even store things from the game anymore so almost all the runes and gems were being sold to the NPCs instead of him storing them for future use. He maximized the game and checked his private stash and inventory and he muttered ¡°Please game, increase my stash. Me and my family need more storage.¡±

    Suddenly a pop-up window appeared and when Anton read the message he gasped. It stated, ¡°Due to the need of the user, Private Stash and Inventory have been increased to ten pages each.¡±

    Anton and Anna heard him gasp and looked at him. They were concerned when they saw that he was not moving and just staring at nothing.

    ¡°Son! Did something happen?¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Oh, sorry Father, Anna. My magic improved! My magical space increased ten times!¡±

    Anders then realized that the game was not static. It could change. He just didn¡¯t know what the conditions were for the game to update its system. He didn¡¯t know if it was him wishing for it or if the game detected his and his family¡¯s need. He might learn someday once it happened a few more times since he was sure that this was not going to be the last time.

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    ¡°That¡¯s good news, Anton. I was actually getting worried since the last time we checked your magical space was almost halfway full but now I don¡¯t need to worry and could purchase more things.¡±

    Anton nodded and smiled and even Anna smiled since that news made everyone happy. Lucas and his family were confused though but Anders did not explain it to them. He realized that they would learn the details while they were traveling since they would be able to see everything anyway.

    After breakfast, he went to the kitchen followed by Anders and Lucas while Anna stayed in the common room with Devon, his mother, and sister. Anton expected Anna to befriend Lunelle but he saw that his sister was talking to Devon. More than likely, Anna was developing a crush on their young guard and he admitted that the guard was handsome with his blonde hair and blue eyes and Anna was at that age.

    But based on Devon¡¯s expression, he was treating Anna as a kid, and more importantly, he was treating Anton¡¯s sister as Anton¡¯s sister, meaning as the sister of a wizard which made her untouchable like a noble.

    When they reached the kitchen Anders asked everyone there to leave for a couple of minutes and Lucas stayed at the door guarding their privacy. Anton saw the barrels of food located on the side and there were four of them which surprised him.

    ¡°Are they all cooked food, Father? What are they?¡±

    ¡°Their four different cooked food, like stew and soup. The other ones we purchased like bread and dried meat, dried fruit, fresh vegetables, and fruits are all in the village hall.¡±

    Anton quickly stored the barrels in his private stash since the inn folk needed their kitchen back as soon as possible then they went to the village hall with everyone. When they arrived at the hall, there was no there and all of their thing were located in the middle of the hall. Anton then took out every item in his private stash that needed re-arranging.

    Lucas, Devon, Nemina, and Lunelle all gasped when they saw multitudes of items suddenly appearing from thin air.

    ¡°Lucas, Devon, Nemina, and Lunelle, can you help us arrange and sort out things?¡± Anders asked their guards and their family.

    They all followed Anders''s instruction and kept asking Anton if a specific sack or barrel could still be lifted by him and if he could they would add more until he told them it was too heavy to lift. Once a storage item is full he then puts them immediately in his private stash. To impress everyone, instead of lifting the items using his hands, he was using his spell Telekinesis.

    The spell was weird. When he read the FAQs before, it clearly stated that the mechanics of the game would remain the same as the original Diablo II but he double-checked by going to a Diablo II resource website and it stated that Telekinesis had lightning damage but his spell did not have that. He could just move things with his mind and probably the increase in skill level would only decrease the mana used. Right now, since using his spells in the real world was very important, his stats were spread evenly between strength, vitality, and energy and he also needed to put some to dexterity so he had the mana to use the spell without any problem and he did have a lot of mana potions in his inventory.

    Anton remembered when he was playing Diablo II in the old world, he would pump his stats in vitality but here he could not do something like that. He was a bit relieved that he could reset it once a week if needed though and he was glad that his stats did not reflect his physical appearance. It would be highly strange if his strength stat in the game would equal to gaining muscle mass since if that were the case if he increased his strength, he would look like a bodybuilder, and what would happen if he reset his stats, would he deflate like a balloon? That thought almost made Anton laugh.

 Chapter 52

    Every item they had was sorted out very well but it was already midmorning when Anton and his family together with the help of their guards and their family completed the work. Anders checked their carriage to make sure they had not forgotten anything and made sure that all the bills were settled.

    Lucas and his family were ready for quite some time. Nermina would be driving their cart while Lunelle was inside it looking after their possession and the cart would follow Ander¡¯s carriage. Lucas and Devon would ride their horses guarding everyone. Anton and Anna climbed the carriage while their father started driving it out of the village.

    Anton was surprised that a lot of people from the village were waiting by the side of the road waving their goodbyes to their family.

    ¡°They were truly grateful for the coins they received from us. It would help them a lot if an emergency arrived and to them, the coins were almost a gift since they exchanged it for something a lot of them considered as garbage,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad we¡¯re able to help them a bit.¡±

    Anton left unspoken that they were sure that the villagers would flee once they heard that the Undead Coalition had conquered Mendi and that the coins would be useful to them then. Anders did tell some of them last night but the villagers just told them the city was very far away from them and that it would all blow out somehow and that they couldn¡¯t leave since they had stayed in this place for generations.

    After a while, Anton told his father through the front window that he would meditate. Anna pouted and said that she should have joined Nermina and Lunelle on their cart.

    Anton just shrugged when he heard his sister and then he maximized the game and entered virtually. He was about to challenge Diablo himself and would like to see the iconic monster in the flesh although he was sure that it would be fearsome. He was halfway to reaching level twenty-nine and since he felt that he was weak compared to a normal character since his skill points were spread out to different spells he decided to go to farming experience to level up his character to level thirty before defeating Diablo and completing Act IV.

    He decided that the best place to level up was in the Chaos Sanctuary challenging the unique monsters there and their minions. He did that for a couple of hours managing to find a lot of good items and finally leveling up to level thirty.

    Doing the run in person was extremely different from doing it in front of a screen. The experience was unimaginable but exhilarating. Anton needed to be aware of his location and his enemies every second to make sure that he would not be hit. He was thankful that although he was there in person, the hits didn¡¯t actually hurt because if they did, he would probably hesitate to challenge the game in person.

    Another advantage of playing the game in person was he was learning how to manipulate the mana of his spells effectively since constantly using them in person allowed Anton to focus on the details of how the mana felt when he was casting the spells.

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    When he reached level thirty, Anton immediately summoned a town portal and went to the Pandemonium Fortress. There he sold off all the items that he didn¡¯t need and he traveled by waypoint to the Rogue Encampment since he was going to practice his spells outside that location.

    The first thing Anton did when he arrived at the Rogue Encampment was use Akara¡¯s free reset since he had not used it yet. After he talked to Akara to reset his stat and skill, he put all of his stat points the same way that he had them before, evenly between strength, vitality, and energy and a bit in dexterity since all stats were useful to him in real life. Then he put a single skill point in all of the spells except for Thunder Storm because he was still wary of the effect of the spell and he did not want to use it accidentally and Shiver Armor and Chilling Armor since Frozen Armor was basically the same as them and was enough for a defensive cold spell.

    Anton still had the remaining four skill points but he decided not to spend them since once he leveled up to thirty-one, he would need to put one to Frozen Orb and one to Cold Mastery.

    For items, he was still using his old Stealth armor which he would need to upgrade soon to probably the same runeword armor but a higher-level armor item since he had high strength he could wear better armor like a Field Plate converted to Stealth runeword and for his weapon, he was using a staff that added one to all cold skills. Once he was done with Normal Difficulty he would begin searching for better weapons and other armor pieces like Spirit Sword runeword weapon, Lore runeword for his head, and Ancient Pledge for shield.

    The other set pieces would be based on luck on him finding good pieces and upgrading them using the Horadric Cube.

    Outside the Rogue Encampment, he began practicing the spell Frozen Orb. At first, there was no difference between the spell with the original Diablo II. Ice Bolts would spread out from the Orb and would hit everything in sight but after an hour of practicing, Anton was gratified to learn that he could consciously affect when the Ice Bolts would spread out and the general direction of where the Ice Bolts would unleash.

    That meant that in the real world, once he hurled the Frozen Orb at a group of enemies, he could consciously influence the orb to only unleash the Ice Bolts once it was amid enemies and concentrate the barrage of the bolts to where the enemies were clumped together.

    Anton would still need to cast the spell carefully to make sure that allies would not be affected. The next practice that he did was to manipulate the mana of the Frozen Orb spell to the point where he could use it to summon water in large volume or otherwise. It was easier if the volume was large but it was undeniable that the mana concentration on the Frozen Orb water was higher compared to the water from the Blizzard Spell. It took him a couple of hours of practice before he was confident enough to cast it in real life to summon mana water but to be safe he would still use the Blizzard spell since he was used to casting that spell already. He would need a few more hours before he could be really confident in using Frozen Orb the same way.

    When Anton minimized the game, he realized that the carriage had already stopped and when he exited, he saw that everyone was taking care of the horses and preparing food.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m sorry for not being present. I was meditating and I learned a lot of new spells but I will need to meditate more before I can show them to you. Do you need the food in my magical space?¡±

    ¡°Son, it¡¯s good that you¡¯ve become more powerful but we don¡¯t need the food yet. We decided to use the food that was stored outside your space before it went bad. This is also the campsite where we would stay for the night because this is where you will repair the items from the village.¡±

    ¡°Okay Father, I¡¯ll follow your instructions,¡± Anton then joined everyone for lunch.

 Chapter 53

    Anton¡¯s family and their guard and their family enjoyed their lunch and he summoned mana water for everyone.

    ¡°Lucas, this is called mana water by my son. It would greatly refresh your body and heal old ailments that your body has once you have drunk this water for a long time. Some said that it also made me look younger.¡± Anders told Lucas and his family.

    ¡°I bathed in it as well and it made my hair and my skin look pretty!¡± Anna boasted.

    ¡°It should be extremely valuable. We can¡¯t afford to purchase that Sir Anders,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to purchase it. It will be one of the benefits that you will receive while you are working for us,¡± Anders continued.

    Lucas and his family thanked Anders, Anton, and even Anna and when they drank the mana water, they let out exclamations that it tasted wonderful.

    After lunch, Anton took out all the items that they purchased from the villagers from his Diablo II private stash and they were inside four huge sacks. He also took out one of the sacks that contained the blankets since they would lay down the blankets and put down the equipment there.

    Anders prepared three huge blankets on the ground. The first blanket contained all the weapons and armor that was piled on it from the villagers and the next blanket contained all the things that Anna purchased like old clothing of the nobility, broken jewelry, and different knick-knacks and both blankets looked like they contained huge piles of garbage. The next blanket was empty and was intended for the newly repaired items.

    Lucas, Devon, Nermina, and Lunelle looked on curiously since they weren¡¯t warned by Anders or Anton not to look. Lucas did ask Anders though just to be sure.

    ¡°Yes, Lucas you can all look. My son will do this a lot and it would be quite difficult to hide it from you all since you¡¯re all part of our party.¡±

    When everything was ready Anton told his father that he would repair ten items at a time. Anders did ask his son to do the weapons first, and the armor second and left the other things for last. He then picked ten broken and worn-out weapons, put them in his inventory, and had Charsi repaired them. After that, he put the newly repaired weapons on the empty blanket. Before he continued to the next set of ten, Anders, Lucas and Devon examined the weapons one by one.

    ¡°That is a great magic!¡± Devon exclaimed.

    ¡°Everything looked new and clean!¡± Lucas added.

    ¡°Sir, can you repair our weapons and armor as well? You can take out the repair fee from our pay,¡± Lucas asked Anton.

    ¡°I¡¯ll repair your weapons and armor and I¡¯ll not be charging you since you will need to use those for our protection. Actually, bring all your belongings like your clothing,¡± Anton told Lucas and Nermina and Anders nodded when Lucas looked at him.

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    Nermina and Lunelle excitedly went to their cart to get their things and Anders and Lucas kept examining and admiring the weapons. Anton heard his father and Lucas talk about what price his father would charge when he sold the weapons and armor in the city.

    Devon came back first wearing ordinary clothing and he laid down his weapon and armor in the blanket. He then urged Lucas to do the same thing so Lucas went somewhere to take off his armor so it could join the pile of garbage that needed to be repaired.

    Nermina and Lunelle came back with all of the things they wanted to repair. When all the belongings of Lucas and his family were on the blanket, Anton repaired them ten at a time. Everything was repaired in no time and he urged Lucas, Devon, Nermina, and Lunelle to change to new clothes so he could repair what they were wearing which they promptly did.

    Nermina and Lunelle had huge smiles admiring their brand-new clothes and Lucas and Devon kept caressing their new swords.

    Anton then continued repairing all of the items in the blankets. Some of the repaired weapons and armor were kept in a couple of huge storage boxes that would be put on the carriage for appearance''s sake to make them look like legitimate merchants.

    All the others were put into huge sacks so he could put them in his private stash and would occupy less space. Lucas and Devon went back to guarding them making sure that no one would surprise them.

    When Anton arrived at the part where he started repairing the clothing and knick-knacks, Anna, Nermina, and Lunelle were watching with glittering eyes. It was as if they were expecting treasures to appear.

    After he repaired a few of the items, the girls inspected them one by one and kept exclaiming how beautiful everything was. Anna cajoled their father for some of the jewelry and clothes and since they did purchase them very cheap, Anders indulgently gave them to his daughter. Lunelle looked on with envy and when Anders saw that, he told Lucas¡¯s daughter that he could choose a couple of clothes and jewelry from the pile. He also told Nermina that she could as well but Lucas¡¯s wife declined.

    Anders stored some of the newly repaired clothing and jewelry in one of the smaller boxes and also kept it on the carriage so if some city official examined their vehicle, they would look like prosperous merchants.

    Anton heard Anna and Lunelle talking about how beautiful the clothes and jewelry were and that they were quite sure that they would sell for a lot of money which he doubted since time immemorial, there was fashion that women in cities followed, and if the clothing and jewelry were not in style, they would not be sold off.

    Anders was actually aware of that fact but since they purchased everything very cheap, it really didn¡¯t matter and if the prosperous merchants or nobles did not want them, they were sure that common folks would want them if the price was affordable enough.

    Anders and Anton were not worried about not earning coins from the clothing and other knick-knacks since any price they tagged them would still earn them a lot but the weapons and armor were the money makers. Anton¡¯s father kept smiling while he was examining all the newly repaired items and to be honest, the majority of the length of time it took them to complete the project was Anders examining the items one by one.

    It was evening when Anton finally repaired everything and all of the items were properly sorted and stored in sacks, barrels, and boxes and stored in his private stash except for those that Anders put in the carriage.

    Anton then took the food from his stash and gave them to Anna to serve everyone. It was a very fruitful afternoon and he was glad that the activity made his father and sister happy. After dinner, everyone prepared their tents and Lucas and Devon asked Anton to just wait for them to set up his tent which made him feel a bit awkward since Anders and Anna were not given the same treatment.

 Chapter 54

    Anton saw that his Father and Anna were preparing to rest. Normally at this time, they would spend some time telling him a lot of things like common things that people should be aware of since he lost his memory, and then after that, they would either tell stories or listen to him play the lute but everyone was exhausted due to the excitement repairing the items and equipment brought.

    He then told his family that he would rest early and Anders and Anna just nodded. When he went inside his tent Anton contemplated what happened to him so far, especially the change that Diablo II recently did about his private stash and inventory. This fact made him realize that the game has some sort of sentience or possibly Artificial Intelligence that governs it or else it would not have increased his inventory and storage. He wondered if he should be happy or wary but he remembered that he couldn¡¯t do anything about it so he would just accept the gift without worrying too much about it but still, the change did worry him a little since sometimes a gift was not a gift but a trade and he wondered if his system would somehow take something important from him in exchange.

    Again, there¡¯s nothing he could do about it even if it did but Anton was praying that the gift was just a gift. He then entered the game virtually to continue leveling up his character.

    Anton was level thirty and he was about to defeat the iconic boss Diablo. He had practiced his new spell Frozen Orb for hours and honestly, he was way over-leveled for Diablo in Normal Difficulty.

    When he unsealed the seals and the unique monsters with their minions appeared, it brought Anton a lot of experience and tons of items. The moment he saw Diablo, the monster was indeed terrifying just like Andraste, Duriel, and Mephisto before it. The real monsters were way more terrifying in real life compared to seeing them in front of a screen.

    He did come in prepared with lots of mana potions so he started casting his Frozen Orb towards Diablo. The monster charging at Anton brought primal fear within him that would have stunned him if he were not used to fighting monsters all day and his Teleport skill did help a lot. He kept spamming Static Field whenever there was a chance and he was thankful that he waited until he had Frozen Orb since the boss monster was too fast and the slow that Frozen Orb caused it helped him as well.

    After a while Diablo died and there were a lot of unique items that dropped including the accessory Stone of Jordan. Since he was wearing a mediocre ring that increased fire resistance, he exchanged it with Ring of Jordan for the additional skill point to all spells and the huge mana increase it provided. His level remained at thirty since he had recently leveled up by farming the unique monsters and their minion in the Chaos Sanctuary.

    Anton couldn¡¯t wait to complete the Normal Difficulty so he could begin farming the Nightmare Difficulty for runes so he could form decent runeword items like the Spirit Sword, Lore Helm, and Ancient Pledge.

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    Anton knew that he would have to pray to the Diablo II gods like Mr. Llama so he would receive the items that he was hunting for. He immediately used the town portal scroll so he could go back to the Pandemonium Fortress and travel to the next act.

    When he arrived there, he checked the time first and Anton noticed that it was late so he decided to rest since they would travel early the next day.

    Morning arrived and Anton¡¯s sister woke him up.

    ¡°Wake up brother. Please prepare the bathtub and mana water for us. I want to take a bath,¡± Anna said outside his tent.

    Anton went outside his tent and went to the area in the trees near them and laid down the bathtub and privacy screen they purchased from the village. He also laid down a huge barrel and filled it with water and he was glad that the water volume from the spell Frozen Orb spell was so huge that the barrel could be filled with one cast of the spell. He also brought out the bucket toiled that the carpenter made for them and damaged it a bit so he could let the game repair and clean it.

    When everything was ready, he joined his family for breakfast which was some sort of animal that was roasting over the fire. The season was so fine that any one of them could enter the forest and at a moment''s notice they would be able to find food and all of them were fat and juicy.

    ¡°Anna the bath is ready and you can use the toilet bucket that we prepared. I already damaged it so once you¡¯ve used it just cover it and I will have my magic clean it for the next person.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean that you damage it, sir?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°If you noticed yesterday, all the items that I¡¯ve repaired came out clean. We brought something from the village that we could use as a toilet and after every use, I would then use my magic to clean it but it had to be damaged first, or else my magic wouldn¡¯t clean it. That also meant no more laundry for us but soiled clothing needed to be damaged as well. And please don¡¯t call me sir. Anton is just fine,¡± He told Devon.

    Nermina and Lunelle smiled when they heard that they didn¡¯t need to do laundry and that they could take a bath using mana water.

    Since the weather was fine, Anton told his sister that he was feeling lazy and didn¡¯t heat the water which she just replied that it was fine.

    After Anna, Anton cleaned the bathtub and the toilet bucket by putting them in his inventory using Telekinesis and had the game repair them. He was glad that he damaged them first so he didn¡¯t have to do it while the things were dirty. He then filled the barrel with water again and asked Nermina to go next and to save time Lunelle joined her mother.

    After the women, Anton was next then his father then the guards. It actually took them an hour and a half before everyone was done.

    ¡°Father I think we need to add another bathtub, toilet bucket, privacy screen, and a huge water barrel so we could have a couple of toilets that we could use while we¡¯re camping to save time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right son. I will do so once we arrive in the next village which was four days away from here. ¡°

    ¡°How many villages more before we arrived in Tiande City?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°It used to be three more villages after the next one but one of the villages disappeared and we¡¯re thinking it was done by bandits.¡± It was Lucas who answered.

    ¡°I hope we don¡¯t encounter bandits,¡± Anna said.

    Anton then knew that since Anna raised a red flag, they would definitely encounter bandits so he mentally prepared himself.

 Chapter 55

    Anton and his family started their journey happily since everyone had a full meal and had taken a bath although Anders did tell everyone that they could not take a bath every single day which they understood since it would consume a huge amount of time.

    The only person in the carriage was him. Anna said that he was boring since the only thing he did was meditate so she joined Nermina and Lunelle in their cart. She said that she would talk with Devon¡¯s sister about clothes and pieces of jewelry.

    Once they were on their way, Anton entered his game virtually to continue leveling up. He was not worried since Lucas and Devon were with them and they were vigilant since their family was with them and he was confident that they would make sure that they were safe as well. Anders was also on the lookout not totally dependent on their new guards since from what Anton observed of his father, Anders also wanted to make sure that his family was safe as well.

    He was now level thirty and in Harrogath. Anton started his journey in the Bloody Foothills and he felt that it was easy since the spell Frozen Orb was demolishing every monster in sight. It was weird to see barbarians fighting monsters looking very real but when he tried to engage one after a battle, the barbarians still behaved like NPCs ignoring him as if he was air.

    At first, Anton was worried about them and was trying to hurry so he could assist them so the barbarians would not die among the many hordes of enemies but since they behaved as NPCs, his worries dissipated.

    Anton enjoyed slaughtering the enemies in the Bloody Foothills because of how easy it was and he didn¡¯t rush. He made sure that all the corners in the zone were explored just like what he did when he first started playing the game when he was younger. This brought his level to thirty-one and he immediately put the newly earned stats in vitality. Since he had four remaining skill points, he put one to Frozen Orb and one to Cold Mastery. Now he had three skill points remaining.

    When he added a skill point to Cold Mastery he felt some sort of knowledge and experience enter his mind about manipulating his cold spells so he immediately went to the Frigid Highlands, activated the waypoint there, and went directly to Act 1 Rogue Encampment. He wanted to practice his spells to check what Cold Mastery had added aside from the usual lowering the resistances of all hostile to him.

    Surprisingly, the Cold Mastery level thirty passive skill added a lot of practical mastery of his mana manipulation to all of his cold spells and he wondered why he only felt it now and only with Cold Mastery since he also added one skill point to Fire and Lightning Mastery. He then reckoned that there was a breakpoint in the skill level when it came to the three masteries and it could be that it was skill level five since only Cold Mastery reached that due to circlet that has plus one to all cold skills, the Ring of Jordan and a staff that came with plus one to cold skills as well.

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    All of these were just his conjecture and not actual fact because usually his Diablo II system would inform him of something like this but he realized that the knowledge that he gained was only relevant to the real world and the game mechanics wouldn¡¯t care if he could manipulate the mana of his spells really well. He practiced his cold spells for a while and when he exited the game, he realized that he spent several hours leveling up and practicing his spells since the carriage already stopped for their lunch and to rest the horses.

    Anton joined everyone for lunch and gave them mana water from his Frozen Orb spell to make sure that all of them were refreshed. He also activated the Prayer Aura skill that he received for having a Combat Mercenary from Act 2 and he did this to relieve every one of their aches and pains even the tiniest ones.

    Lucas and his family were startled when the Prayer Aura was activated and Anders explained to them that it was his healing spell. Anton saw them feeling out their body and Lucas especially since he was an experienced veteran and probably sustained a lot of injuries when he was younger working as a mercenary or a guard.

    ¡°Your spell sir feels wonderful. All my old injuries are disappearing,¡± Lucas said and even Devon nodded since he probably had old injuries as well.

    Anton was aware of them healing because his mana decreased indicating that some injuries were being dealt with by the spell. He only stopped the Prayer Aura when his mana stopped decreasing.

    ¡°Now I want to sleep. This was the first time in a long time that my body was relaxed. It¡¯s as if I received a massage from a high-level priest while he was applying his healing spell,¡± Devon said.

    ¡°We appreciate what you did Sir Anton. Thank you so much,¡± Lucas said directly to him and the family echoed his sentiments which made Anton blush.

    The blush prompted a laugh from Anna and it made Lunelle¡¯s eyes twinkle because Anton didn¡¯t know that the healthy food, his constant drinking and bathing of mana water, and constant Prayer Aura transformed him into a very handsome young man with dark hair and his magic made his blue eyes especially vivid. Anton was only seventeen in this world and had not achieved his full height but he was already taller than his father who he reckoned was about five foot ten inches so he was about six feet. He hoped since he wanted to be a tall man this time since as Anthony Saunders in his previous world his height was only five foot eight inches.

    Anton went to the horses next and let them drink mana water as well to make them healthier. He also activated his Prayer Aura so he could heal them of any possible injuries they sustained. He needed to remove everyone from the party system so he could add the horses so they would be affected by the Prayer aura. This made all the horses a bit skittish but it also made them fond of Anton.

    Of course, he included everyone''s horses and after a while, he turned off the skill, removed the horses from the party then added everyone to the party system back again.

    After lunch, they continued their journey but this time Anton did not enter the game immediately. Instead, he practiced his scales on his lute first and then played some songs. He then sang loudly so he could entertain his father.

    He chose old country and Western songs since it looked like his father preferred those types of songs and he was glad that whatever magic brought him to this world had translated the language perfectly. He then wondered if the videos that he was watching and the website that he was reading were in the old world language or using this world language.

    Anton shrugged and thought that as long he could understand them perfectly, he wouldn¡¯t worry himself about it.

 Chapter 56

    ¡°Father, how tall are you?¡± Anton asked his father through the small front window in the carriage.

    ¡°I¡¯m about five foot ten inches why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just curious. So do you think I¡¯m about six feet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, about that. Last year we measured both of your heights, you, and Anna. You were about an inch shorter then but you should have gained an inch now and all that mana water and healing made us healthy so I think all of us increased our height.¡±

    Anton was proud of that. The first time he saw his Father and Anna, they looked a bit too thin and your typical medieval farmer¡¯s family that he¡¯d seen on a television show but now due to the benefits of receiving the said mana water and healing from him, and the brand new clothes, they looked healthy and wealthy and it had not been that long.

    He went back to playing his lute and after a couple of hours, Anton told his father that he would go back to meditating until lunch. Between then and lunch, he managed to complete the quest Siege on Harrogath but decided to hold off on using the quest reward since he was planning to use it on a crystal sword that would drop from the Cow Level so he could create the runeword Spirit weapon.

    He also explored the Frigid Highlands zone fully and completed the quest Rescue on Mount Arreat but did not change to barbarian mercenary since the Prayer Aura was really useful in the real world. That brought his level up to level thirty-two. He immediately put skill points to his spells Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery leaving him with only two skill points remaining.

    It was lunchtime when he completed putting his skill points to the spell so he minimized the game and joined his family in taking their lunch. Anton took care of the horses first by providing them with mana water and healing them through the Prayer Aura. He had to remove everyone in the party system first so he could add the horses.

    Anton¡¯s Diablo II party system was weird. In the real world, the other persons or animals didn¡¯t need to give their consent if he added them to his party and there was no party interface anyway. He just felt it. He felt that a person or an animal was in his party and he felt it if his party system were full and to add or remove someone, he would just mentally intend to do it and it was done.

    He was guessing that the reason that consent was not needed was its impact was very minimal and mostly was done for healing or buffing. All of the horses were very affectionate towards him as if all of them instinctively knew that he was the source of the great comfort that they had been feeling lately and they did start to look very healthy and beautiful, especially Maide and Bailey. After providing water and healing the horses, he went back to eating lunch with his family.

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    ¡°Sir Anton, your voice is beautiful like a bard for royalty,¡± Lunelle said to Anton while all of them were eating.

    ¡°Thank you but please don¡¯t call me sir. I¡¯m not a noble.¡±

    ¡°Actually, in some countries being a wizard entitles you to a rank of a noble,¡± Lucas mentioned.

    ¡°Thank you for that information but we¡¯re not in those countries and being treated as a noble makes me a bit uncomfortable.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too polite you¡¯re weirding me out!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re too loud, nobody will like you!¡± Anton retorted.

    ¡°I¡¯m very pretty! A lot of men will court me once I¡¯m of age and we¡¯re in the city!¡±

    ¡°Nobody will court you since I will threaten all of them by turning them into frogs even though I don¡¯t know how to do that and you¡¯ll grow up an old hag and alone!¡± Anton joked.

    ¡°Father! Brother is bullying me,¡± Anna said to their father and Anders just laughed and everybody joined him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize the songs that you¡¯ve been singing. Are they from somewhere in particular?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°I wrote them,¡± Anton replied simply which prompted a gasp from Lucas¡¯s family.

    ¡°How talented you are Anton. You¡¯re a wizard and also have the talent of a bard!¡± Nermina said.

    ¡°He can also write the most beautiful stories that will make you cry!¡± Anna boasted and showed everyone her notebook.

    ¡°Can I read it?¡± Lunelle asked.

    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s not finished yet. I¡¯m going to ask him to write more stories in my notebook and sell them, I will earn a lot of coins and become a rich woman living in the city going to cafes eating cakes, and drinking tea with my friends while handsome nobles court us,¡± Anna said while her eyes were closed already imagining herself like a rich little noble in a city.

    ¡°I thought you wanted to be a wizard?¡± Anton snorted.

    ¡°Well, who said that I can¡¯t be both!¡± She retorted.

    ¡°Stop that. We¡¯re leaving. Anton, can you tell us a story tonight? I miss hearing your voice telling a beautiful story,¡± Anders requested.

    ¡°Of course, Father,¡± Anton replied and then they all went back to traveling the roads.

    Surprisingly, Anna joined him in the carriage.

    ¡°Why are you here? I thought you find my meditations boring?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a nap. Lunelle said that sleeping for an hour or two in the afternoon was what noble ladies did in the city and it made them beautiful. It¡¯s called beauty rest.¡±

    ¡°You really wanted to turn yourself into a slothful little noble aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Anna ignored him and then closed her eyes.

    Anton laughed when he saw his sister¡¯s reaction. After that, he ignored her sister and entered the game virtually. He intended to practice his spells outside the Rogue Encampment since he felt that he needed more practice to be able to effectively use them in the real world. He planned to practice his fire spell starting with Hydra. He did the spell Hydra for about an hour and the rest of the fire spell for two more hours. He learned how to manipulate the mana of the Hydra spell to be able to summon a smaller hydra but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t decrease the number of heads. It was always three.

    He wondered if the Hydra spell was aware of who the enemy was since as usual, it didn¡¯t react when seeing his mercenary. Anton thought of summoning it in the real world to test but it was too dangerous. He would rather test it out in the forest with an animal with nobody else present. Anton checked the time and saw it was early so he decided to rest by surfing the internet. Every time he opened his browser, he gave thanks to the powers that be that it allowed him to connect to the internet.

 Chapter 57

    Anton was watching an anime, one of the new ones that was just released and had glowing reviews when he heard his father talking to his sister.

    ¡°Anna wake up your brother. There are bandits ahead,¡± Anders said loud enough for Anton to hear it so he immediately closed the browser, opened the game, and minimized it.

    ¡°I¡¯m awake father. How did you know that there are bandits ahead?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a fallen tree blocking the road and Lucas signaled that he saw some people creeping amongst the trees.¡±

    ¡°Father, can you invite Nermina and Lunelle inside the carriage?¡±

    ¡°I already did.¡±

    Anton then saw the carriage door opening and Nermina and Lunelle entered. Before anything else, he made sure that everyone was added to his party system so everyone would be affected by the Prayer Aura. He then activated the aura to make sure that if anyone were injured they would be healed almost immediately. He wanted to hunt for the runeword weapon Insight since its Meditation Aura was a higher level compared to the mercenary¡¯s Prayer Aura it meant that the healing property would be stronger, and since his mercenary would have the Prayer Aura, there would be two auras that would be active and that would heal him and his allies greatly and it would also regenerate his mana.

    Anton walked outside the carriage and saw Anders, Lucas, and Devon spread out guarding the carriage. They had their swords unsheathed and they looked valiant with their new weapons and new armor. He walked behind his father and waited.

    Six men walked out from the woods in front of the fallen tree. Their leader was a very huge man with a full beard and dirty countenance typical of story bandits which almost made Anton laugh. His father told him that a lot more men were hiding among the trees.

    ¡°Leave your valuables and we will allow you to pass without harm.¡± The huge bandit that looked like their leader shouted but Anton saw that the bandit was wearing a cunning expression. From what he had read in the stories, bandits like these especially if they thought themselves invincible due to their numbers wouldn¡¯t let someone like their group get away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t believe him, son. They saw Nermina and Lunelle so they would kill us and take the women,¡± Anders whispered.

    ¡°Should I attack Father? I can teleport behind them and unleash a Frost Nova spell freezing all of them.¡±

    Suddenly someone shot an arrow at Devon and he was hit in his left arm. Anton didn¡¯t wait for his father¡¯s answer and immediately teleported behind the six-bandit group. He was sure that his father and the two guards would be able to handle anyone who would attack them. He even saw the arrow pop out from Devon¡¯s arm and the wound healed immediately which invigorated the young man.

    Anton appeared behind the bandit leader and he cast Frost Nova instantly freezing the six men. He then heard somebody shouting in the trees that there was a wizard and that everybody should run.

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    They saw that nobody else attacked them and all of the other bandits were scared by Anton''s show of magic.

    Anton walked back towards his father.

    ¡°Should we chase after them, father?¡±

    ¡°No, they could be anywhere in these woods. Are the group there dead?¡±

    ¡°No. I controlled my magic and they would thaw out a bit. You can interrogate them.¡±

    ¡°Father, is everything okay now?¡± Anna shouted from within the carriage.

    ¡°Yes but don¡¯t get out yet since some could still be around and could shoot arrows.¡±

    Lucas and Devon were still vigilant while Anders and Anton went near the bandits who fell after they thawed out. They could see the six men shivering.

    Anton noticed that his father wasn¡¯t holding a sword but was holding the magic wand.

    When the bandits saw his Father wielding a wand instead of a sword they even became more afraid thinking that there were two wizards instead of just Anton.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t kill us, sir wizards, we just want to survive in these hard times!¡± The bandit leader said while stuttering from the cold.

    ¡°Hard times! It''s spring and the forest is full of bounty! How many are you in your group? Answer me or I¡¯ll turn you into a lizard and slice your limbs one by one and feed it to my pet snake!¡± Anders said while waving his wand.

    ¡°There are more than twenty of us but since everyone has seen your magic, I¡¯m sure that all of them have run away already,¡± The bandit leader said.

    ¡°What are we going to do Father? Should we go to their hideout and find their belongings?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous. Our family is here and they¡¯re our priority. We should be on our way. Are you okay with disposing of them,¡± Anders whispered to his son.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t killed real people before just monsters and the undead. Should I do it so I¡¯ll get used to it?¡±

    Anders looked conflicted and Anton could understand why. He guessed that his father wanted to protect his innocence and give him more time to grow up before he faced these kinds of decisions.

    Lucas then arrived and told him and his father to let them handle the bandits.

    ¡°Anton you will face this decision sooner or later but for now let me and my son handle it for you. This is one of the reasons why your father hired us.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I will let you handle it then,¡± Anton said to his guard and he left the bandits to his father and Lucas and went back to the carriage.

    Devon was still studying the surroundings making sure that nobody would surprise them. He saw that the wound on the young guard¡¯s arm was already healed.

    ¡°Sir, thank you for healing me,¡± Devon said respectfully when he saw that Anton was back. He just nodded and didn¡¯t correct the young man again about calling him ¡°sir.¡±

    After a few minutes, Lucas and Anders came back from where they brought the bandits.

    ¡°We should leave now,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Father we should let Nermina and Lunell stay in the carriage for now. I will drive their cart. I wanted to learn how to do it by myself anyway.¡±

    ¡°No sir. You should go inside the carriage for your protection!¡± Devon said.

    ¡°My son is right Anton. You''re our client and must be protected,¡± Lucas added.

    ¡°Father, can you show them please?¡± Anton immediately cast Energy Shield which made his father understand what he meant. Anders then unsheathed his sword and hit his son with it hard and they all saw a magical shield appear blocking the attack.

    ¡°Even if an arrow attacks me, my magic will block it. Even if this spell is not cast I have an innate spell that would activate with any attack that I received,¡± Anton was talking about the runeword armor that he was wearing in the game that gave him a huge amount of defense so in a sense there was magic that was protecting him all the time.

    Lucas and Devon were looking at him in awe.

    ¡°You don¡¯t really need guards when you¡¯re this powerful!¡± Devon said.

    ¡°I mentioned it when we hired you. We need guards for night shift duty and to be on the lookout. For our defense, yes we have magic. I even have a magic wand myself and it¡¯s all powerful since it doesn¡¯t run out of magic,¡± Anders uncharacteristically boasted indicating that the two men were growing on him and already earned his trust.

 Chapter 58

    Anton prepared himself to drive the Lucas family¡¯s cart. It helped a lot that the horse that was pulling it was very docile towards him and responded to his commands immediately and Devon said that it was uncanny since their horse had a stubborn reputation prompting an ongoing family joke that their horse was half mule.

    ¡°It obeys me since it knew that I was the source of the delicious water that it had been drinking and also the source of magic that was making it comfortable. The horses that I¡¯ve encountered were all intelligent for some reason. Are all horses like that?¡± Anton asked the young guard.

    ¡°In my experience, yes. They knew who treated them the best and they were kind to those who treated them well.¡±

    As they moved along Anton was not doing much since the horse was just following the carriage. He thought of what happened regarding their encounter with the bandits. It was¡­easy. If he thought about it, almost all conflicts that they had encountered even the supposedly very dangerous one, the vampire, were resolved almost immediately.

    It goes to show that the powers he received from his Diablo II system were overwhelming. Although Anders told him when he asked that the vampire that they had encountered was low on the hierarchy, his father assured him that that monster alone could have depopulated their entire village easily.

    With the powers that he had right now, Anton could do it too, destroy a village with no effort, but Anders told him not to be overconfident since wizards tend to be very powerful that was why when the bandits learned that there was a wizard in their group, all of them ran away immediately. His father didn¡¯t know how he compared with other wizards since they were powerful but very rare but almost always, when a wizard accompanied a mission it was almost guaranteed to be successful. That was how overpowered the wizards in this world.

    Anton was feeling bored and he was getting annoyed at the dust that the carriage was creating flowing into him so he cast the Blizzard spell and controlled the mana so it would turn into water and cast it in front of his horse. A rain of mana water appeared just in front of his horse which made the horse pulling the cart happy. It became energetic and almost ran away from him.

    Devon gaped at him and Lucas looked at him with question in his eyes.

    ¡°Sorry. It was dusty so I wanted to wet the ground in front of me a bit,¡± He told the two guards.

    ¡°Can you cast that spell anywhere in the world like even the desert?¡± Devon asked.

    Anton replied yes to the young guard¡¯s question without thinking about it until he heard the man¡¯s gasp.

    ¡°That meant that you could make a farm anywhere! It¡¯s like you¡¯re a god!¡± Devon said.

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    ¡°That¡¯s debatable. I can make the ground wet but I can¡¯t make the soil healthy. Does wet sand grow plants? More things needed to be done than just wetting the ground. I admit that the majority of making a healthy farm is the water I can conjure but that hardly makes me a god,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Devon don¡¯t bother the wizard and get back to checking the surroundings!¡±

    Anton heard the young guard apologizing to his father. He would have said that it was all right for Devon to talk to him since it was boring just driving the cart but he did not want to intrude on the man guiding his son.

    He would have liked to play the game at least using the on-screen option or browse the Internet but he did not want to drive the cart into a ditch so he concentrated on driving the horse. Now he knew that driving a cart or carriage was very boring and he wondered how his father could have done it day in and day out. Anton planned to ask his father if he would like to hire a carriage driver so he could rest inside the carriage instead of driving Maide and Bailey.

    Dusk arrived and Anton had to admit that riding an open-air cart was much more conducive to scenery viewing compared to a closed carriage. The environment was beautiful and if he were truly a bard he would have been able to compose a poem or write a song based on the beauty of the scenery. Unfortunately, he was a fake bard who was just plagiarizing the works of famous artists from his old world.

    Soon Anders stopped the carriage beside the road in an open area so Anton followed suit. The women went out of the carriage and helped take care of the horses. Anders and the two guards set up their campfire while Anton and Anna stood there looking like privileged useless nobles who did not have anything to do.

    Anders sat on a tree trunk that was put there by Devon then the young guard invited him to sit there and waited for everyone to be done. He took a barrel of cooked stew from his private stash and a barrel of bread and told Anna to prepare the food for everyone so he could immediately put the barrels back into his magical space.

    Anna worked fast since nobody wanted the food to spoil. When the fire was ready everyone sat down near the fire and Anton¡¯s sister gave everyone the food that she prepared. Once everyone was done eating, Anna asked his brother what story he would tell them that night.

    Anton took his lute from his private stash in the game and played a little song.

    ¡°The story I¡¯m going to tell is a story about a beautiful girl who was as big as a thumb that came from inside a flower. An old woman who never had a family went to a witch and requested for a child of her own and the witch gave her a seed that she should plant and when the flower from the seed bloomed, her child would appear inside the flower. The name of the story is the name of the beautiful girl. Thumbelina.¡±

    Anton then played and sang the song ¡°Follow Your Heart¡± which was one of the opening songs from the animated film Thumbelina.

    While he was telling the story of Thumbelina, he was playing his Lute using the music from the film. He also sang some of the songs from the animated film like ¡°Soon,¡± ¡°Marry the Mole,¡± and his favorite ¡°Let Me Be Your Wings.¡±

    When he first watched the film, it was together with his parents when he was a child and he loved it since his mother loved the movie as well. When he learned the guitar, to please his mother, he practiced the songs from the movie. And now he was using the songs to entertain his new family.

    After he finished telling the story everyone clapped and told him that his storytelling was very masterful and could rival the best bards. Anton then told everyone that he was tired and would like to rest so he entered his tent that was set up by Devon.

 Chapter 59

    Anton entered his tent and lay down on his sleeping mat. He had no intention to sleep since what he wanted to do was continue leveling up. He was level thirty-two and just fully explored the Frigid Highlands.

    What he needed to do next was rescue the NPC Anya since the quest reward of plus ten to all resistances was good for him especially since it would be applied to his body in the real world as well.

    Since Anton was exploring every nook and cranny of the game, of course, he would do all the quest so that meant that he would also kill the necromancer NPC Nihlathak. He was able to fully explore the Crystalline Passage to do the Anya Quest and fully explored The Frozen River where she was located and then the Arreat Plateau. He enjoyed destroying the monsters since the spell Frozen Orb made it very easy for him.

    This brought him to level thirty-three. He increased the skills Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery and had only two skill points remaining. He was lucky enough to acquire a two-slotted full helm, three-slotted gothic shield, and two-slotted field plate.

    Anton went back to Harrogath created a new Stealth runeword armor using the field plate since it had a higher defense and gave his old one to his mercenary. Since he also had the runes for Lore runeword helm and Ancient Pledge runeword shield he made those as well. So now he had three somewhat decent runeword items. The Lore Helm, Ancient Pledge Shield, and Stealth Field Plate armor. The other noteworthy item that he had was the Stone of Jordan. The rest of his items were just rare items containing faster casting stats and resistances. The weapon that he was using was the smoked sphere that was given to him by Anya which added one to all cold spells, some points in energy, and some mana points. The moment he made the runeword weapon Spirit, he would replace the smoked sphere.

    He also started collecting small and large charms that contained resistances since he now had the inventory space to store them. Once he completed Act IV, he planned to farm the Cow Level to get a crystal sword that he could let the NPC Larzuk create into a four-slotted sword so he could create the runeword item Spirit. He even had the runes for it already and the only thing missing was the base sword.

    Anton felt satisfied with his new items then he checked the time and discovered that it was late so he minimized the game and slept.

    The next day, the whole group immediately left after breakfast since Anders wanted to be far away from where the bandit ambush happened. Nermina and Lunelle insisted on driving their cart which Anton expected and Anna wanted to sleep in the carriage since she said she slept really late last night since she was reading the stories in her notebook. He joined Anders in the driver¡¯s seat first since he wanted to talk to his father.

    ¡°Father, do you want to hire someone to drive the carriage for us when we arrive in the next village?¡±

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    At first, Anton expected his father to say that they did not need anyone since he was enough but his father paused, thinking deeply.

    ¡°I think it would be a good idea for us to hire someone. This would be a very long journey and driving all the time would become tedious. The problem we¡¯ll encounter is, that the person we will hire would need to commit a large part of his time to us since it could take at least a year for that person to return to his village. Another option for us is to hire temporary drivers like someone who will accompany us to a specific location not far from where he lives then we hire a new one after that contract ends.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, Father! I¡¯m impressed,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It¡¯s a common practice,¡± Anders laughed.

    ¡°I know you will be able to handle this Father so I¡¯ll leave it to you. How long before we arrive at the next village Father?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll arrive there the day after tomorrow.¡±

    Anton stayed with his father and continued talking about different things. He even took out his lute to practice and play some songs and he could see that his father enjoyed the songs that he chose to play that day. When lunchtime arrived, they stopped to rest the horses and he helped Anna to take care of the horses by providing their mounts drinking water which was the mana water that he conjured from controlling his Frozen Orb spell. He also didn¡¯t forget to activate the Prayer Aura skill so the horses would heal and renew quickly.

    After taking care of the horses, Anton removed the animals from the party system and added everyone back in and when they were eating lunch he activated the aura so everyone would receive its benefit. Anton wondered why the Prayer Aura did not have any visual effect, and then a pop-up window appeared on his view asking him if he wanted auras to appear visually in the real world. Curious, Anton mentally clicked on yes and a light show appeared on his feet. The Prayer Aura appeared the same as it was in the game which was a foggy light blue smoke light effect that startled everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry everyone. It¡¯s the visual effect of my healing skill. I noticed an option to have it appear visually and this thing came out,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful brother! You look like one of those saints in the cathedral in the holy city of Tiande that Mother was telling us about. Supposedly saints will appear glowing like that among the masses,¡¯ Anna said.

    ¡°It¡¯s distracting so let me turn it off,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°No leave it for now so we¡¯ll know when you¡¯re using it and besides when you use that spell you don¡¯t use it long right?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°Usually, a few minutes at most. I¡¯ll just leave it then. I wonder if it glows at night? We could use it as a source of light,¡± Anton joked and his father and Anna laughed.

    Anton turned off the aura after a couple more minutes and the light fixture coming from his feet disappeared.

    ¡°Sir Anton, we heard you playing your lute and singing while you were beside your father. I just want to tell you that your voice is truly beautiful and it made our travels more pleasant,¡± Lunelle said while blushing.

    ¡°Thank you Lunelle, I appreciate that. This afternoon though I would not be playing the lute since I¡¯ll go back to meditating.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll join Nermina and Lunelle in their cart so I¡¯ll have someone to talk to,¡± Anna said and Anton just shrugged.

    After lunch, they all went back to traveling and Anton immediately entered the game after he sat inside the carriage. He was excited to continue playing the game since he had new items and was more powerful.

 Chapter 60

    Inside the game, Anton continued playing to level up. He proceeded to go to kill Nihlathak and then fully explored the zones. Everything was very easy now since he was level thirty-three and he added a lot of skill points to Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery. He knew for a fact that the Frozen Orb sorceress was very strong during the last part of Normal and the whole of the Nightmare difficulty.

    Even though he knew what to expect since he had played the game for so many hours, it was different and more thrilling playing it with him in the Diablo world in person. The process of casting the spell using his own body, feeling the mana coursing through his veins gave him a sense of power that he felt like an ultimate evolved being. Anton had the urge to shout ¡°I¡¯m the most powerful in the world¡± while casting his spells. It was absurd but the urge was there.

    The one disadvantage of playing the game in person was the process was very slow. Instead of taking the normal length of time to complete the quests and zones it took way much longer. Walking and running in the fields and zones was way different compared to just clicking and pointing in front of a screen. He could still do it that way using the on-screen option but playing the game taught him how to wield his power more efficiently and effectively and Anton knew that it would be useful in the real world if kept playing in person.

    Anton leveled up to thirty-five and spent his remaining skill points on Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery. He then put his newly earned stats to vitality so he would not be so squishy. He reached the Ancients guarding the World Stone Keep and was about to engage them when he heard a voice. He went back to Harrogath using the town portal scroll and minimized the game. He saw that the carriage had stopped and when he checked, it was lunchtime.

    ¡°Anton wake up! We¡¯re about to have our lunch,¡± Anders said to him loudly.

    ¡°Father I¡¯m awake. I¡¯m sorry for meditating so deeply.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s what gives you power. Take some food out so we can start preparing and help Anna with the horses. When you take care of the horses they bounce back faster.¡±

    Anton went down and took out the box of bread and barrel of stew from the Private Stash and then he went to the horses to give them some mana water and heal them using the Prayer Aura. When they returned to the carriage, everyone already started eating so he and his sister took their share and he immediately kept the food in his private stash to keep it hot and fresh.

    While they were eating, he whispered to his Father and Anna that he had grown stronger but he had learned all the spells that he was supposed to learn. His meditations would now only make all the spells that he had learned grow stronger and his body stronger as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s still a lot of spells brother,¡± Anna whispered back.

    ¡°Yes it¡¯s a lot but it¡¯s alarming that all of them were geared towards battle. I do hope that it¡¯s not because you will be summoned to war by whoever gave you that power,¡± Anders whispered as well with a worried look on his face.

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    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry Father. I think the gift that I received was for me to get a head start on the road to wizardry and to make sure that we arrived safely at the end of our journey. Once I start learning real wizardry, I will be able to wield more diverse spells,¡± Anton consoled Anders.

    Anders and Anna looked relieved at Anton¡¯s statement and after lunch, they went back to traveling. They would arrive at the next village the next day and he planned to join his father in conducting their business. He would need to learn how to talk to the people of this world so he wouldn¡¯t look and sound so alien although he never encountered anyone indicating so much as that.

    Inside the carriage, Anton practiced his scales on his lute for an hour and played some complicated classical songs for about half an hour to make sure that his hands were well-oiled machines when it came to playing the instrument then he went back to playing the game.

    He defeated the Ancients in the Arreat Summit, journeyed into the World Stone Keep level one to three, and reached Baal¡¯s throne room, the Throne of Destruction. He killed all the unique monsters and their minions that Baal summoned and after that, he defeated Baal completing the Normal Difficulty of his game. That fight granted him a total of four levels leveling him to level thirty-nine. He spread his stats into strength and vitality and put the skill points into Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find any useful items at all. His next plan was to do the Cow Level to hunt for a crystal sword that he would use to create the Spirit runeword weapon and would probably remain in the normal difficulty for a while to hunt more runes, gems, and better charms. He needed the gems and jewels to upgrade his other items and sadly due to the lack of space in his private stash and inventory, he needed to sell most of them but now since his stash and inventory were way bigger, he could start his favorite past time of grinding for items.

    With grinding, he could play the game using the on-screen option and would only enter the game virtually to practice the mana manipulation of his spells outside the Rogue Encampment.

    Anton was so glad that he had a browser that let him search the internet since he would have the resources to inquire about the best gear and the best place to hunt them.

    Since he completed the Normal Difficulty, he checked the time and it was twilight so he minimized the game because soon, he was sure that they would stop for the night. Several minutes later, Anton¡¯s father called out to him saying that they had found their campsite for the night and he told his father that he was awake.

    Anders stopped the carriage and Anton went out. Anna was with Lucas¡¯s family as usual and they all started preparing the camp for their night stay. Lucas and his family didn¡¯t allow Anton to help them set up the camp but of course, he still took care of the horses since he was the only one who could provide the animals mana water, and healing.

    When the camp was set, they all sat beside the fire and Anna served everyone food from Anton¡¯s magical space.

    ¡°Father, as I¡¯ve said, I would join you in conducting your business in the village tomorrow since I need to learn how to talk to common people.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I will teach you what you¡¯ll need to know.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to tell us a story tonight? You could also play your lute and sing us a song,¡± Anna said to his brother.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not a bard! I¡¯m a wizard but yes I¡¯ll play the lute tonight.¡±

    Anton took out his lute and entertained his family and his guard¡¯s family while Lucas and Devon remained vigilant.

 Chapter 61

    Anton¡¯s family and their guards¡¯ family spent the rest of the night listening to him play the lute and sing. He sang love songs, rock songs, country songs, pop songs. He spent a couple of hours singing and he was impressed that his body could do all those singing without any issue and he guessed that it had to do with his increased stats.

    ¡°You know so many songs brother! I was kidding before when I mentioned that if being a wizard doesn¡¯t work out, you can be a bard but honestly you can be a bard! Your voice is truly magical,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I agree Sir Anton! Your voice is the most beautiful I¡¯ve ever heard,¡± Lunelle said and usually she would receive reprimand from her father if she showed any sort of admiration towards Anton but all he could see was his father, and everyone else for that matter, agreeing with the girl.

    ¡°Thank you all, you are a nice audience,¡± Anton joked.

    After that, he left everyone to their devices and went inside his tent that somebody set up for him. When he was lying down on his sleeping mat, he maximized the game and started playing using the on-screen option and spent an hour hunting runes from the Countess in the Black Marsh zone in the Normal Difficulty. He wanted to get all the runes for an Insight runeword weapon since a high-level Meditation Aura would be highly useful to him in real life. He had not used the Larzuk quest reward yet. At first, he thought of using it on a crystal sword to get the Spirit runeword sword and he even had the runes for it already but Anton thought that the Insight runeword weapon for his mercenary could be a better choice since a high-level Meditation Aura would be more useful in the game and the real world since its healing effect would be much greater and the mana regeneration would help him in not needing to drown in mana potions.

    Anton hunted some more runes and then after a while, he felt sleepy so he minimized the game once he went back to the Rogue Encampment beside his private stash and slept. The next day he was woken up by his father and after setting up their toilet and bath in the nearby forest with a huge barrel full of mana water, he joined everyone for breakfast.

    ¡°Father in the next village please have someone cook more varieties of food for us so we can have more. Even simpler food like porridge and stuff would be better than eating the same three stews every day. We should also buy more bread since we''re going through our stocks faster. I also recommend that we should start thinking about beginning to hunt more animals again for meat and then we can butcher, and season them and put them in a storage barrel or box fully seasoned and ready for cooking.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right son. Once we collected enough meat, spices, raw vegetables, and grains we could spend a day or two just cooking so we don¡¯t need to spend any time cooking while we¡¯re traveling. It will be much faster overall.¡±

    ¡°I can take that job, I can have all those cooked for you since I have the experience and you Sir Anton, and your father can just concentrate on your business once we¡¯re in a village,¡± Nermina said.

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    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s decided then. Nermina will be our cook and Lunelle will help her and of course, she will receive compensation while me, Anton, and Anna deal with our business in our village.¡±

    Nermina protested that they didn¡¯t need to receive any pay since they would be cooking food for themselves as well but Anders just ignored her and talked to Lucas about his wife¡¯s compensation.

    ¡°Nermina just let them be. You will not be able to change my Father¡¯s mind and we are going to earn a lot of money with the items that we¡¯re buying as you saw.¡±

    Lucas¡¯s wife nodded then she put on a thoughtful look. Whatever she may be concocting in her mind they will all know sooner or later.

    After breakfast, they all spent some time bathing and changing their clothes while Anton handled their soiled clothing. They wanted to look like rich prosperous merchants when they entered the village so people would sell them their old worn-out and broken equipment.

    He wanted to fix the carriage as well so it would look brand new.

    ¡°Father before we leave give me a second to check if I can lift the carriage so I can put it inside my magical space and have it fixed to look brand new.¡± Anders just nodded to his son¡¯s suggestion.

    Anton was not sure if he could lift the whole carriage. Based on what he found on the internet doing a quick search, an average carriage weighs a ton and even though he was stronger because of the added stats in strength, he didn¡¯t think that he could lift a ton. He didn¡¯t need to lift it for too long, just a second would do, and looking at their carriage, he thought that it may be lighter than what the internet said. Maybe the average in his world was different from this one, he hoped.

    He first tried it with Telekinesis and at first, he thought it was impossible but Anton was able to lift the whole carriage for just a millimeter off the ground for a fracture of a second and that was enough to put it in his inventory. It took a whole page of inventory but he was successful. He then had Charsi repair the vehicle for him which made him glad that he made all that effort.

    When Anton took out the carriage from his inventory, the vehicle looked brand new and beautiful. Like something a truly rich noble would commission.

    ¡°Our carriage is so pretty! Now we really look like nobles! Since the carriage is big enough we should have Nermina and Lunelle join us especially since they¡¯re also wearing pretty clothes,¡± Anna suggested.

    ¡°Anna''s idea is good Father. Once you hire a driver, all of us will still fit inside the carriage since it¡¯s spacious and we can add Nermina¡¯s horse to our horses and buy another one so there will be four horses pulling us and it will be easier for the animals.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll think about it once we reach the next village,¡± Anders said.

    They began their journey and this time Anna rode the carriage since she wanted to ride the brand new-looking vehicle and look like a pretty little noble girl.

    Anton ignored his sister and maximized the game to enter the Cow Level. He decided to use Larzuk quest reward to make an Insight runeword polearm weapon and he was hoping to get at level seventeen Meditation Aura. Even the least which was level twelve would still be much more helpful for him compared to the Spirit runeword sword for real-world applications.

    While doing the Cow Level in the Normal Difficulty of the Diablo II game, he was lucky enough to get a Voulge weapon so after finishing the zone, he went directly to Act V and had Larzuk put sockets on the weapon and new four-socket weapon appeared.

 Chapter 62

    Anton was thrilled about getting a four-socketed Voulge weapon. He would be able to create an Insight runeword weapon that his mercenary could equip and that meant that he would be able to use a high-level Meditation Aura which was way better than the level nine Prayer Aura that he had been using from his level thirty Mercenary although having both was welcome since according to the Diablo II wikis both auras stack.

    He immediately went to his private stash and took the only Sol rune that he had been keeping for a Spirit runeword weapon and with the runes Ral, Tir, Tal, and Sol he made the Insight runeword weapon. He was in luck since the Meditation Aura on the weapon was level fifteen. He didn¡¯t get the maximum level possible which was seventeen but at least it was not the least one which was level twelve.

    Even level twelve Meditation Aura was good enough but receiving a level fifteen one would help tremendously. He immediately equipped the weapon to his mercenary and he could see that there were now two aura skills that he could activate and decided to activate both. Surprisingly, the Meditation Aura was able to support the mana consumption of both auras.

    Anton tested his new mana regeneration by teleporting around outside the Rogue Encampment and he was pleasantly surprised that he didn¡¯t need to drink too much mana potion. Normally while playing the game in this world, he did not teleport much unlike when he was playing the game back on Earth. First, it was dizzying teleporting too much if you were doing it in real life, second, drinking mana potion was not just clicking the icon if he was playing virtually and not the on-screen option so that meant that using just his Frozen Orb, his new Meditation Aura should be able to support it without any issue and without the need to keep getting a mana potion and drinking it.

    Suddenly he heard his father talking loudly through the front window.

    ¡°Anton prepare yourself. The village is on fire, it seemed that it was currently under attack.¡±

    Anton minimized the game while he was beside his private stash and felt his party system to check if his family and Lucas and his family were all added to it and they were so he activated the Prayer and Meditation Aura but this time he went to the settings and turned off the visual effect.

    ¡°Father who is attacking the village?¡±

    ¡°Bandits!¡± Anders said contemptuously.

    Anton was a bit disappointed. He wanted the attack to be monsters so he could kill indiscriminately but if it were bandits, that meant that they were people but if they were cruel, he would make sure they would pay.

    ¡°We will hide Lucas¡¯s family¡¯s cart here. Nermina, Lunelle, and Anna, all of you go inside the carriage. Anton and I will drive the carriage to the village and we will attack any bandits who attack us and Lucas and Devon will guard us,¡± Anders commanded.

    ¡°I activated two high-level healing aura so whatever happens don¡¯t be afraid since you will instantly heal but you can¡¯t be too far away from me,¡± Anton told Lucas and Devon.

    Anders drove the carriage one-handed while he was holding his magic missile wand while Lucas and Devon were riding their horses and were beside them.

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    The moment they entered the village, they saw that the largest building was burning. It could be the village leader¡¯s house or the village inn but a lot of people were running around and some of the people who were chasing the villagers looked like the typical bandits you would see in a movie with gruesome faces and dirty bodies and clothing.

    The people heard the carriage coming and some of them stopped and pointed at the carriage. A group of bandits ran toward Anton¡¯s carriage and Lucas and Devon unsheathed their swords. They jumped off their horses and prepared to meet the bandits.

    Anders surprised everyone by firing his magic wand rapidly without regard to the number of spells stored inside. Lucas and Devon engaged the bandits and somebody shot them with arrows. Devon was hit in the neck which was usually fatal but the bandits were terrified to see that the arrow took itself out from Lucas¡¯s son¡¯s neck to the relief of Lucas and Devon¡¯s wound healed immediately. Devon and Lucas were startled and paused for a bit but they recovered themselves quickly and began attacking the bandits.

    Anders kept firing his magic wand and Anton actually just let his father, Lucas, and Devon attack without joining since it seemed like his father and his guards were enjoying themselves.

    One of the bandits shouted ¡°There are wizards! Flee for your lives!¡±

    Anton saw that a lot of bandits began fleeing but Anders didn¡¯t want to let go of anyone so he jumped from the carriage driver¡¯s seat and began chasing bandits while firing off his magic wand.

    Lucas and Devon were the same. They began chasing off the bandits and since Anton¡¯s father and guards were faster than everyone else since they were not affected by fatigue due to Anton¡¯s Prayer and Meditation Aura, only a few of the bandits escaped. Anders checked the fleeing bandit and counted that there were about only four bandits who escaped.

    After a while, Anders and the guards came back from chasing the bandits.

    ¡°Thank you son for letting us handle the bandits. It was enjoyable. These old bones can still fight!¡± Anders said excitedly.

    ¡°Let me charge your wand, Father so you can fire more magic missiles in case the four bandits who escaped return,¡± Anton jokingly said to his father.

    Anders and the guards laughed and Anton¡¯s father gave the wand to Anton. He immediately had the blacksmith repair the wand and gave it back to his father.

    ¡°Should I start healing the villagers?¡± He asked his father.

    ¡°Oh yes. I almost forgot. I will have everyone who is wounded gathered at the inn¡¯s common room. The inn is the one beside the burning building which was the villager¡¯s chief¡¯s house. Can you put out the fire Anton?¡±

    Anton cast his Blizzard Spell but controlled the mana so the spell would turn into rain instead. He was so glad that he took the time to practice mana manipulation of the Blizzard Spell allowing him to turn it into rain without any problem. After a couple of casting, the fire died. The villagers were looking at Anton in awe and Lucas mentioned that most of them probably had never seen a wizard before.

    ¡°Everyone who is wounded or who can help those who are wounded, my son can heal them so please bring them to the inn¡¯s common room, even the most severe wounds will be healed and we will not charge anything for the healing so don¡¯t be afraid!¡± Anders shouted.

    Anton knocked on the carriage door and told the women that the bandits had been settled. Nermina, Lunelle and Anna came down. Nermina asked Lucas to retrieve their cart and the head guard followed his wife¡¯s command.

    Anton went to the inn¡¯s common room and saw that a lot of wounded people were already inside. He counted and there were five wounded people already there together with their families. He removed everyone from the party system and added all five wounded people at once. Since the Prayer Aura and the Meditation Aura were still active, the wounded healed immediately which brought gasps to everyone.

    ¡°Okay those who are healed please leave the common room so the other wounded and their friends and family can enter without any problem,¡± Anton said and the people who were healed and their families left after bowing towards Anton.

 Chapter 63

    Anton spent only half an hour healing all the wounded villagers inside the inn¡¯s common room even though there were many of them. He stopped counting when he reached thirty people and while he was doing the healing which was nothing more than removing the healed people from the party system and adding seven wounded people it only took at most a minute for even the severely wounded to heal.

    While he was doing the healing, Anders told him that they had counted the bandits who attacked and there were forty of them excluding those who escaped. Ten were still alive and five of them were severely wounded.

    ¡°I¡¯ll heal them Father and then you decide what you want to do with those bandits,¡± Anton told Anders and his father just nodded.

    Anton¡¯s father then talked to the two men who were waiting by the side. He was surprised when Anna suddenly talked since he didn¡¯t notice that she was beside him. His startlement made his sister giggle.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know I was here? Those two men are the village chief and the innkeeper. They were asking what¡¯s our next move. They are very afraid of you brother since you¡¯re a mighty wizard who can heal all wounds. According to the talks that I¡¯ve heard, those you healed who had other afflictions not related to the wounds given by the bandits were healed as well. One farmer who had a limp all his life can now also walk straight. They would all treat you now as if you¡¯re a god!¡± Anna said laughingly and Anton just shrugged.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me. We¡¯re not going to stay here for long anyway.¡±

    Anton then went outside the inn to look for his father. He saw him still talking to the two men earlier that Anna told him was the village chief and the innkeeper. Lucas and Devon were there as well.

    ¡°Anna where are Nermina and Lunelle?¡±

    ¡°They were with our carriage and their cart. They value their cart very much since it contains their clothing and things that you turned ¡°brand new¡±,¡± Anna said and Anton just nodded and walked towards where his father was.

    They were all looking at the bandit''s corpses that were laid down on the ground. The still living ones who were injured were by the side of the corpses sitting down and looking at the ground. Now and then they looked towards Anders fearfully since Anton¡¯s father was holding his magic wand.

    ¡°Anton you¡¯re here. According to the village chief, the bandits were planning to make this village their stronghold and they were thankful that we arrived.¡±

    ¡°What are they going to do with the rest of the prisoners, Father? Do you still want me to heal them?¡±

    ¡°Yes heal them, please. There are only ten of them left so I¡¯m quite sure that they will not make any trouble while we¡¯re still here. I¡¯m going to let the village chief handle them.¡±

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    Anton added the wounded bandits to his party and since he did not turn off the Meditation and Prayer Aura, they were immediately healed which made the bandits gasped in awe. He needed to do it twice since there were ten of them. After that, he removed them from the party system since he found them distasteful.

    ¡°Me and Anna will wait for you inside the inn, Father,¡± Anton then gathered his sister even though she pouted, and led her to the common room. She clearly wanted to stay and listen to the adult¡¯s discussions.

    When they sat at one of the tables in the inn Anna asked his brother a question.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we stay there and listen? I want to learn what will happen to the bandits.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to look at the men¡¯s corpses anymore. Don¡¯t you find them disgusting? Besides, Father would probably let the village chief handle the bandits who were still alive and they would either hang or kill them, send someone to the nearest city to ask for assistance, or enslave them.¡±

    ¡°Hang them! Then why did Father ask you to heal them?¡±

    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s not an effort to me and remember the undead are coming so the more living people the better. The villagers didn¡¯t know that the undead are coming but soon they will.¡±

    Nermina and Lunelle entered the inn after a while and when they saw the siblings, they joined them at their table to wait. While they were waiting, Anton decided to give everyone mana water to quench their thirst by taking a pitcher from his inventory and casting his Frozen Orb spell using minute amounts of mana and controlling the temperature to turn the spell into water.

    Everyone greedily drank the mana waters since it was so refreshing and they could clearly feel that it was benefitting their bodies. Anton needed to conjure some more water when he saw his father, Lucas, and Devon enter the inn together with the innkeeper and gave his father and the guards mana water to drink which they drank thirstily.

    The innkeeper then went somewhere but came out immediately together with a woman and a teenage girl Anton assumed as the innkeeper¡¯s family and had them assist everyone in leading them to the rooms they rented.

    They were also informed that the bath was located at the back of the inn and they could have someone start heating water for them but Anton declined and told the innkeeper¡¯s wife that he would handle the water and heat it using magic which made the woman and his daughter stare at Anton wide-eyed.

    ¡°Can you lead us to our rooms please?¡± Nermina had to ask the woman because of their long pause which made the woman blush and her daughter giggle which earned her a glare from her mother.

    Anton saw that Anders rented a total of five rooms. One for him, one for his father, one for Anna, one for Nermina and Lunelle, and one for Lucas and Devon. They only stayed in their rooms to put their things and they immediately went back downstairs to eat since everyone had not had their lunch yet and were hungry.

    They needed to use their stored food since the inn¡¯s kitchen had not prepared food yet due to the circumstances but their food was good enough.

    ¡°Are we still going to stay here to buy their things, Father?¡± Anton asked Anders.

    ¡°Yes. We will stay here today and tomorrow and we¡¯ll leave the day after. I already told the village chief and the innkeeper and they promised to spread the word. We should expect our first customers later but we are going to need to use the inn¡¯s common room since they don¡¯t have a village hall that we can use and the innkeeper was generous enough to lend us a corner.¡±

    ¡°They probably don¡¯t have many visitors anyway especially since something like this happened,¡± Anna said while they were eating.

    ¡°Regardless. We will rest for a couple of hours then start our business.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a bath,¡± Anton declared.

    Anna then asked her brother for some mana water and to heat them as well so they could all take a bath and Anton agreed. He then reminded everyone to leave the soiled clothing in his room and to not forget to damage them, so he could clean them using magic.

 Chapter 64

    Anton went to his room to rest for a bit after his bath then after about an hour he went downstairs to look for his father since he had told Anders that he would be joining him in their business. When he reached the common room, he saw Anders seated behind a table accepting broken items from the villagers while Anna was at a separate table together with Nermina and Lunelle accepting old and worn-out clothing and things from the women of the village.

    ¡°Anton you¡¯re here. Sit beside me, I prepared a chair for you.¡± Anders told him so he sat beside his father.

    ¡°At first the villagers wanted to just give us their things as thanks for saving them from the bandits and healing them from their wounds but I told them that we would leave immediately if they didn¡¯t allow us to pay.¡±

    Anton nodded since he understood his father¡¯s reasoning. The villagers would need the coin soon because of what would happen once the Undead Coalition reached this place. He then observed how Anders talked to the villagers and how he priced the items. He could see that a lot of the villagers were asking a lot less than what his father was paying for the items. It was funny in a way, a merchant insisting on paying more instead of paying less but he could understand that the villagers were feeling guilty accepting coins from whom they considered their saviors.

    ¡°Father, I think it would be best for me to just go to my room to meditate since your dealings with the villagers here are not normal. I understand their situation since we did save them but I wanted to learn how to talk to people normally not to someone overly concerned about us because we¡¯re their saviors.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Go ahead and go to your room. Lucas and Devon would accompany me here and Nermina and Lunelle will assist your sister there.¡±

    Before he left, Anton summoned a couple of pitchers from his inventory and cast a Frozen Orb spell with controlled mana to fill the pitchers with mana water and gave one to his father and one to Anna¡¯s table. He was blatant about it since the villagers already knew that he was a wizard but it still brought awed gasps from them.

    In his room, Anton entered maximized the game but did not enter virtually since his purpose was to grind items and levels from Baal¡¯s unique monsters and their minions in the Normal Difficulty interspaced with grinding runes from the Countess also in the Normal Difficulty.

    After a couple of hours of gameplay, to avoid burnout, he surfed the internet for an hour watching videos and animes. He was a bit sad that he couldn¡¯t even leave a comment on the videos that he liked. He could search for videos and animes using his virtual keyboard but he couldn¡¯t find any loophole that would allow him to communicate back to anyone in his old world not that he had anyone whom he would like to communicate with.

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    That meant that if he wanted to know a specific thing from the internet, Anton would need to do extensive research instead of asking someone from any internet forums. Still, he was very thankful that he could watch movies and animes and he didn¡¯t even need to watch illegal sites since he had an account on famous streaming sites which was more than he had when he was in his old world.

    After watching about three episodes of an anime that he was currently following, he went back to gaming using the on-screen option. Since he was just grinding levels and runes he thought that he didn¡¯t need to do it personally. He planned to do it virtually if it were actual gameplay but when grinding he would use the on-screen option since it was much faster since he could utilize Teleport extensively.

    Two hours of seemingly endless grinding later Anton reached level forty-eight. He was able to grind a lot of runes and upgraded his belt, boots, and gloves with ones that had slightly better stats. He knew that to truly equip his character with good items, he would need to grind on the Hell difficulty but for now, he was happy since every level up meant his real body became more powerful in the real world.

    It was already seven in the evening when Anton stopped playing so he went downstairs to join his family for dinner. When he arrived in the inn¡¯s common room, he saw that his family was still busy buying things from the villagers.

    Anders did stop when he saw Anton and told the villagers that their business would continue the next day. The villagers left while Lucas and Devon brought the items that they had already purchased somewhere, probably on their carriage.

    Anders joined his table with Anna¡¯s and they all sat on the now huge table. Anton¡¯s father then called the innkeeper and ordered food for everyone.

    ¡°Did you manage to purchase a lot of things?¡± Anton asked his father and Anna.

    ¡°Oh yes! Some of the things that we purchased are going to be valuable when you fix them,¡± Anna answered while pointing at herself, Nermina, and Lunelle.

    ¡°So far, it¡¯s about the same as the previous village. We¡¯ll know for sure tomorrow. We¡¯re going to leave the day after.¡± Anders said.

    Lucas and Devon arrived and joined them at the table and soon after the innkeeper and some helpers arrived with their food. Their dinner was also the same as the previous village and when Anton asked, Lucas answered that food in these parts of the country would be the same at least until they reached the Holy City of Tiande.

    ¡°How many more villages before we reach Tiande?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°A couple more villages after this one and each village will take us about five days before we reach them,¡± Their head guard answered.

    ¡°Tiande is so far. I wanted to reach the city already so we could begin selling our things and earn a lot of coins! I want to know how much we¡¯re going to earn,¡± Anna sighed.

    ¡°Anders, Lucas, and I want to talk to you about something,¡± Nermina said to Anton¡¯s father with a serious look on her face.

    ¡°Okay I¡¯ll talk to you in my room later,¡± Anders said after seeing how serious Lucas¡¯s wife was.

    After dinner, everyone went to their rooms to rest since all of them had already taken their baths. Anders did ask Anton to follow him to his room since Nermina¡¯s talk would probably involve the whole family. When they reached their rooms, Anders, Anton, Lucas, and Nermina went to Ander¡¯s room.

    Anna wanted to follow but Lunelle pulled her away and asked if she could take a look at her notebook of stories. Anton¡¯s sister pouted but allowed herself to be pulled by Lunelle to her room.

 Chapter 65

    Inside Ander¡¯s room, Anton, his father, Nermina and Lucas kept on standing while they were facing each other.

    ¡°What did you want to talk about?¡± Anders asked Lucas and Nermina.

    ¡°Lucas and my son¡¯s contract specified that they will be your guards until the city of Tiande but I would like to apply to be part of your business. My family talked about it and we would like to be with you until the end of your journey. If Sir Anton here doesn¡¯t have any plans of stopping anytime soon to help you with your business, I¡¯m sure that you will be incredibly wealthy and my family wants to be a part of that. Lucas and Devon will be your guard and I would like to assist you in any capacity. I know a bit about handling finances since I¡¯ve been managing the finances of the mercenary band that my husband and my son were a part of.¡±

    ¡°What happened to the mercenary band?¡± Anton asked curiously.

    ¡°They accepted a commission from the city of Vondi to fight the undead and I¡¯m sure that the city is doomed. I don¡¯t want Lucas and Devon to die so I urged them to quit the company now here we are.¡± Nermina said.

    Based on the situation, Anton gathered the decision-maker in his guard¡¯s family was Nermina and she was a strong woman.

    ¡°We¡¯ll test it out for a couple of months and if everything is agreeable I¡¯m sure that we can talk about your contract but for now, Lucas and Devon will remain our guards and you can assist us as our secretary,¡± Anders told Lucas and Nermina.

    Lucas and his wife nodded when they heard Anders¡¯s decision and they went out of the room.

    ¡°What do you think son?¡±

    ¡°I agree that a probationary test is necessary. If she is as good as she thinks she is you can hire her Father. I don¡¯t know about their loyalty though since they did escape when they knew that the mission was doomed which I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll do the same with my family but that does not bode well for their loyalty. Well, I¡¯m not qualified to judge. I¡¯ll follow your decision since I¡¯m still learning about the ways of the world.¡±

    After telling his father his opinion about the situation Anton left his father¡¯s room and went to his to rest although he planned to grind for levels in Baal''s throne room first.

    A couple of hours of grinding only leveled him up to level fifty. It would have been faster if he could adjust the number of players using the console command to increase his experience gain but unfortunately, it was not possible on his version of Diablo II. The level-up was slow because he was also grinding some runes from the Countess in the Black Marsh zone once in a while to break the monotony of killing the Baal¡¯s unique monsters.

    Anton planned to start the Nightmare difficulty once he reached level fifty and since he did, he stopped playing the game and surf the internet for about an hour then slept.

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    The next day he joined his family for breakfast and then after that, he observed his father talking with the villagers for a while. He was surprised though that it seemed like everything was back to normal. Since Anton¡¯s father had been insisting since yesterday to treat the business as separate from what happened, the villagers did start to haggle with Anders.

    It made Anton a bit glad that the villagers were like that and not some mindless sheep that could be affected by the specific actions of certain people. Well, the situation was about coins and everyone knew the importance of having an emergency fund that they could use.

    He did notice though that his presence was interrupting the business since his use of spells was blatant last night and everyone now knew that he was the wizard and his father was just using a tool which was the magic wand. He didn¡¯t know how the villagers found out but it was not really important.

    Anton did not know what was the difference though since being a wizard and having a magical tool were both dangerous in his opinion but for some reason, the villagers treated a wizard as more dangerous. Funny enough, he saw his father signaling him to go away so he went upstairs to his room to continue playing.

    In his room, Anton practiced the lute for about an hour before he entered the game virtually to start playing the Nightmare Difficulty. One good thing about entering the Diablo world personally was some stats that were highly important as a sorcerer like ¡°Fast Cast Rate¡± were not important in virtual mode since his casting reaction was based on how his body reacted.

    It was easier in a way because casting spells personally was just a simple thought. He could Teleport then cast Frost Nova then Teleport again outside the enemy range and then cast Frozen Orb in one hand and Chain Lightning on the other hand with just a simple thought. That meant that he was more powerful if he was there personally instead of using the on-screen option.

    Playing personally was also teaching Anton how to battle several enemies using his spells expertly so it was truly advantageous for him to keep playing using the virtual mode. The only disadvantage in playing virtually was he couldn¡¯t utilize Teleport the way a sorceress could using the on-screen option. With on-screen, you could teleport continuously but virtually you would need to see where you¡¯re teleporting, and using the mini-map or overlay map was disorienting.

    That meant in virtual mode, he could only use Teleport in battle not for travel especially if there were obstacles.

    Another huge disadvantage of playing virtually was the Diablo world was scary. Imagine facing a terrifying monster in the dark and the only consolation that he kept thinking of was that even if he were hit, it did not hurt and even if he died, which he had not experienced yet, he would still be okay. He hoped.

    The FAQ did state the fact that the death mechanic was the same as the Diablo II mechanics but he was too much of a cowardly cat to experiment.

    But still, he was thankful that he had a mercenary companion and Anton knew that sooner or later he would get used to the Diablo world.

    He played for two hours then surf the internet for an hour to rest then went back to playing the game. He reached the Countess in Nightmare difficulty but he only leveled up once so now he was level fifty-one.

    Since it was about lunchtime, Anton decided to stop to eat with his family then after that, he would grind the Countess Nightmare Difficulty using the on-screen option for runes and items. His gems and runes collection was growing nicely so there was that and the internet was there to help him know which items or runeword to aim for.

 Chapter 66

    Anton went downstairs to look for his family and saw them still sitting at the table in the corner of the common room where they conduct the business of buying worn-out, old, or broken equipment.

    The villagers were still looking at his father and his sister like they were fools for buying garbage but of course, they were not voicing those doubts since who didn¡¯t want extra coins for the rainy season?

    It was already past noon so Anton thought that the business would have concluded by now but he was surprised that his father and Anna were continuing even though he was sure that they were already hungry so he called the innkeeper and told him to prepare lunch for his family.

    When Anders saw him, he told the villager that he was talking to that business would resume after lunch so the man took his dilapidated sword and went to another table to join his friends who already completed their business of selling their items to Anton¡¯s father.

    Anders also signaled to Anna that it was time for lunch so they joined their table and sat down.

    ¡°I already told the innkeeper to bring us lunch so we just need to wait a bit. Did you purchase a lot of things, Father? Anna?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I did! Lunelle, Nermina, and I managed to purchase a lot of interesting things. Nermina is so good at talking to the village women. She was able to unearth things that the women didn¡¯t even consider selling to us thinking that we would look at those things with disdain,¡± Anna said praising Nermina¡¯s acumen.

    ¡°This village has a lot more interesting things compared to the previous one and once you dealt with the items we would probably earn twice the value of what we would earn from the things we got from the previous village,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    ¡°Are you still okay with your finances Father? Do you need the second pouch?¡±

    Anders laughed when he heard Anton¡¯s questions.

    ¡°Son, remember that the villagers knew that the value of the things they were selling was not great. We knew from the start that we would not spend a lot of coins on these things and it¡¯s fair. Their things are old and broken and they only kept them either for sentimental reasons or it¡¯s too much of a curiosity to dispose of but sentiments and curiosity don¡¯t compare to real coins. Especially during these times.¡±

    Anton nodded to tell his father that he understood. While they were eating a man suddenly rushed from the outside.

    ¡°Everybody, the undead attacked Mendi, and they¡¯re not stopping. A lot of villages had already been destroyed by their ghouls and vampires. They would reach our village in a few days!¡± The man announced loudly which caused panic to everyone. Everyone ran to their homes probably to prepare their things for their exodus.

    Anton was shocked and based on his father and guard¡¯s expressions, they were horrified as well. They knew that the city would fall and the surrounding villages would be destroyed but they thought that they had plenty of time, at least a month but now the undead was only a few days behind.

    ¡°Everyone get your things. We¡¯re leaving now!¡± Anders said.

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    Lucas and his family rushed to their rooms to get their things. Anna went with them as well. Anders talked to the innkeeper and paid the man what they owed while Anton stayed where he was since he didn¡¯t have anything that he would need to retrieve from his room.

    ¡°Anton come with me. A good thing that I don¡¯t have anything in my room. Let¡¯s go to the carriage so you can keep the things that we already purchased in your space. Unfortunately, we will not be able to purchase anything more from this village like food and other necessities.¡±

    Anders rushed towards their carriage while Anton followed him. When they arrived there, he immediately kept all the things that he needed to store in his Private Stash. They waited for the others to arrive and after a few minutes, they saw the others rushing towards them.

    ¡°Father we didn¡¯t even have time to hire a driver,¡± Anton said to Anders.

    ¡°It will be a long time before we find anybody since we will need to skip the other villages and concentrate on getting to Tiande City as fast as we can,¡± Anders replied.

    Anton and Anna joined their father in the driver¡¯s seat while Lucas helped his wife and daughter prepare their cart. Devon rode his horse and observed the surroundings doing his job as their bodyguard and then after a while, they left the village without looking back.

    Anders saw that his daughter was afraid.

    ¡°Anna don¡¯t be scared. We still have time to run and remember, your brother is a powerful wizard now and we will not be in danger.¡±

    Anna smiled when she saw their father consoling her.

    ¡°I understand father. I¡¯m not afraid, just a little worried that¡¯s all.¡±

    Anton removed everyone from the party and added just the horses then he activated the Prayer and Meditation Aura.

    ¡°Father, please tell Lucas that you can all rush a bit. I cast my healing spells on the horses so they should be able to run without stopping anytime soon.¡±

    When Anders heard what his son said, he looked at Anton gratefully and called Lucas.

    ¡°Lucas, please tell your wife that you can let the horses run faster since my son cast his healing spells on them. ¡°

    Lucas nodded his understanding then went to his wife to tell her about the healing spells so the horses began to run faster.

    The horses ran for so long that even Anton who knew nothing about the animals was a bit worried. He also noticed that his mana began to decrease a bit meaning that the horses had incurred some injuries that needed to be healed.

    When Anton studied the horses closely, he saw that they were fine and as a matter of fact they looked lively and his worries were alleviated. He also cast his Blizzard spell but controlled the mana so it would turn into mana water that would drizzle on everyone. He saw that the horses enjoyed the mana rain and it gave them a boost of energy. Even he felt that the mana rain alleviated his fatigue somewhat and since it was just a drizzle, they didn¡¯t get too wet.

    ¡°I feel sorry for the villages that we passed through. I hope a lot of people escaped,¡± Anna said sadly.

    ¡°We did warn them so let¡¯s hope that some of them listened,¡± Anders said to console Anton and Anna but he knew that if the undead reached them, they probably were either dead or enslaved.

    The horses ran for hours and Anders actually asked Anton to summon light to light the road so he cast Fire Balls on each hand but controlled the mana so two balls of fire would float on his hands and then he controlled the floating balls of fire to fly high enough in front of the horses to light the road but not bother the horses¡¯ vision.

    The two Fire Balls that floated above them were bright enough that the horses were not afraid to run fast even though it was night already. It was around ten in the evening when Anders stopped the carriage and the first thing they did was to make sure that the horses were okay. They were uninjured but they were starving so Anton brought out the grain from his private stash and Lucas assisted him in feeding the horses.

    The balls of fire were still lighting everything so they weren¡¯t bothered by the darkness. Lucas mentioned that he was worried that the light would attract trouble but Anders told him that if trouble came, they would handle it.

    He also conjured enough mana water for the horses but Lucas taught him to not let the horses drink and eat fast because it would be dangerous for them. Anton also kept the Prayer and Meditation Aura active to make sure that the horses were calm and fully healed and the animals slept peacefully.

 Chapter 67

    Anton was woken up by his father in the middle of the night.

    ¡°Anton wake up we need to leave right now!¡± Anders shouted urgently.

    When he went outside his tent he saw an orange light in the distance where the village they had just come from was located.

    ¡°That¡¯s the village and it¡¯s burning. That meant that the undead arrived already,¡± Lucas said grimly.

    Anton gasped when he heard that and he helped everyone in cleaning up the camp.

    Everyone was moving with an urgency brought by fear and Anton saw that Anna and Lunelle were almost crying. Anders hitched the horses to their carriage without any wasted movement and Devon helped his mother with their cart but Anders stopped them.

    ¡°We should leave your cart Nermina. Go ahead and put your things in the storage area under the carriage and I will join your horse to our horses and you ride the carriage. It would be faster that way and Anton would not mind both of you riding with him.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t do anything while riding the carriage anyway, just meditate all day long,¡± Anna said trying to calm herself.

    Devon, Nermina, and Lunelle put their things in the storage area under the carriage which was mostly empty since their family¡¯s things were in Anton¡¯s private stash in the game. The only things that were in the carriage were the two storage chests located above the carriage with some of the things that he repaired and some personal things of theirs for appearance¡¯s sake.

    There was also some luggage under the seat inside the carriage for easy access like some of their clothing, things for hygiene, and also some food, again for someone to see in case there was a need for the carriage to be inspected.

    Anton joined his father in the driver¡¯s seat while Anna, Nermina, and Lunelle went inside the carriage. Lucas and Devon were riding their horses and they were very vigilant in looking at their surroundings.

    When everything was ready, Anders asked Anton to conjure light for the horses to avoid accidents so he cast his Fire Ball spell but controlled the flow of mana so the spell would hover on his hands then guided the spell to hover above and in front of the horses to light the road. It was obvious that Anders was not worried about the light of the spell since the village burning was getting brighter and all attention should be focused there.

    ¡± Father, go ahead and urge the horses to run faster. I cast my healing spell on them so they should be alright.¡±

    Anders nodded and urged the horses faster and Lucas and Devon followed suit knowing that it meant that Anton cast healing spells on the horses just like before.

    Anton did not maximize the game or surf the internet. He also focused on the surroundings since he did not want to be taken by surprise by any attack. He checked the time briefly and it was only three in the morning.

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    ¡°Father the undead are so fast. I thought we would have more time.¡±

    ¡°Me too. I know that they would be fast since they don¡¯t need to rest but to be this fast! They are serious about waging war against the city of Tiande then. I think it would be best if we bypass the city as well to avoid any sort of conscription against the Undead Coalition.¡±

    ¡°What about our supplies?¡±

    ¡°If we hurry enough we should pass villages and larger towns where we can buy supplies. We can¡¯t stop even after we pass Tiande. The next city that we are going to would be the city of Leminthor after Tiande and then the city after that is the merchant city or Ruandelle. This will be a long and exhausting journey so prepare yourself.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Father.¡±

    Anton was grateful that when he transmigrated to this world he had a powerful gift that would assist him and his family in surviving but the timing was a bit suspicious. The Undead Coalition just happened to attack after he just transmigrated and they were relentless. Even though he knew that it had nothing to do with him, it almost felt like they were being chased but then he realized that all of those who were running should be feeling the same way.

    He was thankful that Anders was experienced enough to know to run immediately bringing his children with him and this brought Anton time to grow more powerful.

    Soon the sun came out from hiding and this brought relief to everyone. Since the monsters that were chasing them were the scary undead, the sun should chase them away was a passing childish thought that came to everyone but they knew for a fact that the undead couldn¡¯t be stopped by the sun.

    Anders didn¡¯t stop the horses. They kept on traveling when Anton¡¯s father saw that the horses were all fine. Anton knew that his Prayer and Meditation Aura helped a lot in making sure that the horses were not injured but the spells would not help with the animals¡¯ stamina so they would need to rest them soon.

    Anton searched the internet for a bit for any skill in Diablo II that would help with stamina and fatigue and saw that the Paladin defensive aura Vigor was an aura that boosts speed, stamina, and stamina regeneration and runeword weapon Harmony had the Vigor Aura. He checked his collection of runes and saw that he had all the runes required for the runeword weapon. He checked all the socketed weapons that he collected since when he received the inventory and private stash increase, he collected socketed weapons and armor that dropped from Baal''s unique monsters and their minions but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find any four socketed bows.

    According to the internet, he should receive one once he reached the Hell Difficulty if he searched for a long time but he needed one right now. He did keep a collection of white weapons and armor that he could put a socket using the Horadric Cube so he immediately cubed a Hunter¡¯s Bow together with the runes Amn and Ral and a perfect Amethyst gem and prayed that it would result in a four-socket weapon and the Diablo II RNG deities must have heard his prayers since it did gave him a four-socket bow.

    Anton was so glad that he was so relentless in grinding the Countess that he managed to collect a huge amount of runes and he was able to form the rune Ko which was the most difficult rune that he would need to form the runeword bow Harmony.

    When he formed the runeword bow Harmony, he was so glad that he used a Hunter¡¯s bow since the required dexterity was only twenty-eight and he was able to equip the Harmony bow without any problem.

    ¡°Father, I received a boon, a spell that will give the horses unlimited stamina and a boost in their speed. Together with my healing spell, the horses should be able to run without any problems and only hunger will stop them.¡± Anton then activated the level ten Vigor Aura from the runeword bow Harmony.

    The horses suddenly became energetic as if they were injected stamina stamina-boosting drugs and he knew how they felt since Anton was also affected by the aura. When Anders saw the horses'' situation, he increased their speed and all the horses complied without any resistance. Their travel speed increased so much that Anton could hear the women¡¯s questions asking if everything was all right.

    Anton assured the women that the increased speed was brought on by his spell so they did not need to worry and that calmed everyone.

 Chapter 68

    Lucas and Devon noticed that their horses seemed refreshed somehow, like suddenly their fatigue disappeared and they knew that it was Anton¡¯s doing. They continued running until lunchtime and that was when Anders stopped the carriage beside the road.

    The first thing that Anton¡¯s father, Lucas, and Devon did was to inspect the horses for any sign of injury but as expected they didn¡¯t find any. The horses were not even tired but they could tell that the animals were extremely famished.

    They provided the horses grain and Anton conjured mana water for them to relieve them of their hunger and thirst but of course, they controlled the animals to not hurt themselves by overfeeding or overdrinking.

    After they made sure that the horses were okay, Anton removed the animals from his party system and added back his family and the guards and their family then he activated all of the auras.

    All of them were startled to feel that all their fatigue was rapidly being relieved.

    ¡°That¡¯s one hell of a magic spell!¡± Devon gasped.

    ¡°Yes, it removes fatigue and increases running or walking speed so that means that anyone affected by my spell can run or walk all day without getting tired but of course, they will still need to stop to eat to relieve their hunger which is what we should do right now since I¡¯m so hungry,¡± Anton said.

    Anton then retrieved some food from his private stash and distributed it to everyone. Since everyone was fully refreshed because of the Vigor, Prayer, and Meditation Auras and they relived their thirst and hunger, they went back to traveling after a few minutes.

    He could see that everyone, including himself was worried about the Undead Coalition¡¯s army catching up to them so without further ado, Anders with the help of Lucas and Devon hitched the horses to their carriage and Lucas and Devon went back to riding their horses.

    Their journey was swift since the horses did not feel any sort of exhaustion due to the Vigor Aura and the spell also added increased running speed and the distance they covered was unsurprisingly great.

    Dusk arrived and Anders chose to continue traveling. They did stop for a moment to feed and water the horses but since the animals were still fresh Anton¡¯s father decided to continue. When it got dark, Anders asked Anton to conjure light for the horses to see the road so he summoned a Fire Ball and let it hover at the front of the horses and far above to avoid blocking their eyes.

    Since the road was bright enough due to Anton¡¯s spell, the horses continued running, never feeling any sort of exhaustion.

    When Anton saw that his father seemed to get tired, he switched the Aura to affect not the animals but his family and the guards and their families and he could see his father straightening up, his fatigue disappearing and then after a while, Anton switched the Auras back to the horses.

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    It was very late when Anders stopped the carriage for them to rest for the night. When Anton briefly checked the time in his browser, it was already eleven in the evening. After a brief dinner, Anton¡¯s father asked everyone to sleep.

    ¡°I should be exhausted but I feel like I can still do a full day¡¯s work,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Try to sleep anyway,¡± Anders informed everyone.

    Anton went inside his tent and when he lay down on his sleeping mat, he thought that he would not be able to sleep since he still felt energized due to the Vigor Aura but the moment his head hit his pillow, sleep arrived as if somebody knocked him out.

    The sun was already out when Anton woke up. When he checked the time in his browser he saw that it was six in the morning. He left his tent and saw that the others were just leaving theirs he took the food from his private stash to serve everyone breakfast.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to bathe today so just do your bathroom business and a simple wash and we¡¯re continuing,¡± Anders told everyone.

    Anton activated all of his auras while they were eating and that perked everyone up then from his private stash he summoned the large bucket cum toilet and privacy screens and together with the barrel of water and soap, everyone had a turn on their makeshift toilet. When his turn on the toilet arrived, he swiftly took a bath since it wouldn¡¯t take long. He couldn¡¯t stand being dirty and the long travel yesterday felt like it covered him in dust everywhere.

    ¡°No fair! You took a bath,¡± Anna complained when she saw Anton with wet hair.

    ¡°Anna he was the last one who used the toilet and it didn¡¯t take him long. We need to leave. You can take a bath later when we stop,¡± Anders said.

    Anton smiled smugly at Anna teasing his sisters and Anna pouted. One advantage they had was even though they didn¡¯t take a bath their clothes were all fresh and clean and they gave the clothing they wore to Anton for him to repair and clean using magic which did not take long.

    The journey started again and since Anton switched all of the auras back to the horses, the travel was very fast and since the animals did not feel any sort of fatigue, they continued until lunchtime when Anders stopped the carriage for everyone to eat.

    ¡°We covered a very great distance and at this rate, we should reach the next village by tomorrow afternoon. It should have taken us three or four more days but we covered the distance in a short while,¡± Lucas commented while they were eating.

    ¡°We will only purchase food and other necessities there and then we¡¯ll continue immediately,¡± Anders said and everyone nodded.

    All of them were still afraid of the Undead Coalition¡¯s army catching up to them.

    With the use of the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer Auras, Anton made sure that everyone was refreshed and uninjured so they continued traveling after lunch.

    The horses kept running swiftly and Anton could see that the animals were taking joy in the fact that they could run as fast as they could without stopping and did not feel any sort of fatigue. They briefly stopped at around five in the afternoon to feed and water the horses and eat some food themselves and they continued again.

    Even when night arrived, Anton, with the command from his father, summoned a Fire Ball light to light their way. Anders stopped very late and when Anton checked the time, it was midnight. They swiftly fed the horses and set up their tent. Before Anton went inside his tent to sleep, he set up their toilet with barrels of water and soap so they could use it the first thing the next day.

    After everything was settled down, he dismissed the Fire Ball light, and the camp was only lit by the campfire and Anton slept not caring about the guard duty whatsoever.

 Chapter 69

    Anton was woken up by the brightness that was seeping through his tent and when he checked the time in his internet browser it was already seven in the morning. He was surprised that his father allowed everyone to rest more since he was expecting that they would leave early.

    When he went outside the tent, he saw that the only people who were awake were his father and Lucas. Anton went to the makeshift toilet, handled his business, and took a bath swiftly enough that Anders didn¡¯t comment about his newly washed hair. He prepared everyone¡¯s breakfast and when his father saw that the food was ready, Anders woke Anna.

    Anna also moved very fast and took a bath of her own and she was fast enough that Anders just raised his eyebrows. After everyone was ready, they began their journey towards the village.

    Anton still joined his father in the driver¡¯s seat while Anna, Nermina, and Lunelle were inside the carriage. Around mid-morning, everyone heard some shouting in the distance and Anton saw smoke coming out from what he assumed was the village¡¯s direction.

    When they got near everyone saw what they were afraid to see. An army of the undead attacked the village.

    ¡°Father how come they¡¯re here already!?¡± Anton gasped.

    ¡°The Undead Coalition must have made some movements even before they attacked the country of Vondi. I¡¯m afraid that we can¡¯t assume that we wouldn¡¯t encounter any undead as we travel since from what it looked like, the undead army was already spread out.¡±

    Anders turned the carriage to the side so they could bypass the village and urged the horses to run faster. Lucas and Devon unsheathe their swords just in case.

    Unfortunately, someone must have noticed them since Anton saw a couple of people suddenly fly up from the village and fly towards them. The two people who he assumed were either vampires or mages allied to the undead were then followed by ghouls who were running swiftly.

    ¡°Father a couple of flying people are chasing us,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let the horses keep on running and we¡¯ll confront them once they¡¯re near enough. Anna prepare yourselves! The village was attacked by an army of the undead and a couple of flying monsters that could be vampires are following us,¡± Anders shouted and then he urged the horses to run faster.

    Anton kept the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer Auras active affecting the horses so they ran very fast and there was no sign of them experiencing tiredness. Anton could see that the two possible vampires paused a bit, surprised at the horses'' speed and stamina, and started chasing again.

    Because of the speed of the horses, they were now far away from the village and the rest of the undeath¡¯s army but the two flying people and their ten ghouls were still chasing them.

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    ¡°Father the enemies are not stopping and I think we¡¯re far enough away from the rest of their army. I¡¯m going to attack them.¡±

    Anders slowly stopped the carriage and Lucas and Devon stopped beside them.

    Anton then stood up facing the two flying people who were coming towards them and he could clearly see their expressions full of ridicule at them for stopping.

    Without asking permission from Anders, Anton teleported between the two vampires and they were vampires since he could now see their mouths which were open intimidating them with their long fangs.

    When he appeared between the flying vampires they were surprised. Anton cast Frost Nova then he teleported back to the carriage¡¯s roof.

    One of the vampires fell, frozen by his spell while the other one cast some sort of spell and defended himself from Anton¡¯s spell. Anton knew that sooner or later he would encounter someone who could counter his spells.

    ¡°Wizard you killed my companion, you will pay!¡± The vampire that was still flying shouted.

    ¡°You attacked us first and I have the right and the power to defend myself!¡± Anton shouted back then he cast Frozen Armor and Energy Shield.

    The vampire was taken aback by the spells that Anton cast and it commanded the ghouls who were about to reach them to stop.

    ¡°We will let you go and not chase you anymore wizard!¡± The vampire shouted and was about to leave but stopped when it heard Anton¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Who told you that I will allow you to leave!¡±

    Anton cast Teleport to get near the vampire and then he cast his most powerful spell, Frozen Orb. The vampire cast his defensive spell again but this time its power wasn¡¯t enough and he was frozen and fell.

    Anton then teleported near the ghouls who were surprised at his sudden appearance. He cast Frozen Orb at them and he was surprised that he needed to cast the spell twice before the ghouls were destroyed. He remembered that in some lores in books that he had read, the undead had resistance against cold spells but then again the vampires were helpless against his Frozen Orb.

    When he saw that the ten ghouls were all destroyed, he went near the vampires and he was surprised that both of them were still alive, only frozen.

    ¡°Wizard let us leave and we will not bother you anymore. If you kill us prepare yourself for the Undead Coalition¡¯s retaliation!¡± One of the vampires said but the other was just sneering at him.

    Anton called his father and Lucas while Devon and the women remained near the carriage.

    ¡°Father, do you want to interrogate them?¡±

    ¡°It would be nice to have more information but we¡¯re not officers in the army and I think that our country is already destroyed. We don¡¯t need their information. What we need to do is to run as fast as we can from here,¡± Anders replied.

    Without further ado, Anton cast Ice Bolt and targeted the vampire''s head causing the head to freeze and explode leaving their bodies behind.

    Since he was protected by Frozen Armor and Energy Shield, Anton went to the vampire¡¯s corpses and prodded them to make sure that they were really dead, and then when he was assured of their deaths, he asked his father to search the corpses to check if they could find anything valuable.

    Anders searched the vampire''s pocket and he found a magic wand and a coin purse on the first vampire who fell. They were in luck because the second vampire had a bag of holding. After getting all they could from the vampires, Anton cast Ice Blast to freeze the corpses so that when they thaw out nothing would remain then they immediately rode their carriage and horses and left.

    They let the horses run for a couple more hours and only stopped to feed and water them and for everyone to eat as well. When they stopped, Anton remembered to make sure that his family and the guards, Nermina and Lunelle experienced the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer Auras to refresh everyone and after several minutes he switched the horses back to his party system since the animals still had a long way to go.

 Chapter 70

    The night was dark but the Fire Ball that was floating just above the horses was lighting the road. The horses were still energetic courtesy of the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer Aura that Anton kept active.

    It was already midnight when Anders stopped the carriage beside the road and when Anton saw his father, he thought that Anders¡¯s expression said that he would have liked to continue the journey.

    Everyone hastily set up their camp for the night and Anton helped Lucas in taking care of the horses. When the horses were settled down with their food and water, he removed the animals from his party system and added everyone else.

    Letting all of them be affected by the three auras would make sure that no one was injured. Anton was not afraid of the Vigor Aura keeping anyone awake since one peculiar thing about the aura was even though it would keep off fatigue, you would still be able to sleep because it seemed that the spell would allow the body to remember that it needed sleep once you lay down on your bed and after a while, you would be able to sleep without any problem. It was a side-effect of the spell but in Anton¡¯s opinion, it was a good side-effect.

    The Vigor Aura would let you be active, keeping your stamina full and keeping your fatigue away but it was not harmful in any way. It was a beneficial aura by a holy paladin so of course, it would not harm those who were affected by it. The moment you wanted to rest, the aura would let you rest and sleep and if you wanted to wake up, you would wake up as you desire.

    Anton was thankful that he was able to form the runeword bow Harmony allowing him to use the Vigor Aura.

    He did not forget to set up their toilet and water far enough away for privacy and then he joined the others beside the campfire. Anton took the food from his private stash and allowed Nermina and Lunelle to serve everyone some hot food and bread and Anton conjured mana water for everyone.

    While they were eating, Anton remembered the loot that they had taken from the two vampires.

    ¡°Father don¡¯t forget to give me all the things that you have taken from the vampires. I will need to make sure that they do not have any magic that will locate us,¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡°I forgot about that,¡± Anders said and he immediately gave the purse, the wand, and the bag of holding to Anton.

    After dinner, everyone waited for Anton to reveal what the loot from the vampires was. He checked his inventory and the magic wand said that it was a wand of Fire Ball with ten charges but only three charges remaining. The purse contained seventy-three gold coins and the bag of holding said that it was a bag of holding containing one cubic meter of space.

    Just like the Horadrim Cube, he could not see what was inside the bag of holding but unlike the cube, when he tried to mentally right-click on the bag of holding, it remained closed. Anton had Charsi repaired the wand before telling everyone what the loot was.

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    ¡°The wand is a wand of Fire Ball with ten charges. The purse had seventy-three gold coins and the bag of holding had one cubic meter of space. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s inside the bag of holding. You will need to take them out first.¡± Anton then gave the wand, the purse, and the bag of holding back to Anders.

    Lucas and his family gasped when they heard what they had gotten from the vampires. Anders then opened the bag of holding and took all the items from inside it so Anton could inspect them for any magic that could pinpoint them.

    Anders was able to get five books, two purses, and a few sets of clothing from the bag of holding and he gave them all immediately to Anton. He then put everything in his inventory and inspected them.

    One of the purses had a rotten green color so he inspected it first and saw that it had a label that said it was poisonous and had a magic that would make the caster trace the purse to its location. The description made Anton gasped and he immediately activated all of his auras. He got goosebumps when he saw that his mana decreased meaning that Anders was injured by the poison from the purse since he was the only one who handled it and Anton¡¯s defenses were too high for him to be affected.

    Anton then checked if the tracing magic and the poison could be removed if he let Charsi repair it so he did. He was so grateful that the blacksmith was able to remove the tracing magic and the poison from the purse and it confirmed the fact that his Diablo II system was very powerful. The purse then said that it contained two hundred gold coins which was a massive amount of wealth.

    He guessed that the owner of the purse was not afraid of the purse getting lost because of the poison and the tracing magic.

    ¡°Father one of the purses was cursed with poison and its location would be traced by the purse¡¯s owner. I think that the vampire we killed wasn¡¯t the original owner of the bag of holding. I already cured us of the poison and removed the tracing magic so we would not be traced anymore.¡± Anton said which made everyone gasp but they were relieved when they heard the second part of his statement.

    He then told everyone that he would still need to inspect the items so he did. The other purse contained fifty silver coins. The books were three spell books and weirdly, two romance novels. The spell books were Charm Person, Mage Light, and Mage Armor. He was guessing that the vampire used Mage Armor to save himself from his Frozen Orb earlier. He also had Charsi repair the vampire''s clothing since it looked high-end then told everyone what the other items were.

    ¡°The books were three spell books and two romance novels. The spells were Charm Person, Mage Light, and Mage Armor. The purse that had the poison and tracing magic contained two hundred gold coins and the other purse contained fifty silver coins. I also cast a spell on the vampire¡¯s clothing so it¡¯s now clean and free of any enchantments.¡± Anton then gave everything back to his father.

    ¡°That¡¯s a massive amount of wealth that you receive there,¡± Lucas commented.

    ¡°Father can you give me the two romance novels that brother mentioned and can you give me your wand of magic missile and you can use the new wand of Fire Ball,¡± Anna coaxed his father.

    Anders snorted when he heard what Anna said then he gave the two romance novels to Nermina to have her inspect their contents first to make sure that it was safe for children¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You can¡¯t have the wand for now it¡¯s too dangerous,¡± Anders then kept the wand of Fire Ball. Anton could see that his father was happy about having two magic wands. Anton¡¯s father then kept the purse with silver coins and gave the purse with gold coins to Anton for safekeeping.

    ¡°Father I¡¯m going to give Lucas thirty gold coins as a reward,¡± Anton said to his father and counted thirty gold coins from the purse and gave it to Nermina.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t. We didn¡¯t help you defeat the vampires!¡± Lucas said but he saw that his wife already kept the coins.

    Anders just smiled and told Lucas to not worry about it since it was his son¡¯s decision.

 Chapter 71

    After identifying all the items that they received from the vampires, Anders told everyone to get ready to pack everything since they were leaving.

    ¡°Before Anton removed the location magic from the cursed purse, the bag of holding was with me and I¡¯m not sure if whoever cast that spell detected us already so to be safe, it would be better if we were far away from here, the last location where the magic was dispelled,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I was about to suggest the same thing, Father since it would be better to be safe than sorry. We can¡¯t know for sure if I could defeat the wizard who cast that tracing magic. It could be an Elder Lich,¡± Anton added.

    Anton summoned a Fire Ball and let it hover above everyone to light up the place then they all hastily packed up their tents and buried their campfire. Anders did allow everyone to use the makeshift toilet to do their business and clean themselves before Anton stored them in his private stash.

    Lucas and Devon assisted Anders in hitching the horses to the carriage and Anton could see that the animals were not protesting, behaving as if they were fully rested. He kept repeating it to himself but he was thankful for the auras that made traveling convenient and easier for everyone including the horses.

    Once everything was ready they began their journey again. Anton joined his father in the driver¡¯s seat while the women were inside the carriage and Lucas and Devon were following them. The Fire Ball that Anton conjured and let hover above was lighting the road. He kept the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer aura active for the horses to make sure that they would be able to continue traveling without any issues.

    ¡°Do you want to go inside the carriage to rest?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need rest, Father. The spell that I use to make sure the horses don¡¯t get tired affects me too. The spell is called an aura meaning that it¡¯s a continuous spell that pulses around me and will affect the creatures that I added to what I call my ¡°party system.¡± Unfortunately, the party system that I have can only include up to eight members including myself and since the five horses were included in the party system already I can only add two more so I decided to just create two groups in my system, the horses, and the people.¡±

    ¡°I see. Even with your spell¡¯s limitation, it¡¯s truly powerful and I¡¯m thankful that you¡¯ve learned it in time for this part of our journey.¡±

    After their talk, Anders and Anton concentrated on their journey since they wanted to make sure that they weren¡¯t ambushed by any enemies. About an hour into the journey, he switched the party system from the horses to everyone else to make sure that everyone was refreshed. He did have to enter the carriage since one peculiar thing about his party system was he would need to see the person to be able to add them to the system.

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    **********

    ¡°Grand Lich, we received a message that three of our low-ranking vampires were killed and we believe it was done by a wizard since we can¡¯t find any trace. One of the vampires even had an item with tracing magic that was cast by one of the council members but she said that the magic suddenly disappeared.¡± The middle-ranking vampire said to an elder lich who was also a member of the council of the Undead Coalition.

    ¡°Where were they when they got destroyed?¡±

    ¡°They were somewhere near Mendi. They were the ones leading the parties of ghouls and zombies that we sent there to sow fear and confusion.¡±

    ¡°Send vampires to track that wizard and to know for sure what happened. High-ranking ones and choose those who are discreet. We need more information. We can¡¯t let our plans be interrupted at this time,¡± The elder lich commanded.

    **********

    Four hours of traveling should have exhausted everyone but due to Anton¡¯s aura, everyone still felt full of energy. They stopped for a while to have something to eat and Anton noticed that one of the side effects of the auras was the need to consume a lot of food.

    It was not too exaggerated, just double the amount of what they usually needed. Anton distributed food to everyone from his private stash and took out some grains for the horses. He reminded his father that they would need to purchase a lot more food to make sure they would not run out.

    They did have plenty of cooked and uncooked food which by Anton¡¯s calculation should last them a couple of months but he was not worried since his father told him that they should be able to buy food from the villages that they would pass through on the way to the city.

    When everyone was satiated they continued their journey. Anders only stopped again when morning arrived but they only stopped for food and bathroom breaks. Anders told everyone that they would rest for a couple of hours and would continue on their journey so Anton decided to take a bath.

    When he got out of their makeshift bathroom and Anna saw that he had taken a bath, she clamored that she wanted to have a bath as well so they decided to do so one by one and Anton kept the water supply going.

    Anton was feeling good because of the bath and because of his auras and he was sure that everyone felt the same way. They continued their journey since Anders was still not sure that they were far enough away from their recent collusion with the undead.

    This time, Mark entered the carriage and told everyone that he would need to meditate. He felt that he needed to grind some levels. He went and killed Baal and his unique monsters and minions countless times using the on-screen option in Normal Difficulty and it allowed him to gain four levels so now he was level fifty-four. He then decided to start the Nightmare difficulty.

    In one of his Countess runs Anton received the Gull Dagger which increased his magic find by one hundred percent so he was using it for him to get some good items on his Nightmare Difficulty run.

    All his grinding took him about three hours and Anton wanted to start the Nightmare Difficulty but he wanted to play it virtually which was a bit awkward since he was inside the carriage. He decided to stop playing to assess the situation first.

    They were still not fully cleared of the danger brought by the loot that they had received from the vampire specifically the cursed purse so Anton decided to not enter the game virtually. When he checked the time, it was already around eleven in the morning so he decided to stop playing since soon his father would probably stop the carriage for their lunch.

    Anton decided to surf the internet to prevent himself from burning out and watching animes entertained him for a couple of hours before he felt the carriage stopping.

 Chapter 72

    Anders stopped their carriage during lunchtime and the first thing that they checked was the status of the horses. They had been running almost non-stop since yesterday. Any normal animal would have died of exhaustion.

    Lucas and Devon were astonished to see that all the horses were healthier than ever. They looked stronger and full of vitality. The combination of Anton¡¯s Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor Aura plus the mana water that he kept on conjuring to give to the animals kept them at their peak even bringing them to the epitome of health.

    After making sure that the horses were eating the grains and drinking the water normally they rubbed them down using horse brush. After that, Lucas and Devon joined Anton, Anders, and Anna who were together with their family for lunch.

    ¡°How are the horses?¡± Anders asked Lucas.

    ¡°Amazingly, they looked healthy and well-rested. They are even starting to look like well-bred horses that could only be afforded by nobles. Your magic is amazing Anton,¡± Lucas answered then turned to Anton to appreciate the wizard amidst them.

    ¡°I can feel it myself. Instead of feeling exhausted, I feel full of energy and feel like I¡¯m getting younger,¡± Nemina observed.

    ¡°You do look younger and becoming more beautiful,¡± Lucas complimented his wife.

    ¡°Eew stop that we¡¯re eating!¡± Lunelle said while everyone laughed.

    ¡°I wish I could bathe more often. I feel like I¡¯m covered with dust from the roads!¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take turns taking a bath when we stop tonight but after that, we¡¯re continuing our journey. We can¡¯t risk the undead catching up to us. We would only stop in a village to rest once we¡¯re passed the city of Tiande,¡± Anders informed them.

    ¡°We¡¯re not stopping in Tiande? I would have liked to see the city,¡± Anna sighed.

    ¡°The Undead Coalition¡¯s movements are unusually fast and there is a chance that once we enter Tiande, a war will break and all the men of age could be forced to serve in the army. Since your brother kept casting his healing spells and together with us drinking the mana water that he¡¯d been conjuring, I¡¯m looking younger and younger and that means that I could be conscripted too.¡±

    ¡°Can they even do that? Forcefully conscript us even though we¡¯re not their citizen?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°If the Undead Coalition reached Tiande that meant the Mendi was destroyed. That would make us refugees and refugees don¡¯t have rights in times of war,¡± Lucas answered.

    ¡°Especially if they become aware that you¡¯re a wizard. I don¡¯t know if they have someone or items that could detect if a person is a wizard,¡± Anders added.

    ¡°How old are you Sir Anders, If I may ask?¡± Devon suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m forty-four this year, why?¡±

    ¡°I thought you were only in your thirties!¡± Devon gasped.

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    ¡°As I¡¯ve said it¡¯s all because of the mana water in combination with Anton¡¯s spells and since you¡¯re all receiving the same treatment as me, you will all experience the same thing. That¡¯s one of the best perks that you will receive as our employees,¡± Anders smiled then turned to Nemina and Lunelle.

    ¡°I am becoming fairer and my skin smoother,¡± Lunelle softly commented while looking at her skin.

    ¡°It¡¯s true! Now I look like I¡¯m a pretty noble instead of a farmer¡¯s daughter who grew up working on a farm all day!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t work all day. You spent the majority of your time with your village friends!¡± Anders frowned.

    ¡°I was just joking, Father.¡±

    ¡°We should find someone to teach us how Anna and I can read the spell books safely Father. We now have four spell books which are the spells for Sleep, Charm Person, Mage Light, and Mage Armor,¡± Anton suddenly said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll inquire for a wizard tutor once we reach the city after Tiande which was the city of Leminthor for a low-ranking wizard. We may need to spend the majority of the coins from the vampires but we don¡¯t have to worry about our finances since your spell to fix items would make us rich. It can even recharge wands which is unheard of!¡± Anders said.

    ¡°How do you usually recharge a spent wand?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Anders turned to Lucas and their head guard shrugged indicating that he was also unaware of how spent spells in wands were recharged.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t find a tutor for you and Anna in Leminthor, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find one in the merchant city of Ruandelle where I plan for us to stay for a while to gather resources and is far enough from the Undead Coalition for us to be safe,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to hire a carriage driver, Father.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually planning to buy another carriage. For us to act as merchants, we need our items to sell to be visible in a carriage to avoid any suspicion. That meant that we would need to increase our financial capabilities as soon as possible and for us to hire more people.¡±

    ¡°I can help you a lot with that Sir Anders,¡± Nemina volunteered.

    ¡°I was planning to ask you since you¡¯re more experienced than me in managing something like that. We will start our plan in Leminthor for at least a few days but we will leave immediately if we need to then continue to Ruandelle. After that, we will check in the cities between Ruandelle and the wizard city of Zalnothel if it¡¯s safe enough to stay awhile.¡±

    Anton and Anna just nodded following their father¡¯s instruction.

    After lunch, the whole group continued on their journey and Anton never forgot to switch his auras between the horses and the people making sure that everyone was at their peak. That meant that he could only play using the on-screen option and he would need to exit the game every hour to make the switch. He also needed to exit the carriage to make the switch and he was glad that he learned how to do it using Teleport. He was also thankful that there was a visible clock in his view inside the game.

    Anton¡¯s family and the guards and their family were also becoming used to him teleporting every hour from inside the carriage to beside his father¡¯s seat.

    All that grinding earned him tons of runes from the Countess and leveled him up to fifty-six. The moment they were somewhere long enough to rest, he was planning to start the Nightmare Difficulty. Anton still wanted to continue his playthrough in person instead of the on-screen option because playing the game personally was teaching him a lot of things as well as training his body to handle his spells and mana.

    Twilight arrived and Anders asked Anton to sit with him on the driver¡¯s seat so he could cast the Fire Ball light so he did. It was around midnight when Anton¡¯s father stopped the carriage and everyone, including the horses were famished.

    They made sure that the horses were well-fed and well-watered then they all ate an astonishingly huge amount of food.

    ¡°We will arrive in the next village by tomorrow and we will only stop there to buy as much food as we can then we will leave immediately.¡± Anders announced to everyone while they were eating dinner.

    Lucas and his family were still astonished at the fact that the food they were eating was as fresh and hot as if it just come out of the oven or fresh from the pot. That was also one of the reasons why they all consumed a lot of food together with the side-effect of the constant healing spells from Anton.

 Chapter 73

    Anton¡¯s father continued their journey even through the night, only stopping after several hours to check on the horses, feed them grains, and water them with mana water that Anton conjured. To Anders, Lucas, and Devon¡¯s satisfaction, the horses were perfectly healthy and still energetic.

    Even though everyone was perfectly aware that the horses would be fine since they themselves felt fine and Anton had been using the same spell on them, it was still inevitable for them to worry.

    ¡°I should be exhausted right now lacking sleep and with the constant traveling but I feel fine,¡± Devon commented.

    ¡°This spell of yours Anton would also be a good tool for training since you can train arms continuously which will improve techniques greatly,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°It¡¯s just so boring. Hours staring at the dark environment outside the carriage when we eventually ran out of stories to tell and we didn¡¯t even feel tired enough to take a nap. The novels that we received from the vampire are still being checked by Nemina,¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t join you. I could have sung you songs or told you stories but I need to stay beside Father to make sure the Fire Ball that lights the road is constant. It¡¯s but a thought to cast the spell and keep it there but It would still need my attention,¡± Anton said to Anna.

    Anton then turned to his father, remembering what Anders told them earlier about letting them have a bath when they stopped for dinner.

    ¡°Father I will set up our makeshift toilet over there in the trees so everyone can have a bath.¡±

    Anders just nodded so they waited for Anton to set up the toilet and fill the water barrel with mana water. Honestly, all the women in the group were becoming addicted to using mana water for their baths because the effects were visible. It made their skin fairer and smoother and even the men were experiencing the same thing which according to Devon¡¯s comment, was too weird for a man.

    They spent a couple of hours taking a bath and then after that they continued with their travel. The sun was already bright when they viewed the next village and Anton was thankful since he felt that his butt was tired of sitting all the time for several hours although with the auras active, he was sure it was just his imagination.

    ¡°Remember we will not stay here for long. We will buy the things we need that we¡¯ll be on our way,¡± Anders reminded everyone.

    Anton¡¯s father parked their carriage in front of a large building in the middle of the village which he assumed as the inn. Everyone got out of the carriage and went inside. Lucas and Devon followed them leaving the horses and their carriage to a few men who were the inn¡¯s attendants.

    Anton left everything to his father and Nemina since he was sure that his father and their new manager would know what to do.

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    ¡°Brother, while we¡¯re waiting can you add a story to my notebook?¡± Anna wheedled.

    Anton obliged his sister by saying sure to her and then purchasing an e-book copy that could be read using a browser of the first book in David Eddings''s The Belgariad series which was the Pawn of Prophecy from a famous novel website. He was glad that he could use his Diablo II gold to fund an account so he was able to purchase things like copies of movies, animes, and e-books.

    It would have been best if he had something like an online shop where Anton could purchase modern things and then it would be transported to him. He remembered reading a web novel like that but his Diablo II system was not like that and he should be thankful that he even had something like a system that assisted in making him strong.

    While the siblings were waiting for their father and Nemina to purchase all the things they would need, Anton began copying the Pawn of Prophecy book to his sister¡¯s notebook. He should have purchased something that teenage girls would like but all the things he knew were fantasy and all the things that he thought girls her sister''s age would like contained modern synopsis.

    He guessed he could have purchased old-school books for teens like the Anne of Green Gables book series but he really liked fantasy books and it would be much better for him to copy a fantasy book for him to not get bored. He would just do the Anne of Green Gable books next time. This time, his sister should be content with David Eddings¡¯s books.

    Anton wrote fast but legibly enough so her sister could read his writings without any problem.

    ¡°Anna you should purchase more notebooks since the story I¡¯m writing is very long and two or three notebooks would not be enough.¡±

    ¡°Really?! I¡¯ll go ahead and try to find some since Father gave me some spending coins,¡± Anna said then she rushed toward the innkeeper probably asking where she could buy some notebooks.

    Anton wondered if something like a notebook was easy to find in villages like this since from what he remembered, something like a notebook was rare in medieval times but remembered that this was not his world¡¯s past but another world entirely and he shouldn¡¯t assume things would be the same as his world¡¯s past.

    Anna¡¯s notebook was filled after Anton copied several chapters of the Pawn of Prophecy which was the first book in the Belgariad series and it took him about thirty minutes. He was surprised at himself on how fast he did it and more than likely it was one of the benefits of having high stats from the game.

    Anton then noticed Anna was sitting beside him holding three notebooks.

    ¡°I found some notebooks and I purchased three of them. I would have purchased more but these are all they have,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Okay give me those and you can read what I¡¯ve written so far. Tell me if you don¡¯t like the story, and I¡¯ll change it to something else.¡±

    While Anna was reading Anton continued copying the book into the notebook that his sister had just recently purchased. After writing for an hour, his sister said that she finished a couple of chapters he wrote on the first notebook so he stopped to listen to his sister¡¯s review of the book.

    ¡°So how was it? Do you like it or do you want me to change to another book? The one that you¡¯re reading is only the first book in the five-book series of a famous fantasy author named David Eddings. The name of the series is called The Belgariad.¡±

    ¡°I love it! It¡¯s almost similar to what is happening to us right now. I want to know what will happen to Garion next so please continue in completing the book,¡± Anna gushed, filled with praise for the book that she just read.

    Anton then said to his sister that he would complete the book so he continued writing the Pawn of Prophecy. All in all, it took two more notebooks and an hour before he completed the first book which was just in time for Anders and the others to join them for lunch.

 Chapter 74

    ¡°What is that?¡± Anders asked his children when he noticed that Anna was holding her notebook like it was a valuable treasure.

    ¡°Brother wrote a novel for me! It¡¯s about a boy named Garion and just like us, he and his aunt were running from danger. The book is so good! The story was from an author named David Eddings and the title of the book is called ¡°The Pawn of Prophecy,¡± Anna said.

    Lunelle looked at Anna¡¯s notebook with interest.

    ¡°Can I read it as well once you¡¯re done?¡± She asked Anna.

    Anders ordered food for everyone from the innkeeper while Anna answered Lunelle.

    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s a good thing that the book was separated into three notebooks. Once I finish the first notebook I¡¯ll lend it to you.¡±

    ¡°Were you able to purchase a lot of things, Father?¡± Anton asked while they were waiting for the food.

    ¡°Yes, but the cooked food that we managed to buy was the ones that were already prepared by the innkeeper and the surrounding houses. It still amounted to a lot but they would be different from each other meaning that they would be put into separate storage boxes which would consume a lot of your magical storage space.¡±

    ¡°My magical space expanded so we shouldn¡¯t worry too much about space. What we need to focus on is still the amount since we will do a lot of traveling.¡± Anton said.

    ¡°We did manage to buy a lot of grains, bread, salt, spices, and soap,¡± Nemina added.

    ¡°After lunch, we will leave immediately. I got this nagging feeling that we should hurry,¡± Anders said and Lucas nodded agreeing with him.

    After lunch they all went to the carriage and their horses and Anton kept all the things that his father and Nemina purchases on his private stash. There were indeed a lot of storage boxes and barrels and it would take up valuable grids but it was an emergency. Once they reached somewhere where they could take a breather, Anton would need to remind his father that the priority was to organize their stuff although with the amount of food they consume every day, his private stash would soon clear up again.

    Before they left, Anton went and told the village chief that they were running because the Undead Coalition attacked the city of Mendi which was their original country and the undead even managed to reach the last village that they passed through.

    The village chief panicked for a bit then tried to console himself by saying something stupid.

    ¡°We¡¯re a small village. I¡¯m sure that the Undead Coalition will not be interested in our place. Please don¡¯t tell anyone else or it will cause panic to everyone. Just leave if you¡¯re running.¡±

    Devon snorted and Anton sighed at the man¡¯s stupidity. Anders just shrugged and reminded the man that he had already given his warning. Whatever he wanted to do with the information was his decision.

    ¡°Father we should warn the villagers and ignore that man. They will die once the undead reach them,¡± Anna said.

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    ¡°As the man said, it would cause panic and the villagers may not believe us and may attack us instead so we better leave them alone. May the divine have mercy on their souls,¡± Lucas said.

    Anna sadly turned away and entered the carriage. Everyone knew what her feeling was since they were feeling it too. Once the Undead Coalition reached this village, the people would either die or be enslaved.

    Anders commanded the horses to run and Anton made sure that the animals were added to the party system. All of his auras, the Vigor, Meditation, and Prayer auras were activated and Anton could tell that the horses felt it and were invigorated.

    ¡°Three more villages and we¡¯ll be near Tiande. We will not enter the city since we planned to bypass it but we should be safe in villages past Tiande and we can start our business of buying worn-out, used, and broken equipment. ¡°

    Anton just nodded. He could also feel what his father felt about that dreadful terror of the possibility of the undead catching up to them so he decided to grind some levels using the on-screen option and to hunt some more runes and gems to upgrade his gloves, shoes, belts, and accessories.

    Right now, he was level fifty-six and by the time they stopped to eat, he should have gained a few more levels. He repeatedly killed the unique monsters in Baal¡¯s throne room and Baal himself and when he got tired of killing those monsters, he switched to grinding runes from the Countess in Black Marsh. Even though the runes were low-level, he could still upgrade them using the Horadric Cube.

    He also switched to grinding the Act IV boss Diablo and his minions as well to avoid burning out and luckily he received another Stone of Jordan which was his second one from Diablo. He also managed to upgrade his belt with a fast cast rate and resistance to cold and poison with corresponding magic find which was good. His gloves and boots were the same, having resistance and magic find.

    Anton remembered how important the fast cast rate stat was in the game but since he was planning to play the Nightmare Difficulty virtually, Mark thought that the best thing to focus on was defense and resistance to different elements since it was also very useful in real life.

    Playing for several hours resulted in him leveling up to level fifty-nine. He was getting stronger and that meant that he was getting stronger in real life as well which was good because with what was happening, he would need that strength to defend his family from any enemies that would arrive.

    As of right now, Anton noticed that there were no more bandits, and more than likely they fled from this area already or were killed by roaming undead armies.

    Anders stopped the carriage around five in the afternoon, fed the horses with grain, and asked Anton to water them with mana water since mana water helps a lot in making sure that all the animals were in peak condition.

    They also needed to eat since everyone was famished due to the Vigor Aura¡¯s side effect. Everyone was still in their peak condition and this time, Anna was not complaining too much since she was busy reading her new book, The Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings which Anton wrote down on her three notebooks.

    The girls were wise in not rushing to complete the first book of the Belgariad series since they knew that they had plenty of time due to their constant traveling so what they did was Anna would read one chapter and then Lunelle next and then Nemina after Lunelle then they would discuss the content of the chapter they just read.

    The girls were talking loudly enough that Anton and Anders heard every word which prompted a comment from Anton¡¯s father.

    ¡°The book they¡¯re reading sounds good. I think I¡¯ll read it as well once Anna is done with her first notebook.¡±

    ¡°Father you should buy more notebooks in the villages that we will pass by since the book that I wrote was only the first book by a famous author based on the information that I received from the dreams. There are four more in the series and then there is a second series which is a continuation of the first series and it also contained five books.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. Okay, I¡¯ll search for notebooks as well. Okay everyone it¡¯s time for us to go,¡± Anders announced and they continued with their journey hoping that the Undead Coalition would not reach them.

 Chapter 75

    Night arrived and their carriage didn¡¯t stop. Anders just asked Anton to summon his Fire Ball light. Honestly, Anton was interested in the mage light spell book since there was a chance that a spell like that from this world did not need his attention once he cast it. His Fire Ball was different since its root was the Fire Ball spell from Diablo II which was a powerful area of effect spell and any mismanagement could result in the ball exploding.

    That meant that Anton couldn¡¯t take away his attention from the spell even though it only needed a miniscule amount of it so that was why he was interested in the mage light spell book.

    Anton wondered if he could risk studying the spell book. He did have a massive amount of life and defense courtesy of his Diablo II equipment and stats and Mage Light was a basic novice spell. He decided then that come morning he would risk it. In the meantime, just like his father and the guards, he concentrated his attention on the surroundings.

    There was still this worry that was not leaving his gut that they were still in danger. That the Undead Coalition was somehow going to catch up to them and he guessed that everyone was feeling it too since nobody was complaining about their non-stop traveling.

    Anders would only stop their carriage once every five hours to feed the horses and to eat food themselves. The good thing was due to their rushing, according to Lucas they should arrive at the next village tomorrow.

    Morning arrived when Anton saw the village. Even though the sun was coming out from the horizon, the village was still eerily silent.

    ¡°There is something wrong with that village. It should be full of life by this time.¡±

    Anders was about to turn the carriage around but unfortunately; they were very near when they noticed the village¡¯s strangeness.

    Anton¡¯s father managed not to enter the village entrance and guided the carriage to run by the side so they could continue and bypass the village but suddenly a massive amount of ghouls erupted from the villagers¡¯ homes.

    ¡°Father continue running. I¡¯ll teleport at the top of the carriage and cast spells to those undead.¡±

    Lucas and Devon heard what Anton said so they commanded their horses to run near the carriage by its side. Anton¡¯s Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor Auras were still active so the horses were still energetic and did their best to run as fast as they could.

    The animals were also aware that if they slowed down, they would meet their demise in the hands of the undead army that was currently occupying the village.

    Anton teleported to the top of the carriage and took a look at what kind of undead were in the village. Aside from the massive amount of ghouls, there were also slow-moving zombies, several gigantic zombies that looked like an amalgamation of different bodies, ghosts that Anton was only able to see because of their color which was a deep black and they were flying hastily towards them, several vampires since they were the only one who could look normal but they had sinister expressions on their faces and baring their fangs and Anton could see that there were six of them and lastly three undead skeletons wearing wizard¡¯s robe which meant that they could be liches.

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    Anton knew that if the undead army reached them they would be dead. He could escape using teleport but his family and his guards would be truly in danger. He was so glad that the Vigor Aura had a buff that increased the horses¡¯ speed since it looked like the horses were fast enough but to be safe Anton cast Frozen Orb and controlled it enough so it would explode into countless Frost Bolt once it was far from the carriage.

    A huge glowing ball of frozen sphere appeared and flew towards the undead creatures chasing the carriage. At first, the glowing frozen sphere was unassuming since it was moving slowly enough that it could be avoided by anyone fast enough but then it exploded into countless deadly and sharp Ice Bolts and its countless numbers devastated the undead following them.

    He also cast Frozen Armor and Energy Shield for protection. He could see that the coven of vampires was surprised by him casting spells.

    Anton got worried when he saw the three lichs make some movement so to interrupt whatever spell they would make, he cast Meteor. A flaming ball of celestial object arrived from the sky and fell towards where Anton pointed and it was glorious. Its powerful impact on the ground could be felt by everyone and the sea of fires it caused brought devastating destruction to whoever would traversed it.

    Unfortunately, they were already far enough away that Anton would not be able to hit the vampires and the lichs but the Meteor did hit the group of ghouls who were chasing them, and the subsequent fires caused by the spell caused great damage to the ghouls.

    He never stopped casting Meteor and Frozen Orb party to intimidate the undead army into not chasing them and it worked. The three liches made some movement and all the undead that were chasing them stopped and ran back towards the village.

    Anton almost stumbled down from the roof of the carriage and only his stats and his motivation to stay there kept him from falling. Once they had the time, he would ask his father to construct a stand with a handle so he could fight on top of the carriage without any worries.

    The carriage was still running very fast, the horses were truly motivated to outrun the monsters behind them. Lucas was running at the front of the carriage and Devon was running beside it. Anton remained on top of the carriage just to make sure that the monsters were not chasing them and only teleported beside his father after about an hour.

    ¡°Father, the undead army already stopped chasing us but we shouldn¡¯t stop running just to be safe,¡± Anton told his father who nodded.

    He went inside the carriage to tell the ladies what happened.

    ¡°Brother we heard a lot of noise but Nemina was not allowing us to look,¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°The village had an undead army. It had countless numbers of ghouls, zombies, and ghosts. There were six vampires and three undead liches I think. Father was fast enough to bypass the village but they still tried to chase us. I went on top of the carriage and cast several spells at them and it worked in intimidating them to not chase us anymore,¡± Anton told the ladies.

    Anna and Lunelle held hands and Anton saw Lunelle crying in fright. He saw that Anna was afraid as well but he was proud to see that his sister tried her best to be brave. Nemina on the other hand was calm and Anton knew that the lady was truly experienced.

    After informing the ladies of what happened, Anton went outside again to join his father in the driver¡¯s seat.

    Anders did not stop the carriage even when afternoon arrived. Everyone was hungry and Anton could tell that the horses looked famish as well but their fright was stronger so nobody complained. It was only around two in the afternoon when Anders stopped the carriage beside the road so they could eat.

    Thankfully, even though the run was rigorous, they were not truly tired just famished and Lucas and Devon praised Anton¡¯s spell since they mentioned that if something like this happened, they would have all died of exhaustion, especially the horses.

 Chapter 76

    Everyone was surprised at the Undead Coalition army that was in the last village since that village was already very near the city of Tiande. It solidified the fact that Tiande was on the verge of war and that they should bypass the holy city since the chance that they would be conscripted in the war would be very high since they were refugees from a conquered nation.

    According to Lucas Tiande City should be around six days from where they were currently if they were traveling normally but since they were running non-stop, they would be able to bypass the city and arrive at a village past the city at around four or five days travel at their speed.

    Anton needed to make sure that he was switching the Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Auras every hour from the horses to the people and vice versa to make sure that nothing untoward would happen to either group.

    Night arrived and Anton was surprised that Anders slowed down since he thought they would keep on traveling without stopping to outrun the undead army.

    ¡°Father, why are you stopping?¡±

    ¡°There is something wrong with the wheels.¡±

    Anton then thought of the fact that the people and animals would always be at their peak even with the constant running due to his auras but the carriage and items they were using would be stretched thin by the abuse but since he had Charsi, it was actually a simple problem for them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s feed the horses and ourselves and you fix everything that would need fixing,¡± Anders told him.

    Anna, Nemina, and Lunelle stepped out from the carriage and Lucas and Devon joined them. After a word from Anders, Lucas and Devon handled the horses and Anders told the women to prepare dinner.

    Anton gave them the barrels that contained their food and he went to the horses to give them their grains and mana water. Lucas and Devon controlled the horses so they would not harm themselves while eating and drinking but Anton was surprised at the amount of food and water the animals consumed which was logical due to the amount of running they performed.

    Devon kept commenting that he was amazed at Anton¡¯s magic since the horses, instead of dying of exhaustion, looked even more healthy and radiant.

    After everyone was fed Anton asked them to take the things from the carriage so he could use his magic to repair it. It took a mighty effort on his part but Anton managed to put the entire carriage on his inventory and had the blacksmith in the Rogue Encampment fix it.

    The carriage which was beginning to look battered due to their constant travel appeared and it was fully repaired and even looked brand new. They continued their travel and Anton summoned his Fire Ball light to light up the road.

    The constant travel was beginning to wear on them. Even if they were all fine physically, mental exhaustion was beginning to set in.

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    When morning arrived, Anders stopped the carriage again so they could eat but Anton felt like he was going crazy. The only thing that they kept doing was travel, eat, and poop then travel, eat, and poop again. Anton was sure that everybody was feeling the same thing and the only reason nobody was complaining was because of the fear that the undead would suddenly arrive behind them.

    Anton would almost prefer to just stop and confront the undead but it was just a passing illogical whimsy brought on by mental exhaustion.

    ¡°We traveled a fair distance so at lunch we will stop to sleep for several hours and then bathe, and then we will continue traveling,¡± Anders announced during breakfast which cheered everyone.

    Since they were planning to stop at lunch, Anders kept the horses at top speed and the distance they traveled was truly amazing.

    When afternoon arrived, Anders stopped the carriage beside the road. Anton set up their makeshift toilet and then prepared the horses¡¯ food and mana water. They made sure that the horses were fed, watered, and comfortable and allowed them to rest. Even though physically the horses were fine, they all slept immediately and he wondered if the horses also suffered from mental exhaustion.

    ¡°Father, we are going through our food extremely fast so you will need to purchase a lot when we reach somewhere where you can do so.¡±

    ¡°I know, you don¡¯t need to worry. If worse comes to worse we could cook the meat from the animals that we hunted and we could hunt some more.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re still far from that but it would be comforting if we would have a lot more.¡±

    After eating lunch, everyone took a bath one by one and then slept. After around three hours, Anton woke up fully rested and was surprised that he only needed that long to feel like he slept for twenty-four hours.

    Before they left, Anton made sure that all their used clothing was fully repaired and clean and they began their exhausting journey again.

    When night arrived, they didn¡¯t stop running and continued on. Anton made sure that the road was bright with a couple of Fire Balls lighting the way and Anders made sure that everyone was at their peak by stopping every five hours for them to eat.

    When morning arrived, Anton saw the silhouette of Tiande City in the distance and was surprised at its size. It was surprisingly huge and he could see tall buildings even though they were still far away.

    ¡°That¡¯s the basilica of the pope of Tiande. It¡¯s so huge that we can see it this far.¡± Anders said when he saw his son looking at the city in the distance.

    Anders veered off to the left so they could bypass the city but stopped after a while so they could eat.

    When night arrived, they stopped at a village past the holy city of Tiande and they knew that they had earned a breather.

    ¡°We will stop here for the whole night and continue traveling to avoid problems that would come from the city,¡± Anders told everyone.

    The horses were taken care of by the inn¡¯s attendant but Anton made sure that the horses were supplied with mana water. He also told the stable hands to feed the horses as much as they could and to not be surprised by the amount since the horses were a special breed. The stable hands believed him since the horses did look very healthy as if they were nobles'' pets instead of regular horses.

    The innkeeper was surprised at the amount of food they ordered but complied with their request. Everyone ate a lot and Anton asked the innkeeper where the bath was. He was led by someone to their rooms and then to their baths while Anton¡¯s father and Nemina handled the purchase of food and other necessities.

    After taking a bath, Anton slept immediately and he was sure Anna and Lunelle did the same thing.

    Anton woke up and when he checked the time it was already five in the morning. He was surprised since he was expecting to sleep a lot more due to their mental exhaustion but he felt like he already slept for twenty-four hours again just like what happened when they rested and more than likely it was because of the Vigor Aura.

 Chapter 77

    Anna woke up in her room and saw that it was still dark outside. The first thing that she checked was her notebook. Her valuable notebook contained the first few chapters of her now favorite book, The Pawn of Prophecy. Honestly, the book helped her a lot because even though everything that was happening to her and her family was really scary, it was like a grand adventure like what was happening to the book''s protagonist, Garion.

    Her brother was even like Garion¡¯s aunt, a powerful wizard and soon she would become a wizard herself since they already had several spell books and they only needed a tutor for herself.

    Anna was making sure to read the book slowly since she wanted to savor the story and due to their situation, her brother would not be able to pen the second book but since they were already past the city of Tiande, she was sure that they would have the time for her brother to write the next book in the series.

    Anna was thankful for what happened to his brother. It was unspoken but the truth was, that all the people who lost their memories in the village and the surrounding farms near theirs were considered new people already since they didn¡¯t remember even one single iota of what could be considered as their identity.

    She remembered the first case of the person who had forgotten everything and unfortunately, that farmer left since all of his family had died with the plague. What everyone found weird was the lack of sorrow on the farmer¡¯s face since he didn¡¯t consider the family that he had lost as his family.

    Then there was the second case and then the third one and everybody got used to the fact that the plague could cause some to lose their memories and those who lost their memories would become like a totally brand new person. They were devastated when it happened to Anton but Anna and his father were still thankful that he was alive. They still treated Anton as their family and then suddenly he was a mighty wizard who cared about his family. Anna even thought that Anton was much better compared to before not because of his powers but because he was caring and always thought of his family¡¯s comfort and needs.

    Anna wondered if the others who lost their memories received any corresponding gifts of their own but she didn¡¯t hear anything about that and now they would never know since Mendi was now gone. She prayed that all of her friends managed to escape.

    Looking at her notebook, she loved the fact that Lunelle and Nemina also liked the book and they did not hesitate to discuss the chapters with her and that helped pass the time while they were traveling since without that, she would not know what to do with her time since she could not even take a nap since she was full of energy due to her brother¡¯s spell.

    Anna was also excited when she heard that their father was interested in the book and was willing to buy more notebooks for her. She stood up and dressed herself so she could go downstairs to the common room to eat breakfast with everybody. She couldn¡¯t wait to drink some mana water conjured by her brother. Aside from being refreshing, the water made her skin fairer, and now all her blemishes were disappearing. Soon, she will be as fair and smooth as a noble girl who had not touched any sort of work in her life.

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    Besides their journey being scary due to the undead, Anna could not wait to get to the city of wizards, or any city for that matter where they could stay permanently. She knew that their family would become wealthy due to his brother¡¯s magic of being able to repair even the most worn-out equipment.

    Her brother was also very good at singing and playing the lute and could rival the most skilled bards. Anton had an endless supply of songs and stories so even if for some reason he lost his ability to wield magic which she doubted would ever happen, their family could still get by with her brother¡¯s talent.

    Anna tried singing once but her friends kept telling her that she sounded like a pig being slaughtered so she gave up on that but she knew that she had the talent to become a mage. She just knew.

    When she arrived at the inn¡¯s common room, everyone including her brother who was usually the last one to join them was already seated at a table eating breakfast.

    ¡°Hey, why didn¡¯t you wait for me!¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°I decided to let you rest more since our journey was very long and I thought you were exhausted. We will continue our journey once your brother stored the things we purchased in his space and after we purchased more things so it¡¯ll probably take about two more hours,¡± Anders said.

    Anders then turned to Anna¡¯s brother who was still eating.

    ¡°The things that we purchased are already beside the carriage.¡±

    Anna saw her brother nodding. She then asked her father something significant.

    ¡°Did you purchase more notebooks?¡±

    ¡°Lunelled handled it,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I managed to purchase five notebooks!¡± Lunelle said excitedly showing that she too liked the book about the boy Garion very much.

    After breakfast, Anders reiterated they would leave after a couple of hours since they would need to purchase many more things from the villagers. Anna saw that her father, Nemina, and Lucas were the ones handling the purchasing and Devon stayed to guard her, her brother, and Lunelle.

    ¡°Brother, since we have more notebooks can you write the second and if you can, the third book of the Garion books?¡± Anna cajoled to her brother.

    ¡°Sure, just let me store the items that were already purchased and I¡¯ll return immediately to start writing.¡±

    Anna was so glad that it was easy to ask things from her brother. Even though he was supposed to be a respectable wizard now, his behavior toward her and their father didn¡¯t change. He was still a caring brother and obedient son. He was also very generous not hesitating in giving everything they looted from the undead monsters to their father. He only kept the gold coins because their father asked him to but he would give them back immediately if their father asked for it. It¡¯s as if he didn¡¯t care about coins but more than likely he just didn¡¯t understand the concept of its value.

    Anna¡¯s brother told them that he didn¡¯t know anything at all, even the most basic common sense, but honestly, with all the gifts he received, she thought it was a fair trade-off. Before he lost his memory, Anna¡¯s brother was this dull normal farm boy whose greatest ambition was to marry a farm girl and start his farm.

    Anna¡¯s brother returned shortly after and then started writing the second book of the fantasy series in a brand new notebook. She was amazed at her brother¡¯s penmanship. It was very beautiful like he was drawing the letters instead of writing them. He was also very fast and should be able to complete the book in less than two hours.

 Chapter 78

    Anton was surprised at himself for finishing writing the second book of the Belgariad series, Queen of Sorcery in three of Anna¡¯s notebooks in less than an hour and a half. When he checked the time it was already nine in the morning.

    Anton¡¯s sister happily took the notebooks from her brother and hugged him.

    ¡°Thank you so much, brother! I¡¯m only halfway through the first book since I¡¯m reading it slowly to savor it but having the second book eased my worry that I will not be able to know what will happen to Garion.¡±

    Soon their father arrived and told Anton to store the items that they had added to the ones they had already purchased and after that, they would leave. They were still too near the city of Tiande. To completely feel at ease, Anton¡¯s father wanted to reach the next city which was the city of Leminthor. Normally it would take a month before they would reach the next city but Anders planned to continue traveling the way they were doing, non-stop and at top speed which was fine due to Anton¡¯s Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Aura.

    Lucas and Devon were already in their horses when Anton and his family went to the stable where the carriage was parked. The horses were already hitched so Anton stored the things that his father and Nemina purchased the majority of which was food and that they left the village hastily.

    The next village was supposedly three days away but Lucas reckoned that based on their speed, they would arrive that night or early the next day. They were still stopping every six hours for them and the horses to eat and drink some mana water.

    They arrived in the next village around eleven in the evening and Anton had to dispel the Fire Ball light so as not to scare the villagers. Anders had to move slowly when they entered the village to avoid injuring the horses since it was dark but they managed to reach the inn without any mishaps.

    The innkeeper was startled at their arrival but was professional enough to welcome them. More than likely it was because they looked like rich merchants. They were led to the common room and were grateful that there was still warm food from the inn¡¯s kitchen. After they ate a massive amount of food which startled the inn folks again, they were led to their rooms where they could store their bags and then were led to the baths so they could bathe first before resting.

    Anton provided the mana water for everyone and then blissfully bathed and removed the grime from their journey. Before he slept, he was a bit worried about not being able to level up his character since they had been too busy traveling and worrying about the Undead Coalition catching up to them but soon they would reach the next city and would have enough of a breather for him to be able to level up and get stronger again. And watch movies, TV shows, and animes on his browser.

    The next day Anton woke up and when he checked the time it was only six in the morning but he really felt like he slept for a week. He languorously stretched then went to the bathroom to relieve himself and looked for his family.

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    He saw Anna, Lunelle, and Devon seated at a table in the inn¡¯s common room eating breakfast so he joined them.

    ¡°Where¡¯s father and the others?¡± Anton

    ¡°They¡¯re buying a lot of things from the villagers. They should be done in a couple of hours.¡± Devon answered while Anna and Lunelle kept talking about the chapters they had read from the first book of the Belgariad Series.

    Anton started listening to the girls while eating. Devon then suddenly interrupted them.

    ¡°The story you¡¯re telling is interesting. Can I borrow the book once you¡¯re done?¡± Lucas¡¯s son asked.

    ¡°Sure, but you have to make sure to take care of it since it¡¯s the only copy that we have,¡± Anna said.

    Anders arrived followed by Lucas and Nemina.

    ¡°We put the things that we bought beside the carriage. Once you store them we¡¯ll leave.¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    ¡°It¡¯s so early, did the villagers let you buy things from them this early?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s the power of coins. One day inconvenience was not a big deal with them and all of them were awake already doing chores. Honestly, it''s more common than you think since a lot of merchants do follow a schedule and sometimes they disturb people even during the wee hours of the morning,¡± Lucas said.

    After breakfast, they all went to the carriage and Anton stored the things they had purchased from the villagers. He saw that almost all of them were food again.

    They left immediately after everything was stored.

    ¡°Father, how long till we reach the city of Leminthor?¡±

    ¡°Normally it would take us five weeks before we reach it but on our pace, we¡¯ll probably reach it in two or three weeks or even less,¡± Anders answered.

    ¡°Are you not planning to go back to purchasing things from the villagers before we reach the next city.¡±

    ¡°I would have liked to but I¡¯m still not feeling at ease. I would rather for us to rush to the city of Leminthor, stay there for a couple of days to rest then we¡¯ll leave immediately and go to the city of Ruandelle. We can resume our business of buying things from the villages past the city of Leminthor since more than likely we¡¯ll be safe from the Undead Coalition by then.¡±

    ¡°We can also hire a coachman from one of the villages before we arrive in Leminthor so you can have a rest,¡± Anton suggested.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and look for one who could commit to the length of our journey or at least until the city of Leminthor from one of the villages we¡¯ll pass through.¡±

    Their journey was abnormally fast since Anton kept switching his three auras between the horses and the people to keep everyone in peak condition. Anders also stopped the carriage every six hours for everyone to eat and the combination of mana water and auras was keeping everyone truly healthy.

    Devon kept repeating that Anton¡¯s magic was great since instead of them becoming exhausted, they were getting healthier and healthier which was unnatural.

    Night arrived and Anders decided to stop for everyone to rest for a few hours but Anton¡¯s father was pacified by the fact that due to Anton¡¯s spells, three hours of sleep was a full rest for all of them including the horses.

    Anton was adamant in setting up their makeshift toilet and told his father that he wanted to take a bath so he did and so did everyone else for that matter but Anders went along with it since all of them taking a bath didn¡¯t take too much time.

    They resumed their journey after they woke up which was about three in the morning so it was still very dark but a couple of Fire Ball lights hovering on top of them made the surroundings well-lit.

    One weird thing was all the horses were becoming very attached to Anton even Lucas and Devon¡¯s horses. It was as if the horses knew that he was the source of the spell that made them healthy and the source of the mana water that they found delicious.

 Chapter 79

    Before this journey happened, Anders was praying to the divines for the strength to last until his children were safe. They were the only legacy of the love he had with his late wife. He thought that he wouldn¡¯t have the strength anymore since his body was crooked and unhealthy due to an accident that happened when he was a mercenary.

    When Anton lost his memory, Anders knew that he couldn¡¯t make the choice that the others who experienced the same thing had taken which was to treat the victim as another person entirely since the person before didn¡¯t exist anymore. Anton was his first child and Annette loved their son too much for Anders to abandon his son.

    It was all for the best since Anton became more. His son became a powerful wizard but the important part was not even that. The important part was that he became more caring of his family.

    Anders felt that his wife was looking out for them. His son kept saying that somebody powerful gifted him the gifts that he received but Anders believed that it was influenced by the spirit of his wife to make sure that they survived in these trying times. He was a simple man and he didn¡¯t need to believe in something complicated so he believed that his wife was looking out for them.

    Now he was back at his peak and Anders felt that he was even getting younger. He even looked younger. His son¡¯s spell was truly powerful curing him of his illnesses even the hidden ones that his children were not aware of. He was even starting to look like a noble since the blemishes on his skin caused by battles and farm work were slowly being eradicated by his son¡¯s powerful healing spells. Anton could even conjure what he called mana water that refreshes their body and his daughter Anna believed that it was the cause of their skin turning fairer and smoother.

    The campsite was brightly lit due to his son¡¯s spell and the horses were taken care of and were already asleep. Anders was truly amazed at one of his son¡¯s spells that caused them to have full energy and stamina and erased exhaustion from their body. The only side effect was negligible which was to consume more food.

    Every one of them, instead of looking exhausted, looked healthy and rested. The fact that they were full of energy but the moment they lay down they would be asleep immediately was a boon. Not only that, they would all be fully rested just sleeping for a few hours.

    After all of them had taken a bath, Anders saw his son handling their laundry which took him no time at all. The clothes disappeared and reappeared looking clean and brand new.

    That was one of his favorite things with his son. Even though Anton was now a mighty wizard, he was still very obedient to his father, and not only that, he was still humble and would not hesitate to use his magic to do what other wizards would consider degrading like laundry.

    Anders saw his children going inside their tents to sleep while Lucas allowed his son to rest as well taking in the first shift of the guard duty. Lucas kept thanking him for hiring them since ever since they had become part of their group, they received the full benefit of Anton¡¯s powerful healing spells which the adults knew would have cost them a great deal of coins if they were performed by mighty wizards.

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    The mana water alone would have cost them a fortune but unfortunately, according to his son they wouldn¡¯t be able to sell it since it would lose its effect as time passed so it was only most effective the moment Anton conjured it.

    Anders entered his tent to rest and lay down on his sleeping bed which felt soft and looked brand new. Every item they had looked brand new due to his son¡¯s spell so they looked like rich merchants. The clothing they all wore was only fit to be worn by very rich merchants or nobles since they were all new. That was also the reason why Nemina was adamant about joining their family to them as their attendants since that spell of Anton alone which was able to repair any items and make them brand new would cause them to become very wealthy.

    Before he fell asleep, Anders also thought of the fact that he was also able to play as a wizard due to the wands they had received from the vampires. The fact that the wands could cast an unlimited amount of spells due to his son being able to recharge them anytime excited him. Who didn¡¯t dream of becoming a wizard who could cast endless spells one after another? At that thought, Anders fell asleep.

    Anders woke up after a couple of hours and it felt like he slept the whole night. He went outside and began cleaning their campsite. After a few minutes, everyone else woke up and got busy cleaning the camp. Anton fed and watered the horses and then served the still-hot food from his magical space. He was really proud of his son. He was beginning to have the demeanor of a powerful wizard but did not hesitate in doing humble chores like feeding the horses or even cleaning their makeshift toilet although he watched his son and Anton actually didn¡¯t touch anything, he just lifted the dirty things using his magic.

    Lucas and Devon assisted him in hitching the horses to the carriage and he thought about his son¡¯s suggestion of finding a coachman to drive their carriage. The fact was he was a bit hesitant about doing that since Anders didn¡¯t know what he would do with all those times inside their carriage doing nothing. At least when he was driving the carriage, he could concentrate on driving and he would not get bored but if somebody were driving, he would probably do something else like plan their business venture, listen to his son¡¯s beautiful voice and wonderful lute playing or listen to his son tell stories.

    Anders could even start reading the newly written novel by his son that Anna kept raving about.

    ¡°I guess having a driver had more benefits than downsides,¡± Anders thought.

    Anders saw his son dispel his powerful mage light since the sun was coming out from its hiding place on the horizon. He loved the fact that his son kept joining him in the driver¡¯s seat and they had talked so much about everything that Anders felt closer to Anton more than ever.

    He remembered that before, Anton was as Anna described it ¡°a lump.¡± But now he was so knowledgeable although that knowledge pertained to his spells, songs, and stories but he was more engaging.

    Anders truly believed that his son was not a different person but a person who came into his own after he survived that awful plague. He thanked the divines again and his wife for watching over their family and he couldn¡¯t wait to get to the city where they would stay so they could live their lives as a wealthy family.

 Chapter 80

    Anton was seated beside his father while they continued with their journey. Since it was still dark, there was a Fire Ball light hovering on top of the horses that lit up the road. They were still traveling at their maximum speed, which was extremely fast indeed, but he was confident that nothing would happen to the horses since his Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Auras were protecting them.

    He also didn¡¯t forget to switch the auras between the horses and the people every hour to make sure that no one would get sick due to their unrelenting and gruesome travel. The only thing that was experiencing severe beating was their carriage so on their next stop Anton planned to have Charsi repair it again.

    Anton dispelled his Fire Ball light when the sun came out. One good thing about all this travel was he got closer to his father because they talked non-stop about everything. His father¡¯s life as a mercenary, the common lives of people in the villages as compared to people who lived in the cities, things that he needed to be aware of when traveling like basic prices of food, clothing, and other necessities, common monsters that people would encounter while traveling so basically a lot of things.

    Anders would only stop the carriage after every six hours of travel so everyone could eat and after that, they continued traveling.

    Around the afternoon Anton heard some loud noises ahead in the road and Anders slowed down the carriage since he heard them as well. Lucas and Devon went near them and prepared themselves since the noise sounded battle noises the nearer, they got.

    Anton then saw a group of carts ahead which he assumed was a merchant caravan. It was being attacked by monsters with snarling dog heads and based on his knowledge from reading novels and watching animes they looked like kobolds or gnolls. There were also some huge monsters that looked like trolls to him and some small green monsters that were probably goblins.

    He observed the monsters, and they were terrifying. The dog-headed monsters had frightening visages with their huge mouths and fangs full of blood and saliva. They were wielding diverse types of weapons like rusted swords and knives. The trolls were using huge clubs and their hands while the goblins were wielding knives, swords, and clubs.

    The caravan guards were valiantly fighting off the army of monsters but based on the situation, the guards would not last long.

    ¡°Should we help them, father?¡± Anton asked Anders.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s common decency to help people in need especially if it''s against monsters and you have the power to help. I wanted to try out the new wand that we received, and this is a good opportunity. Stay here and protect your sister and the women. Me, Lucas, and Devon will attack just don¡¯t forget to heal us in case we get wounded.¡±

    Anders stepped outside the carriage driver¡¯s seat holding his sword on his right hand and his wand on his left one. Before his father went and helped the caravan guards, he knocked on the carriage door and shouted that a caravan was being attacked and that he, Lucas, and Devon would assist. Anna, Nemina, and Lunelle joined Anton on the carriage seat then Anders ran towards the monsters followed by Lucas and Devon wielding their swords. Anton teleported on top of the caravan so he could observe better and attack any monster who would attack their carriage, but he did notice Nemina holding a sword.

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    Anton noticed that his father, Lucas, and Devon did not have any shred of fear on their faces confident in the fact that Anton''s healing spells were powerful enough to offset any tragedy that may befall them.

    Anders pointed his wand of Fire Ball towards the back of the monster so he could hit the enemies that were far enough away from the caravan to avoid hitting any humans. The blast of the Fire Ball startled both the caravan guards and the monster, but Anders didn¡¯t stop with just one Fire Ball. Two more fireballs slammed into the monsters at the back until almost all the monsters who were following those who were attacking the caravan guards were injured.

    Anton¡¯s father realized that using the wand was better, so he sheathed his sword and switched to his wand of magic missile, and began attacking the monsters who were targeting guards that needed assistance.

    Lucas and Devon reached the monster and were fearless and fiercely attacked seemingly without any regard to their safety. Some of the guards cheered when they saw that help arrived. Anton did notice that the caravan guards all looked like they had lost hope but now they were revitalized and began fighting back boldly. They were also heartened by the fact that there was a wizard who was assisting them.

    Devon was hit in one of his arms and to the amazement of the caravan guards, the man¡¯s wound healed rapidly.

    Anders kept attacking using his magic missile wand. He didn¡¯t even spare the goblins and not caring if the monster was huge or small, he kept using his spells to the caravan people''s bewilderment.

    Anton could understand since based on what his father and Lucas told him about their limited experience with wizards, they tend to save their spells and only use them during critical situations.

    Lucas became even more ferocious when he saw that his son got wounded and when Devon saw that his father became wilder in his battles Devon abandoned any sort of technique and fought wildly. Anton was impressed with Lucas and Devon¡¯s trust in his auras, but it did work splendidly. Any wound they received would heal immediately so they became more ferocious and wilder that they almost matched the number of monsters that Anders killed using his fireball and magic missile wand.

    Suddenly Anton saw a group of monsters veer off and head directly to where the carriage was parked probably attracted by the three women who were watching in the driver¡¯s seat. He cast Glacial Spike on the four monsters who were running towards them, and the monsters froze and shatter. When the monsters saw their colleagues were shattered by a powerful freezing spell, that was the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. The monsters suddenly started running away one by one until all of them were escaping.

    Anders did not let them go and since the monsters were beginning to get far away Anton¡¯s father switched back to using his Fireball wand. He recklessly spent the spells on the wand until almost all the monsters were dead and only a few managed to get away.

    Anton immediately teleported down, removed his family and guards from the party system, and went to where the wounded people were. Unfortunately, some of the caravan guards were already dead but he did manage to heal the wounded ones immediately until they were healthy enough to stand up. They looked at Anton with awe and he could almost feel that one word from him and they would worship him.

    In the corner of his eye, he saw his father talking to a group of richly dressed men who were looking at Anders gratefully but with a touch of fear. Anton thought that the merchants were probably thinking that Anders was a wizard as well due to the number of spells that he unleashed.

    Anton then saw Nemina drive their carriage and parked it near the caravan. Anton didn¡¯t stop moving around until he healed all the wounded people that he found. He even asked help from some of the caravan guards to bring all the wounded that they could find, and they obliged him making the healing process to be completed faster.

 Chapter 81

    Anton took a total of ten minutes to heal all the injured people from the caravan. All the guards that were healed were looking at him gratefully and Devon who was beside him guarding him told Anton that they were grateful because he healed them immediately and did not wait for any sort of payment from them first.

    ¡°If I waited they would have died!¡± Anton said indignantly.

    ¡°That¡¯s how priests normally behave though. Not all of them mind you but the majority of them that it had created a bad reputation for most of the clergy.¡± Devon said.

    Anton went to his father who was still talking to whom he assumed as the leaders of the merchant caravan based on their clothing and demeanor.

    ¡°Thank you for healing our guards high priest!¡± One of the merchants said to Anton.

    ¡°High priest? I¡¯m not a priest, I¡¯m a wizard,¡± Anton said to the man.

    Anders laughed and then introduced Anton to the merchants.

    ¡°The boy is my son Anton. He¡¯s a wizard and also the one who created the wands that I used to attack the monsters.¡±

    The merchants looked at Anton in awe. He ignored the men and reported to his father.

    ¡°Father, I healed all the injured but unfortunately, five were already dead when I reached them.¡±

    Anders nodded and gave a subtle signal for him to go back to the carriage so Anton kept ignoring the merchants and went inside their carriage. Anna and Lunell joined him while Nemina joined Anders and Lucas. Devon remained outside the carriage and acted as their guard.

    ¡°Why are you here and not talking to the merchants, brother?¡± Anna asked while Lunelle looked curiously.

    ¡°Father signaled me to go away. I¡¯m guessing he wanted to talk to them about something and due to my ignorance, there¡¯s a chance that I might give it away.¡±

    After several minutes, Anders knocked on the carriage door and he and Nemina entered. He immediately gave the wands to Anton for his son to recharge them and then Anton gave the fully recharged wands back to his father.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving immediately since I¡¯m thinking and Lucas agreed with me that the reason why there were so many monsters in this area was a lot of them migrated from the location surrounding our country due to the Undead Coalition attack. The merchants paid us for helping them.¡±

    Anders then went to the carriage driver¡¯s seat and Anton joined him. He removed all the people from his party system and Anton added all the horses. The next village was supposed to be three days away but because of their speed and non-stop travel, they would arrive by tomorrow. When dusk arrived, Anton summoned his Fire Ball light and let it hover in front of the carriage to light up the road and they continued traveling.

    Anders only stopped the carriage around nine in the evening but that was only for them to eat and use the toilet after that they resumed their journey.

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    While they were traveling Anton could hear noises from the surroundings which according to his father were noises created by the monsters in the area but due to their speed, they were able to bypass them without any issue.

    That meant that there was a likely chance that the merchant caravan would be attacked by the monsters again but at least Anton managed to heal all of the injured so they should be able to fight more effectively.

    Around three in the morning, Anders stopped the carriage again for the whole group and the horses to eat and drink some mana water. The environment of the road and the surrounding forests were beautiful even at night but Anton was beginning to get tired of traveling.

    He wished they reached the city soon since they could rest there for several days before continuing their travel. He would like to act as a tourist in another world city and that would be glorious to see the different structures of the buildings, the different cultures maybe even different species of people.

    ¡°Father, I forgot to ask, are there different species of intelligent beings here like elves or dwarves or halflings?¡± Anton asked his father while they resumed their travel after they stopped for a while to eat.

    ¡°There are and you should see some of them in the city,¡± Anders answered.

    ¡°Is there anything that I should be aware of in dealing with non-humans like common knowledge or common prejudices that I should avoid?¡±

    ¡°Not really. They¡¯re just like any others. Treat them how you normally treat folks and you¡¯ll be fine. Especially since you¡¯re a wizard and mage folk are respected by everyone.¡±

    Anton dispelled the Fire Ball light when morning arrived and he saw the next village in the distance.

    ¡°How long are we going to stay in this village?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°We will only stay until afternoon. I want to get away from this area and reach the city as soon as possible.¡±

    They arrived at the village inn and a lot of the villagers watched them park the carriage in front of the inn. The carriage and all the horses were handled by the inn¡¯s attendant and they went to the common room and ordered a lot of food for breakfast.

    The inn folk were surprised at the amount of food they devoured but they didn¡¯t care. They enjoyed the hot breakfast then Anton told the innkeeper that he would like to take a bath so an attendant led them to the baths.

    As usual, Anton provided the mana water but he was the only one who enjoyed a hot bath since he heated his bathwater with his magic while the others couldn¡¯t afford to let the inn attendants heat theirs and they respected Anton enough to not ask him to heat their bath water.

    Anton did perform one service for everyone which was to repair and clean all of their clothing including Lucas and Devon¡¯s armor which was damaged during their confrontation with the monsters who were attacking the merchant caravan.

    The only one who enjoyed hot water was Anders since Anton heated his father¡¯s bath water who was bathing in the tub beside his. Anna had to bathe using cold mana water since the women¡¯s baths were in another room. Regardless, everyone still enjoyed the mana water compared to heated regular water since they could feel the magic infusing their bodies.

    After their bath, Anna grumbled a lot about Anton not heating her bath water and she only stopped when he promised that he would heat the next one.

    They didn¡¯t rent any rooms since they would leave after Anders and Nemina concluded their business of buying food and other necessities from the villagers.

    When Anders and Nemina who was being followed by Lucas as their guard while Devon stayed with the sibling acting as their guard concluded their business, Anton went to the carriage where the things that were purchased were located. He stored them in the Private Stash inside the game and then he quickly stored the whole carriage while the horses were still not hitched so he could have the Charsi repair it.

    A good thing that they were inside the stable so nobody saw the carriage disappearing and appearing after a few seconds completely looking brand new. Lucas and Devon asked a favor from Anton to repair their saddle and harness as well to make sure that it would be durable and would not break during their gruesome travel.

    After everything was settled, they continued their travel at maximum speed which was only possible due to Anton¡¯s Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor auras.

 Chapter 82

    Anton¡¯s family and their guards traveled non-stop for two days, only stopping to eat and for bathroom breaks. They were traveling at the horses'' maximum speed, which was amazingly fast indeed due to the buff provided by the Vigor Aura.

    Anton¡¯s father, Lucas, and Devon were making sure that the horses were not suffering due to their gruesome journey every time they stopped and as expected, the horses were fine, even healthier than before.

    Lucas informed them that the next village was the last before they arrived in the city of Lementhor. The distance they traversed on those two days was awe-inspiring and it was only possible due to Anton¡¯s auras.

    They arrived in the village around dusk and Anders informed them that they would stay tonight and the entire day the next day since Anton¡¯s father was planning to resume their business of buying worn-out or broken equipment from the villagers. Anders wanted to have more products that they could sell in the city since he was planning to stay in Lementhor for at least three to five days before continuing to the merchant city of Ruandelle.

    Anton didn¡¯t care since he just wanted to rest somewhere that was not moving for a few hours. In the village inn, Anders talked with the innkeeper about what they would need and then somebody led them to the rooms they rented so they could keep the luggage there and then they were led back to the common room so they could eat the dinner that was just cooked by the inn¡¯s cook. The innkeeper was extraordinarily proud of their cook, which was his wife since he kept mentioning that his wife was a chef from the city before they got married and settled here to run an inn.

    When the food arrived, everyone began to eat.

    ¡°Well, the innkeeper¡¯s not lying. The food here is delicious. You should order a lot of food from the innkeeper, Father,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll oversee it,¡± Nemina volunteered, and Anders just nodded.

    After their dinner, somebody led them to the baths, and as promised, Anton provided the mana water to everyone and heated them as well. The attendant who led them to the baths was in awe when he saw that Anton was a wizard.

    Anton was a little surprised since he thought that wizards would be more common this near to the city, but Devon enlightened him that aside from the wizard cities, wizards were rare everywhere.

    After providing the mana water and heating the water in the women¡¯s tubs, Anton and Devon left the women, went to the men¡¯s bath, and joined Lucas and Anders who were waiting. He filled the bathtub with mana water and just like women¡¯s bathtubs, he heated the water using his spells, and everyone removed their clothes and sank into the hot mana water.

    ¡°This is luxurious, and I can feel the magic of your mana water seeping into my body. The hot water was supposed to relieve aches and pains from the rigors of the journey but amazingly I don¡¯t have any aches and pains due to your healing spells Anton. My body feels even younger and I¡¯m glad that Nemina and I had our own room.¡± Lucas sighed.

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    The head guard¡¯s comment made everyone laugh and Anders was surprised that the ribald comment did not make Anton shy.

    ¡°As if you know what Lucas is talking about,¡± Anders said to his son which only made Anton snort.

    The snort caused Lucas and Devon to laugh some more.

    ¡°Your son is not as innocent as you think, Anders,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°We will talk later,¡± Anders said to Anton, and he just ignored his father and sank deeply into the water.

    Anton headed directly to his room to rest after their baths. He wanted to relax tonight by watching some anime before sleeping. Since his father would conduct their buying worn-out and broken equipment the next day, that meant that he would have the time to continue leveling up tomorrow. He was then surprised that his father followed him inside his room.

    ¡°Do you need something, Father?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to talk to you about what happened between a man and a woman when they decided to be together since based on your reaction to Lucas¡¯s comment you had some sort of experience in this?¡±

    Anton was a bit shocked. His father wanted to talk to him about the birds and the bees.

    ¡°Father, did you forget that I lost my memory? I only knew what Lucas meant because the information I received together with the way to make me a wizard was very extensive, and it included details about the birds and the bees.¡±

    ¡°Birds and the bees?¡±

    Anton rolled his eyes.

    ¡°You know, the thing that you wanted to talk about. Things that happen between a man and a woman. Believe me Father I already know that.¡±

    Anders blushed.

    ¡°I forgot about you losing your memory but I¡¯m glad you already know some things a man ought to know. Okay, I¡¯ll leave you to your rest. I still need to talk to the innkeeper about our business tomorrow.¡±

    Anders exited the room and Anton lay on the bed and opened his browser. The first thing that he did was read up on the news about the state of the pandemic in his world. According to the news sites, it was still ongoing but there were signs that it was beginning to subside, and the world was beginning to recover.

    Out of morbid curiosity, he searched for his name, which was the first time he did and there was actually news about him. The news stated that he died due to the virus of the pandemic and that was it.

    Anton felt melancholia descend on him. His life in his previous world was sad. He was born to a poor family who died because of a drunk driver who died with them so he didn¡¯t even have anyone who was living that he could blame back then and then he died before he could lift himself out of poverty from a sickness that caused deaths to millions of people but only to those who were poor since if you have the money, you should be able to buy food and medicine that could keep you healthy to survive the virus.

    He made a vow that he would become powerful and wealthy in this world so he and his family would survive, and even thrive in this world. He knew that it was a mistake to look up his life in his previous world. Anton allowed himself some tears one last time and made a second vow that this was the last time he would cry about the life that he previously had.

    After a few minutes of pathetic self-pity, he closed the news sites and opened a site for animes. He watched some episodes of his favorite animes and a bit later, he was laughing at the antics of the anime characters.

    If somebody saw him then, they would think he was insane since previously he was crying, now he was laughing so hard about an anime called Nichijou until tears came out from his eyes. After the emotional roller coaster that he experienced that night, Anton slept deeply to rest his exhausted mind.

 Chapter 83

    Morning arrived and Anton woke up to the sound of a rooster crowing. When he checked the time, it was six in the morning, so he stood up and went to the toilet. After that, he went downstairs to the inn¡¯s common room and saw Anna, Lunelle, and Devon eating breakfast. He joined them and asked for breakfast from the server who was gaping at him which he ignored.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Father, Lucas, and Nemina?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°There¡¯s a village hall in here and they rented the space so we can purchase things from the villagers. Father and Lucas will manage the armor and weapons and Nemina will oversee the other things. Me and Lunelle will join Nemina after this and Devon will follow you around as your guard,¡± Anna said then she giggled at the last statement which made Anton roll his eyes at her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll join Father there so I can learn the business,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Father told me to tell you that the villagers now know that you¡¯re a wizard. That meant that what happened to that village we saved would happen here as well,¡± Anna said to her brother.

    ¡°Why what happened there?¡± Lunelle asked curiously.

    ¡°The villagers became overly respectful since Brother healed the injured villagers and they almost gave their items to us instead of allowing us to buy them,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°It should be different this time since I didn¡¯t save anyone.¡±

    ¡°Maybe but everyone will still be distracted by you so it would be better for you to not join Father. You know what, why don¡¯t you just write the third book of the Belgariad series,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t even finished the first book yet, and you want me to write the third book? I¡¯ll be in my room meditating so don¡¯t disturb me if it''s not important or I could receive a backlash that would injure me. I¡¯ll go downstairs for lunch so please tell Father. Devon, you can join Father and Lucas but if you¡¯re staying here, please don¡¯t let anyone disturb me,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and guard your door, Sir Anton,¡± Devon said.

    ¡°Fine. We¡¯re going now. Enjoy your boring meditation,¡± Anna harrumph and Anton just smiled.

    Anton went back to his room and decided to start playing the Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II game. As planned, he entered the game in person so he could play it virtually. There were so many advantages of playing the game virtually instead of using the on-screen option and the best one was his body would get used to casting the spells and would learn how the mana would traverse his body while he was casting specific spells. That meant that he would learn the minutiae of the mana of specific elements and maybe someday he would master enough of them that he could learn to create his own spells.

    Anton then remembered that he was planning to learn one of the spell books that they received from the vampires and since they were only basic spells, the risk of backlash was minimal and if anything happened, he was sure that his Prayer and Meditation auras would be able to manage it.

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    He minimized the game after taking the Mage Light spell book from his private stash. He opened the spell book and lo and behold, he couldn¡¯t understand what was written. Anton felt stupid. He remembered that in almost all the fantasy novels, spell books were usually written in what wizards would call the ¡°ancient¡± language and most of them were either in Draconic, Elvish, or another obscure language of a magical race. Even on Earth, the esoteric occult books that were considered genuine were written in Latin.

    Anton sighed since it meant that he and Anna would need to learn another language before they could learn how to read the spell books. Then an idea occurred to him that maybe there were spell books that were written in the common language and that the spell books they received from the vampires were written in the undead language or something. He hoped since it would be a nice shortcut. They would have to wait until they were in a large city before he could check though.

    He opened the spell book again to check if there was another way like maybe memorizing the symbols to imprint the spell in his mind or something then he would be able to cast it and then maybe the imprint would disappear and he would have to memorize it again like some of the novels that he had read from the Forgotten Realms series of books but after staring and memorizing some of the symbols which were very difficult since he was treating them as drawings instead of writings, nothing was happening so he gave up and kept the book in his private stash.

    Anton went back to his Diablo II game, exited the current game, which was on Normal Difficulty, and then chose Nightmare Difficulty. He was level fifty-nine, so he was way over-level, but it was okay. It was good that he was powerful enough that he would be safe in leveling up. He would focus on hunting gears and learning how to defeat enemies using different spells instead of spamming Frozen Orb over and over again.

    That meant that it would take a long time but right now, it was important for him to learn how to wield his spells since if he really needed to increase his level, he could always do so using the on-screen options which would be faster anyway.

    After four hours of playing, he only reached the Countess in the Black Marsh zone since he was slow in killing the monsters, but he was learning how to wield his spells better in battle. His reaction was getting better too and strategy-wise, he was learning how to use his Teleport imaginatively. He did find a couple of crystal swords so he went back to the Rogue Encampment and would try to put sockets on one of them using the Horadric Cube since he used the Larzuk quest reward to create an Insight runeword weapon.

    Once Anton put all the required ingredients in the cube to socket the sword, he prayed to RNGesus, and his prayers were answered. A four-socket crystal sword appeared so he created his Spirit runeword weapon. He was happy with the weapon because it would increase his damage by a lot since he was still using an ordinary sacred globe. The weapon would also help increase his strength in the real world.

    Looking at all his items, they were still a bit mediocre. He only had a Lore Helm, an Ancient Pledge Gothic Shield, a Stealth Field Plate, a couple of Stones of Jordan rings, and now his Spirit Sword. His amulet was just a magic amulet that increased two to all Sorceress skill levels and plus five to all resistances. His gloves, belts, and shoes were just rare items that contained resistances and magic find stats so he would need to search for better ones.

    Luckily, his Mercenary had an Insight Runeword which meant that he didn¡¯t need to drown himself in mana potions anymore, but the mercenary¡¯s armor and helm were just regular rare armor and helm.

    At least now that Anton was in the Nightmare Difficulty, he would begin hunting for better gear.

 Chapter 84

    Anton checked the time in his browser and saw that it was almost noon, so he minimized his Diablo II game to join his family for lunch. The four hours of playing earned him three levels aside from the Spirit Crystal Sword runeword weapon that he had just made so he was now level sixty-two.

    When he went outside his room, he saw Devon guarding his door.

    ¡°Did you stay here for several hours?! You should have just joined the others in the village hall. It¡¯s boring here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay sir Anton. This is our job and I¡¯m used to guarding several hours at a time. Besides, we received so many benefits from you and your family and you kept us from any injury, so this amount of boredom is nothing.¡±

    ¡°So, you agree that it¡¯s boring here?¡± Anton asked jokingly.

    ¡°No! I just meant that it¡¯s a pleasure to serve you,¡± Devon stuttered which made Anton laugh.

    Anton went downstairs to look for his family while Devon followed him. While he was walking, he noticed that the inn¡¯s attendants were looking at him wide-eyed and Devon told him that everybody in the inn already knew that he was a wizard. He just ignored that information and looked for his family in the common room.

    Anton didn¡¯t find his family, so he sat at one of the tables and asked Devon and one of the inn¡¯s attendants to join another table at his to make it larger then he asked his guard to tell his family that he was waiting at the inn¡¯s common room.

    After a few minutes of waiting for his family, an old woman followed by an old man approached Anton.

    ¡°Mighty wizard, can we ask you for help? We¡¯re willing to pay you everything we have,¡± The old woman said with a trembling voice while the old man who was following her whom Anton assumed was her husband was twisting his cap in his hands, his face filled with anxiety and fear.

    Anton noticed that everyone was quietly listening and waiting for his response. There were few people in the common room and a couple quietly stood up and left fearing a powerful wizard''s negative response to a bothersome request.

    ¡°Madam, can you and your husband please sit?¡± Anton offered the chairs beside him. The old couple were surprised at his politeness and the other people gaped at him. This told Anton how wizards usually behave.

    The old couple declined and explained why they approached him.

    ¡°Our son was a mercenary and lost one of his legs and one of his arms. We implore you to heal him. Since he lost his limbs, he lost his will to live, and we can¡¯t bear to watch him fade.¡± The old man started crying but the old woman¡¯s eyes were clear, but she was wearing a face full of resolve.

    It took Anton a huge amount of willpower not to break down. The old couple reminded him of his parents.  He remembered his mother on Earth who was always the strongest in their family. He remembered his father who was always kind and never lifted his voice in anger.

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    ¡°Return here in a couple of hours,¡± Anton told the old couple while he stared at the table.

    The old couple went and sat at a table far from his to wait while Anton waited for his family to arrive. He remembered that he had always wanted to learn if his aura could regenerate a lost limb, and this was a good chance as any so he planned to follow the old couple to their residence and would try to heal their son¡¯s lost limb.

    After a while, Anton¡¯s father and Anna together with Lucas and his family arrived.

    Anders and Lucas noticed the weird atmosphere in the inn¡¯s common room.

    ¡°What happened here, Anton?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°An old couple approached me and asked me to heal their lame son. According to them, the man lost his limbs in battle, and I thought of checking if my spell could heal a lost limb, so I told them to return after a while.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about doing that?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Well at first, I was thinking of experimenting using an animal like some sort of bird or a pig but since somebody volunteered, might as well try. Even if we don¡¯t succeed, I¡¯m thinking that nothing will happen to us, and we could even compensate them for using their son as an experimental subject.¡±

    Anders then shrugged and told him that since he knew more about magic they would abide by his decision. Anton¡¯s father then ordered food from the inn¡¯s waiter and waited for their food to arrive.

    While they were waiting, Anders told Anton that they purchased a lot of broken and old equipment from the villagers. Nemina reported that they also managed to get a lot of broken pieces of jewelry and clothes and once they were repaired it would be more valuable since the items were from the city of Leminthor.

    They left the items in the village hall and were assured that nobody would steal those broken and dilapidated items.

    When their food arrived, Anton and Anna were surprised at the quality of the food. Lucas informed him that the inn did their very best to serve the best food to them due to Anton being a wizard and due to them being very rich.

    They started eating and they were full of praise at the inn¡¯s food so Anton implored Nemina to purchase a lot of food from the inn so he could store it in his private stash and could eat it anytime. Nemina assured him that she would do her best to purchase a lot of food.

    Anna then told her brother that everyone was amazed at the amount of rubbish they were buying, and the villagers couldn¡¯t understand why they were buying garbage.

    ¡°After lunch, Lucas, Nemina, Anna, and Lunelle will go back to the village hall to continue purchasing items from the villagers. Me and Devon will follow you to the old couple¡¯s residence to act as your bodyguards and to check if your experiment will be a success. I¡¯m curious what will happen.¡± Anders told everyone.

    ¡°No fair! I want to see as well,¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°Fine. Anna would join us as well.¡± Anders relented.

    After lunch, Anton asked Devon to call the old couple and Anna mocked him for acting as someone important.

    Anton conjured a tiny amount of mana water and splashed it on Anna¡¯s face which made everyone laugh.

    ¡°Father let¡¯s pass by the horses. I want to give them some mana water.¡±

    Anders nodded and Anton, his father, Anna, and Devon went to the stables first while being followed by the old couple. After giving mana water to the horses who were especially close to Anton they followed the old couple to their residence.

    When the old couple saw Anton conjure some magical water for the horses, they were amazed, and it brought hope to their old faces.  The old man and woman brought them to a small house that looked very much like Anton¡¯s old family house on their farm in Mendi.

    The old couple invited Anton, Anders, Anna, and Devon inside their home and Anton saw the inside of the house which was incredibly poor but very clean.  Anna whispered to Anton that the old house looked like their old house and Anton nodded. Devon heard Anna and looked at them in disbelief which made Anna and Anton laugh.

 Chapter 85

    Anton saw the room that was separated by a thin wall and the old couple led them to that room. He remembered the room that he woke up in when first came to this world and it looked the same as the room where the old couple¡¯s son was staying.

    ¡°Colin, we brought a wizard to heal your limbs!¡± The old woman said when she entered the room.

    ¡°Mother, no wizard would come here in our poor house to heal me. We don¡¯t have anything that will interest them. They¡¯re probably charlatan wanting to steal what little coins you have.¡± The man said and everybody heard them since the walls were thin.

    The old man paled in fright when he heard what his son said about Anton.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be afraid old man. My son will not do anything, and I¡¯ll probably think the same thing if this type of situation happens to me.¡± Anders consoled the man.

    The old woman who ignored what her son said invited Anton inside the room and Anton, Anders, and Anna went inside. Devon stayed outside acting as a bodyguard.

    ¡°Are you the ones who were pretending to be wizards to steal what little coins my old parents have!¡±

    Anton ignored the disabled man¡¯s statement. Instead, he summoned a small Fire Bolt and let it hover above them to light up the room. They would need to see clearly to check if his auras would be able to regenerate the man¡¯s limb. He then wondered if there was a need to open the man''s wounds since they had been closed for quite some time.

    The man who had lost his limbs gasped when he saw the mage light hovering above. The man tried to apologize but Anton just said ¡°quiet¡± in a low volume and the man closed his mouth.

    Anders and Anna were watching quietly, and Devon entered the room probably out of curiosity. It was a good thing that the room was large enough to accommodate all of them even though it was cramped and the fact that the only thing occupying the room was the bed.

    Anton removed everyone from his party system and added the man who had lost his arm and leg.

    ¡°I will start now. If it doesn¡¯t work, I apologize and will compensate you.¡± Anton told the man.

    Anton activated all of his auras. The Prayer, Meditation, and even Vigor aura just in case it had the power to contribute to the healing. To everyone¡¯s amazement, they saw the man¡¯s arms and legs suddenly grow. It was a bit grotesque, but Anton was glad that it worked although he did have an inkling that it would ever since he saw Devon get hit by an arrow in his neck and the arrow just popped out and the neck wound healed without any problem. He was also glad that there was no need for them to open up the wound.

    The man¡¯s arm and leg grew at a very fast pace and based on the man¡¯s reaction, although they could see that he was feeling some discomfort, there was no pain since if there was, the man would have been screaming.

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    The growing flesh was grotesque enough that Anton saw Anna turn around to avoid looking at the growing arm and leg.

    ¡°Son, your healing spells are truly powerful to be able to regenerate lost limbs,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°It¡¯s god-like!¡± Devon quietly commented.

    When the man¡¯s limbs were fully restored, Anton turned to the old woman.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay us. I treated your son as an experimental subject and him having his limbs back will be our payment to your family.¡±

    He then went outside the old couple''s house and went directly back to the inn to return to his room. Anton didn¡¯t want to see and listen to the old couple''s gratitude. It kept bringing up memories of his parents from Earth and it¡¯s making him melancholy.

    Once he was inside his room, he entered the game and slaughtered multitudes of monsters until he reached the Catacombs level two waypoint. The mindless slaughter calmed his mind and when he exited the game, he saw that it was already six in the evening. He minimized the game and opened up his browser to do one mindless thing and that was to watch short videos of cats and babies.

    Anton didn¡¯t know why the old couple affected him so much. Was it just because they reminded him of his parents on Earth when they were alive? His parents were not old, but he thought that maybe he was affected so much because he was jealous. Jealous of the man named Colin who still had his parents who cared about him so much that they were willing to give out all of their belongings to someone they thought was dangerous just for a chance that their son would be healed.

    Anton buried his emotions since it was not helpful and closed his browser. He went downstairs to the inn¡¯s common room to look for his family to join them for dinner but when he entered, he was greeted by silence. He saw his family seated at a table together with Lucas and his family.

    ¡°What happened to you, brother? Did healing the man of his lost limbs take so much magic from you that you needed to recuperate?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°No. I just want to meditate.¡±

    ¡°I did go to your room earlier and saw that you were meditating so I went back downstairs and continued our business of buying things. We will leave tomorrow morning, so you had better keep all the things that we purchased after dinner in your magical space. Nemina also commissioned a lot of food from the inn and according to the innkeeper, everything will be ready early tomorrow.¡± Anders said and Anton just nodded.

    Anton was really impressed by the food that the inn served since it was truly delicious and was glad that they commissioned a lot of food.

    ¡°By the way Anton, Colin, the man you healed applied to become our carriage driver. I just want to check your opinion regarding this,¡± Anders said to his son.

    ¡°It¡¯s your decision Father as long as he is experienced but if you do hire him, please tell him not to treat me as some sort of a deity because that will grate on my nerve. And father make sure to give coins to his parents before we leave.¡±

    Anders smiled at his son and Anna suddenly hugged him.

    ¡°What brought this on?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Nothing, I just want to hug you,¡± Anna replied.

    While they were all walking towards the village hall so Anton could keep the things they purchased from the villagers in his private stash inside the game, he heard Lucas whisper to his father, ¡°Anders, you¡¯re very lucky. Your son is very powerful but very kind.¡±

    The whisper made him blush and Anton was glad that he was walking ahead of everyone, and nobody saw his red face. When they arrived at the village hall, he saw that there were still some people lining up to sell things to his father and Nemina, so he left them to deal with the people, went inside, and kept all thing things there which were already inside some barrels and boxes and stored them in his private stash inside his Diablo II game.

 Chapter 86

    The next day arrived, and Anton kept in his private stash in the game all the things that Anders and Nemina purchased including the food that the chef from the inn prepared. He was impressed at the amount of equipment that his father managed to acquire.

    Anton saw that Colin was now their carriage driver and his old parents were by the side watching their son prepare for travel.

    ¡°I gave Colin¡¯s parents coins, and they should be able to live well with the amount they received. As per Colin¡¯s request, I also gave his first few months of wages to his parents,¡± Anders said to him when his Father noticed him looking at Colin.

    When the old couple saw Anton, they immediately went to him and offered him a basket.

    ¡°Young wizard, this is the bread that I prepared last night. This is thanks for curing our son. He looks so happy now and thank you for employing him,¡± The old woman said to Anton and after receiving the basket full of bread, he took one and bit at it.

    ¡°It¡¯s very delicious Madam,¡± Anton said to the old woman, and the old couple¡¯s face filled with a proud smile that a mighty wizard liked the food they prepared.

    When everyone was ready, the women entered the carriage while Anton and Anders joined Colin in the driver''s seat. Anders told his son that they would need to guide Colin first since the way they traveled which was governed by his magic would startle anyone.

    At first, Colin refused to give the horses¡¯ handle to Anders saying that he knew how to drive a carriage but when Anders explained that there would be magic involved in their journey and that he would need to learn first, their new coach relented.

    Lucas told Anton that normal travel from this village to the city of Leminthor would take about seven days but with their speed, it should be way faster, how fast, Lucas couldn¡¯t calculate.

    Their journey began with Anders explaining things to Colin which Anton ignored. Colin¡¯s parent waved their hands when the carriage began to move. Anton added all the people in his party system and activated his Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor auras then after a few minutes switched it to the horses.

    ¡°I feel so full of stamina! I think I could run the entire day,¡± Colin said after he experienced the auras from Anton. It was his second time experiencing it but during the first time, he was focused on his growing limbs.

    ¡°That¡¯s Anton¡¯s spell. It would allow the horses to run at their maximum speed constantly without getting tired or injuring themselves. Anton switches to us and the horses every hour so everyone would always be at their peak. That meant we could travel at our maximum speed and would only stop to eat. The only side side-effect of my son¡¯s spells was we would need to eat more than normal, that¡¯s why we purchase a lot of food,¡± Anders said to Colin.

    ¡°Sir Anton is very powerful! You¡¯re lucky Sir Anders,¡± Colin said, and Anders just smiled.

    After six hours of traveling, Anders stopped the carriage beside the road. They all went down to eat, and Anton provided mana water to everyone including the horses.

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    ¡°What is this chilly water?! I can feel my body being refreshed!¡± Colin exclaimed.

    ¡°We call it mana water and it¡¯s a magic water that my brother conjures for us to drink and bathe. It¡¯s highly beneficial for keeping us healthy. It also makes my skin smooth and my hair shines!¡± Anna said.

    Colin gasped when he heard the benefits of the mana water that Anton produced.

    ¡°I should be tired due to the travel that we did always at top speed, but my body feels fine and I¡¯m still full of energy,¡± Colin softly commented, and everyone just smiled when they heard it.

    Anton then repaired their carriage by putting it into his inventory and had Charsi repair it to make sure that it was in peak condition and to avoid any accident due to it breaking down due to its fast traveling speed.

    Everyone could see that Colin was amazed again when the carriage disappeared and reappeared after a few seconds fully repaired and looking brand new.

    Colin went to Devon and asked the man what happened with the carriage.

    ¡°Sir Anton cast his spell on the carriage to make sure that it was fully repaired. It¡¯s now brand new which would prevent any accidents from wear and tear due to our speed,¡± Devon answered the new carriage driver.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m in one of the magical journeys in one of those fantastical stories with us not getting tired and having hot meals all the time,¡± Colin said to Devon.

    ¡°There would always be many huge advantages of traveling with a powerful wizard and Sir Anton is especially powerful, but the important part is he is very kind and generous,¡± Devon said to Colin making sure that nobody heard them.

    They continued their journey until well into the night. Anton conjured a couple of hovering Fire Balls that lit up the road which caused another amazement to enter Colin¡¯s face. Anton was getting tired of seeing that particular expression on their new carriage driver¡¯s face, so he just ignored the man which caused his Father to laugh.

    They stopped at around midnight and the campsite they chose was still bright due to Anton¡¯s hovering Fire Balls. He set up their makeshift toilet and made sure that there was enough water for all of them.

    They surrounded the campfire and started eating the delicious hot meal from the village. While they were eating, their new carriage driver spoke to Anton.

    ¡°Sir Anton, I just want to thank you again for restoring my limbs and hiring me as your carriage driver.¡±

    Anton just nodded and he turned to his Father.

    ¡°Father, are we repairing the equipment tonight?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I would like all of the equipment to be repaired and categorized before we arrive in the city of Leminthor.¡±

    ¡°That would take hours!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Yes, so we better start now. Go ahead and bring out the items that needed to be repaired first.¡±

    Anton brought out a few huge blankets first and everyone laid out the blankets first. On the first blanket, he put all the items that the women purchased first, these included broken jewelry, clothes, and other knick knacks. There was a lot, and the blanket was filled to the brim. He also brought out the boxes where the repaired items would be stored once they were repaired.

    Colin was looking at the items curiously and Anton could see the wonder on their new carriage driver¡¯s face why they purchased a lot of garbage.

    Anton had Charsi repair the clothes first and even if it was done one by one, it was fast enough that it only took a second for an item to be repaired. Everyone could see the amazement in Colin¡¯s face when he saw the worn-out and broken clothes disappearing and then reappearing looking brand new.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of Sir Anton¡¯s magic. He¡¯s able to repair an item until it is brand new. That¡¯s why they kept purchasing those items that looked like garbage. Once they were magicked, Sir Anders could sell them for a lot of coins,¡± Devon told Colin.

    The women were particularly excited. To Anton, they looked like women who were shopping in a mall browsing through the goods and exclaiming how beautiful everything was. They took great care in folding the items and keeping them in the storage boxes while Nemina and Anders discussed the price they would attach to each item while Nemina wrote in a notebook. Ultimately, they decided that there would be a need to browse in the city¡¯s market first so they could learn the correct pricing, but they already had a possible price range for the majority of the items.

 Chapter 87

    Anton was busy having Charsi repair the clothes, pieces of jewelry, and other knick-knacks that the women purchased from the last village, and they enjoyed examining the fully repaired items. He had to admit that the repaired items were truly beautiful and could understand why the women were enamored with them.

    Lunelle and Anna were busy checking the details of each item and Nemina and Anders were busy categorizing and putting a price tag on them using their notebook. Anna kept some of the clothes and pieces of jewelry that she fancied and declared that those items were hers. Anders and Anton of course indulged her and just nodded. Even Lunelle and Nemina kept some.

    Lucas and Devon were taking their job seriously by looking around to make sure that nothing would sneak up on them. Colin was staring at the items that were being repaired with wide eyes.

    Anton managed to repair all the items that the women purchased in half an hour but it took the others a total of two hours to examine and categorize them so Anders told everyone that they would continue the process the next night. They stored the newly repaired items and Anton stored them in his private stash and they continued their journey.

    They were still traveling at their maximum speed and Anton was glad that Colin was getting used to the way they travelled and soon he should be able to do it alone so his father could join him inside the carriage.

    ¡°Father, do we need to hire another driver so someone can join Colin to relieve him?¡±

    ¡°Let me think about it first. Nemina and I were also talking about if we should add another carriage to our convoy. That meant that we would need to hire more people.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a promising idea. It would be best if we store some of the non-perishable items in a carriage so we would look like a proper merchant caravan.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of that as well. Once we sell the items in the city, we should have enough coins to outfit a merchant caravan. We will purchase broken things from the shops in the city and sell them to the next city into which we would go.¡±

    Colin suddenly slowed down the carriage and Anton and Anders saw the blockade that was on the road.

    ¡°Bandits. Lucas told me that there was a great chance that we would encounter one before we reached the city of Leminthor since the majority of them came from our country when the Undead Coalition attacked. One good thing about bandits near a city is that they avoid lethal engagement and after paying them they should allow us to let us go peacefully but since this is a different time, we should fight.¡± Anders said.

    Anton saw his father preparing his wands and thought that maybe his father just enjoyed using his wands.

    ¡°Father, we could just blast the blockade away using my spells or your wand of Fire Ball and we wouldn¡¯t even have to slow down too much.¡±

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    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let me do it,¡± Anders then shot Fire Balls toward the blockade until everything was blasted to pieces.

    To Anton¡¯s amusement, nobody came out from the surrounding forest. More than likely, the bandits already ran off the moment they heard and saw their blockade being blasted into pieces by a spell.

    Their carriage ran through the still burning pieces of wood that were blocking the road and Anton could hear Devon shouting a battle cry to further intimidate the bandits if there were still some who were watching them.

    Anders commanded Colin to drive the carriage to its maximum speed and he complied. The horses who were affected by Anton¡¯s auras didn¡¯t hesitate to run as fast as they could. Anton thought that the horses already instinctively knew that if they were affected by his aura, they wouldn¡¯t get injured.

    They continued to let the horses run at their top speed and Anders only commanded Colin to stop at around midnight, but they only stopped to eat, and they continued their travel. Anton¡¯s father told everyone that he wanted to reach the city as soon as possible.

    Their travel was only possible due to Anton¡¯s aura and Fire Ball lights, but they do get mentally exhausted so when the sun came up Anders told everyone that they would rest for a couple of hours before traveling.

    Anton set up their makeshift toilet and provided everyone with hot mana water. They took to their bed after a refreshing bath and hot breakfast and Anton didn¡¯t bother to learn about how the others set up the guard duty and just went inside his tent to sleep.

    After a couple of hours of sleep, Anton woke up and as usual, he felt like he slept for a full eight hours. Based on everyone else''s expressions, they also felt the same way. They ate a quick meal and continued with their journey.

    They needed to stop at around three in the afternoon due to the carriage breaking down. Anton quickly repaired the carriage, but Anders decided to stay and deal with broken weapons and armor that they hadn¡¯t repaired yet.

    This time it was the men who were excited at looking at the newly repaired equipment. Some of the armor and weapons were even better than what Lucas and Devon were wearing. Anders gave the best to them which was understandable since they would use them in defense of their family. Anders even gave them a second and third weapon that they could use as spares. Devon was full of smiles and even Lucas could be seen smiling a bit as well.

    Anders also gave Colin a full set of leather armor and weapons since he had experience as a mercenary and their new carriage driver was grateful. Everyone kept admiring their brand-new equipment and Devon commented that they were outfitted as the best mercenary band in the land.

    Of course, Anton repaired the armor and weapons that they were using before so they could sell them. It took them a couple of hours to complete the repair and categorization of all the equipment from the last village. After that, they continued traveling.

    Lucas mentioned that based on where they were, at their current speed, they should arrive in the city of Leminthor the day after tomorrow. That news relieved Anton because that meant that once they reached the city, they would have officially outrun the Undead Coalition¡¯s attacks.

    Once they reached the city, they could make a detailed plan for their next travel and then their journey would be more leisurely. They didn¡¯t have to scramble all the time and could enjoy the road.

    ¡°When we get there, I would shop until I¡¯m dead tired!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You¡¯re already acting like a rich girl instead of a farmer¡¯s daughter,¡± Anton retorted.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a farmer¡¯s daughter anymore. My brother is a powerful wizard, and my father is a rich merchant. My skin is flawless, and my hair is luxurious due to your mana water and my clothes and jewelry are all beautiful. ¡°I¡¯m now a rich girl,¡± Anna vainly said while brushing her hair with a brush that she got from somewhere.

    Anders just laughed while shaking his head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Sir Anders is a farmer?¡± Colin asked Devon which everybody heard.

    Anton, Anders, and Anna laughed when they heard Colin¡¯s questions.

 Chapter 88

    Anton and his family and guards continued their journey after repairing and categorizing all the items they had purchased from the last village. Colin asked why they were rushing to the city of Leminthor and Anders just told the new carriage driver that he just wanted to make sure that they outran the bandits that tried to ambush them.

    ¡°Sir Anders, are you a wizard too? I saw you blast the blockade with some sort of spell?¡± Colin asked Anton¡¯s father.

    Anders and Anton laughed, and Anton¡¯s father answered Colin.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a wizard. I¡¯m just using a wand that my son created.¡±

    Colin looked at Anton in awe, then focused on driving. Anton could understand why his father told the man that he created the wand. They didn¡¯t want it known that the wands came from the vampires and had the undead hunt for them specifically.

    Anders asked their new carriage driver if he could handle driving the carriage alone at their current speed.

    ¡°I can handle it especially since I¡¯m always full of energy and I¡¯m not experiencing any body ache that resulted from traveling too fast all the time. Sir Anton¡¯s spell is really powerful,¡± Colin answered so in their next stop, Anders planned to join the women inside the carriage so Anton¡¯s father and Nemina could plan on what they would do once they arrived in the city of Leminthor.

    They continued traveling at their top speed only stopping to eat and go to the toilet and soon Anton saw the city in the distance.

    Before arriving in the city, Anders and Anton joined Colion again in the driver¡¯s seat.

    Anton didn¡¯t know what to expect in another world¡¯s city, but he was surprised at the building that he saw in the distance. There were large mansions and castles, and the architecture was reminiscent of old medieval town cities from the video games that he saw on a famous streaming site. The sight excited him. It brought home the fact that he was now in another world filled with magic and he was a powerful wizard courtesy of his Diablo II game.

    The carriage slowed down to normal speed and when they got near enough to the city, Anton saw that there was a long line in the gates. He canceled his auras because he didn¡¯t know if there was someone or something in the city that could detect his spells so to avoid any trouble, he would learn the rules of the city first.

    Anton felt guilty about the horses since the carriage was now heavy due to the boxes filled with equipment that Anders asked him to take out from his private stash. There were several heavy boxes on top of the carriage and the inside was also full of chests filled with clothes and their other belongings. Under the carriage, their food and other necessities were stored there.

    Anton¡¯s father assured him that the horses should be able to carry them without any problem until they reached the city. The horses were very healthy due to his spells, and they even looked beautiful with their glossy coats courtesy of them drinking mana water all the time.

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    When it was their time to be inspected by the guards everyone exited out of the carriage. Anna, Lunelle, and even Nemina wore their most beautiful clothes, and they looked like beautiful noblewomen. They were even wearing beautiful pieces of jewelry that looked costly. Their skin was fair and smooth again courtesy of the mana water and Lucas looked smitten when he saw his wife which made Anton, Anna, and Lunelle giggle.

    Anders looked like a young rich nobleman. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties instead of his mid-forties. His hair was black, and his eyes were blue. His skin was fair as well courtesy again of the mana water that Anton conjured. Anton¡¯s father was also wearing clothes that fit a young rich nobleman and everyone was looking at them.

    The men in the surroundings were looking at the women and Anna was strutting her stuff even though she clearly looked like a little girl. She wasn¡¯t aware that everyone was staring at Lunelle and her mother. Still, she did look like a pretty little princess.

    Anton looked like a prince. He was young and tall, and his clothes fit him perfectly. His blue eyes and black hair were full of vitality and his face would bring shame to any male royalty that would be compared to him. Everyone could see the resemblance between Anders and Anton but more than likely, they thought of them as brothers instead of father and son.

    What confused Anton was he looked like his old self on Earth only healthier and wondered if Anton was really him in this world and if the theory of multiple existence in different dimensions was true.

    Lucas and Devon looked like what they were which were Anton¡¯s family guards. But what made them stand out was their equipment which looked brand new. Colin also looked like what he was which was their attendant, but his new leather armor also looked expensive.

    The guards who were inspecting their belongings made an audible gasp when they saw the equipment inside the chests. It was understandable since all the weapons and armor were brand new and the quality was pristine, which it should be since it was repaired by one of the best blacksmiths in the fantasy world which was Charsi.

    After the inspection, the guards who became very respectful let them through. Lucas led them since he stayed here before and knew a good inn.

    Inside the carriage, Anton and Anna kept looking at the city surrounding through the carriage window and the only thing that kept them from looking like peasant bumpkins were their clothes. Anna kept gasping at every impressive building that she saw, and Anton joined her. They kept discussing how beautiful and grand everything was and Lunelle seeing the siblings uninhibited in their appreciation of the city even though Anton was a powerful wizard and Anna was the sister of a powerful wizard allowed her to join them in appreciating the city without caring about who saw them. Besides, the only people in the carriage were themselves and nobody would criticize them for being country bumpkins.

    Of course, Anton had seen the modern cities of Earth but the city that he was looking at was very different. It was a city in another world and the possibility of adventure was endless. The paved road, the buildings made of gray stone, the houses made of bricks, and the stores filled with items that Anton couldn¡¯t recognize at a glance brought forth the quintessential feeling of being an adventurer returning to the city after an exhausting adventure.

    Everything was making Anton¡¯s blood boil with excitement, and he gave a small prayer of thanks that he was chosen to be isekaid in this world.

    The carriage was moving slowly enough that everyone inside was able to see the city''s surroundings without any problem. They passed through a huge square with a fountain and there were entertainers who looked like bards and gypsies to Anton because of their clothing which was filled with every color imaginable.

    Anton could see some were playing instruments, some were singing, some were dancing, some were showing off puppets in a mini theater and some were reciting some sort of poem. It was truly exciting.

 Chapter 89

    After passing through one of the city¡¯s squares that was filled with entertainers, Lucas led their carriage to another street. The street was filled with restaurants and taverns that catered to regular folks.

    ¡°Where are the caf¨¦ filled with nobles?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s in the inner city. The ruler is in the castle located in the middle of the city. Then the nobles in their mansions and villas surrounding the castle, then the rich merchants in their huge houses, then the regular citizens. We will stay at an inn located where the regular citizens constructed their houses and businesses,¡± Nemina answered.

    ¡°Can we stay somewhere richer?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°We can but it¡¯s a waste of coins. We will only stay here for a week at most and continue our journey to the city of Ruandelle,¡± Anders answered his daughter.

    ¡°Are there wizards here? Maybe we can hire a tutor for Anna and myself?¡± Anton asked.

    The question baffled Nemina and Lunelle so Anton answered their unspoken question.

    ¡°My magic is different from a regular wizard¡¯s magic. I don¡¯t even know how the other wizards cast spells. We received some spell books during our battles, and we wanted to learn how to use them.¡±

    ¡°There should be some wizards here, but I don¡¯t know if we could find someone who would travel with us and tutor you and Anna, but they should be staying near the middle zone of the city,¡± Nemina said.

    Everyone inside the carriage felt the carriage stop and when they looked outside, they saw that they were in front of an inn. The inn¡¯s sign said it was called The Roaring Lion which made Anton startled. The name of the inn was so clich¨¦ that he was certain that he should be able to find an inn with the same name in every city.

    Anton saw that Colin followed the stable hands to the inn¡¯s stable to make sure that the horses would be treated all right after their belongings were brought down from the carriage by the inn¡¯s attendants.

    Inside the inn, Anton saw Lucas and Anders talking to the innkeeper and after a while, the attendants brought all of their belongings to the second floor.

    Anton went to where his Father and Lucas were, and Anders turned to him.

    ¡°We rented a suite which was half of the second floor. It consisted of four rooms and a main hall. The master bedroom is for me and you, one room for Lunelle and Anna, one room for Lucas and Nemina, and one room for Devon and Colin. There¡¯s also a huge bathroom in the suite with us so we don¡¯t have to leave the room to take a bath. Let¡¯s go and look at it. Our lunch will be delivered to us.¡±

    ¡°Did it cost a lot of coins Father?¡±

    ¡°It did cost a pretty penny, but we should earn a ton once we sell all of the things that we had gotten from the villages.¡±

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    They all went to the suite that they rented and when they entered it, Anton was surprised at the simple elegance of the suite. The main hall was decorated simply but elegantly. There was a table that they could use for dining since it was huge surrounded by chairs and a couch they could use to rest.

    There was a table that could be used as an office table and the hall¡¯s space was big enough that all of their chests didn¡¯t even occupy one-fourth of the floor. Of course, the chest only consisted of the ones that Anton retrieved from his private stash to show the city guards. There were more so he retrieved all of them from his Private Stash in the game and the hall was suddenly filled to the brim.

    There was still enough space for them to navigate the suite so it was okay, and it would be easier for Anders, Nemina, and Lucas to check all of the items and sell them off.

    ¡°Brother you ninny, the inn¡¯s servers are coming to serve us our lunch. They would wonder where all the things came from,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Let them wonder,¡± Anton retorted.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay Anna. The inn¡¯s attendants in a city were trained not to question things that some of the customers were doing especially if it''s not particularly illegal,¡± Lucas said.

    Anton went to the master¡¯s bedroom and the bed was huge. The window was large enough and a nice breeze was flowing from the outside. He cast a very mild Frost Nova and the room temperature had fallen to a state where it felt like it was air-conditioned. He knew that the effect of the spell would dissipate fast, but it felt nice.

    Anders entered the room, and he could see his father¡¯s surprise at the temperature.

    ¡°This feels nice. The food is already here. Come let¡¯s eat.¡±

    Anton followed his father and saw that everyone was waiting for them. The lunch that was served to them was equal to the food that the chef cooked for them in the last village. It was delicious and everyone was hungry.

    After lunch, Anton turned to his father.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯ll go and explore the city, is that okay? Do you need the coin purse with you?¡±

    After thinking for a bit Anders nodded so Anton gave one of the coin purses filled with gold coins to his father.

    ¡°I want to explore the city too!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°No. You¡¯re too young and you will need to help us with the equipment,¡± Anders told his daughter.

    ¡°Anton¡¯s young too! He¡¯s only seventeen years old. The city is too dangerous for him as well!¡±

    Everyone laughed when they heard what Anna said and Anton¡¯s sister blushed when she heard what she said.

    ¡°Do you want Devon to accompany you?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°No father. I want to explore alone, and you can use all the help.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we could use all the help. Why are you running away to explore!¡± Anna shouted.

    Everyone ignored Anna then Anton¡¯s father began sorting out the equipment.

    ¡°Okay. Just be back before dark or we¡¯ll get worried.¡±

    Anton waved goodbye and ran downstairs. He was truly excited to explore the city. His only wish was that he had a spell to communicate with his family in an emergency, but he was not planning to go too far. He was returning to the square where all the entertainers were busking. He was interested in the forms of entertainment in this world and maybe he could find a gypsy mage that he could talk to and learn things from them.

    He walked slowly enough so he could check the products that were being sold in the stores on the street where his inn was located, and he was glad that he didn¡¯t have any language barrier that he had to cross.

    There was a lot of street food as well but unfortunately, Anton had just eaten lunch so even though it all smelled delicious, he was too full to be too interested in eating.

    Anton arrived in the square where the entertainers were located. He was impressed by how the entertainers placed themselves because no music or performances were interfering with their neighbors. He could see one bard performing on a raised platform and beside him were some acrobats performing their set. Besides the acrobats was someone performing a puppet show, then some gypsy dancers performing seductive dances.

 Chapter 90

    Anton was impressed at the diverse types of entertainment in the square. He stopped at two couples who were singing a funny love song about being faithful and at the end, the couple switched partners unknowingly causing everyone to laugh. He saw that a few people threw some copper coins into the chest that the entertainers set up near them.

    Unfortunately for Anton, he didn¡¯t have any copper coins, so he took the purse with silver coins from his private stash inside the Diablo II game and threw a single silver coin into the two couple''s chests. He didn¡¯t notice that one of the women saw the silver coin that he threw and saw Anton¡¯s clothes and probably thought of him as a noble roaming the city unguarded.

    Anton kept wandering between the acts in the square since all of them were highly entertaining. Unknowingly, he became famous with the gypsies in the square due to him giving silver coins to those acts that he fancied.

    Everyone thought of him as a foolish rich noble who didn¡¯t know the value of coins, which was true except for him being a noble. Anton thought that Anders would probably not begrudge him for the coins that he spent but he did get a bit worried since the purse that contained fifty silver coins only had around eighteen silver coins left. He shrugged and put the purse inside his inventory since he knew that if he put it somewhere in his body it would be gone in an instant since kept feeling hands in his pockets.

    ¡°You¡¯re being foolish you know. Displaying your wealth like that. You should go home before dark, or your noble father will receive a ransom note from someone who will kidnap you.¡±

    Anton heard from behind him and when he turned around, he saw a gypsy boy around his body¡¯s age, which was about seventeen or eighteen.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a noble. I¡¯m a merchant¡¯s son and my family are staying near here.¡±

    The boy looked like the stereotypical gypsy with his curly black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. He was lean, a bit shorter than he was but very handsome. Anton thought that maybe he could hire the boy as his guide to the city since normally those who were part of the outcast group which included gypsy folks were very knowledgeable about the city. That was according to the novels that he read.

    He shouldn¡¯t even call him or the people here gypsy since more than likely they had their own terms or names for themselves.

    the gypsy you¡¯ll probably get a beating from your father with the amount of coins you spent,¡± The gypsy boy said.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name? Mine¡¯s Anton.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Fenix and I¡¯m thinking that you need a guide, am I right?¡±

    Anton laughed when he heard what the boy said. He was correct that boys like him were savvy when it came to city life.

    ¡°Are you not going to get in trouble with the others if they knew that you stopped me from spending all my coins on them?¡±

    ¡°Actually, someone would be assigned to you soon to inform you on how things should be done. We don¡¯t want some noble barging in here claiming that we swindled his brat out of a lot of coins,¡± Fenix said to him.

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    Anton laughed again, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll hire you as my guide. How much that would cost me?¡±

    ¡°How about a silver coin a day?¡± Fenix asked tentatively.

    ¡°Sure thing. We¡¯ll only be here for a week, so I think you¡¯re worth it if I learn a lot of things from you. Let¡¯s go to that restaurant and talk about things that I¡¯ll need to know while I¡¯m here,¡± Anton said while pointing at a nearby restaurant.

    Anton saw Fenix smile hugely at the fee that he was willing to pay the boy. The two boys went to the restaurant and sat on a nearby table.

    ¡°Go ahead and order what you like. Order for both of us and please order what you think is the best this restaurant can offer. Impress me with your knowledge.¡±

    Anton saw the Fenix calling a waiter and the boy ordered a lot of food that he, of course, didn¡¯t recognize.

    The waiter then turned to him waiting for something. Anton looked at Fenix questioningly.

    ¡°He wanted assurance that you would be able to pay for everything that we ordered,¡± Felix said to him.

    Anton snorted and threw the purse with the remaining eighteen silver coins to Fenix. The gypsy boy dumped the coins on his hands and when the waiter saw the pile of silver coins, he went away to get their order.

    Fenix laughed, took one silver coin, put the rest back in the purse, and gave it back to Anton.

    ¡°This should cover the food that we ordered, and we would even receive some change.¡±

    ¡°I guess I did overspend a bit with me throwing the silver coins to the bards and dancers. I wish I didn¡¯t bring them any trouble.¡±

    ¡°They were becoming worried that¡¯s why they assigned me to you.¡±

    ¡°Well inform your friends that no trouble will come from me and my family regarding the coins I spent earlier. Can you lead me to someone who can change my coins to a lower denomination?¡±

    When Fenix looked at him questioningly, Anton reiterated his request.

    ¡°Let¡¯s change these silver coins later to copper coins. Do you know of anyone who can do that for us?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll lead you to a money changer.¡±

    ¡°While we¡¯re waiting for the food can you answer some of my questions?¡±

    Fenix snickered at Anton¡¯s questions.

    ¡°Are you really sure you¡¯re not a noble? You speak like them, overly polite but with authority, but sure thing I¡¯ll answer all of your questions. That¡¯s what you hired me for.¡±

    ¡°is this the only square where you can find entertainers?¡±

    ¡°No, this square is assigned to our clan. There are others in the city, and I¡¯ll guide you to them if you want to see them.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that those who aren¡¯t part of your family are not allowed to busk in this location?¡±

    ¡°Minstrels and the like can still busk here especially if they¡¯re new to the city but soon someone will inform them of the correct place where they can busk. Of course, nothing bad will happen to them or anything like that it¡¯s just that the audience in the city knew where to go if they wanted to see specific entertainment and it will disrupt the rhythm if they find something they didn¡¯t expect in a specific location.¡±

    Of course, Anton didn¡¯t believe Fenix when he said that nothing would happen to those who didn''t follow the rules. More than likely, those minstrels who performed their acts in those locations where they¡¯re not allowed to would be targeted somehow, probably beaten.

    ¡°Is there a difference between a bard and a minstrel?¡±

    Anton was curious enough to ask about that information since he read from fantasy novels that bards were respected artists and sometimes, they were treated as nobility, and depending on which fantasy franchise, they would be spellcasters as well while minstrels were treated as common entertainers.

    ¡°Well, bards are those folks who studied their craft in a university and are truly learned folks and minstrels were those who learned to sing and play instruments from other sources. Normally bards are the ones who played for kings and queens and other nobilities, and rarely will they perform in a regular tavern while minstrels perform for everyone. Of course, that meant that bards earn a ton more compared to common minstrels, and everybody knows this. Why don¡¯t you?¡± Fenix looked at Anton questioningly, but he just smiled.

    The food they ordered arrived and they got busy tasting the different morsels from the restaurant.

 Chapter 91

    Anton and Fenix enjoyed the food they ordered and after they were done Fenix led him to a shop that serves as a pawnshop and money changer at the same time. The gypsy boy also whispered to him that the shop also buys stolen items discreetly. Anton thought that he should stop using the term gypsy since it¡¯s a term from his old world.

    The seventeen silver coins were exchanged for copper coins that were put into several purses. When Anton received the purses, he kept most of them in his inventory and just kept one and put it into his pocket.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m grossly overpaying you!¡± Anton said when he saw the amount of copper coins that he received.

    Fenix looked at him anxiously.

    ¡°I¡¯m worth it! I¡¯ll make sure to guide you while you are in the city, and you will experience things that no other foreigners would experience.¡±

    Anton laughed and assured the boy.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me backing out from our deal. Just make sure that if you talk to my family don¡¯t mention to them the amount that I¡¯m paying you.¡±

    Fenix nodded and led Anton back to the square since he wasn¡¯t done watching all of the acts there but this time, he could see that the performers were relieved that he was tossing out copper coins instead of silver coins.

    There were so many different acts and so many good singers, but Anton reckoned that he could compete with the singers if he wanted to. After a couple more hours of watching the performances, he told Fenix that he was ready to go back to the inn and told the boy to follow him so he would know where he could find Anton.

    ¡°By the way, our family would like to hire a magician or wizard tutor for beginners. Do you know where I can find one? Preferably one who is willing to travel with us to the city of Ruandelle.¡± Anton asked the curly-haired boy.

    ¡°I know someone who can lead you to one but hiring someone like that would cost you a lot of coins. I underestimated your wealth then if that¡¯s the case.¡±

    Anton just shrugged when he heard Fenix¡¯s comment about their family¡¯s wealth. They arrived at the inn after several minutes and he led the boy directly to the second floor. He remembered that there were a lot of items on the floor of their suite so he paused a bit and then told Fenix that he was staying in the second-floor suite and should meet him after lunch the next day.

    Fenix looked at their suite¡¯s door curiously then said his goodbyes to Anton and promised that he would return the next day.

    When Fenix was gone, Anton knocked on the door and said that it was him. Devon opened the door and when he entered the suite, he saw that his Father, Lucas, Nemina, and Colin were not in the suite.

    ¡°Where is father and the others?¡± Anton asked Devon.

    ¡°They brought some items to sell to check what price they could get. They will also check if they can purchase broken and worn-out equipment from the shops or hire someone to assist them in buying those items.¡±

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    Anton nodded and saw that Anna and Lunelle were both reading the notebooks where he wrote the first and second books of the Belgariad Series.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to my room to meditate. Please call me when we''re ready to eat dinner,¡± Anton told Devon and the guard nodded.

    Inside the room, Anton maximized the game and spent an hour hunting for runes from the Countess in Black Marsh. He didn¡¯t enter the game virtually but was using the on-screen option to make sure that he could run the Countess as many times as he could before dinner and that earned him a lot of runes. After a while, he went to the Rogue Encampment, minimized the game, and opened his browser to research what items he should hunt for and what runeword weapons and armor should be his goal.

    He remembered to prioritize the fact that he shouldn¡¯t focus on what a sorcerer would need in the game but on what would make him powerful outside the game as well.

    Anton wished that he had a way to communicate with the netizens of his old world since a forum discussion about the items that he could use that were also practical in real life would energize the netizens to provide worthwhile information.

    He also wanted to share some of the picturesque environment that he had seen on something like an Instagram account and would pass it off as an Artificial intelligence-generated fantasy scene. Besides, even if he told someone on the internet about his experiences he would only be treated as someone who was creating some ideas for a web novel or a webtoon and at worst one of those lunatics that populate the web.

    Anton took some notes on which items he would search for and where to hunt them. Unfortunately, the majority of those could only be hunted in Hell Difficulty. Anton kept saying that he was in no rush, and he wondered if that was true. Although he was able to handle all the challenges that they had encountered so far without any issues, he had to admit that the monsters that they had faced were arguably low-level monsters. What if he encountered someone or something very powerful like an elder lich?

    Still, he was doing his best and he did not want to go insane by rushing too much. He also wanted to live a balanced life in this new world and just wanted to be happy. He already experienced a miserable life; this time he made a vow to himself that he would live an interesting and promising life.

    Since no one was calling him, Anton thought that maybe his father and the others were not back yet, so he switched to watching a movie. He rewatched one of his favorite chick-flick movies about a man who fell in love with a girl who kept losing her memory after a night''s sleep. Before he saw the end of the movie, which was his favorite scene, Anna called him for dinner, so he closed the browser and joined his family.

    Anton saw that his father and the others were excited.

    ¡°What happened, father?¡± Anton asked Anders.

    ¡°We earned a ton of gold coins! The merchant that we went to was surprised at the quality of the items and paid a lot of gold coins, so he only managed to buy a few from us. We went to another merchant, and it was the same!¡±

    ¡°Are we not going to encounter any problem?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Lucas advised me to hire more guards so after we sell more of the items, we will arrange our merchant caravan and then hire a few more guards. We may need to spread the fact that there¡¯s a powerful wizard in our convoy to avoid trouble.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me, Father as long as it could keep us safe.¡±

    Two high-ranking vampires entered the majestic but dark and gloomy hall and faced the three members of the council that were seated.

    ¡°Did you capture the wizard who killed the group that we sent out?¡± One of the elder lichs who was seated on one of the council chairs asked the vampires.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t find him Grand Elder and the last news that we received about the wizard was in a village near the city of Tiande. More than likely he reached the holy city already.¡±

    ¡°No matter. It was not a huge disruption. Go ahead and continue with our plan,¡± The elder lich said.

 Chapter 92

    After breakfast the next day, Anna coerced Anton into roaming the city saying she wanted to view the sights as well.

    ¡°You can roam the city together with Lunelle and Devon. I will need to meditate to increase my magic for our own good and will only roam after lunch. I already hired someone who will guide me later.¡±

    Anna then turned to his father to ask permission to check the city.

    ¡°Is it safe enough for you guys to roam the city?¡± Anders asked Devon.

    ¡°The city of Leminthor is safe enough especially with me guarding my sister and Anna,¡± Devon said.

    ¡°Okay you can go ahead and check the city, but you have to be back here an hour before lunch, do you understand?¡± Anders said to his daughter sternly.

    Anna nodded frantically then turned to Lunelle and talked about which shops they would go into first. Anton heard Lunelle replying that she wanted to check out bookshops first with Anna saying that bookshops were not a priority since she was planning to buy more notebooks that they could use to ask Anton to write the continuation of the Belgariad series.

    Anton rolled his eyes when he heard what Anna said then ignored everyone and went back to his bedroom to continue leveling up. He entered the game in person and planned to complete Act One of the Nightmare Difficulty by killing Andariel. It took him a couple of hours and then he exited from playing virtually and opted to grind Andariel by using the on-screen option. He did level up to sixty-three but as expected, didn¡¯t find any noteworthy item. His collection of small charms that gave four to seven resistances to different elements grew and because of his large inventory, he had space enough to keep all of them. That meant that he was becoming sturdy enough to face monsters that had elemental damage without dodging.

    He was glad of his growing resistances to different elements since that meant that it would also make him invincible in the real world as well, especially if he was facing wizard enemies.

    Anton checked the time and saw that it was already eleven in the morning, so he decided to go back to Rogue Encampment and let his character stay there since he was used to the place and minimized the game.

    When he went outside the room that he shared with his father, he saw that Anna, Lunelle, and Devon were back.

    ¡°So, how¡¯s your shopping?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Oh, it was wonderful! I¡¯ve seen a lot of things, but we decided to hold off in buying things like clothes and stuff since Father and Nemina were planning to purchase damaged, broken, or worn-out things from the city people and once you repair them using your magic, they would be infinitely better and cheaper for what we could get so we only spent coins on some street food,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°We did purchase a lot of notebooks,¡± Lunelle added.

    ¡°We¡¯ve also seen a lot of street performers and they were wonderful! The acrobats and dancers were good, but the singers were just average. You¡¯re actually much better than them,¡± Anna offhandedly said, which made Anton laugh.

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    ¡°I may be better than some of them but that¡¯s only when I¡¯m singing for family and friends inside our carriage, in a campfire, or a room. Performing in front of a crowd does take a lot of training and I think I¡¯m not there yet.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe. But more than likely if you really wanted to you can learn how to sing and play your lute in front of a crowd in a short amount of time,¡± Anna said dubiously.

    ¡°Thanks for your confidence but I probably wouldn¡¯t have the chance to do that since I¡¯m a wizard.¡±

    Anton could see Lunelle and Devon nodding as if they thought that it would be beneath him to become a street performer.

    At around lunchtime, Anders, Lucas, Nemina, and three other men who looked fierce like mercenaries entered their suite.

    ¡°Everyone, these three are our new bodyguards. The tall blonde man is called Genod, The man who has a scar on his brow is called Kudar and the bald one is called Budolf. They are trustworthy according to Lucas since they were part of their mercenary band before.¡± Anders told Anton and Anna.

    Obviously, Lunelle and Devon recognized the three men since they went up and hugged them.

    ¡°Father, how¡¯s business?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s great! We¡¯re earning a ton of coins. We also hired a temporary assistant who will help us find items that we could purchase, and the man already knows the required quality of the items. The three new bodyguards will be staying here at the inn, and I have already rented rooms for them. Devon will follow you as your bodyguard while Genod will be guarding Anna and Lunelle. Kudar and Budolf will join Lucas to guard me and Nemina while we¡¯re doing our business,¡±

    Anton just nodded at Anders''s arrangement.

    ¡°Tomorrow we will also purchase a couple of carriages, maybe more to add to our convoy, so you don¡¯t need to store the items in your magical space. That meant that we would need to hire more guards and attendants like drivers and maids for Anna,¡± Anders continued.

    ¡°Wow, maids for me?! I¡¯m really turning into a princess!¡± Anna gushed.

    ¡°I also need you to do something as an experiment,¡± Anders told Anton.

    ¡°What is it, Father?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Since all the items that you magically repair become top quality, what if we purchase an average one and you repair it?¡±

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s try it out.¡±

    Anders took a sword and then gave it to Anton while everyone was looking. Anton could hear Lucas explaining to the new bodyguards about his magical ability to repair items. Apparently, they had already been told that Anton was a wizard, but this was the first time they would see one of his magical abilities.

    He could see that the sword that Anders gave him looked like a typical well-used but still serviceable sword.

    ¡°That is an average sword that you can purchase anywhere. Me and Nemina wanted to know if the quality of the equipment would increase once it passed through your hand because if it does¡­¡± Anders didn¡¯t finish since everyone knew that if it did increase in quality greatly, they would earn an unimaginable amount of gold.

    Anton stored the sword in his inventory, and he controlled his character inside the game who was always staying by the private stash to go to Charsi. According to the inventory, the sword was a short sword with an average damage of two to seven and durability of nine over twenty-four. He asked Charsi to repair the sword and the only thing that changed was the durability which was now twenty-four over twenty-four.

    He retrieved the sword from the inventory to the real world and the three new bodyguards gasped when they saw the sword appearing but what made everyone fill with glee was the sword looked brand new and it was gleaming, like a sword for nobles.

    Anton gave the sword to his Father and Anders gave the sword to Lucas to have him and the other guards check the quality.

    ¡°Anders, your family will become extremely wealthy. The sword is one of the best swords I have ever seen. Are you sure this was the sword that you purchased?¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the same sword. So does that mean we can sell it for more?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Yes, you can sell it for as much as three to four times the amount that you purchase the sword for.¡±

    Everyone gasped when they heard what Lucas was saying and even the three new bodyguards were gaping at Anton and the sword.

 Chapter 93

    After their experiment with the sword was done, Anders asked Devon to go downstair to order lunch for everyone. While they were waiting, Anton told his father about his experience the day before and about hiring a local boy named Fenix as his guide while roaming the city.

    ¡°Is it okay for that guy to see our wares in the suite, Father?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay as long as you don¡¯t show anybody else your magic of repairing items. That should be our family and our guard¡¯s secrets. You can go ahead and roam about since I¡¯m not worried about your safety but be back here before dark and tomorrow, we should have purchased a few items so you will need to repair those,¡± Anders replied.

    Anton nodded then Devon returned saying that the inn¡¯s attendants would come up soon with the food.

    ¡°By the way, a boy downstairs told me you¡¯re expecting him Sir Anton, his name is Fenix,¡± Devon said to Anton.

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s the city guide I hired. Once one of the waiters arrives, can you ask one of them to guide Fenix here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and invite him in so I can check him out as well,¡± Devon said, and Anton nodded.

    While they were waiting for the food and Fenix, Anton heard Anders saying to the three new bodyguards that they could choose three new suits of armor and a couple of weapons from the wares laid out on the floor and they did immediately since it was obvious that the quality of the armor and weapons were the best in the industry.

    Devon and Fenix entered the suite while the three new guards were choosing their sets.

    ¡°Hi Fenix. We¡¯re about to eat lunch. Please join us,¡± Anton said to his guide.

    ¡°Sure! Thanks,¡± Fenix grinned.

    Anton introduced everyone to Fenix while the guide said hello back to everyone.

    ¡°How long have you lived here in the city, Fenix?¡± Anna asked with sparkling eyes.

    Anton sighed when he saw that his sister was looking at Fenix with eyes that kept blinking. He thought that maybe Anna thought that she was seducing the boy, but it just looked like she¡¯s got an eye disease.

    ¡°My clan traveled here when I was little, and we stayed here ever since so I know all the nook and crannies of the city.¡±

    ¡°Your clan?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re a travelers clan. My family¡¯s composed of minstrels, dancers, fortune tellers, and the like. Some cities don¡¯t treat us well thinking that we¡¯re just thieves but the city of Leminthor has been kind to us even assigning a square to us so we can perform for the people and earn some coins.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s an exciting life. Are you a performer as well?¡± Anna kept on asking to the amusement of everyone.

    They heard a knock on the door and then the inn¡¯s attendants entered with a lot of food which they put on the table. Everyone sat and started eating lunch and the new bodyguards joined them after they chose their new armor and weapons. Anton was impressed again at the food that the inn served.

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    Anton thought that once he transmigrated, he would not be able to eat tasty food again but honestly, what he had been eating was better than what he ate when he was in his previous world which was mostly fast food and microwavable.

    ¡°To answer your question, I¡¯m an acrobat but right now I¡¯m a tour guide for your brother.¡±

    ¡°My brother is a lute player and singer as well! He¡¯s the best singer that I have ever heard including the ones we heard from the square that we pass through,¡± Anna said forgetting the fact that Fenix said that a square was assigned to them by the city which meant that it was that square that they pass through and that the singers they heard were probably part of Fenix¡¯s family.

    ¡°Really,¡± Fenix said while looking at Anton while smiling.

    ¡°Oh yeah, he¡¯s also a very powerful wizard. He managed to defeat an army of the undead when we passed through a village filled with them! They were from the Undead Coalition,¡± Anna kept babbling which made Anton and Ander wince.

    They couldn¡¯t fault the girl since they said that they would not be secretive about Anton being a powerful wizard as an added deterrent to people who would eye them with evil intentions because of their wealth.

    Anton saw that the three new guards were looking at Anders questioningly.

    ¡°Anna stop talking!¡± Anders told Anna and the girl realized that she was sharing too much information.

    She looked down at her food and started eating, glancing at her father. Since Lucas¡¯s family and the new bodyguards were looking at Anders, Anton''s father decided to tell them what happened.

    ¡°We¡¯re from Mendi and we heard the news that the Undead Coalition of the north attacked the city of Vondi to conquer it. Since we¡¯re near the city, I knew that Mendi would be next on the coalition¡¯s agenda, so I decided to run with my family. I also knew that since Anton¡¯s a wizard and a powerful one at that, we¡¯d be safe on the road. We encountered several undead groups including vampires and liches and because of Anton¡¯s power, we managed to escape.¡±

    Everyone was looking at Anton with awe while he just calmly kept on eating. Even Fenix was looking at his new employer with wide eyes.

    ¡°If you¡¯re a powerful wizard, why are you looking for a novice wizard to tutor you and your sister?¡± Fenix asked.

    ¡°My magic is different. We received several spell books from the vampires that we defeated and decided that it would be a promising idea for us to learn them so my family decided that once we reached a city, we would hire a wizard,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Can I see a magic spell?¡± Fenix asked excitedly, showing everyone that the boy was still a child.

    Anton obliged by summoning empty pitchers then conjuring a huge ball of water from the Frozen Orb spell and guiding the water to the pitchers. He could hear the new bodyguards and Fenix gasping when the water appeared above their table.

    ¡°That is called mana water. It¡¯s filled with magic and will refresh you. It would make you healthy and keep your skin smooth and your hair luxurious, especially if you use it for bathing. That¡¯s why my skin is so smooth, and my father looked so young,¡± Anna boasted.

    Everyone drank the cold mana water, and they voiced their appreciation for the taste and feeling they experienced when they drank it.

    ¡°Can I ask for some for my sister? She¡¯s a bit sickly,¡± Fenix asked after drinking the water.

    ¡°Oh no, you can¡¯t. The magic in the water dissipates over time, that¡¯s why you can only use it once it has been newly conjured, and you can¡¯t save it. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t even sell it,¡± Anna kept oversharing, and Anders just let her be.

    ¡°If your sister is sick, you can ask Sir Anton to heal her. He has powerful healing magic. I once received an arrow through the neck and because of Sir Anton¡¯s magic, the arrow just popped out and healed my injury in seconds.¡± Devon said joining Anna in boasting about Anton.

    The adults in the group just sighed at the young one¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°This is the last time you will share information with others do you understand me!¡± Anders scolded Anna and he included Devon in his eyes which made the guard blush.

    Anna blushed as well and returned to eating her lunch.

 Chapter 94

    After lunch, Anton¡¯s father and the others went back to the business of selling the items. According to Anders, they had already earned hundreds of gold coins and they only sold off a quarter of their total haul.

    Anton told his father that he still wanted to roam around the city and probably check if he could find a wizard that he could hire as his and Anna¡¯s tutor.

    Anders gave his permission and reminded Anton to be back before dark. Anna then went to him and told him that she wanted to go with him to explore the city.

    ¡°I want to explore alone. You can explore with Lunelle and Devon and I¡¯m thinking that if you ask nicely, Father will give you some gold coins to spend.¡±

    Anna turned to their father and without hesitation, Anders gave his daughter a purse.

    ¡°Only five gold coins. Can I have some more?¡± Anna wheedled.

    Anders was astonished. ¡°What are you planning to buy?¡±

    ¡°Anything that catches my fancy like books and stuff.¡±

    Anders added five gold coins to Anna¡¯s purse but asked Lunelle to hold onto it. Anna just shrugged and gave the coin purse to Lunelle.

    Fenix was looking wide-eyed at the amount of gold coins that the little girl received.

    ¡°Your family is really rich,¡¯ Fenix whispered to Anton.

    Anton ignored what his guide said and then walked out of the room after saying goodbye to everyone. He thought about asking cons from his father since he already had given the rest of the purse of coins from his inventory to Anders but then he thought he would just try to earn his own.

    Outside the inn, Fenix asked him where he wanted to go.

    ¡°Can you lead me to a shop that sells the most worn-out or old weapons?¡±

    ¡°Why? I saw the armor and weapons in the room and those were the best,¡± Fenix said.

    ¡°Just do it,¡± Anton said sternly.

    Anton saw the boy shrugging and led him a couple of blocks from the inn. They arrived at a street filled with shops, but the shops were a bit rundown.

    While they were walking, Anton admired the architecture of the city. The city was like one of those cities from fantasy movies or even anime but the reality of it all brought forth an excitement in Anton''s blood. Everywhere he looked beget the truth that he was in a different world. It was familiar and alien at the same time. It was familiar since he had been reading fantasy books and web novels ever since he was little and the description of the cities in the novels that he read fit the city of Leminthor to the t. It was alien at the same time because this was the first time he had seen a city like this. Everything was old but it was new to him.

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    Anton felt that walking in the city was an adventure in and of itself. He almost expected to see Geralt of Rivia suddenly riding in one of the streets or a company of red-cloaked Aes Sedai hunting a man who could channel or Polgara leading a young Garion exiting from one of the inns. It was all very exciting, and he couldn¡¯t help but grin. The fact that he had magic made this life truly an adventure and he couldn¡¯t help but feel extremely happy at that moment.

    ¡®What are you laughing about?¡± Fenix asked, curious why his employer was grinning like a madman.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that city life is exciting and it¡¯s making me happy,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°By the way, what other magic can you cast?¡±

    ¡°My spells are geared toward battle so mostly offensive spells.¡±

    ¡°I wish I had the talent and coins to be a wizard. Why do you want to hire a wizard tutor?¡±

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, we picked up some spell books. Me and my sister wanted to learn it and to reiterate, my spells are geared toward combat, and I would like to learn some utility spells like spells that would allow me to fly or turn lead into gold.¡±

    ¡°Can magic do that? Turn lead into gold?¡± Fenix asked, excited by the riches that particular spell could give anyone who learns it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know that¡¯s why I wanted a tutor.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll introduce you to my uncle later. He¡¯s friends with a wizard, I think. We¡¯re here,¡± Fenix pointed at a rundown shop.

    Anton and Fenix entered the shop, and it was filled with worn-out equipment. He picked up a couple of swords and a couple of daggers and told Fenix to hold them.

    ¡°What are you going to do this garbage?¡± Fenix asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have many coins left and I don¡¯t want to ask my father. We¡¯ll use it to earn coins. How much do you think for all of those?¡±

    ¡°These shouldn¡¯t cost you more than forty copper coins.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead and pay the shop owner,¡± Anton gave his purse with copper coins to Fenix and the boy paid the old shopkeeper.

    When they went outside the shop, they went to a secluded alley.

    ¡°How are we going to earn coins using these ugly weapons?¡± Fenix asked.

    ¡°Just watch,¡± Anton replied.

    Anton then put the two dilapidated swords and two daggers in his inventory and asked Charsi to repair them.

    After a few seconds, he gave the newly repaired swords and daggers to Fenix. The guide gasped when he saw the exquisite swords and daggers.

    ¡°How much can we sell them?¡±

    ¡°These are so beautiful! The swords could probably fetch us two gold coins each and the dagger one gold coin each!¡± Fenix exclaimed.

    ¡°That much? Go ahead and sell them then so we will have coins to spend for our adventure in the city.¡±

    ¡°Where do these come from?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the swords and daggers that we purchased. I just use my spells to repair them.¡±

    Fenix stared at Anton.

    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t have utility spells?¡±

    ¡°Well, more is better. Let¡¯s go and sell those.¡±

    Fenix then led Anton back to a much richer street where they could sell the swords. Since Anton looked like a noble¡¯s brat, the guide wasn¡¯t worried that they would be denied in the shops. The merchant that bought the weapons kept asking Fenix where the weapons came from, and he just told the man that it was from Anton¡¯s family which shut the man up since Anton did look like a noble. He didn¡¯t forget to ask Fenix to have the merchant pay them in silver and copper coins and now they have hundreds of silver and copper coins separated in several purses. Once they went outside the merchant¡¯s shop, Anton kept all the purses in his inventory except one that was filled with a hundred silver coins and asked Fenix to hold on to it since he would be the one who was going to pay their expenses.

    ¡°You can also take your pay from that coin. Let¡¯s go ahead and go to other city squares with other performers. I want to see them,¡± Anton told his guide.

    Fenix kept the purse inside his clothes and led Anton deep into the city. The boy led him into a different square and this time he saw performers that were different from the first square that he went into. They stayed there for a while but even though he was entertained, Anton concluded that Fenix¡¯s clan performers were better.

 Chapter 95

    Anton enjoyed the performances of the different acts in the square they went into and after a while, he told Fenix that he was ready to meet his uncle who had a wizard friend.

    ¡°Are you planning to ask the wizard that you¡¯ll hire to travel with you to your next destination? That would cost you a lot of coins!¡± Fenix asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s the plan and we¡¯re willing to pay as long as it¡¯s coins and not some sort of magic currency.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean magic currency?¡±

    ¡°Well in some of the books I¡¯ve read, wizards had their currency sometimes called mana stones. Do they have something like that here as well?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard or seen something like that, and my father has a second cousin who¡¯s a wizard and can¡¯t keep his mouth shut and keeps on bragging about what type of magic he has. If they have something like that, he would have shown us a long time ago,¡± Fenix said while thinking deeply.

    Fenix then led Anton to some part of the city that he didn¡¯t recognize. Truth be told, if Fenix left him suddenly, Anton would have no idea how to get back to the inn.

    They arrived at a compound composed of a series of houses. The surroundings were surprisingly clean, and the air smelled like plants and trees.

    ¡°Fenix who is that with you?!¡± A huge burly man shouted.

    ¡°It¡¯s a client! Have you seen my father?!¡± Fenix shouted back.

    ¡°He¡¯s inside the main house.¡±

    Fenix led Anton to the largest house in the compound composed of three stories. They entered without knocking but there was someone who was sitting beside the door acting as a guard. Suddenly, it felt to Anton that he entered one of those guilds like a thieves guild or something like that.  Fenix, together with Anton went directly to one of the rooms on the first floor of the house and the boy knocked on the door.

    Anton heard a deep voice saying, ¡°Come in¡±, so Fenix and he both entered. The room was an office and a handsome man with olive skin and dark curly hair was seated perusing papers on the table. The man looked like Fenix, but mature and now Anton knew how Fenix would look in the future much like how he knew how he would look based on Anders¡¯s features.

    ¡°Fenix, you¡¯re back. Who is that?¡± The man said.

    ¡°Father, this is Anton. A wizard and a client of mine who hired me to be his tour guide in the city for one silver coin a day!¡±

    Suddenly the man moved fast and jumped towards them. Anton was startled so he teleported back away from Fenix and the man suddenly grabbed Fenix and put the boy behind him.

    ¡°What are your intentions? We¡¯re not lambs that you can take down easily!¡± The man shouted and suddenly five men entered the room and surrounded Anton. They moved so fast that with the proper attire, they could be ninjas.

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    ¡°Father, what are you doing? They¡¯re rich merchants that just arrived in the city and I¡¯ve seen his father and sister together with their retinue!¡± Fenix shouted.

    Fenix''s father visibly calmed himself down and nodded at the other people in the room while he continued staring at Anton. The group of men went outside without saying anything.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir. The reason I acted this way is you look so young and you¡¯re paying my son a huge amount of coin, so I thought you had evil intentions.¡± Fenix¡¯s father said.

    ¡°I can understand the high amount of coin can ignite suspicions but what about me being young?¡± Anton asked curiously.

    ¡°Only powerful wizards can make themselves look that young. I¡¯m sorry for what happened. My name¡¯s Kaven.¡± Kaven invited Anton to sit in the chair by the office table which he did.

    Fenix sat opposite him, and Kaven went back to his seat behind the table.

    ¡°You look so young. May I ask how old you are?¡± Kaven asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen this year.¡±

    Fenix¡¯s father was amazed when he learned Anton¡¯s age.

    ¡°You¡¯re only one year older than me!¡± Fenix said.

    ¡°You¡¯re very powerful and could already use magic to move between dimensions,¡± Kaven said.

    ¡°His father said that Anton was able to defeat an army of the undead which included some vampires and liches!¡± Fenix said.

    ¡°Not defeat. We manage to escape them,¡± Anton corrected.

    ¡°It was still a feat to be able to do that. How can we help you?¡± Kaven asked.

    ¡°My magic is what you can call bloodline magic. It¡¯s only me who can use it. Not even my father and sister could learn it. When we fought some vampires during our travels, we received spell books as part of our loot and we wanted to learn how to use them, so my family was thinking of hiring a beginner wizard to teach us beginner magic,¡± Anton told the man.

    Kaven stared at him and paused a while, thinking.

    ¡°Based on the spell you used to avoid me and based on your reaction to my attack which was devoid of fear, you¡¯re already powerful. Why do you want to learn another type of magic?¡± Kaven asked.

    ¡°Not so much as me but my sister. Seeing me cast my spells made her want to be a wizard and since she couldn¡¯t learn my magic, we decided to check if she could be a regular mage and since we already acquired some spell books, we thought that it would be a good start. I¡¯m curious as well if I could learn other magic besides my own.¡±

    ¡°I see. I understand your sister¡¯s desire to be a mage. When I saw a wizard fighting a monster in the field when I was young, the desire to wield arcane powers grew upon me as well but unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the talent. The talent for wizardry is weird. At first, people thought that it could be hereditary, but it was not. Even if the father and mother were both wizards, there¡¯s no guarantee that their children would be wizards as well. Since I was interested, I read some research about it. The talent for magic would randomly appear in anyone and it couldn¡¯t be bred. A lot of people tried that it caused war hundreds of years ago.¡±

    Anton was intrigued by what Kaven said regarding magic. It probably meant that there were no wizard families since it couldn¡¯t be bred.

    ¡°So do you know anyone willing to be hired as a tutor for me and my family?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°My brother¡¯s friend is a wizard but he¡¯s not in the city and wouldn¡¯t be back for months. The best recommendation I can give is for you to go to the adventurer¡¯s guild and try your luck there. Although wizards are extremely rare, some do work as mercenaries.¡±

    Anton was surprised to learn that there was an adventurer¡¯s guild. He would surely visit it to check it out.

    ¡°Father, can I still work with Anton as his guide? They will leave the city in a week,¡± Fenix asked his father.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m a good judge of character and Anton looks like a good man,¡± Kaven said which made Anton roll his eyes.

    ¡°Then why did you attack him?¡± Fenix said while snorting.

    Kaven laughed awkwardly and made some lame excuses. After their talk, Anton and Fenix said their goodbyes since it was getting late, and Fenix had to guide him back to the inn.

 Chapter 96

    Anton and Fenix arrived at the city square near the inn where his family was staying so he said his goodbyes to his guide and told him to return early in the morning. When he arrived at the inn he went directly to their suite and saw that Anna, Lunelle, and Devon were the only ones there.

    ¡°Father and the others are still not here yet?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Obviously. Can you see them anywhere? Ooh, maybe they¡¯re under the table!¡±

    ¡°What has gotten into you?¡±

    Anna ignored him and entered the room where she and Lunelle were staying.

    ¡°She was sulking since you didn¡¯t let her join you and Fenix in your adventure in the city. She has a crush on Fenix.¡± Lunelle said.

    Anna loudly opened the door to her room and shouted.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a crush on Fenix!¡± She then slammed the door closed which made Anton, Lunelle, and Devon laugh.

    While waiting for his father, Anton brought the lute out from his inventory and started practicing his scales for a few minutes then started playing some songs. He sang a song from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame because the performers in the city square reminded him of the gypsies in the movie. Anna, who went back outside from her room listened together with Lunelle and Devon.

    Anton gave a masterful rendition of the song ¡°The Bells of Notre Dame¡± sung by the clown-like gypsy Clopin. Anna, Lunelle, and Devon were amazed at how high and powerful his voice was, especially at the end of the song. What they didn¡¯t know was he practiced it extensively to please his mother since it was his mother¡¯s favorite song in the Disney film.

    The three clapped after Anton finished the song and then he started singing ¡°Out There¡± which was sung by Quasimodo in the movie. After he sang the beginning phrase, Anders and the others entered the room, but Anders gestured to Anton to complete the song, so he did.

    When Anton reached the part of the song that he needed to belt, he saw Colin, their new carriage driver, Genod, Kudar, and Budolf, their new bodyguards, gaping at him which almost made him stop singing and laugh.

    Everyone clapped vigorously once Anton was done singing and he could even hear Lucas and Nemina saying ¡°bravo¡± and he thought ¡°So they have that tradition in this world as well.¡±

    ¡°Brother your voice is truly magnificent, and I was right. We listened and watched the singers in the square earlier and no one can compare to you!¡± Anna praised.

    Lunelle and Devon nodded, which meant that they agreed with Anna¡¯s sentiments.

    ¡°Son, your voice is truly magnificent. If you¡¯re not a wizard and desired to be a bard, I would spend the rest of my life fulfilling it.¡± Anders said proudly.

    The statement from his father, which was a high praise indeed almost caused him to become teary-eyed. He tried to cover it by standing and bowing deeply to everyone which caused them to clap again.

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    After that interlude, Devon went downstairs to order food for them all.

    ¡°Did you earn a lot of gold coins, father?¡± Anton asked while he stored his lute in his inventory.

    ¡°Yes, we did. We managed to sell a third of our stock and will continue selling tomorrow. We plan to continue until all our stock is gone then we¡¯ll purchase the things that we will need to form a merchant caravan and buy products that we can sell to the next city. Of course, the majority of items that we¡¯re still going to sell will be weapons and armor and things that you¡¯ll repair since those are the real coin makers.¡± Anders said while smiling.

    ¡°Will we be able to complete that plan in a week?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°We should be able. Since we¡¯re getting known and that our products are the very best, merchants are now clamoring to purchase our items so it is more than likely we will be able to sell everything by tomorrow. The day after we plan to purchase all the things that would be needed to form a merchant caravan and hire people for it,¡± Anders said, and the smile never left his face.

    Devon returned and informed them that the inn¡¯s attendants would be up in half an hour to bring their food.

    ¡°Why so long?¡± Anna asked and Devon just shrugged.

    ¡°Our name is getting well known because of the items that we sold and more than likely the inn¡¯s got a hold of the information so to prevent us from leaving and possibly going to a better inn, they would try their best to serve us their best,¡± Nemina said.

    Since there was nothing to do but chat while waiting for their food, Anton took the lute from his inventory again and started singing ¡°God Help the Outcast¡± from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame followed by ¡°Someday¡± which was the ending theme song.

    After finishing the two songs, everyone clapped again.

    ¡°I would pay to listen to your son if he¡¯s a minstrel,¡± Budolf said to Anders.

    After that, their food arrived, and everyone enjoyed the superb repast that the inn prepared for them. Based on how the food was, Nemina was right in her supposition that the inn was preparing its best for them to keep them as customers.

    While they were eating Anton told Anders about going to Fenix¡¯s family compound and asking if there was a beginner wizard that they knew who he could hire as a tutor for Anna and himself.

    ¡°Unfortunately, the wizard they knew was out of the city, but Fenix¡¯s father recommended for me to go to the adventurer¡¯s guild to check if there¡¯s someone there who we can hire. The funny thing was Fenix¡¯s father tried to attack me when Fenix told him that I hired his son. Apparently, me looking so young caused him deep suspicions since I could be an old wizard with nefarious intentions,¡± Anton said then he laughed.

    Anders didn¡¯t laugh but looked concerned instead.

    ¡°What happened when he attacked you?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Fenix stopped and explained and that ended the confrontation. Fenix¡¯s father should be a great warrior. He and his clan who suddenly entered moved so fast!¡±

    ¡°You were not afraid that they would be able to hurt you?¡± Lunelle asked.

    Anton smiled, stood up, and chose a sword from one of the weapons piles then asked Devon to slash his arm. He was surprised that the guard didn¡¯t hesitate and slashed his arm. Instead of receiving a wound, everyone heard a clanging sound and was amazed that Anton was unharmed by the sword. Even Devon was surprised, and he realized that the young guard probably thought that he would be wounded but would immediately heal due to his healing spells.

    Anton¡¯s defense was now high due to his armor set in the game which was also reflected in real life. After the demonstration, he sat back at the table to continue eating dinner.

    ¡°Is that a spell?¡± Kudar asked.

    Since his mouth was full, Anton just nodded.

    ¡°Can you cast it to others?¡± Genod asked and Anton just shook his head.

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re with Sir Anton you don¡¯t need to worry about getting wounded. His healing spells are truly powerful. When Father and I fought the monsters who were attacking a merchant caravan we noticed that when we received a wound it healed immediately so we let loose and attacked the monsters like were berserkers! It was glorious and even our armors were immediately repaired by Sir Anton after the battle.¡±

    The new people were amazed at Devon¡¯s boast about how powerful Anton was.

 Chapter 97

    Everyone enjoyed the food that was prepared by the inn for them, and Anton asked Nemina to ask the inn to prepare a lot of food since he could always keep them in his private stash to keep them always hot and fresh. Lunelle volunteered and said that she would handle it and Anton and Nemina nodded.

    ¡°Anton, are you planning to go to the adventurer¡¯s guild tomorrow to look for a mage tutor for Anna?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Yes, Father. I¡¯ll probably leave after lunch since I will need to meditate first. I told my guide to come here early but I guess he would just have to wait somewhere,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°I can ask Fenix to accompany us to watch the performers at the square near here!¡± Anna said excitedly.

    ¡°Sure, just be back here before lunch,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be too busy to go back here for lunch so you will have to be by yourselves tomorrow,¡± Anders said to his children and Anton and Anna just nodded.

    After dinner, Anton went to the room he shared with his father after telling everyone that he would need to meditate. He planned to start Act II Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II system. He shouldn¡¯t dawdle too much and should try his best to go to the Hell Difficulty since It was the best location to hunt for powerful items.

    But first, Anton planned to practice his Telekinesis spell like using it to Fly so he went outside the Rogue Encampment and began practicing his Telekinesis. At first, he was a bit hesitant since he was afraid of falling but after around thirty minutes, he got the hang of it. It did consume a huge amount mana of but his mercenary¡¯s Insight runeword weapon was still able to support the consumption. The problem was, he couldn¡¯t fly far away from his mercenary since he would go out of the aura¡¯s range. He still had a huge amount of mana potions in his inventory so it would still not be going to be a problem too much.

    Anton was so glad that the aura mechanics outside of the game were different since he could activate it and the skill would come from himself. That meant that he could fly as high as he could without worrying that he would be out of range of the aura.  He spent a couple of hours practicing flying using his Telekinesis spell partly because he needed to make sure that he would be able to master it as soon as possible but mostly because he was enjoying himself that the time passed without him noticing.

    The freedom of flying hits differently. The cold wind on his face brought forth a sense of letting go of everything that was tying him down and he flew as swiftly as he could. Anton flew so high that he didn¡¯t notice that he flew out of range of his mercenary¡¯s aura. Without any warning, he began to fall which made him panic but drinking a full rejuvenation potion solved that problem immediately then he flew back down immediately. That meant that he couldn¡¯t fly high inside the game, but he could in reality since the Meditation Aura would be able to support his flight. He would need to experiment outside the game as well. He was glad that he kept a lot of full rejuvenation potions for emergencies as well.

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    Anton wondered if it was going to be dangerous flying high in the sky in the real world like if any dangerous animals were flying like a dragon or a wyvern. He would need to ask their bodyguards once he had the chance.

    Since it was getting late, Anton decided to sleep. He felt a bit of regret for not being able to start Act II still, but he enjoyed his flying experiments too much to stop doing it. He decided to start Act II tomorrow since he decided to explore the city in the afternoon.

    The next day, Anton joined his family and their retinue in eating breakfast in the inn''s common room. While they were eating, he asked Lucas if there were dangerous animals high above the sky.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I learned how to fly last night and wondered if I would encounter any dangerous animals in the sky above like a dragon or something like that,¡± Anton said with a deadpan face while continuing to eat his breakfast.

    Everyone gaped at him including Fenix who joined them for breakfast.

    Anton noticed that nobody was answering him and when he looked up, everyone was staring at him.

    ¡°What? You all know that I usually learn new spells after deep meditation. I could even carry a couple of people with me without any problem. Do you want to try?¡± Anton asked mischievously.

    ¡°I want to try! Let¡¯s go ahead and fly!¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Is that going to be a problem with the city? Is there like a law or a rule that says we''re not allowed to fly inside the city or something?¡± Anton asked.

    Lucas and the other mercenaries turned bodyguard laughed incredulously.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if the city has a rule like that since it was tremendously rare to see someone who could fly. Only the most powerful wizards could do that, and cities usually accommodate them. I know you''re powerful Anton, but I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re this powerful,¡± Lucas said softly.

    ¡°I¡¯m powerful in an unconventional way since most of my spells are geared towards war. I¡¯m not one of those kinds of wizards who can traverse dimensions or create something from nothing or something like that so that meant that I¡¯m limited in my own way but I¡¯m not going to deny that I¡¯m beginning to become powerful. That meant that your son¡¯s boss is a mighty wizard,¡± Anton boasted, then he laughed.

    ¡°It¡¯s not true that you can¡¯t create something from nothing. The way you repair equipment is almost like that,¡± Nemina said, and everyone agreed with her.

    ¡°I suggest that you hold off on flying in the city and try to fly once we¡¯re outside and traveling,¡± Anders said, and Anton nodded to indicate his obedience.

    After breakfast, Anton¡¯s father and the others went out to continue doing their business bringing a couple of large chests with them that were being carried by porters they hired for the day.

    Anton told Fenix that he would need to meditate this morning first and that he would roam the city after lunch. He asked if Fenix was willing to accompany Anton¡¯s sister in watching the performers in the city and the guide said that he would be delighted. Anna smiled when she heard that Fenix agreed to join them.

    He went back upstairs to his room that he shared with his father so he could enter the game. The first thing that he wanted to do was practice battling monsters while flying instead of starting Act II of the Nightmare Difficulty, so Anton traversed all the zones leading towards Tamoe Highlands fighting monsters while flying.

    Anton enjoyed casting his spells while flying above but not too far so he could remain in his mercenary¡¯s aura range. He felt powerful like a god who was vanquishing ants with his power, and he could not help but laugh and mimic some of the movie villains that he had seen.  He also indulged and said some phrases that only those who were suffering the Chunibyo Syndrome would utter and he was glad that nobody was around to hear him.

 Chapter 98

    Anton enjoyed flying so much while hurling Frozen Orb, Chain Lightning, and Meteor to his enemies. It was different casting spells personally since it was much faster and easier. He just needed to think of which spell he wanted to use and the mana would respond to his desire and the spell would gather at his fingertips.

    He was enjoying plowing through several groups of monsters while they tried to reach him but the fact that he was high above gave the sense that Anton was invincible. He tried to carry the mercenary with him using Telekinesis but the NPC flailing around was awkward so he immediately brought the non-player character down and just made sure that he was only high enough not to be out of range of the mercenary¡¯s aura.

    Then Anton thought of the idea of casting his spells without using his hands so when he completed all the outside zones up to Tamoe Highlands, he went back outside the Rogue Encampment to begin practicing casting spells without using his hands.

    He first tried practicing what he was now calling gestureless casting using the Ice Bolt spell since it was the spell that he mastered manipulating its mana first. At first, gathering the mana of the spell in front of him was extremely difficult. It was like the mana was looking for something to anchor the spell structure.  He needed to imagine an invisible hand before he was successful in gathering the mana and successfully forming the spell then hurling it into the distance.

    It actually took several hundred tries before he was successful and the spell structure sometimes exploded on his face. At least Ice Bolt''s spell structure was small enough and the ice or water element was harmless enough that he didn¡¯t receive any injury from the backlash.

    All that flying adventure and gestureless casting practice took him several hours so when Anton checked the time, it was already noon. He went inside the Rogue Encampment, parked his character by his Private Stash then minimized the game.

    At the very least he earned one level up from the flying adventure so he was now level sixty-four. He put the stats to energy to increase his mana and the skill point to Frozen Orb before minimizing the game.

    When Anton arrived downstairs, he saw Anna, Fenix, Lunelle, and Devon already seated at a table eating lunch. He joined them and ordered food from one of the waiters. Anton noticed that the waiters were especially respectful to him and he guessed that everyone in the inn already knew that he was a wizard.

    While he was waiting for the waiter to arrive with his food, Anton asked Anna what they did during the morning.

    ¡°We watched some of the performers and Fenix brought us to other places where we could see unique things. Did you know there¡¯s a theater here? They¡¯re only open during the night and only if they have some play that they are going to show the audience. Fortunately, there¡¯s going to be a play tonight so we should watch one!¡± Anna said, excited at the prospect of watching a theater play.

    ¡°Fine by me. I¡¯m interested as well so I¡¯ll ask Father to let us go tonight.¡±

    Anna cheered and Anton knew why. Since he was the one who was going to ask, they were almost sure that Anders would allow them to visit the theater.

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    ¡°I will go ahead and visit the adventurer¡¯s guild with Fenix after lunch to look for a beginner wizard to be our tutor.¡±

    ¡°Can I join you? I don¡¯t want to stay here,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here. You can roam around with Lunelle and Devon,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I want to see the adventurer¡¯s guild as well.¡±

    ¡°Okay we¡¯ll go as a group then,¡± Anton acquiesced.

    After lunch, before leaving, Anton cast Frozen Armor and Energy Shield, activated the visible buff spell option, and turned on the option to make sure that the Meditation aura was visible as well then, he lifted himself using Telekinesis.

    ¡°let¡¯s go to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild!¡± Anton said while laughing loudly like a villain.

    What he didn¡¯t expect was that everyone at the inn gaped at him including Anna then the crowd except for his sister, Lunell, Devon, and Fenix ran outside the inn as fast as they could with pure panic on their faces.

    Anton immediately turned off the option to show the visual effect of his buff spells and then floated back down.

    The innkeeper rushed from the kitchen to gape at him as well then almost fell cowering back together with his attendants.

    Anton regretted what he did. He didn¡¯t expect that the people¡¯s reaction would be that severe. He, of course, was aware that everyone in the inn already knew that he was a wizard so at most he thought that they would just stare a bit but the panic running was unexpected.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was just joking around. I¡¯m not going to do anything,¡± Anton looked at Lunelle, Devon, and Fenix pleadingly so the three started to talk to everyone calming them down and Lunelle talked to the innkeeper to pay for any damages that occurred.

    Anton heard his sister saying ¡°Idiot¡± to him and for once, he agreed.

    After about thirty minutes, the people calmed down and the innkeeper boldly went to Anton and asked with a trembling voice not to do something like that again.

    ¡°Again, I¡¯m really sorry sir. I¡¯m just joking around with my friends. I didn¡¯t expect that that performance would garner that huge of a reaction from the crowd,¡± Anton apologized profusely.

    Calling the innkeeper sir must have brought something positive since the innkeeper forgave him then the man couldn¡¯t stop smiling. Everyone could hear the man saying to his attendants that the wizard called him sir.

    Anton and the rest sat back down on the table to wait for a few minutes to make sure that everyone was calm down before leaving. What they didn¡¯t expect was Anders and the rest rushing from outside. Anton¡¯s father was holding his wand ready for battle while the rest of the bodyguards had their swords unsheathed.

    ¡°Anton, Anna, you¡¯re okay! We heard that a powerful wizard was attacking the inn!¡± Anders shouted.

    Anton heard Anna calling him stupid again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Father. There¡¯s no one attacking the inn. I just cast some spells as a joke and when everyone saw it, they panicked and ran outside the inn,¡± Anton said to Anders.

    ¡°Some spells! You surrounded yourselves with floating snow then summoned a glowing golden ball atop your head then some glowing clouds on your feet while you floated up!¡± Anna snorted.

    ¡°You did what! I should go ahead and get a switch to thrash you!¡± Anders scolded his son.

    The scolding brought something that Anton didn¡¯t expect. It calmed all the people that were left further. They saw a kid who did something stupid and was now being scolded by his father instead of a terrifying wizard.

    The bodyguards all started laughing while sheathing their sword and Anders went and put his magic wand on what Anton saw as a brand new wand sheathed. Anders sat opposite Anton while the rest surrounded the table.

    ¡°I was talking to a rich merchant about to sell off the rest of our stock for a healthy price when we heard someone shouting from outside that our inn was being attacked by a wizard so we had to stop our talk and rush here. What made you think that it was all right for you to cast your spells where normal people who were not ready to see could view you?¡±

    Anton considered his father¡¯s scolding and thought deeply about how to answer without angering Anders further.

 Chapter 99

    Everyone was looking at Anton waiting for his answer to Ander¡¯s questions regarding what came over him to blatantly show off his spell-casting ability causing panic to the inn¡¯s customers.

    ¡°I saw from the waiter¡¯s reactions to me earlier that everyone at the inn knew that I¡¯m a wizard so I decided to cast some spell and then show that I was joking so they would know that I¡¯m not one of those serious wizards who would be offended at the tiniest things and cast the most gruesome spell at those people who offends me,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Instead of making sure everyone knows that you¡¯re a friendly wizard, you did the opposite! As a consequence of your action, you¡¯re not allowed to leave the inn today,¡± Anders snorted.

    ¡°Can we still leave the city,¡± Anna asked timidly.

    ¡°No! You will stay here as well and accompany your brother. Lunelle will come with us to help her mother and the guide your brother hired can stay here with you or leave,¡± Anders sternly said to his children.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here with Anton,¡± Fenix softly said and Anders just ignored him.

    Anton and Anna who were pouting were about to go upstairs to their suite followed by Fenix and Devon who would be their guard when a group of people followed by knights entered the inn. The group of people were dressed gaudily and the knights were obviously their guards.

    The innkeeper met them and then Anton saw the man pointing at him. The gaudily dressed men then approached their group.

    ¡°May I ask if you are the wizard?¡± The fat man whom Anton could only assume was a noble asked.

    ¡°Yes, I am the wizard, Anton. How can I help you?¡±

    The man was visibly shocked and Anton assumed that it was about his young age.

    ¡°The king is inviting you to dinner so he can converse about your reason for visiting our city,¡± The noble then gave a letter to Anton.

    After Anton received the letter, the fat noble then left together with his retinue.

    ¡°The fat messenger, is that a noble?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s Baron DeClulen,¡± Fenix replied.

    Anton murmured ¡°Ooh a baron,¡± while opening the letter absentmindedly.

    ¡°Father, it says here that I¡¯m being invited by the king later tonight. Can I not attend?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s another consequence of you showing off and we still need to stay here for at least a few more days so we have to attend!¡± Anders shouted.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll follow you father, calm down. Maybe we can go in style! Let''s all go there on a flying carpet!¡± Anton suggested and even Anna looked bright-eyed at the suggestion.

    ¡°What is wrong with you? Why do suddenly want to show off?!¡± Anders shouted again.

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    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding! Just kidding!¡± Anton said pacifying his father.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go back to the merchant that I was talking to earlier and return here to join you in meeting the king. Don¡¯t do anything ostentations before then okay!¡±

    Anton just nodded while climbing the stairs to their suite. Anton noticed that the inn suddenly had several people sitting around just listening. He then thought that maybe they were spies but then again, he didn¡¯t have any information worth spying on above. He just shrugged and then continued walking towards their room followed by his sister, Fenix, and Devon.

    Anders and the rest went back outside the inn to continue with their business.

    When they arrived at the suite, Anton sat on one of the chairs at the dining table and the rest of the group did the same.

    ¡°Can I join you when you meet the king later?¡± Fenix asked.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to join us? People would associate you with us and we don¡¯t care since we¡¯re leaving the city in a few days while you¡¯ll remain here. There¡¯s a chance that they¡¯ll kidnap and torture you to know more about us,¡± Anton scared the kid although he was just joking.

    Fenix then wore a worried look.

    ¡°Will they do that?!¡±

    Anton laughed out loud.

    ¡°They probably would not but just to be safe, you should lie low once we leave the city.¡±

    Anton then saw that his sister was listening while staring at Fenix.

    ¡°Are you not going to prepare the dress that you will wear when we meet the king,¡± Anton asked Anna.

    Anna was then startled then suddenly rushed towards the room that she shared with Lunelle saying loudly that she would need to choose the best dress.

    ¡°Brother, once I choose the dress, I¡¯m going to wear you will need to provide mana water for me to bathe in and please make it hot! I need to look my best. There¡¯s a chance I¡¯ll meet a prince then he will marry me and I¡¯ll become a princess!¡±

    ¡°A princess! I thought you wanted to become a sorceress. I guess once some prince takes a fancy to you Father and I will just leave you here while we continue on our journey,¡± Anton joked.¡±

    Anna gasped and then shouted at Anton. ¡°I was just dreaming a bit! Don¡¯t you dare leave me here!¡±

    Everyone laughed at Anna¡¯s shout but then she ignored them and entered her room to begin choosing the clothes she would wear later.

    ¡°Can you really fly?¡± Fenix suddenly asked Anton.

    ¡°Yes. Do you want to experience it? This room is big enough.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want to. Do I need to do something?¡±

    ¡°No just stand there in the middle of the room. Remember, I¡¯m not going to cast a spell that will allow you to fly. I will just pick you up with my power so I don¡¯t know how it would feel to you.¡±

    Devon was looking at them with interest. When Fenix was ready, Anton used Telekinesis and picked Fenix up from where he was standing then floated him around the room. The guide was laughing while he was floating around.

    ¡°How does it feel?¡± Devon asked Fenix.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really flying by myself. It feels like I¡¯m being cradled by something soft but strong then moved around the air. It was fun in a way like riding a makeshift cart that was running downhill very fast,¡± Fenix said.

    Anton saw that his mana was still full even after controlling Fenix for several minutes. That meant that his mediation aura would be able to support the mana consumption of one person in the real world without any problem.

    ¡°Devon, can I float you around as well? I want to check if my mana would be able to support two people without any issues.¡±

    Devon agreed so Anton picked his bodyguard up as well and floated him around. After a few minutes, Anton told the two men that he would join them as well to check if three people would not be a problem so the three of them floated around the suite like wingless butterflies.

    Anton was happy to note that his mana was still all right since it was being restored to full again by his Meditation Aura even with him controlling himself and two others. Anna went outside her room and gaped when she saw them floating around.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening!¡± Anna shouted.

    ¡°I¡¯m testing my mana consumption while controlling three people. I need more for testing purposes so can I float you around as well?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    Anna complied so Anton picked up his sister using his telekinesis and floated them around. His mana consumption was still stable and that made him very happy since that meant that he could pick a lot of people without the danger of any of them falling.

 Chapter 100

    Anders and the rest returned around six in the evening. Anton saw that his father was in a good mood and that meant that their business concluded well.

    Anton was surprised when Anders smiled at his children and he thought that maybe his father had forgotten what happened earlier, which happened to be the case since suddenly he scowled.

    ¡°Father, were you successful in selling our stock?¡± Anton asked as a diversion.

    Anders looked at his children sternly first then relented.

    ¡°We sold a lot today and only a third left which meant that we would be able to sell all of our items by tomorrow morning and begin collecting items that you could repair. We earned thousands of gold coins. We¡¯re rich! I thought at first that we could stay here and just continue our business but we¡¯re still too near the Undead Coalition. I still want to settle our family somewhere far away, preferably in a powerful city that¡¯s powerful enough to engage the undead army. That meant a wizard city so we still going to check the first wizard city that we will go to which is Zalnothel.¡±

    ¡°I think that will be the best as well father. I still want to learn the magic system of this world since my magic is too different and Anna said that she still wants to be a mage. Although she said that if a prince asked to marry her tonight, she would agree so she can become a princess then we can just leave her here,¡± Anton jokingly said.

    ¡°I did not say that! I was just daydreaming when I said that!¡± Anna shouted, which made everyone laugh.

    ¡°We should prepare to go to the king¡¯s castle. What time did the letter say again?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Eight in the evening,¡± Devon was the one who replied.

    Fenix then said his goodbyes and said he would return early the next day.

    The ones who would go to the castle would be Anton, Anders, Anna, Lucas, Devon, and Genod. Nemina said that she would stay so she could take inventory of the items they had left and calculate their earnings. Anders left the accounting book to her.

    Everyone prepared the best clothes and accessories for them. Nemina and Lunelle discarded the clothes that Anna chose saying they were too gaudy and chose something understated but beautiful and still appropriate for a little girl her age. They also reduced the number of pieces of jewelry that Anna would wear.

    Nemina and Lunelle were surprised and impressed at what Anton chose to wear and the jewelry that he chose for himself and said that they wouldn¡¯t change anything. The ones they focused on who knew nothing about fashion were Anders, Lucas, and Devon.

    After everyone was done preparing, Nemina and Lunelle congratulated themselves for making sure that Anders, Lucas, and Devon looked like rich nobles. Anton looked like a prince and Lunelle commented that he would look like a prince whatever clothes he wore and her mother agreed with her.

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    Anna looked like a beautiful princess who grew up in a castle instead of a farmer¡¯s daughter. Her skin was fair and smooth and without any blemishes. Nemina commented that Anton¡¯s mana water was truly magical.

    Once they were ready, they went downstairs. While they were walking inside the inn, Anders commented that there were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the inn and Lucas said that they were spies assigned to spy on Anton and his family.

    ¡°Is everyone upstairs going to be all right?¡± Anton asked concernedly.

    Lucas and Devon laughed when they heard Anton¡¯s question.

    ¡°With the spectacle you caused earlier? You still don¡¯t understand the power of wizards. When I was a mercenary a noble offended a wizard and within a week, the noble¡¯s family was dead and everyone was terrified to learn that all of his bloodline died as well.¡± Anders said.

    Anton and Anna gasped when they heard what their father said.

    ¡°Are wizards allowed to do that?! Anna whispered.

    ¡°Of course not. The wizard was declared a dark wizard and was hunted by his colleagues but from what I heard; they didn¡¯t catch him. Any rule can be broken. If you¡¯re powerful, you can even escape the consequences of your actions,¡± Anders said.

    Outside the inn, their carriage, driven by Colin, who was also dressed very well, was waiting for them. They boarded the carriage while Lucas, Devon, and Genod rode their horses.

    Anton saw that his father was openly wearing his two magic wands.

    ¡°Is it okay for you to wear those openly, Father?¡± Anton pointed at his father¡¯s magic wands.

    ¡°Yes. Something like this can be treated as an accessory and an especially fine one at that. When we arrive at the castle, you should cast your defensive spells like that floating glowing golden ball and the one that surrounds you with floating snowflakes, just make sure that those spells will not hurt anyone.¡± Anders said to his son.

    ¡°What about the glowing cloud at my feet and me floating instead of walking?¡± Anton asked while smiling.

    ¡°That¡¯s too much. We just need to make sure that everyone would know you¡¯re a powerful wizard but not to the point that you would terrify them,¡± Ander¡¯s snorted.

    Anton was glad that Frozen Armor would not hurt anyone who didn¡¯t attack him so it should be safe for him to cast it while he mingled with people. He was also happy that the icon for his buff spells remaining time was prominent in his vision so he could refresh it anytime he needed to.

    ¡°I wish I had some magical accessory as well like a glowing tiara or something,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Maybe we can buy something like that. Tomorrow let¡¯s go roam the high-end stores and magic shops to check,¡± Anton said absently but that comment excited his sisters.

    Everyone saw the castle in the distance through the carriage window and Anton was impressed. It looked really grand, like one of those magnificent castles that could be seen in movies and animes.

    ¡°Oohh, the castle is so pretty. I wish we could live somewhere like that,¡± Anna daydreamed.

    ¡°Maybe someday we will,¡± Anton said softly.

    They arrived at the gate guarded by a company of guards and Anders gave them the invitation letter. The guards then allowed their carriage to pass through.

    When they arrived at the castle entrance, Anton saw that it was lit up by lanterns. He was a bit disappointed since he was expecting magical lights but apparently those are not available in this city. He was startled to see that there was a red carpet on the steps leading to the castle entrance but of course, there were no photographers, just spectators.

    Anton cast his Frozen Armor and Energy Shield. When they stepped outside the carriage, the spectators who were nobles and their attendants, according to Genod, gasped. They saw that Anton was surrounded by floating snowflakes and there was a glowing golden ball floating above his head giving him a golden aura.

    Everyone was staring at them and Anton could see that his father and Anna, even Lucas, Devon, and Genon who were following them were nervous. It was a good thing that all eyes were on him and he was calm enough to ignore all the stares that Anton was receiving.

 Chapter 101

    Anton wondered why the king of Leminthor invited him to a party instead of just scheduling a meeting with him or Anders but he just shrugged. More than likely some political maneuverings were going on in the background but he was not interested to know.

    When they arrived at the huge castle door a steward led them to a huge corridor going to the left which the man said was the way to the ballroom. When they arrived at the ballroom door. The steward opened the door and loudly announced them. The man shouted, ¡°The wizard Sir Anton and Family!¡± which made Anna giggle.

    There was an actual staircase that they needed to walk down before they arrived at the ballroom floor. Anton tried his very best not to laugh at the clich¨¦ design of the room. They began their stately walk down.

    Anton wondered what would happen if a guest stumbled down and then Anna actually did. He needed to catch her using Telekinesis then he floated her behind him. When she stumbled down, Anton and his family heard the guests gasp from where they were and after Anton controlled Anna and put her beside Anders, their father held onto her to prevent the same thing happening again.

    Anna¡¯s face was very red and it took all of Anton¡¯s will not to laugh at his sister. When they arrived at the floor, a noble and his lady approached them and introduced themselves as some sort of a duke. Anton had to take the lead since Anders and Anna were quiet. He kept forgetting that his father was just a mercenary turned farmer and Anna grew up on a farm.

    Anton kept reiterating to people that they would leave in a week and he was glad that his buff spells kept those who approached them to a minimum.

    Suddenly a man approached them, inviting Anton somewhere to speak with the king. At first, they only wanted to speak with him but he insisted on bringing his father and sister. When they kept denying him, he turned on the visible option for the special effect of the Meditation Aura then they allowed him to bring Anders, Anna, and the three bodyguards with him.

    They arrived at a room and this time, Anders told Anton that Lucas, Devon, and Genod would have to remain outside the room and Anton just nodded. The man who looked like a secretary knocked on the door and opened it when they heard someone say, ¡°Come in¡±.

    When they entered the room, Anton saw an imposing regal man with a full beard sitting behind a table. Beside him were two men possibly nobles, possibly bodyguards, and a woman sitting on one of the chairs by the table.

    All the furniture inside the room was made from dark wood stained with red paint or varnish and the designs were exquisite. The whole room was bright since a chandelier was lighting up the whole office. There were also some standing lamps by the corner and Anton could see that even those were exquisite. Anton was expecting something gaudy but everything looked elegant.

    The man stood up and invited them to sit on the sofa and chair that was by the side.

    ¡°I¡¯m Leminthor, the king of this city and you are Anton the wizard who caused a panic casting your spells at an inn and then claimed it was a ¡°joke¡±,¡± The king said with a deep voice.

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    Anton suddenly looked uncomfortable while his father glared at him. Anna giggled when she heard what the king said which made the king laugh.

    ¡°Why is your name also Leminthor?¡± Anna asked.

    The woman who was sitting beside the king gasped when she heard Anna asking that question as if she couldn¡¯t believe Anna opened her mouth to ask something.

    ¡°Every king that will take the throne will take the name of the city. It¡¯s the custom of this place,¡± the king indulgently answered Anna.

    The two men were looking at Anton and then Anders as if they were expecting them to scold Anna or apologize for the girl¡¯s question but since Anton and Anders didn¡¯t know noble etiquette, they were just ignored.

    ¡°I was informed that you will only stay here for a week?¡± The king asked.

    It was Anders who answered that question.

    ¡°Once we concluded our business which would probably take us three more days we would continue our journey to the wizard city of Zalnothel.¡±

    ¡°May I ask where you are from?¡± The king of Leminthor asked then concentrated on Anders since he was the one who was talking.

    ¡°We¡¯re from Mendi. We¡¯re a regular farming family but then a wizard from the city of Zalnothel found Anton and said that he had a very high talent in wizardry so he stayed with us for some years and taught my son a lot of spells. My son was fourteen when he started learning from the wizard and about six months ago the wizard left for the city of Zalnothel but gave instructions that we should allow my son to go to him in time.¡±

    The two men behind the king and the woman sitting beside Leminthor nodded when they heard that Anton and his family were not noble. They probably understood then why they didn¡¯t behave like nobles.

    ¡°May I know the name of your son¡¯s teacher?¡±

    This time it was Anton who answered.

    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to tell.¡±

    It was a simple sentence but there was a heaviness to it that indicated that the discussion about his teacher was close.

    ¡°Did you know that Mendi had fallen in the hands of the Undead coalition?¡± The king asked.

    ¡°When we left the city we knew that the undead attacked Vondi so we decided to follow Anton¡¯s teacher¡¯s instruction and follow him to the city of Zalnothel. He left us a good amount of gold coins and was instructed to use it to get by so I decided to start a merchant caravan on the way to Anton¡¯s teacher.¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry why are you asking us these questions? Did we do something illegal aside from my display in the inn earlier?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Be respectful young man!¡± One of the men behind the king suddenly shouted.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re done here!¡± Anton said frostily then stood up.

    ¡°Calm down young man. You are a wizard and we just wanted to know more about you.¡± The king pacified him.

    Anton refreshed his Energy Shield and Frozen Armor and activated the visible special effect option of his Meditation Aura. A glowing cloud aura appeared from his feet and surrounded him. The man who shouted paled and walked backward visibly afraid.

    ¡°The main reason I invited you here is to ask if you¡¯re willing to stay in the city as our wizard. We don¡¯t know the intention of the Undead Coalition but more than likely they would attack the holy city of Tiande. The holy city will ask for assistance from us and we would like you to help us. We assumed that you would be willing since you¡¯re a citizen of Mendi.¡±

    ¡°My son is only seventeen years old. He is just a kid and we were given specific instructions by his teacher that we can¡¯t disobey. Besides my son is powerful, able to destroy even liches and vampires but he alone cannot defeat an undead army,¡± Anders told the king pointing out three important things.

    Those things were, Anton was young. He was very powerful, able to defeat high-level monsters and he had a powerful wizard backer from Zalnothel. Truthfully, Anton was impressed by Anders''s ability to lie.

 Chapter 102

    Anton thought of the fact that his father was a mercenary before and only stopped due to a back injury. That meant that Anders was experienced and shouldn¡¯t doubt some of the decisions his father made. He was painfully aware that he, his father, and Anna didn¡¯t know how to behave in front of kings and nobles which was understandable since they were a farming family but for some things, they should be left with Anders since Anton himself was a foreigner of this world.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit cowardly, running while your country fell to the hands of the Undead Coalition?!¡± The nobleman who shouted at Anton to be respectful said with contempt in his voice.

    Anton frostily looked at the man and even Anna glared while Anders remained calm.

    ¡°We live in a farming village outside Mendi. Before Anton¡¯s master arrived, we lived our lives simply. We plant our crops, harvest them, pay our taxes and if a monster attacks our village, we form our militia to defend ourselves since we¡¯re far away from the city and Mendi didn¡¯t garrison any soldiers since they said that our village wasn¡¯t worth it. We pay our taxes but we will not pay with our lives to defend a doomed country. Before we left, we heard that Vondi fell in three days and Vondi is a lot stronger than Mendi so when everyone heard that, we all ran. We encountered groups of undead including vampires and liches and if not for Anton¡¯s power we would be dead or enslaved right now. I¡¯m guessing my neighbors encountered the same fate but since they didn¡¯t have someone like Anton with them they¡¯re probably vampire food now or part of the undead army as zombies.¡±

    ¡°I understand your situation. I just hope that Anton would stay to help fight the Undead Coalition.¡±

    ¡°No. That¡¯s our final decision and we don¡¯t want his master looking for us and have to explain that we allowed Anton, whom he considers as his precious student to die. You know the anger of an archmage. Did we forget to tell you that Anton¡¯s master is an archmage? Only an archmage can teach Anton so much that¡¯s why my son is as powerful as he is even though he is very young.

    The nobleman who accused them of being cowardly paled again and Anna just snorted.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t change your decision so be it. Good luck with your journey then. You can stay in the party as long as you like.¡±

    Everyone heard the king¡¯s dismissal so Anton and his family left. Anders decided to leave the party as soon as they stepped outside the king¡¯s office so they asked the steward to guide them outside the castle.

    Inside the carriage, Anna sighed.

    ¡°I wish we could have stayed longer. I would have liked to show off my beautiful dress.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter how pretty your dress is. The only thing that they will remember is you almost fell flat on your face while walking downstairs.¡± Anton told his sister and laughed and even Anders laughed as well.

    Anna blushed and ignored her brother.

    ¡°Father I was really impressed at your ability to lie to a king!¡± Anton told his father.

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    ¡°As a mercenary, you will learn early that you will need to lie to your clients to earn your coins,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Are we going to encounter retaliation from the king or that hateful noble?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing no since we¡¯re leaving in three days. If we¡¯re only merchants yes but since you¡¯re a wizard and your ¡°master¡± is an archmage, they would probably leave us alone but still, we need to move fast so tomorrow we will be busy trying to buy more carriages and hire more people. We will also be busy buying items from the merchants here.¡±

    When they arrived at the inn, Anton saw that the common room was still full of people and he was guessing that the inn was now famous because of his presence. The fact that he wasn¡¯t malicious and didn¡¯t hurt anyone was a contributing factor.

    They arrived at their suite and were hungry so Anton asked somebody to ask the inn¡¯s attendant to deliver some food.

    ¡°Why are you hungry? Didn¡¯t you eat there at the king¡¯s party?¡± Nemina asked.

    ¡°We only stayed less than an hour,¡± Anna complained.

    Anders gave everyone the details of what happened at the party so he could ask their opinion on what would happen soon after.

    ¡°I think that what you say is true. The king and his noblemen would not retaliate since we¡¯ll be leaving in two or three days,¡± Lucas said.

    Anton then told everyone how Anna almost fell on her face and that made Nemina and Lunelle laugh and made Anna¡¯s face red as a tomato.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to tell that!¡± Anna shouted at her brother.

    ¡°What! It¡¯s funny. Father, I will go ahead and look for a wizard tomorrow is that fine?¡±

    ¡°Sure, but you will have to bring Devon with you.¡±

    ¡°Can I go with Anton tomorrow, Father?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Fine with me but you will have to bring Lunelle and Budolf with you.¡±

    The next day, Fenix arrived early and joined them for breakfast. After breakfast, Anders and the rest went outside the inn to begin conducting their business of forming a merchant caravan. Lunelle then told Anton that the inn prepared several barrels of cooked food as per instructions that he had to store to avoid spoilage so Anton went to the kitchen and stored the barrels of food in his private stash. He openly stored everything and the disappearing barrels made the kitchen workers wide-eyed and someone even clapped as if it was a show.

    ¡°Where did you put the food?¡± Fenix asked Anton, who followed him and Lunelle to the kitchen.

    ¡°I put them in a separate dimension where they would remain fresh and hot as the day I stored them and can be retrieved anytime.¡±

    Fenix looked at Anton with awe when the boy heard that he had his separate dimension.

    ¡°Oh Lunelle, I forgot to ask. Can you and Devon ask someone to build us more toilet cum buckets so we can have more especially if there¡¯s going to be more of us. You know what never mind. I think I need to speak to your father or mother first to learn how to handle our toilet situation. Just order more food but more variety if they could please. Thanks.¡±

    Lunelle just nodded and then she talked to the cook. After that, they all went outside the inn where the others were waiting.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Budolf?¡± Anton asked Devon.

    ¡°He went and hired a carriage for us since Sir Anders is using your carriage and the adventurer¡¯s guild is pretty far away from here.¡±

    After a few minutes of waiting, a carriage stopped in front of them and Budolf jumped down from the driver¡¯s seat. Anton, Anna, Lunell, and Fenix went inside the carriage while Devon and Budolf followed riding their horses. According to Budolf, it would take thirty minutes for the carriage to arrive in the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    ¡°I was hoping to just walk there so we can check out the scenery in the city,¡± Anton commented.

    ¡°It would be tiring to just walk there and you can check out the scenery through the window,¡± Fenix said.

    While the carriage was driving to their destination, Anton and the rest checked out the city through the carriage window. They passed through a market and Anton wanted to check it out but the smell deterred him. Fenix said that it was a wet market that sold livestock, pork, chicken, beef, fish, and some vegetables that was why it stinks.

 Chapter 103

    Anton was watching the scenery when the carriage suddenly turned into an alley. He then heard Budolf shouting at the carriage driver from the inside of the carriage.

    ¡°Where are you going?!¡±

    ¡°This is a shortcut to the adventurer¡¯s guild,¡± The carriage driver shouted back to Budolf.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not! I¡¯ve been staying here in the city for a few months now and this route led to the slums. You¡¯re leading us into a trap!¡± Budolf shouted at the carriage driver who suddenly whipped the horses to urge the animals to run faster.

    Anton added everyone to his party system and then activated all of his auras which were the Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor Auras. He then shouted at Devon and Budolf.

    ¡°Go wild! I cast my healing spells and you''re immortal!¡±

    The carriage driver stopped the carriage then jumped off but then Anton held the driver using Telekinesis. The man was horrified to learn that he was now unable to move while floating beside the carriage.

    Several men appeared from the surrounding houses and shot arrows toward Devon. Under the horrified eyes of Budolf, the young bodyguard was peppered with arrows but then to everyone¡¯s amazement, the arrows started popping out from Devon¡¯s body and the wounds caused by the arrows rapidly closed and healed within seconds.

    Devon then jumped from his horse and ran fearlessly toward the ambushers. Anton saw through the windows that seven visible men were attacking them and he didn¡¯t know if there were any hidden ones.

    The young bodyguard kept receiving arrows from the enemies and Anton saw his mana decreasing but being refilled fast by the Meditation Aura. Devon didn¡¯t bother dodging the aura since once he was hit, the arrows would just pop out and he would heal rapidly. Anton then wondered if the arrows hurt.

    Budolf remained by the carriage to guard it. At first, he was dodging the arrows but when he saw that Devon wasn¡¯t dodging the arrows at all and that he was healing rapidly, Budolf did the same and this made him fearless as well. Anton could see that the guard had the desire to run and attack as well but he couldn¡¯t leave the carriage in case someone attacked Anton and the other riding it.

    Anna, Lunelle, and Fenix were afraid but when they saw that Anton was calm, they calmed down as well.

    Anton then told Budolf to go ahead and attack and he would handle anyone who would attack the carriage. Budolf gave in to his desire and ran towards the enemies and began rampaging.

    To make sure that no one would attack the carriage, Anton teleported outside and floated on top of the carriage. He activated the effects of his buff spells to make sure that he was visible to everyone.  He did receive a few arrow shots but when the enemies saw that the arrows were being deflected and not going through, those who fired their bows at him stopped.

    Anton didn¡¯t attack anyone and allowed the two guards to have their fill of their desire to do carnage.  Devon and Budolf were fighting seven men but some were firing arrows at them from the windows in some of the houses.

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    After a few minutes, Devon killed three men and Budolf killed two men. The rest of the enemy began running away.

    Anton was glad to see that Devon and Budolf didn¡¯t chase the enemy who ran and that meant that they were still aware of their surroundings.

    Devon and Budolf saw Anton floating on top of the carriage like the powerful wizard that he was and then noticed the carriage driver also floating by the side.

    Anton floated down and went to talk to Devon and Budolf.

    ¡°Your healing spells are mighty Sir Anton,¡± Devon praised him with the same sentence again.

    ¡°That was the first time I felt that I could conquer the world. I ignored every wound that I received since they were healing so fast and just continued on rampaging.  I¡¯m not even feeling tired right now!¡± Budolf said, exhilarated with his first experience fighting enemies under Anton¡¯s auras.

    ¡°You have to take care not to get far away from me since once you¡¯re out of my spell range, you will turn back into being mortals,¡± Anton told Budolf.

    ¡°That¡¯s the reason I didn¡¯t chase the other bandits,¡± Devon said.

    While they were talking with each other, a company of guards arrived. Anton guessed that since they were still in the city proper and not yet fully inside the slums the guards arrived fast.

    ¡°Budolf, go ahead and talk to the city guards. I don¡¯t want to talk to them,¡± Anton said then he climbed the carriage.

    Anton then told Anna, Lunelle, and Fenix what happened, and all of them were relieved that the dangerous situation was over. After a few minutes, Devon knocked on the carriage door.

    ¡°Sir Anton, the city guards are requesting you to release the carriage driver so they can go and bring him in for interrogation. One of the ambushers is also still alive and they¡¯re asking if you could heal the man since he would certainly die before the healer arrives,¡± Devon said through the door.

    Anton stepped out of the carriage and floated the carriage driver till he was with the guards then dropped him off in their midst. The city guard then tied the carriage driver¡¯s arms. He then went to the ambusher that was still alive.

    He saw that either Devon or Budolf cut off his arms. He asked the city guards to bring the wounded man near him and the guard protested that moving the bandit would kill him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care just move him near here.,¡± Anton sternly said.

    Anna, Lunelle, and Fenix stepped out of the carriage as well to watch what was happening.  When Anna and Lunelle saw the wounded man, they cried out although looking at the girls, Anton was sure that they were just acting out since they had seen many more terrible things, especially Anna.

    Anton added the wounded man to his party system and to the amazement of the city guards and Budolf, the wounded man healed rapidly, even his arms regenerated like a lizard¡¯s tail.

    ¡°A miracle!¡± One of the city guards shouted and Anton just snorted.  After the man was fully healed, he woke up, cried out, and looked at his fully healed arm in amazement. He then looked at Anton in awe.

    One of the guards then whispered to the previously wounded ambusher, ¡°So stupid attacking a wizard.¡±

    Anton and the others then went inside the carriage allowing Budolf and Devon to talk with the guards.

    ¡°Brother, who¡¯s going to drive the carriage?¡± Anna then asked.

    ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Let Devon and Budolf solve it.¡±

    After a few minutes, Budolf entered the carriage to talk to Anton.

    ¡°The guards said that they would report the results of their interrogation and investigation later at the inn. One of the city guards also volunteered to be our carriage driver.¡±

    ¡°Fine with me,¡± Anton said.

    The carriage then started moving after a couple of minutes and they continued their travel to the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    ¡°With the way people react to my magic, I¡¯m getting an inkling that we would encounter difficulty in finding a wizard tutor for us,¡± Anton said to Anna.

    ¡°They¡¯re reacting to your magic that way Anton because your magic is incredibly powerful. The wizard friend of my uncle only showed us one magic and that was a bolt of fire coming out from his finger hitting a flying bird and that was it,¡± Fenix said.

    Anton then mentioned that they didn¡¯t need someone powerful, just someone who could teach them the basics so they could utilize the spell books they had received and Fenix assured him that since they were just looking for novice mages, they would surely be able to find one in the guild.

 Chapter 104

    While they were traveling towards the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to look for a novice wizard to Anton and Anna¡¯s tutor, Fenix asked the girls some questions regarding their journey.

    ¡°Was that normal? You encountering danger all the time?¡±

    ¡°Well, the first monsters we encountered were ghouls but Anton killed them without any problem. Then there¡¯s a vampire. After that, there was a bunch of bandits who were actually werewolves. Then some vampires again with ghouls. What¡¯s next? Ah yes then liches with vampires and all sorts of undead then the last one was an army of monsters attacking a merchant caravan,¡± Anna absently described the enemies they encountered.

    Fenix''s jaw dropped when he heard what type of monsters Anton¡¯s group encountered on the road and based on Lunelle¡¯s expression, she already knew since Anna probably told her already.

    ¡°If you¡¯re regular people then you wouldn¡¯t have survived!¡± Fenix exclaimed.

    Anna suddenly became sad when she heard that and Anton realized that the girl knew that more than likely all of her friends from the village were either dead or enslaved.

    Anton tapped Anna¡¯s head to console her.

    ¡°Did you finish the second book of the Belgariad Series? Do you want me to write the fourth and fifth books?¡± Anton asked his sister to change the topic.

    ¡°What is a Belgariad Series?¡± Fenix asked.

    Suddenly both Anna and Lunelle came alive then excitedly described the adventures of Garion and his immortal sorceress Aunt Polgara to Fenix. Anton couldn¡¯t help but smile at the garbled telling of the story by the two girls and even though it was confusing, it caught the interest of their city guide.

    ¡°I wish I could purchase that book. It would probably cost a lot of gold coins,¡± Fenix sadly said.

    Anton then remembered that the cost of even the most boring books was prohibitively expensive in this world.

    ¡°Even if you have all the treasures in the world you will not be able to buy them since it was written by a famous author called David Eddings and only Anton can copy it!¡± Anna boasted.

    Anna then showed her notebook to Fenix.

    ¡°The writings are so beautiful!¡± Fenix said while perusing the notebook.

    ¡°Right? I¡¯m so impressed with my brother¡¯s handwriting. It¡¯s so beautiful.¡±

    ¡°You wrote this?!¡± Fenix asked Anton and he just nodded.

    ¡°You could be a scribe!¡±

    ¡°He could actually be a lot of things. A scribe as you have said, a bard, a poet, an author, and possibly more,¡± Lunelle said while shaking her head.

    ¡°I can only become a wizard since that¡¯s what I am and besides, those songs that I sang and the books that I wrote are not mine. I just copied them,¡± Anton said.

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    ¡°Anna kept boasting how good a singer you are but I haven¡¯t heard you yet. Can you sing a song?¡± Fenix requested.

    ¡°Maybe later. We¡¯re here!¡± Anton said when he felt the carriage stopping.

    They all stepped out from the carriage and looked at the building that housed the Adventurers¡¯ Guild. It was huge looking like one of those government buildings in Anton¡¯s previous world. The only difference was that the building was not made of concrete but of wood and stone and other medieval stuff materials that he didn¡¯t know.

    Even though this was the first time Anton saw an actual Adventurer¡¯s guild, it looked familiar. It looked almost exactly the same as how the animes depicted them and he was again impressed at the imagination of his previous world authors. Anton couldn¡¯t really believe that those authors, especially the original ones who first thought of the concept of adventurer and adventurer¡¯s guild weren¡¯t influenced by a wizard from another world.

    When they entered the building Anton could see some counters and some tables and chairs by the side and the mission billboard for adventurers on one of the walls. He was betting that the grade of the mission and adventurer levels would be the same as in the novels and mangas which were F to triple S and when he perused the mission, he unsurprisingly won the bet with himself.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that lowest level mission and lowest level adventurer were graded as F and the highest would be triple S, although the highest I could see here is B,¡± Anton asked Fenix and it was Budolf who answered.

    ¡°You are correct Sir Anton but normal people will only know that the highest was A. It¡¯s not well known that the highest was actually triple S although I was informed by someone that there¡¯s a higher one than that but I don¡¯t know how they grade it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s ¡°EX¡±,¡± Anton snickered then Budolf just shrugged.

    After checking out the board, Anton and the rest went to one of the counters. He was glad that the counters were large enough that they could accommodate the whole group and the lady behind the counter allowed them to be together. He was expecting the lady to shout ¡°One at a time¡± or something like that.

    ¡°How may I help you sir?¡± The lady behind the counter asked.

    The counter lady looked like a typical secretary but wearing an expensive-looking outfit from the city.

    ¡°I would like to hire a novice wizard or whatever you call a beginner wizard to be a long-term beginner magic tutor. The wizard will be highly compensated including food and board but we¡¯re a traveling merchant caravan so he would need to travel with us. We will only stay in the city for three more days so we would like the advertisement to be that long. How much will it be?

    ¡°To advertise for a novice wizard to become a tutor for three days, we have two types of packages for you. The first one is what we call the passive package, meaning we will post it on the board on the wall and that will be ten silvers per day. The second one will be the aggressive package. We will utilize our connection to actively look for a qualified novice magician for you. That will cost one gold per day.¡±

    ¡°I would like to choose the Aggressive Package please,¡± Anton answered the lady and gave her three gold coins.

    Anton gave the details of the inn where they were staying to the lady and his name. While the lady was recording the details, she paused when she heard his name.

    ¡°May I ask if you¡¯re the wizard Anton who¡¯s currently staying at the Roaring Lion Inn?¡±

    ¡°Yes, is that a problem?¡±

    ¡°No sir.¡±

    Anton could see that the lady was wondering why he was looking for a novice wizard when he was a wizard himself but he didn¡¯t want to enlighten the clerk so after giving the details to the lady, they all left the counter.

    ¡°It¡¯s still early so what are we going to do next?

    ¡°Let¡¯s tour the rest of the city!¡± Anna suggested.

    Anton was amenable to the idea so he acquiesced with his sister¡¯s suggestion and they planned to tour the city with the guide of Fenix and Budolf who had stayed in the city for quite some time. They stayed in the adventurer¡¯s guild for several more minutes so Anton could peruse the types of missions available on the wall.

    The most common missions that he could see were bodyguard missions. There were bodyguards needed to keep a noble safe or a caravan safe, things like that. Then there were requests for assistance in exploring ancient ruins. Interestingly there were also missions to kill monsters and undead and the beginner ones that were a staple of isekai and adventure fantasy animes, the herb gathering missions.

 Chapter 105

    Anton enjoyed perusing the content of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild mission board. He saw someone from the guild posting his request in a prominent area as well and it was tagged as E class mission but the notice had a golden frame.

    ¡°What does a golden frame mean?¡± Anton asked the man who was posting the notice.

    ¡°It meant that it¡¯s a mission that¡¯s being recommended by the guild and that the reward would be attractive,¡± The man said.

    Anton smiled when he heard that. After the notice was posted, he saw that a lot of adventurers gathered to check it out since it was only an E-class mission but had a golden frame.

    When he was done checking out the notice board, Anton went to the table where the others were waiting and saw that a lot of adventurers were surrounding their group and learned that they were interested in Lunelle and talking to her to ask her out or something. Everyone was respectful though but more than likely, it was because of the presence of Devon and Budolf.

    Anna was giggling at the men¡¯s interest in Lunelle and Lunelle was blushing. Anton admitted that Lunelle was pretty especially after she started drinking and bathing in mana water.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready to go,¡± Anton told everyone.

    Lunelle stood up immediately and almost ran outside. Fenix and Anna giggled when they saw that and Devon laughed outright. When they arrived at the carriage Anton saw that the driver was different and when Budolf saw that he noticed, their guard explained that the driver was someone they hired on the city guard¡¯s recommendation. Anton just nodded and climbed on the carriage followed by his sister, Lunelle, and Fenix.

    ¡°I recommend that we visit the Noble¡¯s Bazaar. It¡¯s a high-end bazaar-like street but it caters to the rich folks,¡± Fenix said.

    ¡°We can do that but let¡¯s start with a bazaar or a marketplace that caters to poor to ordinary men first then once we''re done with that place we then go to the high-end one,¡± Anton said.

    Fenix said affirmative and went to the window that could be used to communicate with the carriage driver and told the man where their next destination was.

    After several minutes, the carriage stopped, and the driver loudly informed them that they had arrived.

    They all stepped out of the carriage and Anton saw they were on an entrance of a wide street made of cobblestones. The stalls were made of dilapidated wood and some of the merchants just laid their wares on blankets.

    ¡°If you¡¯re carrying coin purses, you have to give them to someone who can keep them without a pickpocket stealing them,¡± Fenix advised everyone.

    Anna and Lunelle gave their purses to Budolf and everyone knew that Anton had some sort of magical pocket. He wondered why the girls didn¡¯t give their purses to him.

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    The first stall that they went to was some kind of miscellaneous stall since the merchant¡¯s stall was filled with all sorts of things like jewelry, scarves, knives, toys, some sort of board games and playing cards, hand mirrors, and more. Anton whispered to everyone to recommend items that he could purchase that would be worth a lot of coins if it were repaired to perfection as if was just created and everyone nodded.

    Anton gave another purse to Fenix filled with one hundred silver coins and told the guide to act as his finance manager. Fenix nodded and told him that it was not going to be a problem.

    Looking at the items on the merchant stall, the merchant kept spouting nonsense about his items but nobody was listening to him. Everything looked interesting to Anton but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have any kind of remote identification spell. He would only know the details of an item once he stored it in his inventory and of course, he could not do that while the merchant¡¯s eyes were on them.

    On the first stall, they only purchased three items. Unfortunately for Devon, he was assigned to carry the items everyone had purchased. The next stall they went to was just a blanket on the ground but the items were interesting since they all looked very old like old jewelry boxes, antique dolls, ancient knives, and so forth and on since they all cost so cheap, Anton purchased many of the items to the delight of the merchant.

    They went through to all the merchant¡¯s stalls and the merchants learned that somebody rich was purchasing a lot of their items and that the buyer was not meticulous about buying anything that caught their fancy, even the most broken and dilapidated products.

    Soon everyone was carrying a lot of bags and things they had purchased except for Anton. They needed to go back to the carriage to put the items that they had purchased there then went back on going through to all the merchant¡¯s stalls.

    They spent around three hours buying things from the bazaar and when they completed their shopping spree, it was already one in the afternoon and everyone was hungry. In the carriage, Anton kept all the things that they had purchased in his private stash inside the game and they went to a restaurant that Fenix recommended.

    Fenix informed them that the restaurant was somewhere his uncle¡¯s wizard friend always frequented and this would be the first time he would experience eating there since the restaurant was very expensive.

    They did enjoy the food that was served to them but Fenix was right, it was very expensive and to Anna¡¯s very vocal opinion, it was not worth it.

    They did enjoy the food regardless if it were worth the coin or not and after eating, Anton decided to go back to their inn so he could rest. The actual reason was Anton was getting antsy about not entering the world of Diablo II and not increasing his strength.

    Anna was still adamant about watching the theater and to be honest, Anton was interested in seeing it as well but he wanted to rest first before going to the theater. He also wanted to repair all the items that they purchased and they still had three more days in the city before they left.

    Anton¡¯s sister was disappointed to learn that they would be returning to the inn early but after he told her that he wanted to rest before going to the theater that night, the statement consoled the girl.

    She then talked to Lunelle about what dress they would wear to the theater and Fenix expressed interest in going with them so Anton told the boy that he could go.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t gone to the city theater yet since it cost a lot of coins and not only that they wouldn¡¯t just let anyone enter it even though you have coins,¡± Fenix said.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re discriminating against poor people?¡± Anton asked and the boy just nodded.

    ¡°Honestly, I just want to take a look to compare their actors to ours and see if there¡¯s any difference,¡± Fenix added.

    When they arrived at the inn the first thing that Anton did was to tell everyone that he would be meditating for a couple of hours and to not disturb him then he went directly to the bathroom to take a bath.

 Chapter 106

    Anton decided to enter Act II Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II game since he had three hours before he prepared himself to join Anna and the others in watching a play in the theater. He wondered if Anders and the other adults would join them but he was betting that they wouldn¡¯t and would busy themselves in accounting.

    The first thing that he did was do the Radament¡¯s Lair mission since the additional skill from the skill book that was inside the treasure chest near Radament would be useful.

    Anton was having so much fun killing the monsters inside the sewer since he was getting skillful in wielding his spells. It was inherently different casting the spells personally because he could feel the mana surging through his veins and the fact that he could use multiple spells at the same time made it easier even though his spells¡¯ level was low since his skill points were spread out to all the skills. The only spells that he didn¡¯t put a point into were the Thunder Storm spell and the two other cold shield spells which were the Shiver Armor and the Chilling Armor.

    He also planned to increase his Telekinesis spell level since the spell was very useful in real life. He kept utilizing it for offense, defense, and flight. He would probably put the next ten skill points on the said spell.

    The monsters in the sewers like the Burning Dead, Burning Dead Archer, and the others were truly horrifying in person. When you were fighting them when you were behind a computer, you could accept the fact that monsters were just something you needed to defeat to increase your level and get loot but confronted by their terrifying visage in person would probably make those of faint of heart cower.

    The sewers in Lut Gholein were also a terrifying place when you explore them in person. The dim corridors that would suddenly contain monsters were the stuff of horror films and Anton was glad that the mercenary was with him although he almost wished that he had chosen Necromancer instead of the Sorceress since it would probably be comforting to be surrounded by an army instead of one dude still he chose the sorceress since wielding elemental magic was still his favorite thing to do when it came to playing games and he guessed when it came to doing it in real life as well.

    The fact that he could Teleport and Fly by using Telekinesis made the combat much more engaging and doing it that way allowed him to learn how to utilize his spells expertly. It did take a while for him to reach Radament and kill the unique monster and then he put the skill point that he earned Telekinesis.

    Anton checked the time and it was already six in the evening. He went to the Rogue Encampment since it was still his favorite place to hang out when not adventuring in the world of Sanctuary. He didn¡¯t earn a level though which was normal since he was already level sixty-four and was only in Act II Nightmare Difficulty. It would probably take intense grinding before he leveled up again especially if there¡¯s no way to increase the difficulty using console command. He wondered why his Diablo II system didn¡¯t allow him to do it since according to the FAQs, the game would be almost exactly the same as the game in his old world.

    It would have been better if the game had the ¡°player x¡± command to increase the difficulty since it would also increase the drop quantity which would be helpful for him in real life although considering that he couldn¡¯t min max, he would experience greater difficulty in playing the game if something like ¡°Players 8¡± was enabled.

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    ¡°Still the option to increase the number of players would help me a lot,¡± Anton thought.

    More than likely, if that option were enabled, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do players eight and would probably stick to players three or four instead due to his scattered skill points to different spells. On the other hand, playing the game personally gave him options in killing the monsters that were not available when he was playing behind a computer or even the on-screen option like utilizing his Telekinesis to fly and even hold monsters and then bombard them with spells.

    He was about to minimize the game when he parked his character beside his private stash when he saw a notification icon blinking in the corner of his view. When he opened it, it was an announcement from his Diablo II system. The last time he received an announcement was when the game increased his private stash and inventory.

    This time, it announced that it would enable the option for him to activate players one to eight through a button, increasing the difficulty and item quantity drop but it mentioned that the option would only be enabled once he completed Act II Nightmare Difficulty.

    It also stated that once he changed the difficulty of the game, it would remain the same difficulty unless he exited the game and switched from Normal to Nightmare to Hell and vice versa.

    That meant that he couldn¡¯t just make it so that the easy section of the maps could be set to players eight difficulty and then lower it down to one when he arrived at the boss location.

    Anton was excited when he read the announcement and that confirmed the fact that his Diablo II system would change depending on his needs. He was really thankful for his golden finger and wondered if it were true that all transmigrators would receive one. He then wondered if there were others like him in this world.

    When Anders mentioned that some others experienced amnesia in his village when the plague struck them, he wondered then if those people were the same as them but then the Undead Coalition struck and they had to leave. Whatever happened to them, be they transmigrators or not, he wished them good luck in their lives.

    When Anton minimized the game, he went outside the room and saw that Anna and Lunelle were already dressed to the nines.

    ¡°Anton you¡¯re still not dressed yet! We¡¯re about to leave for the theater!¡± Anna complained.

    Anton saw that Anders, Nemina, and Lucas were busy looking at the accounting books and that implied that their father permitted them to visit the theater. He went back inside the room to change his clothes to something acceptable for the theater.

    When he returned outside, the inn¡¯s attendant already served their dinner on the table so everyone went there and started eating. Anders and Nemina were talking about the coins they earned after selling all of their stocks and they kept mentioning that the amount was astronomical.

    Anton also saw that Fenix was dressed formally for the theaters and their city guide mentioned that the clothes came from their stock.

    ¡°Tomorrow we will start purchasing things to create a merchant caravan and it would be best if you stay here and repair the items that we will be bringing so we can store them on the carriages,¡± Andres told his son.

    ¡°We will also begin purchasing a lot of other necessities like food that can be cooked by the caravan people and spices,¡± Nemina added.

    Anton told his father that he would remain at the inn the next day and would just meditate. They just need to wake him up from his meditation if they need something from him.

    That meant that he couldn¡¯t play the game virtually the next day but use the on-screen option only.

 Chapter 107

    Anton saw that everyone was excited about attending the theater so when they went outside the inn and entered the carriage, all of them were full of energy. Even Anton had never seen an actual play done by professionals. He did see one done by students in his high school but after that, he never had the time nor the money to see one in a live theater. He did see some over the internet so he wasn¡¯t totally inexperienced but according to the forums, experiencing a live theater play was different from watching it on a television or the computer.

    ¡°What is the show about?¡± Anton asked Fenix.

    ¡°It¡¯s a love story between the children of rival noble houses! Apparently, the rivalry was so deep that the lovers could only meet secretly. The title of the play is Rival Lovers,¡± Anna answered for Fenix.

    Anton was stunned to hear that the play was basically Romeo and Juliet and thought that more than likely, the similarity of the premise was due to the commonality of the topics that were available for writers.

    They arrived at the theater with enough time so they went inside after Devon gave their tickets to the person handling them. The seats that they purchased were fairly close to the stage so they would be able to see everything without any problem.

    After a few minutes, the play started. Anton and the others watched it with wide eyes and bated breath. Even he who was spoiled with countless entertainment due to his access to the Internet ever since he was young couldn¡¯t help but agree that watching a play live was more exciting compared to watching one on a screen. The stage had this energy that surrounded the actors.

    Although Anton thought that it would be like Romeo and Juliet, the play was vastly different. After the play was done, they all went outside with Anna, Lunelle, and Fenix talking non-stop about the show with Anton interjecting some of his opinions.

    They then went to a nearby restaurant to eat since everyone was feeling a bit famished. They enjoyed the food that was served then they all went back to the inn to rest. When they arrived in the inn, Fenix said his goodbye then they all went to their suite.

    They saw that Anders, Nemina, and Lucas were still reviewing the account books and counting the coins they earned. Anton figured that it would probably take a while before they retired so he went directly to the room he shared with his father, planning to enter the game and continue playing.

    He continued playing Act II of the Nightmare Difficulty and it took him a couple of hours before reaching the waypoint near the Hall of the Dead. After that, he decided to stop playing and rest so he went back to the Rogue Encampment to park his character beside the private stash.

    After browsing the internet for a few minutes, Anton slept. When he went outside the room the next day, everyone was gone. He went to the common room downstairs and he found Anna, Fenix, and Devon eating breakfast so he joined them.

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    ¡°Where¡¯s Lunelle?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Nemina said that she could use Lanelle¡¯s help but Father said that we will a lot of people soon.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to roam the city today Fenix.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about him brother since I asked him to guide us while you help father later.¡±

    Anton rolled his eyes when he heard that so after breakfast, he went back upstairs to wait for the others to bring in the items they purchased for repair. In the meantime, he laid out all the items that they purchased from the bazaar and started repairing them one by one. It took him less than an hour to have Charsi repair everything but looking at the new items on the floor, he was happy with the items that they purchased since they looked like treasure instead of garbage anymore.

    Lucas then arrived with Colin and some people bringing with them some large chests.

    ¡°What are those?¡± Colin asked when he saw the items on the floor.

    ¡°Those are the items that we purchased on the market yesterday.¡±

    ¡°These are the items that needed to be repaired and most of them are old and broken,¡± Lucas said.

    Anton just nodded when he heard it and asked Lucas to leave Colin with him so he would have an assistant.

    ¡°What is Father and Nemina doing right now?¡±

    ¡°They were talking to a merchant about buying their carriages. We managed to purchase a couple of carriages and one cart already and we already hired a few people. Your father is still planning to buy more,¡± Lucas answered and after that, he went outside their suite together with the people who carried the trunks to join Anders and Nemina.

    Anton then asked Colin to carefully put the newly repaired items from the Market into a large chest so the others could peruse them and check their value. He then opened one of the chests that Lucas brought. There were a total of five chests already and they had only begun buying things for a few hours.

    ¡°Where do these items come from?¡± Anton asked Colin.

    ¡°We went to the stores near the slums and these were brought out by the merchants there. They were actually more like garbage already and they were happy that someone was buying them in bulk.¡±

    Anton began repairing the items from the first trunk and it actually him thirty minutes to finish one chest of items. The repaired items were then put back on the trunk and Colin dragged it to the place they assigned to completed projects. He then started on the next one. He was so glad that he didn¡¯t have to touch the dirty equipment since he was using Telekinesis all the time and once Charsi repaired an item, it was fully clean.

    That¡¯s the reason why before they put the repaired item on a trunk, he also repaired the chest so the newly repaired items would be put on a newly repaired and clean chests.

    It was lunchtime when Anton repaired all of the items and he and Colin congratulated each other. Anna, Lunelle, Fenix, and Devon arrived and they saw the new chests on the floor.

    ¡°Ooh, new things!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Lunelle, you¡¯re here? I thought you joined your mother in dealing with the merchants?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°She hired a secretary so she allowed me to return,¡± Lunelle answered.

    Anton then pointed at a couple of chests where he put the newly repaired items from the market that they had purchased and Anna rushed to them followed by Lunelle and Fenix.

    ¡°I already ordered lunch and the attendant should arrive soon,¡± Devon said to Anton.

    ¡°Good since I¡¯m so hungry. Colin and I had been busy repairing things all morning.¡± Anton said while he slouched on the couch. After a couple of minutes, he joined the others in examining the items from the bazaar.

    Anton could see that Fenix was wide-eyed while the girls were checking the items since he was there when they were purchased and he knew what the items looked like. He remembered that the others ignored him when Fenix asked why they were purchasing old items and some of them were so old that they could only be called garbage and now everything looked new.

 Chapter 108

    Anton saw that Anna and Lunelle were enjoying looking at the beautiful trinkets that they had purchased from the low-end bazaar and Anna kept choosing items and claiming that it was now hers. Whenever Lunelle showed an interest in one of the items, Anna gave it to her without any hesitation.

    ¡°If you sell those, you¡¯ll earn a lot of gold coins!¡± Fenix told the girls.

    The girls ignored Fenix and kept on checking out the various items.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that Fenix since when we purchased the items yesterday, we had the intention of keeping them to ourselves. Those are the items that we would sell. You can check them out if you want to,¡± Anton pointed at the chests that had the repaired items already.

    Fenix looked interested so he approached the chest and Devon joined him. When they opened the chests, their expressions were just the same as the girls when they were perusing the knick-knacks they bought from the bazaar that was now fully repaired.

    Anton could hear Devon and Fenix talking to each other about how beautiful the weapons and the armor sets were and they also talked about the probable value of the items. A knock then came from the door and Colin let the waiters enter to lay down their lunch on the table. Anton and Colin sat on the chairs at the dining table and then called the others but they told him to eat first since they were not done examining the items.

    Anton just shrugged and together with Colin started eating. After they were done eating, Lucas came in bringing a few more chests carried by men he assumed as their newly hired attendants. Lucas then saw Devon and Fenix examining the newly repaired items so he joined them.

    He couldn¡¯t help but smile when Anton saw the men checking out the weapons and the armor sets because they looked like children examining a chest full of toys. Even the girls were the same since they were still perusing the items they purchased from the bazaar.

    With the help of Colin and some of the guys that Lucas brought in, they laid down the newly brought items then Anton began the process of having Charsi repair the items one by one. Before he brought one item from his inventory out, Lucas ran and stopped him. Then he told the men that he brought to get out of the suite.

    ¡°What happened? It thought those were the men Father hired?¡± He asked Lucas.

    ¡°They were but your father told us to tell you not to show anyone else your repair magic.¡±

    ¡°Well, the only new one who knew is Fenix so go talk to him and tell him not to spread it out.¡±

    Lucas then went to Fenix and talked to him and since the new men were not there anymore, Anton continued repairing the new items. There were also five new chests so after repairing a few items, he repaired the chest so Colin could put the newly repaired items into the chest.

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    It took Anton another couple of hours to complete repairing all of the newly brought items and he didn¡¯t notice that Lucas had already left. After repairing all of the items, he saw that the others were also checking out the newly repaired items so he went to the bathroom that was located in the bedroom he shared with his Father and took a bath.

    While he was soaking in the bath filled with mana water that he conjured, he opened his internet browser and checked out the newly announced anime that was coming out.

    After his bath, he went and rested on the bed while watching an anime. Soon Anders called from outside the room so he closed his browser and went outside.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you already repaired the items son and you even repaired the chests! We managed to purchase three carriages and two carts and we specifically chose those old and worn-out carriages and carts so we could save some gold coins,¡± Anton¡¯s father told him.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re not letting others see me repair items?¡±

    ¡°The carriages are different and we¡¯ll do it once no one is looking on the day of our departure.¡±

    ¡°Are you still planning to purchase more?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and we will also begin purchasing other items aside from weapons and armor tomorrow. We also hired a lot of people we have a lot of attendants now who will do all the chores and we also hired a few more mercenaries as our bodyguards. Lucas will be their captain.¡±

    Anton paused a bit and asked to talk to his father inside the room.

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, son?¡±

    ¡°Father, I will still need to focus on my meditations and that means that I will not be able to focus on our business. You don¡¯t need to tell me the details, just ask me to repair the items that need to be repaired. I would also suggest that you begin purchasing regular products and have the repaired items as a supplement.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to tell me that son since that was my plan all along. We would still need you to repair a lot of things at the beginning since we still need to build our capital but once our merchant company is big enough, you will not need to do it anymore someday. Also, once we leave the city, we will begin conducting as a regular merchant caravan so our food and water will be handled by our attendants. You don¡¯t need to know the details but of course, I would suggest that you still store a lot of cooked food in your magical space for emergencies.¡±

    Anton thanked his father then Anders continued telling his son his plans.

    ¡°You can still provide mana water for our family and Lucas¡¯s family and everyone else who knew about it but for our regular employees, we will begin collecting water and food normally. We will also need to travel normally and no more rushing about. Although we heard that the Holy City of Tiande was already at war with the Undead Coalition so we will leave the day after tomorrow.¡±

    Anton and Anders left the room after they talked so they could eat dinner with the others. He saw that Nemina, Lunelle, and a couple of other women who more than likely were the secretaries that Anders and Nemina hired were cataloguing all the items that were repaired by him.

    He also saw that there were a few more chests by the side of the room that needed to be repaired. Anton could differentiate them since the chests that he repaired looked brand new while the new ones were battered.

    ¡°Tomorrow, Nemina and I will separate. I will handle buying more carriages and carts and Nemina will handle buying items. I hired a few people who will assist me and so has Nemina,¡± Anders told Anton while they were eating.

    ¡°All of the people we hired are committed to moving with us and most of them would be bringing their family with them. A lot of people were aware that the Holy City of Tiande and The Undead Coalition were at war but that war would probably take a long time since the Holy City is also very powerful,¡± Nemina added.

    Anton saw that Anna and Lunelle had worried looks on their faces but suddenly felt relieved when they heard that the war between Tiande and the Undead Coalition would take a while before they reached this city and by then they would be long gone.

 Chapter 109

    After dinner, Anders and Nemina went back to cataloging all the repaired items while Anton began repairing the items that needed to be repaired. He wanted to complete them as soon as possible since he still wanted to tour the city the next day.

    While repairing the items, Anton heard Nemina asking Lunelle to purchase items that could be repaired like old clothing and other accessories. Devon and two other guards would accompany her as her guards while four other assistants would help her. Anna then declared that she would also assist Lunelle.

    Anders suddenly asked what he would be doing the next day and Anton said that he would tour the city with Fenix and that he didn¡¯t need any bodyguard and his father just nodded.

    ¡°Be sure to be back after lunch since you will still need to repair a lot of things. We should be done by tomorrow and leave the day after,¡± Anders said.

    A few minutes passed by and they were all busy except for Anna who went back to reading the book that Anton made for her about Garion¡¯s adventure. Fenix for some reason was still there and everybody just left him alone. He was inspecting the items that were being cataloged as well as the items that Anton was repairing.

    Suddenly they heard a knock on the door and Devon went to check out who it was and it was one of the guards that Lucas hired. The guard said that a wizard was applying for the job that ¡°Sir Anton¡± posted on the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    Anton was surprised since he thought that nobody would apply since there was a surprising scarcity of mages in this city. Just to be safe, he cast Energy Shield and Frozen Armor but made sure that the special effects of the skills were turned off. He also added his father, Anna, Lucas, Nemina, Lunelle, Devon, and Colin to his party system and activated all of his auras which were the Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor auras just to make sure everyone would be safe. Unfortunately for Fenix, he wasn¡¯t added to the party system since Anton could only add up to seven people.

    After his preparation, he nodded to his father and Anders allowed Devon to let the wizard in.

    The wizard was young. He looked like he was only a few years older than Devon, around in his late twenties. He had blonde hair and was short which was a head shorter than Devon and was very skinny. The wizard was also wearing a pair of glasses which made him look very nerdy.

    Anton saw that the mage was nervous since everyone was staring at him. He stood up and greeted the wizard while shaking hands.

    ¡°Good evening sir. My name is Anton and I was the one who posted the request in the adventurer¡¯s guild. Have you eaten yet?¡±

    The wizard shook his head so Anton asked Devon to order food from the inn downstairs and then he invited the wizard to sit at the dining table.

    ¡°My name is Frederick. I¡¯m a novice mage and I memorized six-cantrip-level spells. I can teach the ancient dragon language to aspiring mages.¡± The wizard said.

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    That introduction alone answered some of Anton¡¯s questions regarding magic. That meant that he was correct to assume that magic spell books were written using an ancient language and based on what Frederick said, it was the dragon language. He also mentioned that it was ancient so he wondered if it was different from the current one that was being used by the dragons.

    The wizard also mentioned that he memorized six spells although it was only cantrip-level spells and wondered if he was young or old for a novice wizard.  But the most important part was he was able to teach the ancient dragon language which Anton assumed was the language used on the spell books that they had gotten from the vampires.

    ¡°Frederick as you know we¡¯re a traveling merchant caravan and the next city that we need to go to is the merchant city of Ruandelle. That meant that you will need to teach me and my sister while we¡¯re on the road, is that going to be a problem for you?¡±

    ¡°Sir Anton, I want to be honest with you. As a wizard, I¡¯m very weak and not capable of powerful offensive magic. That meant that I could only be a tutor and would not be able to help in any way in defending the caravan. Is that okay?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°Of course, that will not be a problem. As I¡¯ve said in the advertisement that I posted in the adventurer¡¯s guild, we¡¯re looking for a tutor, not someone who can fight.¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°I also heard rumors, sir, that you¡¯re a very powerful wizard yourself. Why do you need a novice mage tutor, If I may ask?¡± Fred asked nervously and Anton smiled to put the mage at ease.

    ¡°Yes I¡¯m a powerful caster but my magic is what you may call bloodline magic or personal magic that cannot be taught. My sister wanted to become a mage and I¡¯m curious if I can learn the standard magic aside from my own. We already have a few spell books and when I checked them out, I couldn¡¯t understand them. That¡¯s where you will come in.¡±

    The dinner that Anton ordered for Frederick arrived so they paused their talk to allow the wizard to eat. At first, Anton thought that the wizard would eat with dignity befitting a respected mage so he couldn¡¯t wait to observe how the mage would eat but then suddenly the mage started eating and all dignity went out of the window. Even Anna stared when he saw how the young mage ate.  He looked like he only started eating after starving for a few days and wasn¡¯t embarrassed at the least of other people observing him eat and that meant that the man was truly hungry.

    Anton then thought of the fact that the man, even though he was a mage was probably very poor and he felt a little bit of pity for the wizard. After the food was devoured, Frederick suddenly remembered himself and blushed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sir Anton. I just arrived in the city and I haven¡¯t eaten for more than a day.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. This is one of the spell books that we receive. Can you check if it''s using the ancient dragon language that you mentioned,¡± Anton then gave the Mage Light spell book to Frederick for the young wizard to inspect.

    Frederick checked the spell book for a few seconds then gave it back to Anton.

    ¡°That¡¯s a standard spell book. I can teach the language and you and your sister will become mages once you learn the language and start memorizing spell books. Honestly, the most difficult part in the beginning was learning the language and once you learned it, you will just need to memorize the spell books, and depending on your talent, you will start to cast spells as soon as possible.¡±

    Anton was satisfied when he heard that and he couldn¡¯t wait to start learning the language.

    ¡°There¡¯s one thing that you will need to be aware of before we employ you. As I¡¯ve said I¡¯m a powerful mage and I have spells that I use that would need to be kept a secret. Are you willing to keep it a secret even so far as undergoing a magic oath?¡± Anton bluffed.

    Frederick was taken aback when Anton mentioned an oath but after a few minutes of deliberating, the mage nodded.

 Chapter 110

    When Anton saw that it only took Frederick a couple of minutes to decide to agree to join them as his and Anna¡¯s tutor in basic magic, even though the mage heard Anton mention a magic oath, Anton doubted the mage a bit.

    ¡°As a test, can you cast a non-offensive spell for us?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    The mage smiled when he heard Anton¡¯s request so he said that he would cast the spell Mage Light. Frederick then chanted a spell which took a surprising amount of time for just a Mage Light. It took the mage at least ten seconds of casting before a ball of light appeared on top of his hands. It was only as bright as a candle.

    ¡°Can you increase the brightness and how long does it last?¡± Anton asked the mage.

    ¡°The brightness of the spell depends on the power of the mage. That is as bright as I can make it and for my level, it could only last for ten minutes,¡± Frederick said.

    Anna gasped when she heard what the mage said.

    ¡°Brother, your Fire Ball light is one hundred times brighter and it lasts as long as you want it right?¡±

    Frederick gaped when he heard Anna¡¯s comment regarding Anton¡¯s ¡°Fire Ball¡± spell and saw Anton nodding.

    ¡°Can I see your Fire Ball spell, Sir Anton?¡± Frederick asked.

    Anton cast his Fire Ball spell and controlled the mana to make sure that it would not explode and would be under his control. He controlled the Fire Ball to float above their head and allow it to glow to its maximum brightness and the whole room was like under the sun.

    Frederick gaped when he saw Anton¡¯s spell.

    ¡°You mean it will last as long as you want it to?¡± The mage asked.

    ¡°Yes, but I will need to make sure to leave some part of my consciousness aware of it or else it will dissipate,¡± Anton said, although more than likely, instead of disappearing, it would probably explode.

    That was the reason why he was only using Fire Ball as their mage light when they were outside since if it did explode, no one would be hurt and since it was always floating above them, it wouldn¡¯t damage anything. He always thought that if he needed a light indoors, he would use Fire Bolt instead but since there was never a need to, he hadn¡¯t had the chance to do it.

    That was also the reason why was interested in learning the conventional spell Mage Light since he thought that the spell was just cast and ignored.

    Anton then snuffed the Fire Ball out and Frederick was still gaping at him.

    ¡°So, Fred, can I call you Fred? Have you decided to join us?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Yes Sir Anton, I¡¯ll join your company and you may call me Fred,¡± Frederick said and Anton smiled.

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    ¡°Go talk to my father for the details of your compensation,¡± Anton pointed at his father who was still busy cataloging their items but was still listening to them.

    When Anders heard what Anton said, he paused what he was doing and went to Frederick and invited him to talk in one corner of the suite. Anton went back to repairing the items since there were a lot of them. After a while, he suddenly noticed Frederick looking at what he was doing.

    ¡°What are you doing Sir Anton,¡± the mage asked.

    ¡°This is where the bulk of our gold came from. I have a spell that will allow me to repair any item that I can carry until it''s practically new.¡±

    The mage was flabbergasted when he heard that and got very nervous. More than likely it was because Anton uncandidly shared the family¡¯s secret which meant that Frederick was thinking that a curse was already put on him by Anton that would activate the moment he betrayed the family.

    After an hour of repairing, during one of Anton¡¯s pauses Frederick talked to him.

    ¡°Sir Anton, I have a request. I have a magical artifact that has been in my family for generations. I have never been able to use it since it broke. I don¡¯t even know what it does.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll repair it for you for free.¡±

    Frederick then gave a necklace made of teeth and bone to him. The necklace looked very savage like something a barbarian would wear. When Charsi repaired it, Anton inspected it. It said that it was the Necklace of the Guardian Wolf and it would allow the user to summon a Spirit Wolf for three minutes. It only had three charges though.

    Anton then gave the necklace back to Frederick.

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Necklace of the Guardian Wolf. It would allow you to summon a spirit wolf that will guard you or you can command it to attack your enemy. It would only last for three minutes though and It only had three charges but you don¡¯t need to worry since I can recharge it for you for a fee,¡± Anton told the mage.

    Frederick gasped when he heard the details of his artifact. Anton almost laughed when he heard the mage gasping since he had been doing that quite a lot of times that night.

    Anton saw that the mage kept it somewhere instead of wearing the necklace.

    ¡°Are you not going to wear it? Wear it and summon a wolf, I want to see it then I¡¯ll recharge the necklace for you for free this one time,¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    Everyone who was listening was interested in what the Spirit Wolf would look like so in a fit of showmanship, Frederick the mage walked and stood in the center of the suite and cast the spell from the necklace.

    A huge spirit wolf appeared and it looked intimidating. Everyone praised the spirit wolf as a powerful defender in case of emergency.

    Anton then held the wolf using his Telekinesis.

    ¡°Can you ask it to attack me?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that here, you might damage the room,¡± Anders scolded his son.

    Anton smiled and pacified his father. After three minutes the wolf disappeared and as promised he recharged the mage¡¯s necklace.

    After that brief interruption, Anton went back to repairing the items and it took him an hour more before he completed everything. When he looked up, he saw that he, Anders, Nemina, and Colin were the only ones left in the suite.

    ¡°Where are the others?¡± He asked Colin.

    ¡°They¡¯re already resting, Sir Anton,¡±

    ¡°What about the mage and Fenix?¡±

    ¡°Fenix went home and said that he would be back early tomorrow and the mage rented a room in the inn.¡±

    ¡°I gave him some coins. That mage is so poor which is really unusual,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Is he going to be well compensated, Father?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s ecstatic right now at the amount of gold coins that he would get from me monthly,¡± Anders snorted.

    ¡°I¡¯m done repairing everything. I¡¯m going to rest now and complete my tour of the city tomorrow since it¡¯s going to be our last day.¡±

    Anders just nodded and he and Nemina went back to their account books. He wondered what they were doing since they had been doing it for several hours already but Anton wasn¡¯t interested enough to learn what it was.

    Inside the room, he went to the bathroom to take a bath then once he was lying down on the bed, he watched an anime until sleep claimed him.

 Chapter 111

    Anton woke up the next day at around seven in the morning when he checked the time on his browser. His father wasn¡¯t in the room. He remembered falling asleep alone and he didn¡¯t even feel Anders coming in and now he woke up, his father was gone already. He was not worried about Ander¡¯s health or something like that since every one of them was healthy due to his auras.

    Anton knew that Anders was excited about the merchant empire that he was building and that¡¯s why the man was very energetic. He remembered that once Anders told him that when they settled in a city somewhere, he would buy a mansion for them to live in. Anton¡¯s father was just sad that his mother wouldn¡¯t be with them to share their upcoming prosperity.

    Anders envisioned a grand life for them. Staying at a mansion while doing his merchant business while he and Anna studied to become powerful wizards. He prayed that his father¡¯s ambition would happen and thought that he would do everything he could to realize Ander¡¯s dream.

    Outside the room, everyone was eating breakfast and Fenix was already there as well as their newly hired wizard tutor, Frederick.

    Anton sat beside his Father and started eating breakfast. There were lots of food on the table and it was laid down buffet style. Fenix and Frederick looked like they were competing with each other on who would eat the most.

    ¡°Anton remember to return after lunch so you can start repairing items. You will also need to repair the carriages and carts that we will be using tonight so they will be ready when we leave tomorrow,¡± Anders told him and Anton just nodded.

    Anton took a bath after breakfast then he went downstairs to start his adventure in the city while Fenix was following him.

    ¡°Do you know what my sister will be doing?¡± Anton asked Fenix.

    ¡°Budolf and Kudar will be guarding them while leading them to the high-end bazaar. She was planning to spend this morning shopping there. What about you, where do you want to go first.¡±

    ¡°Where do you suggest we go first?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go visit the church first since you would be able to see great art there like the murals and sculptures. There¡¯s also a chance that we would be lucky to see a healing session by one of the priests there.¡±

    Anton¡¯s interest was raised when Fenix mentioned that he might be able to see priests or clerics performing healing magic. At first, he thought of asking his city guide how healing magic worked. Were they like a wizard who needed to memorize their spells using a spell book or was their magic provided by a deity? Anton decided to hold off on asking since he thought it would be better to ask Frederick once the mage started teaching them since his asking was akin to telling the boy that he didn¡¯t have the common knowledge available to everyone.

    When they arrived at the church, Anton fully expected to be impressed by the building and it didn¡¯t disappoint. The church was a grand structure surrounded by magnificent statues of heroic beings. Anton saw that the church was surrounded by painters trying to paint the statues in their canvasses and could see that the artists were impressive. He didn¡¯t know much about painting but what he saw so far inspired him to talk to the painters.

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    At first, he thought that the painters would rebuff him and tell him they were busy painting but they were surprisingly accommodating. They answered all of his questions without hesitation and when he was one of the painters who had several impressive-looking paintings by his side if he were selling those, the painter suddenly looked like he was injected with chicken blood.

    Fenix then whispered to him that artists were always hungry and everything they did was for sale.

    Anton then purchased several paintings he liked from several artists and allowed Fenix to haggle and pay. Since he bought a total of seven paintings, he asked someone to deliver them to the inn where they were staying for a fee and Fenix was the one who handled the negotiation again.

    The tour guide was very careful with Anton¡¯s coins and Anton thought that Fenix may be thinking that he would be able to keep the coins that would remain once Anton left the city.

    Unfortunately, no healing session occurred that day. They went inside the church so Anton could see the murals and they were indeed some of the finest pieces of art that he had seen, not that he had seen many aside from the ones from the internet.

    Anton then remembered that he only had one coin purse remaining with one hundred silver coins inside it since he had given all the coins to his father and Nemina to manage.

    ¡°Fenix, how many coins do you have left?¡± Anton asked while they were walking.

    ¡°The purse that you gave me only had thirty silver coins left.¡±

    ¡°Here take this purse. It has one hundred silver coins in it. Remember to take your remuneration from the purse and the rest will be my spending coins. I¡¯m planning to go to the high-end bazaar as well to purchase things, do you think that coins would be enough?¡±

    Fenix laughed when he heard Anton¡¯s questions.

    ¡°Your remaining funds are not enough for those shops. The items there cost gold coins instead of silver.¡±

    Anton was a bit disgruntled at the thought that he would not be able to shop at the said bazaar. He could earn coins again by repairing some items and selling them but then thought that he wouldn¡¯t bother anymore.

    ¡°Will we find magic items there like spell books and wands and stuff?¡±

    Fenix laughed again.

    ¡°Do you think that nobles would allow those items to be sold especially when there¡¯s war with the undead? Maybe in other cities, there are magic shops and there were some here before but according to my father, they¡¯re all closed now by the order of the king since all of their products were purchased by the king and the nobility.¡±

    Anton was disappointed to learn that he would not be able to acquire magic items but then he could get a lot of magic items from his Diablo II system anyway so he didn¡¯t bother with it anymore and told Fenix that they should focus on sight-seeing and eating. He then thought of an experiment.

    ¡°I want to experience the life of a minstrel Fenix. Let¡¯s go somewhere where we can change clothes and busk in the square that we¡¯re allowed to!¡± Anton got excited at the thought of experiencing becoming a minstrel. They went to a clothing shop and bought regular clothes then the shopkeeper allowed Anton to change clothes inside since Fenix pretended that he was some sort of noble playing outside the noble¡¯s quarter.

    Anton and Fenix went outside the shop wearing regular clothing while carrying a lute and Fenix mentioned that he still looked like a noble playing as a minstrel while laughing. He just shrugged while he followed Fenix who was leading him to a square where he could busk.

    While walking, he thought of which songs to sing and thought that old rock and roll ballads would probably be the best songs to choose since they were loud enough and unique enough.

    Before they arrived in the square they would perform, they ate some street food first for energy. While they were eating, Anton made a list of songs that he would play, and after thinking of ten songs, he thought that it should be enough.

 Chapter 112

    Anton thought of the fact that he didn¡¯t have any experience in performing for a live audience and wondered how his first experience would be. Strangely, he was feeling only a little nervous but mostly excited. He didn¡¯t care if he messed up since they were leaving the city the next day anyway.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this? I know how scary performing in public could be,¡± Fenix said while they were walking to the place where they could busk.

    ¡°I just want to experience how it felt like to be a busker.¡±

    Anton almost mentioned that where he came from, there were a lot of talented people and that you could see them anytime over the internet so he would never think of performing in front of a live audience but remembered that he was in another world and that he was just a farmer¡¯s son that grew up in some backwater.

    When they arrived in a city square, Fenix talked to one of the performers who had a space beside them. The performers were a pair of acrobats and when Fenix gave them some copper coins, they relented and allowed Anton and Fenix to set up beside them.

    The acrobats had some sort of blanket or carpet that they were using so Anton copied them and laid down a blanket. He then asked Fenix to find a chair that he could use to sit and after a couple of minutes, his city tour guide returned with a stool. Fenix then used some sort of hat to indicate where the audience could toss coins but Anton could see that Fenix didn¡¯t have any motivation and was probably thinking that they would only embarrass themselves.

    Anton shrugged at Fenix¡¯s lack of faith. He practiced a scale for a couple of minutes to warm his hands and wished that the lute were a bit louder but it should be enough for their purposes. The first song that he was planning to sing was Journey¡¯s Don¡¯t Stop Believing. It was a soft rock ballad that he would need to belt to reach the notes and the melody of the song was already a tried and tested crowd favorite. He actually planned to sing songs from the band Journey.

    When his hands were ready, he let the first notes of the song Don¡¯t Stop Believing rip from the lute. The first notes of the song from the lute already attracted some passersby. Then he belted out the first sentence of the song.

    Anton was glad that the song needed to be belted out so it was very loud. He utilized all of his expertise in singing to make sure that the song reached a lot of listeners. He utilized all the things that he learned watching performers on social media sites like smiling and winking at ladies. It was a bit cringy but he was enjoying himself.

    He saw that Fenix was staring at him with his mouth open and even the acrobat beside him stopped performing and listened to him. The crowd grew bigger and a lot of them were tossing coins on his hat.

    After he finished the song Don¡¯t Stop Believing, he stood up and bowed and there was loud applause from the audience. Anton then played the next song which was Faithfully by Journey.

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    The song was slower and since he was playing and singing with his eyes closed, when he opened them, he was a bit surprised that the crowd was bigger and there were a lot of ladies in the crowd.

    The next song that he belted out was also one of the songs of the band Journey which was Open Arms. He was glad that he chose Journey songs since almost all of them needed to be belted out. Since this world didn¡¯t have any microphone, he wanted a lot of people to hear his songs so he was belting his heart out.

    Anton was a bit surprised that after three songs, he already felt a little tired, and more than likely it was because he was giving his all on every song so he activated his Vigor Aura.

    After Open Arms, Anton belted the next song that he chose which was Anyway You Want It. While singing the songs, he felt that the lute couldn¡¯t keep up with how loud he was singing. The lute¡¯s volume was low and suited for an inside playing but he kept on singing.

    Anton saw that some of the audience were already swaying to the songs that he was singing and Fenix was still wearing a flabbergasted expression that almost caused him to laugh out loud. He did see that Fenix had to empty the hat since it was already full and surprisingly, they were not only copper coins since there were some silver coins on the bunch as well.

    A few more Journey songs and then Anton concluded his impromptu concert. He stood up and bowed to everyone and told the audience that he was done performing since he felt that it was time to rest his voice to avoid injury.

    Although the audience was clearly very disappointed, they were surprisingly forgiving and calm. A lot of them did talk to him and praised him telling him that his voice was very beautiful. Some ladies asked if he was a bard and some invited him to their manors and some such thing which he declined gracefully.

    The acrobat couple who were performing beside him went to him and told him how beautiful his voice was. After cleaning after themselves, Anton and Fenix went back to the inn since it was already afternoon.

    ¡°Your sister is correct Anton. You¡¯re talented enough to become a bard. Your songs are truly unique and they are easy to listen to. I could also see that it would take great talent to sing your songs without butchering them,¡± Fenix said to Anton while they were walking to the inn.

    ¡°Did we earn a lot?¡± Anton asked while smiling.

    ¡°You did earn a lot of coins for that performance alone. I haven¡¯t counted them yet.¡±

    They headed directly to their suite when they arrived at the inn and saw that the only people there were Anna, Lunelle, Colin, Devon, and Budolf.

    Fenix then transferred all the coins that they earned busking to the table.

    ¡°Where do those coins come from? Most of them were just copper coins,¡± Anna asked since she knew that if her brother sold something that he repaired, the coins would be silver and gold.

    ¡°Your brother performed in one of the city squares! He sang several songs and a lot of the audience couldn¡¯t stop clapping once he was done with every one of his songs. I even saw some ladies cry while looking at him! There are the coins that the audience threw and he only sang about eight songs.¡± Fenix said.

    Everyone was startled when they heard what Fenix said. Anton laughed and told everyone that he just wanted to experience what it would be like to become a street performer.

    ¡°You¡¯re correct Anna. I could survive as a minstrel!¡± Anton continued laughing.

    ¡°Actually, a lot of the audience came to him and told him that he could become a bard and he also received invitations from some of the wealthy audience. Most of them were ladies who had nefarious intentions,¡± Fenix then laughed and the comment made Lunelle blush.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Anna asked.

    Devon stopped Fenix from answering and told Anna to ask her father which made Anton and Fenix snort in laughter.

 Chapter 113

    Anton instructed Fenix to order lunch for them since the others had already eaten.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t order food for you since we thought that you¡¯d eat outside,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Once we concluded my mini-concert it was past lunchtime so we hurried back. I don¡¯t want to get scolded by Father,¡± Anton replied.

    While Anton and Fenix were eating, Lucas arrived carrying boxes of stuff and then he went outside again together with the men who carried the chests. When Anna, Lunelle, and Devon examined the contents of the chests, they saw that they were not weapons or armor but worn-out clothes, pieces of jewelry, and other stuff.

    After lunch, Anton got busy repairing everything with the help of everyone. It took him a couple of hours before he completed everything and after that, he planned to take a bath and continue playing the game to hunt for items and increase his level. Before he entered the room, he talked to the Fenix.

    ¡°Fenix, this will be our last day in the city so that means that you can now go home and you don¡¯t need to return tomorrow. You can keep the rest of the coins that are remaining.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I enjoyed being part of your group. I would have asked for you to employ me and would come with you but my father would not let me do that,¡± Fenix said.

    Their tour guide looked sad for a bit then Anton saw that the boy resolutely changed his expression to a cheerful one then said goodbyes to the others then left.

    Anton saw that the others like their wizard tutor, Frederick were busy examining the items that he had just repaired together with Devon, Colin, and the girls.

    After taking a bath, Anton entered the game virtually and continued completing Act II of the Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II game. He wanted to rush Act II so he would be able to activate the option to increase the difficulty of the game by using the ¡°Player X¡± option but playing inside the game personally was a long-time project since it consumed a lot more time. Three hours of playing allowed him to only complete the Halls of the Dead. It took him quite some time because he was finishing every nook and cranny and walking inside the world of Sanctuary itself was way different than playing behind a screen. The walking distance alone would consume a significant amount of time and the combat itself was not as straightforward as casting his spells repeatedly.

    In person, he would need to strategize to avoid getting hit and would have to utilize all the spells that he could but this process allowed him to become a veteran combat spellcaster.

    When he completed the Halls of the Dead, he checked the time and found out that it was already seven in the evening and wondered why nobody came in to call him for dinner so he parked his character in the Rogue Encampment and minimized the game. The sad part about all that playing was he didn¡¯t find any notable items and he didn¡¯t increase in level.

    Outside, everyone was busy with their own thing. Anna and Lunelle were reading the notebooks that contained the Belgariad series that Anton wrote, Devon and Colin were examining the weapons and armor and Frederick was reading some sort of book while studying his artifact necklace.

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    While Anton was looking at what the others were doing, Anders and the others entered the suite.

    ¡°I¡¯m so tired!¡± Anders exclaimed but he looked happy.

    Anders then asked Colin to order dinner for everyone then they all sat at the table to wait.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already repaired all of the items,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°You will need to go with me later to go to where our caravan is located so you can begin repairing them. We managed to purchase more carriages and carts and we hired a lot of people. We would need to stop in villages again to collect items that you can repair to increase the number of products that we could sell once we reach Ruandelle.¡±

    ¡°We also already purchase a lot of supplies so you don¡¯t need to store food in your magical space. You can store the food that only you want to store but I still ordered a lot of cooked food from the inn¡¯s cook downstairs so you can store them later as well,¡± Nemina said.

    Colin then arrived together with the inn¡¯s attendant carrying their dinner. While they were eating, Anna told Anders what Fenix told them regarding Anton¡¯s adventure as a street busker in one of the city squares. She told their father that he earned a lot of coins by singing just eight songs and that Anton received a lot of proposals from different people. All of the adults laughed when they heard it and Anna kept on asking what was funny.

    ¡°I will tell you once you turn sixteen,¡± Anders told his daughter which made her pout.

    After dinner, Anton thought that his father would rest for a few minutes but he immediately asked him to go where the caravan was located so he followed his father, Lucas, and Nemina.

    They first went to the kitchen so Anton could store the cooked food the inn¡¯s cook prepared and after that, they moved on while the kitchen staff were looking at Anton with wide eyes.

    They arrived somewhere near the city gate according to Lucas and there were eight carriages and four carts waiting for them. Anton saw that chests and barrels and other stuff that was supposed to be inside the carriages and carts were by the side. There were also a lot of people waiting.

    ¡°Did you hire all these people? There¡¯s like an army of them!¡± Anton asked his father, astonished by the number of people.

    ¡°We need all of them. A lot of them were guards who would guard our caravan since the road is dangerous. Most of them applied when they learned that there was a wizard powerful enough to defeat an army and heal even the most severe wounds making the caravan safe,¡± Anders replied.

    Anton shrugged and began the process of repairing all of the carriages and carts which only took less than ten minutes. However, he encountered some difficulty since some of the carts were very large. Thankfully he added some points to his Telekinesis skill. Everyone who was watching gasped when they saw the old, dilapidated carriages disappearing one by one and reappearing looking brand new. Then Anton went to the horses that would be pulling the carriages and added each one of them then healing them using his auras until all of the horses were healed and invigorated. The people who were taking care of the horses were surprised to see that all of the horses suddenly looked energetic and all of the wounds were gone.

    ¡°Father, should I heal the people as well to make sure that there¡¯s no hidden injury or sickness?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea! We don¡¯t want our travel to be delayed by someone getting sick or something.¡±

    Anders then asked Lucas to announce to everyone to line up since the wizard would heal all injuries and that they didn¡¯t need to worry since it would be free since the owner of the caravan didn¡¯t want sickness to cause any delay. The people looked at Anders and Anton gratefully then they began lining up.

    Anton saw that there were also children in the line and when he turned to Anders, it was Nemina who informed him that some of the employees they hired would be bringing their families with them and he just shrugged.

 Chapter 114

    Anton was busy that evening healing everyone but it didn¡¯t take him a long time since he could add seven people to his party system at one time meaning he could heal seven people at the same time. Based on his mana decreasing a little, some of the people were indeed sick or injured, and kept hearing them exclaiming in surprise whenever they got healed.

    The children were particularly vocal when they got healed since Anton also activated the Vigor aura, which meant that people who received the healing would receive a burst of energy.

    After all the people were healed and all of the carriages and carts that would comprise Ander¡¯s merchant caravan were repaired until they all looked brand new, Anton returned to the inn followed by his father and some of the bodyguards.

    While they were walking, Anders¡¯s new employees were looking at their boss¡¯s son with reverence in their eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m exhausted, father. Once we¡¯re back at the inn, I¡¯m going to sleep early,¡± Anton told his father.

    Anders told him to rest since he had earned it so when they arrived at the inn, Anton took a bath and slept. He didn¡¯t even spend time playing his Diablo II game or browsing the internet but immediately slept.

    The next day, Anton woke up and checked the time. He was surprised to see that it was already eight in the morning and thought that his father should have woken him by now since they were supposed to leave early.

    After doing his business in the bathroom, he went outside the room and saw that the only person remaining there was Colin.

    ¡°Sir Anton, everyone was already at the caravan. According to your father, we can only wait for you to wake up before we can leave. You don¡¯t need to do anything here since everything at the inn was settled already.¡±

    Anton nodded and followed Colin to the site where the caravan was located. When they arrived at the site, the whole merchant caravan was actually ready to depart and was only waiting for him. He blushed when he saw everyone was looking at him but was relieved to see that he didn¡¯t find anyone looking at him with resentment for delaying their departure.

    The carriage that Colin led him to was larger than the original carriage that they were using but was glad to see that their original horses were the ones pulling the cart. When he entered the carriage, the inside looked like a room with sofas and was very spacious. Anna, two new girls, and Frederick were the only ones inside the carriage.

    ¡°Are we the only ones who will use this carriage?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Yes. Father said that he and Nemina together with the managers and assistants they hired would be in another carriage and Lunelle joined her mother. Nemina said it was time to train Lunelle in the business,¡± Anna answered.

    Anton then looked at the extremely pretty twin girls wearing gorgeous dresses. They were also blondes and both of them had blue eyes just like his sister and the three of them really looked like siblings.

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    Anna saw his brother looking at the girls.

    ¡°These are Ramona and Belinda. They were orphans Nemina found and hired to be my maids. They are the same age as Lunelle.¡±

    The beautiful twins stood up and curtsied at Anton which made Anna and Anton himself giggle. Frederick, Colin, and the two new maids were surprised at the siblings'' behavior and their surprise made Anton and Anna laugh harder.

    ¡°I keep forgetting that you¡¯re a very young man,¡± Frederick said softly.

    ¡°I¡¯m also not a noble but a former farmer¡¯s son so you don¡¯t need to bow or curtsey to me,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen him pick his nose and eat his booger,¡± Anna said while laughing.

    ¡°I did not do that!¡± Anton scolded his sister.

    ¡°Yes, you did! Year and years ago when we were young!¡±

    That statement from his sister meant that it was before he arrived in this world.

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re not a noble, you being a powerful wizard should be respected as one of the nobility,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see people bowing at you,¡± Anton said to Frederick.

    Anton saw Frederick blush in shame and apologized to their tutor in basic magic. Frederick waved his hands off saying it was nothing but Anton was still ashamed at the comment that he had made.

    ¡°I¡¯m a novice magician and don¡¯t deserve to be respected as a wizard yet.¡±

    ¡°the people you meet don¡¯t know that do they? They don¡¯t have any way of seeing what kind of mage you are or do they?¡± Anton asked the mage.

    ¡°No people don¡¯t have a way to detect what level a wizard is but it¡¯s a good idea to tell the people you meet what level you are if you are a novice mage so they would know what kind of magic they can expect for you, especially in the party who was about to go on an adventure.¡±

    Anton knew what Frederick was saying and understood. Of course, people who you were traveling with expect to know what type of spells you could assist them with especially when it comes to enemies attacking.

    Suddenly, everyone inside the carriage felt the caravan begin to move. Anton was hungry since he forgot to eat breakfast so he took some food from his private stash and asked if anyone wanted to eat and everyone declined saying they had eaten breakfast already.

    While Anton was eating, he asked Colin why he was there and who was driving the carriage.

    ¡°Your father hired a lot of people and a lot of them were drivers and I¡¯m supposed to be your assistant just like the twins there were your sister¡¯s maids.¡±

    Anton saw the twins looking at him wide-eyed and was tempted to shout ¡°boo¡± at them but he didn¡¯t want to make them cry or else his sisters would nag at him. After breakfast, he took his lute from his inventory and saw the twin''s eyes got wider and now knew why they were looking at him as if was going to cast spells because he was. He kept taking items from his inventory and it probably looked like he was conjuring things from the air.

    He practiced his scales for five minutes then Anna asked to hear the songs he sang when he acted as a street performer. Anton then stopped for a bit and asked the mage when they would start their lessons.

    ¡°We need to acclimate first on how the travel goes and we¡¯ll start tomorrow once we got used to how the caravan moves.¡±

    Anton then began playing the beginning phrase of the song ¡°Don¡¯t Stop Believing¡± by the band Journey. After that, he belted that song with all the emotion he could output. His audience was looking at him with their mouths open just like Fenix did when he first heard him sing the song and even Anna, who knew his abilities as a singer was looking at him with a surprised face.

    He then sang the song ¡°Open Arms¡± by Journey for his second song and the twins had their hands on their mouths and Frederick looking at him as if he was a monster. He almost stopped singing so he could laugh but continued until the song was done.

    After he stopped singing, Anna clapped loudly then the twins, the mage, and Colin followed suit.

 Chapter 115

    Anton and the others inside the huge cart were busy talking to each other. Basically, they started learning about each other since they would be traveling with the group for quite some time. The most vocal amongst them was Anna. She told everyone what they had experienced during their travel from their farm to the city of Leminthor. The twins were a good audience since they kept exclaiming and gasping at every battle Anton¡¯s family encountered.

    The twins even shrieked when Anna described the vampire appearing and even Frederick paled and commented that he would have died if he were the one in that situation.

    When Anna asked Anton to describe the last army of undead they encountered, the twins, Frederick and even Colin were so frightened to learn that the army was composed of three powerful liches, several vampires, and a host of diverse undead like ghouls, zombies, and wraiths.

    Anton and Anna¡¯s experiences while traveling to the city of Leminthor occupied their time until lunchtime. The caravan stopped to rest the horses and feed them while a host of attendants prepared food for everyone.

    Anton and Anna experienced the life of the son and daughter of rich merchants being served hand and foot by servants.

    ¡°I like this! Just saying what I want and everyone will clamor to get it for me,¡± Anna said while wearing a smug expression.

    Anton rolled his eyes at Anna¡¯s expression then joined his father and his retinue.

    Before he arrived to sit with them, Anton heard them talking about business so he went back and joined his sisters and her maids, the mage and Colin.

    After lunch, Anton went to the horses and healed each one of them using his Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Aura to make sure that all the animals were healthy. The mana water that he was conjuring though was only for his family and close friends now since Anders and Nemina told him that it was dangerous for a lot of people to know that he had something that could basically turn back time for people and make them younger in the long run.

    They went back to traveling after Anton healed the horses and this time it was Ramona and Belinda¡¯s turn to tell their story.

    ¡°Our parents were merchants and we were comfortable. Unfortunately, they died a few months ago due to a monster attack when they were traveling with a merchant caravan from the city of Tiande,¡± Belinda sadly said.

    ¡°Our house and all of our belongings were used to pay for all the debts our family incurred and fortunately, there were some left for us to rent a place for ourselves. We then started working but we kept being harassed by men and some rich nobles even proposed that we would earn a lot of coins by becoming courtesans,¡± Ramona added.

    The twins then mentioned that their parents taught them the right way and would never consider prostituting themselves.

    ¡°We were so happy when the adventurer¡¯s guild protected us from the predators in the city but that was the only help they could give. They had no job opening in the guild so we still struggled to look for a job that would let us work in peace without experiencing any harassment,¡± Belinda said.

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    They then learned that a powerful wizard was looking for maids for his sisters and they managed to reach Nemina. After interviewing them, Nemina hired them immediately when they told her that it was okay for them to leave the city.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry anymore! I¡¯ll take care of you both,¡± Anna told the twins and hugged them.

    She then introduced the book that she was reading and Anton was surprised at how well and detailed the synopsis she had given for the first book of the Belgariad series to everyone. Even Frederick and Colin looked interested when they heard the story from Anna.

    ¡°This book was written by an author called David Eddings but it was Anton who copied them for me. Right now, I¡¯m in the middle of the second book.¡±

    Anna lent the first part of the first book to the twins who were planning for both of them to read it at the same time. Frederick then asked if he could borrow it once the twins were done and Anna agreed although the twins said that it would probably take some time before they completed reading the notebook.

    After the twins told their story, Colin shared his next. It was a straightforward story of a villager wanting to become an adventurer. Unfortunately, a monster that their group was attacking caused him to lose his arm and leg. He thought he would die as a crippled person but thankfully Sir Anton healed him.

    ¡°You can regenerate lost limbs!¡± Frederick exclaimed and Anton just nodded.

    The mage and Anna¡¯s maids looked at Anton in awe.

    ¡°Are you a priest as well? Normally powerful healing spells are the purview of the clergy,¡± Frederick said.

    Anton just shrugged and told everyone that he had spells that could heal and relieve fatigue and that was the main reason they outran the armies of the Undead Coalition. Their horses ran non-stop without experiencing loss of stamina and any injuries that they received were healed immediately.

    ¡°You¡¯re a very powerful wizard. You should be my teacher instead of me teaching you,¡± The mage commented.

    ¡°As you know my magic can¡¯t be taught that¡¯s why I hired you since I wanted to learn how to cast normal spells as well.¡±

    Frederick smiled and reiterated that he would begin teaching the next day. The mage also said that he already had all the materials needed to begin teaching.

    ¡°I¡¯m so excited to learn magic! The first time I saw my brother defeating a monster by casting a spell that froze them made me want to do the same thing!¡± Anna said excitedly.

    ¡°It would probably be a while before you reach that stage. I couldn¡¯t even do something like that. A single ghoul would have probably killed me without any problem,¡± Frederick said.

    Anna deflated when she heard what the mage said but Anton consoled his sister.

    ¡°At least we¡¯ll be classmates in learning the standard magic. Maybe you¡¯ll even surpass me in wielding the regular magic.¡±

    Anna then firmly said that she would try her best to learn as fast as she could. After that talk, it was Frederick''s turn to tell his story and Anton was glad that the mage¡¯s age was near them and he wasn¡¯t powerful enough to be a stuck-up.

    ¡°I¡¯m just like Colin. A villager who wanted to become an adventurer. The difference was a mage passed through the village where I was born and the moment I saw the mage cast a Fire Bolt, I knew that I would spend the rest of my life pursuing magic. So, I pestered the mage and after slaving myself as his assistant for two years, he began teaching me the arcane language. Unfortunately, I was already twenty years old when the mage arrived at my village and my magical talent is mediocre so I could only cast a few spells by now. It still allowed me to work as a mage adventurer though but I wasn¡¯t earning a lot of coins.¡±

    Frederick then paused for a bit since everyone was hungry so Anton retrieved some snacks from his inventory and shared them with everyone.

 Chapter 116

    Night arrived and everyone inside the carriage felt the caravan stopping. When Anton and the others went outside, they saw that a lot of people were preparing food and a lot of them were also preparing a section in the camp where they would do their toilet business and another section for baths.

    Anton went to where his father was followed by Frederick and Colin while Anna and her maids roamed the caravan.

    ¡°Father, where are we getting our water?¡±

    ¡°We are carrying water but we stopped at a nearby stream so you don¡¯t have to worry about providing water. Of course, during emergencies, we will look for you to provide water for everyone but right now, water is plentiful.¡±

    When the section for taking a bath was ready, Anton went and checked it out. There were bathtubs already prepared and most of them were filled with water already. Anton was impressed at how extravagant the entire caravan was. An attendant led him to a separate section surrounded by a tent and the man said to him that the bathtub inside was exclusive for him. Anton nodded at the man and checked the bathtub.

    He filled the tub with water from the Frozen Orb spell and heated it using the controlled mana of Fire Ball. When everything was ready, Anton took off his clothes and sank his body into the hot water. It¡¯s so nice to be rich with so many attendants doing what he considered tedious work.

    After taking a bath, Anton was informed by one of the servants that dinner was ready so he went to where his father was camping and saw that Anna and his maid and Lucas and his family were there waiting sitting on chairs with the food laid down on a table. Colin and Frederick were also there. Anton guessed that there was no more rough camping since the caravan was huge and it was carrying a lot of things.

    ¡°This is nice!¡± Anton commented.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said! No more eating seated on a log,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even need to conjure our Fire Ball lights since the whole caravan is very bright. There are so many lamps! These must have cost you a fortune, Father!¡± Anton said and Anders just smiled.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we still need to gather items from the villages that we will pass through that you can repair so we can fill our caravan with items that we can sell.¡±

    Anton nodded and they started eating. The food was cooked by a chef that Nemina hired and she commented that the chef and his assistants cost them a huge amount of coin.

    ¡°Are our coins still okay, Father?¡± Anton whispered.

    Anders laughed and told his son an important thing.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about our coins son. All the things that we purchased and all the people we hired will not even reach thirty percent of the coins we had collected. We¡¯re also not going to be idle and as I¡¯ve said we¡¯ll collect more items from the villages. Remember that the items were dirt cheap when we bought them and we¡¯re selling them for a thousand times or more of what they cost us.¡±

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    ¡°I¡¯m glad. It¡¯s nice being rich,¡± Anton commented and Anders laughed again.

    Anna and Lunelle were discussing the first book of the Belgariad series while the maid twins and Frederick were listening.

    ¡°By the way, a lot of people told me that you hired a very talented bard since they heard someone singing from the inside of your carriage,¡± Nemina suddenly said.

    When Anna heard what Nemina said she began laughing.

    ¡°It¡¯s Anton who was singing!¡±

    ¡°I knew it was him. I heard him sing before, remember,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°Can you sing us a song after dinner, son?¡± Anders requested and Anton just nodded.

    When dinner was done, the servants cleaned up the table and Anton summoned his lute. He played some scales first to warm up his fingers and thought that their caravan was nice. The lights from the lamps were warm and everyone had cheerful smiles on their faces. It was noisy as well with people comfortable talking to each other loudly. Their table was not the only campsite. There were also other campsites surrounding the entire caravan so there was a festive feeling in the air. The only thing that was lacking was music and it so happened that although Anders and Nemina hired a lot of people, none of them were musically inclined.

    Anton thought that it was a pity since a caravan like theirs should be surrounded by music as well.

    When he was ready, Anton played the opening phrase of the Journey song ¡°Don¡¯t Stop Believing,¡± he planned to play a lot of songs tonight to celebrate their first night as a huge merchant caravan so he activated his Vigor Aura.

    Anton began belting the song and the whole camp suddenly stopped and listened. Most of them excluding the guard assigned to patrol gathered to watch and listen to the boss¡¯s son sing and Anton was surprised at himself for being able to perform in front of a huge crowd.  He had never performed in front of a crowd before when he was still on Earth so he didn¡¯t know if he had any stage fright or something like that but since he was able to perform without any issues, he guessed that he never had something like that.

    After performing the first song, his audience clapped vigorously and after a while, Anton started his next song which was the song Faithfully by Journey. He then went and sang some other Journey songs going through Journey¡¯s greatest hit album. He only stopped after the tenth song.

    When he stored the lute in his inventory, everyone knew that the performance that night was over.

    ¡°Son, your voice is truly beautiful,¡± Anders said while the others nodded agreeing fully with Anton¡¯s father.

    ¡°Thanks, Father but this will probably be the last performance that I will do for a long time. I will need to go back to my meditations and tomorrow, the mage will begin teaching me and Anna basic wizardry.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Do we need to hire some sort of Minstrel for our entertainment or something?¡± Anders asked Nemina and she told Anton¡¯s father that they would need to talk about it first.

    ¡°When are we going to reach the next village?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll reach the next village three days from now,¡± Lucas answered.

    ¡°Brother, can you write the fourth book of the Belgariad series? I¡¯m almost done with the second book,¡± Anna told Anton.

    ¡°You¡¯re just on the second book and you want me to write the fourth book already?!¡±

    ¡°I just want to make sure that it¡¯s ready.¡±

    Anton then told his sister that once he had the time, he would start writing the fourth book and Anna informed him that the notebooks were ready inside their carriage.

    ¡°What do you mean when you said you will need to meditate?¡± Frederick asked Anton.

    ¡°That¡¯s how I increase my power, through a meditation technique that was inside my bloodline,¡± Anton bullshitted again.

    ¡°You¡¯re magic is really different. A regular wizard would only increase his power by memorizing and casting spells.¡±

    Anton then thought that he would need to ask the mage how it worked. So, during their lessons the next day, he planned to ask several questions regarding how a typical wizard increased their level and capabilities.

 Chapter 117

    The next day arrived and after breakfast, Anton and Anna prepared themselves to learn the magic from Frederick. The twins and Colin were by the side with Colin busying himself cleaning something and when Anton took a closer look, the man was cleaning his boots. The twins were reading Anna¡¯s first notebook and they were wholly focused on it.

    Frederick arranged a blackboard from somewhere and using chalk wrote down some sort of letters. He then informed Anton and Anna who were holding notebooks and pens about the letters on the board.

    Basically, the mage was teaching them the letters of the arcane language used in spellbooks. The plan was for the mage to teach them the language¡¯s vowels first, then the whole alphabet, and then the consonants. It was like English in a way and Anton didn¡¯t know how to describe it so he just concentrated on learning while writing the letters in their notebook and following the mage¡¯s teachings on how to pronounce the vowels and the consonants.

    The first lesson was after breakfast until lunchtime and it consisted of several parts. When lunchtime arrived, Frederick told them that lessons would be from morning until lunchtime then a couple of hours before dinner for review. Lunch arrived and the caravan stopped to rest the horses and for them to have lunch. Anton went outside to heal all the animals and used all of his auras including the Vigor Aura so the animals would be full of energy then he joined his father for lunch.

    ¡°How was your lesson?¡± Anders asked while they were eating.

    ¡°It was boring!¡± Anna said and Anton nodded agreeing with his sister.

    Anders laughed when he heard what his daughter said.

    After lunch, they all went back to their carriage. Anton told everyone that he would meditate but he didn¡¯t mind if they were noisy. If they need his attention, they would need to touch his arm. Everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing while Anton sat in a corner, maximized his game, and entered the World of Sanctuary personally.

    Anton utilized all his spells in combat including making sure to learn how to master combining teleport with flying using Telekinesis while fighting. After two hours of fighting, he reached the Arcane Sanctuary.

    In the Arcane Sanctuary, Anton decided not to fly because he found the dimension quite scary. Looking at the surroundings was making him a bit dizzy and the thought of falling into the endless void raised goosebumps all over his body. He even avoided using Teleport on the location. He focused on fighting the enemies instead of looking at the surroundings and when he reached the boss of the location, The Summoner, Anton only felt relieved since that meant that he would be leaving the area.

    When he was playing the game behind a computer, the Arcane Sanctuary was one of his favorite areas because of its uniqueness. But being in the area personally left him a bit terrified. He never knew that he had a phobia of falling into the void even though it was filled with twinkling stars. A quick search on the internet said that it could be Megalophobia or Kenophobia. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could classify what he was feeling as a phobia since he was actually just exaggerating. He wasn¡¯t really terrified but just uncomfortable.

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    After killing The Summoner Anton arrived at the Canyon of the Magi. He was planning to explore and kill all the monsters in all of the tombs not only the one where Duriel was located. By the time Frederick touched his arm to get his attention, he explored and completed one tomb raising his level to sixty-six. He immediately put the skill points on Telekinesis since it was the most useful skill he had for now in the real world.

    Anton wondered if he should keep exploring every nook and cranny of the tombs in the Canyon of the Magi or just complete Act II as soon as possible by killing Duriel so he could activate the option of increasing the difficulty using the Player X command. At least, with that option, he could concentrate on leveling up fast and then focus on grinding for items. He knew that more power would mean more safety for him and his family especially now that his father was establishing his business empire.

    After parking his Sorcerer beside the private stash in the Rogue Encampment, Anton minimized the game. The review lesson started and he and Anna concentrated on learning as much as they could since they would only be able to learn how to cast spells using spellbooks once they learned the language.

    The lesson ended soon after and then Frederick gave his feedback.

    ¡°You¡¯re both learning the language very fast so my plan was after several days, we would converse exclusively using the language so you would learn it faster. You would also need more notebooks since writing something, like a poem or an essay using the arcane language will let you learn the language faster,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell Father to buy us more notebooks. I did purchase a lot so my brother could write the books by David Eddings. We could use those without any problem,¡± Anna said.

    Soon the caravan stopped so they could eat dinner and rest.

    While they were eating, a guard who was on patrol reported seeing signs of monsters in the surrounding area.

    ¡°More than likely the caravan would be attacked by monsters before we arrive in the next village, either by tomorrow or the day after so prepare yourselves,¡± Lucas told everyone.

    Devon then mentioned that there was an increase in attacks by monsters in the area since a lot of the monsters migrated to avoid the undead armies that were attacking the cities before the Holy City of Tiande.

    ¡°Frederick, after dinner can you tell me more about the monsters that could be found in the surrounding area so we would know what to expect,¡± Anton asked the mage.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a rundown later then.¡±

    After dinner, Anton took a bath and also had to provide bathwater for his family and friends, He also didn¡¯t forget to provide the mana water for their drinking water to make sure that his family would receive the benefits of the magical water. Anna of course would complain if she didn¡¯t drink and bathe in the water provided by Anton since it was making her ¡°pretty¡±. She also implored Anton to include the twins on the daily mana water allowance so her maid would become as pretty as her.

    Ramona then quietly asked Anna what was mana water. Anton¡¯s sister explained the magical water and they both gasped when they heard that the water would make them beautiful as time passed by. The twins were then surprised to learn that Anders was already in his mid-forties since they were sure that he was only in his mid-thirties, which made Anton¡¯s father laugh.

    ¡°See that Father, you look young now. When are we expecting a new mother?¡± Anton joked.

    Anders just rolled his eyes but Anton saw a brief sadness in his father and sister¡¯s eyes. He knew then he touched on a sensitive matter since they both knew that Anton had forgotten all about his mother.

    Anton then vowed to himself that he wouldn¡¯t bring up the topic that would remind his father and sister that he had forgotten all about Annette, their mother, and Ander¡¯s wife.

 Chapter 118

    Inside the carriage, everyone listened to Frederick¡¯s lesson about the monsters in the surrounding area.

    ¡°Most common monsters that you will find here are also the ones that you will find anywhere. Examples are the goblins and gnolls. From Mondi to the merchant city of Ruandelle, the monsters are mostly the same. There are some unique monsters but those are rare. Now normally in these locations, the only humanoid monsters who would form a group are goblins, gnolls, and kobolds. But since a lot of monsters migrated from where they were living to this place due to the armies of the Undead Coalition, the monsters formed armies that were bringing headaches to the rulers of Leminthor and Ruandelle,¡± Frederick stated.

    ¡°What I would discuss are the uncommon monsters since most common monsters are easily defeated by just hitting them until they¡¯re dead. I will not discuss monsters that you only need to hit with enough damage to die. I would only discuss in detail monsters you can only defeat with strategy. The monster we will discuss first is the troll. The trolls have high regeneration that¡¯s almost magical and only with the help of fire or acid you can truly defeat one. I was informed by an adventurer that they saw one regenerating a cut-off limb,¡± Frederick continued.

    The second monster that the mage discussed was called a Water Devourer.

    ¡°It¡¯s twice as ugly as a goblin with slimy skin and extra long hands and fingers with webbed feet. They are five times as strong as a goblin so don¡¯t underestimate them. They wait underwater for their victim be it animals or humans but thankfully they usually stay in murky waters. I was once part of an adventurer group who traveled in the forest near Ruandelle, when we woke up, one of our companions was gone and we saw traces of him being dragged from his sleeping mat to the water. Our leader was a powerful warrior so he immediately jumped into the murky river and soon he found our companion dead being eaten by a water devourer. That meant that the water devourer was intelligent enough to make sure that our companion would not be able to make a noise while being dragged to the water.¡±

    Anton saw that the girls were huddled together as if listening to a ghost story while Colin was calm and he remembered that the man was an adventurer before.

    ¡°The water devourer is especially vulnerable outside of the water so if you want to defeat one, it would be best to lure or drag them out of the water.¡±

    Frederick then drank some water to wet his throat and continued talking about the unique monsters. Anton saw that the mage was enjoying scaring the girls.

    ¡°The next monster is particularly scary. It looked like an undead woman that lived in the forest but it''s actually not undead. It¡¯s nocturnal, meaning it¡¯s only active at night. Once night arrived, it would find a hidden location and separate its upper body from its lower body. The monster will then grow a large bat wings from its back and then fly. It had extraordinary strength, long arms, and sharp claws but its most unique feature was its very long tongue. Its favorite food is an unborn child and will lurk on the roof of a pregnant village woman. It will then use its tongue to slide into the pregnant woman¡¯s navel and devour the unborn child. The tongue has some sort of secretion that will numb the woman¡¯s navel so she wouldn¡¯t feel that her baby was being devoured. Its weakness was salt and ash. It would become vulnerable if someone threw ash or salt on the monster''s body and if you happen to find the lower body and put salt or ash into it, it would kill the Ruzvakia without fail.¡±

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    Anton was somewhat familiar with that monster since he had this classmate when he was younger who was telling him stories from their native country and the details were exactly the same as what Frederick was saying. He then saw that his sister and her maids were truly becoming terrified.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to listen, go into that corner, and talk with each other or read a book. What Frederick is saying may cause you to have nightmares tonight.¡±

    Anna and the twins resolutely stood up and went to the corner of the carriage so they didn¡¯t have to listen to the mage anymore causing Frederick to laugh.

    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t have to tell you these things anymore. I have a book here that you can borrow Sir Anton. It had a list of monsters common and uncommon,¡± Frederick then handed a book to Anton.

    When Anna and the girls saw the book, they stared at the mage with daggers in their eyes but Frederick just kept on laughing.

    Anton kept reading the book while everyone prepared to sleep and soon the caravan was quiet. To not disturb the others, he stopped reading the book and turned off the lamp then since wasn¡¯t sleepy yet, Anton maximized his Diablo II game and continued leveling up. He decided to head directly to the tomb where Duriel was so he could kill the boss monster and end Act II since once he started Act III, he would have the option of increasing the difficulty and the quantity of the drop rate using the console command of ¡°Player X¡±.

    It took him a couple of hours before he completed the tomb where Duriel was located and killed Duriel the boss of Act II. He was so glad that he was able to utilize Teleport to avoid Duriel and save his mercenary expertly. Once Duriel died, Anton saw that there was no notable drop so he exited out of the virtual option, parked his character in the Rogue Encampment, minimized the game, and slept.

    The next day, Coin woke up Anton and saw that he was the only one remaining inside the carriage so he went outside together with his assistant and joined his family for breakfast. After breakfast, Frederick began teaching Anton and Anna again while the carriage was moving but soon they were interrupted by an urgent knock then the carriage stopped.

    When Colin opened the door, Anton saw that it was Devon.

    ¡°There¡¯s an army of monsters in the forest heading toward us!¡± Devon said.

    Anna¡¯s two maids screamed when they heard that there was an army of monsters coming then Anna told them to be quiet. Anton saw that Anna was looking at him and was glad to see that his sister was fully confident that he could handle any monster that would attack them.

    Anton joined his father and the bodyguards who were being commanded by Lucas but he could see that everyone was terrified. When he saw the monsters, he knew that they had the right to be afraid. There were hundreds of goblins, kobolds, and gnolls. He could see that there were tens of giants and trolls and there were some flying monsters as well. That huge number of monsters meant that anyone it encountered would be decimated in an instant. He could see that the people were almost beginning to run but with the threat of monsters in the surrounding forest and Lucas reminding everyone to trust the wizard, all of them stayed.

 Chapter 119

    The army of monsters that was heading towards their caravan was truly frightening. Anton even saw Anna¡¯s maids shivering while hugging each other.

    ¡°Father, Lucas, you will all stay here and just kill anything that would pass by me.¡±

    Anton¡¯s father and Lucas nodded and he saw his father take out his wand and prepare. Lucas then commanded all the warriors to unsheathed their weapons.

    Anton activated all of his auras and made sure to turn on the visual effect so everyone would see him. The main reason was for his people to have confidence in the power of their wizard and for the monsters to focus on him. He then flew up but not too high so that the monsters would not see him. He moved forward and was glad to see that when the monsters saw him, they focused on him instead of the caravan.

    Anton then began his spell-casting. He first summoned several meteors so he could target the monsters that were far away. Several huge flaming rocks were summoned from the heavens and landed on top of the army of monsters that caused severe devastation in their midst. Anton saw the monsters panicking since a lot of them were killed outright and some even just evaporated due to the fire caused by the meteors. He kept casting meteors until he was almost deaf from the impact that the flaming rocks were making on the surrounding area.

    When he saw that the monsters were still rushing towards him, he then started casting Frozen Orb and Blizzard and the powerful ice spells caused the monsters to freeze and shatter. The destruction caused by his spell was tremendous and Anton almost laughed out loud. He wanted to let loose his inner chunibyo and shout at the monsters ¡°How dare you attack me! I¡¯m a god powerful enough to smite you out of this world!¡± but he held himself from shouting the stupid phrase.

    He kept casting Meteors to the monsters at the back, Blizzard in the middle of the army, and Frozen Orb at the front of the army. After several minutes of casting his spells, the monster army was devastated and only a quarter of them were left.

    The monsters then began retreating and running away chaotically back into the parts of the forest that were still not burning. When Anton saw that all the monsters were gone, he cast Blizzards to parts of the forest that were still burning but controlled his mana so the spell would turn from ice into water making it into a regular rain. He did it several times until he was sure that the forest was not burning anymore.

    With that action, Anton personally confirmed that he was powerful enough to defeat an army in the real world using his spells. He did know it already since he was doing it inside the game personally ever since he transmigrated into this world but having that confirmation relieved him since that meant that he would have the power to protect himself and his family.

    Anton would not be complacent though since the monsters were considered low-level creatures and he didn¡¯t know how he would do against high-level enemies like elder liches or arch-wizards.

    He also knew that he was ignorant and that¡¯s the reason why he wanted to learn the magic of this world. What Anton had right now was like a person carrying a very powerful gun but what he wanted was to learn the secrets behind the magic just like the sage Elminster from Dungeons and Dragons or the seven chosen of Mystra from the same franchise or Belgarath and his brothers in David Eddings¡¯s series. They could do magic because they knew the underlying mechanism of their world.

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    Anton flew back down, turned off the visual effect of his auras, and approached the caravan. Everyone in the caravan was looking at him in awe as if he were a god but thankfully except for his family and Lucas¡¯s family who were just looking at him proudly.

    Lucas suddenly shouted.

    ¡°Long live Wizard Anton! As long as he is here we¡¯re safe!¡±

    The shout startled Anton which made Anders and Anna laugh.

    Everyone else shouted with Lucas though. When he approached his father, Anders asked him a question.

    ¡°Are there any more monsters that we should be wary of?¡±

    ¡°No. Only a quarter of them were left and I saw them running into the forest.¡±

    Anders then told him that he did well then asked Lucas to prepare everyone to leave. His father wanted to move on quickly to avoid any lingering monsters in the area although Anton was sure that the remaining monsters would be terrified to show their head while he was there.

    Anton and Anna went to their carriage followed by Frederick, Colin, and Anna¡¯s mage, Ramona, and Belinda. When they got inside the carriage Frederick spoke with him.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re as powerful as an archmage!¡± Frederick declared.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. What I can do is limited that¡¯s why I wanted to learn magic from you,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that even after a hundred years, I would not be able to do what I¡¯ve seen you do earlier. You flew! Then cast flaming meteors toward an army of monsters! Then you cast some sort of ice spells that caused the monsters to freeze and shatter. When Anna was telling her story about your escape from the undead army, I had my doubts but now, I believe that you could even destroy that army and the only thing that held you back was your need to make sure that your family was safe!¡± Frederick exclaimed.

    ¡°To tell you the truth I¡¯m not sure about that. The monsters I killed today were weak. The army of the undead that we encountered had powerful liches. I even saw them interrupt a meteor. We only escaped because of a spell I cast on our horses that made them run very fast and untiring,¡± Anton said, which made the mage¡¯s eyes go wide.

    Colin and Anna¡¯s maids were looking at Anton with sparkling eyes. Since the carriage was moving, Anton asked Frederick to continue with their lesson so the mage did. The recent battle made Anna focus on learning what Frederick was teaching. Seeing her brother summoning meteors and destroying monsters with ice spells confirmed her desire to become a sorceress as well and since the maids had nothing to do, they requested to join the lesson. Anton just shrugged and gave the responsibility to Frederick.

    The mage looked at the beautiful twins for a few seconds and agreed although the mage announced that he would not repeat the first lessons and that they would just need to catch up on their own. The twins had huge smiles on their faces when they were allowed to learn with Anna.

    Frederick stopped his lesson when lunchtime arrived. The caravan continued traveling so they ate their lunch while moving. Anders announced that they would only stop when they camp for the night.

    After lunch, Anna taught her maids what she and Anton learned during the first lesson since Frederick told her that teaching was also a great way to learn while Anton announced that he would be meditating. Before Anton meditated though, Frederick asked him how his meditation worked and he gave the mage bullshit information about him gathering energy that allowed him to increase his power while meditating and that the technique awakened due to his bloodline. He then told the mage that that was the only information that he had on the subject.

 Chapter 120

    Colin informed Anton that the next village was in sight. Everyone was glad to hear that since they would be able to rest at the village¡¯s inn. Constant travel does wear on everyone and a rest in a town or a village would be welcomed by everybody. During their travel, Frederick continued teaching Anton and Anna and the twins caught up with them since they only missed one day of lessons.

    The mage had already begun conversing with them using the arcane language but the conversation was still fragmented and according to Frederick, it would be a while before they could start learning spells. Once they started memorizing a cantrip, then they would know if they had the talent for wizardry.

    Frederick also informed them that there was a shortcut in learning if a person had wizard talent and that was to touch a mage crystal and if a person was capable of wielding mana, the crystal would light up. It would also indicate the talent of a person by the brightness of the light in the crystal.

    Unfortunately, mage crystal could only be found in wizard cities or inside large branches of the adventurer¡¯s guild or mage¡¯s guild. The mage even heard rumors of advanced mage crystals that would indicate the affinity of a person to a specific school of wizardry and even elements.

    When the mage mentioned schools of wizardry, Anton thought of the novels and games that existed in his previous world and wondered if it was the same as the school of Illusion, Abjuration, Necromancy, and stuff like that.  He was about to ask but Anna asked the question first.

    ¡°What do you mean schools of wizardry or elements?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an advanced concept of wizardry that I will teach to you once you learn enough of the language but I¡¯ll give a short example. The spell Fire Bolt is under the school of Evocation and the spell Mage Hand is under the school of Conjuration. Affinity to the Elements means a person tends to be more powerful wielding Fire spells if they have a high affinity to the Fire elements.¡±

    Also, during their travel, Anton decided to start Act III of the Nightmare Difficulty but he didn¡¯t change the difficulty. He decided to complete the act as soon as possible and rush to the Hell difficulty so he could begin grinding for levels and items there.

    Even though he decided to rush, the gameplay process was still slow since he was playing personally inside the world of Sanctuary, and entering the world understandably would consume more time compared to playing behind a screen. Even if that was the case, Anton still preferred to play by entering the world personally because learning how to wield his spells was part of him growing more powerful and he knew deep down that learning how to wield mana would help him in the long run.

    He also took a couple of hours a day to practice his spells outside the Rogue Encampment to make sure that he would master the minutiae of the mana compositions of each of his spells since it was the only way for him to learn how to change the characteristics of his spells. One good example was learning how to conjure mana water using his ice spells.

    Anton also had an inkling that if he mastered the mana composition of the spells and his ability to manipulate and wield the mana, he would be able to create his own spells someday.

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    During the travel, he also penned the fourth and fifth books of the Belgariad series since it only took him an hour for each of the books and to fend off his sisters who kept pestering him about it.

    Once they were near enough to the village, everyone heard the sounds of battle and Anton knew that the village was under attack. The caravan stopped and when everyone went outside, Devon informed him that monsters were besieging the village.

    ¡°Son, since according to the scouts we sent, there were only a few tens of monsters so let me and the guards handle it, just prepare your healing spells in case.¡±

    ¡°Father, it would be dangerous for you to join the battle!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    Anders laughed and reassured his children.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry; I will not go near them and just use my wands.¡±

    Anders, Lucas, and his guardsman ran to the village to help the villagers by killing the monsters. Anton flew up but didn¡¯t activate his buff and aura spells special effects so he would like to be a bit inconspicuous. He just wanted to observe the battle and make sure that Anders was safe. He would also see if something attacked the caravan and would be able to respond immediately.

    Anton saw that Anders avoided using his Fire Ball wand and started using his Magic Missile wand. It was understandable since his Father didn¡¯t want to injure any of the villagers who were defending against the monsters behind a makeshift barricade.

    Anders felled about ten monsters before Lucas, Devon and the rest of the mercenaries reached the monsters. Anton chose the melee fighters to add to his party system and was glad that the aura still reached them. Unfortunately, he only had seven spots on his party system so only seven melee fighters were immortals. When Lucas and Devon felt Anton''s spells, they let go of themselves and acted as berserkers. Lucas and Devon¡¯s fierceness inspired the rest of the mercenaries and the villagers shouted that a powerful wizard and mighty warriors were helping them.

    Anders stayed far behind and kept wielding his Magic Missile wand. After several minutes, all of the monsters were dead. Only five mercenaries were injured and only one of them had a severe injury with his hand mauled off by a gnoll so Anton removed everyone in the party system and added the injured ones. After a few seconds, the inured mercenaries were healed and even the one with the mauled-off arms shouted while saying his arms were growing.

    Lucas calmed the mercenary and told him that he was being healed by Anton who pointed at the wizard flying above the sky. Every one of the mercenaries looked at their boss¡¯s son in gratitude knowing that they were being guarded by a powerful wizard.

    Anton checked the caravan and saw that Frederick¡¯s summoned spirit wolf was finishing off two monsters and was glad that the mage was there to help guard the caravan. The mercenaries who were guarding the caravan didn¡¯t even need to move since the spirit wolf was powerful enough to kill the two kobolds who sneaked off to attack the caravan.

    Anton then flew down and joined his sister and waited for his father.

    ¡°Anton, I spent two charges of the spirit wolf summon,¡± Frederick said so Anton asked for the necklace and immediately had Charsi restore the items.

    Frederick smiled when he felt that his artifact charges were full again.

    Soon Anders and the rest returned from the battle and Anton¡¯s father immediately gave the Magic Missile wand to him. Anton immediately saw that the wand only had seven charges left when he checked in his inventory so he had Charsi repair the wand as well.

    Anton gave the wand back to his father and when Anders felt that the wand''s Magic Missile charges were full again, he smiled.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go to the village so we can rest!¡¯ Anders told his subordinates.

    The caravan people got busy and drove towards the village while Anton, Anna, and the rest went inside their carriage.

 Chapter 121

    The merchant caravan parked their cart in the village center. Normally something like this wouldn¡¯t be allowed by the villagers and would ask the merchants to park their caravan outside the village but because of the help they received from the caravan, the villagers allowed Anders to do what he wanted.

    ¡°Anton, go to the village hall and I will direct all the villagers that were wounded there and you heal them,¡± Anders told his son and Anton just nodded.

    Anna and her maids joined Nemina and Lunelle and they proceeded to go inside the inn to rent rooms. Fredrick and Colin followed Anton to the village hall.

    The village hall was already full of wounded people and some were almost on the verge of death based on their appearance. The old woman who was followed by her assistants should be the village healer and she was using old-school healing processes like using herbs and other things.

    Anton didn¡¯t want to spend a long time surrounded by the wounded people so he proceeded to activate his Prayer, Meditation and Vigor Auras then cast his Frozen Armor and Energy Shield and turned on the option to show the special effect of his buff spells causing him to glow and suddenly all the attention of the people were on him.

    ¡°I will proceed on healing so please cooperate,¡± Anton loudly announced.

    ¡°How much do we need to spend for your healing,¡± the old healer boldly asked and Anton was impressed by her courage.

    Anton just smiled at the woman and told her it was free then he added seven people at a time to his party system and within seconds, the wounded people were healed causing the old woman who was the village healer to gasp. Even those who had severed limbs had their limbs regenerate and the old healer actually fainted when she saw the limbs of those who lost them growing back.

    People were still coming in bringing the wounded to the hall so he asked Colin to ask the villagers who were already healed and those who were just spectating to go outside the hall. Frederick was staring at the healing process as if he would be able to learn the spell by looking at it.

    Finally, when no more wounded people were coming, indicating that all of them were already healed, he added the old woman and her assistants to the party system so they could receive the benefit of the Vigor Aura since they looked exhausted. When they received the effects of the aura, the old woman woke up and her assistants were startled.

    Anton could see that the old healer was feeling her body and he informed her that he cast his healing spells on her and her assistants since they looked exhausted and as a reward for being a faithful healer to the villagers.

    The old woman smiled and replied to him that it was her duty.

    After the healing session, Anton announced loudly that he was tired and told everyone that he would go to his room to rest.

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    ¡°If anyone needs more healing, please inform my assistant,¡± Anton loudly announced, pointing at Colin as his assistant, before going outside of the village hall.

    The villagers outside the hall were looking at Anton in awe when he appeared. He was almost expecting the people to kneel and worship but he was glad that no one actually did.

    When Anton arrived at the inn, he saw his father talking to someone and Devon informed him that it was the village chief. The innkeeper who was a fat man wearing an apron proceeded to guide him to his room. Apparently, someone informed him that Anton was a wizard who healed all the wounded villagers.

    Anton was led to a huge room and the innkeeper said that it was the master suite and that he was the only one who would stay in the room. He then told Colin to call him once lunch arrived. He then closed the door on the innkeeper and Colin¡¯s faces.

    He wasn¡¯t really tired but as an introvert, the crowd and the awe in their faces while looking at him grated on Anton¡¯s nerves.

    To relax, Anton opened his browser and watched a comedic sitcom about police investigators in New York. He proceeded to waste the entire morning binging on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

    Anton heard a knock on the door and when he checked the time, it was already noon.  He joined everyone in the inn¡¯s common room for lunch.

    ¡°How long are we going to stay here?¡± Anton asked his father while they were eating.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay here for two days so you can do whatever you want on those two days,¡± Anton told his son.

    ¡°Is there anyone who needs more healing?¡±

    ¡°No, you healed everyone,¡± Lucas answered.

    ¡°Frederick, we¡¯ll hold off the lessons while we''re here in this village so you can do whatever you want I¡¯ll stay in my room to meditate so if anyone needs me, just knock on my door.¡±

    After lunch, Anton went directly to his room. He then maximized the game and entered the world of Sanctuary. He proceeded to decimate the monsters in Diablo II for around three hours reaching the Lower Kurast zone.  As expected, he didn¡¯t receive any notable items and knew for a fact that he would only do so once he reached the Hell difficulty and started grinding the bosses there.  The progress in playing the game personally was really slow but Anton didn¡¯t mind since it allowed him to master casting his spells.

    To avoid burning out, Anton continued binging the sitcom that he was watching for a couple of hours and when he checked the time, it was already six in the evening so he went to the inn¡¯s common room to look for his family.

    The inn¡¯s common room was full but Anton saw that all the people there were the people from the caravan. He then saw Colin approaching him and his assistant led him to the table where Anna and the rest were.

    ¡°Where¡¯s father?¡± He asked his sister.

    ¡°We set up the business of buying things from the villagers there. Father set up several tables so it would take less time for us to buy all the things that the villagers would sell,¡± Anna replied.

    The table was huge and Frederick and Anna¡¯s maids were already seated.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry. Colin go ahead and order food for us. Father will just join us once they arrive.¡±

    Colin went to the innkeeper to order food for them and while they were waiting, he heard Anna discussing the Belgariad series with her maids. They were exploring the world of Belgarath and its politics. They even began discussing its magic system and since Frederick only started recently, he couldn¡¯t join in the discussion but he was listening to the girls.

    Once their dinner arrived, they began eating and Anton joined in on the discussion about the Belgariad Series. He offered more in-depth insight into the world since he had been reading and re-reading the series since he was a child.

    The girls were fascinated by the insights that Anton provided but he made sure to discuss only up until the third book to prevent spoiling the series to his sister. They finished their dinner without Anders and the others arriving and that meant that they were busy with the business so Anton just told everyone that he would go back to his room to meditate.

 Chapter 122

    Anton checked the time and it was only around seven in the evening so he decided to continue his adventures in the world of Sanctuary so he could reach the Hell Difficulty of his Diablo II game and begin grinding for items and levels.

    He wanted to become as powerful as he could using his Diablo II system before they arrived at a wizard city. Anton wanted to make sure that he could protect his family from everyone, even high-level wizards.

    Inside his Diablo II game, Anton decided to rush the game. In an hour, he reached the Travincial and killed the council members. When he checked the time, it was already eleven in the evening. He decided to quit the game and watch a sitcom. After an hour more, Anton decided to sleep.

    Anton heard knocking on his door and when he quickly checked the time, it was three in the morning. When he opened the door it was Colin.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Monsters attack during the night but they were handled by your father and the guards. Young Devon was reckless though and got injured so your father was calling you to heal him.¡±

    Anton followed Colin and his assistant led him to the village hall. He saw Devon with an injury on his leg so he immediately activated all of his auras and added the man to his party system. Devon noticed that his leg wound was immediately healing and then the young guard saw Anton enter the village hall.

    ¡°Why did you get injured?¡± Anton asked the man.

    ¡°This stupid git got used to being a reckless warrior due to your powerful healing spell,¡± Lucas said sternly while glaring at his son.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t there why would he be reckless?¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s a stupid git!¡± Lucas clearly was very angry with his son.

    ¡°So how many monsters attacked the village?¡±

    ¡°There were around fifteen of them, three trolls, and the rest were kobolds. We were able to defeat them as fast as we could because of my wand.¡±

    Anders then gave his two wands to Anton so he could recharge the items which he immediately did and returned them to his father.

    Seeing that Devon was okay he asked his Father if there was still a need for him to stay and Anders told him that everything was all right now so he immediately went back to his room to continue sleeping.

    The next day Anton joined his family for breakfast and Lucas and Nemina were still angry at Devon since the couple was glaring at their son while Anna and Lunelle kept laughing at the young guard.

    ¡°When are we leaving this village?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡±

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    ¡°Lucas, can you announce to the guards to not be reckless until I inform anyone that they are under my healing spell? And please remember that my spell has limited spots during battle so I would prioritize you and Devon and the frontlines just like what I did when we attacked the monsters besieging the town.¡±

    ¡°I will. Actually, it was a mistake to behave like a berserker so from now on we will fight like we used to, being careful not to get hit.¡±

    Anton was glad that Lucas was a clear-headed guy and knew what to do, which he should be since he was an experienced mercenary.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea so from now the guards should rely on your healing spells after battle instead of during,¡± Anders added.

    After breakfast, Anton left everyone and went back to his room to continue leveling up. He didn¡¯t even ask what the others were doing and they didn¡¯t inform him of anything.

    ¡°Brother are you not bored not doing anything in your room?¡± Anna suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing something. I¡¯m meditating to increase my power. The problem is it''s going to take a long time now for me to increase my power since my spells have advanced. Not like before when I kept earning new spells with just a few hours of meditation. Now it would probably take months before my power increased. Also, it wasn¡¯t boring for me since time flies while I¡¯m meditating.¡± Anton replied.

    Once he was back in his room, Anton entered the game and continued playing to complete Act III of the Nightmare Difficulty as soon as possible. He entered the Durance of Hate and the gloomy atmosphere of the area was truly frightening but since he was used to it already and had encountered it before during the Normal Difficulty, Anton just soldiered on.

    Anton was overpowered in the area so he wasn¡¯t afraid that any monster would be able to defeat him. At first, he was a bit worried since his skill points were scattered to different spells instead of putting all of it into the most useful spells for leveling up like concentrating on Frozen Orb and Cold Mastery but the fact that he was there personally and able to cast spells with just a thought made it easier for him to do battle.

    He was able to utilize Teleport and the ability to Fly using Telekinesis without any problem and even though it would take more spells before the enemies died compared to a character who had min-max spells, the challenge was making his adventure in the world of Sanctuary much more engaging.

    After three hours of playing, he reached Mephisto and after an hour of battle, he was able to defeat the Act III boss. His mercenary died after a few minutes and that meant that he needed to drink an endless amount of mana potions. He was glad that he stored a huge amount of it in his inventory since his inventory was now huge.

    Anton was glad that he was not going to encounter the same thing in real life since his mercenary would not die while he was outside the game and he had access to the mercenary¡¯s auras in real life.

    Mephisto died after a long battle but the boss monster did not drop any notable equipment. Even though Anton was a bit disappointed, it was expected. He would only receive items once he began grinding by killing the bosses over and over and would probably do it using the on-screen option since it would be faster that way.

    He was so glad that he had access to the Internet since he could view the guides created by gamers on famous streaming sites and that Diablo II was so popular that a lot of gamers were still covering the game especially since the developers of the game resuscitated it by releasing an enhanced version called Diablo II Resurrected.

    The moment Anton completed Act III of Diablo II, he minimized the game to rest. He opened his browser to watch some anime. While watching an episode of an anime, he wished that there was some way he could share it with his sister or his father. Anna would really be amazed to watch some of the movies and shows that he had access to so in a fit of whimsy, he prayed loudly.

    ¡°Oh god of system, my Diablo II system, please allow me to share my browser with my family so they can enjoy watching movies and shows with me.¡±

    Anton laughed at himself believing that nothing would happen but then he saw a flashing red notification in his view.

 Chapter 123

    Anton immediately clicked on the red notification that was flashing in his view. He remembered that when this same thing happened, he was hoping for an increase in his inventory and private stash and his Diablo II system answered his prayer. Now he wished for a way to share his browser with others and suddenly a notification appeared.

    The notification said that his Diablo II system would allow him to summon a Globe of Browser Projection. Basically, it¡¯s a physical globe that he could produce that would project a screen on the air and would allow his browser to be viewed by anyone. The notification stated that the globe would last for five hours and would disappear after that. It also stated that the globe had controls that would allow anyone who was touching the globe to control the size and distance of the projection.

    Anton was so excited that he summoned the Globe of Browser Projection straight away. The globe looked like a crystal globe that those fortune tellers scammers were using to tell their customer¡¯s future but it did look valuable. He then thought of how much it would cost to sell the crystal but the notification did state that it would disappear after three hours.

    The notification also stated that once the globe was one thousand meters away from him, it would disappear.

    Anton touched the globe and he instinctively knew how to control it so he summoned the projection and his browser was suddenly on the air. He controlled it to project the browser on the wall and controlled the size it occupied a huge part of the wall. The screen was extraordinarily clear, like those OLED 4k televisions regardless of the light in the room and the state of the wall. He immediately went to a streaming site and played a video. The sound was very loud so he immediately muted it.

    He increased the size of the floating television until it covered the whole wall but the clearness did not reduce a bit and that meant that he could increase it until it was as large as a cinema screen. He unmuted the video but made sure that was soft and the sound from the video sounded like it was a surround sound system. It was all so magical and Anton wanted to bow down to his Diablo II system and praised it for its power.

    After inspecting the Globe of Browser Projection for a few more minutes, he then dismissed the spell and the globe disappeared. He checked the time and it was exactly noon so Anton went to the inn¡¯s common room to join his family for lunch.

    ¡°Anton, the innkeeper told me that some of the attendants briefly heard a very loud noise from your room,¡± Anders told his son while they were waiting for their lunch to be served by the inn¡¯s waiters.

    ¡°I learned a new spell and it got away from me but I already mastered it so it shouldn¡¯t happen anymore,¡± Anton answered his father.

    ¡°That¡¯s how you learn spells?! By meditating?!¡± Frederick gasped and Anton just nodded.

    ¡°You will like my new spell, Anna. It was not an attack or defense spell. It¡¯s something that would allow me to show the stories that were imparted to me by my magic in the form of a theater play,¡± Anton told his sister while smiling.

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    ¡°How does that work?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Well, it would allow me to conjure a huge screen and on that screen, the play or show would appear and we could watch it.¡±

    ¡°Can you show it to us?¡± Anders curiously asked.

    ¡°Sure but do you have the time? The first play or show I was planning to let you see will take about an hour and thirty minutes.¡±

    ¡°We have the time and it¡¯s a good idea to unwind a bit,¡± Anders said then he asked Lucas to call everyone who was interested and soon the inn¡¯s common room was full.

    Anton then asked his father to have everyone arrange the common room as some sort of theater with the wall as the stage and the audience seats arranged like theater seats and it only took a couple of minutes. The innkeeper and his wife were looking at them curiously so Lucas explained to the man what was happening and allowed them to participate.

    Anton didn¡¯t know what to show them so he decided to show an animated film since the event was primarily for his sister and the first story that he told her was Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s The Little Mermaid, so he decided to show Disney¡¯s Little Mermaid.

    He explained what they would see to everyone first.

    ¡°What I¡¯m about to show you was a series of drawings made by artists for children. The first story that I told my sister was called The Little Mermaid and this is its animated version but this one had a happy ending, different from the original story.¡±

    Anton then played the movie and made sure that the volume was very loud so everyone could clearly hear. The sound was coming from the surroundings so it sounded like those surround sound systems.

    The beautiful songs in the movie serenaded the whole audience and when Ariel was singing the song Part of Your World, the women were actually crying. Anton found it weird that the reaction of the audience was a bit extreme for an animated film then he remembered that this was the very first film that everyone had seen.

    When the movie ended, everyone was quiet and this was the first time Anton had seen the so-called silent applause wherein the audience remained silent after watching something they were truly impressed with.

    After that, Anna began clapping and everyone followed suit. The clap lasted for several minutes.

    ¡°Anton that was the most beautiful show I have ever seen!¡± Anna loudly announced.

    ¡°This was the second show that you¡¯ve seen. The first one was the play in the city of Leminthor,¡± Anton retorted.

    ¡°How did they make this?¡± Anna ignored what Anton said and continued asking questions about the animated film.

    Anton dismissed the spell Globe of Browser Projection and the people arranged the common room to how it was before.

    ¡°It¡¯s a series of paintings and then a spell was used to flip the paintings very fast.¡±

    ¡°That was a nice spell, Son. Do you have a lot of show?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Countless. There are also different genres like action which means that the protagonists would encounter a series of battles, romance where love is basically the main theme, horror where there are scary scenes, comedy which is focused on funny scenes, and more,¡± Anton told his father and in a fit of whimsy he added a controversial statement.

    ¡°There are even shows where two people are naked and making babies and you could see everything!¡± Anton then laughed.

    Anders looked at him sternly, Devon, Frederic, and Colin looked interested while the girls gasped and started blushing. Nemina was glaring at her husband and son.

    ¡°I forbid you to watch something like that!¡± Anders told his son and Anton just kept on laughing.

    After that fun interlude, Anton¡¯s father and his retinue went to the village hall and continued buying things from the villagers while Anton went to his room. For some reason, Anna and her maids, Frederick, Colin, and Devon followed him.

 Chapter 124

    ¡°Frederick, someone is looking to hire a novice mage to become their tutor for beginner magic.¡±

    Frederick was staying at a run-down inn near the slum area in the city of Leminthor. He was eating barely edible food from the inn¡¯s kitchen but unfortunately, that was all he could afford right now. He looked up at his warrior friend who had returned from the adventurer¡¯s guild looking for a job.

    ¡°Did you even find a job for yourself?¡± Frederick asked Martel, his friend he met on the road.

    ¡°Yeah. I and Lucy will join a caravan as guards heading to Tiande. I just saw a post framed in gold looking for a novice mage and I immediately hurried over here to tell you or else others might take it.¡±

    Frederick was not worried about the post being taken by somebody else since there were currently few mages in Leminthor and he was the only one who was a novice. Normally, mages had a prestigious reputation and were sought after by adventurer or mercenary groups but because he could only cast a few cantrips, he earned little coins and his reputation of being useless was already circulating among adventurers causing him to not be able to join a party.

    He was already twenty-eight years old but he felt like his power was not increasing at all. He did manage to scrape enough coins and recently purchased a first-level spell Cure Wounds. He was hoping that learning that spell would allow him to join adventurer parties but after a couple of days of studying, he was still unable to imprint the spell on his mind, indicating that he still lacked the power to memorize first-level spells.

    Every time he tried to memorize Cure Wounds it was causing him pain but Frederick persisted since it was the only way to increase his level. His plan was once he learned Cure Wounds, he would then join an adventurer party and earn enough coins to purchase a second first-level spell and continue doing so until he was able to purchase a second-level spell but knew that it would take time.

    The critical problem that he was facing was his age. He was already too old but he couldn¡¯t just give up on magic. The moment he felt mana running in his veins and the moment he cast his first cantrip which was Gust, a spell that allowed him to summon a gust of wind, he was hooked.

    ¡°Framed in gold? Does that mean that the client paid a premium for the advertisement?¡± Frederick asked Martel.

    ¡°Yes, and the note said that the client would pay a lot of coins to the tutor.¡±

    ¡°When was it posted?

    ¡°Two days ago.¡±

    Frederick immediately ran to the adventurer¡¯s guild even though the sun was already setting. With the amount of coins promised by a rich client, even intermediate wizards would be tempted to take up the post.

    When he arrived at the guild, Frederick was glad to see that the post was still up and that meant that no one had taken up the job yet. He went and reported to the counter that he was interested in taking up the job but then he needed to prove to the guild his capabilities. After casting three cantrips to show his status as a novice mage in front of three guild officers, he was then told where the client was staying.

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    Frederick was informed that the client was a well-known powerful wizard, which startled him.

    ¡°Why did they want a novice wizard as a tutor then?¡±

    The guild officers said that they had no idea but then again as long as the client was paying good coins why would they concern themselves with the reason and Frederick agreed with them.

    The inn that Frederick¡¯s future client was staying at was an expensive one not far from being a high-class inn where nobles stayed. Only rich merchants or adventurers could afford to stay at such an inn and when he heard the attendant who was leading him that the client rented a whole suite, which confirmed the fact that they were very rich.

    When Frederick saw Anton casting his Fire Ball spell and controlled it to hover above the room to light up the surroundings, he knew that his new client was a powerful wizard but he didn¡¯t know what to think of the explanation that Anton¡¯s magic was some sort of bloodline magic and that he wanted to learn regular magic. Regardless, it was just him teaching Anton and his sister the arcane language which was simple enough and when he talked to Anton¡¯s father regarding the compensation, he agreed immediately since the amount he would earn in a month tutoring the two kids was equivalent to coins he would earn in a year.

    Frederick decided to stick with Anton and his family when he saw the young man repairing dilapidated items into new ones since that meant that the family had the means to become insanely wealthy. The fact that Anton also had the capability of repairing and recharging magical artifacts meant that they would become nobles soon.

    Sticking with Anton¡¯s family meant that Frederick would soon have plenty of coins to further his power as a wizard since he would be able to purchase potions to increase his mana and spellbooks to increase his magical repertoire. His new plan was to keep tutoring the kids and at the same time learn more spells so the moment that Anton and his sister didn¡¯t need any more tutors of his level, he would become powerful enough as a wizard that Anders would retain him.

    During their travel to the merchant city of Ruandelle, Frederick thought that he would die since Ander¡¯s caravan was facing an army of monsters but then he saw that Anton was not truly a regular mage but a god.

    Federick saw the young man fly towards the monster while surrounded by some sort of magical aura making him look divine. Then Anton summoned flaming meteors from the heavens that slammed into the army of monsters. Not only that, the powerful mage cast a freezing blizzard in the middle of the army that caused the monsters to freeze and shatter. Anton then summoned an orb of freezing death that exploded at the front of the army of monsters causing them to freeze and shatter as well.

    At that moment, Frederick saw the epitome of what a war wizard archmage looked like and hoped that even if he were old and toothless, he would experience that kind of power. It solidified his desire for magic and knew that he wouldn¡¯t even think of straying from his chosen path. He was full of desire and envy while looking at Anton decimating the monsters. The desire for power and envy that a young man like him already achieved the ultimate goal that Frederick was dreaming of.

    Frederick knew that the battle between Anton and the monsters would remain in his mind forever.

    When they reached a village on the way to Ruandelle, they stopped there and Frederick saw Anders buying all kinds of broken and worn-out weapons and armor and all kinds of stuff like worn-out pieces of jewelry. Anders bought them for a small amount of coins but Frederick saw that the man was paying twice the worth of the items which made the villagers happy but he knew that after Anton repaired the items using his magic, the items would probably sell for more than a thousand times for what they were purchased.

    Frederick was just happy that he grabbed the opportunity to be a part of Anton¡¯s family.

 Chapter 125

    Ramona kept thanking the divines that allowed her and her sister Belinda to join Anna as their maids. Her mistress¡¯s family was incredibly wealthy, giving both her and Belinda ample compensation for their services. Not only that, her mistress Anna, gave her and Belinda several beautiful clothes and pieces of jewelry. Now they even looked like nobles.

    Both she and her twin sister Belinda grew up comfortable since their father was a competent merchant but they still couldn¡¯t afford the type of dresses and pieces of jewelry that Anna gave them.

    At first, Ramona believed that she and her sisters were destined to become prostitutes since almost all employers kept telling them that they would earn a lot more gold coins as night ladies. Not even courtesans but prostitutes. Ramona and her sisters were brought up by their mother strictly and morally and they tried their best to stick to that behavior. The problem was, when their parents were killed by monsters in one of their travels to the city of Tiande six months before, the twins¡¯ lives became incredibly difficult.

    They lost their home and all their belongings to their father¡¯s creditors and they needed to work to make ends meet but then their employers kept harassing them so they kept changing jobs. Luckily, they encountered Nemina who hired them as Anna¡¯s maid after several minutes of interview.

    When Belinda first saw Anna, she thought that the girl was a princess or at least a high noble since she was truly pretty but then Anna told them that she was a farmer¡¯s daughter and that they only became rich because her brother Anton became a very powerful wizard.

    Anna then told them that her brother had a spell that could repair all kinds of things so they would purchase broken things and once they were repaired, they would sell them off at a very high price. Belinda¡¯s mistress also informed them that her brother could conjure a magical water that they could drink and bathe in and the water would make them healthy and would cause their skin and hair to become pretty. Their mistress told them that as proof, Anna¡¯s father Anders turned from a middle-aged man to an almost young-looking man, and they couldn¡¯t believe that the man who was leading the caravan was already in his forties.

    Ramona and her sister Belinda did experience the magical water that Anton conjured and aside from the water being incredibly refreshing, its effect on their bodies was indeed noticeable even just bathing in it one time.

    When Ramona saw Anton for the first time, she thought that he was incredibly handsome but very intimidating since she could feel his powerful presence but he was incredibly kind, especially to his sister. They even saw and heard Anna mocking him and it was fine with the wizard.

    Then they heard Anton sing. The young wizard had the most incredible voice that Ramona had ever heard and the way he sang brought weird fluttering in her stomach. After the young wizard sang to his family and friends, Ramona couldn''t help but keep feeling the fluttering in her stomach whenever she saw their mistress¡¯s brother.

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    Belinda and her sister were very happy while they were traveling with their mistress and her brother but then an army of monsters attacked their caravan. At first, she thought that they would die that day since who could survive an army of terrifying monsters?

    Then Belinda¡¯s mistress¡¯s brother flew to the sky and rained death and destruction on the monster army. He turned from a stern handsome singer to a powerful god. Looking at the glowing divine person in the sky, Ramona¡¯s first romantic feelings disappeared and turned into awe, fear, and respect.

    Ramona then thought that it was the correct decision to have joined Anna¡¯s family since with her brother around, no one would be able to threaten her mistress¡¯s family.

    Now every time Ramona looked at Anton, instead of fluttering in her stomach, she could only feel deep respect.

    During their stay in one of the villages on the way to the merchant city of Ruandelle, Ramona saw the most beautiful story floating on a magical wall conjured by her mistress¡¯s brother. It was a story about a princess living underwater and her voice was the most beautiful voice she had ever heard in her life. At first, she thought that the show was a bit weird but then she remembered Anton telling everyone that they were drawings by artists for children so the show had this child-like and dream-like quality but then all of those considerations disappeared while they were watching the story and she only thought that the little princess under the sea was very beautiful and that the prince that she fell in love with was very handsome.

    Ramona fell in love with the under-water princess¡¯s song about longing to be a part of the prince¡¯s world and she cried when the princess repeated the song while watching her beloved on the beach.

    The princess¡¯s sea companions were very funny and loyal causing everyone to laugh out loud and she planned to make a doll that looked like the yellow fish so she would have something to remember the show about.

    The Witch Under the Sea was also very scary although she had a very beautiful voice as well even though her song was very evil. The song was indeed evil but it was funny as well and it was catchy that Ramona could sometimes catch herself humming the song about poor unfortunate souls under her breath.

    Then Anna¡¯s brother announced that he had countless shows in his magical crystal ball and she couldn¡¯t wait to see them once he allowed them to watch some. The fact that Anton also announced while laughing that he had shows with naked people making babies that they could see every detail made Ramona blush a deep red causing her to know that Anna¡¯s brother had a playful side to him as well.

    Right now, Anna was following her brother and Ramona thought that she should be pestering her brother to show them more show from his magical crystal ball and she hoped that Anna would be successful since she wanted to watch as well and based on Belinda¡¯s expression, she also wanted Anna to persuade her brother to let them see more shows.

    Looking at Devon, Frederick, and Colin, they were probably interested in what Anton said about shows about naked people and she rolled her eyes at them. Frederick and Devon caught her expression and the tutor just smirked at her while Devon blushed.

    When Ramona¡¯s sister Belinda saw the men¡¯s reactions, she loudly snorted joining her twin in condemning the men.

    Ramona then realized happily that her most current problem was how to join her mistress in persuading her brother to let them watch more shows which was worlds apart from their problem before on where to find food and how to avoid becoming prostitutes.

    That realization brought forth the fact that she and her sister were currently content and even happy to remain as maids of Anna and she hoped that they could stay that way for a long time.

 Chapter 126

    Anton was about to go to his room to begin Act IV of the Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II game. He was planning to complete it as soon as possible so he could start the Hell Difficulty and begin grinding for items and levels although with him inside the world of Sanctuary, he knew that it would take quite a lot of time even if he didn¡¯t explore every nook and crannies of the zones.

    Suddenly, Anton noticed his sister and the others following him.

    ¡°Why are you following me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m hoping that you¡¯d allow us to see more shows. You¡¯ll just meditate anyway so while you¡¯re doing that, can you allow us to watch more?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair to Father and the others and besides I don¡¯t want a lot of noise while I¡¯m meditating. I have no choice while we¡¯re traveling but here I want to meditate in peace. By the way, what will happen to the village once we leave?¡± Anton asked Devon.

    ¡°They¡¯ll stay here until all of them die from monsters'' attack,¡± The guard answered.

    ¡°They don¡¯t plan to migrate, like go somewhere safe like Leminthor?¡±

    ¡°Some probably would but some would stay and will choose to die here.¡±

    Anton paused for a bit and suddenly turned around.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to look around the surroundings to check if there are monsters left.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to follow you?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°No. Since I¡¯ll be flying.¡±

    Anton then hurriedly went to his father in the village hall while the others remained at the inn and then he told Anders that he would explore the surrounding area and his father just told him to be careful since there should still be monsters around.

    Once he reached the forest beside the village, Anton flew up since he didn¡¯t want to get lost and he also would be able to cover a lot of ground while he was in the air. He flew just above the tree line but he made sure that his buffs were cast for extra protection although with the armor that his character inside the Diablo II game was wearing, he was sure that he would be fully protected since his armor rating in the game would reflect in real life.

    Anton started in the south of the forest and to make sure that he wouldn¡¯t get lost, he flew upwards and once he was high enough, he easily found where the village was.

    While roaming around the surrounding areas, he did find some monster stragglers that he easily killed using Ice Blast since he didn¡¯t want to use area-of-effect spells like Frozen Orb or Meteor to avoid damaging the surrounding area.

    Anton also made sure to use cold spells to avoid causing forest fire and the good thing about using Ice Blast, the monsters hit by the spell would shatter and dissipate without leaving any corpse behind. It was cleaner and it would avoid causing some sort of plague caused by rotting monster bodies.

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    While he was roaming around, Anton wondered if there was a chance that he would be able to get the class and spells of other characters inside his game because honestly, the spells of the sorceress were limited. He would only compare to other archmages in this world based on Frederick¡¯s description once he had the other class¡¯s spells.

    Suddenly there was a red notification flashing in his view.

    Anton was extremely excited because every time his Diablo II system flashed a notification at him, it was to inform him of changes to the game that would bring great advantage to him. He immediately stopped flying and just hovered in the air and clicked on the notification icon in his view.

    The notification announced that once he reached level ninety-nine on his Sorceress character, he would have the option of choosing another character and would have access to the character''s spells in the real world. The announcement continued that he would only have access to two more characters which were the spellcasters since he chose the magic path.

    That meant that after the sorceress turned nine-nine Anton could choose either the necromancer or the druid next. He wasn¡¯t worried about his Diablo II system saying that he could only choose the spellcaster classes since his system was dynamic and would allow changes to happen.

    That meant that it was almost guaranteed that once he mastered all the spell caster, the other classes should be next.

    Anton smirked while closing the notification then continued decimating the monsters that he found in the surrounding areas. He was hoping that what he was doing would keep the villagers safe but he knew that it was a futile hope.

    The Undead Coalition was currently at war with the holy city of Tiande and if the holy city was defeated, the next city they would conquer would probably be Leminthor which was a city a lot weaker than Tiande. That meant more monsters would come and the surrounding villages were doomed, either from the undead or from the migrating monsters.

    Anton then thought of joining the war since he was powerful enough that he thought that he might bring some sort of difference in the fight against the undead but he knew that it was just his hubris talking to him.

    The Undead Coalition had been in existence for thousands of years as far as he knew and that meant that it was led by powerful liches and necromancers that could probably chew him and spit him out if they took the time to confront him.

    He then decided that he would only fight in the war if Anton was cornered. He suddenly wondered if he was gaining experience killing monsters in the outside world so he took note of his current experience points and once he killed a roaming kobold, he checked his experience points and it did increase although the increase was miniscule, like a monster located in the first zones in the normal difficulty of his Diablo II game.

    After three hours of circling the village, Anton only covered a small part of the forest but at least, it would give the villagers a little time to be safe to decide whether they would stay or migrate. He consoled himself that he had already done everything he could and hoped the villagers would remain safe for a time.

    The sun was setting when Anton returned to the inn and saw that the caravan was already in the process of preparing to move early the next day. He joined his family in eating dinner and informed Anders that he killed a lot of monsters in the surrounding areas.

    Anders nodded at Anton and told him good job but everyone knew that it was a futile effort.

    ¡°The next village would be three days from here and we would only stop there for one night since it¡¯s a small village then the next one will be a fairly large town. There we would stay for three days so people could rest from the journey and we would sell some items there,¡± Anders told his son.

    Anton nodded and after dinner, he immediately went to his room telling his father that he was tired ignoring Anna¡¯s look of wanting to see more show. Anders nodded and told him to rest early but Anton planned to start Act IV of the Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II game, at least for a couple of hours before sleeping.

 Chapter 127

    Anton immediately entered the world of Sanctuary when he reached his room. This time he would rush to complete the Act IV of the Nightmare Difficulty of his Diablo II system since he wanted to reach the Hell difficulty and begin grinding for levels. He wanted to choose another class so he could add more spells to his repertoire.

    He thought of what class Anton should choose next. He could only choose either the Necromancer or the Druid but more than likely, he would choose the Druid even though he liked the Necromancer better.

    The situation of the Undead Coalition attacking the surrounding countries made the people wary and averse to the undead and if he chose Necromancer, the undead summons would probably cause him to be looked upon by everyone as a traitor.

    Even though he was rushing, the very fact that he was inside the world and was traveling the zones personally was causing the gameplay to take longer. Anton knew that using the on-screen option would make the rushing to move quickly but the advantage of playing by entering the game personally was huge.

    Anton planned to complete all the acts personally and then after that use the on-screen option for grinding. Then he would continue mastering casting his spells for a couple of hours a day by entering the world of Diablo II in person.

    It actually took him an hour to pass the Outer Steppes then another hour to clear Plains of Despair and kill Izual. He put the skill point that he earned in Telekinesis since the spell was proving to be really useful.

    Looking at his skill tree, Anton could not help but sigh at the scattered skill points and knew that once he began grinding using the increased difficulty brought by the console command ¡°Players X¡±, it would be tedious due to the weakness of his spells. The fact that he could only respecialize once a week meant that he couldn¡¯t use the min-max strategy since his spells were useful in real life and he would need to prioritize making sure that he mastered all of his spells. That meant that he couldn¡¯t unlearn any of them.

    After a couple of hours of adventuring inside the world of Diablo II, he began to feel exhausted so Anton finally slept.

    The next day, Colin woke him up by knocking on his door and after taking a bath and providing mana water to his family and friends, and eating breakfast, they started their journey on the road again.

    On the road, Frederick started teaching Anton, Anna, and her two maids again the arcane language and Anton was beginning to become frustrated with the lessons. He found the magic language incredibly difficult and knew that Anna shared his thoughts but the siblings persevered.

    After four days of travel, they reached a fairly huge town and Anders announced that they would stay in the town for three days to rest and do some business. During their travel, Anton repaired all the items that were purchased from the last village so the caravan was full of products they could sell but Nemina mentioned that even though the town was larger than average, they probably would not be able to unload much of their products.

    Anders told him that they would also purchase broken items from the town as well since their caravan still had more space and Anton just nodded.

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    Also during their travel, Anton made sure to enter his game several hours a day making Anna frustrated since Anton never used the spell that would allow them to see another show. He kept reiterating to Anna that he needed to meditate since he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

    Anton also made sure to practice his lute for at least an hour every day to make sure that his fingers were very dexterous. During his hour of practice, he would play the scales for a few minutes then play several songs after that, and at least that was some sort of entertainment for his sisters and her maids.

    Anna also began focusing on reading the Belgariad series since that was the only entertainment they had aside from talking about clothes and stuff with her maids. They were already on the third book of the series.

    Frederick also assured the siblings that they were learning the arcane language fast and then more than likely after a month more of tutoring, they could begin memorizing one cantrip.

    During those four days of travel, Anton also managed to reach and defeat Diablo in the Act IV of the Nightmare Difficulty and also increased his level by one reaching level sixty-seven. He went and put his stats on vitality and his newly earned skill point to Telekinesis again. This would make repairing the carts in the caravan easier since he would be able to lift them without any problem using his Telekinesis spell and would also allow him to fly easier as well.

    They also encountered some bandits on the road but those were easily handled by the guards and Anders¡¯s wands. Anton didn¡¯t even need to heal anyone.

    Everyone was also beginning to feel the bite of summer so Anton asked if there was some sort of magic item that they could purchase to control the temperature of a room.

    ¡°You can buy a magic rune plate that does that. It would cost you a lot of coins though and something like that is only usually available in large cities.¡±

    ¡°How does one power up a runic item?¡± Anton continued asking the mage.

    ¡°It¡¯s usually recharged by a mage using the mage¡¯s mana. I could only recharge one very small runic item. Something like a rune that can control the temperature of something like this cart would need to be recharged by an intermediate mage. Those wizards that could cast third-level spells and above. Another way to power up a runic item was to use a mana stone.¡±

    ¡°Where do mana stones come from?¡± Anton asked, wondering if such stones came from the inside of monsters just like in the web novels and if he wasted some by not taking them from the monsters they killed.

    ¡°They were mined from certain locations steeped in magic that they formed mana crystal vein and those locations were controlled and guarded by powerful nations,¡± Frederick answered.

    ¡°So there are no mana stones inside the monsters?¡±

    ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of.¡±

    Anton was a bit relieved that he didn¡¯t waste any mana stones and that he didn¡¯t need to dig the inside of monsters that he killed in the real world. That would have been so gross.  Although, Frederick mentioned that high-level monsters like a basilisk or a dragon body parts were really valuable since they were used to create weapon and armor artifacts.

    During their stay in the town, Anton concentrated on playing the game to make sure that he would reach the Hell Difficulty as soon as possible. He really wanted a second class so he would have more spells.

    He began rushing the Act V of the Nightmare difficulty but it was still very slow. Between the traveling time and killing the monsters, Anton only cleared the Frigid Highlands on the second day of their stay in the town although he only did play during the afternoon and a couple of hours before sleep since Frederick continued tutoring them in the morning.

    Anna and her maids guarded by some of the mercenaries roamed the town but Anton heard his sister complaining that there was nothing to see and that the town was very backward. Anton finally relented to his sister¡¯s pestering of letting them see another movie so he promised Anna that they would watch a movie the night before they left the town and his sister and her maids cheered.

 Chapter 128

    The night before they left the town, Anton fulfilled his promise to his sister to let them watch a movie. He couldn¡¯t think of what movie to let them watch but since Anna was just a little girl and they had already started with Disney¡¯s The Little Mermaid, he decided to let them watch Disney¡¯s Beauty and the Beast.

    Anton asked Colin to talk to the innkeeper and reserve the common room for their people and of course, with coins, the innkeeper agreed.

    They also had to reassure the innkeeper that they were just going to watch a play that was going to be conjured by the wizard and as instructed, Colin informed the innkeeper that he and his family could watch as well.

    ¡°Tomorrow we will leave early. The next village will be four days away from here at our current speed,¡± Anders informed Anton.

    ¡°We could reach it in a day if we traveled the same way before when we were running from the undead,¡± Devon said while smiling.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do that again! Even though we''re not truly exhausted due to Anton¡¯s spells, I was mentally tired,¡± Lunelle said quietly and everyone who was there on that journey smiled.

    ¡°What play are we watching tonight after dinner?¡± Anna asked excitedly.

    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise. It¡¯s also an animated film. I decided on that show when we started on The Little  Mermaid. The people who made that also made the play that we will watch tonight.¡±

    After dinner, Anders instructed everyone to arrange the common room like a theater with one of the walls as a screen. The innkeeper and his family joined the caravan people and soon the common room arrangement was complete.

    Anton summoned his Globe of Browser Projection and adjusted the screen size and volume using a short video clip from a famous streaming site showing neon lights and punk music. After he was content with the size of the screen and volume of the sound, he loudly announced that the show would start in five minutes so they should go ahead and complete everything they wanted to do first like going to the bathroom and stuff.

    The innkeeper arranged for someone at the door to announce who was coming in and that the common room was reserved.

    Anton¡¯s family and friends were seated in the front row and when everyone else was ready, he started the movie. He wasn¡¯t seated with his family but by the side watching the people¡¯s reaction to the film.

    Everyone was focused on the animated film and their expressions were so exaggerated that Anton almost laughed out loud. When Belle sang the song ¡°Belle¡±, everyone had a look of amazement at the vocal prowess of Belle and the villagers.

    Anna¡¯s maids were clutching each other watching the scene where Belle was being chased by the wolves.

    Anton was truly entertained watching the reaction of the people instead of the movie and the inevitable tears came. He was half-expecting that since this was the second movie that most of the people from Anders¡¯s caravan had seen.

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    When the movie ended, the applause that came was thunderous. Anna, Lunelle, and Anna¡¯s maids were talking to each other about the love story of Belle and the prince and how handsome the prince was and how magical was the castle. The innkeeper and his family had a shocked look on their faces.

    Anton kept hearing from the girls that they wanted to marry someone like the prince and live in a magical castle.

    ¡°It was a wonderful show, Anton. Thank you for sharing it with us,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Father. I¡¯ll go ahead and go to my room to meditate.¡±

    Anton played the game by entering the world of Sanctuary personally when he reached his room and after two hours of playing, he was able to rescue the barbarians in the Frigid Highlands completing the quest of Qual-Khek. He also reached and killed Nihlathak. He was also saving the quest reward that he received from Larzuk once he thought of the best items that he could put slots into.

    After a couple of hours of playing the game, Anton minimized it and opened a browser to watch some anime. He wasn¡¯t sleepy yet but he was exhausted doing his adventures in the world of Diablo II.

    In a fit of curiosity, he checked the account balance of the banking and credit account that the system assigned to him to use in signing up for different streaming websites and saw that Anton was a rich man since the money on his account was equal to the gold that he had on the Diablo II game. Unfortunately, the only thing that he could use the money for was to sign up for streaming websites.

    If he had any living relatives left, he would have made an effort to find some way to transfer funds to them but there was no one left.

    The next day, the caravan left early after breakfast. In the next three days, Frederick''s tutoring continued. Anton and Anna were beginning to converse in the arcane language with their tutor. Anna kept pestering Anton into showing them some more movies but Anton needed more time playing the game. He kept saying to his sister that he was on the verge of a breakthrough and couldn¡¯t take the time to show her more movies. Anna kept bothering him so Anton told their father that Anna was becoming a nuisance.

    He didn¡¯t know what Anders told Anna but Anton¡¯s sister did stop pestering him and concentrated on reading the Belgariad series and discussing it with her maids, Lunelle, and Frederick.

    When they reached the next village, Anders saw that it was small so he announced to everyone that they would only stay for the rest of the day and the coming night and would travel again the next day.

    While they were preparing themselves to stay at the small village only tiny inn, someone on a horseback arrived. It was a messenger who loudly announced that an army of undead from the Undead Coalition attacked Leminthor and soon a cohort of soldiers would arrive to recruit soldiers for the war. The messenger further informed everyone that the war of the undead to Tiande was still ongoing so they weren¡¯t expecting any assistance from the holy city, not until Tiande defeated their enemies.

    Everyone knew that it would probably take a long time for the war between Tiande and the Undead Coalition to finish in either victory or defeat since the Coalition was powerful enough to have a second army to fight other cities.

    They were also thinking that if the Coalition had a second army, what to say that they didn¡¯t have a third or a fourth since it was easy for a powerful lich or a necromancer to raise undead from the dead citizens of cities, towns, and villages they had already conquered.

    Anton sighed and knew that they would begin running again but this time they would not be able to do what they did before of forcing themselves and the horses to run non-stop since the caravan was huge.

    Anders then announced that they wouldn¡¯t be staying in the village so everyone prepared to travel again. With the help of a large amount of coins, Anders and Nemina bought plenty of food from the villagers and the villagers happily sold off whatever they could as if they had not heard the messenger¡¯s announcement regarding the war.

    Lucas told Anton that the villagers were probably thinking that the war would not reach them since Leminthor was very far away.

 Chapter 129

    Anton was getting tired of always running from the undead. He was angry at the monsters for making him and his family afraid that they needed to run. He decided then that once his family settled in a safe place, probably inside a powerful wizard city, he would join the fight against the Undead Coalition.

    Of course, that decision wasn¡¯t set in stone but right at that moment, he was truly angry. Colin told him that the next village was three days away but Anders informed everyone that they wouldn¡¯t stay there as well and would only purchase food and necessities, collect water, and move on immediately.

    More than likely, they would need to do the same thing to the several villages they would pass before Anders decided to stay at a place for more than a day.

    According to Lucas, the Merchant City of Ruandelle was a month away from where they were right now and that meant that it would be an exhausting journey on the road.

    Frederick continued tutoring Anton, Anna, and her maids in the arcane language and informed them that they would be ready to memorize one cantrip after a week more.

    During those three days of travel before reaching the next village, Anton kept on playing the game after lunch until dinner and a few hours before sleeping. The people in the cart that he was staying with were thankful that he didn¡¯t care if they were noisy since it seemed like whatever they did or whatever noise they produced, it didn¡¯t interrupt Anton¡¯s meditations.

    Anton was so focused that during those three days, he didn¡¯t even open his browser to watch any movies, shows, or animes. He concentrated on playing that he completed Act V of the Nightmare Difficulty. He earned one level and that was it so now he was level sixty-eight. As usual for him right now, he added the skill point to Telekinesis. He also reserved a couple of hours a day practicing his spells outside the Rogue Encampment to make sure that he mastered manipulating the mana of his spells.

    He kept trying to find inspiration for new applications for the sorceress spells that he could learn by manipulating the spell''s mana. Good examples of those were his mana water from ice spells, his ability to convert Blizzard into a gentle rain spell, his Fire Ball light, and his ability to fly using Telekinesis.

    The spell that Anton was trying to adapt was some sort of Wall of Ice using his cold spells. He already knew the intricate mana composition of a wall spell which was Fire Wall and he was trying to adapt any of the cold spells to conjure a Wall of Ice.

    Anton knew that the ability to conjure a Wall of Ice strong enough for defense would be helpful but this time, he was having difficulty. But he was sure that soon, he should be able to do it.

    He was also trying to experiment with making a spell permanent like attaching it to an item. Anton had the Enchant spell from the Fire Tree and he thought that studying its mana composition would assist him in learning permanent enchantment but that one was truly complex and would probably take a very long time.

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    The caravan reached the village before sunset on the fourth day so Anders announced that they would stay the night in that village and would leave the next day. Everyone got busy purchasing things from the villagers like food and other necessities. Anders also decided to spend a few hours purchasing things from the villagers to make sure that they had plenty of items they could sell on Ruandelle.

    Anton was exhausted so he slept early in his room at the inn and only woke up when Colin woke him up the next day.

    They left that village early and proceeded to continue their journey.  Colin told him that the next place would be a fairly large town and it would take them five days before they arrived there.

    Frederick continued teaching Anton, Anna, and her maids, and after that, Anton planned to start playing the Hell Difficulty of his Diablo II game.

    Before he entered the game though, Anna told him that they were almost finished with the Belgariad and she requested for the next series.

    ¡°I¡¯m in the first part of the fifth book and the others are already in the last parts of the fourth book of the Belgariad series. I already prepared the notebooks that you¡¯ll need to write down the second series of books,¡± Anna wheedled Anton and since she was very good at not pestering him regarding watching movies using his spell, Anton spent that afternoon writing down the five books in the Malloreon Series of David Eddings.

    During those five days of travel to the town on their way to Ruandelle, the summer had arrived, bathing everyone in humid hot temperatures making everyone feel miserable inside their carts even with the windows wide open.

    ¡°Frederick, don¡¯t you have a spell that can make us comfortable here?¡± Anna asked the mage.

    Unfortunately for everyone, the mage informed them that he didn¡¯t have that kind of power. When Anton asked if there was any possibility of them finding something magical in the next town that would assist in lowering the temperature inside the cart, the mage informed Anton that he would try his best to look but he doubted that he would find any.

    Anton could and did cast a very weak version of Frost Nova to alleviate the heat but its effect didn¡¯t last long and he couldn¡¯t keep casting it and enter the game at the same time.

    One huge advantage that Anton discovered was once he entered Diablo II, he could ignore the heat.

    Instead of playing the Hell Difficulty of his Diablo II game, Anton tried very hard to find a way to adapt one of his cold spells that could help him lower the temperature inside a room and after several hours of practice, the best thing that he could do was cast Frozen Orb but just like Fire Ball, control it enough so it would only spin in place and produce very cold air in the location where it was cast.

    It took him several hours, meaning the whole four days of travel to the next town since Anton needed to make sure that the spell wouldn¡¯t go rogue and suddenly spew deadly Ice Bolt at everyone.

    The problem with his Frozen Orb Air Conditioner as he called it was, even though he was successful, he needed to keep a part of his mind aware of the spell or else it would dissipate just like his Fire Ball light.

    At least, he was successful enough in creating the spell that it would only dissipate if he forgot about it and not spew icy death on everyone.

    Anton wanted a spell that he could cast and forget and after a certain duration, would dissipate and the only thing that he could think of was incorporating the mana construction of Enchant so he could attach the Frozen Orb Air Conditioner to an item but unfortunately, even though he spent an ungodly amount of time, not able to start playing the Hell Difficulty and even browse the internet, he was unsuccessful.

    He did feel that he was on the verge of learning how to do it but at least for now, once he cast it, It could lower the temperature of their cart to the delight of everyone with him.

    Anton did inform everyone that he could only do it if he was not meditating meaning that the spell would need his attention and once he entered meditation, the spell would dissipate.

 Chapter 130

    They arrived in a fairly huge town at around lunchtime but Anton didn¡¯t bother to learn its name since they would only stay for the rest of the day and a night. They rented a few rooms in an inn and the rest would stay in the caravan.

    After lunch, the first thing that Anton did was have Charsi repair each carriage and cart and that meant that the people needed to unload all of the items inside. The repair process of the carriages and carts took him about an hour and after that, he healed the horses using his three auras to make sure that all the animals were in peak condition. After the animals were healed, he asked Anders for everyone to line up so they could heal everyone to make sure that everyone was also healthy and in peak condition. The healing process took him very little time and after that, Anders and Nemina went to the town merchants to sell some items so they could earn gold and the others got busy buying the things they would need on the road.

    The town looked exotic to Anton. The old streets were paved with bricks. The buildings are made of wood and stone and surrounded by trees and flowers. Everything looked so medieval but pretty and was impressed that Anton didn¡¯t smell any of those stinks associated with a medieval town like shit, rotten food, and unwashed bodies.

    Leminthor was also the same. The stink that Anton was expecting wasn¡¯t there and he remembered that this world was not the medieval era of his old world but another world governed by magic.

    Of course, there were some smells that a city couldn¡¯t avoid but even the modern cities on Earth had those.

    Anton would have liked to explore the town that stood like a beautiful gem in a valley but he was feeling this apprehension that there was no more time left since the undead were catching up to them. He felt that the apprehension could only be relieved if he focused on playing the game and leveling up so he could become more powerful so he planned to spend his time playing the game and continuing his research on enchanting items.

    Once all of his responsibilities in the caravan were done, Anton spent the rest of the day in the room they rented in the inn playing the game and researching enchanting while Anna and her maids, Lunelle, Devon, and Frederick explored the town.

    Anton started playing the Hell Difficulty of his game Diablo II in the original difficulty and in a couple of hours managed to save Deckard Cain from the old town of Tristram. He didn¡¯t utilize the console command Player X yet since he thought that he would only do that once he completed the last difficulty and started grinding for levels and items. After that, he went outside the Rogue Encampment to continue his research in enchanting since he knew how useful the ability would be once he was successful in the said research. He just wished that he was allowed to cast spells inside a safe zone since there were times when he was interrupted by monsters spawning near him. At least when he set up a table for research near the gate of the encampment, monsters spawning near it would happen rarely.

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    Anton could have done his research in the real world but there were some consequences in his research like the need to cast his spells several times that would destroy the area. He prepared several wooden tablets where he could etch the mana pathway construction following the mana pathway design of the Enchant spell of the fire tree.

    The mana pathway of the spells resembled the runes that make up a runeword but after inspecting the mana pathway design of all his spells which admittedly he only skimmed a little due to the lack of time, he didn¡¯t find any mana pathway of any spell that was one hundred percent similar to existing runes in Diablo II.

    He did start to note down the mana pathway of his spells and in his notes, he already recorded a few of the spells'' mana pathways like the one for Fire Bolt, Fire Ball, Fire Wall, Enchant, Hydra, Ice Bolt, Frozen Armor, Ice Blast, Glacial Spike, Blizzard, and Frozen Orb.

    The mana pathway of the spells that Anton recorded were the spells that he extensively studied to be able to expertly manipulate their mana.

    Anton spent another couple of hours etching and combining the mana pathways of different spells for experimentation on the wooden tablet. He first combined the pathway for the spell Enchant that he thought indicated the ability of the spell to be attached to an item and added the duration based on the spell level and removed the ones that he thought were the pathway for the fire elements. That three pathways alone, attaching a spell to an item, duration based on level, and fire elements took him several days of trial and error before he successfully identified and recorded them.

    He then added the pathway for Frozen Orb on the wooden tablet that has the pathway for attaching a spell to an item and duration based on spell level or in this case based on the quantity of mana. Specifically, he added the spell pathway for Frozen Orb¡¯s structure and the mana pathway for the ice element.

    When Anton activated the spell on the wooded board, a Frozen Orb appeared and floated on top of it then suddenly it exploded causing deadly Ice Bolt to spew in the surrounding. It was clearly a failure but Anton felt that he was almost there but since it was already evening, he exited the game and joined his family for dinner.

    While they were eating Anders informed him that managed to sell some items in the town and earned some coins and they also managed to purchase some items that he needed to repair. Anton told his father that he would repair it at a later time since he was busy meditating because he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

    Anders nodded his understanding and there was also some expectation on his face since whenever Anton talked about being on the verge of a breakthrough, he would learn new spells.

    ¡°Do you know what spell you will learn next?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°A way to lower the temperature of a room but it would take some more time before I learn it.¡±

    ¡°How do you learn spells by just meditating,¡± Frederick couldn¡¯t help but ask and of course, since Anton didn¡¯t have an answer for the mage, he just shrugged.

    ¡°So did you find anything special in the town?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°Not very much but we did find an old bookstore. We purchased a lot of books and it cost me a lot of coins and now I don¡¯t have any more and Father wouldn¡¯t give me more,¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to learn how to handle finances wisely. We¡¯re still not that rich that we can afford to let you waste coins!¡± Anders scolded his daughter who kept on pouting.

    ¡°At least, you now have several books to keep you entertained,¡± Anton consoled his sister.

    Anna then asked if they could watch something on his crystal globe spell but he told his sister that he would need to meditate since as he said he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

 Chapter 131

    That night after dinner, Anton decided to repair all the items that his Father and Nemina purchased from the town since it would only take him about an hour and he didn¡¯t want to do it later while they were traveling.  After completing the repair, Anton went directly to his room because he wanted to continue doing his leveling up and enchantment research, he planned to continue the Hell Difficulty of Diablo II game for a couple of hours then switch to enchanting research for two more before going to sleep.

    In the two hours of adventuring in the world of Diablo II, Anton only managed to defeat the countess. He received a fairly rare rune and thought about grinding some runes from the countess first but then he decided to stick to his plan of completing the Hell Difficulty before starting any form of grinding.

    He then spent the last two hours of his planned game time outside the Rogue Encampment continuing his research in enchanting.

    On the wooden tablet, he etched the mana pathway of allowing a spell structure to adhere to the item, then he etched the pathway for the mana reservoir that would allow the wooden tablet to store mana that would power the spell and would also govern the spell duration.

    Then Anton etched the mana pathway that consisted of the spell structure of Frozen Orb and lastly, he etched the man a pathway that would gather the ice elements.

    After all of those were etched on the wooden tablet, the next thing that he would need to do was to create a switch which was basically something that would allow anyone to break the pathway and restore it as they wanted so he created a simple carving that would allow a movable part to be rotated to break a line by turning it and vice versa.

    When everything was done, he slowly filled the mana reservoir with mana but only filled it halfway through. Anton then switched it on by rotating the switch so the mana pathway that connected the mana reservoir to the rest of the pathways would be connected.

    Suddenly a rotating Frozen Orb appeared on top of the wooden table looking like an ice planet and the temperature surrounding it plummeted severely then the mana that was collected in the reservoir was exhausted after only three seconds then the Frozen Orb exploded destroying the wooden tablet and the table that Anton was using.

    As far as Anton was concerned it was a success. The only thing that he would need to do was to tweak the spell structure of Frozen Orb so that it would consume little mana and would only cool down a room, not freeze it. He would also need to tweak the mana pathway for the reservoir so it would be able to control the amount of mana it would dispense to the spell structure. He also needed to make sure that the mana pathway for the ice element gatherer was tweaked so the elements that would be gathered would not be great enough to cause an explosion.

    What all of this meant was that it would take him several more hours of trial and error before he fully succeeded in creating the Frozen Orb Air Conditioner Wooden Tablet.

    Anton then slept when he checked that it was already midnight since they would continue their journey early the next day.

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    While they were eating breakfast, Anders excitedly told his children about the specialty of the town that they purchased.

    ¡°The town¡¯s wine had this flower smell and the wine itself was very sweet so I¡¯m sure that it would sell well on Ruandelle. If it sold especially well, I might need to establish a merchant route to this town to gather their wine once the war ends.¡±

    Anton tasted the wine and it tasted very sweet and the smell was truly fragrant. Anna clamored to taste the wine as well but Anders forbade her daughter to drink it and even Anton was only allowed a taste not to actually drink the whole glass of wine.

    ¡°Once both of you are adults, then you can drink wine!¡± Anders told his children.

    ¡°What is the age that one would be considered as an adult?¡± Anton asked curiously and it was Frederick who answered.

    ¡°It varies from location to location but generally it¡¯s sixteen years old.¡±

    ¡°That meant I¡¯m an adult now since I¡¯m seventeen,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°From where we come from, the age you¡¯re considered as an adult is eighteen so you need to wait one year more,¡± Anders said stubbornly and Anton just smiled and obeyed his father.

    ¡°You¡¯re only seventeen?! I thought you were in your early twenties!¡± Fredrick was startled to learn Anton¡¯s age.

    After breakfast, they continued their journey. Colin informed Anton that they would reach the next village in three days.

    While Frederick was teaching Anton, Anna, and her two maids, Anton wondered what the situation was with the war between Leminthor and the Undead Coalition and wished the city the best but he hoped the Fenix and his clan left the city.

    Anton was really bothered by the heat inside the carriage even with the windows opened and Frederick apologized again for unsuccessfully finding any magical items that would help in lowering the temperature.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that since I¡¯m on the verge of solving that,¡± Anton told the mage.

    They ate lunch while they were on the move and Anton kept casting a weak Frost Nova to lower the temperature inside the cart but it only lowered the temperature for several minutes and after that, the heat would return with a vengeance.

    Anton went inside the game after lunch but instead of continuing his run through the Hell Difficulty, he immediately proceeded to continue his enchanting attempts. He hated the temperature in the carriage and would like to resolve it as soon as possible.

    After five hours of gruesome trial error and Anton successfully created his prototype for the Frozen Orb Air Conditioner Wooden Tablet inside the game. Based on his calculations, the prototype would be able to lower the temperature of a small room, or the inside of the carriage, to around twenty-four degrees Celsius, and with its reservoir full of mana, it would last for two hours. The mana required for the prototype to be full was the same as the mana cost of three Frozen Orbs.

    Anton reckoned that it would take several more hours of trial and error before he could have something that would have a longer duration.

    Once he exited the game, he retrieved the wooden tablet from his inventory that contained the spell structure of his Frozen Orb Air Conditioner and filled its reservoir with mana.

    ¡°Tada! I¡¯m successful in creating my first enchanted item! The Air Conditioner Wooden tablet! Unfortunately, it would only last for a couple of hours then it would need to be recharged.¡± Anton showed off his new item to everyone.

    ¡°How does it work?¡± Anna asked while looking at the wooden table that looked like it wasn¡¯t anything special since she didn¡¯t see any carving or drawing in it.

    ¡°Once it''s full of magical energy, you need to put it on a flat surface then just switch it on.¡±

    Anton then put the wooden tablet on a small table then turned the switch that he carved on it. Suddenly a small glowing Frozen Orb appeared on top of it. The small Frozen Orb was rotating and spewing out very cold air. It looked like a beautiful ice planet that was in space and since it was glowing, it could even serve as a dim lamp or a night light.

    The temperature inside the carriage lowered until everyone felt comfortable but Frederick was looking at Anton wearing a complicated expression.

 Chapter 132

    Anton noticed how Frederick was looking at him.

    ¡°What?¡± He asked the mage.

    ¡°You can now create enchanted items?¡±

    ¡°I did tell everyone that I was on the verge of a breakthrough and this was the result. Although, I¡¯m still not satisfied with it since it would only last for a couple of hours with its mana storage full.¡±

    Anton then retrieved a second tablet from his inventory but this one did not have any mana. He handed it to Frederick.

    ¡°Can you store your mana on this one?¡± Anton asked the mage.

    Frederick held the tablet and then using some sort of gestures, cast a spell on it. Anton could see mana floating from Frederick to the wooden tablet. Everyone could see some indicator on the part of the wooden tablet that was assigned as its power storage and one cast of the mage¡¯s spell filled five percent of the mana storage.

    ¡°One cantrip only filled five percent of its storage. I could only memorize up to seven cantrips and all seven cantrips would take me seven hours of memorization!¡±

    ¡°That long!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Memorizing a spell from a spell book would take time and it would depend on the power and talent of a mage as well as his level on how long it would take a wizard to memorize a specific spell. I¡¯ve heard that an archmage only needs to look at a cantrip and they would instantly memorize it though I have not seen it.¡±

    ¡°How do you increase your level of power?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°By casting and memorizing spells. It¡¯s like exercising your muscles. In time you will instinctively know that you can add more to your existing spells. After some time again, you will instinctively know that it is time for you to attempt the next level of spells. I haven¡¯t reached that yet so I¡¯m still only able to cast cantrips.¡±

    ¡°How did you store your spell on the tablet then? Did you cast the actual spell  on the wooden tablet?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Yes. Instead of the spell actualizing, it would feel and look like the tablet was siphoning off the mana and spell structure of the spell then the spell disappeared from my mind. That meant I would need to memorize it again.¡±

    Anton now believed that Frederick''s spell system was just like the magic system from Dungeons and Dragons. He was not casting it in stone because more than likely, there would be several types of spell systems in this world or maybe just several deviations but the fact was, he shouldn¡¯t make assumptions.

    ¡°It¡¯s now so cold and comfortable here!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°I will still need to study it further since the duration is still very short and the energy requirement was great.¡±

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    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, the fact that you¡¯re now able to enchant even an ordinary wooden tablet is groundbreaking! Your family will become truly rich. Soon you will be able to create legendary enchanted swords!¡± Frederick stated excitedly.

    ¡°Brother could already enchant a sword! I¡¯ve seen him put a fire enchantment on Father¡¯s sword once but it only lasted for a few minutes,¡± Anna informed the mage.

    They all felt the carriage stopping and that meant it was time for the caravan to rest for the night. They all then heard a knock on their door. When Colin opened it, Anders entered.

    ¡°It¡¯s so cold here!¡± Anton¡¯s Father exclaimed.

    ¡°It¡¯s a new enchanted item that Anton made. Look at the table, that¡¯s the wooden tablet of Air Commissioner,¡± Anna said to her father.

    ¡°It¡¯s air conditioner. It only lasts for a couple of hours though so I will still need to improve on it,¡± Anton added.

    ¡°How does it work?¡± Anders asked.

    Frederick then gave the wooden tablet that he was filling with energy to Anders.

    ¡°You just need to lay it on a table and switch it on by turning on the switch,¡± the mage said to Anders, pointing at the switch located in the tablet.

    ¡°What will happen if someone puts their hands on the floating ice orb?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°The hand will freeze but not too fast so it is not too dangerous.¡±

    Anton demonstrated by putting his hands inside the floating Frozen Orb above the wooden tablet. After he retrieves his hand, Anna foolishly and courageously puts her hand inside the orb.

    ¡°It¡¯s so cold!¡±

    ¡°Of course, it''s cold. Don¡¯t let it stay there for long or your hand will turn into a block of ice!¡± Anton scolded his sister.

    Anna retrieved her hand from the orb and showed and pouted at her brother.

    ¡°Can we sell something like this?¡± Anders asked while studying the wooden tablet.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing for now we can¡¯t since I¡¯m still researching it. I will still need to find a way to increase its duration and maybe find another source of power like those mana stones that Frederick was talking about or maybe solar power or something like that.¡±

    ¡°Mana stones are incredibly valuable but I¡¯m guessing that if you find a way to let a mana stone power that tablet and increase its duration, rich folks would clamor to buy something like that!¡±

    ¡°Maybe soon you will be able to create magic wands and I don¡¯t have to memorize spells! You¡¯ll just give me a hundred different wands and once all of the spells inside are spent, you will just charge it for me!¡± Anna said while making a gesture that looked like she was casting spells using a wand.

    ¡°I would still prefer to cast my spells instead of them coming from a wand. The mana coursing through my veins brought joy and excitement that nothing can compare,¡± Fredrick said contemplatively.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Frederick. I will continue my studies to become a wizard,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°It would still be a great advantage to our family if you do learn how to create magic wands,¡± Ander said to his son.

    ¡°I will probably be able to learn that someday. Right now I learned that particular enchantment because it was too hot inside the carriage but I will still need to focus on increasing my personal power.¡±

    Anders then told everyone that it was time to eat dinner. While they were eating, Anders showed Nemina and Lucas the wooden tablet of Air Conditioner that Anton made. When Anton¡¯s father switched on the wooden tablet while it was on the table, a glowing ice orb floated on top of the tablet. Cold air spewed out from the orb but since they were outside, it didn¡¯t do much with the surrounding temperature but those who were close to it could feel the cold air coming from the orb.

    Anton could hear the whispered conversation between his father, Nemina, and Lucas while they kept looking at him but he just ignored them.

    After dinner, Anton provided mana water for his family and friends for bathing and after he bathed he went inside the carriage to continue his research in increasing the duration of the wooden tablet air conditioner. He knew that he should focus on completing the Hell Difficulty and grinding for levels and items but the temperature was really irritating him so now his mind was still full of ideas on ways to increase the duration and efficiency of the first enchanted item that he had made.

 Chapter 133

    Anders¡¯ merchant caravan arrived at a very small village after three days of travel. The village was really tiny consisting of only a few families so Anders decided to move on after stopping there to resupply for a couple of hours.

    The last three days of travel were spent the usual way. During mornings Frederick would continue teaching them the arcane language and then after lunch, everyone would spend their time any way they wanted.

    Frederick used one of the wooden tablets of air conditioner to practice his magic and increase his power by spending all of his spells recharging the item and then memorizing his spells again so after lunch, after recharging the items, the mage was also stuck on his spellbooks memorizing his spells.

    Frederick did mention that due to that exercise, he felt that he could add one more cantrip to the number of cantrips he could memorize at one time and was especially excited that he felt that soon, he would be able to start memorizing a level one spell.

    The mage was thankful to Anton for lending him the wooden tablet of air conditioner.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Isn''t it the same thing if you just cast all of your spells outside and then memorize your spells again?¡± Anton asked the mage.

    ¡°That¡¯s how we usually novice mages practice but some of the spells would need a target to be cast and for some reason, I feel like recharging the wooden tablet was especially effective compared to just me casting the spells. There are some mechanics involved that I don¡¯t understand for now like maybe the siphoning of the mana by the artifact was draining all of the mana from the spell causing my mana storage to fully empty and then when I memorize the spells again, somehow, the spells were becoming subtly more powerful. I¡¯m not really sure and more than likely, only a learned wizard would be able to answer this question.¡± Frederick replied.

    ¡°How do more powerful wizard practice to increase their power then?¡± Anton asked and Frederick shrugged.

    Anna and her maids spent their afternoons reading their books and talking about their content. Lunelle also joined them sometimes when her mother allowed her to and she joined their conversation regarding Garion and the rest of the characters in the world of Belgariad.

    Soon the girls completed the series and Anna clamored for Anton to write the second series of David Eddings but instead, Anton spent a couple of hours writing the books Belgarath and Polgara.

    Anton was surprised at himself for how fast he wrote, not affecting the quality of his handwriting, and thought that it was only possible due to his high stats.

    Anna was delighted about the two books when she learned that the books were about the beginning of the world of Garion and Belgarath and Polgara¡¯s childhood and growth.

    He also reminded his sister that they did purchase a lot of books from the town that they had just been but Anna complained that the books were stupid and shallow. She said that it was all about stupid noble ladies waiting for their knights to rescue them when they were perfectly capable of rescuing themselves.

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    Anton then asked why she purchased those books and Anna answered that she thought that they would be full of adventure and romance but each one of them was awful. He laughed when he heard Anna¡¯s complaint. He was just glad that his sister wasn¡¯t clamoring on seeing more movies from him and honestly, it wouldn¡¯t have been a problem to show her some but he was wary of showing the people in this world a lot of his previous world. He thought that he should learn more about this world before sharing his culture with everyone.

    Anton was also incredibly busy. He was busy leveling up and was busy in trying to improve the wooden tablet of air conditioner so he spent half of his time playing his Diablo II game and half of his time researching enchantment but if he was honest with himself, most of the past three days that he should have been spending completing the Hell Difficulty was spent on his experimentation on enchanting.

    He found that creating enchanted items was truly entertaining and learning the mana pathway of spells that he could incorporate into items was highly addicting. Anton felt like a craftsman and he realized why artisans could spend their lives in their crafts.

    During the past three days, Anton only completed Act I of the Hell Difficulty of his Diablo II game since he spent the rest of the time trying to improve his very first enchanted item. He was successful though. He improved the tablet until its duration increased to a full twelve hours and that the mana storage would be full by mana worth of two casting of Frozen Orb, which was reduced from three casting of the said spell.

    That meant that Frederick would be able to fill half of the mana storage capacity of the tablet using all of his seven cantrips but he did have to spend seven hours memorizing those cantrips so in Anton¡¯s thinking, it wasn¡¯t worth it to use cantrips to fill out the mana storage of the tablet but Anton was guessing that level one or higher spells would be much more efficient.

    The moment he was successful in increasing the duration of the wooden tablet enchanted item, he created more of them, kept one for their carriage, and gave the rest to his father to distribute so everyone could travel and rest comfortably during the heat of the summer.

    Now, instead of the people camping outside to sleep, everyone was sleeping inside the carriages since the temperature in the carriages was comfortable.

    Anton did announce that he would recharge the wooden tablet every breakfast and dinner so they could use it the whole day and anyone who missed that had to wait for the next recharge session.

    He did discover that Charsi could also recharge the wooden tablet of air conditioner but since the speed was almost the same as when he recharged it by casting spells on the tablet, Anton decided to just charge the tablets himself since there were only about seven of them.

    Anton and the rest only really began to enjoy the benefit of the wooden tablet of air conditioner on the day before they arrived at the small village since that was when he was successful in increasing the duration of the spell to twelve hours. During his first experimentation on his first artifact, his trial and error testing only gradually increased the duration from two hours, then three, and so on, and only reached twelve hours duration before they arrived in the village.

    He thought that the wooden tablet had room for improvement since Anton felt that with further research, he still could increase its duration and mana efficiency. But right now, he was focusing on finding an alternate source of power to recharge the tablet since he couldn¡¯t spend all of his time recharging his enchanted items.

    It was too bad that he didn¡¯t have a mana stone with him to experiment. Frederick informed him that they were only available to be purchased from the wizard cities and they cost exorbitant amounts of gold coins. So Anton focused on Solar Power.

    But before that, he noticed that he was stagnating in playing the game and leveling up so he made a promise to himself that he would spend three-quarters of his personal time playing his Diablo II game and the rest on researching enchantment.

 Chapter 134

    They left the tiny village after they purchased as many food items that the villagers could spare and it only took them a couple of hours. The caravan did manage to fill their water tanks from the spring near the village and was glad that the villagers didn¡¯t complain.

    During lunch, Lucas informed him that the next town would be four days from the village, and then two villages after that, they would reach the Merchant City of Ruandelle.

    Everyone was grateful for Anton¡¯s enchanted wooden tablet since it allowed them to travel comfortably even during the hottest part of the day.

    Once they left the village, Anton entered the world of Sanctuary and continued completing the Hell Difficulty. He entered Lut Gholein and proceeded to complete the quest in the sewers.

    While Anton was battling the monsters in the sewers, he was also thinking about his first enchanted item. He thought of the need to experiment on how to find a mana pathway that would allow an enchanted item to gather the ambient mana in the environment to fill the mana storage but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have a spell that had a similar function of which he could think. Basically, what it meant was, that he couldn¡¯t create a brand new mana pathway. The only thing that he could do right now was adapt an existing pathway from the current spells that he knew.

    Anton thought hard about which spells had a similar function that would convert an existing energy like solar power to mana and he was doing this while fighting monsters. He was glad that his defenses were powerful enough that even if he were hit, his mercenary¡¯s aura would be able to heal him immediately.

    He thought that he should be able to find the mana pathway or adapt an existing one from one of the spells in the Fire Spell Tree and then he remembered the passive spell Warmth.

    Warmth was a passive spell that increased mana regeneration but where did the mana come from? Was it from the environment? Anton was highly excited at the prospect of studying the mana pathway of the said passive spell.

    Anton then thought of other items that he could create like maybe an enchanted lamp that would summon a floating Fire Bolt and since the people would only use them during night time, if the pathway of the Fire Bolt lamp were efficient enough, a full mana storage could last a long time. If he was successful in getting the pathway from the passive spell Warmth that would allow an item to gather the mana from the surrounding, then he wouldn¡¯t need to recharge an item and they could even sell simple enchanted items and from what Frederick had told him, they would allow his family to become extremely rich.

    When Anton first started playing his Diablo II game when he transmigrated to this world, he just cast the spells and didn¡¯t even notice the spell structure and the mana pathway of spells. He only noticed them when he first started to learn how to manipulate the mana of spells so he could adapt the spells for other things like getting water from his ice spells or controlling the fire from his fire spells. Now, he was so glad that Anton took the time to study the spell structures of the spells from Diablo II. That meant that the spell trees from the Sorceress tree alone would be able to provide him spell structures and mana pathways to create untold different enchanted items and soon, when he was familiar enough with the structures and pathways of the spells, he would be able to create his own personal spells.

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    Not only that, once he managed to get the other classes, the spells and abilities from those skill trees would also provide him countless mana pathways. Anton was glad that all the spells in Diablo II were powered by mana, unlike the other Diablo games that came after where the spells and abilities could be powered by something else like ¡°Rage¡±.

    That meant one thing. He didn¡¯t need to learn the spell system of this world since his Diablo II system alone would probably consume an entire lifetime to explore but since he already started learning the arcane language, he was curious enough to continue until he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t need to learn it.

    Anton also thought of the fact that once he learned enough of this world¡¯s magic, he could use it as a cover for his Diablo II system so that mighty archmages would not be curious enough to capture him for experimentation. Of course, he only imagined that archmages would be curious about his Diablo II system but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be careful.

    After he completed the sewer quest, he added the skill point to Telekinesis and proceeded to keep playing until he reached the Halls of the Dead and there he stopped since he noticed that someone was calling him outside the game. He immediately portalled to town and once he camped his character beside his private stash, he minimized the game.

    It was Colin who was calling him trying to inform him that the caravan had stopped for the night. He had seven wooden tablets with him which meant that it was time for the tablet to be recharged so he spent a couple of minutes recharging the wooden tablets.

    Frederick was still in awe at how fast Anton recharged a wooden tablet of air conditioner since if the mage did it, the process of charging the items wouldn¡¯t take long but learning the spells again would take him several hours.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s much difference between what you do when you memorize your spells or with Anton staring stupidly in the air for countless hours on what he calls meditation,¡± Anna commented.

    Anton laughed when he heard what his sister had said though Frederick was appalled.

    ¡°The difference is, I don¡¯t really need to ¡°meditate¡± and I can cast my spells anytime I want. I only meditate to increase my power. Frederick would need to memorize his spells or else he wouldn¡¯t be able to cast his spells.¡±

    Anna just snorted and they all went outside to join their Father for dinner. Colin gave six of the wooden tablets to Anders and kept one.

    While they were eating, Anton informed his father that soon, he would be able to craft an enchanted item that they could sell, and that made his Father happy.

    ¡°What item is that?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°The first item that I¡¯m considering creating for us to sell is an enchanted lamp but it would probably take longer to create that because I¡¯m still researching a method of recharging the item using the ambient mana in the surroundings, meaning that no one would need to recharge it and it would just collect the energy to power it up from the surrounding area. I¡¯m also researching a way for the lamp user to choose the brightness and possibly even color of the light they would prefer.¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s a good idea son but remember that you don¡¯t need to think of items that we can sell since once were successful enough as a merchant, you don¡¯t need to be the one who will always provide items for us to sell,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°I understand. It¡¯s just that I find creating enchanted items highly engaging and I now understand why artisans are focused on their crafts. I¡¯m also continuing my research on the wooden tablet of air conditioner. I would like the user to be able to control the temperature they wanted and also would like the item to be able to collect mana from the environment to fill its mana storage.¡±

    After dinner, Anton took a bath and provided mana water for his family and friends and went back inside the cold carriage to continue leveling up then he would rest for the night.

 Chapter 135

    Frederick informed Anton that they would arrive in the next village the next day and during the three days of travel, the inside of the carriage was comfortable. It was the height of the summer season and even during nighttime the temperature was still high but since Anton made the wooden tablet of air conditioner, the temperature inside the carriages in Anders¡¯s Merchant Caravan could only be considered heavenly.

    Anna didn¡¯t even want to get outside even during meal times and Anders had to scold her to join them at the dinner table that was set up by the servants.

    During the three days of travel, Frederick would teach Anton, Anna, and her maids the arcane language and today was the day they would start to memorize a spell book that contained a cantrip.

    It was a good thing that all of the spellbooks that they had received from the vampires when Anton killed them were just cantrips. Anna decided to start memorizing the spell book Sleep and Anton decided to memorize Mage Light which was his original plan. Honestly, Anton would have preferred some other spell but they had limited spellbooks. The other two spells available to be memorized were Charm Person and Mage Armor so he reckoned that it was actually not important which spells he would choose to memorize first.

    Frederick told them that they would start memorizing the cantrip after lunch since he would need to observe the two of them to make sure that there would be no accidents.

    During the three days of travel, Anton completed Act II of the Hell Difficulty and was supposed to start with Act III and was also planning to begin studying the Warmth Passive spell this afternoon since he focused on leveling up and improving the wooden tablet of air-conditioner but since Frederick told them that it was time to start memorizing a cantrip spell, Anton would set aside that plan for now.

    Anton managed to improve the wooden tablet of air conditioner during those three days of travel. He focused on the improvement of his first enchanted item instead of diving immediately into studying the passive skill Warmth.  He successfully increased the duration to twenty-four hours and the mana storage would be full by just one cast of Frozen Orb.

    Frederick could also fill the mana storage of the wooden tablet by using his seven cantrips but he did mention that in the next few days, he should be able to add one more cantrip to his repertoire.

    Anton did discover that the wooden table of air conditioner would not last long. The tablet would probably break after around one-hundredth use by his calculations.  That meant that he would need to find materials that would last longer than a wooden tablet but for now, the tablets were enough.

    After lunch, Anton and Anna prepared to memorize the cantrips while everyone watched. The maids decided that they would try memorizing the spell once Anna was successful.

    When Anna opened the spell she was surprised.

    ¡°Frederick, is this correct? It says here that the Sleep Spell was only this short sentence that I would need to memorize. Why is the book as thick as my notebook then and what are these other words for?¡±

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    ¡°The adventurer who taught me magic told me that the spell in a spellbook that the mage would need to memorize is usually written on the first page and usually the first sentence or the first paragraph. The other arcane language in the book is the spell that would allow the actual spell to be retained on the book itself since normally if a spell was written on an enchanted paper, once the spell was memorized, the spell written would disappear as well. It also contained information about the actual spell like why the spell was arranged that way and how the spell structure was created but only learned sages would be able to understand the complex spell structure on a spellbook that was written to support the actual spell of the spellbook itself.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Anna asked confused by the mage¡¯s world.

    ¡°What Frederick said was the Sleep spell in your spellbook is just the first sentence, all the other words were just to describe the Sleep Spell, like how it was made and it was also the supporting magic that would allow the Sleep Spell to not disappear from the book once you memorize it!¡±

    Anna then nodded but Anton was guessing that she still did not understand fully.

    ¡°Just go ahead and memorize the sentence and once you¡¯re successful, you will be able to see the glowing rune of the spell in your mind, and to cast it, you just need to activate the rune and your mouth should automatically utter the incantation of the spell. For a cantrip, the spell casting incantation would usually consist of just one to two words even though you memorize a whole sentence.¡±

    Anton found the concept of spell memorization utterly bewildering. The siblings then started memorizing the spell.

    When Anton memorized the spell Mage Light, a glowing rune appeared in his mind and it only took him about five minutes. Since Anna was busy memorizing, he didn¡¯t interrupt her and whispered to Frederick that he successfully memorized the spell already.

    ¡°I actually expected that since you¡¯re already able to cast very advanced spells. More than likely, the next time you memorize that spell, it will even take you a shorter time to do it.¡±

    Then they waited for Anna to complete the memorization process of her first spell but after thirty minutes, Anton decided to browse the internet since he got bored waiting and even the maids surreptitiously retrieved the notebooks that contained the Belgariad series and began reading.

    After about an hour, Anna suddenly shouted.

    ¡°I memorized it! I¡¯m now a sorceress!

    ¡°Anna is actually correct. If she didn¡¯t have the talent for wizardry, even after several hours, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to memorize the spell. The next time you memorize the spell, it should take you shorter and shorter, and then you will feel instinctively that you can memorize your second cantrip. For now, there should be a feeling of fullness,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°I do feel it! I feel like I¡¯d just eaten in my mind!¡±

    ¡°Your spell capacity would only increase through practice.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel that, the fullness. Does that mean that I can memorize more spells?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Yes and again not surprising due to your capability of casting advanced spells already,¡± Frederick replied.

    Anton then cast the spell Mage Light and a hovering light appeared from his hands and it brightened up the whole carriage. He could tell that the light would only last for around five minutes if he didn¡¯t cancel it and he also instinctively knew how to disperse it so he did.

    He was disappointed with the spell since he thought that the Mage Light spell would be better than his Fire Ball light spell since he thought that once he cast it, he could just forget the spell not like his Fire Ball light spell that he would need to make sure that his attention, at least a little of it, was on the spell.

    Anton then memorized the spell Mage Light again but this time it only took him a couple of minutes and then he tried memorizing the spell Sleep and it only took him five minutes. Frederick kept telling everyone that it was expected since he was already a powerful mage.

 Chapter 136

    Anton memorized all the spellbooks that they received from the vampires but what he found annoying about this world¡¯s magic system was that after he cast the spells, he would need to memorize them again.

    Frederick then informed him that that¡¯s why a mage would create his or her own spellbook comprised of all the spells that the mage had already memorized so the said mage would only bring a single book comprised of the spell he would use during his or her adventures.

    ¡°So should I make my own spellbook now?¡± Anna asked their magic tutor.

    ¡°You will not be able to since you will need to purchase a specially made empty spellbook that was made by a magic crafter and those are only available in large cities.¡±

    Anna was disappointed that she couldn¡¯t immediately create her spellbook but she was truly enthusiastic since she kept casting her single cantrip and memorizing the spell again. She declared that she wanted to become a powerful mage as soon as possible.

    In the meantime, Anton carefully felt his magic ability and told Frederick that he felt that he could memorize more spells or even higher level spells if there were any that were available but to the mage¡¯s relief, Anton didn¡¯t ask about Frederick¡¯s spellbook.

    Anton decided that he would not be serious about the magic system of this world. He would create his spellbook but he would not dedicate a huge amount of time pursuing spells since he had his powerful magic system from the world of Diablo II and not only that, but soon, he would be able to create his very own spells and had already made an enchanted item. Basically, the magic system that his Diablo II game blessed him had infinite potential.

    At first, he was interested in learning the magic system of this world since he thought that the spells of his Diablo II system were finite but then he learned that with his imagination backed up by the internet of his old world, the possibilities were endless.

    Ander¡¯s merchant caravan only stayed in the tiny village for around three hours and then they left immediately. One more village which was around four days travel from where they were and then they would arrive in the merchant city of Ruandelle.

    During their travel, Frederick kept practicing his spell by expending all of his cantrips by filling a wooden tablet of air conditioner and then memorizing the spells again. Anton could feel that the mage was somewhat desperate to increase their level and when he suddenly shouted that he was successful in memorizing the first level spell Cure Wounds, he then told Anton that he had taught all he could to the siblings and would like to remain in the caravan as a hired wizard.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine by me, Frederick, but you will need to speak with my Father about that.¡±

    Anders did tell the mage that he could remain as a mage retainer for the family and the mage was joyful. He promised Anders that he would try his best to increase his power so he would be useful to the family and Anders told him that he would fund the mage¡¯s pursuit of power as long as there was visible progress.

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    Anton also completed Act III of the Hell Difficulty during those days of travel and he luckily received the armor Skin of the Vipermagi from Mephisto. It fueled his desire to start farming the boss but he held himself off and would continue his plan of starting the farming grind once he completed all of the Acts of the Hell Difficulty.

    Because of his scattered skill points to different spells and his mediocre items, Anton was beginning to feel the challenge of killing the mobs inside the game in Act III but that only served to make it more exciting. That meant that with the level of spells that he had right now and the items that he had, it would probably take Anton longer to complete the remaining two acts and there was a chance that it would force him to grind for items before completing the Hell Difficulty but for now, he was making do.

    Regarding his enchantment, he was still striving to improve the wooden table of air conditioner but he didn¡¯t make any more progress so Anton decided to start studying the passive skill Warmth and he learned that it was truly complex and would probably more time before he was successful in isolating all of the mana pathways of the said spell.

    When they arrived at the last village before the merchant city of Ruandelle, They heard the news that the city of Leminthor was now in the middle of the war with the Undead Coalition.  The villagers who shared the news with them had worried looks on their faces but they kept comforting themselves that Leminthor was far away from where they were.

    That solidified Anders¡¯s desire to move past Ruandelle and strive to get to a powerful wizard city. All of their retainers were either single or had their family with them and they were relieved that they were able to leave the city of Leminthor before the war started.  They were very thankful that they successfully joined a powerful and rich merchant caravan and were comforted that it was guarded by an extraordinary archmage. They knew this for a fact since they had already seen Anton defeat an army of monsters.

    They only stayed in the village for a couple of hours and continued their journey to Ruandelle. Anders informed everyone that they would only stay in the city for around three days and no one complained about that since they still felt that they were lucky to be able to escape Leminthor.

    Everyone had no delusion that Leminthor would win the war with the Undead Coalition since the coalition was powerful enough to defeat several cities consequently and was able to start a war with Leminthor while they were in the middle of the battle with the powerful nation of Tiande.

    Anton and all the others inside their carriage saw the merchant city of Ruandelle in the distance and it was a grand grand-looking city.  He could see the towering spires even from where they were, which told Anders that the buildings were huge indeed.

    When they neared the city gates, everyone saw the long line of people entering the city. At first, Anton thought that they were refugees but Frederick informed him that although there were a lot more people than normal, the number was still not extraordinary for the city since the people entering the city could be more than that, especially during festivals.

    Anton saw that there were two gates catering to the people who were entering the city. One for those who were on foot and one large one for people who were riding carriages or mounts and for caravans such as themselves.

    They were not the only caravan that was entering nor they were the largest one. Anton could see that they were somewhat in the middle in terms of caravan size and he was impressed at how efficient the city guards were in inspecting the caravans.  He also saw that there was a mage together with the guards inspecting the caravans and the mage was casting some spells.

    Frederick informed him that the mage was making sure that there were no contrabands that could harm the city like undead hiding inside the carriages or materials that could cause untold destruction, things like that.

 Chapter 137

    Anton was excited to enter the city of Ruandelle. He was planning to explore the city and thought that three days was too few for him to explore but he could understand Ander¡¯s desire to leave the city as soon as possible since there was no guarantee that the war with the Undead Coalition would not reach this city. He could see that his sister, Anna, was also highly excited about exploring the city as well.

    While they were waiting in the queue, Anton heard Anna¡¯s plan about what she would do once they were inside the city since she told it to her maids loudly.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to purchase books but this time, I will make sure that they are not garbage. I will also do a lot of shopping and I¡¯m sure Father will give me more coins for that. I will also check if there¡¯s any theater so I can watch some plays, although, your shows from your magic are better!¡± Anna said to everyone but was eying Anton when she mentioned the movies.

    Anton ignored his sister but he finally relented.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll show you a play from my magic globe the night before we leave the city.¡±

    Anna cheered when she heard Anton¡¯s promise.

    Soon it was their turn to be inspected. Anton saw his Father giving a lot of coins to the gate inspector mage and the captain of the guards and knew that it was part and parcel of merchant cities to have something like that. The bribes did made sure that their entrance to the city was smooth.

    Upon entering the city, everyone opened the windows of their carriages widely since they wanted to check the scenery inside the city. Normally, all of the windows in all of the carriages that had people inside were closed tightly to make sure that the cold air from the wooden tablet of air conditioner wouldn¡¯t escape but this time, all of them opened their windows.

    Before they left though the mage who was inspecting the carriages was amazed at the low temperature inside the carriages and when Anders showed the mage the wooden tablet of air conditioner, the mage was amazed then everyone could see the greedy look on his face so to prevent any mishaps, Anders sold one to the mage for a very low price.

    Anton¡¯s father made sure to let the mage know that the tablet would only last for at most one hundred uses. The mage then asked if they were selling more of the tablets and Anders informed him that he hadn¡¯t planned to sell those due to the wooden tablet¡¯s low durability but the mage mentioned that it wouldn¡¯t matter to the rich folks of the city and that they would pay a very high amount of gold for the tablets.

    Anders told the inspector mage that he would have to think about it and could look for him later at the inn where they would be staying. The mage then offered to guide them to the best inn they could stay while they were in the city and Anders accepted.

    The mage then cast some sort of communication spell and after a few minutes, another mage arrived to replace Anrius, which was the mage¡¯s name, as the gate inspector.

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    The main road of the city of Ruandelle could be considered a highway in Anton¡¯s previous world due to how large it was. It was still made of some sort of stone that he couldn¡¯t identify but it brought forth the fact that it was exotic to the eyes of Anton who had never been anywhere aside from his city on Earth.

    It was a little familiar to him though since he had seen those types of roads on the internet in the old cities in Europe.

    There were so many streets and most of them were full of various bazaars and even just a cursory look filled Anton with amazement since there were so many items that he didn¡¯t even recognize. It also gave Anton the urge to go outside the carriage to begin his exploration.

    This time, Anton wasn¡¯t planning to hire any sort of guide and would explore on his own. The only problem was he might not have enough gold coins to purchase items that he wanted to buy so he planned to create more wooden tablets of air conditioner that he could sell by himself so he would have the coins that he could spend and didn¡¯t have to ask some from his Father.

    In the distance, everyone could see the grand palaces of the council of mages of the merchant city and it looked like those sultan palaces in the middle east countries in Anton¡¯s old world. He could almost imagine suddenly seeing Alladin¡¯s magic carpet flying around the round spires of the palaces. The color of the palaces were like marbles but Anton wasn¡¯t really sure what they were made of but they were not all white. There were large swathes of colors of all kinds that reminded him of Fenix¡¯s clothes, the young man who looked like a gypsy that was his guide in the city of Leminthor.

    It would have been better if the inspector mage was with them so he could introduce the local buildings that they were seeing but the gate inspector mage was with Anton¡¯s father in the other carriage.

    The buildings in the city were comprised of different designs and structures. The majority of them were imitating the palaces of the Council of Mages but some of them were designed differently. Anton was sure that the designs were from the home country of whoever owned the buildings but instead of making the place look chaotic, it only added to the exotic and exciting feeling only a successful merchant city could bring.

    Anton did worry a bit if his Father would be able to earn coins from the city since it seemed like the city would not lack the items that they had in their carriages but based on Anrius¡¯s expression when the gate inspector mage was looking at Anton¡¯s wooden tablet of air conditioner, there would be a market for at least one of their products.

    Colin did mention that he once visited the city and according to the man, some of the largest buildings that they could see were owned by different guilds and organizations. The most common guilds were the adventurer guild and the merchant guild.

    The city was also full of noise that when they reached the first plaza or center, everyone was almost overwhelmed and Anton almost put his hands on his ears but soon they got used to the noise.

    The noise consisted of different things like merchants hawking their products, customers haggling with merchants, minstrels, and bards singing, sounds of carriages and animal noises, people talking about different things, and more.

    Anna¡¯s face was so full of excitement that Anton almost expected his sister to jump from the carriage to run around the city. He could understand because he felt the same way and Anton was sure that his face had the same expression as his sister''s. As a matter of fact, not only the siblings, but almost everyone was excited while looking at the city.

    Anrius led them to a large building that was called the Inn of Auspicious Beginnings. Anton, Anna, and her maids, Frederick and Colin joined Anders and the others in entering the huge inn, and being with Anrius made the innkeeper come out and welcome them enthusiastically.

 Chapter 138

    Anders rented the entire third floor of the inn and a lot of the other free rooms on the other floors. The innkeeper had a wide smile on his face from earning a huge amount of coins from Anton¡¯s father.

    Before Anton followed the inn attendant that would lead him to his room, he told his father that he would not be joining them for lunch since he wanted to do something first then he would begin exploring the city.

    Anders just nodded and told him to be careful and after that Anton followed the attendant. The room that was assigned to him had a bathroom so he immediately took a bath and then spent an hour making wooden tablets of air conditioners. He could create one in ten minutes if he truly concentrated and soon he completed six of them.

    Anton was planning to sell the newly created enchanted wooden tablets so he would have coins that he could use to purchase anything that he might fancy. He already asked Anrius, the gate inspector mage, the price that he could sell the tablets for. He didn¡¯t know if his father would be angry with him if he learned that Anton was planning something like this but he didn¡¯t want to ask his father for spending coins because his family worked hard to earn those.

    He filled the wooden tablets of air conditioner mana storage with mana and then he headed directly outside the inn to begin his exploration. Anton didn¡¯t see Anna or anyone else that he was close to and more than likely they were already roaming around the city. Of course, some of the people in the inn¡¯s common room were familiar since they were his family¡¯s employees but he actually didn¡¯t know their names and he wondered if he was coming off as a snob for not mingling with them but he was truly busy every day.

    Anton just shrugged it off and decided to mingle with the others soon. In the meantime, the city of Ruandelle awaits. He was glad that he was wearing ordinary clothes that were not different from what the other people in the streets were wearing.

    This city was truly a merchant city and even though the council was comprised of mages, they were more businessmen than wizards that was why this city was called a merchant city instead of a wizard city aside from not having an archmage in their council.

    Just walking in the first street, Anton could see a lot of shops and some of the merchants were outside their shops calling out for customers. Anton was guessing that he was in the poorer part of the city since he knew that the richer shops would not bring their level down to actually calling customers in the street but from what he knew about merchants, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised even if the rich stores did the same thing.

    Anton was looking at the different stores while walking and he was walking slowly enough so he would be able to browse the store¡¯s windows without any issues. There were stores selling clothes, stores that sold books, ones that sold toys, a hat store, a shoe store, and a lot more.

    The next street that he arrived into was full of restaurants, bakeries, and cafes. Since Anton didn¡¯t have any coins on him since he gave everything to his Father, he didn¡¯t have any coins to buy himself food. He did have a lot of food that was stored in his inventory but he wanted a taste of this city¡¯s food so he asked one of the guards who were patrolling the place where he could sell an enchanted item.

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    The guard looked at him askance but did provide the directions to the largest magic bazaar which was three avenues from where he was so after thanking the guard, he headed directly to the street where the shops for magic items were located.

    Anton actually took an hour and several more stops to ask for directions before he arrived at one of the unofficial magic streets in the city. He asked the guards standing beside the street entrance the best place where he could sell his magic item and the guard recommended that he go to the largest magic shop since even if he would not get the highest amount, at least he would not be scammed since large magic shops had to make sure that their reputation would not be questioned.

    While Anton headed to the largest building in the street, he thought of the fact that this city seemed to be very rich and powerful but he knew that they couldn¡¯t stay there since in terms of actual power, it was well-known that Ruandelle didn¡¯t have any archmages and that meant that if the Undead Coalition ever reached this city, he doubt that Ruandelle could defeat the undead armies.

    The largest magic shop in the street was simply called The Wizard¡¯s Emporium and according to the guard, it was owned by one of the members of the council of Ruandelle. The store was really large, almost comparable to some of the smaller malls in his old world so when Anton entered, the first floor alone had multitudes of products and salespeople catering to customers already.

    A salesgirl quickly approached Anton.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Sir. Are you looking for something specific or do you want to browse first?¡± The pretty salesgirl said.

    ¡°Can you tell me more about this store?¡±

    ¡°Of course. The first floor of our emporium consisted of a combination of regular and simple magical items. Any beginner adventurer would be able to find anything that he would need before they went off to explore the world like regular tents or enchanted sleeping tents, regular traveling cloaks or enchanted cloaks, regular bags, or enchanted bags, and more.

    The floors of the store correspond to the level of magical enchantments attached to an item and the truly powerful magic items are located at the top of our store and only our VIP exclusive members are allowed to enter it. We also hold auctions bi-weekly and our next scheduled auction will be tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Can anyone enter the auction?¡¯

    ¡°There is at least two gold coins deposit to anyone who wants to attend the auction and it''s non-refundable but you can still purchase items from the store worth the deposit if you didn¡¯t buy anything from the auction,¡± The saleslady said while smiling professionally.

    Anton felt that the salesperson who was talking to him was truly professional since he didn¡¯t feel any sort of disdain even though he was a youth and wearing regular clothes.

    ¡°I actually want to sell an enchanted item. Do I talk to you about that?¡±

    ¡°I will lead you to a manager who can appraise the item that you have, so please follow me.¡±

    The young woman then led Anton to a booth located on the left wing of the first floor. The booth had comfortable seats but it was hot since the windows were closed and it was summer. The saleslady then asked him to wait since she would need to call her manager first.

    When the saleslady exited, Anton brought out one of the wooden tablets of air conditioner since it was truly hot and uncomfortable and there were no magical fans that would make the temperature inside the booth bearable.

 Chapter 139

    Anton waited several minutes inside the private booth but since the small room was now cold due to his wooden tablet of air conditioner, it was now comfortable and since he had been walking before arriving at the store, he needed a comfortable rest.

    After around five minutes, the saleslady and her manager still hadn¡¯t arrived so Anton opened his browser and started watching some video clips on a famous streaming site. He then heard the door opening so he hastily closed his browser and turned his attention to the two people who entered.

    The saleslady and the man who Anton assumed was one of the managers in the store had surprised looks on their faces when they felt the temperature in the booth. The manager¡¯s face then focused on the wooden tablet on the table with its floating Frozen Orb rotating above it spewing cold air.

    ¡°Good afternoon young sir. I¡¯m called Manus, and I would like to apologize for the delay. I was busy handling a delicate case,¡± Manus the manager apologized to Anton.

    Although Anton was impressed by the saleslady¡¯s professional attitude when he first came in, Anton had an inkling based on the manager¡¯s face that the manager was anything but. He reckoned that Manus was probably going to dismiss anything that he would have tried to sell to the man but he shouldn¡¯t judge based on first impression.

    ¡°I was informed by Carla here that you¡¯re selling an enchanted item to the Wizard¡¯s Emporium?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As you can see, this wooden tablet can cool a room and will make it more comfortable.¡±

    Manus and Carla sat opposite Anton and studied the wooden tablet of air conditioner. Anton told the manager that the duration of the enchanted tablet was twenty-four hours on full mana storage and that its mana storage would be full of mana with six casting worth of cantrips. He also explained to the man that the tablet would only last for one hundred uses and that it had an indicator by the side for the remaining use which Anton recently added.

    Anton also added that the floating orb could also serve as a dim night light and it was beautiful to look at. He also told the manager that the floating orb was not dangerous and he demonstrated it by putting his hand inside the orb. He mentioned that it would only feel like the hand was submerged in a bucket of cold water and would only be dangerous if the hand remained on the orb for more than ten minutes.

    The wooden tablet clearly had a lot of limitations like its short duration and its durability but he knew that he should still be able to sell it.

    ¡°That is a good item, sir..? The manager asked.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Anton.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir Anton. That is a good item and I¡¯m willing to purchase it from you for fifteen gold coins.¡±

    ¡°Thirty gold coins, not one copper less.¡±

    The manager gasped when he heard Anton¡¯s reply but it was obviously a fake reaction.

    ¡°That¡¯s too much Sir Anton!¡±

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    Anton switched off the tablet, picked it up, and made a motion to exit the booth but the manager stopped him.

    ¡°You¡¯re a good haggler, Sir Anton,¡± The manager said.

    ¡°Actually I¡¯m not. It¡¯s just that Anrius, the mage in the gate, told me that the tablet could be sold for around fifty gold coins but according to the guards at the entrance of this street, This store would purchase my items cheaper than normal but it wouldn¡¯t get scammed.¡±

    Manus had a disgruntled look on his face when he heard that a mage from the city advised Anton on how much he could sell the tablet for but it was only for a moment.

    Anrius told his Father, which he overheard, that the tablet could be sold for twenty to thirty golds. It could have been more but due to its low durability, which was as much as they could get for the items.

    ¡°I¡¯ll agree with the price that you have set Sir Anton,¡± The manager relented.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I have a second one, are you willing to purchase that as well?¡±

    ¡°Of course. May I know the enchanter who created these items?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s a mage who was employed by Anders, the leader of Anders Merchant Caravan that arrived today and they will be leaving this city the day after tomorrow.¡±

    The manager was taken aback at how brief the caravan would stay in the city but Anton could see that the man was planning to visit their caravan probably to check if they could purchase more items or persuade the ¡°mage¡± who made the tablets to part ways with the caravan and come under the Wizard¡¯s Emporium¡¯s management.

    Manus then gave Anton sixty gold coins then departed with the two tablets under his arms. The manager left the saleslady with Anton since he was still planning to browse the items in the store.

    After exiting the booth, Anton started browsing the items on the first floor. He noticed that all the customers who were roaming around the store were being followed by a salesperson and more than likely, no one was allowed to roam around the emporium without an employee.

    Anton first checks the common items that new rich adventurers would purchase before going off on their adventure. He saw a blanket that had a simple enchantment that would keep it dry in all sorts of weather. He saw cloaks that would always keep the wearer warm, mini lanterns that would last for a long time, and all sorts of things.

    He didn¡¯t find anything that he was interested in although some of the simple enchantments inspired him and he could probably replicate some of them in time.

    Anton then went to the second floor of the magic mall since according to the saleslady, the items there had more advanced enchantments. The first item that he was tempted to purchase was a thick sleeping mat that had an enchantment that would decrease its size greatly when not in use which would be very convenient for travelers but he held off. He knew that with his inventory, he only needed to buy a regular sleeping mat and it would be enough.

    He enjoyed browsing the items so much that he spent two hours doing so. Anton even suggested to the saleslady that he didn¡¯t need to spend her time following him but the woman said that it was her job so he just shrugged, ignored the employee, and continued browsing.

    The reason why Anton would have been comfortable browsing alone was there were actually information placards on the items displayed which greatly impressed him.

    Anton then asked the saleslady where the magic wands and spell books were located and according to the lady, it was on the third floor so he asked the lady to lead him there.

    The wands were nice and again he was tempted to purchase one or two of them but he held himself off since in time, he should be able to create wands of his own. He spent around fifty gold coins to purchase three first-level spellbooks though and they were the spellbooks for Comprehend Language, Detect Magic and Disguise Self.

    When he gave the coins to the saleslady, the lady couldn¡¯t keep the smile off her face.

    ¡°Do you work on commission?¡±

    ¡°We do receive a percentage so thank you for purchasing items from the Emporium, Sir Anton,¡± The saleslady said.

    Anton was happy with his purchases. When he left the emporium, he was feeling hungry so he headed directly to a restaurant and spent some of the coins that he earned to purchase high-quality food. While he was waiting for his food, he stored the spellbooks in his inventory to avoid losing them since they did cost him a pretty penny.

 Chapter 140

    Anton went outside the restaurant and saw that it was still early so he went back inside and ordered a lot more dishes. Since he found the food delicious, he would store them in his inventory so he would have a variety of delicious food that he could retrieve anytime he wanted.

    When the food arrived, he immediately stored it and was glad that the restaurant allowed him to buy the plates as well. After he stored around thirty dishes, he paid and then left the restaurant again. Before he left, the restaurant people became especially respectful to him since they were now aware that he was a wizard.

    After leaving the restaurant, Anton now only had seven gold coins left. He then went and roamed around and found himself in a street that sold different clothing so he went and both a few that he thought looked good and stored them in his inventory. Walking for about an hour made him hungry again so he followed the instruction of a friendly guard and went to a street that was filled with street food.

    He first purchased a tiny amount from a street food stall and if Anton found it delicious, he would then purchase a lot more and store them in his inventory. He did these on different street food stalls and the sellers were especially glad to see a customer who purchased a lot of their products. He was so glad that his inventory would keep everything fresh as the day he stored them.

    Even though Anton purchased an ungodly amount of street food, it only cost him a total of one gold coin so he still had six gold coins left. He planned to not return to the inn until he spent all of his gold coins so he continued shopping even though the sun had set. The streets were still bright due to some form of lighting that some people turned on. He wondered if it was some magical contraption of some good old gas lights.

    Anton stumbled on a shop that sold some sort of art pieces made of different materials like various metals, wood, and stone. He didn¡¯t know what kind of metal some of the pieces were. Maybe they were made of copper or steel or a combination of different metals. He was kind of an ignoramus when it came to metallurgy but what caught his fancy were the art pieces themselves.

    There we some that looked like different animals made of metals like a hawk, a turtle, a horse, and others. Some were made of stone and some were wood. Some pieces looked like miniature houses and some were sculptures of people like dancers, children, and surprisingly even some naked women and men.

    Anton was also surprised to see some pieces that looked like modern art sculptures from his old world and was amazed at the sense of artistry of the people in this world. He bought a huge amount of art pieces with the remaining gold coins that he had thinking that he could use them for enchantment. Anton bought art pieces that were a mixture of metals and stones and held off on purchasing those that were made of wood. He thought that maybe the durability of his enchantments would increase if he used something different from wood.

    The owner of the store was delighted at the amount of pieces that he bought and he offered to assist Anton in bringing them to his place but he declined. He then stored the pieces in his inventory to the surprise of the owner but the owner was not truly shocked since something like a pocket dimension, although wasn¡¯t common, was known to the people of the city.

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    Anton was happy with the pieces that he bought and was thinking of adding the air conditioner enchantment to some of them. It would make the enchanted item better aesthetically and it would confirm if other materials aside from wood would increase the durability of the enchantment.

    As usual, after learning that Anton was a mage, the owner of the store became especially respectful to him. He said his goodbye to the store owner and proceeded to return to the inn where his family was staying.

    When he arrived at the inn, Anton saw his family at one of the tables in the common room so he joined them.

    ¡°Anton, what took you so long? I was about to send somebody to find you. Are you hungry?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry, thanks. I ate a lot of street food. I roamed around some parts of the city and bought some things. By the way, Father, I made six wooden tablets of air conditioner and sold two of them for sixty gold coins so I could have some that I can spend.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have any more coins? You could have asked for some from me. We now have a lot of coins!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay Father. Here are four of the wooden tablets remaining. You can sell them if you want.¡±

    Anton gave the remaining four wooden tablets of air conditioner to his father. He was planning to create some more so he asked Colin to supply him more of the wooden tablets and his attendant said that he would go find some. Colin then left immediately since he was done eating.

    ¡°I¡¯m not planning to sell these but use them to grease some palms. I will need at least ten more so please give me those by tomorrow.¡±

    Anton nodded to inform his Father that he would give some to him the next day.

    ¡°What did you purchase, brother? I purchased a lot of notebooks and books that I made sure were good. I also purchase three cantrips spellbooks and a magic wand!¡±

    ¡°Father gave you a lot of coins?! Three first-level spellbooks cost me fifty gold coins. Did I pay too much for them?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    ¡°No that was about correct. May I know which spells you purchased?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°I purchased Comprehend Language, Detect Magic, and Disguise Self. I thought of purchasing spells that would be useful to me since I know a lot of attack spells, some defensive spells, and powerful healing spells already. Oh, I forgot to purchase a spellbook that I could use to record those that I have already learned! Well, I¡¯ll just buy them tomorrow.¡±

    Frederick nodded his agreement to the choice of spells that Anton made.

    ¡°I purchased Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, and Message and a spellbook that I can use to record my spells. The wand that I bought only had two charges and it¡¯s a wand of Mage Armor. All in all, everything cost me twenty gold coins! Father said that he would give me twenty more gold coins that I could spend for the remaining time that we¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Are you able to learn a second cantrip already?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°No. I still feel very full in my head and it would probably take me more time for me to be able to learn my second spell. I copied Frederick¡¯s form of practice of casting my spell on your enchanted item since according to him, it was very effective in increasing his power and it was practical too since it would allow the tablet to last longer. It would still be good to have the spellbooks available when I¡¯m ready to learn a new spell.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so envious. When I was first learning my spells, I would need to do very dangerous missions for me to be able to afford a second cantrip,¡± Frederick said.

    After dinner, Anton¡¯s father, and his secretaries, Nemina and Lucas went somewhere to continue their business. Anna went to her room with her maids. Colin appeared with several wooden tablets and Anton stored them in his inventory to enchant later, then he went to his room to rest.

 Chapter 141

    Anton arrived in his room and was glad to see that it had a bathroom so he conjured mana water and took a bath. After his bath, he activated a wooden tablet of air conditioner since the room was hot and humid and after a couple of minutes, the room was now comfortably cold. He then heard a knock on his door.

    ¡°Anton, I want to take a bath. Please conjure me some mana water!¡± Anna said through the door.

    Anton then went outside and went to his family¡¯s room one by one to fill their bathtub with water from the Frozen Orb spell. After that, he returned to his room to begin crafting wooden tablets of air conditioners. Colin gave him about twenty tablets so all of them would take him more than two hours to craft.

    All that crafting made Anton learn how to focus more and soon he was able to craft faster so after about two hours, he completed the project that was assigned to him by his father. He immediately went outside his room and knocked on his father¡¯s room and when Anders opened his door, Anton saw that his father was about to go to sleep.

    He immediately gave the twenty wooden tablets to his father and assured him that every one of them was full of mana already.

    When Anton returned to his room, he brought out a piece of art sculpture that he would enchant for his final project for the night. It was a metal sculpture of a wizard with his staff being held high as if the wizard was about to cast a spell.

    He delicately carved the mana pathway all over the sculpture using a combination of his mana and telekinesis and he placed the switch by the feet. The mana pathway for the durability indicator was located beside the switch and he was correct in assuming that metal would increase the durability of the enchanted item since based on the mana pathway information, the durability was triple that of the wooden tablet.

    When Anton turned on the enchantment on the sculpture, the Frozen Orb appeared on top of the staff and now the sculpture of the wizard who looked like it was about to hurl the Frozen Orb at his enemies looked magnificent.

    He decided to keep the statue and would personally use it. The good thing about the durability was that Charsi could fix it. That was actually the main difference between him recharging the tablet versus Charsi doing it since with Charsi, the durability would turn back into full so even if the wooden tablet was on the verge of breaking down, Charsi would be able to fully repair it aside from recharging the mana storage. That meant that Anton didn¡¯t have to worry about the wizard sculpture being destroyed.

    Anton kept the wooden tablet and used the sculpture to cool off his room and while nodding off to sleep, he was looking at the sculpture, admiring the artistry.

    The next day, he woke up from the sound of knocking on his door and when he opened it, it was his Father and Anna.

    ¡°Come join us for breakfast,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°What is that!¡± Anna exclaimed when she saw the wizard sculpture.

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    Anders and Anna entered Anton¡¯s room to inspect the wizard sculpture with the Frozen Orb on top of its staff.

    ¡°I bought a good amount of art sculptures from a shop that I went to yesterday and most of them were made of metal and stone. I enchanted one with the air conditioner and that was the result. Aside from that, the durability increased so it would now last for three hundred uses compared to the wooden table which would only last for a hundred uses.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± Anders softly commented.

    ¡°The good thing about our items is if I repair them using the spell that lets me repair things, the durability will also return to full,¡± Anton added.

    ¡°Can you make me one as well?¡± Anna asked.

    Anton said that he would to his sister and he presented several sculptures to her. Anna chose a sculpture of a butterfly. Her sister then asked that the floating orb appears between the butterfly¡¯s antenna. He told his sister to get the sculpture from him later tonight. Anna then said that she would use the sculpture to exercise her spell-casting.

    During breakfast, Anders reminded the siblings that they would leave the next day so they should fulfill their desire to roam around the city. Anders then gave Anton one hundred gold coins and he happily accepted.

    When Anton was about to go to his room to play his Diablo II game for a bit and practice a new enchantment since he planned to roam the city after lunch, a familiar man arrived at their table.

    It was the manager of the shop that Anton went to. Anton knew that the manager would be looking for the mage that created the wooden tablet and he didn¡¯t want to deal with it so he left immediately.

    Before he entered his room, he advised Colin that he didn¡¯t want to be disturbed if it was not an emergency and would go outside his room once lunchtime arrived.

    Anton then spent a couple of hours inside the World of Sanctuary and completed the first two zones of Act IV of the Hell Difficulty. After that, he went outside the Rogue Encampment to continue with his enchantment project.

    The second project that he was planning to create was the Fire Bolt light. He chose Fire Bolt first since Fire Ball was truly dangerous. He planned to create the enchantment for light and then for mana regeneration for the enchanted items based on the passive spell Warmth.

    Anton was still using the wooden tablet since it was much easier to use something like that for his first enchantment.

    The first thing that he did was summon a Fire Bolt then controlled the mana structure for it to hover above his palm and serve as a light. He carefully studied the mana pathway of the hovering Fire Bolt. Once Anton was sure that he memorized the pathway, he turned to the wooden tablet and carved using his mana and telekinesis the mana pathway for the mana storage first where the duration would be based, the mana pathway for the fire element and then finally the mana structure of the Fire Bolt that would keep it hovering above the wooden tablet enveloped in a mana field to prevent the fire from burning anything.

    Anton was surprised that he was successful on his first try. More than likely, it was because the combinations of the pathways were almost similar to the air conditioner so it was successful. The only problem was, it wasn¡¯t bright enough so he needed to adjust the structure of the fire element.

    After about an hour of trial and error, the light was now as bright as five candles and it was the fire bolt that was hovering on top of the tablet was enveloped in some sort of mana field that even if he poked it, he only felt warmth and it did not burn it. Even when a piece of paper was touching the hovering Fire Bolt that now resembles a tiny ball of fire, for several minutes, the paper did not burn and only got warm.

    The best thing about the new enchantment was that the mana storage was about the same as the air conditioner but since the mana consumption was tiny, a full mana storage would last for a very long time. Based on his calculation, a full mana storage would last for a month with the item always on. That also meant that the durability would last longer since durability would only decrease once full mana storage was depleted and filled again.

 Chapter 142

    Anton¡¯s success in creating the wooden tablet of Fire Bolt light had him thinking that he should be able to create a magic wand without any issue so he immediately turned one of the wooden tablets into a stick resembling a wand using telekinesis.

    He then thought of the mana pathway that he would carve into the stick. He thought of creating a magic wand of Ice Bolt since the spell Ice Bolt was less dangerous compared to Fire Bolt since it would not cause any accidental fire.

    Anton then thought that for the wand, he should make sure that the spell attached to it should be powerful enough to destroy an enemy. That meant that he would need to study the pathway that would increase a spell¡¯s power.

    After several trials and errors, he found the mana pathway that corresponds to the spell¡¯s power and unfortunately, he could only create the pathway to the maximum level of the level of spell that he had. In the case of his Ice Bolt, the spell was only level one so he only had the mana pathway for a level one Ice Bolt. At least his Frozen Orb had a high enough level but it would still be best to start with something simple.

    The mana pathway for the mana storage, then the pathway for the ice elements, then the spell structure was carved into the wand. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have the pathway that would let the wand holder instinctively know how to cast the spell with the wand so he thought of an alternative.

    After several tries, Anton stopped since he wasn¡¯t successful in creating the wand and it was almost lunchtime. The problem was the trigger for the casting of the spell stored in the wand. With an ordinary magic wand, the user could cast using his instinct but with the wand that he created, the only thing that he had was to create an on-and-off switch which was basically cutting off the pathway to the mana storage.

    The problem with an on-and-off switch with a wand, the user needed to point the wand to the enemy first and when it was turned on, the wand would constantly spew out the spell until the mana in the mana storage was spent.

    Another problem that Anton encountered was the wooden wand that he made from carving one of the tablets was destroyed when the tenth Ice Bolt came out of the wand. He could create some sort of trigger but then it wouldn¡¯t be a wand anymore but some sort of a magic gun but the durability was still a problem.

    Since he wanted to explore the city, Anton shelved his wand project and went outside the room. When he reached the inn¡¯s common room, he was surprised to see his Father, Nemina, and Lucas eating lunch.

    Anna and the others weren¡¯t there and he assumed that they were in the city exploring. He joined his father at their table and ordered lunch from one of the waiters.

    ¡°Father, did you earn a lot of coins?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We found a merchant who purchased almost all of our armor and weapons inventory and we replaced them with old and broken things that we bought from the merchants so I¡¯m sorry to say that you will have a lot of repairing to do while we are traveling to the city of Zalnothel.¡±

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    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me. By the way, I have a new enchanted item and it¡¯s a good one.¡±

    Anton retrieved the wooden tablet of Fire Bolt light from his inventory, turned it on, and showed it to Anders.

    ¡°It¡¯s as bright as five candles and with its mana storage full which was six cantrips spell would fill, it would last for a month of non-stop use. Meaning it should last for more than a month if a person uses it only when it¡¯s dark. And since the mana output is considerably low compared to the air conditioner, its durability is longer as well. Meaning, the wooden board would last for a hundred emptying of its storage, which meant a hundred months of non-stop use. Not only that, it¡¯s safe and would not cause any fire.¡±

    ¡°Can you put the enchantment on something else like maybe an actual lantern?¡± Nemina asked.

    ¡°Yes. I can even put it on an art sculpture. I used a wooden board since it was easier to experiment using a plain wooden tablet.¡±

    ¡°How small an item can you enchant the light into? Nemina continued asking.

    Anton then calculated the area that he would need to make sure that all the pathway was carved successfully and took out a paper from his inventory. He then drew a simple-looking box size six inches by six inches then gave the paper to Nemina.

    ¡°That¡¯s the minimum size that I will need to carve the magical runes. It could be a little smaller than that but not much. It could be longer as well, which meant it could look like a regular lantern but I will need one of the sides to be fully enclosed. You can put a mirror on that side inside the lantern to increase the brightness of the light.¡±

    ¡°I will have someone create something like this so we can replace the lantern in the caravan. Will that be all right with you?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine father. It doesn¡¯t take long for me to create the enchanted light. By the way, I started creating a magic wand but I was not successful. I will need to purchase one so I can dismantle and reverse-engineer the crafting process. I will purchase one later while I¡¯m exploring the city.¡±

    ¡°Reverse-engineer? Do you need more coins?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°Sorry. What I meant was to dismantle it to learn how it was made and no, the one hundred gold coins you gave me should be enough.¡±

    After lunch, Anton went outside to begin his exploration.  He first went back to the street that was full of magic shops but this time, he went to a small store since he was only planning to buy a simple wand and one or two second-level spells. He wanted to check if he could memorize a second-level spell.

    He went to a small store and told the lady that he was looking for a cheap and simple magic wand.  The lady presented him with a wand of magic missile and Anton thought that magic missile should be the most common spell that was enchanted to a wand. It only had three charges so it was cheap at five gold coins. It really didn¡¯t matter how many charges it had since he was planning to dismantle it to check the runes that were used to create the wand.

    Anton then asked if the lady had second-level spellbooks. The lady answered that most intermediate to large magic shops had up to third-level spellbooks and higher spells than that could only be purchased by VIPs from the largest stores.

    The lady then told Anton that he was in luck since she happened to come upon a single second-level and third-level spell each. The second-level spell was Gust of Wind and her third-level spell was Stinking Cloud and he could have both for seventy gold coins.

    Anton would have preferred a different set of spells but wasn¡¯t picky since he was purchasing the spellbooks to check if he could memorize them. He didn¡¯t haggle with the lady and purchased the two spells together with the cheap wand and an empty spellbook that he would use to create his grimoire.

 Chapter 143

    Anton stored the things that he purchased in his inventory and the Lady that was manning the store wasn¡¯t even surprised that he owned a pocket dimension. He continued browsing the magic items inside the lady¡¯s store but nothing else caught his fancy so he thanked the lady and exited her store.

    He didn¡¯t want to go home yet so Anton browsed the other shops looking at the various magical items. Some of them brought him inspiration so he took a notebook from his inventory and wrote down the details of the items that inspired him. He was planning to imitate them using his enchantment process.

    At first, Anton encountered some rude people who were asking what he was doing and some of them weren¡¯t even the owner of the stores, just salespeople or other customers so he decided to cast Frozen Armor and Energy Shield and allowed the special effect to show so now, everyone was looking at him respectfully since he was clearly a wizard and no one bothered him while he was browsing the items.

    Even though people weren¡¯t bothering him anymore, at least no one panicked and that meant wizards were fairly common in this city.

    When the sun was setting, Anton decided to enter a restaurant to eat so he turned off the special effect of his buff spells and went and entered one of the more expensive-looking eateries. He found the food delicious so he talked to the restaurant manager since he was planning to order a massive amount of food and was wanting to purchase the plates as well. To his delight, the restaurant allowed him to buy the plates and he collected more food from the place and stored them in his private stash. There was now an untold amount of food cluttering his private stash but since his stash was now humongous, it didn¡¯t bother Anton too much. Also, no more items are cluttering his stash and inventory since most of them were already stored in the carts and carriages in his father¡¯s caravan.

    Anton then went to the street that sold art sculptures and he collected a huge number of metal and stone sculptures that he would use for his enchantment. He was so glad again that his private stash was now considerably big.

    He returned to the inn and saw that his family was already eating so he joined them although he didn¡¯t order food since he was still full.

    ¡°Anton, I had someone make a lantern-like woodwork that you can use for your light enchantment, can you check if you can use it?¡± Anders said then Colin handed him a rectangular wooden craft that resembled a lantern and it even had a hook on top of it. One of the sides inside the wood thing was a mirror.

    Anton decided to carve the mana pathways for his Fire Bolt enchantment right then and all the people on the table gasped.

    ¡°What?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°Is it okay for others to see your enchanting process?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Why not? No one would be able to copy it since I¡¯m guessing that my enchantment process is different from a regular one.¡±

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    Anton completed the enchantment within five minutes and the switch for the light was located by the side of the lantern. When he turned it on, the light that appeared was very bright and was magnified by the mirror inside.

    ¡°Is that how long you can create that light-enchanted item?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°Yes. The air conditioner usually would take me around ten minutes and the light, around five minutes.¡±

    ¡°I had someone make around twenty of those so please put your enchantment on them so we could use them immediately in our caravan.¡±

    While everyone was eating, Anton asked his sister what they did for the day.

    ¡°We still went shopping but this time we only bought a few things. We found a theater but we didn¡¯t purchase any tickets since the showing was every night and we will leave tomorrow. You did promise me that you would let us watch a show from your magic globe,¡± Anna said.

    Anton sighed and then told his sister to prepare the common room after dinner and to call him from his room once everything was ready. Then he left his family and went directly to his room to take a bath. He spent several minutes washing himself and once he had dressed, somebody knocked on his door informing him that the common room was ready.

    When he opened the door, Colin arrived carrying a huge sack filled with the lantern woodcraft that somebody made for the caravan so he stored them in his inventory. He planned to enchant them while watching the movie with the others.

    Anton and Colin arrived in the common room arranged like a theater so he summoned the magic globe that would allow him to share his browser with others. He planned to show them the Disney movie Alladin. Since he already started with an animated film from Disney and the main audience was his little sister, he decided to continue with the animated route.

    He sat by the side with a table in front of him as per his request so he could do some enchanting while they were watching. They were suddenly interrupted by the people from the largest magic shop in the city. It was the manager that he sold the tablet of air-conditioner to and he was with three other people who looked like mages.

    Since the people who arrived were powerful people and one of them was even a councilor, Anders invited them to watch the film with them and Anton wondered if they would encounter any problem because of this but since the people were there already and his friends and family were all ready to watch the film, it would be rude to stop the event.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± Anton heard one of the people who arrived asked. He was introduced to Anders as one of the councilors of the city of Narcone.

    ¡°We¡¯re about to watch a show that was made by my son, who is a powerful wizard,¡± Anton replied not hiding the fact that one of them was a powerful wizard.

    When everyone was seated, the innkeeper turned off the lights as per Anders¡¯s instruction and the movie started.

    At first, the politician, and even the other people with him including the manager in one of the largest magic stores in the city, had this bored, uninterested look on their faces but when the movie Alladin unfolded, their expression changed to intrigued and soon they had this unbelieving and awed expression.

    Anton ignored everyone and started enchanting the lanterns. He still paused for a moment or two while in the middle of enchanting the lanterns to check the audience but everyone was truly focused on the movie. He completed enchanting all of the lanterns before the movie ended so he stored them in his inventory.

    At first, he thought that some of the people who arrived would ask what he was doing but all of them didn¡¯t take their eyes off the film.

    When the movie ended, the applause was earth-shattering and all the people suddenly started talking. Anton dispelled the globe and told his father that he would go to his room to rest and Anders just nodded.

 Chapter 144

    Anton felt a little guilty about leaving his father to deal with that politician and that manager from that huge magic store but he really didn¡¯t know what to do with the situation. He hardly knew how to talk to those people so it would be better for Anders to talk to them. He just wished that no issue would arise.

    After he took a bath, Anton ate some snacks that he retrieved from his inventory while watching an anime but he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on his door. When he opened it, it was Colin asking for the lanterns that he had just enchanted so he gave the sack filled with the lanterns to his assistant.

    Anton was planning to enter the game to continue completing the Hell Act but the anime that he was watching about an immortal elf sorceress that was part of a hero group who defeated their enemies and then her party members got old and died leaving her alone caught his interest. The emotional upheaval that even the first episode brought him made sure that the anime was currently in his top ten and would possibly move up his ranking during the process of his watching it.

    He was about to watch episode three when he heard knocking on his door again. Anton was irritated thinking that it was Colin but then he heard his father¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Did something happen, Father?¡± Anton asked when he opened the door.

    ¡°The men from that store where you sold the tablet of air conditioner were very persistent up to the point that the politician was beginning to utter some threats. Luckily, the manager who was aware that they were bordering on doing something illegal stopped the counselor.¡±

    Anton was beginning to get very angry and he was starting to plan to do hellish things to that counselor. Anders must have noticed since he started reprimanding him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything to that man since we¡¯re leaving this city tomorrow anyway. I had to sell those extra wooden tablets of air conditioner that we¡¯re not using and all of the lanterns that you just recently enchanted to them but the prize they paid was very high so we earned a massive amount of gold from them,¡± Anders said then he suddenly laughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, Father. I¡¯m not going to do anything.¡±

    ¡°We will arrive in the wizard city of Zalnothel in about a couple of months and according to some of our people who traveled there before we will pass several villages and towns along the way. I¡¯m planning to collect a lot of items from the villages and sell those you repaired in the larger towns since I wanted to make sure that we have enough coins to establish a merchant business once we arrive in Zalnothel. I¡¯m planning to stop and establish our business in that city since that city is very powerful and even if the Undead Coalition reached that city, I was assured that it was powerful enough to defend itself. Its council consisted of several archmages and there¡¯s even a magic academy there.¡±

    Anton was intrigued by what his father said about the wizard city.

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    ¡°Since we¡¯re planning to establish ourselves there, do you think it¡¯s a good idea for me and Anna to enroll in its magic academies?¡±

    ¡°Actually that was what I was thinking but I thought that it should be just Anna since you do have a lot of secrets and those archmages might get curious and experiment on you.¡±

    Anton felt apprehensive at the thought of those powerful archmages getting curious enough to do something about it.

    ¡°What if I pretend that the magic I learned was the regular one?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will work but if you want to do it, go ahead and do so, I¡¯ll support you and make sure that we will become rich enough so we will have influence in the city. Just make sure to be careful. Oh by the way, they were also highly excited about the movie that you have shown us and they were asking if it was for sale. They were highly disappointed when I said that it was a spell.¡±

    ¡°What was their reaction when they learned that it was a spell? Did they ask about the specific spell?¡±

    ¡°No. When I asked Nemina, she said that unique and high-level spells were guarded by the mages that owned them, and if they covet something like that, it would be very difficult to get it from the mage who didn¡¯t want to sell or give the spell. Devon then asked his mother what if they did something nefarious like kidnapping the mage¡¯s family and then asking the mage to pay using the spell as their ransom. Nemina said that there were cases like that and it resulted in the destruction of those who were involved so they hardly happened anymore.¡±

    Anton was relieved when he heard what Nemina said about the mages who might covet his spell and he then knew that he would need to talk to Nemina and Lucas about his situation. About what he would need to do to make sure that he was not endangering his family through the blatant use of his power especially since their end goal was a powerful wizard city.

    When he mentioned it to his father, Anders said that it was a great idea so his father decided to join him when he talked to Nemina and Lucas. After their talk, Anders then told his son to rest since they would be leaving early the next day.

    While Anton was trying to sleep, his mind was full of ideas on what enchantment he needed to do next after the Fire Bolt light enchantment. He thought that his next project should be learning about the mana pathways of his passive skill Warmth so that the mana storage of his enchanted items would regenerate mana on their own. He would also need to find ways to make sure that his enchanted items would not get destroyed over time or at least to increase the durability of his enchanted items.

    Anton also thought that he should start learning how to enchant weapons and armor so he could enchant the guards¡¯ weapons and armor to make sure that they were powerful enough to contend with the monsters of this world so his family would be safe. Soon, without knowing it, he fell asleep.

    The next day, Anton woke up when he heard knocking on his door, and when he opened it, it was Colin asking him to get ready since they would be leaving soon. He then took a bath using mana water that he conjured from the Frozen Orb spell and then went downstairs to eat breakfast.

    He was embarrassed to see that he was the last one in the inn and Colin was waiting for him so he immediately ordered breakfast and ate it quickly.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t anyone wake me up earlier? Anton asked his assistant while he was eating.

    ¡°Your father told everyone to let you sleep and will just wake you up when we¡¯re about to leave. Nemina then said that it was fitting since you¡¯re the caravan prince and your sister laughed at that,¡± Colin said while smiling.

    Anton snorted when he heard what Colin had said then after eating, went and joined his father¡¯s caravan to start their journey to their last destination which was the wizard city of Zalnothel.

 Chapter 145

    The first part of their journey to the city of Zalnothel began and Anton noticed that Frederick wasn¡¯t in their carriage.

    ¡°From now on, the mage will be joining Father, Lucas, and Nemina so it will just be us in here,¡± Anna said to his brother.

    Colin also left the carriage since he was assigned a task by Anders and it was for him to assist someone in creating more of the lantern woodcraft so Anton would have more to enchant. The lanterns that he enchanted last night were supposed to be used by the caravan but since they were sold to that magic shop, he would need to enchant some more so the caravan would have something to use.

    In the meantime, Anna was practicing her magic by casting her sole cantrip on an empty wooden tablet of air conditioner and then memorizing the cantrip again so he joined her by memorizing all the books that he purchased.

    Anton was surprised to learn that he was able to memorize the three first-level spells that he purchased in less than thirty minutes and was also able to memorize the two second-level spells that he bought in less than thirty minutes as well.

    He then started making his grimoire since according to Frederick, the process of creating a mage''s personal grimoire was for the mage to write down the spell in his grimoire while the spell was memorized. Once the spell was written, he would need to activate the spell by casting the spell on the grimoire while looking at the spell that was written while holding the original spellbook where he learned the spell. After that, the original spellbook would be consumed and he could memorize the spell from his grimoire.

    That was the main reason why spellbooks were valuable. The good thing about the mage¡¯s grimoire was nobody else was supposed to be able to read it not until the mage who owned it died but normally mages would attach a spell to their grimoire that would consume it once they died. Anton then wondered why the vampires he killed dropped spellbooks and according to Frederick, those happen sometimes. Wizards who acquired spellbooks and hadn¡¯t had the chance to enter those spells in their grimoire would keep those spellbooks with them.

    Anton then asked the mage how did one create a spellbook and Frederick didn¡¯t know.

    After memorizing all of the spells that he purchased, Anton still hadn¡¯t felt the feeling of fullness that Frederick and Anna said that one was supposed to experience once they reached the maximum number of spells one could memorize and that meant that he was supposed to be still capable of memorizing more spell and possibly higher level spells.

    It took a couple of hours to complete his grimoire and memorize all of his spells again. Suddenly, Anna shouted.

    ¡°I can feel it! After I wrote down my first spell in my grimoire, I memorized the spell again and then cast it and after memorizing the spell again I felt in my mind that I could add another cantrip to my repertoire! A good thing I purchase a few of them.¡±

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    Anton then knew that he probably made the mistake of not purchasing more spellbooks from the city since he was now planning to enroll in a magic academy together with Anna.

    ¡°By the way Anna, study  your magic hard while we¡¯re traveling since Father and I decided to enroll in one of the magic academies in Zalnothel.¡±

    ¡°I can understand why there¡¯s a need for me to join the magic school but why are you joining? Your magic came from something else,¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I can use the magic in this world so I will disguise myself as a regular mage. As for the reason, it is to increase our status in the city since Father¡¯s initial plan was for us to stay there in that city. According to Lucas and Nemina, Zalnothel is a very powerful city guarded by several archmages so even if the Undead Coalition reached there, it was fully capable of defending itself from the invaders.¡±

    Anton then thought to himself that he was getting tired of running as well so it would be a good thing for them to stop in that city and if the undead did reach that city, he would fight with them with all of his power.

    After lunchtime arrived, Anton and Anna stopped their magic studies and Anna went back to reading her fantasy books. The carriage was still comfortable since they were using the metal butterfly sculpture that was enchanted by the air conditioner that Anton gave to his sister. Colin arrived with five newly created lantern-like woodcraft so Anton started enchanting them with the Fire Bolt light and soon they were done.

    Colin then said that they were still crafting some more lanterns and would give him more once they were done. He gave the completed lanterns to Colin to be given to his father to be distributed.

    Anton then went inside his Diablo II game but instead of playing, he went directly to the Rogue Encampment to begin studying the Warmth passive spell. After a couple of hours, he finally managed to pinpoint the mana pathways that would gather the ambient mana from the environment to be stored in the mana storage. There were three known pathways that Anton discovered. One for the suction of the mana in the air, one to filter and convert to general non-elemental mana, and the third one to direct the converted mana to the mana storage to be stored.

    Once he discovered the mana pathways, Anton then proceeded to add them to the wooden tablet of air conditioner that he prepared. Unfortunately, even after three hours of trial and error, he was still unsuccessful since the wooden tablet¡¯s mana pathways were being distorted by the mana that was sucked from the environment. After hours of experimentation, Anton stopped since it was getting late but then he felt that he was on the verge of becoming successful in adding the mana regeneration pathway to his enchantments so he knew that he would persist later after dinner.

    The caravan soon stopped and Anton joined his family for dinner. The table where they set up the food was very bright due to the enchanted lanterns that Anton made and everyone felt the feeling of cheerfulness in the environment. Anton wondered how a simple thing such as a bright light could alter an environment¡¯s aura.

    After dinner, he went to the animals to heal them and provided mana water to them to make sure that they were all in their peak condition. All of the horses were still affectionate towards him as if they recognized Anton as the one who was making sure that they were healthy and the one who was providing them delicious water.

    Anton then went and took a bath after providing mana water to his family and friends and then went inside the carriage. Everyone was truly happy to stay inside the carriages since it was comfortably cold inside and for a moment, he pitied the guards who were supposed to patrol the caravan during the night.

    He then suddenly remembered his resolve to befriend the people in the caravan to prevent anyone from thinking that he was some sort of a snob. He didn¡¯t even know the name of the person who was driving their carriage and the only excuse that he could give was that he was truly busy every day.

 Chapter 146

    The next day after breakfast, Anders Merchant Caravan started traveling again. During the morning, Anna practiced her magic by casting her two cantrips to a wooden tablet of air-conditioner to spend her spells then she would memorize them again and then rinse and repeat. The fact that she was able to learn a second cantrip immediately filled her with motivation.

    Regarding her maids, they tried so hard to memorize the first cantrip but they weren¡¯t successful and Frederick sadly informed them that they might not have the talent for wizardry.

    Anton spent the morning playing his Diablo II game. He planned to spend the mornings playing to make sure that he would level up and complete the Hell Difficulty then he would grind for items and levels. He was still excited to get the second class but he was not that anxious anymore. The fact that he was now able to see, manipulate, and carve the mana pathways and mana structures to items opened up his magic system to endless possibilities and he had just started with a few sorceress spells. He hadn¡¯t even experimented with creating new spells based on the original sorceress spells.

    Of course, having more spells from the other class would immensely help in his research regarding enchanting items and creating new spells and the spells from the other class would make him more powerful. Anton even had this idea of not entering the academy and becoming a recluse so he could concentrate on playing the game and enchanting items but the thought of becoming a NEET even in this world gave him the heebie jeebies.

    Besides, Anton becoming part of the academy and graduating from it will ensure that he would have the prestige and power of a graduate of the city and would ensure that his family would be somewhat safe in this dangerous world. It would also allow him to possibly enter the world of politics in that city but he wasn¡¯t interested in playing that convoluted game.

    Another good thing about entering the academy was he would find people and friends who would look at him equally or be looked down upon as a simple student. Being looked up to by the people surrounding him as someone untouchable because of his power was becoming tiresome real quick.

    Anton managed to reach the last waypoint before the Chaos Sanctuary when he was interrupted by Anna calling him so he exited the virtual mode and minimized the game.

    ¡°Anton, Colin brought more lantern wood thingies that you need to enchant your mage light into.¡±

    Colin then handed him a sack and when he looked inside, it had around seven or eight lanterns. When he checked the time, it was about an hour before lunch so he decided to enchant all of the lanterns with the Firebolt Light and was able to complete everything before lunch was served by Colin.

    After lunch, he practiced and played the Lute for about an hour then entered the game again but this time he went directly to the Rogue Encampment and began studying enchantment again outside the safe zone.

    He began by applying the mana pathways that he learned from the Warmth passive spell to the wooden board that contained the air-conditioner enchantment but even after two hours, he was still unsuccessful.

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    The three mana pathways from the Warmth passive spell still kept on distorting the other mana pathways that were already carved into the wooden tablet. He kept repeating the experiment, trying to find ways that would allow Anton to incorporate the pathways to the wooden board without distorting the other pathways from the Frozen Orb spell but after destroying several wooden tablets, he was still not successful.

    To contain his frustration, Anton switched to studying the magic wand that he bought that had the magic missile spell but after studying the wand minutely using his mana senses, Anton was dismayed to see that the magic system in the wand was completely different from his.

    There were magical runes that were in the wand that looked like his Diablo II runes but were different. They only looked like Diablo II runes but when he studied them minutely, there were no runes that had the exact appearance of any of the few runes from Diablo II.

    Anton could study the new runes by isolating each one and then through trial and error, learn what they were but that would be a massive undertaking of a lifetime and he would rather concentrate on his magic.

    He felt a bit sad that he would not be able to utilize the enchanted items of this world to his brand of enchantment that meant that he would need to find ways to activate his enchantment on the items apart from a switch or else, he would not be able to create a magic wand.

    Anton could still make use of the switch to make a magic wand and even a magic sword but it really felt awkward to him to have the users of his enchanted items keep switching their items on and off.

    He then thought that people who would be able to use an enchanted item wouldn¡¯t mind having to utilize a switch to activate the magic in the items since it would still make them powerful.

    Then he thought of the possibility of using a switch and a button to activate the wand that Anton would make. He thought a switch would activate the spell on the wand and the button would release the spell. He thought that it might work so he started making a wand from one of the wooden tablets immediately. He noticed that he now had fewer wooden tablets that he could use for enchanting so later he would need to ask Colin for more. They didn¡¯t even have to be wooden tablets since he could carve any general shape that he wanted using his telekinesis but then again having the wooden tablets would make it easier so he decided to just ask Colin for more.

    When the wand was ready, Anton carved the switch first then he thought of how to create a button but since he didn¡¯t have any sort of spring, he decided to use a second switch. Basically, the first switch was the one that would connect the spell structure to the mana storage, therefore activating the wand but the second switch would be the one that would allow the user to release the spell, sort of like a trigger.

    After carving the mana pathways for energy storage, the mana pathway for gathering the elements, and the pathway for the level one Ice Bolt spell, he connected the pathways to the two switches. The way he made the switch for the wand was different from the air conditioner and the light. The switch for the air conditioner and the light was a rotation switch but for the wand, it was a slide switch. The user would just need to slide the button up to activate it and slide the second switch up quickly to release the spell and switch it down to stop the spell.

    Anton laughed at how awkward it was but that¡¯s the only thing that he could think of at this time. He would definitely change the way to activate the wand once he was experienced enough. The wand was still destroyed after the tenth Ice Bolt but that was because of the material that was used. He still decided to show off his prototype to his family though since it was sort of a success.

 Chapter 147

    Anton exited out of the virtual mode of his Diablo II game and minimized it. He saw that the carriage was parked already and Anna and her maids were about to exit. He asked Colin to stay since he wanted to talk to him about the wooden boards.

    ¡°Colin, can you prepare more wooden tablets for me? I will need a lot of them, thanks.¡±

    Colin nodded his affirmative and they both exited the carriage. Anton joined his family to the table that was set up for their dinner and they waited for the cooks to finish cooking while Anders was talking to the others about their business.

    Anton could see that Frederick was now already part of what he privately called the Anders Council which included Nemina, Lucas, Lunelle, and now the mage. He knew that Anders had assistants and Nemina also had some but they didn¡¯t introduce them to him. Soon, night arrived and the enchanted lanterns were switched on causing the camp to brighten.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re enchanted lanterns are truly great!¡± Lucas praised while he was observing the campsite, which was now very bright because of the lanterns.

    ¡°Are you planning to sell enchanted items, Father?¡±

    ¡°As of right now, I¡¯m not planning to sell any items that you enchanted if not needed since I don¡¯t want to bring attention that you¡¯re an enchanted item maker since that could cause envious eyes to gaze upon us. We¡¯re still going to focus on weapons and armor since they¡¯re needed in these times.¡±

    ¡°By the way, I managed to create a prototype magic wand! It¡¯s not very stable yet and it¡¯s awkward to use and I will need a long time to perfect it.¡±

    Frederick gasped when he heard what Anton had said and the others looked surprised. Anton retrieved the wand that he created and showed it to his Father. Everyone studied the wand while Anton explained how to use it.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It is awkward to use,¡± Anna said while laughing and Anton just shrugged since he already explained that it was only a prototype.

    Frederic tested the wand on a faraway tree and the mage enjoyed using it so much that he didn¡¯t stop until the tenth Ice Bolt was released and the wand was destroyed. At first, the mage looked dismayed since he thought that he accidentally destroyed the wand but Anton explained that since the wand was made of ordinary wood, the material would be destroyed once the tenth spell was released.

    ¡°So if you used a magical material or sturdier material the wand should last?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°It should but I haven¡¯t tested it yet. I also wondered what material magic wands are made of. Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t learned anything from that magic wand I bought since it seemed like the magic used to create it was totally different from what I used to create my magic items.¡±

    Anton then gave his sister the wand of the magic missile and told her it only had three charges since he bought it cheaply to destroy it to learn the enchantment inside.

    Soon dinner was served and after they ate, Anton immediately retired inside the carriage after taking a bath. He wanted to continue his enchantment studies.

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    He was about to enter his Diablo II game when suddenly Anton heard a shout from outside.

    ¡°Bandit attack!¡± Someone shouted.

    Anton immediately went outside while telling his sisters and her maid to remain inside the carriage. He was surprised to see that the number of bandits attacking their caravan was so many that they were like an army.

    He was glad to see that Lucas, Genod, Kudar, and Budolf, the leaders of the merchant guards were quick enough to organize themselves and mount an effective defense but he saw that they were severely outnumbered.

    Anton saw his father joining the fight by using his magic wand of Fire Ball but suddenly some sort of magical shield appeared at the location where the Fire Ball from Anders¡¯s wand was supposed to land and that meant that the bandits had wizards of their own and powerful ones at that since they were able to nullify a Fire Ball attack.

    Anders wasn¡¯t disheartened and without regard to the number of charges on his wand, he kept casting Fire Balls from it to the middle of the bandits who came from inside the forest and soon some Fire Balls managed to penetrate the enemy wizard¡¯s shield and caused devastating damage to the bandit army.

    There were shouting from the bandits that they should hold on since the magic from the wand that the leader of the caravan was using should be expended soon and that caused Anton¡¯s blood to boil.

    The bandits reached the group of guards and soon the melee fight was full-blown. Anton saw that the merchant caravan¡¯s guards were valiant and courageous and then he heard Devon shouting to fight since even if their arms and legs were cut off, their wizard would be able to heal it, and that caused him to sigh.

    Anton cast his defensive buffs and flew up. He then saw some sort of red bolt coming up to him and before he could react, it reached him but was dispelled by his Energy Bolt and the defense of his armor from the inside of the game. He did notice that his HP decreased by one-fourth and that meant that the spell was powerful but his auras immediately healed him.

    He saw the three mages looking up at him and they had horrified looks on their faces when they saw that Anton was not affected by their spell. He saw that the three mages began uttering a group incantation and red light slowly gathered in their midst. That confirmed that the red bolt was a group spell and the fact that he was able to nullify that supposedly powerful attack from them caused them to wear the horrified expressions.

    Anton had to admit that the three enemy wizards were brave since even though they knew that he was powerful and was able to dispel their first attack, they kept casting their spells.

    He activated the special effect of his auras and buffs so that everyone¡¯s eyes would be on him and he heard some of the bandits saying that Anton was an archmage.

    Anton then attacked the three mages by using his telekinesis spell. He wanted to capture the mages since he wanted to question them. It appeared that the bandit army attack wasn¡¯t an ordinary one and the mages should be able to answer his questions.

    He held the three mages using his telekinesis and lifted them, causing their spell to be interrupted and Anton could see the pain of the spell backlash on the mages'' faces. He brought the three mages near him.

    ¡°Stop casting spells or I¡¯ll drain the magic from your bodies and turn you into frogs that I would keep in a bottle!¡± Anton bluffed then he saw the mages fearfully nodding.

    When the bandits saw that their mages were captured by him, they began running and it helped that even Anders kept using his wands to target the bandits.

    Anton flew down and saw that two people were almost fatally wounded and three had lost their limbs. He was glad to see that Lucas immediately gathered the wounded guards together so when he reached them, with the frozen enemy mages floating behind him, he immediately added those wounded guards to his party.

    The three supposedly bandit mages were horrified to see that the two almost dead guards visibly recovered, their gaping wounds knitting together rapidly and after a few minutes, they stood up as if nothing happened to them. The three guards who lost their limbs began to regenerate their missing limbs and everyone was cheering at the scene since it brought them hope that if something similar happened to them, their wizard would be able to restore them fully.

 Chapter 148

    The three mages who were still frozen because Anton¡¯s Telekinesis was holding them were floating behind him while he walked around the campsite making sure that no one was still injured.

    After that, Anton went to where his father was and immediately had Charsi recharged Anders¡¯s wands since they were highly useful in battle.

    ¡°Father, I captured these three mages and right now they can¡¯t move because of my spell. Can you have someone interrogate them? Honestly, once I released them I didn¡¯t know how to stop them from casting spells. They¡¯re really powerful,¡± Anton whispered to his father so that the prisoner mages wouldn¡¯t hear him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s bring them into the forest and try asking them some questions while you¡¯re holding them with your spell.¡±

    Anders then called Lucas and Genod and asked them to follow Anton and him to the forest to interrogate the captured mages.

    Once the trees surrounded them, Lucas began questioning the mages.

    ¡°Who are you and why did you attack our caravan,¡± Lucas asked the mages calmly.

    The mages ignored Lucas and looked at Anton.

    ¡°Sir Archmage, we¡¯re part of the Wizard Emporium in Ruandelle and we were instructed to capture the young mage Frederick since according to our intel he was the one who made the enchanted item that makes a room cold and the enchanted lantern. We were informed by our people that the only defenses that your caravan had were mercenaries and the master of the caravan who was wielding powerful wands. The enchanter was supposed to be a very weak mage.¡± One of the capture mages said.

    Anton was surprised that the mage was so forthcoming and based on the other two captured mages, they were not blaming the wizard who spoke.

    ¡°Why are you telling that information readily?¡± Lucas asked curiously.

    ¡°We¡¯re not loyal soldiers! We¡¯re businessmen and yes we sometimes do unscrupulous things but we¡¯re only supposed to intimidate your caravan into giving us the mage and after that, we would have let you go. How are we supposed to know that your caravan is under an archmage,¡± One of the mages shouted.

    Anton cast his buffs and activated his three auras then turned on the special effects. He then floated up so now he looked like a powerful being glowing and floating.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m angry. Will you allow me to go back to the city of Ruandelle and destroy the Wizard¡¯s Emporium or possibly the whole city itself!¡± Anton asked his father but he winked first to make sure that Anders would understand that he was just bluffing.

    The three mages were horrified to hear what Anton wanted to do.

    ¡°Sir Archmage, please. The city of Ruandelle had a lot of innocent people that don¡¯t deserve to die!¡± One of the mages said.

    ¡°Hmmph, you just don¡¯t want the people of the city to know that your actions resulted in the destruction of the city,¡± Genod said angrily.

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    ¡°Still, we didn¡¯t know and we don¡¯t want a lot of people to get hurt. Nobody died in your caravan!¡± One of the mage prisoners said.

    ¡°Only because they were healed by my son! As you can see, he is a powerful archmage at a very young age. He¡¯s not some old wizard who¡¯s wearing a young face. What he looked is what his age is and his master is also a very powerful archmage from the city of Zalnothel and we¡¯re headed there so my son can join him. If his master learned that he was attacked by a counselor of your city, I¡¯m guessing that that counselor and his family and possibly the whole city would disappear!¡± Anders angrily said.

    Anton was impressed at how good his father¡¯s acting was but then he reckoned that Anders just channeled his anger at being attacked to that statement.

    ¡°We do apologize Sir Archmage and Sir Archimage¡¯s father. If you let us go we will return to the city and report that counselor to the council so that he can be punished!¡± One of the mages pleads.

    ¡°If something happens again, I will do everything in my power to trace and destroy all of the people involved! Now go!¡± Anton released the three mages and they immediately ran back towards the city of Ruandelle without looking back.

    ¡°You should have killed them,¡± Genod said angrily.

    ¡°No. What Anton did was correct. No one died on our end and the only people who died on their end were thugs they hired. If they truly reported what happened here, and based on the information that we gave them, those mages were cowardly enough that they should, the counselor who was one of the owners of that Wizard¡¯s Emporium should be punished.¡±

    Genod just harrumph and immediately went back to the campsite. While Anton, Anders, and Lucas were walking back, Lucas suddenly asked Anton something.

    ¡°Anton, ever since I¡¯ve known you, I haven¡¯t seen you kill anyone. Have you ever killed a person?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re correct Lucas. I¡¯ve only killed monsters and the closest thing that I¡¯ve killed that looked like a human was those werewolves and those vampires. But if me and my family are threatened, I will not hesitate to kill but for now, I¡¯ll let you handle the killings since you¡¯re used to it,¡± Anton laughed.

    Anders looked extremely proud and Lucas smiled at Anton¡¯s innocence.

    Anton sighed and told Lucas something that he had thought of before.

    ¡°Since I haven¡¯t consciously killed anyone before, I know that once I do I might encounter emotions that I haven¡¯t before like the feeling of guilt of taking someone¡¯s life of a father or a brother or someone¡¯s son but I started preparing for that ever since I woke up from my sickness. I know that this is not a peaceful world and I can¡¯t live like I¡¯m somewhere benevolent and I¡¯ll deal it with once it comes but for now, I¡¯m living my life with my family while enjoying our adventures.¡±

    Unexpectedly, Anders suddenly hugged Anton.

    ¡°If your mother is alive, she would have been very proud of you right now.¡±

    Anton blushed and patted his father¡¯s back.

    Since it was still nighttime, Anders planned to continue resting in their camp but Anton saw that the mercenary leaders doubled the guards who were patrolling the surrounding area.

    Anna and her maids were outside their carriage together with Colin and Nemina, Lunelle and Frederick were outside theirs.

    ¡°Why are you waiting outside?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°We wanted to know if everything is fine now,¡± Anna answered.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside the carriage and I¡¯ll tell you the details.¡±

    Once they were inside Anton told his sister that the bandits were not really bandits but thugs that were hired and led by three mages from the Wizard¡¯s Emporium shop from the city of Ruandelle. They only intended to scare the caravan into giving up Frederick since they thought that he was the one who made the wooden tablet of air conditioner and lantern of Fire Bolt light.

    He also mentioned that Anton had already released the captured mages and would return to the city to report the counselor who made the nefarious plan of capturing the enchanter. He told Anna that the mages were frightened that he would fly back to the city to rain death and devastation to their shop and even the city because of their actions.

    ¡°Even if you do something like that, they deserve it!¡± Anna harrumphed and Anton just smiled.

 Chapter 149

    The next day, the caravan started the journey early since Anders wanted to leave the vicinity of the city of Ruandelle as fast as they could since he didn¡¯t want any misunderstanding to form between the city and his caravan. Anders was still planning to become a business mogul and he didn¡¯t want the city to be closed to him due to this incident.

    Of course, since the Undead Coalition was attacking, Anton¡¯s father wasn¡¯t planning to create a business route to the cities that were being attacked or near the Undead Coalition armies.

    After breakfast and while they were traveling, as usual, Anna began the day by filling up the mana storage of an empty wooden board of air conditioner by casting her two cantrips on it and then memorizing her two spells again. She was truly motivated to become a powerful sorceress as soon as possible, especially when she learned that she would be joining a magic academy when they reached the wizard city of Zalnothel. Not only that, with her powerful brother around, she had the ambition to become as powerful as he was someday.

    Anton also began the day by playing his Diablo II game. He really wanted to complete the Hell Difficulty as soon as possible but the fact that his skill points were scattered to different spells, his spells were a little underpowered for the difficulty. It did help that he was fighting the monsters personally and the process of him utilizing his teleport and telekinesis to move around helped a lot. Also, the traveling from one location to another in the game was longer when he was inside personally but as soon as he completed the Hell Difficulty, he would begin the grinding process and it would be faster since he was planning to use the on-screen option for that and only enter the game if he wanted to practice his spells or experiment on enchanting items or creating new spells.

    Anton took the whole morning to defeat Diablo in the Chaos Sanctuary and complete the first zone in Act V and as usual, he didn¡¯t receive any notable drops which was expected since he would only be able to do so once he focused on grinding. He didn¡¯t even earn a level but the fact that he was already level sixty-nine meant that it would take a long time and many monsters before he earned a level especially since he hadn¡¯t activated the Player X code yet to increase the experience gained.

    After reaching the first waypoint in Act V, Anton went back to the Rogue Encampment and parked his character there then minimized the game. It was a few minutes before lunch so he joined his sister in partaking in the food that their cook prepared for their consumption even though lunch was usually a simple fare.

    While they were eating, someone knocked on their door and when Colin opened it, it was Devon. He informed Anton that a messenger from the city of Ruandelle arrived to inform them that the Counselor who orchestrated the attack on their caravan was imprisoned by the government since what he did was highly illegal and against the laws that were created to protect the merchants that came into the city.

    Anton then remembered that Ruandelle was called a merchant city and that meant that it was supposed to be especially protective of merchants since they were the lifeblood of the city. He then just shrugged since he truly didn¡¯t care about it anymore.

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    After lunch, Anton went inside the game again but this time he concentrated on completing his project of incorporating the mana pathways from the Warmth passive spell on the wooden board of air conditioner.

    After a grueling five hours of experimentation and trial and error, he was finally successful. The prototype of a wooden table of air conditioner that would regenerate the mana in its mana storage was created. The first successful prototype would regenerate ten percent of its mana storage after twenty-four hours. That meant that a full mana storage would take around ten days.

    Anton was satisfied since he knew that further experimentation would only cause the regeneration to go faster but it would probably take a long time. He then exited the game and minimized it and at the same time, he felt the carriage stopping, meaning it was time for the caravan to stop for the night.

    He saw that his sister and her maids were already outside the carriage and only Colin remained there waiting for him.

    Anton joined his family at the dinner table but he saw that dinner was not served yet and was still being prepared by the cooks.

    ¡°Father, I was successful in incorporating an energy regeneration on a wooden board of an air conditioner but I¡¯m still in the early phase. It would only regenerate ten percent of its energy after twenty-four hours meaning that it will only be full after ten days. Still, I know that it wouldn¡¯t take me long to decrease the regeneration time,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°You¡¯re truly a heaven-defying enchanter, Sir Anton!¡± gasped Frederick when he heard what Anton had said.

    ¡°Does that mean that if you added that power to a wand, the wand that you created didn¡¯t need to be recharged anymore?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Yes. But there is still the problem of durability. Even if I use a sturdier material as the wand¡¯s base like a metal, I¡¯m sure that after a certain number of spells, the wand would be destroyed. It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t get any information when I studied the wand that I purchased,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you will be able to solve it soon but I highly recommend that you only share what you have learned about your enchantment with your father. The abilities that you were showing as an enchanter will be highly coveted by powerful people so to avoid dangerous eyes looking upon your family, secrecy is still your best weapon. At least until you are truly a powerful and famous archmage that everyone would be afraid to target,¡± cautioned Nemina.

    After thinking about it, Anton knew that Nemina was correct and it was indeed a bit foolish of him to announce everything that had been happening to his magic to everyone so he decided to follow that advice to give updates to his father only.

    While they were eating, Anton thought of which project he would do next. He then thought of making the guards more powerful by giving them enchanted weapons so he thought of doing the project of adding a fire enchantment to swords next.

    He thought that it might be easier since there¡¯s already an Enchant spell under the fire tree skill and he would only need to study and tweak the spell structure and mana pathways and then etched them to a sword.  After that, he thought of adding a Frozen Armor spell enchantment to an armor. Anton imagined the day when Lucas or Devon fought their enemies while surrounded by the Frozen Armor spell and their sword glowing with Fire Enchantment. That would be glorious and would make his father¡¯s merchant empire famous.

    Of course, Anton knew that it wouldn¡¯t be that easy and he must not forget to make sure to prioritize his leveling up his character in the game since that was truly the best and fastest way to increase his power.

 Chapter 150

    Two weeks of travel brought them to the third village that they would need to pass through on the way to the wizard city of Zalnothel. That meant that the caravan would take only about a month and a week before they reached the said city and a few more villages and some towns.

    Everyone was happy when Anders announced that they would stay in this quaint little village for three days and two nights to rest since they had been traveling non-stop since the Wizard Emporium from the city of Ruandelle attacked them.

    Even Anna was behaving crankily at Anton and kept requesting more movies but he didn¡¯t show even one since he was truly focusing on leveling up and grinding from items.

    Since Anna and her maids, Lunelle and Frederick had long completed the David Eddings books that he had copied from the internet, Anna kept pestering Anton for more movies and books. Even the ones that she had purchased from the city of Ruandelle were already consumed by her but she kept complaining that the books from the city were shallow and uninteresting.

    Anna, of course, didn¡¯t stop practicing her magic and was able to finally memorize a third cantrip. Her problem was that she focused on her magic during the morning and during afternoons she kept complaining that she had nothing to do.

    Frederick once suggested that she should focus on her magic even during the afternoons since she was truly talented in magic and once she was able to memorize her seventh or eighth cantrip, that was usually the time that first-level spells would be available for her to memorize and that was the time that she could call herself a first-level mage.

    The mage himself kept announcing to everybody that he had already memorized his second first-level spell and kept muttering that soon he would become an archmage while wearing an exhilarated expression.

    Lunelle kept rolling her eyes at the mage since everyone knew that it would take a regular mage decades before they could become an archmage and with Frederick¡¯s talent, it would probably take him more than a hundred years. Frederick spent all of his savings and the coins that Anders already gave him to prepare several first-level spells that he purchased from Ruandelle for him to memorize once he was able to and he kept saying to Anton that once they reached Zalnothel, he would purchase second-level spells.

    Anna did spend some afternoons focusing on her magic learning but she finally frustratingly announced that she couldn¡¯t do it every day. Anton finally relented and copied a few Anne of Green Gables books from the internet for his sisters and it took him a couple of hours.

    Anton was amused to see that Anna and her maids and Lunelle who joined them on their carriage were crying while reading the Anne of Green Gables books.

    Since Anton focused on leveling up and grinding for items after he completed Act V of the Hell Difficulty, He had maxed his Telekinesis so it was now very powerful and he was now focused on maximizing the levels of his Frozen Orb, Cold Mastery, Meteor, and Fire Mastery.

    Anton¡¯s gears were also becoming more powerful since he was successful in farming items from old Mephy, Diablo, and Baal. His current setup was the following: For weapons, he now had the Death¡¯s Fathom Dimensional Shard, and on his alternate weapon slot was the Harmony bow since the Vigor Aura was useful in the real world. On his shield slot, he was now wearing the Sanctuary tower shield.

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    For his helm, he was now wearing the Harlequin Crest Shako and for his belt, Anton was wearing the Arachnid Mesh Spiderweb Sash. His armor was a more powerful Skin of the Vipermagi with a UM rune. For his gloves, he was wearing Chance Gloves chain gloves and in the boots slot, he was wearing Aldurs Advance Battle Boots.

    Anton¡¯s accessories consisted of a rare Glacial Amulet that added three to his sorceress skill level and resistance to cold and two Stone of Jordans. He was still collecting materials that would let him craft better rings but for now, he was still using the Stone of Jordans.

    Anton was also planning to hunt for the unique charms once his level was higher but for now, he was grinding for levels on Baal. He was truly thankful that he had access to the Internet since it provided a detailed guide on how and where to hunt items. Even the video guides from the famous video streaming sites by the powerful and experienced players were very helpful.

    The fact that he was grinding using the on-screen option and was using the player X code made his item hunting explode exponentially.

    Nobody noticed but Anton¡¯s power in the real world was now much more advanced compared to two weeks before.

    Of course, to avoid burnout, he was still utilizing his Internet to watch movies, animes, and T.V.  shows and was also using it to read web novels but he was only doing so about two hours a day.

    Anton¡¯s daily routine was playing the game during the mornings then enchantment research in the afternoon and then using his browser for entertainment before sleeping during the night.

    For his enchantment exercises, he was successful in reducing the mana regeneration of items to half for both the wooden tablet of the air conditioner and the lanterns of Fire Bolt light. Since he made enough of the two items, every carriage had one and Anton didn¡¯t even need to recharge the enchanted items anymore since the number of items they had was enough for the rest to recharge by themselves so they could replace those with exhausted mana with those one who was full of mana because of the mana regeneration enchantment.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t make progress with the wands and enchanted swords, shields, and armor since he focused on item mana regeneration and he would need more time for the weapons and armor.

    Anton also thought of starting another enchantment project which was some sort of mana power bank wherein an item with exhausted mana reserve would be placed on the mana power bank and the mana would then be transferred to the enchanted item but that project was temporarily put on hold due to its complexity.

    While they were traveling, they encountered several attacks from monsters and bandits but the guards were mostly enough to fight off or deter the attackers. The guards were especially valiant due to the fact that they would be healed immediately by their powerful wizard once they got injured.

    For the monsters who were especially powerful like the one basilisk who stumbled upon them, Anton was powerful enough to defeat it immediately and Anders and Nemina were particularly gleeful if something powerful attacked them since usually powerful monsters were full of treasure.

    Anders also collected a lot of weapons and armor from the villages that they had passed through since the villagers were particularly gleeful in selling their broken and worn-out items to the caravan. Anton also repaired them immediately so they wouldn¡¯t accumulate. It was easier for him to repair a few than let them gather.

    They arrived in the third village around lunchtime and fortunately, the cook who was the innkeeper¡¯s wife was very fast and skillful and managed to prepare food for everyone although she needed assistance from the caravan¡¯s cooks.

    Anton wasn¡¯t worried about food since he still had a lot of food that he purchased from Ruandelle personally and was stored in his inventory. He only took some once in a while and shared them with Anna, her maids, Colin, and Lunelle, basically only on the people inside his carriage but the rest of the time, he ate what the caravan cooks prepared.

 Chapter 151

    Anders merchant caravan rented all the rooms in the inn but since the village inn was tiny, they only had six rooms. One room was assigned to Anton and he asked one of the attendants who was just a villager that the innkeeper commandeered to become a temporary inn attendant while they were staying in the village to lead him to his room.

    The villager who was a young man was intimidated by Anton since the young man saw him behaving like a noble although, to be honest about it, Anton didn¡¯t know how nobles truly behaved and when he asked Frederick about it, the mage shrugged and told him that he didn¡¯t have much dealing with those sort of people.

    Since it was early, lunch was still several hours away so he took a bath from the bathroom located at the inn¡¯s basement. Unfortunately, there were no bathrooms in their rooms so if they wanted to take a bath, they would have to go to the basement. There isn¡¯t even a separate room for women and men so if men were bathing first, the women had to wait and vice versa.

    Since Anna wanted to bathe after him, after bathing, Anton took the time to refill the tubs with his infamous mana water. Anna was relentless in making sure that the water she was using to bathe and drink was Anton¡¯s mana water since she kept saying that it was very important to make sure that she and her maids and Lunelle became the most beautiful ladies in the land.

    After using the water from melted Frozen Orb for so long, Anton basically confirmed that the mana water was truly beneficial to the people who were using it when it came to their health and appearance. Even his father now looked like he was in his early thirties and Anna looked like a princess who had never worked a day in their life when a few weeks ago, they were just a normal hardy farmer family on a tiny unimportant farm in a faraway land.

    On a sad note, Anton kept hearing his father mutter that if his wife, Anton, and Anna¡¯s mother were alive, she would have been the most beautiful lady in the land if she used Anton¡¯s mana water and the first time Anna heard her father mutter that, she ran to their carriage once Anders was preoccupied to notice and she cried. When Anton followed her to console her sister, she cried more since she knew that Anton didn¡¯t even remember their mother.

    When Anton went to his room, at first he planned to play his Diablo II game to continue leveling up but he was feeling burnt out so he took a nap instead. After about an hour, he woke up and saw that there were still a couple of hours before lunch so he decided to go inside the game and continue his enchantment projects.

    He wanted to become successful in creating an enchanted sword so he focused on the Enchant spell under the Fire Spell Tree. Anton was successful in isolating the spell structure of the fire enchantment and was also successful in separating the mana pathways from each other.

    He needed to solve the problem of the duration and was sort of successful by attaching the spell structure to the mana storage but the consumed mana was tremendous since the fire enchantment was basically a continuous active spell.

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    Anton finally isolated the mana pathway that would allow the spell structure to act like a light fixture instead of an active attack spell and would only do so if the sword hit an object. The consumed mana while the enchantment was active by using a switch, which was sadly, still the only way for him to activate his enchantments, was just as much as the consumed mana equal to the lantern of Fire Bolt but once the sword hit an object, the consume mana would be equivalent to the mana of one Fire Bolt attack.

    So that meant that if the user activated the Fire-enchanted sword, it would light up, consuming a tiny amount of mana but when he used it, every attack that successfully hit would consume mana equivalent to one Fire Bolt attack which would consume a huge amount of mana.

    The first thing that Anton did was carve the spell structure and the mana pathway on a sword but he didn¡¯t include the mana regeneration first since he needed to find out if the mana pathways and spell structure would be carved successfully.

    After wasting a few swords, he successfully created his first fire-enchanted sword. The switch in the hilt to activate the enchantment looked and felt awful to Anton and it made him sigh.

    Based on the mana storage capacity, the light effect of the sword would last as long as the lantern of Fire Bolt and when Anton attacked a wooden dummy, after the twentieth attack, the mana storage was exhausted.

    The two indicators that he attached which were admittedly, were extremely complex, would indicate the amount of mana left in the mana storage and the amount of uses left before the sword was destroyed. He even put a line on the durability indicator that would indicate the safe line to prevent the total destruction of the sword and if the user wanted to fully restore the mana charges and the sword¡¯s durability, he would need to bring it to Anton to have Charsi repair it.

    Anton was a bit proud and excited to finally complete an enchanted sword although truthfully, a full mana storage would only last the user for twenty attacks but those attacks would be very powerful. He knew though that further study and experimentation would increase the power and durability of the sword but then again, it would take him quite a long time to do so.

    He exited the game and went to join his family for lunch. During lunch, he informed his father, Lucas, and Nemina to meet him in his room since he wanted to show them something but Anna complained and asked to be included so he allowed his sister to join them.

    After lunch, Anton¡¯s father, Anna, Nemina, and Lucas followed Anton to his room. When they entered the room, Anton retrieved the enchanted sword that he had just created and gave it to Lucas for the sword to be inspected.

    ¡°I have successfully created an enchanted sword. If you turn on the switch, the enchantment on the sword will activate.¡±

    Lucas immediately turned on the switch and the sword lit up with fire enchantment. Everyone gasped when they saw the gorgeous sword.

    ¡°What does it do?¡± Anna curiously asked.

    ¡°When you first turn on the switch, the enchantment would activate and it would light up. It would be like the Enchanted lanterns that I¡¯ve made but once you hit an object with the sword, the attack will include a fire attack.¡±

    Anton then retired a wooden dummy that Colin made for him and asked Lucas to hit it with the sword. When Lucas hit the dummy, sparks came out and everyone could clearly see the fire enchantment that cut the dummy in half.

    He then told everyone that if the sword were used as a simple light, the enchantment would last as long as the enchanted lantern but if they hit something with the enchantment active, the mana in the sword would only last for around twenty hits. He also mentioned that since it was the first prototype that he had made, he was sure that he could increase the power and durability of the sword.

 Chapter 152

    Unexpectedly, Devon requested to have the Fire Enchanted Sword prototype and before Anders and Lucas could protest, Anton took the sword from Lucas and gave it to Devon.

    Anton laughed out loud when he saw Lucas looking at his son sternly while Devon was wearing a smug expression. Devon stood up and did some sword moves and it looked like he was dancing. The sword that was glowing made his moves very mysterious and powerful at the same time and it attracted the attention of everyone in the inn.

    Lucas looked abashed when he heard Anton¡¯s laugh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Lucas, I can give you an enchanted sword too, although I would prefer to give out the enchanted swords once the attack could last longer than twenty hits. You can still use it as a showpiece or during emergencies,¡± Anton almost said the word ¡°toy¡¯ but luckily he was able to hold himself from saying it.

    Anton noticed that the other guards were looking at Devon enviously and the smug look on Lucas¡¯s son¡¯s face became greater.

    ¡°Anton, can you give a magic wand that does nothing but light up?¡± Anna suddenly asked with a red face.

    ¡°Why?¡± Anders asked his daughter curiously.

    ¡°I want to wield the wand while casting my spells to fill up the mana storage of the wooden tablet of air conditioner during my magic practice. It would feel like I¡¯m a very powerful sorceress!¡± Anna said while dreamily imagining what she would look like casting spells with a wand that does nothing but light up.

    Anders and the other laughed heartily when they heard what Anna had said and Anton¡¯s sister started protesting to everyone to stop laughing. Her face was so red it almost looked like smoke was coming out from her hair.

    Anton finally told Anna to get the wand later and she calmed down.

    After lunch, Anders told Anton that they would continue their business of buying things from the villagers and he told his father that he would return to his room to meditate and experiment on his enchantment.

    Before he went to his room, Anton saw Devon surrounded by some of the guards asking about his enchanted sword and he heard Devon bragging to the others about the sword¡¯s capabilities. Curiously, even though they heard that the sword would only last for twenty hits they still looked like they coveted Devon¡¯s sword.

    That meant to Anton that he would need to focus on improving the sword¡¯s enchantments so he could produce them and allow Anders to distribute them to their guards.

    ¡°Colin, can you make sure that I¡¯m only disturbed if it¡¯s truly important?¡±

    Anton suddenly remembered that he had already run out of wooden tablets so he asked Colin about more of them and Colin nodded.

    The first thing that Anton did when he arrived in his room was to enter the game. Since he was still in the Rogue Encampment, he began creating a wand of light for his sister. What he wanted to do was find the spell structure that would allow the lights to change their color.

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    Anton was surprised that just changing the color of the light was more complex than allowing the sword to light up. He did encounter some difficulty when he created the spell structure that would allow the Fire Bolt spell structure to integrate a mana pathway that would let the blade of the sword light up using the fire elements instead of a ball of Fire Bolt spell appearing on top of the sword. It actually took him the whole afternoon to create wands that would light up in blue, pink, and green colors. He was mightily impressed at himself for being able to create the mana pathway of colors and he recorded them in his book of Spell Structures and Mana Pathways.

    When Anton checked the time, it was already six in the evening. He couldn¡¯t believe that the process of creating the mana pathways for the colors took him five hours. He exited the game and looked for his sister to give the newly created wand to her. He found her still in her room together with her maids.

    ¡°Why does it have three switches?¡± Anna asked when she noticed the switches on the wand¡¯s hilt.

    ¡°Try them out but avoid turning on more than one switch since it wouldn¡¯t work if more than one switch is turned on,¡± Anton said.

    Anna and her maids gasped when they saw the wand light up in three different colors depending on the switch that was turned on. The only part of the wand that was glowing was the tip since Anton didn¡¯t want the whole wand lighting up since it would look like a tiny lightsaber if it did that.

    ¡°Since the light is so bright, avoid looking at the light directly. The enchantment should last as long as the lantern of Fire Bolt. Maybe even longer since the lantern is turned on for several hours each night and besides, you can fill up the mana storage yourself using your cantrips,¡± Anton told his sister.

    Anna hugged Anton then ran downstairs and Anton assumed to show off his wand to their Father. He followed his sister and when they reached the inn¡¯s common room, which was just downstairs, Anton saw that Anders had set up his purchase business there.

    The villagers who were selling their broken and worn-out equipment to Anders and Nemina gasped when they saw Anna holding a wand that was glowing with pink light.

    ¡°Father look at what Anton made me! It glows in three different colors!¡± Anna then changed the color of her wand from pink to blue and then green.

    Anton almost laughed out loud when he saw his father¡¯s customer¡¯s eyes grow big while looking at Anna who kept changing the color of her wand¡¯s light.

    ¡°I want one too,¡± Lunelle unexpectedly said to Anton.

    Anton just nodded. He saw that Anna¡¯s maids looked like they wanted to request wands too but they held themselves from requesting. He sat beside his father and created three wands right there since it would only take him around ten minutes each to carve the mana pathway on the wands. The research and development of the enchantments were the ones that would take several hours or even days.

    After thirty minutes, he gave Lunelle and Anna¡¯s maids their own wands. Anna¡¯s maids were surprised when they received wands of their own and thanked Anton. He was amused to see that the common room looked Christmassy with different colored lights lighting up the place. Devon even joined in on the fun by lighting up his enchanted sword.

    ¡°Okay turn them off, I¡¯m getting dizzy!¡± Anders scolded the women which made Anton laugh.

    Several minutes later, Anders closed down their business and told the villagers that they would continue purchasing their items the next day. They ordered dinner from the innkeeper and luckily for the innkeeper¡¯s cook, she was still being assisted by the caravan¡¯s cooks since there were a lot of people from the caravan that needed to eat.

    While they were eating, Anton told his father and Anna that the enchantment for the different colored lights was highly complex and that was the reason why he didn¡¯t include the mana regeneration enchantment to the wands. Anna told Anton that it was alright since she would just use her spell to fill up the mana storage of their wands.

 Chapter 153

    After dinner, Anton was about to go upstairs to his room so he could start watching some animes before sleeping when they heard screams and shouting outside the inn.

    Anton heard the shouts saying that undead monsters were attacking the village. He looked at his family and he saw that everyone had a look of horror in their faces. They were already so far away from Leminthor and the merchant city of Ruandelle was between them and Leminthor. Did that mean that Leminthor had fallen and Ruandelle was being attacked? How powerful was the Undead Coalition that two cities were attacked even while they were at war with the powerful holy city of Tiande?

    Anders commanded his daughter and her maids to remain inside the inn while Anton ran outside to check. He was glad to see that the caravan¡¯s mercenaries were organized so he flew up to check the situation.

    To Anton¡¯s horror, there was truly an army of undead that was arriving in the village and he even saw some liches and vampires in the middle of the army that was surrounded by elite-looking undead like skeletons riding skeletal horses and huge ghouls and zombies. The liches wore robes so they looked like wizards with their cowls down and Anton could only see glimpses of their bony heads. There were three liches and around ten vampires surrounding them.

    Based on the distance of the army, they should arrived in the village after around ten minutes so he flew back down and told his father the situation.

    Everyone had a look of horror on their faces when they heard that there were liches and vampires amidst the army of ghouls and zombies. Anders and Lucas commanded everyone to immediately prepare the caravan so they could begin running.

    Impressively, the caravan and its mercenaries were ready after five minutes and began moving outside the village towards the city of Zalnothel. Everyone in the Caravan knew that they were sacrificing the village so they could run but the villagers were not idiots. Most of them joined the caravan in their exodus out of the village but soon the caravan outdistanced everyone that was on foot since the caravan was letting the horses run as fast as they could.

    Since the caravan was huge, Anton couldn¡¯t do what they did before in letting the horses join in on his party system so he could use his auras to make the animals run non-stop. There were ten carriages and the carriages were pulled by two to four horses each and not only that, the mercenaries had their own horses as well.

    Their immediate plan was to let the horses run as far and as fast as they could and when they couldn¡¯t anymore, Anton would heal and restore the animal¡¯s stamina using his auras, seven horses at a time. While the caravan and the villagers were running outside the village, Anton told his father that he would attack the army to give them more time to flee.

    Anders looked at his son worriedly and told Anton to run if he was ever in danger. The caravan continued running while Anton activated all of the defense spells and auras and made sure to turn on the special effects so the undead would focus on him instead of the fleeing people.

    The undead army reached the entrance of the village when Anton cast his first attack spells toward the undead army. He cast Meteor one after another in the middle of the army where the liches and the vampires were.

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    Flaming rocks appeared from the heavens and hurtled down to the liches and vampires who were in the middle of the undead army but suddenly, a glowing red magic barrier appeared protecting the monsters.

    Anton wasn¡¯t surprised since he encountered the same situation before. The huge flaming meteors crashed on the magic barrier and the sounds of the impact of the spells resounded in the area. He saw animals in the forest causing a stampede in their mad scrambling to flee.

    Anton could see that the three liches were together in casting some kind of group spell that was protecting the undead army. To not allow them to attack him, he kept casting Meteor on them.

    He flew nearer and began casting Frozen Orb in front of the undead army and the devastatingly beautiful and deadly orbs of ice that exploded with sharp Ice Bolts arrived in front of the monsters causing untold destruction.

    One advantage of Ice Spells towards the undead was, that if it were powerful enough, the frozen monsters would shatter and disappear, not allowing the liches to resurrect them. When the liches saw their minions being destroyed without the possibility of them being resurrected, Anton assumed that they commanded the vampires to attack him.

    The vampires flew up and began attacking him by casting spells of their own. Red bolts and balls of gray and red light reached him.

    Anton couldn¡¯t really dodge the spells since the vampires were fast but he wasn¡¯t surprised that when the spells reached him, the damage that penetrated his Energy Shield didn¡¯t cause much damage since he was protected by powerful items from the world of Sanctuary.

    He then attacked the vampires by teleporting in the middle of three of them and casting Frozen Nova. The three vampires froze and he attacked them immediately using Frozen Orb causing the three vampires to freeze and shatter.

    When the other vampires saw what happened to their constituents, the rest immediately flew back down and entered the shield that the three liches made.

    So far, Anton killed three vampires and around fifty undead minions but before he could do more damage, all of the undead entered the magic barrier that the three liches made.

    Anton¡¯s attack did stall the undead army since when he attacked them, they couldn¡¯t move anymore. They were hunkering inside the magic barrier but Anton attacked the barrier with Meteor and Frozen Orb relentlessly. He didn¡¯t stop since he was supported by the Meditation Aura.

    After thirty minutes of endless casting of Meteors and Frozen that made the sky light up like it was morning, he heard a very loud crack coming from the barrier. One of the liches suddenly exploded so only two liches were remaining. The seven vampires who were surrounding the three liches were looking at Anton in horror.

    Anton knew that he could defeat the undead army on his own if he fought long enough but suddenly a spell reached him that caused massive damage to him. Almost seventy percent of his mana and fifty percent of his HP disappeared. He then saw one of the liches pointing its two bony hands at him. That meant that the lich cast a fatal spell at him but his Energy Shield and powerful defenses saved him. The lich that attacked him did look like it weakened tremendously after casting that powerful curse.

    He flew back and his auras immediately filled his mana and HP after a few minutes. While flying back, Anton didn¡¯t stop casting Meteor and Frozen Orb but the undead army magic barrier remained. Fortunately, it appeared that the fatal magic that one of the liches used to cause massive damage to him didn¡¯t appear again and Anton thought that he might be outside of the lich¡¯s range or it was a one-time use spell.

    That spell did frighten Anton since two more attacks of that powerful spell and it would kill him. He noticed that the army of the undead started moving backward away from him which meant that liches decided to retreat so he stopped his spell casting and observed what the undead would do.

 Chapter 154

    Anton stopped casting spells and observed what the army of the undead led by the liches and the vampires would do. Suddenly he saw something unbelievable. Something was forming in the middle of the two liches that made him a bit wary. He thought that it was some sort of attack spell but when the phenomenon ended, he saw that the third lich who burst earlier had formed again.

    He remembered that in games and books, liches had some sort of phylactery and that they would revive using that item. Liches were not supposed to get destroyed unless you destroy their phylactery as well so something like that could be the case with them as well.

    Once the third lich was fully formed, some sort of magical message was transmitted to Anton.

    ¡°We admit that you are very powerful, archmage, but so is the Undead Coalition. Since you made yourself our enemy, we will make sure that you, your family, your friends, and your countrymen will become the lowest undead minion that will destroy the city where you spawned. Allow us to pass and will turn you into a lich and if you survive, you can become a member of our grand council.¡±

    The voice was creepy, like something coming out of a grave and it would have had a much greater significant impact on Anton if he weren¡¯t bombarded by the entertainment media from Earth. The voice actors on Earth were very talented and could rival and even exceed the creepiness factor of that voice.

    It did one thing to Anton though, the threat it conveyed regarding the destruction of his family and friends made his blood boil. He opened his inventory and made sure that Full Rejuvenation potions were ready then he teleported near the army but still outside their magic barrier. He then used his maxed Telekinesis to hold one of the vampires that were near the three liches and made sure that the vampire would not be able to move even the tiniest amount. He lifted the vampire and brought it to him.

    Anton then flew backward bringing the vampire with him and when he thought that he was far enough, he began casting Meteor and Frozen Orb again.

    Suddenly one of the liches burst again but this time, Anton prepared himself since he got an inkling that the lich bursting was a prelude to a powerful spell attack. He brought the vampire that he was holding and hid it behind him so he was shielding it then he received the attack from the liches.

    Seventy percent of his mana and fifty percent of his HP disappeared so he drank the Full Rejuvenation immediately and everything became full again. A second lich burst so he prepared himself again then he received the massive attack again so he drank a second Full Rejuvenation potion.

    The vampires surrounding the lone lich remaining had looked of horror and worry on their faces when they saw that Anton wasn¡¯t affected by the powerful spells that the lich cast that they even needed to sacrifice themselves to be able to cast it.

    Anton then heard a crack again and saw the actual cracks on the magic barrier that the liches made. He then suddenly saw that the army of the undead began moving backward. They were retreating and soon, they were out of his casting range.

    The army of the undead kept retreating and soon the magic barrier disappeared or was brought down by the lich. Anton thought of teleporting and attacking the undead again but then he didn¡¯t want to really provoke them that would cause the undead coalition to actually focus on him.

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    At this time, he only destroyed a few undead minions and captured one vampire since he knew that the two liches who burst were not actually destroyed and would soon coalesce from their phylactery or something.

    Soon the undead army was out of sight so he brought the vampire near him and released the telekinetic force that was keeping the vampire from speaking.

    He first cast Ice Blast on one of the vampire¡¯s arms and destroyed it causing the vampire to shout in agony. He waited for a bit to check if the vampire would be able to regrow his arm and it actually started doing so he cast Fire Bolt on the growing arm and Ice Bolt to freeze the part that was regenerating and that kept the arm from regrowing.

    All the while, the vampire kept screaming in agony but Anton wasn¡¯t feeling any sort of guilt in torturing the monster. It may even be acting.

    ¡°Now talk or I will destroy all of your limbs one by one,¡± Anton told the vampire and he made sure that he was very calm since based on the movies and books that he had seen and read, it was more effective if he behaved calmly instead of showing anger and frustration.

    It worked since soon the vampire asked what he wanted to know so Anton asked it to tell what happened to the cities behind them.

    ¡°We already destroyed and converted all of the citizens of the cities before Tiande to undead minions. We¡¯re still at war with Tiande and Leminthor and we are now attacking Ruandelle. We sent an army towards Zalnothel but we planned to destroy the surrounding villages and towns before the wizard city since we knew that the wizard city was very powerful and would be able to destroy a single undead army without any problem. We just want to send a threat to make sure that the Zalnothel wouldn¡¯t take part in our bid to conquer the surrounding territories of the Undead Coalition.¡±

    ¡°Did you know that there¡¯s a wizard in the caravan that arrived in this village?¡±

    ¡°We knew that caravans that came out of Ruandelle had wizards but knew that those mages would be weak. We didn¡¯t expect that this caravan had an archmage.¡±

    ¡°Do you know that spell that the liches cast that needed one of them to burst?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That was supposed to be a sure kill spell that a lich can cast but they would need a second lich to sacrifice half of the life remaining in their phylactery. It was supposed to be able to kill an archmage but the fact that you were able to survive three casting of that spell made the liches aware that you are a mighty archmage indeed.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that the three liches wouldn¡¯t be able to cast those spells again?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I recommend that you don¡¯t attack the army because even though you can destroy the army, the liches would survive since their phylacteries are with the Undead Coalition and they can leave a curse to you that you might not be able to dispel that would cause all of the undead to focus on you until you and everyone that surrounds you are destroyed.¡±

    Anton then asked the vampire if he had any sort of treasure with him.

    ¡°I have my storage ring with me and as an elder vampire, it contains all of the treasure that I collected in my lifetime and they are considerable. If you allow me to leave with my life, I will give you my ring and will remove the spell that would destroy it if I die.¡±

    Anton simply nodded and the vampire indicated that the ring was in a golden chain that it was wearing.

    When Anton held the ring, the vampire made some movement and some sort of red smoke disappeared from the ring. Although based on the reaction of his auras, there was still a curse remaining on the ring but it was dispelled by his Prayer Aura. He was so glad that his Prayer Aura was able to dispel curses but he got an inkling that a more powerful aura would be needed to dispel powerful curses.

    The vampire looked very surprised when another smoke appeared from the ring. It was a dark purple smoke and it confirmed the fact that the vampire was expecting the remaining curse on the storage ring to damage Anton.

 Chapter 155

    Based on the vampire¡¯s expression, Anton knew that the vampire wasn¡¯t expecting the curse to actually kill who it considered as an archmage but Anton was guessing that the monster was hoping that the curse would damage him enough for the vampire to escape.

    When Anton entered his consciousness in the vampire¡¯s storage ring, he was surprised at the huge space and the amount of wealth he found. The space was as huge as a house and it was filled with gold coins, magical items like wands, other magical artifacts, and a considerable number of spellbooks.

    ¡°Are you really an elder vampire?¡± Anton suddenly asked the captured vampire after he looked inside the ring.

    ¡°Yes and if you let me go, I will make sure that me and any of my progeny will not go after you or yours and I will use a blood oath to do so,¡± the vampire said.

    Based on what the vampire had said about the blood oath, it assumed that Anton would know what it was so he asked directly what the blood oath was.

    The vampire looked surprised when Anton asked what the oath was.

    ¡°It¡¯s magic that beings that revolve around blood could cast. If the oath was violated even accidentally. The caster and those related to the oath, in my case my progenies, would be destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Okay cast it now then.¡±

    The vampire hesitated at first since Anton didn¡¯t mention casting an oath himself like letting the vampire go but after a few seconds, the vampire muttered a deep incantation and he saw some sort of blood magic enveloped the vampire then the blood magic spread outward. Anton asked the vampire what was the magic that spread outward and it replied that it was the magic that would destroy any of his progenies if Anton and any of his family were attacked by the vampire or his progenies.

    Anton then continued asking the vampire what the Undead Coalition''s plan was and he was surprised to learn that it was very straightforward. Disregarding the minute details, the Undead wanted to conquer all of the lands and the grand liches council wanted all of the land under them. They would allow most to remain as human but they would become slaves of the undead and those who rose as elite undead would become the first class citizens.

    At first, Anton thought of allowing the vampire to remain with him and the caravan but it was truly dangerous to have someone as powerful as an elder vampire to remain beside them even with its so-called blood oath. He then thought of directly destroying the vampire but then again, he didn¡¯t know what the vampire¡¯s blood oath would do to him and his family so after a few minutes of consideration, he covered the vampire¡¯s whole body including its eyes with telekinetic force and left.

    Once Anton was out of range, the telekinetic hold on the vampire would be released and then the vampire could go to where it wanted to go. The vampire did say that it would not be able to return to the Undead Coalition since it knew that once he returned, it would be destroyed by the liches for sharing any of the Undead Coalition plans with him even though in reality, the vampire didn¡¯t share much, just general knowledge due to the fact that Anton was ignorant or simply didn¡¯t care about the questions that he was supposed to ask the vampire.

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    Anton knew that he was being shallow in becoming so happy in receiving that elder vampire¡¯s storage ring and he wasn¡¯t afraid that any of the vampire¡¯s items would be cursed since any curses on the monster¡¯s items were already dispelled by his Prayer aura.

    He knew that he should have killed the vampire but Anton was truly wary of the vampire¡¯s blood oath although he didn¡¯t provide anything to the vampire, like blood or anything of himself, he still didn¡¯t know enough of the magic of this world to have the confidence to defend himself against such unknown things. Anton immediately transferred all of the spellbooks and magical items to his private stash since he would need to examine them first the he let the gold and other ordinary treasure remain in the ring.

    To make sure that there were no lingering curses on the ring that may harm his father since he was planning to give the ring to Anders, Anton put the ring in his inventory so his Diablo II system could identify it and based on the identification of his Diablo II system which he didn¡¯t doubt, the ring was huge storage ring filled with gold coins and other normal treasure and nothing else.

    The sun was already setting when Anton arrived at the place where the caravan set up camp. The campsite was huge since a lot of the villagers were with them. The villagers planned to join them until they arrived at the wizard city of Zalnothel even though most were still arriving late due to the fact that some villagers were traveling on foot.

    Since Anton didn¡¯t turn off the special effects of his buff and auras, he was very visible when he approached the campsite. The villagers who didn¡¯t know who he was were frightened but since the caravan people were calm and somebody spread that he was the archmage guarding the caravan, the people calmed down.

    Anton could see the relief on his father and sister¡¯s faces and Anna even had tears in her eyes. he flew down, turned off the special effect of his buffs and auras, and approached his father and sister, and then both of them hugged him fiercely.

    Anders kept muttering that he was so glad that Anton was back and Anna just kept on crying and even her maids had tears in their eyes.

    The table where dinner was served was set up by someone and Anton, his father, Anna and her maids, Nemina, Lucas, Devon, Lunelle, Frederick, the three captains of the guard, which were Genod, Budolf, Kudar, and Anton¡¯s assistant, Colin sat around it.

    ¡°I managed to make the undead army retreat but the three liches were very powerful and their spells almost killed me,¡± Anders honestly told his father.

    His father suddenly looked very angry and Anna cried harder. Anton was a bit regretful for sharing that part but he needed to make sure that everyone on the table would know how powerful the undead army was.

    ¡°When the battle started, the three liches cast some sort of magic barrier that protected the undead inside it, and after I destroyed about fifty undead minions, the undead army hunkered under the liches'' magic barrier. I almost cracked their magic barrier then the three liches had to sacrifice half of their life force in their phylactery that caused massive damage to me but since my healing spells are very powerful, I was able to heal myself immediately and since I kept casting massive magical damage to their barrier, the liches and their army started retreating. I managed to capture an Elder Vampire though and after a round of torture, the vampire informed me that they had conquered and turned the citizens of Mendi and Vondi into undead,¡± Anton said.

    This statement caused Anna to cry harder and even Nemina and Lunelle started crying since they had relatives from those places. Lucas and Devon had red eyes and they were suddenly emitting fierce auras. Even Anders was truly angry.

 Chapter 156

    Anton continued telling everyone what he had learned from the elder vampire.

    ¡°The Undead Coalition was still currently at war with the Holy City of Tiande but the fact that the Holy City was on the defensive did not bode well for the living. Leminthor was also defending itself from the undead attack but according to the vampire, it would not take long before Leminthor was defeated. The Undead Coalition also began attacking Ruandelle but the merchant city was more powerful than the other cities except for Tiande so that undead endeavor would last long and since the merchant city is very rich, their coffers and granaries are full and they would be able to withstand a long siege.¡±

    ¡°Did you learn why an undead army reached that last village? We¡¯re already two weeks away from Ruandelle,¡± Anders asked.

    While they were talking, the food that the caravan cooks arrived so they paused their talk to eat but most of the people at the table had very little appetite. Anders had to scold Anna to eat more since the following days would be busy for they needed to run as fast and as far as they could each day to reach Zalnothel as soon as possible. Anders scolded his daughter but everyone heard the message so they started to eat heartily to make sure that everyone would be full of energy.

    After dinner, Anton answered his father¡¯s question regarding the undead army that attacked the last village.

    ¡°According to that elder vampire, the Undead Coalition sent several small armies to attack the towns and villages before the wizard city of Zalnothel as a sort of threat and warning for the wizard city to not join Tiande and Ruandelle in defending their cities. The vampire mentioned that the Undead Coalition sent several armies near Zalnothel. By the way, a thousand undead minions, thirty elite undead, ten powerful vampires, and three liches are considered a small army.¡±

    Everyone had worried looks on their faces upon learning that there were several armies of undead nearby.

    ¡°We need to rest now so we can leave early. The next few days would truly be tiresome since we will not truly rest until we reach the wizard city of Zalnothel,¡± Anders told everyone so they went to their carriages to rest. The guard leaders would still be busy since they would need to make sure that the guards that would be on shift would be aware of the situation and would be extra vigilant.

    Anton asked his father, Lucas, Nemina, and Frederick to remain since he needed to talk to them about something.

    ¡°What do you want to tell us, Anton?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°The elder vampire that I captured isn¡¯t dead. It cast what it called a Blood Oath magic that was supposed to destroy it and its progenies if it attacked me and in return, it asked to be released. It gave its storage ring that was supposed to be full of treasure that it accumulated in its lifetime. I saw the vampire cast the spell and some sort of red magic enveloped him and then threads of magic were scattered away from it. When I asked the vampire, it said that those were the magic that would go to its progenies that would destroy them if it or any of his progeny attacked us even accidentally. I was wary of its blood oath magic so I released it. It also said that it wouldn¡¯t be able to return to the coalition since they would treat it as a traitor due to the information it shared with me. Did I make a mistake?¡±

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    Everyone looked at Frederick since he was the only mage among them.

    ¡°The blood oath was real according to the old mage who taught me magic but only powerful beings could cast it. But of course, we wouldn¡¯t know for sure if what the vampire said was true and you didn¡¯t have any choice during that time. You were right to be wary of killing the vampire. I know you could protect yourself from any sort of curse but it could have targeted your family. The only thing that we can do right now is to rush to Zalnothel and have the city protect us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if what you did was right or wrong but if any of us here encountered that vampire, we would have been destroyed by its fingers movement alone,¡± Lucas said.

    Anton then gave the storage ring to his father.

    ¡°Its dimensional space is incredibly huge and it has countless amounts of gold coins. I took away the spellbooks and magical items so I could examine them later but for now, the ring is safe. I already removed the curse that the vampire cast over it.¡±

    Everyone was staring at the ring and when Anders checked its inside, Anton¡¯s father gasped.

    ¡°Anton, do you know that with the amount of coins that we have, we can be considered as somewhat rich but all the gold coins that we have is only a tenth of the gold coins inside this ring!¡± Anders exclaimed.

    When Nemina, Lucas, and Frederick heard what Anders had said, they gasped, which looked very funny to Anton so he laughed and everyone glared at him.

    ¡°You can use the ring then as your personal storage space, Father. I suggest that you don¡¯t wear it since even that vampire kept it in a chain and then wore it around his neck.¡±

    ¡°May I ask which spells are in the vampire¡¯s collection?¡± Frederick timidly asked.

    Anton shrugged and told the mage that he hadn¡¯t had the chance to check them out yet but he saw a single seventh-level spell among the spellbooks.

    Frederick gaped when he heard what Anton had said. Anders, Lucas, and Nemina looked curiously at the mage.

    ¡°What does it mean? A seventh-level spell?¡± Lucas asked Frederick.

    ¡°A wizard could be considered an archmage if they began learning an eight-level spell so a seventh-level spell is the tier before an archmage. That spellbook alone would allow a normal person to purchase a huge manor in any city and live extravagantly for the rest of his life!¡±

    Anders, Nemina, and Lucas¡¯s eyes grew bigger when they learned what a seventh-level spellbook signified. That meant that the vampire was telling the truth that the ring contained a magical being¡¯s lifetime worth of treasure.

    Anton retrieved the seventh-level spellbook from his inventory and examined it. It did feel a bit magical but was the only thing that he could discern without actually opening the spellbook but when he looked at the others, he saw that they backed up a bit and looked like they were in pain. Frederick was even kneeling on the ground and he looked like he was about to pass out.

    ¡°The book! It felt like it''s freezing our very core and not only that, it felt like it''s conscious and aware that it was surrounded by normal beings and was pressuring those beings to leave,¡± Anders told his son.

    Anton was startled and immediately stored the book in his inventory and saw the relief on everyone¡¯s faces.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you feel anything?¡± Frederick asked Anton.

    Anton shrugged and told the mage that he felt the book was a bit magical and that was it. Frederick just sighed and told Anton that he should have expected something like that since he was already powerful beyond the mage¡¯s understanding already.

    Anton then asked his Father if he wanted to sell the spellbook so they could purchase a manor in Zalnothel since the spellbook said that it was a Blizzard spell and more than likely, it was similar to his Blizzard spell but Anders scolded his son saying how could they sell something they couldn¡¯t hold.

 Chapter 157

    The sun wasn¡¯t up yet when Colin woke up Anton to inform him that Anders announced the caravan was leaving so he joined his family for breakfast and after doing his business in the camp toilet, the caravan began moving. The movement woke up the sleeping villagers and hastily prepared their things so they could follow the caravan.

    The villagers didn¡¯t want to get left behind since they now knew that the surrounding towns and villages were not safe from the undead and that the caravan was guarded by a powerful wizard. They knew that sticking with the caravan would almost guarantee that they would arrive in the city of Zalnothel safely.

    Anton didn¡¯t enter the World of Sanctuary since he felt that the caravan was still in danger. When the sun peaked from the horizon, he flew up to check the surrounding area. He immediately noticed an army of the undead in the far distance about an hour away from their location on horseback. He also noticed some groups of undead in the surrounding area but saw that the undead were avoiding the area where the caravan was located.

    He activated the special effect of his buffs and his aura so Anton would become visible even in the morning light. He wanted to show himself as a deterrent to the surrounding undead and it sort of worked since the nearer undead groups suddenly retreated.

    The army in the distance also looked like they were not moving. It¡¯s as if they were waiting for Anton and his caravan to get farther away before any sort of movement would occur but that was just his assumption.

    The surrounding undead in the area made Anton worried since he didn¡¯t know if he was powerful enough to contend with the more powerful undead beings. The vampire he captured mentioned that the three liches in the undead army that attacked the last village were called elder liches but they were not powerful enough to apply to become part of the Undead Coalition council.

    The vampire mentioned that a true Monarch Lich that was a member of the council of the Undead Coalition was as powerful as a grand archmage of the wizard of Zalnothel and based on the power that Anton had shown, he was not powerful enough to contend with one. The vampire did add that a powerful lich like that would not go near Zalnothel because it would trigger an all-out war with Zalnothel and even though the Undead Coalition was not afraid, the Coalition would prefer that the surrounding cities would be under them before they initiate a war with Zalnothel.

    That meant that the Coalition fully intended to conquer all of the lands and Anton knew that he couldn¡¯t keep running. He was planning to join the forces that would contend with the Undead Coalition when he reached Zalnothel. Once his family was ensconced safely in the city and were living comfortably as a rich merchant family, he would tell his Father his plans of joining either the Zalnothel army or any government agency that would fight with the Undead Coalition or maybe even earlier than that. That meant that only his sister would join a magical academy but before allowing Anna to do so, he would investigate first.

    Anton didn¡¯t want Anna to join a magic school and then suddenly the school would send its students to perform dangerous missions. He wanted his sister to be safe and not to endanger her life for the sake of the city.

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    He was a bit glad that he was able to get that vampire¡¯s treasure since it would allow his family to live in the city comfortably then he thought of asking his father to leave the city and travel farther away to make sure that they were safe but he knew that Anders wouldn¡¯t agree but he would talk it out with his family first.

    The caravan was traveling slowly enough that the villagers who joined them could keep up without any issue but Anton knew that soon they wouldn¡¯t be able to. It was a very difficult journey with everyone being goaded by fear but he decided that he would help by healing the villagers come the night.

    Anton stayed up in the air for about an hour more just to make sure that the undead would not go near them. When he saw that the undead army was still not moving toward them and the small groups of undead nearby weren¡¯t approaching the area where they were, Anton flew down and joined his father on his carriage to talk to him.

    He asked his father, Lucas, and Nemina to join him inside his father¡¯s carriage.

    ¡°Did you see anything, Anton?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°There¡¯s an undead army about a couple hours of horseback ride away from our caravan and a lot of small undead groups in the area. We would need to keep traveling fast enough until were near enough to the city of Zalnothel to be sure that the undead would not attack us.¡±

    Anders, Lucas, and Nemina looked worried when they heard what Anton had said so added something that would alleviate their worries somewhat.

    ¡°When I flew up and made sure that I was visible, the undead army stopped moving toward us and the nearby undead groups moved away from the area where we were. So I¡¯m sure that we will not be attacked but I still would recommend that we remain vigilant.¡±

    Lucas just nodded as if saying that it wasn¡¯t needed for Anton to say that they had to remain vigilant since he would do so anyway. After that, he asked to talk to his father alone.

    ¡°Father, when we reached Zalnothel and our family was settled comfortably, I planned to join an organization that would fight the Undead Coalition. I¡¯m truly livid at what those monsters were doing and since I have the power, I will use that power to fight them.¡±

    Anders looked worried.

    ¡°Can you just join your sister in entering a magic academy and then learn more things so when you¡¯re needed, you will have more power to contend against the undead?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s very dangerous but maybe the reason why I was given this power was to make sure that these lands are not only covered with undead monsters. We tried running Father but the undead kept reaching us. Sooner or later, we will be cornered and at that time, the undead will be truly powerful. I know that in the grand scheme of things, I¡¯m not powerful enough to make a difference right now in the Undead Coalition¡¯s bid to conquer the lands but I don¡¯t want to remain passive.¡±

    ¡°I understand. But you have to make sure that you remain safe!¡± Anders said fiercely.

    ¡°Of course, Father. I assure you that I will not stop growing powerful, and if my magic system is not enough, I will also concentrate on learning the magic system of these lands. I will also run away if I¡¯m in a truly dangerous situation and you know I can teleport and fly.¡±

    Anton also told his father that before they allowed Anna to enter a magic school, they would need to investigate first to make sure that the school would not randomly send Anna on a dangerous mission or something like that and his father agreed with him.

    He also informed his father that once they stopped during lunchtime, he would heal and fill the stamina of the horses and the people to make sure that everyone would be at their peak.

 Chapter 158

    Lunchtime arrived and the caravan stopped so the horses could rest. The villagers who were following them looked grateful at the stop since they could eat and rest as well. Anton saw from the people who were following their caravan that they were truly afraid to get left behind. The villagers knew that there were undead in the surrounding area and the only reason that the monsters didn¡¯t attack them was because of the powerful mage in the caravan.

    Anton ate hastily when the caravan stopped the started moving among the caravan¡¯s animals, he added the horses to his party system so he could heal and restore their stamina using his Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor auras. Since there were plenty of horses in the caravan, even though the healing process only took Anton several seconds, it actually took him twenty minutes to completely heal every animal in the caravan.

    With the people, it was much easier since everyone gathered in one location and once they were healed and their stamina restored, they went back to being busy with their work in the caravan. Everyone who received the healing and stamina restoration looked gratefully at Anton since the Vigor aura extinguished their exhaustion.

    Anton knew that healing the villagers and their animals would take longer since there were many of them but Anders helped a lot by first announcing the healing session and then arranging the people and animals in groups of seven. Surprisingly, some people didn¡¯t join since they were wary of receiving something from an unknown wizard but Anders just shrugged and said that it was their choice.

    The villagers and their animals that Anton healed looked vigorous and thanked Anton but they didn¡¯t linger and went aside as instructed by Anders and the others. After around forty minutes, Anton completed the healing session so the caravan moved again.

    Anton''s plan was, after this healing session, to do the same every night for the people in the caravan and every other night for the villagers to make sure that all of the people would be healthy enough to reach the city of Zalnothel. It didn¡¯t take him long anyway, just around fifteen to twenty minutes for the whole caravan and around thirty to forty minutes for the villagers.

    While the caravan was traveling, Anton flew up again to check the surrounding area. The army of the undead was still in the distance and he was glad to see that it still wasn¡¯t moving. He did notice that some undead monster groups were nearing their caravan so he immediately flew towards those groups and annihilated them using Frozen Orb. Anton made sure to use spells from the Ice Skill Tree since it was in the height of summer and if he weren¡¯t careful and used fire spells, he could cause some sort of forest fire. Even though the idea of a forest fire that would harm the undead looked good, Anton knew that eventually, a truly large forest fire would be harmful to people as well.

    Anton kept destroying groups of undead in the surrounding area so he was busy the whole afternoon. After several hours, he couldn¡¯t find any more groups of undead so he returned to the caravan and informed his father of what he had been doing. After that, he went inside his carriage to rest.

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    ¡°Anton, where have you been?!¡± Anna asked when saw Anton.

    ¡°I was making sure that the Undead Army wasn¡¯t following us. I also destroyed several groups of undead in the surrounding area to make sure that we would not be attacked while we were camping.¡±

    ¡°Were there a lot of them?¡± Anna timidly asked and even her maids looked fearful.

    ¡°Yes there were but you don¡¯t need to worry. I destroyed all of them. I need to rest so don¡¯t bother me for a bit.¡±

    Anton then closed his eyes while he was resting in a nest of pillows but after a few minutes, Colin entered and brought a lot of wooden lanterns that the caravan people had made.

    ¡°Anton, your father told me to tell you to enchant these lanterns so we would have more light every night.¡±

    Anton was a bit shocked at the number of lanterns. Based on a casual look, there were fifty of them. He sighed and started enchanting the lanterns one by one.

    ¡°You should rest first brother. Father will understand if you don¡¯t enchant them yet. You have been busy all afternoon making sure that we¡¯re safe!¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°This would only take a few minutes,¡± Anton absently replied.

    Colin looked guilty and Anna was glaring at Anton¡¯s assistant even though it wasn¡¯t the man¡¯s fault and was just following orders.

    The caravan stopped for the night when Anton completed enchanting all of the lanterns. When he and Anna joined their father for dinner, Anna complained loudly to Anders for not letting her brother rest and asking him to enchant a lot of items even though Anton was busy all afternoon making sure they were safe.

    Anders looked a bit guilty.

    ¡°I understand that Anna but we need a lot of light to make sure that the area is well-lit for our guards to have visibility.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me, Anna. I wasn¡¯t really tired earlier. I just wanted to rest my mind for a bit,¡± Anton consoled his sister but apparently, that statement didn¡¯t help since it made Ander look guiltier and made Anna more frustrated.

    The caravan cooks served everyone¡¯s dinner and while they were eating, Anton told everyone what he had seen and did during the afternoon. He mentioned that the undead army should be farther away by now since ever since they started traveling, the army of the undead they he saw didn¡¯t move at all and he told them his assumption that maybe the undead army was allowing Anton and his family¡¯s caravan to get away before they made their move.

    He also informed everyone that many groups of undead he destroyed earlier and this brought relief to everyone''s faces.

    After dinner, Anton repeated his healing session, and after an hour he completed healing everyone including the villagers.

    Anton wasn¡¯t able to play the game during the next three days of travel since he kept flying overhead to make sure that the undead army wouldn¡¯t suddenly travel hastily to attack them. He also managed to destroy more groups of undead that were following their caravan and Anton thought that the undead were using those groups to harass them so they would travel towards Zalnothel faster.

    During those three days of travel, the villagers were grateful to the caravan for allowing their wizard to heal them since everyone looked healthy and not exhausted. The problem that his father and the others were talking about right now was food.

    Since Anton moved fast and was able to destroy the surrounding undead, the people were still able to hunt animals to supplement their food intake. But they could only hunt in the areas toward Zalnothel since they couldn¡¯t find any animals behind them. They were probably destroyed by the undead and to be honest about it, the people were afraid of going back and maybe encountering some lingering undead monsters.

    Anders also commanded some of the guards to hunt animals for food and they weren¡¯t afraid of any of them spoiling since Anton began utilizing his private stash again to store the food so they would remain fresh.

 Chapter 159

    The caravan arrived at the next village around a couple of hours before lunch the next day but sadly, it was already destroyed. The caravan people and the people from the last village only looked sad as if they were expecting something like this to happen.

    They knew that there were untold numbers of undead monsters in the surrounding area and Anders already had someone announce to the villagers that the Undead Coalition already attacked several cities behind them and was in the process of destroying the surrounding towns and villages. The villagers believed the people from the caravan since an undead army did arrive in their village and all of them would have died if the caravan¡¯s wizard didn¡¯t attack the army to let them escape.

    Not only that, the caravan¡¯s young wizard also healed them and relieved them of their exhaustion so the villagers were on the verge of worshipping the mage.

    Every house was thoroughly destroyed and nothing remained that anyone could use. The creepy part was there were no corpses. All of the people knew that the people who had lived in this place were either eaten by the undead or became undead themselves.

    Anders commanded the caravan to continue moving and bypass the destroyed village. The next town was supposed to be five days away from this village but Anton saw that almost all the villagers and even some of the people from the caravan lost hope in ever finding any survivors from the next towns and villages that they would pass through in going to the city of Zalnothel.

    Anton flew up again to make sure that there were no more undead near them and based on what he found, there were no monsters near this place anymore. Lunchtime arrived and Anders stopped the caravan to rest their horses.

    After an hour, they moved again. They didn¡¯t want to stay in a place where the undead destroyed everything. Even though Anton assured everyone that there were no more undead left in the area, there was still the feeling of dread surrounding the people as if any moment, the monsters would arrive and kill them all.

    Anton repeatedly flew up to check the area but that action didn¡¯t take him long now since there were no more undead attempting to get close to his father¡¯s caravan since if there were any, he would immediately destroy them.

    He knew that he wasn¡¯t successful in destroying all of the nearby undead since some of the monsters may be hiding and Anton didn¡¯t have any magic that could search the nearby monsters.

    The rest of the time when he wasn¡¯t patrolling, he decided to study the Ice Bolt magic wand to increase the amount of Ice Bolt it could release before the wand got destroyed but unfortunately, the wooden wand could only release a maximum of twenty Ice Bolts before it was destroyed and that was as far as he could go using the wooden materials.

    Anton thought that using metals or any material aside from wood would be better but unfortunately, the materials that he had were limited. He was also unsuccessful in increasing the power of the Ice Bolt spell on the wands since the level of the spells that he could enchant on an item was based on the level of spell that he had.

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    He tried enchanting a magic wand with a powerful Frozen Orb spell but the wand was destroyed even before he completed the spell structure of the Frozen Orb spell.

    Basically, a typical zombie would be destroyed by two or three Ice Bolts from the magic wand that Anton made. A ghoul would take more, around four or five but to his thinking, the magic wand that he made would be good for emergencies so he began making a lot of them. Before the sunset, he managed to create around twelve of them.

    When the caravan set up camp for the night, Anton skipped his usual patrol since it was already too dark for him to be able to detect any nearby undead.

    While they were waiting for the caravan cooks to serve their dinner, Anton gave the wands to his father.

    ¡°What are these?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Those are magic wands of Ice Bolt that I made. It had around twenty Ice Bolts each and after the twentieth Ice Bolt was released, the wand would be destroyed so if anyone wanted to save the wand for me to repair them, they needed to make sure to use only around eighteen or nineteen Ice Bolt but the purpose of making these wand was for our guards to have some sort of long-range attack and I made those wands as disposable weapons so tell the people you will give the wand to not hesitate in using them. They¡¯re there to save their lives.¡±

    ¡°How will anyone know that they almost reached the maximum spells that wand had released?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I made an indicator that¡¯s in the handle. The wands you¡¯re using, Father, are really advanced. You instinctively know how many spell charges are left but unfortunately, I don¡¯t know how they were made. Another thing that your wands had the advantage of, even if you released all the spells in the wands, they would not be destroyed but the wands that I made would automatically disintegrate once the twentieth Ice Bolt was released,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Not only that, the wand holder can cast the spells in the wand instinctively. Yours had some sort of awkward trigger,¡± Anna added and Anton glared at his sister.

    When Frederick heard what Anna had said, the mage let out a nervous laugh which made Anton roll his eyes.

    ¡°Even with those limitations, these are good for life-saving purposes!¡± Devon said.

    ¡°That was what I was thinking,¡± Anton added.

    Anders then gave the wands to Lucas and told the man to handle the wands¡¯ distribution. Anton told his father that he would make some more while they were traveling.

    Anton saw Devon going to his father to ask for one of the wands and the man was very persistent and managed to get one from his father.

    ¡°Lucas, I would recommend that you allow your men to practice casting at least ten Ice bolts from the wand so they would be comfortable using it then once around ten Ice Bolts were remaining, give them back to me so I could repair them,¡± Anton said to Lucas and the man nodded.

    After dinner, Anton began his round of healing sessions for the caravan people. Since everyone was getting used to their nightly healing ritual, it took Anton around fifteen minutes to complete it. Then he took a bath and planned to unwind by watching an anime but the moment his head touched his pillow, he fell asleep immediately.

    Anton was woken up by shouts from outside the carriage and Anna and her maids woke up as well. He was about to exit the carriage to check the situation when Colin entered and informed them that everything was in order. Some undead attacked the villagers but the monsters were immediately destroyed by the Ice Bolt wand holders led by Devon.

    Twelve men wielding wands of Ice Bolt destroyed the ghouls that were spotted running towards the sleeping villagers who were accompanying their caravan on the way to Zalnothel. No one was injured so there was no need for Anton to leave the carriage. Since he was still sleepy, Anton just laid down back again and immediately fell asleep again.

 Chapter 160

    The sun wasn¡¯t up yet when Anton woke up. He briefly checked the time in his browser and saw that it was five in the morning. He wondered how one would know the time normally or if were they just like the people in the old times on Earth relying on the sun, stars, and instinct. He hadn¡¯t seen any items that could tell the time in his father¡¯s belongings and decided then that he would create enchanted watches for his father and Anna.

    He then suddenly wondered when his father and Anna¡¯s birthdays and he decided he would ask Anna later.

    Anton knew that his birthday was somewhere in December or January, he forgot exactly when but the important fact that he noticed was the name of the days and months and the division of time. Why were they the same as his worlds¡¯? Maybe it was actually different and his brain just interpreted them the same. Either way, he was not truly a scholar and deep thinker of such things so he didn¡¯t bother to focus on them anymore. The only things that he was interested in from his old world were the entertainment media content like novels, animes, movies, television shows, and games. Aside from that, he wasn¡¯t keen on learning anything more from Earth like its current state of politics and such things.

    Anton just wished that Earth would remain stable for as long as he lived to make sure that the making of the media entertainment content that he loved would not be interrupted.

    Since it was early, Anton decided to make more wands of Ice Bolt since based on what happened during the wee hours of the morning, the wands were highly effective so after a couple of hours, he successfully made seven wands of Ice Bolt.

    During breakfast, Lucas gave the wands back to Anton so he could recharge them and after having Charsi repair and recharge the wands, he gave them back to Lucas including the new ones he made. Anders, Lucas, and the other guards were happy to see more of the wands since they were highly effective against the undead.

    After breakfast, the caravan¡¯s journey started again and Anton flew up to check the undead army and the surrounding area for any visible undead groups. He was glad to see that the undead army wasn¡¯t moving still and they were now moving farther away from them. He also didn¡¯t see any undead nearby so he flew back down and reported the situation to his father which made Anders happy.

    The summer season brought forth a very hot and humid temperature on the road and everyone in the caravan was greatly appreciative of Anton¡¯s wooden tablet of air conditioner. Anders and the others were thankful that there were plenty of water and animals in the forest so the traveling people had enough food and water.

    After three days of traveling, they saw the next town in the distance and everyone was happy to see that people were alive and apparently doing well in the town but the scouts also said that the town was surrounded by walls and the guards there were vigilant so more than likely, they were aware of the undead attacks.

    During the three days of travel, some situations occurred like people getting poisoned from their drinking water but Anton¡¯s healing magic solved that issue real quick. To avoid that same situation happening to the caravan people, Anton asked his father to let the caravan people throw out the water they had taken from the streams and he would just fill it up with water from his Frozen Orb spell. The effect of the mana water would not be a problem since it did dissipate in time that¡¯s why Anna kept asking Anton to create brand new mana water for bathing and drinking.

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    Anton also gave more wands of Ice Bolt to Lucas who distributed them to the guards and after three more undead attack attempts that were immediately solved by the Ice Bolt company, the caravan people, and the villagers morale was high.

    During those three days of travel, Anton also leveled up three times so now he was level eighty-three. He also managed to get some valuable loot but his current gear setup was the best one that had gotten so far.

    When they got near the town, everyone saw that the gates remained closed then somebody came to talk to them.

    ¡°You are not welcome in our town!¡± The man shouted and immediately went back inside the town.

    At first, Anders and the others were planning to share everything they had learned about the Undead Coalition with the town leaders so they could decide if they wanted to stay or flee but since the town ahead of them didn¡¯t welcome them, Anders just shrugged and commanded the caravan to move forward.

    The villagers who had been following them were sad that the town didn¡¯t welcome them and that they couldn¡¯t rest there for a while but honestly, all the villagers didn¡¯t want to get separated from the caravan since they felt safe with it guarding them. The powerful wizard inside the caravan even provided his guards magic wands that were able to defeat the undead in an instant so even though they were looking to rest even for a few hours in that town, all of them still wanted to stick with the caravan all the way to the wizard city of Zalnothel.

    The caravan people and the villagers were looking at the town sadly since they knew for a fact that the town was going to be destroyed by the undead armies. Everyone had learned that the Undead Coalition fully intended to destroy all of the towns and villages near Zalnothel. Some of the villagers attempted to inform the town but they were driven away by the guards manning the walls even before they could utter anything.

    After passing through the unwelcoming town, Anton thought of the fact that the water from the streams could be unsafe since there was a chance that the undead could have poisoned them, Anton decided to invent an enchanted item that would provide water and since it was just a modification of wooden tablet of air conditioner, he was able to complete one before they setup camp for the night.

    One thing Anton discovered though. The water from the enchanted item that he made wasn¡¯t mana water and was just regular water. He thought that maybe because the spell wasn¡¯t directly cast by him but by the spell structure that was formed because of the mana pathways that were carved into the wooden tablet.

    The enchanted item that could produce water was crude though and Anton was almost embarrassed to show it to everyone. It looked like the wooded tablet of air conditioner but what the user would do was suspend it upside down on a bucket and water would come out of the orb then once the bucket or any container that was being used was filled with water, the user then would need to switch off the enchanted item.

    After dinner, Anton showed his newly crafted enchanted item to his father and Anna laughed when he demonstrated how one could get water from the item.

    ¡°That is so awkward!¡± Anna laughingly said.

    ¡°I know but we need the item more instead of making it more aesthetic looking so I rushed to create it. I don¡¯t even know how much water it can produce so Frederick can you measure how much water a full mana storage of that item would produce?¡± Anton said.

    Frederick said that he would handle it. The mage also asked for another one of those items that he could provide the villagers so they could avoid drinking water from the surrounding area and getting sick in the process. Anton made one immediately since it would only take him a few minutes to do so. It wouldn¡¯t take him much time to create one since it was just a modification of a wooden tablet of air conditioner.

 Chapter 161

    After dinner, Frederick went where the villagers were camping and Anton followed the mage. Frederick called on the village chief who was still acting as everyone¡¯s leader then gave the tablet to the man. He then demonstrated how the tablet was used and showed the village chief the indicator of the mana storage.

    Frederick told the village chief to return the tablet to him once the mana storage was empty. He also told the chief to be very generous in giving out the water and count the buckets of water that the tablet would produce since he would need to know how much water a tablet with full mana storage would give.

    The village chief was very respectful and kept saying thanks to Frederick and Anton.  After that, Anton bathed and provided mana water for his family and friends, and then he went inside his carriage. He entered the game and spent an hour making wands of Ice Bolt. He would give the wands to Lucas the next day then he started playing the game at Player Three Difficulty on Hell mode using the Player X code then went to Baal to spend a couple of hours grinding for levels.

    Anton¡¯s plan was when he reached the mid-nineties, he would then get the Annihilus Small Charm and Hellfire Torch Large Charm. He reiterated to himself that he was glad that he had access to the internet and could follow the guide on how to get the unique charms.

    A couple of hours of grinding led him to earn three levels so now he was level eighty-six but sadly the unique items that he had gotten weren¡¯t as powerful as the ones that he was currently wearing.

    After a couple of hours, Anton minimized the game and spent an hour wasting time watching funny short videos from a famous streaming site and then fell asleep.

    The next day, Anton woke up early and joined his family in eating breakfast. While they were waiting for the cooks to serve breakfast, Anton asked his father about their food situation.

    ¡°We¡¯re still mostly okay. Our guards were able to hunt animals in the forest and Lucas made sure that there were a few of them in a group to make sure that they would be safe and able to fight any undead group they encountered. They were also utilizing the wands that you gave them in hunting animals since it would also allow them to practice using the wands. There were also groups of men and women who went to the forest to forage some fruits and greens but of course, we¡¯re making sure that they were guarded by guards who are carrying wands.¡± Anders said.

    Anton reminded his father that he still had a huge amount of grains in barrels inside his private stash and Anders told him that he was aware of that and would only take it out once there was not enough food. Anders was thankful that his ¡°magical dimension space¡± would keep the food fresh and Anders also happily informed his son that his new ring had the same feature so it was now also being used to store the animals that the guards killed for food.

    Lucas then gave the spent wands to Anton who recharged and repaired them by allowing Charsi to do so and immediately gave them back to the head guard including the ones he recently made, which put a smile on the stoic man¡¯s face.

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    After breakfast, they started their journey for the day. According to Lucas, they would reach the next village in three days and everyone was hoping that that village still existed.  Anton briefly flew up to check the undead army and saw that they were now very far away from the monsters and was a bit relieved. He also checked the surrounding area and did not see any groups of undead at a casual inspection.

    Anna on the other hand was truly focused on studying and practicing her magic. She said that she didn¡¯t want to feel helpless again when something dangerous happened. Sometimes she spent all day practicing especially during the recent days since she mentioned that she felt that she was on the verge of being able to add another cantrip to her repertoire which flabbergasted Frederick since according to him, he was able to collect his few cantrips after several years of practice. That meant that Anna was a truly talented mage considering her age, which Frederick said wasn¡¯t truly surprising considering who her brother was.

    During the next three days of travel, Anton advised Anders to search for a blacksmith that they could employ even temporarily since he told his father that he was sure that if he used metal in place of wood in his wand making, he could increase the number of Ice Bolt charges that the wand could release before it was destroyed since considering the amount of mana in its mana storage, it should be more than twenty charges but the fact that the wand disintegrates after the twentieth Ice Bolt wasted the remaining mana on the wand¡¯s mana storage.

    Anders told him that his father would prioritize finding a blacksmith. Unfortunately, the village chief couldn¡¯t find the blacksmith that was staying near their village and there was a good chance that the blacksmith and his family were already deceased.

    During those three days of travel, Anton spent his time after his daily patrol which only took him less than an hour each morning to level up his character and experiment with his enchantment. He still practiced his lute for an hour each day though since the music calmed his mind and because of the internet, he had an unlimited amount of songs that he could use to practice. Not only that, during his practice, everyone inside the carriage stopped whatever they were doing to listen to him even listening to his fingering and scale practice.

    Frederick also informed him of the amount of water that the tablet enchanted to produce water could create and he was surprised at the amount and concluded that magic could really make life easier.  They still didn¡¯t have a name for the enchanted item that could produce water so he assigned Frederick to come up with one which surprisingly, excited the man and told Anton that it would be his honor to name the item.

    Anton also decided to announce a contest to everyone in the caravan to design an aesthetically pleasing woodcraft that he could attach to the enchanted tablet that produced water so everyone would have some sort of exciting thing that they could do and asked his father to reward the winner with gold coins. Everyone joined in on the fun including Anna and her maids. Anna decided to design one of her own and her maids partnered up to design one. Of course, they would need to ask someone to make their design once they had completed it but that¡¯s their problem.

    While grinding for levels, Anton also thought of which item he would create next and decided to focus on the design and efficiency of the sword enchanted with fire and then the armor enchanted with Frozen Armor.

    Those three days of travel also allowed Anton to level up three times so he was now level eighty-nine and wondered why it was taking him so long to level up. He was guessing that it was because he was not an expert like the Diablo II gods of the internet like Mr. Llama and Dbrunski.

    Anton then wondered what would happen if they were the ones who were transported to this place carrying the Diablo II system. He imagined that they would become so powerful that they most likely would have become gods by now.

 Chapter 162

    Everyone was happy to see that the next village on the way to Zalnothel was still thriving. The villagers welcomed the caravan but were surprised at the amount of travelers that were walking beside it. The village was as small as the village where the refugees came from and Anton saw Anders and the others talking to who he assumed as the village chief and elders.

    Anton went near them to listen in and he heard his father telling the village leaders what happened.

    Apparently, the village leaders recognized the village chief of the refugees and were confirming everything what Anders and the others were saying.

    ¡°We saw the undead army! It had liches and vampires and thousands of zombies, ghouls, and wraiths. It would have reached our village and destroyed all of us if the caravan¡¯s mage didn¡¯t stop them,¡± The village chief of the refugees said.

    The village elders had looked horror on their faces when they heard what Anders and the others were saying.

    The village chief of the refugees urged them to join them in fleeing to Zalnothel since the Undead Coalition intended to destroy all of the villages and towns along the way.

    Anders told them that it was just their advice and wouldn¡¯t force them to flee but Anton¡¯s father reiterated the fact that soon the undead army would be coming.

    Anton was highly impressed at the decisiveness of the village leaders since they immediately ran towards the village. The remaining person told them that the village elders would urge and even command everyone to flee with them but this time, since they had enough time, they would try to bring as many items and food as they could.

    Anders informed the man that they would stop and wait for three hours before the caravan would move again. The village chief of the refugees joined the man from the village so he could answer any of their questions.

    Anton¡¯s father then told everyone that they would stop for a few hours and to prepare lunch. Since there were still a couple of hours before lunchtime, Anton decided to heal the horses using his auras to make sure that they were at their peak. The animals welcomed his presence and they were very affectionate towards him as if they were aware that their healthy bodies were because of the young wizard.

    When he joined his father, Anders asked him to fix the carriages so Anton became very busy in the next two hours. The caravan people would remove all the items from the carriage then Anton would store the carriage briefly in his inventory to have Charsi repair them and once he took them out, the carriages would become brand new.

    The caravan people were aware that Anton had a repair spell but they were still amazed when they saw it happening.

    After the repair was done, he joined his father at the lunch table and ate with them. After that, he went inside the carriage since it was more comfortable inside them due to his air conditioner enchanted items.

    He noticed that Anna and her maids didn¡¯t follow him inside then he remembered his request to his father about a blacksmith.  Anton went outside again and asked his father to have someone go find a blacksmith from the village or at least find someone who could create metal rods that resembled a wand.

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    Anders assured Anton that he would do it so he went back inside his carriage. Anton then entered the game to continue grinding for levels. He decided that once he reached around level ninety-five he would begin the quest that would allow him to get the unique charms and was glad that his game resembled those modified Diablo II games that would allow him to fight Uber Diablo in the fields and some of the quest that required him to connect to the online servers.

    After a few hours, he leveled up once so now Anton was level ninety. He then noticed someone calling his name so he parked his character in the Rogue Encampment and minimized the game. He saw Colin calling his attention and his assistant saw that he was now responsive and gave the metal rods to him.

    Anton was impressed at whoever made the rods since they did look like wands and they were not that heavy to hold but they felt very sturdy.

    Colin then mentioned that the caravan was about to leave and he just nodded. He then saw Anna and her maid entering the carriage.

    ¡°Where have you been?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°We roamed the village to check if we could purchase anything but unfortunately, the villagers were keeping everything since they would flee with us towards the wizard city of Zalnothel.¡±

    Anton then turned to Colin.

    ¡°Can you tell my father that I wouldn¡¯t heal the villagers every other night anymore since there were a lot of them now and would only do so to those who are in need?¡±

    Colin nodded and exited out of the carriage to inform Anton¡¯s father what he had just said.

    ¡®Brother, I think by tomorrow I could add another cantrip to my list of spells! I really felt like a sorceress now!¡± Anna boasted.

    ¡°Do you feel that you can start learning first-level spells?¡± Anton asked his sister.

    ¡°No, but I feel like once I¡¯ve memorized around three or four more cantrips, that would be the time that I could start learning first-level spells,¡± Anna answered.

    Anton then remembered that he hadn¡¯t examined the loot from the elder vampire yet, so once he felt the carriage moving, he began to examine them.

    There were ten first-level spells, eight second-level spells, six third-level spells, five fourth-level spells, three fifth-level spells, two sixth-level spells,          and one seventh-level spell which was the Blizzard spellbook that he had shown the others.

    There were four magic wands, three enchanted armor, three enchanted swords, and ten miscellaneous enchanted items. He was about to examine the individual items one by one but then the carriage stopped again.

    Anton thought that there was some sort of emergency so he immediately went outside to check but then he saw that the caravan was just setting up for the night. He felt relieved and then knew that he was still worried about the undead suddenly attacking them.

    That was the main reason why Anton couldn¡¯t fully enjoy their journey. There were still threats lurking behind them and knew that he would not be able to relax until they reached somewhere truly safe.

    When Anton joined his father followed by Anna and her maids, he saw Anders storing the animals that the guards hunted in the surrounding forest in his ring tied to a metal chain that he was wearing on his neck. He noticed the ice attacks that the dead animals were sporting and knew that they were hunted using the wands that he had provided.

    Lucas gave the spent wands to Anton and reported that two wands were destroyed since two guards mistakenly allowed their wands to cast the twentieth Ice Bolt. Lucas mentioned that it was the guards¡¯ fault since the indicator would clearly inform them how many Ice bolts they already spent.

    There were already twenty Ice bolt wands but now it decreased to two because of the destroyed ones. After recharging and repairing the wands, Anton told Lucas to not admonish the guards too much since he had created the wands as disposable items. Lucas just nodded but he did request more of them and Anton just replied that he would create more.

 Chapter 163

    Anton joined his family at the table that was set up for their dinner. The camp was now very noisy due to the new people that joined them from the last village. The caravan¡¯s camp was very bright compared to the villager¡¯s campsite due to the numerous enchanted lanterns that Anton had created which made the caravan the center of the camp.

    ¡°It¡¯s better that way so any monsters would obviously know which was the center and would head towards us and our guards, equipped with the wands that you¡¯ve made, would be able to deal with them immediately,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to reach Zalnothel. I¡¯m beginning to get tired of all this traveling and I couldn¡¯t even enjoy it since I¡¯m afraid that the undead would suddenly attack us,¡± Anna said forlornly.

    Anton then guessed that he was not the only one stressed out by the feeling of waiting to be attacked and he was a powerful mage. He couldn¡¯t imagine the people who didn¡¯t have the power to contend with the monsters and had to worry about how to protect their wives and their children. He would probably go crazy if that was the case.

    To get their minds off the undead that may or may not attack them, Anton reported the items that he had removed from the vampire¡¯s storage ring. He didn¡¯t even care if anyone outside of the people seated at the table overheard it.

    ¡°Father, I checked the magic items we received from that elder vampire. There were ten first-level spellbooks, eight second-level spellbooks, six third-level spellbooks, five fourth-level spellbooks, three fifth-level spellbooks, two sixth-level spellbooks, and one seventh-level spellbook which was the Blizzard spellbook. There were also four magic wands, three enchanted armor, three enchanted swords, and ten miscellaneous enchanted items. I don¡¯t know the details of the magic items yet but once I¡¯ve examined them, I¡¯ll give them all to you except for the spellbooks. You can wear them or give them to our guards or sell them, it¡¯s your decision Father.¡±

    Everyone gasped when they heard what Anton said.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have said that!¡± Frederick said while looking around as if the mage was checking out possible thieves in the surroundings.

    Anton rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Is there anyone here who¡¯s foolish enough to attempt to steal from me?¡±

    ¡°Anton! You shouldn¡¯t assume. Some thieves are very powerful and can steal even from archmages. Frederick is just concerned about you.¡±

    Anton relented and apologized to Frederick but the apology just made the mage anxious.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Sir Anton. Your behavior is typical of powerful wizards!¡±

    ¡°Well, that may be typical of wizards but no son of mine would be rude to others,¡± Anders said sternly.

    Anna laughed at his brother and Anton rolled his eyes at his sister secretly since he didn¡¯t want Anders to see it and trigger his father again.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯ll join you in your carriage tomorrow. Please allow Nemina and Lucas to join us while I give you the items one by one as soon as I check their details.¡±

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    Anna clamored to join since she was curious about what the magic items were and everyone could see that Frederick was anxious as well so Anders relented and told the mage that he could join as well.

    Their dinner then was served by the caravan cooks and while they were eating, Lucas asked if Anton made more wands. He apologized to the head guard and told Lucas that there wasn¡¯t enough time to make more and would do so at a later time.

    After dinner, Anton took a bath and went inside his carriage to rest. He was exhausted so although he planned to watch some animes to unwind, he fell asleep immediately.

    The next day, once the sun rose, Anton flew up to check the surrounding area and was happy to note that they were now so far away that he couldn¡¯t almost see the undead army anymore and he didn¡¯t see any undead monsters in the surrounding forest. Of course, the monsters could be hiding but he was now confident that any normal undead could be handled by the guards without any issues.

    After breakfast, he joined his father inside his carriage. Anna joined as well and the people that were already inside were Nemina, Lucas, and Frederick. Anton saw that Nemina had already prepared to list all the items in her notebook.

    Once everyone was settled and comfortable and the carriage was moving steadily Anton began listing all the enchanted items that he had received from the vampire.

    ¡°The first items that I would check are the wands. The first wand is a common one which is a Wand of Magic Missile and It has sixty charges.¡±

    Anton immediately gave the wand to his father who examined it and Nemina listed the wand in her notebook. Anna commented on why it was always Magic Missile.

    ¡°The second wand was still a common one which is the Wand of Fire Ball and it has twenty charges,¡± Anton told his father that all the items would be repaired and recharged before leaving his hands then he gave the wand to Anders.

    Anders immediately stored the wands in his ring and waited for Anton to continue.

    ¡°The third wand is called a Wand of Cone of Frost and it has thirty charges. Although my system informed me of the value of the damage that the wands could release it would be meaningless since the best thing a user could do to know for sure is to practice using it. If the one who was going to use it is one of us, they don¡¯t have to worry about the charges since I could recharge the wands anytime.¡±

    Anders kept the wand immediately and Nemina kept on listing the details of the items. Anton could see his Father beginning to smile.

    ¡°The last wand is called the Wand of Ice Golem. It would allow the holder to summon an ice golem and it would have a twenty minutes duration. It has ten charges.¡±

    Anton was now smiling widely and even Frederick was looking at the wands enviously.

    ¡°Now the second set of items are the enchanted armors and as I¡¯ve said, there¡¯s three of them. The first one is Armor of Repulsion which meant that it would release some sort of magic that would repulse the attacker. The second armor is called Armor of Vitality which would increase the health or vitality of the wearer and the last one is called Armor of Regeneration which would regenerate the wearer¡¯s injuries rapidly. Again, the users should be the ones experimenting on the armors so they would know for sure how they worked.¡±

    Even Lucas was now interested while Anders''s smile kept growing and even Nemina was now smiling since they knew that the value of the enchanted items was tremendous.

    ¡°Now the next set of items were the three enchanted swords and they were the Sword of Ice, Sword of Fire, and Sword of Lighting. Every attack of the sword will contain the said elements and they don¡¯t have mana storage like the ones I¡¯ve made meaning that the enchantment will work as long as they¡¯re being used but they do have durability, meaning that they would wear out in every use until the swords are destroyed but remember that I could fix it. I don¡¯t know if an ordinary blacksmith could fix it though. Again, the users would need to experiment on their own to learn what the damage of the swords is because me giving out numerical value is again meaningless.¡±

    Lucas then mentioned something important.

    ¡°Regular blacksmiths couldn¡¯t fix an enchanted sword, only magic blacksmiths but those are very rare and they tend to charge tremendous amounts of coins.¡±

 Chapter 164

    Anton told everyone he was done identifying and listing the wands, swords, and armor. The next items that he would list were all miscellaneous enchanted items and just like him, everyone seemed more interested in finding out what those were.

    Wands, swords, and armor were excellent since they could use them to become more powerful and that meant that they could defend the caravan better but enchanted miscellaneous items were highly interesting and some old stories were based on enchanted items according to Frederick.

    Anna even cited an example which was the sea shell that the sea witch Ursula used to capture the little mermaid Ariel¡¯s voice. Anton rolled his eyes at that and told Anna that the little mermaid was just a fairy tale but then Anna said that it could be based on a true story, Anton didn¡¯t dispute his sister anymore since this was a magical world and anything was possible.

    ¡°Based on a casual perusal, the items that the vampire collected were mostly based on controlling others through sex and seduction,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°Should we let Anna hear what those enchanted items were?¡± Anders asked worriedly.

    When Anna heard what her father had said, she protested loudly and argued that it would be better to know so she could have the chance to defend herself against such sort of things.

    Anton was impressed at Anna¡¯s logical argument since that made their father agree to let her stay.

    ¡°The first item is a mask and is called the Mask of Confusion. The wearer will have the power to cause confusion to beings who look at the wearer¡¯s face while wearing the mask. I think this could be somewhat useful in battle since it did state that it would work on ¡°beings¡± meaning animals and possibly monsters but I don¡¯t know if it would work on undead,¡± Anton began.

    ¡°The second item is called The Ring of Powder Poison. It¡¯s a malicious ring that has a tiny compartment that produces poison. The third item is called the Brooch of Seduction and the wearer will have the power to seduce their target victim. Number four is called the Colar of Male Vitality and it will only work on male wearer. It will allow the user to last for several hours in bed,¡± Anton continued but stopped on the fourth item since Lucas, Nemina,

    Frederick and Anders laughed out loud.

    Anton expected his sister to blush and stammer but she just had a questioning look on her face.

    ¡°What does it mean? Will the wearer sleep longer since his vitality is better?¡± Anna asked and her questions made everyone laugh harder.

    Anna kept pestering everyone to explain it to her but Anders informed her that she didn¡¯t need to know the details of that item.

    ¡°Lucas, would you like to try it?¡± Anton slyly asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t need it,¡± Lucas just stated and Nemina smiled.

    Everyone laughed again and Anton continued listing all of the enchanted items.

    ¡°The fifth item is called a Tiara of False Beauty. Anyone who wears it would look extremely beautiful. The sixth item is called the Bracelet of Fear. The wearer would have the power to cast the fear spell. The next item is called the Hourglass of Fast Sleep. This one, I think, is beneficial and I would like to keep it. It would allow the user to fall asleep fast,¡± Anton paused for a bit to allow Nemina to complete listing the details of the items that he had listed so far.

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    While they were waiting for Nemina to finish, Anton talked to his father.

    ¡°Are you going to keep them father or sell them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep them. There are many ways for us to earn coins but magical items are rare,¡± Anders said and Frederick nodded in agreement

    After Nemina was done, Anton continued to list the remaining items.

    ¡°Item number eight is called the Whistle of Bird Summoning. I don¡¯t know if the user could control the summoned birds though. The ninth item is arguably one of the best items in the bunch and it¡¯s called the Cape of Levitation. Wearer can levitate but I don¡¯t know how high and how long so you have to test it out, Father. The last item is good as well and it¡¯s called the Boots of Stealth. The wearer can enter stealth mode and again you will need to conduct some testing to check its capabilities. I cleansed all the items and they should be safe to use since I removed any curses that could harm the users.¡±

    ¡°Father, can I try the cape? I want to fly like Anton!¡± Anna suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you try it out during lunchtime when we stop,¡± Anders said to his daughter.

    Anders kept all of the items in his storage ring and after that, Anton and Anna went to their carriage.

    When they were inside their carriage, Anna said something that made Anton laugh.

    ¡°Once Father gave me the flying cape, I¡¯ll be able to fly just like you, and with my two wands and my four cantrips, I¡¯m now a powerful sorceress!¡±

    While on the journey, Anton thought of the spellbooks that he had in his inventory and thought about memorizing them but then he thought that leveling up would be much more beneficial so he entered his game and continued grinding for levels.

    Lunchtime arrived and Anton heard someone calling his attention so he stopped his grind and minimized the game after parking his character beside his private stash in the Rogue Encampment.

    Anton then saw Colin calling him and when his assistant saw that his attention was now on him, Colin mentioned that his father was requesting his presence for lunch so he followed Colin outside and joined his family.

    ¡°We¡¯ll try out some of the enchanted items after lunch,¡± Anders told his son while they were eating.

    Lucas also asked if he had made more of the wands but he told the man that he was focused on meditating and would create more after lunch.

    Anton would have preferred to continue grinding since the morning grind only brought him a single level. He was now level ninety-one but he couldn¡¯t wait to reach max level since according to the last system update that he had received, he would be able to choose another class.

    He didn¡¯t know how it would work though. Would he start fresh on a new gameplay once he chose the Druid class? He guessed that he would still have access to his sorcerer items and spells in the real world but not in the new gameplay. With regards to class-specific spells, will he have access to all of them in the real world or would there be a switching mechanism? He guessed that he would have access to all of his spells.

    Anton would have preferred to choose Necromances since aside from Sorceress, the other character that he had extensively played was the Necromancer but since the Undead Coalition was in the process of conquering all of the lands, if anybody found out that he had the power of a necromancer they might assume that he was a traitor.  He would also have preferred to choose the Paladin class for its anti-undead skills but according to the update, he would need to choose the magic-based class first so that meant Druid and then Necromancer.

    He wasn¡¯t worried about not getting the class skills of the warrior-based classes though since based on his Diablo II system update, it¡¯s almost guaranteed that once he was done acquiring all of the magic-class-based characters, he would be able to get the warrior-based classes.

    That meant that his Diablo II system was truly powerful and that there was really no need for him to study the magic of this world since based on his system¡¯s skill tree alone, it would be enough to make sure that he would become very powerful.

 Chapter 165

    At first, Anton thought of studying the magic of this world since it would also make him powerful and he could use them to disguise his Diablo II system but since he was now not planning to join any magic university, and just joined an organization be it the army or a private organization that would fight the Undead Coalition, a few spells from this world magic system would be enough as a disguise and based on the situation, he thought that the people would not concentrate on where his magic came from and would just be happy that someone would be willing to fight the undead.

    But all of that was just his assumption so he still would need to be careful while he was with others, especially about his magic until he knew for sure.

    After lunch, Anders allowed Anna to try out the Cape of Levitation, and when Anton¡¯s sister did, she floated for about six feet and was able to control the levitation¡¯s movement although the speed was only as fast as a man could sprint.

    According to Anna, the cape would allow her to levitate for a maximum of ten minutes and then the magical item would slowly bring her down and then it had to rest for an hour. Anton was amazed at how the magic items in this world informed their user how their function worked. There was no screen or anything like that, they would just know instinctively how the items function, and to Anton, that was really magical.

    Even the process of casting the spell from a wand and knowing how many spell charges a wand had remaining was instinctive for the user and it was truly magical to him and as of now, Anton still couldn¡¯t copy it.

    At first, Anton asked Anders to sacrifice one of the enchanted items so he could dismantle it and study it but Anders declined and said that he could buy cheap enchanted items once they arrived in Zalnothel since he would just destroy the items.

    After testing out a few more of the new enchanted items like the Boots of Stealth and the Whistle of Bird Summoning, they continued on their travel to the city and Anders just told everyone that they would conduct the testing during their stops for their night camp.

    When night arrived, Anton¡¯s father and the others continued testing the enchanted items after dinner but Anton didn¡¯t join them. After bathing, he immediately went to his carriage and entered the game. He would now concentrate on reaching the maximum level so he could choose the next class.

    They would arrive in Zalnothel in less than two weeks and there was only one town left that they would pass through before arriving in the said city.

    According to Colin, who learned from the other villagers, the next town was five days'' travel from where they were. During the next few days of travel, Anton provided Lucas with a few more wands of Ice Bolts but stopped when the number of wands reached forty.

    Basically, the caravan had two companies consisting of twenty wand wielders each group aside for those that weren¡¯t lucky enough to receive the wands. Anton told Lucas that forty wands were enough and that he had to concentrate now on his meditation. Anton could see that Lucas would have preferred to receive more wands but since the maker now insisted on stopping, the head guard didn¡¯t have any choice but to accept the fact that forty wands would have to be enough.

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    During the next few days of travel, Anton didn¡¯t make any more enchanted items and decided to truly concentrate on playing the game. Of course, he didn¡¯t stop watching animes, movies, or television shows or reading web novels for at least a couple of hours each day since they did help him unwind.

    Anton also didn¡¯t stop practicing his lute for an hour each day and had to check out some advanced guitar tutorials on the internet. Once they reached Zalnothel, he would search for a guitar since he wanted a guitar instead of a tiny lute.

    Regarding healing the people and the animals, Anton still healed the horses every night but stopped healing the people except for his family and friends, and others only when needed.

    Anna and Frederick also concentrated on their magic. Anna wanted to be able to cast a first-level spell before she joined any magic academy and Frederick wanted to increase the number of first-level spells that he could cast so he could be useful to Anders. He expressed to Anton that he didn¡¯t want to go back to adventuring. He wanted to remain as the family¡¯s wizard and focus on his magic.

    Anton also kept his daily flight before they left the caravan campsite and was glad to note that he was the undead army was now so tiny in the distance and soon, he would not be able to see them anymore. There were also no more undead groups near their caravan so that was a load off from everybody¡¯s mind and they hadn¡¯t encountered any undead attack during the nights.

    Two days before they arrived in the last town before the city of Zalnothel, Anton was woken up by one of the guards during the night.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Anton asked the guard.

    ¡°Sir, Mr. Ander¡¯s commanded me to invite you. Someone dangerous and important arrived,¡± The guard replied.

    He immediately followed the guards and was glad that Anna didn¡¯t wake up since more than likely, she would have clamored to join him and would have had to spend several minutes telling her to not follow him since the guard was truly nervous when he informed him about the visitor who was ¡°dangerous¡±.

    When he arrived in his father¡¯s carriage, Anders informed him that three vampires were loitering just outside their campsite but the guards didn¡¯t attack since the vampire asked for him saying they wanted to talk to the caravan¡¯s archmage and then just waited there.

    According to his Father, Lucas told him that the vampires were truly powerful and could have wiped out the entire mercenary groups without any issue.

    Anton immediately cast his Frozen Armor and Energy Shield then activated his Prayer and Meditation Aura. He didn¡¯t activate his Vigor Aura since he didn¡¯t switch weapons making sure that his power was at its peak. He immediately flew towards where Lucas bringing Anders with him.

    They arrived after a few seconds with Anton¡¯s father complaining that the next time Anton planned to lift him with his magic, he should warn him first.

    Anton saw and recognized one of the vampires that was just outside the campsite perimeter. It was the elder vampire that he captured and interrogated. When he approached the monsters, he saw the two vampires beside the elder vampire tensed as if readying themselves for battle but with a word from the elder vampire, they relaxed and assumed a submissive stance.

    Anton then thought of the reason why the vampire would come to him and thought of the possibility that maybe he made a mistake in letting the elder vampire live.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Anton asked the vampire calmly.

    He wanted to project calmness and not a suspicious or angry expression since based on the novels that he had read, which admittedly could be wrong, calmness was sometimes more effective than showing an angry or suspicious front.

 Chapter 166

    ¡°Sir Archmage, the Undead Coalition destroyed most of my progenies and these two are all that were left. I managed to escape together with my two remaining children. They are now treating me and my children as traitors,¡± The elder vampire said.

    Anton was taken aback. He could understand why the Undead Coalition was treating the vampire as a traitor since he did share a lot of things with him.

    ¡°Why are they treating you as a traitor? You actually didn¡¯t share any important details with me just general ones,¡± Anton asked the vampire.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t believe me when I said that and they said that me casting the blood oath to save myself was proof enough that I was a traitor.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t they have any truth spell or something of that sort and if they were such powerful beings as you have mentioned before, how did you manage to escape? And why did you head here and not go somewhere else?¡±

    ¡°They do have truth spells but it would cause my death after questioning me so my progenies caused some chaos to allow me the opportunity to escape. My family paid greatly since all of them died except these two which were the most powerful ones. Since the Undead Coalition is in the process of trying to conquer the surrounding cities, no one would welcome me since I¡¯m a well-known part of the coalition. Even some vampire clans would not accept me to avoid the eyes of powerful countries that were angry at the actions of the coalition. Since I¡¯ve already performed a blood oath to not harm you and yours, I¡¯m trying my luck to get under your wing. I know a lot of intelligence and could offer them to you in trade for you protecting me. If you think that not accepting me will prevent the eyes of the coalition from turning to you, they are already aware of your presence and wouldn¡¯t attack you since they were not sure of your identity so even if you take me in, they will not attack you especially once you reach Zalnothel.¡±

    Anton suddenly felt a bit afraid when he was informed that the Undead Coalition was already aware of this presence which if he was going to be honest about it, he should have expected since he was able to stop an army by himself.

    ¡°Please stay here in our sight and let me talk to my companions first,¡± Anton told the vampire.

    Anton and Anders then joined Lucas who were watching the meeting and they walked further away from the vampires. Since Anton knew based on novels and shows that vampires had very keen hearing, he cast a Fire Wall between their group and the vampires and hoped that it was enough to prevent the powerful monster from hearing them.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Anton asked his father and the others.

    ¡°Keeping a vampire with us is truly dangerous. I don¡¯t even know if Zalnothel would welcome us if we had vampires in our group and not an ordinary vampire at that but a powerful one,¡± Lucas said.

    Anders was silent but they could see that he was deep in thought.

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    ¡°The vampire does have very valuable information but to be honest I also don¡¯t want them staying with us,¡± Anton added.

    ¡°We need more information. Let¡¯s talk to them again,¡± Anders said.

    Anton let the Fire Wall dispel. He wasn¡¯t even sure if the spell worked as a shield to the vampires listening in on their conversation.

    Anton, Anders, Lucas, and Nemina went towards the vampires to talk with them. This time, it was Anders who talked to them.

    ¡°You are well aware that we can¡¯t just let you join us. We came from a country that was conquered by the Undead Coalition that was why we are on the run and we have been hounded by the undead during our escape. The wizard city is the last refuge that we aspire to reach since we are getting tired of running and you joining us could prevent the city from allowing us sanctuary. Why don¡¯t you head there and trade your information for sanctuary as well?¡± Anders asked the vampire.

    ¡°I could do that as well but it would be better for me to be under a powerful archmage since it would give me protection. Since I¡¯ve already formed a blood oath that would protect you and yours from me and my progeny and that you received all of my wealth, I was hoping that it was enough to allow us to stay under your care,¡± The vampire said while looking at the still glowing Anton.

    ¡°The wealth that we received from you was you trading your life for them and because our archmage was a bit inexperienced, he allowed you to live. If it were me, I would have killed you immediately,¡± Lucas said which prompted a stare from Anton since he was called inexperienced by the head guard.

    The elder vampire stared at Lucas and then at Anton when the man said that the archmage was inexperienced and waited for a bit. Anton thought that the vampire might be waiting for him to reprimand who was clearly a guard because of the armor that Lucas was wearing but when he did nothing, it prompted a question from the vampire.

    ¡°Are you  not an old archmage wearing a young man¡¯s face?¡± The vampire asked tentatively.

    ¡°My son is not yet twenty and is already as powerful as an archmage!¡± It was Anders who suddenly yelled and it prompted a sigh from Nemina since Anders gave out too much information.

    Anton¡¯s father blushed which caused Anton to let out a small laugh and Anders glared at his son. It clearly showed that Anders¡¯s family was truly inexperienced in dealing with someone like the vampire or even the nobility which was understandable since Anton was a very young inexperienced boy since he was just seventeen years old and Anders was a common mercenary turned farmer turned merchant.

    ¡°You¡¯re not yet twenty years old?!¡± The elder vampire yelled and Anton just nodded.

    Suddenly, the elder vampire knelt down and the two vampires beside him knelt down as well. Suddenly, some kind of red magic thing surrounded the elder vampire and the two vampires beside him and the magic reached out to Anton which almost prompted Lucas and Anders to attack the vampire but Anton stopped them immediately.

    A screen appeared in Anton¡¯s vision that stated that the vampire initiated a slave contract between the vampire and him and the windows explicitly informed him that the slave contract was in his favor.

    Basically, the magic that the vampire cast was powerful enough that his Diablo II system acknowledged it and more than likely it did since it was highly favorable to Anton. He then wondered if his Diablo II system would also notify him if a powerful curse were cast against him and Anton had an inkling that if a spell that was cast would affect the system, it would probably notify him.

    The contract stated that he would hold the vampire¡¯s life in his hands and that the vampire and his progeny would not be able to go against his will. He could even command the elder vampire and his progeny to die and they would.

    The Diablo II system window gave him a choice if he wanted to accept or decline the slave contract by pressing a yes or a no button. He pressed on yes and Antons saw the magic settled on the vampire and on him as well.

 Chapter 167

    Anton immediately got nervous when he pressed the ¡°Yes¡± button since he basically tied the vampires¡¯ lives to himself but then again if he chose not to accept the vampires, the only recourse was for him to drive them away or kill them.

    For a couple of minutes, Anton examined the details of the slave contract that was presented to him by his Diablo II system, and after reading it thoroughly, he felt a little bit of pity for the vampires. It actually stated that the elder vampire and all of his progenies were now under his will irrevocably. The vampires couldn¡¯t even eat or even make progenies without his say so not to mention that he could kill them with just a single thought.

    His Diablo II system even showed a separate panel for his vampire slaves and it was detailed. It consisted of the elder vampire and his two children¡¯s names, stats, and abilities and Anton was surprised at how extensive the elder vampire¡¯s abilities were. He was a bit sad that he couldn¡¯t use their powers though but at least if he knew what those abilities were he could use the knowledge strategically.

    The elder vampire¡¯s name was Zenoxus and his two children were Luminetta and Ecturne. Luminetta was the woman and the man¡¯s name was Ecturne.

    Anton noticed that his father and Lucas were beginning to get concerned since he was silent for a few minutes. He commanded the vampires to stand then he turned to Anders and Lucas.

    ¡°Father, the vampires pledge themselves as my slaves and my magic accepted them. That means that with a single thought, I could kill them. Basically, their lives are in my hands and the moment I die, they will die. I can command them to do anything even those that are against their will. The elder vampire¡¯s name is Zenoxus and his children are called Luminetta and Ecturne. I accepted them as slaves because my magic verified its authenticity and I trusted my magic without a single doubt. My only concern is will this cause a problem with us entering the city of Zalnothel?¡±

    Anders and Lucas stared at him then they looked at each other. It implied that they were not aware if there would be consequences of having vampire slaves and magically bound at that.

    Zenoxus raised his hand when the vampire heard Anton asking Anders about their situation.

    ¡°As a powerful archmage without affiliation, Zalnothel would welcome you and since we¡¯re enslaved due to us attacking you, we will be considered as your property and not thought of as individual beings.¡±

    Anton suddenly noticed that the other two vampire¡¯s expressions were not good. It looked like their worldview dissolved. When Zenoxus saw Anton looking at his progenies, the elder vampire uttered a word that straightened the vampires and they wore expressionless faces again.

    ¡°Why did you tie yourselves to my son?¡± Anders asked the vampires coldly.

    ¡°You will answer my father¡¯s questions as if they¡¯re coming from me. You will also follow his every command as if they were coming from me, do you understand?¡± Anton told the vampires and the vampires replied that they understood.

    ¡°Your son is already an archmage and he¡¯s only seventeen years old. That meant that he would soar to the sky and become one of the most powerful beings in this world once he reached his peak. It wouldn¡¯t be bad to tie myself to someone like that. Not only that, but there was nowhere for us to go. The Undead Coalition is truly powerful and they would be able to find us wherever we may go and no one would succor us. With us tied to a powerful archmage, any lingering tracing magic or curses has been erased and other powerful beings would consider us as Master Anton¡¯s properties.¡±

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    ¡°Yes, I guarantee that you have no more tracing magic or curses in you, but don¡¯t call me master. It gives me the creep. Call me Anton or at the very least, Sir Anton,¡± Anton said to the vampires.

    ¡°We understand, Sir Anton,¡± The three vampires said and their synchronized responses also gave Anton the creep.

    Anders and Lucas could see the ambition in the elder vampire¡¯s face but they saw that that ambition was tied to Anton¡¯s advancement.

    ¡°Father, can you handle the vampires, please? I still need to concentrate on my meditation since I¡¯m currently on the verge of a breakthrough. Please ask them everything you need to know,¡± Anton saw that that statement excited not only his father and Lucas but the vampires as well.

    ¡°Again I reiterate, you must follow my Father¡¯s every command as if it came from me and you must guard my Father and my sister, Anna, with your lives. If something happened to them, you die,¡± Anton told the vampires.

    ¡°What do you mean that you¡¯re on the verge of a breakthrough?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m on the verge of a major breakthrough. Remember during the times when I almost earned a lot of brand-new spells every day? It would happen again. I need to ask you for your opinion though, Anton told his Father and Lucas and since the vampires were there and they were far away from any prying ears, he decided to include them.

    Lucas and the vampires listened carefully and waited for what Anton would say.

    ¡°When I received my power, remember I told you that there were many paths that were presented to me and I even gave you the details of what they were? I told you then that I chose the path of the Sorcerer which included all the spells that the sorcerer has, at least in this power system. Well now, my next path arrived but this time I was asked to choose one of two. The first one is the path of the Druid which would allow me to cast powerful nature spells like summon boulders, freeze enemies in front of me, summon volcanoes, or even summon a rain of meteors and a powerful hurricane to devastate my enemies. It would also allow me to summon very powerful forest animals, spirit animals and even moving plants to assist in my battle. It would also even allow me to acquire the power to transform into a very powerful werewolf or werebear. Of course, with my will intact and not needing to consume flesh or anything like that. It would just grant me extreme physical power. Remember this is on top of the current power that I have,¡± Anton paused a bit so his father, Lucas, and the vampires could digest what he had said.

    The elder vampire in particular had an exulted satisfied look on his face as if his choice to tie himself to Anton had already been vindicated. After a couple of minutes, Anton continued.

    ¡°The second path that was presented to me was the path of the necromancer,¡± Anton said to the other grimly as if truly emphasizing the dark class.

    Everyone was startled. Anders and Lucas''s jaw dropped. The vampires, both Zenoxus and his two children were now smiling wide as if they had won the lottery.

    ¡°The path of the Necromancy would allow me to learn powerful curses and powerful spells but as you know, a necromancer¡¯s specialty is summoning powerful undead and this path would allow me to do so. Please remember that my magic system is not comparable to the magic of this world and the path that I will choose will be on top of what I already have. I also want to point out that this doesn¡¯t stop here. I will also be allowed to choose more paths in the future. Please remember to keep this information to yourself.¡±

    Anton briefly wondered if it was a mistake to let the others know of what he could be capable of but to be honest about it, it didn¡¯t really matter since his father was his father, and even if for some reason Lucas betrayed him or something like that, nobody could do anything about the information. It was an innate magical system. The vampires were his slaves so they too were already tied to him.

 Chapter 168

    The elder vampire suddenly laughed and Anders and Lucas were startled.

    ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± Anders asked the vampire, irritated at the sudden sound.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy that I didn¡¯t make any mistake of tying myself to Sir Anton. The fact that Sir¡¯s magic is unique and limitless meant that I tied myself to someone who will become a god someday!¡±

    Anton just rolled his eyes at the vampire¡¯s comment.

    ¡°I would still recommend that you choose the Druid Class so that people will not associate you with the Undead Coalition. It¡¯s understandable for you to have vampire servants since you are a powerful wizard who defeated them in battle and instead of them dying, they just pledge themselves to you. But having the power of the currently hated necromancers is a bit much,¡± Lucas suggested.

    ¡°You know this, why do you still ask us for advice regarding the path that you will choose?¡± Anders asked his son.

    Anton was about to say that he was much used to the necromancer class but held himself off since if he said that, he knew that it would sound weird so he just gave his father a shrug.

    After that conversation, Anton told his father and Lucas that he would go back to his carriage to sleep. He then saw Anders and Lucas invite the vampire somewhere, probably to grill them with more information. Anton then thought of the fact that there was a good chance that Anders would purchase a separate carriage for the vampires since he was sure that no one would stay with them. Even he who owned the slave contract would be truly averse to staying in the same carriage as the undead monsters and thought of the fact that he should learn not to discriminate since after he maxed the Druid class, the next one would be a necromancer.

    The next day, Anton joined his father at the breakfast table and saw Zenoxus following Anders. He knew that the vampires could walk in the daytime without any issue since he fought with them in the daytime before.

    ¡°Where are Lunetta and Ecturne?¡± Anton asked his father while he joined them on the table.

    ¡°I commanded them to patrol the surroundings to make sure that no monster would attack our caravan,¡± Anders said.

    Anton noticed that while Lucas and Nemina were looking at Zenoxus with suspicion and trepidation, the others were behaving normally including Anna and Frederick.

    ¡°By the way Anton, this is Zenoxus. He is a powerful mage who applied to be my bodyguard and I accepted him,¡± Anders said to Anton.

    Anton saw that Anna was looking at the elder vampire suspiciously and was a bit impressed by Anna¡¯s intuition but her maid was looking at the elder vampire with calf eyes and he almost laughed out loud.

    The vampire was indeed handsome but he was guessing that its attractiveness was part and parcel of being a vampire since it would allow them to hunt humans effectively but that was just his assumption based on the novels and television shows that he had consumed while he was still on Earth.

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    After breakfast, Anton returned to the carriage but before he did, he told his father that he would tell Anna about Zenoxus and his two progenies and Anders just nodded.

    When Anton entered the carriage, he was joined by Anna, her two maids, and Colin.

    ¡°Anna, I have something to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Do you need us to leave the carriage, Sir Anton?¡± Colin asked indicating himself and the two maids.

    ¡°No, you can stay and listen.  Please don¡¯t share this with anybody else, do I have your word?¡± Anton asked everyone inside the carriage, and with their nods, he continued.

    ¡°Zenoxus, Lunetta, and Ecturne are vampires. Zenoxus is an elder vampire that I defeated and Luminetta and Ecturne are his progenies. They pledged themselves as my slaves and my magic accepted them. Their lives are now tied to my whims meaning if I commanded them to die, they would die. The moment I die, they die and the moment harm comes to you or father, they¡¯ll die. They¡¯ll act as your bodyguard so if you saw them acting like a monster, you will now know why.¡±

    ¡°Why did you accept them?¡± Anna asked curiously.

    ¡°The only other recourse was from me to either drive them away or to kill them. If I drive them away, I will feel guilty if they committed something heinous and would blame myself that I didn¡¯t kill them and I¡¯m not cold-blooded enough to outrightly destroy them when they surrendered. Besides, my magic confirmed the absoluteness of the slave contract and I trust my magic completely.¡±

    ¡°Can I command them?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I told the vampires to follow father as if his commands were mine but I only told them to guard you with their lives. I can¡¯t give you absolute authority over them since you¡¯re still young and I don¡¯t want you shouldering something like that.¡±

    Anna just shrugged when Anton explained the situation. He saw though that the maids and Colin looked a bit worried but they¡¯ll just get used to it.

    After that, Anton told everyone that he would meditate and close his eyes. He entered the game and began the level grinding.

    Several hours passed and his level increased by one so now he was level ninety-two. Seven levels more and he could then choose the druid class.

    Anton heard someone calling his attention so he parked his character in the Rogue Encampment and minimized the game. He saw that Anna was calling his name and when she saw that he was awake she told him that they arrived in the last town before Zalnothel.

    Colin told him that Anders announced that they still wouldn¡¯t rest in the town. Anton could understand since he too was worried about the Undead Coalition especially with the elder vampire joining them.

    The caravan parked just outside the town and even though the town chief invited the caravan to stay in the town to rest for a few days, Anders declined and told the man that he needed to go to Zalnothel as soon as possible so after a couple of hours, the caravan started their journey again.

    No one complained that they were not allowed to rest in the town since everyone was still afraid of the undead and unsurprisingly, the refugees didn¡¯t stay in the town as well but continued traveling to Zalnothel with the caravan.

    The villagers were truly traumatized by the Undead Army so they were only willing to rest behind the safety of the walls of Zalnothel.

    Five more days and they would arrive in Zalnothel. Anton hoped to have started leveling up his Druid character before arriving in the city because he wanted to become more powerful before he dealt with the mages of the city.

    Anton¡¯s father was glad that it was summer and that meant that there was plenty of game in the surrounding forest and the last town provided them a huge amount of grain. Of course, Anders informed them of the attacking Undead Army but the town leaders insisted that the undead would not attack them since they were near Zalnothel, and if any undead army reached them, the archmages of Zalnothel would arrive and destroy them.

    Anton saw that his father was truly hoping that the town leaders were correct in assuming that but he did purchase the food that the town sold to them. At a very high price, of course.

 Chapter 169

    Anton focused on leveling up his sorcerer character and he even skipped practicing his lute. After breakfast, he would enter the game and would leave the game only when it was time for lunch. He also did the same during the afternoon and he even declined when Anders wanted to tell him what the vampires told his father information about the Undead Coalition and the vampires¡¯ abilities and how they could best use them.

    He informed his Father that he needed to concentrate on his magic since it was now on a critical stage and even Anna didn¡¯t disturb him after learning that Anton¡¯s magic was on the verge of a great breakthrough.

    After a couple of days of gruesome leveling, Anton finally reached the maximum level for his Sorceress. He even skipped doing the hunt for the unique charms and decided to do it once he was able to select the next class.

    The moment he reached level ninety-nine, he went to the Rogue Encampment to park his character since there was a flashing notification icon that appeared in the lower left corner of his view.

    When Anton opened the Diablo II system announcement, it basically confirmed that he would be able to select a second class. It was just like the original Diablo II game wherein he could create a new character and the new character would then have access to the stash which contained all the equipment that he had already received from his first playthrough. It was the same as the regular game. The main difference was that his real-world self would have access to all the spells and skills that all of his characters would earn through leveling up and he now has a separate panel for weapons, armor, and accessories for his real-world identity.

    Anton was a bit sad though that his stats would not be the stats of all the characters combined but would follow the highest stats of the characters that he had. It meant that Energy would follow the sorceress since it would definitely have the highest energy stats and his identity¡¯s strength stat in the real world would follow a melee character like a barbarian which would have the highest strength stat.

    It would make his stats truly well-rounded once he had created and maxed out all of the characters.

    Aside from the real-world advantages, the second playthrough would be just the same as the classic gameplay of Diablo II and like the original game, the only advantage the second character would have was the items that the sorceress already received that the next character could wear once he reached the stat requirement.

    Anton decided that he would focus on the summoning tree for his Druid but he would still put a single point of skill point on all of the skills so he would have a wide variety of spells that he would have access to in the real world.

    However, he might skip the transformation skills since he felt icky at the thought of transforming into a werewolf or werebear even though they¡¯re truly powerful. He decided to start the druid gameplay the next day since the caravan already settled for the night. Three more days and they would reach the wizard city of Zalnothel. He couldn¡¯t wait to reach it since it meant that they could finally take a rest from all the traveling.

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    At the dinner table that his father''s servants prepared, Anton joined his family in waiting for the dinner to be served. It still tickled him a bit to think of the fact that his family now had servants.

    ¡°What are plans once we reach the city, Father?¡± Anton asked Anders.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay at an inn first then hire a warehouse where we could store our carriages and items. We¡¯ll then look for a manor that I could purchase where we would permanently stay but that would probably take a while since we need to make sure that the home that we will choose will be comfortable.¡±

    ¡°Do we have enough wealth for something like that?¡± Anton asked and his father and Nemina just smiled.

    ¡°I was going to say was that if we don¡¯t have enough funds, I can repair more items for you and even create enchanted items that you could sell,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°You will still need to do that anyway since our capital is still not nearly enough for us to truly establish ourselves as a wealthy merchant family. We will hold off in selling any of your enchanted items though and we¡¯ll only use them for ourselves since I don¡¯t know if it would be dangerous if the city would know that someone in our family is capable of creating enchanted items,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. A wizard who can cast spells is way different from an enchanter who can create an enchanted item,¡± Frederick added.

    At first, Frederick was pressured when he learned that three mages joined their family and all three were powerful mages at that but when Anders noticed that Frederick was becoming haggard by focusing too much on his magic since he didn¡¯t want Anders to expel him from the family due to his lack of power, Anton¡¯s father had to tell the mage the truth. That the three powerful mages were vampires that became Anton¡¯s slaves. That fact relieved the mage so much that he slept for more than ten hours each night since learning the truth.

    ¡°I thought you were planning to join the city¡¯s army or an organization that would fight the undead?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I will take my time on that though since I want to make sure that our family is established first. I wanted to make sure that you and Anna are living comfortable lives,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It would be more comfortable if you don¡¯t do anything of that sort and just join me in school,¡± Anna muttered.

    ¡°Well, my plans are not yet definite. We still don¡¯t know the situation in the city and all of our plans are still subject to change,¡± Anton smiled at Anna¡¯s comment.

    After dinner, Anton healed the animals and restored their stamina through the use of his auras. He also healed those who were wounded by accidents during travel and it was more common than he thought that it would happen. He was still glad though that the refugees¡¯ children were still very active and that meant that although they were sad that they left their homes, most of the kids were looking forward to entering a powerful city for their safety since just like Anton, they probably had the idea that the city would be a source of endless adventure.

    Anton truly hoped that it would be since he planned to live his life to the full and not return to being the useless passive being that he was when he was on Earth. After he was done with the healing session, he took a bath and provided mana water for his friends and family then he went to his carriage. He planned to unwind by watching a movie or an anime before sleeping and the next day, he would focus on leveling up his new character. He turned his attention to the panel dedicated to his real identity first and assigned all the items that his sorceress was currently wearing to the real-world inventory panel since those were the only powerful items that he currently had.

    He imagined that once he had several powerful sets from different characters, he would then have to be more meticulous about which items would be more effective in real life.

 Chapter 170

    The next day after breakfast, the caravan continued their journey towards the wizard city of Zalnothel. Anton was impressed by the refugees¡¯ resilience during the travel since most of them were traveling on foot. He did try to help by conducting healing sessions once in a while and the villagers who left their homes were truly grateful to him.

    At first, Anton thought of offering his services to repair the refugees'' things so they would have sturdier clothing and other things but Anders stopped him.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do everything for them, Anton. Once you offer your services for free, they will begin to clamor for more and some of them will eventually think illogically that the reason why they were driven off from their home is because of you. Because of how you behave like someone guilty but soft-hearted. From now on, don¡¯t deal with the villagers anymore and let me, Lucas or Nemina handle it. If somebody needs to be healed, then we¡¯ll call you, understand?¡±

    Of course, Anton had no choice but to obey his father since, to be honest about it, he did feel a little feel of guilt for displacing the villagers from their home even though it wasn¡¯t his fault that the Undead Coalition suddenly decided to attack everyone. He was also truly inexperienced when it came to dealing with people since even though his true age was not seventeen but twenty-three, he was mostly by himself when he was on Earth.

    Anton also stopped flying to check the undead army since he didn¡¯t see them anymore and just asked his father to command the elder vampire and his two companions to do the scouting. The vampires also assisted them in hunting for food in the forest since they were experts in hunting for game. He briefly wondered what the vampires ate but he thought that he didn¡¯t care as long as they didn¡¯t hurt anyone for their food. He didn¡¯t even ask his father about it and knew that he should have since knowledge was power but he was truly focused on leveling up so he could create his new Druid character so he put everything else at the back of his mind.

    Anton entered the game and selected the option of creating a new character then chose the druid class. He briefly considered choosing the Necromancer and just focused on its curses and bone spell skills but considered the fact that it was truly a dangerous time for Necromancers so he chose Druid in the end.

    He planned to level up his druid class for a bit and once he had enough druid spells, he would go back to the sorceress character and begin doing the quest for the unique charms. Anton then started playing Diablo II as a druid but this time, he went back to playing the game personally by entering the world of Sanctuary. He wanted to learn how to cast the druid spells personally and not through the on-screen option. Anton would stick to his plan of playing a new game and learning new spells by doing it virtually and would only use the on-screen option for leveling up and grinding.

    Anton would still put a single point on every skill except the shapeshift skill tree but he would focus on the summon dire wolf and summon grizzly spells for leveling up the druid character.

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    Once the druid character was created and was in the Rogue Encampment, Anton briefly minimized the game and checked his real-life access to spells and was glad that he did still have access to his sorcerer spells and was still protected by the high-level equipment.

    Before Anton went back to the game to continue playing, he went and did thorough research on how to level up a druid effectively. He changed his mind in concentrating on the summoning skill tree since what he wanted to do was to become very powerful at the soonest time possible and following the best-recommended build would be best. It was different this second playthrough because this time he could do a min-max build since his sorceress could support him in real-life situations.

    Anton was glad that the recommended druid builds were elemental wind build and elemental fire build since he was used to being a caster. He reckoned that he would still focus on being a caster while playing the druid class and just become a summoner once he was able to choose a necromancer.

    He actually spent an hour researching the best build and the play-through for fast leveling and survivability and was extremely glad that the Diablo II gamers provided extensive guides on how to play as a druid. It even contained specific stats and skills that you should choose per level up and he planned to follow it to the letter. According to one of the best guides that Anton found, he would have to play as a summoner during the early gameplay and then switch to the elemental wind build once he was above level thirty to forty. This made him throw out the first plan that he created for the druid out the window.

    After saving the webpage that contained the guide that he would follow, he began playing the game. During the first few hours before lunch, he managed to level up to level eight and reached Tristram to rescue Cane. He still couldn¡¯t do what the famous streamers did when playing the game, skipping unimportant parts. He still made sure to kill all monsters that he encountered and explored every nook and cranny. In a way, it was helpful and important since it allowed his body to get used to the power of the druid character.

    He still decided to practice his spells for about an hour outside the Rogue Encampment to make sure that he could manipulate the mana used for the druid spells just like he did with the sorceress spells. After reaching level eight, he had two spells, level six Raven and level two Summon Spirit Wolves. His current gear was just the ones he found and the only item that he had from his stash was a weapon slotted with chipped gems to make his attack a bit more powerful than normal.

    When the caravan stopped for rest when mid-day arrived, Anton joined his family for lunch.

    ¡°Father, Anna I learned two new spells!¡± Anton happily reported to his father and sister.

    ¡°What spell are those?¡± Anna asked and everyone looked at him expectantly.

    The vampires were especially excited to see what new spells he learned so Anton immediately summoned the Ravens and commanded the bird summons to destroy a nearby tree which they did in a few seconds. After that, he summoned his spirit wolves and asked them to do the same thing and the spirit wolves destroyed a tree in a very short time.

    Anna clapped during the demonstration and his father looked impressed. Anton didn¡¯t care about what the others thought about his new spells and only cared about what Anders and Anna thought and since they were both impressed, he was content with that.

    Anton supposed that he was immature for being happy as a kid presenting a completed kindergarten project to his parents but he didn¡¯t care. The most important things in his life right now were his father, his sister, and their happiness. Anyone who threatens that would receive maximum enmity from him.

 Chapter 171

    Anton saw the huge intimidating walls decorated by glowing complex magic runes surrounding the wizard city of Zalnothel. They were truly magnificent and as tall as huge skyscrapers from Earth. The guards on the wall¡¯s parapets looked as tiny as ants and the massive gates were closed. There were smaller gates beside it that allowed merchant caravans to enter the city and an even smaller gate beside that for pedestrians.

    Everyone was wearing relieved faces when they saw the walls of the city in the distance since it was a symbol of finally reaching sanctuary from the undead. Anton understood how they felt since even though he had the power to defend himself and his family, there was still a constant stressful alertness that never left him since he knew that anytime, the undead monsters could attack them and it was even possible for the more powerful undead like liches and vampires to arrive and target Anton.

    During the last three days of travel, Anton focused on leveling up his Druid character and managed to complete the Normal Difficulty Act I. He was able to reach level fourteen. His spells were level seven Raven, level one Oak Sage, and Level six Spirit Wolf. It was still very slow compared to him using an on-screen option but he needed his body to learn how to wield the powers of the druid and could only do that by experiencing it himself personally. Not only that, he spent several hours a day practicing the spells that he learned from the druid¡¯s skill tree outside the Rogue Encampment.

    The practice of manipulating the mana of the druid spells was successful since he could now control the amount of mana and the spell structure so that he could summon as little as one Raven or one Spirit Wolf or summon all of the possible summon at once making the battle with the monsters a little easier. He even used the Player X console command and increased the difficulty to three players.

    He was actually having fun playing as a druid summoner since the only thing that he needed to do was summon his creatures and then let his summons kill all the monsters which was way different when he was playing as a sorceress. During the sorceress gameplay, he was very active since he needed to cast the spells all the time to kill the monsters, and his skill points were scattered to different spells making them a bit weak. He missed levitation and teleport though since without those two sorceress spells, he went back to walking and running, and Anton also went back to drinking endless amounts of mana potions to support his spell casting. Once his current mercenary was able to wear the Insight Runeword Weapon, he could stop drinking the mana potions as if he were an alcoholic who couldn¡¯t survive without a drink for a second.

    In the real world though, being able to manipulate his mana allowed him to summon a single spirit wolf that would last a long time. Anna used the spirit wolf as a mount so she kept traveling around the caravan and the villagers mounted on top of a huge spirit wolf. She resembled Mononoke in the animated movie Princess Mononoke and this amused Anton.

    One funny moment was when Anna suddenly hit her butt on the ground when the spirit wolf disappeared due to its duration lapsing and this kept happening until she successfully taught the summon to howl when it was about to disappear which really impressed Anton since he learned that summons could be taught.

    Anton was also interested in Anna¡¯s suggestion of creating an enchanted item that would allow anyone to summon a spirit wolf or a raven but he told his sister that he currently didn¡¯t have time to create an enchanted item since he was focused on meditation which was his code name for leveling up by playing his Diablo II game.

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    During those hours of spell practice, Anton was also practicing how to increase the size of the Raven summon so one could ride in it. He was a bit successful since he managed to increase the size of a single raven to triple its original size but it would probably be a while before he could increase it to the size that anyone could ride the summon.

    One very successful thing that he was able to learn though was to control a raven and transfer his visual sense to it. It allowed him to use the Raven summon to scout the surrounding area and this one ability allowed him to feel like he was truly a mysterious wizard.

    The last night before they arrived in Zalnothel, Anders commanded everyone to clean everything thoroughly and this made Anton busy since he felt that he was the one who handled cleaning the most difficult items. He repaired all the carriages, the clothing, and all the items that his father, Anna, and the others gave him by paying Charsi the blacksmith to do so in the Rogue Encampment and this made everything look brand new. This spell of him repairing everything impressed the vampires so much that the three vampires surprisingly brought out a huge amount of things that they asked Anton to repair.

    Anton was impressed at the amount of items that the vampire had taken out since most of them were enchanted items.

    ¡°I thought I took all of your enchanted items?¡± Anton asked the elder vampire.

    ¡°A wise vampire never kept all that he has in a single storage item,¡± Zenoxus replied.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll take your things?¡± Anton asked curiously.

    ¡°You already own my life. Everything that I have is yours if you want them,¡± Zenoxus shrugged.

    Anton repaired all the items that the vampires presented him and to the delight of the elder vampire and his two companions, the magic artifact that needed to be recharged was recharged as well.

    ¡°You can repair and recharge enchanted artifacts!¡± Zenoxus exclaimed.

    Anton was surprised at the vampire¡¯s exclamation.

    ¡°I thought you knew that¡¯s why you gave me all of your things to repair?¡±

    ¡®I thought you could only repair and clean them.¡±

    ¡°Well, now you know.¡±

    ¡°If you can do something like that, you¡¯ll become extremely wealthy!¡±

    ¡°Where do you think our wealth came from?¡± Anton said to the vampire while rolling his eyes.

    ¡°I know about you repairing broken items and selling them as new but it¡¯s different when it comes to repairing and charging magical artifacts,¡± Zenoxus said.

    ¡°We knew about that but we decided to hold off in advertising that since we don¡¯t want any trouble that will come if we did something like that.¡±

    ¡°Who would anyone try to cause trouble to an archmage?¡± Zenoxus asked.

    ¡°You kept saying that I¡¯m an archmage but I¡¯m not. I have extremely powerful offensive spells but that¡¯s about it. My knowledge isn¡¯t even equal to a novice mage who studied for years.¡± Anton frankly said to the vampire since they couldn¡¯t do anything about the information since any harm that would befall Anton and his family based on their action would result in their deaths.

    ¡°You are an archmage, Sir Anton. The level of power you have been releasing is equal to that. Even your defenses were more powerful than a normal archmage. The death spells that the liches cast on you could kill an archmage and you shrugged off three castings of it making those liches sacrifice half the power and vitality they had accumulated in their phylacteries causing their ranking to go down,¡± Zenoxus mildly said his two vampires with him were looking at their lord vampire and Anton with horror in their eyes.

    ¡°Be that as it may, I may have the power but I still lack the knowledge due to my youth and that could only be resolved by time so I still need to be wary.¡±

    After Anton gave the vampires their newly repaired and recharged magical artifacts, they went back to guarding Anders. This time they stuck close to Anton¡¯s father since they were near Zalnothel and a powerful archmage guardian of the city should be able to detect them.

 Chapter 172

    Anders merchant caravan went to queue towards the gate that was assigned for caravans while the villager refugees were asked by the guards to go to an assigned location near the gate. Anton observed what the guards would do with the refugees but it seemed like they were waiting for someone.

    A couple of people arrived who looked like they were wizards. The wizard then announced to the refugees that they would cast a mass detect spell towards everyone to make sure that they were not carrying any curses from the undead and after that one of the wizards chanted a spell. Magic gathered on the wizard¡¯s hands and when it appeared like it reached some sort of climax he then released it towards the villagers.

    Anton saw that the two wizards and the guards were a bit surprised that the villagers didn¡¯t show too much reaction when they witnessed the spell. The villagers were a bit used to seeing magic due to Anton healing them frequently, seeing Anna practicing her spells and riding the summoned Spirit Wolf, and the caravan guards practicing and hunting animals in the forest using their Ice Bolt wands.

    Suddenly, everyone¡¯s attention was gathered by two powerful-looking wizards who were flying from inside the city towards their caravan and Anton wondered if they were archmages. They landed near the caravan and walked the rest of the way towards them.

    ¡°I am the High Wizard Lurien and this is the High Wizard Bolat. May I talk to the caravan¡¯s mage,¡± The good-looking blond wizard said.

    In contrast, his counterpart Lurien named Bolat was dark-haired but he was so ugly that Anton wondered if he had some sort of deformity that magic couldn¡¯t cure, and if it¡¯s not a deformity, couldn¡¯t he find a spell that could improve how he look? The wizard named Bolat looked like Quasimodo from the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, without the hunchback.

    Anton followed Anders''s plan and walked forward with his father, Frederick, and the three vampires. At first, Anton wanted to dispute the term archmage when he was referring to himself but Frederick and the vampires kept insisting that he as was as powerful as one but with Anton¡¯s insistence, they settled for the term High Wizard which was a broad rank that was supposed to be the one before becoming an archmage. That was also the title that Lurien and Bolat presented themselves with.

    ¡°I am the High Wizard Anton from the fallen country of Mendi. This is my father Anders, my father¡¯s wizard, Frederick, and the elder vampires Zenoxus and his two progenies, Luminetta and Ecturne. The vampires are my slaves. An undead army attacked the village our caravan was staying with. We were able to escape but I captured the elder vampire who chose to become my slave together with his two remaining prodigies instead of getting destroyed by my hands.¡±

    The two high wizards from Zalnothel accepted what Anton said but they said something that surprised all of them.

    ¡°As you know, the Undead Coalition is currently at war with everyone so we need to make sure that they didn¡¯t send any spies to our city. Would you submit yourself under a truth orb conducted by an archmage? A truth orb being used on a wizard needs to be operated by a mage with a higher rank and since you named yourself a high wizard, an archmage needs to conduct the investigation,¡± Lurien said.

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    ¡°Am I the only one you will interview?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°No. we would prefer for your father, his mage, and the three vampires to undergo the truth investigation. Are there any more wizards in your caravan?¡±

    ¡°My sister, who is thirteen years old is a novice mage,¡± Anton told the high wizard.

    The two high wizards looked at each other when they learned that Anton had a young sister who was also a mage.

    ¡°May I know how old are you?¡± Bolat suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen,¡± Anton immediately answered since he was a bit startled.

    The two high wizards gasped when they learned his age and Frederick and the vampires smiled. The two high wizards from Zalnothel asked them to follow them to a room just inside the gate. Anders asked if they could return to the caravan briefly so they could inform their companions what was happening and the two wizards relented. Ecturne then flew toward Lucas and Nemina to inform them what was happening and then returned immediately to the group. They then followed the two high wizards and entered the pedestrian gate.

    The wizards led them to a fairly large office and told them that they would need to call the archmage first. The wizards were kind enough to inform them that it would probably take more than ten minutes before they returned.

    Once the two high wizards were gone, Frederick retrieved a wooden tablet of air conditioner from somewhere and activated it. Anton was about to do the same since the room was hot and humid due to the season but Frederick beat him to it.

    ¡°Is it okay that we were too obedient to them?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°Of course. This is their country and we are seeking to be under their protection. You are a powerful wizard with undead slaves so they would need to do some investigation first and based on what you told us and what we have experienced so far, you have the power to nullify curses. I think that we¡¯re fairly safe and we have no secrets that we need to hide. Even your uniqueness was negligible to the most powerful,¡± Anders answered.

    Frederick nodded at what Anders had said and the vampires just remained silent. After ten minutes, the wizards from Zalnothel hadn¡¯t arrived yet so Anton opened his browser and watched some video clip after he told everyone that he would meditate for a bit.

    When the door to the room opened, Anton immediately minimized his browser. The two high wizards, Lurien and Bolat entered followed by a very old woman who was wearing a very luxurious wizard¡¯s robe. Anton saw Frederick and the vampire tense as if they were bothered by the old woman¡¯s presence but Anton got curious since he didn¡¯t feel anything. He wondered if it was because his magic was from a different system.

    The old woman was surprised when she saw that Anton didn¡¯t have any reaction towards her. Then Anton noticed Frederick and the three vampires relax and he wondered if the old woman did something like turn off an aura or a magical presence or something.

    ¡°You are a very powerful young wizard to not be affected by my aura. Good afternoon to all of you gentlemen and lady. I¡¯m the archmage Voduria. I will be interviewing all of you under the truth orb. Normally we don¡¯t do something like this but because of the situation with the Undead Coalition, we have no choice but to make sure that there were no spies from them that would enter our city. Of course, we don¡¯t assume that no spies had ever entered the city but we still think that we need to do this. Is this alright with you all?¡± The old archmage asked nicely.

    Everyone just nodded since they really didn¡¯t have any choice if they wanted to enter the city.

 Chapter 173

    The old archmage woman brought out some sort of crystal globe that looked like a cheap prop that was used by fake fortune tellers but based on the two High Wizards¡¯ reactions, it must be a valuable artifact.

    ¡°By the way, is that magical item that made the room cold yours, young wizard?¡± Archmage Voduria asked Frederick since the wooden board of air conditioner was beside him.

    ¡°Yes, madam. It was made by Sir. Anton,¡± Frederick said then he blushed.

    They all agreed that they would be honest and even inform the city of Anton¡¯s ability to create enchanted items if they were asked. That was the crook of the matter. They would answer honestly if they were asked but not volunteer any information but even though Anders glared at the mage, Anton didn¡¯t fault Frederick since they were in front of a powerful archmage.

    ¡°Oh? So you are an artifact maker as well? What a talented child you are,¡± The archmage smiled.

    The two high wizards Lurien and Bolat couldn¡¯t keep their expression of amazement on their faces and the Zenoxus smiled widely again.

    ¡°We will begin with you young wizard. If we¡¯re satisfied with the information we gleaned from you, we may skip asking your father and his assistant the questioning process but I¡¯m afraid that we will have to conduct a very thorough questioning of the vampires since they were a part of the Undead Coalition,¡± Archmage Voduria said.

    ¡°We understand,¡± Anton complied.

    ¡°May we stay?¡± Lurien asked both Anton and Voduria.

    Voduria looked at Anton as if saying that it was going to be his decision and he just shrugged indicating that it was fine with him and when the two high wizards saw that, they both smiled.

    Anders, Frederick, and the three vampires joined the two high wizards by the side of the room, and the archmage and Voduria sat in front of each other.

    The first part of the questioning was simple enough. Voduria told Anton to lie first so they would know if the orb was working. It was mainly for Anton and his group¡¯s benefit, so they would learn that they couldn¡¯t lie in front of the orb. Anton said a lie like the sky was green or that Frederick was truly a female and the orb flashed red. After that Anton said some true statements and the orb was silent. It meant that the orb of truth was functioning without any problem.

    The old archmage then began the official questioning by asking him his name, his age, his place of birth, his father¡¯s name, and all sorts of basic identity information. At first, Anton was worried that if he said that he was Anton, Anders''s son the orb of truth wouldn¡¯t accept it since he did transmigrate from Earth but since the orb didn¡¯t react, it accepted the information coming out from him as the truth.

    Anton was guessing that his old identity was not true anymore. What he was now was the simple truth. Anthony Saunders was dead and for a brief moment, he grieved again for a bit but then that moment passed.

    The next question the archmage asked surprised everyone.

    ¡°Are you a high wizard?¡± Voduria asked.

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    When Anton answered yes the orb of truth flashed red. The archmage gave him a questioning look.

    ¡°Well, to be honest, I don¡¯t know what magic rank I¡¯ve reached. According to Frederick there and the vampires, I¡¯m as powerful as an archmage but even if I am, knowledge-wise wise I¡¯m not an archmage so we settled on a high wizard.¡±

    Voduria paused for a bit and everyone could see that the archmage was thinking deeply.

    ¡°On the next questions that I¡¯m going to ask answer yes first then answer no regardless of what the orb shows, okay?¡±

    Anton nodded to show his understanding.

    Voduria then asked if he was a high wizard again so Anton answered yes. The orb of truth flashed red. When the archmage asked the same question, he answered no and the orb of truth remained silent. The archmage then asked if he was an archmage so as instructed, Anton answered yes and the orb remained silent meaning that the orb considered him as an archmage.

    ¡°I have a question, Madam. Will the orb react to a lie that a person deeply believes to be true?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°No. We conduct thorough testing and the magic knows what is truth and what is not regardless of the belief of the one being questioned so that means that you are an archmage. Now this next question is important since if the answer that you gave is yes and is not true, we will need to do this again. Are you a first-level archmage?¡±

    Anton answered yes as instructed and the orb remained silent. Voduria sighed in satisfaction.

    ¡°The reason I asked that question is Lurien should have mentioned that the orb should be operated by a wizard of higher rank than the one that was being questioned and since we¡¯re both archmages, I needed to ask your level. Since I¡¯m a third-level archmage and you¡¯re a first-level, the questioning is valid. To be able to teach the archmage level at the age of seventeen, even though you¡¯re not unique, in the history of our city, in the past thousand years, only two people became archmages younger than their twenties and our city¡¯s greatest wizard became one at the age of fifteen. The second one became an archmage at the age of nineteen and now here you are, seventeen, and already an archmage. What are your plans in this city young archmage,¡± Archmage Voduria asked Anton.

    Anton saw that the two high wizards Lurien and Bolat were looking at him in awe while Anders and Frederick had the look of pride on their faces. The three vampires were wearing the same jubilant expressions as if they had won the lottery.

    ¡°Me and my family are tired of running and would like to settle here in the city. Of course, my goal is to make sure my father and my sister live a life of safety and even luxury and I¡¯m guessing that my power would allow us to do that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The fact that you¡¯re also an artifact maker would make you incredibly wealthy and as with any other city in this world, sad to say that there is still a dark underbelly that exists in our beloved city like gangs of criminals and some such nonsense who would seek out newcomers if they could earn benefits from them but the fact that you¡¯re an archmage, you will probably encountered minimum disturbance from that sort of people. You may have to display your power once in a while to make sure that you will not tolerate any disrespect to you and yours but it is a given and we will not fault you with that. All the people in your father¡¯s caravan will still need to register as citizens so you can legitimately run a business in the city but Lurien should be able to assist you with that. We will send someone at a later time to invite the vampires so they can share all their knowledge about the Undead Coalition with the city. ¡±

    The archmage Voduria stood up and looked like she was about to leave but then she turned to Anton again.

    ¡°Welcome to the city. Please be aware that we do welcome powerful people like you especially if you will lend us your power to defend the city from invaders like the Undead Coalition.¡± Voduria then left without waiting for Anton to respond.

    More than likely, the archmage knew what his response would be given that his family would be staying in the city and that Anton obviously deeply cared about his family.

    ¡°Sir Lurien, I know as a high wizard, you¡¯re very busy so you can just lead us to a person from the city government that we could hire as our liaison so we can complete all the necessary paperwork to live and work in Zalnothel,¡± Anton said to the high wizard.

    ¡°Sir Archmage, I¡¯ll be more than happy to assist you with that! I know you¡¯re also busy so I will communicate with your father regarding those boring business,¡± Lurien replied.

 Chapter 174

    Anton, his father, Frederick, and the three vampires returned to their caravan so they could enter the city of Zalnothel together with their companions. He saw that his sister, Anna, was worriedly waiting for them and had obvious relief on her face when she saw her father and brother return safely.

    ¡°What happened father, brother?¡± Anna asked.

    Lucas and Nemina were with Anna but the others gave them privacy.

    ¡°They just asked me questions to confirm I¡¯m not the Undead Coalition¡¯s spy under some sort of orb of truth item,¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°It also confirmed that your brother is an archmage,¡± Frederick said wryly.

    Lucas and Nemina gasped when they heard what Frederick had said so their eyes went directly to Anders who nodded. It had been an ongoing joke amongst them about Anton being an archmage since he¡¯s very powerful but deep inside, they didn¡¯t believe it since he was just too young at seventeen years old.

    ¡°Apparently, in the history of Zalnothel, only two people could compare to Sir Anton. Their founding father became an archmage at the age of fifteen a thousand years ago and another one who became an archmage at the age of nineteen and Lurien here said that it was about five hundred years ago,¡± Frederick added while Lurien nodded.

    After that, they all went inside their carriages and entered the city. The moment they entered Zalnothel, Anton couldn¡¯t help but gasp. The place was truly magical and invoked a severe longing to explore deep within Anton and not only that, it brought forth a deep sense of satisfaction since the city fulfilled his dreams of seeing a magical city that grows inside the minds of otakus but usually hidden deep within to avoid mockery from those who didn¡¯t share the otakus¡¯s passions.

    Anton could see the seven very tall towers that he could only call wizard towers because of the different magical effects that one could see surrounding the buildings. The seven towers were equally tall but the design of each one of them was so different from each other that one of the towers alone could be considered as a pride of a city much less seven of them.

    Based on the novels that he had read, Anton thought that those towers were probably headed by archmages and corresponded to different factions like maybe something political, bloodline, or even based on the elements. He made a bet with himself that it was about the elements just based on the color of the magic that surrounded the towers. He would have asked Lurien but the high wizard joined his father in their carriage and Bolat already left to go somewhere else.

    Aside from the seven towers, several magnificent buildings could only be called palaces and he wondered if they were government buildings or even guild headquarters or something along those lines.

    With how huge the city was, the towers and the palaces looked tiny in the distance but this only made the city much more attractive since that meant that there would be endless places that he could visit.

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    The roads were not straightforward and looked almost like a maze but he guessed that it was because of how huge the city was. Anton¡¯s eyes were roaming everywhere at once and he didn¡¯t care if others would call him a rube for doing such a thing but when he checked, everyone else was doing the same thing. Anna¡¯s mouth was even open and when he brought attention to it and laughed, his sister just glared at him briefly and went back to looking at the surroundings.

    Anton knew that this time, he would have to hire a guide to be able to tour the city since he knew for a fact that he would get lost if he attempted to roam the place alone.

    The next thing that Anton noticed was the diverse species of people that roamed the city. Looking at all the elves, dwarves, halflings, people who looked like serpents, people who looked like gnolls, people who looked like different animals from animes, and even some who looked like undead made his blood boil in excitement.

    Now Anton knew why his vampires would not cause too much commotion since there were already undead here in this city and he knew that he made a mistake assuming that all undead belonged to the Undead Coalition. It was like him accusing all humans were evil if one human city caused atrocities.

    Of course, he knew that some of those undead were probably spies for the coalition but the archmage Voduria had already said so. Anton also planned to ask the vampires later if the main cities of the Undead Coalition were as big or bigger than Zalnothel.

    Anton didn¡¯t even know where he could compare the city size to since he came from a very small city on Earth and he didn¡¯t even have the chance to explore that city. All the size perspective that he had was from watching shows and those couldn¡¯t be compared to seeing the real thing. He then thought of the fact that it was very simple-minded of him to plan to join an organization to attack the Undead Coalition since that plan put him in a very narrow pathway but he was thankful that the city opened his mind.

    Of course, Anton still considered himself the enemy of the Undead Coalition but he decided that for this second life, he wouldn¡¯t focus too much on revenge since it would only lead to his death and to be honest about it, he personally didn¡¯t lose anything valuable due to the undead attack. Now he was in front of one of the greatest cities in this magical world and it contained endless possibilities.

    Anton decided to talk to his father and inform him that he had rethought his decision to join an organization to fight the Undead Coalition and would hold off on doing that. He would help his father consolidate their position in this city so he would have a stable base of operation then he would think about his next move.

    Looking at this giant of a magic city, Anton couldn¡¯t imagine it falling into the hands of the undead. It was just too big and too magical but of course, he knew that he shouldn¡¯t assume since he did lack key information and didn¡¯t even know the information that the three vampires had since he wasn¡¯t interested in knowing them.

    While observing the surroundings, Anton wished that he joined his father in his carriage so he could ask Lurien questions about the city.

    ¡°Everything looks magnificent,¡± Anna softly said and Anton saw her two maids nodding fully agreeing with her.

    All of their eyes were opened very wide as if they were afraid to miss anything. Anton was glad that his father took the time for him to repair and clean their carriages so their caravan didn¡¯t look dilapidated. They looked like a respectable merchant caravan.

    Lurien led them to a respectable inn that could all of them and with the high wizard¡¯s assistance, their caravan was led to a huge courtyard that allowed them to park all of their carriages without any issues. As a matter of fact, there was still room for two or three more caravans in that huge parking space.

    After that, all of them went inside the inn and because of Lurien¡¯s presence again, the innkeeper was very respectful towards them.

 Chapter 175

    Anders rented a suite located on the inn¡¯s third floor. The suite consisted of three rooms, one room was for Anton, a room for Anders and the third room was for Anna. Anton overheard Anders that he would let the other people in the caravan handle their lodgings and Nemina would handle giving out the budgets to them.

    Anton knew that a lot of their companions like Nemina and Lucas and their children Devon and Lunelle rented the rooms on the second floor. The others did the same things as Anna¡¯s maids, Frederick, and Colin. He didn¡¯t know where the vampires slept but his father told him that the vampire would appear every time he called them by just saying Zenoxus''s name loudly which Anna said she found creepy. He laughed when he heard her sister say that and told her that it was part and parcel of having vampire servants.

    After everyone was settled in their rooms, they all went to the inn¡¯s common room or the inn¡¯s restaurant as the innkeeper said to eat lunch. They welcomed the food that was prepared by the inn¡¯s chefs and everyone ate heartily. They talked about the city while they were eating but Anders said that they would have a meeting after lunch so everyone just ate and held themselves off in talking about business.

    Anton, his father, Anna, and the others were seated at the table inside the suite that Anders rented. They were planning their next move. Nemina and Lunelle were both carrying notebooks ready to note down important points.

    The first thing they talked about was the plan to search for a mansion or manor that Anders would purchase. This team would be headed by Frederick. The next one was to sell the items that were repaired by Anton in their possession and this one was going to be handled by Nemina and Lucas. Anders would head the group that would look for weapons and armor that were worn out and broken that they could purchase at a very low price that Anton would repair. Lunelle and Devon would head a group of their own to purchase other things like clothes and other antique stuff that would be very valuable when repaired by Anton.

    ¡°What about me?¡± Anna asked Anton.

    ¡°You and Anton can explore the nearby location guarded and you will be followed by some of our guards to make sure that you are both safe. It¡¯s for us to know the status of the city and some of its merchants. Anton, please allow your sister to join your exploration since this is a big city. I don¡¯t want you galivanting on your own,¡± Anders told Anton.

    At first, Anton wanted to protest but then stopped himself. They were not in a rush now and planned to stay in the city permanently so he would have the chance to explore it on his own. He knew for a fact that during the first few days, they would do nothing but look around shops or something like that.

    ¡°Father, I need coins since I gave you all the gold coins that were with me. I could go ahead and sell some items that I enchanted but I would rather that you handle that business with Nemina and Lucas,¡± Anton said so Anders handed him a coin purse with one hundred gold coins inside.

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    ¡°We are staying in this city permanently so we are not in a rush. Take your time and make sure that every transaction that you have made is the best one especially you Frederick. We want to set somewhere comfortable so you have to make sure that the manor or mansion that we would purchase would have comfortable amenities.¡±

    Since the government would still have to invite everyone to settle some citizenship paper and business papers and the vampires would still be interviewed, they couldn¡¯t do those plans right away and would probably only be able to do so after several days.

    After their meeting, Anders invited Lurien the high wizard to the suite so they could ask him questions on what they needed to do next to fulfill all their government duties. When Lurien entered he was followed by a couple of men who looked like clerks and they were acting as Lurien¡¯s secretaries. Anton then told his father that he didn¡¯t want to join the meeting with Lurien and would go to his room to meditate since they couldn¡¯t even go out without those official papers and I.D.s and told his father that once he needed to do something he would just follow their instructions.

    Anders nodded and Lurien didn¡¯t react since it was common for archmages to do their own thing and not involve themselves in common day-to-day business.

    ¡°Anton, there¡¯s a bathroom in my room so can you please fill it out with water?¡± Anna told his brother.

    Anton saw that Lurien and his secretary were shocked when they heard Anna requesting water from him, an archmage. Anton ignored the high wizard and his secretaries but when Anna noticed it, she defended herself.

    ¡°Brother can conjure magic water that makes my skin fair and beautiful,¡± Anna said to the high wizard and his men, and when Anders heard what his daughter said, he just sighed.

    Anton couldn¡¯t fault his sister since both he and his father did the same thing which showed their family¡¯s inexperience but to be honest about it, he didn¡¯t care since he was now a powerful archmage based on the orb of truth that archmage Voduria brought with her and his sister was also a novice mage which was a respectable profession. Experience could be gained in time but Anton¡¯s power, which was available now, couldn¡¯t be denied by anyone and Lurien knew that.

    Anna did blush though since she knew she made the mistake of sharing information that was supposed to be hidden but when she observed her father and Anton, she saw that they weren¡¯t mad at her so it relieved her.

    Anton went to Anna¡¯s room followed by his sister and her maids while Lurien talked to Anders regarding what they needed to do to complete all the government paperwork. After he was done filling his sister¡¯s bathtub with mana water, he also retrieved a huge tub from his inventory placed it inside the bathroom, and filled it with mana water so Anna¡¯s maids could take a bath as well.

    He was just glad that Nemina hired a few women who brought their family with them as their laundresses so Anton didn''t have to use Charsi as a washing machine since it was a bit undignified to use a powerful NPC to clean their clothes. He still asked Charsi to repair his clothes though since the repair function of the NPC also cleaned his clothes thoroughly. He then wondered if he should think of creating an enchanted item that could wash clothes. He bet it would be very popular with women then again he wondered if there was some sort of spell that could automatically clean things just like the spells that Anton had read in some web novels. He decided to note it down and would ask a salesperson once he went to a store that sells spells.

    He remembered reading a web novel about a transmigrator who uses a very powerful aura to clean things. It was one of the best novels he had read so he decided to search for it on a famous web novel website to reread it.

 Chapter 176

    At around four in the afternoon, while Anton was watching an anime, he heard a knock on his door so he minimized his browser and checked who it was. It was his father and Anders told him to accompany them.

    ¡°All of us are going to the government office that handles the citizenship for the city of Zalnothel. What do you call that office?¡± Anders asked Lurien who was beside him.

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Office of Citizenship,¡± the high wizard replied which made Anders glare at his son.

    Lurien assured them that it wouldn¡¯t take long since Anton being an archmage as confirmed by the archmage Voduria would grant him and his family special privileges.

    So Anton followed everyone to the Office of Citizenship and as Lurien promised, everyone was taken care of within two hours although since Anton was processed first, he left after ten minutes of staying in the government office. The people inside the government department were especially respectful towards him especially when they learned that he was an archmage planning to stay in the city permanently.

    He immediately returned to the inn where they were staying since he was feeling tired and wanted to rest. Anton knew that everyone felt the same since they had been running for some time and knew that it would probably take several days of rest before everyone returned to their peak selves. It wasn¡¯t only because of the travel but the stress that came with the possibility of the undead attacking. Now that they didn¡¯t have that burden, everyone was truly tired and just wanted to sleep.

    When Anton was back in his room, he ate some food from his inventory and planned to continue watching some anime but when his head his pillow, he fell asleep immediately.

    The next day, Anton woke up groggily and when he checked the time, it was already ten in the morning. He guessed that he was truly stressed since he didn¡¯t even remember what time he slept so he slept for more than twelve hours. He took a bath and went outside his room.

    He saw his father, Anna, and her maids, Nemina and Lucas in the suite seated on chairs that were scattered around. He saw that everyone wasn¡¯t doing anything important but was being leisurely instead.

    ¡°You finally woke up, sleepyhead,¡± Anna said when they saw Anton exiting his bedroom.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind your sister. She just only woke up herself. We all did. I guess we were all stressed by the travel but at least we had a good rest. We¡¯re now waiting for breakfast to be served,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Your father announced that the next three days will be vacation days for everyone and I already gave everyone coins so they could enjoy themselves,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°After eating I planned to go to a shop that sells spellbooks. I wanted to get a spell that would allow me to clean stuff since my spell that does that is a bit complicated and wastes a lot of my energy,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°I¡¯ll join you. I need to purchase some spellbooks myself,¡± Frederick said.

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    ¡°Me too! Father said that you have to let me join you,¡± Anna shouted and Anton just rolled his eyes.

    When their breakfast arrived, everyone ate heartily. The food was delicious so he asked Nemina to order a lot of food from the inn¡¯s kitchen so he could store it in his inventory. Since he had a lot of space, he would use them to store some cooked food.

    After eating, Anton together with his sister and her maids, Frederick and three four guards went outside the Inn. He felt that it was such a large group but then again, Anders was just concerned since this was a new city and would probably relent to fewer guards once they were used to the vibes of Zalnothel.

    Since no one knew anything about the city, Frederick was forced to asked directions from some of the pedestrian. Anton, Anna, and her maids had wide eyes while looking at the people walking around. If not for their luxurious clothes, they would look like ignorant kids from the countryside which they were.

    Anton knew that he was staring but he couldn¡¯t help himself. Anyone from his world would do the same thing. Who wouldn¡¯t stare at the beautiful elves, male or female walking around, the fierce-looking beastmen talking loudly to their companions, or the heavy indomitable-looking dwarven warriors in full armor walking about, or the light-footed halfings? Not to mention the truly bizarre beings like serpent men, or what clearly looked like zombies wearing clean armor.

    Since Anton and Anna looked really young, it appeared that nobody was offended by their stares and were just amused, especially since the two youths were clearly rich and were surrounded by guards.

    Anton felt like he was walking amidst a movie fantasy set or was in the middle of a cosplay convention. The only difference was the costumes were just a tad too real. He also felt that the surroundings were missing a BGM and if music were playing, it would look and sound like he was in the middle of a fantasy MMORPG. He decided to play WoW music BGM using his browser from a famous streaming site while they were walking.

    It amused Anton so much that he laughed loudly. Anna looked at him and just snorted. Soon, with Frederick in the lead, they arrived at a large magic store. When they entered the store, they were greeted by a salesman. Anton immediately asked about a spellbook that teaches a wizard a spell to clean stuff.

    After he asked that, Anna interjected and told the salesman that she wanted to browse some cantrips and first-level spells and at the same time, Frederick asked the salesman where to find second-level spells.

    ¡°Hey, one at a time, and since I asked first and I only need one spell, let me go first,¡± Anton said while Anna shouted that it wasn¡¯t fair.

    The salesman was amused and informed them that he would call some of his colleagues to assist them so the salesman left and returned with a couple of people. A salesgirl assisted Anna and another man went to Frederick.

    The original salesman who approached them first assisted Anton.

    ¡°We have several types of clean spells. We have the first-level spell Clean Object, the second-level spell Clean Small Area, and the third-level spell Clean Large Area,¡± the man said.

    Anton smiled at the simplistic naming of the spells. The only thing that he could comment on was that it was named aptly.

    ¡°I would like to purchase all three spells,¡± Anton said to the salesman and that statement brought a huge smile to the man¡¯s face.

    Anton wondered if they work on commission.

    ¡°The first-level clean spell is six gold coins, the second-level clean spell is eighteen gold coins and the third-level spell is forty-five gold coins for a total of sixty-nine gold coins. I¡¯ll give all three spells to you for sixty-five gold coins. Let me get the spellbook so please wait here,¡± The man said while leading Anton to a set of chairs where he could wait for the spells to be delivered to him.

    After a few minutes, the salesman came back with three books and when the man gave the books to Anton, he gave the person seventy gold coins.

    ¡°You can go ahead and mark it as you¡¯ve sold it to me for sixty-five gold coins and you can keep the rest,¡± Anton told the man.

    The salesman thanked Anton profusely since the six gold coins extra was a huge amount of gold coins for a worker like him.

 Chapter 177

    Anton was about to leave when he thought of something else. Since he had been repairing a lot of things using Charsi inside the game, he wondered if there was also the same spell that could repair things.

    ¡°Is there also a spell that could repair things and can you tell me how it works?¡± Anton asked the salesman.

    ¡°There is a second-level spell called Repair Object but the spell is very limited. It can easily repair everyday things like a chair or a table but a product that was created by an artisan would usually fail to be repaired by the spell like a sword created by a blacksmith or a gown created by a master tailor. Not only that, the spell required materials that were close to what was being repaired since it would use the nearby materials to supplement the missing items. For example, a chair would require the caster to have some wood and iron nearby to supplement the missing materials of the chairs. A wizard capable of casting second-level spells usually would not bother. I heard of legends of Grand Repair spells but I haven¡¯t seen that in all my years here,¡± The salesman said.

    When Anton heard what the salesman said about the repair spell, he knew that it couldn¡¯t compare to what Charsi could do. The Diablo II NPC could even repair a whole carriage as well as recharge magical artifacts so he knew that he would still be using Charsi to repair things. He was curious about the repair spell though so he wanted to purchase it so he could compare it to his Charsi repair spell.

    ¡°How much is your Repair spell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fifteen gold coins.¡±

    Since it was still within his budget, Anton decided to purchase it which made the salesman truly happy and he concluded that the man might be working on commission.

    Anton paid the salesman when he received the spellbook and asked him to lead him to his sister. The salesman led him to where Anna and her maids were sitting together with a saleslady. He heard the lady explaining different types of cantrips and first-level spells to his sister and he got worried that she might be scammed.

    ¡°Ms. Adelaide, this is my brother. He is an archmage according to the archmage Voduria!¡± Anna introduced Anton to the saleslady.

    The employees of the magic store gasped when they heard what Anna had said but since they never told Anna to keep it to herself, Anton couldn¡¯t fault her. The position of the archmage was something that anyone would be proud of and to be honest about it, no one in their group felt the need to hide it. As a matter of fact, it would be best that a lot of people learned it so they wouldn¡¯t have any design to his family¡¯s wealth.

    Anton was glad to hear that the saleslady wasn¡¯t scamming Anna and that the maids were very vigilant. He forgot that the twins were very experienced and would probably recognize people who had malicious intentions towards their mistress because of their experiences in Leminthor.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Two of the guards were also with his sister and her maids. The other one was following him and there was another one following Frederick so he knew that the salespeople needed to be mindful of what they and they shouldn¡¯t do.

    ¡°How many spellbooks are you planning to buy?¡± Anton asked his sister when he saw that the saleslady continued informing her about the different cantrips and first-level books.

    ¡°Father also gave me a hundred gold coins and I planned to spend it all. I need to make sure that my grimoire is full of spells,¡± Anna replied.

    Since Anton¡¯s sister looked like she would be busy for a few more minutes, he decided to study the four spellbooks that he purchased. When he memorized the first-level spell Clean Object, Frederick joined them and when the mage saw that Anna was still browsing, he did the same thing and studied the spellbook that he purchased.

    After thirty minutes, Anton managed to memorize the four spellbooks so the only thing he would need to do was to scribe them onto his grimoire so he could memorize them anytime he wanted.

    When he looked up, he saw that Anna had six spellbooks in front of her but it looked like she wasn¡¯t done yet.

    ¡°Enough! It¡¯s getting late. Let¡¯s return and you can go back here some other time,¡± Anton told his sister.

    Anna pouted but paid the saleslady. After that, they all went back to the inn. The sun was already setting so when they arrived at the inn, Colin who was waiting for them led them to the inn¡¯s restaurant where the others were seated.

    Anton didn¡¯t notice that several hours had passed and that it was time for dinner. While they were eating, Anna kept telling everyone the spells that she purchased that she would be busy practicing her magic during the next few days so she could begin memorizing the spells that she bought.

    To Anton¡¯s amusement, Anders had a look of obvious relief on his face since his father didn¡¯t have to worry about his daughter gallivanting all over the city.

    ¡°Frederick, I know I gave you all three days to rest but can you start searching for a manor starting tomorrow, one of the high wizard Lurien¡¯s men will assist you. You can do it in the morning and the rest of the day is yours,¡± Anders told the mage.

    Frederick said that he would do so and would make sure to find the best place. Anton was a bit relieved since they really needed to find a home base so he could focus on leveling up and doing some item enchantments and also begin exploring this huge city. He wanted to check out what he could do in this place.

    After dinner, Anton took a bath after providing mana water to his family and friends. Then he cast The second-level spell Clean Small Area to the bathroom. He also cast Clean Large Area to his room so it would be clean and was a bit impressed at how clean the bathroom and his bedroom were.

    Based on his wizardry talent, he instinctively knew how many spells he could memorize and that he could assign those ¡°slots¡± to a single spell so he decided to assign the Clean spells to all the slots available.

    The good thing about assigning a single spell to all the slots available in his mind, he didn¡¯t need to memorize the spell again, not until all the slots were used up. Before he assigned the spell though, he experimented with the Repair spell and the salesman was correct. It wasn¡¯t a good spell but he still planned to assign a couple of spell slots to the Repair spell.

    After subscribing the spells to his grimoire he assigned the Clean and Repair spells to the slots and there were a lot of them. Unfortunately, there were still no slots available for fourth-level spells since he had not memorized any yet and it would only open once he had memorized upper-level spells.

    Before he did that though, he would try to find a spell that he was interested in but more than likely, Anton would choose a lifestyle spell or support spell since he already had powerful offensive spells from his Diablo II system.

 Chapter 178

    The next day, everyone was still relaxing since it was the second day of the vacation that Anders gave everyone.  The only one who had a job to do was Frederick and some of the people and guards assigned to him by Anders. They went out looking for a manor or mansion that they could purchase.

    At first, Anders, Nemina, and Lucas talked about purchasing a shop with a warehouse but they decided to do so once they had a home base since it was inconvenient to stay at an inn.

    In the meantime, Anton concentrated on leveling up his Druid character inside his room after breakfast. He wanted to increase his level so he could become more powerful and be worthy of the title of archmage. One good thing about staying in his room was the temperature was very comfortable due to the wizard sculpture enchanted to become his air conditioner.

    Anton would have wanted to shop for some more spell books but they were incredibly costly and would only do so once income was coming in again due to him repairing things.

    He only stopped playing the game when he saw that it was already eleven in the morning. He wanted to join his family for lunch. Before he exited out of the game, he reached level seventeen and was now in the Arcane Sanctuary in Act II. He couldn¡¯t wait to reach a high enough level for his mercenary to equip insight so he didn¡¯t have to keep consuming mana potions.

    Anton still only had three skills which were level nine Summon Spirit Wolf, level seven Raven, and level one Oak Sage but it was enough for him to kill all the monsters without any issues. He still spent an hour or two mastering the mana manipulation of the new spells and he was getting good at it. Soon he should be able to summon a large enough raven that he could use for transport. The Oak Sage spell was useful as well since aside from providing bonus life, it could be used as a source of light as well. The weird thing about Oak Sage was once he summoned it outside the game, anyone inside his party would feel like they were full of life. It was also very pretty to look at and Anna said that it was particularly mesmerizing.

    Anton knew that he should also keep practicing sharing his visual senses with the Raven so he could use it effectively as a scout but he kept pushing off practicing it because it always made him so dizzy.

    During lunch, he was surprised to see Frederick since he thought he was busy finding a manor for them to live.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t found anything good so far.  I would visit a couple more mansions after lunch,¡± the mage said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to, I told you can rest during the afternoons,¡± Anders told Frederick.

    ¡°I know but according to Simon, the assistant the high wizard Lurien assigned to help me, the next couple of places were the best ones and due to their cost, no one had bought them yet so I¡¯m hoping one of them would fit our requirements.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re also going back to work tomorrow although the rest would still be on vacation. I think I¡¯ve rested enough and I don¡¯t want to stay idle,¡± Anders told everyone and the others agreed with him and told him that they would start working the next day as well.

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    ¡°Since you¡¯re all ready to go back to work, I will be staying here concentrating on my meditations but if you need me to do something like repairing or enchanting, just call me,¡± Anton told his father and Anders just nodded.

    After lunch, Anton practiced his lute for a few minutes then noted to himself to look for a guitar then went back to leveling his druid character. He did stop after three hours since he was feeling burnt out so instead he watched a new anime that had just been released. He was so thankful that he still had access to the internet although in hindsight, if he didn¡¯t have access to it, Anton would have been forced to concentrate on more important things like researching the magic system of this world or focusing on enchanting during the times when he didn¡¯t want to play.

    Anton didn¡¯t care, an hour or three wasting time watching things on the internet wasn¡¯t too bad but he did feel a little guilty so he spent time creating tablets of air conditioners since it was still the height of summer and it was a good source of income for his family. When he got bored of creating wooden tablets of air conditioners, he decided to create a list of items that he wanted to create.

    Once winter arrived, Anton knew that he might be forced to create a heater-enchanted item. He also should try to create items that would have some sort of defensive spells so he could better protect his father and his sister. He also thought about creating a flying carriage or at least a flying skateboard since based on his calculations it might be possible. He knew that Anna would love it.

    Anton also thought of trying to check if there were any magical items that could record stuff and it should have sounds so he could record movies and his father, Anna, and his friends could watch them. His family could even sell them at exorbitant prices like some sort of VCR tapes. It was also a good way to learn if there were any other transmigrators from Earth aside from himself.

    During dinner, Anton joined his family and saw that Frederic was excitedly telling Anders about the manor that he found.

    ¡°It¡¯s huge and it¡¯s beautiful. It¡¯s a bit dilapidated though but we can fix those that need to be fixed and it would cost us a lot of coins but I think it¡¯s worth it.¡±

    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll visit it tomorrow and if we¡¯re satisfied with it, we¡¯ll purchase it,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Yes, we need a new home real quick since Lurien told us that the new semester for new students is coming up in two weeks and I want to have a home before I join a magic school. I want a place where I can invite my new classmates to play,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°If you¡¯re planning to join this semester, it would be best if you know more spells so your classmate wouldn¡¯t bully you,¡± Antion said to Anna.

    ¡°No one will bully me especially once everyone knows that my brother is an archmage that was acknowledged by the archmage Voduria,¡± Anna retorted and Anton was stuck since what she said was simply the truth.

    Anton¡¯s expression caused everyone to laugh though.

    ¡°By the way father, I changed my mind about joining the army or an organization that will fight the Undead Coalition. I want to check the city first and consolidate my knowledge and strength. I may really need to join a school as well since I¡¯m truly lacking when it comes to knowledge about things in this city or this world for that matter,¡± Anton said to his father.

    Anders was obviously very relieved when he heard what Anton had said.

    ¡°Good, good. You should do that since it is safer. You should also try to find a wife so I can have grandchildren,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m only seventeen! How about you find a new wife and give us a new sibling? You look like a young man now and no older than thirty-five.¡±

    For a moment, Anton was a bit horrified when he said that since the statement might hurt his father and sister but Anna laughed and was joined by the others while Anders blushed which made him really look like a young man.

 Chapter 179

    ¡°If you want to socialize with people your age, attending a university would be a good idea because there, you would be able to find people you can connect with and establish a political and social connection with important people in the future but if you¡¯re only looking to increase your knowledge about things like etiquette, general information, geography, and arts and sciences, I would recommend that you find yourself a tutor instead since a tutor could tailor to what you want to learn. I don¡¯t know much about your magic but based on what I saw so far, it¡¯s a different system to what we practice,¡± Frederick said.

    The mage¡¯s advice made Anton think a bit.

    ¡°What you said makes sense. I will think about it since the semester is still two weeks away anyway. I imagine that it would be easy for me to join a university if I do decide to enter it because of the status that was given to me by the archmage Voduria as an archmage,¡± Anton said.

    After that discussion, Anton went to his room to think about his next plans. He knew that he couldn¡¯t hide inside his room playing games all day long even though it did make him powerful. It would probably cause him to have psychological problems. After several minutes of thinking about his situation, he decided that the best thing that he could was to do both.

    A tutor would be able to fill in the gaps of knowledge that he should have learned when he was younger and the university would be able to fill his social needs to make sure that he would have a healthy personality. He decided to inform his father about his decision once they were established in their new place and since Frederick said that the mansion that they would be checking the next day was a good one, there was a good chance that they would have a new home before the day ends tomorrow.

    The next day after breakfast, the whole group followed Frederick and the assistant that Lurien assigned to them to the manor. They needed to use a carriage since it was a bit far from the inn. They were led to what the assistant said the noble section although it was a loose term since there were actually plenty of noble sections in the city due to its size.

    When they arrived at the manor, everyone was amazed at the size. The mansion inside the manor was huge and based on its size alone, it could be called a palace already. Although from where they were looking, Frederick was correct, it would need a lot of work.

    The manor grounds, once it was fixed, would look beautiful especially if it were filled with trees and flowers and since Anton did have mana water, he knew that planting beautiful flowers wouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    Even though the mansion looked a bit dilapidated, If they purchased it they could probably live on the place already and work on the mansion while they were living there.

    While they were touring the huge mansion, the assistant was giving the details of the place to Anders much like a realtor showing a house for sale back in Anton¡¯s old world but honestly, those were just from the shows that he¡¯d seen since he actually hadn¡¯t talked to a realtor before.

    The mansion was four stories high and there were several master bedrooms on the second and third floor. The dining room and kitchen were huge and there was a ballroom as well. There was a library but sadly, there were no books and they would have to replace all the furniture since everything looked pitiful.

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    There was a pond at the back and several buildings surrounding the main buildings. Anton heard the assistant telling the others the purpose of those buildings but he wasn¡¯t listening. The assistant was also telling them the situation of the previous owner, which was basically just a family ruined by their head who got addicted to gambling, which was one of the oldest stories in all the land.

    The manor also had a huge warehouse where they could store a lot of items so it was truly fitting for them.

    ¡°So Anton what do you think?¡± Anders asked him and everyone was looking at him.

    That meant that it was going to be his decision.

    ¡°I like it,¡± Anton simply said and Anna cheered and said that she liked it as well.

    Anna then ran off together with her two maids. A couple of guards followed her to make sure that they were safe. They heard her shouting that she would be choosing her room.

    Anders told Anton to do the same thing since once he chose a room, they would go back to the inn and ask their employees to find people who could fix the mansion as soon as possible.

    The assistant would then lead Anders, Nemina, and Lucas to the government bureau or department that handles the sales of lands in the city of Zalnothel.

    Anton just chose a random master bedroom with a view of the park behind the mansion and told Colin who followed him to the room he chose so he could tell Anders.

    Once Anton and Anna were done choosing a room for themselves, they returned to where the others were.

    Suddenly, Anton remembered something and turned to the man who was helping them with the mansion.

    ¡°By the way, this mansion doesn¡¯t happen to have some unsavory reputation like people getting murdered here producing terrifying ghosts that appear at night right?¡± Anton asked the assistant.

    The questions brought a terrified gasp from Anna and her maids but the assistant laughed but stopped when he saw everyone looking at him seriously.

    ¡°Sorry but during our travel, we did fight with werewolves, ghosts, vampires, and different types of undead so I¡¯m just making sure,¡± Anton said although he asked that question to scare his sister.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir Archmage, I thought you were joking. This manor doesn¡¯t have such a reputation. The last owner and his family are still in the city somewhere living miserably paying off the debt that they had incurred.¡±

    ¡°Sir Anton is just joking. Everyone knew that even the most terrifying ghost can be vanquished easily by an archmage,¡± Frederick said to appease Anna and her maids.

    Anton then laughed which made Anna glare at him. Even her maids were wearing slight pouts on their faces which made him laugh more.

    After that, they went back to the inn while Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and some of the guards followed Frederick and Lurien¡¯s assistant to where they could complete the transaction of purchasing the mansion. Before they left, Anders told Anton to think of the name they would assign to the manor.

    That assignment surprised Anton. He knew he was bad at naming so he decided that he would just create a list and let his father choose one from the list of names he would make and if they didn¡¯t find anything they liked, Anton would just tell his father they could name it themselves.

    Back in his room, Anton wrote down the names that he thought they could use to name the manor. He thought of the places in Diablo II like the Arcane Sanctuary, or the Halls of the Dead, and knew that he couldn¡¯t use any of them since the names from the game would either be too esoteric or too scary.

    He then thought of his last name on Earth which was Saunders and thought of naming the manor after it but changing it a bit like The Sunders Manor. It sounded good to him so he wrote it down. Anton couldn¡¯t think of any more names so he decided to list some of the spells from the game like The Oak Sage Manor or The Spirit Wolf Manor. The Blizzard Manor sounded good to him too.

    After a while, there were more than a dozen names on the list and all of them were based on the game. Almost all of them were ridiculous to name a Manor with but since Anton couldn¡¯t think of anything normal and their family didn¡¯t have a last name, he decided to just discuss it with his father when he returned.

 Chapter 180

    When Anders and the other returned from the government bureau that handles the sales of land and property it was already late in the afternoon. They all met in the suite that Anders rented and everyone who was considered the core of Anders Merchant''s business was there seated surrounding the table.

    ¡°We completed paying for the manor. The naming of the manor can be done anytime but we were advised to do it as soon as possible so they can enter it into the official archives,¡± Anders told everyone.

    ¡°Did it cost us a lot, Father?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°No, just ten percent of our total liquid assets,¡± Anders smiled and Anton laughed.

    ¡°What¡¯s funny,¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s all we have. We currently don¡¯t have any fixed assets for now which means properties like a home or a shop,¡± Anders told his daughter and Anton kept laughing which made Anna roll her eyes at his brother.

    ¡°Fixing the manor and the mansion and purchasing the things that we will need to fill the mansion would probably cost us twenty percent of our assets. We need to save the rest to grow our business,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°Tomorrow, all of us will be busy restarting our business of purchasing items that Anton would repair and selling the items he had already repaired. Doing this will allow us to check the current flow of business in the local economy,¡± Anders added.

    Anton sighed, thinking of the busy days ahead. When Anders saw his son sigh, Anton saw that his father felt a bit embarrassed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry son for asking you to do this but right now, the items that you repair are the only thing that would bring us funds. Once we¡¯re established, we will begin conducting our business normally.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Father. You don¡¯t need to worry too much about me but I will give a limit of three hours a day, is that fine?¡±

    ¡°That will be fine,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Nemina, can you check if we could sell our wooden board of air conditioner and our enchanted lantern without any problem and if the price is worth me working on them?¡± Anton asked and Nemina nodded.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to sell your enchanted items?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°If it''s worth it, yes since it would allow us to gather enough funds so you can begin a business without relying on me. If my enchanted item is worth it, I would increase my working hours to four hours a day. Two hours for repair work and two hours for enchantment work but it would only be for five days a week,¡± Anton jokingly said.

    Anton knew that the working hours he set were subject to change since he might need to focus on doing more so they could increase their wealth. That meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to join the university this semester since he would need to work. Their foundation was really poor when it came to their wealth and he knew that he would need to increase it a lot and the only way for him to do that was to rely on his magic, either on the repair work or his enchanted items.

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    Even if he worked for a few hours a day, there would still be enough time for Anton to receive tutoring and he knew that learning basic knowledge was very important so he wouldn¡¯t skip that part. He would also have enough time to continue leveling up his character. He wouldn¡¯t stop doing that and would still prioritize the majority of his time doing it since his Diablo II system was the basis of his power.

    Anton thought of creating a schedule to maximize the use of his time but decided against it. He didn¡¯t want to be too anal about it and would just go with the flow and would just create a rough schedule like what he would do in the morning and what he would do in the afternoon, something like that. He also wouldn¡¯t stop playing his music since it soothes his soul and wouldn¡¯t stop watching animes, television shows, or movies since it prevents burnout.

    Regarding his idea of socializing to prevent himself from turning into a sociopath, he would still join the university once his family¡¯s foundation was solid. Suddenly, he remembered one very important fact that everyone seemed determined to forget.

    ¡°What would we do once the Undead Coalition attacks the city? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I believe that the city is powerful but the coalition is really determined and I know that they will attack sooner or later,¡± Anton suddenly said to everyone which caused them to pause.

    ¡°Sir Anton, you don¡¯t need to worry too much. Although the coalition does plan to attack the city, it would probably take a minimum of five years before they would start to do so,¡± Zenoxus said.

    ¡°Really? They did work extremely fast when they attacked the other cities,¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°You can¡¯t compare those pitiful cities to Zalnothel. It¡¯s like comparing a huge capital city to tiny villages,¡± the elder vampire continued.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the best thing for us to do is to establish ourselves here so we will have the power to do whatever we will need to do when that time arrives,¡± Anders said to everyone.

    After that talk, Anders asked Colin to go downstair and order dinner for everyone when they heard a knock on the door and when Colin checked, everyone heard the man gasp. Anton immediately went to check who was visiting them and was surprised to see the archmage Voduria followed by Lurien and Bolat.

    ¡°Archmage, High Wizards! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?¡± Anton asked the wizards to enter their suite.

    ¡°Lurien and Bolat are here to invite your vampires so they can interview them regarding the information they have of the Undead Coalition and I¡¯m here to talk to you to learn what your plans are. I apologize if it seemed like we¡¯re being nosy but you do have the power of an archmage,¡± Archmage Voduria said.

    Anton asked the vampires to follow Lurien and Bolat and when the two high wizards and three vampires left, he invited the archmage to sit on the sofa. The others all excused themselves except for Anders which was understandable since even though Anton was an archmage, he was too young.

    ¡°We know that you have purchased a manor in the in the city and plan to conduct a business. May I ask what type of business you¡¯re planning to establish?¡± Archmage Voduria asked and it was Anders who answered.

    ¡°We¡¯re planning to buy and sell weapons and armor and some general items we have collected during our travels. To be honest with you Madam Archmage, the majority of our coins came from the vampires that my son enslaved.¡±

    The Archmage Voduria laughed heartily when she heard what Anders said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt what you said since Anton here is really too young to have any foundation. I know that he encountered some kind of fortuitous phenomenon that let him rapidly increase his power and I will be honest with you, you have to prepare to defend yourself but based on your experiences during your travel you can do that anyway but be vigilant. So what is your next step young archmage?¡±

    ¡°I was planning to enroll in the university but decided to hold off and just let my sister join school this term. I will need to help my father establish his business first and I can¡¯t divide my attention for now since as you have said, our foundation is extremely poor. My immediate plan is to hire a tutor to fill the gaps in my knowledge because even though your orb of truth considers me an archmage, knowledge-wise, I¡¯m truly a novice. So while I¡¯m helping my father, a tutor will teach me and I will also continue my research on my own magic to increase my personal power,¡± Anton told the archmage honestly.

 Chapter 181

    ¡°I¡¯m very happy to hear that you¡¯re a very sensible young man and your power didn¡¯t make you addle-minded. Normally, people who acquire power too much at a rapid pace become twisted. I¡¯m impressed by your father to be able to bring you up as a responsible young man and the city would be blessed to have someone like you in it,¡± Archmage Voduria said.

    Anton thanked the archmage for the compliment but Anders looked very proud.

    ¡°If I may ask Archmage, what is the city¡¯s plan regarding the Undead Coalition? I was so angry at them at first because it felt like they were hounding us. We kept running and I even fought so many undead. My first plans were to join the army or some sort of organization that aimed to fight the coalition but when we reached the city, I changed my mind and decided to consolidate my foundation first.¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you changed your mind. You don¡¯t need to worry about the undead while you and your family are in the city. We are very well protected by magic since we have hundreds of archmages and countless high wizards living here and our city walls are surrounded by magical runes so powerful that even a god would think twice about attacking our city. You are very young and I hope that you focus on growing up first. Once you¡¯re an adult you can then think about having your revenge. I know that your city has fallen and young people are hot-blooded but consider the fact that the Undead Coalition is truly very powerful and you don¡¯t want to spend your life on the path of revenge. It¡¯s meaningless and a waste of your talent,¡± Voduria said.

    ¡°My son would not do something idiotic like that. We¡¯re not truly attached to our country anyway and we haven¡¯t lost anyone important to the coalition so please rest assured, Madam Archmage. Anton¡¯s decision to fight the coalition was a momentary stupidity and he changed his mind already,¡± Anders said which made Anton roll his eyes at his father.

    The Archmage Voduria paused for a bit while studying the father and son.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about your vampires? We could be torturing them now to get information.¡± The old archmage said.

    ¡°Not really. You can even kill them if you want to. They¡¯re monsters,¡± Anton carelessly said.

    ¡°Anton!¡± Anders shouted and Anton wore an expression that said, ¡°What, I didn¡¯t say anything wrong.¡±

    The Archmage Voduria laughed heartily.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry Mr. Anders. The vampires are safe. I suggest that you use the vampires well Archmage Anton. They are powerful and can be good bodyguards for your family.¡±

    Anton nodded carefully to appease his father and the Archmage Voduria was right anyway, the vampires were a good protection for his father and sister so he decided to treat them as humans from then on.

    ¡°When are you planning to hire a tutor? I have someone that I can recommend,¡± The old archmage asked.

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    ¡°I¡¯m planning to do that once our manor is fixed and we¡¯re staying there. Archmage Voduria, I have a question to ask,¡± Anton said then he brought out the wooden board of the air conditioner and Lantern of Fire Bolt and activated them.

    Anton described what the items did, their activation process, and their duration and source of energy and asked the archmage if it was all right to sell something like these enchanted items.

    ¡°All the enchanted items that we¡¯re planning to sell will be geared toward easing the lifestyle of a rich person. We¡¯re not planning to sell any enchanted items geared toward battle. Are we going to encounter any issues selling these kinds of items?¡±

    ¡°Can I bring them with me and study them? I might not be able to bring them back and possibly even destroy them. After that, we¡¯ll get back to you.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Madam. Please take them.¡±

    After their conversation, Archmage Voduria said her goodbyes but then gave Anton a piece of paper that contained the tutor¡¯s name and address then she left.

    ¡°Are you not afraid that your enchanted items would be copied and we would lose our advantage of selling those?¡± Anton asked his son.

    ¡°With the magic of this world, I doubt that they didn¡¯t have enchanted items that resemble ours. You can even see some magic lights inside the magic stores. They could create something like that but I¡¯m quite sure that they wouldn¡¯t be able to exactly copy how I did mine since my magic system is truly different from the magic system of this world. Although, I do have the ability to study their magic system. The only advantage we have is how easy for me to make them and how cheap the materials would be. That¡¯s the reason why I asked Nemina to check out the enchanted items in the city so we will know what price we can set them so we can earn tons of gold,¡± Anton replied and his father nodded.

    Anders then went outside to join Nemina and Lucas in making sure that the mansion would be ready as soon as possible and so they could begin planning their next move business-wise. Anton went to his room so he could continue playing his Diablo II game to increase his power.

    Before Anton did though, he remembered that he wanted to purchase a guitar so he called Colin who entered the suite immediately.

    ¡°Colin, can you accompany me to the nearest store that sells stringed instruments like lutes and guitars?¡±

    Anton and Colin went outside the inn followed by a couple of guards that his father assigned them. Colin asked some questions to the patrol guards and some of the pedestrians and soon they entered a store that sells musical instruments.

    Inside the store, there were a lot of instruments like lutes, violas, wind instruments, and more, and some of them Anton couldn¡¯t identify. He forgot something very important though, he didn¡¯t have any coins anymore so he asked Colin and one of the guards to return to Anders to get coins that he could spend so while they did Anton browsed the types of instruments available and asked the salesperson where the guitars were and he was led to a section where they were displayed.

    Anton was a bit relieved since he thought that there were no guitars in this world but he was overthinking it. Again, he kept saying to himself that he shouldn¡¯t compare this world to medieval Earth since this world wasn¡¯t Earth¡¯s past but a totally different one. He was also glad that the salesman was also a musician and very knowledgeable about the instrument that he was selling.

    The salesperson¡¯s recommendations were good and when Anton asked if he could try them, the salesman didn¡¯t hesitate to allow him to do so. After trying several guitars, he found one that he fell in love with. The sound was mellow and robust and when he played ballad songs, the sound tickled his soul.

    Since Colin wasn¡¯t back yet, he decided to sell his old lute which looked brand new since he had Charsi repair it and got a good price for it. Soon, Colin arrived and Anton paid the salesman for the guitar and happily took his coin.

    Anton couldn¡¯t wait to get back to his room so he could practice with his new guitar for an hour or two.

 Chapter 182

    The next day, everyone was truly busy. Anders together with some assistants they hired, guarded by the elder vampire Zenoxus who returned late the night before went to roam around the nearby merchants to check where they could purchase worn-out and broken weapons and armor.

    Nemina, Lunette, Devon, and some other assistants from the caravan, guarded by Ecturne, one of Zenoxus''s progeny check the local merchants to see the prices of items like weapons, armor, enchanted items, and other stuff.

    Frederick and his assistants from the caravan guarded by Luminetta, one of the vampires, went out to hire a lot of people to fix the mansion that they recently purchased. He would also handle purchasing all the furniture that they would need in the manor.

    Anna and her maids followed by several guards would roam around some of the shops to check the current prices of regular items. She assigned this job to herself even though Anders told her that it wasn¡¯t needed but of course, Anton knew that it was just an excuse for her sister to go shopping. She truly adjusted her life as a rich young woman since she successfully persuaded their father to give her a lot of coins that she could use to purchase things that she found interesting.

    Before Anna left though, she told everyone that she wouldn¡¯t stop practicing her magic and Anders added that her father would hire a tutor to teach her etiquette and basic information that she would need to make sure that she wouldn¡¯t sound and look like a country girl once she attended school.

    Surprisingly, Anna wasn¡¯t against the tutor but was actually in favor of it. She mentioned that she wanted to genuinely become a young lady in looks and behavior and the only way to achieve that was to hire a tutor as soon as possible. Since they didn¡¯t know anyone, Frederick was assigned to look for one so Anton gave him the paper that had the name of the tutor that the Archmage Voduria recommended for him.

    If the tutor that Archmage Voduria would not be able to teach Anna what she would need to learn how to become one of high society¡¯s butterflies, at least the tutor could point them in the right direction.

    Since Anton wasn¡¯t assigned to do anything for the caravan yet, he secluded himself in his room to level up his Druid character since he knew that it would be very busy the following weeks. They didn¡¯t even meet up during lunchtime since everyone was busy so Anton just ate one of the food that he stored in his inventory. After several hours of playing, he completed Act II of the normal difficulty of his Diablo II game for his Druid Character and reached level nineteen. He put the two skill points on Summon Spirit Wolves.

    Several hours of personally adventuring inside the game exhausted Anton for a bit so he decided to exit out of the game to rest. He practiced his music using his newly bought guitar and was intoxicated by the sound that was coming out from the instrument. He was kind of impressed at himself since he was now starting to learn advanced guitar fingering and knew that if he was able to create his own videos, he would have posted videos of himself playing the guitar and checking the watcher comments but that was just something he thought of momentarily to feed his vanity a little.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    Anton thought that it would have also been fun to take videos of the sceneries and the environment of the cities and post them on the internet to check the watchers guessing which places they were or if they were some sort of advanced graphics for a game.

    After practicing his guitar and playing some music to entertain himself for an hour, Anton thought of what kind of enchantment he could enchant items with that would be perfectly all right to sell. His requirements were that the enchanted items should be easy to create and could be used by normal people in their daily lives. He didn¡¯t want to sell any type of enchanted items that could be used as a weapon.

    He then thought of creating some sort of heater that could water so they could place the wooden board on a tub so the user could safely heat their bathing water fast and safely so he immediately went to the Rogue Encampment and started the experiment to create the wooden tablet of water heater.

    While reviewing the spell structures and the man a pathway that he could use for the new enchantment, Anton thought of hiring someone to name their enchanted items since the names they were using were atrocious.

    After a couple of hours, Anton didn¡¯t complete the project yet so he paused it and decided to exit the game so he could join his family for dinner. He went to the inn¡¯s restaurant and saw his family seated around a huge table but when he double-checked, they were just a few tables that were joined together by the inn¡¯s staff.

    When Anton sat between his father and his sister, the inn¡¯s waiters just brought their dinner. While they were eating, Anders told him all the things that everyone did but when Anders saw that his son was only half listening he stopped.

    ¡°What are you thinking about? You¡¯re not even listening to me?¡± Anders scolded his son.

    ¡°Sorry father. I was thinking about my next enchanted item that we could sell since I¡¯m thinking that the wooden board of air conditioner and Lanter of Firebolt are not enough. My next project is also a wooden board but its function was to heat water. So you put the board inside the bathtub, it would heat your bath water. Of course, I made sure that it wouldn¡¯t boil the water and would only heat it. It still needs a lot of work but I can probably complete it by tomorrow. I also suggest, Father that you hire a professional to name my enchanted items since it I feel like all of them sound¡­wonky,¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡°Wonky? What does wonky mean?¡± Anna asked Anton.

    ¡°You need to learn how to understand the meaning of a word by looking at the context. Since I¡¯m not satisfied with the names, it could only mean something not desired like, weird or goofy,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just say that!¡± Anna retorted.

    ¡°Country girl!¡± Anton teased his sister.

    ¡°Wonky!¡± Anna replied back causing Anton to laugh.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I think we will also need to hire a carpenter and a designer so your items are not simply wooden boards. We need a team that can help us design something aesthetically pleasing,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anton, we¡¯re so busy with hiring people who would fix the mansion that I didn¡¯t have any time to spare to go to the tutor. I¡¯ll do it early tomorrow,¡± Frederick told Anton and he just nodded.

    After that, Anders and everyone else talked about business while they were eating and Anton wasn¡¯t interested so he rushed to complete his dinner and then after telling his father that he needed to go back to researching enchantment, fled the restaurant.

    Once he was back in his room, Anton decided to rest a bit and watch some anime but then when his head hit his pillow, just like the other times, he immediately fell asleep.

 Chapter 183

    The next day, Anton woke up and saw that it was still dark outside and when he checked his browser for the time, it said that was only around four in the morning. He remembered lying on his bed the night before to watch an anime but then he fell asleep.

    He took a shower to remove the feeling of grogginess on his body then proceeded to enter the game so he could continue leveling up his druid character.

    After several hours, Anton finally cleared out all the tombs except for the one where Duriel was located and he leveled up from level nineteen to level twenty-one. He added one skill point to Summon Spirit Wolf and two skill points to Summon Dire Wolf. He didn¡¯t kill Duriel yet since it was already seven in the morning and he wanted to join his family for breakfast.

    When Anton exited his room, he was surprised to see that only Anna, her maids, and Colin were the only ones at the breakfast table.

    ¡°Where are Father and the others?¡±

    ¡°They already left. Father said that they would be busy the whole day and wouldn¡¯t be able to join us for lunch so the whole day is ours. What are you planning to do today, brother?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay in my room to meditate and research enchanted items,¡± Anton replied.

    Anna just sighed and turned to her maids and told her that they were free to do what they wanted that day since she would also be staying in her room to practice magic. She then gave coins to her maids so they would have coins that they could spend and told her that if they went out, they would need to ask some of the guards to accompany them.

    Suddenly, Belinda blushed which Anton also noticed.

    ¡°What! What happened!?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Nothing. We¡¯ll probably ask Ruel to accompany us,¡± Ramona said innocently and Anna just shrugged.

    Anton smiled and didn¡¯t enlighten his sister. He was glad that his sister was still too innocent regarding matters of the heart. More than likely, Belinda is sweet on Ruel the guard. He also told Colin that he would be staying in the room all day and not going out even for lunch, so he told his assistant that he could do anything he wanted that day. He also gave the man several coins.

    After breakfast, he returned to his room and practiced his guitar for a few minutes before entering the world of Sanctuary to continue his research on the new enchanted item which was the wooden board of water heater. After several gruesome hours of trial and error and minutely studying the complex design of the spell structure, Anton successfully created the wooden board of water heater. It had three temperature settings: mildly hot, hot, and very hot, and would work on any amount of water up until two bathtubs full of water. Magic is so wonderful and illogical since the wooden board of the water heater would only take a few seconds until the water reached the set temperature regardless of water volume, which clearly defied the laws of physics.

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    Since Anton wasn¡¯t a scientist and magic itself defied physics, he just shrugged and continued creating a few wooded boards of water heater. He didn¡¯t create too many since his father was still going to form a team to create a design for his enchanted items. The ones that he created were prototypes so the others could test it out and check if there would be a need to change anything.

    The next item that Anton considered creating for sale was a modified version of the item that he already made which was the wooden board that produces water. This time, he would create a cup that would be filled with cold water by pressing a switch and since it would only be a cup, it would last a long time with its full mana storage as long as they use it for the intended purpose which was to drink cold water. Of course, if they used to fill out something large like a tub or a tank, the mana storage would be emptied immediately.

    Fortunately, he had several large pieces of wood on hand that he could carve himself to create cups which was easy for Anton through the use of his Telekinesis so he immediately carved some. After doing so, the cups that he created were very rough but he only needed them to create prototypes.

    After creating several wooden cups, Anton felt hungry and when he checked the time, it was already two in the afternoon so he stopped and exited the game to eat lunch. He immediately returned to the game to continue his enchanting research.

    Anton imagined opening a store full of magical things that help people in their daily lives and thought that it could be enjoyable and interesting.

    The most critical part of his enchantment projects for now was the variety since all of them were based on the sorceress''s elemental skills which were very basic. All of his items were just applications of the sorceress spells and he couldn¡¯t create any items that were too complex. He did have access to lightning and the internet and could probably invent gadgets like washing machines and stuff but thinking about the complexity of machines, capacitors, and other complicated technological things gave him a headache so he decided to forgo that route and concentrate on simple things.

    Even though Anton called his enchanted items simple, the magic that goes into creating them was anything but and he was still very proud of them.

    After several hours of experimenting and trial and error, he completed the cup of cold water item since it was only an application of the things that he already made which was the wooden tablet of air conditioner.

    Then Anton remembered one important item that he could create which was a freezer or refrigerator. He then thought that it would probably be better to check the magic shops in the city to see what items were already in existence so he didn¡¯t have to waste time inventing things that already existed.

    Anton made several cups of cold water enchanted items so he could let the others test them and then he exited out of the game to join his family for dinner.

    When he went to the living room, Colin was there waiting for him, and the man led him to the restaurant downstairs where the others were.

    He sat beside his father and soon the waiters arrived bringing their food. They didn¡¯t talk but concentrated on eating since they were in a public place and would talk when they were back in the suite.

    After dinner, they all went upstairs to their suite to talk about what happened during that day.

    ¡°I managed to hire a lot of people and they were currently fixing the mansion. After three days, we should be able to transfer relocate to the mansion already,¡± Frederick opened up the discussion.

    ¡°Of course, after we transferred to the manor, all of us will still need to purchase a lot of things for personal use but we could undertake that while we¡¯re already there,¡± Nemina added.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for us to transfer there so I can decorate my room!¡± Anna said and even her maids were excited since they did have a room of their own besides Anna.

 Chapter 184

    When dinner was over, they all transferred to the suite that Anders rented so they could talk about the projects that they did that day.

    ¡°We managed to check out the different items for sale in the surrounding shops and their price ranges so I can already begin creating an item and price list,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°We also managed to connect to several large merchants who were interested in purchasing weapons and armor from us. We also began setting up purchase points so that we can entertain people who want to sell their worn-out and broken weapons and armor,¡± Anders told everyone.

    ¡°We also scouted a lot of nearby shops to check the prices of items like jewelry, clothes, and other personal accessories. We also talked to someone who could assist us in creating a purchase point for broken regular items,¡± Lunelle said while looking at her notebook.

    ¡°That meant that starting tomorrow, we will begin purchasing those broken items so prepare yourself, Anton. You would be busy repairing them,¡± Anders said to his son and Anton just nodded.

    ¡°The people we hired to fix the mansion are working very fast so we should be able to transfer our operation from here to the manor the day after tomorrow. Also, I assisted Ms. Nemina in looking for additional people that we can hire to help us in making sure that the manor is working at its peak like cooks, maids, and gardeners,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°I¡¯m also reviewing if we need to hire more guards for the manor but we will only know for sure once we transfer there,¡± Lucas added.

    Anton was impressed at how focused and dedicated everyone was but what he didn¡¯t know was this business of theirs ignited everyone¡¯s ambition, not only his Father¡¯s. Everyone knew that because of Anton¡¯s power, they had the chance to grow in this city without experiencing too much harassment and they could have not only wealth but political power as well.

    ¡°I have a project of my own. I¡¯m currently creating different types of enchanted items but my focus is on the convenience of the people in their daily lives. My goal was to be able to create a magical shop where a lot of magical items could be sold. I will need to check the magic shops in the nearby location to see what kinds of enchanted items are for sale so I don¡¯t make duplicates. Also, I aim to make sure that the enchanted items that I¡¯m going to create would consume very little cost to us and would not take long for me to create.¡±

    Anton paused so everyone could think about what he had said then he continued.

    ¡°Right now our enchanted items that we can sell are the wooden board of air conditioner, the Lantern of Fire Bolt, and the new ones that I just made which were the wooden board of water heater and the enchanted cup of cold water,¡± Anton then distributed the wooden board of water heater and the cups of cold water to everyone and told everyone how they functioned.

    ¡°The wooden board of water heater had three settings which were mildly hot, hot, and superhot and it would not exceed that so that means that it will be very safe to use to heat your bathwater. The cup of cold water will produce well, a cup of cold water when you switch it on and the mana in the mana storage will last for a long time as long you don¡¯t use the cup to fill up something large like a barrel.¡±

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    Everyone examined the two brand-new enchanted items that Anton distributed to everyone then he continued talking.

    ¡°Father, Nemina, I will need you to form a think tank team for my magic shop and enchanted items. That team should be learned people who will manage our magic shop and would be able to find good names for our enchanted items since I feel like the names I assigned to my items are bad. Not only that, the teams should be able to create a report of what magic items are for sale in the city and also provide ideas on the best magic items that I can invent so we have different varieties of enchanted items. As you may have noticed I didn¡¯t include any enchanted wands or swords to my list of enchanted items for sale. It¡¯s because I would not sell any type of magical items that can be used as weapons. I want to focus on items that can be used by people to make their daily lives more convenient.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an admirable goal Anton and I¡¯m proud of you,¡± Anders said to his son while smiling.

    ¡°Selling magic wands and enchanted weapons would make you a ton of coins though,¡± Lucas said but Anton just shrugged indicating that he didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°The think tank team you¡¯re requesting would probably take a while to form,¡± Nemina said while noting Anton¡¯s request in her notebook.

    ¡°You can probably find them in universities and it¡¯s okay if they¡¯re regular people since the enchantments that I¡¯m doing are too different from what the others are doing, I assume, since I really don¡¯t know how others create enchanted items, and can¡¯t be taught. Also, I¡¯m not in a hurry so it¡¯s okay even if it takes a while for you to form the team. I forgot to mention that the think tank team should also incorporate the designers and creators of the items that I will enchant since we can¡¯t really sell rough wooden boards and wooden cups for our enchanted items,¡± Anton said which made everyone laugh.

    ¡°I can just imagine your quaint little magic shop selling magic items that make everyone happy! I want to work on that shop,¡± Anna said with sparkling eyes, and even Ramona and Belinda, her twin maid looked highly interested.

    ¡°My goal was to have that kind of shop. It should have two floors where I can work on the second floor and then sell the items I made on the first floor,¡± Anton said while imagining the shop.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll have that,¡± Anders promised his son and Anton just smiled.

    Zenoxus the elder vampire was looking at Anton with horror on his face though and when he noticed he asked the vampire what his problem was.

    ¡°Sir Archmage, you¡¯re very powerful. You should be thinking about how to conquer a territory so you can rule and then build a castle where you and your family can stay,¡± Zenoxus said grandly.

    ¡°That may be your dream Zenoxus, but not mine. I would be happy to stay in a small quaint shop surrounded by my family and friends than live a life in a castle brought by destruction and tyranny,¡± Anton firmly said.

    Anders laughed loudly and looked like he was so filled with pride that he might burst. Anna stood up and hugged her brother and Anton fended her off using his hands while everyone laughed.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Sir Anton¡¯s ambition right now Zenoxus. Please remember that he¡¯s only seventeen years old and his goals could change once he¡¯s older,¡± Frederick said to the vampire and that reminder seemed to calm the vampire.

    Anton just snorted when he heard what Frederick had said. After that, they continued talking about the things that they would do during the next few days, and based on everyone¡¯s immediate goals, everyone would be really busy. Anton prepared himself since he knew that he would be busy too but he was still thinking of creating various enchanted items to add to his collection so once his magic shop was established, there would be a lot of variety which would make sure that his shop would be lively.

 Chapter 185

    The next day during breakfast inside the suite, everyone was still talking about the various plans that they would do. Suddenly, Frederick told a fact that Anton found interesting.

    ¡°Apparently, the South Gate, where we entered is now called the Forbidden Desolate Gate. According to one of Zalnothel''s guards that I befriended, no one is allowed to exit that gate anymore but some adventurers secretly go out that gate to kill undead monsters since there are materials that they can gather from the corpses of the undead that are highly valued by alchemists. Some said that soon the place beyond the South Gate would belong to the undead.¡±

    Basically, what the mage was saying was that the place beyond the south gate would be the entrance to the field where people could get experience and loot just like a game.

    ¡°The other gates are still fine. As a matter of fact, once we establish ourselves here, we can still run a merchant caravan and based on my initial investigation we would probably be using the North Gate to go to other cities to trade,¡± Nemina said.

    After breakfast, everyone went and did their assigned jobs for the day enthusiastically. Anton would also be roaming around some of the shops followed by Colin and a couple of guards assigned to him by Lucas.

    Zenoxus and some of the caravan guards would guard his father and his assistants, Ecturne would follow Nemina and Luminetta would follow Lunelle and Devon. Frederick would be guarded by the caravan guards holding the wand of Ice Bolt. Anna and her maid would stay at the inn since she said she wanted to practice her magic.

    Anton was glad that Colin was with him since his assistant would be the one asking the pedestrian questions regarding the location of the nearby magic shops. He was an introvert and transmigrating to another world didn¡¯t change that. He was probably one of those who would get hopelessly lost because of his aversion to asking for direction from people he didn¡¯t know. Colin was also the one holding onto the coin purse given by his father.

    The first shop that they went to was actually the one where he purchased the cleaning spells. When he entered, an attendant came to them asking if they needed assistance. Anton was looking around trying to find the salesperson who assisted him before but he couldn¡¯t find the man. He didn¡¯t even remember the salesperson¡¯s name.

    ¡°Can you lead me to the magic items or artifacts that provide convenience to rich folks like magic lamps and stuff,¡± Anton said to the salesman.

    The salesman led him to a corner on the second floor. While they were walking the man kept talking to Anton.

    ¡°Magic items that people usually buy from us are weapons and those that could provide defensive spells. Only the very rich purchase enchanted items that only help their lives easier.¡±

    When they arrived where the enchanted items were located, the man introduced several items to Anton. There was a magic lamp that provided magic light. A pair of rings that had gems that would change color to match each other regardless of distance. According to the salesman, it was usually used to signify danger and request for help.  There were small magic candles that could immediately provide fire and they were usually used by rich adventurers to light a campfire.

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    Anton was surprised to see that there were also consumable talismans. There was a talisman that would shoo away insects in the location it was used for several hours. This type of talisman was used by rich adventurers or mercenaries in the field.

    Some talismans stored spells to be used for offense and defense but one thing Anton learned, the talismans were incredibly expensive and he wondered if he could create them. He thought of the possibilities and it excited him since he thought that he should be able to create some as well.

    There were also practical magical items which were the ones Anton was planning to specialize like an enchanted box that preserved food but the most expensive of the bunch was the Twin Teleportation Boxes that could teleport small things to each other. This one actually cost thousands of gold coins.

    Anton had the urge to ask the salesman if there was a tool that could teleport people but he held himself off since he was supposed to be an archmage and should know about those types of things. He decided that once he had a tutor, he would ask those questions to the tutor.

    He had fun inspecting all of the enchanted items on sale since it felt like he was browsing items in a shop located in Diagon Alley. Anton then wondered if he could create magical food just like in Harry Potter. He actually spent three hours browsing but he did spend fifty gold coins to purchase a bunch of talismans to check how they function and to check if he could create one as well.  He thought of using other materials for his talisman instead of paper to differentiate himself from others like thin pieces of wood or something like that. Maybe he could even invent something like a printing press so he could create multiple talismans at a rapid pace.

    Anton wondered if he would have to add a switch to his wooden talisman to activate them then he noticed that the salesman was staring at him since he was standing there like a statue for several minutes while he thought of how to create talismans.

    This shopping spree wasn¡¯t a waste of time since the items that he saw inspired Anton. He also remembered that he had access to the Internet and could browse magical items from several sources like a Harry Potter Fan Site or Dungeon and Dragons fan site for inspiration on magical items that he could create. He realized that his system could truly provide him with endless possibilities and that made him happy.

    After that, Anton and his companions went to a nearby restaurant and spent coins to eat lunch there. When they arrived back at the inn, Anton immediately went to his room so he could list all the possible items that he could create while they were fresh in his mind. Then to calm himself, he practiced his guitar and played some music for an hour.

    Before he could enter the game to start leveling up his druid character, Colin knocked on his door and when he opened it, he saw Lunelle.

    ¡°Do you need something from me?¡± Anton asked Lucas¡¯s daughter.

    ¡°We found a talented carpenter artist. You mentioned that you needed someone to design and create items made from wood to create your enchanted items. You can probably use him then.¡±

    Anton followed Lunelle and found Devon with the carpenter slash artist. Devon then introduced the young man who couldn¡¯t be more than twenty-five years old.

    ¡°This is Eric. He¡¯s a carpenter and could create detailed items using wood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Anton and as Lunelle and Devon probably told you, I enchant items and we¡¯re planning to sell them.¡± Eric the carpenter bowed when Anton introduced himself then they sat on the sofa.

    When Devon and Lunelle saw that Anton and Eric the carpenter were now busy talking to each other, they said goodbye and told him that they would need to go back to their business and Anton just nodded.

 Chapter 186

    Anton took out a wooden board of air conditioner and the metal sculpture of a wizard that he enchanted with the Frozen Orb spell to function as an air conditioner. He also took out a Lantern of Fire Bolt and the rough wooden cup of cold water.

    ¡°These are the enchanted items that I have created so far and my family is planning to sell these,¡± Anton told Eric the carpenter.

    He then turned on the wooden board of air conditioner as well as the metal sculpture.

    ¡°The main purpose of the wooden board of air conditioner is to lower the temperature of a room to a comfortable level even during the height of summer so even though it¡¯s very hot, it will be cool and comfortable inside your room or home,¡± Anton said.

    He also pointed at the switch to turn on the enchantment and the indicator of how much mana was left in the mana storage. He also included the details on how long a full mana storage capacity would last and how many times the enchanted item could be used.

    ¡°As you can see, I can put the enchantment on other items aside from a wooden board but what we want is something that is aesthetically pleasing so we can sell them at a higher price but at the same time, the items could be made easily. What I require is for a carpenter or an artist such as yourself to design and produce items that I can put my enchantment into that would be pleasing to the eye, but at the same time and easy and cheap to make.¡±

    ¡°I can do this!¡± Eric said excitedly.

    ¡°Can you start as soon as possible? Possibly tomorrow or the day after we will be transferring from here to a Manor that we purchase. If you¡¯re hired by me, you have the option of living with us or staying where you¡¯re currently living but you will have to go to our Manor every day to create the items. Is that acceptable to you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m currently living with my uncle and I don¡¯t want to bother their family anymore so I would prefer living where I will be working,¡± Eric the carpenter said.

    ¡°Before I can hire you, I will need you to design the items first on paper so I can check them out. I advise that you create several designs for each enchanted item so I can select the best one then once I select your design, you will need to create them. After checking if your wooden sculptures are up to standard, then I¡¯ll hire you. Once I confirm your status as an employee, my father or his secretary will talk to you about your compenben.¡±

    ¡°Compenben?¡± Eric asked.

    ¡°Oh, sorry. Your compensation and benefits like your monthly salary, bonuses, health and dental insurance, and day off,¡± Anton said but he was half-joking since those terms were from his old world.

    Eric the carpenter just nodded even though Anton knew that the man probably didn¡¯t understand half of what he said. He then gave the carpenter a notebook and a pen that the man could use to design the items.

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    ¡°You can stay here to complete the design or you can finish them anywhere as long as you show them to me before dinner later,¡± Anton said.

    The carpenter then said that he would stay here to complete the design project. Anton told Eric that if he needed to talk to him, he had to tell his assistant Colin who was waiting by the side. The carpenter slash designer nodded then went to a corner table and chair to start working.

    After Anton¡¯s talk with Eric, he went back inside his room and entered the game. He went directly outside the Rogue Encampment to continue researching the different types of enchanted items that he could make. He was still inspired due to the browsing that he did in the magic shop that they went to.

    He thought of the next projects that would make and then thought of copying the teleportation box but looking at the severe complexity of the mana structure of the Teleport spell, he shelved that project at the back since Anton knew that he would need more experience in enchanting items before he attempted such complex creations. It was the same thing for using the Telekinesis spell to create a hoverboard or a board that could assist people in carrying heavy stuff or even floating carriages.

    Anton then thought of the talismans that he saw in the shop and thought about creating them. The talisman felt a little incongruous to him since those types of magic items were supposed to be part of Eastern culture so finding them in a Western-style location was a bit confusing and he just thought that maybe it was from the East and was just copied by the wizards here but then again, he kept telling himself that he shouldn¡¯t assume since this world, again, was not his old world but a totally different one.

    But instead of starting the talisman project, Anton researched creating an enchanted stove instead since it would be easier for him because it was just a variation of the wooden board of water heater. This time he knew he couldn¡¯t use wood as the base material for the enchanted stove but metal and thankfully there were some metal boards in his inventory.

    After three hours of experimenting and trial and error, he successfully created his enchanted stove. He knew that the item would be easier to make since again, he already made one just like it which was the water heater.

    The water heater¡¯s base spell that he used was a minute spell structure of Fire Wall and Blaze spell and it was the same thing with the stove but with a bigger and more complex spell structure. The stove had six heat settings so after testing it out for an hour, it was working perfectly well but he would need to ask someone to bring it to the kitchen for further testing.

    Anton then thought of creating a heater-type enchanted item but honestly, the stove could function as a room heater as well so they could just sell it as a stove slash room heater. What he was proud of was creating an isolated spell structure in the metal board wherein the only part that would heat up was the area indicated which meant that if the user touched the part where the spell structure wasn¡¯t located, they wouldn¡¯t get burned. He would need to make sure that the stove designer creates some sort of indicator or groove that would indicate which part of the board would heat up.

    The stove could still cause fire accidents though since if an item like a cloth or a piece of paper was put on the part where it is supposed to heat up, a fire would still start. Anton thought of creating a restriction wherein only metal would heat up but based on trial and error, the spell structure to create something like that would be incredibly complex and would take a lot more space than the board had and Anton didn¡¯t want to spend an ungodly amount of time just to create a single stove.

    Anton then thought of starting the spell structure and mana pathway printing press item that would allow him to create enchanted items faster but when he checked the time it was already late so he decided to exit the game to join his family for dinner and check Eric¡¯s designs.

 Chapter 187

    Anton joined his family for dinner in the inn¡¯s restaurant and he invited Eric, the carpenter slash designer. He could see Eric holding on to his notebook like it was his biggest treasure and even though they were eating, the man didn¡¯t take his eyes off the notebook.

    He introduced the carpenter to everyone then they all focused on eating since they knew that the meeting would be in the suite and not in the restaurant, which was a public place.

    After they were done with dinner, they all went up to the suite and Anton saw chests inside. He saw that there were about ten chests and Anton was impressed at his father¡¯s diligence.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anton. Those are the items that we already purchased. I can¡¯t help myself since they were so cheap and once you repair them, we will earn tons of gold coins,¡± Anders said.

    When the vampires heard what Anton¡¯s father said they looked flabbergasted.

    ¡°Are you going to ask Sir Anton, a powerful archmage, to repair things so you can sell them?¡± Zenoxus said as if the process of Anton repairing the items was a lowly and degenerate thing to do.

    Anton and Anders ignored what the vampire had said and he just replied to his father that he would get them done as soon as possible. He didn¡¯t join his father''s meeting and instead invited Eric to show him the designs the man had made.

    Looking at Eric¡¯s design, Anton was impressed by the carpenter¡¯s artistry. Anna joined them and looked at the designs as well.

    ¡°Ooh, they¡¯re so pretty!¡± Anna said and even her maids agreed when Anna showed them Eric¡¯s drawings.

    There were about four designs for each enchanted item so four designs for the air conditioner, four for the lantern, four for the water heater, and four for the cup of cold water.

    ¡°Can you make them without any issues?¡± Anton asked Eric.

    ¡°Of course. While I¡¯m designing, I never forget that I will have to make them using wood, and my main focus aside from them being aesthetically pleasing as you have said is the ease and speed of making them,¡± Eric replied.

    Anton then brought Eric with him and interrupted his father¡¯s meeting.

    ¡°Father, Eric completed the designs for the enchanted items. Please take a look for a minute.¡±

    Anton then gave the notebook to Anders and his father and Nemina looked at the drawings. After several minutes of perusing the notebook, Anders and Nemina both agreed that the drawings looked good so Anton asked his father to finance Eric so the man could start creating the items so they could truly check if they were worthy to be enchanted and sold to customers. Anton then left Eric there while his father was asking the man questions regarding the design, the cost, the speed of creating them, and more.

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    In the meantime, Anton went to his room, took a bath, and practiced his guitar for an hour. Then he spent a couple of hours wasting his time on the internet. After that, he spent another two hours researching how to create an enchanted printing press that would make creating enchanted items faster.

    The best thing that he could do was to create some sort of stamp for a standard mana pathway like the mana storage attached to the suite so he created that one using a wooden board. Of course, the stamp wouldn¡¯t use ink but a mana pathway that would telekinetically etch the mana structure and pathway for the standard enchantment like the mana storage mana pathway.

    After a couple of hours though, his prototype for the mana structure stamp was a failure. Anton knew that he would have to do a lot more testing and trial and error before he would be successful so he didn¡¯t mind it but once he was successful, creating enchanted items would be semi-automatic and he could even ask someone to do it instead of him doing it. The only thing that he would need to do was to put mana on the mana storage of the stamp. Looking at the very late time, Anton decided to end the day and slept.

    The next day after breakfast, Anton had to spend the morning repairing the items that Anders purchased. He was really glad that the vampires went with the others to guard them since Zenoxus was beginning to get annoying and vocal when he saw Anton repairing the weapons and armor.

    The elder vampire kept muttering that it was beneath the dignity of an archmage to repair things. That only menial lowly workers should be doing what Anton was doing but everyone was just ignoring the vampire.

    Frederick mentioned that a couple of people would come in during mid-day to apply as a tutor for Anna. One of them was the person that the Archmage Voduria recommended and the other one was a tutor for Anna. Apparently, the siblings needed to each have a tutor of their own.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t one person teach the both of us? They could schedule me in the morning or Anna in the afternoon or vice versa,¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. Ask your would-be tutor about that if you want to know,¡± Frederick shrugged after that the mage left.

    Anton spent the next few hours repairing the items but soon he was done and Colin with the help of Anna¡¯s maids was the one who made sure that everything was organized inside the chests.

    After everything was done, including the ones that were brought in by Lunelle and Devon¡¯s assistants which consisted of pieces of jewelry and other knick-knacks somebody knocked on their door.

    Anton asked Colin to check who it was and after a while, Colin invited them in. Anton saw that it was a couple of old people who were dressed richly. They looked very dignified but for some reason, their haughtiness was different from the haughtiness one could find in the noble¡¯s behaviors.

    Colin led the old man and woman to him who was already seated in one of the sofa chairs in the suite. Anton stood up and greeted the dignified couple.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Sir Anton. I¡¯m Alan Tenor, a friend of the Archmage Voduria and a tutor and this is Miss Violet Damby. She¡¯s a tutor as well.¡± The old man said and after Anton greeted the tutors, he invited them to sit.

    ¡°May I know what you know about my situation?¡± Anton asked the tutors.

    ¡°The Archmage Voduria said that you¡¯re a very young archmage but lacking the common knowledge a noble of Zalnothel should know. She mentioned that your family wants to establish yourselves here in the city and that you have the means to do that as well as the power to protect your own.¡±

    ¡°You are right Mr. Tenor. I¡¯m very powerful, able to contend with powerful liches and vampires and who are in the midst of an undead army and I¡¯d already done so. I won¡¯t hide my strength since it would protect my family¡¯s interest here in the city. Although I¡¯m very powerful I lack common knowledge that a noble should know. Of course not the basic knowledge like mathematics or science but politics, noble etiquette, common knowledge that a citizen of Zalnothel should have, and even geography. If you need me and my sister to undergo a test, I would agree so you would know how to create a syllabus for us,¡± Anton told the tutors.

 Chapter 188

    Anton studied the two old people and was a bit impressed by their demeanor and composure. They really looked dignified like old-world nobility that he had seen in movies.

    ¡°You are correct Sir Anton that we will need you to undergo a written and verbal test so we would know for sure the level of knowledge you will need to function among the upper society here in Zalnothel,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°To be honest with you Sir Tenor, socializing amongst the upper citizen or the nobility here is not my priority. Currently, I will need to focus on my item enchantment so we can gather the wealth that my family needs. I also have my own magic system that would need me to meditate for hours every day by myself so I don¡¯t have the time to socialize. My long-term plan was for me to focus on my magic and Anna would focus on politics but that was only my tentative plan since I hadn¡¯t consulted my father and my sister yet and my sister is also a mage and was planning to attend a magic school here. That meant that I could only allow myself to be tutored by you for at most three hours a day for three days a week.¡±

    ¡°If you are an ordinary man or even only a high wizard, I would have suggested that you extend your social connection to make sure that you will have the influence to ask for assistance in case you will need it but by virtue of you being an archmage, you do have the right to skip that step. You mentioned that your sister plans to enroll in magic school, will she still need a tutor while studying?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Me and my sister grew up as farmers in an isolated village near Mendi and received the most basic of education so we will need extensive studying for us to be able not to embarrass ourselves in the upper society here. I was planning to attend the university here as well as receive tutoring at the same time but since my family needed me to focus on business first to stabilize our family here, I will enter the university next semester.¡±

    ¡°When will we be able to start?¡± Miss Danby asked.

    ¡°We will be transferring to our mansion probably tomorrow or the day after so once we¡¯re settled there, we will start then. Let me introduce my sister to you,¡± Anton asked Colin who was waiting by the side to call his sister.

    Colin went and knocked on Anna¡¯s door. She came out and asked Colin what he needed and Anton¡¯s assistant pointed at him and the two old tutors.

    ¡°Anna, this is Mr. Alan Tenor and this is Ms. Violet Damby. Mr. Tenor will be my tutor and Ms. Danby will be yours. Once we settled in the manor, they will give us written and oral tests to check our educational background so they could create a syllabus that would fit our needs,¡± Anton said to his sister.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Tenor, Ms. Danby, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Although I didn¡¯t understand what my brother said, I¡¯m ready whenever you are,¡± Anna cheekily said.

    Colin and Anna¡¯s two maids laughed a little at what Anna said and even Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby smiled. Anton rolled his eyes at his sister.

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    Anna and Ms. Damby talked a bit then Anton¡¯s sister said goodbye and returned to her room to practice her magic.

    ¡°Regarding your compensation, I will need to ask you to talk to my father¡¯s finance manager.¡±

    ¡°Sir Anton, you mentioned that you and your sister grew up as farmers but you¡¯re very well-spoken compared to those of others with your same situation. May I ask the reason why?¡± Mr. Tenor asked.

    ¡°When I encountered the fortuitous phenomenon that gave me my power, it came with a little bit of knowledge and that was what I had been using up until now. Of course, it¡¯s way different from the local knowledge that I will need to function properly here in Zalnothel.¡±

    Anna¡¯s maid interrupted their talk by serving the two old tutor cups of tea and Anton was grateful toward them since he forgot about that simple etiquette.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that we only served you something to drink now. As you can see, We¡¯re truly lacking when it comes to etiquette,¡± Anton said to the two tutors.

    ¡°That¡¯s alright. Actually ever since I entered this room, it¡¯s been very comfortable. The temperature is way different compared to outside. Is it a spell?¡± Ms. Damby asked while sipping the tea that Anna¡¯s maids served.

    ¡°That is one of the enchanted items that our family is planning to sell. If you look at the table over there, you will see a wooden board with a floating globe of ice rotating. I call it a wooden board of air conditioner but we will change the name and the item design soon. Once activated, it will lower the temperature of a house or a room to the desired temperature to make sure that everyone is comfortable even during the height of summer. My enchantment focus will be on the convenience of people. I will not be selling any enchanted weapons or armor. Just items that would make a person¡¯s life easier,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I saw it earlier. I thought it was some sort of decorative magic lamp. So it was the one lowering the temperature here? It looked beautiful,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°The orb of ice is truly pretty but the wooden bard leaves much to be desired so we hired someone to provide a better aesthetically pleasing items that I can enchant,¡± Anton commented.

    Anton thought for a bit and decided to show the two old tutors some of his magic so they could better understand him and his family.

    ¡°Mr. Tenor, Ms. Danby, I would like to show you something. It¡¯s one of my spells and it could answer some of your questions regarding our abilities and behavior,¡± Anton said to the two old tutors and they looked intrigued.

    Anton then asked Colin to call Anna again and have him mention to his sister that they would be watching a show using a spell.

    When Anna and her maids heard that Anton would be showing the unique ¡°show¡± they actually squealed.

    When everyone was ready and seated on the sofa in the living room, Anton explained to the audience what they were about to watch. He was planning to show the movie, Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 film starring Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. He thought of showing Titanic but there was a risqu¨¦ scene in that movie that might bother his sister so he decided on Pride and Prejudice. When he briefly checked the internet, opinions were divided between the 2005 version and the 1995 version but decided to show the most recent one since it was the one he had seen and thought that the movie was charming.

    Anton asked Colin to turn down the light then he activated his spell of Globe of Browser Sharing then played the movie Pride and Prejudice which was based on Jane Austen¡¯s novel.

    Everyone was focused on the movie and Anton could see that his sister and her maids were surprised at the film since he knew that they were expecting to see another animated film since those types of films were the only ones he had shown so far.

    When the movie ended, Anton could see that there were tears in his sister, her maids, and even Ms. Damby¡¯s eyes and he was a little surprised since he considered the movie charming but not a tearjerker.

 Chapter 189

    After the movie ended, Ms. Damby started telling her review of the movie.

    ¡°The show was utterly charming and beautiful. The actors and actresses were all beautiful, the location teeming with the beauty and dignity of the nobility. Where was that show created? How was it created? Can I see it again?¡±

    ¡°The show was beautifully done but I wondered why there was not a single sign of magic anywhere. It¡¯s as if in that world, magic doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Mr. Tenor added.

    ¡°I cannot share with you the details of how it was done but could only tell you that that spell was one of the reasons why my sister and I seemed well-read, at least compared to the usual farmers who grew up in the countryside. Granted, my sister had only seen a few of those shows. Not only that, as you may have noticed, the location of that show was totally different from here so the etiquette is different as well,¡± Anton said to the two old tutors.

    ¡°How many shows do you have in your spell?¡± Mr. Tenor said with his eyes gleaming.

    Anton understood immediately that the old male tutor was aware of the implication of him being able to show them the film so he didn¡¯t answer but unfortunately, Anna butted in.

    ¡°According to my brother, the variety and quantity are endless!¡± Anna said absently.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not an archmage, I would have asked you to keep this to yourself but even with your power, the very fact that you have this meant that your magic is connected to somewhere that has a robust entertainment system. I wondered why that location focused on entertainment instead of gearing toward power and war. It¡¯s admirable in a way since it meant if it was true that their main focus was entertaining their citizens, they had evolved past conducting wars to increase their power,¡± Mr. Tenor said absently.

    Anton didn¡¯t answer any more questions regarding the source of the films since it would definitely reveal more about his magic system that he wasn¡¯t prepared to share. He did answer Ms. Danby¡¯s question regarding a chance to watch the film again.

    ¡°Ms. Danby, we could schedule a time for a movie showing but repeated showings of the same movie which was what they¡¯re called would not be done since Anna already mentioned that I had a huge amount of shows in my collection. Unfortunately, because we are going to be busy, the showing of those ¡°unique shows¡± will be very rare since I will need to focus on increasing my personal power and our family¡¯s wealth.¡±

    Impressively, Ms. Damby didn¡¯t react too much to what Anton had said and he didn¡¯t know if it was because of her status as a respected tutor or her upbringing but she didn¡¯t show any sense of disappointment in her expression.

    Anton invited the two old tutors for lunch even though it was very late and surprisingly they had accepted so they all went to the inn¡¯s restaurant. After they ate, Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby said goodbye and asked him to send news of when they should return so they could schedule the test for him and his sister.

    Anton went back to his room while Anna followed him pestering him about showing the next movie. She said that she was surprised to see real people since she thought that all the shows he had were made using some type of drawings just like the first two movies that she had seen which were Disney¡¯s The Little Mermaid and Beauty and The Beast.

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    ¡°I promised we¡¯ll see another show once we transfer to our manor to celebrate our living in our new home,¡± Anton finally promised his sister which made her cheer.

    Anton saw that her maids were happy as well and celebrated with her. They couldn¡¯t stop talking about the film they had just seen and Belinda kept saying that she¡¯s in love with Mr. Darcy. He then thought silently, ¡°You and generations of young women are in love with Mr. Darcy,¡±.

    Once they arrived at the suite, Anton was surprised to see Eric waiting outside together with a couple of young men carrying a chest.

    ¡°Sir Anton, I brought you six wooden sculptures,¡± Eric said.

    ¡°You made six already!¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Yes. Since my main focus aside from the wooden creations be aesthetically pleasing, they could be made easily. Once I get used to making them, it could even be faster,¡± The carpenter said.

    When Eric showed Anton the six wooden crafted items, they were truly beautiful.

    ¡°Ooh, they¡¯re so pretty!¡± Anna said and even her maids were looking at the sculpted wooden sculpture with smiles on their faces.

    Eric pointed out again which were the sculptures for the air conditioner, which were for the lanterns, and which ones for the water heater.

    Anton immediately enchanted the sculptures and it only took him an hour to enchant all of the items. When he activated the items, they all looked exceptionally beautiful.

    While they were looking at the items, Anton asked Eric some questions.

    ¡°Do you think they need paint?¡±

    ¡°No. The only coating they will need is varnish. Painting them would make them look cheap and tacky,¡± Eric said decisively.

    ¡°Will it not affect the enchantment if somebody painted one?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Based on the logic behind the enchantment, paint shouldn¡¯t affect the enchantment since the mana pathway and mana structure were carved into the item using magic but the best thing that we could do right now is to test it. Colin, can you get us a paint?¡± Anton asked for his assistance and Colin immediately went outside the suite to search for paint.

    The next test that Anton wanted to do was to check the sturdiness of the items so with Eric¡¯s permission, he picked them up one by one except for the two that they were planning to paint to test if painting the items would affect the enchantment then Anton threw them hard on the ground.

    The result of the test showed that if the items just fell, they should not be broken immediately except if the height from which they fell was truly high or if the items were thrown hard. Next, the enchantment would still be working as long as the part where the enchantments were etched remained solid but if they were broken, the enchantment would cease. At least they didn¡¯t explode or anything like that since for a moment, when they broke one in the section where the mana storage was etched, Anton nervously waited but thankfully nothing wild happened and the mana just dissipated.

    Anna was looking sadly at the broken wooden sculptures but surprisingly Eric wasn¡¯t affected and when Anna asked the carpenter, he pragmatically answered that he knew that testing would be conducted and that since he was planning to create thousands of the items, he didn¡¯t form any emotional attachment to them. He further said that the most important item was his design notebook because it contained the items that he would need to create.

    Colin arrived with a bucket of paint and Eric started painting the two remaining enchanted items. After painting them, they conducted several tests and in conclusion, painting the items wouldn¡¯t affect the enchantment.

    Anton was very satisfied with the items and proceeded to tell Eric to create as many as he could in the next few days. He also told Eric to talk to Anders or Nemina so they could talk about his compensation and the cost of making the sculptures. He also advised the carpenter to have someone along when they talked about cost and compensation to make sure that he would receive proper compensation but Eric just nodded.

 Chapter 190

    After dinner, Anton asked his father and Nemina to talk to Eric regarding the business of creating the items. He mentioned that he already did a quality test on the wooden sculptures that Eric made and found them up to standard so the next step was to talk to the carpenter regarding the funds that he would require to start making the items en masse.

    Frederick also gladly announced that they could now move to the manor the next day since the mansion was now habitable and the fixing, decoration, and cleaning could be completed while they were living in the mansion.

    Everyone was glad when they heard the mage say that they could now move since they could begin concreting their plans since they would now have a base to move forward with creating their business empire. The limited space at the inn suffocated them a bit and the huge space in the manor, which currently still had no name, would help them a lot.

    ¡°We also need to submit the name of the manor to be archived so can you give me the name we¡¯ll use?¡± Frederick asked Anders.

    Anders looked at his son and Anton shrugged.

    ¡°I gave you a list already Father. You can choose any of them.¡±

    ¡°I like Oak Sage and the Oak Sage spell that you¡¯ve shown us is pretty,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Okay then. The manor would now be called Oak Sage manor,¡± Anders announced.

    Anton was a bit discontented with the name since it seemed like they chose it abruptly without any thought but it was really not a priority so he just let it be. The name Oak Sage was one of the good ones at least compared to the others on the list that he gave his father.

    ¡°By the way, Eric, can you work metal as well? My next enchanted item is an enchanted stove that can be used to cook food and can be used as a heater as well during winter,¡± Anton asked the carpenter.

    Anton then retrieved the enchanted stove prototype from his inventory and showed it to everyone. He explained that the enchanted stove had six heat settings and that the only part of the stove that would heat up was the one inside the indicator. The other area was safe to touch even if the maximum heat setting was on.

    ¡°I tried testing if I could create the stove with a mixture of wood and metal in the center but there¡¯s still a danger of burning the wood if the pan or pot that was used touched the wood so I decided to use all metal. Also even if the outside part of the indicator would not be affected by the heat from the enchanted section, if the pan or pot were huge and touched the area outside the indicated section, the metal section would heat up as well.¡±

    ¡°I will go ahead and create a design for the stove and since the only metal part was the one that would heat up, it would not be a problem for me. I¡¯ll also try to find a solution so that the section outside the indicated area would not heat up,¡± Eric said and Anton nodded his appreciation.

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    ¡°The next project that I¡¯m thinking of creating is called a mana power bank. Its main purpose is to recharge other enchanted items. I¡¯m not sure how successful it would be but the idea is that the items should have enough power to charge one of our enchanted items at least four or five times before the mana power bank is depleted.¡±

    ¡°That is a good item! I would like to have something like that,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°Why? You can recharge your item by yourself,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°It would be convenient to have something like a mana power bank if you have enchanted items and I don¡¯t want to spend my spell recharging them since I might need to use my spells to fight,¡± Frederick answered and Anna nodded when she realized that the mage was correct.

    ¡°Of course, the mana power bank that I would create would only work on our enchanted items not others since I don¡¯t know how other enchanted items work,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. It would increase the utilization of our enchanted items and would allow us to increase our customer base,¡± Nemina commented.

    ¡°Frederick, can you look for a two-story shop that we can use to sell our enchanted item? I want to own a charming magic shop that would sell the enchanted items that I can make. The first floor will be where I will display my items and the second floor will be my workshop and rest area,¡± Anton asked Frederick and the mage said that he would start to look for one and would make sure that the location is good.

    ¡°Why do you want to own a shop? We can sell your items for you,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a hobby. You would also need to open a shop so you will have something that you can show off your items father. From what I know, all huge merchants have huge shops in cities,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°Of course, we would open a shop. It¡¯s just that a shop is a massive undertaking and from what I¡¯ve heard from you, you have a lot of plans and didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d have time to manage a shop.¡±

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, the shop would just be a hobby, and more than likely I would only open it two to three days a week and only a few hours a day. I just want a place where I can see my creations displayed and where people could come in and check them out.¡±

    ¡°Okay then, we¡¯ll go ahead with your request,¡± Anders shrugged and Anton thanked his father.

    ¡°Will your mana power bank be able to recharge the Ice Bolt magic wand?¡± Lucas suddenly asked.

    ¡°It should since the wands are also my creation,¡± Anton answered.

    Lucas then requested more Ice Bolt wands and he told their head guard that he would try to create more since he knew that the man was just thinking about their family¡¯s security and the wands were a massive help. Lucas was actually delighted when he learned that Anton wasn¡¯t planning to sell any enchanted weapons or armor since that meant that the family could monopolize the power of the Ice Bolt wands.

    ¡°Oh by the way regarding my statement about not selling weapons or armor, it might be wrong for me to say that since I found another type of enchanted item in the magic shop called a talisman. I thought of copying it as well,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°You can make those?! Those are highly powerful and expensive! When I was a mercenary, I saw my leader use one, and a whole group of feral wolves were suddenly defeated,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t tried making one yet so I¡¯ll let you know soon. Father, I also hired two tutors. His name is Mr. Alan Tenor and he will be my tutor. The other one is called Ms. Violet Damby and she will be Anna¡¯s tutor. They¡¯re both very old and dignified teachers and I like them very much. I asked them to talk to you or Nemina regarding their remuneration and I will have Lunette or Devon call on them once we move to the manor,¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡±We also watched a very lovely romantic show together with the tutors,¡± Anna said while smiling, thinking about the movie.

    ¡°It¡¯s for me to show them a bit of my capability to the old tutors,¡± Anton said.

 Chapter 191

    Anton saw that Lunelle was looking at him in dissatisfaction and knew that it was about the movie.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lunelle that you were not here to see the movie with us but I did promise Anna that once we move to the manor, we¡¯ll see a movie to celebrate,¡± Anton told Lucas¡¯s daughter.

    ¡°But you said that you will show a different movie!¡± Anna suddenly interrupted.

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll show Pride and Prejudice first then a new movie after that.¡±

    All the girls celebrated and the men were looking at them in indulgence. He wondered if he should show a film catered to the men and right now he couldn¡¯t think of anything that wouldn¡¯t shock them too much. He then thought of their reaction if he let them watch a Marvel film and he smiled at the thought. He then thought maybe the first film in the Lord of the Rings movie franchise wouldn¡¯t be too shocking to the people here since the film was set in Middle Earth which was somewhat similar to this world.

    Anton then thought deeply about the setting of this world and to which fantasy fiction he could compare it. At first, he thought that this world could be somewhat similar to the Witcher world or maybe even the Dungeons and Dragons franchise but then again, all medieval fantasy stories and games did look somewhat similar to each other so the best thing that he could do was to treat this new world of as a unique world since assuming something based off of novels and games could be dangerous for him.

    The group then started talking about business and Anton asked if he could leave since he needed to meditate and when his father agreed he immediately went to his room. After taking a bath, Anton entered the game to level up his druid character since it had been several hours since he focused on leveling up.

    After a couple of hours, he completed Act II but didn¡¯t level up and after that, he slept.

    The next day, everyone was busy since it was the day they would move to the manor. Since their caravan was huge, the action of their preparation affected the whole inn but there was nothing they could do about that and once they left, the inn would return to its normal business.

    Anton was one of the first ones who arrived at the mansion and the first thing that he did was to cast his highest level cleaning spell on the room that he chose which Clean Large Area. Although the room was cleaned by the people that Frederick hired, he wasn¡¯t satisfied with how it looked and after he cast the spell, the room looked visibly different from before.

    He knew that if he didn¡¯t cast the spell and trusted the people that Frederick hired, his skin would be full of insect bites the next day. The room decoration was still lacking so that meant that he would need to personally purchase stuff to fill his room that would make it comfortable. Nemina did say that they would have to create a list of what they wanted to purchase so that they could make bulk purchases from merchants but Anton decided to do it himself for his room since a personalized touch would be better in the long run.

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    After that, he went and cast his Clean Large Area spell on every inch of the mansion. He needed to stop once in a while to memorize the spell so he could fill up the spell slots. The good thing about being a powerful archmage in this world''s spell system, just like the magic system in Dungeons and Dragons, he had plenty of spell slots. He managed to clean the whole mansion, the manor grounds, the warehouse at the back, and even the gates, and since the spell had a large coverage it only took him four hours, and was able to completely clean the whole thing before lunch.

    During lunch, everyone was busy planning on their next step and sharing their plans with Anders. Anna pestered Anton on casting the cleaning spell again once her room was filled with all the things that they would need to purchase to fill it up.

    Nemina, Lunelle, and Frederick together with their guards would be busy purchasing items to decorate the manor. Anna together with her maids also planned to shop for items that they could use in their rooms and everyone else for that matter was planning to do the same thing so Anders was forced to assign their shopping plans in batches so that there would be people in the mansion while the rest were out shopping.

    Anders looked pained while giving out coins for everyone¡¯s shopping spree. Before Anton left for his shopping spree, he went to the warehouse to put all of the things there that he didn¡¯t need to keep like the remaining weapons, armor, and repaired stuff. There were separate storage facilities for the food and the caravan chefs were the ones in charge of those so he went there as well to store the remaining food in his inventory that he didn¡¯t need to keep like grains.

    The only things that he kept in his private stash were his things and the cooked food and bread since those needed to be stored in his private stash to keep them fresh. Even his clothes were already in his room although he did keep some in his inventory for emergencies.

    When Anton¡¯s private stash was clear, he and Colin together with a couple of guards rode one of their carriages to shop for items like a mattress, bed sheets, pillows, curtains some furniture for his room like a study table, and chairs. He guessed that the truly rich folks or the nobility wouldn¡¯t personally handle this type of work but, to be honest about it, Anton¡¯s family was still new to being rich and they were truly not rich yet since their funds were limited that meant that they were still upstart farmers and didn¡¯t know how to behave like the rich folks in the cities.

    They were also not nobles since he believed that the noble offices were assigned by kings. That was what he knew but what Anton didn¡¯t know was that it was different in Zalnothel. The nobility was handled by the mages meaning noble offices were granted to the powerful wizards of Zalnothel.

    That meant that by virtue of the Archmage Voduria acknowledging him as an archmage automatically entitled him a noble title and the actual assignation would be handled at a later time once they settled on their manor.

    During their shopping spree, it was Colin who was busy running around inquiring the people where they could purchase specific items. The good thing about shopping with Anton was nobody would need to carry anything since all the items that he purchased would be stored directly in his inventory.

    Anton was a bit startled that his act of storing his items in his inventory astonished the people in the store but what he didn¡¯t know was mages were rare even in the wizard city of Zalnothel and mages who could store items in another dimension were either very rich or very powerful. If they¡¯re not powerful, they¡¯re very rich since they could afford artifacts that allowed them to store items in another dimension which everyone knew cost an astronomical amount of coins or very powerful since the act of having the ability to cast a spell that would allow one to store item in another space was a very high-level spell.

 Chapter 192

    Anton enjoyed the time he spent shopping for items that he needed for his bedroom. He purchased everything that he could think of, even the decorations that he fancied. His inventory contributed to his enjoyment because he could see all the things that he purchased at a glance. It was actually taking him several hours and even Colin and the two guards were looking a bit tired so they went to a restaurant to eat and rest for a bit.

    ¡°Do we still have coins, Colin?¡± Anton asked his assistant.

    ¡°Your father gave us one hundred gold coins and we still have sixty-two gold coins left.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Our goal for the day is to spend all of them!¡±

    After lunch, Anton, Colin, and the two guards roamed the nearby shops and purchased a lot of things. He also asked the others if they wanted to purchase things of their own but they declined saying that his father gave them coins to purchase their things.

    Anton purchased more bedsheets, comfortable mattresses, lamps, and decorations that he planned to enchant with magic at a later time, more pillows and curtains. He also purchased some everyday clothes, robes, towels, sleepwear, cloaks, shoes, inside slippers, and even rugs and carpets.

    Looking at all the things that he purchased in his inventory, Anton was satisfied and he even had ten gold coins left.

    He also purchased things that he could use in the small room beside his that was supposed to be the room for a servant but he was planning to use it as a study where his tutor would teach him.

    It was around two in the afternoon when they returned to the manor Anton almost laughed out loud when he saw Colin and the two guards looking extremely tired. He wondered why they were so tired, the only thing they did was walk since he kept all the things they purchased in his inventory.

    Anton immediately went to his room. There were a lot of noises that he could hear since a lot of people were doing work on the mansion to fix everything that needed fixing.

    In his room, he immediately arranged everything that he purchased and it was easy for him because of his Telekinesis spell then he made sure that everything was clean by casting his Clean Large Area spell. He then put the metal sculpture that he enchanted with the Frozen Orb air conditioner on the table and activated it making sure that the temperature in the room was comfortable.

    He also enchanted several decorative lamps that he purchased with the Fire Bolt lantern enchantment and activated them making the room bright. His room now looked comfortable and he was proud of the decoration that he placed around the room. He enjoyed playing as a decorator tremendously.

    He then went to the bathroom to put all the toiletries that he purchased as well as the decorations for the bathroom like the rugs, robes, and towels. Anton even purchased some scented candles and men¡¯s perfumes but he knew that he probably wouldn¡¯t use them and was only put there for decoration. He also enchanted the lamps that he purchased for the toilet as well as the sculpture that he would use for the air conditioner then he cast his cleaning spell on the place.

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    He then went to the small room beside his and put all the things that he purchased for that room like bookshelves, study table and chairs, decorative lamps, rugs, and curtains.  He then enchanted one of the sculptures that he bought and placed in the study with the air conditioner enchantment and enchanted the lamps with the Fire Bolt lantern enchantment. He also didn¡¯t forget to cast the cleaning spell on the study to make sure that it was spick and span. The only thing that was lacking were books on the shelves.

    After that, Anton went to his room to rest. He was very satisfied with his two rooms and bathroom decorations and observed all the decorations again. He then decided to check the others after a few minutes but when he roamed the mansion, nobody was back yet from their shopping spree. He forgot that the others could only utilize the carriages to bring back the things they purchased since the only one who had a magical storage item that could fit large items was his father so he decided to return to his room and enter the game to level up his druid character.

    Anton spent the next few hours running around Act III inside the World of Sanctuary. After making sure that the Spider Forest and Flayer Jungle were fully explored he leveled up his druid twice so his druid was now level twenty-three. One more level and his mercenary would be able to equip the insight runeword weapon and he could stop drowning in mana potion. His current druid skills were level one Oak Sage, level seven Raven, Summon Spirit Wolf level twelve, and Summon Dire Wolf level 3.

    He didn¡¯t follow what he did with his sorceress character of spreading his skill points to all the spells since with his sorceress supporting him in real life, he could min-max his druid character. Anton decided that once he completed Act III using his druid character, he would go back to his sorceress character to complete the quest for the unique charms since those charms were truly powerful and could increase his real-life power greatly. He still spent several minutes after playing practicing his druid spell outside the Rogue Encampment to make sure that he was well versed on the use of his druid spells.

    Anton then heard knocking on his door and was glad that he already parked his druid in the Rogue Encampment. He minimized the game and followed Colin to the dining room.

    When he arrived there, the servants served the food and everyone talked about the things they purchased.

    ¡°Everyone! After you¡¯re done decorating, please call me so I can cast Clean Large Area in your room so insects would not bother you during the night and the spell would also make sure that everything you bought is clean,¡± Anton announced.

    ¡°I also recommend that you purchase decorative lamps, sculptures, and cups that I can enchant with air conditioner, heater, and cold water enchantments so everything would be personalized to your taste. I did it in my room, my study, and my bathroom and they looked beautiful.¡±

    Everyone was appreciative of the fact that Anton offered to do something like that.

    After dinner, everyone stayed in the dining room to conduct a meeting. They all stated their move for the next few days. Anton asked Lunelle to call on the two tutors so they could come in the afternoon the next day. Then he told everyone that he would show a couple of movies to celebrate their move and the movies would take around five hours so they would need to prepare themselves. He also told Lunelle to make sure that the two old tutors were aware of the event. He then asked Nemina to prepare two guest rooms for the tutors since they might need to stay for the night the next day.

    ¡°By the way, Anton, the maids are worried. They thought that since you¡¯ve been using magic to clean the mansion, that they wouldn¡¯t be needed and that we might let them go,¡± Nemina said while smiling.

    ¡°Please reassure them Nemina. I only planned to use magic at the start and after that, it would be their responsibility to make sure that everything is clean,¡± Anton said.

    Nemina laughed and assured him that everyone knew that and that she was just teasing him.

 Chapter 193

    Anton woke up refreshed the next day even though he slept very late due to several people¡¯s requests for him to cast the cleaning spell on their room after they filled it with newly bought decorations and essential things. He took a bath and cleaned his room using the Clean Large Area spell and the spell was becoming one of his favorite ones making sure that everything was clean.

    He went to the dining room to join his family for breakfast but when he arrived there, only Anna, her maids, and Colin were there. Anton assumed that the others had eaten already and went ahead to do their business. He knew that everyone was going to be very busy. While they were eating, he reminded his sister that the tutors would be coming in after lunch and they would conduct testing for the both of them so she would need to prepare herself.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to prepare myself. I¡¯ll just make sure that I¡¯m full of energy then. During the morning though, I will still need to go outside to purchase more things for my room. I will also help Ramana and Belinda in purchasing the things they will need,¡± Anna said while they were eating.

    ¡°Sure but please make sure to come back before lunch since it would be very embarrassing if the tutors arrive and you¡¯re not here,¡± Anton said to his sister.

    After breakfast, he told Colin that he would stay in his room to meditate and asked his assistant to not let anybody disturb him unless it was very important.

    During that morning, Anton didn¡¯t play the game but went outside the Rogue Encampment to plan what he would need to do when it came to providing mana water to his family and friends.

    For the other rooms, he would only need to install an enchanted item that would provide water. That would make it easier for the inhabitants of the room since it would allow them to wash up without needing to ask for water to be brought to their bathroom.

    The problem was he wanted to consistently provide mana water for his father and sister and his close friends but since everyone had a different schedule it would be difficult. Regarding drinking the mana water, he could still provide it every meal and that would ensure that everyone would be healthy due to the magic brought on by the mana water. Of course, if someone didn¡¯t join the meal, they would miss drinking it but at least that would ensure that his family and friends would always gather during meal times at least during breakfast and dinner.

    Anton just wished that the mana water effectiveness lasted longer. During extensive testing, they learned that the effectivity of the mana water which would only appear if he directly cast the spell since the water from the enchanted items that he made didn¡¯t produce mana water, would only last for two hours, after that the magic in the mana water dissipates.

    The best idea that he could think of was to create a general bath for women and men for his family and friends and schedule a mana water bath in the evening. That meant he would need to ask Anders to create a bath for males and females where he could store mana water for bathing during scheduled times.

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    The only problem that he could think of was once he was not in the manor, the mana water would not be available. At least the effects of mana water on the body were permanent and didn¡¯t disappear so if one became healthier, younger-looking, and fairer because of the water, they would remain that way until the ravages of time affected them again. If that happened, they just need to drink and bathe in mana water to revert to becoming beautiful and fairer.

    Anton then focused on creating the mana power bank enchanted item but unfortunately, after several hours of testing, he wasn¡¯t successful still since there were bugs that occurred that needed to be solved but he already glimpsed that after several more hours of trial and error, he would soon be successful.

    He then heard someone calling his attention so he minimized the game and checked who it was. It was Colin telling him that Nemina asked him to tell Anton that the rooms that were prepared for the tutor in case they needed to stay later tonight were done but it would be best if he cast a cleaning spell on the rooms to make sure they were immaculate so Anton followed Colins to the room which was on the third floor.

    The rooms were spacious and decorated beautifully. Everything looked clean already but he still cast his cleaning spell just to make sure. He then enchanted two of the sculptures that were placed inside the rooms with the air conditioner enchantment to make sure that the room would be comfortable. He also placed cups on each of the rooms that would provide a cup of cold water to the inhabitants then enchanted two of the decorative lamps in each room with Fire Bolt lantern enchantment. He turned the enchanted items on and left them like that. He also placed tall sculptures beside the bathtub in the bathroom of the room and enchanted them with enchantments that would spew out water so that in case the tutors needed water for washing or bathing, they would just need to activate the enchanted items and they¡¯re good to go. He also made sure that there were enchanted lamps in the bathroom.

    After everything was done, he was satisfied with how the rooms looked and taught Colin how to activate and deactivate the enchantments in the rooms and bathrooms so he could teach the maids assigned to the rooms. The reason for that was so they could teach the tutors everything they would need to do to use the enchanted items.

    Anton then went to the room that served as the ballroom in the mansion. He saw that it was already arranged like a theater. The only thing that he did was to enchant the chandelier with the Fire Bolt Lantern enchantment and enchanted a couple of sculptures with the air conditioner enchantment to make sure that the makeshift theater room would be comfortable. Then he cast his Clean Large Area spell in the room to make sure that it was spick and span.

    One of the maids came and informed him that Anna had returned from her shopping spree together with her maids and another maid arrived to announce that Mr. Alan Tenor and Ms. Violet Damby had arrived so Anton immediately went to the mansion¡¯s door to greet the old tutors.

    ¡°Mr. Tenor sir and Ms. Damby. I¡¯m so glad that you¡¯re here. My sister and I are ready to take your test but before that can we invite you for lunch?¡± Anton asked the tutors.

    The two old teachers smiled when they heard Anton¡¯s invite and they all went to the dining room. Unfortunately, Colin whispered that one of the maids informed him that the kitchen hadn¡¯t prepared a good enough repast for their guest which made Anton frown at Colin.

    They had never seen Anton angry so the action made Colin sweat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Colin, I prepared enough for my guest,¡± Anton told his assistant but he told Colin to go to the kitchen and scold the people there.

    Anton was glad that he had the habit of ordering a huge amount of food from the restaurants where he found the food delicious and he had a lot of them stored in his inventory which kept the food fresh as if it were just made right then. He laid down the food on the table and everything looked delicious.

 Chapter 194

    Anton''s sister arrived and greeted the two tutors. Then they started to eat. While they were eating, Mr. Tenor advised Anton and Anna that the etiquette for dining would also be included in their lessons but for now, they should enjoy the food without minding their teachers¡¯ presence and since Anton and Anna were holding themselves back because they didn¡¯t want to embarrass themselves in front of their would-be teachers, they did eat very slowly but after Mr. Tenor told them that they should normally, they ate just like before which was how normal farmers eat.

    He and his sister saw that the two old tutors ate differently from how they were eating but since they would learn how to eat like that anyway, both of them unspokenly decided to eat however they wanted because more than likely, it would be the last time they would be allowed to eat like that in front of a respectable company.

    While they were eating Anton told the tutors that later that day there would be a movie viewing event that would last for five hours as a celebration of their move to the manor.

    ¡°We were informed of that by Ms. Lunelle and we agreed to join the movie viewing,¡± Ms. Damby said.

    ¡°We also prepared two guest rooms for you both so you could stay here in the mansion for the night since the movie would end very late,¡± Anton told the tutors and the two teachers agreed.

    Anton then asked Colin and a maid to lead Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby to their rooms so they could freshen up before they began testing Anton and Anna and the two teachers followed his assistant and the maid. He didn¡¯t forget to remind Colin and the maid to teach the tutors how to operate the enchanted items in the room.

    Anna went with Ms. Damby but Anton went to his study to wait for Mr. Tenor. After about thirty minutes, Colin knocked on the door of his study and when Anton opened it, Colin was with his tutor. Anton invited his tutor to his study and his assistant left.

    ¡°The room that you provided us is truly extravagant, especially with those amazing, enchanted items,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°Once I¡¯ve learned more types of enchanted items, I¡¯m planning to fill the mansion with them. My next project was an enchanted heater and I¡¯m also planning to put them in all of the rooms. This would allow everyone to have a heated room in the height of winter. Since it¡¯s still summer and the heater wasn¡¯t needed, I held off on putting them in.¡±

    ¡°I like the cup of cold water item since it allows me to drink a cup of cold water anytime I want.¡±

    ¡°I thought of producing a cup of hot water enchanted item as well but I feel that it would be redundant since the heater enchanted item should be able to heat a kettle without any issues since the heater had six temperature settings that could function as a stove as well and a kettle could easily provide hot water to the inhabitants of the room.¡±

    ¡°You might be right,¡± Mr. Tenor said while smiling then he proceeded to take several pieces of paper from his bag and gave the paper to Anton.

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    The dreaded test began but when Anton checked the test out, he was a bit relieved since the test contained very basic knowledge. After less than an hour, he completed the test and gave the paper to Mr. Tenor.

    The tutor spent several minutes grading his paper and after that, he talked to Anton.

    ¡°I¡¯m extremely impressed by your foundation when it comes to mathematics and the sciences since you received perfect scores and this test is a test that was given to university students here in Zalnothel. Since you mentioned that you know very little about Geography and your knowledge of noble etiquette is non-existent, I didn¡¯t include those so I¡¯m planning to start you with the very basics for those subjects. Since you¡¯re highly knowledgeable when it comes to mathematics and the sciences, I would only teach you general knowledge, noble and common etiquette, and geography. Of course, those subjects would have sub-genre so you better prepare yourself. As per your request, I will teach you three hours a day for three days a week.¡±

    Anton said that he understood and his tutor continued.

    ¡°I will need to talk to your father later so I can get more information. I still feel a bit uncomfortable in needing to talk to your parent since you¡¯re an archmage. This is the first time that I¡¯ve encountered this situation and it''s highly interesting. Normally archmages are highly knowledgeable and prideful people so teaching one would be an extremely unique experience for me,¡± Mr. Tenor said then he laughed heartily.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you find teaching me interesting and I look forward to your lesson Sir Alan. Our dinner should be around five in the afternoon and you can talk to my father after dinner. We would probably start the movie event around six or seven in the evening,¡± Anton said to his tutor.

    After that Anton called Colin and asked his assistant to lead his tutor back to his room. He then went and checked on his sister and Ms. Damby and saw that Anna was still in the process of answering her test papers so he left them alone and went back to his room.

    Since there was only an hour left before the expected time for dinner, Anton decided to spend the remaining time practicing his guitar inside his room and soon, Colin informed him that his father and the others arrived and were already seated in the dining room.

    Anton asked Colin to invite the tutors to the dining room as well. When he arrived in the dining room, Anders and the rest were already seated waiting for dinner to be served.

    ¡°Father, the tutors arrived during lunch but the kitchen wasn¡¯t prepared to serve us food fitting for our guests. Can you please reprimand them and hire more chefs,¡± Anton told his father.

    Anders actually blushed since he knew that his children would be tutors were very dignified people from the city.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Anders said and Anton could hear the anger in his father¡¯s voice.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry though. I was able to serve our tutors the very best food because it¡¯s been a habit of mine to store good food from restaurants in my magical space,¡± Anton told his father and Anders just said, ¡°Good, good.¡±

    ¡°We managed to purchase a lot of things Anton so you will need to go to the warehouse when you have the time to repair them,¡± Anders told his son and Anton nodded.

    Anton also reminded everyone that the movie event would be held after dinner and that he invited his tutors to the event.

    Anna and her maids arrived with the two tutors. Anton introduced the two tutors to his father, Nemina and Lucas and his father told Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby that he would talk to them after dinner. Once dinner was over, Anders together with Nemina invited Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby to his study to talk about his children¡¯s lessons.

    Anton and Anna were not invited so they headed directly to the ballroom converted to a theater room. Soon, Anna¡¯s maids arrived followed by Lunelle and Devon. The vampires arrived next and after several minutes the theater was full of people except for the seats reserved for Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and the two tutors.

 Chapter 195

    A few minutes passed by and soon Anders together with Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby arrived. Anton¡¯s father led the two tutors to the front row seats and when everyone was seated, Anton went to the front to talk to the audience.

    ¡°Before we start the first movie, I¡¯ll tell you something about it. I thought of showing the movie that I¡¯ve shown before to my new tutor Mr. Alan Tenor and Anna¡¯s tutor Ms. Violet Damby but since they¡¯ve already seen that movie, I decided to show a new one instead. The author of that first film is also the author of the one that I¡¯ll be showing and her name is Ms. Jane Austen. I¡¯ll give everyone five more minutes to go to the bathroom or take some snacks before I start the show,¡± Anton announced and he saw that a lot of people went outside to relieve themselves.

    When everyone was back, Anton cast the spell called the Globe of Browser Sharing that allowed him to share his browser with an audience. After a few seconds of adjustment to make sure that the screen was big enough and clear and the sounds were clear as well he played the Jane Austen film which was the nineteen-ninety-five movie Sense and Sensibility. He actually hadn''t seen both films before. The first one, which was Pride and Prejudice, he was too young and didn¡¯t care about romantic movies, and this one, he wasn¡¯t even born yet.

    Admittedly, Anton enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and wished that this one was enjoyable as well. He only chose movies with what he thought had a setting that wouldn¡¯t shock the people in this world and it did took him several minutes of research before he chose these movies.

    The spell that Anton was using was really powerful since the definition of the movie was really excellent. Everyone was focused on watching the film, even him, and when the movie ended Anton joined everyone in clapping.

    Anton went toward the front and announced that the next film would be shown after thirty minutes so everyone could eat and go to the bathroom. He then retrieved a table from his inventory, put some food that he stored, and invited the tutors and family to eat.

    After everyone returned, Anton announced that the next film was an adventure movie since he really couldn¡¯t say that it was a fantasy film since he¡¯s currently living in a world where fantasy was reality. Then he started the first movie in the epic franchise, The Lord of The Rings which was The Fellowship of the Ring.

    Anton knew that this movie would be liked by all but especially the men and based on their reaction, he was correct. Since he had seen this movie several times, he divided his attention into watching the film and watching the audience''s reactions. He really liked everyone¡¯s amazed reactions. The prologue alone was enough to amaze the audience. The dragon firework in Bilbo¡¯s birthday scene made everyone laugh.

    When Frodo was rescued by Arwen, the scene of her escape from the clutches of the Ringwraiths while carrying Frodo and the part where the river magic summoned by Arwen saved them made everyone clap.

    The betrayal of Saruman and the fight between the white wizard and Gandalf the Gray truly thrilled the audience.

    The beauty of Rivendell, the land of the elves brought a gasp of astonishment to everyone. The council meeting of Elrond made everyone¡¯s blood boil since it was the scene that was going to be the foundation of the main adventure.

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    Gandalf¡¯s battle with the Balrog made everyone terrified and brought tears at the thought that Gandalf had died but the death of Boromir broke everyone¡¯s heart.

    The audience also understood the power of the one ring during the scene when Galadriel almost succumbed to the ring¡¯s temptation.

    When the movie ended, everyone became aware that the film was only the first part. The audience did not clap or cheer but was silent and when Anton studied everyone¡¯s faces, he knew that everyone was ruminating about the scenes in the movie that they had just seen.

    ¡°It¡¯s the best story I have ever seen in my life,¡± Mr. Alan simply said.

    ¡°When are you going to show us the second part!¡± Anna shouted and by the look of everyone in the audience, the same question was in everyone¡¯s mind.

    Anton went towards the front and made an announcement.

    ¡°The showing of the next part of the movie will be decided by my father so go talk to him.¡±

    He shamelessly threw the responsibility to his father and Anders was looking at his son wryly which made Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby laugh. Anders then loudly announced that he would tell everyone when the showing of the next part would be during dinner the next day.

    A lot of the audience actually stayed in the makeshift theater to talk about the movie and this included the two old tutors. Anna wanted to stay as well but with Ander¡¯s scolding, she forlornly went to her room to rest followed by her maids.

    Mr. Tenor, Ms. Damby, Nemina, Lucas, and some of the older ones were gathered together and were talking about the scenes in the movie and if anyone could hear what they were talking about without any context, it would appear that they were talking about something that could be construed by the listener as something monumental that happened in the history of the world and this made Anton smile.

    He said his goodbye to his father and the others and went to his room to rest. Even though it was very late, Anton wasn¡¯t tired yet so he decided to enter the game and continue his research in creating the mana power bank that could recharge his enchanted items.

    At first, Anton thought of putting the enchantment in some sort of a chest then the users could put in the enchanted items inside the chest to recharge them but a chest would defeat the purpose of the power bank which was to make recharging the enchanted items more convenient.

    He then thought of the Maglev power bank that one of the most famous smartphone producers from Earth released and imagined himself doing the same thing as well. Basically, the mana power bank would look like a small smartphone that one could attach to the mana storage of an item and the mana storage of the item would take the mana from the mana power bank until the enchanted item was full. Anton immediately wrote down the concept in his notebook and started the process of creating the item. He spent a couple of hours etching the mana pathway on a piece of wood as big as a smartphone that would allow him to store mana on the item. He made sure that there was a mana structure that would allow the thin wood to connect to another piece of wood of the same size with the same mana structure but then there was a problem with the mana structure when he tried to connect the two items and the connection wasn¡¯t successful.

    He knew that it would take him a few more hours or even days of trial and error before he would be successful. Once he was successful in attaching the two pieces together that contained nothing but the mana structure of the mana storage, which basically meant the batteries, he would then need to create a mana structure that would allow the item to automatically attach itself to another enchanted item like a magnet and another mana structure that would safely transfer the mana from the mana storage of the power bank to the enchanted item plus make sure that the mana power bank would automatically shut itself off once the enchanted item that it was charging was full of mana.

 Chapter 196

    The next day, Anton went to the dining room to join his family for breakfast and there he saw the two old tutors were there as well. While they were eating, Mr. Tenor told Anton some information.

    ¡°We will be leaving today to return home but before that, Ms. Damby and I agreed on a schedule for both you and your sister and we will give that to you before we leave.¡±

    ¡°All right Mr. Tenor, Ms. Damby. I¡¯m looking forward to my lesson,¡± Anton told his new tutor.

    ¡°Anton, remember to go to the warehouse today okay?¡± Anders told his son and he just nodded.

    While they were eating, everyone was very lively and the only thing that they were talking about wasn¡¯t their plans for the day but the movies they had seen the night before.

    Devon was asking Mr. Tenor about which part of the world one could encounter the sub-species of halfling called Hobbit and Anton was flabbergasted to know that there was a version of that halfling in this world that looked similar to Hobbits although they were called something else based on what the tutor said. Mr. Tenor also mentioned that the location where they could be found was somewhere very far away. Anton also heard Lunelle asking Ms. Damby about the elegant elves in the movie and Anna¡¯s tutor speculated was what they had seen was some part of the history of the elves since the elves they had seen in the city were nowhere near as noble and elegant as the elves in the movie.

    Anton didn¡¯t enlighten anyone about the movie being fiction and let them discuss the movie as if it were real to their heart''s content.

    Anna was talking to her maids about the movie Sense and Sensibility and how romantic the movie was. They were also discussing how they couldn¡¯t truly compare it to Pride and Prejudice and that they shouldn¡¯t do so since it was created by the same author which they noted was a woman.

    Anders then loudly announced that the next part of the film that they had seen last night would be shown on Saturday night, which was a few days from that day and everyone was delighted by the announcement.

    ¡°How many parts are there in the movie?¡± Frederick suddenly asked Anton.

    ¡°The Lord of the Rings has three movies. The first one which we saw last night is called The Fellowship of the Ring. The second film is called The Two Towers and the third film is called The Return of the King. There are another three movies which were prequel to The Lord of the Rings. It was about Bilbo¡¯s adventures and they are The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the last one is called The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies,¡± Anton answered.

    Anton¡¯s answer to Frederick¡¯s questions excited everyone, even his father.

    ¡°Such a long epic story! You must remember to not show the movie without us!¡± Mr. Anton exclaimed and even Ms. Damby was nodding vigorously.

    ¡°Are there any more movies that you could let us see?¡± Ms. Damby unexpectedly asked Anton and it was Anna who answered.

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    ¡°Actually we¡¯ve seen two movies already but both of those were called ani¡­ma, what was that again? Oh yeah, animated films which according to Brother were drawings that were made into one huge story. They were very beautiful and the characters sang so beautifully almost as beautiful as my brother¡¯s singing.¡±

    ¡°Your brother can sing?¡± Ms. Damby asked, startled at what Anna had said.

    ¡°Oh yes! My brother has the most beautiful voice and he can play the lute like a master bard. When we were in the city of Leminthor, I¡¯ve heard a lot of the minstrels there but my brother can sing better than all of them,¡± Anna boasted.

    Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby were surprised and they even saw the others at the table nodding, fully agreeing to what Anna had said. The comment made Anton blushed and he covered it up by drinking some water.

    ¡°By the way, Nemina. Can you have someone purchase some tall slim sculptures and different sculptures that we can put in the bathrooms in the mansion? I can enchant them to produce water so the maids wouldn¡¯t need to carry water to fill out the bathtub in the bathrooms. I will also enchant smaller sculptures so they can spew out water in the bathroom sink so those who are using the rooms will have water whenever they want,¡± Anton said to Nemina and she told him that she would handle it.

    ¡°You¡¯re turning your mansion into a magical mansion,¡± Anton¡¯s tutor commented.

    ¡°That¡¯s my aim and I¡¯m only starting to learn about enchantment. Once I know more, I will make sure that the mansion is truly filled with magical items. Maybe someday, our mansion will not be located here but up in the sky flying amongst the clouds and the only way our people can enter or leave is to fly or use a magical gate,¡± Anton dreamily said.

    ¡°Ooh, that would be wonderful,¡± Anna dreamily said as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s an admirable goal for an archmage and I believe that you can do it,¡± Mr. Tenor said while Anders just shook his head at his son¡¯s ambition.

    After breakfast, Mr. Tenor told Anton that their schedule for their tutoring session would be every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, from eight until eleven in the morning, and that they would start next week. Ms. Damby¡¯s schedule with Anna was different but Anton wasn¡¯t interested to learn that.

    Once the tutor left, Anton asked his Father if they already settled the remuneration of the tutors and Anders assured him that the teachers were happy with the pay they would be receiving from their family.

    ¡°By the way, Anders, Anton I have something to talk to you before you leave,¡± Nemina said so they all went to Anders¡¯ office.

    ¡°We will need to hire a butler, a head chef, and a head maid for the mansion,¡± Nemina said.

    Anton just shrugged and looked at his Father.

    ¡°Okay but you will need to handle it since we don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± Anders replied.

    ¡°Also, I was informed that on Friday there would be a wizard¡¯s council meeting Anton is invited but you will need to come as well due to Anton¡¯s age. I was informed by one of the high wizards that the council of mages would conduct another test for Anton to confirm his status as an archmage and once it was confirmed, they would announce publicly your noble rank. The Archmage Voduria¡¯s secretary said that you will need to select a last name for your family.¡±

    ¡°Do all mages who entered Zalnothel receive the same treatment?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know but I assumed it was because of the level of your power and your intention to stay in the city. According to one of our new clients, most archmages are already established in a city even before they reach that level of power. There were very few in the history of the city that encountered a displaced archmage since usually, a powerful archmage had the power and connection that would allow him or her to defend the city they grew up in,¡± Nemina said.

    Anton then said that he would go ahead and attend the meeting so they could truly join the city without any more issues. He then asked Nemina to remind Frederick to search for his request about finding a shop for him.

    Anders also said that he would think about the last name that they would use.

    After their meeting, Anton headed to the warehouse to begin repairing the items that his father, Nemina, and Lunelle had purchased.

 Chapter 197

    Anton and Anders were on their way to the venue where the council of mages would meet for their quarterly meeting. They were followed by Lucas, Zenoxus, and five other guards and their newly hired butler. With the help of the newly hired butler called Ignomus which Anton was having a problem saying since he kept saying Ignoramus, the clothes they were wearing were supposed to be fit for the occasion.

    The butler was supposed to be left at home from what Anton knew but he and his father were severely lacking in knowledge when it came to dealing with other nobles. He would have preferred to have his new tutor with him but unfortunately, Mr. Tenor wasn¡¯t available that day.

    Anton¡¯s carriage arrived in front of a massive government building. It was early, around ten in the morning and there wasn¡¯t any huge fanfare or anything like that. It looked like just any other normal day.

    ¡°It¡¯s the way it is Sir Anton. Since the quarterly meetings are held four times a year, it was common enough that regular citizens didn¡¯t bother with it anymore and treated it as a normal day.¡± Ignomus the butler said.

    ¡°Ignoram..I¡¯m sorry, Ignoramu¡­, Uum Sir Butler, are we expected to attend that meeting all the time?¡± Anton asked their new butler.

    ¡°Please call me Ignomus, Sir Anton. Once the council confirms your status as an archmage, you will be conferred as a baron, which is the lowest noble title in the city. You will only climb up the hierarchy when the duke promotes you due to a large contribution to the city. Having a noble title doesn¡¯t automatically grant one an office in the government. The office needed to be assigned by the ruling power of Zalnothel,¡± The butler said.

    Anton then thought of the fact that he and everyone else he knew for that matter were calling the places they had been to as cities even though they actually functioned as countries and wondered why everyone was calling them cities.

    Anton felt relieved when he heard that since he didn¡¯t want to enter the politics of the city.

    ¡°Being a baron doesn¡¯t automatically grant one any power but by the virtue of your power as an archmage, you have power anyway. What a noble title does is, that the city will grant you a monthly allowance which is not a lot if we are talking about the wealth of an ordinary archmage but would seem astronomical to regular people. It¡¯s two hundred gold coins every month. The title would also allow the holder to enjoy benefits in the city that regular people wouldn¡¯t receive like the ability to purchase lands in the city tax-free. It¡¯s very important since the tax amount for land purchased is tremendous. There were other benefits and you can read it all once they gave you the manual. The manual was only supposed to be read by the holder of the title,¡± Ignomus the butler continued.

    When their group entered the building, they were greeted by a female who looked like a secretary.

    ¡°Sir Anton? I¡¯m Melissa. Please follow me. Four of the council members are waiting for you in the Chamber of Truth,¡± The lady said and they all followed her.

    Melissa the secretary then led everyone to a room where the guards were supposed to stay and only Anton would follow the secretary in the Chamber of Truth but due to Anton¡¯s age, they allowed Anders to accompany Anton.

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    When they entered the Chamber of Truth which was beside the room where Zenoxus, Lucas, Ignomus, and the other guards were staying, there were three old men and one old woman seated behind a huge table looking like judges in a courtroom that Anton saw in the television. Four guards who were dressed in what looked like ceremonial armor were standing in the four corners of the room. The room wasn¡¯t that big but was large enough that even with all of the people inside, it didn¡¯t feel crowded.

    ¡°Mr. Anton, my name is Archmage Drenor. The one beside me is Archmage Tristan and the one beside him is Archmage Monet. I believe you know Archmage Voduria. This is the Chamber of Truth wherein in the center, some runes have the same function as the Orb of Truth but are much more powerful. The runes also can determine the level of a mage up to the Supreme Level,¡± The archmage seated on the left said.

    The four mages saw Anton¡¯s confusion when they mentioned the term Supreme and the Archmage Voduria responded to his questioning look.

    ¡°A Supreme is the level above Archmage. Above Supreme is a Legend, above Legend is Invincible, and above that is so powerful that it is termed God.¡±

    Two of the three other archmages threw a questioning look on Archmage Voduria and she immediately said to the other archmages that Anton was just a seventeen-year-old boy and grew up in a remote area in Mendi.

    ¡°If you have taken a few minutes to read the report that your secretaries gave you about Anton, you will know all of this,¡± Archmage said to the other two.

    ¡°Every stage has ten levels and the runes will be able to detect that accurately as well, at least up until Supreme Level five.¡± Archmage Drenor said.

    ¡°Normally, we don¡¯t allow any viewer but since you¡¯re considered underage here in the city which is amazing if you really reached the archmage level, we allowed your father to observe this interview. Are you ready?¡± The one called Archmage Monet asked and Anton just nodded.

    They then asked Anton to walk to the center of the room, in the middle of what appeared like a floor decoration.

    ¡°We will now conduct the level testing,¡± Archmage Drenor said.

    The floor decoration lit up and it looked like one of those Christmas light decorations. From the expression of the archmages, the lights in the decoration had specific meanings but since Anton didn¡¯t know them, he just ignored them.

    ¡°You are an archmage! Archmage level two,¡± Archmage Tristan said then everyone focused on him because when the archmage Voduria tested him when they entered the city, the Orb of Truth showed that he was a level one archmage.

    Anton had an inkling that the runes showed that he increased in level because his druid¡¯s level increased from the last time he was tested by the orb of truth.

    ¡°The orb of truth made an error. That¡¯s why we used this chamber to get an accurate reading,¡± Archmage Drenor said and the other two archmages nodded accepting that statement but Anton saw that Voduria was still looking at him which made him a bit nervous.

    He then wondered the level of the most powerful wizard in this city. Did they have anyone who could call themselves ¡°God¡±?

    The terms that the mages assigned to the most powerful wizards excited Anton and he speculated on what level would he reach once he maxed out his druid character. Would he be termed as a Supreme then? And then once he maxed out his third or fourth character would he be conned as Legend? He didn¡¯t know but he wouldn¡¯t assume anything concrete since he would only know for sure once he reached those levels.

    Anders was looking both proud and worried but Anton saw that his father looked a bit relieved when the archmages smiled at Anders when they looked at Anton¡¯s father. So far, Zalnothel had been very kind to his family and he hoped that it continued to do so since they really wanted to rise in this city. Anton knew that the fact that he became very powerful as a young man was a blessing to their family but it could also be a curse and that¡¯s the reason why Anton¡¯s father was working hard to gather coins since wealth was also a form of power.

 Chapter 198

    After the four archmages determined the exact level of power that Anton had, the questioning began. It was mostly the same as what the Archmage Voduria asked before like his name, where he came from, their experiences during their travel from Mendi to Zalnothel, and Anton''s plans but of course, he added more details about his upcoming plans like purchasing a shop that would mostly sell enchanted items that he created and that those items were mostly focused on magical convenience like producing cold water, making the temperature in a room comfortable, things like that.

    The archmages were surprised that Anton was also a very capable enchanted item maker and Anton and Anders saw that the archmages were comforted by the fact that their family would provide a huge contribution to the city due to his ability to create enchanted items. As a gift, he provided the four archmages of four of the metal sculptures that he purchased from Leminthor but enchanted with the Frozen Orb of Air Conditioner. He explained to the archmages how to activate the enchanted sculpture and the indicator that would show how much mana was left on the mana storage and the durability of the item.

    The archmages happily accepted the sculptures and then asked what last name they would use since Anton would receive the title of a Baron. Anton, his father, and Anna spent a long time thinking of what last name they would use, and since Anders and Anna couldn¡¯t think of anything since they hadn¡¯t even imagined that their family would become nobles, Anton suggested the name Sunders which meant to cut, part ways or to separate but added the letter S on the last part of the word sunder. Anton intended to preserve a bit of his last name in honor of his dead parents on Earth which was Saunders but Anders and his sister thought that it was because they parted ways with their old lives as farmers.

    Anton gave the name Sunders to the archmages and the Archmage Voduria immediately listed his name as Baron Anton Sunders on some sort of huge notebook, probably magical since it was glowing.

    The Archmage Tristan then gave Anton a manual that contained the list of responsibilities and benefits that he would receive as a baron of the city of Zalnothel. He was about to ask why Zalnothel was called a city instead of a country but decided that he would just ask that question to his tutor instead. Anton instead asked the Archmage if he was allowed to show the manual to his father and sister and the man simply said that he was allowed to show it to anyone he liked which surprised him since the butler said that it was forbidden for regular folks to see it but he just mentally shrugged and thanked the archmage.

    After that, the archmages stood up and told Anton and Anders that they would need to join the quarterly meeting so Anton and his father exited with them, joined their guards, and left the building to go home.

    In the carriage, Anton and Anders observe the plaque that was given to them that contained Anton¡¯s name and his appointment as a Baron. The plaque was some sort of crystal and it looked beautiful. He then gave the plaque to his father including the manual and told Anders to review the manual and that he would read it later after his father was done with it, or better yet, have someone copy the manual and then give the original back to Anton.

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    ¡°Are you allowed to do that Sir Anton,¡± The butler asked.

    ¡°Oh yes. We asked the Archmage Tristan and he said that Anton was allowed to give it to his family to read,¡± Anders answered Ignomus the butler.

    ¡°I¡¯ll display this award in my study where everyone can see!¡± Anders said while admiring the plaque.

    When they arrived at the Oak Sage Manor, Anton was surprised at the huge feast that awaited them.

    ¡°It¡¯s a celebration for us becoming a noble family!¡± Anders said to his son.

    Upon entering the premises, everyone who was inside waiting for Anton and his father to arrive cheered. Anders dramatically raised the plaque and loudly announced that from then on, Anton was Baron Anton Sunders of Zalnothel and the crowd cheered some more. The dramatic reaction of his father made Anton roll his eyes.

    ¡°Am I now a baroness?¡± Anna asked with glowing eyes, excited at the prospect of becoming a noble.

    It was the butler who answered Anna.

    ¡°No young Miss. In your family, only Anton is the noble but since your brother is now a baron, you are still part of the gentry and the regular folks would need to call you Miss Anna Sunders. Your brother¡¯s noble title is not an inherited title meaning that it can¡¯t be inherited not unless he performed a large enough contribution to the city that the council or the duke awards him of the right for his title to be inherited or even promoted as a higher noble.¡±

    Anna looked disappointed but the excitement returned to her face.

    ¡°At least I¡¯m now a part of the gentry!¡± Anna said.

    After that, everyone started eating the feast the new head chef prepared and Anton was impressed by their new chef¡¯s ability.

    ¡°Father, Anna, I would still be able to provide mana water for meals but for bathing, I recommend that you build a hot spring for men and women that our family and friends could use once a week. Since the effectivity of mana water would only last for two hours, I will provide the water and it should be used within that time frame. For everyday use, everyone can use the water that would come out from the enchanted items that I will make.¡±

    The ladies stared at Anders and Anton could his father goosebumps from where he was sitting.

    ¡°I will work on that at once,¡± Anders said mostly to placate the ladies since Anna, Nemina, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda were used to receiving the benefits they were getting from bathing using mana water like making their hair more luxurious and silkier, making their skin fair and smooth and making their bodies younger.

    Anton saw that the ladies were a bit disappointed for not going to be able to bathe in mana water daily but knew that Anton was incredibly busy and would not have the time to provide the mana water for their daily use. It was a pity that the magic in the mana water diminished after two hours or else they would save the water so they could use it in their daily lives.

    At least, they were still able to use it once a week and they could even hear Anna pestering Anton that it should be more than once a week which they were highly in favor of and hoped that Anton¡¯s sister would be successful.

    After lunch, Anton headed to the warehouse since Anders told him that they were able to purchase more broken items so he decided to repair them to avoid the items accumulating which would cause more work for him. Lunelle, Amna, and her maids followed him and they were being followed by the vampire Luminetta as their guard.

    Apparently, Lunelle managed to purchase a lot of things and they were excited to see the items once they were fully repaired and looked new since more than likely, they would become treasures for women.

 Chapter 199

    Since the ladies insisted that Anton repair the miscellaneous items first, that was what he did and when he was done, the ladies enjoyed themselves examining each one. Unfortunately for Anna, their father reminded her that they couldn¡¯t take anything from the inventory.

    After that, Anton began repairing the other items like the weapon and armor. It took him around two hours to complete everything then he headed to his room to take a bath and rest.

    Anton was feeling tired since he had done a lot of things during that day but he was a bit glad that their family was now on their way to becoming more powerful in this city which would make them safe.

    He was still wary though since based on what the vampires had told him, the Undead Coalition was truly powerful and had the intention of attacking the city of Zalnothel. Anton knew that he shouldn¡¯t be complacent and continue striving to make sure that he was powerful enough to contend against the more powerful undead the moment the city was at war with them.

    Anton was hoping that they would have more time to grow but with the rate the undead was attacking, the war could start anytime soon but he was still hoping that it would start at least in a year or two since that would allow him to grow somewhat. Anton knew that he was stressing himself so he decided to unstress by practicing his guitar. He decided to subscribe to advanced guitar lessons on a guitar tutoring website and the one-hour first lesson helped progress his ability to play the instrument.

    After that lesson and guitar practice, Anton continued playing his druid character. A few hours of playing his druid allowed him to level up twice and this made his druid level twenty-five which made him happy since his mercenary could now equip the Insight Runeword weapon which would make his druid not dependent on mana potion. He put the newly earned skill points to Summon Spirit Wolf.

    Anton also decided that the next day, he would concentrate on completing the quest for the Event Unique Charms. The Annihilus Small Charm and Hellfire Torch Large Charm would greatly increase his power in the real world as well. He was a bit worried about neglecting grinding for items so he decided that every day, he would spend a couple of hours on his sorceress character to grind for items. After that, he joined his family for dinner.

    While they were eating, Anders told his son that the project for constructing the hot spring for men and women would begin on Monday.

    ¡°What about the shop that I requested?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    ¡°My people scouted a few shops near here and I¡¯m going to check them out tomorrow,¡± Frederick said which made Anna giggle.

    When the mage asked why Anna was laughing she said that it was funny hearing Frederick say, ¡°My people,¡±.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the second part of the Lord of the Rings,¡± Devon mentioned and everyone suddenly talked about the movie again.

    The next day after breakfast, Anton spent the whole morning completing the event charm quest but he was successful in completing them and managed to get the two unique charms.  After lunch, he spent another couple of hours repairing the items that Anders, Nemina, and Lunelle had brought to the warehouse. Even though the vampires kept mentioning that it was degrading for an archmage to repair garbage, this activity was still their best moneymaking business.

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    Anton decided that he would search the internet for product processes that would make them money so that his family could focus on those instead of him repairing items all the time. Maybe like making paper just like the anime The Ascendance of a Bookwork. Or maybe making fragrant soap or something like that but that would probably take intensive research. The items should be easy to make, not easily copied, profitable but most importantly, could be made without his involvement so he could focus on leveling and item enchanting.

    After repairing the items, Anton then entered the game and focused on completing his power bank item but after a few hours, he was still unsuccessful. To be honest, the project was making him a bit frustrated.

    During dinner, Nemina told Anton something.

    ¡°Eric arrived and put the completed items that he made in the warehouse.¡±

    Anton was glad of that since he could begin creating a lot of enchanted items in preparation for his shop.

    ¡°I also found a charming two-story shop that you can check tomorrow,¡± Frederick told Anton and this information increased Anton¡¯s satisfaction.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m planning to show the Fellowship of the Ring which is the first movie in the Lord of the Rings franchise tomorrow at one in the afternoon so you can go ahead and invite those you want to watch it like important clients and your new friends in the city. Please remember to invite Eric and his friends as well and don¡¯t forget to invite our tutors. At around five in the afternoon, we¡¯ll start The Two Towers which is the second movie,¡± Anton announced.

    He could see that everyone was truly excited and thought that maybe the best wealth-making idea that they could do was to open a theater. Maybe there was some sort of recording magic that could record the film and then they could use it to show the movies in a theater that they could build.

    ¡°Father, have you already thought of businesses that we could do that wouldn¡¯t depend on me repairing items?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°Nemine, Lucas, and I are still checking the businesses in this city. Remember son that your father is just a mercenary turned farmed and lacks experience with this so please be patient.¡±

    ¡°I apologize Father. What do you think about building a theater? We can show the movies that I have there and charge the viewers entrance fee and we¡¯ll change the movie every month,¡± Anton said absently while eating.

    He noticed that the dinner table went silent and when Anton looked up, everyone was staring at him. Anna¡¯s face was full of excitement.

    ¡°Why every month? We can change it every week instead since you said that you have an unlimited number of movies!¡±

    Anton knew that he couldn¡¯t do a weekly showing since a huge number of the movies available from his old world had settings that would probably confuse or shock the people here.

    ¡°I was exaggerating. We also need to find a magical item that could record the movie so that we can present it to our future customers but we need to make sure that the quality of the movie and sound will be the same as what my spells presented since I don¡¯t what to disrespect the creators of the films and show a lower quality product.¡±

    Anton saw that all the adults at the table were truly excited since he had an inkling that the movie would truly provide them with a huge amount of wealth.

    ¡°Frederick, Zenoxus, I¡¯ll assign you to search for an item in the city that would let us record Anton¡¯s movies with the same quality. Once we find that item, we will begin planning to construct a movie theater!¡± Anders decisively said.

    ¡°I recommend that we involve some of Zalnothel¡¯s people so we¡¯ll have some sort of protection. Let me go ahead and invite some archmages tomorrow so they can check out the movies.¡± Nemina suggested.

    Anton knew that they couldn¡¯t swallow one hundred percent of the profit and would need to share it with the powerful people in the city but he didn¡¯t mind as long as they would still earn a huge amount of wealth, that¡¯s fine with him since there was actually no production cost.

 Chapter 200

    Anton wondered if he were biting off more than he could chew. There was the shop that he was planning to manage that would sell his enchanted items. Then voicing out his out-of-the-blue idea of their family managing a theater. Upon second thought, Anton knew that all of those ideas for business wouldn¡¯t take much of his time. The shop for the enchanted item was a place that he could go to for the purpose of not staying in his room like some sort of Hikikimori. He planned to follow a schedule wherein he would go to the shop and spend his days there at least three days a week to create enchanted items for a couple of hours then spend the rest of the day playing his characters in his Diablo II system to increase his power.

    His current idea for a plan was that the first three days of the week would be reserved for receiving lessons from his tutor in the morning, then repairing all the items that his Father and Nemina purchased a few hours in the afternoon and the rest of the time would be his own to use either for playing the game, utilizing his browser, practicing his guitar, or researching enchanted items. The next three days would then be spent in him going to his shop to create more enchanted items that the salesperson they would hire would sell on the first floor while he was on the second floor. Of course, he would only create enchanted items for a few hours and the rest of the time, he would level up his character in the World of Sanctuary.

    The seventh day would be his rest day to spend however he wanted like maybe exploring the city or just wasting his time watching animes and movies or reading web novels.

    Regarding the theater, it was contingent on the idea that they would find a magical item that could record the movies they wanted to show to the public. Anton wondered if the movies would cause any issues with the city. He would ask his tutor about that.

    ¡°Please remember that I¡¯ll only agree to the theater if we can find a magic item that will let me record the movie so you can use it to show to customers since I don¡¯t want to spend my days casting my spells for customers to watch the films. Also, the recorded image and sound should have a very high quality,¡± Anton said to everyone.

    ¡°So if we find an artifact like that, you¡¯re amenable to us managing a theater?¡± Anders asked and Anton nodded.

    ¡°I imagine that the movie theater alone would allow us to earn a huge amount of coins!¡± Frederick exclaimed.

    ¡°That meant that you, Lunelle, and Devon should prioritize finding if the city has that kind of magic item,¡± Nemina told the mage and her children.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad the dangerous travel was over and we¡¯re staying here rebuilding our lives! I¡¯m sure that the undead will not attack us here!¡± Anna suddenly said, which made Anton gasp.

    Everyone was startled when they saw Anton¡¯s over-the-top reaction. Anton passed it off by awkwardly laughing since he couldn¡¯t explain the concept of red flag to his family and friends. The only thing that Anton could do was to make sure to keep leveling up his characters so he would become powerful enough to defend his family.

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    After dinner, Anton went to his room to think of ideas about the enchanted items that would help him, his family and his friends escape in case the city fell to the undead. The best thing that he could think of was to create a list. Like an item that would help them create a warp gate or enchanted flying carriage that could turn invisible, things like that. He just really hoped that they would have more time. Anna becoming a more powerful mage would help and having incredible wealth would assist them greatly as well.

    Anton wondered why he was now thinking of escaping instead of fighting like before and thought of the hierarchy of mages that he learned during his noble title anointment. The fact that some considered the Undead Coalition equal to the city of Zalnothel was worrying since based on what he had seen so far in the city, Zalnothel was incredibly powerful.

    He thought his power was already enough to contend with the Undead Coalition but learning that the archmage rank was still one of the lowest in the magical totem pole awakened him. Maybe he would regain his confidence once he reached the Supreme or even Legend rank.

    Anton¡¯s plan with the druid character was once he reached the maximum level, he would also scatter his skill points to all the spells since that would increase his power in real life but he would still probably avoid the transformation tree since he really didn¡¯t want to become a werewolf or a werebear in real life.

    Sunday arrived and everyone was busy since there would be a movie viewing in the afternoon. When Anton joined his family for breakfast, he was surprised to see his tutor and Anna¡¯s tutor joining them for breakfast.

    ¡°Mr. Tenor, Ms. Damby, I¡¯m surprised to see you here so early!¡± Anton exclaimed.

    ¡°We planned to talk to you and your father about something Baron Sunders,¡± Anton¡¯s tutor said but the comment made Anna and Anton giggle which startled Mr. Tenor.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sir Tenor, my children are still young, and hearing you addressing Anton as a Baron is still very new to them and is causing them juvenile hilarity. As you see, our family severely needs a lesson in etiquette,¡± Anders told the two old tutors which made them smile when they realized the cause of the two siblings hilarity.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sir Tenor. We¡¯re still not used to anyone calling me Baron Sunders,¡± Anton apologized and Anna apologized as well.

    After breakfast, Anton followed his father and the two tutors to his father¡¯s office.

    ¡°What can we do for you sir, madam?¡± Anders asked the two tutors.

    ¡°We¡¯re currently living in an apartment inside the university which was awarded to those professors who retired. It¡¯s an hour''s travel from there to here so me and Ms. Damby are requesting if we can stay in the manor instead. You can reduce the remuneration that you¡¯re giving to us by fifty percent,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°Of course, you can stay here and we will not reduce your remuneration! We¡¯re happy to have you stay in the manor. As you know, I and my children were farmers before we arrived here, and having someone as learned as the both of you in the manor will be a blessing to us,¡± Anders said to the two old tutors sincerely, and when they saw Anton nodding, the two old tutors smiled.

    Anders then asked the two old tutors if they were amenable to permanently staying in the rooms they stayed before and the two teachers assured Anton and his father that the rooms were some of the best rooms they had stayed due to the fact that there were enchanted items in there.

    ¡°Honestly, we¡¯re also excited to see the movies later. I would even watch the first movie again!¡± Ms. Damby said.

    After their talk, Anders called some maids to lead the tutor to their rooms. They would move a few days later.

    In Anders''s office, Anton and his Father talked.

    ¡°There¡¯s a chance that Mr. Tenor and possibly Ms. Damby were assigned to us by Zalnothel to monitor us,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°I thought of that as well but since we¡¯re not hiding anything, they could stay and as I¡¯ve said, having teachers in the manor would help us greatly,¡± Anders said.

 Chapter 201

    At around eleven, Anton went to the dining room to join his family in eating lunch and Anton could feel the excitement in the air. Nemina announced that they should quickly finish lunch since there would be guests that they had invited to see the films.

    After thirty minutes, everyone then went to the ballroom that was converted into a theater. Thankfully, even though the room was almost full of people, the temperature was cool and comfortable due to the enchanted sculptures that contained the Frozen Orb of Air Conditioner that was engraved to them and everything was clean due to Anton¡¯s cleaning spell.

    Their new butler kept announcing the guests that were coming in and from what Colin had told him, they were the rich merchants and nobles that they had business dealings with during the past few days.

    The visitors kept exclaiming whenever they entered the premises since the air conditioning enchanted items made sure that the temperature in the mansion was refreshingly cool and since it was the summertime, it was highly welcomed.

    Anton was glad that he could access his Diablo II system and System Browser whenever and wherever he was so that meant while everyone was watching or re-watching The Fellowship of the Ring, he could be with them in the ballroom converted to theater but would busy himself in grinding for gear using his sorceress character.

    Since he would be with others, he couldn¡¯t enter the game using virtual mode and would play using the on-screen option and he was still sticking to his plan of playing the brand new character using the virtual mode so he could only grind for gears using his sorceress characters.

    At around fifteen minutes before one in the afternoon, Ignomus the butler announced the two most important guests that Nemina invited.

    ¡°The Archmage Tristan and the Archmage Voduria!¡± Ignomus loudly announced.

    When the two archmages entered, Anton of course, welcomed the respected wizards.

    ¡°Archmage Tristan, Archmage Voduria, I didn¡¯t know that you were coming!¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It was supposed to be a surprise to you, Archmage Anton so we were asked by your father¡¯s secretary, Ms. Nemina to keep it all hush-hush,¡± Archmage Voduria laughed.

    ¡°I was intrigued when Ms. Nemina boasted that we would be able to see the most wonderful show that would be brought on by your spell so I came. Unfortunately, the Archmage Drenor and Monet were busy today so they couldn¡¯t come,¡± Archmage Tristan said.

    ¡°I appreciate it that you came. I hope you enjoy the show,¡± Anton said then he led the two archmages towards the front and when his father and the two tutors, Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby saw the two respected archmages, they stood up.

    After everyone was seated, it was Anders who went to the front to give a speech.

    ¡°The show that you will see is the best show that I¡¯ve ever seen in my life. Admittedly, I have seen a few of them and they were plays conducted by live people and this one is highly different but I was informed by Anton¡¯s two respected teachers that it was also the best show that they had ever seen in their life as well. It¡¯s an epic story about adventure, magic, friendship, duty, and love. We will conduct a break every hour for ten minutes so please prepare yourselves to be interrupted after an hour so you can relieve yourself if you want to. Almost all of us had seen this ¡°movie¡± and as expected, when my son announced that he would show us ¡°Part two¡± of the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings we were excited but then he announced that he would show the first film again for our guests, Anton foolishly thought that those of us who had seen the movie already would skip it and would just watch ¡°Part Two¡± but all of us who had seen the first film are here. That meant that all of us here wanted to be part of the hobbits¡¯ adventure again. After ¡°Part One¡± ends, we will conduct a thirty-minute break to eat dinner before proceeding with the next part. Please enjoy the movie.¡±

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    After that speech, Anders gestured towards Frederick and the mage turned off all the lights except one that was located near the door at the back.

    Anton then cast his Globe of Browser Sharing and then started The Fellowship of The Ring. While everyone was watching, he maximized his Diablo II game and started grinding items from Old Meph in Act of Hell Mode in his sorceress character.

    After an hour, Anders tapped him and Anton immediately minimized his game and paused the movie. Frederick turned on the lights. Anders then announced loudly that the movie would resume after a few minutes.

    A few people went to the bathrooms to relieve themselves but the two archmages and the merchants and nobles that Nemina invited remained seated with stunned expressions on their faces.

    Suddenly, as if awakened from their stupor, the merchants and nobles asked several questions to Anders.

    Questions like whether were there any enchanted items that would allow them to distribute the movie, or if could they stay to watch the next part even though the first film wasn¡¯t over yet, and several more questions.

    Anders admitted that he planned to open a theater since Archmage Baron Sunders, his ¡°son¡± had thousands of movies in his collection. Nemina was talking to the two archmages about Anders''s plan to open a theater but admitted to the archmage that they were lacking a key magical item which was an item that would allow them to record the movie with the same quality of picture and sound.

    ¡°That¡¯s a common enough magic item but if you want something that could record that wonderful show with the same quality, you have to commission one from a high-level enchanter,¡± Archmage Voduria said.

    Before they could continue talking, Anders stood up and announced that the movie would resume, and after a couple more minutes, Anton resumed the movie.

    He went back to grinding for items while the others continued watching the film. Everyone was so focused on the film that Anton could hear everyone¡¯s reactions, even those who had already seen the first movie.

    When the movie ended, there was a couple of minutes of silence then the audience clapped enthusiastically.

    ¡°Archmage Drenor and Monet would regret not coming with us the moment I tell them what they have missed.¡± Archmage Tristan said.

    ¡°Since this is a trilogy, that meant that there¡¯s a part three. When you announce the date when you¡¯ll show the third movie, can you invite us again, Baron Sunders? You will also need to prepare yourself to let the other archmages watch the first two movies since Tristan here has a large mouth.¡± Archmage Voduria said.

    ¡°The movie is wonderful as Mr. Anders had said. There was adventure, duty love, and magic, and the movie was meant to be shared and I will do so with our colleagues. Although I felt a bit confused about the magic being used by the wizards in the movie. There were glimpses of powerful magic but in general, I find the magic that was used in the story weak.¡± Archmage Tristan said.

    ¡°It¡¯s not weak. They just kept everything vague and I would have done the same since I¡¯m guessing that this ¡°movie¡± is based on a different dimension and the makers of this ¡°movie¡± deliberately kept the magic that was used vague to not offend the wizards in their dimension,¡± Archmage Voduria ruminated.

    Anders then invited all of the mages, nobles, and merchants to dinner so everyone followed him to the dining room.

 Chapter 202

    During dinner, everyone was talking about the film while they were eating. The three archmages and the two tutors were particularly vocal about the movie and were talking about the issues one could find inside the film. This included the lifestyle of the Hobbits, the humans, and the elves. They were particularly impressed at how noble and elegant the long-lived elves were and were very surprised when they learned Elrond¡¯s age.

    They also praised the simple but happy life of the hobbits and Mr. Tenor said that he could live with the Hobbits contently spending the rest of his life happily among the simple halflings.

    They also discussed the politics that they had seen in the movie although it was not shown deeply yet and Anton was truly impressed at how many topics the archmages and the two tutors could find in the first movie alone.

    After dinner, everyone excitedly returned to the ballroom turned theater and before the movie started, Anders reminded everyone that they would pause the movie halfway.

    When Anton started the movie, he could feel everyone¡¯s excitement and anticipation. He saw the worry on everyone¡¯s faces when they were watching Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee traveling alone in Emyn Muil near Mordor followed by Gollum, the former bearer of the One Ring. The worry increased when the two friends captured Gollum and allowed the creature to lead them to Mordor.

    Anton saw the hope on the audience¡¯s faces when they saw Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue the band of Uruk-hai to save Merry and Pippin. They cheered when they saw Merry and Pippin escape to Fangorn Forest following the death of the Uruk-hai at the hands of the Rohirrim.

    Anton could see that the audience felt the despair of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli when they were told that Merry and Pippin had died and this solidified the fact that the actors playing the roles were truly magnificent since they were able to convey the emotion even to the people in another world.

    When Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli encountered Gandalf who was now a white wizard following his battle with the Balrog, almost everyone cried and Anton saw his sister sobbing as if somebody had died. He was a bit startled when he saw her two maids, Ramona and Belinda were crying just as hard.

    Everyone cheered when they saw Gandalf free the king of Rohan, Theoden, from Saruman¡¯s grasp and Anton could feel everyone¡¯s satisfaction when Wormtongue was thrown outside the castle and some of them even grumbled when they saw Aragorn stopped Theoden from killing the vile man.

    Anton enjoyed watching the reaction of the audience more than the movie since he had seen the film several times.

    The women in the audience were particularly worried when they saw how Elrond was doing his best to stop Arwen¡¯s love for Aragorn but they could understand since Arwen would live for thousands of years and Aragorn would die earlier since he was human and they thought that it would be truly lonely for Arwen to be alone while the other elves were gone.

    The audience was truly excited watching the exodus to Helms Deep. It¡¯s as if they were part of the people who were marching. They saw how Eowyn fell in love with Aragorn and that when Aragorn arrived in Helm¡¯s Deep and saw that Eowyn couldn¡¯t express her love for the man, some of them cried in pity for Eowyn.

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    During the preparation of the people of Helm¡¯s Deep to fight the army of Saruman and saw that even the children were being recruited, almost all of them cried and Anton was startled to see the two tutors and the archmages cried as well. He was surprised to see that the Archmage Voduria had to slap the Archmage Tristan in his arm since the archmage was beginning to gather magical energy. The mana dispersed and Archmage Tristan showed an apologetic and embarrassed look on his face.

    The battle between the Orcs and Helms Deep excited the audience so much that almost all of them stood up and then sat down again once they were reminded by the people in the back that they were blocking their view.

    During the scene when the elves were shown dying, the archmages were shaking their head saying that the lives of humans were not equal to the lives of the elves since the elves were an immortal magical race. By the look on Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby¡¯s faces, they disagreed and more than likely a discussion would occur after the film regarding that.

    The battle between the Orcs and the Humans and the Ents and Saruman was truly exciting and during those scenes, everyone was already standing up and cheering, their faces red from excitement. Even the archmages and the tutors threw their dignity out of the window and Anton enjoyed watching the exaggerated reaction of the audience.

    Anton knew that everyone¡¯s reaction was due to the fact that the movie was truly epic and that the audience had only seen the movies that he had shown.

    Everyone cheered when the armies of Saruman were defeated when the Rohirrim arrived with Gandalf and Saruman were trapped in his tower when the Ent, Merry, and Pippin prevailed in their conflict against Saruman¡¯s tower.

    On Frodo and Sam¡¯s side of the story, everyone was worried when they were captured by the rangers of Ithilien led by Faramir, the younger brother of the late Boromir. Passing through the besieged city of Osgiliath, Frodo tried to explain to Faramir the nature of the One Ring and Sam explained to Faramir that Boromir was driven mad by the power of the One Ring. A Nazgul nearly captured Frodo but was saved by Sam and he reminded Frodo that they were fighting for the good of Middle-earth. Faramir was impressed by Frodo¡¯s resolve and released them. Gollum, who felt betrayed, planned to lead Frodo to ¡°her¡± during their journey.

    The plan of Gollum worried the audience so much that when the movie ended, everyone clamored to learn when Anders would allow Anton to show the last movie in the trilogy.

    ¡°Since we are still in the middle of stabilizing our foundation here in Zalnothel, we will not be able to have a movie showing in the middle of the week so we¡¯ll watch it next Sunday. My son told me that the last movie is called The Return of the King and like you all, I¡¯m also excited to see it so let¡¯s do our best work during the week so we can celebrate by watching the movie on Sunday.¡±

    At first, everyone was disappointed that they would have to wait a week before they could watch the last film but since that was decided by Anders, there was nothing everyone could do.

    Everyone then dispersed excluding the archmages, the two tutors, Anders, Nemina, Lucas, Frederick, Anton, and the merchants and nobles. Anna and her maids were told to rest by Anders even though she also wanted to join the discussion but since it was very late, she could only pout and went outside the ballroom converted to a theater. Lunelle and Devon decided to stay and listen to the adult¡¯s discussion.

    ¡°You will need to reserve a few seats for us next week since I¡¯m planning to invite a few of my friends. Can I reserve six seats for me and my friends?¡± Archmage Tristan said.

    ¡°Four seats for me will do,¡± Archmage Voduria added.

    The other merchants and nobles also clamored for extra seats so Anton¡¯s father decided to give three seats for each of the merchants and nobles who watched the films.

 Chapter 203

    After Anders promised their guests the seats that they were requesting, the discussion about the movie started, which startled Anton. At first, Anton thought his father and his council, the archmages, the merchants, and the nobles would start to discuss business like the establishment of the theater and the magic item that would allow them to record the movie so they could show it to prospective customers but instead, they started talking about the movie. The lifestyle of the hobbits, humans, dwarves, and elves in the world of Middle-earth. The monsters that they had seen and the creatures that were shown in the films.

    They talked about the possibility that the last movie which had the title Return of The King was about Aragorn. They talked about the power of the One Ring and what they saw when Galadriel was tempted to take the One Ring for herself.

    No one understood what power the One Ring holds. The Archmage Voduria thought that it was some sort of artifact that would amplify the user¡¯s power but would turn them to evil since Galadriel said that with the One Ring, she would become a Queen that was stronger than the foundation of the earth and that all would love her and despair.

    They talked about the movie for so long that Anton excused himself stating that since he was so young he would need to sleep to grow, which made everyone laugh and allowed him to go. Based on everyone¡¯s stance, they weren¡¯t ready to finish the night yet so the discussion would probably take hours. The servants kept serving everyone snacks and wine.

    The next day arrived and after breakfast, Mr. Tenor and Anton were in his study. The tutoring would be held there and as agreed, it would only last for three hours.

    The first hour was spent by the old tutor listing out the curriculum that he would teach Anton. The first three subjects would be General and Common knowledge, then History, and the last one was noble and business etiquette. Anton had to admit that he was severely lacking in those areas.

    The curriculum the old tutor provided would cover about a month of lessons and Mr. Tenor said that everything was subject to change depending on Anton¡¯s response to the lessons, which probably meant his speed of learning things.

    Before they started the lesson though, he asked one question that kept bothering him.

    ¡°Mr. Tenor, why are the places called cities instead of countries? The size and distance alone of each city was enough that they could easily be called countries.¡±

    ¡°Actually, the cities here in the continent of Redindura are countries it¡¯s just that roughly three thousand years ago, the whole continent was conquered by a powerful wizard with a rank above Legend which we are now calling a God. He established his empire and the countries became his cities. When his empire was abolished due to his death and the weakness of his progenies, the cities became independent but since everyone was used to calling them cities, it remained until now. This will be covered in our history lesson. I would also give you a list of books that you will need to purchase and read.¡±

    ¡°Are there any mages who reached the rank ¡°God¡±?¡±

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    ¡°None for almost two thousand years. The last one died one thousand eight hundred years ago but it could very well be that they just hid themselves since no one actually saw them died. But Zalnothel has an Invincible so is the Undead Coalition,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    Anton¡¯s imagination soared thinking about the power of the higher-ranking mages and he wondered if his Diablo II system would allow him to achieve those ranks.  He decided that after maximizing three characters then he would decide if his system was enough for him to achieve the higher ranks and if not he would start studying the magic of this world. It would be easier for him to switch if he needed to since his system did allow him to climb the ranks as well but Anton knew that he should trust his golden finger since based on the novels that he had read, systems and golden fingers of transmigrators were truly overpowered.

    After the lesson, Anton had to admit he learned a lot. He knew that whatever they were paying Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby was worth every coin and maybe he should ask his father to increase their remuneration.

    He wished that his system had a recording function so he could record the lesson for him to be able to review them at any given moment but to be honest about it, if his Diablo II system had any recording function, he would probably use it to record and stream since doing a stream from this world would be very interesting. He imagined himself recording the sceneries inside and outside the city, or doing a music stream using his guitar and the music of this world, or doing a crafting scene which would contain the process of him creating enchanted items and could be treated by viewers from his world as something made with green screen and special effects. Anton knew that whatever he did would be popular on streaming websites since his new body and face although a bit similar to his body and face from Earth, was incredibly fit and handsome because of his stats and mana water.

    It wasn¡¯t that important though so Anton wasn¡¯t praying for it since the recording function, even though would be highly interesting, wouldn¡¯t truly benefit him in this world.

    During lunch, only Anton, Anna, and the tutors were dining in the dining room. At first, Anna insisted that Ramona and Belinda join them but her tutor Ms. Damby told her that it was time for her to practice noble etiquette and that meant that her maids shouldn¡¯t join her during meals.

    Anders knew that his children needed to learn how to behave as someone with higher ranks so he told them the follow the noble etiquette that their tutor would be teaching them but conceded that for dinner, those would be discarded and everyone should eat at the table.

    While they were eating, Mr. Ignomus, their butler was reporting to Anton.

    ¡°Our visitors left early this morning including the respected archmages. Right now, the rumor mill in the city was rampant with the news that in your house one could see the most incredible shows and everyone was angling to be invited to the event that was going to happen next Sunday.¡±

    ¡°Already! We just watched the movies yesterday and it¡¯s only lunchtime!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Due to magic, rumors and news would spread very fast in the city,¡± Ms. Damby told her student.

    ¡°Do you know my father¡¯s plan regarding that?¡± Anton asked the butler.

    ¡°Not yet but I¡¯m assuming that your father and Ms. Nemina will use it to generate interest for the family¡¯s business. There¡¯s a good chance that the viewers next Sunday will all be mages, nobles, and merchants.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s so sad! Ramona and Belinda should be included!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much Anna. We could always hold a separate movie viewing for our family and friends in the manor,¡± Anton said to her.

    Anton saw that Ms. Damby was about to protest when Anton said that all the people in the manor were considered ¡°Friends¡±. He¡¯s got an inkling that Ms. Damby was about to tell them that they should learn how to separate themselves from servants or some such thing but Mr. Tenor stopped her. Mr. Tenor probably understood that it would take a while for him and his sister to adjust to the behavior of being a noble.

 Chapter 204

    During the afternoon, Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby returned to their home to get their things with the people that Anders assigned to assist them. Anton went to the warehouse to store the items that Eric had already made in his inventory and saw the carpenter talking to Nemina.

    Based on what he heard, they were talking about the location of the workshop that they would assign to the carpenter which was the building structure near the warehouse. Fortunately, that building was huge enough that Eric could invite a few workers to live and work with him there.

    He approached the carpenter and Nemina.

    ¡°Once you¡¯ve selected your warehouse and cleaned it, I¡¯ll give you some enchanted items like the magic lantern and the air conditioning, the cup that provides cold water, and the one that provides water for washing and bathing.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Baron Sunders,¡± Eric casually said which scared some of the workers that the carpenter brought and Anton had an inkling that it was because of how casually Eric was talking to him who was a baron and an archmage.

    ¡°Please remember to create a list of names that we would assign to the enchanted items. You can even delegate it to your people if you want.¡±

    Eric nodded and Nemina and the carpenter continued talking about the things he would need in his workshop.

    Anton then began repairing the items that needed repair and since there were not many of them, it only took him an hour. Then he began enchanting all the items that Eric had made. Nemina went to him after her talk with Eric.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re in full view of everyone. Please do your enchantment in a private space like your study,¡± Nemina told him.

    ¡°Am I now supposed to let others see me work?¡± Anton asked curiously.

    ¡°For the repair work, you can do it here since everything is already arranged for you but for your enchanted items, a mage was supposed to keep it a secret. By the way, Lucas said that he would appreciate it if you made more magic wands for him,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°Show the magic wand to Eric so he could make them to make the wands more stylish. Once they¡¯re stored here, I¡¯ll retrieve them and will begin enchanting them. Those that needed recharging and repair should also be stored here so that I can ask Colin to retrieve them anytime and bring them back here,¡± Anton said to Nemina and she nodded.

    All in all, Anton worked for about four hours and he thought that working for that short amount of time was doable and would allow him to play his Diablo II game to make sure that his power would increase.

    Looking at the warehouse, the number of items stored there was getting bigger so that it almost resembled a department store for a variety of things. Anton knew that his Father and Nemina were looking for a shop in the city where they would sell some of the items that he repaired.

    Anton then thought that maybe he should dispense in buying his own little magic shop and just put the enchanted item in some sort of special corner or floor in his father''s store. That would make their family¡¯s store more famous. Even though having a magic shop would be charming, to be honest about it, their stay in this city was still uncertain due to the looming threat that was the Undead Coalition so having properties here could be a mistake.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    After thinking deeply about it, Anton regretfully decided to forgo the little magic shop of his dreams and just put his enchanted items in his father''s would-be shop. He headed directly to his study which was located beside his room and would use the room as his workshop.

    In his study, he began completing enchanting all of the items that Eric had made and after that, he thought of other items that he could create. He learned one sad part of his magic though, he could not create an enchanted item based on the spells that he memorized from spellbooks. The main reason for that was he could not see the complete mana structure of the spells compared to the ones provided by his Diablo II system. That meant that the only enchanted items that he could make would be based on his Diablo II system spells.

    Anton was a bit sad since he wanted to utilize the cleaning spells to create enchanted items like washing machine items.

    Because of that, Anton postponed thinking of his next enchanted item and concentrated on completing the mana power bank. After several hours of trial and error, he knew that he was very near to completing the power bank project but he suddenly heard a knock so he exited the game and minimized it. When he checked the time, he saw that it was already eight in the evening so he followed Colin to the dining room.

    There he saw his family and the tutors talking while waiting for dinner to be served. When he sat down, Anton talked to Frederick.

    ¡°Frederick, you don¡¯t need to look for a magic shop for me anymore. I decided that once our family finds a shop, I¡¯ll just appropriate a corner or a floor for our enchanted item,¡± Anton announced.

    ¡°What changed your mind?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°The enchanted items would help our family shop since it could become a draw. I would be specializing in common magical effects so it¡¯s going to draw a different crowd aside from warriors.¡±

    Anton would have liked to say that he was still wary about their stay in the city because of the Undead Coalition but he was sure that once he uttered those words, it would immediately reach the ears of the governing body of the city of Zalnothel.

    He knew that there would be consequences if he allowed Zalnothel to learn that he wasn¡¯t confident in the power of the city. For all he knew the city was very powerful but because he was truly ignorant of the power structures of different organizations of this world he was uncertain. He knew that he would learn more in the upcoming lessons with his tutor but he shouldn¡¯t forget that Mr. Tenor would be biased towards the city.

    ¡°We did find a three-story building near one of the main commerce streets and we are currently in negotiations with the owner. We invited the owner and his family for the movie viewing on Sunday.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that you can only open a shop next week?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re still in the process of finding one. It was just that the three-story shop was the best one that we had found so far,¡± Nemina answered.

    Anna then told everyone that she learned a lot of things from her tutor but Anton was surprised that Anna was being taught by Ms. Damby for several hours a day. Three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon plus assignments. It was understandable since Anna only received the very basic education that any farmer¡¯s children would receive and she and her teacher would need to cover a lot before the opening of the semester so she could qualify to enter the general education lessons of her age group. The magical education was different since it was based on magical proficiency so that class was composed of mages of different ages.

    One good thing about Anna becoming a mage was her mind began to become flexible and powerful, able to retain her lessons without any issues, which assisted a lot in her learning the basics.

 Chapter 205

    During the next couple of days, Anton was busy learning from his tutor and was glad that he was now learning the basics and the things that he needed to know to not appear as a rube. He wondered if he should ask his father to undergo a tutoring session as well and he decided to open it up in one of their meals.

    In the afternoons, he was busy in the warehouse repairing all the things that Anders, Nemina, Lunelle, and Devon had purchased. He also repaired the wands that Lucas stored in the warehouse. Anton also made sure to retrieve all the items that Eric had produced and this included the magic wands that were requested by Lucas and Nemina that Eric had exquisitely made.

    After repairing all the items that his father and the others had purchased, the rest of the time was spent in him enchanting the items that Eric had made. He also asked Colin to put the wands that he had already completed back into the warehouse so that Lucas could retrieve them.

    Anton learned that Eric and three of his friends were now staying in the workshop near the warehouse so he provided them the enchanted items that would make their stay in the workshop comfortable like the magic lanterns, the air conditioner, the cup of cold water, the stove, and the water spout enchanted item.

    Also in those two days, Anton didn¡¯t manage to progress his druid character since his time in the World of Sanctuary was taken up by his mana power bank project and he successfully completed it.

    The mana power bank was as large as a smartphone and as thick as three smartphones stacked together. It basically consisted of five thin pieces of wood stacked together and would allow one to recharge all of the items that he had created five times before the power bank itself needed charging. Any more than five pieces of wood that were already stacked, the power bank would explode. The mana power bank had a durability of one hundred meaning that it would disintegrate once it was recharged one hundred times and there was a clear indicator in the device of how many recharges were left before it disintegrated.

    Anton thought that they could offer a repair service for the power bank but knew that once there were plenty of them going around the city, he would not be able to keep up with the demand for repairing them so he decided to treat the item as consumables, meaning once the one hundred recharged was reached then the users could just allow the power banks to disintegrate.

    Because of the power bank, Anton decided to remove the mana structure to some of the enchanted items that would gather ambient mana from the surroundings. This would make enchanting the items easier and faster and it was also a business decision since that would allow the demand for the power bank to skyrocket. A wizard could charge the power bank but Anton thought of hiring a mage to perform charging services for the power banks but he would allow his father and Nemina to decide that. The mana power bank would automatically attach itself to the mana storage structure of his enchanted items and would automatically turn itself on and start the charging process. Once the enchanted item¡¯s mana storage was full, the power bank would automatically turn itself off and de-attached itself from the item¡¯s mana storage structure.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Anton thought of adding some other spell structure on the power bank like some sort of flashlight or even attack or defensive spell but during his experimentations, the added mana structure caused the power bank to destabilize and explode.

    But all in all, Anton was proud of himself for completing the mana power bank item. He went to Eric¡¯s workshop to present the power bank to him and asked his opinion on the way they could present the power bank. Eric then told him that he could create thin pieces of wood with the same sizes and thickness that would allow each of them to slot towards each other like a Lego and that he could only put decorative engraving in one piece of wood that would serve as the front of the power bank.

    Eric immediately opened his notebook and created some designs for the power bank. When the carpenter was done, Anton found that the design was simple and basic but elegant so he told Erick to go ahead and add the items to be created and put them in the warehouse.

    During the dinner Anton presented the power bank that he completed, everyone was impressed at the function of the items and even the two old tutors were speechless.

    ¡°Can it also recharge the wands?¡± Lucas asked excitedly.

    ¡°In theory, it could but then remember that our wands have a fatal flaw. It would be destroyed once it reached the twentieth casting so that meant that you would not be able to use it to charge the wands.,¡± Anton answered and that made the head guard disappointed.

    But then again, there were very few wands anyway so it wasn¡¯t a problem for Anton to repair and recharge those. Without any conflict, the total number of wands that needed to be recharged every day was ten since they stuck to that number of wands for practice. All in all, there were only seventy wands currently that were being used by the guards including the new ones.

    ¡°Will it allow you to recharge any enchanted items?¡± Ms. Damby asked.

    ¡°It would recharge all of the enchanted items that I¡¯ve made but I¡¯m guessing that it wouldn¡¯t charge those that were made by others since the structure of the enchantment is different from mine,¡± Anton answered.

    After they ate, Anton showed all of the enchanted items that were made by Eric and enchanted by him. All of the wooden sculptures including the stove which had some metal in it were truly elegant and beautiful and everyone admired each one of them. The air conditioner enchanted item and the lantern were particularly beautiful when activated.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the pricing for the enchanted items so you will need to do some research Nemina. You may need to hire some consultants for that but I don¡¯t really know anything so it will be your decision. Please remember that all of my enchanted items were consumable and there¡¯s a clear indicator of when the items would disintegrate. I call them durability. All of the enchanted items had two types of indicators. The amount of mana in the mana storage and the durability so please be mindful of that when it comes to pricing.  Here in our mansion, it¡¯s different since all of the items can be repaired by me to avoid them getting destroyed so please inform the maids to monitor the durability of the enchanted items in our mansion and once they need to be repaired, they will need to bring them to the warehouse so Colin could bring them to me for repair,¡± Anton told everyone.

    After that announcement, Ignomus reported to Anders and Anton overheard that there was already a frenzy among the nobility about the movies. At least the mages amongst them were calmer since mages had seen a lot of beautiful and magical things but there were still a lot that were hoping to be invited to the viewing event on Sunday.

    The ballroom was big enough Anton supposed and the only thing Anders could do was increase the number of seats. Since it was going to be an all-day event, their family would have to prepare a lot of food but it¡¯s a cost that they would need to bear to establish connections here in the city.

 Chapter 206

    Sunday arrived and everyone in the mansion was running around like headless chickens. Anders kept commanding everyone to make sure that everything was decorated nicely and everything was clean. Anders kept asking Nemina to make sure that the kitchen would have plenty of food so that they could serve food to a lot of people for the whole day and even Anton wasn¡¯t spared.

    Anders commanded his son to cast his cleaning spell on everything and when Anton tried to tell his father that he already did when they moved to the manor, Anders just told him to do it again since he had nothing to do anyway.

    The two old tutors were highly amused to see a powerful archmage and a baron being commanded by a farmer to clean the mansion and that ¡°powerful¡± archmage couldn¡¯t even talk back to the one giving the command.

    When Anton saw the two old tutors laughing at him, Anton retaliated by telling his teacher and his teacher''s colleague that his father was already forty-four years old that year and that he was only voluble because he was a mercenary before and so old already.

    ¡°He looks no older than thirty-five!¡± Ms. Damby said.

    ¡°I know the reason why!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    That was all planned. Anton, Anders, and the others planned to disclose the effects of mana water to the two old tutors and by extension to the city¡¯s higher-ups. It was because they couldn¡¯t keep it a secret and trying to would only give them headaches. The fact that there¡¯s a two-hour shelf life for the mana water and that Anton was powerful enough was the deciding factor to inform the tutors and by extension the city about the mana water. They didn¡¯t want anyone to covet things that they couldn¡¯t provide and mana water was one of them.

    Anton was even willing to allow the mages of Zalnothel to study mana water if they wanted to.

    ¡°Are we allowed to know what caused your father to look young?¡± Mr. Tenor asked Anna.

    ¡°My father doesn¡¯t only look young! Frederick and Lucas said that he was also as healthy as someone as young as less than thirty-five years old. That magical thing also made me very beautiful! Before my skin was as dark and as rough as any farmer girl in the countryside but now, Ramona and Belinda said that my face, skin, and body were as fair and delicate as a lady who had never known work in her life. It¡¯s the mana water that my brother conjured! Didn¡¯t you notice that special pitcher that my brother gave to us during dinner? It contained mana water.¡±

    ¡°I noticed it but it looked like regular water to me so I kept it out of my mind. So it¡¯s called mana water?¡± Mr. Tenor asked.

    Anton looked on but didn¡¯t stop his sister from telling their tutors about the mana water.

    ¡°Yes, mana water. My brother has this spell that would produce that and drinking and bathing in it would cause old people to turn younger, make one healthier, and make women beautiful! The problem was, the moment it was produced, the effect of the water didn¡¯t last long. After two hours, the water would turn into regular water. That¡¯s a pity since Anton is so busy we could now only enjoy bathing in it once a week. We still drink them every breakfast and dinner though. Do you want to experience it?¡± Anna asked the two old tutors and Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby nodded.

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    It was around eight in the morning and the event was supposed to start at around ten. When Anna and the tutors turned around to look for Anton, he was busy casting his cleaning spell in the dining room.

    ¡°Anton! Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby want to taste the mana water!¡± Anna shouted at her brother.

    Anton completed casting his cleaning spell and the dining room became spotless. Then he walked towards his sister and the two tutors, retrieved a pitcher from his inventory, and filled it with mana water from a Frozen Orb spell with mana controlled enough to produce water. He then retrieved a couple of glasses from his inventory and gave them to their tutors.

    He then filled the glasses with mana water from the pitcher and the tutor drank them.

    ¡°This mana water is so refreshing! It felt like my body was being filled with healthy energy!¡± Mr. Tenor said after drinking a glass of mana water.

    ¡°It does taste like water but somehow, it¡¯s sweet. It reminded me of the spring water that I tasted when I traveled to a remote village in the mountains when I was younger and everyone in that village was healthy! This water was tastier than that based on my recollections,¡± Ms. Damby said.

    Anton refilled their glasses with mana water.

    ¡°Everyone who had experienced the mana water fell in love with it, especially the women since it made us very beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Can we drink this during meals as well?¡± Mr. Tenor asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You have to ask my father though since it would be his decision,¡± Anton said.

    That was also planned by them since they wanted to check if they could get the tutors'' loyalty by using the mana water.

    ¡°Father is also building a hot spring for men and women in the basement that was probably used as either a storage area or an actual dungeon. Once that hot spring is completed, we¡¯re planning to use it once a week so those who are used to bathing with mana water can do so once a week since that¡¯s the only time I can spare with my busy schedule,¡± Anton said to the two tutors.

    Anton knew that they were probably successful in igniting the two old tutors¡¯ curiosity about the effects of mana water on their bodies and Anders would probably receive a request to talk from the tutors.

    After that talk, Anton cast his cleaning spells on the main hallway, the bathrooms that were going to be used by the guests, and finally the ballroom slash theater room.

    At around nine in the morning, guests began arriving. Anton and his father were at the door together with the butler to welcome their guests. The people from the manor who were allowed to watch the films that day in the ballroom slash theater were already seated in the chairs there.

    They actually prepared three hundred seats in the theater and were thankful that the ballroom was large enough. They placed enough enchanted air conditioner items that even if the theater were full, it would still be very comfortable.

    The first guests who arrived were the archmages and Anton was surprised about that since from what he had read, the most important guests were supposed to be the last ones to arrive. When the Archmage Voduria saw Anton¡¯s confusion, she admitted that all the archmages were excited about seeing the films that why they were early. They didn¡¯t want to be late and missed the opening scenes of the movie.

    The Archmage Voduria brought four with her even though she requested three seats. The two were archmages and the other two were the High Wizards who greeted them when they arrived in Zalnothel.

    The Archmage Tristan brought six people and based on his introduction, they were all archmages and Anton wondered if archmages were common in Zalnothel. Two of Tristan¡¯s guests were Archmage Drenor and Archmage Monet who presided in Anton¡¯s appointment as a Baron.

    After Anton greeted the archmages, Ignomus led them to the theater. From nine until ten in the morning, the quest arrived nonstop but then Anders told Anton to go to the theater since they would need to start the film showing since the event was scheduled for ten in the morning.

 Chapter 207

    The most important people like the powerful archmages and High Wizards and the richest nobles and merchants occupied the first few rows and soon the chairs were filled. Anton kept hearing the guests'' exclamation that the room felt so cool and comfortable and Nemina and Anders took that chance to inform them that once their shop was open, they would be selling enchanted items that would make their rooms cool and comfortable as well.

    Anton sat near the door at the back and Colin sat beside him. He wasn¡¯t planning to watch the first two films and would only watch the audience¡¯s reactions to the third movie in the Lord of the Rings franchise which was Return of The King.

    He was planning to enter his Diablo II game to level up his druid character and Colin would get his attention if somebody wanted to talk to him. The excuse they would give was Anton was meditating but needed to be in the theater so the spell that runs the movie would run smoothly.

    When everyone was seated, Frederick turned off all the magic lanterns and kept a single one turned on which was the one near the door. Anton then began playing the first movie which was Fellowship of The Ring.

    Before he started the movie though, Anders requested that everyone prepared themselves first since there wouldn¡¯t be any interruption during the first film so those who had tiny bladders should relieve themselves. The majority of them followed the maids to the bathroom and after a few minutes, everyone returned.

    When the movie started and everyone was focused on watching, Anton entered the World of Sanctuary and began leveling up his druid character. Right now, he was level twenty-five and about to enter the Durance of Hate to kill Mephisto. He was still doing his habit of exploring every nook and cranny of the map but he was able to kill Mephisto when the movie just ended.

    Anton did level up his character one level so now his druid is level twenty-six. He put the newly earned skill points to Summon Spirit Wolf so now his skills were level fifteen Summon Spirit Wolf, level three Summon Dire Wolf, level seven Raven, and level one Oak Sage.

    After the first movie ended, everyone who hadn¡¯t seen the movie before had the expected stunned look on their faces including the archmages and High Wizards in the crowd and those who had seen the movie before looked at them with amused expressions on their faces and kept telling their friends that they had the same reaction.

    Anders knew that the audience would soon begin conversing with each other about the film so he immediately invited everyone for lunch.

    The mansion¡¯s hall was temporarily converted into a buffet hall. There were several tables full of food that the kitchen prepared and there were people who were assigned as maids and waiters for a short time and waited on the guests to serve them with food and drinks.

    Anton was an introvert and did not like gatherings that were full of people he didn¡¯t know but he had to follow his father and mingle for the sake of their business. The archmages was tactful enough to allow Anton to follow his father to talk business while everyone was eating but most discussion centered around the movies.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Anders and Nemina prematurely announced that their family was planning to open a theater that would show different varieties of movies to customers and that the movies would be replaced twice a month. The announcement was met enthusiastically by everyone and almost all of them inquired if their family were looking for investors.

    Anders and Nemina needed to keep reiterating that they were still in the process of planning the theater and everything was still subject to change. He was so glad that even though all of the people there knew that Anton was the power behind the family and holder of the noble title, they were focused on Anders and Nemina. More than likely, it was because everyone already knew that he was too young and his father was actually in charge of the family¡¯s business. Anton was just the deterrent for any troubles that might come their way.

    After an hour of lunch, everyone returned to the theater and before Anton started the second film, Anders reiterated that there would be no breaks in the middle of the showing and that everyone should make sure that they relieved themselves and Anton¡¯s father gave everyone a few more minutes.

    When everyone was ready, Anton started the second film which was The Twp Towers and when everyone was deep inside the movie, Anton entered his game again.

    Anton started fighting the enemies in Act IV but he was still making sure that he kills every monster in sight. He knew that following famous gamers guide on how to level up fast would allow him to level up his character faster but the main purpose of taking his time was to acclimate his body in casting the spells and making sure that he was familiar with the mana structure of the spells. One advantage of his sorceress compared to his druid, having scattered his skill points to almost every sorceress spell was, that Anton became familiar with the mana structure of almost every spell in the sorceress skill tree compared to the druid character. With the druid, he was currently only familiar with very few spells but he planned to change that once he switched to the elemental build when he reached above level thirty.

    During the showing of the Two Towers, Anton completed the areas outside the Pandemonium Fortress which were the Outer Steppes, Plains of Despair, and the City of the Damned, and completed the quest ¡°The Fallen Angel¡± and killed Izual receiving the two skill points award.  He was able to level up twice so he was now level twenty-eight.

    Anton exited the game and minimized it after parking his character beside his private stash. The movie just ended so now everyone was going outside to take a few minutes break so he joined his father. This time, Anton joined the archmages in their discussions about the movies. He answered very few questions since he kept mentioning that he didn¡¯t want to spoil the movies for them.

    He admitted that after the three movies, there were another three movies set in the world of Middle-earth which was prequel the Lord of the Rings called The Hobbit. The first movie in the Hobbit films was called ¡°An Unexpected Journey¡± and Anton told the mages that it was about Bilbo¡¯s adventure.

    The mages became excited and when Anton looked at them, instead of looking like old, wise, and respected archmages, they looked like Lord of the Rings fanboys and fangirls which almost made him laugh.

    After the break, the excitement in the air was much more palpable since this time everyone hadn¡¯t seen the last movie yet which was The Return of The King. This time, Anton sat beside his father since he wanted to watch everyone¡¯s reaction to the last film.

    Anton had to admit that the Lord of the Rings was the most epic film franchise he had ever seen and in his opinion, it was much better than the Marvel or DC movie franchises but again to each his own. He didn¡¯t even know if he could show those films to the audience here in this world since the Marvel and DC movies were shockingly different from this world.

 Chapter 208

    The Return of The King was an epic conclusion to an epic movie franchise and almost all of the audience members were crying especially towards the end when they learned that Frodo would go with the elves to the Undying Lands due to the sword wound that he received. Anna and her maids were especially voluble in their crying during the last scene when Samwise Gamgee was together with his family.

    There were several scenes that caused everyone to cry like a baby during the film and Anton could understand since he was almost the same when the movie came out.

    After the movie, there was this bittersweet feeling in the air. Most of the old people in the audience had experienced the vicissitude of life and they recognized the feeling and reminisced their past experiences.

    There was this desire for loyal companions that would stick with you through thick and thin like what Samwise Gamgee did with Frodo. There was the desire to have an epic adventure that would shake the foundation of the earth and then there was also this desire to be acknowledged by the powerful because of your contribution even though you are a tiny being just like when the whole of the White City bowed down to the four hobbits including Aragorn, the newly crowned king.

    Most of all, there was this desire to join Frodo in the Undying Lands where the elves would go since this could mean a start of a new adventure.

    This time, it was Anton who went to the front of the audience.

    ¡°This concludes the epic trilogy of the Lord of The Rings movies. Our family hoped you enjoy them since they were my favorite movies as well. Now before we leave to eat dinner, I have a surprise video clip for you all. This one is called The Hobbit: Clash of Immortals.¡±

    Anton then played the five-minute video clip. The battle between Galadriel and the newly appeared Sauron excited everyone, especially the mages in the crowd since they didn¡¯t recognize the magic that was being used in the video.

    After the video clip ended, everyone clamored to know which movie was the scene from so Anton went to the front again.

    ¡°There¡¯s another three movies which is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings. The franchise is called The Hobbit which was the story about Bilbo Baggins. The first movie is called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the second one is called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the last one is called The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies. We currently don¡¯t have any plans to show them yet and was planning to show them once my father plan to open a movie theater is realized.¡±

    Since Anders and Nemina were hyping the movie theater, he added wood to the bonfire. There was excitement in everyone¡¯s faces in the audience and Anton was satisfied in hyping out their family business plans.

    Everyone then followed Anton¡¯s father to where the buffet table was located so they could eat dinner. During the meal, the discussion amongst the people about the movies and the video clip at the end was intense. After the meal, the guests said their goodbyes, and Anders announced that there would be a meeting at the dining table. He also invited the two old tutors and Anton could see that their teachers were flattered at being considered part of their family.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°The noble who was reticent in selling his shop to us, the three-story building located in the center of the city finally said that they would sell it to us and that the papers will be handled tomorrow. The short movie that you presented at the end of the movie was a brilliant move Anton since that made all of them realize that we have the resources to open a movie theater and that would make us a tremendous amount of wealth.,¡± Anders announced.

    ¡°The Archmage Voduria mentioned that once we have a concrete plan for a movie theater, we need to talk to the government before we proceed,¡± Nemina added.

    ¡°Our family is also becoming very well known in some circles since the movies were truly groundbreaking. Everyone was fishing for a connection with us since they wanted to be invited to our next movie showing. More than likely, after tonight, that desire for connection would intensify as soon as the words spread,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°Will we encounter any issues? Like pushbacks from the powerful or interest from Zalnothel¡¯s underbelly?¡± Anton asked everyone but he was actually looking at the two old tutors.

    ¡°From some of the nobles you might encounter some issues since there were people stupid enough to try checking if they could get the ¡°movies¡± from you. From the underground, be prepared since they will surely attempt something to get the movies like maybe kidnapping some of your people but if you make sure that all the important members of your family are protected, you don¡¯t need to worry. I saw that most of your guards are wielding magic wands so that¡¯s a good protection. You also have three vampires and nothing will get past them. Once Anna is inside one of the academies, she will be safe since no one would touch the students there or they would invoke the wrath of any of the principals of the schools and no one would like that since all of them are  Supremes,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°The best protection you can get which is already considerable due to the fact that Sir Anton is a baron and an archmage, is once you¡¯re ready to open your theater, you will need to partner with a powerful organization and I would recommend an academy,¡± Ms. Damby added.

    ¡°Just the theater?¡± Nemina asked.

    ¡°Yes. The powers that be would not be interested in a shop that sells weapons and armor even enchanted items especially your enchanted items focused on daily life instead of combat,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    Everyone contemplated what the two old tutors had said but Anton knew that the best thing that he could do was to continue playing his Diablo II game system since that was the only one that would increase his power fast enough to make sure that his family would be safe. Once he reached the druid¡¯s maximum level, Anton was sure that that would increase his wizardly rank, and the moment he chose a new character like the Necromancer, he would become more powerful.

    ¡°Also, the moment something happens, you will need to be decisive and show your power. It would save you troubles in the long run,¡± Mr. Tenor added.

    ¡°I understand Sir Tenor. I will make sure that if anything happens, they will learn that I have the power to defeat an army. I already did and that army had several liches and several vampires amongst them and I have grown more powerful since then and I¡¯m still growing,¡± Anton firmly said and everyone could feel the power that Anton exuded.

    Even though everyone knew that Anton was an archmage, they kept forgetting how powerful he was since he behaved generously to his family and his friends and still acted as a dutiful son to his father. They briefly remembered the time when Anton summoned a rain of flaming meteors from the heavens and targeted an undead army.

    Anders looked very proud while Mr. Tenor and Lucas looked at Anton¡¯s father enviously. Everyone at the table knew that the men were thinking that It must be grand to have a very powerful son who would remain generous and loyal to their family.

 Chapter 209

    The next day was the start of a new week and Anton and Anna were busy were busy receiving lessons from their tutor. Anna¡¯s schooling hours were particularly long since the start of the semester was in a week and after a few days, Ms. Damby would accompany Anton¡¯s sister to the magic school to register.

    Mr. Tenor asked Anton again if he was sure of not attending the academy this semester and Anton reiterated that their family was truly busy. They had to consolidate their position in the city and they were about to open a huge shop. Anders was also beginning to plan a merchant caravan but that was superseded by their plans to build a theater once they found a magical artifact that was capable of recording the movies without any decrease in the quality of the video and sounds.

    During their lessons, Anton was learning a lot from the old tutor, Lessons that he badly needed since he was truly ignorant of this world, and during the past few weeks, they were busy running and surviving for him to be able to learn anything. He valued the tutors so much that Anton kept providing mana water to them every time they wanted to quench their thirst to make sure that the two old tutors would remain healthy.

    Anton also added the two tutors to his party one time so he could heal them of any ailments they had due to their age using his three auras, the Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Auras. The two tutors were greatly surprised when they received the healing and told Anton that they had never felt so young and so healthy in a long time.

    During lunchtime, it was only Anton, his sister, and the two old tutors dining in the dining room since the others were outside the manor busy with business. Anton wanted to laugh when he saw his sister since she looked harried. Anna had no choice but to cram a lot of knowledge since she didn¡¯t want to appear like an ignorant country girl when she entered magic school in a week and even Mr. Tenor said that he would be assisting Ms. Damby in teaching her during afternoons.

    After lunch, Anton went to the warehouse but was surprised to see that there weren¡¯t a lot of items that needed repairing. Colin said that his father, Nemina, and Lunelle were still in the process of collecting broken and worn-out items for him to repair. He then headed directly to his study and told Colin to tell him once the warehouse was full of items that needed to be repaired so he didn¡¯t have to go to the warehouse every day. He also asked Colin to bring the items that Eric completed and stored in the warehouse to his study so he could enchant them there and to ask for help from the people from Manor for help if he needed it.

    Aside from that, Anton also asked Colin to bring all the wands that needed repairing to him in his study once they reached above ten and his assistant said that he would.

    Anton worked on enchanting all of the items that Eric made and after he was done, let it remain in his private stash. He would transfer them to the shop that his father would open. He also told Colin to tell Nemina to purchase sculpture decorations for every room in the mansion even the smallest room like the servant¡¯s quarters, that would hold all the enchantments that he knew like the lantern, the air conditioner, the stove, cup of cold water and the water spout, and the water heater.

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    Colin said that he would tell Nemina his instruction and would inform Anton once all of the necessary sculptures that would hold the enchantment were placed in the rooms.

    Anton also gave all the mana power bank that he had made so far to Ignomus and told him to make sure that all the enchanted items in the house wouldn¡¯t run out of mana. That meant that he would need to create more of the mana power bank and asked Colin to tell Eric the carpenter to prioritize creating the power banks.

    When all of his responsibilities for the day were done, Anton saw that it was already around four in the afternoon. He thought of playing his druid character but he was feeling a bit burnt out so he decided to practice his guitar for a few minutes and would spend the rest of the time until dinner reading web novels and watching animes.

    He knew that because of this behavior, Anton wouldn¡¯t truly become super powerful since he was lazy and prone to doing his hobbies every time he felt a bit stressed or burned out. Anton knew that he should be driven like the protagonists of those Korean and Chinese web novels who could concentrate on diving into dungeons or concentrate on cultivating for hours on end without stopping but instead, he was wasting several hours a day watching animes, television shows, movies, or reading web novels. Heck, if he could play other games aside from his Diablo II he would have done that as well.

    After a while, Colin knocked on the door of his study to inform him that his father and the others were already in the dining room so he minimized the browser that he was using to watch an anime and followed Colin to the dining room.

    While they were eating dinner Anders announced something important.

    ¡°We have successfully completed the purchase and the paper for the shop and we will call it the Oak Sage Store so everyone will know that the store was owned by our family. We will begin renovating the store tomorrow and since there wasn¡¯t too much renovation to be done, all of the items that were currently stored in our warehouse would be transferred to the store by tomorrow. I¡¯ll tell you Anton when you can transfer your enchanted items there.¡±

    ¡°We will make sure that everything runs smoothly so in actuality, the store wouldn¡¯t open this week but probably next week. We¡¯re also in the process of hiring more people that would help us in managing the store,¡± Nemina added.

    ¡°We¡¯re also arranging a six-carriage caravan that will go near the towns and villages to the North to purchase broken and worn out things and this caravan will be headed by Ecturne,¡± Anders continued.

    ¡°I found a shop that contains the item that we were looking for but I need Anton to check it out first before we purchase it to make sure that it¡¯s the one that he would be satisfied with since the item cost a lot of coins,¡± Frederick said and Anton told the mage that he would follow him tomorrow afternoon after his lessons with his tutor to check it out.

    Anton knew that his father and Nemina were rushing to open the store since ever since they entered Zalnothel, they only spent coins and there were no incoming coins. They did still have a lot of coins since about a third of their total wealth was still in his father''s storage ring but if they didn¡¯t earn coins soon, they would experience a deficit and it was embarrassing for an archmage like Anton to have no funds but no one was truly worried since once they started selling their items, a lot of coins would come in. Especially since the items they would sell cost them little to acquire but they would be able to sell them for a lot of profit. Both repaired items and Anton''s enchanted items cost them very little to make and they knew that once they sold them they would be hugely popular to the citizens of Zalnothel.

    The main draw of their items was their cheapness compared to other products in the market but of course, Anders and Nemina knew that it shouldn¡¯t be too cheap that it would affect Zalnothel¡¯s economy. It was only cheap enough to make sure that people would prefer to purchase their items especially if the quality was guaranteed.

 Chapter 210

    Anna was studying frantically since the school registration would be the next day. Although Ms. Damby told her to relax and not be stressed, she couldn¡¯t help herself. During the past few days, she was very proud of herself for learning her fourth cantrip and she had the feeling that soon she would be able to learn her first level spell.

    That meant that she would officially become a level one wizard but the problem was that she was severely lacking in other areas. According to Ms. Damby, the school that she was about to attend which was Zalnothel First Magic School was a magic school that catered to the young sons and daughters of the rich of the city and the school was supposed to be attended while a mage was just learning magic up until the student reached the third level.

    Once the student reached the third level, it meant that he or she had graduated from the school and had the option of attending the university if they passed the test or were invited by the powerful professors there or started their career in the city. The graduate''s ages usually ranged from early twenties until early thirties.

    The tuition was also staggeringly high but due to her brother being a baron and an archmage, they would receive a huge discount. Anna wasn¡¯t actually worried about their funds since the last time she went to the warehouse, it was filled to the brim with items that they would sell and she knew that those items cost them peanuts to purchase and they would sell each one of them for a lot of coins.

    Her brother was also an item enchanter and his enchantments were truly magical. Once they started selling those, their family would earn a lot of coins. Even now, her father kept giving her one hundred gold coins per week and according to Ramona, a family of four could survive in the city of Leminthor for five to ten golds a month. Even with her shopping and spending, her storage bag still had around eighty gold coins left.

    Anna wasn¡¯t afraid that other people wouldn¡¯t recognize her power as a mage. What she was afraid of was embarrassing her family due to her behavior as a country girl and ignorance that would look like she was an uneducated rube.

    Anton told her that she should not worry about others recognizing her origins since everyone knew already. They hadn¡¯t been secretive when it came to their background.

    Ms. Damby even assured her that nobody would dare to disrespect her due to her brother being a very young archmage and a baron. Not only that, their family was beginning to become famous because of the movies and most of the nobility were angling to get an invitation from their family for the next movie showing so instead of her receiving any disrespect, more than likely, a lot of would-be classmates would clamor to be her friends in the hopes of being invited to their next family movie event.

    Anna understood all of that but she still wanted to make sure that she had learned enough that she would not be embarrassed during lessons.

    The next day arrived and her father and brother kept giving her advice on what she should and shouldn¡¯t do while registering during breakfast. Anton then taunted her that if she failed, she shouldn¡¯t take it to heart since she could just remain in the manor and act as a lazy, pretty, noble girl who would go to the city to drink tea and eat cakes every day.

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    She couldn¡¯t even retort since everybody heard her saying the very same thing during their travel. She felt embarrassed when she saw Lunelle and Devon hiding their laughter.

    In the carriage on the way to Zalnothel First Magic School, Ms. Damby, Mr. Tenor, Ramona, and Belinda accompanied her. After thirty minutes of travel, they arrived at the school.

    They entered a huge gate and Anna and her maids were flabbergasted to see that the school consisted of four mansions encircling a very large fully decorated garden.

    ¡°It¡¯s ten times bigger than our manor!¡± Anna exclaimed while Ramona and Belinda nodded.

    When they arrived at one of the mansions, which was supposedly the main school building where most of the main offices were located, Anna, Ms. Damby, and Mr. Tenor exited the carriage. Ramona and Belinda stayed in the carriage to wait for them.

    The school looked empty and Anna could only see very few people. Ms. Damby said that it would change once school started, which was going to be on Monday.

    They arrived at an office that had a placard at the door saying, ¡°Registrar¡¯s Office¡±. When they entered, Anna saw a couple of middle-aged women there. When the women saw them, one of them invited them to sit behind her table and it looked like she was expecting them.

    ¡°You should be Ms. Anna Sunders. We¡¯ve been expecting you. I¡¯m Lovella Rundra, one of the registrars here. These are your school rule book, a list of books you will need to buy, and your school schedule! Welcome to Zalnothel First Magic School! Please arrive on time on Monday during the orientation!¡± The excitable chubby woman said.

    Anna remained silent while she received the papers from Ms. Rundra then after a while, she thanked the lady with a nudge from Ms. Damby.

    ¡°This is Ms. Doreen Rene, another one of our registrars. She will give you a brief tutor of the grounds!¡± Ms. Rundra said then the other registrar beckoned her.

    Ms. Damby told Anna that they would wait for her here but she knew that the old tutors would probably need to talk to the registrar lady alone.

    Anna followed Ms. Rene outside the office.

    ¡°Are we going to tour the whole school?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Good heavens, no! This is a very large school and it would probably take us the whole day to tour it and it would exhaust us! I will just point out the major facilities like the principal¡¯s office, the cafeteria, that sort.

    Ms. Rene then proceeded to point out the offices and locations using her hands then told her the rules and regulations that Anna would need to follow while she was in school. She also pointed out the location of the dorm rooms for those students who will stay in school throughout the semester.

    That information gave Anna a pause. She wondered if it would be better for her to stay in the dorms but decided to stay at home first since they were just starting in Zalnothel and anything could happen. Once they were stable in the city that would be the time she could decide if she wanted to experience staying in the school dorms.

    Ms. Rene reiterated that the rules and regulations were in the book that was given to her by Ms. Rundra and to make sure that she would arrive on Monday before eight in the morning.

    After that brief tour, they went back to the registrar¡¯s office and Anna saw the two tutors shaking hands with Ms. Rundra then after they shook hands with Ms. Rene, Anna emulated them by shaking her hands with the two registrars. They then return to their carriage to go home.

    Ms. Damby informed Anna that she gave the registrar information on what her level was in all subjects including her magic level and she was also the one who gave the tuition for this semester, which was a task requested by Anders. Anna nodded that she understood and then she gave the list of books to her tutor and then they headed to the market where they could purchase the books.

 Chapter 211

    Anton was looking at her sister across the dining table. She was very excited while telling him how the school looked and because of that he became intrigued as well. He imagined if he joined the university it could become a whole new adventure like something out of a Harry Potter film but the problem was he was already seventeen years old and was considered an archmage by the people of Zalnothel.

    Not only that, his father needed him to stay in the manor since their business was still very dependent on him. Another fact that Anton couldn¡¯t forget was the Undead Coalition. He got an inkling that Zalnothel was the main target of the undead organization so he should prepare himself to fight it out with the undead.

    That meant that he should stop being lazy and concentrate on leveling up his Diablo II characters.

    Nemina informed him that their family wasn¡¯t bothered by any powerful beings from the city because based on the magic that Anton had shown so far and the enchanted items that he had produced, he was considered weak and unknowledgeable amongst the archmages. They were only a bit curious about the fortuitous phenomenon that he encountered to allow him to increase his power at a very rapid pace.

    Even the movies that made a lot of the nobles and mages interested were considered trivial by the most powerful beings of the city.  This information was shared with Nemina by some of the nobles that they had business dealings with.

    Anton felt insulted but at the same time relieved since he could use this time while everyone was underestimating him to increase his power using his Diablo II system. That was if he stopped being lazy and concentrated on leveling up so he decided to do just that.

    ¡°Brother, the school is really huge, beautiful, and interesting. They also had a dorm. I would have liked to stay there but I feel like it would be better for me to stay at home first since we are still not truly stable.¡±

    ¡°If you want to experience the dorm life in the school, you can do so. You don¡¯t need to worry about our family since I will make sure that we will progress in this city and become stable. I can talk to Father about that and you can even ask Ms. Damby to accompany you if she¡¯s willing. During the weekends, you and Ms. Damby could always return home, and even during weekdays if you want to since the school was less than an hour from here.¡±

    When Anna heard what Anton had said, she paused and he saw that his sister was thinking deeply about her next move. After a few minutes, Anton could see that Anna had reached a decision.

    ¡°Thank you, brother. I have decided that I would like to stay in the school dorms. Will you talk to father about it?¡± Anna said and Anton nodded.

    The two tutors who were eating with them didn¡¯t interrupt the sibling''s talk and just listened. They didn¡¯t interject anything since the siblings still needed to talk to their father about that decision.

    After lunch, Anton headed to his study and asked Colin to get the items from the warehouse that Eric had already completed.

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    ¡°Sir, most of the rooms in the mansion already have the sculptures you want,¡± Colin said.

    ¡°Okay bring all of them here including the ones that Eric had already completed so I can begin enchanting all of them. Please ask assistance from others.¡±

    Colin exited the study but returned after a few minutes. He brought with him all items that needed enchantment and he was followed by several helpers. They put all the items on the floor and then after that, all of them exited the study except Colin and two maids.

    Anton asked Colin to bring to him all the sculptures that he needed to enchant a specific enchantment like the air conditioner and Colin and the two maids did so. After that, he proceeded to enchant the lanterns and so on until all of the sculptures were done. Colin asked the maids and some helpers to bring out all the enchanted items to be distributed to all the rooms.

    After that, Anton began enchanting all the items that Eric had made and kept them in his inventory. When everything was completed, it was already five in the afternoon. He told Colin that he would be busy meditating and only call him once his family was ready for dinner.

    Anton then entered the world of Sanctuary to level up his Druid Character. During the next two hours, he completed the Chaos Sanctuary but kept one seal unsealed so Diablo wouldn¡¯t appear. He planned to kill Diablo after dinner. He did level up once so his druid was now level 29.

    His plan was after killing Diablo, he would switch his druid¡¯s character build to Elemental Wind druid. He parked his character beside the private stash in Pandemonium Fortress and exited the study.

    Colin was surprised to see him.

    ¡°Sir, your father hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡±

    ¡°Father still not here? It¡¯s already seven in the evening! Let''s go to the dining room to wait for them.¡±

    Anton wasn¡¯t worried about his father since the vampires and Lucas was with him and Nemina. After a few minutes, everyone arrived.

    ¡°Anton sorry you have been waiting for us,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Father, I haven¡¯t waited too long. Is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°The shop is almost ready! We will have a grand opening on Sunday so you will need to put all of your enchanted items in the section that you prepared.¡±

    ¡°Please tell Eric since he¡¯s also in charge of naming the enchanted items or at least his team is.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s already aware so we will all go to the shop tomorrow so you could put the things there. I also think that it would be best if you create notes that would best describe the enchanted items including their limitation so we could train our salespeople tomorrow,¡± Nemina said.

    Soon the food arrived and everyone started eating. After dinner, all of them continued to talk.

    ¡°I found a magical item again that could record the movies. It was a pity that the first one was not good,¡± Frederick said.

    Frederick found a recording magic item but when Anton inspected it, the quality was very poor so they decided not to buy it.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you tomorrow to check it out.¡±

    After that Anders, Nemina, and the others focused on talking about the family business and Anton was glad that everyone was excited about it. Several minutes passed and when it looked like everyone was finished talking, Anton told his father about Anna¡¯s desire to remain at the school dorm.

    ¡°The school dorm is a good place for Anna to stay since it would allow her to mingle with people with the same status and even roughly the same age as her. It would also allow her to form a connection with the nobles in the city.  Not only that, since the schools are guarded by a Legend, the vicinity is extremely safe.¡± Ms. Damby said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and check the school out tomorrow,¡± Anders told the siblings and Ms. Damby.

    When Anton saw that his father and the others were still going to continue to talk, he excused himself and told everyone that he would need to meditate, and after he went directly to his room.

    He took a bath and prepared himself to kill Diablo then he would switch his druid¡¯s build and continue with Act V.

 Chapter 212

    Early morning, Saturday, the day before the grand opening of their shop which was going to be called Oak Sage Store, Anton was woken up by frantic knocking on his door. When he opened it he saw that it was his father.

    ¡°What happened, Father?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Follow me to my office. The others are already there,¡± Anders said.

    When they entered Anders¡¯s office, Lucas, Nemina, Ignomus, and the three vampires, Zenoxus, Ecturne, and Luminetta were already there.

    ¡°Somebody kidnapped Frederick. We received a note saying that they would release him in exchange for the spell that produced the movie,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! There¡¯s no spell that could produce those movies since it¡¯s only a gateway to another world!¡± Anton thoughtlessly exclaimed.

    That statement shocked the whole group and the vampires'' eyes gleamed. Everyone ignored what Anton had said.

    ¡°Three of the mercenaries that were guarding the Frederick were killed,¡± Lucas said and Anton could see that their head guard was truly angry.

    ¡°Do we know who kidnapped Frederick?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°According to my information sources, it¡¯s a very powerful underworld gang here in Zalnothel called the Blood War gang,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°They weren¡¯t wary of targeting an archmage?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Apparently, almost everyone in the city who thought themselves powerful considers you a weak archmage, and the head of the gang had two powerful high wizards and an archmage on their side as well,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Then we need to show them my power. Do we know where their headquarters or where they were keeping Frederick?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve tracked Frederick and he¡¯s inside their headquarters south of the city. It¡¯s a series of warehouses.¡± Zenoxus said.

    ¡°Can you rescue him silently and can you message us in a distance once you have rescued Frederick?¡± Anton asked the elder vampire.

    ¡°I can rescue him without anyone noticing even the archmage amongst them and I can message Ecturne and Luminetta once we¡¯re safe,¡± Zenoxus replied.

    ¡°Okay, this is my plan. Ecturne, Lucas, and the other mercenaries will stay here to guard the family. Me and Luminetta will fly over to where the gang¡¯s headquarters are located and Zenoxus will silently rescue Frederick. Once they¡¯re safe, Zenoxus would message Luminetta and then I will destroy the gang¡¯s headquarters. Anyone want to add anything?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°Are you really going to kill all of those gang members?¡± Anders asked his son.

    Anton could understand his father¡¯s concern. He was still very young and his father didn¡¯t want him to bloodied his hands with common street thugs. The only enemies that he had destroyed so far were monsters and undead and this would be the first time that Anton would kill humans. Unfortunately, this world wasn¡¯t peaceful, and the fact that Anton was powerful meant that sooner or later, he would not be able to avoid killing even humans to make himself and his family safe.

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    ¡°Yes, Father. Not only that, I will raze their headquarters to the ground. We need to let everyone know that we are powerful and ruthless enough to destroy our enemies so no one would lightly attempt the same thing.¡±

    Anton then commanded Zenoxus to go ahead and rescue Frederick. After a few minutes, Anton flew from his mansion and made sure that he was high enough but not too high that no one would be able to see him. He wanted everyone in the city to see what he was doing so he activated all of his buffs with the visual effects on and even though it was morning, the light coming from his auras was so bright that the people on the ground should see him.

    Luminetta was following him but the vampire wasn¡¯t a bit translucent so she wasn¡¯t visible. She was there to guide him to where the gang¡¯s headquarters were and to inform him once Zenoxus and Frederick were safe.

    Anton was flying slow enough that he could hear the shouts of people below and when he looked at them, a lot of the people were pointing at him. After around twenty minutes of flying, Luminetta pointed at the series of warehouses and suddenly she said that Frederick was safe. Before Luminetta left, she explicitly told Anton all of the gang member¡¯s warehouses she clearly marked the border where the gang¡¯s member asset ended.

    When he was near the headquarters of the Blood War gang he saw three mages flying up to meet him.

    ¡°Archmage Sunders, to what do we owe the pleasure?¡± The mage at the front said and based on that, Anton knew that he was the archmage leader of the gang.

    Anton didn¡¯t answer and immediately cast Frozen Orb one after another. He also cast Meteor towards the warehouses. The three enemy wizards cast some sort of shield and weren¡¯t given any chance to cast any other spell but after the second Frozen Orb, their shield was destroyed.

    The two high wizards were immediately frozen and then after the third Frozen Orb, they shattered. The archmage who Anton didn¡¯t even know the name of attempted to flee but he relentlessly followed without stopping casting Frozen Orb and Ice Blast. The enemy archmage attempted to cast an offensive spell towards Anton but his defenses were powerful enough to shrug off the attack. With a combination of Ice Blast and Frozen Orb, soon the archmage was destroyed. Anton wondered why the three wizards were so weak. The liches that he fought before were more powerful than they were.

    Anton stored the storage items that the two high wizards and the archmage were keeping on their bodies then he went towards the warehouses and razed everything to the ground. He let go of the people who escaped and only killed those people who foolishly attacked him. He found the gang''s treasures stored in one of the warehouse''s underground basement. He kept all of the things that he found there in his inventory then he flew up again and made sure that everything turned to ash by casting Meteor at the place non-stop.

    Soon he saw a few powerful mages nearby but they let him destroy the gang¡¯s headquarters without interrupting him. When everything in the vicinity was turned into ash, he saw the Archmage Voduria flying towards him.

    ¡°Archmage Sunders, have you quenched your anger?¡± Archmage Voduria asked.

    ¡°Yes, thank you for allowing me to vent my frustration to those who thought that I was weak.¡±

    ¡°Your power is indeed very impressive and your magical stamina is incomparable!¡± Voduria said.

    ¡°Thank you. I was informed that I needed to show my power so the denizens of the city¡¯s underground wouldn¡¯t keep bothering me and my family.¡±

    ¡°Well, you did just that. What truly is startling is the way you cast your powerful spells nonstop. I¡¯m sure that no one would attempt to take what is yours again, at least for now,¡± The old lady archmage told him then said her goodbye.

    Anton flew home slowly displaying himself to the city while his body was glowing with his three auras. He was a bit embarrassed since he was clearly showing off but it was also a form deterrent.

    When he arrived at the manor, he was led to Frederick¡¯s room and saw that the mage had undergone torture. He immediately added Frederick to his party and since his auras were still active, the mage¡¯s wounds healed at a rapid pace and soon he was fully healed but Anton knew that it wasn¡¯t simple to heal the mental trauma of torture the mage experienced.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry this happened to you, Frederick,¡± Anton apologized to the mage.

 Chapter 213

    ¡°I killed the archmage and the two high wizards and most of the members of the Blood War Gang. I also destroyed their headquarters,¡± Anton told Frederick.

    Frederick¡¯s eyes gleamed when he heard that Anton had destroyed the whole gang.

    ¡°Thanks, Anton. I¡¯m fully healed so you don¡¯t need to worry about me and I don¡¯t need to plot my revenge since you¡¯ve already killed them,¡± Frederick said while sitting up from his bed.

    ¡°As compensation, I¡¯ll give you ten percent of the total assets that I¡¯ve received from the gang, and believe me they¡¯re considerable since I found the location where their treasury was located.¡±

    That statement made the mage finally smile.

    ¡°Go ahead and clean yourself. We¡¯ll wait for you in the warehouse since I¡¯m going to dump everything I received from this conflict there.¡±

    Anton then went outside the mage¡¯s room and asked his Father and the others to follow him into the warehouse.

    When they arrived there, Anton and the others waited for Frederick to arrive. After a few minutes, the mage entered the warehouse together with Anna and her maids who wanted to check the loot that Anton had received from the gang.

    ¡°I received three storage items from the enemy mages, two were storage pouches and one was an amulet which was from the enemy archmage. I also looted the gang¡¯s treasury so I¡¯ll dumped that here later once we all inspected the contents of the storage items.¡±

    Anton then gave the storage items to his father and assured Anders that there were no curses or anything like that remaining on the items.

    Anders then checked the first two storage pouches and put the contents in one of the huge tables inside the manor¡¯s warehouse. Everyone was surprised at the amount of treasure that came out of them.

    ¡°The high wizards from Zalnothel are so rich!¡± Anna said when she saw the treasure on the table. The gold amount alone was huge.

    Then Anders dumped the contents of the amulet from the archmage and this time he dumped everything on the floor since the table wasn¡¯t enough to contain all of the items from the medallion.

    Everyone gasped when they saw the treasure that spilled out from the archmage¡¯s storage medallion. The amount of treasure and gold was many times the amount that spilled out from the two high wizard storage pouches.

    After that Anton went to a clear space and dumped everything that he took from the gang¡¯s treasury there. Now everyone was numb since the treasure that was spilled on the floor looked like a dragon¡¯s hoard from the stories.

    ¡°Father, Nemina, please tally everything. We¡¯ll give ten percent of the treasure to Frederick as compensation for the trauma that he had received. Also please coordinate with the government to check if we need to pay some sort of tax for this treasure,¡± Anton said and Anders and Nemina just absently nodded while looking at the huge amount of treasure.

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    ¡°You don¡¯t need to give me ten percent! Just one percent would do,¡± Frederick said while he stared at the treasure.

    ¡°No. I promised you ten percent so you¡¯ll receive ten percent,¡± Anton stubbornly said.

    After that Anton, Anders, and Nemina left the tallying of the treasure to Ignomus and Luminetta since they needed to go to the store to make sure everything would be fine for their grand opening the next day.

    Ecturne and some of the mercenaries turned family guards remained at the mansion to guard it while Zenoxus followed Anton and the other to the store.

    They arrived at the Oak Sage Store after 30 minutes of traveling using their carriage and when they got there, Anders and Nemina began checking everything. Colin led Anton to the section where the magic items were supposed to be displayed and there were three people there that were hired to manage the items. The three salespeople, two women, and a man were already aware of the different enchanted items that they were going to sell and Eric already provided the names of the items.

    Basically, the magic section of the store would display around five to ten of the enchanted items and the rest would be stored at the back.

    According to the salesman, the items were priced high enough that only rich folk should be able to afford the items but Anton just shrugged. He and his family already talked about the projected earnings they would receive from the items that they would be selling and due to the very low cost of purchase for the repaired items and low production cost of the enchanted items, they would earn a considerable amount of wealth from the store.

    Anders and Nemina also wisely opened an account in the Bank of Zalnothel and stored most of their wealth there since the bank was guarded by several Legends and the bank even had one Supreme.

    Of course, as per Anton¡¯s recommendation, they also kept part of their wealth with them just in case.

    After storing all of the enchanted items in his inventory, Anton returned to the manor but Anders, Lucas, Nemina, Zenoxus, and their guards remained in the store to supervise everything there.

    When Anton arrived home, he went to the dining room to eat lunch. Anna, her maids, the two tutors, and Frederick were already waiting. While they were eating, Anton asked Frederick for details about his capture by the gang.

    ¡°I was informed that there was a magical recording artifact there but when I checked it out, they captured me,¡± the mage simply said.

    ¡°Are you still planning to search for recording items? If you do, you don¡¯t need to worry about the same thing happening again since the Archmage Voduria said that I¡¯ve shown enough might that nobody should mess with us for now,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. I have a lead on a couple of places but the one that I reported last night needs to be inspected by you,¡± mentioned Frederick.

    ¡°We can check it out after lunch. Are you okay or do you want to rest first?¡±

    ¡°No. let¡¯s go. I just want to busy myself to forget that experience with that gang. At least I earned a lot of gold for that and I¡¯ll be able to purchase any spellbooks that I want,¡± The mage said.

    ¡°Brother are we not going to hold a movie event?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°All of us are so busy and you will start school on Monday. It¡¯ll probably be a while. More than likely our family movie event will be planned by Father and Nemina for some sort of promotion for our store so they were the ones who will decide.¡±

    ¡°Are we going to watch the Hobbit movies?¡± Anna asked and everyone on the table looked interested.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But if you really want to watch a movie, we¡¯ll watch a Disney animated film later tonight just for the family.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a Disney animated film?¡± Mr. Tenor asked.

    Anna then explained what an animated movie was based on the first films they had seen before and she also gave a rough explanation of how the animations were made based on Anton¡¯s explanation to his sister. The two tutors looked highly interested when they learned the details and said they couldn¡¯t wait to see the movie later.

    After lunch, Anton and Frederic went outside the manor to go to where the mage found the magical artifact that would allow them to record the movies. Anton wondered why they were having difficulty finding such an item since this city was supposed to be one of the most magical cities in the world and recording magic was supposed to be one of the most common magic.

 Chapter 214

    Sunday arrived and it was the grand opening of their store, the Oak Sage Store. Their store wasn¡¯t that large, at least compared to the other mega stores in the city of Zalnothel but what separated them from the others was the cheapness and high quality of the items that they were selling.

    All regular items like swords, armor, shields, other weapons, clothes, pieces of jewelry, and other accessories and knick-knacks were at least twenty-five percent cheaper compared to their counterparts and sometimes even more.

    The enchanted items were also affordable at least compared to other enchanted items and there was a brand new novelty item that the people from Zalnothel were surprised to see which was the mana power bank that would allow them to recharge their enchanted items using the power bank alone without the need for a mage. That meant that they could avoid the expense of paying expensively for a mage to recharge their enchanted items. They were a bit disappointed though that the mana power bank would only work on the items that came from the Oak Sage store.

    After a few hours, everyone in the city saw how popular their items were but the only reason why other powerful families who were in the same business as them didn¡¯t complain was the amount of items they were selling was extremely limited in number.

    There was actually detailed information at the entrance of their store that the store would only remain open while supplies last and once they were exhausted, the store would close down. The family would then acquire more items then they would reopen the store again to sell items.

    Anton was showing his presence at the store and with his recent shenanigan with that gang, everyone was respectful of him. His presence also made sure that there was no trouble in the store.

    The archmages Voduria and Tristan also came to congratulate Anton and Anders for the opening of their store which was an open support towards Anton by the government. But based on the questions of the two archmages, they were interested to know when the planned theater would open and Anders openly admitted that they hadn¡¯t found the magic artifact yet that would allow them to record and present the movies to the customers with the greatest video and audio quality.

    Anna then told the two archmages that they were going to watch a Disney movie later tonight as a celebration and when the two archmages heard that, they shamelessly invited themselves to attend. Anders of course, unhesitatingly, and happily told them that they were welcome.

    They close down the store at around four in the afternoon since the evening would be spent restocking the items in the store.

    When they arrived home, everyone was happy with the success of the store. They ate dinner earlier than normal since they were still going to watch a movie that night and Anna would need to rest early since she would need to go to school early the next day.

    At around six in the evening, everyone was surprised to see guests coming in. They were expecting the two archmages which were the Archmage Voduria and Tristan but there were actually six archmages who arrived. Not only that, some rich merchants and nobles arrived as well who were the ones who attended the movie viewing before.

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    Anton¡¯s father was thankful that the ballroom turned into a theater was still set up the way it was when they showed the three films from the Lord of The Rings Franchise. At least the visitors arrived, knowing that the family didn¡¯t prepare food for them, kept informing Anders that they had already eaten and would only watch the movie.

    They all headed directly to the theater and Anton was still thinking of what movie to show them. For a second, he thought of movies that would shock them like modern movies or superhero movies but decided to keep his promise to his sister of showing a Disney film so he decided to show Sleeping Beauty. At first, he thought of showing the animated film The Sword in the Stone but since the people here didn¡¯t know the story of King Arthur, some of the scenes would probably lose their meaning due to the audience not knowing what their context was but of course, he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure.

    He solved his doubt by just choosing Sleeping Beauty. When everyone was ready, Anton started the movie and they all focused on the film.

    Disney¡¯s Sleeping Beauty was a good, animated film. It had a love story, adventure, and magic, and the best part was, that the setting of the film would not confuse the audience of this world.

    After the movie ended, the audience clapped and praised the film. Some asked how something like that was made and Anna proudly gave a confusing explanation based on Anton''s explanation of how animations were made. Anna even showed them a crude animation she made using the corner of her notebook which was a stickman walking. It was basically the same as what Anton had shown her before.

    Even though the explanation was crude, everyone still focused on her. Anders was proud of how confident her daughter was in explaining how animation works to powerful people and even her tutor had a proud smile on her face.

    Several more minutes passed and after that, their guest left one by one. They kept complimenting Anders about how wonderful the movies were and kept inquiring when their family would open a theater.

    After all the guests left, the family went to the dining room to have something to eat and talk about the happenings during the day. Anna was informed by their father that she didn¡¯t need to join and to go to rest since she would need to go to school tomorrow. Anders would also accompany her so he could check the school to see if it was a good idea for Anna to stay in the dorms there.

    During the meeting, Anders reported that the items stored in their warehouse would be able to keep the store open for at least three more days but their people were already in the process of purchasing items from different sources. Lunelle and Devon guarded by Ecturne and some of the family guards would also leave the next day in a five-carriage caravan to the north towards the nearby villages and towns to purchase items like broken weapons, armor, clothes, and other treasure. They would be gone for five days.

    Anton reported that the magical item that could record and show the movies that Frederick found yesterday had good enough quality that they purchased it. He would still need to do further testing but once it was confirmed that it was good enough, they would begin the planning of acquiring a site for their movie theater.

    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t stop with just one item recorder. They would need a lot more so Frederick would need to search for more. The mage would also contact high-level alchemists or enchanters who could create that magical recorder item.

    Anton suggested that they should only start a theater once they had more than three of such devices and his father agreed with him.

    Luminetta the vampire and Ignomus the butler were still not done cataloging the treasure they acquired from the Blood War gang and the butler said that it would probably take them several more days.

 Chapter 215

    The next day, everyone could see that Anna was very excited. Anton¡¯s father and Anna would go to the magic school followed by Zenoxus since Anders wanted to check the school if it was okay for Anna to stay in the dorms there then Anders would head directly to the store. Nemina and Lucas would be busy with the store as well.

    Lunelle and Devon together with Ecturne would also start traveling that day in a caravan. Frederick was also heading out to check the magical items that he learned about through his connections that could record and show images.

    Anton himself would be in his study learning under his tutor Mr. Tenor. The other tutor, Ms. Damby would remain in the mansion to rest and would wait for Anders¡¯s decision regarding Anna¡¯s stay in the school dorms.

    Before Anton and Mr. Tenor started their lessons, the tutor asked him about how animation was made. Anna¡¯s explanation was garbled and the old tutor was truly interested to find out about how animated films were made.

    Anton was surprised to learn that his old tutor was an artist and actually specialized in exaggerated art forms like caricatures. Since Anton didn¡¯t want to bother explaining how animation was made, he showed the old tutor a video clip from the most famous video streaming site on Earth of how the process of animation was created without using computers.

    The video clip was only around eight minutes but his tutor was so intrigued that the old man requested to watch it again and Anton obliged the old man. After that, the tutor asked if he had any more videos regarding drawing so he showed another video clip of a guide on how to draw an animal using pen and ink. The video was around fifteen minutes long and he admitted to his tutor that it was only part one of a long series of tutorials on how to draw.

    Anton was surprised to see that the old tutor ran towards his room to get pen and paper. For a moment, he was scared that the old man would fall and break his hips or something but he returned to the study none worse for wear. The tutor started copying the drawing technique in the video. Soon, almost a couple of hours passed, and Mr. Tenor noticed the time. The old tutor was incredibly embarrassed and kept apologizing to him. Of course, he told his teacher that it was okay and they spent the last hour of the three hours of study period with a general knowledge lesson.

    After their tutoring session, Anton was highly amused to see his teacher running off to his room presumably to complete the drawing he started earlier.

    In the meantime, Anton remained in his study to focus on leveling up his Druid Character. After several hours of just playing and not focusing on anything else like enchanting, using the internet, or even playing and practicing the guitar, he managed to complete three quests which were the Siege on Harrogath, The Rescue on Mount Arreat, and Prison of Ice.

    After rescuing the NPC Anya, Anton decided to switch his druid build from the summoning build to the elemental wind build so he reset his skill points and assigned them by following the guide in the website Wowhead.com to the letter. After switching his build, he spent about an hour practicing his spells outside the Rogue Encampment. He knew that after practicing druid wind spells for hours, he would be able to utilize them in his item enchanting.

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    The druid wind spells like Twister, Tornado, and Hurricane would be particularly useful in creating wind-base enchanted items like electric fans but fueled by mana instead of electricity or clothing washer and dryer machines.

    After his practice with the druid spells, he exited out of the game and went to the dining room to join his family for dinner. When he arrived there, his father, Anna, and the others were already there except for the ones who went outside the city to the North to purchase items.

    ¡°Brother I have a surprise for you!¡± Anna said.

    Anton saw his sister holding a huge package wrapped in paper. It looked like some sort of painting.

    He ignored the present first and asked Anna how was her first day of school.

    Before Anna could answer, their food arrived from the kitchen so everyone started to eat. After a while, Anton¡¯s sister answered him.

    ¡°It was good! I met a lot of people and most of them were my age! Unfortunately, when it comes to magic, I was just average. I thought that with my progress, I would be one of the advanced ones.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be too disappointed in yourself. You started learning magic very late and with the progress that you¡¯ve made, you¡¯re certainly well above average! If you had started at the same time as some of the nobles in school, you surely would have been higher level by now,¡± Ms. Damby said to her student.

    ¡°So, Father, are you going to let Anna stay in the school dormitory?¡± Anton asked and Anna looked at their father expectantly.

    ¡°I decided to allow her to stay there as long as she comes home every weekend.¡±

    Anders then turned to his daughter and told her that she could start staying in the dormitory next week. Anna cheered and said that of course, she would go home since she wouldn¡¯t miss the weekly mana water bathing.

    Regarding that topic, Nemina informed them that the hot springs located at what was the mansion¡¯s dungeon before would be completed by next week as well.

    Frederick also reported that he purchased two of the three enchanted items that record and show images that he had found and Anton told everyone that he would check them out at a later time.

    Regarding the treasure from the now-defunct Blood War gang, Ignomus, and Luminetta were still cataloguing everything.

    After dinner, Anna excitedly presented the large gift that she had shown earlier to Anton. His sister told him that the gift was from her and their father and when Anton opened it, he was surprised to see that it was a painting of a wizard in the sky glowing brightly amongst the clouds and when he looked carefully, the wizard was him.

    ¡°Where did it come from?!¡± Anton asked while looking at the large portrait.

    He was embarrassed to look at the painting since it looked idealized. The man in the painting looked extremely handsome like a young god, especially with the glowing auras surrounding the image.

    ¡°We bought it in the street! We passed by an artist and it was one of the largest ones. The image was just actually one of many and a lot of people were buying them, especially young women!¡± Anna said then she laughed and everyone joined her.

    Anton was really embarrassed and left the painting there while saying that he would need to meditate.

    The next day arrived and this time, Mr. Tenor made sure that the full three hours were him teaching Anton seriously. In the afternoon though, Anton was repairing and enchanting items since he announced that he would be repairing and enchanting every Tuesday and Thursday and this time he left the enchanted items in the warehouse as well to be brought to the store at a later time.

    The rest of the time that day was him focusing on studying and memorizing the mana structures and mana pathways of the druid spells then practicing those spells in combat in some of the dungeons inside the game.

    Anton reckoned that he could start creating enchanted items based on the druid spells starting next week.

 Chapter 216

    The next day was the last day for that week for Anton to receive tutoring from his teacher. After their lesson, Mr. Tenor asked to talk to him about a subject unrelated to his lessons and he got an inkling it was about the video painting tutorials.

    ¡°Anton, if I manage to get a magical artifact that will let  me record your videos, would you allow me to record the painting tutorials so I could watch them in my time?¡±

    Anton simply agreed and after that talk, he proceeded to practice his guitar first for a few minutes since it had been quite some time. Practicing and playing the guitar soothes his soul. After his guitar practice, Anton entered the world of Sanctuary to complete the Normal Difficulty of his druid character playthrough and after several hours he did.

    At first, he was having difficulty adjusting his gameplay but soon he got used to using the druid¡¯s elemental spells aside from relying on summons. He missed the sorceress flight ability using Telekinesis though but seeing the powerful wind powers obliterating monsters excited him and knew that if he unleashed these kinds of nature power in the world, a lot of people would be shocked.

    Anton¡¯s power in the real world increased tremendously because of his druid spells. His defense alone increased due to adding Cyclone Armor on top of his Frozen Armor. The number and variety of spells that he had also increased.

    After completing the Normal Difficulty, Anton proceeded to spend several hours practicing each of his druid spells to make sure that he was well versed with the spells¡¯ mana structures and mana pathways. He then heard somebody calling him so he exited the game.

    He saw that it was Colin who was knocking at his door. His assistant informed him that the family was already in the dining room so he followed Colin and joined his family for dinner.

    Anna was so excited and kept telling everyone about the experiences that she encountered in school. Based on what she was saying, it almost seemed that she had been attending her school for months instead of just a couple of days.

    Anders was looking at her with a smile on his face though, happy that his daughter was enjoying her school life.

    Frederick gave the two magical items that would be able to record and show images and sound and Anton planned to check them out the next day.

    The next day after breakfast, Anton¡¯s father, Nemina, and Lucas headed to the store while Anna followed by her maids and Ms. Damby headed to her school.

    Since there was no lesson for that day, Anton headed to the ballroom turned into a theater to check out the three magical items that Frederick acquired that could record and show sounds and images.

    The items were simple enough, once activated, they would immediately record the scene where they were pointed at and as long as mana storage was full, the image and sound that was recorded could be shown as many times as they wanted. They could also erase the image and sound from the items and record a new one.

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    The three items were basically exactly the same as each other even though they looked very different. The problem was that their mana storage could only be filled by a 3<sup>rd</sup> level wizard or higher. The items themselves could only be activated by a 2nd-level wizard or higher.  Not only that, the items would record the image and sounds as it was meaning they would need to make sure that the movie that they would record would be as large as they wanted it to be and the sounds were as loud as they wanted it to be.

    That meant that if they wanted to show the movie in a large theater, Anton would need to play the film there and adjust his spell so it would cover the whole theater screen and he would also need to make sure that the sound was as loud as they wanted then they could start recording the film.

    Not only that, they would probably need to hire a 3<sup>rd</sup> level wizard to fill out the mana storage of the items and activate the items.

    He would need to check the quality of the movie recorded in the items to make sure that there was no degradation whatsoever during the middle or even the last part of the film.

    Anton decided to play and record the Oscar Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. It actually didn¡¯t matter which movie he would record since he was alone in the theater. The good thing about the items was that he could activate all three at the same time but the tiresome thing was, that he would need to stay and play the whole movie and since he needed to make sure that artifacts were running smoothly, he would not be able to take his eyes off of them.

    So he spent a couple of hours making sure that the items were recording the movie without any problem. Once he was done, all three artifacts needed to be checked for their quality but he could assign that job to somebody else so he called Colin and asked him to call the two tutors.

    Fortunately, they were both present since Mr. Tenor was in his room and Ms. Damby had already returned from the school.

    ¡°Anton you called us?¡± Mr. Tenor asked when they entered the theater.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Tenor, Ms. Damby. I have a bit of a tedious job that I was hoping you both could do. I¡¯ve already recorded a movie in the recording items but the quality of the images and sounds needed to be inspected and since there were three of them, someone needed to watch the movie three times to check the quality since there were three artifacts.,¡± Anton would have clarified that the job could only be done by qualified people but both teacher suddenly reacted immediately.

    The good thing about the items was even though they required a 2<sup>nd</sup> level mage to be activated, once they were running, they could be left alone. It would still be a good idea for the wizard who activated the items to stay with them but since it was just quality checking, Anton didn¡¯t want to bother.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go ahead and  check the quality!¡± Ms. Damby said and Mr. Tenor stared at her.

    ¡°That¡¯s good! I recommend that you watch the movie using the first artifact then we¡¯ll take our lunch and then you can watch the movie again on the rest of the magical items,¡± Anton said to his tutors.

    After their talk, Anton played the movies using the magic artifact and left the two tutors watching the film and went to his study. He asked Colin to call him once lunch arrived.

    In his study, Anton spent the next few hours leveling up his druid character. He entered the Nightmare Difficulty using his level 34 druid character and after a couple of hours, he leveled up to 36 and reached the Monastery Gate. He wasn¡¯t planning to do any item grind for now and would continue completing the game. He would only hunt for items once he was forced to do so because his druid was having difficulty killing monsters.

    After that, he went outside his study after minimizing the game. He went to the dining room and waited for Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby.

    Soon the two tutors arrived and Ms. Damby was very excited.

    ¡°The movie was a very lovely romantic movie!¡± The old tutor said and Mr. Tenor simply had an indulging smile.

    Anton guessed that the movie would cater to the female audience more but he reckoned that it would still be liked by the people of this world simply because of the novelty of watching the films.

 Chapter 217

    After lunch, Anton went with the two tutors so he could activate the magic item that could record and show images and audio. Before he played the film he asked the tutors if they wanted to rest.

    ¡°I could ask someone else to check the quality of the movies for the rest of the two items.¡±

    ¡°No, we promised that we would check the quality of the movie in the three magic items. After we''re done we¡¯ll compile a report for you,¡± Mr. Tenor said.

    ¡°Thank you, sir, ma¡¯am. If you need anything, you can ask the maids to bring them to you like water or snacks,¡± Anton told the two old tutors and they just nodded and asked him to start the film.

    Anton went to his study beside his bedroom to continue leveling up his druid character but before he did, he spent several minutes practicing his guitar. He was actually beginning to impress himself because he already started learning the complicated guitar fingering that the experts he saw on the famous streaming website were doing. He could hear his guitar beginning to sing expertly by itself and not just work as an accompaniment. He knew that once he truly mastered his guitar, his playing would have a soul.

    When he practiced his guitar, he wasn¡¯t just simply playing some songs. He was actually following an extensive video lesson that he purchased from a website for a very high price.

    After his guitar practice, he started practicing his druid elemental spells since he wanted to memorize the mana structures and mana pathways of the spells as soon as possible so he could create enchanted items based on the druid spells.

    Also, Anton didn¡¯t want to start playing the game since he knew that he would be interrupted since he had to activate the third magic item that records and shows video and audio.

    A couple of hours had passed and Anton was beginning to get confident with his familiarity with the druid spells when he was interrupted by someone. When he minimized his game, he heard that it was Colin wanting to inform him that the two tutors were done with the second magic recorder item and were ready for the last one so he followed Colin to the theater and activated the item.

    The two tutors began focusing on the movie again making sure to check the quality of the film as it came out of the item. Anton went back to his office and this time he entered the world of Sanctuary to level up his druid. He completed Act I of the Nightmare Difficulty and leveled up his character to level thirty-seven.

    After that, Anton minimized his game and went outside his study. He went to the dining room to wait for everyone since it was already seven in the evening. The first ones who arrived were the two old tutors.

    ¡°Anton, we checked the items thoroughly and the recorded show¡¯s quality for the three of them remained the same from the start till the finish. The three items were basically identical to each other but in our eyes, the movie that was coming out directly from your spell was better. Somehow, we feel like the image from your spell was crispier and the sounds clearer,¡± Mr. Tenor said to him while Ms. Damby nodded in agreement.

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    ¡°We¡¯ll write a full report and give it to you later,¡± Ms. Damby said while she gave the three items back to Anton. He stored the items in his inventory immediately.

    ¡°Please submit the report to Nemina so she review it and check if it¡¯s viable to build a theater based on those items,¡± Anton told his teachers.

    Soon everyone arrived and as usual Anna was highly excited. She was enjoying the magic school so much that she kept telling everyone that she couldn¡¯t wait to live in the dormitory in the school. She kept saying that she was learning a lot and that her magic teachers were truly experts when it came to magic.

    Anna expounded that her teachers were teaching her the subtleties and mystery of magic and not just brute forcing everything like Anton had been doing. Anton just rolled his eyes at her sister and the two old tutors looked scandalized. When everyone saw the two teachers¡¯ reaction to what Anna had said, they laughed.

    Soon the food arrived and while they were waiting, Luminetta reported that they were done with cataloging all the things that had received from the Blood War gang.

    ¡°I will go ahead and communicate with the officials regarding the treasure to check if we need to pay some sort of tax for those and once the tax, if there¡¯s any, had been deducted, we will go ahead and take ten percent of the treasure to give to Frederick,¡± Nemina said.

    Frederick stammered and kept saying that he didn¡¯t need ten percent but everyone saw that the mage was excited so they just ignored him.

    ¡°Devon and Lunelle will be arriving tomorrow so prepare yourself, Anton, to repair the things they purchased,¡± Anders said and Anton just nodded.

    Anton suddenly remembered something.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the painting of the wizard flying in the sky?¡±

    ¡°You mean the painting of you flying in the sky?¡± Anna asked while laughing.

    ¡°I put it in my office. It¡¯s a good painting and I like watching it since it¡¯s you,¡± Anton¡¯s father said and Anton just shook his head while Anna giggled.

    ¡°By the way, me, Mr. Tenor, and Ms. Damby tested the quality of the movie using the three recorder magic item and based on them, the quality was good. They will submit a report to you so you can check if we can build a theater based on those items,¡± Anton told Nemina.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. People I¡¯ve been doing business with kept asking when the next movie event would be. It¡¯s as if they only talked to me so they would know when it would be and to request an invitation,¡± Nemina smiled.

    ¡°All my classmates are asking me the same thing!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°You will need to hire a 3<sup>rd</sup> level wizard though if you want to operate a theater. The magic recorder¡¯s mana storage can only be filled by a 3rd-level wizard and the item itself can only be activated by a 2nd-level wizard and above,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Nemina simply said.

    Anton could see that Anders and Nemina wanted to build the cinema as soon as possible since it would be a great source of wealth for the family. They were excited when Anton explained to them the mechanics of how a cinema was operated and also how they could earn extra by selling different types of food that customers could bring inside the theater.

    He told them they could also earn by selling customized toys and clothing based on the movies.

    Nemina¡¯s connections in the city were beginning to become extensive so Anton was sure that finding a 3<sup>rd</sup> level wizard or two would not be a problem for her.

    After dinner, the business talks continued. Anna wanted to stay but was told off by Anders and Anton told everyone that would need to meditate so he left with Anna.

    Anton felt a little tired so he decided to unwind by reading a web novel but soon fell asleep.

    The next day, everyone went out. Anton told Colin to call him once Lunelle and Devon¡¯s caravan arrived but not to disturb him otherwise.

 Chapter 218

    Anton was practicing his druid spells when he heard an anxious knock on his door. When he opened it, it was Nemina, Lucas and his father. Anton saw that Lucas was really anxious and Nemina had tears in her eyes.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Something terrible happened to the caravan. We lost all our people except for Devon, Lunelle, and Ecturne and the only reason Devon and Lunelle survived was because of the vampire,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°Devon lost one of his arms and one of his legs and Lunelle lost an arm. Ecturne had to fly home carrying them.¡±

    Anton followed the three elders while Lucas was telling him what happened to his children. Soon they arrived at a huge room that looked like a hospital wing. Nemina gave up holding her tears and released her tears. He immediately added Lunelle and Devon to his party system and the three powerful auras wielded by paladins that he had received from his mercenary inside the game and from runeword weapons did their work.

    Soon Lunelle and Devon were fully healed and their lost limbs regenerated. The two tutors, Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby, who were there watching gasped when they saw Anton¡¯s powerful healing spells. Lunelle and Devon woke up at the same time and when they saw their bodies fully healed, they gave a relieved sigh.

    ¡°We knew that once we reach home, we¡¯ll be fully healed,¡± Devon said and Lunelle nodded her agreement.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Anton asked.

    It was Lunelle who explained what happened to them.

    ¡°During our third day of travel, we were in a town buying things when Ecturne suddenly said that we needed to run but suddenly we heard screaming. The town where we were was suddenly attacked by an army of the undead that was cloaked by a powerful lich so Ecturne didn¡¯t notice them. Our guards tried to put up a defense but were swept by a huge number of every mix of undead. There were zombies, ghouls, vampires, and even liches. Devon and I were hit by some sort of blast spell and the spell took my arm and Devon¡¯s leg and arm. Ecturne carried the both of us and escaped. He flew non-stop but we encountered a lot of people fleeing toward Zalnothel. One of the fleeing people was a powerful wizard from the city of Luminence in the North who said that three of the Supremes of the city became liches and then the city submitted to the Undead Coalition. The majority of the population became undead and the mages there became liches.¡±

    Everyone became terrified at what Lunelle had said. That meant that the city of Zalnothel would be besieged by the undead on two fronts. One in the south from where they originally came from and one from the North from the city of Luminence that became part of the Undead Coalition.

    Anton wondered why those powerful Supremes chose to become undead since if it was himself, he wouldn¡¯t choose that life even if he was on the verge of death. Now he was thinking that if Supremes in that city chose to betray the living and became undead, what to say that the powerful mages in the city of Zalnothel would not do the same thing.

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    He could see that everyone was thinking the same thing.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go get Anna from the school,¡± Anders suddenly announced and Zenoxus followed him.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go ahead and close the store and put all of our assets to storage items,¡± Nemina said then she left followed by his husband Lucas and Luminetta. It was a good thing that they had a few large storage items.

    Then they all went to the living room to wait for Anders, Nemina, and Lucas to return.

    After an hour everyone returned at the same time. Surprisingly, the Archmage Voduria and the Archmage Tristan were with them.

    Anna kept pestering their father about the reason why he took her from school and Anders finally shouted at her to quiet down.

    ¡°Archmage Voduria, Tristan, to what do we owe the pleasure,¡± Anders finally asked the two powerful archmages.

    ¡°We are aware that you already knew what happened with Luminence. Unfortunately, we have more bad news. Five Supremes from Zalnothel betrayed us as well and right now the South Gate is besieged by a huge army of the undead from the coalition.¡± Voduria said.

    Then everyone heard the explosions in the distance. Terrifyingly, the explosions came from different places.

    At that moment, Anton realized that their plan of living peacefully in the city of Zalnothel was over. They didn¡¯t even manage to establish a cinema yet and here they were, going to run again. Anton knew that he would not stay and fight. In the grand scheme of things, even though he was powerful, he was nowhere near the level of the ones fighting inside the city which were Legends and Supremes.

    ¡°Why are you telling me this Archmage Voduria?¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Anton, we¡¯re fond of you and you are truly young. That meant that your potential was endless. We¡¯re here to advise you and your family to run. We will stay here and fight to the death if need be since this is our home and we¡¯re old. You just arrived here in the city hoping to live your lives peacefully after your gruesome run from your home city that perished because of the Undead Coalition. Some expected you to fight with us but we don¡¯t. We hope that you and your family are out of the city within the hour and it would be best that you leave with a few people to not attract attention,¡± Archmage Voduria said to him while Archmage Tristan was looking, then both archmages left.

    Anton then turned to the two old tutors.

    ¡°Are you coming with us Mr. Tenor, Ms. Damby?¡±

    ¡°No, Anton. We¡¯re old and we want to stay in the city until the end. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved without the city getting destroyed since there are still a lot of powerful mages here in the city.¡±

    ¡°I have a favor to ask of you then. As the archmages Voduria and Tristan had said, we would not be able to bring the majority of the people in the mansion with us. I want to leave them with you. We¡¯ll leave the deeds manor and the store and all the remaining items that we were selling including the enchanted items. We will also leave fifty percent of the assets that we acquired from the Blood War gang. You don¡¯t have to take care of them personally but once everything is settled down or even before that you can disperse the treasure to everyone including yourself. You can even sell the manor and the store.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do as you say,¡± Mr. Tristan said while Ms. Damby who was already crying nodded.

    Everyone moved rapidly but Anton stayed where he was. Soon every person in the mansion was gathered in the ballroom.

    When Anders went to the front, everyone quieted down.

    ¡°Our family is leaving the city but unfortunately, we won¡¯t be able to take all of you with us,¡± Anders announced.

    The majority of the people were confused since most of them were unaware of what was happening.

    ¡°We will leave right now. We will also leave the mansion and the store to Mr. Tristan and Ms. Damby to be sold off. We will also leave half of the assets from the Blood War Gang to be dispersed among you. Thank you so much for your service.¡±

    The people were still confused but calmed down when they heard that they would receive a lot of coins from the two old tutors.

 Chapter 219

    Anton and his family and friends prepared two carriages for their departure from the city of Zalnothel. In the first carriage would himself, his father, Anna, Colin, and Anna¡¯s two maids, Ramona, and Belinda, who insisted on coming with them. On the second carriage would be Nermina, Lucas, Devon, Lunelle, Frederick, and the three vampires.

    It was a good thing that the two carriages they were going to use were very large and were enough to hold all of them. They weren¡¯t even bringing any guards with them and not only that, they were bringing very few possessions and little food. They were planning to purchase food from the towns and villages that they would pass through.

    Everyone was moving in a frenzy since they could hear the explosions from the city and the south gate and according to what little they knew so far, the explosion from the city was the battle between the powerful mages in the city and the ones who joined the Undead Coalition and betrayed the living. They also knew that soon the north gate would also be besieged by the undead army from the North.

    A lot of people from the mansion were helping them so after a few minutes, the two carriages were ready. Anton thanked the two old tutors, Mr. Tenor, and Ms. Damby, again for helping them settle the matters and people that would remain in the mansion.

    Anna looked sad but resolute. Anton could understand that. He thought that they would spend a long time in the city living their lives, learning the customs of the city, and making themselves part of the rich and powerful citizens of the city but the Undead Coalition was just too powerful and had a goal of conquering all the cities in their way. Anna was also becoming happy joining her elite classmates in the magic school and she might have thought that she would have the time to enjoy the magic school life. But right now here they were, on the run again. Anna also looked resolute because Anton knew that his sister also knew that right now, nothing was more important than family.

    When Anton was traveling towards the city of Zalnothel, he remembered deciding that he would fight it out with the Undead Coalition. It actually came from his ignorance and pride that he was becoming very powerful and would be able to contend with the most powerful beings in the coalition but learning that there were powers that had reached unimaginable heights amongst the undead opened his eyes to the truth that he was a frog at the bottom of the well.

    That meant that the best thing he could do right now was to focus on using his Diablo II system to make himself very powerful as fast as he could to make sure that he and his family remained safe.

    Soon, two carriages from the Oak Sage Manor departed towards the East Gate, leaving the people in the manor looking at them and the two old tutors were there looking at them as well. The manor had been their home for a few weeks and Anton had hoped that they would be able to stay there and have enough time to grow but unfortunately, this world caught up with them.

    Anton was glad that the carriages were big enough that even though there were a lot of them it wasn¡¯t too crowded.

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    Their carriage was being driven by Colin and he saw that Lucas was driving the second one. There were a lot of people on the road fleeing and Anna even recognized some of them as the families of her classmates. That meant that some of the elites in the city were not confident that Zalnothel would survive the crisis.

    When they reached the gate, there was a long queue so everyone exited their carriages to wait it out with the others.

    Anton suddenly saw something peculiar. He saw Ecturne and Luminetta behaving oddly. They were looking at Zenoxus concernedly.

    Suddenly, the elder vampire turned very feral and flew towards Anton. He was so glad that the vampire chose him to attack since even if he was hit, his defenses were high enough to withstand Zenoxus¡¯s attack.

    Anton used Telekinesis to hold the elder vampire but everyone in the surrounding was terrified. They could feel the aura of the powerful vampire but when they saw Anton holding the vampire using a spell, they calmed down.

    The people in the area recognized him since a painting of his visage circulated in the city.

    ¡°Ecturne, Luminetta, what happened?¡± Anton asked while the others looked on concernedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lord Anton, Master Zenoxus must have been cursed by the powerful Emperor Liches in the coalition,¡± Ecturne said sadly.

    The vampire knew the repercussions of the attack. The oath¡¯s backlash arrived and Zenoxus was enveloped in a fire so hot that after a few seconds, nothing remained of the powerful elder vampire.

    Ecturne and Luminetta looked on sadly then they started to burn until nothing remained of them as well. Zenoxus and his line were now gone from this world.

    Anna cried and ran towards Ander to hug their father. Anton was shocked but ever since he learned about the powerful being in the Undead Coalition, he had an inkling that something like this was possible so he never fully trusted the vampires but they were with them for a while and he was beginning to treat them as his companions.

    Anders and the others looked on sadly but they all knew that their situation was precarious. Death could come anytime to any of them. It was just sad that it came so suddenly and to the three of the most powerful beings in their group.

    Anna and her two maids, Ramona and Belinda kept on crying. They had been close to Luminetta and were already considering her as their friend.

    Lunelle was also crying and Devon looked both sad and angry. Ecturne had been their companion during their caravan travel and the vampire did everything he could to save Lucas and Nemina¡¯s children.

    Anders looked very sad as well and Nemina started crying. Zenoxus was their guard and had been close to them all the time.

    When they saw the queue began to move, they all silently entered their carriages and exited the city of Zalnothel.

    Their journey towards the East began in grief of losing some of their companions. They were all grieving silently because they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about the beings who caused the death of the vampires.

    While they were moving, Anton looked back at the marvelous city of Zalnothel. A city full of magic and mystery. He planned to explore the city once they were stable but now they were running from it as it was being torn down by its enemies from the inside and out.

    For a moment, Anton wished that he were powerful so he could help in defending the city and he thought he already was. But the beings that were attacking the mighty city were powerful beyond belief and the only thing they could do to survive was to run.

    Anton hoped that the people in the manor and the two old tutors, Mr. Tenor and Ms. Damby as well as the archmages that became his friends like the Archmage Voduria and the others survive the city¡¯s crisis.

    After looking back at the city for a few minutes, Anton turned his gaze forward and looked toward their future. He hoped that their family would find a place where they could live in peace but knew that it would be a long journey before they could reach one.

 Chapter 220

    They were traveling at a steady pace and didn¡¯t plan to stop anytime soon. It was only made possible because of Anton¡¯s auras that were supporting the horses.  It was still summer so the weather was clear and they were not alone in the road. There were other travelers beside them.

    When lunchtime arrived, they briefly stopped to eat the food that their cook prepared before they left the city and stored in Anders¡¯s storage item, the one that came from Zenoxus.

    After that brief stopped, they continued on, wanting to get away from the city as soon as possible.  The heat and humidity of the summer would have made the travel uncomfortable but because of Anton¡¯s enchanted items, the inside of the carriages were cool and comfortable.

    Anton saw that everyone was quiet and Anna was especially so. Anders told everyone before they left that they would begin their planning once they reached a town that was far enough away from the city.

    He could understand the sadness that permeated their group. They thought that they would be living their lives happily and in comfort in Zalnothel. They were even planning to build a cinema. That would allow their family to earn a tremendous amount of wealth but now the city could be destroyed. What made them truly sad was not only three of their members had already been killed by the Undead Coalition, but the people they left behind in Oak Sage Manor could be in danger as well. Anton knew that everyone was hoping that the city of Zalnothel could survive the crisis and that their people who they had become very close to during the past few weeks would survive and even thrive.

    The road was dusty but the trees in the surroundings were full and lush. The environment was the opposite of what everyone was feeling. It was bright and the summer day was cheerful. Anton felt that the surrounding area was mocking him. As if they were saying, ¡°Yes, the life you¡¯re trying to build is now over but we don¡¯t care! We¡¯re here as bright and cheerful as we can be!¡±

    Soon the sun had set. Lucas and Colin found a good campsite but they were not alone there. There were other three groups of travelers that came from the city to the campground and each group stayed away from the other.

    They hastily ate their dinner and prepared tents. Anton was surprised to see all the things they had been using before even the toilet cum bucket.

    The good thing about their travel right now, his father and Nemina both held storage items that had huge capacities and they could use them to store all the things they would need during their travel. Just like his inventory, time stopped inside their storage items and that meant that food could be preserved for a long time.

    Anders called everyone and they gathered near the fire. It was time for them to plan what their next move would be.

    ¡°We will arrive in the town of Norad tomorrow afternoon,¡± Nemina said while looking at the map that she retrieved from her storage ring. Anton remembered that the ring was the storage ring owned by the archmage from the Blood War gang.

    Anton also noticed that one of the two storage pouches from the High Wizards from the Blood War gang was with Frederick and the other was being held by Lunelle. He also saw that Anna was holding one and Lucas had one as well. He remembered receiving storage pouches from the vampires who attacked them before.

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    ¡°We will need to do two things. Purchase as much food as we can and purchase broken and worn-out things that Anton can repair since we still need to earn gold coins,¡± Nemina continued.

    ¡°We will only purchase things. We will not be selling since we will only do so once we reach a huge city,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°What¡¯s the first city that we¡¯ll reach and are we staying there?¡± Anna asked quietly.

    ¡°We¡¯ll reach the city of Greton,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°We¡¯re not staying there,¡± Anders said to his daughter and Anna just nodded.

    After their talk, they all went to rest except for those assigned as guards for the night. Anton knew that Lucas, Devon, Frederick, Colin, and Anders would take turns acting as guards through the night. They spared Anton that duty since everyone knew that he needed to meditate to make sure that Anton would become powerful. They all understood that Anton was still the backbone of their group.

    Anton was embarrassed at first and asked to be included in the guard shift rotation but everyone insisted that he mediate instead since his power as a wizard would be more useful for their survival.  He then thought of switching to a druid summoner build since they could use the summons as guards so Anton entered his Diablo II game and headed to Akara to reset his character and immediately switch his build since his weekly reset wasn¡¯t available yet.

    After Anton spread his skill points to the summoning tree, he called everyone.

    ¡°I have a new spell that I can use to guard us. It¡¯s a summoning skill. I can summon three powerful Dire Wolves.¡± Anton didn¡¯t mention the other summons since three powerful dire wolves should be enough to guard them.

    ¡°Can the wolves that you summon hide themselves? Since there are other people here, I don¡¯t want to alarm them,¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°We can tell them though that our wizard will use a summoning spell to guard our camp so let me do that right now,¡± Frederick said and he immediately went to the other groups to inform them of the fact that their group would be summoning animals as guards.

    Anton then summoned the three Dire Wolves. When the wolves appeared, Anna, Ramona, and Belinda actually let out a scream. All of the horses began to panic as well and everyone had to calm all the animals. They were thankful that the other groups were far enough that their animals were just a little nervous.

    He could understand everyone¡¯s reaction though since the Dire Wolves looked monstrous. The three summons were huge and imposing and had a dreadful feral aura that could bring terror to anyone who was beholding their visages.

    ¡°Can they understand words?¡± Devon asked, fascinated at the huge monstrous wolves.

    ¡°You know what, I don¡¯t know since they obeyed whatever I think of wanting them to do. Let me check.¡± Anton said.

    Anton then commanded one of the wolves to follow and obey Devon¡¯s instruction to the letter and everyone was surprised when the wolf that he pointed at actually nodded and walked towards Devon.

    All of them watched Devon give several complex commands to the wolf and the monster followed everything even to the minute detail of his every order. Anton could see that Devon fell in love with the monster and he just rolled his eyes.

    Devon then boldly rode the huge wolf to the surprise of Anton and the huge dire wolf let him. Then Devon commanded the dire wolf to run and it dashed towards the forest without any hesitation. The speed of the wolf was tremendous but the shocking part was how silent it was and hopefully, Lucas¡¯s son would not hurt himself.

    After a few minutes, the man returned with the wolf and the smile on Devon¡¯s face was very wide.

    ¡°This is your best spell, Anton!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let you command that wolf. Would you like the other one, Lucas?¡±

    ¡°I want the third one,¡± Anders immediately said beating Frederick who looked disappointed.

    Anton then commanded the two wolves to follow Lucas and his father and to his surprise, the two middle-aged men were as excited as Devon. At least that alleviated everyone¡¯s sadness for a bit and even Anna laughed.

 Chapter 221

    They slept late that night because of Anton¡¯s father, Lucas, and Devon¡¯s antics with the Dire Wolves, and even the other groups in the camp who were a little afraid because of how terrifying the wolves looked calmed down since the monsters were very obedient.

    Anna kept laughing because Devon kept asking his wolf to do silly things and the dire wolf obeyed without complaint. Anton saw that Anders was grateful to Devon for making his daughter forget the sadness, at least for a while.

    Lucas and Anders also tested the running speed of the wolves and when they returned, they looked astonished.

    ¡°Your wolves can run silently even amidst a ground full of dried branches. They can run smoothly as well and that meant that riding them was not going to be difficult and they¡¯re astonishingly fast, and they can see in the dark!¡± Lucas said to Anton.

    ¡°You can use them then but remember that ultimately, they¡¯re my summons. That meant that they couldn¡¯t be too far away from me or else they would disappear to return by my side. I don¡¯t know how far they can be far away from me though. If you want you can test it out tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Can you summon another one for me?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Three Dire Wolves is the limit. I can summon a Grizzly Bear for you and it¡¯s my most powerful summon right now.¡±

    ¡°Can we see it?¡± Anna asked.

    Anton then cast Summon Grizzly Bear and an even more terrifying monster than the dire wolves appeared.

    The huge grizzly bear was truly monstrous and this time, the all horses in the campground began to panic causing Anton to dismiss the bear at once.

    ¡°That was a terrifying monster!¡± Lunelle exclaimed.

    After that interlude, they all slept that night. Even though the ground wasn¡¯t that comfortable compared to a bed, at least they all felt safe knowing they were being guarded by three powerful Dire Wolves.

    The next day after breakfast and after they were done their private business, they continued their journey.

    Anton was startled to see that Lucas and Devon¡¯s horses had been added to the horses that were pulling their carriages and the saddle that their horses were wearing was now being worn by the dire wolves. He could even hear the men discussing that once they reached a place where there was a leather smith or blacksmith, they would order a customed saddle for the wolves. Even Anders didn¡¯t join Anton and Anna inside the carriage but was traveling on top of one of the dire wolves.

    ¡°Brother, I want an animal companion too! Do you have any other types of animals?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen my Grizzly Bear. I can summon five Spirit Wolves and 5 Ravens. You know what, what you¡¯ve said is a good idea. I can assign a raven summon to each one of you. I¡¯ll do it later once we stop.¡±

    ¡°Sir, we¡¯re about to arrive at Norad Town but it looked like the town was besieged by the undead.¡±

    ¡°Why is it always undead? I hate the undead! I wish all the undead are dead!¡± Anna shouted, frustrated at what they had been encountering ever since they ran from their home village to where they were right now.

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    Even though Ramona and Belinda looked highly worried, the two maids couldn¡¯t help but laugh at what Anna had said.

    Anton could understand his sister¡¯s frustration though. The undead had been plaguing them from the start and they also destroyed the lives they were planning to build in Zalnothel. Their carriages stopped and Lucas, Devon, and Anton¡¯s father approached Anton.

    ¡°What do you plan to do?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°I want to kill all the undead. At least by the look of things, the town was still holding on.¡±

    Anton then asked the three men to get off the dire wolves then he summoned his five Spirit Wolves and five Ravens as well as the Grizzly Bear and the Oak Sage and commanded all of his summons to kill the undead besieging the town.

    They all watched the animals that Anton summoned decimate all of the undead in the vicinity and based on what they could see they didn¡¯t have to do anything.

    Anton could see that everyone was shocked at how powerful the druid¡¯s animals were. Even the five ravens could kill a ghoul without any issue.

    He thought that he would summon more animals once any of them died but so far, Anton was surprised that there was no need to do so since all of his summons were able to contend with the undead attacking the town without any issue.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m thinking of assigning a Raven summon to each of the ladies since I can summon a maximum of five of them, and as you can see, the ravens are very powerful,¡± Anton told Anders while they were watching the animals kill the undead.

    The Grizzly Bear was particularly horrendous since it had a powerful area of attack skill that could decimate a multitude of undead in one hit.

    Anders just nodded at what his son had said regarding assigning the Ravens to each of the women since he was still staring at the animals that were attacking the undead monsters.

    Anton could see Devon staring at one of the Dire Wolves proudly as if he were looking at his son performing something that he could be proud of. He didn¡¯t even know how the man could differentiate his wolf from the two others then he noticed one of the wolves was wearing some sort of colorful neck ribbon or rope.

    ¡°Anton, can I have the bear?! It¡¯s so powerful! I can ride it right?¡± Frederick asked which made Anton roll his eyes.

    ¡°Once we reach a huge city, do I need to unsummon them?¡± Anton asked Lucas and the man said that he should since it would avoid problems and would allow them to enter cities more easily.

    After a few minutes, all of the undead that were besieging the town were destroyed but Anton commanded all the summons to roam the nearby vicinity and hunt the remaining undead that they could find so all of the summons ran towards the forest to begin their hunt.

    When the defenders of the town saw that all of the undead were destroyed and the fearsome animals who annihilated the undead were gone, they noticed the two carriages that were coming.

    The gate opened slightly and five warriors appeared.

    ¡°Who are you, folks?¡± The huge man in the lead asked.

    It was Frederick who moved forward.

    ¡°We¡¯re the mages who summoned those animals that destroyed the undead. We also commanded those animals to hunt all the undead remaining in the vicinity. We came from Zalnothel and we¡¯re on our way to the city of Greton. We want to enter your town to purchase supplies.¡±

    The man simply nodded and allowed the town gate to open wide enough for the two carriages to enter. More than likely, the reason why they were amenable to allowing them to enter was they saw the women inside the carriages and one of them was a young girl.

    They were led to the only inn in the town but on the way there, every one of them could see the worried faces of the town folks.

    When they arrived at the inn, the innkeeper who was a fat man welcomed them. Anders and Nemina talked to the man and told the innkeeper that they were not planning to stay for the night but needed assistance in purchasing a huge amount of food from the town folks. Anton also overheard his father informing the innkeeper that they were interested in purchasing all the broken swords and armor that the people could spare.

    That meant they would be staying in this town for a few hours so Anton headed to the common room to rest together with the others then Anna brought out her butterfly sculpture from his storage pouch that contained the air-conditioner enchantment and activated it. Soon the common room was cool and comfortable to the amazement of the people townspeople who were in the room.

 Chapter 222

    Anton and the others stayed in Norad town for five hours and in that time, Nemina was able to purchase a lot of things. Based on what he saw, there would not be a food problem anytime soon for their mini caravan but Nemina said that they were still planning to purchase a lot of necessities and things that could be purchased from the villages and towns that they would pass through on the way to the city of Greton.

    Anders said that it was reasonable for them to do so since it would allow them to fully utilize their storage items. Most of the food items they purchased were uncooked so that meant that they would have to take the time to do some cooking every time they stopped for camping.

    According to Lucas, their next stop would be a village and they would arrive there after a day of travel. Lucas also warned them that once they arrived in Greton, they would need to purchase a map since the man wasn¡¯t familiar with places after Greton.

    They left soon after, leaving the town of Norad far behind. Anton dismissed the Spirit Wolves and the Grizzly Bear but left the three Dire Wolves with Lucas, Devon, and his father. He could see that those men were truly enjoying riding the monstrous Dire Wolves.

    Anton also completed his plan of assigning one summoned Raven to each of the ladies. The women were highly impressed at the Ravens¡¯ power and intelligence since they could obey even some of the more complex commands.

    Anna even came up with the idea of using the Ravens to send messages to each other and they amused each other by sending little messages to the other carriage.

    The only problem that Anton could see was that the Ravens were huge so the summoned birds would need to stay outside the carriage.

    ¡°There¡¯s something peculiar about your summoned Ravens. They don¡¯t smell anything,¡± Anna said and Anton just shrugged.

    It was expected since the summoned animals were not true animals. They would probably only smell if they killed something and even then, once they were dismissed and resummoned, the smell would be gone.

    The ladies busied themselves in coming up with names for their Ravens and also did their best to make sure that the birds were personalized by copying what Devon had done which was putting colored ribbons in the necks of the summoned birds.

    Anna being a teenage girl that she was inevitably chose a pink ribbon. The twins, Ramona and Belinda chose red and blue ribbons. He didn¡¯t know what color Lunelle and Nemina chose and he would probably notice when they stopped for the night.

    Looking at the beautiful scenery outside, one couldn¡¯t imagine that behind them lay a city that was being besieged by horrifying undead monsters and further behind were places that were already decimated by the monsters. The forest was green and teeming with life and one could expect to see magical animals like unicorns and sprites but instead, they were wary of encountering monsters.

    Soon the forest was awash with the colors of the sunset and since twilight was coming upon them, Lucas, Devon, and Anders began searching for a camp where they could stay for the night.

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    Anton was glad that his father was amusing himself with riding the Dire Wolf and he thought that Lucas, Devon, and Anders were probably intrigued at the fact that they were traveling soundlessly on top of monstrous predators.

    The Dire Wolves were so fast and powerful that Lucas, Devon, and Anton¡¯s father were able to hunt animals in the surrounding forest without any issue. According to Anders who was taking a few minute''s breaks inside the carriage his storage items were accumulating boars and deer and it was a good thing that they purchased a lot of herbs and spices that they could use to cook game animals with.

    One advantage that they had during their travel was everyone went back to drinking mana water during every meal and that wonderful magical water was keeping them refreshed. It also helped that Anton was healing everyone every time they stopped using his auras.

    Even the horses were beginning to look healthy since Anton was allowing them to drink mana water as well and healing them using his auras. Anton even suspected that their original horses, Maide, and Bailey were becoming spirit animals. They had this wisdom in their eyes and according to Colin, the two horses were beginning to be able to follow even the more complex commands.

    Devon announced that he had found the perfect campsite and led the two carriages there. It was in the middle of a copse of trees.

    Colin and Frederick parked the two carriages and everyone got busy in preparing their campsite including the tents that they would use to rest. Nemina, Lunelle, and the twins were busy preparing their dinner and the other were preparing the fire and the tents, as usual, Anton was idle which was making a bit embarrassed.

    Anton offered to help but Anders said to him that it would be better for him to meditate so he could increase his power. He saw Lucas and Devon were butchering a boar each but looking at them, there were not any worries on their faces regarding attracting any predators.

    The Dire Wolves and the five Ravens were already patrolling the area so everyone was assured. The wolves even brought in game animals once in a while until Lucas, Devon, and Anders had to command the wolves to stop.

    Anton was amused to see that Devon, after butchering a boar and giving the parts to his mother, was brushing the Dire Wolf¡¯s pelt.

    ¡°Anton, does your summons get hungry?¡± Devon suddenly asked.

    ¡°You know what, I actually don¡¯t know but I don¡¯t think so. The Dire Wolves though have this ability wherein they can eat corpses but they would only do that if they were injured and wanted to heal their bodies and they¡¯re the only ones who have that ability. Usually, I don¡¯t bother with that since if a summon got injured or even killed, I would just summon them again.¡±

    ¡°Do you summon the same animals or is it different each time?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s test it out.¡±

    Anton dispelled the Dire Wolf that Devon was brushing and then summoned it again. When the Dire Wolf appeared, they were sure it was the same one since it was wearing the rope around its neck that Devon used to identify his wolf from those of his father and Anders.

    ¡°Well I guess that answered the question,¡± Anton said to Devon.

    They tested the theory again by Anton dispelling all of the Ravens and summoning them again and when they appeared, each of them had different colored ribbons on their necks. Each of the Ravens also responded to the names that the women assigned them and that fact greatly relieved the girls. Even Nemina and Lunelle¡¯s Ravens wore ribbons and they chose the color yellow and green.

    Anton wondered if it was a mistake for the others to become close to his summons but then he shrugged. Everyone was a little melancholy because of what happened with their lives in Zalnothel and a companion animal was a great therapy for everyone.

    ¡°Colin, Frederick, you don¡¯t have animals of your own. Do you want Spirit Wolves?¡± Anton asked.

    Unsurprisingly both men nodded and both of them were excited when Anton offered so he immediately summoned a couple of Spirt Wolves and assigned them to Colin and Frederick after giving the same instruction as he gave the Dire Wolves and the Ravens to follow their new master obediently.

 Chapter 223

    Anton and his family and friends continued their journey the next day. Devon was particularly active in roaming around since he enjoyed riding the Dire Wolf due to how fast it was. Devon said that it felt like he was flying when he moved about with the wolf and Anton could see that Lucas¡¯s son was becoming truly besotted with the dire wolf.

    Anton thought that maybe he should warn the man that the wolf was still his summon and tied to him but he just left Devon be. He wondered if he could craft an item that would allow one to summon their own animals from the druid skill tree. He decided to try it out later.

    There were two Spirit Wolves that were running beside their carriages. One of the Spirit Wolf was the one Anton assigned to Frederick and the other was the one he assigned to Colin.

    The presence of the wolves alarmed the travelers they encountered on the road and Lucas had to spend several minutes each time explaining that the wolves were tamed by their mage.

    They stopped briefly during lunchtime to eat and Anton took the time to give everyone mana water including the animals. He also took the time to heal everyone using his three auras and the horses seemed like they truly appreciated that gesture since they were particularly close to him.

    Anton was amused to see that everyone was especially enamored with the animal summons that he assigned them and even Anna kept braiding things on her Raven. Soon Anna¡¯s raven was full of ribbons and the Raven just accepted it.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Star looked pretty?¡± Anna asked everyone. Apparently, she named her Raven, ¡°Star¡±.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that to your Raven. It can hardly fly now,¡± Anders told his daughter.

    Anna pouted but did remove the ribbons she tied to her Raven. One good thing that Anton could say about the summons was that they were very clean since they were not true animals.

    During their travel, the summoned animals also answered their question about them needing to eat since they saw them eating one of the animals they hunted. Thinking about it, it was logical that to exist, they would need energy since if they didn¡¯t eat, they would only consume Anton¡¯s energy.

    After they ate though, Anton assumed that they would almost become true animals and that meant that after a while, they would stink so they everyone would probably need to learn how to groom the animals assigned to them.

    Anton could have commanded the summons not to eat and then they would just use his mana to exist and because of his Insight Runeword weapon, the mana that would be drained from him was negligible, but then again he thought that it would be better for the animals to be self-sufficient.

    When they left the city of Zalnothel, Anton only entered his Diablo II game system a few minutes each time since he wanted to remain vigilant while they were close to the city which was currently being besieged by the Undead Coalition.

    He couldn¡¯t help but think of the possibility that if he committed to playing his Diablo II game during their travel while they were near the city, some powerful undead would suddenly attack and he would be surprised since he wasn¡¯t vigilant enough so he decided that he would only truly entered the game to play once they were far enough away.

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    The good thing about the Dire Wolves being extremely fast and truly ferocious was that nothing in the forest would confront the three men who were riding the wolves. They could roam the forest with impunity. With Anton being there, they weren¡¯t even afraid of venomous animals and insects since he could heal those without any issues.

    Devon not only hunted game animals that they could eat, but he also started bringing wild vegetables, herbs, berries, and fruits, and when Lucas and Anders saw that, they also did the same thing. Anders was particularly glad that their storage items would allow them to store a lot of things without worrying that the food would spoil.

    When night arrived, they would camp somewhere where it was convenient and to be honest, any clear space would be convenient enough since they had enchanted items that could produce water and they had enough food. The inside of their tent would also have a comfortable temperature due to Anton¡¯s enchanted items.

    That night everyone took a bath using Anton¡¯s mana water since it¡¯s an opportunity for everyone to be able to bathe using the magic water while they travel due to Anton¡¯s presence and it was simple enough for Anton to produce a huge amount of mana water for everyone.

    Anton¡¯s cleaning spell also made cleaning everything a lot easier so everyone¡¯s things were cleaned regularly. Even the carriage and the horses were cleaned once in a while. The twins were glad that they didn¡¯t have to wash clothes.

    To be honest, their journey was comfortable. They had plenty of food and water, their beds were soft since they could be stored in storage items once they needed to clean up, they could take a bath with magic water anytime they wanted to and they received regular magic healing and stamina boost from Anton.

    When they reached a village, they only stopped for a few hours so Anders and Nemina could purchase essentials from the villagers like salt, spices, and grains but of course, they didn¡¯t stop purchasing broken items from the villagers as well.

    Anton also repaired the items immediately since he didn¡¯t want the items to accumulate that it would become extremely tedious to repair them once there was a huge amount of them so every time they stopped in a village and purchased things, he would repair them immediately when they stopped to camp, and then Anders and Nemina would store them.

    After a week of traveling, Anders announced that they managed to collect a fairly large number of items they could sell in the next city. That was also the time that Anton decided that he would go back to entering the world of Sanctuary either to level up his druid character or to continue his research in enchantment since he reckoned that they were far enough away from the city of Zalnothel that it should be fairly safe.

    The only enemies they encountered were the regular monsters like goblins, kobolds, and such, and Devon, Lucas, and Anders only did so while they roaming inside the forest and none were on the road.

    Lucas also informed everyone that they would reach the city of Greton in a week. Anders also said that they would stay in the city for just a couple of days of rest then they would continue since they wanted to truly get far enough away before establishing themselves. Frederick joked that they might have to cross the ocean to do that and Anders didn¡¯t deny that possibility.

    That comment of Frederick sparked a sense of adventure in Anton but he didn¡¯t show it. He imagined traveling the seas journeying to another country like One Piece or Pirates of the Caribbean or all of those movies that consisted of a journey through the ocean. He wondered what kind of wonderful things he would be able to see and experience in that travel.

    Maybe they could go to the East to the equivalent of China or Japan and experience the Ninja life or the Chinese empire if the East were where they were located or maybe they could go to the West and experience the life of magical cowboys or something like that. The possibilities were endless.

 Chapter 224

    After a week of travel, Anton and his family and friends arrived in the city of Greton. The city was smaller than Zalnothel but it still boasted huge walls. Although Greton¡¯s walls were impressive they were nowhere near as impressive as the walls of Zalnothel and Anton could see that everyone realized that the city, when attacked by the Undead Coalition, wouldn¡¯t fare any better than the previous cities before Zalnothel.

    During the week that they were traveling, Anton spent a huge amount of time repairing all the things that everyone purchased from the towns and villages that they passed through. They managed to collect a lot of weapons, armor, pieces of jewelry, and other knick-knacks that could be valuable but curiously Nemina avoided purchasing clothes.

    ¡°Cities are beholden to fashion so clothing, even though it looked good and brand new wouldn¡¯t sell if they don¡¯t conform to the current fashion,¡± Nemina said and Anton laughed at that since it was the same on Earth.

    Anton also spent the majority of the time leveling up his druid character and studying the mana structure and mana pathway of his druid¡¯s summoning spells. He wondered why he took it upon himself that it was a good idea to switch to an elemental druid. He realized that having more spell varieties would ultimately help him since the mana structure and pathways of the summoning spells were extremely different to elemental spells and the variety would allow him to master enchantment more compared to studying the druid¡¯s elemental spells which had similarities with the sorceress spells.

    His druid character completed Act II of the Nightmare Difficulty and leveled up to level 42. Anton could feel himself becoming very powerful in real life because of that. That week, he didn¡¯t truly focus on just leveling up but spent several hours studying the minute details of the mana structure and mana pathway of his summoning spells. He focused on the Dire Wolf spell since he saw his father, Lucas, and Devon getting attached to the Dire Wolves and he wanted them to truly have their own.

    After several days of studies, when he thought that he was familiar enough with the mana structure and the mana pathway of the Summon Dire Wolf Spell, he began the process of enchanting it into a wooden board. Anton needed to etch the mana structure on a larger piece of wood since the mana structure of the Summoned Dire Wolf was extremely complex and he needed a larger surface area.

    Unfortunately, wood could not contain the mana structure of the spell since halfway through engraving the mana structure, the tablet made from wood exploded. Anton wasn¡¯t hurt since his defenses were high enough but that meant that he would need to choose another material and take extreme care while engraving the mana structure and should stop the moment he felt that there was a sign of instability to avoid the materials exploding.

    Anton tried again using a steel tablet. He was able to complete the mana structure of the spell but when he etched the mana pathway and structure for the mana storage, he could feel the instability of the steel tablet and knew that if he continued, the tablet would explode as well.

    That stopped him from further testing out the enchantment. He decided to continue using silver or gold but he would do that after they sold the accumulated items that he repaired in the city of Greton. He was embarrassed to ask for materials from his father since silver and gold were expensive.

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    Anton wondered what other materials he could choose for his enchantments. When they entered the city, they chose to stay lowkey and stayed at a nondescript inn so Anton dismissed all of the summons except for two Dire Wolves to act as their guards and the Ravens to act as their scouts for danger and guards as well.

    Anders needed to register the wolves with the guards in the gate and it took them a lot of time but at least it was affordable enough that it didn¡¯t bother them too much.

    Anders was resolute in his decision to only stay in the city for just three days so the moment they rented the rooms, Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and Devon began the process of selling their items to different merchants. Anders and Nemina discussed that they should purchase broken or worn-out items from the city since doing so would take them a lot of time and they only have time to sell.

    Lunelle, Frederick, Ramona, and Belinda, followed by one of the Dire Wolves as their guard were the ones in charge of purchasing things that they would need, and the storage pouches for the High Wizards from the Blood War gang were useful. They planned to purchase soaps, spices, uncooked food that couldn¡¯t be found in the wilderness, grains, and cooked food.

    They planned to purchase the things they would need and once their storage pouches were full they would return to the inn and give the items to Anton so he could store them in his inventory then rinse and repeat.

    Anton obviously needed to stay in the inn because of that but he was surprised that Anna chose to stay in the inn as well. She began practicing her magic since she said she wanted to become proficient as soon as possible.

    When the day ended, they gathered in the common room to eat. Anders announced that they managed to sell a third of the accumulated things they received from the towns and villages and they should be able to complete everything either by tomorrow or the day after.

    Lunelle reported that they also managed to purchase a lot of the things they would need during their travel.

    Lucas said that he planned to purchase some of the things that they would need as well like the map that contained the towns, villages, and cities to the East.

    ¡°Do we need to hire a guide?¡± Anders asked Lucas.

    ¡°No. I think a map would suffice,¡± Lucas answered.

    ¡°Lunelle, can you purchase better mattresses and blankets?¡± Anton asked and Nemina¡¯s daughter nodded.

    After dinner, they went to their rooms to rest and even Anton slept straight away. Even though Anton made sure that everyone was healthy, traveling non-stop did take its toll on them.

    The next day, everyone did the same thing. They sold all of those items that needed to be sold and purchased items that needed to be purchased but this time Anna went with Lunelle and the others. After lunch, Lunelle said that she had purchased all the things they would need so they stayed at the inn to rest.

    Anton then said that he wanted to explore a bit so stepped outside the inn to explore the city of Greton but his main goal was to earn the coins needed to create the summoning enchanted items.

    He was pointed at a bazaar by one of the city people and the merchants were helpful enough to inform him of items in their inventory that would be valuable if it wasn¡¯t damaged or even new. Most of the items that he purchased were still weapons since they were the easiest to sell and some were pieces of pieces of jewelry ranging from a ring to a tiara.

    Anton did it for three hours and he earned a whopping five hundred gold coins. He knew that might have gotten some attention from some low-lives of the city but he didn¡¯t care. Then he went to a blacksmith and asked the gold coins to be forged into thin tablets. The blacksmith did it without complaint since he did pay the man a lot of coins. He managed to collect ten tablets made of gold and those would be the materials that he would use to form the summoning enchanted items.

 Chapter 225

    Anton checked the time in his browser and saw that it was only five in the afternoon so he decided to earn more coins. He went into another bazaar and talked to the merchants about the items that would have sold for a lot more money if they weren¡¯t damaged or if they were new. He unhesitatingly purchased them then once he asked Charsi to repair them, sold them back to other merchants.

    After a couple of hours, he earned another four hundred gold coins which he stored in his inventory. He would do the same thing the next day since based on experience if he wanted to continue with his enchanting experiments, he would need a lot of coins.

    While walking home, Anton noticed that he was being followed by a few men so he went to an alley where there were no people present. The sun had set so it was a bit dark but he could see four men appear at the entrance of the alleyway blocking his exit.

    They were professional since one of the men only said a single word which was ¡°Coins!¡±.

    Honestly, he was a bit impressed by them so Anton decided not to kill them. Regarding feeling guilty about their future victims, he was not the kind of person who would care. He activated his auras and he glowed with what seemed like otherworldly magical might.

    When the three criminals saw that they immediately ran so fast that Anton laughed. After that, he turned off his auras and went back to the inn without further incidents.

    Anton joined his family for dinner in the inn¡¯s common room.

    ¡°Where have you been?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I went to roam a bit and purchased some materials that I can use for my enchantment research. All of you might be happy to learn that I¡¯m trying to learn how to create an enchanted item that will allow you to summon your own animal. It¡¯s just the materials that I will need for that one was a bit complicated,¡± Anton said.

    Devon looked highly excited since everyone knew that the man really got attached to the Dire Wolf and they also realized that ultimately, the summons were still Anton¡¯s.

    ¡°Will the summoned animal be permanent?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°Based on my experimentation so far, they could be but the enchanted item would be a one-time use and the materials used would be tremendously costly. Not only that, I¡¯m guessing that the power of the animals that will come from the enchanted items would most likely just be a third of my actual summons.¡±

    Devon was taken aback when he heard that but after thinking a while he said something about the summons.

    ¡°I would still like one since that one could be really called my own. I saw how powerful your Dire Wolves are and a third of their power is still extremely monstrous.¡±

    Even Lucas nodded when he heard what his son had said. Anton knew that the father and son were truly impressed with the summoned dire wolves.

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    ¡°Can I have a tiny raven?¡± Anna suddenly asked and all the girls in the group, even including Nemina, had sparking eyes at the thought of a miniature Raven.

    ¡°Sure but that would take me a while since I¡¯m currently concentrating on Dire Wolves.¡±

    ¡°What about a tiny spirit wolf?¡± Lunelle suddenly asked and all the girls gasped.

    Anton could see them imagining holding tiny, cute spirit wolves in their arms and he laughed out loud. Anders asked what he was laughing about and he told his father his speculation about the ladies wanting to hold tiny dogs in their arms and all the men in the group laughed as well. The girls glared at the men but then they talked about cute dogs. Anna even already thought of the names she would give her tiny bird and tiny dog.

    ¡°Just remember ladies, the form of the summoned animals would still be adults but just tiny and not babies. And it will take me a while to experiment with creating those tiny pets.¡±

    The ladies ignored him and continued talking about their future pets. Anton just shook his head and continued eating.

    After dinner, everyone went to their room. Anton took a bath first in the inn¡¯s bathrooms. He was sharing a room with his Father but it was still comfortable due to the enchanted item of air conditioner.

    The next day, Anders, Nemina, and Lucas followed by a dire wolf were still busy selling all of the items that Anton had repaired. The girls, followed by Devon and the second dire wolf went out as well to purchase more things that they would need on the road while Colin remained at the inn.

    Anton went out as well and did the same thing that he did yesterday. He went to different stores, bazaars, and markets to talk to merchants and asked about the items that would have sold for a lot of coins if they were not damaged or if they were new and bought them outright. At least the merchants were happy to sell those things to him instead of just throwing them away.

    Anton planned to purchase a lot of things and then sell them in another part of the city. He didn¡¯t even return to the inn during lunch and ate in one of the restaurants in the city. After a full day of doing this project, he earned a thousand gold coins so the total gold coins in his inventory was now fourteen hundred.

    He knew that it was important for him to have gold coin currency from then on. He went back to the blacksmith who made the gold tablets for him and commissioned another five of them and ten tablets made of silver. The remaining gold coins that he had on him were now eight hundred. If they were going to stay in the city tomorrow, he would do the same thing again.

    This time, Anton arrived at their inn without any incidents. He didn¡¯t know if it was because he was being careful or the criminals were already aware of him.

    When he joined his family for dinner, Anders announced that they had sold off all of the items that Anton had repaired and earned a lot of coins. That meant that they would be leaving for Homura the next day. Homura was a city that was under the rule of a monarchy system.

    According to merchants that Anders and Nemina had talked to, a merchant caravan would take around two months to reach it.

    That meant that the city was very far. It still felt weird to Anton that the locations were called cities instead of countries.

    ¡°Are we going to stay in Homuras?¡± Anna asked.

    Anders said that he didn¡¯t know but they would check it out first. Anton could understand his father since they didn¡¯t know what kind of city Homuras was but based on the distance, Anton thought that it was indeed far enough away from the Undead Coalition.

    The next day, everyone prepared for a long journey. Before they left, Anton repaired all of their things including the two carriages that they were using so now everything looked brand new. He also healed all of their horses using his three auras and did the same thing for all the people in the group.

    Anton wanted to make sure that they were in top shape before the long journey ahead. Anders also told everyone to relax and would start the journey in a relaxed and calm state so they could avoid mental exhaustion. He also announced, even without asking Anton, that every night they would watch a movie.

 Chapter 226

    Anton complained a bit about the fact that his father forced him to show movies every night while they camped.

    ¡°Is it going to be very difficult for you to do that,¡± Ander asked concernedly.

    ¡°No, I was just being a jerk,¡± Anton then laughed.

    Of course, he would follow his father¡¯s command since based on everyone¡¯s reaction, all the group members were in favor of it and as a matter of fact, Anna was truly excited and kept pestering Anton about what movies he would show.

    Anton then gathered everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Since Anna kept bothering me, I¡¯ll tell you all about the shows that I¡¯m going to let you see every night. It¡¯s called a television show which is comprised of a series of episodes lasting from 30 to 50 minutes each. Right now I¡¯m still in the process of choosing which television show to show you so you will learn what it was tonight.¡±

    Anton then summoned all the animals that were usually there during their journey which were the three Dire Wolves that were assigned to his father, Lucas, and Devon, the two Spirit Wolves that were assigned to Frederick and Colin, and the Ravens that were assigned to the ladies.

    Devon still took it upon himself to circle their two carriages. His reasoning was he wanted to make sure that they were safe but everyone knew that Lucas¡¯s son just enjoyed riding the Dire Wolf. Anton tried it and he could understand Devon¡¯s feeling. The Dire Wolves were truly fast and they moved like a combination of wind and shadow.

    Anton still preferred to fly though using his Telekinesis spell.

    Soon Devon returned to one of his self-assigned scouting missions and informed them that a five-carriage caravan was being attacked by a group of monsters consisting of trolls, kobolds, and goblins in front of them.

    They continued moving though until they saw the caravan and the monster¡¯s battle. Anton summoned his Grizzly Bear and the rest of the Spirit Wolves. Lucas, Devon, and Anders stepped down from their Dire Wolves and then Anton commanded every druid-summoned animal including the Ravens to attack the monsters.

    Anton and everyone in the group saw that the caravan guards were startled when a bunch of ferocious and powerful animals appeared and attacked the monster but the guards seemed professional enough that they adjusted quickly and accepted the unique allies that appeared.

    The Grizzly Bear was so gigantic and savage that every time it slammed its huge paws, several monsters were decimated at once. The bear alone could have killed all of the monsters without any problem but with the other animals'' presence, the battle only lasted for a few minutes then all the monsters were destroyed.

    Once all the monsters were annihilated, the guards looked at the animals that helped them cautiously, not lowering their guard but Anton could see in their eyes that the caravan guards were aware that if the animals attacked them, just like the monsters, they wouldn¡¯t last long.

    Anton dispelled all the summons since he wanted to make sure that all the animals were clean before they returned to just being pets of the group. When he summoned them, the animals were spotlessly cleaned and he rolled his eyes at Devon who was examining his dire wolf in detail as if making sure that the summon was not injured.

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    The caravan guards who were startled at the animals¡¯ disappearance finally noticed their two carriages. Anders and Lucas moved near the caravan and informed them that the animals were magic beasts summoned by their mage to kill the monsters that were blocking the road.

    The caravan guards were still cautious but one of their men moved forward to thank them.

    Anders just shrugged and returned to their two carriages and they moved forward leaving the five-carriage caravan behind. Anton didn¡¯t know if there were any injured men there but it seemed like they were not welcome so they just moved on.

    The rest of the day was uneventful. The summer was hot, the road was a bit dusty, the trees were green and the forest was vibrant with life. Devon was still circling their two carriages continuing his mission of making sure that no monsters approached them.

    He still continued bringing back some game, fruits, wild vegetables, and berries back to his mother. Lucas was so amused that he joined his son in his adventures but Devon just complained that it would be better if he were alone so Lucas just remained near the carriages together with Anders but Anton could see that the men, including his father, truly enjoyed being on top of the Dire Wolves.

    The women also enjoyed petting the Ravens even though in Anton¡¯s opinion, the ravens were not particularly attractive birds but that was just his opinion. Based on a quick internet search, a lot of people disagreed with him.

    Soon the sun was setting on the horizon making the leaves of the forest look like they were burning. Devon led them to a nice campground which was near the road. Everyone was busy setting up their camp for the night and they even set up an area where they could bathe.

    The ladies busied themselves cooking and soon the smell of the food floated in the air. No one was worried that they would attract monsters or even wild animals since the three Dire Wolves, two Spirit Wolves, and five Ravens were enough to drive them away from their camp.

    Anton, after bathing, set up the white blanket that they would use for the projector screen on the side of one of the carriages. Everyone was also taking turns bathing and once they were done, they would start eating while watching the show.

    While setting up the screen, they heard the Dire Wolves howling, informing them that someone was coming. They saw that it was the five-carriage caravan that was attacked by monsters earlier.

    Anton was surprised that the caravan traveled swiftly enough that they managed to join them in the campground.

    A fat man followed by two guards cautiously approached them.

    ¡°Good evening! My name is Giovanni and I¡¯m the merchant leader of this caravan. Can we rest here as well?¡± The fat man shouted.

    ¡°I¡¯m Anders. We don¡¯t own this camp so you can rest as well but please stay by your side since we do have animal guards and we don¡¯t want any of your people to have an accident.¡± Anders told them coldly.

    Anton guessed that his father was a bit pissed at the merchant caravan for not welcoming them earlier when they helped them defeat the monster but he thought that the caravan had reason to be cautious. They were capable of summoning powerful animals that were able to defeat monsters in minutes. Anyone would be scared of that.

    The fat merchant just shrugged and the caravan began their preparation to rest.

    Soon, everyone in Anton¡¯s group was done bathing so they sat on the logs prepared as their seats facing the white blanket that Anton set up. The merchant and what Anton assumed was his family since he saw that there was a lady and a couple of children both boys were looking at them curiously since they were exhibiting some strange behavior of sitting while facing a large white blanket.

    Anton then went in front and made an announcement.

    ¡°The show that we¡¯re about to see is called Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I will be showing two episodes tonight. Please don¡¯t expect the quality to be the same as Lord of The Rings since television shows were created by fewer people with a lot smaller budget.¡±

    To be honest, Anton hadn¡¯t seen the show before. He just chose a television show that conform to a setting that wouldn¡¯t shock the audience of this world too much using a quick search on the internet.

 Chapter 227

    Anton and the whole group watched the first two episodes of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. His opinion about the show was that it was cheesy and it was understandable that the special effects were not great, at least, compared to movies. According to reviews, it was one of the definitive fantasy TV shows of the 90s like Xena: Warrior Princess.

    Everyone looked like they very much enjoyed the show though and Anton remembered that they were not like him who had grown up watching hundreds of shows and was jaded when it came to being entertained by TV shows.

    While everyone was focused on the show, all of them were relaxed. Anton wanted them to relieve their stress that night by watching the show and everyone knowing that they were safe from surprise enemy attack due to the summoned animals protecting them made everyone feel secure enough to concentrate on just watching and enjoying the show.

    Anton saw that the other people on the other side of the campground were watching as well. They looked like they became statues staring at the screen. The blanket that Anton used was large enough that everyone in the campground could see the show clearly and the audio from the Globe of Browser Sharing spell was loud enough that everyone could hear the show without any problem.

    After the show ended, his father praised the show even though Anton wasn¡¯t expecting much from the audience due to them having seen the Lord of The Rings movies first and that meant they were used to a much higher quality show.

    The ladies were talking with each other about how handsome Hercules was and the men were talking about the fight scenes, how obviously, it was just made to entertain.

    Anton knew that the men in the group, being warriors themselves, would recognize the fake fight scenes but they were all mature enough to know that the show was made to entertain and entertain it did. They laughed at the jokes that he found corny and cheesy but only did so because the show was old but to the others, everything was fresh.

    ¡°So how was it? Do you want me to continue with the show or find something else?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    That question actually began a discussion amongst the group. Some were in favor of continuing the show and some wanted to try something else then they could choose the best show to continue.

    Anton then noticed that the fat merchant was coming so he asked his Father to deal with the man.

    ¡°Yes? How can we help you?¡± Anders asked the merchant.

    ¡°Sir, may I ask what did we see? Was it a window to another place that allowed us to watch a hero¡¯s adventure?¡±

    ¡°No. The people that you saw on the big screen were just actors like the ones acting in theaters. The difference was they were acting while their images and sounds were being captured in a magical device for people to watch whenever they wanted. Normally, a show like that, we call them movies for the long ones and television shows for the shorter ones are going to be presented inside a building called a cinema theater and tickets would have to be purchased by customers for a high price but you¡¯re in luck since we¡¯re currently testing the quality of this particular show and we didn¡¯t mind other travelers seeing them.¡±

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    ¡°Thank you for the opportunity to let us see it. Are you headed to the town of Vellos?¡± The merchant asked.

    ¡°No sir. We¡¯re headed someplace else. I know why you¡¯re asking. We can¡¯t travel with you since you¡¯re a five-cart caravan and that means that we¡¯ll be faster than you are so we can¡¯t travel with you and you with us. If we meet on the road and we¡¯re watching a show, you¡¯re still welcome to see it with us.¡±

    The fat merchant looked highly disappointed since everyone knew that the movies and TV shows were a great coin-making opportunity. The merchant bid good evening and then went back to his family.

    Anton could see that the merchant was being asked by his family a lot of questions, more than likely, about the show. He was well aware that it was not the last time that the merchant would attempt to communicate with them regarding the shows.

    After the merchant left, the group went back to discussing whether they would continue watching Hercules: The Legendary Journeys or try to watch something else and then choose which shows they would continue to watch.

    Several minutes passed and some of the group began to ask questions from Anton.

    ¡°You mentioned that there was an unlimited number of shows, is that real?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I do have a lot of them but most of the shows can¡¯t be shown because they will probably shock you all with their themes and settings. A lot of them were set in a world that you will not recognize. Some of those worlds were set far into the future where people are living with very advanced technology like flying in the sky using huge metal carriages that can carry hundreds of people or traversing the oceans using gigantic ships made of metal. Some were even shows about traversing the universe, and the locations beyond our world, and those TV shows or films would show their adventure in meeting alien species and alien worlds. Some shows are about the lives of regular people living in a city in a modern world wherein they will show the funny events in their lives while they try to earn coins to survive. The shows are varied and I¡¯m not sure if any of you are ready to see something like that.¡±

    Anton could see that everyone in the group was looking at him with contemplation on every face but Anna had a face full of shock.

    ¡°Can you show us an example?¡± Anders suddenly asked which made everyone stare at Anton¡¯s father.

    Anton shrugged and prepared the Star Trek: The Next Generation Introduction clip.  He then told everyone to look at the projector screen.

    The video started and the glorious colorful planets were shown with high definition that would probably shock people who hadn¡¯t seen something like that before. Then the Star Ship Enterprise entered the screen and the voice of Patrick Steward acting as Captain Jean Luc Picard described the mission of the spaceship.

    After the video ended, almost every person in the group uttered a question so Anton chose Devon first.

    ¡°What are those big balls we see in the beginning?¡±

    ¡°Those are planets. The planet that we live on is also a big ball of dirt floating in space.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? Why don¡¯t we fall?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°There is a force called Gravity that allows us to remain on our planets. Now this is one of the reasons why I can¡¯t just let you see shows willy-nilly. The concept could be very confusing especially if the watcher is not a scholar.¡±

    ¡°What is the big white thing that appeared like it was flying?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Star Ship Enterprise. It¡¯s a very huge metal ship that houses thousands of people capable of traversing the universe. You¡¯ve heard from its captain its mission. Now let me show you another clip.¡±

    Anton then showed everyone the introduction to the TV show FRIENDS.

    ¡°Now that one is a show about a group of friends who are living in a city. As you can see the shows I have are incredibly varied and some would shock you and some would be incredibly unfamiliar to you.¡±

    After that explanation, Anders announced that it was time to rest since they would need to leave early the next day.

 Chapter 228

    The next day after breakfast, Anton cast his cleaning spells several times to make sure that everyone''s things were clean. Nemina admitted that Anton¡¯s cleaning spell was highly convenient since they didn¡¯t have to worry about their laundry. Even the carriages and all of their horses were clean.

    Anton was also glad that he took the time to learn the cleaning spell from spellbooks since they discovered that not only it could clean their things, but it could also clean the dirt from their bodies as long as he targeted the dirt.

    The only reason why they were taking a bath was everyone wanted to take advantage of Anton¡¯s mana water since the magical water was highly beneficial to everyone¡¯s health. The combination of drinking and bathing kept everyone in top shape and it appeared that it was almost making everyone younger.

    Anton wondered if the mana water was truly keeping everyone younger or just their appearance but he was guessing it was just the appearance.

    They began their journey early enough that the caravan on the other side of the campground was still resting when they moved.

    They were beginning to get so far away from Zalnothel that Anton felt comfortable enough entering his Diablo II game system to level up his druid character and continue his enchanting studies.

    Anton knew that he would need to complete creating the enchanted item that would house the summoning spells of the druid since everyone in the group was beginning to become very attached to the summoned animals.

    For the whole morning, Anton was inside the world of Sanctuary leveling up his druid character. By lunch, he leveled up three times reaching level forty-five, and was halfway through completing Act III of the Nightmare Difficulty.

    They stopped briefly for lunch and after they ate, Anton healed everyone including all of the horses by using all of his auras. He also watered the animals using mana water and this caused all of the horses to become extremely healthy.

    During the afternoon journey, Anton practiced his guitar for a bit and then re-entered the game to continue his experiments in creating an enchanted item with the summoning spells of the druid. Unfortunately, even after several hours and using the brand-new golden tablets, he was still unsuccessful but he did feel that he should be able to solve the issue soon.

    When twilight arrived, Devon led them to a nice campground and after everyone set up the tents and cooked dinner, they prepared themselves to watch the next episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Anders decided that they would just continue with the said TV show.

    This time they were alone in the campground but Anton still made sure that the surrounding area was safe by commanding all of the summons to scout around the area.

    The next two days were the same. Anton would spend time cleaning their things, healing everyone, providing mana water, leveling up his druid character, and continuing his experimentation in creating the summoning enchanted item. His druid leveled up two more times reaching level 47 and he was halfway completing Act IV of the Nightmare difficulty.

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    Then they arrived in the next village around ten in the morning. The village was very small since It only consisted of very few houses but they still spent around three hours to purchase what they could like spices and grains and broken and worn-out weapons and armor.

    At least this time, the village wasn¡¯t under attack or anything like that. A couple of hours after lunch, Anders told everyone that they had purchased everything they could from the village so they departed without further ado.

    After a few days of travel, they reached a fairly large town Numan town. Anders announced that they would rest for a couple of days but that meant that they would hold off on watching the television show.

    During those days before reaching Numan town, Anton was focused on leveling up his druid character. He reached level 52 and completed Act V of the Nightmare Difficulty. Once he completed the Hell Difficulty, he would begin the grueling process of hunting for items and reaching the maximum level of his druid.

    He was also excited about his recent enchanting activities since Anton got an inkling that with a few more trials and errors, he should be able to complete the enchanting process for summoning a Dire Wolf and was glad that he didn¡¯t have to find another material since the golden tablets were enough. He did waste a total of ten golden tablets though but he knew that would happen.

    They rented rooms at one of the three inns of the town and they began the process of buying the things they would need like the necessities as well as the broken and worn-out weapons and armor.

    The first night and the second day were supposed to be spent resting and everyone could do whatever they wanted in the town, then they would leave early the third day.

    Everyone was well-versed on what they needed to do so after a few hours, they concluded their business and they all gathered in the inn¡¯s common room.

    They heard the news regarding the Undead Coalition. Zalnothel was currently still fighting but the city was besieged by the undead on two fronts, one from the South Gate where Anton and his family and friends originally came from, and one from the North Gate where the city of Luminence who betrayed the living was located.

    According to the news, five Supremes and two Legends who betrayed the living and sided with the Undead Coalition died in Zalnothel. One Supreme died and one Legend was injured severely on Zalnothel¡¯s side.  If Zalnothel¡¯s Invincible Wizards hadn¡¯t make any move, more wizards on Zalnothel¡¯s side would have perished.

    Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the end. Invincibles on the Coalition Side started to move as well and were doing everything in their power to breach the defenses of the city. The Invincibles on Zalnothel¡¯s side were said to be expending a huge amount of their power to defend the city but the pessimistic in the town were saying that it would only be a matter of time before Zalnothel fell.

    Anton was hoping that the people who were staying in the Oak Sage Manor chose to leave the city of Zalnothel since he was also one of the pessimists. Maybe because ever since he transmigrated in this world, it felt like the Undead Coalition never stopped hounding them and had always conquered the city that they attacked.

    Surprisingly, according to the news they had received, the holy city of Tiande and the merchant city of Leminthor were still standing and were still fighting with the Undead Coalition.

    ¡°I hope a miracle would occur that would allow those cities to survive,¡± Anders said.

    Anton could see that everyone lost hope for those cities already. Anna looked extremely sad and even the twins Ramona and Belinda had tears in their eyes.

    After receiving the news, Anders asked if they still wanted to spend time in Numan Town but unsurprisingly, everyone just wanted to leave. Anton could understand since he wanted to leave as well and reach a place where they could feel a modicum of safety.

    Anton felt that even though Homura was far from Zalnothel, it wasn¡¯t far enough away. He might have to convince his family that they should cross the ocean.

 Chapter 229

    Anton knew that crossing the ocean was just his desire to explore the world and not just to escape the Undead Coalition. He knew that there was a chance that they would encounter an equal or even greater danger in the lands across the ocean and if he was alone, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to go ahead and continue without stopping.

    Anton¡¯s plans were all tentative anyway so he didn¡¯t focus on them too much. The cities that they would arrive in would inform them of what their final decision would be. The only that made him happy was because of his power, even though they were on the run, they were healthy and well-fed. They had things that made their travel extremely comfortable and he even overheard Frederick telling Colin that he didn¡¯t mind their journey since he was truly enjoying the adventure since there was hardly any hardship.

    The next day, they left Numan town early which surprised the innkeeper since Anders mentioned that they would be staying for three days but Anton¡¯s father just made some excuses about receiving some news that made them need to leave the town immediately.

    According to Lucas, their next stop would be a village which was three days away from Numan Town. During the travel to that village, every night, they watched one to two episodes of the TV series that they were currently watching which was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

    Anders decided though that if there were somebody with them in their chosen camp, they would avoid watching the show to avoid spreading their actual location to anyone who might be interested.

    Anton felt like they were fugitives on the run even though they were just like any of the regular citizens of Zalnothel who chose to flee Zalnothel cowardly instead of helping the city defend itself. Admittedly, their action was indeed cowardly and the only excuse that Anton could give to pacify himself was they were not truly citizens of Zalnothel yet since they only spent several weeks in the city.

    He thought at first that he would treat the city of Zalnothel as his home and that he would try his best to defend the city from the undead with all his power since he thought that he was powerful enough but the Archmage Voduria gave him hints that it would be best for him and his family to run so he would have the time to grow into his power.

    To the delight of Anna and the others, there were no other travelers who joined them in the camp chosen by Devon and Anton had an inkling that Lucas¡¯s son chose those sites that were out of the way of regular travelers.

    Their nights were restful since they were guarded by Anton¡¯s summons and not only that, their tents and beddings were comfortable since they chose to purchase those that were extremely comfortable regardless of how inconvenient it was to bring them on journeys since those bulky things were stored in their spatial items anyway.

    Not only that, everything they have was almost always clean since Anton kept using his Cleaning spells to clean everything. Not only that, anything that broke or torn was immediately repaired by Anton as well so all of their possession looked new.

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    Anna and Frederick even said that once they were in the city, they would also purchase the Cleaning spell since it was truly a convenient spell.

    All of them also didn¡¯t experience any suffering associated with extended journeys since Anton¡¯s auras and his mana water made sure that everyone was healthy.

    During those three days of travel before reaching the next village, Anton also leveled up his druid to level 54 and he completed Act I of Hell Difficulty. He might have to start grinding for items since he was beginning to experience difficulty in proceeding with his summoning druid but grinding for items would be easier for him since he could do it using the on-screen option and didn¡¯t have to actually enter the world of Sanctuary personally.

    Before reaching the next village, Anton also successfully completed the golden tablet of Dire Wolf summoning. On the night before they reached the next village, Anton presented the three golden tablets to his Father, Lucas, and Devon.

    ¡°These tablets would allow you to summon your own Dire Wolves and this is a one-time use enchanted item. As I¡¯ve mentioned before, the Dire Wolves from the tablets would only be 30 percent as powerful as my Dire Wolves and their size would be smaller. Once you¡¯ve summoned the Dire Wolf from the tablet, the summon is permanent but they would be basically magical creatures beholden to you but they will need to be taken care of like regular animals. The moment they receive a fatal injury, they would die and I haven¡¯t tested yet if the one that was killed will be the same if you summoned a new one using a tablet but I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s a high chance that it would be the same one. Their intelligence should be the same as my Dire Wolves so that¡¯s a comfort. So do you want them or do you want to continue using my summons?¡±

    Devon only needed to think for a few seconds before replying.

    ¡°I want them. Even though they¡¯re much less powerful and a bit smaller, at least the wolf will be my own. They can travel with me even though I¡¯m separated from you as you¡¯ve mentioned. Your Dire Wolf is truly powerful but there¡¯s still a wall between me and the wolf and that¡¯s the knowledge that he¡¯s not truly mine.¡±

    Anton shrugged and gave the tablet to Devon. Lucas¡¯s son immediately used the tablet by turning on the switch and the tablet disappeared and coalesced into a dire wolf that was a tad smaller than Anton¡¯s summons. It was still big enough to be ridden though.

    Devon transferred the saddle that he was using from Anton¡¯s Dire Wolf to his new one. Everyone could see that the dire wolf was not as fast and not as silent but there was still a delight in Devon¡¯s eyes and more than likely, it was the knowledge that the wolf was his and not somebody else¡¯s summons.

    Upon seeing the happiness on Devon¡¯s face, Lucas and Anders also asked for the remaining two tablets and they both summoned their dire wolves. Once the wolves manifested, Anton dispelled his Dire Wolves so they wouldn¡¯t be present for comparison.

    Lucas and Anton¡¯s father did the same thing as Devon and rode their dire wolves to scout the surrounding area. In the meantime, everyone else busied themselves in preparing their camp for the night of rest.

    Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle were in charge of cooking with Anna helping them, Nemina was taking inventory of their items while Frederick and Colin were doing any lifting that needed to be done.

    Anton prepared the white blanket that they would use to watch the TV show. But after a while, Frederick and Colin approached him.

    ¡°Anton, can we have our own dire wolves as well?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°Of course, it was just that I only completed three of them. Once I make more, I¡¯ll give one to each of you.¡±

    ¡°What about us? When are you going to give us our tiny Ravens and tiny Spirit Wolves?¡± Anna suddenly asked.

    ¡°I just completed the Dire Wolves summoning. It¡¯ll be a while for those.¡±

    After a few minutes, Devon, Lucas, and Anders returned carrying game animals and Devon reported that even though his Dire Wolf was weaker, it was powerful enough and would soon get used to the changes.

 Chapter 230

    That night, they continued watching the TV show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys while they ate dinner and were glad that everyone was still enjoying the show. He could hear the men in the group mocking the fight scenes and questioning the choices that the choreographer made when planning the action sequence. They learned the terms from Anton when they asked about the details of the scenes to which Anton just informed them that he didn¡¯t know why those choices were selected since he was not a warrior himself.

    They still enjoyed the humor of the show and laughed out loud during the funny scenes. To be honest, Anton enjoyed watching the reactions of the audience much more than the TV show itself.

    After watching a couple of episodes, Anders announced that it was time to rest so they all did, expecting the summoned animals to guard them while they were resting, everyone rested well.

    The next day, they started their journey early and arrived in the village at around eleven in the afternoon. The villagers were happy enough to see them, or at least their coins. They spent some to purchase some necessities and also the broken and worn-out equipment. The village was truly small since it didn¡¯t even have an Inn and they had to use the village chief¡¯s inn to conduct their business. Since the village was so small, it didn¡¯t take them two hours before they were done so they departed the village that day as well.

    When twilight arrived and filled the top of the trees with the golden colors of sunset, they camped in a place that Devon chose, and by then, everyone knew that the man was choosing hidden campsites that wouldn¡¯t be easily found by regular travelers. The places were nice enough but they knew that Devon¡¯s priority was to make sure that they could watch the shows without any disturbance.

    While everyone was preparing the campground, Anton began the process of repairing all the items they had already purchased since he didn¡¯t want them to accumulate to a large number. After he was done, Anders stored all the repaired things.

    Devon and his father began the process of scouting the surroundings followed by some of the Spirit Wolves that Anton summoned to make sure that they would be safe. After a while, they returned reporting that the forest was safe but they also brought with them some game animals, wild vegetables, and fruits.

    During dinner, they began watching the TV show again but after one episode ended, Anton made a suggestion.

    ¡°Hercules has an offshoot series. It¡¯s the story of Xena, the warrior princess. I recommend that we watch one episode of Hercules and then one episode of Xena: The Warrior Princess for diversity.¡±

    Everyone greeted that suggestion enthusiastically but they all looked at Anders since it was going to be his decision and when Anton¡¯s father acquiesced, Anton began playing the first episode of the said series.

    Everyone loved Xena and Anton laughed when he heard Devon, Frederick, and Colin talking about Xena as the woman they wanted to become their wives. The women in the group mocked them saying that Xena would not look at them since she deserved someone strong and powerful.

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    When Colin said that Anton was strong, Anna gave Colin a disdainful look.

    ¡°Xena wouldn¡¯t like Anton as well since he¡¯s a baby!¡±

    That comment made everyone laugh especially when Anton protested. Anton knew that he didn¡¯t have much to stand on since he did still have some baby fat. He was still seventeen, or at least his body was, even though he was considered an archmage.

    Lucas announced that the next village was also going to be a small one and that they would arrive in that village after three days of travel. Nemina suggested that they should stop early the next day since it would be better to prepare all the game animals that they collected in their spatial items. They would need to butcher them properly so they could throw out the parts they didn¡¯t need to keep. It would also be better in the long run if the meat in their inventories were already prepared so that their cooking time every night would lessen greatly.

    Lunelle added that it was also a good idea to spend a large amount of time cooking so they actually didn¡¯t need to cook during emergencies and could just retrieve the cooked items from their inventory since their spatial items would keep the food as fresh as the day they stored them.

    Anton volunteered that he could keep the majority of the cooked food in his inventory since he did have a large amount of space and Anders and Nemina agreed.

    The next day, they left early but while they were traveling they were stopped by a log on the road which was indicative of a bandit ambush. Anton sighed and summoned the five Spirit Wolves and gave the command of the summons to Lucas. Then they just waited for news inside the carriage.

    Anton was amused to see that there was no fear on Anna, Ramona, and  Belinda¡¯s faces and they just continued talking about Xena. Ramona said that she wanted to learn how to wield a sword just like Xena since she can¡¯t learn magic and Belinda said that she would like to as well. The three girls then giggled and talked about asking Devon. They were treating his presence as air and Anton could understand why.

    During their travel, he basically ignored everyone in the carriage whenever he entered his game system to level up his character or performed experiments on enchanting so his sister and her friends learned to adapt to his presence.

    After a few minutes, Lucas arrived to report what happened. Anton was flabbergasted to learn that two of the Spirit Wolves died. He knew how powerful his Spirit Wolves were since he was already a level 54 druid.

    ¡°There¡¯s two powerful warriors and a mage on the bandits¡¯ side. The mage managed to escape when one of the warriors sacrificed himself but the wizard cast a powerful spell towards Devon while he was running away thankfully, the spell was blocked by two of your Spirit Wolves,¡± Lucas said calmly but Anton could see that the man was furious.

    ¡°Those bandits tried to harm one of us! They will need to pay.¡± Anton said feeling angry.

    Anton then went outside and summoned three Dire Wolves and commanded the wolves to follow the mage that tried to kill Devon. Anton flew up in the sky so he could track where the Dire Wolves were going and it looked like they were going deep into the forest.

    The only reason he could still track the Dire Wolves was he had a connection with them but he did fly lower until he noticed a hidden structure. The Dire Wolves were already engaged with some of the bandits but it didn¡¯t take long for the summons to kill the people there.

    The dire wolves were being blocked by a warrior with support from the mage at the back but to Anton¡¯s eyes, the dire wolves were just toying with the two remaining bandits. The dire wolves didn¡¯t kill them because he commanded his summons not to yet.

    Anton then activated the special effects of his auras and defense buffs and when he flew down, the warrior and the mage noticed him. What surprised Anton was that the moment the two saw him, the warrior threw away his weapon and both he and the mage kneeled.

 Chapter 231

    Anton stared at the bandit warrior and mage who were kneeling confronted by the three huge Dire Wolves.

    ¡°Lord Archmage, please have mercy. We didn¡¯t know that you were with the carriage.¡±

    ¡°You tried to kill my people and I consider them my family. What would you do if someone tried to kill your family?¡±

    Anton could see that the two men realized that they would not be forgiven for what they had done. The warrior stood up and ran towards him while holding a short sword while the mage stood up as well and began casting a spell.

    The two bandits realized that it was their end and Anton guessed that they preferred to die fighting. Anton didn¡¯t let them suffer and killed the two men immediately by casting Frozen Orb and the two men exploded. He then checked the bandits¡¯ lair. Anton guessed that the bandits were successful in their banditry looking at the huge amount of treasure in the lair. He commanded one of the Dire Wolves to lead his father and Lucas to the lair and after several minutes, they arrived.

    ¡°Are they dead?¡± Lucas asked when they met up with Anton and he simply nodded.

    Anton could see that Lucas was truly furious because when he saw the two Spirit Wolves died because of the mage¡¯s spell, he knew that there was a good chance that Devon would have died if the summons did not block the spell targeting his son and there was a possibility that Anton would not be fast enough to heal Devon.

    Anton then wondered how the bandits got the chance to attack them since his father, Lucas, and Devon were all equipped with wands but he knew that playing the blame game was not conducive to the situation. The bandits were dead and their treasure was there for their claiming.

    ¡°It was my fault. Devon wanted to test the power of the dire wolves that came from the golden tablets so that¡¯s why we didn¡¯t immediately use the wands. We thought they were just regular weak bandits. I¡¯ve been a mercenary for a long time and I made such a rookie mistake,¡± Lucas said and Anton could clearly hear the man blaming himself.

    ¡°Enough of that. It¡¯s all in the past. Let¡¯s just return to the carriages,¡± Anders said after he stored all the treasure in the lair in his storage ring that was in a chain around his neck.

    Anton commanded the dire wolves to guide his father and Lucas back to the carriage while he flew ahead of them. He wanted to make sure that the carriages were safe. He should have summoned the Grizzly Bear for everyone¡¯s protection before he left to chase the runaway bandits.

    When he arrived back at the two carriages, everyone was safe which made Anton relieved. Devon was alert and the three remaining Spirit Wolves were on guard.

    Anton dismissed the wolves and when the ladies noticed that he was back, they all exited the carriage to learn what happened.

    ¡°Father and Lucas should arrive any minute now. They¡¯re being guarded and guided by the three Dire Wolves that I summoned.¡±

    ¡°Did you find and kill the bandit mage who tried to kill Devon?¡± Nemina asked grimly which made Devon look ashamed and Anton figured that Devon was blaming his stupid overconfidence that endangered himself and caused his parents to get furious.

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    ¡°All the bandits are dead,¡± Anton said and Nemina looked satisfied.

    After a few minutes, Lucas and Anton¡¯s father arrived. Anton didn¡¯t dismiss the Dire Wolves and commanded them to scout the area to make sure there was nothing there that could endanger them and the dire wolves immediately left.

    ¡°The bandits were rich. They had an extra-large amount of treasure in their lair,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°At least they will not be able to victimize anyone anymore,¡± Lunelle angrily said.

    Everyone was furious with the bandits since they clearly had the strength but instead of using their strength to earn coins legally, they chose to prey on other humans.

    They continued their journey and around two in the afternoon, Anders asked Devon to look for a campsite that they could stay in for the rest of the day.

    Devon chose a good campsite but it was near the road and even though it was amongst the trees, it was still visible on the road. Everyone got busy preparing their campsite and they set up an elaborate area that they would use to prepare food. Nemina planned to spend the rest of the day cooking so they would have a lot of cooked food prepared in their spatial items.

    Colin and Frederic were commandeered by Nemina to help them after they set up the area that they would use for toilet and bathroom purposes. While Anton¡¯s father, Lucas, and Devon rode their Dire Wolves to roam the forest and each one of them was being followed by one Dire Wolf summon of Anton.

    Just to be safe, Anton also summoned the Grizzly Bear. It¡¯s also a good chance for the horses to get used to the bear¡¯s presence. Since Anton didn¡¯t command the Grizzly Bear to do anything, it just lay there like a lump.

    Anna curiously approached the bear.

    ¡°The bear wouldn¡¯t harm me right?¡± Anna asked his brother.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a summon like your Raven and the wolves,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°Can you command it to follow me?¡± Anna requested and Anton who was about to enter his Diablo II system to level up his druid character got irritated.

    ¡°Fine but don¡¯t bother me until it¡¯s time for me to set up the projector screen. I¡¯m going to meditate.¡±

    Anton commanded the Grizzly Bear to protect everyone and to follow Anna¡¯s command then he entered and sat on a log. Instead of entering his game system, he first observed what Anna would do.

    Anna tentatively approached the bear and when it ignored her, she patted the bear¡¯s fur. After a couple of minutes of being ignored, Anna boldly climbed the bear and the huge summons just allowed her to do anything she liked.

    Anton¡¯s sister then commanded the bear to go inside the forest but just nearby while she sat on top of the huge monster. When the bear stood up, Anna laughed, which made everyone look at her. It was understandable since the bear was really huge and her sitting on top of it caused her to see everything in the camp.

    While the bear was walking toward the forest, Anna suddenly commanded it to destroy a tree, and with one swipe the Grizzly Bear demolished the tree that she pointed at causing a massive noise. After a couple of minutes, Anders, Lucas, and Devon arrived with a worried look on their faces because of the loud noise.

    When the men saw Anna sitting on top of the huge Grizzly Bear in front of a destroyed tree, everyone knew that the noise was Anna¡¯s doing.

    Anton overheard his father admonishing Anna and commanding her to get down from the bear and with a pout, she commanded the monster to lie down in the ground so she could climb down easier.

    Anders then looked around and when he saw Anton, he told his son to tell the bear to follow his command and Anton complied. To Anton and Anna¡¯s astonishment, Anders climbed the Grizzly Bear and commanded it to run deep into the forest while two Dire Wolves followed him, one from the golden tablet and the other dire wolf was Anton¡¯s summon.

    Lucas and Devon laughed but suddenly their laughter was cut off when they saw how fast the Grizzly Bear ran. It was actually as fast as the Dire Wolves and the only difference was there was massive noise while the bear was running. A fast-running huge monster was terrifying to behold.

 Chapter 232

    Everyone was busy in the campground. The women continued their cooking while Anna joined them and kept complaining bout their father taking the Grizzly Bear.

    Since he kept being interrupted, Anton decided not to enter his Diablo II game system and joined in on the fun. He first arranged the white blanket that would serve as their screen so he didn¡¯t have to set it up later. He then tried to ask the women if they needed help but they just subtly drove him away. He decided to water the horses with mana water and heal them using his auras.

    The horses all became very friendly towards him and after indulging the animals, he cleaned everything he could see using his cleaning spells including the animals so now all the horses were all sporting gleaming coats.

    He also let Charsi repair the two carriages so after he retrieved them from his inventory, the carriages not only looked new on the surface level, but they were at the peak from inside and out.

    Several minutes passed and his father returned with the Grizzly Bear. Devon and Lucas also came back.

    ¡°Anton your bear doesn¡¯t seem to run out of stamina. Normally something as huge as this bear wouldn¡¯t have the stamina to run for a long time but your bear didn¡¯t stop running when I told it not to and when we did, it didn¡¯t look tired at all,¡± Anders said wonderingly.

    ¡°Unfortunately, we can¡¯t use something as large as my bear as your mount, Father. Something huge like that would probably cause commotions to any villages, towns, or even cities that we arrive in,¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡°I know that! I¡¯m not a moron. It¡¯s just a momentary whim of mine. Besides I still prefer riding my dire wolf. The bear, although very powerful is not a comfortable ride. Their bodies are not made for riding since they tend to stand up during battle.¡±

    Anton saw that Devon and Lucas agreed with his father.

    ¡°Do you want me to dismiss the bear, Father?¡±

    ¡°No! I want to play with it!¡± Anna suddenly interrupted.

    Anders climbed down from the bear and allowed Anna to ride it but their father gave her an admonishment to not go too deep into the forest, although strictly speaking, there wasn¡¯t anything that could harm her there.

    Besides with a Raven and the Grizzly Bear summons with her, Anton would be aware of her location since he did have a connection to his summons.

    After several hours, the women were done cooking so they stored all the food they prepared in their spatial items but the majority of them were stored in Anton¡¯s Private Stash inside his Diablo II game.

    Before the sun came down, their camp was interrupted by travelers.

    ¡°Good evening sirs, can we join your camp?¡± A man cautiously approached them.

    Before anyone could answer the man though, a few people screamed. They were some of the people who accompanied the man who asked if they could join Anton¡¯s group. They were yelling ¡°Monsters!¡± and Anton realized that they were screaming about the Dire Wolves and the Grizzly Bear.

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    The travelers looked like musicians since they had instruments on their backs. They looked like they were about to run but the Anton gave the Dire Wolves command to encircle them. He didn¡¯t want them travelers to leave in misunderstanding possibly causing a quest to be issued to adventurers to hunt monsters in the wood.

    Anders tried to pacify the travelers. On a quick count, Anton saw that there were eight of them, four men and four women and they were leading a huge carriage.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that we scared you. The animals are tamed animals by our wizard. He summoned them for our protection.¡±

    After a few moments explaining the situation, the people seemed to calm down and with urgings from Anders and Nemina, joined them in the camp.

    ¡°I really do apologize for scaring you but with the situation right now, we just wanted to make sure that we¡¯re protected while we are on the road. We¡¯re on our way east and were one of the few who ran from Zalnothel,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°We¡¯ve heard about that. Zalnothel¡¯s currently being besieged by the undead and a lot of people did run.¡± One of the travelers said.

    The travelers said that they were traveling minstrels and were supposed to go towards Zalnothel but since it was currently being besieged, they would stay in Greton for a while. The minstrels introduce themselves but unfortunately, Anders enforced his rule of not watching the TV show while they were with somebody.

    Anton¡¯s father did mention that he would relax that rule once they were farther away. They did share their food with the minstrels as a sort of apology for the scare they experienced encountering Anton¡¯s summons but he could see that the minstrel group was still wary of the summons.

    Of course, Anton could understand since the summons were truly frightening. After a while though, Anton retrieved his guitar from his inventory and asked to compare notes with the minstrels.

    One thing Anton could say was that the traveling musicians were good. All of them had beautiful voices but they were all impressed when Anton belted out one of the old rock ballads from Earth. They were comfortable with him since the musicians thought that he was just a regular youth blessed with the gift of music. When Anders indicated that they had a wizard, they thought that they were referring to Frederick.

    After a couple of hours of jamming with the minstrels, Anton''s father looked proud at every praise Anton received from the musicians but was flabbergasted when they tried to invite him to join their group.

    Anna laughed at their father¡¯s expression when the minstrels enthusiastically invited Anton to join their group.

    ¡°My son wouldn¡¯t be able to join you! He will become a merchant like me,¡± Anders said, which of course was just an excuse.

    ¡°Your son has the gift of music! If you let him pursue music, he will become a bard renowned to the world. Kings and queens would clamor to hear his performance!¡± One of the minstrels, possibly their leader, said.

    Anton guessed that belting out a BonJovi song really impressed the traveling minstrels. Everyone in their group gaped though when they heard what the minstrel had said about Anton¡¯s musical talent. He had to admit that his singing was greatly better than his original voice when he was on Earth and he had an inkling that his increased stats were responsible for that.

    ¡°Enough about that. I will not leave my family please stop inviting me again. Let¡¯s just continue enjoying music,¡± Anton said.

    For the rest of the evening, before they rested, Anton and the minstrels sang song after song but the musicians kept requesting for Anton to sing since the songs that he was singing were unique and they had never heard them before. Anton had a penchant for singing classic ballads from rock bands and they tend to be songs that needed to be belted out so his voice floated in the forest for a couple of hours.

    After that, the minstrels requested a copy of the songs he sang so he wrote one of them as a gift since he enjoyed jamming with the minstrels. This world¡¯s musical notation was highly different though but since the minstrel knew their craft, after several minutes, a copy of Bon Jovi¡¯s Bed of Roses landed on the minstrels¡¯ hands complete with their musical notations and chords.

 Chapter 233

    The next day, Anton and his group left the campground early. The minstrels were still resting and they didn¡¯t want to disturb the traveling musician¡¯s rest so they left quietly. Anton felt that it was too bad since he had managed to establish a good relationship with the traveling musician group.

    If the situation was different, he wouldn¡¯t mind living his life as a traveling musician but Anton still preferred to become a powerful wizard instead of a bard or a minstrel since he knew that he could only thrive in this world through power.

    During the next three weeks of travel, summer passed and Anton¡¯s favorite season arrived which was Autumn. He loved the season of Autumn so much because the colors of Fall to him were the color of magic, mystery, and romance.

    The forest was now starting to dress itself in gorgeous colors of shades of gold, red, and yellow, and everything in between and the breeze was beginning to have a cold bite that brought delicious shiver in Anton¡¯s body.

    Anton loved the temperature of the autumn season since he thought that it was perfect. The hot humidity of summer passed and the biting cold of winter hadn¡¯t arrived yet. Some would say that the rain was a bother but he also liked the rain. The smell of wet earth and wet plants had a freshness to it and he thought the autumn rain was better than spring rain which a lot of people disagreed but he didn¡¯t care. He wasn¡¯t a farmer who concerned himself with the plants'' growth. He was a romantic who loved watching romance and fantasy movies and for some reason, a lot of them were set up during the autumn season especially the old ones which were his favorites.

    During those three weeks of travel, their group managed to collect a massive amount of items from the villages and towns that they passed through and were already repaired by Anton since he made sure to repair them as soon as possible to avoid accumulating broken items in their storage items and Anton¡¯s Private Stash.

    A weird phenomenon also happened during their travel. Because the people in their group drank mana water during every meal and bathed in mana water almost every day, the women in their group became very fair and beautiful. Their skin became smooth as silk and their hair became very luxurious. The men also underwent some changes. Anders and Lucas were particularly mind-blowing.

    Anton¡¯s father and Lucas were beginning to look like they were in their early thirties instead of being in their late forties and early fifties. Their hair color reversed back to the color they once had when they were in their youth. Anton thought that it was becoming ridiculous that he suggested to everyone that they should stop using mana water.

    Of course, everyone vehemently disagreed with him. Even Devon who complained that the scars he earned in battle were disappearing one by one and complained that he was beginning to look like a foppish noble didn¡¯t have the nerve to protest against the women in the group.

    Anton also successfully created summoning enchanted items for the spells Summon Spirit Wolves and Summon Raven and even managed to manipulate the mana structure so that the summons would come out as miniature to the delight of the women who were now accompanied by tiny ravens and tiny spirit wolves.

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    The men scoffed at the miniature summons since they found them useless but the women in the group protested since they could still use the tiny beings for sending and receiving messages as well as for scouting.

    The summoning enchanted items were still one-time use items and he still needed to use golden tablets for them. The good thing about the miniature pets was that the golden tablets that he would use for them could be smaller.

    At least he was able to gather enough funds for the golden tablets from the towns and large villages that they passed through.

    The three weeks of travel also allowed Anton to complete the Hell Difficulty of his Diablo II game system for his druid character and his druid reached level 74.  Now he was focused on leveling up his druid character to the maximum level so he could have another character. He was also grinding for items for his druid and as a bonus, his leveling and item grinding could be done using the on-screen option so the only time he needed to enter the world of Sanctuary was to practice his spells and create enchanted items.

    The whole group also continued watching the two fantasy TV series which were Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: The Warrior Princess. The men still laughed at the choreographed fight scenes but the women focused on the romance. They all laughed at the humor the shows presented but what it came down to was, that they were all entertained by the two shows.

    Anders relaxed his prohibition of allowing others to watch the shows after a week so those who joined them in their camp were lucky enough to watch the show with them.

    After three weeks, they reached a very large town called Vumar and Anders told everyone that they would stay in that town for three days.  Everyone greeted that announcement with enthusiasm since they were beginning to get exhausted from traveling all the time. Not physically of course but mentally and it was also a good chance for them to mingle with others since looking at the same faces for weeks on end was beginning to grate on everyone¡¯s nerves.

    Devon and Lunelle felt weirded out by their parents since Lucas and Nemina recently became lovey-dovey with each other so their stay in the town was a good time for them to reenact their honeymoon. Devon mentioned to Anton that their parents becoming enamored with each other was the result of them looking younger because of the mana water.

    One funny situation occurred that made everyone amused. When Anders learned that Devon and Frederick invited Anton to visit the town¡¯s brothel, Anton¡¯s father berated the two to no end telling them that Anton was still a young child. When Devon said that his father allowed him to be with a woman when he was sixteen, Nemina glared at his husband.

    Anton himself was silent about that and truth to tell, he wasn¡¯t interested in joining Devon and Frederick in relieving their stress in this town¡¯s red light district. Of course, his body was young and interested in women but his mind was focused more on attaining power instead of indulging his carnal desires.

    Besides, his left hand and his access to the Internet were enough for now, and as soon as he was older and found the right woman, he wouldn¡¯t stop himself from having a relationship.

    Devon, Frederic, and Colin still went ahead and visited the town¡¯s brothel though. The women roamed the town but they were unbothered since two huge Dire Wolves were following them. Anders had to spend a huge amount of time and coins in the town¡¯s gate to appease the guards there that the Dire Wolves were not true animals but tame creatures by their wizard and used for protection but it was worth it for the peace of mind they would have while roaming the town safely.

    Anton told his father that he planned to roam the town alone, and Anders just advised him to take care.

 Chapter 234

    The town of Vumar was twice as large as Norad Town that it almost seemed like a city. They arrived in the town at around eight in the morning and after spending a huge amount of time with the town guards reassuring them that the Dire Wolves were summoned animals that wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone on command, they managed to find and rent rooms at an inn at around eleven in the morning.

    After they secured their rooms, they all stayed in the common room to eat lunch but after that, they all went their way. Anton¡¯s father would probably do some business. Devon, Frederick, and Colin went their way and Anton had an inkling that they would continue with their plan of finding a brothel.

    Lucas and Nemina locked themselves in their room and would probably reenact their honeymoon when they were younger.

    Anna, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda went somewhere after telling everyone that they would look around and shop.

    Anton went by himself and started purchasing some art sculptures made of wood and metal that he could enchant and sell once they reached a huge enough city. While purchasing some sculptures he overheard a sad but expected news. Leminthor the city near the Holy City of Tiande and the merchant city of Ruandelle had fallen to the Undead Coalition¡¯s attack.

    Now the only cities remaining in the south that were still holding on were Tiande and Zalnothel. Anton¡¯s good mood that he was feeling because of the expectant feeling of adventuring in the large town of Vumar disappeared. He thought of the people remaining in the Oak Sage manor and his two tutors and wished they would escape as well once Zalnothel fell. He hoped that Zalnothel would endure but based on the situation, there was a good chance that the powerful beings in the city of Zalnothel would probably escape and leave the citizens to the mercy of the undead.

    Anton wouldn¡¯t fault them if they did something like that since he didn¡¯t have the moral high ground to judge since he did the same thing.

    Every city that the Undead Coalition conquered would allow them to grow their armies and based on what the archmages told him before he left, the powerful undead beings would be able to use the population of the conquered cities as sacrifices to increase their rank and their power.

    That meant that there was a huge chance that it would be a good idea for them to truly escape the continent by traveling the ocean.

    He decided to return to the inn immediately and when he arrived there, everyone was there already.

    ¡°I was about to send someone to look for you. I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯ve heard the news that Ruandelle and Leminthor had fallen?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°It would be best for us to proceed with our journey. The Undead Coalition is becoming truly powerful with every village, town, and city they conquered and I have no hope that Tiande and Zalnothel would be able to repel them,¡± Lucas said grimly.

    All the women looked highly worried and the twins even began crying.

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    ¡°Even though Homura is very far from Zalnothel, It¡¯s not guaranteed that the Undead Coalition would stop once Zalnothel had fallen to their undead grasp,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°Is the undead going to conquer the whole world? Are we going to become undead too?¡± Anna whispered but everyone still heard her.

    ¡°To truly escape, we might have to cross the ocean,¡± Anders said softly.

    Anton¡¯s father said what he was thinking but he didn¡¯t add to it since that was a very difficult choice to make and it would be better to ask that again once they reached a coastal city.

    ¡°Do you still want to stay here or do you want us to leave immediately?¡± Anders asked everyone.

    ¡°I think it would be best if we leave. We can purchase necessities along the way. It would be better for us to reach Homura as soon as possible and then check the situation once we¡¯re there so we can plan our next step,¡± Nemina said.

    Everyone agreed with her so they began moving. The women carried their things from the room they rented back to the two carriages and Anders talked with the innkeeper about canceling the rent.

    Before they left, Anton watered the horses with mana water and healed them using his three auras and he also healed everyone in the group to make sure that they would have the energy to continue their journey.

    They were on the road again when the time reached three in the afternoon. Anton felt sad that his family and his friends'' planned activities for their stay in Vumar town weren¡¯t realized but all of them were truly afraid of the undead. He felt that Undead Coalition would become a trauma or an inner demon for all of them even once they managed to escape far away.

    They only stopped when the night was dark and cold. Everyone prepared their tents and they ate the food that they already prepared and retrieved from their storage items. Anton also assisted everyone by casting the Cleansing spell on everyone so they didn¡¯t need to take a bath.

    They didn¡¯t ask Anton to show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess TV shows since no one was in the mood. Anton knew that it would probably take a few days before everyone adjusted their frame of mind.

    Anton summoned his three Dire Wolves, five Spirit Wolves, and five Ravens to guard them while they rested.

    The next day after breakfast and after doing their business, Anton cleaned everyone again using his Cleaning spell and they continued their journey. It was very early, not even seven in the morning yet but everyone was filled with worry and wanted to get far away from where they were as soon as possible.

    During the next seven days, they passed around two villages and one town. They purchased what they needed from that town and villages and moved on immediately after three or four hours. Anders still purchased some broken weapons and armor since they would need coins and he planned to sell them in Homura.

    Anton still repaired everything they purchased as soon as possible since he truly didn¡¯t want them to accumulate and spend an ungodly amount of time just doing repairs.

    Every couple of days or so, Anton also made sure to heal everyone including the horses using his Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor auras to make sure that everyone was at their peak. Because of his cleaning spell and the ability to repair everything till they¡¯re brand new courtesy of his Diablo II system through Charsi, even though they had been doing nothing but traveling, they still all looked fresh.

    Drinking and Bathing in mana water also made sure that they not only felt healthy but looked healthy as well.

    When they left Vumar town, they finally adjusted their minds and reconciled on the fact that the Undead Coalition conquered Leminthor and Ruandelle so they went back to watching the TV shows they currently watching but all of them decided that they should avoid letting others see the show.

    All of them were still a bit paranoid of the undead knowing their location through the gossip that might occur because of the shows even though they knew in their mind that their little group would probably be considered as ants by the powerful undead in the coalition.

    Finally, after weeks of travel, they saw the sights that calmed them a bit. The walls of the city of Homura.

 Chapter 235

    During the last seven days of travel before reaching the city of Homura, Anton reached level 80 on his druid character. His leveling up was faster since he was using the on-screen option which was just like playing his character in front of a computer. One major difference was he didn¡¯t need a mouse and a keyboard since he could control his character with his mind.

    Anton still preferred to play personally by entering the world of Sanctuary since his body would get used to the flow of mana and would be able to master the act of casting his spell using his mind but he decided from the start that during regular gameplay of completing the acts, that was when he would play the game personally but when it comes to grinding for level and items, it would be better to use the on-screen option.

    Anton¡¯s father told him that he should dismiss all the animals summoned except for the mini pets that the ladies were carrying and they would just let the three Dire Wolves and two Spirit wolves summon from the tablets to guard them while they were in the city.

    The walls of Homura were larger and thicker than the walls of Zalnothel. They reminded him of the walls from that anime where giant monsters attacked the citizens and chomped them all to death.

    Anton had an inkling that the walls were made not only by men but by magic since he couldn¡¯t fathom how something so large could be built by regular people although there were pyramids on Earth so he knew that regular people did have the capability to build something humongous.

    From what Anton had heard, Homura was a monarchy but there were traces of culture from people that lived in the desert since to the south of Homura was the desert of Armunda.

    Anton found it weird that the city was a mixture of medieval Europe and the ancient cities of the Middle East like the one from Alladin which was the city of Agrabah. Even the citizen¡¯s clothes reflect that mixture of cultures.  It was a bit jarring that he was looking at Alladin then suddenly he would be looking at Lancelot in his full knightly armor.

    Anders told them that there was a need for them to stay in the city longer since they would need to dispose of all the items they had collected from the villages and towns that they passed through. Anders, Nemina, and Lucas would handle that business followed by Lucas¡¯s dire wolf.

    Lunelle, Anna, Ramona, Belinda, and Colin followed by Anders¡¯s dire wolf and Colin¡¯s spirit wolf would purchase necessities for their travel while Devon and Frederick followed by Devon¡¯s dire wolf and Frederick¡¯s spirit wolf would gather relevant detailed news that would affect their next decision.

    Anton would be by himself either meditating or doing whatever he wanted to do but right at that moment, they were looking at Anders who was busy filling out documents assuring the guards that the three dire wolves and the two spirit wolves summoned using the golden tablets were tame enough to be their guards. Anders, Devon, and Lucas had to give some complex demonstrations involving the animals, and when the three men allowed some of the officers to give commands to the wolves that the wolves followed even the most difficult ones some of the officer''s eyes twinkled in greed.

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    But when Anders informed them that the animals would rather die than be separated from them some of those greed disappeared but Anders had to demonstrate that the wolves would disappear if they were far enough away from them and would reappear by their side. They had to demonstrate that as well, which took a long time since some of the officers wanted to see that and commanded one of them to bring the wolf somewhere far away.

    After around 20 minutes, the dire wolf that one of the guards brought somewhere reappeared by Anders¡¯s side.  That confirmed that the huge wolves weren¡¯t ordinary animals but magical ones.

    They didn¡¯t declare Anton as an archmage since they didn¡¯t want eyes on them but they did inform the Homura guards that Frederick, Anton, and Anna were mages.

    Anton had an inkling that the guards thought Anton and Anna were Frederick¡¯s students which was true enough since Frederick was their teacher once.

    After several hours they were finally released by the Homura guards. The first thing they did was to search for a nice enough inn that they could stay in and the moment they selected one, it was very late, around two in the afternoon.

    They still all went outside to conduct their assigned business after they secured their rooms. They didn¡¯t even eat lunch since most of them wanted to eat in the eateries in the city.

    Anton started one of his favorite things to do which was city roaming. The first thing that he wanted was to increase his funds so he could purchase more golden tablets for enchanting purposes.

    The people walking the streets pointed him at the place where one of the bazaars was located. Anton was amused while watching the people walking around the city. Not only they were composed of different species, but their clothes were also different from each other but the difference was still part of one of the two themes prevalent in the ancient Middle East on Earth and medieval Europe.

    When he arrived in one of the bazaars of the city, Anton became excited by the strange and wonderful things that he could see. He browsed the wares in the street but finally chose a merchant who looked jovial.

    Anton talked with the merchant and asked for wares that would sell a lot if they were new or if they were not broken. The merchant was delighted to dispose of what he considered garbage products to him for little coins. At least, instead of throwing them away, the merchant would earn coins from those defective products. One good thing about the talk between Anton and the merchant was he was able to ask the man what the price of the items would be if they were new or working perfectly.

    Anton was impressed by himself to be able to memorize what the merchant had said about the items¡¯ prices if they were new and there were a lot of them. He knew that it was because of his increased stats that improved his memory. After that, he went to another merchant and did the same thing. After three merchants, he spent a total of two hours so Anton decided to leave the bazaar and go to a new market one far from where he started.

    While he was walking, he repaired all the items that he purchased from the first bazaar, and after an hour of walking, he reached a new market that was pointed to him by the people walking the streets. Some of them even became annoyed with Anton when he was just asking for directions but he didn¡¯t mind.

    One thing different about Homura from other cities that he had been to was the smell. The city¡¯s smell was a mixture of spices, perfumes, body odor, and an underlying stink of shit. Anton wondered why the other cities didn¡¯t smell like that. He knew that in Zalnothel, the government was very strict when it came to street hygiene, and with the use of magic, it was simple enough to clean things and locations but why was Homura not implanting the same thing?

 Chapter 236

    Anton searched for the biggest store in the market that he stumbled into. He was led to it by one of the pedestrians in the street. The moment he entered the huge store, he searched for a salesperson who could assist him. The store looked like a bigger version of the store that they had made in Zalnothel. Some sort of mall-like store that sold everything. They also even had a magic item section.

    One of the salesmen approached him wearing some sort of uniform since he wasn¡¯t the only one wearing the same clothes.

    ¡°Hello, sir. I¡¯m Oliver. Is there something I can help you with?¡± The salesman named Oliver asked.

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m looking to sell a lot of things and I¡¯m sure that your store will be very interested. By the way two of them are enchanted items.¡±

    Anton included a couple of enchanted items that he had made to make sure that the salesman would not turn him away without revealing that he was a wizard.

    ¡°May I ask how many items we are talking about?¡±

    ¡°More than twenty.¡±

    The salesman looked surprised at the number since obviously, Anton wasn¡¯t carrying anything. He was led to some sort of office and was told to wait since the man said that he would call a manager.

    After a few minutes, an older man on the heavier side entered the office together with Oliver the salesman and they both sat opposite Anton with a small table between them.

    ¡°Good afternoon young sir. Oliver here said that you have a lot of items that you wanted to sell and two of them were enchanted items. My name is Ormon and I¡¯m one of the managers of Basilisk Guild store.¡±

    ¡°My name is Anton. May I retrieve the products from my dimensional item?¡¯

    When the manager nodded, Anton retrieved all of the items that he purchased from the bazaar that he had repaired using the NPC Charsi from his Diablo II system. There were around 23 items including the two sculptures that he enchanted with Fire Bolt Light enchantment and the Frozen Orb Air Conditioner enchantment.

    Oliver the salesman''s eyes went wide when the items appeared from somewhere and were laid down on the table and Anton understood the salesman surprised. Having a storage item meant that Anton was an incredibly rich young man.

    Anton introduced the two enchanted items first and explained the mechanics of the enchantment. After that, he informed the manager of the prices of the two enchanted sculptures. Then he introduced all the other items one by one as well giving the prices of each of the items.

    The manager then asked Oliver to call someone.

    ¡°I will need to consult one of our wizards regarding the two enchanted items,¡± The manager said to Anton and he just nodded.

    After a few minutes, Oliver returned together with an old man. Ormon talked to the old wizard for a while then the old mage activated the two enchanted sculptures and examined them using some sort of eyeglass which Anton assumed was some sort of enchanted item as well that probably had some sort of Identification spell.

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    While the old wizard was examining the effect of the enchantment and the details of the sculptures, Ormon the manager together with Oliver were examining the other regular items that Anton brought out. Anton was surprised to see that it was taking them a while to examine each of the items. After around 40 minutes, the old wizard tapped Ormon and just nodded.

    Anton expected the old wizard to leave after examining the enchanted items but he remained behind and started examining the other regular items. He suspected that the three men wanted to make sure that there were no other enchanted items among the bunch. He wouldn¡¯t fault their suspicions since admittedly, all of the items that were repaired by the NPC Charsi were exquisite.

    He was getting bored waiting but after around 20 minutes, the three were done. The old wizard whispered something to Ormon and brought the two enchanted sculptures with him. Anton just smiled since he knew that the enchanted items were claimed by the old mage.

    ¡°I will be paying you your asking price for all of your items,¡± Ormon said with a wide smile and Anton simply nodded.

    Ormon the manager left to get the funds while Oliver remained to entertain him. The young salesman introduced the items that one could purchase from their store and Anton had to admit that the young salesman was trained well.

    The manager returned with his funds and Anton¡¯s personal coins climbed up to an impressive 1600 gold coins.

    When he exited the store, Anton saw that it was already seven in the evening so he hurriedly returned to the inn they rented. He saw that the others were waiting for him but there was already food on the table and was glad that he didn¡¯t have to wait since he was starving.

    While they were eating, everyone talked about what they did during that afternoon.

    ¡°We sold around a third of the weapons, armor, and the other items that we collected and I¡¯m expecting to sell most of them tomorrow,¡± Anders told everyone.

    ¡°We also purchased some of the necessities that we may need during our travel,¡± Lunelle reported.

    ¡°There¡¯s no new news. Zalnothel and Tiande were still being besieged by the Undead Coalition but the majority of the people we talked to think that both cities wouldn¡¯t last long,¡± Frederick said.

    On that gloomy news, they all ended their dinner and went to their rooms to rest. The next day during breakfast, Anton¡¯s father, Nemina, and Lucas planned to continue selling all the repaired items while Anna and the other girls would continue shopping. Frederick and Devon would roam the city separately since the mage said that he wanted to purchase spellbooks while listening for news and Devon would also search for news while doing his thing.

    Anton planned to repeat his business of buying and selling that he did before and purchase some spellbooks as well. He wanted more utility spells that would make their lives easier. Based on what he knew, the spells in this world had some similarities with the spells from the Dungeons and Dragons franchise and he wanted to check if he could find something like Galder¡¯s Tower, Tenser¡¯s Floating Disk, or Phantom Steed.

    Reading the description of the Galder¡¯s Tower Spell excited him a bit since the idea of conjuring a house while they were camping would make their lives ultimately easier.

    Anton went back to the bazaar that he had been to the day before and repeated the thing that he did which was talk to the merchants and purchase the products cheaply that they were planning to dispose of because they were broken or defective. He did it in several stores and he managed to collect a total of 42 items. He then spent some time repairing each one of them.

    This time he planned to go to two separate stores to sell the repaired items but as usual he would include a couple of enchanted items that he made to make sure that he would be turned away.

    His ventures were successful and he managed to accumulate a total of 3400 gold coins which was a huge amount of wealth. He could now be considered a very wealthy man with that gold coins alone.

    It was late when he completed his buy and sell project of his and Anton was very hungry so he went to a fancy restaurant to eat a late lunch and ordered their best food as recommended by the waiter.

 Chapter 237

    Anton enjoyed the lunch that he ate from the high-end restaurant but held off his urge to order a lot of food that he could store in his private stash since when the last time he checked, there was still a huge amount of food remaining there. After lunch, he asked the waiter which store had the biggest collection of spells that he could purchase and because of the generous tip that he gave, the waiter was more than happy to name the store and to give him directions.

    After a few minutes, Anton was standing in front of the Green Fireball Magic Store. The building that housed the store was indeed very large. When he entered, the whole place was incredibly busy since there were a lot of people inside. He looked for a salesperson to assist him and was a bit glad that the store employees were wearing some sort of uniform.

    He tried to see if he could search for the spellbooks section by himself but it looked like it would be impossible without a guide.

    Soon though, a saleswoman who was assisting one of the customers was done and her customers left. After that, the girl noticed him and approached Anton.

    ¡°Hello, sir. My name is Evelyn. How can I assist you?¡± The pretty salesgirl said.

    ¡°Can you show a list of all the spells that you have up to the highest level that you can show me?¡± Anton said.

    ¡°If I may ask, do you have a permit from the Wizard¡¯s Guild of Homura? If you don¡¯t have a permit and are just visiting the city, the highest spell that we can show is the fifth level,¡± Evelyn the sales girl said.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Anton said.

    He remembered that some of the best spells available in DnD were the 3rd-level and 4th-level spells. Anton was then led to an area that had some comfortable seats and Evelyn to him that she would be back with the list of spells.

    After a few minutes, Evelyn returned with the spell list. Looking at the list of spellbooks available, Anton was disappointed. Although the magic system had some similarities with the DnD franchise, the spells were different. Some of the spells were similar but it was expected since how would one name a spell that produced a ball of fire that explodes but Fire Ball and that seemed to be true across different games and it seemed true across different dimensions as well.

    Most of the spells that he could see were geared toward attack and defense, which was expected since most wizards in the wild tend to prefer wielding their magic to attack their enemies or defend themselves from attack.

    The spells that he could see were Ice Beam, Fire Nova, Poison Cloud, Mist Guard, Water Wave, Earth Shield, and the like. Anton didn¡¯t even need to read their description since based on the name alone, he would be able to guess what the spell did.

    Anton did purchase some spells like Invisibility, Mass Hold Person, Wall of Stone, Disguise Self, and Floating Disk. He asked Evelyn if there was a spell that would let him create a house and the salesgirl said that useful spells like that were usually in the hands of wizard academies and most spellbooks available in stores were the generic spells.

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    The salesgirl was still overjoyed since Anton spent a total of 400 gold coins. After he received the spellbooks, he immediately stored them in his inventory. He then asked Evelyn to show him around where the enchanted items were located. Some of the items were interesting but nothing tickled his fancy so he left the store soon after.

    It was still early, around four in the afternoon so Anton roamed around the city to sightsee. He enjoyed acting as a tourist for a bit. He watched some street performers, ate some street food, purchased some delicious food from bakeries that he stored in his private stash in the Rogue Encampment, and finally went to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.

    He planned to check the mission board to see what kind of missions adventurers usually could take but in there he heard some devastating news.

    Tiande and Zalnothel had fallen. For a moment, Anton grieved for Zalnothel. It was his home city even though it was for just a short time. The people in the Oak Ridge Manor were his people. He could only hope that they managed to escape.

    Anton went to the adventurer who was telling the news to his friends.

    ¡°Excuse me, sir, can I ask for more details about the Tiande and Zalnothel?¡±

    At first, the man looked annoyed at Anton for butting in but when he handed a gold coin to the adventurer, the man smiled widely and gave him all the details he knew.

    Apparently, the adventurer received the news from a merchant friend who had connections to cities to the south of Homura. The pope of Tiande and his archbishops escaped and left their city to the mercies of the Undead Coalition.

    Zalnothel¡¯s powerful mages did the same thing. Basically, they spread the news that the leaders of both cities planned to team up somewhere to retaliate but they were fooling no one. They left their cities and because of that, the Undead Coalition¡¯s power would explode.

    There were even rumors that the Coalition had now turned its eyes on Homura. Anton sadly realized that they truly needed to leave this continent to escape the undead. He thanked the man and left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. He hurriedly returned to the inn where they were staying.

    When he arrived there, everyone was already seated at a table in the common room, and based on everyone¡¯s expression, they had already heard the news regarding the fall of Tiande and Zalnothel.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve all heard about the news,¡± Anton said then he sat beside his father.

    ¡°We already sold everything. We¡¯ll be leaving the city early tomorrow morning. It¡¯s time for us to decide what we should do next,¡± Anders said grimly.

    ¡°We need to leave this continent and go somewhere else,¡± Anton softly said.

    Nobody voiced any disagreement. They knew how terrifying the Undead Coalition was and the fact that they conquered the powerful cities of Tiande and Zalnothel meant that they had still underestimated its might.

    Anyone in the group could argue that they could continue running to the East but the only place left was the coastal city of Whaling. They had little hope that if the Undead Coalition conquered Homura, they would stop there and not go on to turn their focus on the city of Whaling.

    ¡°When we reach Whaling, we¡¯ll try to learn more where we could go,¡± Anders said.

    After that, they ordered food since even though they received news that caused them to lose their appetite, they would still need the energy to start their travel to the coastal city of Whaling. They all knew that their journey would not end in Whaling. They would probably brave the terrifying ocean to truly escape the might of the Undead Coalition since the undead were like the plague that had the intention of reaching every corner of the continent.

    When their dinner ended, they all went to the room they had rented and everyone would try to get some needed rest so they would have the strength to continue what seemed like a never-ending journey.

 Chapter 238

    Anton and their group left the city of Homura early the next day. The only thing that Anton could say was at least everyone was used to traveling and because of magic, their travel was comfortable enough. Their carriages were nice, their tents at night were comfortable, they had delicious food to eat, their entertainment was top-notch, and they could drink magic water that kept them young and beautiful.

    The problem was the roads were not a home. It would still be infinitely better if they had a country, and home that they could actually call their own and safely live with.

    But due to undead monsters, they were now traveling like some sort of vagabonds. At least their journey was comfortable.

    Maybe they could just stay that way forever like some sort of gypsy family but Anton knew that it wasn¡¯t the life they wanted.

    Anton hoped that the country that they would travel to across the ocean would allow them to settle down comfortably. He then thought of something terrible, what if the currency they were carrying would not be accepted but then again, their coins were gold, and supposedly, gold was accepted anywhere.

    He then imagined the countries across the ocean. Would they be like ancient China or ancient Japan? Maybe even ancient India or possibly the home of the cowboys and Indians like old-school western movies. Anton knew that he should not be thinking that way but his imagination tended to run to something he knew and those were actually the setting of some of the novels that he had read.

    More than likely, the countries across the ocean would stick to the fantasy medieval settings just like the cities that they pass through. Would they be like elven countries or beast man countries just like in animes? Either way, he was starting to become excited at the prospect of encountering an awesome adventure. Maybe that should be the mindset that everyone should be fostering, not the fatalistic, depressing thought that the world was against them.

    Anton thought that he would try to share that mindset with everyone and one good advantage of the TV shows that he had been showing the group was shows were beginning to broaden everyone¡¯s mind at the thought that anything was possible in the world and a truly fulfilling life was a life full of adventure.

    He looked at the surrounding forest that was beginning to adorn itself in the colors of autumn and thought how beautiful the world was. Even if the undead became triumphant in this continent, their very being was still unnatural and he believed that the truly powerful beings would respond soon. Anton just didn¡¯t want to be part of that war since he felt that he wasn¡¯t powerful enough yet and he didn¡¯t want to die. He had been living in this world for such a short time and he wanted to experience life in this fantasy world. He wanted to witness the magic of the archmages, see the flights of dragons, experience the life of the beings that lived deep inside the forest, see the powerful creatures that swam in the ocean, and maybe find out if there were worlds underground where dark elves or dark dwarves were possibly living like the ones from the Forgotten Realms and DnD franchises.

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    Anton should have realized that being transported to another world with a system that allowed him to have power was a blessing especially if the world was a magical world that he had always been dreaming about. So what if one corner of that world was being threatened by the undead? The world was large and there were other places.

    Because of those thoughts, Anton''s mood was lifted greatly. When they camped that night, everyone noticed that Anton¡¯s mood was great since he was smiling and his movements had an unmistakable energy.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± Anders suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it later before we watch a TV show,¡± Anton answered his father.

    All of them busied themselves preparing their camp. The women took it upon themselves to prepare dinner while Lucas, Devon, and Anders roamed the surrounding area on top of their dire wolves which made Nemina¡¯s eyes roll since she thought that the men were just playing.

    Frederick and Colin were coerced into assisting the ladies while Anton, after summoning the three dire wolves and commanding them to sweep the area for possible enemies, cleaned everything using his cleaning spell. Then he healed the horses using his auras and provided mana water to the animals.

    Anton then set up the white blanket that they would use as the projector screen. Soon, Devon, Lucas, and his father arrived from roaming the forest and they brought with them some game animals, wild fruits,  and berries.

    When their dinner was ready, they all prepared to eat and watch their TV show at the same time. Before he started the show, Anton went to the front to make an announcement.

    He told them the reason why his mood was different. Anton told them that even though their situation was grim because of the undead, they still had an incredible advantage. Their journey was comfortable because of magic and they had an opportunity to experience a life of adventure. He told them the world was large and just like the movies and TV shows they had seen, they had the opportunity to see the world and live a life of adventure and that kind of life would be fulfilling.

    Anton urged them to see that it would be incredibly advantageous for them to look at the positive things in life. He told them of his plans of crossing the ocean and maybe finding a country full of mystery, magic, and romance.

    ¡°As a celebration, let¡¯s watch something different tonight. Let¡¯s watch the adventures of the captain and crew of the Starship Enterprise. Remember that they¡¯re a group of people in an advanced world that had a great mission. To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilization, to boldly go where no one had gone before!¡±

    After that nerdy speech, everyone cheered to the relief of Anton and his father looked at him proudly. Even the women were smiling while looking at him. At least he managed to reach his goal of uplifting everyone. They all needed something positive in their life right now.

    He announced that they would be watching the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He hoped that they would like it since when Anton watched it when he was a child, he liked it very much.

    Anton knew that others found the show boring and that was because it was not their favorite genre but right now, he needed to watch something that would give him motivation and he thought that the adventures of the captain and crew of Starship Enterprise would be the one that would give him that.

    He truly liked the show since it was from a time when he lived a life full of joy and excitement when he was younger and his parents were alive on Earth. His father on Earth, when he was alive was a fan of the show and couldn¡¯t wait to introduce the captain and crew of the Starship Enterprise to his kid, and Anton, Anthony Saunders back then, also fell in love with the show.

 Chapter 239

    When the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, everyone was still contemplating the show they had seen. Anton was surprised to see Anna and the Twins had tears in their eyes.

    ¡°The huge powerful beings were so full of joy and gratefulness that even though their power is like that of a god, they communicated to that beautiful woman who can read feelings, of their joy and gratefulness,¡± Anna had said while sighing.

    ¡°Are those two beings so large that they are larger than the Starship Enterprise that can house possibly hundreds of people?¡± Frederick asked and Anton simply nodded.

    ¡°What is that powerful being in the start? What was his name again? I think it was ¡°Q¡± or something like that,¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°Q is not a human being. It¡¯s a powerful advance being from the universe probably comparable in power to someone above a Supreme. Please remember guys that this show is not real and just a story from the imagination of the TV show creators,¡± Anton reminded them and that statement actually startled everyone.

    ¡°It would be wonderful to travel the dimensions with that kind of mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilization, to boldly go where no one had gone before! That mission statement is truly inspiring!¡± Lucas said and by the looks of everyone, they agreed with the man.

    ¡°That was the main reason I presented that show to everyone. I wanted us to think that our journey was somewhat the same since I didn¡¯t want us to wallow in despair. Our lives are just beginning and we have a lot to look forward to. Yes, we are on the run now but I¡¯m planning for us to cross the ocean and maybe in there, we will see things that would astound us just like the two huge beings that the Star Ship Enterprise encountered.¡±

    ¡°Now I understand why you are suddenly cheerful and full of positive motivation. I¡¯m proud of you because of that and doubly so for sharing that kind of thinking with your family and friends,¡± Anton¡¯s father told him which made him blush so red that everyone laughed.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, I planned for us to watch the shows alternately. Tonight we watch Star Trek, tomorrow night, we¡¯ll watch Hercules and Xena,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Can we watch Star Trek again tomorrow night? We can start alternating after tomorrow night,¡± Devon requested and by the look on everyone¡¯s faces, they wanted the same thing so Anton agreed.

    After that, they rested peacefully in their tents. The next day they left their camp early and continued their travel. The journey to the coastal city of Whaling would take them a couple of months and Anders announced that they would continue their business of buying broken things, repairing and selling them in cities. Everyone didn¡¯t expect otherwise since whatever they decide, they would need a huge amount of coins to make sure that their lives would be comfortable.

    ¡°I think that it would also be best that we add your enchanted items to the products that we would be selling,¡± Anders told Anton and he said to his father that he would start buying art sculptures in the villages and towns that they would pass through and enchant them.

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    During the next seven days, they pass through two villages and one large town. They manage to collect a lot of broken and worn-out items and surprisingly they even manage to get a hold of an enchanted sword from a very old farmer who was living alone in one of the villages they pass through.

    It was actually Anna who noticed the magical energy swirling around the sword and when Anders called Anton, he asked the old farmer to wait a bit who suddenly looked anxious. Lucas had to pacify the old man.

    Anton had to pay a lot of gold coins to Charsi to have the sword repaired but what he didn¡¯t lack was the game gold coins. When he checked the stats of the sword, Anton was flabbergasted. The sword was called Bloodborne Sword. Its stats were comparable to a unique sword from his Diablo II game. It said that it had 30 percent enhanced damage and its regular damage alone was twice that of a regular sword. It had a 20 percent chance of Open Wound which was a magic property that would cause an attacked enemy to bleed uncontrollably for the set duration. It had 10 percent life stolen per hit and had a plus three to light radius.

    ¡°Father, give the old man fifty gold coins and ask him to leave,¡± Anton whispered to his father.

    The old farmer was shocked when Anders gave him fifty gold coins but fortunately, the old farmer didn¡¯t ask too many questions and left immediately.

    ¡°Old man, I advise you not to tell anyone about this transaction,¡± Lucas told the old farmer before the man left.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t grow this old because I¡¯m dumb,¡± The old farmer said to Lucas which made everyone laugh.

    After their transaction was done in that village they all left immediately and when they camped somewhere when night came, Anders asked Anton why they paid the old man so much gold.

    Anton retrieved the now glowing sword from his inventory and asked Devon to unsheathed the sword. When the man did, it seemed like the whole area brightened. He then told everyone about the enchantment of the sword and everyone gasped in amazement.

    ¡°That is a legendary sword!¡± Lucas said excitedly.

    That was the first time Anton saw the man excited.

    ¡°How much do you think we can sell that off?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Are you daft?! We can¡¯t sell something like that! Not only it will attract attention but that is a very powerful weapon that we can use for our defense,¡± Anders scolded Anton.

    ¡®I¡¯m not saying that we sell that off. I just wanted to know its value,¡± Anton mumbled.

    ¡°Young sir, we can¡¯t put a value on something like that since usually, legendary swords like that are heirlooms that are passed down through generations,¡± Lucas said.

    Anton couldn¡¯t then say that based on his Diablo II system, the sword was considered a low-level item. Surprisingly, Anders asked Lucas to wield the sword for their defense since he¡¯s the oldest swordsman among them.

    ¡°Why give it to father?!¡± Devon complained.

    ¡°Because everyone knew that the first thing that you¡¯ll probably do is boast about it in a tavern!¡± Lucas scolded his son.

    ¡°I¡¯m not daft! I¡¯ll not do that,¡± Devon also mumbled and this time, Anton laughed with everyone else.

    During those seven days of travel, they kept watching the three shows on alternate nights which were Star Trek: The Next Generation, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Xena: Warrior Princess. Anton had to admit that old-school TV shows from the 90s on Earth were wonderful.

    In those seven days of travel, Anton leveled up to level 90 so his druid was becoming powerful. He also managed to hunt some unique items but honestly, he was focused more on leveling up since he was stupidly satisfied with the items his sorceress was wearing.

    What Anton truly couldn¡¯t wait for was creating the necromancer character. That would increase his power a lot but he planned to use the summoning tree to level up which meant that he couldn¡¯t show any of the powers of the necromancer character to avoid trouble. He thought of focusing on the other skill trees like the Curses spells or the Poison and Bone spells but either way, that kind of magic would probably be still considered as dark magic.

 Chapter 240

    In the villages along the way, they only stop for a few hours but in the town of Berluna, Anders announced that they would stop for a day and night and would leave early the next day. They did arrive early, around 10 in the morning so that meant they had several hours and a whole night to rest in town. They rented rooms in the best inn in town, which wasn¡¯t saying much since there were only two inns in the town of Berluna but the town was still large enough that they could entertain themselves by exploring it.

    Anders announced that everyone could eat lunch by themselves and could do whatever they wanted in town. Anton didn¡¯t care what everybody else would do and left immediately after asking for permission from his father. He wanted to purchase a lot of art sculptures from the artists in town. He would enchant them with some of his enchantments and would sell them once they arrived in the city of Whaling.

    He knew though that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do his business of buying and selling things in this town since this town was a bit small to support the kind of expenditure that the merchants usually did in conducting business with him.

    Anton asked the pedestrian the nearest shop that sells wood or metal sculptures and he was led by the townspeople to the street where the woodworkers and carpenters were located. When he arrived on that street, the woodworkers were mostly selling furniture but there were still some who dabbled in creating wooden sculptures and the only thing he could say was, the woodworkers in the town of Berluna were true artists.

    The sculptures they made were gorgeous and even he, who had seen a lot of sculptures of all types since he started enchanting items, was highly impressed so he purchased all the sculptures that he could see to the delight of the woodworkers.

    Soon, Anton saw that the woodworkers were outside their shops looking for him since the news somehow spread that a rich stupid young man was buying wooden sculptures.  The woodworkers noticed that even though the rich young man purchased a huge amount of sculptures and some of them were large, Anton wasn¡¯t carrying anything and that meant that the young man was truly unimaginably rich since he was carrying a spatial item.

    Anton obliged all the woodcrafters and purchased all the sculptures they offered as long as their quality was up to standard. After that, he inquired about the location of shops that sell sculptures made of metal and he was led to the only two blacksmith shops in town.  Unfortunately, there were a limited number of metal sculptures there, not even passed five.

    The blacksmith informed him that metal sculptures were usually done by commission and since Anton couldn¡¯t do that due to them leaving the next day, he would have to settle for the five metal sculptures that he already purchased.

    He wanted to collect more metal sculptures so he could create more stove enchantments since winter was coming. Even now, they were already not using the enchanted items that contained the Frozen Orb air conditioner enchantment and soon they would probably need to use the Fire Wall stove enchantment for heating.

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    Instead of stopping at a restaurant to eat during lunchtime, Anton decided to rest in the village park and ate one of the stored food in his inventory. While he was eating, he was approached by a group of youths who looked the same age as him.

    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Tristan and these are Paul, Zenock, Trolem, Nannette, and Edna,¡± Tristan who was one of the village youths said introducing themselves to him.

    ¡°Hello, my name is Anton. How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°Your clothes look fine. Are you a noble?¡± One of the boys asked and Anton remembered that he was named Trolem.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can be considered one anymore since the city that gave me the noble title of baron had fallen to the undead,¡± Anton candidly said since he wanted them to learn that the undead threat was real.

    All the youths gasped when they heard what he had said and they all looked at him pityingly, which made Anton laugh.

    ¡°Why are you laughing? Are you from one of the cities in the south?¡± One of the girls asked.

    ¡°I was from Zalnothel and the council of wizards there awarded me the title of Baron but even though the city was terrifyingly powerful, it still fell to the Undead Coalition. I laughed because I¡¯m thinking that soon, you all will be just like me, running from the undead trying to find a place where you think you can be safe.¡±

    Every one of them looked worried and Anton guessed that the people in the village were already aware of the threat that was coming and probably was trying their best to ignore it.

    ¡°Do you really think that the Undead Coalition will continue their attacks?¡± One of the boys said.

    ¡°Yes. My family isn¡¯t originally from Zalnothel but from the city of Mendi we ran from the undead and reached several cities but we kept on running since every city that we¡¯ve been through was attacked by the undead. Finally, when we arrived in Zalnothel, I thought we reached safety but here we are, still running.¡±

    Anton knew that he was being a downer to the group of youths but everyone needed to be aware of the threat of the Undead Coalition and not live their lives like ostriches burying their heads in the sand hoping that the undead wouldn¡¯t bother to conquer their quaint little town.

    The girls in the group started crying and the boys looked faintly angry but looking at them, he knew that they knew they couldn¡¯t be angry with him since he was a victim of the undead as well.

    ¡°Why did Zalnothel make you a baron? Is your father the baron and he retired or something?¡± The possible leader of the group, Tristan, asked trying to divert the topic.

    ¡°My father is just a regular farmer. I was awarded the title because I became a powerful mage at a very young age.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a wizard?!¡± One of them gasped and suddenly all of them looked at him like he would suddenly perform a magic trick.

    ¡°Can you do some magic for us?¡± One of the girls asked and Anton suddenly had an urge to show off since something like that would allow them to lift their spirits even for just a while.

    The only thing that Anton did was retrieve sweet pastries from his inventory that he purchased from the bakeries in Zalnothel and shared them with everyone then he also retrieved a couple of pitchers of fruit juice and invited everyone to eat. At least that act looked like he was conjuring things from the air.

    Surprisingly, the group of youths didn¡¯t even hesitate and began eating the food that Anton shared and for a few minutes, all of them stopped and enjoyed the delicious pastries that he shared with everyone.

    After that, everyone thanked him and the village youths went away leaving him alone there. Anton then began walking around to check the sights of the village and admittedly, the small village was beautiful. It was full of trees and flowering plants and the autumn color added to the gorgeousness of the quaint little town. He hoped that the turmoil would skip this beautiful little town but Anton knew that that hope was futile.

 Chapter 241

    Anton remained in the town park resting and relaxing for a bit. He wanted to look at the trees and flowers there since they were amongst the most beautiful that he had seen and since they had been traveling for a while, he had seen a lot.

    Suddenly, two children dressed in worn-out old but clean clothes approached him.

    ¡°Excuse me, sir. We heard from Edna that you¡¯re a wizard. Can you help us? Our mother is sick. We¡¯ll pay you,¡± The older child said who was a girl who looked like she was only around eight or nine years old.

    The girl was accompanied by a younger boy who looked like he was around five or six years old. Anton was highly impressed with the kids since they looked proud and were not asking for pity. They were asking for help but were willing to pay for that help.

    ¡°How much are you going to pay me?¡± Anton asked seriously.

    He wanted to treat the kids with the respect they deserved.

    ¡°These are all the money we have,¡± The girl said and presented him with three copper coins.

    Anton accepted the three copper coins.

    ¡°These are more than enough. Lead me to your mother, girl,¡± He said to the child.

    The girl smiled and anxiously led him somewhere. While they were walking, they were seen by some of the town folks.

    ¡°Where are going Rhona?¡¯ One of them asked.

    ¡°Edna said that he is a wizard and I paid him to heal my mother.¡±

    ¡°Boy! Are you aware that Rhona and Edwin¡¯s mother¡¯s sickness is highly contagious? Their father died a couple of months ago,¡± The woman said.

    Anton didn¡¯t want to deal with the other villagers so he activated the special effects of his auras and when he glowed with otherworldly energies, every one of the onlookers gasped.

    Even though the young boy who was following Rhona, suddenly got scared and hid behind her, Rhona smiled since the magic was proof that this mysterious youth wizard could have the power to cure her mother.

    ¡°I do have the power to cure that sickness,¡± Anton whispered but everyone still heard what he had said.

    Suddenly, Anton thought of something horrible. What if he was unable to cure the girl¡¯s mother? That would be so humiliating but he had never found any sickness that he couldn''t cure so far. Although most of the sicknesses that he encountered were injuries.

    At least it was a good chance for him to check if his auras would be capable of curing diseases. They continued walking but to his surprise, instead of getting scared and avoiding him, some of the town folks actually followed him and the two children.

    They finally arrived somewhere remote and the house looked dilapidated. Anton was impressed anew with the two young children since based on the status of their house, no one had helped the kids for a while. The house was old and some areas looked like it would fall apart any minute but it was still a bit tidy. He realized that the only dirty parts were the places where the children couldn¡¯t reach them.Stolen novel; please report.

    Anton heard some coughing inside the house and the town folks stopped following them and stayed well outside the area of the house. He doubted the town folks'' claim that the sickness was contagious since if they truly were, why were the kids all right?

    He added the two children to his party system and entered the house. Anton was expecting to stumble onto something horrible like the inside of the house would be incredibly dirty and malodorous but it was fairly clean and there was no horrible smell. There was an incredibly thin woman lying down on a pallet and she was the one coughing.

    He immediately added the woman to his party system and was glad that he could add anyone to his party even without their agreement. Then Anton activated his Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor auras.

    The effect of the auras on the sick woman was visible. It was as if something was sloughing off from her body like some sort of evil dirt. After a while, the woman woke up.

    ¡°Rhona? Rudy?¡± The woman said when she saw the two children by the side.

    When the kids saw their mother sit up, they both ran towards her while crying ¡°Mother, you¡¯re cured,¡±. The woman then noticed Anton.

    ¡°My Lord? I¡¯m sorry for my state. Have my children offended you?¡±

    ¡°No Mother, he¡¯s a wizard who cured you! I paid him three copper coins, all the money I have saved!¡± Rhona said to her mother.

    The woman understood that Anton was a mighty wizard who took pity on their family and performed some sort of charity for them.

    ¡°Are you well? Here the three of you drink this,¡± Anton offered a pitcher which he filled with mana water.

    Without hesitation, the woman and her two kids drank the mana water. They looked amazed when they tasted the water and even the young boy said that it was delicious.

    ¡°Let me ask you the question again. Are you well? Are you going to be able to take care of your kids?¡±

    The woman who still looked weak though from the looks of it, was only that way due to the lack of food, paused a bit. Probably trying to feel her body.

    ¡°My lord, I feel well. You don¡¯t need to worry about my children. I¡¯m a seamstress and I¡¯m skilled enough that I would be able to feed my children and myself without any problem. It was just I was sick for the last three months and my husband died of the same sickness a month ago.¡±

    Anton just nodded and left several meals for the three of them that he retrieved from his inventory then he immediately left.

    While he was walking away, the town folks were still watching but then all of them were surprised when they saw the two children and their mother exited the house. The two kids ran toward Anton the kneeled in front of him.

    ¡°Thank you for saving our mother,¡± Rhona said to him and Anton just nodded and left.

    When he looked back, Anton was surprised to see that some of the town folks rushed towards the previously sick woman and asked her some questions. It looked like the woman wasn¡¯t really hated. It was just her neighbors were afraid of the sickness that she and her husband contracted.

    Anton continued roaming around town but he got a bit annoyed when he saw that some people were looking at him like he was some kind of a freak show so he returned to the inn. It was getting late anyway so he decided to stay there and rest.

    When he arrived there, he headed to the room that Anton¡¯s father had rented for him and tried to relax by watching an anime. After a while he saw that night had arrived so he joined his family for dinner.

    ¡°Anton, it seemed like you¡¯ve done some miraculous healing. The whole town is talking about it,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Yes. I healed a woman since her children paid me three coppers to heal their mother.¡±

    ¡°Why did you let them pay you,¡± Anna asked looking accusingly at her brother.

    ¡°They¡¯re poor but proud. Even though they¡¯re kids, their parents taught them well and didn¡¯t ask for a handout but instead sought help and tried to pay for it. I¡¯m guessing that once those children grow up, they will become someone incredible,¡± Anton calmly commented and the adults in the group nodded approvingly.

 Chapter 242

    The next day, they still planned to stay in town to rest for a whole day and would leave to continue their journey early the day after.  Anton woke up later than usual since when he checked the time, it was already nine in the morning. He was a bit grateful that no one disturbed him and when he went downstairs to eat, he was surprised to see that he wasn¡¯t the only one who woke up late.

    Anton saw Devon, Colin, and Frederick having breakfast so he joined them.

    ¡°What did you do yesterday?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We did some things we were forbidden by your father to tell you,¡± Frederick laughed.

    Anton snorted. The fact that Anders treated Anton as if he were a young boy was sometimes a bit maddening. Not that he was interested in those things but he wasn¡¯t some na?ve young man who didn¡¯t have worldly experience but he didn¡¯t want to shatter his father¡¯s worldview so it was partly his fault anyway. He had a suspicion that Anders was treating him as having the same age as Anna.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me those. I have access to shows that would shock you to your core,¡± Anton whispered to the guys in a fit of whimsy.

    ¡°You mentioned something like that before. What do you mean by that?¡± Devon asked and by the look on Frederick and Colin¡¯s faces, they were incredibly curious as well.

    ¡°You know the shows and movies that we¡¯ve seen so far, how incredibly detailed they were and sometimes we can see the close-up of the fight scenes or close-up of the faces of the characters that we can even see the sweat on their faces? Imagine seeing something detailed like that but the focus is the battle between a man and a woman inside the bedroom with the combatants fully naked and using different positions. Imagine that the point of view was so close that you could count the hairs on their genitals. Something like that and that was considered the normal ones,¡± Anton whispered to the three men while smiling lustfully.

    He felt like some sleazy porn merchant but Anton found it highly amusing that he almost laughed out loud. Devon, Frederick, and Colin¡¯s faces turned very red and he could see them adjusting their pants that Anton couldn¡¯t help himself but laughed out loud.

    They three were already so horny with just the description, he wondered what their reaction would be if they saw the actual thing.

    ¡°What do you mean about that one was the normal one?¡± Frederick asked while whispering.

    Anton¡¯s breakfast arrived and he started eating, allowing the men to wait for his answer. After a few minutes, he answered them playfully.

    ¡°There are battles between three people like a battle between two women and one man. Battles between two women. Battles between groups of people in any setting, like inside a room or outside in the wild, and even battles between men who preferred those types of things.¡±

    Devon, Frederick, and Colin gasped when they heard that.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ¡°Actors allowed themselves to be recorded like that!¡± Frederick screeched softly.

    ¡°Hey, you know about business. If there¡¯s a demand, there¡¯s always going to be a supply,¡± Anton shrugged.

    The three men were whispering to each other then Devon suddenly stopped him when Anton was about to leave after he finished eating his breakfast.

    ¡°Can you let us see one of those shows?¡± Devon asked softly but he was so red that he could almost see smoke coming out of the man¡¯s head.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know. What if Father catches us? You didn¡¯t even bring me with you to the brothel so why would I let you see those combat TV shows?¡± Anton teased them.

    Anton left them abruptly and he could see the men wearing disappointed faces. He didn¡¯t know if he would actually show them some porn films but right now he probably wouldn¡¯t since if Anders learned that he did something like that, his father would be mad. He suddenly wondered what their reactions would be if he showed them some Hentai animes. He laughed at himself for allowing some sort of silliness to occupy his mind.

    He went to the baths to wash himself and changed to regular clothes. He still wanted to roam the other parts of the town. Anton wanted to purchase more things but after a couple of hours of walking around, he returned to the inn since even though he changed clothes, the town folks still recognized him and gawked at him like they were expecting him to perform some magical feats.

    Anton decided to spend the rest of the day enchanting all the sculptures that he already purchased. He wanted to have an incredible number of them so they would have them to sell once they reached Whaling. Not only that but since winter was coming, it would be best to have more Fire Wall stove enchanted items so they wouldn¡¯t freeze to death while they were on the road.

    After several hours of enchanting items, he rested by practicing his guitar and surfing the internet. Then he used the on-screen option to level up his druid managing to earn a level so his druid reached level 91.

    When evening arrived, Anton joined his family for dinner in the common room. While they were eating, Anders said to everyone that they would leave early the next day. Everyone else reported what they did and even Anton joined in on the fun by reporting that he enchanted a lot of items that they could sell once they reached the city of Whaling.

    After dinner though, Devon, Frederick, and Colin asked to speak with Anders and Lucas and Anton wondered what that was all about. Suddenly, he heard Anders shouting and even Lucas was looking at the three men angrily.

    Anders then transferred his angry gaze towards Anton and he knew that the three men probably stupidly asked something about the porn shows that he teased them with. Anton inwardly sighed and approached his father when Anders called him.

    Before Anders started, Lucas whispered something to Anton¡¯s father, and suddenly Anton¡¯s father asked everyone they go to one of the rooms upstairs. When they reached Anders¡¯s room, Anders suddenly shouted at Anders regarding the show that contained ¡°sexual content¡± and why he was offering Devon, Frederick, and Colin to show them those filthy shows. Even Lucas was glaring at everyone.

    ¡°I was just teasing them, Father. I don¡¯t have any intention of letting them see those types of shows,¡± Anton defended himself.

    ¡°You¡¯ll turn eighteen in a few months. When that arrives, I will let you do what you want!¡± Anders scolded him then Anders asked him to leave.

    Once he reached outside the room, he overheard Anders scolding the three men interspersed by a scolding from Lucas. When he saw the heads of Anna, Lunelle, and the twins poking out from their door, Anna curiously asked what was it all about.

    ¡°They wanted to bring me to a brothel,¡± Anton told them and as one, the women just snorted and went back inside their rooms.

    Anton then went inside his room and entered the game to continue leveling up his druid. He wanted to reach the maximum level soon since his system would allow him to create the Necromancer character. After that, he planned to create the Paladin character since that¡¯s the antithesis of the undead.

 Chapter 243

    Anton and his group left the town of Berluna early the next day. Anna made a comment that she was glad that they were on the road again since that would allow them to watch the television shows and she missed watching Xena: The Warrior Princess.

    ¡°Xena?! You meant that you missed watching Wesley Crusher,¡± Ramona teased.

    ¡°I do not!¡± Anna shouted.

    ¡°Yes, you do! You got a crush on Wesley Crusher!¡± Belinda joined her twin in teasing Anton¡¯s sister.

    Anton laughed when she learned that Anna had a crush on the fictional character Wesley Crusher from the television show Star Trek The Next Generation.

    Looking at the other members of their group, it seemed to Anton that everyone also enjoyed returning to traveling. Especially Devon, Lucas, and his Father since they started roaming around on top of their dire wolves with the excuse that they would need to scout the surrounding area.

    Anton also practiced one of his most invaluable skills that he neglected which was using the Raven summoned to scout out the surrounding area. He avoided using it before since possessing one of the Ravens summons and using them as his eyes were disorienting but he knew that he should take the time to practice the said skill.

    He spent the rest of the morning until noon doing so and after several hours, he got used to it a bit that he enjoyed watching the surrounding area using the eyes of the Ravens. Flying by himself was still better though but the Raven was safer since if the summon was attacked and got destroyed, Anton would be fine and he could just summon the Raven again.

    During the travel to the coastal city, they noticed that there were more travelers on the road. Some were just like them, on the run from the undead but most were just regular travelers who frequently travel between Homura and Whaling for business purposes.

    When twilight was upon them, Anders tasked Devon to find a good camping location and Lucas¡¯s son led them to a well-used cozy-looking campsite. This time, by Anton¡¯s suggestion, they decided not to light a bonfire. They would just scatter the lanterns enchanted by the Fire Bolt enchantment made by Anton all over the campground to light up the place and they would use the Fire Wall Stove enchanted items to cook their food and heat the place. It would be much more convenient since they could turn off the enchanted items anytime they wanted and watching the television shows in the dark was much better without the glare from the bonfire.

    While they were preparing their camp, they were joined by a couple of groups of travelers. One was a merchant caravan from Homura traveling to Whaling and the other was also a merchant caravan but they came from Whaling and were going to Homura. This made the entire campground a bit noisy and crowded but since they were in a small corner surrounded by three huge Dire Wolves and two Spirit Wolves, the other groups left them alone.

    Every one of them knew that that would change soon since Anders allowed them to watch the television shows even if there were other travelers to the delight of the rest of the group. Anton¡¯s father''s reasoning was since they were not being pursued specifically by anyone, it was all right if the news that they had something unique to entertain their people got out. Anders and Lucas thought that the value of magic that was used to entertain people was so much less compared to magic used as weapons and knew that if the undead who were currently focused on conquering the continent heard about that, they would hardly be interested. At least, that was their speculation.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Soon night arrived and their food was cooked so during dinner, Anton played the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys on the white blanket they were using as the projector screen and he planned to play Xena: Warrior Princess after that. He made sure that the sound was loud enough that they could hear the show and they didn¡¯t even care that the other group of travelers would be disturbed.

    After several minutes, Anton had to lower the volume since the other group of travelers in the campground became silent and was staring at the area where they were camped. It was expected since their show was truly unique and the blanket was huge enough and the sound loud enough that even those further on the campground could see and listen to the show without any issue.

    Anton observed the other group of travelers and all of them were staring at the projector screen. He confirmed that the projector magic alone that allowed him to show movies and television shows to others would probably make them incredibly wealthy anywhere they go and the fact that this type of magic was harmless compared to offensive magic made this spell truly invaluable.

    After the episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journey they were watching ended, as customary, Anton stopped for several minutes so everyone could discuss the current episode. As expected, the leaders of the merchant caravan sought them out despite the fact that huge dire wolves and spirit wolves were guarding the perimeter of their camp. Anton let his father and the others talk to those people since he wasn¡¯t interested in them.

    One thing he could say though, it was wise of his Father, Nemina, and Lucas to entertain the merchants so they could seek out news from them of anything important. They confirmed that Tiande and Zalnothel had fallen and it was good that the leaders of those cities went to other cities instead of Homura since that meant that there would be time before the Undead Coalition turned their gaze to Homura.

    There was a good chance that the undead would attack those cities that the leaders of those cities they conquered fled to.

    The merchants also informed them that currently, the coastal city of Whaling was peaceful and the city was the dock city used to travel to some of the other continents. Of course, Anton¡¯s father, Nemina, and Lucas had to share information about the TV series as payment for the information they gathered from the merchants.

    Anders and Nemina were truly cunning since they also used the conversation to gather business information but compared to the true merchants who had been doing their business for decades, Anton decided that his father and Nemina were bested by the merchants. They gave more information than they had received.

    Anton lost interest so he informed his father and Nemina that it was time to watch the next episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. They informed the merchants of what type of show would come next and because the other travelers were also interested, they allowed them to go back to their business of watching the shows.

    He then played the next episode of Xena: Warrior Princess and the camp became quiet again except for the television show. Anton returned to watching the show as well since he hadn¡¯t seen either Hercules or Xena before. He had heard about them and only showed them since they were the result of the specific search that he had done on the internet about shows with medieval settings.

    Anton occasionally observed the surrounding area and the other people not only because he wanted to make sure that there was no danger, the dire wolves, spirit wolves, and the ravens could handle that but he still wanted to see the reaction of the other people in the campground regarding the television show.

 Chapter 244

    After the television show Xena: Warrior Princess ended, the merchants and their family approached their camp again. Several of them were young men and women and they approached Anton. There were six of them and they introduced themselves to Anton, Anna, Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle who were gathered together. Three were from one of the caravans heading to Homura and the other three were from the caravan heading to Whaling.

    ¡°We saw that you¡¯re the one controlling the spell that showed that unique play. Are you a wizard?¡± One pretty girl asked Anton.

    It was Anna who answered.

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a wizard. The spell that showed us the television show was his original spell. Anton is my brother and he¡¯s so powerful that Zalnothel made him a baron!¡± Anna boasted.

    The six young men and women gasped when they heard that. Then as one said they were sorry for what happened to Zalnothel.

    Anton explained to them that they were not truly from Zalnothel but from a city further south. They ran from the undead and reached Zalnothel but unfortunately, they had to leave the city because it was attacked by the coalition.

    ¡°Where are you heading now?¡± One of the young men asked.

    Since it was not a secret, Lunelle answered the question.

    ¡°We¡¯re heading to Whaling.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you can join our caravan! We¡¯re heading to Whaling as well,¡± One of the pretty girls said.

    ¡°Probably not since we only have two carriages and our horses are half-magical beasts so they would be able to run very fast. That meant that we¡¯ll leave you behind. Sorry about that,¡± Anton said.

    The girl and the two other youths who were with her on the way to Whaling looked disappointed. They knew that if Anton¡¯s group decided to join their caravan, they would have more chances to see shows from Anton¡¯s spell.

    Suddenly, Anton was alerted by one of the Ravens that a huge group of men numbering around two hundred was approaching from the North. They clearly had nefarious intentions since they were trying their best to stay as silent as they could.

    He excused himself from their discussion and approached his Father who was with Nemina, Lucas, and Frederick talking with the merchants and probably their wives.

    ¡°Father, Lucas, I need to speak with you.¡±

    Anders and Lucas excused themselves while Nemina and Frederick continued talking with the merchants.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°There¡¯s a group of two hundred men approaching from the North heading our way. They¡¯re probably bandits since they were all trying their best to stay as silent as they could. I could attack them using my summons and there¡¯s will be no danger to us since even if the summons died, I could just summon them again. It would be best if I do this now since they¡¯re still a long way from us,¡± Anton told them.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re bandits?¡± Lucas asked since they didn¡¯t want to attack a group of people and suddenly learned that they were not bandits.

    ¡°Most of them are wearing some sort of medallion with a skull that has a scar on its forehead,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Let me ask the merchants about that,¡± Lucas said.

    After a few minutes, Lucas returned and told them that the merchants confirmed that they were a bandit group called The Scarred Skull group. They¡¯re infamous among these parts and they had a very evil reputation. Apparently, they had a few mages amongst them with spells that allowed them to hide from the armies of Homura and Whaling so that¡¯s why they were never captured by either city.

    ¡°Let me attack them now using my summons while they were far away so they would not disturb our camp. I don¡¯t want to alarm the girls. I think it¡¯s also a good idea for us to watch a movie so that any sounds that might drift here could be covered up,¡± Anton told the two men and after thinking a while, Anders nodded.

    Anders and Lucas returned to the merchants to inform them that as a sign of friendship, they would show a unique film to everyone. Anton informed his father that he would show an animated film. He decided to show the Disney film Pocahontas which was a movie he chose randomly.

    After Anton started the film, he made sure that the audio was higher than normal and no one questioned it. When he saw that everyone in the campground was focused on the screen, he slipped away and when he was far enough away not to be noticed, he flew between their group and the bandits. He then summoned all of his summons under the summoning tree of his Druid skill character and commanded them to attack the bandits. He planned to use one of the Ravens as his eyes so that one flew above the bandits.

    Anton then returned to the camp. He looked like he was watching the film but he was actually watching the battle between the summons and the bandits.

    The battle was brutal and there were three mages among the bandits. Anton commanded the Grizzly Bear to attack the three mages first and too bad for them since the bear had an extremely high magic resistance and their spell didn¡¯t work on the Grizzly Bear.

    Anton was expecting that some of the summons would die but maybe due to his high level, the summons killed all of the bandits after around thirty minutes of battle.

    He then tapped Lucas, Devon, Frederick, and Colin and they all followed him to the forest.

    ¡°The bandits are all dead. We should gather what we can and don¡¯t spare any weapons or armor. Remember I can repair anything,¡± Anton told the men so riding their dire wolves and spirit wolves, they hastily went to the battle site.

    When they arrived at the site, Frederick and Colin gasped when they saw the dead bandits. Not one of them was in one piece. Anton dispelled the Grizzly Bear and the Spirit Wolves summons but let the Dire Wolves remain to act as guards while the Ravens acted as lookouts.

    After an hour, they completed stripping the dead bandits. Anton cleaned the items they gathered using his Cleaning spell and stored them in his inventory and then he buried the corpses using his magic by digging a huge ditch using Telekinesis and moving all the corpses there. They managed to return to the campground without anyone noticing due to all of the people there being focused on the movie.

    Weirdly enough, even Anders didn¡¯t notice their disappearance. When the movie ended, everyone clapped even though the movie was supposed to be for kids.

    Anton overheard everyone talking about how beautiful Pocahontas¡¯s voice was and how pretty she was. He even heard some of the girls say that Smith was very handsome. After that, Anton asked Colin to take down the white blanket as a show that the movie show had ended. It was truly late so everyone prepared to rest.

    Anton and Lucas reported to Anders that they did during the movie and Anders just nodded. Then they all went to their tents to rest. They didn¡¯t assign any guards since six dire wolves, three from Anton and three from the golden tablets, and two spirit wolves and five tiny ravens were guarding them.

    The next day, they woke up early enough despite sleeping late since Anders wanted them to leave the campsite as soon as possible. They saw that the two merchant groups were still asleep so they tried their best to move quietly but soon all of them were on the road leaving the camp far behind.

 Chapter 245

    One good thing about his Diablo II system, Anton could work on repairing the items they received from the bandits while they were traveling. He just needed to enter the world of Sanctuary and have any of the blacksmiths repair the items that he stored in his inventory and voila, it was done.

    After that Anton would just retrieve the items from his inventory and allow his father and the others to sort them out and then Anders could store them in his spatial item. He was a bit thankful that the spatial ring from Zenoxus was with his father since it allowed him to store a huge amount of items and he felt a bit sad for the elder vampire.

    Anton knew that he should not be given that the elder vampire and his two remaining progeny that became part of their group were truly evil beings before he defeated them and would probably continue to do so if he didn¡¯t enslave them but emotion didn¡¯t conform to logic. They may be evil beings but for a short time, they were their companions.

    Of course, he wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to seek revenge because of the vampires¡¯ deaths since it would only result in him becoming either an undead or a sacrifice to increase a powerful undead¡¯s strength. Anton knew though that if something like that happened to Anders or Anna, who he now truly considered his family, he would do everything in his power to destroy the Undead Coalition. He was glad that that didn¡¯t happen though since he wanted to live a long boring life in this world not a short glorious one.

    They briefly stopped during lunch but then they continued traveling at a fast pace. When night arrived, Devon selected a nice campground for them. Anton was expecting that the merchant caravan that they were with the night before would catch up to them but apparently, they traveled far enough that the merchant didn¡¯t appear.

    After setting up their camp, Anton gave the already repaired items from the bandits to his father, and Anders together with Nemina, Lucas, Lunelle, and Frederick, sorted them out while Ramona, Belinda, Colin, and Anna prepared dinner for them.

    Devon still assigned themselves as a scout and roamed the surrounding area looking for dangerous beings that could endanger them but it wasn¡¯t truly needed given that they were being guarded by Anton¡¯s summons.

    Anton busied himself by cleaning everything in sight. He was addicted to casting his cleaning spells. The spell allowed them to remain presentable even though they were on the road. All of them appeared as fresh as they would be if they were living in a mansion in any city surrounded by maids who catered to their every whim. The fact that Anton always subjected everyone to his auras, even all of the horses, and they drank mana water all the time, all of them looked like rich young ladies and gentlemen. Devon even complained a lot that all of his scars, which was something he boasted about to his lady friends, disappeared.

    During dinner, they all continued watching Star Trek The Next Generation and after that, they rested early.

    They passed through several villages and a town during the next seven days and Anton managed to collect plenty of wooden and metal sculptures that he would use for his enchanting.  On the seventh day, they were in a village that Anton didn¡¯t bother finding the name of when he reached the maximum level for his druid character.Stolen novel; please report.

    Admittedly, his druid character¡¯s items were subpar compared to his sorceress items but it didn¡¯t matter so much since his system would only allow him to wear one set that would reflect in real life. Anton, of course, was planning to spend a huge amount of time grinding for powerful items since they would truly help him become truly powerful but he would probably do so once he had a physical character like the Paladin or the Barbarian. Honestly, Anton would prefer to level up a paladin character before a necromancer one given the situation but since his system declared that he could only select magical characters first, he could only choose the necromancer.

    Either way, both the necromancer and the paladin characters were dangerous characters. Necromancer because undead magic was still considered dark magic and most people would be opposed to that and not only that, the undead was currently in the process of conquering this continent. Paladins because they were usually associated with a god or divine being and if he showed that he had access to paladin magic, people might wonder which god he was serving.

    That meant that once he leveled up his necromancer character, he would need to make sure to hide that magic but it would probably be easier for him since Anton did have access to the magic of two other characters which were the sorceress and the druid skill trees.

    Anton wasn¡¯t worried about his items since sooner or later, he would be able to collect the most powerful ones especially if they managed to find a place where they could actually stay for a long time.

    At least with the necromancer character, there were still two other skill trees that he could choose that didn¡¯t require him to have a corpse ingredient to activate. He would have preferred to level up his necromancer using the summoning skill tree but he would just need to soldier on using the poison and bone skills or the curses skills.

    An idea did occur to Anton. He could focus on playing his necromancer using the summoning skill tree but he would only summon the golems in the real world since those summons were usually not associated with necromancy but with wizardry.

    He decided then that he would follow the summoning standard build for the necromancer since it would be easier for him to level it up with that build just like what he did with the druid character.

    Anton did not create the necromancer character yet since as usual when leveling up a character, he wanted to play the character in person and not use the on-screen option since he would need to get used to how the mana and mana structure of the necromancer skills would run through the mana pathways in his body.

    While everyone was busy roaming the village and buying things from the villagers, Anton stayed inside the carriage and reviewed the skills of the necromancers. He concluded that the spells of the necromancers were not good for enchantments since the spells under the said character were truly terrifying. Maybe the golems but the druid summons would be better since at least those would not terrify people too much. He would still study the mana structure and mana pathway of all the necromancy spells since learning all of it benefited him too much to neglect them since once he mastered them, there was a huge possibility that he could create new spells and new types of enchantment that solely his own and not based on any of the characters.

    Anton knew that he wasn¡¯t there yet and wouldn¡¯t reach that soon but the possibility was there. After several hours, they left the village and Lucas advised him that they would reach the coastal city of Whaling in three more weeks.

    He couldn¡¯t wait to reach it since they would stay there to research where they would go next and Anton was excited to learn the possible places where they could go.

 Chapter 246

    When Lucas told Anton that it would only take three more weeks before they reached the coastal city of Whaling, he got excited. Whaling City represented the gateway for him to reach the other continents and he could not almost wait to find out what magical adventures he would encounter there together with his family and friends.

    Listening to the others talking, specifically Anna, Ramona, and Belinda, they too were extremely excited to begin their adventure on the other side of the planet. Belinda said that she felt that they were the crew of the Starship Enterprise with Anders their captain. She felt that they were also following its mission of exploring new lands, seeking out new friends and new cities, and boldly going where no farmer or maids like them had gone before.

    Everyone inside the carriage including Anton laughed at the changes that Belinda made to the Starship Enterprise mission statement.

    During the next week, they pass through two villages and one town. Anton still kept buying wood and metal art sculptures and enchanted them with his magic. He then started giving most of them to his father so that Anders and Nemina could sort them out and put a price on them. They planned to sell the majority of them in Whaling since whatever their decision would be, they would need a lot of coins to wherever they ended up.

    Anders, Nemina, and Lunelle were also diligent in collecting items that Anton could repair that they would sell in Whaling and Anton made sure to repair everything as soon as possible so that once they arrived in the city, everything would be ready to be sold off.

    During those days, their group had seen a lot of the episodes of the three shows that they had been watching and Anton was sure that his family and friends had already acclimated to the possible bizarre situations that they could see in a television show and that meant that Anton could already show them anything and he was sure that his family and friends would be able to accept them.

    Sometimes, Devon and Frederick talked to Anton secretly about allowing them to watch porn and they were so persistent that he would have given in but the fact was, their group was so small, and they were almost always together that there was simply no opportunity.  Anton could see that they were mostly driven by curiosity but men would be men and there¡¯s no changing that fact. It didn¡¯t help that he teased them a lot regarding some of the scenes he had already seen and that amuses Anton so much that he wasn¡¯t planning on stopping anytime soon. Of course, there was an unspoken agreement between them that Anders and Lucas would not be aware of the porn talks.

    Unfortunately for the three of them, Anna overheard them one time and tattled to Anders and because of that, they received a severe scolding from Anton¡¯s father, Lucas, and Nemina. The girls kept giggling at them.

    Anton plotted his revenge which was to show them a movie that had a somewhat risqu¨¦ scene like Titanic so after a few days, he did just that.

    While everyone was watching the movie, Anton could see that everyone understood why he chose the Titanic film since it was an adventure journey to the other side of the ocean which they would probably do once they reached Whaling.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    As expected, the girls fell in love with Jack but when the scene came where Jack was painting Rose nude, Anders almost stopped the film but compromised by just asking Belinda to cover Anna¡¯s eyes. Anton¡¯s father glared at him for a bit but he didn¡¯t care since Anna was pouting during the scene and that was his revenge.

    When the movie ended, almost all of them had tears in their eyes and Anton had to admit that the movie was a tear-jerker, especially during the parts when the Titanic ship was sinking.

    Anton then suddenly thought that it might be horrible for him to show a movie about a sinking ship while they were planning to travel the ocean.

    During that week of travel, he also leveled up his necromancer to level 12 and reached the monastery in Act I of the Normal Difficulty. Honestly, Anton was having fun leveling up his necromancer since his skeleton army was truly overpowered. He didn¡¯t even need to do anything and just stand there and his skeleton army would annihilate every monster in sight.

    Anton¡¯s leveling up was very slow because he spent more than half of his time researching a new enchanted item which was a floating item that contained the mana structure of the Telekinesis spell. He thought that since they were planning to travel the ocean, it would be best if they had enchanted items that would allow them to survive the waters if worse came to worse and the ship they were riding was destroyed.

    At first, Anton thought of creating an enchanted item that would allow the user to use Telekinesis to fly but the mana structure of that kind of enchantment was incredibly complex and the mana consumption was prohibitively huge that he shelved that project and thought of other ideas to use the Telekinesis spell so he arrived at the idea of creating a hoverboard. A board would be huge enough that it would contain the complex mana structure needed for the Telekinesis spell, the Warmth spell, and the mana structure for the mana storage.

    Since the floating board needed to be large enough to be able to hold a few people, the mana storage should be equivalently large enough to support a huge amount of mana that would power up the spell that would be able to lift the board with a huge amount of weight.

    After a few days, Anton realized that it would probably take longer before he would be successful in creating the enchanted item. The only consolation that he could think of was at least the materials for the hoverboard were not costly, not like the materials for the summoning of the druid animals.

    By his rough calculation, it would probably take him at least a month before he was successful in creating a good enough prototype for the large hoverboard.

    Anton told everyone about his current enchanting project which was welcomed by everyone and they all assisted him in gathering the necessary huge wooden boards for his enchantments. They didn¡¯t want to experience the Titanic scene of dying while the ship was sinking and that comment from Anna made him realize that it was a mistake to show the movie Titanic right before they planned to travel the ocean.

    While resting in one of the campgrounds that Devon had chosen, Lucas announced that they would reach Whaling in two weeks.

    They did encounter a bit of a problem during their journey. The number of bandit groups attacking them exploded and Lucas said that most of them were refugees from the cities that were conquered by the Undead Coalition.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they go to Homura, Whaling, or any other cities for that matter to look for a proper job?¡± Anna asked and Lucas answered her.

    ¡°Most of the bandits realized that their status as refugees in the new cities placed them as the lowest of the low and could only do the lowest jobs and some couldn¡¯t accept it. They then decided that banditry was an easy way for them to get the coins to survive.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why Father told me to just drive them away and not kill them,¡± Anders said to his sister.

    One good thing about being a wizard was that Anton or even Frederick or Anna just needed to show a bit of magic and the new bandits would run away immediately.

 Chapter 247

    During their travel to the coastal city of Whaling, Anton realized that everyone was suffering due to the Undead Coalition¡¯s attack. Even the villages and towns they passed through were feeling the results of the hostile attacks done by the undead. Because of the refugees that managed to escape the conquered cities, the refugees were now going to the villages and towns but since they couldn¡¯t accept a huge amount of people, most of the refugees were turned away.

    However, the refugees actually didn¡¯t want to stay in those small villages and towns since everyone had the trauma of the undead¡¯s attacks and each one of them would prefer to be behind the massive walls of cities that could at least give a modicum of defense and sense of safety against the undead monsters.

    At first, Anton¡¯s group managed to outrun everyone since they did travel fast enough but soon the refugees were managing to catch up to them. There were now a huge amount of travelers on the road.

    The huge problem that was currently occurring was the surge of banditry on the road and some were becoming truly vicious. More than once, they passed by travelers on the road that were murdered by bandits and because of that, the mood in the group became dark.

    They truly realized that they needed to leave the continent to be safe. Anton could foresee a time when this continent would be home to monsters and malevolent people like some post-apocalyptic dystopian world.

    Anton wondered why the powerful beings of this continent didn¡¯t join power to fight the Undead Coalition. Didn¡¯t they realize the danger? But again, Anton knew that he shouldn¡¯t judge since he was truly ignorant and didn¡¯t know anything about what was happening behind the scenes.

    He remembered when he was on Earth, he was a fan of the movie franchise Lord of the Rings and he had read that the happenings in the movie were considered small events by the truly powerful beings in the lands of Middle-Earth. He didn¡¯t know if that was true since he didn¡¯t dig deep enough to understand that comment but maybe it was the same here. Maybe the Undead Coalition attack was just a small event in the grand scheme of things from the point of view of the powerful beings that lived in this world.

    Even though some people considered Anton an archmage, the fact that he felt so tiny made him considered, at least, compared to regular people, he had the power to defend himself, his family, and his friends. Suddenly, he felt pity for the regular people of this continent.

    Everyone in their group was thankful that they hoarded a lot of food since the villages and towns weren¡¯t selling them anymore. At least they could still purchase the broken weapons and armor and other things that people considered unimportant.

    Even if they couldn¡¯t sell them in Whaling, they could still sell them to the next place they stumbled into.

    Curiously, with the surging of the number of bandits in the area, the monsters¡¯ presence diminished until they couldn¡¯t see them even deep inside the forest. Anton thought with grim humor that maybe the monsters fled to escape the undead as well.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Lucas and Devon intensified their hunt for game animals inside the forest since when the people started hoarding food they knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to buy any more food from them. Even though had a humongous amount of food stored in their spatial items, more was better and the fact that the food wouldn¡¯t spoil inside the spatial items was a blessing.

    No one in their group felt guilty about hunting a lot of animals and wild vegetables, herbs, and fruits because they did those deep inside the forest where regular people could hardly go so even if they didn¡¯t hunt, all of those things they acquired could hardly be taken by regular people.

    It was frankly too easy for Lucas and Devon to hunt animals, wild herbs, vegetables, and fruits because aside from the dire wolves they were riding, they had the assistance of the two dire wolves that Anton summoned and asked to guard the two. The third dire wolf was beside Anders who chose to remain near the two carriages to act as their guard.

    Anton knew that his father wasn¡¯t worried about remaining as their sole guard since Anton still had the Grizzly Bear that could be summoned anytime together with the five Spirit Wolves. He also showed his Clay Golem to everyone and no one was surprised anymore that he had a new spell.

    He wondered what everyone¡¯s reaction would be if he summoned his skeleton army although him still being a low-level necromancer, his summons couldn¡¯t be considered an army yet and also he would need corpses to summon them.

    One advantage of them looking always fresh and clean due to Anton¡¯s Cleaning spell, they didn¡¯t look anything remotely like refugees although technically they could be considered as one as well. They all looked like nobles and even Lucas and Devon, who used to be the most rough-looking of them now looked like young nobles as well.

    Anton couldn¡¯t help but be amused whenever he saw Lucas and Nemina being lovey dovey which made Lunelle and Devon disgusted. Their head guard was smitten anew with his wife since Nemina now almost looked the same age as Lunelle and Nemina was the same since Lucas now looked like a handsome young soldier.

    The girls kept admiring their silky smooth skin and, luxurious hair and their overall beauty, and when Anton suggested that they stopped using mana water so they would return to looking like normal, they all glared at him as if he had suggested the most horrible thing in the whole world. Anton learned what wise men had learned a long time ago, never go between a woman and her pursuit of beauty.

    During the last seven days before reaching the coastal city of Whaling, Anders declared that they shouldn¡¯t purchase any more items from the villages and towns since they had enough. That meant that they wouldn¡¯t stop on any of the villages and towns anymore and would head directly to Whaling.

    Their days on the road were becoming grim since there were now a huge amount of refugees. Anton even had to summon his Grizzly Bear and his Spirit Wolves when they rested during the night so others wouldn¡¯t disturb them.

    Anton¡¯s father also decided to join a large merchant caravan on the way to Whaling during the last seven days since the caravan had a large contingent of guards that protected them from refugees turned bandits but they needed to pay the caravan master some gold coins. They were treated really well since their group looked like a group of wealthy nobles.

    Some of the guards eyed them maliciously at first but when Anders declared that one of them was an archmage who didn¡¯t want to bother killing the ¡°flies¡± that bothered them on the road, those eyes that had nefarious intentions turned their gaze somewhere else especially when Anton summoned his three Dire Wolves and five Spirit Wolves as their guards.

    The caravan master and his family tried to ingratiate themselves with Anders and the rest especially when Anders still allowed them to watch the television shows despite them being part of the merchant caravan.

 Chapter 248

    Anton was thankful that his family pointed out Frederick as the archmage in their group. That meant that the merchants didn¡¯t bother him and went to bother the mage instead. This allowed him to concentrate on leveling up and studying the magical hoverboard item project that was based on the Telekinesis spell.

    He actually had a prototype of the enchanted item already and the only thing that he was doing was perfecting the item like making the mana storage more efficient so that a full mana storage would last long. He also adjusted the best height that he thought it should have and he thought that six feet was about right since it was high enough to hover above the ground effortlessly but low enough that it shouldn¡¯t consume too much mana.

    Anton also made sure to incorporate the Warmth spell since the Telekinesis spell was mana-intensive and the passive mana regeneration brought by the Warmth spell would assist in making the hoverboard float longer.

    The main reason why he did not share the project with the group yet was even with the Warmth spell, a full mana storage would only allow the hoverboard to last for thirty minutes but that was the initial prototype.

    Around four days before they reached Whaling, his hoverboard item could now last two hours with full mana storage but the good thing was, if the one that was using the board was a wizard, he or she could supply the mana needed to last for a long time and based on his calculations, continues supply of mana would allow the board to fly for a month before the hoverboard got destroyed.

    He also made sure that all of them would fit the hoverboard if worse came to worse that they had to use the board while they were in the middle of the ocean. He also, of course, would create more than one hoverboard. Anton also made a lot of mana power banks so that any one of them could fuel the hoverboard and not only a wizard.

    To be honest, Anton¡¯s hoverboard magical item was the most ingenious enchanted item that he had developed so far since it could in theory revolutionize the transportation for the entire continent but because of the situation, it would probably remain in his inventory until they reached a new place.

    Anton was so focused on his system that Anna teased him that some of the merchants in the caravan thought that there was something wrong with his head. Some of them actually asked Anders about his situation whether he hit his head or something.  Of course, Anders just ignored those questions which solidified the idea that he had some sort of mental disability. Everyone in his group was amused by that but he didn¡¯t care enough to correct those who were mistaken about him.

    Right at that moment, Anton was truly focused since he wanted to make sure that they had enough power and items that would allow them to survive an ocean journey.

    Based on what he had read when he was on Earth, Anton knew that there was a possibility that they had to stay in the ocean for at least two months and there was a possibility that it would be more than that.

    At least, when they joined the caravan, no bandits disturbed their rest since the caravan¡¯s guards looked ferocious, and looking at them, Anton had an inkling that those guards probably sidelined as bandits.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    To intimidate them, during one of their rest, Anton summoned his Grizzly Bear and his Clay Golem and his father told the merchants that their archmage, who they thought was Frederick, wanted to practice his summoning spells.

    One good thing about joining the caravan was Anna met a couple of girls her age and they became friends even if temporary. It helped that after the merchants had seen one of the shows, Anna, Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle entertained the merchants¡¯ questions about the shows especially the never-ending questions of the children that the merchants brought with them.

    Anton was amused to learn from Belinda that some of the girls in the caravan were eyeing Devon as a prospective husband and that drove the man to leave them with an excuse that he would scout the surrounding area especially when Nemina casually mentioned that it would be good to have grandchildren.

    Of course, everyone knew, except for Devon apparently, that Nemina was not serious since it would be a bit irresponsible for them to bring new life into this world without having a stable home.

    During the last few days before they arrived in Whaling, Anton reached level 24 on his necromancer character. He still had not shown anyone any spell from the necromancer character aside from the golem summons since he didn¡¯t want to be known as a necromancer. A lot of people would probably look at anyone wielding necromantic powers with hostility and given the situation, it was understandable.

    He also asked to speak with Anders and Lucas inside the forest where no one would see them.

    ¡°What did you want to talk about?¡¯ Anders asked curiously and Lucas looked the same.

    ¡°I created a brand new enchanted item and I wanted you to see them and no one else since it¡¯s a bit special.¡±

    Anton then retrieved the huge hoverboard from his inventory and turned on the switch. The enchanted hoverboard switches would allow the user to select the height of the hoverboard between three feet and six feet.

    ¡°This is my magical hoverboard. The user will be able to use this board to travel while flying. A full mana storage will last for two hours. Unfortunately, it¡¯s a bit mana intensive so the mana power bank that I¡¯ve made can only charge it once but if a wizard is using it, they could continuously charge it and the flight and movement of the board can last for a month before it¡¯s destroyed.¡±

    ¡°I understand why you wanted that item to remain a secret. This will allow the people to create flying carriages. How do you control it?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I made what I call a joystick that had five directional settings and one can use those to select the directions. There¡¯s only one speed which is just as fast as a fast man can walk and I made a switch that stops and starts the board. So basically there are two switches and one joystick. One switch to turn it on and select the height, another switch to start and stop the board, and the joystick to control the direction.¡±

    ¡°I know why you made that. Just in case the ship we¡¯re riding went full on Titanic.¡± Lucas jokingly said and that made Anders laugh heartily.

    Anton was surprised at Lucas¡¯s humor since that was the first time he saw it and it was grim but thinking about it, Lucas was a mercenary all his life so the humor he had probably tended to be for older mercenaries, and his father could relate since Anders was also a mercenary before.

    ¡°Actually, you are right. I focused on making it just in case worse comes to worse while we¡¯re in the middle of the ocean.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ve decided to truly leave this continent?¡± Lucas asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no place for us here. That meant that we need to prioritize learning what continent is the best place we could go to once we reached Whaling,¡± Anton said.

    After their talk, they returned to the camp and Anton set up the blanket that they use for watching television shows. He saw that the people from the merchant caravan were already setting themselves up to watch the shows and that made Anton smile.

 Chapter 249

    The smell of the ocean was the first thing that informed Anton that they were nearing the coastal city of Whaling. The smell brought forth some almost forgotten memories of when he was a child and his parents on Earth brought him to the beach for a family vacation. Those were the happiest days of his life back then so the smell lifted his mood abundantly.

    ¡°Why are you so happy?¡± Anna asked when he noticed Anders smiling joyfully.

    ¡°I just smelled the ocean and it smelled of adventure and excitement!¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m excited that we will be leaving this continent too, brother. I hate the undead so much. I wish they were all dead! I feel like we have been running all our lives. I¡¯m now afraid to make friends since I know that there¡¯s a chance that the friendship will be temporary,¡± Anna said sadly.

    ¡°I hope that once we arrive in a new country, we will be able to live happily. But can you imagine all the possibilities that can happen? What kind of countries will we be seeing? Will it be full of powerful wizards dressed in beautiful clothes? Or will it be a country where there would be magical beasts being ridden by powerful cultivators? Or maybe it will be full of magical cowboys!¡± Anton said excitedly.

    ¡°What are cultivators?¡± Belinda asked.

    ¡°What are cowboys?¡± Ramona asked as well.

    Anton''s imagination was interrupted by Anna¡¯s maids¡¯ questions. He forgot that those terms were nonexistent in this land.

    ¡°Cultivators are some sort of wizards that increased their power by absorbing the power of heavens and earth. They sit and meditate in a single place for hundreds of years until their as powerful as gods. Cowboys are like farmers but they specialize in taking care of cows while riding on top of horses.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that you¡¯re a cultivator? Since you keep saying that you need to meditate to increase your power,¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not a cultivator. They¡¯re different. I¡¯m still more like a regular wizard that¡¯s why I can still learn the regular spell. The meditation was me not absorbing the energy of the heavens and earth but more like exploring the power hidden in my bloodline.¡±

    Soon they heard Colin shouting that the gates of Whaling were now in view so they opened the window curtains to check them out.

    The gates were the same as the gates of Homura. It was tall and thick but the main difference was the smell of the ocean coming out from the city. Another noticeable thing was there were several types of queues at the gates but based on a casual look, the queue depended on whether you were a citizen of Whaling or not, and those who were not citizens were further divided by wealth.

    Apparently, Anders already knew where to queue since the merchants in the merchant caravan told him the information. Based on how fast the line was in their queue, this was for the refugees who had incredible wealth or power. Since they had both, they were in the best possible queue.

    Anton was glad that the archmages of Zalnothel provided him with documents regarding being a baron and an archmage since those alone were enough for the guards on the gate. He may still have to demonstrate his powers by undergoing a mage test but from the looks of it, Whaling wasn¡¯t as strict as Zalnothel and the documents were enough. It didn¡¯t hurt that they were able to pay a huge amount of gold coins for their entrance fee and their two carriages, magical beasts and brand-new-looking clothes possibly intimidated the guards.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Upon entering the city of Whaling, Anton saw that it consisted of a hodge-podge of cultures from different places, and more than likely it was because it was a port city. Anders and Nemina asked the guards the best inn they could rent and one of the idlers nearby volunteered to guide them, for a fee of course, and Anders accepted the man¡¯s offer.

    Their guide introduced himself but only Anders, Nemina, and Lucas were listening to the man. Anton and the others were looking around but instead of looking like country rubes, because of their clothes and appearance, they instead looked adorably charming based on the reactions of the onlookers.

    Surprisingly, their group managed to enter the city ahead of the merchant caravan that they had joined, and instead of Anders waiting for them, he asked the newly hired guide to lead them to the street where the high-class inns were located.

    Anton¡¯s blood was boiling in excitement since the city looked really exotic with merchants from different parts of the world selling their wares. He could see what looked like they were humans and other species from somewhere where the desert was prevalent based on their costumes. What excited Anton more was there were humans and weirdly enough, other species that looked Asian, and not just looking like from a single country like  China but some looked like they were from Japan, Korea, and even other South East Asian countries.

    Anton knew that it was a bit bad of him to compare them to countries from Earth but that was the only description that he could think of. He still couldn¡¯t get over the fact that some of them were different species like a Chinese-looking elf or an Orc that looked like a Japanese Samurai.

    In one street, Anton saw some humans and other species wearing western cowboy hats and he almost laughed.

    He was happy since based on the population of the foreigners in Whaling, it wasn¡¯t hard for people to travel the ocean. Anton thought that the journey would be filled with danger like sea monsters and magical oceanic creatures but if that were the case, there wouldn¡¯t be so many foreigners in Whaling. Anton was apprehensive about their planned journey to other continents since he had consumed a lot of translated web novels that contained dangerous sea travels and he was expecting that their journey would be a bit like that but looking at the faces of the foreigners, they brought him great comfort.

    Soon they arrived in one of the biggest Inn that Anton had seen and as usual, Anders rented a suite consisting of five rooms and a living room. He was astonished at the price but they were wealthy enough to afford them. He was glad that his father was generous enough to rent such a suite wanting to make sure that everyone would be comfortable on their last days in this continent.

    Anders, Nemina, and Lucas followed by two dire wolves would handle the business of selling the repaired items and enchanted items. Lunelle and the other girls were responsible for purchasing the necessities they would need like spices and other things.

    Devon, Frederick, and Colin would gather information about the best continents and countries they could travel to and Anton would do the same thing but he would move on his own. Once Anders, Nemina, and Lucas were done with selling the items, they would also join in researching the best continent and countries they could travel to but before they started, they met in the living room of their suite.

    Anders informed everyone that he and his family, meaning Anton and Anna, had decided to truly leave this continent and they asked everyone if they wanted to come with them or stay here on this continent. Before Anders could open up the fact that he would provide monetary compensation to those who wanted to stay, everyone clamored that they wanted to join them in their travel to another continent.

    Anton could see that everyone verily believed that this continent would fall into the hands of the Undead Coalition and no one wanted to remain in what they believed was a doomed land.

 Chapter 250

    It was lunchtime when they finished talking about what they planned to do next while they were in Whaling so they went to the common room to eat but when they arrived there he saw that some of the merchants from the caravan that they joined to travel to Whaling was there. They were all surprised since they knew that the people from that caravan were citizens of Whaling, meaning they had their own business establishments and homes in the city.

    Anna squealed and ran towards her two new girlfriends who were the same age as her and they chattered endlessly like birds in the forest. Anton overheard Anna¡¯s two new friends talking about persuading their father to look for them since they still wanted to watch the television shows, and then they talked about shopping and other things that girls were highly interested in.

    Then Lunelle, Belinda, and Ramona joined them and they became so noisy that Anton had an urge to cover his ears.

    Based on the snippets that he was overhearing from his father and the merchant¡¯s talk, the merchants were inviting them to stay in their homes which Anders declined. That meant that Anders and the others did not share the information with the merchants that they planned to travel to another continent.

    They went to the common room to eat and the merchant and his wife and two daughters invited themselves to join them.

    Anton was a bit impressed by his sister since even though they talked endlessly, she didn¡¯t share any pertinent information about their plans with her new friends.

    He was impressed and a bit sad since Anna was unable to just become a normal girl and had to be vigilant with her surroundings. Anton hoped they would arrive at a place where Anna could be herself.

    Devon, Frederick, and Colin arrived after settling the two carriages, the horses, the three dire wolves, and two spirit wolves down. That was one of the problems with the summons from the golden tablets that Anton created. The summons would be permanent but they would exist as a regular magical beast that needed to eat to survive and once they died, they would remain dead. There was no way that they could dispel the summons and summon them again just like what Anton had been doing with his summoned animals.

    Anton knew that the three must have been having a hard time with the animals since other animals would be unsettled by the wolves. What he knew was that the wolves wouldn¡¯t have any issues with their food since Devon, Lucas and even his father were very diligent in hunting game animals in the surrounding forest and their spatial items, and his inventory was full of meat.

    Anders kept talking with the merchant and his wife, repeatedly telling them that they wouldn¡¯t have time to watch the shows due to them going to be very busy selling the items in their inventory.

    The merchant then told Anders that they shouldn¡¯t have a large number of items since they only had two carriages. Everyone laughed when they heard that and Anton¡¯s father had to explain to the merchant that their products were stored in their spatial items.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    The merchant then said that he kept forgetting that they had an archmage in their group while the man side-eyed Frederick. The merchant basically implied that Frederick was not a believable archmage. Every one of them just smiled while the younger girls were in their own world.

    Anton overheard Anna telling her new friends about her books and based on the look of the daughters of the merchants, they were fascinated by the story in the books that Anna was showing off to them.

    After lunch, Anna invited her friends to her room so they could all talk the whole afternoon but unfortunately for Lunelle, Belinda, and Ramona, even though they looked like they wanted to join in with Anna and her friends, they had to do the work assigned to them.

    Anna kept boasting to her new friends, and to the merchant and his wife who were also listening to her about the movies that she had seen already. Although it looked like her new friend''s parents wanted to join Anna and her two new girlfriends in her room, it was inappropriate so they had to leave and let their daughters join Anna.

    Anton said goodbye to everyone and exited the inn. He wanted to explore Whaling by himself. His main goal was to learn about the different kingdoms and countries that could be found across the ocean.

    He didn¡¯t know where to go next so he decided to go to a place where everyone gathered. A tavern. The nearest tavern to their inn catered to those with money so when he entered it, it wasn¡¯t as noisy as a typical tavern frequented by regular laborers.

    He looked around and saw that there were several groups gathered together at the tables scattered in the tavern. He saw the nearest group at a table that was speaking in another language so Anton decided to be bold and approach them.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Sirs. Do you speak Rendinduran?¡± Anton asked the men who looked like wizards based on their clothing.

    ¡°Yes, we all speak Rendinduran. What can we help you with, young sir?¡± One of the men said.

    ¡°I¡¯m a mage and a student and I¡¯m currently researching about the different kingdoms and countries across the ocean. May I interview you? I can treat you with the tavern¡¯s most expensive alcohol,¡± Anton said.

    At first, the men looked like they didn¡¯t want to entertain Anton but when they heard that he was willing to spend a good amount of coins for the most expensive alcohol to treat them, they suddenly welcomed him with open arms.

    Anton called one of the barmaids and ordered a bottle of their most expensive wine. The barmaid nodded and told the price of the wine then waited. Anton laughed and gave the amount of coins that the barmaid mentioned and when she received it, the woman smiled widely and then left to get their alcohol.

    ¡°You¡¯re very generous young sir. You¡¯ve given that maid a huge tip,¡± One of the men said then they all laughed.

    Anton said that he was aware of that. The men then introduced themselves to Anton.

    ¡°My name is Nunda and this is Beron, Lendo, Okar, and Tindu. We¡¯re merchants from the Kingdom of Okan across the ocean. We spent two months across the ocean to travel here and we do it twice a year,¡¯ Nunda said.

    ¡°My name is Anton and as I¡¯ve said I¡¯m a mage and a student. Are you not wizards?¡±

    The men from the kingdom of Okan laughed when they heard Anton¡¯s question.

    ¡°That is not the first time we heard that question. A friend from this city told us it was because of our clothes. He mentioned that they resembled the robes that wizards usually wear here but the only mage among us is Tindu. The clothes we¡¯re wearing are just the normal clothes that people from our kingdom wear,¡± Nunda said.

    When the expensive bottle of wine arrived, it certainly looked like it wouldn¡¯t be enough for them so Anton ordered a few more bottles and paid the barmaid correspondingly. The men from the kingdom of Okan cheered when they heard Anton order a few more bottles.

    They were expensive but Anton treated it as his payment for the information about the kingdom of Okan that he was about to learn from the merchants.

 Chapter 251

    Anton learned a lot about the Kingdom of the Okan from the now-drunk merchants. The continent where the Okan was located consisted of several large countries and kingdoms as well much like Rendindura so it was a viable location for them to travel to. He did note that according to Nunda, even though their continent was two months travel by ship, it was considered one of the nearest continents here which made him hesitate.

    He didn¡¯t want to travel somewhere nearby. Although there was a minimal chance that the undead would suddenly attack the continents across the ocean, Anton didn¡¯t want to take that risk so he decided to look for somewhere farther away than the continent where Okan was located.

    He said his goodbye to the merchants who were still celebrating, trying to empty the expensive bottles of wine Anton purchased for them. He spent around three hours talking to them so he still had plenty of time till evening arrived.

    Anton looked around and there were prospective groups of customers that he could interview as well but he didn¡¯t want to seem suspicious so he decided to tavern hop to conduct his interviews.

    He wondered how Devon and the others were doing their research. One good thing he learned from Nunda was most foreigners from other continents that he should be able to find here in Whaling should know Rendinduran.

    The problem that Anton should consider was learning the language of the place that they would go to. Yes, communication could be solved by using some of the spells available but based on their description, they were not that efficient so they would still need to take time to learn the language of the new place.

    Outside the streets of Whaling, Anton walked slowly so he could see the charm of the port city. The smell of the sea, together with the combination of spices, perfumes, unclean bodies, and feces, instead of disgusting, excited him because it brought the reality that he was walking in a city in a different world. Not a regular city but a port city that was a gateway to many more exotic lands.

    Anton was enjoying sightseeing so much that he failed to notice that he was being followed by a group of young men. When he finally did, he checked them out surreptitiously and instead of them looking dangerous, they were more curious about him rather than having malicious intentions.

    The young men looked like regular citizens who managed to steal some time from their regular work or chores and were now idling with their friends while roaming the city.

    In a somewhat less-than-populated street, Anton decided to talk to the young men who looked like they were of the same age as him.

    ¡°Hello, can I help you?¡± Anton said to the group.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re Rendinduran. I thought you¡¯re a foreigner who got lost somehow,¡± One of them said.

    ¡°My name is Anton and I¡¯m from Zalnothel,¡± Anton told them.

    The teenagers introduced themselves one by one and then informed him that they were just curious about him since he was wearing a very luxurious robe.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°Are you not afraid of being kidnapped and  held for ransom?¡± Said one of the teenagers.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m a mage and I¡¯m powerful enough to defend myself,¡± He said, and the group of young men, instead of getting scared of him upon learning that he was a mage, got excited instead.

    ¡°Can you teach us how to become a mage? I have a spellbook but none of us can learn anything from it,¡± One of them said.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Oh sorry. My name is Romus, this is Nezzar, Lendoral, and this Morum. We¡¯re from here and we¡¯re just regular people,¡± Romus said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have any work?¡±

    Every one of them laughed and told Anton that they escaped to play for at least a couple of hours but they admitted that they would be punished when they returned. They were all apprentices of different trades and they were friends since they were young. They formed a group since not only were they neighbors, but they were all fascinated by one thing which was magic.

    ¡°I have a tool that can check if you can become a mage. I can use it to test all of you but in exchange, I need information about the kingdom and countries from the different continents across the ocean and if there are currently any ships going to those locations.¡±

    Anton did purchase a copy of the mana testing school that the guards of Zalnothel used to test the level of mages in the gates.

    ¡°Those are common knowledge you can get by just going to the harbor but we do know the most common destinations of the current ships there,¡± Romus said.

    ¡°All right then. Let¡¯s go somewhere private. Maybe like a restaurant with a private booth where we can talk?¡± Anton asked.

    The young men were taken aback by his request and Anton wondered why.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have coins. Do you have the funds to go somewhere like that?¡± One of the young men asked and Anton understood their hesitation.

    Basically, they were all poor blokes. When Anton said that he did have the coins even if the restaurant was exceedingly expensive, the young men became highly excited.

    ¡°I always wanted to try the food in the Golden Goat Restaurant,¡± The boy called Morum said.

    ¡°Will they let us in?¡± One of them named Nezzar asked.

    ¡°Anton shouldn¡¯t be stopped by the guard. He looked really rich!¡± Romus excitedly said.

    That meant that the boys truly wanted to try out the food there in the restaurant they mentioned.

    The young men then led Anton to the restaurant they were talking about. It was a good twenty-minute walk from where they were. When they arrived at the restaurant, Anton saw how high-class it was and understood why the young men were hesitant about entering the restaurant. With the way the clientele who entered looked, the teenagers looked really out of place if they entered the establishment but Anton entered without any hesitation.

    At first, Anton was expecting to be stopped and then a face-slapping situation would occur just like those that happened in Chinese web novels back on Earth but even though the guard eyed Romus and his friends, maybe because Anton looked truly princely, not just because of his clothes, but because of his demeanor as well, the guard didn¡¯t stop them from entering.

    A man approached them and introduced himself as one of the managers of the establishment. Anton then said to the man that he required a private booth where he and his new friends could eat, drink, and stay for several hours to discuss things and then added that he would pay any deposit amount the manager required.

    The manager then said an amount that brought gasps to the mouths of Romus and his friends but Anton paid gold coins without any hesitation. The manager then smiled and led them to a private booth located on the second floor.

    After they sat down, the manager called someone and a couple of waiters arrived and provided a menu to each one of them.

    Anton told the young men to order anything they liked and surprisingly, they were not shy at all and they did.  After the waiters took their order, they were informed of the time until the first items would arrive. Anton asked the young men to hold off in ordering any alcohol he needed to talk to them and the teenagers agreed.

    Anton didn¡¯t ask them any questions yet but talked about ordinary things like the best places to check out in Whaling. Soon their food arrived and they all ate heartily including Anton.

 Chapter 252

    Anton and the group of young men ate until they were full and when he saw that every one of them was satisfied, the interview began.

    The young men shared a lot of information with him that the youths had gathered since they were young living in the port city of Whaling.

    The first continent they talked about was the one farther east which was six months by ship away from the continent of Rendindura. Supposedly, that continent was called Huoxi.

    The first kingdom that one was supposed to be able to see once they arrived in the continent of Huoxi which sounded too much like Chinese to Anton was called the Turtle Kingdom. When Anton asked what the costumes of the people who lived in that kingdom were, the young men described the costumes of the Chinese-looking people he encountered in the streets.

    The youths said they befriended some of the people from there and they were told that the continent of Huoxi was extremely large and there were thousands of kingdoms and countries there. Their friends also bragged that there were countless powerful beings on that continent.

    Again, the main problem that Anton and his family would encounter if they did go there was the language barrier.

    Another continent that the youths knew about was about eight months away from Rendindura by ship to the West. They mentioned that that continent was a bit mysterious since it was a large continent as well but not as populated as Huoxi. They said that the foreigners from that continent called it the Gale Continent and the first country that one was supposed to arrive in was called New Drennor.

    The young men told Anton that the cowboy-looking men Anton saw on the streets were from there.

    They discussed those two continents and the kingdoms and countries that were supposed to be found there for a couple of hours until the manager from the restaurant entered their private room to inquire if they had further orders.

    Anton asked the young men to order some desserts and to pacify the manager of the restaurant, he paid the man the cost of what they ordered so far which made the manager wear a huge smile on his face.

    When their dessert arrived, they spent several minutes eating, and then after that they continued talking.

    The next continent that they talked about was a year away to the Northeast of Whaling by ship which was supposed to be called Ordura but one they were not truly sure. They didn¡¯t have much information about that place but they said that the foreigners from there were dark-skinned people who brought colorful fabrics and different spices form their kingdom which was called Indirio.

    The young men shared all the information they knew about the three continents with Anton and they prioritized those places since there were still ships in the docks bound for those continents.

    They talked for a couple more hours until Anton noticed that it was already evening. So he decided to stop and thanked the young men who told him that they would receive severe punishment from their masters once they returned but assured him that the food from one of the best restaurants in the city was worth it.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    After paying for the desserts, they parted ways and Anton returned to the inn where they were staying.

    When he arrived there, his family was still in the common room eating. Anton joined them but didn¡¯t eat since he just arrived from a restaurant and he was still full. During dinner, Anders informed him that they managed to sell a tenth of their inventory and collected a lot of gold coins.

    Anton was impressed at how fast his father and Nemina were able to sell their products so fast. He then shared what he learned from the merchants of Okan and the young apprentices and his family and friends were impressed at how much information he managed to gather.

    Embarrassingly, Devon, Frederick, and Colin were only able to gather information on one of the continents which was the continent of Gale, and the kingdom of New Drennor which was mostly the same as the information that Anton managed to get.

    Of course, their information-gathering mission was just starting and they would need to collect more before they decided where to go. Everyone agreed with him though of selecting a continent that was far from Rendindura.

    ¡°Are we not going to watch anything?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°No, since everyone would still be busy during the next few days. You don¡¯t need to worry about that Anna since based on the information that we have so far, we will need to spend a very long time on a ship once we start our ocean journey and that means that we have plenty of time to watch movies and shows,¡± Anders told his daughter.

    Anton then overheard Anna mumbling that it was a pity for her new friends since that meant that they would not be able to have the chance to watch the shows anymore.

    After dinner, everyone went to their rooms to rest since they were all exhausted. It had been a very busy week for everyone so they truly needed some rest.

    In the room that Anton was sharing with his father, Anton took a bath and slept immediately. At first, he planned to spend a little time leveling up but the moment his head touched his pillow, he fell asleep.

    The next day, Anton woke up late since when he checked the time, it was already nine in the morning. As expected, his father wasn¡¯t in the room anymore. He did find a note that informed him that everyone was out doing the same business as yesterday and that he was free to do whatever he wanted to do that day.

    Anton¡¯s plan was different that day. He wanted to earn gold coins since he knew that they would need a lot of funds wherever they ended up. He was just glad that gold coins were a universal currency that was accepted everywhere in the world. Their value might be different in each of the continents but the most important thing is that they have value.

    What he was worried about at first was what if they collected a ton of gold and then arrived somewhere where the currency was something like mana stones or something like that. That would have been devastating but the merchants and the young people from yesterday that the foreigners still used gold coins as their primary currency.

    He planned to spend a few hours that day earning coins by doing the same thing that he did in the previous cities, which was purchasing damaged and broken things that would be valuable if they were new or working properly. Together with the remaining coins that he had which were about three thousand gold coins, he would then gather a lot of items that they could use in his inventory and private stash since the space that he still had was huge.

    The items that he planned to store were cooked food, water, clothing, spices, soap, and anything else that he could think of that they might need and since he did have the coins, he would only choose the best of the best.

    At least with those items, even if the place they stumbled into didn¡¯t accept gold, they would still have items that would allow them to survive without any issues.

 Chapter 253

    Anton explored the city of Whaling looking for bazaars and markets where he could purchase items that he could repair and resell and after around three hours, he earned around a thousand gold coins.

    He didn¡¯t overdo it that day so his actions were unnoticeable, not that he was trying to be that but at least nobody targeted him because of having too many coins.

    The moment he started his shopping spree though, it became highly noticeable since he did purchase a huge amount of things. From restaurants, he purchased countless cooked foods and he didn¡¯t hide the actions of storing the food that he ordered using either a spatial item or spatial magic. He did have to pay extra for the food containers though but with the amount of gold coins that he was letting go, the restaurant owners didn¡¯t complain.

    Anton also purchased uncooked food like grains, fruits, herbs, and vegetables and stored them in his Private stash. He also collected a huge amount of spices. He also made sure to purchase a lot of other things like toiletries, clothes, blankets, mattresses, pillows, and anything under the sun that he could think of.

    While walking around, some tried to accost him though since a huge number of people noticed how rich he was but the moment he showed off his magic by activating his auras, those would-be robbers immediately ran off. Anton didn¡¯t pursue them since in his opinion, it wasn¡¯t worth it to spend his precious time with those people.

    Overall, it was a highly profitable and entertaining day for Anton. It was fun shopping around especially since he didn¡¯t need to carry all the things he purchased and just stored them directly to his private stash. The salesperson also helped him a lot since they suggested items that he would have never thought of purchasing like kayaks, hammocks, tents, and more.

    It was understandable since it was their job and he did give those who assisted him a rather large tip. Anton was generous since he was truly pessimistic and thought of the fact that sooner or later, these people would probably try to escape from the clutches of the undead.

    It was evening when he returned to the inn and he managed to purchase a huge amount of items but his number of coins remained the same since during the last couple of hours, he returned to his business of buying, repairing, and selling things.

    When he arrived back at the inn, they decided to stay in their suite and order food for dinner. Everyone reported what they did that day. Anders, Nemina, and Lucas continued selling their inventory and they also started selling the enchanted items that Anton had made. Lunelle purchased a lot of things that they deemed necessary for their journey while Anna spent the day touring the city with her few friends.

    Devon, Frederick, and Colin collected a huge amount of information about the possible places they could go to and Anton just told everyone that he just roamed around the city.

    After dinner, everyone rested since they were all tired of the work they did that day. Anton didn¡¯t plan to continue roaming around and would just focus on leveling up and creating enchanted items that would help them in their journey.

    He did plan to go out the next day for a couple of hours to purchase some sculptures to enchant and would also commission some large wooden boards that he could enchant with to create a hoverboard. Right now, he only managed to create around three hoverboards but he felt like he needed more.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    The next day after breakfast, everyone went their way to continue their business while Anton went directly to shops that sold wooden and metal sculptures and purchased some. He also went to a carpenter and commissioned some huge wooden boards and since the design was simple enough, it didn¡¯t take long for the carpenters to provide him with several wooden boards.

    After that, he returned to the inn to begin the process of enchanting all the items that he purchased. It didn¡¯t take long for him to complete them since there weren¡¯t a lot of them since the items were supposed to be for their personal use.  Then he spent the rest of the day leveling up his necromancer character.

    Anton completed Act III of the normal difficulty for his necromancer character and he reached level thirty. He planned to commit his whole day the next day leveling up since he wanted to reach a very high level on his necromancer before they left Whaling.

    When evening arrived, everyone gathered in the suite to have a meeting and report what everyone had done. After that Anders told everyone that the next day would be a rest day since everyone looked exhausted.

    Anton had to admit that they hadn¡¯t rested ever since they arrived in Whaling and himself, who he considered the laziest in the group, was busy so it was just right for them to rest.

    Everyone was excited when they heard Anders command that the next day everyone could do whatever they wanted. Anna requested to watch a movie and their father agreed so Anton would show them a movie the next day. Anders also allowed Anna to invite her friends and their parents.

    During dinner, they also talked about the different characteristics of the continent and the country within them that they had learned so far but the fact of the matter was, that there weren¡¯t too many choices since there were only three ships that were currently docked and all of them would leave the next week so they had around four days to decide.

    They considered the continents carefully and they knew that they had only two choices left. One was the Huoxi continent and the other was the Gale continent. Most of them were leaning towards the Gale continent for two simple reasons. First, the language was mostly the same as Rendindura. The only difference was the accent and some of the words. Second, it was eight months away from Rendindura which was truly far away and that meant that there was little chance that the undead would turn their gaze towards the continent.

    They wanted to avoid Huoxi since according to all the information that they had heard, it was filled with extremely powerful beings and the continent was chaotic, full of war. It was said that the one major rule in Houxi right now was strength matters above all else.

    They spent several hours considering which place to go but one important thing stayed in everyone¡¯s mind. Since the travel time was very long, it would be very gruesome.

    Anton was a little apprehensive since almost a year in the ocean, anything could happen and because of that, he changed his mind about focusing on leveling up the next day. Instead, he would spend a few hours in the morning earning gold coins and then spending his coins on purchasing more items that he could store in his private stash and inventory. Since anything that he stored there would remain fresh, more was better.

    After dinner, Anton went to his bedroom after taking a bath and decided to unwind a bit by watching some videos but he couldn¡¯t concentrate. There was this apprehension that was growing inside of him and he couldn¡¯t figure out where it came from.

    When his father entered the room Anton talked to his father.

    ¡°Father, for some reason I¡¯m beginning to grow some weird apprehension inside of me and I¡¯m thinking that my magic is warning me somehow. Can we go to ship heading toward the Gale Continent and purchase tickets?¡±

    Anders stared at his son and Anton could see some doubt in his father¡¯s eyes but that doubt disappeared since Anton¡¯s magic did save their family so Anders decided to follow Anton¡¯s suggestion.

 Chapter 254

    The next day after breakfast, Anton and his father went to the docks to inquire about purchasing the tickets to the Gale Continent. It was very early around seven in the morning but Anton was persistent so Anders just agreed and they left for the docks.

    While they were walking, Anders informed his son when Anton asked if they had any information about why the language of the Gale Continent was mostly the same as the language from Rendindura and his father told him that it was because the citizens of the first kingdom that was established in the continent aside from the tribal natives, were from Rendindura.

    Because of the somewhat similar background to Earth, Anton suddenly wondered if this planet were a parallel dimension instead of another world but it would probably be a while before he would have the knowledge to truly know.

    When Anton and Anders arrived at the dock, both of them were flabbergasted at the sight of the ships. Anton expected their size to be just like regular ships that he had seen in the movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and that was one of the reasons why he was a bit apprehensive at the long journey they would have in the middle of the ocean but the ships in the docks were tremendously huge.

    They were as large as the cruise ships that could be found on Earth and Anton was sure that they were made using magic since with the level of technology that this world had, it was impossible for structures like those ships to exist without magic.

    Another thing they were surprised about was how chaotic the docks were and the activities worried Anton a bit.

    When they tried to stop anyone to inquire who to talk to to purchase tickets, everyone was ignoring them so the father and son were forced to approach one of the ships.

    The guards guarding the ships that they approached stopped them and when Anders inquired if it was the ship that was headed to the Gale Continent, the guard pointed at one of the huge ships that was docked in the middle of the three ships.

    Everywhere Anton and Anders looked, the people were extremely busy. Mostly they could see them carrying things to bring them into the ships.

    When they went to the ship that was supposed to be the one going to the Gale continent, they were again stopped by a guard but when Anders told the man that they were interested in purchasing tickets to the Gale Continent, one of the guards led them to a building nearby.

    Anton was surprised to learn that the one they would need to talk to was the actual captain of the ships. The guard then led them to an office and they saw the captain who was a huge man.

    ¡°Good morning captain. My name is Anders and this is my son Anton. We¡¯re interested in purchasing tickets to your ships. We want to immigrate to the Gale Continent,¡± Anders told the captain.

    ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m Captain Robertson. You¡¯re lucky that you came this early. We were about to leave. As a matter of fact, all the ships here would probably go before noon.¡±

    Anton and his father were stunned by what the captain had said. At first, Anton was wondering why the captain was talking about the ticket purchase since from what he had read from some novels, this type of transaction was handled by the lower officers, especially for a large ship as the captain was handling.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Then suddenly the captain mentioned that all the ships were leaving.

    ¡°May I ask what happened?¡± Anders asked the captain.

    ¡°Homura is now besieged by an army of the undead and we heard that there was sighting of an army from the Undead Coalition heading to this city. It¡¯s a pity. We have been traveling to this continent yearly ever since I was young but I reckoned that we will not be returning to this place for some time.¡±

    Anton and Anders looked at each other for a minute then Anders turned to the captain.

    ¡°How much for a ticket to the Gale Continent?¡±

    ¡°Normally, it would only cost a person 500 gold coins each but since this would be the last time we would be earning gold coins from passengers from this continent, it¡¯s now 1500 gold coins,¡± The captain said.

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! That¡¯s three times the price!¡± Anton¡¯s father exclaimed.

    ¡°I know but that¡¯s just how it is,¡± Captain Robertson firmly said.

    Anders was about to agree when Anton whispered to his father to not forget about the two Dire Wolves and two Spirit Wolves and Maide and Bailey then he also told his father to inquire about some sort of suite.

    Anders then began negotiating with Captain Robertson starting with inquiring if there was a suite available on the ship. Unsurprisingly, there was since the ship was astonishingly huge. There was a six-room up to a ten-room suite on the ships. Each room in the suite could house two people each and the prices start from forty thousand gold coins up to eighty thousand gold coins but the captain admitted that the prices increased was three times the normal.

    Anders agreed to rent the seven-room suite for sixty thousand gold coins and that would include the two dire wolves and two spirit wolves summoned from the golden tablet and the two horses, Maide, and Bailey, that had been with Anton and his family ever since the beginning.

    Anton asked the captain if the ship was fully equipped to feed his animals and he said that he was not the only customer who had animals on board with them. Anton also informed Captain Robertson, which surprised his father since he usually didn¡¯t divulge his status as a wizard, that he was an archmage and could assist in the defense of the ship.

    Captain Robertson said that they didn¡¯t need customers to defend the ships and that they had mages of their own so unfortunately, no discount for them.

    Anders then paid forty thousand gold coins as a deposit and the rest would be paid when they reached the Gale continent. Captain Robertson provided them contract regarding the purchase of the tickets and the tickets themselves then Anders told Anton to stay in the docks and his father would get everyone.

    Anders told Anton the night before their total gold coins so the sixty thousand gold coins were just a tenth of the gold coins that they had accumulated.

    Anton acquiesced since he actually didn¡¯t have any belongings in his room since everything was in his inventory and private stash. The captain also agreed for Anton to stay at his office since Captain Robertson would remain there for an hour or so to sign some documents.

    Anders left immediately riding his dire wolf to go to the inn where they were staying while Anton summoned his Ravens for them to look for everyone and summoned them back to the inn so they would be there when Anders arrived.

    While Anton was waiting, he saw the captain was very busy with some sort of office work and he could not help but interrupt the man.

    ¡°Captain, may I ask why you were the one selling the tickets? I assume that this type of business was handled by your lower officers.¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Most are but for special passengers like yourselves who pay top coins, I usually handle those. Please don¡¯t interrupt me again for now, I¡¯m busy since after I signed these documents, I will need to inspect the work of my officers,¡± The captain reprimanded Anton.

    He was embarrassed by the reprimand since it had been a long time since somebody did that to him. He always received respect wherever he went because of his status as an archmage and only Anna and his father treated him as a teenager.

 Chapter 255

    Anton waited several hours and even went outside Captain Robertson¡¯s office to wait for everyone.

    Everyone arrived at around eleven in the morning. Anton saw them leading the two dire wolves, the two spirit wolves, and the two horses, Maide, and Bailey. They weren¡¯t carrying anything heavy just personal bags since some of them had their own spatial items.

    Anton saw everyone¡¯s expressions were complicated and he could perfectly understand since he was feeling the same way. He was feeling a combination of fear, worry, sadness, and excitement. Fear of the Undead Coalition since they were truly fast in terms of fulfilling their plans to conquer the continent of Rendindura. Worried about their future since it was unknown. Sadness that they were leaving the place that they had lived all their lives and excitement of going to a new place.

    Anton met up with everyone and told them to follow him since Captain Robertson had already given him instructions on where they would head next once his family arrived.

    ¡°Did you encounter any difficulties?¡± Anton asked the group.

    ¡°No. We manage to sell everything that we can¡¯t carry. Those who bought our carriages are very happy since they looked very clean and new and since we are in a hurry, the buyers thought they had gotten the carriages at an extremely low price but they didn¡¯t know that the price was exactly the same as when we purchased it,¡± Frederick laughingly said, trying to lighten up the mood.

    ¡°I¡¯m said that I will not be able to see Lina and Lisa ever again,¡± Anna said referring to the merchant¡¯s daughters that she befriended.

    Anton didn¡¯t know how to console his sister so he just patted her shoulders. To his surprise, Anna suddenly hugged Anton then started bawling.

    Everyone looked at the scene with sadness in their eyes. They knew exactly how Anna felt. They were abandoning their home with tails between their legs. Everyone knew that their actions were cowardly but the Undead Coalition conquered every city they turned their gaze on.

    They also heard that the citizens of the cities that were conquered that didn¡¯t manage to escape either became undead, food, or slaves by the monsters of the Undead Coalition.

    Anton remembered back then that he foolishly thought that he would contend with the Undead Coalition by joining an organization against them once they reached a city since he thought that he was powerful enough but had learned since then that if had truly done that, he wouldn¡¯t have survived.

    Even the Supreme Mages of the powerful cities had to escape them much less him who was only an archmage. Anton even felt like he was a fake archmage since what he had was pure brute force, not learned magic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Anna. We¡¯ll watch a movie later. I have several movies wherein huge monsters attacked ships in the oceans until the ships had sunk and everyone on board had died,¡± Anton told his sister then he laughed.

    When everyone heard Anton¡¯s first half of the sentence, they gaped at him and then they heard him laugh, they realized that just like Frederick, Anton was just trying to lighten up the mood and for some reason, the extremely bad joke made everyone laugh uproariously, even Anna who still had tear streaks on her face.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    They arrived at a booth that had been constructed just below the stairs that headed up the ship. When the person in the booth saw their tickets, the man called a group of men to guide them. Anton was amused to see the ship''s personnel wearing a sailor¡¯s uniform.

    Anna noticed him smiling and asked him what was so funny. Anton, sensitive to the fact that everyone¡¯s emotion was still raw, tried to behave kindly to everyone so he answered his sister¡¯s inquiry.

    He informed his sister that the uniform of the sailor was considered a costume in some of the movies that he had seen. Then he heard Anna gasp so he looked at his sister to check what caused her to gasp.

    ¡°Are you telling me that you¡¯ve been watching movies behind our back?¡± Anna shouted.

    ¡°Sssh, not so loud. When I close my eyes to meditate, half the time, I¡¯m just watching a movie or a television show.¡±

    ¡°You can watch and hear the shows without us hearing them?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my magic, of course, I can do something like that. Even before I received the spell that allowed me to share my movies and shows from other worlds with other people, I could already access them.¡±

    Anton saw that everyone stopped walking and was gaping at him. This was the second time the group gaped at Anton.

    ¡°Are you telling us that the movies and shows came from another world?!¡± Frederick whispered.

    Anton rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Where do you think they came from? Are you not wondering why you can understand the language of the shows? It¡¯s because of my magic.¡±

    ¡°Okay, enough of that. We can talk once we¡¯re in our suite,¡± Anders told everyone.

    The men who were guiding them of course stopped as well and were waiting for them. The sailors were extremely respectful to them since they were considered highly valued passengers. Three of the men led the animals together with Devon and Colin since the handlers were still not very sure of the wolves. They also wanted to make sure that the stables were comfortable enough for the wolves and the two horses.

    Anton decided to follow Devon so he could pacify the animals by healing them and providing them with mana water.

    Admittedly, Anton got lost. He didn¡¯t know which floor he was on since he was just following the sailors but they arrived at a very large room that was full of animals. They arrived at a room where Herbivores are stabled and Maide and Bailey were stabled there. Anton added the two horses to his party system and activated all of his auras without the special effect. Then he filled their trough with mana water. The healing session calmed the horses and after they drank the mana water, they became extremely affectionate toward Anton then Maide and Bailey began resting.

    Anton was surprised to see that there was a mini horse track in the huge room and one of the sailors told him that part of the service was to exercise the animals. He was surprised and grateful when the sailor said that so he gave each one of them a gold coin.

    Then they went to another huge room but this one was so full of carnivores that it looked like a zoo. One thing Anton, Devon, and Colin noticed was all of the animals were extremely well-behaved just like the dire wolves and the spirit wolves and the sailors told them that all of the ferocious animals were mages¡¯ familiars. Now Anton understood why Captain Robertson didn¡¯t complain when they said that they had animals since it seemed like having familiars on board the ship was common enough.

    Anton did the same thing with the wolves as he did with horses. He added them to his party system and activated his auras and mana water but they didn¡¯t become affectionate towards him since their loyalty belonged to the one who summoned them. Regarding the food that the animals would consume, apparently the food for the herbivores like the horses was included on the payment they made as passengers but for carnivore familiars, their food was supposed to be provided by their owner.

    They weren¡¯t worried since they did manage to collect tons of meat while they were traveling and not only that, the ships sold meat and fish that they could purchase to feed the wolves although they had an inkling that those would be extremely costly.

 Chapter 256

    Anton observed everything that he could see while a sailor was leading him, Devon, and Colin to the suite they hired and soon they arrived on the upper floors.

    The upper floors of the ships were very luxurious in Anton¡¯s eyes and could contend with the most luxurious cruise ships that could be found on Earth. The upper floors'' hallways were interspersed with magic lights that looked the same as the enchanted Firebolt Lantern that Anton had made. He had an urge to remove one of them so he could inspect them but he knew that he wouldn¡¯t find anything since the system of enchantment or alchemy was too different from his.

    He didn¡¯t actually need to find enchanted items that he could study since Anton had enough projects to last him a while. He hadn¡¯t even started with the talisman that he planned to create.

    His next enchanted item project was to create offensive accessories that his family and friends could wear and could activate anytime they were in danger like an Ice Bolt Brooch or something like that.

    When the sailor led them to their suite, Anton was impressed anew. It was as large as the suites that they usually rented in large inns in the cities. The windows, which could be open were also huge and they could enjoy the ocean breeze and scenery and when Anton inspected the windows, he suspected that magic was involved in their creation since they were extremely sturdy.

    The sailor then left after Anders gave him some coins even though Anton had already given a gold coin to the man when he explained what the horses'' situation going to be. They all sat at the dining table placed in the center of the suite and Anton noticed that all the furniture was stuck in place, possibly to prevent every one of them from moving around during the times that ship''s movement was violent like in the middle of a storm.

    Basically, everyone was having a meeting regarding the situation of Homura being besieged by the undead but there was no new information. Anton knew that everyone was just trying to find comfort with each other.

    Anders then tasked Anton to clean everything since even though the whole suite looked clean, they still wanted to make sure, especially the girls. After everything was cleaned, all the personal things that were stored in the spatial items of the group member were retrieved and placed in their rooms.

    Anton would be sleeping in his own bedroom while Anders and Frederick share a room. Devon and Colin would be sharing one, and Anna and Lunelle would also share one. Ramona and Belinda would also share one room as well as Lucas and Nemina.

    While Anton was cleaning all the rooms and the whole suite using his Cleaning spell, he saw that the rooms were exactly the same, even the decoration. The only difference was two of the rooms were placed against the wall that faced the ocean so those were the only ones that had windows but unfortunately, those windows couldn¡¯t be opened. One of the rooms with the window was taken by Anders and Frederick and one was taken by Lucas and Nemina since Anton didn¡¯t care which room he was placed in.

    Everyone was busy filling out their rooms with personal things since they knew that they would be spending possibly more than a year on the ship.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Since the ship was still docked, they would have to provide their own food since the food service would only start once the ship started traveling.

    It wasn¡¯t a problem for them since just like Anton, everyone stored cooked food in their spatial item. What surprised Anton was every one of them had their own spatial item. Those without one purchased theirs with a huge amount of gold coins provided by Anders and Anton agreed that it was worth it.

    It was he who provided the food first since Anton knew that he had the most food stored in his private stash.

    It was a late lunch but while they were eating, they heard the voice of Captain Robertson. The captain was using some sort of speech magic to let his voice be heard by everyone on the ship.

    ¡°Good Afternoon everyone! It¡¯s time for us to depart. I¡¯m truly sorry that we must leave this place earlier than scheduled but we all know the reason why. I pray that the divines bless our journey to be peaceful but as everyone already knows, even if we encounter something dangerous in the ocean, we have three legendary mages, six supreme mages, fifteen archmages, and countless wizards on board that would protect us during our journey. Our dinner will be held at eight in the evening tonight.¡±

    Anton saw that Anna and Frederick were excited when they heard that apart from very powerful wizards, there were countless mages on board as well.

    ¡°Maybe I can find mages that are the same age as myself!¡± Anna excitedly says and based on Frederick¡¯s expression, his intention was the same.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t share anything about the movies and television show with anyone yet since we need to rest and enjoy them by ourselves first,¡± Anders told everyone and Anton highly approved.

    Suddenly each one of them felt that the ship began moving and as one, they all ran towards the window to see.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go find an open place where we can see everything!¡± Anna suddenly said all of them agreed they exited their suite and caught one of the ship¡¯s attendants to guide them to one of the decks in the ship.

    Unfortunately for Colin, he was tasked to watch their belonging so he was left behind.

    The sailor informed them that there were several decks and that their hallway was considered one of the hallways of the rich since the people staying in the suites were high-paying customers who had their own private deck.

    They had to climb several steps and while they were climbing, the attendant admitted that they were considered fourth-tier high-paying customers due to the type of suite they rented. The sailor said that the best deck belonged to the first-tier customers who rented the ten-room suites.

    Anna complained to Anders about why they didn¡¯t rent the ten-room suite and their father just ignored her. When they reached the deck exclusive to their hallway, it was already filled with people and from what the sailor told them, they were the passengers occupying the suites in the same hallways as theirs.

    Anton was again impressed by the ship''s structures and features. The deck had comfortable wooden chairs where they could sit and the deck was open. They could see the sky and the ocean but the passengers did not need to worry about falling off the rails since they were guarded by thick bars that reached to their chest.

    The girls ran to one of the sides that didn¡¯t have any passengers and they all followed them. The people on the deck looked extremely rich based on the clothing and accessories that they wearing and not only that they all look haughty but one good thing about consuming and bathing in mana water, as one, their group looked very fair like lords and ladies who never had to work a day in their lives.

    The girls were loud and kept on pointing at everything they saw but no one was complaining since instead of looking like uncultured country people, they looked like innocent and adorable ladies. Anton shook his head at the realization that beauty was a privilege in any world.

 Chapter 257

    Anton and the whole gang spent about an hour on the deck reserved for their hallway. They only left because the sun was setting. They wanted to view the sunset on the ocean, but according to one of the male passengers who circled the girls like annoying flies, the particular ship¡¯s location was not the best for sunset viewing. The sunrise would be stunning though so after thanking the man, the girls then talked about waking up early to view the sunrise.

    Then they asked two of the sailors who were loitering around to give them a tour of the whole ship.  One of the loitering sailors then said that they were there to guide them but since it was already late and in about two hours, dinner would start, it would be best if they took the tour the next day since it would take several hours.

    Anton could see that everyone was impressed at what the sailor had said. The fact that it would take hours for them to tour the whole ship meant that the ship was truly gigantic. Anton was truly delighted since in his imagination of going to another continent, it would be inside a dingy little pirate ship that would tumble around like a washing machine if there were big enough waves, and then sea monsters would attack them.

    He was hoping that it would be like the ship Merry from one of his beloved anime but he didn¡¯t expect that it would be like the Love Boat from that show in the 80s that was set inside a cruise ship. He happened to know that show since he had seen memes of that while scrolling through a famous short video website.

    Anton and the whole group returned to their suite to prepare and even that short little travel from their rooms to the deck was entertaining enough.

    When they arrived in their suite, everyone made sure that they were dressed to impress including wearing high-valued accessories, for their dinner. Nemina advised them to do so no one would look down on them.

    Nemina¡¯s plan that Anders fully agreed on was to find connections that would help them when they reached the Gale Continent. Of course, they were not in a hurry since they would spend more than a year in the ocean.

    After everyone was dressed, it was about time for them to go to the dining hall. When they exited the suite, Anton saw a man was already waiting for them.

    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m here to guide you to the dining hall. I¡¯m the sailor assigned to your suite. You can tell me whatever your wishes are and I¡¯ll make sure to complete them. My name is Harun,¡± The sailor said.

    ¡°What kind of help can you provide us?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°If you need your rooms cleaned or your clothes laundered, I can find all the help you need. I will also be your tour guide once you¡¯re ready to tour the Amelia,¡± Harun said.

    ¡°Amelia? Who¡¯s she?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Amelia is the name of our beloved ship.¡± Their sailor guide said.

    They were talking while they were walking so soon they arrived at the dining room. The room was huge. It was filled with round tables and all of the seated passengers looked rich. Musicians were playing on the stage.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°This is the dining hall for all the elite passengers that occupied the Hallways A six to A ten. Your hallway is hallway number A seven,¡± Harun said and everyone knew that it pertained to the number of rooms in the suite they rented.

    Harun then led them to one of the tables located at the outskirts and they knew that the location of the tables was based on what type of suite one rented. The hallway ten passengers were the ones nearest the stage and the hallway six passengers was the farthest.

    No one commented about how far they were at the stage since they knew that whatever entertainment the ship could provide, it would be nothing to the movies that Anton could show them.

    Harun continued explaining the different rules aboard the ships and the dining schedule. The particular table they were sitting on would be their permanent table while they were on the ship. Dinner would be formal and would be served every night together with entertainment but of course, it¡¯s not mandatory and if they didn¡¯t want to attend, they didn¡¯t have to. Breakfast was buffet style but Harun warned them that it would be simple fare. Lunch wouldn¡¯t be served by the ship. They could purchase food from the many restaurants on the ship though. Soon Harun had to stop since their food arrived.

    During dinner, Anton observed that everyone seemed to be a bit overwhelmed and his sister and the other girls were excited.  He could understand since he was too. Everything on the ship was overwhelming. It felt like it wasn¡¯t a ship from a medieval setting but from a truly magical one. It was subtle but the ship was full of enchanted items.

    The temperature and the lighting were fully controlled. The amenities, based on what he had heard so far seemed to be complete and according to Harun, there was even a swimming pool.

    Anton was a bit glad since the excitement of it all overshadowed the grief that everyone was feeling from running from their home.  While they were eating, the lights on the stage turned on and they saw a handsome older woman wearing a glittering gorgeous gown on the stage. The orchestra then began playing their instruments and the woman began singing.

    She was a soprano and her voice was vibrant. Everyone at their table was mesmerized except for Anton since he had seen and heard better opera singers from the famous streaming website but it was still nice. It was entertaining and it added a classy vibe to their dinner.

    After the soprano finished singing, Anna then commented that she was glad that they rented a suite.

    ¡°You¡¯re truly fortunate. The regular passengers couldn¡¯t enjoy this. There will be a show every dinner,¡± Harun said.

    Anton was glad that he asked his father to rent a suite but then again, Harun did mention that a quarter of the hallways from the elite passengers were not rented due to their early departure and that meant that regular passengers could upgrade if they had the money to do so. Based on Anders and Nemina¡¯s grumpy look when they heard what Harun had said, they could have saved thousands of gold coins if they did just that but since it wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure, they let go of that immediately.

    The scheduled departure of the ship Amelia was supposed to be after seven days from the day they left but everyone fully agreed with the captain regarding the ship¡¯s early departure.

    With how fast the Undead Coalition was, every knowledgeable person knew that it was a huge risk to follow the old schedule.

    Another performer climbed the stage and it was still an opera singer but this time, it was an old man when the man started singing, Anton confirmed that the man was a tenor and he had to admit that the tenor was better than the soprano.

    Even though tenor was old, all the eyes of the ladies still glittered in admiration and Anton had to hide his smile when he saw Lucas¡¯s grim look when he saw his wife admiring the singer.

    After dinner, Harun followed them to their suite and Anders invited him inside so he could tell them more about the ship¡¯s rules, spoken or unspoken, the facilities, and everything that the sailor could think of.

    Harun of course, followed obediently since the man knew that he would be receiving a generous tip from rich folks.

 Chapter 258

    The first night in the ocean was full of excitement from being elite passengers of an incredibly large magic ship. The whole group didn¡¯t let go of Harun that night until they learned a lot of information about their ship and their route.

    What truly amazed Anton was there were no schedule stops which when one thought of the logistics, should be impossible but then again, this was a magic world, and spatial items, although rare, were available.

    At first, they talked about the various locations and things they could see and do on the ship. Harun advised them that it would be better if he told them that information while giving them a tour but due to their insistence, their sailor guide reluctantly agreed to share some information although he kept muttering that it would be better if he showed them those amenities instead of telling them about it.

    Anna was excited to learn that there was an actual magic school aboard but it was mostly a group of mages who offered their services as teachers. One would have the option of hiring the tutors for one-on-one learning or applying to join a class and the main difference was, of course, the price.

    Anders frowned when Harun shared with Devon, Frederick, and Colin about the adult entertainment like the gambling hall and the red light district but Anton¡¯s father didn¡¯t say anything and just frowned on Anton as if silently saying that he was not allowed to go those places. Anton just shook his head and smiled.

    Anders, Nemina, and Lucas were interested in the other facilities like the massage parlor for singles and couples, the swimming pool, and more although Anton, germaphobe that he was, didn¡¯t have any intention of trying out the pool. Maybe if he cleaned the pool using his cleaning spell then he could use it.

    There was also a theater where one could see a play done by professional actors, for a fee of course.

    Anton was flabbergasted by the information that Harun had shared with them since the entertainment provided by the ship was truly worthy for it to be called a cruise ship. He was also surprised to learn that there was no discrimination. Except for venues exclusive to passengers renting the hallways like the deck they visited earlier and the dining hall, all the passengers even those that rented the normal rooms and the group room for the poorer people were allowed to partake of the entertainment facilities as long as they had coin.

    Of course, the cost of those amenities and facilities limited the poor passengers but Anton could understand why the ship didn¡¯t restrict anyone from spending their coin. Coin was coin wherever they came from and more than a year was a long time for people to spend in a ship without entertainment. There were even facilities that were so cheap that the poor passengers could avail of them without any issues. Examples of those were the dance hall and the lower gambling hall.

    After those positive discussions, Anders and Lucas asked for information about the dangers that the ship could face in the ocean during their travel. Pirates were one of the inevitable issues one could face while traveling the seas since the cargo and goods were still the majority of where the ship would get their profit.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    That was one of the main reasons why the owner of the Amelia hired a good number of powerful wizards to defend the ship.

    Another reason why mages were a requirement when traveling the ocean was because of the sea monsters.

    Every one of them was horrified to learn that huge ocean monsters were common enough that the ship would be attacked at least twice a week but since Harun didn¡¯t look worried, that calmed everyone down a bit. After around three hours of discussion, they finally allowed Harun to depart and the sailor guide was happy enough with the coins that he received from Anders.

    The group then didn¡¯t stop their discussion. Anders, Nemina, and Lucas talked about the amenities they wanted to check and Devon, Frederick, and Colin were the same.

    The girls discussed going shopping for the next few days. Anton suddenly thought of the fact due to his gender and age, he didn¡¯t have a clique in their group. The girls could group and Anton, even though he was supposed to be a powerful mage, due to his age couldn¡¯t be part of Devon¡¯s group especially if they were discussing adult stuff and his father, Nemina, and Lucas mostly discussed business and boring things.

    After some time, Anton told everyone that he was going to meditate in his room.

    ¡°Meditate! You¡¯re just going to watch a movie or show!¡± Anna accused Anton and he just shrugged while everyone else laughed.

    At first, Anton did think of leveling up his character but he decided to just follow what Anna had said and watch a movie then he noticed that he wasted his time watching short video clips on the famous site for short videos.

    The next day, everyone woke up early. They wanted to experience the breakfast buffet in the dining hall and when they arrived there, instead of the chaotic scene that Anton was expecting, everything was moving in a peaceful orderly pace. Harun was correct that the food was simple, just an omelet, bacon, and toast and the drink was squeezed fruit. It was simple but plentiful.

    While they were eating, Harun arrived and waited for them to finish their breakfast so he could show them all the amenities and facilities that the sailor told them the night before. They had to stop during lunchtime so they could try one of the restaurants that littered the ship and Anders invited Harun to eat lunch with them which their guide happily accepted.

    ¡°What would you have done if we didn¡¯t invite you to lunch?¡± Anton curiously asked.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t actually experienced any group who didn¡¯t invite me to eat during a first-day tour but it does happen. But mostly not because the clients were stingy or something like that but because they required privacy so we don¡¯t mind that. We do have our cafeteria where can get food but of course, the food that the passengers purchased is better compared to what we can get from the cafeteria,¡± Harun said.

    ¡°Were there any circumstances that the food in the ship wasn''t enough for the passengers and crew?¡± This time it was Devon who asked.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t experienced or heard of that happening and I¡¯ve been a sailor for ten years and the last five years was with Amelia,¡± Their guide said.

    After lunch, they continued with the tour, and just like what Harun had warned them, it did take all day. They only completed the tour at around six in the evening. When they returned to their suite, everyone went outside to explore on their own but with Ander¡¯s command, the girls had to group themselves and one of the men would need to follow them. Unluckily for Frederick, he lost whatever contest that Devon, the mage, and Colin held amongst themselves so Frederick would be the one who would guard the ladies.

    Anton decided not to explore the ship then because he was getting antsy for not leveling up his necromancer character for several hours. He knew he should not forget the fact that their survival ultimately would depend on his power here in the ocean or when they arrived in the Gale Continent.

 Chapter 259

    The next day, instead of joining the others in exploring the ship Amelia, Anton told everyone that he would need to stay in his room to meditate since it would best for him to have more power in case they encountered something dangerous while they were traveling in the middle of the ocean.

    At first, Anna teased Anton that he wasn¡¯t really meditating but watching movies and shows, and of course, everyone just ignored her. Since Anton himself did reveal that there were times during those supposed meditations when he was indeed watching something using his magic system, it was still obvious that Anton¡¯s meditation was still the process that allowed him to increase his power.

    Anton reviewed the four hoverboards that he created, and to be honest, he was really unsatisfied with how they looked since they were just rectangular boards with a joystick and switches on one side for control.  He still decided to leave them be since he wanted to focus on leveling up his character even though he wanted to explore the ship just like the others.

    The good thing about the ship was they didn¡¯t even need to use any of the enchanted items that Anton had made since the amenities were fully capable of doing the work of the enchanted items.

    As per Harun¡¯s advice to Anders, Anton didn¡¯t even clean their rooms and their suite anymore since the cleaning ladies attached to their hallway would lose some coins if they didn¡¯t clean their suite.

    The only thing that Anton needed to do was to provide mana water for everyone since the ladies, in particular Anna, would cry if they didn¡¯t receive the magical water that made them beautiful.

    That day, Anton didn¡¯t do anything but just focused on leveling up his necromancer character. He didn¡¯t even join his family for meals since he knew that they would only talk about the facilities they had visited and that would tempt Anton and more than likely his resolve to focus on leveling up would crumble and then he would start exploring the ship.

    He only stopped leveling up during meals and for two hours to practice his spells outside the Rogue Encampment. That day of leveling up allowed him to increase his necromancer level to forty five and he completed Act II of the nightmare difficulty.

    Anton joined his family in the dining hall during the formal dinner and as expected, everyone excitedly told each other what they did during the day. Anna and the other girls checked out the stores in the shopping hall and she said that everything there was truly gorgeous. The clothes, purses, shoes, hats, perfumes, pieces of jewelry, and other accessories were top-notch. They also purchased novels, notebooks, and pens.

    In the afternoon, Anna and Frederick teamed up to explore the magic community on the ship and were happily surprised by the diversity. Anna couldn¡¯t wait to enroll in some of the classes which Frederick already did.

    Unfortunately, Anna spent all her coins on clothes and other things and as punishment, Anders would give her the coins to enroll in some of the magic classes at the start of the next month, which was in three days.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Lunelle, Ramone, and Belinda were the same. They spent all their coins purchasing clothes and other accessories favored by women so all the girls were silent during dinner after they received their punishment.

    Devon and Colin didn¡¯t tell them where they went during the day even when Nemina asked them. Lucas just smiled at the men while Anders and Nemina glared but for different reasons. Anders told Devon, Colin, and Frederick that they didn¡¯t care what they did as long as they didn¡¯t invite Anton to those shenanigans, and when Anton tried to protest and tell his father that he was old enough, that he was an archmage for divine¡¯s sake, he received such a glare that Anton didn¡¯t have a choice but to remain silent regarding that situation.

    Besides, Anton wasn¡¯t really tempted. He just wanted to protest since he was mature enough to handle those types of things but based on Anders¡¯s reaction, his father didn¡¯t care.

    Lucas and Nemina went to enjoy the dancing hall for adults and Anders enjoyed a massage after swimming in the swimming pool and trying out the sauna.

    Anton just shook his head at the extravagance that the ship Amelia offered to her passengers. Devon shared some interesting information. Apparently, Captain Robertson didn¡¯t actually believe that Anton was an archmage due to how young he looked and that was the main reason why the captain didn¡¯t accept their request for a discount for adding a powerful wizard to their passenger list.

    They had to stop talking since a band of minstrels started performing on the stage. After their performance, Anton told everyone that he would still need to meditate since he was on the verge of a breakthrough and this time, even Anna didn¡¯t ease him anymore since it was obvious that Anton wasn¡¯t really confining himself to watching movies and shows in his room but trying to increase his power.

    The ship was full of entertainment that no one minded so they stopped watching the television shows for now. Honestly, no one expected that the ship would provide extensive entertainment services. Anton could see that everyone expected that their journey would be the same as what he imagined, being confined in a small boring ship for a whole year.

    After dinner, instead of everyone going back to their suite, they wanted to explore again except for the ladies who followed Anton back to the rooms.

    ¡°Why are you following me?¡¯ Anton asked the girls but they didn¡¯t answer, not until they reached the suite.

    ¡°Anton, we have no more money. Can you lend us some coins?¡± Anna wheedled when they reached the suite.

    Anton just shrugged and gave the ladies twenty gold coins each and then they all ran outside. He wondered where they would spend those coins.

    One good thing about the ship was that there were sailors acting as guards roaming the ship so the girls were fairly safe. Even if something dangerous occurred, each one of them was guarded by a tiny raven and a tiny spirit wolf. The raven was in their shoulders hiding beneath their hair while the tiny spirit wolves were inside their purses.

    Even though the summoned animals were minute, the ravens could fly fast enough to summon help and the spirit wolves were powerful enough to defend their mistresses. Each one of them was also carrying more than one wand. One of them was the wand that Anton created which was the Ice Bolt wand and they did purchase some wands from the cities they pass through.

    Once Anton reached his room, he entered the world of Sanctuary and leveled up his necromancer character again. He planned to do the same thing the next day until he was tired of it then he would explore the ship. He still had around three thousand gold coins since even though he spent a lot, he also earned a lot by doing the business of buying broken things, repairing them, and selling them while they were in major cities.

    Anton then put the ship¡¯s entertainment facilities where he would spend his gold coins at the back of his mind since he didn¡¯t want to be tempted and start exploring. He really wanted to level up his necromancer more.

 Chapter 260

    The breakfast buffet consisted of particularly delicious food, and Anton was surprised that even though it was simple, the variety was different. Harun informed them that the breakfast menu would be different every day and would only rotate weekly.

    ¡°So why did you join us for breakfast? Did you decide to begin exploring the ship?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°No. I will still focus on my meditation today even though I really want to explore. I¡¯d probably start exploring tomorrow, but I still want to join all of you during meals. What about you guys? What are you going to do today?¡±

    ¡°The girls will do everything together since I stipulated that they can¡¯t separate from each other. Aside from that, everyone will do whatever they want but Nemina, Lucas, and I will begin exploring our business prospects. We still have a ton of unsold repaired items in my storage ring and we actually haven¡¯t started selling your enchanted items yet. We¡¯ll probably be able to sell a small amount of them since there¡¯s no incoming gold in the ship,¡± Anders told him.

    ¡°I know that the girls can probably defend themselves using their wands and their familiars but are you not worried about any danger affecting them like perverts targeting them?¡± Anton asked his father but it was Lucas who answered.

    ¡°We were worried about that as well so we¡¯re looking for female mercenaries we can hire as their guards. There were a couple of applicants already so you don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±

    Anton knew that Lucas and Nemina also wanted to make sure that the girls were safe since Lunelle was their daughter.

    Anders also told Anton that if they did find some buyers, they would probably be the merchants who were selling goods on the ship but his father did assure him that they wouldn¡¯t focus too much on business.

    After breakfast, they all went their separate ways and Anton returned to the suite. He immediately entered the World of Sanctuary to continue leveling up his necromancer. Several hours passed and Anton heard some noises outside his room. He was glad that even though he was personally inside the Diablo II game fighting hordes of monsters he was still connected to the real world somehow and Anton could still perceive sensations like touch and hearing especially if he was in a place where he expected not to be disturbed.

    Anton exited his Diablo II game to find out what disturbed his leveling up and when he went out of his room he saw his father, Nemina, and Lucas interviewing a bunch of muscular women who looked like they were fierce warriors and he then remembered that Lucas did tell him that they were interviewing women guards for the girls.

    There were around ten women who were being interviewed but since it was lunchtime, he couldn¡¯t help but disturb his father.

    ¡°Father, it¡¯s time for lunch,¡± He softly told Anders.

    ¡°I forgot. Let me call Harun and order food for us.¡±

    ¡°If we order now, it will probably take a while before the food arrives. Let me handle our lunch for today.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Anton then retrieved food from his private stash inside the Rogue Encampment where his necromancer character was parked. He made sure that the food was enough for all of them including all of the women and since he knew that warriors normally had huge appetites, he made sure that the food would be plenty enough to satisfy everyone. He was just glad that he purchased a lot of cooked food from the restaurants where he had been where he found the food tasty and made sure to purchase countless amounts of them.

    At first, the women mercenaries were surprised but they calmed down immediately since wizards in the ship were not an uncommon site. Anton was just glad that the dining table was big enough although there were only eight dining chairs. Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t move the chairs scattered in the suite since every piece of furniture appeared to be nailed down since it was a ship so those who didn¡¯t fit at the dining table had to sit on the sofa and the other chairs scattered in the suite.

    Anton arranged the food buffet style and the women warriors were not shy at all. He had to retrieve more food from his Private Stash inside the game and Anton doubted that the women mercenaries may have been starving.

    After lunch, Anton stayed since he wanted to listen in to his father, Lucas, and Nemina interviewing the women mercenaries, and to be honest, even though they were fierce warriors, all of them looked attractive. They looked like the Amazon actresses from the movie Wonder Woman and a couple of them even resembled Wonder Woman herself. One of them even had some similarities to the Amazon from his Diablo II game system.

    Basically, every one of them was on this ship for the same reason as them. Running from the Undead Coalition. All of them were currently staying in the cheapest rooms where one could stay on the ship and according to the women, almost all of them had to spend all of their coins purchasing the ticket going to the Gale Continent.

    What flabbergasted Anton was all of the women were using the sob story strategy to get hired and when they noticed that the sob stories didn¡¯t affect his father, Nemina, and Lucas they changed their strategy to show off their capabilities which they should have been doing from the start in Anton¡¯s opinion.

    After that Anton got bored and informed his father that he would return to meditating so he entered his room entered his Diablo II system and continued leveling up his Necromancer Character.

    At around six in the evening, he stopped leveling up and exited the game. He was proud of himself for his focus on leveling up his necromancer and he did complete the Hell Difficulty and reached level sixty. Now he could focus on just leveling his necromancer to the maximum level as well as farming gears for his druid character. He decided to create a plan for using his system. Two hours for leveling up, two hours for farming gears, two hours for practicing enchanting but that would probably be limited since there were not too many materials aboard the ship, and then lastly, two hours practicing spells.

    That meant that his system would take up eight hours a day so his initial schedule would be starting after breakfast up until four in the afternoon and the rest of the time would be spent on whatever he wanted to do. Of course, that plan was subject to change depending on what needed to be done. For example, if he needed to increase his power as soon as possible, he would increase the leveling-up time or if he needed to create more enchanted items, he would increase the enchanting time, or if he was feeling burnt out, he could skip a day and just rest by watching shows or exploring the ship.

    That plan made Anton happy since that meant that he could avoid burning himself up and could still enjoy exploring the ship since he felt like he was missing out but then again he knew that if he spent his time enjoying himself, he would feel guilty for not using the time to increase his level so he could increase his power which was the tool that would make sure that everyone survive this dangerous world.

    Harun did inform them that the ship was regularly attacked twice a week, sometimes less but oftentimes, more than twice. Anton suddenly wondered if a Kraken tasted like a regular octopus. Maybe he could introduce Takoyaki to this world.

 Chapter 261

    Anton was a bit happy for the work that he did that day leveling up his necromancer character and creating a plan of utilizing his system. He was feeling antsy but now it felt like there was an itch that he successfully scratched.

    He prepared himself by taking a bath with mana water and changing his clothes. While doing so, Anton felt that the owner of the ship was truly extravagant by putting a bathroom in every room in the suite, and based on what Harun had told them before, the water that came out of the spout in the bathroom was ocean water converted to fresh water by one of the ship mages.

    Still, everyone preferred Anton¡¯s mana water. When he left his room, he saw two muscular women seated on the sofa where the mini living room set was placed. He could also see that those two woman had their bags near their feet.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Anton and Anders is my father,¡± Anton introduced himself to the two warrior women.

    Anton suddenly felt the urge to continue watching Xena: Warrior Princess.

    ¡°We know sir. Mr. Sunder told us who you are and that you are an archmage at a very young age. He also mentioned that it was because of your magic that your family survived the invasion of the undead. My name is Esther and this is Fronta,¡± The woman with the dark hair said.

    The brunette was named Esther and the red-head was named Fronta and Anton found their names a bit weird. One was so normal that it didn¡¯t fit the brunette and the other sounded a bit lewd to him for some strange reason that he put it at the back of his mind. He was also a bit startled when Esther called Anders Mr. Sunder since he had almost forgotten the last name that he received when he was awarded the title of a Baron in Zalnothel.

    Soon everyone exited their rooms wearing new clothes and the ladies wore their pieces of jewelry and accessories.

    ¡°So you met the two mercenaries that we hired to guard your sister and the others,¡± Anders said to Anton.

    ¡°Esther will be sleeping in Anna and Lunelle¡¯s room while Fronta will be with Ramona and Belinda,¡± Anton¡¯s father continued.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s not allowed, Father. I read in the contract that the rooms in the suite could only hold up to two people,¡± Anton told Anders.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll just upgrade. We¡¯ll talk to Harun later after dinner.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that it will not cost a lot since a third of the suites are empty, Let me handle the negotiations,¡± Nemina added.

    The two new women bodyguards remained silent and Anton was amused that Devon, Frederick, and even Colin were eyeing the fierce women.

    ¡°Before we continue, if anyone in the group is not welcoming your advances, please stop immediately!¡± Nemina said while looking at her son, the mage, and Anton¡¯s assistant. The three behaved like the reminder was not for them.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, Ms. Nemina. We can handle ourselves. I even cut off a man¡¯s genitalia once. He attempted to accost me while we were on a mission,¡± Fronta said.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    All of the men, including Anton, gulped and Anna looked at the warrior women admiringly.

    ¡°You two are like Xena! Can we watch them later Anton? I miss watching them,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Who is Xena?¡± Esther asked.

    ¡°Xena is a warrior princess. She even fought with gods!¡± Anna excitedly told her new bodyguard.

    Harun arrived to guide them to the dining hall and noticed the two new warrior women.

    ¡°Uum sirs, the two new guards are not allowed to join you at your dining table,¡± Harun softly advised Anders.

    ¡°We¡¯re planning to upgrade. Can you lead us to your captain?¡± Harun excitedly nodded and Anton wondered if their guide would earn a commission.

    Harun led them to the captain¡¯s office which took a whopping twenty-minute walk. Anton wondered anew at how large the ship was.

    ¡°Mr. Sunder, how can I help you?¡± The captain asked Anders.

    Only Anton and Nemina joined Anders at the captain¡¯s office. The others waited outside with Harun.

    ¡°We want to upgrade to an eight-room suite since we hired a couple of new female bodyguards for our girls,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to upgrade since you can allow them to remain in their rooms and they could just join you during their work hours,¡± Captain Robertson said.

    ¡°How can they guard the girls if they¡¯re not living with us?¡± Nemina added.

    After that, the negotiation started. It was fierce since the captain and Nemina were both experienced hagglers. Anders became a bystander and Anton was fascinated by the captain and Nemina¡¯s battle.

    In the end, Anton felt Nemina won since they only needed to pay the captain an extra thousand gold coins to have their suite upgraded to the eight-room suite.

    Anton knew that what made Nemina win was that she pointed out that the suites were empty anyway and that because they would be living in a larger suite, the coins that the ship would earn from their daily expenses would increase as well. Nemina waxed eloquently on how much coins Amelia would earn from them since not only the daily expenses because the two new mercenaries would receive compensation, and the two new bodyguards would also spend their gold on the ship. She also added more and that defeated the captain but the root of the matter was the suites were empty anyway.

    After around thirty minutes of negotiations, the captain called Harun and informed the guide to lead their group to the new dining table assigned to the eight-room suite that they would transfer to.

    Anton was impressed at the new female bodyguards since even though they were nervous, they didn¡¯t show it too much.

    That night, the show on the stage was some sort of play and the whole group was watching the play while eating. Since Anton and his group were used to watching shows, they didn¡¯t care too much and continued eating and talking but the two new bodyguards almost forgot to eat while watching the play.

    After dinner, Harun led them to the new suite so they would be aware of its location and their guide told them that he would show them the exclusive areas for their new hallway the next day.

    Since everyone could just store their things in their spatial items, it was simple enough for everyone to transfer. When they arrived in the suite, even though everything looked clean, Anton was tasked to use his Cleaning spell on every area of the suite until everything was gleaming.

    Then everyone selected their new rooms. Anton was still assigned alone to a room while the eighth room was given to Esther and Fronta.

    After everyone arranged their room, everyone took their soiled clothes to the dining table and Anton cleaned them using his cleaning spell, and that took him no time at all.

    He also offered to clean Esther and Fronta¡¯s belongings and since the two new bodyguards saw that Anton only took a few seconds to clean everything, they gave everything to Anton but this time, he used Charsi so that their belongings would be repaired.

    When all of their belongings were returned to them, the two women exclaimed at how everything looked new. They focused more on their leather set armor and their sword and shield and their eyes gleamed at how their weapons and armor looked like they were newly forged.

 Chapter 262

    That night, Colin set up the white blanket that they were using as the projector screen on one of the walls. The unfortunate thing was they couldn¡¯t drag the chairs to face the wall where the screen was set up so they decided just to sit on the floor and use thick blankets and pillows to make the floor comfortable. All of them did purchase a lot of blankets and pillows since they knew that they would probably need them during their journey and carrying a lot of things was not a problem for them due to their spatial items. Since the floor was cleaned by Anton, it was also not a problem to scatter the pillows and the blankets there.

    Anton saw Esther and Fronta were confused about what everyone was doing and when the show started, he could see the two new bodyguards exclaiming while watching the show. They were so focused on watching Xena: Warrior Princess that they forgot to maintain their stoic expression and became normal folks watching an exciting television show.

    After the show ended, the two bodyguards kept asking questions since Anna welcomed them.

    ¡°Should I start the next episode of Hercules?¡± Anton asked and everyone agreed but before the show started, they heard an alarm.

    Harun informed them the alarm would happen if the ship were being attacked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out!¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°Be careful,¡± Anders said to his son.

    Some of them wanted to follow Anton but Anders and Lucas forbade anyone else from exiting the suite. Harun informed them that during emergencies, no one was allowed to leave the rooms except the ship¡¯s mages, and since Anton was a powerful wizard, they knew that he could defend himself from any danger that might attack the ship.

    Anton got a glimpse of the two new bodyguards¡¯ expressions regarding him leaving the room. It was obvious that they thought of his action as foolhardy and that meant that even if they knew that Anton was a powerful mage, they didn¡¯t believe that he was truly an archmage.

    Since he didn¡¯t know where the deck assigned to their suite was located, he simply went to the deck that he knew. At first, the sailors that encountered him reprimanded him so to avoid anyone stopping him, Anton activated his auras¡¯ special effects so anyone who encountered him would think that he was one of the ship¡¯s mages.

    He saw Harun and immediately asked the sailor to lead him to where the battle was happening. Harun, of course, did not agree and scolded him.

    ¡°Please return to your suite Mr. Sunder!¡±

    Anton didn¡¯t want to bother quarreling with Harun so he simply picked the sailor up using his Telekinesis spell.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t lead me there, I¡¯ll just throw you into the sea!¡± Anton simply said then moved the sailors to the window.

    Harun then shouted that he would lead him to the battle. Apparently, the one attacking the ship was a Kraken, and a medium-sized one at that. Anton turned off the special effects of his auras.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    They arrived at the large front deck where the Kraken was using its many tentacles to encircle the ships and even though the monster was considered ¡°medium-sized¡±, it was huge enough that it managed to encircle one-fourth of the ship using its tentacles.

    ¡°Harun, is that octopus edible?¡± Anton asked the sailor.

    Anton saw the powerful mages of Amelia attacking the monster and he could see that the ones attacking were only archmages. He could come to that conclusion based on the power of the spells that the mages who were flying above showed but of course, since his understanding of this world¡¯s magic was shallow, he wasn¡¯t truly sure if the mages attacking the monster were just archmages and not Legends or Supremes.

    He remembered that he hadn¡¯t seen any wizards higher than archmages before.

    ¡°The Kraken is edible and they¡¯re considered a delicacy but the best option right now without the higher-ranking mages, is to drive the monster away,¡± Harun answered.

    Anton saw that one of the huge tentacles was near them so he immediately cast several Ice Blasts near the root of the tentacle. His intention was to freeze a part of the tentacle then use another spell to fracture and cut it off then he would store the tentacle in his private stash.

    When he saw that the tentacle wasn¡¯t moving anymore due to the section that he cast his Ice Blast into froze that part, he then cast several Fire Bolts in an attempt to cut off the tentacle. When Anton and Harun heard the crack, Anton intensified his attack on the frozen part of the tentacle until he successfully cut it off.

    Anton immediately stored the cut-off tentacle in his private stash then he hid behind the door that they used to enter the deck, taking Harun with him using Telekinesis.

    After a while, the Kraken was driven away by the ship¡¯s mages. Anton thought of leaving but then again several mages surrounded the place where he was hiding.

    Anton released Harun then the sailor ran out immediately informing the ship¡¯s mages to stop.

    The mages ignored Harun and then confronted Anton.

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± One of the mages said.

    ¡°My name is Baron Anton Sunder and I¡¯m an archmage from Zalnothel. When we rented a suite to your ship, my family did inform Captain Robertson that I¡¯m an archmage. I was just curious about the monster that was attacking the ship then Harun here said that the Kraken was a delicacy so I took one of its tentacles. As an apology, I, of course, would share half of that tentacle with you guys,¡± Anton said to the mages.

    Harun gasped when he heard Anton blaming him for the action of cutting up the tentacle due to the information that he provided that it was supposed to be a delicacy.

    After a few seconds, the mage who looked to be the group¡¯s leader asked a question to Anton.

    ¡°Could you have killed the Kraken?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was wondering why you let it go but I knew that for something like this battle, there could be a reason like avoiding future battles with its family or something like that,¡± Anton replied.

    At first, the other mages looked like they wanted to refute what Anton had said but they did see him cut off a tentacle without effort.

    ¡°How old are you?¡± the leader of the mage suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen years old,¡± Anton simply answered and every one of the mages including Harun gasped when they heard Anton¡¯s age.

    ¡°You can go.¡± The leader of the mages said but Anton knew that this situation wasn¡¯t resolved yet.

    Anton simply bowed and asked Harun to lead him back to the suite.

    ¡°Harun, I¡¯m sorry for using you like that. As an apology, I¡¯ll give parts of the tentacle.¡±

    Anton stopped for a moment then sawed off a part of the tentacle using a knife and was amazed at how tender it was even though when he was cutting it off, it took him a while to slice off the tentacle.

    He gave the sliced-off tentacle that looked to be around three kilograms to Hamil and even though the sailor kept saying that he didn¡¯t need to be given the meat, he still accepted it and his face was full of smiles.

    When Anton and Harun returned to the suite, the sailor left without entering and he entered the suite.

    Everyone was waiting at the dining table and the living room and when they saw Anton entering, they looked relieved.

 Chapter 263

    ¡°What did you see?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked him.

    ¡°Our ship was attacked by what they called a middle-sized Kraken. Even though it was supposed to be middle-sized, its tentacles managed to wrap about a quarter of the ship so the Kraken monster was gigantic. The ship¡¯s mages were very powerful and managed to drive the monster off even though the only ones who moved were not the most powerful wizards employed by the ship. I managed to slice off a tentacle since according to Harun, it¡¯s a delicacy and as huge as four carriages!¡±

    ¡°Did you have any trouble cutting off the tentacle?¡± Lucas asked and Anton understood that the warrior wanted to know how the defenses of the Kraken were.

    ¡°It was a bit tough. I froze off the section of the tentacle near the root and then shattered the frozen part with a spell until I separated the tentacle from the octopus monster so when our sailor guide told me that it was a delicacy, I doubted it but when I sliced off a small part of the tentacle to give to Harun as a reward since I used him as a scapegoat, the meat was sliced off without any effort at all. It was so tender that I could imagine that once we ate part of it, it would melt in our mouths. I¡¯m guessing that once a part of the Kraken¡¯s flesh was separated from the monster, the vitality that was supporting it would leave and that would make the meat tender,¡± Anton said and he could not help but swallow when he imagined the tender meat of the Kraken tentacle.

    ¡°What do you mean about making Harun your scapegoat?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Well, after the battle, the mages, of course, were a bit angry that somebody barged in on their battle so I told them that I was an archmage passenger and that Harun told me that the Kraken was a delicacy that¡¯s why I sliced off a tentacle.¡±

    Anders glared at him while everyone else laughed. Even Lucas, who wanted to be serious, couldn¡¯t help but laugh a little.

    They all sat at the dining table and the lounge set and wanted to continue talking about the situation.

    ¡°Are we still going to watch Hercules?¡± Anna asked and Anders told her that it was late.

    Suddenly they heard knocking on their door and when Colin opened it, everyone saw that there were three visitors and one of them was Captain Robertson. Anton knew that the other two were mages and extremely powerful mages at that. Anton could feel the magical aura coming off from the two mages and he saw that Frederick and Anna felt it as well.

    Anders immediately stood and greeted the visitors.

    ¡°Captain! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit tonight? I also wanted to congratulate you for successfully driving off the Kraken that attacked Amelia,¡± Anton¡¯s father told the captain.

    ¡°This is the Archmage Denube and the Supreme Atrosnu. They wanted to talk to you about Anton¡¯s behavior earlier during the battle with the Kraken,¡± Captain Robertson said.

    Anders invited the three men inside the suite and with Nemina¡¯s urging, everyone went to their rooms except Anton then the three visitors, Anton and his father sat in the mini living room.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Anton kept forgetting the hierarchy of the wizards so he reminded himself that it was supposed to be High Wizard, then Archmage, then Supreme, and then Invincible next, and then finally ¡°God¡± which according to the Archmage Voduria wasn¡¯t truly an official rank like Invincible but was just a name given to those who went beyond the Invincible rank. Apparently, there were so few of them in the history of this world that there was no official name given to someone who went beyond Invincible.

    ¡°I would like to apologize for my son¡¯s behavior. He is usually well-behaved despite becoming very powerful at a young age but as you know, teenagers, especially young men, are hot-blooded and would sometimes forget themselves,¡± Anders told the captain and the two ship wizards.

    Anton was curious about the Supreme rank mage so he kept trying to detect the magical essence coming off the man but the only difference that he could say from the supreme mage to the archmage one was the size of the magical essence that he could feel and that was about it.

    ¡°Is your son truly seventeen years old?¡± The Supreme Atrosnu said.

    ¡°Yes. He would be turning eighteen in a few months in December so basically while we¡¯re on this ship!¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Is it true that you said to one of our mages that you could have defeated the Kraken by yourself?¡± Archmage Denube asked Anton.

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s just I avoided taking part in the battle since I thought that there was a reason why the other mages didn¡¯t want to kill off the monsters like maybe it would provoke other monsters or something like that. Again, I apologized for cutting off a tentacle since according to someone I know, it should be a delicacy and I just wanted to taste it,¡± Anton said.

    The two ship¡¯s wizards look at each other.

    ¡°May I ask a delicate question? Who informed you that you are an archmage rank?¡± The supreme Atrosnu asked.

    ¡°The wizards of Zalnothel conducted a couple of tests on me. First was the globe that was supposed to determine the rank of a wizard then after a group of wizards from the said city said they needed to make it official it was held in a large room with an array. After that, I was also awarded the title of Baron. My father has all the documents.¡±

    Anders went to his room to get the documents when the ship¡¯s mages expressed the desire to view the papers then after Anton¡¯s father returned, he handed the documents to the mages.

    The two mages reviewed the documents in detail which surprised Anton a bit while the captain and his father separated themselves to discuss business.

    Anton thought that maybe after the ship¡¯s mages reviewed the documents, they would retrieve some sort of magical device to test Anton¡¯s magical aptitude but after around thirty minutes of reviewing the documents in-depth, it seemed like the ship¡¯s archmage and supreme accepted Zalnothel¡¯s ranking without any problem.

    ¡°Archmage Anton, I¡¯m truly surprised by your talent for reaching your rank at a surprisingly young age. You don¡¯t need to share with us the loot that you¡¯ve taken from the Kraken but we still advised you not to join any of the ship¡¯s battles since any intrusion or interruption could result in unintended consequences. We do appreciate your willingness to help out and it¡¯s understandable since the ship¡¯s safety is also your and your family¡¯s safety but please trust our wizards. If we truly need your help, please wait for us to call you,¡± The Supreme Atrosnu said and Anton assured one of the ship¡¯s Supremes that he would not make the same mistake again.

    Honestly, the fact that the ship¡¯s wizard did not want Anton to partake in the ship¡¯s defenses was what he preferred. He was relieved to learn the firepower of the ship was tremendous and the fact that his power wasn¡¯t needed made him so relieved that some sort of vague burden was lifted from him.

    The captain and the two ship¡¯s wizards said their goodbyes and left their suite. The captain did ask Anders about the blanket hanging from one of the walls and the pillows and blankets scattered on the floor and Anton¡¯s father told the captain and the ship¡¯s wizard that it was used to watch a show that came from one of Anton¡¯s spells. The mages asked if they could watch as well so they could check out the spell and Anders informed them that they would prepare an event for that. The captain offered the stage tomorrow and Anders agreed.

 Chapter 264

    ¡°What did those wizards say?¡± Anders asked his son.

    Everyone left their room to listen to what the ship¡¯s powerful wizards said to Anton.

    ¡°They just basically said that it was impressive that I reached my level of power at a young age but they would still prefer for me not to barge in on their fights,¡± Anton told everyone and Anna laughed.

    ¡°What movie are you planning to show the captain and the others tomorrow night during dinner?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m planning to show the movie Titanic,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it in bad taste to show a movie about a sinking ship to an actual ship¡¯s passengers? Even though to be honest, I like that movie. It¡¯s an epic love story that is so hopeful at the beginning but truly sad at the end,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°It is but the movie is an epic one and it will show the captain and the ship mages how immature I am. That¡¯s a message from me to them not to treat me seriously and just treat me as a teenager since I don¡¯t want to embroil myself with the ship¡¯s wizard politics, if there¡¯s any, so don¡¯t tell anyone that you know what movie I¡¯m planning to share.¡±

    ¡°When are we planning to taste that Kraken tentacle?¡± Devon asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Harun¡¯s help with that,¡± Anders said.

    They cleaned up the living room of everything they used to watch the television show then after that they rested for the night.

    The next day, Harun guided them to the dining hall since their guide wanted to make sure that they went to the right table assigned to their suite since they had just upgraded their suite. While they were eating breakfast Anders asked Harun¡¯s help regarding tasting the Kraken tentacle meat and their guide informed Anton¡¯s father that he would lead them to a restaurant wherein the chefs could prepare the food expertly when they were ready to do so Anton suggested that they should do it the next day since he wanted to explore the ship by himself and that meant that they wouldn¡¯t be able to meet during lunch and during dinner, they were scheduled to present a movie to entertain the captain and probably some of the ship¡¯s mages.

    At first, Anton thought of asking Harun to guide him but then decided that it would be much more exciting to discover the amenities of the ship by himself. After breakfast, they all went their separate ways. The girls still grouped themselves together followed by the two newly hired female bodyguards.

    Devon and Frederick went together while Colin, acting as Ander¡¯s assistant went somewhere else. Lucas and Nemina continued their second honeymoon.

    Anton didn¡¯t know where to go so he just walked around and enjoyed the ship¡¯s decorations. He was walking around when he saw a group of serious-looking youths heading toward somewhere. He decided to follow them since he knew that where the youths gathered should be a fun place since the young men and women looked like they were just in high school which meant the same age as his apparent age of around sixteen to nineteen years old.

    He saw then entered an ornate door and thought maybe it was some sort of secret party or a gaming club but when he entered the door it was disappointingly a library. The room was huge and filled with bookshelves and in one corner, the chairs and tables and lounges were placed and a lot of people were sitting there reading.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    There was a counter with a pretty librarian reading a book. Anton thought of checking out the books in the library but a read on some of the books casually displayed, the books were just a combination of facts and fiction and not magic books. He had access to the internet so he was not interested in checking something like a fiction library for now. He would inform the girls about this library though since they might be interested. He immediately went out of the library to continue his exploration.

    Anton knew that a year was a long time and that meant that this was not going to be the last time he would enter the library. He walked around some more and overheard a noise coming from another room. When he entered it, it was some sort of a bar with a stage or should he call it a tavern?

    A female minstrel was singing on the stage and Anton was impressed at the beautiful voice coming out of the woman. She was playing a stringed instrument that looked like his old lute. The main difference was that the minstrel¡¯s voice and instrument could be heard clearly in every corner of the room as if the minstrel was singing and playing using a microphone. Anton knew that it was some sort of sound amplification magic.

    Anton tried to find a table with empty seats but all of them were occupied by customers. He found a table in one corner occupied by a couple of women but there was one empty chair so he went there and asked the ladies if he could join them.

    At first, the two ladies examined Anton but when they saw that he was focused on the minstrel¡¯s singing, they allowed him to join him.  Anton understood that they just didn¡¯t want to be bothered by men hitting on them when they clearly just wanted to listen to the minstrel as well.

    Anton was impressed by the lady minstrel¡¯s voice but the song that the lady minstrel chose was too simple and didn¡¯t allow her to display her voice¡¯s range. He almost laughed loudly at himself for pretending to be some sort of music expert judging others on their singing and their song choice.

    After the minstrel finished, everyone clapped then it appeared that it would take a few minutes before the next performance but he could see that the next performer was already readying himself.

    Anton knew that the time gap was to allow the audience to have a bit of conversation or order some drinks and food from the tavern¡¯s waiters but he concluded that this place was primarily focused on watching and listening to musicians.

    ¡°So what do you think of Lady Blue¡¯s performance?¡± One of the girls who were sitting with him on the table asked.

    ¡°Her name¡¯s Lady Blue? How odd. Her voice is beautiful but the song that she picked for this performance was not enough to display her vocal prowess,¡± Anton said and the two girls laughed.

    ¡°Did I say something funny?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Lady Blue is just her stage name and since it¡¯s only around nine in the morning, she will not pick a song that will strain her voice so early. Most of the important and rich customers that could potentially hire her as her patron usually arrived late in the afternoon,¡± One of the ladies said.

    ¡°Hello ladies, my name is Anton. So you¡¯re saying that this place is where bards or minstrels that don¡¯t have a patron perform to potentially find clients?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Antonia and this is Lucia. It¡¯s funny that our name is the same. This is called the Patron Tavern and the owner of this tavern is a famous musician but also the relative of the ship¡¯s owner. The purpose of this tavern is for the rich folks who are staying on the ship to find a private entertainer that will entertain them in their suite during their travel. You know thirteen or fourteen months is a very long time and some of those very rich people wanted to have music all the time,¡± The girl called Antonia said.

    ¡°I see. How can the performers have the opportunity to play on the stage of this tavern?¡±

    ¡°Just put your name on the list then one of the waiters will tell you what time you can play. Normally, the morning list is almost always clear since the performers wanted to begin performing late afternoon when the rich folks arrived,¡± Lucia added.

 Chapter 265

    ¡°What if the performer was terrible?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°That does happen but rarely. The audience will just boo the performer until they stopped and leave the stage but aside from humiliating themselves, nothing will happen to them,¡± Antonia said.

    Anton suddenly wondered how this audience would react to his singing and some of the songs from Earth. Based on his experience, people from this world liked his voice so he immediately flagged a waiter to order an ale and asked the two ladies if they wanted one as his tread but they declined. Then he asked the waiter to list him as a performer. The two ladies were surprised when they heard Anton asking the waiter to add his name to the list of performers that morning.

    ¡°You¡¯re next then after this one since nobody else wanted to play after him,¡± The waiter said then he went to retrieve his order.

    ¡°So you¡¯re a minstrel as well? Don¡¯t you want to wait till this afternoon?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a minstrel. I just wanted to check the audience¡¯s reaction to my voice and playing,¡± Anton answered.

    He was an introvert but Anton never experienced any stage fright based on his small amount of experience busking in some of the cities that they traveled to.

    The next performer was a middle-aged man and just like Lady Blue, he had a very beautiful baritone voice but also selected a song that would not strain a vocal cord. Anton knew that the performers were early, possibly for practice or warm-up before they gave their all this afternoon.

    Anton concluded that the performers who performed in this tavern were truly the elite ones.

    ¡°The two performers that I listened to so far are truly good. Why are they looking for patrons?¡± Anton asked the two ladies after the man completed his song.

    ¡°A lot of bards and minstrels have a spirit of adventure in their bodies and they sometimes travel for the sake of seeing different audiences that would love them. But of course, just like everyone, they were here to escape the undead. Are you not going to prepare, it¡¯s your time to perform,¡± Lucia said.

    Anton just smiled and after a few minutes went to the stage. He retrieved his guitar from his inventory and made sure that it was in tune. He then started playing the introduction to the Journey song ¡°Open Arms¡±. The songs by the band Journey were already proven by Anton to be liked by people of this world based on the audience¡¯s reaction when he sang their songs in Leminthor.

    Then Anton closed his eyes and belted the high notes of the song ¡°Open Arms¡±. When he completed the song, he stood up and bowed but then everyone shouted ¡°Encore!¡± so he started the opening intro of another Journey song that he had already sung in his world which was ¡°Don¡¯t Stop Believing¡±.

    When he completed the song, Anton saw that everyone was standing up and clapping enthusiastically. That meant that the audience liked his performance.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    He joined Antonia and Lucia at their table again while the people he passed by tried to shake his hands.

    ¡°You¡¯re a very good singer. If you had sung your songs this afternoon, I don¡¯t doubt that you would have found yourself a patron in no time. You also looked young and very handsome so more than likely more than one patron would be clamoring to hire you,¡± Antonia said to him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking for a patron. I just want to know the reaction of the audience to my voice they looked like they liked it,¡± Anton said while smiling.

    ¡°Look no one wanted to follow your performance,¡± Lucia said while giggling.

    The waiter then arrived and gave Anton three pieces of paper.

    ¡°What are these?¡± Anton asked the waiter and the man looked surprised.

    Antonia shooed the waiter away meaning that she would take the responsibility of explaining the papers to him.

    ¡°Those are patrons looking to hire you,¡± Antonia simply said.

    ¡°But I thought they were supposed to arrive during the late afternoon,¡± he asked the ladies.

    ¡°That¡¯s the normal custom but one can¡¯t control what people would do. That meant that a few of those who were looking to hire are already here,¡± Lucia said.

    The waiter returned and gave Anton another four pieces of paper which made Antonia and Lucia laugh.

    ¡°What would I do with these? Again, I¡¯m not really a minstrel and looking for a patron.¡±

    The two ladies laughed and told him to call the waiter and simply asked the man to return the papers and inform those who gave the papers that you¡¯re not looking for a patron so that was what Anton did. The waiter looked surprised again before the man left, he reminded the waiter to inform the patron that was not a bard or a minstrel that¡¯s why he wasn¡¯t looking for a patron.

    ¡°What are you then?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m a mage and my father is a rich businessman. I want to invite you ladies to watch the entertainment in the dining room tonight. It would be an epic one that would last for three hours so prepare yourselves,¡± Anton told the two ladies.

    ¡°Which hall?¡± Antonia asked.

    Anton was startled and asked, ¡°There¡¯s more than one?¡±

    The two ladies rolled their eyes and called a waiter. They asked him to find where Anton¡¯s suite was. The waiter asked for his name and when he told the man his first and last name, he also used his title as a baron, and that truly surprised the ladies. The waiter then left to find the information.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re the baron and not your father?¡¯ Lucia asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m the baron. My father doesn¡¯t have a title. Zalnothel awarded me the title for reaching archmage rank at age seventeen,¡± Anton told the ladies since there was no need to hide what he was but then he laughed.

    The ladies were truly startled at first but when he laughed, they thought that he was joking so they rolled their eyes at him again but then the waiter returned and this time it was obvious that the man was behaving oddly which made Anton and the two ladies curious.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, your hallway is Hallway 8-A. Your dining room is dining room A,¡± The waiter said softly as if afraid of offending him, and this time the ladies gasped then the waiter left.

    ¡°So you¡¯re really an archmage?!¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°Are you really seventeen and not an old man using his magic to disguise himself?¡± Antonia asked.

    This time, it was Anton who rolled his eyes at them.

    ¡°That¡¯s the reason I was awarded the Baron title because of my age.¡±

    ¡°So there would truly be a three-hour entertainment later tonight?¡± Lucia asked and Anton simply said that it would be an epic one and that they would not be disappointed.

    They then informed him that they would join the dining room A tonight to what kind of entertainment that would last for three hours. Since there was no one singing, the audience clamored for Anton to sing again, which made the waiter nervous since he now knew that Anton was an archmage. The two ladies just shook their heads but Anton obliged the audience and went up to the stage.

    Anton sang another couple of Journey songs which were ¡°Anyway You Want It¡± and ¡°Faithfully¡±. He received a resounding applause again then he returned to where Antonia and Lucia were sitting.

 Chapter 266

    Anton was talking to Lucia and Antonia about different things one could find in the Amelia that would entertain a person with coins. He couldn¡¯t believe it when the two girls said that this was the second time they experienced traveling to Rendindura in the Amelia. They nervously admitted that they were related to the owner of the ship and when they saw that he didn¡¯t react to that information, the two girls were very obviously relieved.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re reacting like that. Does being related to the ship¡¯s owner need to be kept a secret?¡± Anton asked the girls.

    The girls¡¯ jaws dropped when they heard Anton¡¯s question. Then they saw that Anton didn¡¯t really know the significance of being related to the ship¡¯s owner which was understandable since aside from being young, he was also a citizen of Rendindura and not their home country.

    ¡°Lucia and I are cousins and our uncle, who is the owner of Amelia has several ships like this and is the richest man in New Drennor in the Gale Continent. We were told repeatedly not to divulge that information since it could be dangerous for us,¡± Antonia said nervously.

    Anton rolled his eyes at the two girls again.

    ¡°Then why did you tell me? What if I¡¯m someone who has nefarious intentions?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a good singer so I don¡¯t believe you can be that kind of person,¡± Lucia said but then she blushed when she realized that she uttered an utterly moronic sentence.

    ¡°At first I thought you girls were very experienced mature people. I find it refreshing that you¡¯re just as na?ve as my little sister.¡±

    ¡°Anyway are you telling the truth that the entertainment you prepared for tonight would truly be amazing?¡± Antonia asked which was obviously just her, trying to change the subject since what Anton said about them being na?ve was true.

    Anton just stared at Antonia then after a few seconds all three of them laughed.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been cultivating the mysterious lady image for a while and here you are destroying it for us,¡± Lucia said smilingly shaking her head.

    ¡°Actually, you both were successful. I was a bit intimidated when I asked to join you two, it¡¯s just that there are no other seats here.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re actually here in the Amelia to escape our family since they¡¯re trying to marry us off. We know that when we arrive in New Drennor, we can¡¯t escape anymore. To be honest, our future husbands-to-be are not that bad. They¡¯re brothers and both very good-looking but they¡¯re boring. Their only ambition was to make sure that the family and by extension themselves would remain the richest in New Drennor. Me and Lucia are already so old. We¡¯re twenty-five years old so we can¡¯t escape anymore. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway since this is the last time that the Amelia will travel to Rendindura,¡± Antonia said softly.

    ¡°You both are twenty-five years old? You¡¯re correct Antonia, you¡¯re old maids already,¡± Anton said jokingly and both of the girls protested.

    ¡°is the Undead Coalition truly scary? Won¡¯t they just occupy a city and then let the people live as they are and they will just manage the place and gather all the funds just like normal conquerors?¡± Lucia asked.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, me and my family wouldn¡¯t have run away. They¡¯re monsters. When they occupy a city, the citizens would either turn into undead, food, or sacrifice to increase the power of the undead higher-ups and nothing else. At least that was the case of the cities they had conquered so far according to the news that we had gathered.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s truly scary. I hope to never encounter them ever,¡± Antonia said while she shivered as if she was listening to a scary story.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything like that in the Gale Continent? I hate to run to a new place and find out that there is something like the Undead Coalition there and then we have to run again.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, there¡¯s nothing like that in the Gale Continent but I¡¯ve only been to several cities but don¡¯t forget I¡¯m part of one of the richest and most influential families in the continent and that meant if something as dangerous as the Undead Coalition appeared, we would have known about it,¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°There were several groups, cults, and organizations that appeared in the history of the Gale continent who had malicious intentions and if left alone, they could become like the Undead coalition but there were also organizations in the Gale Continent that monitor something like those and they made sure to eradicate them as soon as possible,¡± Antonia said while drinking her glass of wine.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad. I just me and my family to come to a place where we can stay and develop safely.¡±

    Soon they saw a performer climb the stage and Anton was surprised at the performance of the young man who was playing some sort of stringed instrument that he couldn¡¯t recognize. The young man¡¯s voice was very light like a flowing breeze during the afternoon when one was sitting in an orchard.

    After the young man finished his performance, the audience cried ¡°Encore¡± and then the young man performed again.

    After the young bard completed his performance, he received vigorous applause, almost as loud as the one that Anton received.

    ¡°Since those patrons who wanted you weren¡¯t successful, they might approached that young man,¡± Antonia said and soon they saw a waiter approaching the young bard and gave him some papers.

    Anton could see the young man¡¯s face was suddenly full of smiles and that meant that Antonia was correct in her assumption that someone messaged him, interested in becoming his patron, and based on the number of papers the young man received, just like Anton, it was more than one.

    Suddenly a couple of men went to their table.

    ¡°Antonia, Lucia, are you not going to introduce us to your young friend?¡±

    The two men looked to be the same age as Devon but they looked somewhat softer. Anton knew then that the men were idle rich young men, possibly of the same circle as Antonia and Lucia.

    ¡°Phillip, Walter, this is Anton. He is a noble in Rendindura. His family is traveling to Gale continent fleeing the undead monsters. Anton these are Phillip and Walter. They are our friends and also from rich families in New Drennor. They¡¯re idle young men who have no responsibilities that¡¯s why they¡¯re wasting their time here,¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re not wasting our time here!¡± Walter said then both men asked the waiter to get them some chairs and after a few seconds, the waiter returned with a couple of stools and two men inserted themselves into their small table.

    Anton didn¡¯t mind. The more the merrier and both young men looked amiable enough.

    ¡°Just like you, we¡¯re also escaping our family¡¯s demand for us to marry,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°Especially Walter since his persuasion is not with the opposite sex,¡± Antonia whispered but loud enough that all of them at the table heard her.

    They all laughed at Antonia¡¯s whisper meaning that it was true and that they had accepted Walter¡¯s sexual preference which surprised Anton a bit. Does that mean that homosexuality was not taboo or was it because Walter was very rich? Anton didn¡¯t mind since he grew up in a place where one¡¯s sexual preference was very open and in the grand scheme of this world where power and monsters exist, it was not really important.

    ¡°You¡¯re cute! What about you Anton, do you prefer guys or girls?¡± Walter said with an overly lascivious tone but everyone could see that the man was just joking.

    ¡°Stop that! He¡¯s only seventeen years old!¡± Lucia said while laughing.

 Chapter 267

    Anton was grateful that Walter did stop teasing him about sexual stuff since it did make him uncomfortable. If the teasing came from a beautiful woman, he would be all right with it but since it came from Walter himself, his goosebumps were appearing. He wondered why since when he was on Earth, some of his colleagues were gay and he wasn¡¯t averse to joining their teasing and their humor.

    Of course, he was not against gay people and if that teasing weren¡¯t directed at him, it would have been funny but Anton thought that his body¡¯s apparent age was affecting him. He knew that he should look into that. His mental age was now more than twenty-four years old and he had several years of work experience but for some reason, he was sometimes behaving like a seventeen-year-old immature kid.

    One thing he learned about that exchange was that everyone treated him like a younger kid since he was several years younger than them.

    It was funny to see how the group tried to keep their talk and humor clean, and Anton could tell that it was an effort for them. Anton did not stop it though since he knew from experience that stopping something like that would almost always result in a much more awkward situation.

    At least Antonia and Lucia kept involving him in their discussion, and he was learning a lot since they were talking about what was happening in the city of New Drennor. Anton was grateful for the girls since it was obvious that their discussion was to help him gain more information.

    ¡°By the way you have to go to the dining room A tonight since Anton here would be providing the entertainment and according to him it would last three hours and he said that it would be an epic one,¡± Lucia said.

    Phillip and Walter looked at Anton interestingly.

    ¡°Can you tell us a bit what the entertainment is all about?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°No. You just have to go tonight to find out,¡± Anton smiled teasingly.

    The four rich young men and women from New Drennor looked highly interested and Anton knew that rich idle people usually sought the best things that could entertain them.

    After listening to a few more performances, the four rich folks from New Drennor invited Anton to eat lunch at a secluded restaurant that was only known to the most elite passengers.

    ¡°Are the chefs there in the restaurant that you mentioned willing to cook an ingredient for us? I managed to cut off a tentacle from the Kraken that attacked the ship last night and according to our sailor guide, it¡¯s a delicacy and I wanted to taste it,¡± Anton said after he remembered the tentacle meat in his Private Stash.

    Everyone in the group gasped and Walter suddenly turned to him.

    ¡°What do you mean you manage to cut off a tentacle!¡±

    ¡°Oh, we forgot to tell you. Anton is the youngest archmage in the city of Zalnothel that¡¯s why he was awarded the title of Baron,¡± Lucia said while shaking her head.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°When did you start learning magic, in your mother¡¯s womb?!¡± Phillip asked looking shocked at the information.

    Anton just smiled and didn¡¯t disclose any more information about his magic to the group and since they were experienced rich young men and women, they didn¡¯t pursue that questioning.

    ¡°We need to go somewhere else then since the restaurant that I was planning to let you experience doesn¡¯t accept ingredients to cook from customers. Let¡¯s go somewhere else. I know the chef of a restaurant nearby and I¡¯m sure he would cook the Kraken¡¯s meat for us,¡± Lucia said.

    After walking for a few minutes, they entered a restaurant and Lucia headed directly to the back once they were seated by the waiter. After a couple of minutes, she invited Anton to where the kitchen was located, and when he arrived there, he gave the chef a slab of Kraken meat that came from the tentacle. It looked to be around two kilos and he thought that that should be enough for the five of them. They then spent the next hour in discussion.

    ¡°Did the ship mages allow you to cut off the Kraken¡¯s tentacle without any issues?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°They allowed me to keep the meat but they did tell me off and informed me that I¡¯m not allowed to intrude on future battles if not asked. I¡¯m guessing that the only reason why I didn¡¯t get punished was because of my age.¡±

    ¡°And the fact that you¡¯re already a very powerful mage at a very young age meant that your potential is humongous. I¡¯m guessing that sooner or later, all the mages would probably try to form a relationship with you before the ship travel ends,¡± Antonia told him.

    ¡°Not only the mages. Some of the rich merchants from New Drennor who had connections with the mages would try to do that as well and if the entertainment that you are telling us about that you or your family would do later is truly an epic one, that would hugely contribute as well especially if it something that can be marketed,¡± Phillip added.

    Anton just shrugged. He did not intend to hide his power anyway since he knew that his family would still need to manage a business once they reached the city and the knowledge that their family was guarded by an archmage would probably help a lot in making sure that his family was safe.

    ¡°You mentioned that your family member who owned the Amelia had several ships. Why did you choose the one going to Rendindura to travel or escape the demands of your family as you¡¯ve said?¡± Anton asked the group.

    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s the farthest. More than a year of time away from the family could change a lot and to be honest with you, we not simply idling about. We¡¯re also handling business and once we return to New Drennon, we will bring our family a lot of coins. More, as a matter of fact, due to the knowledge that we will not be able to return to your continent, maybe in our lifetime, due to the Undead Coalition,¡± Phillip said.

    That comment by Phillip interested Anton and would have asked about the details but the chef arrived together with some waiters, bringing the tentacle meat that the chef cooked. The chef came because he wanted to introduce the different types of ways he cooked the Kraken meat and they all listened to the chef waxed eloquently about the ingredients and processes he used to cook the Kraken¡¯s tentacle meat.

    ¡°Chef Monunde, can I bring my family at a later date, possibly tomorrow afternoon to have you cook the Kraken¡¯s meat for us again? Of course, we¡¯ll pay you appropriately,¡± Anton asked the chef.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay me. Just give me a portion of the tentacle meat and that would be enough,¡± Chef Monunde replied then he went back to his kitchen.

    After the chef left, they all started eating the food that Chef Monunde prepared containing the Kraken¡¯s meat, and one thing Anton could say, he had never tasted anything so delicious in his two lives. The meat was so tender and it absorbed the taste of the other ingredients and spices that were included in the dish but still retained its distinct flavor and that meant that Kraken meat would truly taste different with every dish. The tentacle was so tender that once Anton put it into his mouth, it almost melted.

    Unsurprisingly, no one spoke while everyone ate and just focused on eating.

 Chapter 268

    ¡°That was one of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten, and I have eaten a lot of delicious food,¡± Phillip said after their meal, and based on the others'' reactions, they fully agreed with him.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad that I still have a lot of them. I think that I will always like it regardless of how often I eat it. The fact that the meat absorbs the taste of the different ingredients combined with it gives it a vibrant taste,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Yes, but it retains its distinct fresh octopus taste but better than ordinary octopus and I¡¯m thinking that it was because the tentacle is filled with magical properties,¡± Lucia commented.

    ¡°How many more do you have? Can I purchase some?¡± Walter asked Anton.

    ¡°Sorry, I want to keep it for my family. They haven¡¯t even tasted it yet.¡±

    After talking they transferred somewhere private where they could talk. Antonia led them to a caf¨¦ that served different beverages and they talked more while they were drinking coffee. Anton suddenly wondered if there was soda in this world so he asked the group.

    Anton was truly surprised to note that it wasn¡¯t invented yet. He wondered why that was since a quick search on the internet said that on Earth, it was invented in the late 1700s. He noted it down since it was a good moneymaking business and the internet would provide him the process on how to create it. He might even incorporate magic when he decided to create a machine that would carbonate water.

    ¡°What is soda?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°It was just some flavored water that an archmage in Zalnothel mentioned.¡±

    When they asked more questions about it, Anton just shrugged and told everyone that he hadn¡¯t tasted it yet.

    One of his problems was Anton kept comparing this world to Earth¡¯s past. He knew that this world was truly different from his old one. It was not the past and it was not a parallel world but truly a separate one and he had been reminding himself of that all the time but he could not help himself but still compare them sometimes.

    Anton also couldn¡¯t fault himself since Earth had a slew of entertainment content, both written and otherwise presenting a multitude of fantasy and science fiction worlds, and this world truly resembled one of those.

    Since one of the major businesses that their family would probably enter in the new city was the cinema, it was only logical that they should also sell cinema drinks and snacks like popcorn and soda.

    ¡°What kind of business do all of you do since you mentioned earlier that you are all not just idling about?¡± Anton asked the group and the four rich young people laughed.

    ¡°Nothing special. All of us are doing the same thing, purchasing specialties of the Rendindura continent, and then selling them back to our home city. Because of what was happening in Rendindura, the goods that we bought this time would earn us a huge amount of coins. What about your family? What business do you usually do?¡± Phillip asked.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Just the same as you, buying and selling things but one of our business is something very unique and you will find that out later during dinner,¡± Anton said to them while smiling.

    The four rich youths laughed when they heard what Anton had said.

    ¡°Now you truly tickled my interest. I couldn¡¯t wait to find out what it is,¡± Walter said.

    They returned to the Patron Tavern to listen to more performances and this time, all of the performers were giving their all. Anton thought proudly that he was one of the best but after listening to the elite bards and musicians that were performing in the tavern, he realized that when it came to voice, he was at most on par with some of the best but he was not the best and his guitar playing was just average. His only advantage was the uncountable amount of songs and lyrics that he could get from the internet.

    ¡°Normally, visitors are allowed here during the first time and if they want to visit the next time, they would need to purchase a membership but even if you¡¯re not our friend, you being an archmage would probably scare the waiters to asking for your membership token,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to use my status for something like that. I can purchase a membership token.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. As I¡¯ve said, my uncle owns this ship and that totally excludes me and my friends from needing to have a membership token to any of the entertainment facilities on this ship,¡± Antonia added.

    For several more hours, Anton stayed in the tavern since he fell in love with the music of the different elite performers. The hint of desperation in each of the performances gave their songs and instrument playing a truly vibrant and interesting vibe and for a second, he was thankful that he wasn¡¯t one of the performers who was desperate to be hired by a patron.

    At around six in the evening, Anton needed to return to prepare for the movie presentation in the dining room later that evening although he actually didn¡¯t need a long time to prepare. Since dinner was supposed to be at eight in the evening, it was still a good idea to prepare early. He asked one of the waiters in the tavern to guide him back to his suite after he said goodbye to the four rich young people. They reminded him that they would be in the dining room A before eight in the evening and that they better not be disappointed with the entertainment that he would present and of course, everything they were saying was said in good fun.

    Anton was glad that he met the four rich young folks from New Drennor. They were confident enough in themselves to not be intimidated by him being an archmage but more than likely, his age mitigated his status as an archmage and because of that, they had been telling him information about New Drennor and the Gale Continent in general and since more than a year was a long time, they would be able to provide him more information.

    He arrived back in the suite at around half past six in the evening and by the look on his father¡¯s face, it almost seemed like he was late. Anton was guessing that Anders just did not want to get embarrassed by preparing late for the entertainment they would present later that evening.

    All of them were aware that the truly important thing that would happen later that evening was for them to connect with the rich people who were staying in the suites since those connections would assist their families with their business once they reached New Drennor.

    Anton almost laughed out loud when he saw that not only his father, but everyone, including the two new female bodyguards looked stressed when he still was not in the suite by six in the evening.

    ¡°What took you so long?!¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°I met some truly interesting people and besides, dinner is at eight. We still have plenty of time.¡±

    ¡°We need to prepare before eight!¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    ¡°The only thing we need to do was to prepare the screen and I¡¯m sure that the stage would have one of those white curtains,¡± Anton said while rolling his eyes but his father kept scolding him for a good ten minutes before they all changed their clothes to prepare for dinner.

 Chapter 269

    At around seven in the evening, while they were preparing, somebody knocked on the door of their suite and when Colin opened it, it was Harun who would guide them to the dining hall A. Their guide was earlier than usual since he was supposed to guide the people who would need to prepare for the entertainment for the night.

    Apparently, during the afternoon, one of Captain Robertson¡¯s assistants came into their suite and luckily Anton¡¯s father and Colin just happened to return from where they were before. Anders informed the assistant that the entertainment would last more or less three hours and had to tell the man that it was some theater play that was created by magic.

    Thankfully, Colin also informed the assistant that they would need a very large white curtain that needed to be hung on the stage, and the man who told them that he was actually the captain¡¯s assistant in charge of the entertainment for the dining hallways assigned to the suites, told them that the stage already contained large curtains and a plain white one was one of those. There were even some curtains that contained sceneries and magical materials that a mage illusionist could use to show some illusions.

    Since that was their only requirement, the man in charge of the dining room hallway stage informed them that they could come in an hour before eight in the evening to prepare. They were also informed that the entertainment information would be broadcast to all the suites so that the elite passengers would be aware of the unique length of the show.

    Anton asked someone to tell him the information contained in the advertisement.

    ¡°The broadcasted information only said that it is an entertainment crafted by a powerful mage and it will last for three hours,¡± Frederick told Anton.

    Anton would have to handle the spell and did not plan to use the three magic items that record and show images that Frederick purchased when they were in Zalnothel since those items, although passable had lower quality than when he used his spell directly to show the movies. The main purpose of them showing the movie was to show the elite passengers who might have a toehold in the business world of New Drennor what their family was capable of and it was a good time for Anders and Nemina to make connections with them.

    Harun led them to their dinner table first and then led Anton, Anders, and Nemina to where the backstage was located. Anton saw that even though it was only around seven in the evening, the dining hall A was already filling out with people. Their table was relatively close to the stage so Anton didn¡¯t actually need to be at the stage to cast his globe of browser-sharing spell but he still needed to check the white curtain.

    When they arrived backstage, the man who claimed that he was the manager of the entertainment stage of the dining hall met him and asked what he required and again, he reiterated that the only thing that he needed was the white curtain but they needed to make sure that during the show, there would be no light near the stage.

    ¡°It will be better if it was actually dark and that the only lights are at the exit doors but since the passengers need to eat, I guess lights are still needed but to get the full effect, I suggest that you make sure that there¡¯s no light near the stage,¡± Anton said to the man.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem since we do have table lamps on the dinner tables and we can use those to light up the passengers'' tables and then we can shut off the rest of the lights once your show starts.¡±

    Anton advised the stage manager that they needed to do a screen test so the man immediately commanded the people to roll out the white curtain then they went back to their table which confused the stage manager and Harun. He just them that he could cast the spell from their family¡¯s table.

    Anders remained since he would be making a speech before the movie started.

    When they returned to their table, Anton was surprised to see Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter seated at the table next to theirs but they understood that he was busy preparing for the entertainment so they didn¡¯t disturb him.

    Even though it was only half past seven, the dining hall was already full and everyone was curious why there was only a white curtain on the stage. Anton cast his globe of browser-sharing near the stage where it would be un-noticeable then played a few seconds clip of a neon light show with audio to test the quality of the video and loudness and quality of the audio and after around 20 seconds, he immediately stopped it when he was satisfied with he adjusted the size, quality and loudness of the video and sound but that alone made the audience visibly gasp.

    Anders then went to the stage and started his speech. He spoke normally since the stage manager assured him that there was magic on the stage that would allow his speech to be heard by everyone in the dining hall.

    ¡°I¡¯m Anders Sunder and our family is in charge of the entertainment tonight. The entertainment is a revolutionary spell made by my son and it would last for three hours. During the show, almost all the lights will be turned off so everyone can see the show¡¯s effect better so I recommend that before we start the entertainment, you should start eating your dinner. Halfway through the show, we will stop it for ten minutes so everyone can have a break either to go to the bathroom or eat some snacks, and will resume it soon after. So please enjoy!¡±

    The passengers gave Anders a polite applause then Anton¡¯s father returned to their table. Soon the waiters arrived with the food and while they were eating, Nemina pointed out to them the most prominent table near the stage. It was occupied by Captain Robertson and what looked to some of the most important people on the ship based on their bearing and clothing. They could be the ship¡¯s officers or the powerful mages.

    At exactly around eight in the evening, Anton was surprised that all the lights turned off except the lamps on the table and the lights near the exit doors. The table lamps were enough for the passengers to continue eating their dinner. With a gesture from the stage manager, Anton started the movie, Titanic.

    The beginning credits appeared and those alone stole all the attention from the food to the screen and after a few seconds, the only people who were eating were Anton and his family. Their two new female bodyguards also stopped eating and gaped at the screen.

    Anton could see from the audience¡¯s confused reactions about the modern scenes at the beginning of the movie and it was expected but soon everyone had the look of fascination on their faces.

    His family had seen the movie before but Anton could see that they still enjoyed watching the film again. Anton enjoyed watching the audience''s reactions to the film. He enjoyed watching their amazement, the emotions they rarely displayed naked on their faces. He checked Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter¡¯s reactions, and just like the other audience members, their faces showed their responses in every scene and it seemed like they did not care if it was visible on their faces.

 Chapter 270

    Anton knew that Rose¡¯s storyline in the movie Titanic resonated with the rich young women who were expected to marry to further their family¡¯s influence and wealth. Just like Rose, most of them felt trapped and imagined a man who would rescue them from a loveless though opulent lifestyle which almost made Anton laugh.

    He carefully checked the reactions of the young women who hadn¡¯t seen the movie yet like the two female bodyguards, Antonia and Lucia who were seated at the table beside theirs and he saw that for a moment, they all fell in love with Jack or the idea of Jack.

    This time during the sex scene, no one reprimanded Anna so she boldly watched the risqu¨¦ scene which in Anton¡¯s opinion wasn¡¯t that risqu¨¦ anyway but he wasn¡¯t expecting the reaction of some of the audience members. A lot of them looked outraged, at least that was what they were showing on the outside but he knew by carefully watching the expressions of the people through the table lamps that some of them were titillated.

    Anton found it weird since from what he had read in some fantasy novels,  people were mostly open to those kinds of things but then again, he was making assumptions again. From the logic of it, watching a show was rare enough as it was, and combining it with an erotic scene would shock some people but the nude drawing scene in Titanic was hardly what you could call outrageous since nothing was truly shown.

    When the movie reached halfway through, Anton paused it and then signaled the stage manager. The lights in the dining hall were turned on causing most people to complain but it was time for them to go to the bathroom to take care of their business. Some ordered snacks and beverages from the waiters.

    Their table did the same thing and ordered food from the waiters as well. Anton saw that his new friends at the other table looked like they wanted to talk to him but he could see Lucia telling everyone in their group to wait at a later time. After thirty minutes, he resumed the movie.

    During the scene when the Titanic was hit by the iceberg and began sinking, the tragedy that followed caused some of the audience members to cry and when some of the more dramatic scenes were shown like the musician who kept playing while the ship was sinking, there were no dry eyes in sight. When Jack died, Anton was a bit shocked to see and hear that some of the audience members were sobbing hysterically. The combination of romance, adventure, and tragedy pulled the heartstrings of all the people in the dining room and Anton was amused to see that even the captain and the powerful mages were wiping the tears from their eyes.

    When the movie ended, Anton played a video clip of the singer Celine Dion singing My Heart Will Go On containing a montage of scenes from the movie Titanic that he found on the famous streaming website and Anton believed the beautiful and haunting song truly fit the theme of the movie.

    After the music video, Anton stopped the spell and the stage manager turned on the lights. With a gesture from the stage manager to Anders, all of them at their table stood up and bowed to the people in the dining room and they received a resounding applause from all the people who came to watch the movie.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    One of the waiters approached them to lead them to where the captain and his officers and mages were but Anton saw that they were not at their table anymore so Anton, Anders, Nemina, and Lucas followed the waiter while the others followed Harun to return to their suite.

    The waiter led them to a large sitting room where the captain and his cohorts were relaxing and drinking wine. When they entered the room, the captain introduced everyone to each other but then he let his father speak to the captain and the officers and mages. Anton knew that their family needed to form connections for their business but he found it tedious. He was a bit glad that Anton was young enough that even though he was considered the power behind the family, other adults would still prefer to talk to the actual head of the family, which was Anders.

    Basically, their talk consisted of the mages asking if the spell that was used to show the movie could be taught to others. Of course, Anders was wise enough to say that it couldn¡¯t be taught which was true anyway and the mages didn¡¯t pursue it since if they reviewed the spell that powered the movie, they knew that it wasn¡¯t a simple spell since it needed to be backed up by a huge database if the spell could show more than one movie.

    The good thing about the spell that showed the movies was, that even though it was entertaining, no true mage would covet it since it would not increase one''s magical power. At most, it could increase mortal wealth but a truly powerful mage had enough resources and magic to earn tons of physical wealth and they wouldn¡¯t make an enemy of another archmage for the sake of mortal coins.

    That was also the reason why Anton didn¡¯t hesitate to show the movies to others since at the end of the day, it was just a spell that showed some entertaining play and according to the archmage Voduria, she mentioned that some of the most powerful mages had spells that allowed them to view scenes from other worlds so his globe of browser-sharing was hardly unique.

    Since their family planned to erect a cinema in the new city so they could make coins and live lavishly as one of the wealthy families, Anders admitted to Captain Robertson, his officers, and the mages that their family had thousands upon thousands of movies and that they were planning to open a theater and charge people to watch the ¡°movies¡± as what the shows were called.

    After that talk, everyone in the room knew that Anton¡¯s family would climb high in the city of New Drennor since their entertainment was truly something that people would spend a lot of coins to view.

    The captain then asked the stage manager to negotiate with Anders about letting the movies be seen in the dining hall and after that, the captain and his cohorts left. The stage manager and Anders began talking and in the end, the agreement was that the movies would be shown once a week but it would be after dinner and that tickets would need to be purchased for those who wanted to watch the films during the night when the movie was scheduled to be shown.

    The agreement was one movie a week but the new movie would only be shown bi-weekly. The ship wouldn¡¯t pay their family but all the proceeds from the ticket sale except for ten percent would go to Anton¡¯s family.

    It was one in the morning when the discussion was completed and they returned to their suite tired but happy since they would earn many coins even though they were on the ship. Anton and Nemina would still need to talk to the stage manager at a later time to complete the details of the movie showing like the appropriate time when the film would be shown and the ticket prices.

    Anders kept talking to Nemina and Lucas about some of the details needed, like whether they needed to rent a large room to use as the theater instead of the dining hall. Anton didn¡¯t want to join that discussion, so when they arrived at their suite, he went directly to his room to rest.

 Chapter 271

    Anton woke up the next day wanting to join his family for breakfast since there was a chance that he would not be able to see them until dinner. He planned to start his goal of spending eight hours a day focused on his Diablo II system leveling up, hunting for gear, practicing his spells, and practicing his item enchanting, and then after that, he would explore the Amelia.

    His goal was to achieve a balanced work life that would prevent him from being anxious about not leveling up enough or not enjoying his life enough. Anton also thought about finding a girlfriend but since he was young, his body was only seventeen, meeting a girlfriend was not a priority and he was not interested in girls within his body¡¯s age group. That meant that he would have to wait a few years before turning his focus on relationships. At least he had the ¡°action¡± movies that would comfort him at night, anime or otherwise.

    Anders would not even let him go with Devon and Frederick to visit the ladies of the night so that meant he could only focus on increasing his power and helping his family make a lot of gold coins. One good thing about the people in this world spending their time in the company of working ladies was they were not afraid of sexually transmitted diseases since with coins, they could pay a priest or a mage for healing spells that could cure them of any ailments.

    When he went outside his room, Anton was actually expecting that not all of his family would attend the breakfast buffet in the dining hall since all of them rested late at night due to the movie that was shown last night but surprisingly all of them were awake already and was preparing to go to the dining hall. He guessed that the breakfast buffet¡¯s draw was bigger than he expected.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d sleep in today since we rested late last night,¡± Anton said to his sister.

    ¡°I was planning to do that but when I think about the breakfast omelets and sausages, it woke me up,¡± Anna replied to Anton, and he could see his sister almost drooling about the breakfast menu, and based on the others¡¯ reactions, they were thinking the same thing as Anna.

    They all went to the dining hall and when they returned to their suite after breakfast, each one of them began their day by doing what they planned to do that day. Anton up the sign that he already prepared at his door that said that he would only be available at around three in the afternoon but that he could still be disturbed if it was an emergency.

    Anton entered the world of Diablo II and started the process of leveling up his necromancer character to the maximum level. Up until then, his family didn¡¯t know that he could summon undead creatures and he might never share that information since the hatred that the undead garnered from the citizens of Rendindura which he shared was truly massive. It was inevitable since the Undead Coalition destroyed their cities and tore and killed families from the continent.

    Even right then, Anton felt averse whenever he looked at his undead summons even though he knew that the necromancer character summons was different from the Undead Coalition¡¯s.

    While Anton was busy leveling up, he heard somebody knocking on his door. He felt a little irritated but he did portal back into town and exited the game. When he opened his bedroom door, he saw that it was Devon who was knocking.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°What are you doing here? Why are you not out?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re father told us that starting today, there should be people here in the suite who can receive messages from visitors, and before everyone left,  a schedule was created. Even your sister wasn¡¯t spared but it shouldn¡¯t bother us much since it was only a few hours a day based on the scheduling. Some foppish men and rich-looking women are looking for you. I told them you¡¯re busy doing ¡°wizardly¡± things but they insisted,¡± Devon said.

    Anton laughed when he heard Devon¡¯s comment about Phillip, Walter, Antonia, and Lucia. They went to the living room in the suite where the guys were waiting.

    ¡°Devon, you can go out and I¡¯ll take over your shift since we¡¯re going to stay here anyway to talk,¡± Anton told Devon and the man smiled and left immediately.

    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯ll take over his shift?¡¯ Walter asked when Devon left and Anton joined them by sitting in one of the sofa chairs.

    ¡°My father told everyone that there should be a person waiting here in the suite to receive messages from quests,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you hire a person to do that? It will only take you a few coins,¡± Phillip said and Anton knew that everyone would favor that idea so he planned to suggest that later.

    ¡°So, what can I help with guys?¡± Anton asked the group.

    ¡°What was that last night?! It was the most beautiful show I have ever seen in my life. I have never cried so hard even when my great aunt died who took care of me,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°I cried as well and I¡¯m known in our circles as the man with the heart of stone. Especially during the scene when the captain of the Titanic sank with the ship. I took a glance at Captain Robertson¡¯s table and I saw him tearing up as well during that scene,¡± Phillip added.

    ¡°One of the scenes that I cried so much for was when the music band kept playing amidst the chaos,¡± Walter continued.

    ¡°I cried on all of the tragic scenes but I remember the scene where a mother kept telling bedtime stories to her children while the ship was sinking. I miss my nana so much. She died a few years ago but I remember she loved telling me made-up stories,¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°I want to see it again! Are there any plans of letting us see that show again?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°Where did it come from and how was it made? During the first few minutes of that show, it let us see some machinery that I don¡¯t recognize, and based on the context, it was from the future?¡± Walter asked.

    ¡°My magic is a bloodline magic and whenever I achieve a level in my power, it presents me a spell that I can use and one of them is the spell that allowed me to open a window to other worlds but the show that you¡¯ve seen, which is called a ¡°movie¡±, is not the actual lives of people but a play that was made by actors. In those worlds, they have magic and machinery that let them record those actors doing their plays that were based on a script. They can do the scenes over and over again so in case there are any mistakes or something needs to be redone, they can re-shoot the scenes. They¡¯re calling those machines that let them record scenes a camera.¡±

    ¡°It looked so real though,¡± Phillip commented.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details but I¡¯ve seen some videos of the behind-the-scenes of how the movies were made that showed me that those sceneries were some sort of illusion magic combined with advanced technological techniques and the scenes were a combination of an actual set that was constructed and there, the actors would shoot the scenes then some more special effects like the ship hitting the iceberg and the ship sinking would be added in what they call a post-edit. It was all so technical and magical and based on what I¡¯ve heard, every movie would cost the filmmakers a massive amount of coins to make but the returns are humongous as well, and based on what I¡¯ve seen so far, the filmmakers, directors, and actors enjoyed the most fame and wealth in those worlds.¡±

 Chapter 272

    ¡°Is the technology in those worlds as advanced as those that we¡¯ve seen in the first few minutes of the movie?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°Some of them are but remember that those movies are mostly fiction, meaning that they came from the imagination of the creators of the stories. It was given life by magic and technology,¡± Anton kept reiterating that the films were made of magic as well since he didn¡¯t want to confuse his new friends.

    ¡°My father and the stage manager of the dining hall also made some tentative plans regarding the movie showing. I didn¡¯t know the details but what I know is that our family will charge a ticket for passengers to watch the films and the plan was that the movie night would be once a week but that¡¯s subject to change,¡± Anton added.

    ¡°You said movies. How many movies do you have?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°Thousands upon thousands. But of course, not all of them will have the quality of the movie that you¡¯ve seen last night. I specifically chose that movie since our family had seen it before and the quality is truly one of the best. We need to make sure that people would be aware of how great the movies were and that meant that they would pay us a lot of coins to watch them. It shouldn¡¯t be too much of a financial burden to the passengers since the initial plan was to show the same movie bi-weekly and then a new one after two weeks.¡±

    Anton¡¯s new friends were surprised and all four of them had sparkling eyes when they heard that he had an ungodly amount of movies at his fingertips. As rich scions of wealthy businessmen, Anton knew that his friends were aware of the implication of him having access to those films.

    ¡°What are your plans regarding those movies when we reach New Drennor?¡± Walter asked.

    Anton laughed when he heard Walter¡¯s question and his four rich friends just smiled.

    ¡°I know why you¡¯re asking that but to be honest with you, I¡¯m a mage through and through and that meant that my focus is with my magic and to increase my mage power. I know that coins are very important but that part is being handled by my father so if you want to talk about business, you will have to talk to my father.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mind us talking to your father?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°Of course not. I know how important this opportunity is so you all wanted to take it as soon as possible. You¡¯re lucky that you befriended me since I¡¯m guessing that some of Captain Robertson¡¯s cohorts would speak to my father regarding the business of the movies and my father would prioritize you since you¡¯re all my friends.¡±

    ¡°Do you mind letting us stay here until your father returns so we can speak with him?¡± Lucia asked and Anton just replied to her that he didn¡¯t mind.

    ¡°What kind of movies that you have?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°Just like books and novels, movies are separated into genres like romance, horror, action, adventure, comedy, fantasy, science fiction, animation, porn or what they call adult movies, and more,¡±  Anton answered.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°What are those last four that you¡¯ve said?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°Fantasy movies are all about stories about wizards, dragons, and other magical beings that are usually set in a magical world. Science Fiction is the genre of movies based on possible futures like traveling through the universe inside a ship made of metal capable of traversing outside our planet. Animation is a type of movie that is made through moving drawings. That one is very hard to explain and the best thing is for you to wait until we¡¯ve shown you one. Our family has seen several of those and they¡¯re very enjoyable. Lastly, porn or adult movies are movies that more than likely would not be shown and if my father knows that I¡¯ve been talking about them, I might receive some thrashing,¡± Anton said then he laughed.

    ¡°is your father a very powerful mage?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°No. He¡¯s just a regular person but since he¡¯s my father, even when I reach the stars, he will be more powerful than me,¡± Anton said, and the four young folks understood that his father was more powerful not because of magic but because of his love and respect for the man.

    ¡°So what is that porn or adult movies then?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a movie that would show explicit action between a man and woman, a man and another man, a woman and another woman, or a group of people in the bedroom or in any setting for that matter, and nothing is hidden. Everything is vulgarly shown,¡± Anton said smiling mischievously.

    Anton knew that there was really no need to share information about porn but he liked telling it to others so he could see their shock reactions since it amused him so much.

    As expected the two women turned red while the men laughed and looked intrigued which was basically the same reaction his family had when he told them about porn movies.

    ¡°Have you seen those movies?¡± Walter asked with a naughty smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s my spell so of course, I¡¯ve seen those,¡± Anton answered and laughed again and the men joined him while the girls just snorted.

    ¡°Do you mind letting us see some of those?¡± Phillip asked.

    Anton smiled and told them that maybe and told Phillip to talk to Devon and Frederick who were two of Anton¡¯s group members, to schedule a time and place where they could watch those films. The two girls just ignored them when they were talking about porn.

    ¡°Hey, Walter, do you want to see your type of porn?¡± Anton teased the man.

    ¡°Of course. I want to check other''s techniques,¡± Walter naughtily answered.

    ¡°Unfortunately, you have to watch it without me,¡± Anton said.

    At around lunchtime, Phillip went outside the suite to look for someone who could help get some food and he found Harun loitering outside.

    ¡°I found your suite guide and ordered food for us.,¡± Phillip said when he returned.

    They talked some more while they waited for Harun to deliver their lunch and after several minutes, they heard a knock on the door. When Anton opened it, Harun entered, followed by a couple of men carrying several dishes that they arranged on the dining table. Phillip gave Harun and the two young men who carried their food some tips and they left.

    While they were eating lunch, Antonia commented about the Kraken tentacle meat.

    ¡°Oh shoot! I forgot that me and my family are supposed to go to that restaurant that cooked the Kraken tentacle for us!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing your family may have forgotten as well since it¡¯s already one in the afternoon and they didn¡¯t return to the suite,¡± Phillip said.

    Anton realized that Phillip was correct. No one actually returned to the suite which made him feel exasperated but then again, he was the same, forgetting all about it so they would just have to reschedule it and apologize to the chef that he had spoken to about cooking the tentacle meat for him and his family.

    It took them an hour to finish lunch since their dining was interspersed with talking and after that, Anton briefly cast a cleaning spell on the dishes then they went to the living room to continue talking since they were waiting for Anton¡¯s father so the four rich young folks could talk business with Anders.

 Chapter 273

    Anton together with his new friends from New Drennor talked about a lot of things. They talked about movies and the different genres of films. Anton made sure to whet the appetites of his young friends by describing the glorious films he could show to everyone and as expected, based on everyone¡¯s sparkling eyes, he had truly captured their imagination.

    He noticed long before that it was mostly normal people who would truly become addicted to the shows that were presented but the mages, although they would be entertained momentarily, would not lose themselves in the movies. Most of those wizards that he was acquainted with were firmly focused on increasing their magical aptitude.

    ¡°Did your family test all of you if you can learn magic?¡± Anton asked Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter.

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s expected that all families that have money in the Gale Continent have their children tested for magic capability since mages are still the true backbone of any powerful family but unfortunately, all four of us weren¡¯t capable of learning spells. The ability to wield magic is truly rare,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°There were even experiments among the rich families to check if magic is tied with bloodlines but the results were inconclusive so the higher-ups concluded that the talent was truly random,¡± Phillip added.

    ¡°Really? My sister can learn magic as well,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It does happen and our families concluded that if a family were able to produce more than one mage, they were just truly lucky,¡± Walter commented.

    ¡°I¡¯m still of two minds if I¡¯m lucky or unlucky to be unable to wield magic since if a family discovers that a scion has that capability, that child will no longer be a normal part of the family. He or she would no longer inherit any of the businesses and no longer be required to work to earn coins for the family. From the moment they discover that a child can cast spells, the family would make sure that the child would focus on learning them and when I looked at my sister¡¯s life, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m horrified or envious. It¡¯s like they have no life at all outside of magic,¡± Lucia said and Anton could see that the others somewhat agreed with her.

    ¡°The weird thing was, they were proud to just focus on magic. My cousin told me once when I asked him about it, and he said that why point your gaze at physical things like mundane wealth when you can turn your attention to the secrets of the universe that will allow you to live a life that has the possibility of becoming a god,¡± Walter said.

    ¡°We¡¯re not saying that our relatives who are mages were some sort of ascetic, it¡¯s just that you can¡¯t truly compare them to normal people anymore. Their wants and desires are truly different. They still have hobbies like this cousin of mine who liked to gamble even when were children, when he became a mage, he still liked to gamble but you can feel that it was not his priority anymore,¡± Phillip said.

    Anton contemplated what his four new friends told him about magic and their relatives who became mages. He could completely understand what they were talking about. Right now, he still had access to the internet and that meant that he had access to countless sources of entertainment and with his personality, it was easy for him to become an otaku but because of his ability to learn spells from the Diablo world through his system, he knew that he would still focus on that until he reached the peak of power that his system would be able to give him and he knew in his heart that the moment he reached that peaked, he would switch to another magical system to continue his pursuit of power.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Anton was glad that he was still able to learn the spells of this world since that meant that he was able to continue his magical growth even if his system could not increase his power anymore. Of course, he was not belittling his Diablo II system. He had read countless web novels on the internet and the thing that he learned from there was systems were truly overpowered. That was the reason why he was focusing on his Diablo II system instead of continuing to learn the conventional spells of this world.

    ¡°What about you? Are you also like our relative who¡¯s completely focused on increasing your power?¡± Antonia jokingly asked.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m the same as them. I like movies but if I¡¯m asked to choose, I will still focus on my magic. It¡¯s just that I care about my family and I want to make sure that we all live comfortable lives and the best way to do that is through the magic that I learned about showing the movies and shows. The good thing is my father and his assistants are capable people so I can leave the business side with them. Unfortunately, my sister is also a mage so she¡¯ll probably focus on magic as well.¡±

    After that deep conversation, they focused on a more lighthearted conversation like different businesses in New Drennor that focused on entertaining people and his new friends admitted that once their family opened a cinema, there wouldn¡¯t be too much competition.

    Soon Anton¡¯s father arrived together with Nemina, Lucas, and Colin.

    ¡°Father! These are my new friends, Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip. They¡¯re very rich young people from New Drennor who wanted to talk to you about the movies and the cinemas. Can you speak with them please?¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡°Of course! We actually were talking about the stage manager of Dining Hall A regarding the movies and we haven¡¯t concluded anything yet,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to continue talking with him. You can do business with us since I have more authority than him. My uncle owns the Amelia,¡± Antonia proudly said and Anders was surprised.

    Anton just shook his head and told everyone that they should continue talking since he would need to leave to focus on his wizardry. He was glad that everyone was fine with him leaving so he entered his room and then entered his Diablo II system.

    He had not earned a level that day yet since during the first few hours, he was practicing his spells outside the Rogue Encampment, figuring out the mana structure and practicing the mana control of the spells of his necromancer character.

    After a couple of hours of leveling up his necromancer, Anton reached level sixty-two. He decided that the next time he leveled up his character, he would increase the difficulty by using the player X command. He would choose to increase it to Player Three. He knew that he was being cautious to the point that he was being pussy but he wanted to take it slow. If he found that Player Three''s difficulty was still easy, he would then increase the difficulty.

    Anton had not died yet in the game since he remembered one of his favorite isekai anime, Log Horizon, wherein when the players died, they lost some of their memories and he didn¡¯t want to find the hard way that there was a condition like that in his system. Honestly, the only way for him to die in his Diablo II system was if he was careless and he didn¡¯t want to enter into the habit of being careless so he was always extremely careful.

    He knew that he should have experienced dying once in the game but Anton just didn¡¯t see the need to experience it.

 Chapter 274

    Anton leveled up his necromancer character for several hours until he noticed that it was time to join his family for dinner. He was a bit happy with the work that he did inside the game since his necromancer leveled up to level sixty-four. He exited his bedroom and was surprised to see that Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter were still talking with his father, Nemina, and Lucas.

    He could hear that their discussion was a bit intense but Anders stopped when he saw him outside his room.

    ¡°Anton, why did you leave your room?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time for dinner.¡±

    After he said that, Anton¡¯s father looked around and saw that everyone was already ready to go to the dining hall so they went to their room to prepare and they all went to the dining room with his four new friends from New Drennor joining them.

    When they arrived at the dining room, Anton saw that everyone was looking their way and he could overhear the people talking about the movie they had seen the night before. He wasn¡¯t expecting anything different since the movie Titanic was an epic one, especially for those who had not seen any movies before. It would probably take a while before the talks about the film subsided.

    Anton then noticed that his four new friends occupied the table beside them.

    ¡°What happened to the family sitting there?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We paid them to be relocated somewhere else,¡± Antonia simply replied.

    He just shrugged since as the niece of the owner of the Amelia, he knew that Antonia had considerable power in the ship.

    While they were eating, Anders told his son some of the tentative plans that they made regarding the cinema. Anton was surprised to learn that his family and his new friends from Drennor decided to use another hall as the cinema for the movies and was also surprised about the decision to show the film twice a week.

    It would be the same movie for two weeks and a new one after that. Anton was also surprised at the affordable price that they were going to charge the customers and his father¡¯s reasoning was they didn¡¯t want to burden the passengers since there was no incoming business for most of them.

    Nemina told Anton that the main purpose of the cinema on the ship was to form connections and as a form of advertisement so it would be easier for them to open a cinema in New Drennor.

    ¡°So we¡¯re staying in New Drennor?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°It would be best to stay there since we¡¯ve already formed connections with some of the richest folks there. Especially your new friends. They¡¯re truly what you would call the nobles of the city,¡± Anders said

    Anton was just glad that even if he cast the spell Globe of Browser-sharing, he could still access his Diablo II system and do a lot of things like farm gear and level up his character since he didn¡¯t need to enter the game anymore. He already completed the game up to Hell Difficulty for his necromancer and that meant he could already use the on-screen options for leveling up. He only needed to enter the game in virtual mode if he wanted to practice his spells or create enchanted items.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Will it not interrupt your meditation? Casting the spell that would show the movies twice a week?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°I can still meditate even if I¡¯m casting the spell that spell so that¡¯s not going to be a problem for me. What movie are you planning to show next?¡±

    ¡°It still going to be Titanic. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll check the hall that we will use as the cinema,¡± It was Nemina who answered.

    After dinner, they all returned to the suite and when they reached it, Anton said goodbye to his friends and gave the excuse that he would need to meditate. They did still plan to speak with Anders and he briefly wondered what they would talk about since it had already been hours of talking.

    He was about to enter his room to continue leveling up his necromancer character since Anton felt that he only did the leveling-up process for a short time that day since it was interrupted by his new friends. He promised himself that he would spend eight hours a day in his system since if he didn¡¯t, it would make him anxious if his level stagnated but before he entered his room, Anna complained to him.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t seen Star Trek, Xena, and Hercules in a while. I want to watch Star Trek,¡± Anna asked her brother trying her best to present a cute face.

    Phillip overheard Anna¡¯s request.

    ¡°What is Star Trek?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fantastic show about people who are living inside a huge metal ship that can fly outside their planet. It¡¯s like a military expedition and their mission is to explore different worlds and meet new lifeforms and to boldly go where no man has gone before,¡± Anna briefly explained which only confused the four rich young folks more.

    Lunelle gave a much clearer explanation about television shows to the four new people and she also gave a brief but clearer description of the three current television shows they had been watching.

    Based on that brief description alone, Anton could see the excitement growing on his four new friends¡¯ faces.

    ¡°Can we stay and join you in watching the ¡°television show¡±? Did I say that right?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°Yes, you said it correctly, and yes you can stay but might get confused since we¡¯re already in the middle of a season regarding the television shows,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Walter asked.

    ¡°A television show consists of seasons and each season consists of six to thirty episodes each and each episode is as long as thirty minutes to an hour. If you¡¯re confused about the storyline, you can ask my family regarding some of the details,¡± Anton briefly explained.

    After a few minutes, Colin already set up the white blanket that they were using as the projector screen and spread the pillows and think blankets on the floor that they were using as cushions. Anton then started Star Trek from the last episode they had seen.

    Anton was amused to see the mixture of confusion, fascination, amazement, and some other emotions on his new friends¡¯ faces, and once the episode of Star Trek ended, Phillip, Walter, Lucia, and Antonia asked several questions to the others.

    Unfortunately for Anna, even though she was willing to spend more time talking and bragging about the shows, their father asked her to rest and she obeyed but she had a pout on her face. Everyone else was also willing to share some more information and because of that, Anton knew that they would probably spend more time, hours even, to talk about the shows so he said goodbye and entered his room.

    He leveled up his necromancer for a couple of hours then when Anton felt tired and sleepy, he exited his Diablo II system. His necromancer did level up to sixty-six so he was still satisfied with the progress that he made on his necromancer.

    Anton briefly thought about what he would do the next day but he decided to continue with his plan of spending at least eight hours a day with his system but this time, he would be stricter so he decided to change the sign that he would put on his door and it now said that he shouldn¡¯t be disturbed if the sign was up unless it¡¯s a life and death situation.

 Chapter 275

    The next day Anton woke up early and took a bath. He was especially thankful that his room had its bathroom and even though it was not needed since he did have magic that could produce water, he was still amazed that the bathroom had plumbing so clean water for bathing and cleaning the toilet was always available.

    He did learn from Harun that the private bathrooms with plumbing were only available at the suites and that the water was sea water converted and purified by the mages on board. The rest of the passengers had to settle with public bathrooms but at least those came with water as well although there was a strict schedule for when water was supplied.

    Those passengers with coins but were not rich enough for a suite could still buy water. Anton suddenly wondered what kind of spell allowed a mage to convert seawater to fresh water. He thought about the Cleaning Spell, the only spell outside his Diablo II system that he kept using, and wondered if that would do the trick so he planned to experiment later and he thought that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for Harun to get him a bucket of seawater but it was not immediate since he did have a spell that allowed him to produce water. He could even create a magic item that would allow a person to produce water so water wasn¡¯t a problem.

    Everyone in Anton¡¯s family was still using the mana water for bathing and drinking since the benefit of his mana water was truly wondrous. Anton didn¡¯t mind since it only took him minutes to fill out every bathtub in the bathrooms.

    Nemina told him that his friends, Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter couldn¡¯t believe Anders, Nemina, and Lucas¡¯s ages when they told them their ages since they couldn¡¯t believe Anders had a seventeen-year-old son despite being so young. They thought Anton¡¯s father was in his early thirties and were flabbergasted that Anders was already in his mid-forties.

    Anton¡¯s rich young friends were highly interested in what made them look young especially Lucia and Antonia, and Nemina just informed them to talk to him about the magic that caused its effect. Nemina even boasted a bit about her smooth skin and luxurious hair and when the four rich young people from New Drennor became aware of that good tidbit, they looked around and Nemina knew they noticed that everyone in Anton¡¯s group was sporting the same smooth skin, young looking bodies, and luxurious hair, even the men.

    He still wanted to check though if the cleaning spell could convert seawater to freshwater and if it couldn¡¯t, he would find an opportunity to trade or purchase that spell. It wasn¡¯t a priority but it was a good spell to know and maybe it could be applied to do something else.

    After taking a bath with mana water, Anton supplied everyone with mana water for bathing and then waited for everyone to get ready so they could go to the dining hall for the breakfast buffet.

    While they were eating breakfast, Anton was a bit surprised that his four new friends joined them. He thought that they would miss the breakfast buffet since they had spent a long time in the suite the night before talking about the television show so he expected them to rest some more.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°We¡¯re just too excited! You¡¯re family¡¯s mage Frederick, and the girls told us some information about the previous episodes of the television shows that you¡¯ve all seen and was informed that your family usually watches Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys every day and usually the shows were watched in alternating days so we wanted to ask you if we can join your family during your television time,¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care but you still have to ask my father,¡± Anders simply said which made Anders wear a smug smile.

    Anton knew that comment solidified his standing of mostly focusing on magic and not the day-to-day business of the family and that meant that the business was firmly in Anders¡¯s hands.

    While they were eating breakfast, Antonia asked him what he planned to do that day and Anton told his friends that he would be busy with magic and only planned to explore the ship and everything else after four in the afternoon. He saw that that comment made his new friends aware of the fact that they couldn¡¯t just rope Anton in with their business of becoming an idle rich nobleman while they were on the ship since they knew that he was a mage through and through.

    While they were eating, he asked Harun, who was nearby if he could find a chef to cook several kilos of the Kraken tentacle meat for their lunch and their sailor guide assured him that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    ¡°Oh, I forgot about that. We were supposed to eat that yesterday. Or was it the day before?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll eat it today and believe me, all of you would say that it was the most delicious thing that you¡¯ve ever eaten since it was the most delicious thing I¡¯ve ever eaten when I tried it. The Kraken meat was so tender that when it entered my mouth, it almost melted immediately. The meat also absorbs all the taste of the other ingredients and spices included in the dish it was mixed in but it still retained its unique fresh seafood taste so remember to return to the suite during lunchtime so everyone could have a taste,¡± Anton said to everyone.

    After breakfast, Anton saw that Antonia and Lucia invited Anna, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda to somewhere exclusive for women and the two new female bodyguards followed them. Phillip and Walter invited Devon and Frederick and based on their lascivious expressions, one of the topics that they would probably talk about was the porn movies.

    Although Anton told them about porn for his amusement, he wondered why they were so interested since the ship did have brothels that catered to all gender, even to those of Walter¡¯s preferences and Anton had the opinion that the live ones were much better than what one could see in movies but he was guessing that the novelty of seeing something like porn in a show was what drove the curiosity of the men.

    Antonia and Lucia looked at the men in disdain and snorted then all the girls separated from them while Phillip and Walter ignored them.

    Unfortunately for Colin, he had to accompany Anders as his father¡¯s secretary but based on what Anton had overheard, they were not spending all the time in business. They were also enjoying themselves exploring what Amelia could offer.

    Anton headed directly to his room in their suite after providing Harun with several kilos of Kraken tentacle meat. He was eager to reach the maximum level of his necromancer character to the point that he wasn¡¯t gear farming but was just leveling up since he wanted to start a paladin character since he knew that the character¡¯s support spells would be truly useful in real life.

    He knew though that once he had the paladin character, he would need to spend a huge amount of time theory-crafting about the spell combination of the different characters that would bring out the most powerful, devastating, and useful spells that he could concoct. He also needed to start studying the spells of every character in detail since in theory, magic items with spell combinations from different characters would probably bring out unexpected and wonderful results.

 Chapter 276

    Anton spent the whole morning focused on leveling up his character but he did spend an hour practicing his guitar and exercising his voice. Even though power was the most important thing in his life because it would protect him and his family from danger, he couldn¡¯t let go of the music.

    If he was being honest, Anton knew that he was only enamored with music because he discovered that his voice and guitar playing were several times better compared to his life in the previous world. He didn¡¯t know why, but Anton got an inkling that it was because of the additional stats brought on by leveling up his several characters. He couldn¡¯t admit that Anton¡¯s musical talent was better than his previous body on Earth. He thought that the only reason why the musical talent of his new body was better was because it was healthier on top of the additional stats.

    Not only that but because of his magical power, his confidence skyrocketed compared to the introverted malnourished grim look that he sported when he was on Earth. Anton imagined that if his system allowed him to upload videos and he uploaded some with him singing, he could probably make a name for himself in some of the video uploading platforms but he knew that he was overestimating himself since when he browsed the short video website, he was unbelieving at the amount of talents that the uploaders had.

    Anton wasn¡¯t really wishing for the ability to create videos in the new world using his system and upload them so that people in his previous world could see them since it wouldn¡¯t serve anything but stroke his vanity. It was just a whim that he thought of when they were traveling in Rendindura because of the beautiful scenery that he had seen.

    He wasn¡¯t even wishing for a portal back to Earth since Anton felt that it would only create chaos in both worlds. He considered his identity on Earth as truly dead. Maybe it would be different if he had family or friends but since he had none, he had no interest in going back to Earth. It was fun to imagine like some portal story but he wasn¡¯t hoping for it and even if for some reason the ability appeared, Anton probably would not use it.

    After practicing his voice and guitar for an hour, he went back to leveling up his necromancer character.

    Anton stopped leveling up when he noticed that it was almost lunchtime. His necromancer did reach level 68 and he was amazed at himself at how slow he was at leveling up his character. Even though he was using the on-screen option instead of entering the world of sanctuary personally, which meant that his leveling up should be faster, it was taking him a long time.

    He was even using the Player X code and the difficulty of the game was on Players Three. He would have increased it more but he finds it relaxing to mow down a huge number of mobs using his skills easily and if he increased the difficulty, the relaxing ease would turn into something stressful and it could even burn him out.

    Anton took a shower again and then exited his room. He was surprised to see that Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter were there with everyone else and was glad to note that everyone was already back.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Anton, your friends were asking to watch the three television series after lunch,¡± Anna said to him and Anton said that he was okay with it.

    Everyone else decided to rest that afternoon since they had been exploring non-stop ever since the start of the ship¡¯s journey. They would probably spend the rest of the afternoon watching television shows and Anton didn¡¯t mind. It¡¯s a good time for them to bond over watching the shows.

    Soon Harun arrived with some company to deliver the dishes that Anton asked him to find a chef that could cook it and after Anders paid the people who delivered the food, they began decimating all the dishes made from the Kraken tentacle meat.

    Anton and his new friends had tasted the Kraken before but he still couldn¡¯t believe how delicious they were and as expected, his family was saying the same thing. The speed at which they devoured the food on the table was somewhat awe-inspiring but it was understandable.

    ¡°How much Kraken meat do you have left?¡± Anders asked while they were eating.

    ¡°The tentacle meat I managed to take was huge. As huge as three carriages so there¡¯s a lot left. I imagined that even if we ate it every day, it would last the whole year,¡± Anton answered his father.

    ¡°I want to eat it again later tonight!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a waste for us not to eat the dinner that the ship prepared for us every night? We did pay a huge amount of coin for the suite,¡± Anton commented without stopping putting food in his mouth.

    ¡°Then we can only eat it during lunchtime then,¡± Anders said and Anton knew that his family¡¯s behavior was still deeply rooted in saving coins since they were just farmers not long ago and to be honest, their wealth, although could be considered considerable by average folks, wasn¡¯t that much but if one considered their family¡¯s potential to earn coins because of the movies, nobody would deny that they would become filthy rich in the future.

    Anton could see that his new friends were confused about why his family didn¡¯t want to waste the dinner that was included in the suite but he let it go and if they were truly curious, they could just ask the others. Their family¡¯s history wasn¡¯t a secret anyway.

    Anton suddenly wondered if they could eat the Kraken tentacle sashimi style but even though they could probably do that due to how tender the meat was, he found the idea a bit icky since the meat did come from a gigantic sea monster.

    After lunch, Colin prepared the white blanket that they were using as the projector screen. Anton¡¯s initial plan was to enter his Diablo II system after lunch but due to the circumstances, he had to join his family in watching the shows. He was just glad that he had not seen Xena and Hercules before and only showed them because when he did some research on shows that had fantasy medieval settings that wouldn¡¯t shock the denizens of this world, they were included in the results so that meant that he was entertained as well while watching them.

    Regarding Star Trek, he had only seen it when he was very young since his father on Earth wanted him to see it since it was his father¡¯s favorite show. Since he had seen Star Trek a long time ago, it was almost as if he was watching the show for the first time as well.

    Too bad for his new friends Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip since they began watching the shows in the middle of season one.

    It was around five in the afternoon when they completed watching one episode each of Star Trek, Xena, and Hercules. After that, Devon and Frederick ran off while the ladies stayed and continued talking with his new friends about the three shows¡¯ previous episodes.

    Anton knew that it would probably take them some time talking so he went inside his room to continue leveling up.

 Chapter 277

    Anton stopped leveling up his necromancer character at around seven in the evening since dinner in the dining hall was scheduled at eight. It was his personal rule that he would always join his family during breakfast and dinner to ensure that he did not become an otaku mage who did not meet with anybody and always stayed in his room.

    It would also make sure that his bond with his family would only continue to grow instead of becoming alienated from his friends and family. Still, Anton knew that even if he chose to do something like becoming a super otaku, his father would simply not allow him to become like that, at least while he was still young.

    More than likely, once he was an adult, Anton knew that that would be the time that Anders would let him do whatever he wanted but it was still a good idea for his mental health to be surrounded by his caring family instead of separating himself from them.

    He was a bit happy though that during the last hours of his leveling up, his necromancer reached level seventy-one but the battle was getting hard and that meant that his necromancer gears were sub-par.

    Anton decided then that his next action for the next several days was to concentrate on gear farming for his necromancer since he needed to upgrade its gear.

    When everyone was ready, they went to the dining hall but Harun led them to a very huge table instead of their original table, and were surprised to see Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter joining them.

    When Antonia noticed his surprise, she told him something unsurprising.

    ¡°I transferred us to a table that could accommodate all of us. It is also near to the stage so you can watch the shows being presented clearly.¡±

    Anton just shrugged and noticed that everyone was taking it for granted and more than likely, his new friends already informed his family about the change.

    When the food was served, they began talking about different things.

    ¡°Anton, I need to ask you, can we use the magic item that will let you record the movie?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°We could but the quality is a bit poorer. Why?¡±

    Anton was the only one who thought that the quality was lesser than his spell but to be honest, it was noticeable. It was like someone who was used to watching a high-definition movie suddenly switching back to Standard Definition.

    ¡°During our business talk, there was talk that it would be better if the movie was shown every night for a fraction of the initial cost of the ticket that we talked about. It was to ensure that not only the rich passengers could see the films but every passenger since if the tickets were cheaper, everyone could see the movies and according to your friends, that was one of the best ways to advertise our family¡¯s cinema business. I know you¡¯re busy every day increasing your mage power so it would be best if a magic item was used to present the movies instead of you being always there casting the spell.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Okay. After dinner, lead me to the room or hall that you rented as the cinema and I¡¯ll record the movie Titanic on the magic item.¡±

    The entertainment for the night started and they had to stop since it was hard to hear their talks over the singing of the bard on the stage. After the concert ended, his new friends turned to him.

    ¡°Can I go with you? I want to watch Titanic again,¡± Antonia asked and Lucia asked the same thing.

    Anton just shrugged indicating that it wasn¡¯t a problem for him. After dinner, unexpectedly, everyone decided to join him in the recording session. He could see that most of his family and friends were not interested in watching the film again since they had seen it several times but were interested in the recording session. He was glad that once he cast the Globe of Browser Sharing spell, he could just leave it alone and then focus on either leveling up his character or gear farming.

    His new friends led them to another floor which was the floor with the most businesses that both the poorer passengers and the elite passengers could go to. That meant that his family and the four rich young folks truly intended for everyone to see the films.

    Anton knew that Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter were still in the middle of talking about the cinema business with his father, and Nemina and Anders told him that all of their talks were still in the initial phase since they still had a lot of time in the journey to cement the business proposals.

    The hall that they chose for the cinema was as large as a standard cinema capable of seating at least three hundred customers. Antonia told him that it used to be a dancing hall that was used twice or thrice a week so she decided to use the room as the cinema permanently.

    During the recording session, nobody needed to enter the venue to disturb them since any noise would also be recorded. All the lights needed to be turned off so the only thing that the magic items would record was the movie itself. Antonia hired a few people as guards to deter anyone from even coming near the cinema door to avoid noise.

    There were only a few chairs in the hall since the place wasn¡¯t fully ready yet. Frederick would be the one handling the recording magic item. Anton first calibrated the size and quality of the video and the quality and loudness of the sound of the video. He made the sound especially loud to make sure that it would be clear to hear in every corner of the cinema. When everything was up to par, Frederick then readied the magic item.

    They turned off the lights then Frederick activated the recording magic item. The mage signaled Anton by tapping his foot that the item was ready so he started the Titanic movie.

    During the recording, Anton was glad that nobody disturbed them. While the film was being recorded, he started his gear-farming plan but unfortunately, during the whole movie, even though he found some good gear, he did not find any of the best in slot gears for the necromancer but it was expected. It would probably take time for him to get the best in slot gears.

    When the movie ended Anton also added the music video clip of the song My Heart Will Go On by the singer Celine Dion with a montage of some of the dramatic scenes from the movie.

    Once the recording session had ended, Anton threw the responsibility of checking the quality of the film to his father then they all returned to the suite.

    It was very late so Anton slept immediately after taking a shower. The next day, he joined his family for the breakfast buffet but was not surprised to learn that the only ones who would join him were his father, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin. The others were still sleeping. Even his four new friends were not present and Nemina told him that they kept talking about the films that the family had already seen until the wee hours of the morning.

    Anton was the only one who returned to the suite since the others went somewhere else either for business or leisure, he wasn¡¯t sure which. He pinned the sign that he made that he was unavailable until four in the afternoon on his door then he immediately entered his Diablo II system.

 Chapter 278

    That day, Anton was grateful that nobody disturbed him. He even ate some of the cooked food stored in his inventory. His family and friends didn¡¯t even disturb him about the Kraken tentacle meat that they were supposed to have for lunch, and he was guessing that even though the sea monster¡¯s meat was truly delicious, everyone was probably busy with something else.

    Because of that, he managed to concentrate on leveling up his necromancer. Even though he planned to focus on farming gear, when he researched the best-in-slot items for a summoning necromancer in Diablo II, he found out that his level was a bit low. Hence, he decided to concentrate on leveling up until he was in the upper eighties where he could wear all the best-in-slot gears.

    Anton kept on farming levels for five hours and only took a few minutes for lunch. He did level up to seventy-six and knew that it would probably take a couple of days before he reached the ideal level to truly start gear farming.

    To avoid burning out and getting bored, after five hours, Anton decided to practice his spells to make sure that he was familiar with the mana structure of the spells wielded by necromancers. Not only that, he also tried to learn how to manipulate the mana flow of some of the necro spells.

    He only stopped and exited his system when it was about three in the afternoon and practiced his guitar and voice for an hour. The only thing that he did not do that day was to create enchanted items but that was because he needed some more inspiration on what items he should create next.

    Since they were in the middle of the ocean, Anton thought of items that could save their lives aside from the floating hoverboard. He also thought that creative offensive and defensive items would also be needed but he wasn¡¯t truly worried that he would lack the inspiration since if he focused on it, the internet was there and the netizens would surely find a way to inspire him through reading web novel and Diablo II players forums.

    At around four in the afternoon, Anton exited his room and was surprised to see that everyone was there.

    ¡°I thought that you would all be roaming until dinner,¡± Anton commented to everyone.

    ¡°Some of us were doing the roaming thing but some needed to concentrate on business,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°We wanted to rest before dinner,¡± Anna said.

    Anton was surprised that Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were still there. He thought that they would be bored with his family by then so he directly asked them.

    ¡°We¡¯re interested in the results of the movie recording and your father, his secretary, and Ms. Nemina were testing them,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°To be honest with you, we¡¯re also interested in watching the television show as well so we have a proposal for you and your father. Allow us to rearrange your suite so that you can have a mini cinema in the corner that you¡¯re using to watch the shows so that we can all sit more comfortably. It wouldn¡¯t take a long time. Then allow us to arrange for someone to deliver the food that was supposed to be delivered to your table in the dining hall here so we can watch the shows while you¡¯re eating,¡± Phillip suggested.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°That meant that you don¡¯t need to take your time to prepare and just be comfortable here in your suite while eating the dinner provided by the ship,¡± Walter added.

    Anton just shrugged and looked at his father, throwing the responsibility towards Anders.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. We can attend the dining hall if we get tired of staying here anyway right?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Of course. You can always switch back and forth anytime you want,¡± Lucia answered.

    The moment Anders gave his approval, Phillip hurriedly went outside and called Harun who was always hovering nearby. After a few minutes, Harun and a few people returned bringing some very comfortable chairs with them. They then started attaching the chairs to the section in the suite that they were using as the mini cinema.

    While Harun and the other men were busy, Anton asked his father about the quality of the movie using a recording magical item.

    ¡°There is a decrease in the quality of the pictures and sound but I¡¯m sure that it would only be noticeable to the people who were used to watching movies using your spell. I¡¯m sure that all the other people including the ones in the dining hall that have seen them before wouldn¡¯t notice the drop,¡± Anders answered Anton¡¯s question.

    ¡°When are you going to start the cinema and have you finalized the ticket prices?¡±

    It was Nimena who answered Anton¡¯s questions.

    ¡°Your friends are still doing market research, especially the capability of the poorer passengers to pay for the cost of the tickets. They made a point that the prices should be low enough so that every single one of the passengers can afford to watch a new movie that will be shown every two weeks at least once since that will be the best advertisement that we can do. Once we¡¯re in New Drennor, the passengers will be the best ones who will spread the knowledge about the movies through word of mouth. They are also making some flyers and posters that will show a brief synopsis of the movies we will show, so probably the cinema will start three days from today.¡±

    Soon, Harun and the other workers were done nailing the chairs that were facing the wall where they would hang the white blanket that would work as the projector¡¯s screen. The furniture needed to be permanently fixed in place to avoid accidents during the times when the waves were strong enough to move things around.

    Anton commented once to his four new friends from New Drennor about being glad that he wasn¡¯t experiencing any seasickness but according to Antonia, they were still fairly near the continent of Rendindura since it had only been a few days. She said that Anton would know for sure once they were in the middle of the ocean which would be at most a month in their travel and not only that, the experience would be different during a storm.

    Lucia added that Anton should prepare for the worst since according to her those who experience ocean travel for the first time did experience a bout of seasickness without any exception.

    Anton was hoping that his three auras from his paladin mercenary, the Insight Runeword Weapon that his mercenary equipped, and the Vigor aura that came from the runeword bow that he had in his alternate weapon slot would be enough to offset any form of seasickness but, to be honest, he wasn¡¯t truly worried since if his auras did not work, Anton still had the Telekinesis spell that would let him fly in place to avoid the ship¡¯s movement and the hoverboard enchanted items.

    Harun and his team of workers said their goodbyes and because the mini-cinema was ready, Phillip persuaded everyone that they could start watching the television shows and that Phillip would handle everyone¡¯s dinner.

    Anders agreed so after Colin hung the white blanket, Anton cast his globe of browser-sharing and they started watching the first of the television show they planned to watch that night which was an episode of Star Trek. After that, they would eat their dinner and then proceed to watch the next one which was an episode of Hercules and then an episode of Xena.

 Chapter 279

    Anton, his family, and his friends spent the rest of the evening watching television shows. They did only watched one episode of each of the shows they were currently watching and all of them were entertained, even Anton since he hadn¡¯t seen them before as well.

    Admittedly, Anton felt that some of the special effects were dated since the shows were released in the nineties on Earth but he was the only one among them that could complain about something like the special effects since whatever show he presented to his family and friends would be fresh to them.

    After the shows ended, it was still early and Anna asked if they could eat some of the Kraken tentacle meat as a late-night snack. Everyone really liked the ocean monster¡¯s meat so Anton agreed and cut a few kilos of the meat and Phillip called Harun and asked the guide to have the meat cooked.

    Anders was amenable to that since all the expenses would be shouldered by Anton¡¯s new friends.

    While they were waiting for the food to arrive everyone talked about different things. Antonia, Lucia, and Walter were speaking with Anna and the other girls about the show while Phillip was cornered by Anton.

    ¡°Is it true that the ship usually would receive an attack at twice a week?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it isn¡¯t a problem for Amelia since there are a lot of powerful people defending it. Since we¡¯re still near Rendindura, most attacks would usually be from people like pirates. The Kraken attack a few days ago was especially rare this close to the continent and a lot of us were a bit worried about that since we thought that it was a move by the Undead Coalition. We¡¯ve heard of some huge undead monsters in the ocean that the most powerful undead could control and thought that the Kraken was something like that,¡± Phillip said.

    While Phillip answered Anton, he could clearly see that the rich young man¡¯s attention was divided between him and the discussion that was happening between the ladies of his family and Antonia, Lucia, and Walter.

    Anton did not care and asked some more questions to Phillip.

    ¡°Are you saying that there¡¯s still a chance that the Undead Coalition may attack the ships that are departing from Rendindura?¡±

    ¡°Not only do we think that we know since we received a report of that happening already. We are also aware that there¡¯s even a chance that the attack of the Undead Coalition may even reach the other continent so they could get a foothold in other areas of the planet. The powers that be of course will try their best to stop that but the Undead Coalition is powerful as well but of course, we¡¯re truly not worried. At least, not one hundred percent worried since the world is big and there are truly powerful beings that supposedly maintain the balance of the world according to our elders but in my opinion, it¡¯s not about the balance but protecting their interest. All powerful beings require huge amounts of resources to increase their power and would do everything they can to defend the areas they control where they get their resources from being occupied by other organizations.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Anton admitted to himself that that was what he was thinking so he couldn¡¯t believe the speed at which the undead conquered the continent of Rendindura but he was still ignorant and his tutor in Zalnothel did point out that the cities that his family had been to was still a small part of the Rendindura continent. He and his family just decided to cross the oceans since they thought that it was unlikely that the undead would continue their ambition across the sea when all of Rendindura had not been conquered yet.

    That was the main reason why Anton felt a bit stressed if he didn¡¯t progress in his leveling up using his Diablo system even for a day because he knew deep down that there would come a time when there would be a need to fight the undead for the right to exist.

    Anton took pity on Phillip and did not ask the man any more questions and allowed him to join the other¡¯s discussion about the movies and shows they had already seen. He could see that his new friends from New Drennor were truly enamored with what they probably considered a new form of entertainment.

    Soon, Harun arrived with a few others to deliver the food that Phillp commissioned. After Phillip paid the man, they began to eat the food that consisted of the Kraken¡¯s meat. It was supposed to be just a snack but the amount was a lot. Nobody was complaining since the tentacle meat was truly delicious.

    While they were eating Anders asked Anton what movie they planned to show next after Titanic.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a list of movies that we have already seen before and you can arrange the order to which you would show them to customers,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Can you add some movies that we haven¡¯t seen?¡± Anna requested and Anton nodded.

    Anton knew that it was a bit unfair for him to let his family watch the same movies over and over again when he boasted that he had countless movies and shows.

    ¡°Brother, can you let us watch an animated film before we sleep tonight?¡± Anna requested and since it was only nine in the evening and with Anders''s approval, Anton decided on an ocean-theme animated film so he decided to show them the Pixar Film, Finding Nemo.

    Anton saw that his new friends from New Drennor were highly interested since they had heard about animated films and even though some of his family members explained the genre to them in detail, he knew that they still hadn¡¯t understood what animation was.

    When the film Finding Nemo started, everyone was fascinated by the scenery under the ocean. Anton remembered that he really loved the film and was glad that everyone seemed to like it because they couldn¡¯t take their eyes away from the projector¡¯s screen. He especially liked the fish character Dory and she was his favorite.

    The adventures that Marlin experienced in the great ocean in trying to find his son Nemo touched his father since he could see the worry on Anders¡¯s face that it almost made Anton laugh but he could understand his father¡¯s worry.

    They had been constantly on the run and more than likely, Anton¡¯s father was placing himself on Marlin¡¯s feet or fins. He knew that if something like that happened to his family, Anton would do everything in his power to rescue his family as well.

    Anton liked the sharks in the movie as well since even though they were obviously scary monsters, they helped Marlin a lot.

    When the movie ended, Anton was startled when Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip clapped and everyone joined them. They clapped so long and so hard that Anton imagined that their hands were already sore. The women, including the two female bodyguards, had tears in their eyes even though Anton thought the movie wasn¡¯t a tear-jerker. He was guessing that not only his father, but everyone was putting themselves in the film character¡¯s shoes, or fins since with the situation they had encountered so far, they knew that the most affected were families.

 Chapter 280

    ¡°So that¡¯s animation,¡± Antonia said ponderously after the movie Finding Nemo ended.

    ¡°It certainly is different,¡± Lucia added.

    ¡°It¡¯s different from the previous animation we¡¯ve watched,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°There are many types of animation and this one is called a three-dimensional animation. The previous ones that we¡¯ve watched are called two-dimensional,¡± Anton informed them.

    Anton then had to give a brief explanation and history of animation when Phillip asked how it was made and he was sure that instead of understanding, his garbled explanation probably confused his four new friends more. He was a bit tired though so he didn¡¯t elaborate and told everyone that he wanted to rest so he said his goodbyes and entered his room. It was truly late so the moment the pillows touched his head, he fell asleep.

    During the next two days, Anton¡¯s routine was the same. In the mornings, he would join his family for breakfast and then return to his room in their suite to concentrate on leveling up his character for at least five hours. Then he spent the rest of the time practicing his spells to make sure that he understood the mana structure and mana pathway of his necromancer spells.

    He also spent time practicing his voice and guitar a few minutes a day and also spent time thinking of what next enchanted item he could create. That part was a failure since he couldn¡¯t think of any other items.

    Anton thought of starting his talisman project since creating talismans looked simple and easy enough to create. They were supposed to be for one-time use and he already had some success on that since his golden tablet of animal summoning based on the druid¡¯s summoning spells was a one-time use but when he tried to do it he discovered that paper couldn¡¯t hold the mana structure of his spells and would always burst into fire.

    The only solution that he could think of was to use small pieces of wood but using something like wood defeated the purpose of carrying a talisman since they were supposed to be light and convenient to carry.

    Talismans were supposed to not take time to create since it was supposed to be highly cheaper than an actual magic item but the complexity of the mana structure of his spells would not allow him to create the talismans as fast as he wanted it to be so he might as well create an actual item like a wand or an accessory.

    Anton decided to dispel the idea of creating talismans since his main motivation to create them was for money-making purposes and to increase the variety of magical items they could sell in their family store but since they decided that the main business they would focus on was the cinema, Anton decided to just create magic items based on what they might need in the future.

    During those two days, Anton also kept his plan of stopping his dive into his Diablo II system around three or four in the afternoon. He explored the Amelia and checked what the ship could offer in terms of entertainment but was a bit disappointed since it was limited.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    He wasn¡¯t interested in brothels or gambling and wasn¡¯t interested in becoming a drug or alcohol addict. Even though Anton was assured that the swimming pool was cleaned by the mages using spells, the idea of swimming in a pool that was used by a lot of people still gave him the hibbi jibbies. It might be different if it was the sea, ocean, or river so he didn¡¯t force himself to swim in the pool.

    The libraries on the ship, although contained a large number of novels didn¡¯t interest Anton since he had access to the internet, and when he tried to read one of them, the stories were sub-par.

    The only entertainments that Anton truly enjoyed were those that presented live performances of singing, playing musical instruments, theater plays, and dance halls.

    Anton still tried his best to join other people in those hours after he spent a huge amount of time in his Diablo II system since he didn¡¯t want to just hole up inside his room all day long. He was afraid of developing a twisted personality if he did that.

    After two days, his necromancer character reached level eighty-five and that meant that it was high enough for him to focus on finding the best-in-slot items for the necromancers so he decided that he would focus on that until he found all of them.

    They didn¡¯t stop watching the television show in the evening while they were eating but Anton insisted that they would only watch one show per day.

    During those two days though, Anton heard the advertisement for the cinema on the ship¡¯s announcement speaker and he marveled at Antonia¡¯s influence on the ship.  He also saw the posters for the cinema that were posted everywhere and he could see that people were truly interested. He could understand that since the entertainment on the ship was limited.

    They also received praise from everyone since the cost of the tickets was considered truly affordable. They did discover one thing though. The recording magic item could only be used up to five times a day but to prevent the recording magic item from degrading, they decided to show the movie only three times a day.

    His father told Anton that the initial schedule they had decided on was one and five in the afternoon and nine in the evening and only three days a week.

    On the cinema¡¯s opening day, Anders asked Anton to not stay in his room since his presence was needed in the theater to make sure that he could take over if something happened to the recording magic artifact.

    Anders also asked him to fill the other two recording magic items with the current movie that they were going to show so there would be a reserve in case of an emergency like the magic item failing. It didn¡¯t bother Anton too much since he could still access his Diablo II system while recording the movie and that meant that he could farm gear during the recording session.

    Since there were only three hundred seats in the cinema, they decided to use wooden tokens for tickets. The wooden token simply contained the seat number and the time the customers were supposed to enter. The sale of the token was scheduled every morning until noon and when the moviegoers entered the cinema, they would need to surrender the token to the people assigned to receive them.

    On the cinema¡¯s opening day, Anton and the rest of the family and friends entered around noon. The seats were exactly three hundred and twenty and the twenty seats were reserved for family and VIPs.

    Antonia informed him the cinema would be open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays but Fridays were only open exclusively to the passengers in the suites. The schedules after that could be purchased by any passengers on the ship.

    At around half past noon, the cinema was then opened to the customers, and in a few minutes, all the seats were taken and even the VIP seats were filled. The VIP seats which were deemed the most optimal place to watch the film were near the screen and Anton was surprised to see Captain Robertson, some of his officers, and mages joined them.

    Anton guessed that most of the customers were the ones who had already seen the movie before but he expected something like that to happen. He guessed that some of the passengers would probably repeatedly watch the movies.

 Chapter 281

    Everyone could conclude that the cinema was a success but no one was expecting otherwise. The quality of the Titanic film was already proven on Earth based on how much it earned. The movie would run for two weeks and for three days a week, and then after that, they would change the film to the next one which was one movie in the list that Anton had given to his father. All of them were movies that were already seen by the family including some of the Disney animations they had watched.

    Anton decided that he would only show new movies to his family and friends first before presenting them to their customers since his family and friends¡¯ reactions would determine how the ship¡¯s passengers would react to the films.

    When the movie ended, Anders allowed Anton to leave and Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter went with him. The family had to stay to oversee and manage the cinema but since his new friends from New Drennor were their partners, they provided a few men they trusted to help the family.

    The family had to manage the people who would enter the cinema for the next scheduled viewing but before Anton and his friends left, Anders reminded Anton that he would need to record the movies on the two recording magical items as back-ups in case something happened to the item that was being used. That would free him up from having to be in the cinema on a normal business day.

    Anton also decided to speak with Captain Robertson and his entourage to pay his respects. The captain kept saying that the movie was truly entertaining but fortunately, the captain seemed aware that most major decisions were being handled by Anders so soon Anton and his new friends were free to leave and the captain, his officers, and the mages talked to Anders.

    They went to one of the many cafes in the Amelia but the one they went to seemed to be one of the most exclusive based on the decoration and the quality of the clientele. The window alone covered the one of walls and the whole wall was the window so that meant that the customers could see the ocean.

    ¡°Your movies are truly wonderful Anton and the fact that you have thousands upon thousands of them boggles my mind,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°Based on the glimpses that I¡¯ve seen on the window of reality that my spell brought me, the world that it was opened to was focused on creating entertaining things, not only movies or shows. They also had what they call the internet, which was a network that allowed each one of their people to connect to a worldwide database and that database contained all the knowledge they had gathered in their world. That included all the movies, shows, novels which were fiction or otherwise, poems, historical documents, and more,¡± Anton paused his explanation since the waiter brought the beverages they ordered.

    After a while, Anton continued.

    ¡°They use this internet to communicate as well and they use different devices to do so. Some were as large as the screen that we¡¯re using to watch the shows but some were as small as a palm.¡±

    ¡°How did they achieve that?¡± Phillip asked and Anton saw that each one of his new friends was truly intrigued.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Based on my research, their world focused on developing their technology instead of magic. This allowed them to create devices that would fly above the sky and circle their planet. They call them satellites and these satellites allow their devices to connect to the worldwide database. It¡¯s highly technical and only the most knowledgeable scholar or sages would be able to understand them. I conferred with one of the scholars in Zalnothel about it and was informed that it wasn¡¯t possible in our world since many beings would destroy any devices, magical or otherwise that could inspect their territories.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pity. I would have liked to have something like the ¡°internet¡±, even though I don¡¯t truly understand them,¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°They also had a device called computers that allowed them to access the Internet and play computer games and I¡¯ve seen their games. They were highly complex and addictive. Because movies, shows, novels, and games were easily accessible, one of the downsides their planet developed was their youths became so enamored of the internet that they didn¡¯t leave their rooms and spent all their time watching shows and playing games. Admittedly, those only happened to the youths from rich countries since those who were located in the poor ones still had to work to feed themselves.¡±

    ¡°What kind of games could be so complex and addictive?¡± Walter asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show some of the infrastructure of the world that my spell poked a window through including the devices and games on the screen where we watch shows in our suite,¡± Anton said and his four friends smiled.

    They paused their talk for a few minutes to savor the delicious beverages that were served while they were hot. After a few minutes, Antonia suddenly said something important.

    ¡°We were attacked by pirates last night.¡±

    ¡°What! Why wasn¡¯t there an announcement?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°The ship wouldn¡¯t bother if the attack were something trivial and it was. The mages handled the attack in just a few minutes,¡± Phillip added.

    Based on what his friend told them, there were no survivors in the pirate fleet that attacked the ship. Anton didn¡¯t feel any pity for them since Phillip shared some of the atrocities that pirates would do to a conquered ship and he knew it as well based on the news report that he had read when he was on Earth about modern pirate attacks.

    Not only that, it was incredibly stupid of that pirate group to attack the Amelia since everyone knew that a huge ocean ship like theirs was well defended by powerful mages. Phillip speculated that the attack was probably led by a newbie Pirate leader wanting to establish his prestige but instead led his group to their demise.

    After several minutes of contemplation about the foolishness of people, Antonia suddenly asked him something peculiar.

    ¡°Anton we wanted to speak with you regarding the method you use to keep your family young. I was shocked when I learned about your father¡¯s and everyone else¡¯s ages. Your sister even boasted that the method allowed the girls in your group to have smooth and fair skin and luxurious hair.¡±

    ¡°When I became a mage, I learned a spell that allowed me to cast Ice Bolts and I studied the spell in detail allowing me to memorize and manipulate the mana structure and the mana pathway of the said spell. This allowed me to control the Ice Bolt spell and manage to control the temperature enough to turn it into water. I also noticed that the water that came from one of my ice spells was charged with magic. I tasted it and it was extremely delicious and refreshing so we decided to drink it exclusively to refresh ourselves and soon we noticed the health benefits that the mana water, that¡¯s what we call the water, gave us. It made my father younger looking and all the scars in our body disappeared. My father¡¯s hair turned black and my sister¡¯s skin turned fair and smooth but the effect wasn¡¯t instantaneous. It would take a few months before the effect was noticeable,¡± Anton was being candor with his friends since it was something that didn¡¯t need to be kept a secret.

    ¡°I also noticed that if I used a much more powerful ice spell, the effect was also maximized,¡± Anton continued.

 Chapter 282

    The two women gasped. Anton could understand, and Walter and Phillip looked highly intrigued as well. Who wouldn¡¯t want to remain young and beautiful even in their twilight years?

    ¡°Are you also planning to sell your ¡°mana water¡±? That could truly make you one of the richest in the Gale Continent,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°Not only women who would become like monsters if they heard that some kind of magic water can help them become young forever but men would probably spend a fortune for something that will keep them young,¡± Walter added.

    ¡°Unfortunately, based on my experimentation, the effects of mana water like keeping someone young, making the skin fair and smooth, and making hair soft and luxurious were only achieved due to the combination of mana water and my healing spells. That meant that only either of the two wouldn¡¯t achieve the effect. My healing spells are very powerful. Not only that, once the mana water was produced, it only had a shelf life of one hour. After that time, it becomes regular water.¡±

    ¡°So the water that we¡¯ve drinking while we¡¯re eating in your suite was the mana water?¡± Lucia asked and Anton simply nodded.

    ¡°I knew there was something different with the water but the movies and the Kraken meat overshadowed it. How powerful are your healing spells?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°In my experience, I saw that they were able to heal any wounds, cure any diseases, and even regrow limbs. I¡¯m not sure about poison though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s already under the purview of divine spells cast by priests!¡± Phillip exclaimed.

    Anton knew that they were divine spells since the Auras were from the Paladin¡¯s skill set and every lore from every story almost always determined that the root of the Paladin¡¯s powers was from the divine but he didn¡¯t comment on what Phillip had said and just shrugged.

    The good thing about his rich friends from New Drennor was their extensive etiquette. They knew what not to ask when it came to something sensitive like his spells.

    ¡°So if we keep drinking your water and receive your spells we will experience the changes that your mana water will bring?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°Yes. Do you want to try out my healing spells? It¡¯s subtle enough if I want them to be so nobody would notice,¡± Anton said and all of his friends nodded.

    Anton then added Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip to his party system and then he activated his three auras which were the Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Aura. He was highly surprised that his mana decreased and that meant that any one of them was suffering from some kind of injury or disease.

    ¡°I feel it! I feel the energy coming back to my body and I feel like I just woke up from a satisfying sleep and now is full of vigor!¡± Lucia gasped.

    The others¡¯ reactions were the same but didn¡¯t make any comments. Anton had to say something. If he were more experienced, he would have been more tactful and kept silent but since he was a bit childish due to the fact that his behavior seemed to be following his body¡¯s age he said something to the group.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°My mana decreased and the amount was surprisingly high. That meant that any one of you or all of you were suffering from some kind of injury or disease but you¡¯re all cured now.¡±

    Anton was flabbergasted to see that all of his friends turned so red that he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if smoke came out of their heads and that gave him an inkling that the disease that they suffering from possibly could be something embarrassing like a sexually transmitted disease.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask a priest to cure you?¡± Anton asked.

    After a couple of minutes of silence, it was Phillip who answered.

    ¡°I¡¯m hoping, more than likely, the others as well, that we could hold off in asking for a cure from the priest in the ship either at least when we reached New Drennor or if I received another injury that the ship¡¯s priests would heal and it would also heal my disease. If we allow the ship¡¯s priest to heal me, they will know what kind of disease I had and it would be reported to the family.¡±

    ¡°Of course, if it was highly threatening, we would go to the priest,¡± Walter added.

    ¡°At least, now you¡¯re all cured. So the combination of mana water and my healing spells was what kept my father so young and you already felt the power of my spells,¡± Anton shrugged.

    Anton and his friends spent another hour in the caf¨¦ talking about different things until he said to them that he needed to go where the horses were located since he would need to make sure that they were doing well and he would also conduct his weekly healing to make sure that they were in good condition.

    It was a good thing that his four friends joined him since they would lead him to where the animals were located since he couldn¡¯t remember the way. When he arrived there, the people who were looking after the animals looked delighted and Lucia whispered that most people who had jobs of looking after the animals were appreciative of their owners who cared about them.

    When the horses saw him or smelled him, they ran to him at the limit of their cubicles and looked really excited to meet Anton. He patted them and gave them mana water then he added Maide and Bailey, the two horses, to his party system and activated his three auras.

    The two horses felt Anton¡¯s spell and became more affectionate. Their eyes were lively and he was sure that soon, Maide and Bailey would become spirit animals.

    Anton didn¡¯t visit the wolves since they were already magic animals and didn¡¯t need his healing. They were summoned by the magic item that he created and the wolves were the responsibility of who summoned them which were his family members and friends.

    Anton and his friend returned to the suite and when they arrived there, they were the first ones there. It was around six in the evening and since it was early, he indulged his friends¡¯ request to see some of the modern infrastructure, technology, and gadgets of the other world which was Earth so they went to the mini cinema and he showed a few video clips from the most famous video streaming website about modern Earth which included the buildings, the gadgets, and computer games both triple A single player games and MMORPG.

    ¡°The dimension that you¡¯ve shown us where the movies came from is really advanced! I would have liked to live somewhere like that. Don¡¯t they have wars? And aren¡¯t there any powerful wizards that can detect your magical seeing eye?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been researching that dimension for a while and from what I¡¯ve learned, they did have wars and some parts of the planets were still at war. Their wars were and are as brutal, possibly, as the battles that we have in our world. The major difference is as I¡¯ve already said, they focused on technology instead of magic so any powerful wizard who managed to get there, if they were not killed immediately by modern weapons because they were showing off their magic, would become very rich.¡±

 Chapter 283

    ¡°Is it possible to open a portal to that dimension?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but we know that in magic nothing is impossible but to be honest with you, it¡¯s not my priority. Opening a portal there will not increase my power because all the things that can be found there are for mortals. I¡¯ve already mentioned that my true focus is to increase my magic power because that is the only way that I can achieve my goal which is to become someone beyond Invincible. You know that that is the goal of all wizards.¡±

    Antonia sighed and Anton saw that the others were the same. It was understandable that they would comprehend what he meant since they already told Anton that ever since they were young, they had been taught by their families that the moment a mage was born in their family, that mage would focus his or her attention on magic and only magic and they had heard several times from their wizard relatives that their goals were to reach beyond invincible with no exception.

    Soon, everyone arrived in the suite. Anton¡¯s family and friends looked exhausted but excited.

    ¡°So how was the cinema? You don¡¯t have to worry about dinner since Phillip here already called Harun and we gave him several kilos of the Kraken tentacle meat for our dinner. He should be coming in any minute now,¡± Anton told everyone which made them delighted.

    ¡°What can we say but that it was a success? It is expected though but what surprised me was how unexpectedly exhausting it was and we have to return at nine in the evening to show the last showing of the film later,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°Well once you¡¯ve trained people to show the movies without any mistakes, then you can just watch the coins coming in and don¡¯t have to do anything else.¡±

    ¡°It will probably take us at least a couple of weeks since we want to make sure that the new cinema employees are well trained. Although I must say, even though I highly liked the Titanic film. I almost can¡¯t stand watching it anymore. It will probably be a while before I¡¯ll be interested in watching it again,¡± Nemina said and Anton smiled.

    Anders reiterated that he would need to record the movie on the two other recording magic artifacts. They all talked about what happened during the cinema showing while they were waiting for their dinner to arrive and soon Harun, together with other people brought the dishes containing the Kraken meat. This time, it was Walter who handled their bill and Anton was guessing that his four friends would probably take turns handling their bills.

    After dinner, there was still a bit of time before they returned to the cinema theater so they kept talking about different things. One of them opened up the magic items that Anton had made.

    ¡°You know how to create magic items!¡± Phillip exclaimed.

    It wasn¡¯t Anton who answered but the others in the family. They told the four from New Drennor what magic items Anton had already created. They described the items one by one and even showed them samples of the items including the miniature summoned spirit wolves and ravens.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Anton knew that Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip had seen them before then they told everyone that they thought that the tiny animals were some sort of stuffed toy which made everyone laugh.

    ¡°I want a tiny wolf and tiny raven as well! Can I buy them from you?¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°I gave all the miniature animal summoning tablets to my father so you¡¯ll have to talk to him if you want to buy them. It would probably cost you some though,¡± Anton laughed.

    Antonia and Lucia looked like they were gearing themselves for a huge battle while Phillip and Walter examined the other magic items.

    ¡°I noticed that the only items that you created that can be used for battle are the wands and the summoned animals,¡± Phillip commented.

    ¡°I wanted to focus on what I call lifestyle magical items. Admittedly, almost all of my spells are geared toward offense and defense so I wanted the magic items that I create to focus on magic that will help the day-to-day lives of people. I knew that it was na?ve of me since our world is not peaceful but I¡¯m young enough to make mistakes like that. I planned to only make magic items geared towards battle only for my family and friends.¡±

    While they were talking, Anton noticed that Antonia and Lucia concluded their talk with his father and was surprised at the amount of coins they gave Anders. He also noticed that they had magical storage items as well which was a general sign of a truly wealthy person if they¡¯re not a mage.

    Antonia and Lucia kept two tablets each and gave the other four to Phillip and Walter. They immediately used the tablets and the magic items disappeared. In their place, miniature ravens and spirit wolves appeared. The tiny ravens flew then headed toward their summoner and rested on their shoulders. The tiny spirit wolves jumped to the lap of their summoners and rested there.

    Anton had to admit that the summoned miniature animals were truly cute and useful. The tiny ravens could be used as messengers and even the tiny spirit wolves could be used for battle as well although their attack power would probably be negligible.

    Since all the tiny animals looked the same, Anna gave them suggestions about putting some sort of tiny piece of clothing that would differentiate their mini ravens and mini spirit wolves from others.

    They also made suggestions on what they could do using their tiny animals. Aside from becoming messengers since the tiny ravens could carry small notes, they could also use the ravens as scouts. Admittedly, the birds were more useful compared to the mini spirit wolves and it seemed like the wolves'' best function was to be a toy and companion.

    Soon Anton¡¯s father and the others had to leave to go back to the theater to oversee the last showing of the film for that day. Some were not needed so they stayed in the suite. Anton then told everyone that he had to do ¡°magely¡± things so he had to leave which disappointed his four new friends and Anton guessed that they wanted to watch the three shows or a new film but Anton wanted to rest and spend a little time on the internet by himself.

    He noticed though that his four friends still remained and talked with Frederick and the girls who stayed in the suite. The only ones who went to the theater were his father, Nemina, Lucas, Devon, and Colin.

    Since he didn¡¯t enter his Diablo II system the whole day, Anton was a bit anxious and he was worried that he was developing an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Of course, he knew nothing about mental illness but he was still worried. He entered the game and began farming for gears but after an hour, he stopped. He then spent the rest of the evening browsing some short video clips on the most famous short video clips website.

    Anton learned a lot of things there even the most current news and events from his previous country on Earth like the new president, new laws that passed, the absurdity of the youths about choosing alternative genders, and others.

    The short video website was also highly useful in learning the best new movies, animes, and shows that came out, and was glad that he could use his Diablo II system to subscribe to all the streaming sites.

 Chapter 284

    Anton had been doing the same thing for the next seven days. After breakfast, every morning he would enter his Diablo II system. He would focus the first three hours farming the best-in-slot gears for the necromancer character. After the gear farming, he would then focus on reaching the maximum level for the character.

    He really wanted to start the paladin character since the skill set of that character would be very useful in keeping himself, his family, and his friends safe.

    At around eleven in the morning, he would stop farming gears and then switch to practicing the mana structure and researching the mana pathway and mana manipulation of his spells for both the druid and necromancer characters since he felt that he wasn¡¯t proficient yet on the spells for those characters. He would have liked to still practice the spells of his sorceress since the sorceress¡¯s powers were still his bread and butter in the real world when it came to swiftly dealing with his enemies but his time was limited. He did sneak in a little time to practice the spells of the sorceress though.

    Anton did find that the Telekinesis spell, which was hardly useful in the game when he was back on Earth, was highly handy when it came to this world. The fact that he could use it to fly made the spell the number one spell in the sorcerer''s skill tree that he practiced a lot.

    The Telekinesis spell was even useful in battle since he could use it to hold enemies in place or push or pull them away. Anton could even use it to save his family by picking them up and flying away. He had tested it while they were traveling from Zalnothel to the city of Whaling.

    Because of the high serviceability of Telekinesis, Anton had to increase its level to the maximum but now he was focused on practicing both the druid and necromancer spells.

    At noon, he would stop for lunch and to save the food stored in his inventory since he knew that he should keep it for emergencies, he went outside the suite to eat. Anton did discover with the help of Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip the best place where he could eat lunch and that time usually would take an hour.

    After lunch, he would practice his guitar and train his voice by following the courses that he applied to over the internet and was thankful again that he could use the gold coins in his Diablo II system to pay the fees he incurred on the internet like subscription fees for the streaming websites and courses that he enrolled into.

    After the music practice, Anton would enter his Diablo II system again to either continue farming gear or leveling up, practice spells or think about the next magical item project that he would like to make and the best thing that he could think of for now was to create an accessory that would allow the wearer to have a Frozen Armor spell surrounding him or her when the item was activated. He thought that it was one of the best spells that could provide a modicum of defense to his family and friends.

    He tried creating what he called the accessory of Frozen Armor but the mana structure and pathway of the spell was incredibly complex and the fact that Anton intended to use a small item like a brooch or an amulet made the project extremely difficult. He wanted to make it smaller so the girls could wear it without a problem but based on his tests, it would be a while before he completed that Frozen Armor accessory project.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    During those seven days, Anton paused his system activities to record the movie Titanic to the other two recording magic items that their family had since his father was really worried about not having a backup.

    Anton still used the rest of the afternoon until evening to explore the ship, either by himself or together with his friends. He wanted to memorize the areas in the ship so he could function within the Amelia if something chaotic occurred and he had to run around either to fight or to flee. His imagination painted several instances of what could happen like attacks from enemies that managed to board the ship. Since he had consumed a vast amount of anime and online novels, his imagination was rich in what could attack them. For example, an army of sahuagin or undead sea creatures, things like that.

    Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin were busy handling the cinema theater and making connections with the rich folks from New Drennor. Anders kept complaining about how busy and how tiring the work was but Anton, and everyone else for that matter, could see that his father, Nemina, and Lucas were enjoying the work. Anton overheard Lucas admit to his wife that what he enjoyed the most was seeing Nemina happy and their family safe.

    Devon was busy with something else, what it was, no one knows but he was forced to share his business with his parents and Anton even though he was already in his mid-twenties after he incurred a sexually transmitted disease from one of the ladies of the night working in the ship which meant that he spent most of his time in the red light district and the gambling dens. Anton easily cured the disease but for a few days, Nemina looked at her son with contempt and the girls looked at him with disgust. Anton and the other men in the group just laughed with him.

    Because of the presence of wizards and priests who had spells that could cure any disease, most mercenaries tend to take sexually transmitted diseases without any care in the world. Frederick did confess to him that he incurred the same thing but used his coins to hire one of the priests on the ship to heal him to avoid sharing the information with the family and the mage knew that Anton would be tight-lipped if he shared something like that with him.

    Anton thought of going to the red light district on the ship to heal all of the ladies there to avoid further spreading the disease but Phillip stopped him.

    ¡°Why would you stop me from doing something like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s one way the priests earn coins and it doesn¡¯t cost that much,¡± Phillip told him.

    Due to the rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases, any little desire that Anton had of exploring the gathering place of whores and gamblers dwindled into nothing.

    Anna and Frederick hired some advanced wizards on the ship to teach them magic. The cost was considerable but the lessons they learned, which was the foundation of what a true wizard was would benefit them highly, according to Frederick, so Anders didn¡¯t hesitate to pay for Anna¡¯s tuition. Frederick had coins so he didn¡¯t hesitate as well since he had a share of the treasure that they had received from the gang who attacked them when they were in Zalnothel.

    While Anna was being tutored by the ship¡¯s wizards, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda kept roaming around and they discovered the library and theater that shows live plays. They spent their time there followed by the newly hired female bodyguards. Anna didn¡¯t have any bodyguards with her since the place where the wizards gathered was probably the most secure in the Amelia.

    Antonia and Lucia also introduced the Patron¡¯s bar to the ladies which was possibly a mistake since now, the three girls were smitten with the handsome musicians performing there although Anton was glad that Antonia and Lucia were looking after the girls and kept reminding them the first love of any performers in the Patron¡¯s bar was the fame and fortune that the entertainers would receive as highly acclaimed bards.

 Chapter 285

    Anton learned something important from his friends from New Drennor during one of the times he joined them after his Diablo II system sessions. The Amelia would stop twice. The first one was on an island in the middle of the ocean which was on usually the fourth month of the travel from Rendindura to the New Gale continent.

    The island would provide the necessary food that would refresh the food supply of the ship. Even though the storage items of the people on the ship were gigantic, it was still a good idea to top it off with fresh supplies from the citizens of the said island.

    The Amelia would stop on that island for three days to give the passengers time to rest their feet on solid ground and to explore the island and three days was enough to explore it fully since it was a small island. The islanders would always welcome any ships that stopped there since they would receive a considerable amount of coins from the ship and the passengers.

    The islanders would also prepare a lot of items to sell to the passengers like arts and crafts and Anton was interested in that since he could use them as the base for his enchanted items. Anton put the information at the back of his mind though since that was a long way from where they currently were since they had only been in the ocean for a couple of weeks.

    After a week of showing the movie Titanic in the cinema theater, which was just three days a week, the rich passengers were tired of it so it was the turn of the poor passengers to enjoy the movie and their reaction was a bit extreme in Anton¡¯s opinion. They never stopped talking about the film and he had even heard some fights about the movie. Some were reported to take the death of Jack, who was the protagonist of the film, seriously causing depression and the ship had to make an announcement several times that the movie was not real but made by actors just like a theater play.

    Antonia explained that because the cinema tokens were cheap enough that even the poorest passengers could afford them, they indulged themselves which normally, they wouldn¡¯t since they would usually spend their hard-earned coins to expand their business or to support their family.

    That meant that the poor usually hadn¡¯t even seen the live theater play so the movie was a shock to them. The fact that the movie looked like a window to another life, it was like every one of the viewers were having adventures by becoming the protagonists of the film even just for a little while.

    Anders had to utilize several air conditioner magic items that Anton had made to make sure that the moviegoers were comfortable inside the cinema since a huge gathering of people did generate enough heat that it was offsetting the magic that the ship¡¯s wizards were using to control the temperature inside the ship.

    Since Anton had gathered the best slots gears for a necromancer, on the first day of the third week that they had been traveling in the ocean which was also the first day of the second week that the movie Titanic was being shown at the cinema, he returned to leveling up his necromancer.

    During that day, Anton was extremely focused but he still stopped when it was time for him to practice his spells and for lunch. Then he also practiced his music and to be honest, the music practice wasn¡¯t about improving his guitar playing or his voice. It was about soothing his soul since music had that effect on him.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    There wasn¡¯t much progress on his attempt to create a magic item that would allow the user to cast Frozen Armor since to be honest about it, he spent so little time in enchantment.

    After his time with the Diablo II system, he went outside the room to rest and explore the ship but was surprised to see that everyone was there including Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip. The only ones who were missing were his father, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin.

    ¡°What are you all doing?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°I just arrived from my studies as well and everyone was here resting,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re out early and none of us want to explore the ship, why don¡¯t we watch a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°We can¡¯t watch those without father and the others. Why don¡¯t we watch something else? What do you want to watch, romance, horror, adventure, sci-fi, animation¡­?¡± Anton asked.

    Anna shouted animation since she was curious how animated television shows worked since they had seen animated movies, while the other suggested the other genre. Curiously, no one chose the horror genre.

    Anton then suddenly thought of the animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was one of the best animated shows in his opinion and he knew in his bones that everyone would love it.

    ¡°I have decided what show we will watch next. First, we have to ask Harun to ask someone to cook the Kraken meat for our dinner,¡± Anton said.

    Phillip said that he was on it and immediately went outside the suite to look for their sailor guide. After a few minutes, Phillip returned with Harun and Anton gave the guide a few kilos of Kraken meat. After that, they went to where the projector screen was set up. Anton then started the first episode of season one of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

    Anton was happy that everyone seemed to enjoy the animated series since he liked it so much and did not mind watching it again. After the first episode ended, they decided to pause watching since everyone knew that Harun should arrive soon with the food so they discussed the first episode and he was impressed at the imagination of his friends and family. Of course, he didn¡¯t provide any spoilers so everyone decided to talk about the magic system of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and not only that they also discussed the possible scenarios that could happen in the future.

    ¡°That animation was a bit different from the one we first saw,¡± Antonia commented.

    ¡°Finding Nemo is what we call a three-dimensional animation while the show that we just watched is what we call a two-dimensional animation. The major difference is the budget spent on creating the shows. Movie producers would usually spend a huge amount of wealth in creating them but television show budgets usually would be so much lesser,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°I noticed that! The quality of the movie Titanic was greater than Star Trek, Xena, or Hercules,¡± Lucia added.

    ¡°The magic of the show was weird though. They cast spells by dancing.¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°It¡¯s not dancing. It¡¯s called martial arts. Based on my research using my ability to peek into other worlds, some worlds don¡¯t have magic at all so they usually fight using cold weapons or hands and feet and they developed a set of special moves that would maximize their attack power and those set of moves were called martial arts. Remember that Avatar is a fiction story meaning that it wasn¡¯t true and it came from the imagination of the makers of the animated show and they imagined that specific martial arts unique to specific cultures would produce the power of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.¡±

    ¡°So Katara and Sokka were from a northern place and their martial arts would produce the power of water?¡± Anna asked and Anton nodded.

    ¡°The imagination of artists never ceases to amaze me,¡± Antonia said while shaking her head.

    Soon Harun arrived with others bringing the dishes that contained the Kraken meat. Even though it was only around five in the afternoon, they decided to eat an early dinner and would just eat again late at night. Anton made sure to keep plenty for Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin.

 Chapter 286

    Anton and the others, including his four rich friends from New Drennor, continued watching Avatar: The Last Airbender after they ate dinner. After they completed the fourth episode of season one, Book One: Water, Anders, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin returned from the cinema theater.

    They joined Anton¡¯s father at the table and served them the Kraken meat dishes that they left for them.

    ¡°What are you watching?¡± Anders asked while they were eating.

    ¡°It¡¯s an animated television show. At first, they wanted to watch episodes of the television shows we¡¯re all watching but I told everyone that we can only watch them together with you guys,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Most of us will be busy doing things and we can¡¯t all be together all the time,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We can watch when we¡¯re together and if we want to watch something else, as I¡¯ve said before, the number of shows and movies that I can pull from that other world was so massive that we wouldn¡¯t run out even if we watched shows and movies continuously for decades without stopping. Although, we still need to keep in mind that the quality of both the movies and television shows varies.¡±

    ¡°When you say quality what exactly do you mean? Are you talking about the quality of the video like if it¡¯s clear or not?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°No. The quality meant the quality of the actors, the story itself, the people who direct the shows and movies, the quality of the special effects, and all sorts of things. Several things would affect the quality of the movies and shows like when they were made. The world where I¡¯m stealing that content has been doing these films and shows for more than a century and as you know, their technology progresses a lot and that means that the technology to create movies and shows progresses as well. So one should expect the older movies and shows to have a lower quality in case of visual effects. Of course, it¡¯s different with those story-driven shows. Another thing was their culture changes with time so some things that were popular in a specific era or the events they were focusing on in terms of culture will be different compared to the shows that they created decades ago.¡±

    The whole group contemplated what Anton had said regarding some simple facts about television shows and movies while his father and the others were eating. After dinner, everyone continued to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, and his father and the others that were with him in the cinema were fine just continuing on the last episodes they had seen.

    Anton told his father that cartoons were specially made to entertain children but since some of the best animations had very good stories adults also enjoyed watching them and one good example of that was The Last Airbender.

    They began watching the fifth episode which was one of Anton¡¯s favorites since it was the episode that which Aang met his old friend who was now the king of Omashu. After the episode ended, everyone admitted that they now understood why he had said that the animated show was for children since because of the funny way the show was created, according to them anyway, it was clearly made for children. The story was fascinating enough though that everyone wanted to keep watching.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°What we¡¯re doing is called binge-watching. A show like Avatar was supposed to be seen once a week just like the other television shows that we¡¯ve been watching but if one watches several episodes at once, it¡¯s called binge-watching.¡±

    Anton could see that even though his father, Nemina, and Lucas enjoyed watching the animated television show, he saw that they were not committing themselves to the cartoon since because of the cinema business, they would not be able to spend so much time watching the show.

    They had time for one more episode before Anders and the others went back to the cinema to present the last showing for the day.

    Everyone else wanted to continue watching so they did. After several hours, they had to call on Harun again to have him cook them more Kraken meat. Anton¡¯s father and the others returned from the cinema before Harun returned with the food that they asked him to have cooked and when their guide arrived, everyone enjoyed their second dinner.

    It was very late so even though a lot of them wanted to continue binge-watching, Anton had to put his foot down and told everyone that it was time for rest. He knew that the four rich young folks from New Drennor were used to doing their thing at all times of the day or night but he was strictly following the schedule he made.

    Anton reiterated to himself that he might have developed some minor mental health issues due to becoming stressed whenever he skipped entering his Diablo II system for a day. He had to admit though that this world was truly dangerous and what he was feeling might be the need to earn more power so he could better protect himself, his family, and his friends.

    After his friends left, Anton entered his room leaving his family in the main living room of the suite. Anton took a bath and then entered his Diablo II system. He leveled up his necromancer for a couple of hours managing to increase his level by two points so Anton¡¯s necromancer reached level eighty-seven. Soon he would be able to create a paladin character.

    There was a bit of a problem with that though since when the system announced that Anton should be able to level up the rest of the magical character, it did not say that once he was done with all those, he should be able to move on with the melee or the warriors but he was almost one hundred percent sure that his system would allow him to have all the Diablo II characters.

    Another small problem was that he was used to playing almost exclusively the Sorceress and the Necromancer character so he was not sure how to level up a paladin but of course, it was not truly a problem because the internet was there.

    Anton exited his Diablo II system after a couple of hours since he was sleepy and still wanted to follow his schedule strictly.

    The next day, Anton joined his father, Nemina, Lucas, and Colin in the dining hall for the breakfast buffet and his father told him that the others slept late to entertain his friends. He was surprised to learn that his father even allowed Anna to sleep late since she supposedly did not have any magic classes that day, which was a Saturday.

    The next day, which was Sunday, was the last day the Titanic film would be shown so Anton asked his father which film they would allow everyone to see next and was hugely surprised when his father chose the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

    ¡°Why those?¡± Anton simply asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ve seen them before and that meant that the quality of the movies is guaranteed and to be honest with you, I want to watch them again,¡± Anders said and Anton laughed.

    That meant that on Monday, Anton would have to record the first film in the trilogy which was the Fellowship of the Ring in the three recording magic items.

 Chapter 287

    Anton was still a bit astonished that his father chose the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the next films after Titanic. He thought that they would choose to show that film at least in the middle of the year for something that would boost the people¡¯s interest in movies but thinking about it again, it was impossible for the passengers to get tired of films.

    The amount of high-quality films that their family could show would amaze everyone who would learn about it and that meant that he was sure that the passengers wouldn¡¯t truly lose interest in the cinema. Also, there was limited entertainment inside the Amelia, and the films were a breath of fresh air for everyone.

    The passengers were also delighted that the cinema tokens which were the form of ticket for the theater were very affordable. That meant that everyone should be able to see all the films that they would show on the ship at least once. It would only be costly if the viewers would try to watch the films more than once and Anton was sure that most passengers would probably do that.

    At first, Anton¡¯s father and Nemina decided to only show the films three times a week but as soon as they trained enough people to work in the cinema, there was a chance that they would increase the showing time to the whole day, seven days a week, possibly even twenty-four hours a day as long as there were enough people that were doing the work in shifts. At least, they would be able to recoup the coins that their family spent in renting the ship¡¯s suite.

    Anton returned to the suite after breakfast and entered his Diablo II system to concentrate on reaching the maximum level of his necromancer so he could start a paladin character. He only stopped leveling an hour before noon. He was happy about the time he spent leveling up since his necromancer reached level eighty-nine. Ten more levels then he was done with the necromancer.

    To be honest about it, the spells of the necromancers were truly powerful but he wouldn¡¯t be able to use them outside his Diablo II system due to the stigma and hatred that necromancers and undead in general were receiving which was deserved since the undead conquered a lot of cities in the Rendindura continent and they cruel while doing it. They killed a lot of people and tore up a large number of families.

    Most of the passengers in the Amelia were families who were trying to escape the undead including theirs.

    An hour before noon, Anton switched to viewing his browser in his system so he could follow the music course that he purchased so he could train his voice and guitar playing. At first, he was skeptical about the lesson but after a few of those, he admitted that learning the proper voice technique was truly helping him sing so much better than before and his guitar playing was the same. He truly believed that if for some reason he lost his wizardly powers, he could still survive in this world as a bard or at least a minstrel. He wondered briefly if he should learn some local songs but knew that it was just a momentary whimsy since he had little time and wanted to use it to increase his power.

    Anton also wondered what would happen to his system once he reached the maximum level on all of the Diablo II characters.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    When he exited his system, he heard that there were people outside his room and since he really wanted to focus on his system that day, he didn¡¯t exit his room and ate some of the stored food in his inventory. Anton was just glad that there was a bathroom and toilet inside his room.

    After he was done eating, Anton entered his system again and this time he spent an hour practicing his spells. When he was done with it, he spent a couple of hours tinkering with his latest enchanting project which was an accessory that would allow the user to be enveloped with Frozen Armor as long as the item had mana.

    Anton was having so much difficulty with the Frozen Armor enchanted item that he decided to use a wooden tablet first to complete the enchanted system and once he was successful, he would try to transfer it to an accessory.

    There was no progress after two hours of tinkering with the wooden board that contained the mana structure of the Frozen Armor so he stopped. When he checked the time, it was around three in the afternoon but Anton felt that he spent a good enough time in his Diablo II system that day so he decided to spend the rest of the day outside his room.

    When Anton went outside, Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, and the two female bodyguards were the only ones in the suite together with Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip.

    ¡°Where are the others? Anton asked Lunelle.

    ¡°Anna and Frederick are still in their magic studies. I don¡¯t know where Devon is, probably in some disgusting place on the ship. Mother and your father are still training people who will handle the theater for us. In a few minutes, Anna should return and we¡¯re planning to go to the Patron¡¯s Bar to listen to some musicians.¡±

    ¡°What about you guys? Why are you here?¡± Anton asked his four new friends.

    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you want us to be here?¡± Walter joked then he laughed.

    ¡°We thought that we could continue watching shows today with you but it looked like everyone would be busy doing something else,¡± Antonia replied.

    ¡°I planned to unwind as well so I don¡¯t want to stare at a screen for now. I¡¯m planning to go to the deck to watch the ocean,¡± Anton said and he immediately followed that statement and prepared to leave the room.

    The others said that they would stay to wait for Anna then they would to the Patron¡¯s Bar together.

    Harun was nowhere to be seen but it was all right with Anton since he wanted to walk by himself and he was sure that he should reach one of the decks without any problem. After a few minutes of walking and with the help of some of the sailors and passengers, he reached the deck reserved for their suite.

    The ocean was calm and beautiful to look at but one of the viewers told him that it was because they were still far from the ocean¡¯s center. The ships were not that fast in Anton¡¯s opinion and that meant that if leave the ship for some reason, he should have no problem catching up to it by flying using his Telekinesis spell.

    The glittering of the ocean¡¯s surface from the glare of the afternoon sun made the ocean look like it was full of jewels. It was breathtaking but suddenly the calm was interrupted by a pod of gigantic whales in the distance. The whales were near enough that Anton could clearly see the huge creatures of the sea without any problem. He didn¡¯t know how many whales were there but their number was enough that one could determine that there were hardly any creatures that could threaten the pod but again Anton knew that he should not assume.

    One surprising thing that Anton noticed was that there was also a pod of dolphins following the pod of whales. A quick search on the internet in his system browser said that the only whales that would attack a dolphin were orcas and from what he could see, the giant whales were not those but again, he should not assume and the species of whales and dolphins that he was looking at could be very different from what one could see on Earth.

 Chapter 288

    Anton knew that there was a possibility that the pod of dolphins was following the gentle whales for protection and that the two species¡¯ relationships with each other could be symbiotic. It could be seen that the whales were possibly providing protection but Anton didn¡¯t know what the dolphins could be providing the whales.

    The gentle giants color was a vibrant blue and the dolphins were a breathtaking pink. He knew that there were also pink dolphins on Earth but looking at them live made one want to go near them and touch them and based on the animal¡¯s behavior with each other and with species outside of theirs, they should be truly gentle.

    Anton did ask one of the sailors loitering around the deck the man said that the whales were gentle and known as an omen of good weather for the next few days. The pink dolphins always accompanied those specific whales for protection according to the sailor, which was what he was thinking of.

    He asked the sailors what the dolphins were doing for the whales and the sailor said nothing. The only thing the dolphins did was to make the whales amused so basically, they were some sort of entertainers for the whales. According to the sailor, if one observes the whales for a time, one could see that the whales would look at the dolphins once in a while with glittering eyes as if the giant creatures were looking at their pets playing.

    That speculation amused Anton so much that he laughed. Anton had an urge to play with the dolphins and the whales and since he remembered that he was a powerful wizard, he did just that. He flew outside the ship¡¯s deck using his Telekinesis and went to the whales and the dolphins.

    His departure alarmed the people on the deck especially the sailors who were acting as guards and protectors for those passengers that were on that specific deck since that deck was reserved for rich passengers.

    Anton could hear the noise that the people on the deck made regarding him but he didn¡¯t care. He knew that he was behaving childishly and it confirmed his theory that his body, which was the body of a young man, was affecting his behavior. Although, his original body on Earth was not too old as well.

    When he reached the whales and dolphins location, the animals were alarmed at first but when they saw that Anton was not doing anything but was just observing them, the animals calmed down. When he went near one of the whales and touched it, the huge animals didn¡¯t react too much and just looked at him curiously with their huge eyes.

    The dolphins then made some noises at him so he joined them and apparently, his joining the dolphins playing amused the whales as well and they blew water in the air. Anton played with the dolphins and he also used his Telekinesis spell and some of his Ice spells that he manipulated the mana so they would turn into water to add to their playtime. The dolphins loved the water that came from his ice spells since when they tasted it, they clamored for some more.

    Anton cast several Frozen Orbs that he turned into Water Orbs in the air and the dolphins did their best to jump and catch the water balls to drink them. When the whales saw what the dolphins and Anton were doing, they tried to catch one of the water balls and taste it and when one of them tasted it, Anton was astonished to see that the whale who tasted the water orb looked like it talked to the others then the whales looked at him expectantly.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    He then cast several Frozen Orbs converted into Water Orbs and to the disgruntlement of the dolphins, the whales joined in on the fun of jumping in the air to catch the Water Orbs.

    Anton tried his best to make the orbs as big as he could so the gentle huge whales would be satisfied with the size. When Anton produced a very large Water Orb, he could see the whales'' delight. It only cost him some mana potions and he had a tremendous amount of them stored in his inventory.

    Soon the location where the dolphins and the whales were was filled with waves caused by the whales splashing when they returned from jumping in the air. Anton had to fly up from swimming to avoid drowning in the waves caused by the whales. At least the whales were far enough from him and the dolphins that there was no danger of them crushing him and the dolphins.

    The whales were also very wise and did not jump on the Water Orbs that were near him and the dolphins. During that playtime, Anton made sure to take note of the location of the ship. He didn¡¯t want the ship to be so far away that it would take an effort for him to return.

    Anton spent two hours playing with the whales and the dolphins and he made sure that they drank enough mana water that all of them were satisfied. The sun was setting when he decided to say goodbye to his ocean friends and it seemed like they understood that he was leaving, before he left, one of the dolphins approached him and gave him a huge clam that the dolphin was carrying in its mouth. He kissed and hugged the pink dolphin after he took the calm then he flew back to the ship.

    When he reached the deck, Anton saw that it was full of people and his father and a couple of old wizards were there with him.

    ¡°Baron Sunders, can we talk to you?¡± One of the old wizards asked him looking very stern.

    ¡°Sure, but can I dry myself and change my clothes first?¡± Anton replied.

    The old wizard nodded and they all returned to Anton¡¯s suite. Anders was expressionless and Anton knew that his father wasn¡¯t angry. When they reached the suite, no one talked to him since everyone saw that two old wizards were waiting for Anton.

    After he changed his clothes, Anton went outside his room and he and his father followed the two wizards somewhere. They arrived at some sort of office and then the two wizards asked Anton and his father to sit.

    ¡°Mr. Sunders, this is the second time you caused some disturbance in the ship. What have you to say for yourself,¡± One of the old wizards said.

    ¡°I¡¯m Baron Sunders of Zalnothel. An archmage and a paying customer of the Amelia. Who are you to question my business on this ship?¡± Anton replied assuming a lofty tone and turned on the special effects of his three auras.

    He was a powerful archmage and based on the auras that he felt from the two old wizards, they were not possibly only High Wizards and that meant that they had no authority over him.

    The two wizards'' appearances deflated and they knew that they couldn¡¯t assume the high position they were sporting earlier. They thought that due to his young age, they could bully Anton.

    ¡°We apologized Sir Anton. We didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re an archmage. Somebody just reported that a mage was causing trouble in the deck and had heard some talk about you.¡±

    ¡°So you invited me here to reprimand me? I did nothing that would cause trouble with the ship. I¡¯m a wizard who conducted research on some of the animals in the ocean. Who is your manager? I want to speak with him. I will also go to Captain Robertson to complain?!¡± Anton said sternly assuming a full Karen mode behavior since it amused him to do so.

 Chapter 289

    ¡°I understand you reprimanding me if I caused damage to the ship but since the whales, the dolphins, and I were far enough from the Amelia, the only danger was the ship leaving me and with my power, the ship could hardly leave me behind,¡± Anton said, still assuming a very serious countenance.

    ¡°Again, we apologize, Sir Sunder. When the report arrived, it said that a mage jumped into the ocean and we thought that we had to rescue someone. You don¡¯t need to talk to our leader or Captain Robertson. We would reprimand the one who reported.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that. It was also my fault that I didn¡¯t warn anyone of my intentions so let''s just forget about this situation and I apologize as well. I respect you both for trying to save a mage who had fallen off the ship and as recompense, let me give you these two enchanted items,¡± Anton gave two statues enchanted with the Air Conditioner enchantment and provided an explanation of what they were and how to turn them on and how to rechanged them.

    He wanted to keep a good relationship with the ship¡¯s mages and the two enchanted items were a low-cost bribe and a form of advertisement as well in case his family wanted to continue selling enchanted items.

    Anton saw that the two old mages were happy that he didn¡¯t want to pursue what happened and were also very happy with the magic items. He knew that they would probably dismantle the items to study the spell attached to it but he was not worried. His magic belonged to a different magic system and if they managed to reverse engineer it and copy it, he would only feel respect towards a person like that.

    Anton and his father said their goodbyes to the two old wizards and he saw that they probably were not even aware that they were trying to leave since the two old men were focused on the magic items so Anton and his father just shrugged and left.

    Anders didn¡¯t talk while they were walking back to the suite and when they returned there, everyone was asking him questions about what happened.

    ¡°When I was on the deck earlier, I saw a pod of whales and dolphins. The whales were so huge but looked very calm and kind and the dolphins who were following the whales for protection were so cute so I flew to them and played with them for hours. Oh! I remember that one of the pink dolphins gave me something before I left,¡± Anton said then he retrieved the big clam that the dolphin gave him from his inventory.

    The clam was as big as his palm and when Anton opened it, they saw that it contained a huge pink pearl and the pearly was glowing a soft luminous pink glow.

    Everyone gasped when they saw the huge pearl and the beautiful ocean gemstone took everyone¡¯s breath away.

    ¡°It¡¯s the legendary ocean pink pearl! There were only two known ocean pink pearls and based on what I¡¯ve heard, the one in your possession was much larger than those! You can sell that gemstone for millions of coins! It¡¯s said that the glow of the pearl can bring a restful sleep and beautiful dream to the one who sleeps near it,¡± Antonia exclaimed.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°It¡¯s truly beautiful! I will not sell it since it¡¯s a gift from my friends from the ocean,¡± Anton said softly then kept the pearl in his inventory. He planned to clean the clam that was holding the pearl since it was very pretty as well.

    ¡°The two old wizards wanted to reprimand me since I caused a scene but everything¡¯s good now. I bribed them with a couple of air conditioner enchanted items,¡± Anton continued.

    ¡°Brother can I look at the pearl again,¡± Anna asked so Anton retrieved the clam that was holding the pearl. He gave the pearl to his sister so she could look at it then gave the clam to Colin to be cleaned and polished and told the man to be careful in cleaning the clam since he planned to make it the pearl¡¯s holder.

    The ladies gathered to examine the pearl and everyone was looking at the gemstone with glowing eyes. Admittedly, any woman who saw the huge pink pearl would be enamored as well. The soft glow brought the gemstone a mysterious and calm feeling and Anton could believe Antonia¡¯s claim that the pearl could bring sweet dreams.

    ¡°The dolphins gave you that pearl just because you played with them?¡± Walter asked.

    ¡°Probably it¡¯s because I gave them a massive amount of mana water. Animals liked mana water. Our two horses Maide and Bailey had been drinking mana water for a long time and they became extremely intelligent. I think that they will be evolving into spirit animals soon so that means that the effect of mana water on animals is huge.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s truly a pity that your mana water can only last for an hour,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°Anton let¡¯s go to my room and talk,¡± Anton¡¯s father suddenly said. Anna snickered while everyone looked at different things except at him.

    ¡°Are you going to give him a thrashing, father?¡± Anna asked jokingly and she laughed. Of course, she was just joking but everyone joined her laughter.

    ¡°Why did you think that flying off to play with sea animals is a good thing?¡± Anders said to his son softly.

    ¡°Father, they looked really adorable, and wanted to look at them up close. I noticed that the ship¡¯s speed was slow enough that even if the whales and animals were not swimming with the ship side by side and the ship left us far behind, I would have been able to catch up to the ship without any problem.¡±

    ¡°The problem is you didn¡¯t think of the possible consequences that would affect all of us. Even though the problem with the ship¡¯s mages was resolved because of your bribe, the fact they tried to flex their strength and bully you meant that what you did was an action that had possible consequences. I know that you¡¯re becoming powerful and rich enough that you can disregard some of the consequences that ordinary people would find dangerous but keep in mind that you have a family and friends with you. I¡¯m not limiting you since as a powerful person, the world is your oyster but please think carefully before you think of doing anything, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes, father. I apologize.¡±

    Anton¡¯s father smiled at him and they both went outside the room. Soon Harun arrived with the Kraken tentacle meat that Anton gave Phillip to give Harun so the sailor could have it cooked by one of the ship¡¯s chefs.

    Even though they had eaten the Kraken meat several times, as Anton expected, they were not getting tired of it. The ability of the meat to absorb the taste of the specific dish where it was included but still retain its own unique magical taste kept the meat truly the best in the world in Anton¡¯s opinion since he had not eaten anything else that could rival it. Maybe some other cow or pig-based monster would rival it but since he had not encountered them yet, the Kraken meat firmly remained his number one.

    He was just happy that he still had tons of it in his inventory. Anton was a bit worried about the meat running out so he was hoping that another Kraken attack their ship again and even though he was warned not to join any battle, he would probably try his best to steal another tentacle.

 Chapter 290

    It was Sunday and the last day of the week when they would show the film Titanic. Nemina requested to have Anton record the film trailers of the movie The Fellowship of The Ring since they would be showing it from Monday until Thursday outside the theater. They would be showing the trailers on a special screen that they would set up just outside the cinema and then the first opening of the film would be held on Friday next week.

    Anton found it funny that the advertisement for the next film would only be three days when compared to Earth wherein advertisements for new movies would last for months and sometimes even more than a year.

    He recorded the trailers after breakfast and since the trailers were very short, he was done with the recording of the video trailers in a short while.

    ¡°Are you planning to hold an advance screening?¡± Anton asked Nemina.

    Nemina asked him about that and Anton explained to her the concept of advance screening. Anton saw Nemina thinking deeply but then said that it was not needed on the ship since there was a limited number of people and more advertisements were not needed anymore. Nemina then added that they would probably do advance screenings for powerful and influential people once they established their cinema in a huge city.

    ¡°Are we receiving any complaints from any businesses on the ship like the live theater?¡± Anton asked Nemina.

    ¡°As you¡¯ve asked before, I did go to them one time to inquire about their situation and they weren''t angry. As a matter of fact, they gratefully told me that the movie gave them an absurd amount of inspiration and the fact that the movies were only shown three times a week, the cinema actually boosted their popularity. Apparently, because some of the passengers became addicted to the films, they couldn¡¯t wait for the next week''s showing so they went to watch the play in the theater instead.¡±

    ¡°Did you tell them about items that can be created that were based on the films?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t since I want to use that idea for ourselves once we reach the city or country where we will be establishing our cinema.¡±

    Anton was about to go back to the suite so he could enter his Diablo II system when the ship¡¯s alarm sounded. Everyone then heard the captain¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Please return to your rooms. Three ghost ships were spotted near our ships. As I¡¯ve announced before, there is a huge chance that our ship will be attacked by the Undead Coalition before we truly depart the vicinity of the Rendindura Continent. We received news that the undead had been attacking the ships in the ocean but rest assured that we will do everything in our power to escape the undead¡¯s clutches.¡±

    After that announcement, everyone hurried back to their rooms and Anton and his family did the same thing. When they arrived in the suite, he saw that one of the wizards, the old High Wizard who wanted to reprimand him for gallivanting with the whales and the dolphins was in the suite together with his family and friends. Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were in the suite as well.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Mr. Sunder, you registered that as an archmage. We highly request that you help Amelia in defending against the Undead.¡±

    ¡°When I told Captain Robertson that I¡¯m an archmage and was willing to defend the ship for a discount, he said that there was no need for my help and he charged our family to what I¡¯ve learned as thrice the amount of the ship¡¯s suite,¡± Anton told the old wizard sternly.

    Antonia gasped and Anton forgot that she was the niece of the ship¡¯s owner.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry, Anton. I¡¯ll talk to Captain Robertson about that,¡± Antonia said and her anger was visible on her face. Even Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were infuriated.

    Anton nodded his thanks then told the wizard that he would help in defending the ship since he and his family were passengers as well.

    Anders wanted to come with him but the old wizard said that non-mages were not allowed to join the location where defense would occur since spells would fly around and non-wizard would be severely affected.

    ¡°Father, just stay here and look after the family. As you know, I have the means to escape if worse comes to worse and you also have several hoverboards. You know what to do,¡± Anton told his father and Anders nodded while looking at his son.

    While the old wizard and Anton were walking, he overheard Lucas comforting his father about how powerful he was and that he was always prioritizing his family and that meant that he would return for sure.

    Anton was glad that the others were there with his father and sister and he thought of everyone, Lucas, Nemina, Devon, Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, and Frederick as his family. He was also glad that his friends were in the suite as well, his four new friends and the two female bodyguards would also liven up the place and prevent his father and his sister from worrying too much.

    The old wizard introduced himself as Wizard Parvor and the old mage was a High Wizard. Wizard Pavor was greatly in awe when he learned that Anton was only seventeen years old but already an archmage. Mage Parvor admitted that there was little chance for him to become an archmage since his energy was already spent and would probably remain a high wizard as long as he lived but the old mage said that he was proud of his combat prowess and would not be afraid of fighting an archmage if the worst happened.

    Anton asked the Mage Parvor more questions about the attacker but the old mage said that they should avoid discussions, not until they arrived in the meeting room, to avoid confusion.

    They arrived in the room that was next to the huge deck that they would use to defend the Amelia. It was the uppermost part of the ship and the deck was big enough that an army would fit it.

    The meeting was simple. Several archmages would attack the three ghost ships first, exhausting their power to make sure that the enemy ships would be delayed. Once the ghost ships neared the Amelia, the three Supreme Wizards that joined them would then handle the next move.

    ¡°It would be easier for us since we would only use our powers to make sure that our ships would outrun them. We are not planning to engage in direct combat with them since we don¡¯t know the actual firepower of the ghost ships,¡± One of the Supreme Wizards said.

    Anton was in awe of the aura that the Supreme Wizards were emitting. The power that emanated from them was palpable and he wondered when he would reach that status. At first, Anton thought that once he reached the maximum level of his necromancer character, he would have the same power as a Supreme but based on what he could feel from one of the Supreme Wizards, he was still far away from that rank.

    He was sure though that once he reached the maximum level of his next character, which was the paladin, or possibly the next character after the paladin, he would surely reach that rank. Probably.

    There was a very high platform located in the deck where the archmages would place themselves so they could cast spells and once the three ships were in range of their spells that had the longest range, they would bombard the three ghost ships. They were hoping that those spells would be enough to cause delays to the attackers that they would be able to outrun the three ghost ships.

 Chapter 291

    Anton wondered why there were raised platforms since the deck was open and large enough that anyone in there would be able to see the ocean in all directions without any problem so he asked one of the mages there.

    ¡°It¡¯s for mages who want to stand somewhere high so the range of their spells would be magnified. There is also a magic circle that would allow mages in the platforms to double their spell range,¡± the mage Anton asked the question.

    That was interesting information and Anton then truly wondered if he could learn it since an item like that would truly assist him in his spell casting. He suddenly also speculated if he could use the magic items of this world inside the game.

    An example of that was the magic circle that enhanced the range of spells. It wasn¡¯t that helpful if one were playing the game behind a computer screen or even if one were using the on-screen option in his Diablo II system since the range of what the characters could see was limited by the screen but if he were playing virtually by entering the game himself, a very long range would truly benefit him.

    Anton knew then that isolating himself from other mages was a huge mistake. Even if his magic system were different, the ideas of the learned mages would give him deep inspiration on how to do magic, and not only that, he did have the ability to learn the magic of this world.

    He decided then that after this situation was resolved, he would mingle with other wizards.

    ¡°So is there anything that I should do or avoid doing?¡± Anton asked the mage beside him again.

    ¡°Nothing special. As commanded, just spend all your spells in delaying the three ghost ships since the true battle, if we don¡¯t manage to escape, will be done by the Supremes.¡±

    There were five raised platforms and there were three archmages assigned to each platform. He did learn that there were more archmages but they were the ones who were assigned first, basically the initial attacker or cannon fodder if you will, although he was assured that there were no dangers since they were far enough away from the ghost ships.

    The archmages then flew toward the raised platform including Anton. One of the wizards that was assigned to his platform said to him that he could start casting spells as soon as he knew that the three ghost ships were in range.

    The moment Anton stood on the platform, he could feel the effect of the magic circle that was etched on them. He saw the three ghost ships in the distance and normally, if the object of the attack were that far away, his spells would not reach them but the magic circle that increased spell range did bring a massive effect. He could feel it in his mind.

    Before Anton started casting spells, he told the mages on his platform and the ones beside him that he had a spell aura that would allow up to seven people to have a massive energy regeneration and could share that aura. The mages gave their consent to be affected by his energy regeneration spell but to be honest, he didn¡¯t know how it would affect regular mages¡¯ casting since from what he knew, spells would be expended once it was cast and they would need time to memorize the spells again.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    It was truly unlike his Diablo II system spells wherein he could cast as many spells as he wanted as long as he had mana and with the Meditation Aura and his almost unlimited supply of mana potion, he could cast spells non-stop.

    When the mages that were added to his party system felt his aura, they exclaimed loudly that they could feel the regeneration. They said that it felt like they could memorize spells faster than normal.

    ¡°How fast are we talking about?¡± Anton asked since he felt that that information would help his sister and Frederick.

    ¡°It needed to be tested but I¡¯m guessing that the time would be shortened massively,¡± the mage said.

    If that were true, that would allow his sister and Frederick to benefit greatly since one way to increase magical capability was to use spells, and casting spells and memorizing spells in a very short time would allow the both of them to increase their power in a shorter time than normal.

    Anton saw that some of the archmages began casting their spells and different spells flew out from the archmages'' hands towards the three ghost ships who were nearing the Amelia.

    There were rays of different kinds. One looked like a frost ray that caused the water in front of the ship to freeze, slowing them down a bit but due to the movement of the ocean, the frozen water did not last long. Some rays looked like purple light that caused waves to appear in front of the ghost ships causing them to be pushed back.

    One of the rays that looked bright red was about to hit the ship but was stopped by a gray force field.

    Anton began casting Meteors one after the other and because of his massive mana and rapid mana regeneration, he kept casting the spell non-stop. The magic circle on the platform that allowed him to double his casting range helped him greatly.

    He made sure that the meteors hit the ships and even though it was blocked by the gray forcefield, Anton knew that it would affect the ghost ships¡¯ defenses and could possibly cause delay which was their mission. He also made sure that half of the meteors hit the front of the ships since flaming large meteors did cause waves that would delay the ships as well.

    The other mages were casting different spells but Anton only cast a single spell which was Meteor. His meteor rained from the sky non-stop causing the sky to turn red as if the apocalypse had come and Anton noticed the archmages looked at him with flabbergasted expressions.

    After around five minutes, he saw that some of the archmages sat down and began memorizing spells. He thought that if a mage spent his spells they would be replaced but they didn¡¯t signal the mages below that they needed to be replaced and Anton noticed that the only ones who did that were the ones covered by his Meditation Aura. After another ten minutes, the mages who were memorizing spells stood up again and began casting spells again but Anton¡¯s spell casting was unrelenting.

    Soon the mages not covered by his aura were replaced by some of the archmages below but those in his party system kept casting spells.

    One surprising thing happened though, one of the supreme wizards flew up to them to ask about the situation since a lot of wizards did not ask to be replaced. One of them stopped casting and Anton overheard him explaining to the powerful supreme wizard that because of Anton¡¯s spell aura, they only needed a few minutes of rest to memorize their spells and cast them again.

    The supreme wizard was highly surprised and then flew towards him.

    ¡°Sir Sunder, are you okay? You have been casting your meteor spell nonstop. It¡¯s highly impressive but please remember that your potential is one of a kind and I don¡¯t want you to experience any sequelae due to this battle. It¡¯s not needed for you to sacrifice yourself since the Amelia is protected by powerful wizards and we don¡¯t intend to engage them in direct battle.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I should be able to do this for another ten minutes,¡± Anton made a limit for himself to avoid rousing the curiosity of the powerful supreme wizards.

    His non-stop casting could be explained by his Meditation Aura which he explained was one of the spells that he cast.

 Chapter 292

    Anton¡¯s unrelenting casting of the spell Meteor brought an awed expression to the surrounding archmages and even the three Supreme Wizards looked impressed when he stole a glance at them.

    He kept observing the three most powerful wizards there since Anton didn¡¯t want to rouse any curiosity from them that would invoke a desire from them to want to know more about him. He did not want to end up as an experimental subject in one of their tables although that paranoia was formed by his imagination that resulted in over-consuming media content from his previous world but it could not hurt to be careful.

    One curious thing that Anton thought about was why were the three ghost ships not attacking them. Since their spells could reach the ghost ships, it was impossible for the undead ships to not have something the same so he asked the mage beside him.

    ¡°The powerful undead mages or liches in the ships don¡¯t want any damage happening to our ship since they plan to convert it as their ghost ship and they want to capture the people here so we can either be their food, slaves, or sacrifices to increase their undead power. The problem is, if they think that we are on the verge of escaping, then they will use their spells to try to cripple the Amelia. That is one of the times that our Supreme Wizards will work to block the undead wizards¡¯ spells.¡±

    Anton returned his focus on bombarding the ship with the Meteor spell but the three ghost ships were relentless in pursuing them. Even though the three ghost ships were delayed by their attacks, Anton could see that the three undead ships were inching towards them slowly.

    Suddenly for a split second, the shields that were protecting the three enemy ships cracked and a hole in their defenses appeared. Anton did not know what spell created that gap, it could be his rain of meteors or the other mages'' spells which were very powerful based on the energies that he could feel coming from those spells, or a combination of all the spells together.

    Anton used that gap to summon all of his summons in the ghost ships and concentrated the attack on a single ship to make sure that the power of his summons was focused on a single ghost ship. A terrifying gigantic Dire Bear, eight ferocious Dire Wolves, eight magical spirit wolves, eight magical ravens, a huge aggressive clay golem and a magical spirit which was Anton¡¯s Oak Sage summon from the druid skill tree appeared on the leading ship of the three ghost ships and wreaked havoc on everything.

    The beasts were relentless in their attack and the animals seemed like they did not care about their well-being at all and kept on attacking regardless of the damage they had received. The Oak Sage boosted the health of all of the summons massively.

    The Dire Wolves and the Spirit Wolves expertly coordinated with each other and their teamwork brought humongous damage to the undead in the ship. The Clay Golem concentrated on destroying the ship while the huge Dire Bear tried to destroy everything in sight, be it the undead or the ship.

    Due to the Dire Bear¡¯s massive size, the undead wizards that appeared concentrated their attack on the bear but before the bear was utterly destroyed, which Anton proudly saw took a massive effort from the undead, it brought one wizard with it before it fell.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The eight dire wolves and eight spirit wolves also concentrated their attacks on the undead wizards and the clay golem turned its gaze to them as well. The Ravens just attacked anything that was in their sight.

    Soon, three undead wizards fell from the attack of the wolves and the golems but of course, Anton knew that if the wizards were liches, that meant that the only thing the summoned destroyed were the vessels that the liches were using and if their phylacteries were hidden somewhere, soon the liches would revive.

    The wolves fell one after another but the summons attack was successful in causing a massive delay since it paralyzed the central ship where Anton¡¯s animals were summoned. The other two ships had to stop to assist the lead ghost ship.

    It took the undead several minutes to wipe out all the summons and Anton would have summoned the animals again but the hole in the magic force field that appeared was fixed. While the summons was trying to lay waste the undead ship, Anton and the other mages did not stop casting their spells.

    When all of the summons were destroyed, Anton signaled to the wizards below that his spells were exhausted and would like to take a break. Of course, it was not true. Anton just wanted to divert the attention of the supreme wizards away from him since it was obvious that the amount of damage and delay he had caused to the three ghost ships was almost equal to the damage and delay that all the wizards on the platforms caused combined.

    The seven mages that were part of his party system also signaled that they would like to be replaced as well so the other wizards flew toward them as their replacement.

    While Anton was resting, he observed what the other wizards in the platforms who replaced them were going to do, like which spells they were using, or what their expertise was. He wanted to gain inspiration from them like what was the most effective spells to use or what the best spell combinations were.

    Observing the mages who were attacking the three ghost ships brought Anton a lot of inspiration and he even thought about new magic items he could create.

    The seven wizards who Anton added to his party system were memorizing their spells near him, almost surrounding him and the others were looking at them curiously.

    The three supreme wizards who were observing the action of the ghost ships turned their attention to Anton and his group. It was obvious that they had caught the powerful wizards¡¯ attention. Two of the supreme wizards walked towards Anton while the third one kept on concentrating on the ship.

    Anton guessed that they all could not take their eyes away from the enemy ships since the moment they attacked with spells, one of them would have to make sure that the Amelia was defended.

    ¡°Wizard Sunder, am I right? I¡¯m Supreme Numinor, one of the supreme wizards here in Amelia. I¡¯m impressed by your power and at such a young age at that. If I understand correctly, you¡¯re only seventeen right? In the history of humans, the known wizards who achieved your level of power at that age can be counted on one hand,¡± One of the supreme wizards said when they reached Anton''s resting spot.

    ¡°Thank you for your praise, Supremes. To be candid with you, I was forced to achieve this level of power because I knew that this was the only way for me, my family, and my friends to survive while we were running from the Undead Coalition. My country had been destroyed and all the other places that we¡¯ve run to were conquered by the undead. Up until now, we¡¯re still running and even here at the ocean, the undead are still pursuing us so power is truly needed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Supreme Setoro and I know that there are probably opportunities that you¡¯ve encountered to increase your power severely in such a short time and most of those had corresponding consequences but I understand your choice. The reason we¡¯re here is we noticed that the mages that were near you seemed to benefit from one of your support spells. It appeared that the rate they could memorize their spells again was shortened massively. Can we learn more about that spell?¡± Anton knew that his Meditation Aura would be noticed by the powerful wizards so he prepared himself to give some explanation that the wizards could accept.

 Chapter 293

    ¡°It¡¯s a bloodline spell that would allow me and seven others to experience a massive increase in energy regeneration. My bloodline spells are from a different system that would allow me to cast my spells as long as I have magical energy I call mana. That was what allowed me to cast my spells almost neverendingly depending on the level of the spell. I do have the capability of learning the standard magic spells and have memorized a few standard spells but I decided that I would focus on my bloodline powers since that is the fastest way for me to increase my power.¡±

    ¡°Bloodline spells. That¡¯s very rare and unfortunately, spells from a bloodline system can¡¯t be taught to others. It can be imitated by standard spells but fundamentally, the spell structure is different,¡± Supreme Wizard Numinor said.

    Anton kept thinking that the name of supreme wizard Numinor was familiar and a quick search on the internet showed him that it was a location in Middle Earth, a place in Tolkien¡¯s universe, although, the spelling of the name could be different. This non-related thinking that almost always happened to him if he was nervous.

    ¡°Can we experience this energy regeneration spell you have?¡± The supreme wizard Setoro said.

    Anton removed two random wizards from his party system. The two supreme wizards noticed that two of the mages that were surrounding Anton were startled and stopped memorizing their spellbooks. He added the two supreme wizards to his party system and the supreme wizards¡¯ eyes widened.

    ¡°I feel it! The energy boost is massive and not only that, my vigor and stamina are being refreshed as well!¡± Setoro exclaimed.

    Suddenly, the wizard Numinor took a dagger from somewhere and wounded his own arms. Both supreme wizards were surprised when they saw the wound heal at a rapid pace. Anton forgot to turn off the other two auras. He was used to activating all of his aura together which were the Meditation, the Prayer, and the Vigor auras from his runeword bow whenever he turned on his aura.

    ¡°I forgot to mention that my spell can also heal,¡± Anton admitted to the two extremely powerful wizards.

    ¡°Have you tested the limits of your spell¡¯s healing capabilities?¡± Setoro asked.

    ¡°It can heal sexually transmitted diseases but I¡¯m not sure about other diseases but it can regrow a limb and it can heal even those who are on the verge of death,¡± Anton answered the supreme wizard.

    ¡°Your bloodline spell is truly powerful. You don¡¯t need to attack anymore. Just use your spell to the wizards that we will assign to you so that they can memorize their spells. I tested your bloodline spell and a spell that usually takes me ten minutes to memorize was memorized by me in less than a minute. That is truly a massive boost so we will use your spell to boost the wizards here instead,¡± Numinor said.

    ¡°Are you sure about that? His spells are powerful and can cause damage to the undead,¡± Setoro asked his colleague.

    ¡°There are many wizards here who can cast attack spells and with his spell to lessen the memorization time of up to seven wizards by a massive amount, it would be better for him to work as a support mage. Not only that, we need to protect him. If the undead noticed the massive damage output that archmage Sunder was doing, they might attack him with deadly spells. His potential is truly great and I wouldn¡¯t want him to be in an accident while under our care,¡± Numinor answered the other supreme wizard.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    With that, the leaders decided to let Anton remain in the background, boosting other wizards'' spell-casting abilities by allowing their output damage to increase due to the short amount of time they needed to memorize their spells.

    The third supreme wizard who never took his eyes away from the three undead ships called his two colleagues. It appeared that the three enemy ships were starting to cast spells to attempt to slow down the Amelia.

    Anton shifted his eyes back to the three undead ships and noticed that all the damage that was done by his summons had already regenerated and it appeared as if nothing had attacked the ghost ships. He sighed at the power of the Undead Coalition. After causing what he thought was a good amount of damage to the enemy ships, after a few minutes, the undead restored their ships.

    The three supreme wizards gathered together and it looked like they were performing some sort of ritual. Suddenly, a massive magic force field appeared, surrounding the Amelia. The magic forcefield that was created by the three wizards was on top of the original defensive magic built into the Amelia.

    Anton could see that several spells appeared from the three ghost ships and flew towards the Amelia but the powerful undead spells were blocked by the magic defense that was formed due to the three supreme wizards'' ritual.

    Numinor interrupted the ritual and gestured towards Anton saw he ran to the three powerful supreme wizards.

    ¡°Can you cast your unique bloodline spell on us? We want to check if that will help us with the ritual we¡¯re casting.¡±

    Anton added the three supreme wizards to his party system and the three wizards continued their ritual.

    The four archmages that were still part of Anton¡¯s party system were still enjoying the benefits of the auras so they kept on memorizing their spells while the others looked at them enviously.

    He was surprised to note that his mana was decreasing, meaning that the ritual that the three supreme wizards were casting was causing them a huge amount of mana or what they sometimes call energy or for some reason, they were being damaged by the ritual and the aura was healing them.

    The back-and-forth exchange of the spells between the three undead ships and the Amelia continued for an hour before their ship managed to pull away from the Undead and soon they successfully escaped the chase of the undead.

    All of the wizards including the three Supremes cheered loudly when they saw that the three ghost ships were becoming smaller in the distance, meaning that they were not being chased anymore.

    ¡°Your unique spell to boost magical energy is truly powerful Sir Sunder. Normally, after around fifteen to twenty minutes, two of us would have stopped casting the ritual and a lone Supreme would maintain the ritual. The other two would rest and after a few minutes would relieve the one maintaining the defensive spell caused by the ritual. There¡¯s a danger to that which was the defensive property of the spell would severely decrease but while we¡¯re under your spell, there was no need for us to rest!¡± Numinor said.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad that I was able to help, sir. Is this battle over?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Sadly, no. We have to remain vigilant for several more hours since it was known that after something like this happens, sometimes the undead would unleash something like a spell or an undead summon that will allow them to capture a ship,¡± Numinor answered.

    That meant that all the wizards on the deck would have to remain there for several more hours. Anton saw that the wizards were using the downtime to start memorizing their spells again and a lot of the mages sought him out. One of the wizards who was good a logistics made some sort of list that would allow every mage there to benefit from Anton¡¯s aura and he was glad that there was someone who took it upon himself to manage something like that.

 Chapter 294

    Anton was happy that the wizards accepted his explanation that his auras were some bloodline spell. He did not even know what true bloodline was and what kind of spells that magic system contained; he only learned about it through reading novels and playing games back in his old world.

    At the very least, the bloodline system existed in this world and seemed to be accepted. Anton could not say for sure if a similar system to his Diablo II system existed in this realm.

    Since their ship outran the three ghost ships, the three supreme wizards who were performing the ritual that created the magical defenses that defended them against undead spell stopped their ritual and only a single supreme maintained it.

    Everyone was still very vigilant though since according to the Supreme Numinor, it was known that the Undead Coalition sometimes performed a surprise attack whenever their target was about to escape.

    The other archmages were still rotating themselves when it came to benefiting from his auras and the one who managed the list of wizards rotated them around every fifteen minutes.

    It did drain Anton¡¯s mana but the meditation aura was enough to offset the drain. In the meantime, the three supreme wizards were also rotating themselves around every thirty minutes to maintain the defensive spell.

    ¡°Normally, the Amelia¡¯s original defensive spell was enough if a malevolent spell attacked the ship but when it comes to something like this situation, the standard operating procedure is to have some high-level wizards conduct a ritual that would block powerful undead spells. I admit that this procedure only began when the Undead Coalition decided to declare war on everyone,¡± The supreme wizard Setoro said.

    ¡°You all mentioned that the Coalition attacked ships leaving the continent before. Can you tell me more about it?¡± Anton asked the wizards since it appeared that they were willing to answer questions.

    ¡°We received reports of about four ships falling to the hands of the undead ever since their attack began. However powerful the Undead Coalition is, it¡¯s a given that some wizards aboard those ships would be able to escape,¡± Numinor said.

    Suddenly, the archmages that were in the platforms above them shouted and it appeared that the three ghost ships that they had thought they left behind appeared on the horizon again. It appeared that the enemy used some sort of spell that accelerated the movement of their ships and Anton was thankful that the Amelia¡¯s wizards were vigilant.

    What truly alarmed Anton was, above the three ghost ships, he could see two huge monsters flying above enemy ships and upon closer look, the monsters were undead dragons.

    The speed of the three ghost ships and the undead dragons were very fast and Supreme Numinor began issuing commands. The archmages in the platforms were doubled and that meant that there were only a few wizards remained in the ground to relieve those who exhausted their spells.

    Anton was one of the wizards who flew towards the platform. He saw that the supreme wizard Numinor joined them as one of those who would attack the three ghost ships and the two undead dragons while the remaining two supreme wizards remained below to continue the ritual that created the spell that would defend them from the undead spells.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Numinor''s command was simple which was to cast spells at will. Anton did not know too much about strategy and he intended to follow the supreme wizard¡¯s command to the letter but he focused on one of the undead dragons.

    When Anton saw that the dragons were within his spell range, he began bombarding one of them with the Frozen Orb spell. After his fifth Frozen Orb, the undead dragon that he was focused on which also received a lot of spell damage from the other archmage looked like it would fall anytime so he intensified his spell casting by mixing other spells with Frozen Orb like the Lightning spell.

    Anton saw that the other mages were looking at him in awe but this time he was truly relentless. He wanted to make sure that the ship was safe because his family was there and if the other mages became suspicious of the amount of power that he could output or if the undead suddenly targeted him, it didn¡¯t matter. If the undead managed to win, all of them would be targeted anyway.

    The Undead Dragon also spat some sort of breath attack. One of the breath attacks was green colored and looked like a poison breath attack and the other was dark, like a shadow and Anton didn¡¯t know what kind of breath attack it was. He was just happy that the magical defense they had, which came from the ritual that two supreme wizards were performing was powerful enough that the attack did not reach them.

    Half of the mages were focused on the dragons and the other half was on the ship but the most impressive spells came from the supreme wizard Numinor. The supreme wizard summoned a cloud that spit out large columns of lightning that attacked the three ghost ships continuously. He also summoned powerful whirlpools and even tsunamis. Even though there were time gaps between each spell casting, the spells were glorious and terrifying and it made Anton a little insecure.

    Anton had always felt a little proud of himself thinking that his spells were powerful but now he saw that he was mistaken. It was obvious that he was looking down at the magic system of this world especially when he saw the spells that the archmages cast to attack the three undead ships but when he saw the spells that Numinor cast, he learned that he was just a frog at a bottom of a well.

    He thought of the fact that there were more ranks above Supreme and his imagination was failing him on what type of spells the higher-ranking wizards could cast.

    The good thing about learning that he wasn¡¯t as powerful as he thought was, instead of making him depressed, it inspired him. He knew that his Diablo II spells mana structure and mana pathway could be manipulated, meaning if he mastered his spells, he could achieve the effect and magnitude of the spells that the supreme had shown. Not only that, Anton also thought that combining his spells would also give him spell variety and would probably make his spells contain different effects.

    A good example was combining sorceress spells with the effect of paladin skills. That would be especially fatal to undead creatures. Even though he did not stop casting, his mind was beginning to be filled with inspiration. The glorious spells that were flying above the sky made his imagination soar to the clouds and he could not wait for this situation to end so he could go back to his room in the family suite and enter his Diablo II system to practice his spells and continue leveling up so he could get the other characters¡¯ skills.

    Anton kept casting his spells and his mana began to dip so he began consuming the mana potions in his inventory but his spell casting did not stop. No other archmages could compare to his frequent spell casting. Those who were in his party system rejoiced since they could cast spells almost like Anton, without stopping and if they exhausted their spells, they only needed to stop for a few minutes and they would begin casting spells again.

 Chapter 296

    All the mages in the deck stayed there for two more hours and after that, the Supreme Wizard Numinor announced that the attack from the ghost ship was done. Everyone cheered loudly again then began to disperse.

    The three supreme wizards chatted with Anton about general things but mostly they kept telling him that his bloodline spell was useful and what was unsaid was that if something like this happened again, they would appreciate it if he would support the mages with his health and energy regeneration spell again.

    ¡°Again, sirs, I¡¯m just happy that I was able to help,¡± Anton reiterated and the three powerful wizards looked at him with appreciation.

    Anton knew that what they appreciated was his action of being or acting humble even though it would be excusable for him to act arrogant due to his age.

    While he was walking back to his family suite being guided by one of the sailors, the voice of Captain Robertson reverberated from the hidden ship¡¯s speakers announcing that the battle had ended with the Amelia successfully escaping the Undead Coalition¡¯s attack and that there were no casualties and the ship did not receive any damages.

    Anton briefly checked the time and saw that it was around three in the afternoon. When he arrived in the suite, as expected everyone was there with worried faces. He was surprised to see that Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were there as well.

    When he entered the suite, his father and Anna ran to him and hugged him fiercely. The others allowed Anton¡¯s father and sister some alone time first.

    ¡°I¡¯m so happy that you¡¯re all right,¡± Anders told his son.

    Anton was surprised that Anna was crying and he was about to tease his sister but decided to be sensitive and hold off on doing that.

    After several minutes everyone approached him. The girls hugged him while the others shook his hand or tapped his shoulders commenting that they were happy that the battle had ended with no casualties.

    Of course, Anton had to tell them what happened during the battle so they all sat at the dining table and he had to give blow-by-blow details of the attack of the three undead ships. He gave a good description of the undead ships, the spells that the undead cast to attack the Amelia, and the two undead dragons that rose from the enemy ships to attack them.

    Anton was gratified to see that the girls were clutching each other with his telling of the battle as if they were listening to a particularly scary story since it meant that everyone was starting to relax and was treating the attack as some sort of entertainment. He didn¡¯t want his family and friends to live in fear of the attack.

    ¡°According to the supreme wizards that should be the last attempt that the Undead Coalition will attack our ships since soon we will be out of the vicinity of the Rendindura Continent,¡± Anton assured everyone.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Anton could feel everyone relaxing and that was his goal. That meant that during the battle which took several hours, everyone was truly tense and scared, even the men and now that he was here safe and sound including all the participants, everyone began releasing the tension that they were feeling.

    It appeared that no one wanted to move so he asked them if they wanted to watch a movie.

    ¡°Choose an uplifting film,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    Anton couldn¡¯t think of any so he did a quick research on the internet but there were so many recommendations and most of them were set in modern times so he decided to just show everyone the musical The Sound of Music. It¡¯s a joyful film so he was sure that the movie would remove the stress that the battle brought to everyone. He thought the main cause of the tense feeling that everyone experienced was the fact that they were able to see the battle situation.

    Everyone went to the mini theater that was arranged in the corner inside their suite and Anton immediately played the film without doing any introduction.

    At first, Anton thought that some of them might get bored with the movie since it was not an action, adventure film but he was happy to see that it appeared everyone was enjoying the film, even the men.

    He paused the film during half-time and asked Colin to call on Harun so they could have him cook some of the Kraken meat for them and Phillip said that he would handle it. After that, they resumed the film but had to pause it again when Harun arrived with their meal. They arranged the food at the table but decided that they would eat after the movies since it would end soon.

    When the movie ended, everyone praised it and it alleviated Anton¡¯s worry that they would not enjoy the film since it¡¯s a long musical movie and not everyone like musicals. He kept forgetting that the people in this world were not the jaded audience like the moviegoers on Earth. Every film he would show would be fresh to them and so far, all the films that he had shown were the best ones.

    They all then went to the table to begin eating dinner. While they were savoring the dishes that were made from the tender Kraken Tentacle meat, they talked about a lot of things.

    ¡°We will include The Sound of Music movie to the list that we will show in the theater,¡± Nemina said and of course, Anton just nodded.

    ¡°Remember to record The Fellowship of The Ring tomorrow,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    The ladies then talked about the love story between the Captain and Maria and how beautiful Maria¡¯s voice was. One of them then argued that everyone in the movie had beautiful voices especially the nuns in the beginning.

    Antonia suddenly said to him that she would still pursue the instance of the captain charging them so much for the suite especially when Anton used his powers to defend the ship and Anton just nodded.

    After dinner, everyone still wanted to stay with each other and surprisingly even Devon did not want to go out. It appeared that the recent battle still affected each one of them and they wanted to stay with family and friends.

    ¡°Do you want to watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°Yes but I also want to watch Xena and Hercules,¡± Anna said and since they still wanted to stay with each other, they decided to binge-watch television shows.

    After watching an episode of Star Trek, Colin was assigned to call on Harun so they could order food for their late-night snack, and once their snack arrived, they put them on the table to be eaten after watching an episode of Xena. When they were done watching Xena, they ate the food that they¡¯d ordered and continued their binge-watching and watched an episode of Hercules.

    Anton then told everyone that he was tired since he had participated in the battle so even though it looked like everyone still wanted to continue watching television shows, he entered his room so he could rest and, to be honest about it, he was actually telling the truth. He was tired and even though he intended to level up his character a bit, the moment he laid down his head on the pillow, he immediately fell asleep.

 Chapter 297

    The next day, Anton woke up slowly and was startled to see that it was already ten in the morning when he checked the time in his system browser. He could not remember when he fell asleep, but it should not have been that late. He guessed that he was more tired than he thought.

    He did spend several hours the day before casting spells to defend Amelia against the undead and then spent several more hours with his family and friends binge-watching movies and television shows to unwind from the stress caused by the battle. Anton was just glad that his family was understanding and did not disturb his rest.

    After taking a bath, Anton ate one of the foods that were stored in his inventory then instead of entering his Diablo II system to finish leveling up his necromancer character to the maximum level he went outside his room to go to the theater so he could record the film The Fellowship of The Ring. He would need to spend several hours doing those since he needed to record them in three recording magic items. The good thing was, he could level up his character while recording so there would be no wasted time.

    When he arrived at the theater, there was a massive amount of people surrounding the makeshift projector screen that his family had displayed just outside the theater and it was showing the trailer for the movie The Fellowship of The Ring. That meant that he would only need to record the movie twice since one of the recording magic items was being used for the trailers.

    Because of the huge amount of people, Anton could not pass so he decided to just fly above everyone¡¯s head using his Telekinesis spell. He still could not get over the fact that one of the most useless spells in the Diablo II game was one of the most useful in this new reality of his.

    He saw his father, Nemina, Lucas, and several others whom he did not recognize at the entrance of the theater monitoring the reaction of the audience to the movie trailer. Anton guessed that those people with his family were the new employees their family hired.

    Anton was a bit surprised that nobody reacted to a wizard flying overhead and more than likely it was not because the passengers were used to wizards, it was because everyone was too focused on the movie trailer. He was surprised when he overheard that the trailer had been looping for a couple hours already and most of the audience members stayed to watch it over and over again.

    When Anders saw him, he waved at his son and soon he arrived at the entrance and he, his father, and Nemina entered the theater.

    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    Anton then realized that no one disturbed him not because of consideration but because everyone was busy outside the suite.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I overslept. I guess I¡¯m more tired than I¡¯ve let on.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Have you rested enough? Have you eaten yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, father. I¡¯m here to start recording the film.¡±

    Soon, an unknown mage entered the cinema and his father introduced him as one of the low-level mages that was hired to operate the magic recording item. Before Anton started recording, he reiterated that it was forbidden to make any noise, and because of that, his father and Nemina chose to leave the theater and the only ones who remained were the mage operating the recording item and him.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The moment the recording session started after he adjusted the quality of the video and audio to its maximum efficiency, Anton entered his Diablo II game to continue leveling up his necromancer character.

    After he recorded the movie in the first item, he proceeded to do the second one since he wasn¡¯t feeling hungry yet and his necromancer was leveling up fast. When the recording sessions ended, it was already five in the afternoon. The whole day was almost done but at least, his necromancer character reached level ninety-three. Just a few more levels and he could start a paladin character.

    At first, Anton wondered what his wizard rank would be when he reached the maximum level of his necromancer but he knew after the battle with the three ghost ships that it was unlikely that he would reach the Supreme rank. He was guessing that he would probably reach the Supreme Rank after he reached the maximum level of two more melee characters.

    Anton had not decided yet which character he would level up next after Paladin but he felt inclined to do the Amazon next.

    He also felt that once he leveled up all the characters in his Diablo II system to the maximum level, he would only reach the Invincible level so he had no idea how to increase his rank after that. Will his Diablo II system change to accommodate his need to increase his power like maybe his system would change to Diablo III or Diablo IV? Or maybe a whole other game? He truly did not know and that was far enough in the future that he knew that he should focus on his current situation.

    Besides, if his system would not accommodate his requirement to continue increasing his wizardly rank, he still had the option of using the magic system of this world but he felt optimistic that his system would allow him to increase his level since according to the laws of transmigration, systems were truly overpowered.

    Anton laughed at himself silently about that thought. He said goodbye to the wizard and went outside the theater. He did remember to tell the mage that he would need to inform his father and Nemina that they would still need to check the quality of the movie for both of the recording items.

    Outside the theater, there were still a lot of passengers watching the trailer but Anton knew that it should soon taper off.

    Anton did not feel like going back to the suite yet so he decided to go to the Patron Bar to listen to some high-quality music. He was expecting to see some of the others there but when he arrived at the bar, he did not find anyone he knew.

    Since he was a well-known archmage who was a friend of the owner, at least in the said bar, one of the waiters seated him at one of the exclusive tables. He did not even know there were exclusive tables.  He ordered a fruit juice and began listening to the bard who was currently performing on the stage.

    The bard did not disappoint. The man was well-trained and his tenor voice was beautiful. He was playing a stringed instrument that he did not recognize but he did not focus on that. Instead, he focused on the ballad that the singer was singing. The song was a Romeo and Juliet-style love story and Anton guessed that that kind of story was common in all dimensions.

    He was truly impressed at the voice techniques that the bard utilized and Anton knew that if the bard was on Earth, he would have become a famous singer there. Actually, all the performers that he had seen and heard in the Patron¡¯s Bar could hold their own on any of the performers on Earth and if he was being honest about it, it was a little blow to him since at first, he thought that the quality of his singing was already one of the best in this world but after listening to several performers in the bar, he knew that he was just average among them.

    Truthfully, he could not even put a rank on any one of them so he just focused on enjoying the music.

 Chapter 298

    At the start of the week, everyone was busy with their things. However, they still gathered every night to watch the television shows they were watching which were Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: Legendary Journeys, and Avatar: The Last Air Bender.

    Anton had to limit himself and the others to watching only two shows a night, which is roughly a couple of hours of their time a day since he was busy. Surprisingly, everyone agreed since they were busy as well.

    His father, Nemina, and Lucas were busy managing the theater and training the employees with Colin assisting them. Most of the passengers were anxious for the opening day of the movie The Fellowship of the Ring and even his four new friends from New Drennor asked him repeatedly if they could watch the movie in advance.

    Anton had to reiterate that he did not have time during the day since he was busy with ¡°wizardly¡± things and was glad that his new friends seemed to understand and stopped pestering him about it. He was amused though when Walter told him that there were several deep discussions and theories about the film among the young people on the ship like what kind of creatures and species living in that world. What was the magic system and several more things.

    That meant that Anna and the others including Frederick and even Devon became sought after since they had seen the films several times and they even boasted that they had seen all of the Lord of the Rings movies.  Anton did warn everyone to avoid revealing spoilers so the audience would be more excited and based on Anna and the other¡¯s expressions, they definitely revealed a lot of spoilers already.

    Looking at the smug faces of Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip, Anton knew that they probably knew the story of the movies inside and out already from his friends and families but he just shrugged and advised them that it would have been much more enjoyable if they watch the movie without knowing anything.

    Anna and Frederick were still learning a lot about their magic from the magic classes that were being held on the ship. The price of the magic courses was steep but they could afford it.

    Anton had not told them about the effect of his aura when it came to spell casting since he knew that once they knew, he would have to spend some time each day to assist them in their magic practice and that would cut in his own time so he decided to do it once he reached the maximum level of his necromancer character.

    During that week, Anton saw Lucas and Nemina''s severe admonishments to Devon to the point that the man wasn¡¯t allowed to be out of sight of Lucas.  Devon became knee-deep with the ladies of the night on the Amelia and even gambled all his savings in the casinos that Lucas and Neiman had to pay for his debt. Anton even had to heal Lucas¡¯s son of sexually transmitted disease several times.

    Because of that, the girls in the family began looking at him in disdain. At first, Anton thought that Devon would get together with one of the twin sisters but because of his bad reputation, there was little chance of that happening anymore.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Lucas assigned Devon as Anders¡¯s personal guard and that meant that he was not allowed to be away from Anton¡¯s father anytime. During his break, Lucas would spend several hours training Devon and he saw the man filled with bruises after their training. When Anton learned that Lucas would begin training Devon, he had the idea of learning martial arts from the man but decided against it when he saw how many bruises Devon sported after one of their training sessions.

    Besides, Anton was a spell caster and should focus on magic and when it was time for him to level up his melee characters, he would have the physical skills of a warrior.

    Anton had been strictly adhering to his self-imposed schedule of entering his Diablo II system at least eight hours a day and finally reached the necromancer¡¯s maximum level around Thursday which was the day before the first showing of the Fellowship of the Ring film. He was so happy since he was able to reach this goal.

    He immediately created a paladin character since there was still a tiny worry that he would not be able to create a melee character. He successfully created the said character but he did not start leveling up. Since the passengers¡¯ anticipation for the movie was so great, Anton decided to join his family in managing the theater to make sure that there were no hiccups that would occur.

    Regarding his enchantment project, Anton was still focused on creating an item that would contain the Frost Armor spell. He had progress but it would probably take a week or two more before he was successful.

    One of the best things that Anton had received was the pearl from the dolphins and whales. It made his nights truly restful and when he told everyone about it, Anna clamored to experience it but Anders said that the pearl was a gift from Anton¡¯s sea friends so thankfully, Anna did not pester him about borrowing the pearl anymore.

    He did advise everyone that he was about to complete his latest enchantment which would contain a defensive spell called Frost Armor and told them its effect so he told them to select an accessory like an amulet, an earring, a ring, or a bracelet that they wanted to use for the enchantment and everyone scrambled to get their favorite accessory which resulted in the girls wanting to shop for accessories and surprisingly, Nemina was included in that.

    Anders reminded everyone that they had several accessories that they hadn¡¯t sold yet.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want them! They¡¯re all antiques. I want something pretty and new,¡± Anna said so Anders had to give in and allow everyone to shop for the jewelry they wanted to use for the Frost Armor enchantment.

    Anders told Anton that he declined Antonia¡¯s suggestion to get back the overcharge that Captain Robertson charged them for the suite since because of the theater, they would be able to recoup their losses anyway. The downside of that was that the captain would not have any good relationship with Anton and his family anymore. The captain did take advantage of their family¡¯s desperation to leave Rendindura and all knew that some actions would have consequences.

    Anton didn¡¯t care about the captain anymore so he just shrugged off the situation.

    When Friday arrived, there was this feverish aura in the air coming from the passengers who wanted to watch the Fellowship of the Ring movie. Anders told Anton that due to the circumstances, they would show the movie from Friday till Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday would be the rest days. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore since they already had several employees assisting them in managing the theater.

    The theater opened at nine in the morning which was early in Anton¡¯s opinion but all of the seats were filled and VIP seats were occupied by the important people from the ship. Anton wondered if one of the people who was accompanying the captain was the Invincible wizard in the Amelia.

    Anton¡¯s four friends from New Drennor were seated with them in the seats assigned for their family and soon the movie started.

 Chapter 299

    The movie The Fellowship of The Ring started playing and everyone was focused on the film. Anton was glad that the quality of the video and audio was up to par so he decided to stop watching and entered his Diablo II system.

    Anton continued on his enchantment project since he wanted his family and friends to have an enchanted item that would increase their defenses against attacks. He spent the time when everyone was watching the film doing some experimentation and several trial and error just outside the Rogue Sanctuary in Act I in the normal difficulty where he set up a table for experimentation.

    He was not worried about any of the monsters that spawned bothering him since one clay golem was enough to guard him. Anton would have wanted to set up inside the safe zone but he didn¡¯t want to bother the non-player characters if some of his experimentation went awry.

    Anton remembered that at first, he wasn¡¯t able to cast spells inside the safe zones but now for some reason, he was able to and there was no announcement from his Diablo II system. That meant that his system could make some changes without notifying him. He was guessing that his system would only do so for major changes but for minor changes that would not affect him so much, the system would just implement it.

    He still had so many questions about his system but Anton knew that he was still powerless to pursue that knowledge. Besides, his system was nothing but beneficial and if he couldn¡¯t trust it, what could he trust in this world? He knew that his very existence was tied up to his system and he was truly grateful for it.

    Anton had to exit his system when he heard a loud noise and it was the roar and clapping of the audience signifying that the movie had ended. He could hear everyone¡¯s clamor about wanting to watch the second part of the film trilogy and Anders had to go to the front of the theater to make an announcement which was just him reiterating that The Fellowship of the Ring would run for two weeks and that the Two Towers which was the second part of the trilogy would be shown after that.

    After that, Anton and his family had to spend several minutes talking with the ship¡¯s higher-ups before they could go and have lunch.

    ¡°That was the most wonderful epic story I have ever seen in my life!¡± Captain Robertson kept saying to Anders while shaking Anton¡¯s father¡¯s hands. The officers and the mages that were with the captain all looked like they fully agreed with him. The talk would have gone much longer but because the employees that their family hired kept shouting that everyone should start leaving already since the next showing would be up in a few minutes, they exited the theater.

    Thankfully, the captain and his cohorts left soon after and Anton¡¯s friends led him and his family to a restaurant where they could eat lunch. Anton saw that his father and Nemina were comfortable leaving the new employees in the theater to handle the situating by themselves but he had to ask.

    ¡°We¡¯ve trained them well and we¡¯ll only be gone during our lunchtime,¡± Anders told Anton.

    Due to his friends'' prodigious influence in the Amelia, they were able to get a table large enough for everyone even though the restaurant was supposed to be very exclusive. While they were waiting for their lunch to be served, everyone was talking about the film but mostly it was Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°You¡¯re correct Anton. We shouldn¡¯t have asked for the story from the others. Their storytelling was so garbled that while watching the film, it confused me sometimes and it would have been better if I¡¯d seen it without knowing anything about it,¡± Antonia said and Anna and the other girls complained.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been telling everyone that spoilers are a major no-no. I remember that when I was watching the world where the movies came from, leaking spoilers is a crime so Father, I suggest that you be much stricter when it comes to everyone sharing spoilers,¡± Anton exaggeratedly said while glaring at everyone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Anton, I¡¯ll talk to everyone about revealing the  contents of the film before the showing and I¡¯ll make sure to be strict.¡±

    Everyone looked apprehensive when Anders announced that but soon their food arrived and they began eating. They kept talking though while they ate.

    ¡°I like how the Hobbits live. Their lives are so peaceful and they seemed to be content to live their lives joyously and be content to live amongst themselves.¡±

    Surprisingly, it was Phillip who said that since it appeared to Anton that Phillip was an adventurous man but then again, he knew that once in a while, a person needed to calm down and de-stress and the lives of the Hobbits did look stress-free.

    ¡°I suddenly wondered if Rendindura would be the same as the place that Sauron conquered,¡± Lucia suddenly said and everyone contemplated what she said.

    They knew that there was a chance that their home continent would experience a very dark era because of the Undead Coalition and the scene of the hobbit villages being conquered by Sauron¡¯s forces when Galadriel showed Frodo what could happen looked eerily like a prediction for their continent as well.

    ¡°I wonder if there will be heroes who will stand up against the undead,¡± Anna said softly, but everyone heard her.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to lose hope. Maybe when we are settled somewhere, we will hear the news that a group of mighty heroes vanquished the undead, and then great stories will be told about their deeds. And maybe even someday, once there is magic that can make movies, there will be movies about them,¡± Anton appeased his sister.

    ¡°Do you think there will be magic someday that will allow us to create movies? I want to be in a film like Rose in Titanic or Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice!¡± Anna said loudly suddenly very excited and based on the other girls¡¯ expressions, they had this dream of becoming movie stars and amusingly, even Antonia and Lucia had the same expressions.

    ¡°You¡¯re a mage. If magic appears that will allow one to create a movie, they will probably choose veteran actors and actresses, meaning those people who dedicated their lives to the craft like the ones who acted in plays,¡± Anton did not want to burst their bubble but they had to at least put a limit to their imagination less they became severely disappointed.

    Anton knew that the magic to create films was very possible since there were already magic items that allowed them to record a scene and if an enterprising mage and businessman got the idea, the movie revolution in this world would start.

    ¡°We can actually start creating a movie of our own. We do have a recording magic item and if we truly want to spend time creating our own private movies we can do so,¡± Frederick absently said while eating.

    That statement caught everyone off guard except Anton who had thought of this possibility a long time ago. He was even surprised that it took everyone a long time to imagine creating movies of their own but it was understandable. They already had a supply of great movies with great stories and awesome special effects, why would they think of creating movies that would likely end up sub-par compared to what Anton could produce?

 Chapter 300

    Anton made the mistake of belittling people¡¯s desire to become famous movie stars. All of the women in the group even Nemina suddenly became very excited and talked about utilizing one of the magic recording items to create their movie.

    Surprisingly, even the men became involved. Frederick, Walter, and Phillip made some suggestions and even Anton¡¯s father made a few comments.

    Anton could have made a lot of suggestions like providing them with some scripts from Earth or just purchasing the scripts that the theater actors from the live play showing on the ship. They could even record the play itself but he decided not to involve himself with the movie-making project that blossomed from the minds of his family and friends.

    He knew that movie-making was a gargantuan project that could span decades and Anton was busy enough as it was and did not have the time for other side projects. Even when they asked him for some advice, he straightforwardly told them that he would not involve himself in that project.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to get involved? This could make your family a lot of coins?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°I have told everyone before that my magic already contained a humungous amount of data when it comes to movies, television shows, and animation. That meant that our family had enough to earn us a lot of coins. I have to warn you though. The world that I got that shows from spent more than one hundred years and thousands upon thousands of people and an unbelievably huge amount of wealth to get to where they currently are in terms of movie-making so before you undertake this project, you have to thoroughly think about it. At most, you can probably do some recording of live theater play but it wouldn¡¯t have the same quality that my movies have.¡±

    Anton saw Antonia, Lucia, and Walter looking at each other. It seemed that they had decided to go ahead with this particular project but Phillip seemed to be not so interested. Anton did not care what his friends did. He had already warned them and they knew what they were doing. To be honest, if he had not been a mage with a system to make sure that he was one of the most powerful in the world, he would have been involved in that business as well.

    It was fun to think of re-creating Hollywood in this world and knowing that one could become a part of history in the making, it would make one blood boil. Anton decided to tell them the history of Hollywood sooner or later.

    After lunch, Anders, Nemina, Lucas, Devon, and Colin went back to the theater to check out the things there. Unfortunately for Devon, he could not go by himself anymore. Frederick and Anna had to go to where the mages gathered to attend some mage gathering and Anton decided to go with them since he did remember that he thought that he should mingle with other wizards for inspiration on his spell casting and enchantment making.  The rest of them went somewhere to talk about the prospect of creating movies using a magic recording item.

    Anton followed his sister and Frederick towards the location where the mages frequent to. There was supposed to be a public lecture and a general gathering after that and those were the times that mages could trade spells or magic items or exchange ideas with each other.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    At first, Anton wanted to ask questions about the place where the wizards gathered but stayed silent instead since he thought that it should not take long before they arrived there after around twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at a large hall that looked like a comic convention from Earth but instead of well-known animes, the attendees where general wizards and adventurers from anime cosplayers.

    The gathering gave off an energetic party vibe and he knew that it was because most of the attendees were young people. He wondered where the old wizards were and was about to ask Anna or Frederick but Anton noticed that they immediately separated and ignored him.

    Anton did not know who to follow at first but he noticed that Anna was headed to a group composed mostly of young women so he decided to follow Frederick.

    ¡°Frederick, wait up!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Anton sorry. I forgot about you. Do you want to join me or Anna?¡±

    Anton pointed towards Anna and her group and when Frederick saw the group of girls, the older mage gave a short laugh.

    ¡°Sorry about that. Anna and I don¡¯t mingle. I usually hang out with wizards like me who were considered by others as mediocre. At least before we arrived here at the ship, I reached level two, or else I would truly be alienated by all of these magic users.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see any older wizards here.¡±

    ¡°Older wizards tend to be archmages and above so you wouldn¡¯t find any here since this gathering is mostly for high wizards and below. I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about that since you¡¯re too young for anyone to assume that you¡¯re an archmage and you don¡¯t act like an archmage.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Anton asked smilingly since he knew what that meant but he asked Frederick anyway to learn if it was the same.

    ¡°You know, stuck up, thinking that they¡¯re better than everyone else, and supposedly, the younger they are, the more talented and more arrogant. You on the other hand act like a true noble. Anyone looking at you wouldn¡¯t doubt that you¡¯re station is very high but you act like a normal commoner which is understandable given that you¡¯re supposed to be just a farmer not too long ago.¡±

    Anton gave a short laugh then they arrived at a group of mages consisting of three men and two women around Frederick¡¯s age. He was amused when Frederick introduced him to his friends as the mage noble who hired him. Frederick then introduced the five mages to him one by one but Anton knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to remember their names for now because his attention was stolen by an older wizard who climbed a stage.

    ¡°That is High Wizard Tormalin. He¡¯s the one who will give a lecture about the viability of different spells according to spell level. He would introduce the best spells for offense, defense, and utility of different spells from cantrips to spell level three,¡± Frederick told Anton.

    The old High Wizard introduced himself and invited everyone to his lecture but reminded everyone to pay the coin master. Anton was amused to hear that the wizard was asking for payment and it was a whopping gold coin for each person at that. With the number of mages in that place, the High Wizard would earn a pretty penny but he did not begrudge the man his way of earning coins since wizardry was expensive.

    Those who were interested in the lecture began lining up to a couple of wizards who were holding a box that would hold the gold coins and as expected, all of the mages in the hall wanted to listen to the high wizard¡¯s lecture.

    Anton was amused to see that Frederick was the one paying for all of his friends. The mage did earn a lot of coins, especially the treasure that they had received from that gang in Zalnothel but he hoped that the mage was not being scammed or anything like that. He knew that he should not doubt the mage since Frederick was an experienced adventurer even before his family hired him as their very first magic tutor.

 Chapter 301

    The payment for the lecture did not take long and soon everyone a group of people entered the hall to place temporary chairs so the listener could listen to the lecture of the old High Wizard. Anton wondered why the old mage only reached High Wizard status and did not manage to reach the archmage level so he asked Frederick softly since the lesson had not started yet.

    ¡°I know you didn¡¯t realize that reaching the archmage level is one of the most difficult goals that a mage could dream of. Before meeting you and your family, my dream was to reach level three and now I¡¯m hoping that before I die, I will be able to reach the archmage status. Your situation is unique and to be honest with you, the main reason I stick with you and your family is I want to be in the vicinity of a legend in the making. I know for a fact that you have the chance of reaching beyond Invincible and I want to see for myself how it will look like,¡± Frederick whispered back.

    After Frederick said that cringy sentence, they did not continue conversing since the lecture had started.

    The high wizard Tormalin¡¯s lecture was robust and Anton was impressed. Because of the lecture, he learned that his Diablo II system was able to provide him with a notepad tool that allowed him to type so he utilized it to type in the details of the high wizard¡¯s lecture about the different spells a mage could use regarding the spell level and the situation. He was just glad that he did not have to physically move his arms and fingers to type into a keyboard since he could utilize his mind to type in the keys to his system virtual keyboard.

    Anton should have expected that there would be a notepad in his system given that he already had a virtual keyboard which was what he was using to search the Earth¡¯s internet. He just wished that his system also had a recording function that would allow him to record things so that his system would truly act as a smartphone or a tablet connected to the internet.

    After an hour, the lecturer paused and gave everyone a ten-minute break and during that time, Anton was surprised to see a notification appearing on his system interface. While most of the wizards utilized the break time to do their private business like maybe going to the toilet or buying snacks, he opened the system notification.

    He was mostly unsurprised to see that his Diablo II system added two functions. It was the notepad and the recording function. Anton had been expecting that to appear ever since the appearance of the recording magic item. He knew that with the system¡¯s power, adding that function would be too easy for it. It almost felt like his system did not want him to look down on it for not having that function.

    Anton read that the camera recording function worked just like the camera of a smartphone gadget. This meant he could take pictures and videos but he would have to summon the globe spell that he used for the browser-sharing spell. Another added function was the globe could turn invisible but the range was still limited to 300 feet which Anton thought was far enough since he knew that he would mostly use it within his vicinity.

    If Anton wanted to scout somewhere far away he could use his Raven spell for that.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    He decided to put the camera app at the back of his mind since the lecture was about to start again and wanted to focus on it since Anton was learning a lot.

    The lecture was a whopping three hours but he was grateful for it. Anton planned to purchase all the spells that the high wizards mentioned and he would memorize all of those spells so they would be recorded on his personal spellbook.

    Anton did decide to focus on his Diablo II system instead of the magic system of this world but it was still a good idea to have a working knowledge of this world¡¯s magic. He would only spend a few hours a week on it anyway and he knew that as time passed by, he would be able to accumulate the spells on his spellbook even if he just memorized one spell a week.

    When the lecture ended, a lot of the mage went towards the high wizard.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    ¡°They are hoping that they can entice the old wizard to give them private lectures,¡± the mage answered.

    ¡°Are you not going to try your luck?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not at the level yet to want to have a lecture from a high wizard. I will need to increase my level first.¡±

    The group of people who arranged the seats before the lecture returned to get back the seats but after waiting for a few minutes, the whole area turned into a magic bazaar which greatly amused Anton.

    ¡°Frederick, can you help me get these spellbooks? This purse contained two thousand gold coins. Tell me if it isn¡¯t enough¡± Anton gave Frederick the list of spells that he had gotten from the old high wizard¡¯s lecture then gave the mage a purse containing a couple of thousands of gold coins.

    Anton was very open about his actions of giving the list and the gold coins to Frederick. He noticed the mage giving him a wry look and saw that the other five mages were looking at the purse with wide eyes. He remembered that low-level mages were not that rich and a couple of thousands of gold coins was a huge amount to them but to be honest about it, he was not overwhelmingly rich. He only had about a couple more thousand gold coins left aside for the ones he gave Frederick that came from the private business that he did during the last couple of cities that they had been to.

    Of course, if he truly needed it, Anton knew that his father would give them the gold coins that he might need and they did manage to recoup some of the losses they had made when they rented the suite due to the coins they earned from the cinema but he was embarrassed to ask for coins from Anders.

    Since Anton felt that he was lacking coins, he decided to join in on the bazaar fun.

    ¡°Can I set up a stall here?¡± Anton asked.

    Frederick¡¯s friends were surprised when they heard Anton¡¯s question.

    ¡°Let me ask for you,¡± Frederick said then he immediately went to find someone who could help them.

    ¡°What are you planning to sell, Anton?¡± One of Frederick¡¯s friends asked.

    ¡°Some of the enchanted items that I¡¯ve made.¡±

    ¡°You can make enchanted items?!¡± One of the ladies that accompanied them asked but Anton didn¡¯t answer and just smiled.

    After a few minutes, Frederick returned and he led him to one of the corners that were not occupied. The location was not ideal and was out of the way but Anton did not care since he wanted to sell items to have fun.

    ¡°Do you need me to stay to help you?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°No, you can go join your friends. I want to play as a magic item merchant,¡± Anton said while smiling and Frederick just shook his head and left to join his friends.

    Anton retrieved a table from his inventory and a nice enough tablecloth. Then he retrieved five sculptures containing the Frozen Orb air conditioner enchantment, five sculptures containing the Fire Bolt magic light enchantment, five stoves enchanted with the Fire Wall spell, Five cups that contained the Ice Bolt spell that would turn into water, and as the piece de resistance, he retrieved a hoverboard and displayed it prominently beside his table.

 Chapter 302

    Anton arranged the twenty sculptures on his table. He lined them up neatly with the first one of each of the enchanted items activated so potential customers would know what kind of enchantment the items contained.

    The good thing about his enchanted items was each one of them was different from the other. Anton did spend time purchasing different sculptures to enchant with and his main purpose in doing that was to bring a unique aesthetic to each of the items even though the enchantments were the same.

    The glow of the Frozen Orb on top of the sculpture enchanted with the Frozen Orb air conditioner was an eye candy. The swirling light of the magic could also be used as a night light because of its glow and the coldness it brought to a room where it was placed was soft enough that the comfort it would bring to the owners was not harsh like the deep winter outside.

    The same could be said with the magic lamps enchanted with the Fire Bolt and the soft glow that was emitting from the stove. The only thing that did not contain any light was the cup and he placed the line of cups in the center so it would not be noticeable that they didn¡¯t light up.

    When he activated the hoverboard to float beside his table, a lot of people finally began to notice his table.

    The first group of people who went to his table was actually Anna and her friends. She was with four other girls and their ages looked like they ranged from late teens to mid-twenties.

    ¡°Brother, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I want to join in on the fun so I decided to sell some of the enchanted items that I made.¡±

    Anna introduced him to her friends but was a bit surprised that his sister did not mention his magic rank to anyone. Another surprising thing was Anton¡¯s sister was the one who introduced each of the items to her new friends and she was very detailed about it. She even included how many level-one spells it would take to recharge each of the items.

    Anna¡¯s friends were impressed with the enchanted items, especially with the hoverboard. Anton¡¯s sister followed his idea of advertising the hoverboard as something that could be used as a lifesaver in case of an emergency in the middle of the ocean.

    ¡°How much are you selling them for?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Anton saw his sister rolling her eyes at him and the next thing she did was gather her friends to talk about something. He overheard them talking about the best price they could attach to each of the items and how much they were able to sell them before. Without consulting Anton, Anna told her friends that if they managed to sell any items to the price they agreed upon, they would receive a ten percent commission as long as the price was a third higher than its previous selling price.

    Anton was just surprised that his sister knew the details of how much Nemina sold the items before. The only item that did not contain any price tag was the hoverboard and when Anna was about to ask him, she probably recognized the expression that he did not have any idea so she just sighed and continued discussing with her friends regarding what price they would sell the hoverboard for.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    When the girls settled with the prices, Anton was flabbergasted at how much overpriced they were planning to sell each of the items. He decided to let the girls be and just sit behind the table. Admittedly, he was looking forward to haggling with the wizards in the hall but because Anna and her friends took over, he knew that he would remain a spectator.

    After the girls talked, they began calling out to prospective customers and was surprised at how shameless they were acting. Anton gestured towards Anna and when his sister walked towards him, he immediately asked him about her group of friend¡¯s situation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t they have coins? Why are they willing to become salesladies for some meager coins?¡±

    ¡°Not all mages here are lucky to have your ability to repair items or create enchanted items. My friends came from well-to-do families that¡¯s why they were able to become mages but they¡¯re not swimming in coins. All of them want to earn extra pocket coins so they can afford to watch our movies. All of them want to watch the films more than once and it does accumulate so extra coins will really be helpful to them especially when I tell them that all of our movies are truly great.¡±

    ¡°Are you sharing some spoilers again?¡±

    ¡°No! I just give them a, what do you call them? Synopsys? Yes, synopsis of some of the movies I¡¯ve seen, and let me tell you, they¡¯re all beginning to become very excited so they¡¯re all motivated to earn extra coins. I did let them borrow the books that you¡¯ve written and they¡¯re all in love with them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy that you found friends here on the ship.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy as well since we do inspire each other. We¡¯re currently competing on who will level up the best before the journey ends.¡±

    ¡°I noticed that you did not inform them that I¡¯m an archmage.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how they will react. I don¡¯t want to change our current friendship dynamics.¡±

    After the siblings'' talked, Anna returned to overseeing her minions in selling the enchanted items that Anton had created. He was both amused and impressed at the girls'' salesmanship. Anna even called all of her friends to ride the hoverboard while she drove it to demonstrate its functionality.

    After an hour, all of Anton¡¯s items were sold and he earned a whopping three thousand gold coins. As promised, he gave the girls their ten percent commission and since they were his sister¡¯s friends, he brought up the commission to a total of five hundred coins. Of course, he allowed the girls to divide the gold coins amongst themselves since he didn¡¯t know who exactly sold each of the items. Anton¡¯s personal coins climbed out to more or less four thousand gold coins.

    Anton saw that the girls were overjoyed at the coins they received and he overheard them talking about having enough funds to watch the films every day. He wondered what stories Anna told her friends about him since not one of them looked at him more than necessary. They all treated him as Anna¡¯s extension not worth bothering about and it just amused him.

    While cleaning up the things he used to sell the items, Anton knew that most of the enchanted items purchased by mages would probably be dismantled to learn the secrets of his items. He did the same thing and it did not matter to him since he earned a lot of coins from the wizards.

    Since the bazaar was still ongoing, Anton roamed around the hall inspecting all the items that were for sale. He even purchased enchanted items but most of them were cheap since they were items enchanted with small magic like a blanket that automatically expanded or folded itself the moment he touched a corner or a coat that changed color and repelled water to a minor extent. Anton also purchased a pair of leather boots that also changed color and size depending on the wearer and they repel dirt and mud.

    Anton felt lucky that he found those magic items, and he decided to become a complete shopaholic. After storing his recent purchases in his inventory, he continued roaming around to shop some more.

 Chapter 303

    Anton was surprised to find many diverse magic items for sale in the hall where the mages gathered. He purchased shirts, pants, socks, and underwear with self-cleaning and size-adjustment magic. He also purchased a scarf that changes color as well as provides some sort of cooling and warming effects depending on which magic rune the wearer activated and it could be activated by a command spell by the wearer and that command spell was embroidered on the scarf¡¯s specific corners.

    Of course, Anton purchased several of each item if available since he was planning to give a set to his father. He didn¡¯t buy anything for Anna and the others because they could purchase what they liked on their own and he knew the futility of purchasing things, especially clothes, for women. Besides, Anna was also in the hall and he even asked her for some advice regarding if he should purchase items for the others. His sister just told him that if he really wanted to gift the others, he could just give them coins and they could select the items themselves since part of the fun was selecting the items themselves.

    It was different with Anton¡¯s father since he knew that Anders was busy with the cinema and would not have the time to roam around to shop for things and he wanted to gift things to his father himself.

    Regarding Anna, he just gave her another three hundred gold coins to her for her to buy things that she wanted to get. Anton¡¯s four thousand gold coins dwindled to two thousand five hundred but in his opinion, the things that he purchased were worth it. The dopamine that shopping spree he did made him a bit happy and he would have wanted to continue but he already examined each of the stalls that the wizards opened in the hall.

    Since it was evening already, Anton decided to return to their suite. Anna and her group of friends followed him although soon, the other girls separated from his sister. When they arrived in their suite, everyone was there including Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip.

    Anton knew that the four young men and women were sticking to his family because they were presenting something new which was the movies and shows and these rich young folks seemed like they always pursued what gave them huge entertainment. At least, the movies were not harmful to their bodies like drugs, smoke, or alcohol.

    ¡°Anton, Anna, you¡¯re here. Come, let¡¯s go join the others in the dinner hall since I don¡¯t want to wait for chefs to cook food for us, we¡¯ll attend the dinner hall tonight,¡± Anders said.

    Anna immediately ran to her room to change her clothes but Anton didn¡¯t move since he was fine with what he was wearing, which was presentable enough.

    They didn¡¯t wait for Anna for too long though since after a few minutes, she joined them and they all headed to the dinner hall. The show presented by the entertainers was good and they enjoyed themselves. After dinner, they returned to their suite immediately even though a lot of people tried to stop Anders and Nemina to converse with them regarding the cinema. Some of the people would like to know if they could invest to become part owners especially when the cinema opened in one of the cities in the Gale Continent and some was just wanting to know what movies would be shown next.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Anders and Nemina had to reiterate that they could speak to them regarding business during the days when the cinema was closed and soon the people finally accepted that they would not talk business during that time and stop bothering them.

    When they arrived at the suite, Anna asked which shows they would watch that night and Anton asked everyone which ones they would prefer to watch. They finally selected Star Trek and Avatar The Last Airbender.

    While Colin was setting up the mini cinema corner in their suite, Anton told his father about selling some of the enchanted items that he had made during the mage gathering and the things that he purchased.

    Anton explained each of the magic items that he would give to his father that he purchased and Anders looked like he was highly amused but everyone could see that Anton¡¯s father was touched since it was obvious that Anton prioritized him.

    ¡°What about your sister?¡± Anders asked his son during one of the pauses that he made while explaining the function of the magic items.

    ¡°I gave her gold coins so she can purchase whatever she likes,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°What about the others?¡± Andres asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just give each one a hundred gold coins to spend,¡±

    That sentence made everyone smile.

    Anders happily examined and tried out all of the items that Anton gave his father and while that was happening, he gave each of the people in the suite a hundred gold except for Anna and Frederick since Anna already received gold coins from him and Frederick was rich. Even the two newly hired female bodyguards were surprised when they received gold coins from Anton.

    After that, Nemina asked Anton to clean up their clothes and he told everyone to gather all of their belongings that needed cleaning and they all scrambled to get them. His rich friends from New Drennor were highly surprised that Anton, who was considered the young heir of their family and an archmage at that would deign to be the family¡¯s launderer but it wasn¡¯t a bother to him since he could clean their things with just a wave of his hands by using his Cleaning spell which was one of the few spells from the magic system of this world that he memorized.

    After everything was clean, they all took back their things and then the watching of the show for that night started. When the shows ended, Phillip asked everyone if anyone wanted to join them in the Patron Bar.

    Anna looked like she wanted to go but of course, since it was already late, Anders did not let her. As a matter of fact, all the girls wanted to go but because Nemina, Lucas, and Anders were looking at them with steely eyes, no one went the four rich nobles from New Drennor, and the only ones who did were Frederick, Colin, and Devon.

    To the amusement of Anders, Anton didn¡¯t join the ones who were going even though they persistently asked him. The main reason that he gave them was he needed to do ¡°wizardly¡± things which was true since Anton wanted to start leveling up his paladin character because he had an inkling that he might need the holy powers of the paladin real soon. He didn¡¯t have any prophetic or divination skills but he was a bit of a worrywart and it was better to have the skills and not need them that need them but not have them.

    Anton entered his room since he knew that it would take a few minutes before everyone left or entered their rooms and he wanted to start leveling up as soon as possible. It was only around ten in the evening so he could spend at least two to three hours in his system before he went to bed.

    He briefly took a bath then after that he sat on his bed and entered his Diablo II system. Since he was not that familiar with the paladin, he decided to follow the leveling guide on one of his favorite websites.

 Chapter 304

    Anton followed the guide on how to level up his Paladin character on the website Wowhead dot com religiously. There could be better sites out on the internet but he liked how the site chose to list the skills one should get per level and that meant that he could just concentrate on mowing down the mob and not think about which were the best spells he should pick when he leveled up.

    He kept reiterating to himself that he would only select a specific build once his Paladin¡¯s character had reached a high enough level.

    As his practice ever since Anton transmigrated to this world and entered his Diablo II system, whenever he leveled up a new character, he would make sure to choose to enter the world of Sanctuary personally and take his time exploring every nook and cranny even though he already memorized the location to their minute details. The main purpose of that practice was to make sure that his body intimately knew how to use the specific spells of each of the characters, in this case, the Paladin¡¯s skills.

    The good thing about the website that Anton was following was he did not need to think or calculate, he would just follow the skill order that was listed on the site for every level up. He would focus on a specific build once his paladin¡¯s level was high enough and the site also listed the specific builds one could build around the Paladin character.

    For the next three hours, Anton explored his Diablo II system again as a Paladin and he wondered why he never got tired of it. His Paladin leveled up to level eight and he had selected the three skills according to the site which were the ones he was supposed to select on his current level which were Might, Resist Fire, and Holy Fire. He suddenly wondered how offensive auras would work in real life so he immediately went to the information page and according to his system, his offensive aura would attack everyone within its range that was not in his party system.

    Given that his party system could only include up to seven people, that meant that offensive auras would be truly dangerous to use in real-life situations. That meant that for Paladin''s skills, he would most likely select support skills that would assist him in real life once he reached the maximum level for the character.

    After reaching level eight, Anton decided to rest since it was late and he felt happy that he started leveling up his Paladin.

    The next day, he was woken up by an urgent knock on his door and when he checked the time, it was already seven in the morning, which was about time for him to get up anyway. When he opened his door he saw that it was his father.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Anton asked his father since Anders looked worried.

    ¡°A friend told me that two High Wizards were killed last night and no one could figure out how they died.¡±

    Anton gasped when he heard what his father had said.

    ¡°Does everyone know?¡±

    ¡°No. Only a select few know. The news was only shared with me because the man wanted to get close to our family to have a share with our business.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°What did Antonia, Lucia, Walter, or Phillip say?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not here yet and I think it¡¯s too early to disturb them. Let¡¯s all go to breakfast. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be here after breakfast and we will know more details.¡±

    Anton saw that each one of his family and friends was prepared to go to the dining hall already so he went inside briefly to wash himself and change his clothes then joined them. During the breakfast buffet, Walter and Phillip joined them.

    ¡°Where are Antonia and Lucia?¡± Anton asked the two.

    ¡°They¡¯re quite busy. Because of the murders last night, they had to attend meetings with the captain and the other higher-ups,¡± Walter answered.

    ¡°You two don¡¯t need to be there?¡± Anton asked and they both laughed.

    ¡°We¡¯re basically just passengers. Antonia and Lucia are the ones who had a say in this ship,¡± Phillip said.

    Anton didn¡¯t ask any more questions since he knew it would be better for them to talk about sensitive matters in the privacy of their suite. After breakfast, they all return to the suite since Anders and Lucas announced that no one was allowed to separate from the family for the next few hours due to the situation. Anna and Frederick complained a bit saying that they had magic lessons but were pacified when Phillip told them that all magical activities were halted that day.

    Anna and Frederick would have asked more questions but Anders told them that they would talk in the room.

    When they arrived back in the suite, Anton joined in the discussion. He couldn¡¯t leave them be and enter his Diablo II system since there was a weird phenomenon happening on the ship.

    ¡°The two high wizards that were murdered last night were killed by ghosts according to the preliminary investigation. One of the archmages who investigated the case said that there were possibly as many as five ghosts or more who invaded the Amelia. Apparently, the three ghost ships weren¡¯t the last attack by the Undead Coalition. These are. A lot of archmages are running around trying to find the ghosts. The problem with these enemies is they¡¯re able to become invisible but since our wizards are now aware of their existence, the moment they move, the Supreme Wizards will be able to pinpoint their location immediately,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°It¡¯s still advisable that people don¡¯t roam around during the next several hours. The ghosts or whatever creatures they may be are intelligent and know how to bide their time. I¡¯m guessing that they will try to attack high-level wizards first,¡± Walter added.

    ¡°The Supreme Numinor said that the ghosts are probably going to attack the mages that were in the battle with the ghost ships so that meant that you¡¯re in danger.  The two High Wizards that were killed were probably an opportunity that the ghosts took,¡± Phillip continued.

    ¡°How powerful are the ghosts? Did the wizard who is investigating the case say?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°The enemies should be at most at the High Wizard level since if they¡¯re more powerful than that, there would have been more deaths already. Lucia told us all this information after she attended the meeting earlier today,¡± Phillip said.

    Anton was a bit worried. Not for himself since he could easily dispose of any ghost that attacked him but a high-ranking ghost would be powerful enough to endanger his family and friends if they encountered the creatures alone.

    The good thing about his family and friends was, that each one of them was carrying a wand of Ice Bolt that he had made, even the two new female bodyguards and each one of the girls was carrying a tiny raven and tiny spirit wolves that would be able to contend with enemies for a small amount of time if they were attacked.

    Regardless of which magic weapons they prepared, it was still extremely dangerous confronting powerful enemies that could turn themselves invisible so it would still be better if they all remained in the suite.

    ¡°We all need to stay here for the day then. You can rest in your rooms but make sure that your doors are wide open so each one of us will know and see what¡¯s happening everywhere in the suite,¡± Anders loudly announced.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about the cinema since most of the businesses would probably close today. The captain will make an announcement any minute now,¡± Phillip said.

 Chapter 305

    Anton and his family were not surprised when the captain of the Amelia made an announcement. He was surprised that Captain Robertson did not hide the death of the two High Wizards and the cause of their deaths. He did not know if it were foolhardy since it might cause panic or wise since the passengers would be aware that their captain was honest and would trust him because of that.

    The next part of the announcement was about closing the commercial establishments for the next few hours just until the murderers were caught. Given the captain''s tone, one would presume that the capture of the murderers was guaranteed.

    Anton could believe that since they did have powerful wizards in the ships. There was supposed to be a mage above Supreme aboard the Amelia.

    Since everyone would stay in the suite for several hours, Anton decided to share an important fact with Anna and Frederick.

    ¡°Anna, Frederick, I need to tell you something very important,¡± Anton called the other two mages in the family.

    Since he wasn¡¯t being discreet, everyone heard him and everyone¡¯s faces were filled with curiosity.

    Anna and Frederick went to him and while everyone was listening he shared with them the information he discovered about his auras.

    ¡°How do you increase your mage power? I¡¯m asking since as you know my magic system is different and follows a different rule when it comes to increasing my rank,¡± Anton started the conversation with a question.

    ¡°There are several ways a mage can increase their power but the surest but slowest way was to practice our spells. By casting our memorized spells, they would disappear from the mind and we need to memorize them again. Doing so repeatedly would increase the capacity of the mind to memorize spells until it¡¯s powerful enough to memorize a higher-ranking spell. That¡¯s common knowledge. As you know, the ability of the mage to memorize quickly is a talent since that would allow them to increase their magic power faster than others,¡± Frederick said while Anna was nodding.

    The rest of the people in the suite were listening as well.

    ¡°When I was fighting with the other ship¡¯s mages with the three ghost ships, we discovered that the spell that allows me to regenerate health and energy also allowed those who are affected by my spell to memorize their spells, if they are mages, in an extremely short amount of time. The Supreme Wizard Numinor said that he tested it and he said that spells that usually take him ten minutes were memorized in a minute. Another wizard said that his spell which usually takes him one hour was memorized in ten minutes,¡±

    Frederick and Anna gasped when they heard what Anton had said.

    ¡°That meant that if we memorize our spells while affected by your spell, we could practice our magic in a very short amount of time! It wouldn¡¯t take long for us to increase our wizardly rank!¡± Frederick exclaimed loudly and even Anna was looking at him with wide eyes.

    ¡°I know that¡¯s why I shared this with you. As you know, I stay in my room every day after breakfast in the morning until two or three in the afternoon. During those times, you can stay in the suite to practice your magic. I don¡¯t know much about the regular magic system but I urge you to utilize that opportunity to increase your magic rank as soon as possible. In my experience, using different spells will also allow your body to become familiar with the different spells so I recommend you to memorize and cast different spells during your practice. For casting your spells to empty your spell slots, I also recommend that you charge the huge mana power bank that I will be creating instead of finding a place to cast them,¡± Anton told the two mages.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Can everyone give us all their empty power banks if you have them since we¡¯ll need them,¡± Frederick said to everyone, and soon about twelve mana power banks were placed on the table.

    ¡°The large mana power bank that I¡¯ll be creating will be able to charge a lot of empty enchanted items so please use it to discharge your spells,¡± Anton reiterated.

    Frederick and Anna were very excited and when Lunelle asked for specifics, Anna excitedly told her how huge that ability to memorize spells in a very short time was. When everyone learned that because of Anton¡¯s spells, it was possible that Anna and Frederick would increase their magely rank in a short amount of time, everyone congratulated them.

    ¡°Does that spell the reason why your power increased in a short time?¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°No. My magic is unique and the way to increase its rank is different.¡± Anton answered.

    After that discussion, Phillip and Walter left to go to Antonia and Lucia to get more news while the others went to their room and as per Anders''s requests, no one closed their doors so everyone could see at a glance whatever everyone was doing. Everyone was a bit afraid of invisible enemies so no one complained.

    Anton added his sister and Frederick to his party system and he activated his auras without the special effect. Instead of entering his Diablo II system, he decided to first construct the huge mana power bank that he promised Anna and Frederick since they would need it soon to discharge their spells. It was easy enough since the only thing that he would need to do was increase the size of the enchanted item and increase the mana storage tremendously.

    He decided that the best form the mana power bank would have was a table where one could place enchanted items with empty mana storage so that they could charge them using the mana storage that the power bank would have and because Frederick and Anna would mostly use it all the time, it would certainly contain a huge amount of mana.

    Anton was not hiding anything from anyone so he openly retrieved several large pieces of wood from his inventory and decided to construct the power bank using a wide rectangular piece of wood the size of a coffee table. Then he engraved the mana structure and mana pathway of the power bank.

    Since he had done the power bank before so many times, it was easy enough so it only took him around thirty minutes before he was done constructing the mana structures and mana pathway for the enchanted items. The only thing he needed to do was to nail four pieces of wood that would become its feet. It was quite easy for Anton since he used his Telekinesis to construct the coffee table that worked as a mana power bank and after an hour it was ready.

    Anton overheard his father and Nemina discussing the feasibility of creating a charging station business and he just shook his head. He then saw Frederick and Anna casting their spells on the small power banks belonging to the others and it would probably take them a while to fill those up but after that, they began memorizing their spells.

    After a few minutes, Anna shouted.

    ¡°Oh, my divines! My spell! It usually takes me one hour but now I memorized it in just five to six minutes!¡±

    Based on Frederick''s extremely excited expression, he experienced the same thing.

    Looking at Anna and Fredericks''s faces, Anders decided that they should be in the middle of the suite surrounded by everyone while practicing their magic since they wouldn¡¯t be able to focus on their surroundings. In case they were attacked, the others could easily help them, or each other for that matter.

 Chapter 306

    Anton¡¯s party system consisted of his father, Anna, and Frederick. Since the two wizards would be added to the party all the time, he decided to add his father as well and maybe he might discover something new if a regular person was exposed to his auras for a long time.

    He was not discounting anything since they did discover the huge benefit of drinking water made from his ice spells.

    Frederick and Anna busied themselves memorizing their spells and casting them towards the mana power banks that needed recharging and everyone could see that the two mages were hugely excited.

    Anton himself went inside his room but he didn¡¯t close his door. He was debating if he should enter the world of Sanctuary virtually but because of the current dangerous situation, he decided to level up his Paladin character using the screen option instead. Doing what he called the ¡°on-screen¡± option wherein he would play Diablo II as if he were playing in front of a computer instead of entering the world would allow him to keep his attention split between his system and the surrounding area.

    He was breaking his promise to himself that he would enter the game to play a new character to make sure that his body got used to casting the spells of a specific character but he could always practice the skills at a later time. It was more important for Anton to be extra vigilant that day because there was a huge chance that the ghosts from the Undead Coalition would attack him since he was one of the mages who were in the battle with the three ghost ships.

    At around lunchtime, he heard knocking on the door to their suite so Anton exited his Diablo II system to check it out. When Colin opened it, they were his four friends from New Drennor and a group of men carrying lunch he assumed was for everybody due to how much food there was.

    ¡°We¡¯re here to deliver lunch!¡± Lucia loudly announced and everyone exited from their room excitedly.

    ¡°Thank you, Lucia. I was about to invite everyone for lunch,¡± Anders told the girl.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have found any open restaurants. The mages did capture three ghosts already and according to the supreme wizards who had gotten the information from the ghosts, how? I don¡¯t know, that there were only three ghosts left,¡± Antonia said.

    Anton¡¯s father did not tell Antonia that they would not have gone out of the room to find lunch since they did have a lot of cooked food in Anton¡¯s inventory and Ander¡¯s ring. From what he knew, the others who had storage ring who was mostly everyone, would have copied Anton and kept a lot of cooked food in their storage items.

    Because of the situation in the Rendindura continent, everyone was insecure about food, and the first thing that one would think of if they acquired a magic storage space item was to store food and drinks that would allow them to survive for a long time.

    Still, the food that Anton¡¯s friends from New Drennor were welcome. There was plenty of food and everyone began eating lunch buffet-style.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    While they were eating, Devon mentioned that it was boring to stay in the room with nothing to do.

    ¡°After lunch, the mages in the family will continue practicing magic but you can go ahead and watch a new movie,¡± Anton told Lucas¡¯s son.

    Anna looked like she would protest and say she wanted to watch a film too but stopped when Anton glared at her. It did not need to be said but it was important for the mages to increase their power as soon as possible.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that we¡¯ll be doing that. Today¡¯s situation is very dangerous and I want everyone to be focused in their environment to make sure that any attack will be noticed immediately and if we¡¯re watching a movie, our attention will be on that,¡± Anders said.

    Suddenly, an announcement from the captain was blasted out from the ship¡¯s hidden speakers or whatever magic they used that worked as speakers.

    It was basically a repeat of what Antonia had told them about the ship¡¯s mages capturing three of the enemies already and that there were only three left. The announcement ended with the captain promising that soon, all of the attackers would be captured.

    ¡°How did the ship¡¯s mages capture the three ghosts?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°The three ghosts attacked three archmages simultaneously and they were located far apart from each other. Of course, archmages are powerful enough to defend themselves and they focus on defensive spells then according to the wizard that I was speaking with, three supreme wizards suddenly appeared where the attack was happening and used some sort of spell to capture them. Those supreme wizards are really very powerful,¡± Antonia said while shaking her head.

    Frederick and Anna gasped when they heard how the ghosts were captured since they were the only ones who truly knew, as they were mages themselves, what kind of power would allow wizards to teleport to specific places to capture the enemy that they had somehow detected and use spells to capture the enemies that were capable of turning themselves invisible and pass through walls.

    ¡°Brother, can you do something like that?¡± Anna asked Anton and he simply said no.

    Anton couldn¡¯t even imagine how he could achieve something like that with his current set of spells and knew that he could no longer belittle the magic system of this world.

    Because of the announcement from the captain, everyone knew that Anton¡¯s father was right in not watching a movie at that time since they knew instinctively that the last enemies would be the most dangerous ones. After lunch, everyone went back to their room to do their things but they did keep their doors open.

    Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip said their goodbyes and went out when they learned that there would be nothing to do in Anton¡¯s suite for now.

    Anton continued leveling up his Paladin character but decided to sit in one of the dining table¡¯s chairs which was the center of the suite that could check everyone¡¯s room.

    After about an hour of leveling up a character, Anton noticed something in the corner of his eye so he immediately closed his game and inspected that corner. He roamed his eyes all over the place just to make sure. He was getting nervous so he immediately summoned all of his Spirit Wolves thinking that because the wolves were spirits, they should be able to see and attack spiritual things like ghosts. He also summoned the Oak Sage spirit.

    The spirit wolves suddenly ran to one of the corners of the suite and when the light of the Oak Sage spirit appeared, a terrifying wraith appeared when the Oak Sage light was shed in that corner of the room.

    The Spirit Wolves immediately attacked the wraith. Anton saw that the wraith was trying to bypass the wolves, most likely wanting to reach him but because there were five of them and the wolves¡¯ attacks looked like they were effective against the wraith, it didn¡¯t manage to reach him and kept receiving the damages from the attack of the wolves.

    The Spirit Wolves were powerful, backed by the spell¡¯s level and the Druid¡¯s maximum level as well as the powerful items from the game made short work of the wraiths that he didn¡¯t even need to cast spells to help the wolves and soon the ghost was destroyed.

 Chapter 307

    Anton¡¯s family and friends ran to where he was when they heard the noises that came from the battle. They saw the five Spirit Wolves in one of the suite¡¯s corners and the Oak Sage Spirit floating above.

    ¡°What happened Anton?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°One of the ghosts entered our room and I managed to detect it. I summoned my Spirit Wolves and the Oak Sage spirit and learned that they could detect invisible things so I commanded them to attack the ghost. That means that those with tiny Spirit Wolves pets would be notified if there were any invisible enemies nearby.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good! Since you killed one of the three remaining ghosts, only two more ghosts should be left.¡±

    Suddenly a man appeared amongst them and Anton recognized him as the Supreme Wizard Numinor.

    ¡°Where is it?! We detected the ghost in your room, Anton,¡± Numinor said while looking around.

    ¡°I killed it already, sir,¡± Anton immediately pacified the supreme wizard.

    Numinor noticed the ethereal-looking wolves and the spirit floating above.

    ¡°Are they the ones who killed the ghosts?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir. They were able to see and kill and destroy the ghost.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Two more and the Amelia can get back to its usual business. Captain Robertson had been urging us to find and kill the remaining ghosts since the rich folks are complaining already, especially those who wanted to watch your movies, young man,¡± Numinor said but the supreme wizard was smiling.

    The supreme wizard Numinor said his goodbye and left immediately saying that he needed to report the destruction of one of the ghosts in the hands of Anton.

    After several minutes, an announcement blared out from the hidden speakers in the Amelia. It was the captain informing everyone that all the ghosts were destroyed and the normal business of the ship would now resume.

    Everyone cheered since it meant that it was the end of their confinement in the suite. It would have been better if they were allowed to watch movies or television shows since that would alleviate everyone¡¯s boredom but since Anders said that they couldn¡¯t while the ghosts were roaming around, they had to endure being confined in the suite without anything to do. At least those who had hobbies or borrowed books from the ship¡¯s library had something to do but most were getting antsy.

    Anton dismissed the Spirit Wolves but allowed the Oak Sage to remain floating in their suite. Not only was the spirit¡¯s light gentle to the eyes, it was pleasant to look at and somehow calming.

    Almost everyone asked Anders if they could leave the suite and Anton¡¯s father gave his permission so most ran outside the suite including Colin. Soon Anders, Nemina, and Lucas went outside as well.

    Surprisingly, Frederick and Anna remained and said they still wanted to practice their spell casting since they could actually feel their abilities expanding rapidly. Their practice that afternoon was equivalent to several days of magic practice.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Just to be safe, Anton asked Frederick and Anna to keep their doors open and he summoned a single Spirit Wolves to look after the suite. Even though the captain announced that there were no more ghosts, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be safe.

    Anton went inside his room but didn¡¯t close his door. This time though he entered the game personally to continue leveling up his Paladin character. Admittedly, using the on-screen option was faster when it came to level up compared to entering the World of Sanctuary personally but again the most important part of doing it virtually was allowing his body to adapt to using the Paladin¡¯s specific skills.

    At around three in the afternoon, he told Frederick and Anna that he was done practicing his wizardry and that he would go outside to relieve his stress.

    Anton headed directly to one of the ship¡¯s decks since he wanted to watch the sea for a while. He had been confined inside for a while and wanted to watch nature for a bit. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see that there were a lot of people roaming about. The forced confinement, even though it was only for a short few hours, made the passengers wanting to associate with other people.

    He went to the deck where he viewed the whales and the dolphins before and there were a lot of people there that there was almost no place for him in the railings but he managed to squeeze himself. Unfortunately, there was nothing to look at but the endless ocean. There were no mountains or lands in the distance and there were no sea creatures like whales and dolphins nearby so after a few minutes, Anton decided to leave the deck.

    He idly walked around and soon arrived where the mages gathered before. When he entered the hall, he was a bit surprised to see that there were a lot of people gathered inside, and based on what he overheard, they were a mixture of mages and normal people.

    Anton walked around and one of the mages who bought an enchanted item from the stall that he set up recognized him and invited him to their group.

    ¡°Hello, sir. You¡¯re the mage who sold the enchanted items, aren¡¯t you? I must say, your magic items were wonderful. Will you join us?¡± The mage asked.

    ¡°My name is Anton and yes, I was the one who sold you the enchanted item or my sister¡¯s friend sold you one but I created them,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°You¡¯re a magic item crafter?! How talented. My name is Rosa,¡± One of the mages said.

    The others also introduced themselves one by one. The one who invited him was called Edmond. The others were named Alex, and Redmond, and the last one was named Eleanor.

    ¡°What are you discussing?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°The Undead Coalition¡¯s last attack on the Amelia. I¡¯m glad that there were only two victims since based on what I¡¯ve heard before, some ships, when attacked by the Undead Coalition didn¡¯t survive at all or at most very few survive,¡± Edmond said.

    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t happen with the Amelia since we do have an Invincible in the ship. I was more surprised that ghosts managed to claim two lives,¡± Rosa added.

    ¡°At least we¡¯re safe now and in a day or two we will be truly out of the vicinity of Rendindura and could claim that we have successfully left the continent,¡± Eleanor nervously fanned herself with the fan that she was carrying.

    After that, the group talked about different things like how Anton created his magic items and how Edmond admitted that he destroyed the magic item that he purchased in trying to uncover the secrets of the enchantment inside the item but did not learn anything. Anton just laughed when he heard that and said that he expected that to happen.

    ¡°Are you not afraid that mages will be able to uncover the secrets of your enchantments?¡± Edmond asked.

    ¡°My magic is too different and if someone can uncover it, I will only be impressed,¡± Anton said.

    After that discussion, they talked about the movies and it somehow slipped that the cinema was owned by Anton¡¯s family. Everyone was amazed when they heard and suddenly everyone asked him about the next film. Anton told them that he was the next two films would be the second and third movies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and even though they kept asking for spoilers, Anton told them the head of their family warned them to not give any.

    When they asked what movies would be shown after the Lord of the Rings, Anton admitted that he didn¡¯t know since it would be his father¡¯s decision.

 Chapter 308

    Anders, together with Nemina, and Lucas went to the cinema to inspect the situation there. Normally, Devon and Colin would follow them. Colin acted as Anders''s errand boy and Devon as his personal bodyguard, but since all of them had been confined in the suite for several hours, he allowed them their freedom for the rest of the day.

    Of course, no one would fault them for not opening the theater since it was already late in the day. While they were heading towards the cinema, Anders thought of the fact that his family always seemed to be in danger but on second thought, everyone from Rendindura was always in danger because of the undead monsters.

    He was almost thankful that his wife was not there anymore to learn what happened to their beloved country. In a short amount of time, the Undead Coalition managed to conquer a huge part of the continent and more than likely, their previous home was now covered in undead monsters.

    For a brief moment, Anders muttered a brief prayer to the divines for his neighbors since there was a good chance that they were now gone. The only reason their family managed to escape was because of his son¡¯s mysterious power.

    Ever since Anton woke up as a powerful wizard, their luck changed. Even now, every time Anders looked in the mirror, he couldn¡¯t believe that a young man was looking back. He looked barely past thirty and wondered how his wife would have looked if she had been there with him.

    He knew what his reaction would be since Anders saw Nemina¡¯s and Lucas¡¯s behavior. They shamelessly acted like young husband and wife.

    When they arrived at the theater, they entered it and saw that their new employees were there. They briefly had a meeting with them and after that, Nemina and Lucas separated from him. Since Anders had nothing to do and it was rare for him to have some time alone he decided to visit the bar that was supposed to have performances from elite bards and other entertainers.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s called the Patron Bar,¡± Anders thought.

    Anders arrived at the bar after a sailor guided him and when he entered, the bar was full and he had to wait for at least fifteen minutes before a seat opened. He had to join three young women on their seat which was amenable enough to let a stranger join their table.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Ladies. I¡¯m Anders Sunder,¡± Anders still felt weird about having a last name since he wasn¡¯t used to having one.

    The only reason his family had the honor of receiving a last name was because of his son. He wondered why Anton chose the last name ¡°Sunder¡±.

    The three ladies welcomed him especially when they heard that Anders had a last name since only nobles had last names. They introduced themselves as Belue, Norma, and Selena and he didn¡¯t bother to memorize their complicated and long last names. He ordered a drink from the waiter and asked the ladies at the table if they wanted some drinks and they allowed him to order for them.

    Soon, a bard came to the stage and Anders was highly impressed at the bard¡¯s beautiful voice but he still thought that his son¡¯s voice was better.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°My son¡¯s voice is better,¡± Anders said softly after the bard had finished.

    ¡°Oh, your son¡¯s training to become a bard?¡± One of the ladies named Belue asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. My son is a wizard, not a bard, and a powerful wizard at that. It¡¯s just that he could also play the lute and sing,¡± Anders said proudly.

    ¡°A wizard, not an apprentice? How old is your son If I may ask?¡± Selena asked.

    Anders told the ladies that Anton was seventeen.

    ¡°You must have been very young when you had your son,¡± Norma commented.

    ¡°I was already in my late twenties when my wife had our eldest. She passed away soon after she gave birth to our second child.¡±

    The three ladies stared at him and Anders wondered why.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be! You look like you¡¯re only in your late twenties now! How can you have a son that¡¯s already seventeen years old when you had him when you were in your late twenties?¡± The girl named Selena said.

    Anders was startled since he thought that he looked like he was in his mid-thirties not late twenties.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry ladies but I¡¯m already entering my late forties,¡± Anders told the girls.

    The three ladies gasped when they heard his age.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re only three to four years older than us and all of us are only in our mid-twenties! I didn¡¯t expect you to be so¡­old! Are you a wizard?¡± Belue asked but the other two girls scolded her when they heard her telling Anders that he was old but Anders just smiled.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m a merchant. I look like this because of my son¡¯s magic. As I¡¯ve said, my son is extraordinarily powerful,¡± Anders boasted.

    Soon, they had to stop speaking since a lovely woman bard came up on stage and started her performance. Looking at the bard who was wearing very revealing clothes, Anders felt hot. One of the disadvantages of becoming young again because of Anton¡¯s magic water was his blood became hot again. He even thought of going to the red light district to vent but he was embarrassed. He did not know how his children would react if they knew that their father was visiting ladies of the night, especially Anna. He knew that Anton would probably understand but Anna would be confused.

    Thankfully, the bard who was wearing very revealing clothes concluded her performance and left.

    ¡°Sir, If I may ask a possible offensive question, please do forgive me. Do you only look young or is your body truly becoming young,¡± Norma asked.

    Anders paused a bit and thought about whether he should answer the ladies¡¯ questions. He didn¡¯t know them at all and he had been very free with sharing information with them. The only excuse that he could think of was that the three ladies were exceptionally beautiful and because of his younger body¡¯s blood acting up, he found out that he was becoming susceptible to pretty girls¡¯ flatteries. He scolded himself and made a vow to himself to be cautious with his behavior. He still answered the lady¡¯s question though.

    ¡°It¡¯s a true youth spell and not just an appearance spell and this is based on how I feel. Not only that, my son¡¯s spell also made my daughter¡¯s skill pale and flawless and her hair became lighter and more luxurious. Unfortunately, the spell that my son is using is not a one-time thing and is a result of long-time exposure to his magic so we couldn¡¯t sell it, or else, based on the interest of most people who became aware of this spell, we would have been one of the richest family in Rendindura.¡±

    Anders didn¡¯t mention that his son only became a mage for just a short time and they had spent the majority of their time running.

    Since Anders showed that he didn¡¯t want to continue with the topic of the youth spell, the ladies didn¡¯t continue asking and he was sure that this was only because the ladies were very young and the youth spell wasn¡¯t that important to them yet. The ladies did talk to him more, and they even asked about the location of his suite, which he readily provided since he thought that this would allow his son to encounter more friends.

    The ladies looked rich and possibly powerful and Anders wasn¡¯t averse to their family to form more powerful connections just like what his son did with his four new friends from New Drennor.

 Chapter 309

    Anders and the three ladies planned to watch more performances in the Patron Bar. In between performances, the ladies kept asking Anders questions and he let it slip that his family was the owner of the cinema.

    That information made the three ladies'' eyes shine. Then they straightforwardly asked if he was a noble because of his last name.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, my son is a very powerful wizard and due to his power and age, the city of Zalnothel awarded him the title of a Baron and our family the last name of ¡°Sunder¡±. Our family¡¯s ability to earn coins was because of his power too including the movies that you see in our theater.¡±

    ¡°Your family must be very rich now?¡± Belue asked and Anders just smiled.

    After that conversation, the three ladies excused themselves saying that they needed to go to the lady''s room so when they stood up, he stood up as well. It was one of the noble courtesies that was taught to him by Anton¡¯s tutor back in Zalnothel.

    Anders spent a few hours a week learning etiquette from the tutor unbeknownst to everyone. His purpose was to not embarrass himself and his family when he was personally dealing with those who were nobles and there were a lot of those before they left the city.

    The three ladies returned soon but Norma and Belue said their goodbyes. Selena stayed saying that she wanted to watch more performances and she directly asked Anders if he was willing to accompany her in watching a couple more performances.

    Another bard went up to the stage and after that performance, Selena talked to him about her and the other two ladies situation.

    Selena told him that the three of them were daughters of fallen nobles and even though their families retained the title, they were now penniless because of different situations that happened to their family.

    ¡°What kind of situations?¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°The usual. Like falling because of a rival¡¯s machinations or simply failing in the huge business that they gambled their entire wealth on. In my case, my father was a chronic gambler who spent the family fortune and he was then later murdered by the people he owed money to. I¡¯m just glad that those people didn¡¯t touch the remaining family members and I¡¯m thinking that they probably squeezed enough wealth from my father before they killed him,¡± Selena said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Are you now in some kind of business here in Amelia?¡± Anders asked after a few seconds.

    ¡°The only family members left are me, my sister who is eighteen this  43year, my brother who is ten, and our remaining retainer and guard who stayed in the family due to loyalty or maybe because he was just too old to find work somewhere else and we¡¯re the only ones he considers his family. We¡¯re now living in a rundown house since we needed to sell the family manor to pay off my father¡¯s remaining debts. My mother died a few years after my brother was born,¡± Selena smiled then paused a bit to drink her tea then she continued.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°I¡¯m here not because of business. I¡¯m here to find a rich husband to lift our family name up or at least allow us to survive and Norma and Belue are the same. I could do something different like start from scratch and work but women in my situation are very precarious. When I started a regular job as a governess, I was harassed by the patriarch so I left immediately. It kept happening and at my very low point, I considered prostituting myself since that was usually the conclusion that most in my situation happen but I still have my pride so I joined the plan that Belue concocted of joining this trip to find a noble or a rich merchant. We were thinking that we would be lucky if one of them took us as their mistress.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m rich and a widow and once we reach New Drennor, our family will be richer,¡± Anders suddenly said and he wondered why he said that.

    ¡°Why do you think Belue and Norma left? I¡¯m tired can you take me to my room?¡± Selena said then she stood up.

    Anders escorted her until they reached a single room. Selena invited him to her room and Anders followed the girl. He knew why he said what he said earlier. He wanted the companionship of a woman and Selena was beautiful.

    ¡°Is your son going to be alright with this?¡± Selena asked after closing her door and Anders didn¡¯t answer and just kissed her.

    After a couple of hours, Selena asked while they were both lying in bed.

    ¡°I¡¯m still worried about your son.¡±

    ¡°From now on you are my woman and Anton will obey me. It¡¯s time for dinner. Let me help you pack up and follow me to my family suite. You will live with me in my room until we reach New Drennor and once we purchase a manor in the city, you will live there as my woman.¡±

    Anders helped Selena pack her things then he carried her two huge suitcases and brought her to the suite. Selena obediently followed him. Anders didn¡¯t know if he was doing the right thing but to be honest, he was a little happy and excited. He felt young again and was ready to face the world again.

    When they arrived at the suite, everyone was in their room so he called everyone.

    ¡°Father, we¡¯ve been waiting for you so we can go to the dining room,¡± Anna said then she stopped when she noticed her father carrying two suitcases with a beautiful woman by her side.

    ¡°Everyone, this is Selena. From now on she¡¯s my woman and treat her with respect,¡± Anders announced.

    Anders saw Anton¡¯s jaw dropping when his son heard his announcement but after a pause, he was congratulated by his son and Anton welcomed Selena. Everyone welcomed her as well but as expected they were still reserved.

    Anders asked Frederick to move from his room to Devon¡¯s room and Colin would then sleep in the living room. The mage then transferred his belongings to Devon¡¯s room but Colin¡¯s things remained there as well since he would only be sleeping in the living room. Anders then put Selena¡¯s things into his room.

    After that, instead of going to the dining hall, Anders called Harun and asked Anton to give the man some Kraken Tentacle to be cooked for their dinner instead of them going to the dining hall.

    While they were waiting for dinner, Selena told everyone her situation and soon, the girls were crying. Anders saw that his son was calm while observing Selena so he called him to talk to him in his room.

    ¡°Son, I¡¯m sorry to surprise you about Selena. Are you angry at me?¡±

    Anders saw his son smile and that relieved Anders a bit.

    ¡°No, Father. I¡¯m glad that you found someone but as you know, we still don¡¯t know anything about your new lady. I will respect her but it will probably take time before I¡¯m comfortable with her. You don¡¯t need to worry about Anna and the others though since Selena knows how to handle herself.¡±

    Anders expected that and he wouldn¡¯t fault Anton. He did not know what the future would hold but for now, he planned to strive for him and his family to be happy.

 Chapter 310

    Anna was very excited while casting the spell she had just memorized onto the mana power bank she was holding. Because of the spell that her brother cast that allowed mages to memorize spells in a small amount of time, she felt that she would be able to increase her wizard level extremely faster than normal.

    The fact that her brother was so abnormal to stay in their room for a whole day to practice magic, which was probably the reason why Anton became so powerful so fast, was a blessing since that meant that whenever he was in the room, the ability to memorize spells faster than normal would be available to her every day.

    She saw that even Frederick was taking advantage of the situation and even though the prohibition of going out of their room because of the ghosts'' attacks had been lifted, the both of them chose to stay in the room to memorize and cast spells.

    One huge advantage that she and Frederick would face was because Anton was so obsessed with practicing his wizardry, her brother told them that he would always practice his magic in his room starting after breakfast until two or three in the afternoon every day. That meant that when they wanted to practice their magic, they just needed to return to their rooms during those hours and the ability to memorize spells in a short amount of time would be available to them. Since it was every day if Anna did not feel like practicing her magic or on a schedule to do something else like attend a magic class or meet with her friends to explore the entertainment venues on the ship, she could just skip that day and then return to practicing her magic the next day.

    Anna even felt that there might be a chance that before her family left the ship after the journey ended, she would reach the Archmage status or at the very least the High Wizard status. Of course, she knew deep down inside, based on what her mage friends and teachers told her, that it was simply not possible.

    Anton did become very powerful in a short amount of time though so she was not discounting that possibility since he was her brother and the same blood flowed through her.

    While memorizing her spell, she began to imagine how it would feel to be respected wherever she went simply because she reached archmage status at such a young age. She was only twelve so there was a huge chance to accomplish that just like her brother. Anna was imagining so hard that she failed to memorize her spell and encountered a minor backlash so she needed to rest for a few minutes before starting again.

    After lunch, Anna saw that Anton returned to his wizardry so she returned to practice her wizardry as well and saw that Frederick was the same but after an hour, she felt bored and tired so she decided to quit for the day.

    Anna decided to go to Wizard Hall and try to meet with her friends. For protection, one of the female bodyguards that their father hired followed her.

    When she reached the Wizard Hall, she saw her friends gathered at one of the tables drinking something and talking about what happened.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Anna, you''re finally here?! What took you so long?¡± Gertrude asked.

    Gertrude was one of the female mages that she befriended.

    ¡°I was practicing my magic. What are you guys doing?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re discussing the ghosts that attacked the ship. I¡¯m just so glad that it was over. I was supposed to attend a class today but it was canceled,¡± Rinera said who was also one of Anna¡¯s new mage friends.

    ¡°One of the ghosts attacked us but my brother killed it immediately. After that, I saw the Supreme Wizard Numinor appear in our rooms. He was supposed to fight it off with the ghost but since my brother killed it already, the supreme wizard and my brother just talked. I couldn¡¯t move while the supreme wizard was there. I can feel his overwhelming power!¡± Anna said to her friends who were listening to her with wide eyes.

    ¡°Your brother is so powerful! He¡¯s already an archmage at such a young age which is extremely rare. When can I reach that level?¡± One of the girls said.

    Anna still found her friends a bit weird. Back in her village, she saw and heard the older girls talking and they almost always talked about boys, clothes, accessories, and gossip about the other villagers which mostly consisted of relationship problems. She and her wizard friends discussed the same thing but they never discussed boys. When she asked about it curiously, they told her that boys were just distractions in their pursuit of wizardry power.

    All the mages that she encountered, even the young ladies, only had one thing in their mind. How to increase their wizardly level. When they found someone they liked, they would only be distracted for a short time then they would immediately return to their wizardly pursuit especially if they noticed that their peers were pulling ahead.

    That meant that even though they all said that her brother was young and handsome, the only thing on their mind was respect for how he became very powerful at such a young age. When Anna asked them what they thought about having a boyfriend, since all of them were nobles, they all said that had brothers and sisters and that they were the ones who would fulfill the family obligations of securing the family wealth through marriages. The only responsibility they had for their family was to increase their power as soon as possible.

    The power of the mages in the families was considered the true backbone of the family and that meant that their family would not care about the person they would choose to be with as long as their power increased.

    Anna''s situation was different. Since her family was only her father and brother and they were not really nobles, they did not expect her to become the family¡¯s backbone. They only wanted her to be happy.

    She knew that when they reached the city they would stay in, she would probably have two sets of friends. One set would be mages and the other one would be regular people since that would allow her to talk about mundane things.

    During a pause in one of their discussion, Anna briefly went and bought food from the concierge in the hall since she was hungry and by the looks of it, her friends already finished eating. She saw her bodyguard eating and was impressed again at how professional the two bodyguards her father hired. They were so discreet that she almost always forgot their presence. When she tried to befriend them, they always talked to her using one word or at best small phrases so she gave up soon.

    The next topic they discussed was the movies but their focus was still on the magic system in the movies. They kept discussing how to determine how powerful the elves and wizards in the Lord of the Rings were and their awe of how long-lived the elves were. In the Titanic film, they talked about how mundane people live and how to save themselves using magic in case the ship sank.

    Anna then talked about her brother¡¯s plan of putting them on top of hoverboards in case something like the Titanic happened on their ship.

 Chapter 311

    Anna was thankful that at least her mage friends still discussed mundane things like clothes and accessories even for a little so after talking for a bit in the Wizards Hall, they decided to release the stress brought by the ghosts'' attack by spending the rest of the afternoon shopping. Thank goodness that her brother and father were very generous when it came to giving her gold and she still had a huge amount left even after spending most of it for her magic supplies.

    They went to the section of the Amelia where several merchants opened stores and boutiques to sell different products. Anna loved this section of the ship and she, Lunelle, Belinda, and Ramona spent considerable time browsing the clothes, hats, pieces of jewelry and accessories, and more.

    Lucia and Antonia did warn Anna and the rest of the girls not to purchase so many clothes because they would probably not wear them again when they reach New Drennor due to them being out of fashion and her mage friends reiterated the same thing telling her that once she enroll in the magic academy, she would be wearing the designated uniform robes.

    Even though Anna and the girls in the family knew that, they couldn¡¯t stop themselves from purchasing more clothes, especially since all of them had storage items. Her storage pouch came from the first vampire that her brother had killed and it had a huge space within it. She forgot where Lunelle¡¯s spatial item came from but more than likely, it was provided by her mother. Belinda and Ramon¡¯s spatial items were purchased from one of the magic shops in one of the cities they passed through and her father spent a considerable amount of coins for them. She knew that all of them in the family had a storage item and they were filled with food and other necessities that would allow them to survive as per Anton¡¯s advice.

    For some reason, Anna¡¯s brother was obsessed with making sure that each one of them would be able to survive if they were stranded on a deserted island or something which was a bit funny to her. Anton even made sure that each one of them was carrying each of his enchanted items, which was weirdly enough, geared towards making sure that an individual would be comfortable surviving alone in a deserted place. Each of them was even carrying several magic wands and tablets that would allow them to summon the regular-sized wolves, not the miniature ones that Anna was currently carrying.

    Anna loved her tiny spirit wolf and tiny raven. Her miniature spirit wolf was so fluffy and adorable and not only that, according to her brother, it was able to detect enemy spirits and would be able to attack enemies to defend her even though its power was tiny due to its small size. Not that she would allow her baby to attack enemies.

    Anna was annoyed at Anton when he told her that even if the tiny wolf died, she could summon a new one and he would provide her with a new summoning tablet. She loved her wolf and was certain that it was different from the others even though Anton kept telling her that they were all the same. She was sure that the personality of her tiny wolf was truly different and the others were saying the same thing.

    Anna also loved her tiny raven. It was very useful in sending tiny written messages to her friends. Her friends were considerably jealous of her tiny spirit wolf and tiny raven but unfortunately for them, her family was not selling the summoned animals while they were in the Amelia.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Frederick told her that the possible reason that her father and Nemina decided to not sell them was because there was limited wealth on the ship so they would probably not earn so many coins while they were in the Amelia. Even the price of the ticket for the cinema was extremely low in her opinion and the reason was the same.

    The spontaneous shopping activity that she and her friends did were fun but Anna did not let it get to her head. Before Anton became a very powerful mage, their family was just a peasant family and their situation would be very different from what they had now but she decided to forget about it since it would only make her depressed. She was aware of the situation in Rendindura and knew that the chance that all of her friends in their village were probably dead or enslaved by the undead was almost one hundred percent.

    After they were done with shopping, Anna said goodbye to her friends and returned to the family suite followed by her bodyguard. At first, she did not want a bodyguard following her since she thought that the ship was fairly safe, especially in the section where the rich passengers were staying but after the ghosts from the Undead Coalition attacked, she was happy that someone was guarding her.

    It was already seven in the evening when she returned home and everyone was there already. Well, almost everyone, except for her father. They were waiting for Anders to arrive so they could all go to the dining hall and eat dinner there.

    Several minutes had passed and Anna¡¯s father soon arrived. She greeted her father immediately but stopped when she noticed that her father was carrying two large suitcases and a beautiful woman was following him.

    When Anna heard her father¡¯s announcement that the woman beside him was his new ¡°woman¡± she was flabbergasted and when she briefly looked around everyone was surprised as well but not greatly which puzzled her. Even her brother, though a bit surprised, had the expression that it was expected.

    The first thing that entered her mind was how could her father betray her mother and then after briefly thinking about it, she realized that her mother had died a long time ago and her father looked young. Back in Zalnothel, she and the other girls even briefly discussed this very situation happening and she even told them that it would be fine with her if her father found her a new mother.

    It was just that she was expecting someone as old as her mother when she was a young girl. Someone motherly that she could treat as her new mother not this extremely beautiful woman.

    Her father said that the woman¡¯s name was Selena and she looked as young as Lunelle. For one brief moment, she thought that the woman was a witch who cast a love spell on her father but discarded it as ludicrous.

    They all sat at the dining table and while Selena was introducing herself, her father invited Anton to his brother¡¯s room presumably to talk about Selena but before that, he asked Colin to call Harun so they could ask the man to find someone to cook the Kraken meat for them.

    Anna then learned of Selena¡¯s family situation and she thought that Selena was very pitiful after she told her story, so she hugged the woman to welcome her and told her that Anna would treat her as her new sister and her family in New Drennor as her new family even though technically, there was a chance that Selena would become her new mother. Soon, Anton and her father exited her brother¡¯s room and joined them.

    They kept on talking, introducing themselves to Selena and when their dinner arrived, they enjoyed the Kraken meat and Anna was happy that Selena was enjoying the food. Even though Anna still had some misgivings, she was a bit glad that her father looked happy when he looked at Selena.

 Chapter 312

    Anton enjoyed his time in the Wizard¡¯s Hall discussing several topics with his colleagues. Even though technically he was supposed to be ¡°above¡± the mages there since he was already an archmage and he was not supposed to mingle with the lower ranks, knowledge-wise when it came to wizardry, he was way below compared to the mages who had been in the business for decades.

    He felt like he was an employee in a company solving difficult match questions by just entering the question in a computer and just waiting for the answer while the mages here were the ones who toil in solving the problems using a pen and paper and extremely difficult manual calculation.

    It felt a little bit like he was a fraud but he had been very open that most of his magic came from his bloodline that for some reason awakened. The mages even understood and speculated that it happened due to the situation in Redindura. They even cited examples in history of the same situation happening. The fact that he was able to learn regular magic meant that he was truly a mage and not some sort of mutant who was able to wield bloodline power.

    He even briefly saw Anna and her friends in the Hall but did not go to them since they were all girls and did not want to intrude and make everyone feel awkward.

    When the mage group that he was with learned that Anton killed one of the ghosts, they were hugely impressed since everyone was aware that the ghosts were able to kill High Wizard mages.

    ¡°How did you kill the ghost? What kind of spell did you use and is it very powerful?¡± Edmond, one of the mages in the group asked.

    ¡°I have a spell that lets me summon spirit wolves and they¡¯re able to see ghosts. They killed the ghost even before the Supreme Numinor appeared.¡±

    ¡°The ghosts were supposed to attack High Wizards and above! Are you a high wizard?¡± Rosa asked and Anton just shrugged.

    The mages looked impressed, especially considering how young he looked. Anton did not enlighten them that he was supposed to be an archmage since he did not know how they would react.

    Even though the group learned that Anton¡¯s wizardly rank was high, due to the fact that his behavior was humble, the group continued talking with him amenably.

    Since it was getting late, Anton left the group and returned to the suite. When he arrived there, there was time before dinner so he went inside his room and continued leveling up his Paladin character.

    At around seven in the evening, he exited the game and was glad that his Paladin reached level twelve.

    Anton¡¯s Paladin still had very few skills that were not useful in real life but he still decided to adjust his schedule and add an hour of spell combination practice so he could utilize two or more skills of his characters in a single cast. He knew that it was going to be a very difficult endeavor but the recent fight with the three undead ships showed him that his spells needed more power and versatility and the only way for him to achieve that was to learn how to control his mana better and learn how to combine his spells. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    In the living room, they all waited for his father and soon he arrived. Surprisingly, Anders was followed by a very beautiful woman. His father then announced that the woman was his new girlfriend. His father actually said his ¡°woman¡± but Anton found the term funny.

    While Selena was introducing herself to everyone, Anton saw his father inviting him to his room so he followed Anders.

    ¡°Is there a problem, Father?¡± Anton asked upon entering the room.

    ¡°What do you think of Selena?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s awfully young. She¡¯s more than twenty years younger than you but considering how you look now, I guess it¡¯s acceptable. The important thing, Father is for you to be happy.¡±

    ¡°She has a younger sister and a younger brother guarded by a very old guard retainer back in New Drennor and I promised her that I would look after her remaining family.  She boarded the ship to find a rich noble husband who could support her and her family and I¡¯m willing to shoulder that responsibility.¡±

    ¡°I know you know what you¡¯re doing Father. You have been a mercenary and a farmer and you have taken care of our family for decades. I just wish that she will not hurt you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m experienced enough to avoid something like that but I have to admit that part of this is your fault. Because of your magic making me young, my loins became active again and Selena is truly beautiful. I¡¯m not sure if what I¡¯m feeling is love or just lust but right now I need a woman and again Selena is beautiful,¡± Anders laughed and Anton rolled his eyes.

    ¡°She¡¯s afraid of you actually. I admitted to her that the success of our family is because of your power and even though I¡¯m considered the Patriarch, you¡¯re still the backbone. She told me that she knew that if you don¡¯t accept her, the family will not accept her,¡± Anders continued.

    ¡°We¡¯re not true nobles, Father. At our core, we¡¯re still peasants with peasants sensibilities and we will not conform to the behavior of the nobility or their drama,¡± Anton laughed.

    ¡°Our family is small and we¡¯re still struggling to survive. In my opinion, the important thing right now is to allow ourselves a little happiness to enter our lives since we don¡¯t know what will happen in the future. I¡¯m glad that you have found a little happiness and if I was old enough, I would try to find a girlfriend of my own and would even join Devon in his adventures in the red light district,¡± Anton laughed and his father joined him.

    ¡°You are old enough now Anton so if you want to learn about the going on between a man and a woman, I now permit you to do this. I know I don¡¯t have to tell you the details since you admitted that your ability to gather movies included those forbidden ones that let you see what is happening in the bedroom. Heck, you can even cure yourself if you acquire a sexual disease,¡± Anders said and Anton just shook his head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Father. I will not spend time doing something like that since right now I¡¯m focused on increasing my power so our family will be safe. You can also assure Selena that I¡¯m fine with your relationship with her.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, son. I have to admit that this is a load off my chest.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do about Anna? What if she will not accept Selena?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Anton¡¯s father said but he did look a tiny bit worried.

    When they went outside Anton¡¯s room, their worry that Anna would not accept Selena was laid to rest since it looked like she accepted Selena without any problem. As a matter of fact, they even looked like they were sisters talking to each other.

    Anton had to admit that his father¡¯s new lady was very capable and charming, able to conquer everyone in the family with ease. If a problem would happen in the future because of her, Anton would just face it then since right now, the important thing was his father was happy.

 Chapter 313

    The dinner was very enjoyable since Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip arrived. Thankfully, Anton provided enough Kraken tentacle meat to Harun so there was enough for everyone. Since there were a lot of people, they decided that dinner would be buffet style and everyone could sit wherever they wanted.

    Anton¡¯s father and Selena sat by the sofa in the suite¡¯s living room and Anna sat beside their father¡¯s new lover. Anna kept talking to Selena non-stop while they were eating and everyone was impressed at Selena¡¯s knowledge about the upper echelon of New Drennor.

    She was well-versed in everything from politics to fashion and was candid enough to admit that the reason for that was she was trying to find a good husband to avoid plunging her family into severe poverty.

    Anton noticed though when the four young nobles from New Drennor arrived, Selena was intimidated by them. He had an inkling that his four rich friends were the true upper nobility and that could be intimidating for people who were trying to stay relevant in the noble circle and that included Selena and her friends.

    When Anders introduced Selena as his new lady friend, the four became friends with her. During one of the conversations that Anna was having almost one-sided with Selena, Ander¡¯s new lover admitted that she fell in love with the movies.

    ¡°Anton, can you show us a new movie after dinner?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°Sure! What kind of movie do you want to watch?¡±

    When his father said that he should decide, Anton did not know which movie to show. He then remembered one of the favorite actors his father on Earth had when he was alive was Kevin Costner so he listed the movies that Kevin Costner did that were set in a time that would not shock his current audience. There were a few of them like Dances With Wolves, Wyatt Earp, and more but the two that he liked for his father to see were Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld.

    Since they were in the middle of the ocean, Anton mischievously chose Waterworld. He had not seen it yet or if he had, he couldn¡¯t remember so Anton would enjoy watching the film as well. He asked everyone to go to the home theater that was set up inside their suite after they cleaned up the used dishes which was just everyone gathering them on the table and Anton casting the cleaning spell on them.

    When everyone was ready, Anton started the Kevin Coster film Waterworld. It was a movie that was supposed to be so far in the future set in the ocean wherein the sea level rose and there was no more land. The people of Earth learned to survive by gathering scavenged materials that were formed as tiny islands they call ¡°atolls¡±. The people there considered a land made of dirt as a myth and the most valuable thing one could own was dirt.

    Kevin Costner, the protagonist was called The Mariner. A lone drifter who went on one of the Atoll to trade dirt with the locals but they discovered that he had gills which was a sign of being a mutant and they accosted him killing one of the locals in self-defense. He was then imprisoned to drown in compost but then savage raiders came on the Atoll and the heroine of the movie tried to escape with her ward and her inventor friend but she and her ward were left alone accidentally by the inventor friend.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    The heroine then rescued Kevin Costner on the condition that he would take them with him. The adventure and battle in the ocean that followed soon was mind-blowing and everyone looked entertained.

    When the protagonist showed the heroine how he got the dirt by diving deep into the ocean, everyone saw that the cities were under the water and they were all amazed at the scenery of cities deep in the ocean when everything was covered by water due to the Earth¡¯s ice cap melting.

    During the ending wherein the protagonists found an actual land, it was a bittersweet moment since the hero of the film couldn¡¯t stay in the land and decided to travel to the ocean again.

    It was a nice enough film and everyone was entertained by it. After the movie, Anton¡¯s four friends from New Drennor requested to watch more television shows.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired and I need to do some ¡°wizardly¡± things early the next day,¡± Anton told them so they reluctantly left.

    Anton, while entering his room did overhear them planning to go to the Patron Bar which was surprisingly open twenty-four hours and Anders had to reprimand Anna when she asked to go with them to the bar.

    Inside his room, he took a bath and then spent a couple of hours thinking about how to go about his plan of combining different skills of different characters in a single spell. He had to reset the skills of his Necromance though since he still would not be able to show the undead summoning skills of the Necromancer character outside the game since it would result in suspicion due to the negative reputation of the undead.

    Since he would not use the Necromancer for leveling and hunting gear, he decided to concentrate the character¡¯s spells on the Curses skill tree. Since it was going to be an unconventional build that would be useful in real life instead of the game, there would be no guide available so he would have to build it himself.

    The first thing that he did was put a single point in Clay Golem and Golem Mastery. He didn¡¯t put a point in the other golem skills since Blood Golem looked hideous, Iron Golem required him to waste an item and Fire Golem could hurt an ally due to its area of effect fire skill.

    He didn¡¯t put any point in any of the Skeleton summoning skills or the bone and poison spells since they were truly questionable if the folks outside the game saw them.

    Anton then put a single point on all of the curse spells. After that, he would need to review them one by one and think of scenarios that would allow him to use the spells in real life. He did maximize the Clay Golem spell and the Golem mastery spell since that would make the summoned golem overpowered.

    After reading the description of the curse spells several times, Anton watched videos on the famous streaming website on how to use the Necromancer Curses but then he felt sleepy. He immediately opened the shell that was holding the pearl of the ocean that was given to him by the pink dolphin since that would make his sleep truly peaceful and would allow his mind to relax and achieve true rest and after that, he slept.

    The next day, Anton took a quick shower and cleaned his room and his clothes using his Cleaning Spell then joined his family for breakfast in the dining hall. While they were eating, Anna asked Selena to join them later so she could select clothes and other accessories in their remaining inventory which was still considerably huge.

    Anders complained a bit that Selena was supposed to go with him to manage the cinema.

    ¡°Father, that¡¯s boring and Selena needs more things! After that, Anton will need to clean and repair all of her things as well so they will look new. Brother will also need to give her a tiny spirit wolf and a tiny raven. She needs to do many things so let us have her today and you can have her tonight and be lovey-dovey again later!¡± Anna said to their father.

    That comment made Selena and surprisingly Anders blush. The only thing that Anton could think of was that the soundproofing of the rooms in their suite was truly excellent and wondered if magic was involved. He realized that even though the suite was not that large, he couldn¡¯t hear anyone when they were inside their room and based on his father and Selena¡¯s expressions, they were very busy last night.

 Chapter 314

    Breakfast was a festive affair as far as Anton was concerned. The addition of Selena and his four rich friends from New Drennor made the meal lively. For that matter, Anna kept telling Selena, and everyone else for that matter her plans for the day that she would do for their father¡¯s new lover.

    Of course, everyone could see that Selena was indulging Anna and it was understandable since Anna was her new lover¡¯s daughter and she was a promising young mage. Anna also reiterated to Anton that they would be disturbing him later to repair Selena¡¯s belongings.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry Sir Anton. We will not be disturbing you,¡± Selena whispered to Anton.

    ¡°No worries Selena and please don¡¯t call me sir. Just call me Anton just like everybody else in the family.¡±

    Selena smiled at him and Anton knew why his father was smitten with her. She was truly a gorgeous girl with an air of innocence and nobility. She did admit that she cultivated that aura for the purpose of finding a husband who could support her and her remaining family members and her being candid was one of the reasons Anton was in favor of her so far.

    ¡°Anton, you have to let us watch an episode of the television shows we¡¯ve been watching later! It¡¯s been a couple of days already,¡± Antonia said to him and Anton simply nodded.

    After breakfast, Anton headed directly to his room in their suite to enter his Diablo II system while the others went somewhere else. When he entered his system, the first thing that Anton did was to create an enchanted tablet for a tiny spirit wolf and a tiny raven for summoning since they didn¡¯t have any left. Anton knew that Anna would pester him about that for Selena so instead of prolonging the irritation he would feel with his sister annoying him, he might as well create the items and give them to his sister later.

    At around eleven in the morning, which was three hours of intensive leveling up for his Paladin character, Anton heard Anna¡¯s voice from his door. He exited the system but he felt glad that his Paladin was now level sixteen.

    When he opened the door, Anna together with Selena and the other girls were outside.

    ¡°Anton, I¡¯ve laid out all of Selena¡¯s things in their room so go ahead and repair them,¡± Anna said while Selena looked on curiously.

    Anton went to his father¡¯s room where Selena was staying and all her things were already laid down there. He saw that Anna had taken steps to damage everything a bit so he could ask Charsi to repair them. It did not take long and everything was repaired.

    Selena was looking at all her things with gleaming eyes. Everyone in the room could understand since they felt the same way the first time Anton repaired all of their items. Everything looked brand new and who wouldn¡¯t want new things?

    Anton saw that there were a lot of things and they couldn¡¯t fit in Selena¡¯s two suitcases so more than likely, the others were from the items left in their inventory that had not been sold yet.

    He remembered Antonia and Lucia telling them that most of the dresses they had were out of fashion already so he wondered why they still wanted those clothes repaired.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Once we arrive in New Drennor, of course, we¡¯ll have seamstresses alter them to fit the current fashion. They¡¯re good dresses and it would only take minor alteration before they would be like they were created for the current season,¡± Anna said to him when he asked.

    ¡°Selena still needs a lot of things so we will shop after lunch,¡± Anna said then they all went outside the suite to eat lunch and Anton followed them.

    They all went to a nearby restaurant and after lunch, Anna, and the other girls, followed by the two female bodyguards went to start their shopping spree that afternoon. Anton went back to his room intending to continue his ¡°wizardly¡± things.

    When he entered his Diablo II system, the first thing that he did was to practice the newly acquired skills from the Paladin character. He wanted to make sure that he was familiar with the mana structure and mana pathways of his Paladin¡¯s skill. Then he proceeded to continue adding skill points to the Necromancer curses until all the points were spent. He was a bit excited about it since combining the curses with his sorceress elemental spell was a good way to boost the power of his spells.

    Anton then spent another couple of hours practicing the necromancer curses and since there were a few of them, he was aware that it would take a lot of time before he was truly familiar with the curses'' mana structures and mana pathways.

    At around three in the afternoon, Anton exited his system since he had promised his friends that he would let them continue watching the next episodes of the television shows that they had been watching. When he went outside his room, he saw that everyone was there already except for his father, Nemina, Lucas, Devon, and Frederick.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re not complete, we will be watching the next episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and a new show,¡± Anton announced.

    Anton briefly searched the internet for the show he would present to everyone and stumbled on to Merlin, the British television show. He thought that it would be a good show to watch since the setting would not shock the audience too much and he had not seen it before so he would also enjoy watching it as well. He just wished that it were a good show.

    They watched Avatar first and even though Anton had already seen the show, he enjoyed rewatching it. After the cartoon ended, Selena exclaimed that it was a good show but she had a lot of questions. The people surrounding her explained what cartoons were based on what Anton had told them then they briefly recounted to her the contents of the previous episodes.

    Anton would have liked to start the new show that he planned to present but they talked for so long about Avatar that the others arrived first. Anders went directly to Selena and kissed her. Anton was surprised at how bold his father was and how uninhibited in showing his desire for his new lover. He then wondered what could have been if his mother was alive.

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t feel much since he really didn¡¯t know his body¡¯s mother. Anders then announced that they would be eating in the dining hall so they all went there. The dinner that was served was nice enough but Anton was impressed with the show that the entertainers did during the meal.

    They returned to the suite and by request, they all watched television shows for the whole night. Anton ran the next episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, and then Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

    In the middle of watching the television series, Anton suddenly felt that he was wasting his time. He should have been concentrating on leveling up because he knew that the Undead Coalition would probably not stop with Rendindura and would go to other continents. Even if something like that didn¡¯t happen, there was a huge chance that more enemies might appear in the future since this world appeared to be dark enough that powerful beings here allowed grim things to happen.

    But then, Anton knew that these peaceful moments where he could enjoy the company of his family were needed in these dark times and there was a chance that it would be very rare in the future if the place that they went to was chaotic so he went back to enjoying the television shows together with everyone.

 Chapter 315

    Anton had to create a note in the system about which episodes they were currently at in the television shows they were watching so he would not forget but he also asked volunteers to keep track of which episodes they were already.

    ¡°Do we really need to do that?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°Yes, since we¡¯ve been watching a lot of shows lately.¡±

    Colin and the two maids Ramona and Belinda volunteered to keep track of which episodes and which season they were at on all of the shows they¡¯ve been watching. Anton also asked them to list all the movies they had seen so far and a separate list of the movies they had shown in their cinema and they said they would.

    After that, Anton gave Anna the two enchanted tablets for the tiny Spirit Wolf and tiny Raven that he had made to give to Selena since Anders and her new lover had already gone inside their room to do some lovey-dovey stuff. He knew that he was being immature when he thought of his father and his new girlfriend going ¡°lovey-dovey¡± but it was fun to tease his father about it. Besides, Lucas and Nemina were doing the same thing. That was also the main reason why Devon was so rampant in his conquest of women on the ship. Anton even thought that the young mercenary could be envious of his father for finding a girlfriend, which according to the girls was not surprising at all but then again, he had been that way since he had known the guy.

    The girls were actually surprised that it took a while for Anton¡¯s father to find a lover. There were already some women who professed interest in Anders before which flabbergasted Anton but when the girls saw his surprise, Lunelle explained it to him.

    ¡°Your father is the rich patriarch of a wealthy noble family and he looked young and handsome. Any girl would fall in love with someone like that. Add the fact that even though he looked young and handsome, he had the steadiness of a mature family man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m young, handsome, and rich. Why didn¡¯t any girls approach me?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re a kid! Not only that, you¡¯re a scary powerful wizard and even girls your age would be intimidated by that,¡± Lunelle snorted and Anton just gave a small laugh.

    It would be interesting to be in the middle of a love story but then girls his body¡¯s age were not mature enough for Anton to find them interesting and as Lunelle had mentioned, the fact that he was only seventeen years old would turn off most mature women. Not only that, Anton was focused on increasing his power as soon as possible to almost exclude anything else since they needed that power to survive.

    Anton went inside his room and entered his Diablo II system to continue leveling up his Paladin character for at least a couple of hours before resting. During that time, he did increase his level twice so his Paladin reached level eighteen so after that he slept.

    When he woke up the next day, Anton felt a little dizzy and he wondered why so he took a bath and then went outside the room.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Anton, there¡¯s a storm and the ship has been swaying for the past couple of hours,¡± his father told him.

    Anton then knew the reason he felt a little dizzy but he was happy that he was not suffering sea sickness since his father also told him that his sister, Frederick, Ramona, and Belinda were seasick. He wondered if seasickness was related to a person¡¯s physical attributes since he noticed that those who experienced seasickness in the family were the weaker ones, physically.

    Harun, who was there for some reason, warned them that the storm could take several hours or even days and it wasn¡¯t the worst part yet so there was a chance that everyone would get seasick as well.

    That made Anton worried since he didn¡¯t want to get seasick and the fact that he felt dizzy already was ominous. He immediately activated his three auras, the Meditation, and the Vigor auras from items and the Prayer aura from his Diablo II mercenary, and was highly relieved that his dizziness caused by the swaying of the ship disappeared.

    Since Anna and Frederick were added to his party system, they felt the aura and their seasickness disappeared to their relief as well since they went out of their room and told everyone that their seasickness disappeared so Anton immediately added Ramona and Belinda to his party system as well.

    ¡°They disappeared because of my healing spells. Ramona, Belinda, how do you feel?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine now. Thank you so much, Anton,¡± Ramona said.

    ¡°I want to experiment on something. I will remove my healing spell from you both and tell me if the seasickness returns, okay?¡± Anton told the two girls and they both nodded.

    Since all of them were fine, they followed Harun to the dining hall for their breakfast but they were surprised to see that there were very few people in the dining hall. Harun then told them that it was normal during a storm.

    Anton remembered that they had completely left the vicinity of the Rendindura continent and were now in the middle of the ocean and storms were expected. At first, Anton thought that the storm would not affect the ship so much due to how large it was but knew that he was mistaken since according to Harun, even though the ship was swaying so much already, it would still worsen once they were well inside the storm.

    He observed Ramona and Belinda and they still looked fine so he was truly glad that his auras could relieve seasickness.

    After breakfast, Anders, Selena, Nemina, and Lucas headed to the cinema theater so they manage the family business. They were followed by Devon and Colin. Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda followed by one of the female guards went somewhere else and Anton did not know where.

    Anna and Frederick, followed by the other female guard followed Anton back to the suite so they could begin their wizardly practice for the day but then his curiosity showed its head.

    ¡°I want to watch the ocean in the middle of the storm. Can we go to the deck?¡± Anton suddenly asked Harun.

    ¡°During these times, there¡¯s a charge to enter the deck since a mage had erected a powerful magical barrier to allow the passengers to view the ocean there in the middle of the storm,¡± Harun said and that also intrigued Anna and Frederick so they all headed to the deck.

    After they paid for the entrance fee, they entered the deck reserved for their suite and there were already a few people there. The deck was open but they didn¡¯t feel the wind. They saw that it was indeed blocked by some sort of forcefield but it was still clear so they could see the storm and the gigantic waves raised by the storm.

    It was awesome and terrifying to look at and Anton felt humbled at seeing the might of nature. The waves were as huge as tall houses and the rolling of the water evoked primal fear to anyone watching them. The fact that they were inside a magical barrier that allowed them to view the spectacle titillated the people on the deck.

 Chapter 316

    Anton stared at the rolling waves that were as huge as mountains and he couldn¡¯t help but ask Harun who was beside them about the situation.

    ¡°Is the ship safe?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes. You don¡¯t need to worry Sir Sunder. The Amelia have experienced storms in the middle of the ocean before and some were even worse than this. The main problem with a storm on the ship was the passengers getting severe seasickness that the healers couldn¡¯t accommodate all of them. Not only that, the most powerful wizard in the ship can cast a magical barrier that can surround the whole ship in case something really dangerous happens.¡±

    Anton didn¡¯t know the scope of the power an Invincible wizard could wield but based on what Harun had said, Invincibles were truly powerful beings.

    ¡°So the healers could cure seasickness?¡±

    ¡°They could alleviate it but usually it would only last a couple of hours.¡±

    Anton hoped that that was not the case with his auras but even if it was, it was easy enough to heal everyone in the family.

    He was so fascinated in watching the storm that he looked at the waves for an hour before he decided to return to the suite. He was surprised to see that Frederick and Anna stayed with him.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad of your healing spells, Anton. I knew for a fact that without them, I would be in my room sprawled down on my bed vomiting even my stomach but because of you, I can now watch this great display of power by nature,¡± Frederick said and Anna nodded her agreement.

    Anton knew that this kind of power could only be truly appreciated by mages since as wizards, there was a chance that someday, they could wield magic with almost the same kind of power.

    After viewing the storm and the ocean, Anton, his sister, and Frederick, followed by Harun returned to their suite. He saw that Belinda and Ramona were taking care of everyone, even the two female bodyguards. Everyone was sprawled on their beds suffering and when Ramona saw him, she was so thankful.

    ¡°Everyone is so seasick that your father didn¡¯t open the cinema,¡± Ramona said.

    ¡°What about you and Belinda? Are you still fine?¡± Anton asked the girls and they said that thankfully they still were but he told them what Harun had said regular healing on seasickness normally would only last for a couple of hours so if they felt sick, they should inform him immediately.

    Anton immediately added everyone that he could add to his party system by batches since there wasn¡¯t enough spot but since the healing only took a few seconds, it was done in no time at all.

    Everyone was so relieved when their seasickness disappeared and Nemina immediately told Harun to go to Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip to bring them here since they were also experiencing seasickness.Stolen story; please report.

    Soon, Anton¡¯s four friends arrived looking drunk and sick clutching their stomachs and mouths. He immediately healed them using his three auras and soon they were cured. They were so grateful that they almost looked like they were ready to worship him.

    ¡°Do your healing spells also last a couple of hours? If that is the case, I¡¯m going to stay here all day,¡± Phillip asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long they will last so it¡¯s a good idea for all of us to stay here in the suite,¡± Anton answered then he told everyone that he would be in his room doing wizardly things and to knock on his door if they needed him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that, Anton. Let¡¯s watch a movie or a show instead!¡± Antonia said and when he looked back at his family and friends, everyone was looking at him including his father and sister so he decided to indulge them that day.

    Besides, it would be a good idea to be aware of his surroundings since he didn¡¯t know what his first storm in the ocean could bring. What if the ship went to full Titanic? Anton knew that there was little chance of that since there was a powerful wizard in the ship but it was still a good idea to be ready.

    ¡°What do you all want to watch? Do you want to continue watching the television shows we¡¯ve been watching or watch a new movie?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    Surprisingly, it was Anders who asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s watch something that will make us forget the storm.¡±

    Anton thought for a moment about a good movie for everyone to watch. He also wanted to watch something that he had not seen before. Back on Earth, he really wanted to watch the movie Avatar, the James Cameron epic science-fiction film but he did not have the chance to do so. He decided it was time that he saw it and even though it was set in Earth¡¯s future, the setting and special effects of the movie were so out of the norm that he was sure that his friends and family would just view it as some sort of wizardly realm and magic.

    Or he could choose another movie that wouldn¡¯t be too different from this world and something that he wanted to watch for as long as he could remember. It was Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

    Anton loved DnD and he wanted to check out the movie and see the different DnD monsters and magic inside the film.

    He could also be mischievous and show something related to a storm like the film The Perfect Storm starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg but his father did say that he wanted to watch something that would let them forget the current storm.

    Since Anton really wanted to see Avatar, he decided to choose to watch it together with his family and friends.

    Everyone went to the home theater set up inside the suite and once everyone was ready, Anders asked Colin to turn off the lights. Anton started the science fiction movie Avatar and he was fascinated by the scenes depicted in the film at one of the possible future that could happen to Earth.

    Normally, Anton would look around to see the reaction of the others regarding the film but he was so focused himself since it was the first time he saw it that his attention was all in the movie.

    Anton found the life of the Navii simple but fascinating. Their way of life was so different from the earthling and their home was so magical. He especially liked the night scene in the forest of the protagonist and the heroine and liked how eerily wonderful and magical the plants and animals in the forest were especially at night.

    It did remind Anton of one of the animated films that he had seen as a child. He remembered it since he liked that cartoon as well. He recalled that it was called Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest but then again he wasn¡¯t too anal about such a thing so he just put it at the back of his mind.

    When they all saw the floating islands in the film called The Hallelujah Mountains, Anton could hear everyone gasping. He did as well since the mountains were particularly majestic.

    The final battle between the Navii and the Earthlings was particularly exciting and the fact that the locals won in the end brought Anton a cathartic feeling that satisfied him. He now knew why the movie held the record as one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

 Chapter 317

    Anton, his family, and his friends were able to enjoy the science-fiction epic movie Avatar even though the ship Amelia was in the middle of a storm. He was a bit surprised that even though he thought that the storm was strong, the ship was much more stable than expected.

    ¡°It¡¯s because the storm is a mild one,¡± Antonia said when he commented on the steadiness of the ship in the middle of the storm.

    He was surprised because when he viewed the ocean when he went on the deck together with Anna, Frederick, and Harun, the waves were so humongous that they awakened a primal fear of nature in Anton but now, Antonia was saying that the storm was a mild one.

    Everyone was so impressed at the movie they had just seen including Anton himself. The movie was truly epic and not just because of the graphics that was used. According to some of the reviews that he had read before, the movie¡¯s story wasn¡¯t all that and it was only carried by the greatness of its graphics but in his opinion, the story was good. It was clich¨¦. A battle between the owners of the land and the invader or to put it in a very simplified way, a battle between good and evil, and it was a classic story. Even though it¡¯s a clich¨¦ story, it still worked.

    ¡°That movie was so great! Now I can¡¯t decide which is better, the Lord of the Rings or the one that we just saw!¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You can¡¯t compare them like that! They simply two different genres and in my opinion should be treated as the best in their respective category,¡± Frederick commented and the others agreed.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to announce that there¡¯s already a second Avatar film called Avatar: The Way of The Water. The third, fourth, and fifth are also currently being made and will be shown in the next three consecutive years.¡±

    His family and friends were happy when they heard his announcement about Avatar but then they were all a bit disappointed that they had to wait for years before they could see the rest of the movie franchise.

    ¡°I suggest that we don¡¯t show the movie Avatar yet at our cinema since it¡¯s a bit shocking for ordinary people,¡± Anders suggested and Anton agreed.

    ¡°Why does it have the same name as that cartoon that we¡¯re watching?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a coincidence but there had been a dispute about that. There was a movie created based on the cartoon and because of the name dispute, they removed the title Avatar and renamed the live-action film as The Last Airbender,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°Ooh! Are you going to let us see that?¡± Anna continued asking.

    ¡°No, because that movie is shit,¡± Anton simply answered.

    Anton really liked the cartoon and he was so excited about the live-action film but when he saw it, he was so hugely disappointed that even though there was now a live-action series about Avatar: The Last Airbender, he still had not watched it yet.

    When the movie ended, they were all about to go to the dining hall to eat dinner when Harun informed them that it would be buffet style just like breakfast. The fare would be simple and there would be no show due to the storm.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Anton was surprised at how effective his auras were since no one had complained yet about their seasickness returning.

    There were very few people eating dinner and Lucia informed them that it was normal during a storm since most passengers would be too seasick to eat and were probably resting in their rooms.

    When they returned to the suite, Anders announced that everyone should rest early so there would be no watching movies or shows for the rest of the night and even though everyone felt alright because of Anton¡¯s healing spells, no one disagreed and wanted to rest early as well.

    Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip did mention that they may return at any hour if they felt that their seasickness had returned and Anton told them that it was fine.

    When Anton was in his room, he intended to enter his Diablo II system to level up his Paladin but he thought of surfing the most famous short video platform first to relax his mind a bit but maybe due to the swaying of the ship because of the storm, he was soon asleep.

    Soon though, Anton was woken up by knocking on his bedroom door and when he opened it, he saw that it was his father.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Everyone is feeling seasick again. Harun told us that we¡¯re now in the worst part of the storm and the swaying did increase a lot.¡±

    Anton immediately healed his family and friends and it did not take a long time. They were all relieved since his auras were still very effective. The moment they received Anton¡¯s healing, their seasickness dissipated immediately.

    After a few minutes though, they heard someone knocking on their suite¡¯s door and when they opened it, it was Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip. Their seasickness returned as well so Anton healed them. Even though the seasickness returned, Anton had to admit that its effect was greater than the other healers'' spells since according to Harun and his friends, the healing spells of priests would only last a couple of hours when it came to seasickness but his spells effect lasted for several hours.

    According to Phillip, the weather mages said that the storm would last for three days so that meant that they would have to endure the storm for a couple more days.

    Anton overheard Selena telling his father that she was glad that she joined their family since if she were still alone, she would probably be in her room suffering since she didn¡¯t have the coins to spend on healers to cure her seasickness especially since it would only last for a couple of hours.

    He only rolled his eyes when he overheard his father whispering to Selena that he was glad that she joined the family since she was making him happy. Anton was curious why his hearing was improving and he thought that it may be because of the increased physical stats brought by his Paladin character.

    They all returned to their rooms but Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip stayed in the suite. Antonia bunked with Anna and Lunelle, Lucia with Ramona and Belinda, and Walter with Devon and Frederick but unfortunately for Phillip, since he lost his competition with Walter, he would join Colin in the living room.

    They wanted to be near Anton since he could heal their seasickness immediately. According to them, the travel between their suite and Anton¡¯s family suite was hell on earth while they were seasick.

    Maybe because of the pearl of the ocean and the swaying of the ship, Anton fell asleep immediately. It was early when he woke up the next day but Anton could feel that the storm had worsened since the undulating of the ship increased.

    When he went outside, everyone was in the living room but Anton was happy to see that everyone still looked fine. They did complain that the seasickness was probably returning since they felt a little uncomfortable so he immediately added everyone in his party system in batches and activated his three auras and that relieved them since the auras were still very effective.

    They all went to the dining room for breakfast and saw that there were fewer people there but there was still food. Harun informed them that none of the ship¡¯s staff suffered from seasickness since if anyone complained, it was a huge humiliation for them but the sailor did admit that it still happened sometimes.

 Chapter 318

    As the ship¡¯s weather wizard had said, the storm lasted for two more days and every few hours, Anton had to heal everyone of their seasickness using his aura skills. During those two days, Anton returned to the strict schedule he had made for himself, which included entering his Diablo II system for eight hours a day.

    The majority of that time was leveling up his Paladin character. The rest were split between several things. One of them was to familiarize himself with the mana structure and mana pathway of his Paladin and Necromancer spells since he did reset his necromancer to have mostly curses since he couldn¡¯t afford for anyone to know that he was not able to awaken the undead. He also didn¡¯t forget to briefly practice the spells of his Sorceress and Druid skills amidst that schedule.

    The rest were practicing his skills in enchanting items, causing him to accumulate many enchanted items in his inventory. Even though the family planned to switch their main business in New Drennor to cinema entertainment instead of trade, Anton thought that it was still a good idea for him to gather a lot of enchanted items that they could sell at a moment¡¯s notice and he did accumulate a lot of sculptures when they were traveling.

    The good thing about his items was that they focused on lifestyle magic instead of dealing damage so he was sure that any government in any location would not give them a hard time when it came to selling the products.

    The remaining one was to practice his voice and guitar expertise. Even though Anton¡¯s excuse was for him to have a backup if wizarding wasn¡¯t working out, the truth was he just wanted to play the guitar and sing. He had fallen in love with singing and admitted to himself that he had a good voice and would probably be able to win singing competitions if he was on Earth.

    Since Anton¡¯s Diablo II system now also had video recording capability, he decided to record himself singing some cover and like most modern people on Earth who thought of himself as having a talent, he immediately uploaded it into one of the most famous video streaming websites on Earth. He even thought of creating short video clips that he could upload on the other famous platform but it was an added work so he decided to just stick to the whole song cover.

    Anton¡¯s system was very powerful since it allowed him to have an online identity on Earth that he could use to upload his videos but to prevent future problems, he decided to make his identity online anonymous and even put a sculpture to block his face from the Globe of Browser sharing spell camera so no one could see his face.

    The background setting in the video that he uploaded on the Internet was just the ship¡¯s room and nothing was shocking there that would arouse the interest of people towards the thought that Anton was somewhere truly exotic like another world. Since his online profile was anonymous, he would not be able to monetize his videos but he didn¡¯t need the money anyway since he was in another world. For some reason, Anton wanted to hear validations from Earthlings that he was good at singing so that he could justify that his existence on Earth would have mattered if he continued existing there but to be honest to himself, he knew that the main reason why his voice was better than before was because of the additional physical stats brought by his Diablo II system.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Since Anton had only recently uploaded videos of himself doing covers, it did not have many viewers yet so he just forgot about them once he was done uploading them.

    During those two days of storm, Anton had to reiterate to everyone that he would only allow movies and shows to be watched in the suite after his mage practice which was around three or four in the afternoon to the disappointment of everyone. Because of the storm, there weren¡¯t many entertainment facilities opened on the Amelia but he didn¡¯t care. He wouldn¡¯t allow his skills to become stagnant since he knew the importance of increasing his power.

    Anton did manage to increase the level of his Paladin to level thirty and was happy about it. He did not have any new Paladin skill that he could show off in real life though since he was still mainly focusing on Holy Fire and Resist Fire skills and according to the system information, Holy Fire would damage everyone that was not in the party system.

    During the storm, Anna and Frederick were also very happy to discover that practicing their magic so much within Anton¡¯s aura made their progress truly faster than normal and Frederick commented that the speed at which he could memorize his spells must be the speed on how geniuses memorize theirs and that could be the reason why they were able to become very powerful at such a young age. Frederick was truly excited that everyone could see him trembling and the mage admitted that if he was using Anton¡¯s spells all the time, there was a chance that he could reach archmage status before he was forty years old.

    Anna was a talented mage and on top of Anton¡¯s aura, the rate she progressed was beyond belief even though they had only been practicing their magic within Anton¡¯s party system for a couple of days.

    Because of the effect of the three auras on mages, Anton suddenly thought of what would happen to ordinary people who wanted to become mages but didn¡¯t have any talent if they spent their days included in the auras while trying to memorize spells so he decided to talk to Ramona and Belinda.

    During lunch, he talked to the two girls.

    ¡°Ramona, Belinda, I want to experiment on something that involves the two of you.¡±

    Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing and saying when they heard what Anton had said.

    ¡°What can we help you with, Anton?¡± Ramona said and Anton was glad that the two girls started calling him by his name as he had been very insistent on that from the start.

    ¡°Since Anna and Frederick¡¯s magical progress was truly great while they were inside my auras, I¡¯m thinking about what would happen to regular people who were initially tested as having no talent in magic try and memorize a beginner spell to try to become mages while they were also under the influence of my auras.¡±

    Frederick became highly excited when the mage heard Anton¡¯s suggestion but Anders looked concerned.

    ¡°Are you sure about doing something like that, son?¡± Anders asked and Anton told his father that it was just an experiment and he was sure that it wouldn¡¯t hurt Ramona and Belinda.

    The two girls immediately agreed while saying who wouldn¡¯t want to be mages.

    Anders gave the two girls the funds to purchase Cantrips spell books and Frederick promised to look after the girls¡¯ studies. Anton added Belinda and Ramona to the party system and let them stay them remained there.

    When the storm ended, the family reopened the cinema. Anders and Nemina told Anton during one of their dinners that they were shocked at how capable Selena was in business. She knew how to form relationships with the important personages on the ship and was already acting as Anders¡¯s wife. Anton knew that his father was truly smitten with the gorgeous lady and from what he could tell, Selena truly liked his father as well since she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off his father.

 Chapter 319

    On the day the storm ended, everyone could feel a festive air inside the ship. It was as if everyone was celebrating their freedom from the confines of their rooms. The cinema was particularly lively especially when Anders decided to play the trailer for the next film outside the cinema which was The Two Towers, the second movie from the Lord of the Rings franchise.

    The audience was exuding a palpable excitement and Anton was amused when he heard during lunch that a large number of young customers began donning costumes from the Lord of The Rings franchise which admittedly was not too far off from the clothing the inhabitants of this world had been wearing.

    What horrified a lot of the adult passengers and those few that were not human was the way the youths wore cosmetics to represent the characters of the movie like wearing long ear tips to play as the immortal elves, or hideous visages to emulate the Uruk Hai.

    Frederick also told everyone that the real elves were highly amused and exasperated at the same time and they kept reiterating that they were different from the elves in the movies and that made Anton laugh out loud. Cosplay had arrived in this world and he was loving it. He suddenly wondered what would happen if he showed movies from other genres like the recent movie they had seen which was the epic science-fiction Avatar. He imagined the chaos it would bring.

    The first day back to normal was a day of celebration so Anton forced himself to spend the day with his family even though Anna and Frederick wanted to remain in the room to practice their magic.

    Now, they¡¯re the ones who were addicted to practicing their magic which made Anton amused since they were the ones who kept complaining about Anton¡¯s dedication to his wizardly practice.

    The whole family including Anton¡¯s four rich friends roamed the ship, visiting all the entertainment places sparing no location. They even went inside those questionable locations like the casinos and the red light district so everyone in the family would know what they would look like to the excitement of Anna.

    They purchased a lot of inane things for the purpose of just enjoying themselves and Anton felt himself relaxing.

    While they were moving around doing relaxing things, Lucas told Anton¡¯s father that he and Devon would start training again since he felt he was getting rusty with their warrior skills. There were places on the ship where they could practice.

    After that, they returned to the suite to continue spending the rest of the day doing mostly unproductive things like watching shows.

    Since they were all full from eating out in the many restaurants on the ship, they didn¡¯t attend dinner that night and just continued what they were doing in the suite.

    The good thing about having employees was Anders and Nemina would only visit the cinema briefly and then return to the suite immediately. Devon wanted to go out and Lucas allowed him. He even brought Colin with him.

    Anders and Selena remained in their room and Anton was impressed again at the soundproofing of the rooms since they were not hearing anything from the outside. Nemina and Lucas were the same and it was making Lunelle and Devon complain. They kept saying that their parents were acting like young people.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    The other young people in the group continued watching television shows but soon got a little tired of it so they all went to the Patron Bar to listen to some good music. On the way to the bar, Lunelle asked Anton to be included in the magic experiment that he was doing with Ramona and Belinda and since it was him simply adding them to his party system while they tried to memorize Cantrip Spells, he agreed.

    They spent the rest of the day in the Patron Bar listening to good music and gossiping with each other and when the day was over, they all returned to the suite to rest while Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip returned to theirs.

    While resting inside his room, Anton thought of what had happened to him while he was in this world. Even though a lot had happened, it had not been truly that long. It only had been several months but it felt like years already.

    The next day, everything returned to normal. After breakfast, Anton entered his Diablo II system to continue leveling up his Paladin character, practicing his spells, practicing his item enchantments, and practicing his music.

    When he went outside his room, Anton was amused to see the theater set up they had made inside the suite look like a classroom instead since everyone learning or practicing their magic was there. Anna was very diligent in memorizing her spells and casting them to the mana power banks while Frederick was doing the same thing while overseeing Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda in trying to memorize their cantrip.

    Anton assumed they had started when he started his practice which was after breakfast and that meant that they had been doing their practice for several hours already. He wondered if that also meant that Lunelle, Belinda, and Ramona were truly incapable of becoming mages even while they were inside his auras.

    He was about to call them to eat lunch when Lunelle suddenly shouted.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done it! I¡¯ve memorized the cantrip! I can feel the spell glowing in my mind!¡±

    The others stopped what they were doing and turned to Lunelle. Anton approached them as well.

    ¡°Go ahead cast the spell since it should be safe enough,¡± Frederick said to Lunelle.

    ¡°What spell were they trying to memorize?¡± Anton asked Frederick.

    It was Lunelle who answered and said that it was the Cantrip Light. Frederick recommended that cantrip because it¡¯s a spell that would not cause any damage if cast wrong or any backlash if they failed to memorize it and it was a fairly cheap spellbook.

    Lunelle then cast the spell on the decorative sculpture that they had prepared and the thing lit up, brightening the area. Nemina¡¯s daughter suddenly cried while saying she was now a mage and Anna suddenly ran to her and hugged her. Soon Belinda and Ramona went and joined in on the hugging session and soon four girls were hugging and crying making Anton amused. He was further amused when he saw Frederick tearing up.

    When the mage saw Anton, he whispered to him.

    ¡°I can relate to what Lunelle was feeling. When I was young, I was so desperate to become a mage and on my journey towards that goal, I learned that most normal people also dreamed of becoming a mage.¡±

    After that crying and hugging session, Anton asked everyone to stop for a moment so they could have lunch so they all went outside the suite to eat at one of the restaurants inside the ship. While they were eating, he could see the joy in Lunelle¡¯s face and the determination in Ramona and Belinda¡¯s faces.

    Since now they knew that they could become mages, they probably would try their best to memorize their cantrips and become novice mages.

    They returned immediately to the suite after lunch since each one of them wanted to practice their magic. Anton went inside his room to continue with his practice but after a couple of hours, he heard shouting outside. He thought it was some sort of emergency so he exited his system and went outside. The first thing that he saw was the four girls doing their hugging and crying session again while Frederick looked on.

    Apparently, Ramona and Belinda were successful in memorizing their cantrips as well.

 Chapter 320

    Lunelle, Anna, Ramona, and Belinda kept hugging and crying while Frederick hovered over them. Anton was looking on while he was in his room''s doorway when his father, Selena, Nemina, and Lucas entered the suite.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Anders asked while looking worried. Selena, Nemina, and Lucas shared his expression.

    Lunelle ran towards her parents and hugged them.

    ¡°Father, mother, I¡¯m now a mage! I can now cast spells!¡±

    Anders looked at Anton and Frederick questioningly.

    Frederick asked everyone to sit at the dining table so they could talk.

    ¡°Lunelle managed to memorize her first cantrip after four hours establishing the fact that she is now a novice mage. Ramona and Belinda did the same thing after six hours. For context, those who were detected by the mage stone tester having no mage talent should not be able to memorize spells at all, and I who had been detected to have a very small amount of mage talent was only able to memorize my first spell after three days,¡± Frederick said to everyone and that fact surprised Anton.

    ¡°Since I tested Ramona and Belinda before and the mage stone tester did not detect any mage talent on them, they should not have been able to memorize any spell at all, and the fact that they were able to after only six hours meant that Anton¡¯s talent of allowing mages to memorize spells at a short amount of time is heaven defying. The truly scary part of the situation was the ability to make non-mages become mages. I think that the mage stone is not responding to those who had truly a minute amount of mage talent and that ability of Anton was powerful enough that even those truly minuscule talents could allow them to memorize spells and enter the first step of becoming a mage,¡± Frederick continued.

    ¡°If it was heaven-defying as you¡¯ve said, some of the archmages and the three supreme wizards I was with when were battling the three ghost ships are aware of my capability to lessen the time mages can memorize spells, should have acted more,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Making wizards memorize spells faster is different from making non-mages into mages. The fact that you¡¯re spell had a limit of seven people at a given time limited the spell¡¯s capability and the fact that it¡¯s a non-standard spell and a bloodline spell meant that others would not be able to copy the spell also meant that the wizards might have lost interest in it since they had tried to copy bloodline spells before for centuries and it resulted in nothing but imitation but the actual mana structure was different,¡± Frederic commented.

    ¡°The bloodline spells that were imitated were mostly offensive and defensive spells but those spells that were more complex couldn¡¯t be copied,¡± The mage added.

    Anton could see his father and the others contemplated what this latest ability meant. What they had learned from Antonia and the other rich nobles from New Drennor was the backbone of the most powerful families in a given city or country was the number and power of the mages in their family. Given that their family now had six mages meant that their group was becoming powerful and the fact that they could establish more mages simply by using Anton¡¯s spells meant that their family could truly become a power.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°No one should share this information with anyone!¡± Anders suddenly fiercely announced and by the look of Nemina and Lucas¡¯s faces, they agreed.

    ¡°Regarding your question earlier, Anton, why do the other mages not bother you regarding this power, I think it¡¯s because of your level of power as well. You¡¯re very young and the fact that your level is already very high means that soon, you will become a being that¡¯s capable of shaking the foundations of any territory that you¡¯re living in and they don¡¯t want to make an enemy of someone like that but your father is correct. We shouldn¡¯t spread this information and consider this a core secret of the family,¡± Frederick added on top of Anders¡¯s announcement.

    Everyone complied with Anders¡¯s command regarding keeping their mouth shut regarding the information.

    ¡°So Father, Nemina, Lucas, do you all want to become mages? I can add a total of seven people to the system,¡± Teased Anton but was surprised when he saw them contemplating his question.

    ¡°I feel that I¡¯m too old and have too little time to become a mage so I declined. I will just concentrate on earning gold for our family so you mages can continue buying your spellbooks¡± Anders said jokingly and Nemina and Lucas said the same thing.

    After that discussion, Anton told everyone that he was done practicing his magic for that day while Frederick said that he wanted to purchase more spellbooks so he would go to the ship¡¯s mages section. All of the mages in the family said that they would join him and Anton saw that his father, Nemina, and Lucas were amused when the mages in the family now included Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda.

    Anders asked if they had the coins to purchase their spellbooks everyone said that they still had some funds.

    Anton joined in on the fun by joining the spellbook shopping spree so they all went to the section of the ship where the magic stores were located. He was expecting that the said section would be small given that the ship¡¯s mages were not that many compared to the regular passengers but happily surprised that the section was bigger than expected. Much bigger actually and Frederick said that it was that way because not only mages purchased magic items. Regular passengers purchase a lot of the items as well.

    Anton followed everyone to a specific shop that sold spellbooks, but when they got inside, everyone became very busy learning about the spells that they wanted to purchase. Even though it was interesting, he had decided before that he would concentrate on his Diablo II system first. He would only memorize necessary spells, like the Cleaning spells that he had memorized and any others he found that could be helpful.

    He was very tempted to browse the available spells but knew that if he stayed he would surely purchase those that were useful and interesting and memorize them which would cut the time he needed to spend on his Diablo II system so he told everyone that he would separate from them and browse the other shops in the ship¡¯s ¡°Diagon Alley¡±.

    Anton spent a few hours browsing the magic shops excitedly. He felt a little like Harry Potter exploring Diagon Alley and some of the magic items were bizarre just like in the movies although if he were asked, he preferred the books since in his opinion it was one hundred times better than the books which were understandable since the movies simply couldn¡¯t include all the details from the books.

    When he learned the news about the upcoming Harry Potter television series, Anton was excited since he thought that more details would be included because television shows had more episodes.

    Anton was simply amused when he even encountered some shopkeepers trying to scam him. More than likely it was because those shopkeepers were not mages and he looked really young. Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t purchase a lot of items but the simple fact of just browsing around excited him so much, and didn¡¯t care too much about some of the people who were disgruntled about him not making any purchase. He did openly carried some of his purchases in his arms so they would stop bothering him since Anton was still a prospective customer.

 Chapter 321

    Anton was reminiscing about the Harry Potter book that he had read when a classmate lent him the books when he was on Earth while he was walking around the magic shops on the ship. Even though the area was small since it was inside a ship, the d¨¦cor and shops themselves really looked like the one from the movie that for a moment, he suspected that the creator of this area was a transmigrator just like him but then again, he remembered that in some of the cities that they passed through, some of the bazaars looked like Diagon Alley as well or the shops from some other medieval fantasy shows or games.

    More than likely, it was just a coincidence but it brought a smile to his face, and for an instant, he also wanted to set up a store here and sell the items that he enchanted. Anton liked the idea of being a magic shopkeeper and tried to do it back in Zalnothel but was glad that he didn¡¯t go through with it.

    First, if he owned a magic shop, there would be a tendency that he would fall in love with it and it would have been extremely difficult and sorrowful for him to leave it when the time came for their family to run. He felt that he did not go through with it because he always felt a sense of impermanence in Zalnothel. It was not magical or anything like that. Anton felt that it was his subconscious telling him that the undead issue was still a huge problem.

    As a matter of fact, even though they had been getting far away from the Undead Coalition day by day, there was still this nagging doubt that the Undead Problem would stop for him and his family.

    Most people, including his family, thought that the Gale Continent was too far away from Rendindura for the Undead Coalition to turn their eyes on that place but that was what they thought when they stayed in Zalnothel. A lot of people thought that Zalnothel would be safe since it had very powerful mages protecting it but then it too, fell.

    Anton decided to forget about the undead for a while and capture the magic moment of pretending that he was a wizard in the Harry Potter world shopping for books before attending Hogwarts. He was too old for that school but it was nice to imagine that the most dangerous thing he could encounter was a stroll in the Forbidden Forest together with his classmates.

    He knew that it was ridiculous to imagine himself being in the magical world of Harry Potter since Anton was already in a magical world. Not only that, he was gifted with a system that allowed him to become powerful enough to defend himself and his family and make their lives easier but there was something different about the world created by J.K. Rowling.

    Anton¡¯s life on Earth was shit and the Wizarding World had been an escape many times. While roaming around thinking about Harry Potter, he stumbled onto a shop that sells watches and clocks of different designs and sizes. He thought of Hermione¡¯s Time-turner but knew that that sort of magic would not be available in a random shop inside a ship.

    Since he was carrying items that he purchased in his arms inside a bag labeled by the owners of the shops, the clock shopkeeper didn¡¯t bother him while he was browsing the different items inside. One annoying thing about the shopkeepers in the shops on the ship was they tended to frown on window shoppers and the only solution that he thought of aside from blasting them to pieces was to carry around some of the items that he bought.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    While looking around at the nice watches, he saw a clock that looked like Edward¡¯s clock in Full Metal Alchemist. It was inside a glass cabinet so he asked the shopkeeper if he could take a look at it.

    The clock was a solid silver piece according to the shopkeeper and the design was intricate. When he looked at the back, the cover was some sort of transparent material allowing him to see the gears inside and according to the shopkeeper, it wasn¡¯t glass but the result of some sort of enchantment. Although it was pricey, Anton purchased it to the delight of the shopkeeper and he immediately wore it.

    Anton actually didn¡¯t need the watch since he could always see the time in his browser in his Diablo II system but he bought the watch not to check the time but as an accessory. He was enjoying the watch when he stepped outside the clock shop but then he suddenly felt dizzy.

    His system suddenly made a red notice announcement. Anton immediately clicked it and it said that his Diablo II system added a combat log so he could check which type of attack damaged him. When he clicked the icon that his system said represented the combat log, it opened a chat panel and it stated that he received a mental spell attack attempting to control him that failed but was then converted to damage.

    Anton was startled so he immediately activated all of his defensive buffs and activated all of his auras. The fact that his mana decreased meant that his aura healed the damage he was receiving and it was continuous. He made sure to activate the special effect of his buffs and auras to show off his power then he flew upwards to check the surrounding area trying to find the mages who were attacking him.

    The people in the surrounding street were startled when they saw a glowing mage suddenly float up but Anton didn¡¯t care.

    He then noticed three wizards doing some sort of ritual reminiscent of the ritual the three supreme were doing when they cast the defensive spell that protected the ship from the undead attack of the ghost ships.

    The three wizards stopped what they were doing since it wasn¡¯t working. Anton kept receiving damage but his aura immediately healed him, although even if he had not activated his Prayer Aura, the amount of damage he was receiving was too minimal for him to be worried.

    He flew toward the three mages who attempted to run but he held them in place using Telekinesis. Anton didn¡¯t want to destroy them using his spells since he wanted to question them regarding their intention.

    When Anton saw that the three mages who attempted to cast some sort of ritual magic on him weren¡¯t moving anymore due to the hold he had on them using the Telekinesis spell, he was about to approach them when a lot of wizards approached him.

    ¡°Halt young sir! I¡¯m Captain Armand of the wizard guard of the Elemental Bazaar in the Amelia. I would like to know why you cast a spell on those three mages!¡±

    ¡°My name is Anton Sunder. One of the archmages who defended the Amelia from the ghost shops who attacked before. The three mages cast some sort of ritual magic on me and I capture them to question them regarding what type of magic it was and what their intention was. I would like to request the presence of Supreme Numinor or Supreme Setoro so they can assist me in questioning these mages,¡± Anton said while he floated down near the captain of the wizard squad that was supposed to be the guards in this area.

    Captain Armand was surprised when Anton completed his introduction but the mage guard captain worked fast. He commanded his men to stand aside and then called someone using some sort of magic item. He then asked Anton to bring the wizards that he captured to some sort of guard headquarters.

 Chapter 322

    Anton, the three wizards that he bound using his Telekinesis spell, Captain Armand, and his men arrived at a room that looked like some sort of office and the captain told him that it was the headquarters for the guard squad assigned to this particular section of the Amelia. The captain also mentioned that since this location included the area where the magic shops were located, the squad was composed of a mix of wizards and normal people.

    Captain Armand sat together with Anton with the three wizards floating by the side unable to move inside what looked like an interrogation room. They didn¡¯t have to wait for too long since soon after, the Supreme Numinor arrived followed by a couple of people. The Supreme Wizard introduced the two people as some sort of aides.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, I was informed that some mages tried to attack you?¡± Numinor asked that moment he entered the room.

    Anton was a bit disappointed since he was expecting the Supreme Wizard to arrive using some sort of teleportation magic just like they did when they arrived in his family suite to battle it out with the ghost but the Supreme Wizard mundanely entered through the door.

    ¡°These three wizards were doing some sort of ritual trying to cast some sort of mind spell on me,¡± Anton replied.

    Supreme Numinor cast some sort of spell towards the three mages and then he asked Anton to remove his binding spell from them so he simply stopped holding them using Telekinesis. Numinor said that the spell that he cast would prevent the three mages from casting any spells.

    The three mages fell on their butt the moment Anton stopped holding them up using Telekinesis but he didn¡¯t apologize. They deserved more for attacking him if Anton was being honest.

    The wizards suddenly shouted that they were captured unlawfully and were not given the chance to explain themselves. They were babbling so fast and so loud that Numinor cast what seemed to be a Silence spell on them and Anton could see the three mages still moving their mouths but no sound appeared.

    Numinor then said that he would begin questioning the mages. The Supreme then dispelled the Silence spell and cast another spell on them that made them look like they were hypnotized. Anton was impressed at the variety of spells that the Supreme Numinor had been casting that he thought that he should begin considering memorizing spells from the magic system in this world that would assist him since most of the spells from the Diablo II system were geared towards battle. That was the reason why he loved the Cleaning Spells that Anton had memorized.

    Numinor unearthed a lot of information from the captured wizards. They said that they were High Wizards and planned to enslave the ¡°young mage¡± who was the backbone of the family who established the cinema.

    Apparently, it was all about wealth. The organization that the three mages belonged to was some sort of underground group that was established in New Drennor and they knew that the movies from the cinema would bring that organization a tremendous amount of wealth.

    They also mentioned that if they were aware that Anton was an archmage, they wouldn¡¯t have tried to enslave him using the ritual spell that they cast which would only work on a mage that had a lower rank than they have and since they were High Wizards, they were confident that they would be successful since they thought Anton, being young as he was, would immediately succumb to their spell.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°The organization called Dark Moon is a powerful black organization in New Drennor composed of regular people up to several supreme wizards. Their main goal was to earn coins to increase the power of the wizards in their group. They had been a thorn in New Drennor¡¯s government for a long time since they are an unscrupulous group of greedy people,¡± Numinor told Anton when they heard from the three mages that they belonged to that group.

    ¡°Will they keep attempting to enslave me because of the movies and the cinema?¡± Anton asked the Supreme Wizard.

    ¡°They might but you¡¯re a powerful mage and you¡¯re aware that our world is not a peaceful one so the only thing that you can do is to be vigilant, make yourself more powerful, and form a group that would protect your family and your business,¡± Numinor answered.

    Anton nodded and he probably conveyed enough confidence in his demeanor that Numinor just smiled at him. He was a bit confident since there were now a lot of mages in the family and with his auras supporting them, they would become powerful soon enough maybe even before they disembark from the ship to New Drennor.

    Numinor then assured Anton that he would handle the three mages since they would try to unearth more information about the dark organization from them. Anton said his goodbye and then went outside the interrogation room but he was followed by one of Numinor¡¯s aides.

    The aide then told Anton in what he presumed with Numinor¡¯s consent that the information that the Supreme Wizard would be able to dig from the mages would be a major contribution to New Drennor by Numinor which would result in deeper government connection and resources. The aide thanked Anton and to expect a reward from the Supreme Wizard.

    Anton only told the aide that he was happy to help and then returned to his family suite. Back at the suite, everybody was there already since it was dinner time and even Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were there.

    ¡°What happened Anton? We heard that a glowing wizard ran rampant in the magic shop area and the first one that came to our mind was you,¡± Anton¡¯s father asked him.

    Anton then told everyone that he would tell everything but he wanted to order dinner first since he was hungry so they called Harun and Anton gave their sailor guide an appropriate amount of Kraken Tentacle meat to be cooked by professionals then they all sat at the dinner table. He noticed that more chairs were surrounding the table and they were all able to sit but it was a tight fit but doable.

    ¡°I was attacked by a powerful ritual spell by three High Wizards trying to enslave me. I captured them and when the guards tried to arrest me, I told them to call the Supreme Numinor since he can vouch for me. The Supreme Numinor interrogated the mages and they told us that they were part of a dark organization called Dark Moon based on New Drennor,¡± Anton told everyone while they were waiting for their dinner.

    When his four friends from New Drennor heard the organization''s name, they all gasped and everyone noticed.

    ¡°What is the Dark Moon organization? Are they a powerful group?¡± Anders asked the four nobles.

    ¡°They were established decades ago based on what we knew and their main purpose was just like any underground criminal organization. Take control of the underbelly of the city so they could have wealth and the main goal of that wealth is to create more powerful wizards. I don¡¯t know why they need powerful wizards and I assume it was because they wanted to control more territory,¡± Phillip answered.

    ¡°Why did they target you and do we need to worry about them?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°From what the Supreme Numinor unearthed through interrogating the three High Wizards. Their action was their own. They wanted to control me because they wanted to own the cinema and the movies and they thought that I was a lower-rank wizard compared to them. That was the reason their enslavement spell didn¡¯t work,¡± Anton answered.

 Chapter 323

    ¡°The Supreme Wizard Numinor also mentioned that they might have communicated our family¡¯s capability of producing movies that could earn a considerable amount of wealth to their headquarters but Numinor doubted it due to the ship¡¯s distance from the New Gale continent but he advised us to be vigilant. He told me that he wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to attack us from that organization while we were on the ship since there were only a limited number of people that were part of that group on the ship and they would all be captured soon anyway,¡± Anton told everyone.

    That statement brought relief to everyone since that meant that they would continue to be safe on the Amelia, at least from that organization.

    ¡°I recommend to your mages that they should be diligent in making sure that they become more powerful before we arrive in New Drennor since that will allow your family to be safer,¡± Walter said to Anders.

    Anton saw that all the mages in the family now including Lunelle, Belinda, and Ramona suddenly looked determined. He knew then that everyone would probably become otakus, remaining in the suite with him to practice their magic but in his opinion, it was a good thing for them as well since mages were respected everywhere and the more powerful you were the more respect you would receive.

    Harun arrived with their dinner in tow and soon everyone began to eat. Anna, Lunelle, and Devon started complaining when Anders, Selena, Lucas, and Nemina started their public display of affection which only made the two couples laugh.

    At first, Anton would have liked to ask Selena to start practicing magic as well to increase the mages in the family but then he stopped himself and decided to allow his father and Selena to enjoy their honeymoon phase. Besides being lovers on a ship was a very romantic thing and he wanted his father to experience that.

    After dinner, Anders announced that it would be better for everyone to rest early since it would be a long day the next day but everyone knew that Anton¡¯s father just wanted to be alone with Selena in their room.

    Even though his four friends from New Drennor wanted to stay and watch a television show, they had to leave since Anders decided to rest early and everyone in the family tends to follow him.

    Devon and Frederick did follow Phillip and the others outside to spend their time enjoying themselves before sleeping but the girls wanted to rest since they wanted to be well rested. Anna told them that practicing magic in a well-rested state tended to bring better results.

    Anton took a bath inside his room and then spent a couple of hours wasting his time watching some animes before he slept. He knew that he should be leveling up but he didn¡¯t want to get burnt out but knew deep down inside that it was just an excuse. He just wanted to watch animes.

    The next day, they all went to the dining room at around seven in the morning for their breakfast but after that, Anton returned to the suite to practice magic but this time, he was accompanied by a lot of people. Frederick, Anna, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda were with him and planned to spend the day practicing their magic. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    When they arrived at the room, Anton was amused to see that instead of going inside their rooms, the mages gathered in the makeshift home theater and there they started practicing their magic and the makeshift home theater now looked like a makeshift magic classroom. He noticed that all of the mana power banks were about to be filled with mana so the coffee table power bank would be useful to them.

    Anton imagined that soon, he would have to create another item that consisted of a large mana power bank so the mages'' effort to cast their spells to empty their spell slots would not be wasted. He wondered what item he could create that he could equip with a humongous mana power bank since the mages should be able to fill it with mana through their daily practice.

    For now, the best item that he could think of was a real floating boat or a floating carriage. It was fun to imagine a vehicle that could fly and carry him and his family.

    He then went inside his room to enter his Diablo II system to continue leveling up his Paladin character so he spent all morning doing that.

    By the time lunch arrived, Anton was happy to see his Paladin leveling up to level thirty-six. He was still following the level-up guide on the website since it did say that it would be best to follow it until late level forties and since he knew nothing about Paladin, he decided to just follow it to the letter.

    When he went outside his room, everyone told him that they had already eaten and would continue with their magic practice. Anton noted that everyone was feeding off of each other¡¯s excitement in how fast they could memorize their spells, especially with Frederick informing them of how a normal less talented wizard just like he was it took to memorize spells. Right then, Lunelle still took three hours to memorize a cantrip while Ramona and Belinda took them four hours but instead of that length of time to memorize their spells diminishing their enthusiasm, the girls said they felt themselves improving gradually and they were adamant in stating that they truly felt it and was not some placebo effect.

    Frederick told Anton that it was true since he intimately knew the struggle of a less talented wizard.

    Since everyone had eaten already, Anton returned to his room and ate one of the dishes that he stored in his inventory. After that, he leveled up his character for another hour managing to reach level thirty-eight.

    After that leveling-up session, Anton decided to rest by practicing his voice and his guitar playing then did a cover of a song which he recorded and uploaded on the internet. Anton then tried to feed his vanity by reading the comments of the viewers about his guitar playing and his singing and was proud that almost all of them were positive. Some were even professing that they were now fans of his.

    The number of views that he had on his channel wasn¡¯t that many yet but he knew that there was a chance that it could explode and some might try to contact him for some professional work. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find him since he was in another world.

    After that, he spent the rest of his magic time that day practicing his spells. He was still unsuccessful in combining two specific spells of different characters into one and thought that it probably would be best to combine spells from the same character before diverging into the spells of two different characters so he decided to practice combining sorceress spells like Ice Bolt and Fire Bolt. Anton wasn¡¯t expecting instant success and it would probably take some time for any modicum of success to appear but he was willing to practice it out.

    He wanted to become as powerful or even more powerful than a Supreme Wizard and Anton thought that the only way to do that for now was to master the spells that he had. He could imagine that someday, he might be able to combine the Meteor spell with the Blizzard spell or Chain Lighting with Frozen Orb. One hand would cast a combined spell and then the other hand would be a combination of two different spells as well. Then maybe after that a combination of three spells and then four until it was limitless.

 Chapter 324

    Anton checked the time and it was already three in the afternoon and that meant that he was done with his magic practice for the day. He briefly opened his browser and went to the streaming site where he uploaded his videos of him covering songs and even though he felt that his singing was good, his most recently uploaded video still had very few views. He thought that with how good his singing was according to people who had heard him, he would explode on the internet but he still underestimated how talented people were especially on a platform that could be accessed by millions upon millions of people from all over Earth.

    Feeling a bit disappointed, which Anton knew was silly since he should be prioritizing more important things but then he felt that he needed that validation since when he was on Earth, his existence was so insignificant that this time, he wanted to check if people would recognize him as someone of worth. He closed his browser and then went outside his room.

    Anton¡¯s family and friends were already gathered including his four rich friends from New Drennor who attached themselves to his family.

    ¡°Is the cinema okay?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right. Our employees can manage it without any issues and us there. Don¡¯t forget to record the second film in The Lord of The Rings trilogy,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°Why are you all gathered here then?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Well, we all know that everyone¡¯s magic practice will be done by this time so we went here to watch the next episodes of the television series that we¡¯ve been watching. We also brought some snacks that we can eat while we¡¯re watching,¡± Walter answered him.

    Anton then noticed the pastries and steaming pitcher containing some sort of hot beverage on the table. He immediately went there since he was feeling a bit peckish and everyone followed him.

    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re supposed to eat while watching shows,¡± Anna said.

    Anton rolled his eyes at his sister and then brought the pastry that he picked up and the hot tea then brought them to the home theater setup. Everyone did the same then Anton cast his Globe of Browser Sharing and started the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. They all then proceeded to watch the television show while enjoying the snacks that Antonia¡¯s group brought. He had to admit that the pastries were delicious.

    Before the episode was finished, they heard someone knocking on the door and when Colin opened it, it was the Supreme Numinor with one of his aides. Anton immediately paused the show and everyone was about to complain but they stopped when they saw the high-ranking wizard enter after Colin invited him in.

    Everyone stood up and bowed respectfully to the High Wizard. Anton felt impressed when he saw his family¡¯s reaction since even though they were respectful, they didn¡¯t have the overly toadying expressions that some of the upstart family shows when they encounter a true noble.

    ¡°Anton, Sir Sunder, I¡¯m here to inform you what we discovered when we interrogated the three high wizards from the Dark Moon organization,¡± Numinor said to Anton and his father.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Everyone else left immediately and Anton invited the Supreme Wizard and his aide to sit in the living room.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that the information that I will be sharing with you pertains to you and your family only, is that all right?¡± Numinor asked and Anton and Anders said that it was fine.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to inform you that the Dark Wizard wasn¡¯t targeting you and your family specifically. The three high wizards¡¯ actions were solely their own and they didn¡¯t even plan to share it with their organization, at least at the beginning. When they had milked you and your family for some time then they would report you to their organization. That plan was based on the idea that you¡¯re enslaved by them. The best thing that you can do to protect yourself when you reach New Drennor is to announce your power and there are several ways for you to do that. Your rich friends from New Drennor can teach you those ways so I advise you to listen to them. Since we¡¯re still a long way from the Gale Continent, the matter is not urgent. I suggest that you try to increase your power before we reach there,¡± Numinor said to the father and son.

    Anton thanked the Supreme Wizards for his suggestion and offered him and his aide some of the pastries and tea that Antonia and his group brought during Numinor¡¯s pause which they accepted.

    While they were eating the snacks that Anton brought them the Supreme Numinor continued.

    ¡°Normally, I would have offered to guide you in increasing your wizardly rank but since your magic system is bloodline magic, I simply don¡¯t know enough to help you. I¡¯m aware that you¡¯re also capable of learning the standard magic but I advise that you focus on your bloodline magic since it was the one which increased your power much faster than normal.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your advice, sir and I appreciate that you wanted to help but please don¡¯t worry. Ever since we started running from the Undead Coalition, I never stopped practicing my magic since I was extremely aware that that was the only for me and my family to survive. The mages in our family are also starting to work hard to increase their power,¡± Anton told the Supreme Wizard who smiled.

    ¡°Regarding the contribution of the information we manage to gather from the three members of the Darm Moon organization¡­¡±

    ¡°Sir, I would like to request that you not include me in that contribution since I don¡¯t want myself and my family involved,¡± Anton interrupted the Supreme.

    He was aware that the contribution or credit that the Supreme Wizard would receive from the information they learned from the high-ranking members of the Dark Moon organization was considerable and the Supreme¡¯s aide already mentioned to him that the best thing that he could give to the Supreme that would garner Numinor¡¯s favor was to allow the powerful wizard to take all the credit by himself.

    Numinor smiled at Anton widely and then said goodbye. After the Supreme Wizard left, Anders asked what was that all about.

    ¡°It seemed like that Supreme didn¡¯t actually share any meaningful information at all,¡± Anders said to his son.

    ¡°He did assure us that the dark organization wouldn¡¯t be attacking us anymore but the main point of that visit was to inform me that Numinor learned a lot of information that will cause him to earn considerable credit from the government of New Drennor. He would like for me to admit that all the credit was his and that would earn his favor which admittedly, a favor from a Supreme Wizard is a huge advantage to us so I assure the Supreme Wizard that I¡¯m in on his plan.¡±

    Anders smiled when he heard what Anton had said to him.

    ¡°That is wise of you, son.¡±

    After a few minutes, everyone entered the suite and Anders was the one who told everyone what the visit was about, which was just the Supreme Wizard assuring them that they shouldn¡¯t receive any attack from the dark organization.

    Anders also told Antonia¡¯s group about Numinor¡¯s suggestion regarding announcing to the city of New Drennor that Anton was an archmage since that would protect their family¡¯s interest in the city.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that urgent since the Gale Continent is still a long way off,¡± Anton told his four friends but they replied that they would create a list of actions that he could take to establish his power in the city.

 Chapter 325

    Anton wondered what kind of lessons he would have gotten from the Supreme Wizard Numinor if he had accepted the offer of tutoring from the powerful supreme wizard but Numinor did take the offer back saying that since he was a bloodline mage, Numinor wasn¡¯t informed enough to be Anton¡¯s teacher.

    That made him sure that Numinor¡¯s offer wasn¡¯t serious because even if he couldn¡¯t teach bloodline magic, there were other areas of knowledge he could teach. In Numinor¡¯s defense, he was probably an extremely busy wizard and wouldn¡¯t have the time to teach an upstart like him. Even if the supreme wizard offered to teach others in his family like Anna, he would have declined since he didn¡¯t trust wizards outside of the family. What if Anna was brainwashed or something? He wasn¡¯t just acting paranoid since three High Wizards did attempt to enslave him.

    All of these thoughts were being processed by Anton while they continued watching the episodes of the television series they had been watching. They were now watching Hercules since the episode of Star Trek they had been watching concluded a few minutes before. Anton thought of the fact that because of Star Trek, his family, and friends were now getting used to watching shows that had out-of-this-world and even strange concepts although in retrospect, them growing up in a fantasy world and being hounded by the undead probably made their minds more open compared typical people who grew up in a mundane world.

    They had also seen the science-fiction movie Avatar and that meant that he could now let them see any kind of movie and they would not be shocked at all. Of course, his father and Nemina were the business leaders in the family and they would decide which film they would allow their customers to see. They should probably know more than him if a specific movie would be accepted readily by this world¡¯s audience so he would let them handle which film they would show next in the theater that they had and would be establishing.

    After Hercules, they all went to the dining hall to eat dinner and watch the show there. During dinner, Anders announced that there wouldn¡¯t be any television show watching that night anymore since everyone should rest early. Antonia¡¯s group planned to hold a private party somewhere and they invited everyone but the mages in the group declined since everyone was still excited about studying magic more and only Devon and Colin accepted.

    In the meantime, everyone returned to the suite but Anton headed to where the horses were staying. He wanted to check if they were okay and when he arrived there, Maide and Bailey were very affectionate to him so he made sure to heal them of any ailments they might have acquired using his aura then provided them soma mana water which delighted the two horses to no end. He loved the horses since they had been with the family ever since the beginning. It didn¡¯t matter to him that they were beginning to become magical animals. What mattered to him was that they had been with the family ever since he transmigrated to this world and they were part of the family, not simple farm animals.

    When Anton returned to the suite he headed directly to his room and took a bath then he checked the videos that he uploaded on the internet. There were only three videos but they starting to get a lot of views and there were even some comments that were attempting to find him for business purposes. To avoid problems in the future, Anton decided to upload videos rarely maybe once a week or less. His main purpose in uploading those videos was just to read praises from viewers from Earth and nothing else. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The next day after breakfast, the situation was still the same. Anton entered his Diablo II system and spent the day leveling up his Paladin, practicing his item enchantments, practicing his spells, thinking of ways how to combine spells, and practicing his voice and guitar abilities. He didn¡¯t even go outside his room during lunchtime and just ate the food that was in his inventory but he did make sure that everyone was aware that he would be doing that.

    Anton¡¯s paladin¡¯s level climbed up to forty-three and soon he could reset it and choose the build that he wanted to have for the character up until he reached maximum level and once he did that, just like the necromancer, he would reset it again and choose the skills that would benefit him greatly in real life.

    After his ¡°wizard¡± practice for the day was over, outside his room he saw that everyone was gathered already but he disappointed them when he told them that he would spend the rest of the afternoon and evening recording the next film in two of the three magic recording item they had since it¡¯s the cinema¡¯s rest day.

    When Selena learned of his plan, she asked if she could watch the recording together with her two friends since they had not seen The Two Towers before.

    It was Anders who agreed of course and there was nothing Anton could do although it was not really a problem to have an audience during recording as long as any people in the room were quiet.

    At the cinema, he had to wait for several minutes before his father, Selena, and her two friends Norma and Belue arrived. The three women were highly excited at the prospect of seeing the Two Towers ahead of everyone else on the ship except for the family, of course. Anders had to reiterate to the women that they would need to be silent the whole movie.

    When everyone was ready, Anton started the recording session. While doing so, he expanded his Diablo II system and planned to play the game using the on-screen option so he could level up his paladin. He didn¡¯t want to waste hours recording the film since he could increase his power while doing so.

    At least they now knew that they could record the film in multiple magic recording items at the same time. He remembered ruefully his actions before recording the film on the items one at a time wasting a huge amount of time doing so but to be honest, it wasn¡¯t a total waste since he used the time to level up his characters during those hours.

    Anton didn¡¯t mind that he had to use the on-screen option instead of following his promise to himself of entering the game virtually during the leveling-up process. There were instances that it was unavoidable and he did assign some time every day to practice his spells.

    He was happy to note that he was able to level up twice during the whole recording session. More than likely, most Diablo II experienced players would scoff at how slow he leveled up even after using the option of increasing the difficulty of the game using the console command but in his defense, the gameplay within his system was truly different from the actual game. There was a need for him to make sure that he was familiar with even the tiniest of nuances of the mana structure of the spell.

    The power was coursing through his body and his very being felt the tremendous energy of the mana. It wasn¡¯t simply clicking on a button like in the game and that was the reason for the extreme slowness of his progress when it comes to leveling up his character because, to be honest, if the game was the same as in the computer, he would have probably reached the maximum level of every character in the game by then.

 Chapter 326

    The Two Towers film, which was the second film in The Lord of The Rings trilogy was a very long movie and the time it took to record the film allowed Anton to level up his Paladin character to level forty-seven which made him a little happy. According to the website that he was following, level forty-seven was the level he could reset his Paladin and choose the build that he wanted to have for his character until he reached the maximum level.

    The build that he wanted for his Paladin for leveling-up purposes was the Hammerdin since it was most like the sorceress. Anton had to admit that he was still comfortable as a caster and not a melee fighter. Casting the Blessed Hammer skill was like casting a spell and it was an area of effect skill too so that was a plus but Anton knew that the said skill would only work in the game and probably couldn¡¯t be used in reality since based on the what he knew, it wouldn¡¯t discriminate and would attack anyone in its area of effect as long as the individual was not part of his party system.

    Unlike the area of effect spells of the Sorceress, the Blessed Hammer¡¯s center was the caster so it would be very difficult to control the people near Anton that would be affected by the skill.

    Since the movie recording was just completed, Anton decided to complete the resetting of his Paladin character at a later time back in his room. He saw that Selena and her two friends, Norma and Belue were highly excited at seeing the film ahead of everyone else. They couldn¡¯t stop talking to each other about the film and Anton was very amused to see that the three women kept pestering his father for spoilers but unfortunately for Selena and her friends, Anders was very tight-lipped and would only share his opinion of the first and second film in the trilogy.

    Anton thought that if Selena and the two women truly wanted to have spoilers, they would have more success wheedling the information from the others in the family. Fortunately for him, it seemed like Selena and her friends were still intimidated by him so they didn¡¯t casually approach him with trivial questions.

    They all went back to the family suite after the recording session and since his father invited Selena¡¯s two friends, he gave Harun, their Sailor Guide, an appropriate amount of Kraken Tentacle meat to be cooked for their dinner that night. Anders gave Harun the coins the chef was charging their family for cooking the delicacies.

    He saw that Norma and Belue couldn¡¯t wait for the food. Apparently, Selena had been boasting to her friends about how delicious the food was, and based on what he had overheard so far, that was not the only thing that she was boasting about. Anton did see that the two women kept eyeing Selena¡¯s clothes and accessories that she was wearing which were highly better than what they were wearing.

    Anton couldn¡¯t for the life of him understand how women¡¯s relationships with each other worked. They were clearly jealous of each other but they remained friends through it all.  Norma and Belue even jokingly, he hoped, that they were willing to be Anders¡¯s mistresses as well and Anton¡¯s father just kept smiling.

    He didn¡¯t how he would feel if his father suddenly became the center of a harem since Selena didn¡¯t appear to be jealous but more than likely, she was just confident of herself enough that she was aware that Anders would not stray. Anton hoped. Maybe he was mistaken and Selena would be fine for her new lover to be with more than one woman.  Even if she was, Anton still didn¡¯t know what to think or do if that truly happened.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Anton stopped his silly musing when Harun arrived with several dishes made of the Kraken meat. Even though they had eaten it several times before, everyone was still highly enthusiastic with the Kraken meat since it was truly delicious which defied his knowledge since from what he knew of from Earth, giant octopuses taste atrocious. The only thing that he could think that brought on the change was the fact that the Kraken was a magic beast since mana does change the composition of things and even water had a different taste if it was filled with mana.

    The conversation at the table was full of energy. Norma and Belue were extroverts and were very charming. Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were amused at how expertly the women controlled the conversation but they let them be. They were very experienced nobles and were aware of the tactics of women like them and it was all in good fun.

    Anton almost laughed out loud when he saw how smitten Devon, Colin, and even Frederick who was supposed to be an experienced mage on the two women. Based on the talks that he had overheard between Selena, Norma, and Belue, he was sure that the two women wouldn¡¯t approach the men in the family since the two friends of Selena were highly ambitious and the only one qualified to have their affection was his father, Walter, and Phillip. Anders was taken, and Walters rooted for the other team so the only one left was Phillip but the man was a true noble and Anton could see that Norma and Belue were intimidated by him.

    ¡°What are we going to do after dinner?¡± Phillip asked Anton and he just shrugged.

    Since there was nothing specific planned for the rest of the evening, they decided to watch a new movie. Anton, feeling a bit naughty, decided to show them a horror film. He wanted to know what the people of this world thought of horror films since everyone had encountered some form of horror in real life in one way or another.

    Anton chose the movie Dawn of the Dead, the 2004 one since he had seen it before which was one of the few horror movies that he had seen and liked. When everyone was ready, he didn¡¯t tell them anything about the film. When the scene in the shower was shown, he had forgotten about that and Lunelle had to cover Anna¡¯s eyes. Anton received a glare from his father but he just shrugged since it was just a short scene. When the zombie child scene appeared at the beginning of the movie, everyone was terrified and Anton suddenly thought that he might have made a mistake but the zombie chase after that was truly exciting.

    What if the audience were more sensitive since they knew that it could really happen but then again, he thought that they should just get used to it. Anton was happy to note that everyone was highly entertained by the movie. He knew that they would like it since he liked the movie as well. If he was going to watch a horror film, he preferred zombie movies and not the devil possession movies since those truly terrify him.

    Everyone felt a chill in their spine during the baby zombie scene and Anton couldn¡¯t agree more.

    After the film ended, Phillip went outside for a moment to order Harun to get them some snacks. The rest discussed the details of the film. The professionals like Devon and Lucas told everyone the steps that the film¡¯s protagonists should have taken to defend themselves from the zombies and Anton had to tell them that the people in that world were not used to battle and were regular folks. The women discussed the clothing that the folks in the film were wearing and the men asked him about the vehicles.

 Chapter 327

    Anton¡¯s family had already seen vehicles in some of the movies he had shown them, but The Dawn of The Dead seemed to be the first film that aroused the men in his family¡¯s interest in automobiles. He was guessing that it was because of how the protagonists in the movie manually modified the large vehicle they used to travel across town to outrun the zombie or how so out of this world the other vehicles in the science-fiction films that they had seen that there was a chance that they considered those as just product of the imagination of the creators of the film.

    They discussed cars and other types of vehicles, how they were made, and what fueled them. Generally, of course, since Anton did not really know much about cars. He even had to search for the answers to some of their questions on the Internet which opened a lot more questions.

    Even Anton¡¯s father joined in on the discussion and Frederick even brought out a notebook to take notes. Thankfully, the girls seemed to be interested as well since they also had questions or they were just indulging the men.

    Either way, Anton got tired of answering their questions so he showed everyone a few short videos from the famous streaming website on how cars were made and how they worked. He didn¡¯t show them how cars were made in mega factories since Anton knew that that would just probably negatively impact his family¡¯s interest but chose videos wherein cars were manually assembled by mechanics.

    After watching the videos, Anton thought that those would satisfy his father, Lucas, Devon, and the others but they continued their discussion after showing clips. When Anton expressed a subtle impression that he would like to stop the talks and rest, his father glared at him so he had no choice but to continue answering their questions.

    They talked about how to commission parts of the car onto a blacksmith and even talked about how to replace the fuel with a mana battery since their family could easily charge a battery that gets its power from mana through a mana power bank.

    Finally, Anton had to remind everyone that he had already created something like the hoverboard that runs on mana. If they were truly interested in creating something like a car, they could just create an exterior that looked like a car and then Anton would just attach the mechanics and process of the enchanted hoverboard to it. They could even make it a business by selling the enchanted cars and then create mana stations where the car could pay to have their car mana storage refilled by huge mana power banks that were filled by mana by the mages they hired.

    The business concept lit up Anders and Nemina¡¯s eyes but Lucas dashed their ambition by saying they could experiment on the concept of mana cars but should focus on the cinema first.

    ¡°There were already magic-powered carriages in New Drennor but I have to admit that they were very few of those and were only used by the most powerful citizens of the city,¡± Walter said.

    ¡°If your family can commercialize something like a magic car and make it cheap enough that a typical well-off family can afford them, wealth will truly enter your vaults,¡± Phillip commented.

    ¡°You can even teach the process to other mages so Anton can focus on his thing,¡± Antonia added.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I can¡¯t teach my enchantment process since my magic is based on my bloodline system. I¡¯m sure that some of the enchanted items that I sold had already been examined by item enchanters or alchemists or whatever you call mages that do item enchantments, and if they could have copied them, some of the items should be circling the market by now,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Can you do regular enchantments as done by regular mages?¡± Lucia asked.

    ¡°Probably since I can learn regular spells but I don¡¯t want to divide my attention to another magic system. Even the Supreme Numinor advised that I should focus on my personal magic since it was the one that made me very powerful so fast. I would only turn my attention to standard magic if I have explored my bloodline magic to the fullest but so far, I haven¡¯t seen any limit on it yet.¡±

    ¡°Since Anna is your sister, can she do your magic as well?¡± Antonia asked and everyone waited for the answer curiously.

    ¡°No, since if she can do the same thing as I can, she would have already known the moment she became aware that she can do magic or even earlier than that since she should have been able to feel it in her very being. I can¡¯t explain any more than that.¡±

    ¡°I remember back then, you always showed off all the new spells that you¡¯ve learned but you stopped doing that,¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°Back then, we were on our farm and we had the place to ourselves so I could show off but ever since we¡¯ve traveled, we were always so busy and remember the information I shared with you and Anna before about the characters and spells that I can access?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah! You said that you can acquire the spells of a sorcerer, a druid and I forget the others!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Well, one of the characters that I have access to was a necromancer so the spells that I learned from that were death spells and you know our situation. If I use those spells in public, everyone would probably condemn me as one of the mages from the Undead Coalition.¡±

    ¡°What kind of necromancy magic have you learned?¡± Frederick asked curiously and everyone else was curious for that matter.

    ¡°Right now, I focused my necromantic magic on curses like blinding enemies, weakening enemies, and things like that but I do have access to awaken skeleton warriors and skeleton mages but they are truly horrific since they require a dead person¡¯s body to summon them. As a matter of fact, I have the capability of summoning an undead army consisting of skeleton warriors, archers, and mages if I¡¯m evil enough to allow the use of corpses as ingredients.¡±

    Anna gasped and everyone looked horrified. Anders told him in a very severe tone that he was not allowed to use those kinds of spells and Anton just smiled.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry, father, everyone, I wasn¡¯t planning to and to be honest with you, right now I¡¯m learning the spells of a holy warrior called a Paladin.¡±

    ¡°You mean the powerful warriors of gods and goddesses?!¡± Walter exclaimed.

    ¡°Yes. My healing spells came from that character and right now I¡¯m learning the rest of the Paladin¡¯s spells available to me.¡±

    ¡°What are the Paladin spells that you¡¯ve already learned?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I now have several spells called auras. You all have experienced the auras that let me heal, and let my allies recover magic energy, I think that¡¯s the one that allowed you to memorize spells very fast, auras that let my allows recover their stamina which was the one that let you work or travel without any rest but now I have several more. I have auras that will allow me and my allow to have more physical strength, and physical accuracy when using range weapons and more.¡±

    ¡°You can actually pretend to be a priest! Or even a true actual holy warrior of a church!¡± Antonia exclaimed.

    ¡°I also now have a magic holy bolt that can heal people from afar and that same bolt can severely damage the undead but my most powerful offensive Paladin spell is called a Blessed Hammer that allows me to summon multitudes of magic hammers that will damage my enemy. It¡¯s a very dangerous spell since the spell doesn¡¯t discriminate between my allies and my enemies.¡±

 Chapter 328

    Anton stopped boasting about his newly acquired Paladin skills when he saw his family and friends gaping at him.

    ¡°Can you show me your Holy Bolt spell?¡± Anna asked excitedly.

    He immediately cast it and hit Anna with it since the spell was supposed to heal non-undead beings. When the Holy Bolt spell hit Anna, his sister laughed.

    ¡°I feel it! It felt like some divine energy hit me and it feels so good!¡±

    Even if Anna were in his party system, a tiny part of Anton was worried that the spell would damage his sister even though the Holy Bolt spell was supposed to be a healing spell towards the non-undead.

    He made a vow that next time Anton would be more careful in testing out his spells.

    ¡°How many times you can use that spell in a day?¡± Antonia asked and when Anton answered that it was unlimited, his four friends from New Drennor gasped.

    ¡°That meant that when you¡¯re in an army facing a battle, your allies could receive unlimited healing from you!¡± Walter exclaimed.

    ¡°Basically but I¡¯m not sure if this spell could re-grow limbs. My healing aura can though.¡±

    ¡°Can we test some of your spells that increase warriors¡¯ abilities?¡± Devon asked so Anton removed the mages from his party system and added the warriors in the group like Lucas, Devon, Colin, and his father.

    Anton told the men that they would be able to feel the spells in a few seconds and after every two minutes he would switch spells he activated the Might Aura first and after a couple of minutes he switched to other auras.

    ¡°I can feel myself being empowered by some sort of energy but it was too fast for me to confirm what it increased and it would probably need to be tested while fighting an enemy or even just testing it out using a battle dummy,¡± Devon said and Anton just shrugged.

    After that simple test, he removed the warriors in the group from his party system and added the mages again since they needed it while practicing their magic. That concluded their discussion that night which veered off from automobiles to the spells that he could use. His four friends from New Drennor said their goodbyes but they invited everyone to join them on some sort of a night party somewhere in the ship but this time only Devon accepted.

    Before Anton entered his room, his father asked to talk to him at a later time in his room. Inside his room, he took a bath and after that, he heard a knock on his door and when he opened it, it was his father.

    ¡°What do you want to talk about, father?¡± Anton asked while inviting Anders to sit on the only chair in his bedroom while he sat on his bed.

    ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried about the spells that you have access to especially when you told us that Necromancy spells you¡¯ve learned. I want to know more about the power that you will be able to wield so I can be prepared.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡°Sure. As you know already, the first spells I learned were from what my bloodline magic called the Sorcerer skill tree. It consisted of the power of the elements which you¡¯ve seen already like the power to wield fire, ice, and lightning. My ability to move things which allows me to fly and lift things using my mind was also from the Sorcerer skill tree. Since I¡¯ve learned all the powers from the Sorcerer but, of course, haven¡¯t mastered them yet, my bloodline magic allowed me to move forward in learning the Druid spell tree which you have already seen as well.¡±

    Anton told his father about the spells that he had accessed from the Druid character then he described in detail the spells that he had received from the Necromancer. He then informed his father, which he told everyone earlier, that he was now learning the powers of a Paladin.

    He then informed his father that the next three characters that he would have access to after the Paladin would be warriors which were the Barbarian, Amazon, and the Assassin. He had to describe the three characters in detail to Anders since based on his father¡¯s reaction, that was the first time he had heard the concept of the Barbarian and the Amazon in terms of having skills that he could learn.

    Anders somewhat recognized the Assassin since it had an infamous reputation but the only thing he knew about them was they were filthy good-for-nothing warriors who used their abilities to kill specific people for coins.

    Anton had to explain to his father that the Assassin in his bloodline magic was different from the standard assassin. He told his father that the character was called Assassin because its spell was geared toward hiding in shadows and traps.

    Of course, he also had to explain in detail some of the skills that a Barbarian character, an Amazon character, and some of the Assassin skills he would learn in the future, and that made his father look at him in awe.

    ¡°I have an inkling that once I¡¯ve learned all the spells that all the characters that are available from my bloodline magic, I might reach the Supreme rank.¡±

    Anton did not even tell his father that every character in his Diablo II system allowed him to equalize a specific stat in real life. For example, The Sorceress character allowed him to reach a huge amount of the Energy stat on the game and his system allowed him to bring that over to reality. The Druid for some reason allowed him to bring over his Vitality stat. Unfortunately, the Necromancer was the same as his Sorceress which allowed him to copy the Energy stat but they did not stack and he could only copy the one that had the higher amount of stats.

    That meant that once Anton maximized the level of all his characters in his Diablo II system, his stats in reality would be unimaginable as well. That was the main reason why he thought that he would reach the Supreme rank once he maximized the level of all of his Diablo II characters.

    Anton and his father continued their discussion well into the night since they did not only talk about his characters, they talked about their plans for the future. Even though it lasted for a while, he was glad of the conversation that he had with his father. He even jokingly asked Anders if his father had the intention of adding more women to his life like maybe Belue and Norma and that comment only made him receive a slap on his head.

    His father did mention that Anders would be taking care of Selena¡¯s family and Anton just said that as it should be which made his father smile.

    Since the next day was a Monday, the cinema was supposed to be closed and the passengers would have to wait until Thursday before they could see the next movie in the Lord of the Rings franchise which was the Two Towers.

    Anton¡¯s father left his room after their discussion and he slept soon after. He was planning to waste a few minutes browsing the Internet but because of the long discussion, it was already the wee hours of the morning.

    The next day after breakfast, the only mages left in the suite were Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda since Anna and Frederick had to attend some classes they enrolled in earlier. Anton then overheard the three ladies whispering to each other that they should practice more so they could reach Anna¡¯s level soon.

    Apparently, there was already some sort of competition happening between the ladies and in Anton¡¯s opinion, it was healthy since it would allow them to increase their wizardly rank as soon as possible.

 Chapter 329

    That day was the first day of the week, which meant the cinema was closed. Anton¡¯s father and the others would be free to rest or do whatever they wanted to do for that day. It had been several weeks already since they were on board the Amelia and all the members of Anton¡¯s family already had some routine that they had already been doing every day but that changed when he shared the information that his Meditation Aura which would allow mages to memorize spells a tenth of the time they usually take to memorize a spell.

    That was one of the most incredible discoveries that Anton had made about one of his auras since that would allow mages that were in his party system to advance at an extremely fast pace comparable to magical prodigy. That would be incredible in terms of allowing their family to become more powerful in terms of magical might since it would allow Anna and the rest of the mages in the family to advance in leaps and bounds.

    It had been a few weeks since they left the continent of Rendindura and Anton was starting to feel safe in terms of clashing with the Undead Coalition but he wasn¡¯t allowing himself to be truly confident that the business with the Undead Coalition was over. He and his family had been disappointed over and over again. He kept reiterating to himself that the only thing he could do was to increase his power as soon as possible and now his sister and the others joined him in doing that.

    Anton wondered if he should ask his father to learn magic since that would allow their defensive capability to increase but when he opened that subject to Anders, his father wasn¡¯t willing since he said that he wanted to focus on acquiring wealth for the family since that would allow him and his sister to focus on wizardry.

    He could understand that since wizardry truly needed a lot of resources to progress. Although he was an exception since he could progress without using any coins since his Diablo II system did not require him anything, it would still be nice to be able to buy any stuff that he wanted.

    The family still gathered together during breakfast with Devon notably missing. Apparently, their young guard spent the whole night with Anton¡¯s four noble friends partying according to Lucas. At first, Lucas planned to punish his son but Anders mentioned that it was needed for the family to have a tighter relationship with Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip since they were scions of powerful families from New Drennor and were worth cultivating relationships with.

    Anton returned to the family suite on the ship after breakfast and he didn¡¯t know what plans the rest of the family would do that day. The only thing he knew was Anna and Frederick would be attending some sort of magic class while Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda would join him in the suite practicing magic.

    Inside the suite, Lunelle and the other ladies went toward the small theater setup that they had made inside and were planning to use it as their magic classroom while Anton headed inside his room. He would be entering his system virtually and he didn¡¯t want anybody staring at him while his consciousness was busy leveling up his character.

    He planned to reach the maximum level for the Paladin character since he wanted to reset his character to acquire all the skills that would be useful in real life. According to the guide that he had read, the best build that he could bring out to reality was the Fist of Heaven build but Anton knew that he would still modify it to truly fit the world.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Another plan he had was the moment he reached the Paladin¡¯s maximum level, he would spend a considerable amount of time to get the ¡°Best in Slots¡± gears for all of the characters then he would make sure to wear the most powerful ones that would be truly useful in the real world.

    He knew that when it was time to choose the gear that was most useful in real life, it would probably be a mixture of different gears from different characters but that was still in the future.

    Anton spent all the hours available to him in the morning until lunch just leveling up and when noon arrived, his Paladin reached level fifty-three and was happy that he was able to reach that. He didn¡¯t go outside his room and ate one of the prepared food from his inventory then he switched to practicing combining his spells.

    He still had no idea what to do to properly combine two spells in one cast since all the practice that Anton had done only led him to cast two different spells one after another and the only success that he had was to shorten the delay between the two.

    He knew that it would probably take a serious study on the mana structure and mana pathway of the spells but he delayed that so far since it would truly be a serious undertaking but without success in rushing through learning spell combination, he began studying the mana structure and mana pathway of his most basic sorceress spells which was the Ice Bolt and Fire Bolt in terms of adding a mana structure to the existing structure of either spell. As he expected, it was exceedingly hard.

    Anton pushed through though but the complexity of studying an existing spell mana structure and changing it to add another existing mana structure was so huge that he had to spend the rest of the afternoon doing nothing but that. He had to skip practicing item enchantment and his voice and guitar lessons and practice.

    After a few more hours, even though Anton was still not successful, he began to get an inkling of what he should concentrate on but he learned that it would be a while before he truly learned even the most basic of spell combinations. After learning spell combination spell, he would then need to learn how to manipulate the mana structure so he could change it like increasing the amount of mana that the spell would consume since that would allow the spell to become more powerful.

    It was truly a huge undertaking but when four in the afternoon arrived, Anton stopped. He knew the advantage of having a balanced life so he planned to rest and entertain himself the rest of the evening so he wouldn¡¯t burn out but if he was honest with himself, the wizardry that was practicing was making him excited and he was interested in what he was doing so Anton wasn¡¯t seeing any burn out in his future.

    That meant that he could truly focus on his Diablo II system and his magic that he could probably survive in not going out of his room but he wanted to have a good relationship with his family and friends. He didn¡¯t want to be a psychopath mage that loved no one.

    When he exited the room, Anton was happy to see that everyone was gathered already including Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip and they brought some delicious-looking snacks with them.

    He headed directly to the table to eat since Anton was beginning to become famish and asked what was going on.

    ¡°Nothing much. We¡¯re talking about reaching the Islands of Norbuna after a month,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°What are you talking about? I thought that the ship wouldn¡¯t stop anywhere and would directly head to the Gale Continent?¡± Anton asked Phillip startled by the information that the man just shared.

 Chapter 330

    ¡°Even though the Amelia had the capability of heading directly to the Gale continent without stopping, there are islands along the way that the ship would stop for at least two to three days since people needed to be on land at least for a while to rest. Not only that, some of those islands, the passing ships were the only source of items from different lands that they could acquire since they were very far away from continents and the ocean is a truly dangerous place to travel without sufficient magical defenses,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°The islands that were going to stop, is it a tropical island, and how large is it?¡± Anton asked Phillip while munching on the pastry that Antonia brought.

    Unfortunately, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s a cold and gray place. It¡¯s a small island full of jagged cliffs and the whole island except the smaller ones surrounding it can be traversed within a day. Even though it¡¯s small, it''s relatively wealthy since it does have its own gold mine and was defended by a Supreme Wizard who built a mage castle at the center of the island. As you might guess, the name of that powerful wizard is Norbuna and the island was named after him,¡± Phillip answered.

    ¡°The supreme wizard has a lot of apprentices so the island is well-known for its magical trade,¡± Walter added.

    The mages in the family were excited when they heard that since that meant that they could browse magical items and spellbooks. Anton decided to create a lot of enchanted items in the week before reaching that island and was planning to sell them to the Norbunans since that would supplement his dwindling personal coins.

    At first, he thought of selling items on the ship but Anton knew that the spending coins of the passengers was limited.

    Anton also thought of purchasing a lot of basic items that he would need for item enchantment like sculptures and plain wood and iron. Anders also mentioned that they planned to sell off most of the unsold items remaining in their inventory and Anton¡¯s father and Nemina were glad that the ship would stay on that island for at least three days.

    After snack time, Lucia suggested that they continue watching shows or movies.

    ¡°I wanted to walk a bit since I¡¯ve been inside my room for hours. I want to see the ocean so I¡¯ll spend an hour two roaming the ship or watching the ocean first,¡± Anton told everyone.

    When his friends asked if he wanted some company, Anton declined so after that he went outside the suite and began roaming around.

    Anton briefly visited Maide and Bailey and even the summoned animals but only spent a few minutes on them then he went directly to the deck that was available for everyone on the ship which was the largest one located in the middle of the Amelia.

    When he arrived there with the help of some of the passengers and sailors in the corridors, Anton was highly surprised at how large it was. It was also filled with people from all walks of life lounging around and relaxing, breathing the ocean air, and looking at the huge ocean.

    Anton found a relatively empty railing so he could watch the ocean as well and when he looked down towards the ocean from the railing he was surprised that the deck was well outside the ship and it seemed like it was unprotected meaning that anyone could just jump off the railings and fall into the ocean.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Did anyone jump to kill themselves here?¡± Anton asked expecting no one to answer since he directed the question to the air but surprisingly the young man beside him answered him.

    ¡°Yes. About once a week somebody does but a mage is always around to catch those who jump and then they would charge that person a huge amount of coins,¡± The blonde man who looked like he was part of a group of three people looked young. Their group looked around eighteen years old and above and they looked like average citizens that you would find in any city.

    ¡°They asked him to pay! What if that person couldn¡¯t afford it? Shouldn¡¯t they receive some sort of counseling?¡±

    The moment Anton asked those questions, he felt foolish and na?ve and the expression of the two boys and one girl in their group looked at him weirdly then the three laughed which made him blush.

    ¡°My name is Anton and I¡¯m a mage,¡± Anton introduced himself to change the subject.

    When the three people heard that he was a mage they immediately stopped laughing and introduced themselves as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m Torun and this is Blake and his twin sister Andrea. Our families are small merchants from Ruandelle and our fathers decided to immigrate to New Drennor,¡± Torun said.

    Of course, Anton didn¡¯t ask the reason why their families decided to immigrate since everyone¡¯s reason was the same. The Undead Coalition was like a plague that scattered the citizens of Rendindura all over the world.

    Anton noticed that introducing himself as a mage might be a mistake because the three people suddenly became quiet and possibly intimidated by his status as a wizard.

    ¡°Have you seen The Fellowship of The Ring? I can¡¯t wait for The Two Towers,¡± Anton said trying to befriend them using movies and it worked.

    Suddenly, the three young people became highly enthusiastic. They began talking almost non-stop about the movies and that they were very thankful that the cinema tokens were very cheap. They said that they couldn¡¯t afford to watch every day the cinema was open like some of the richer families were doing, they had enough funds to watch the movies once and it had become a family bi-weekly tradition.

    Torun, Blake, and Andrea looked so vibrant while talking about the films they had seen. Their eyes were shining while talking about how magical the movies were and were glad that they had encountered something like them in their lifetime.

    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that the movies will only be available on the ship and when we land on the Gale Continent, they will be gone,¡± Andrea said and she looked really worried which made Anton smile.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. I¡¯ve heard that the owners of the cinema will build one in New Drennor but the tokens or tickets would probably cost a lot more,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°It¡¯s expected. The owners knew that the passengers didn¡¯t have income on the ship and priced their entrance token appropriately,¡± Torun said and Anton remembered the three young people were children of merchants and they were from Ruandelle which was called a merchant city.

    ¡°One good news though, the owners of the cinema will hold a cosplay event after the third movie in the movie trilogy has ended,¡± Anton told the young people.

    It was a decision that he suddenly came to since it would allow them to spread the fame of the cinema to every passenger, not that they needed to do something like that to spread their fame but a cosplay party was an exciting event in Anton¡¯s opinion.

    ¡°What¡¯s a Cosplay?¡± Blake asked while Torun and Andrea listened expectantly.

    ¡°A Cosplay means that the invited people or the ones who purchased the entrance fee need to wear costumes that would look like one of the characters from the three films. You can wear beautiful and elegant costumes and fake long ears that will make you look like Legolas, Galadriel, Elrond, or Arwen or you could wear hideous masks that will make you look like a Uruk-hai,¡± Anton told the three people.

 Chapter 331

    Anton did not know how the citizens of this world or the passengers of the ship would respond to the idea of a Cosplay party but based on how excited the three young people were, the idea of donning costumes that would resemble one''s favorite character in a movie was probably going to be accepted even celebrated by new fans of the films.

    The main reason why Anton doubted that the Cosplay event would be welcomed was the clothing of the characters from The Lord of The Rings franchise was almost similar to the clothing that people in this world usually wear, give, or take some embellishments.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too highly excited since the Cosplay event is going to be a long way off. It will be after the third film has been shown in the cinema,¡± Anton reminded the three young people.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait! I will go as Legolas!,¡± Torun said.

    ¡°No! I want to be Legolas!¡± Blake argued.

    ¡°How can you go as Legolas?! Your hair is dark!¡± Torun argued back.

    ¡°I can dye my hair and besides, you will still need to change your hair as well since Legolas has long hair!¡±

    While the two young friends bickered Andrea said softly that she would wear an Arwen costume.

    Anton had to admit that when his idea of the Cosplay party was announced, there was a big chance that a lot of people would wear elven cosplay since the elves portrayed by the films were truly elegant and ethereal and one would be tempted to become like one, at least for one night.

    ¡°I recommend that you wait until The Two Towers and Return of The King are shown before deciding which costumes to wear since there will be more characters in the upcoming films,¡± Anders told the two best friends.

    ¡°I know that the title of the second movie is The Two Towers since I¡¯ve seen it on the screen outside the cinema. The one that was showing what people call ¡°The Trailers¡±. Do you mean the third movie is titled ¡°The Return of the King? Who¡¯s the king who will be returning?¡± Torun asked excitedly.

    ¡°How do you know all of this?¡± Blake asked.

    Anton did not want to be thought of as deceitful or a schemer so he admitted to the truth, which wasn¡¯t something that he had to hide anyway.

    ¡°My family owns the cinema and I¡¯ve seen all the films.¡±

    Torun gaped at him while Blake and Andrea both said ¡°Wow¡±.

    The next thing that happened was somewhat expected. The three young people had forgotten everything like Anton being a mage or a wealthy person due to the fact that his family owned the cinema that produced the films and kept on pestering him about the movies that they had seen. They asked about the background story of the past movies and how movies were made.

    Anton knew that befriending people his age was difficult due to him being an archmage so he was patient with Torun, Blake, and Andrea and told them some of the background stories of the past movies that they had seen in the cinema but he was persistent in telling them that he and his family was not supposed to provide any spoilers and he even had to explain what a spoiler was.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    After about thirty minutes of talking, it probably came to Torun that they had been disrespectful to Anton and he immediately apologized. Blake and Andrea were surprised when they heard Torun apologizing and it finally came to them that they had been behaving utterly free toward Anton.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too respectful to me since I¡¯m probably younger than you all are,¡± Anton told them.

    ¡°How old are you?¡± Andrea asked and Anton told them that he was only seventeen years old.

    ¡°Well, you are right, we¡¯re all nineteen years old so we¡¯re two years older than you,¡± Torun said.

    They kept talking for a while about different topics but the three kept going back to the movies. Soon twilight arrived and Anton had to tell the three young men that he would have to return to the family room.

    The three offered to go with him but when they learned that he was staying in one of the prestigious suites, they gaped at him anew and Anton could see in their faces that they were recalibrating what they thought of his family¡¯s wealth.

    It was funny to watch since if truth be known, their family¡¯s wealth was not that extravagant, at least compared to the truly wealthy passengers who live in New Drennor like Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip.

    Considering the situation in Rendindura, more than likely every Rendindura family wasn¡¯t that well off but in Anton¡¯s family¡¯s case, the truly wealthy people on the ship already considered them wealthy as well since the potential of the cinema to earn countless wealth was extraordinary.

    Torun provided several locations aside from the deck where the three of them could be found so Anton could head there if he wanted to find them. There were different places like taverns, dance halls, their favorite cafes and restaurants, and theaters that showed actual live plays but were very affordable even compared to cinema which had already a very cheap entrance fee.

    They asked where his usual hangout area was as well but Anton could see that they were dreading his answer since they probably thought that those locations would be exclusive to the wealthy passengers. He answered them that he didn¡¯t go out much since he had to practice magic during the major part of the day and would only be free after four in the afternoon which he usually spends with his family.

    Anton then informed the three that if he wanted to talk to them, he would send a summoned animal to them with a letter. The three were startled when they heard that and Anton almost laughed out loud since they probably forgot that he was a mage.

    Anton noticed that a lot of people were leaving the deck as well since soon, it would be dark enough that people would probably not see anything in the ocean anymore.

    While walking home to the family suite, Anton had to admit that encountering Torun, Blake, and Andrea was a pleasant interlude since they were of the same age as him and from average families. They were different from Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip since the four wealthy nobles exude a jaded lazy temperament that was common among the very rich and they were also in their late twenties as well while the Torun, Blake, and Andrea were the same age as him and from almost the same walk of life as Anton. Even before he transmigrated, Anton, Anthony back then, was only twenty-three. He was also a common worker steeped in poverty and when he transmigrated, he was the son of a farmer and that meant that the three young people from Ruandelle were higher stationed than he was.

    Anton was too new in having a high station to have the behavior of the wealthy and powerful so he found that he was comfortable with Torun, Blake, and Andrea. He decided that he would make an effort to continue his friendship with the three young people since they were basically just focused on ordinary mundane things that made their lives a bit exciting which was a far cry from how his four rich friends from New Drennor were which was understandable since they were from rich families and they had responsibilities.

 Chapter 332

    During one of the conversations that Anton had with Phillip, Walter, Antonia, and Lucia, they told him that in their formative years, they had to work hard to make sure that the family wouldn¡¯t discard them for someone more talented who could advance their family¡¯s wealth since they had no mage powers and couldn¡¯t contribute to the family using magic.

    There was even a funny moment when they noticed Anton¡¯s horrified look on the word ¡°discard¡± and when his four friends from New Drennor asked what he was concerned about, he blatantly asked how many children had been killed who were found not useful.

    The four laughed and clarified some things. When they said that those who weren¡¯t talented would be discarded, they meant that they wouldn¡¯t be in leadership positions but would be delegated as mediocre family members, even if the children were direct heirs of the main family members.

    ¡°Of course, we will not kill our children if they are less talented! It just meant that positions would be rearranged! How barbaric do you think we are?!¡± Lucia exclaimed.

    ¡°You did use the term ¡°Discard¡±, so I thought you meant¡­that!¡± Anton exclaimed back.

    The four then told Anton that, usually around their early twenties to their late twenties, they would be given the freedom to indulge in life while finding suitable mates. That¡¯s the main reason why the four were traveling to Rendindura, to see the world per se since they had been under restriction for most of their lives.

    Even though there were huge advantages to being born as part of the nobility or at least the very rich, Anton was secretly glad that he had transmigrated as the son of a farmer. At least Anders wasn¡¯t expecting him to carry on with the family name since they didn¡¯t have a family name being farmers.

    Since now that they were nobles due to the reward Zalnothel had given to Anton and the fact that he had the capability to earn a huge amount of wealth for the family, he knew that if the world remained peaceful enough, there was a good chance that their family would be just like Phillip¡¯s or Walter¡¯s, or the two others in the future.

    Anton did have an inkling that there was a much bigger chance that it wouldn¡¯t come to that since he felt that during the next few years, the world would be very chaotic and all these peaceful times that they experiencing were the calm before a huge storm. Even though he had no prophetic talents, he still felt that primal urging that he should become strong as soon as possible since that was the only way he and his family would be able to survive in the coming years even though Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip kept assuring him that New Drennor and the whole Gale Continent for that matter was peaceful enough.

    But Anton was wary about that since that was what he and his family thought about Zalnothel when they planned to settle there. Even his sister, young as she was, did not have any more delusions that they would be able to find a peaceful place where they could settle. She was now very focused on her magic, making sure that she had the power to protect herself and the family.

    Everyone in the family was the same, even the twins, Belinda, and Ramona, and Nemina¡¯s daughter, Lunelle. Anton thought that the only one who wasn¡¯t truly aware or did not care enough was Devon but he guessed that most young mercenaries would be the same, taking the world as it was one day at a time.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Anton then remembered the female bodyguards they hired to protect the girls. He felt that he was being snobbish for not even knowing their names so he vowed to himself that he would talk to them more.

    When he arrived at the suite, no one was there and Anton assumed that everyone was in the Dining Hall eating dinner. He decided to not go there since he assumed that they would be done soon so he retrieved one of the ready-made dishes from his inventory and ate dinner alone inside the family suite.

    While Anton was eating, he was watching short video clips on the most famous short video clip platform on Earth. He still finds it weird that he was updated on the news, entertainment, politics, and the state of the world of Earth because of the said platform but honestly, some of the clips were truly funny and the singers and actors were talented.

    By the time he finished eating dinner, the whole family arrived including his four friends from New Drennor. His father admitted to him when they were conversing with each other that he was a bit surprised that the four kept sticking to their family but Anton just explained to his father that they were just addicted to the television shows which was understandable since it was a brand new source of entertainment for the bored rich friends of his.

    ¡°Anton! Where did you go?¡± Anna asked when they saw him at the table.

    ¡°I went to a deck frequented by regular passengers. It was huge and I met some young people my age. They were merchant kids,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Why, are we not enough for you,¡± Walter jokingly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen,¡± Anton answered with a straight face.

    Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip gaped at him and after a few seconds, everyone laughed.

    ¡°What?! Why is everyone laughing?¡± Anna asked, which made everyone laugh harder.

    Lunelle took pity on Anna.

    ¡°Your brother just said that his friends were too old,¡± Lunelle whispered to Anton¡¯s sister which everyone heard anyway and made everyone laugh more.

    Antonia and Lucia snorted while Walter and Phillip just looked at Anton wryly. Anton changed the subject by asking if they wanted to watch television shows and as expected everyone did, even Selena who started watching without knowing anything since she started watching in the middle of the season. Apparently, Anders had been telling Selena what happened in the previous episodes.

    ¡°By the way, I told my new friends that we will conduct a Cosplay party after we¡¯ve shown the third movie in the Lord of the Rings franchise,¡± Anton suddenly announced.

    Anders then asked what a Cosplay was and he briefly explained it. Everyone was still confused so he showed some videos about cosplay conventions and parties since he didn¡¯t want to bother explaining the event again.

    ¡°So it¡¯s a masque ball but the costume will be based on the characters in the three Lord of the Rings films. Based on the video we¡¯ve seen, there¡¯s no rule in having the same costume as anyone else, and there will be competition on who has the best costumes?¡± Antonia summarized the event.

    ¡°Basically. We have to make sure that the prices for the winners will be attractive enough so that our customers will be enticed to purchase our tickets to the Cosplay event.¡±

    Thankfully, it appears that the event highly interested Antonia and Lucia and they wanted to be the ones in charge of holding the event and even the prices for the winners of the best in costume competition.

    They said that it was thanks to all the television shows that their family allowed them to see. The group then began an impromptu meeting about the Cosplay event and everyone got involved. That meant that for that night, the television show viewing was canceled to the irritation of some of them like Anna and Lunelle who were commandeered by her mother to be the secretary and take notes of the points that were going to be discussed.

    Unfortunately for Anton, he had to stay since he had to answer if anyone had questions about Cosplay and since he was the one who initiated the event, he couldn¡¯t even complain.

 Chapter 333

    Walter told Anton, while everyone was talking about the Cosplay party that they would hold once The Return of the King film from the Lord of the Rings was shown to their customers, that a masque ball was a common enough event on the ship, but usually, the only ones who would attend were the rich folks, and at most, they would wear elaborate masks.

    Walter then said that usually, the attendees would show off using their dresses and their masks but that was it. What interested Antonia and Lucia was that the attendees could wear whatever costumes they wanted this time, beautiful or hideous, as long as they came from one of the characters from the three movies from The Lord of The Rings trilogy.

    ¡°Those who will purchase the tickets must be given enough time to create their costumes so I suggest that the Cosplay party should be held at least a week after the two weeks that the last movie was shown,¡± Lucia suggested.

    Antonia, Lucia, Anders, and Nemina talked about when the event would be held and they finally agreed with what Lucia suggested on when the event would be held.

    ¡°You mentioned that the Cosplay Con¡­something, what did you call it again? The event lasted for more than one night is that right? Can you tell us more about what kind of activities that usually happen during the party?¡± Antonia asked.

    ¡°They call it Cosplay Convention and it usually lasts the whole day for several days. The events that happened during the convention from what I saw were there would be stalls that people would set up decorated to represent the shows or movies they were following and would sell products based on which movie or television shows they were basing their products from. The items consisted of dolls that looked like the characters from the said movies, miniature houses, castles, carriages, animals, and more based on the movies and shows, clothing that contained the images of the characters from the television shows or movies as well as food and snacks that came from the inside the shows they were representing. There were also what they call ¡°Photoshoots¡± wherein the attendees took images of the people who wore the best costumes using some sort of image recording device based on technology. You could copy those activities and add whatever you wanted,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°This is an event worthy to be the highlight of the year! Lucia and I will start working on the details starting tomorrow! We¡¯ll need to hire a lot of people to start the decorations and the costumes that we¡¯ll wear!¡± Antonia kept exclaiming and Anton could see that both she and Lucia were truly excited about planning the event.

    ¡°Now since you know the basics of the Cosplay Convention, you should be able to handle it on your own and if you have more questions about it I suggest you think of the solution yourself since this is the first time this convention will occur in this world and anything you will do will be credited to you,¡± Anton said while trying to sound righteous but everyone looked wryly at him since it was obvious that he was just passing on the responsibility of joining the planning committee for the convention.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Fine we¡¯ll handle it so you don¡¯t need to worry,¡± Lucia told Anton.

    He felt a bit ashamed and he made some excuses that he was in the critical junction of his magical training and would not be able to concentrate on anything else.

    Anders told him that they would be fine in planning the event and Anton just needed to wear a costume and attend the event once the date arrived. He stared at his father imploringly and Anders finally relented, sighed, and told him that he would also make his costume. Anton told his father that he didn¡¯t care what it was as long as it wasn¡¯t elaborate enough that he would need several hours of preparation just to wear the costume.

    His father assured him that he would take care of it. Anton was finally freed from the meeting which looked like would continue for quite some time, probably until the wee hours of the morning.

    Anton then noticed that Anna, Ramona, and Belinda were not there anymore and were in their rooms resting. Unfortunately, for Lunelle and Colin, they had to stay and do some secretarial work for his father, Nemina, Lucas, Antonia, and Lucia.

    Walter and Phillip said their goodbyes and said they would leave to rest and Anton didn¡¯t know where Devon was. The female bodyguards were not there as well and were probably resting in their rooms as well.

    He did notice that there were movements in his mana bar and that meant that the mages in his party system were still practicing their magic in their rooms since he never turned off his auras while he was inside the suite.

    Anton entered his room and took a shower. After that, he planned to enter his Diablo II system but found that he was mentally exhausted so he decided to go to sleep immediately.

    He woke up early the next day but Anton still felt sleepy so he decided to continue sleeping. The next time he woke up, he saw in his system that it was already nine in the morning and was thankful that no one disturbed his sleep.

    More than likely, his father checked on him and saw that he was still asleep since he never locked his door anyway so anyone could enter it, and decided to let him be.

    He decided to never lock his bedroom door since anything could happen and it would be a good idea for his family to have access to him anytime.

    Since it was late, Anton ate one of the dishes from his inventory as his breakfast and proceeded to enter his Diablo II system to continue leveling up his Paladin character.

    He didn¡¯t lie to Antonia when he said that he wanted to concentrate on his magic since he truly wanted to level up his Paladin as soon as possible since he wanted to make sure that his Paladin skills would be powerful. He knew how useful the support spells of the Paladin could be.

    Anton did have a question regarding his aura. Why did his system say that his aura would only cover that was anyone in his party system? He remembered in the game that a mercenary could cover all of the summoned skeletons of a Necromancer. Was it because the skeletons were a part of the Necromancer and not a party member? Probably that was it and the only thing he could do was abide by the rule set by his Diablo II system however different it may be from the actual game since he had no choice anyway.

    When lunchtime arrived, Anton didn¡¯t even leave his room and ate one of the dishes stored in his inventory, and continued leveling up. He didn¡¯t even do some of the other things that he was supposed to do like practice his spell casting, item enchantments, and his voice and guitar playing.

    Anton¡¯s Paladin did reach level sixty so he was happy about that. He planned to farm some gear the next day since he felt that his Paladin could use some upgrade on his items but he wouldn¡¯t focus too much on it since the best level he could start farm gear was when his character reached the upper eighties and early nineties.

 Chapter 334

    Anton went outside his room and saw that Anna, Lunelle, Belinda, Ramona, and Frederick were still busy with their magic which was a simple process. They just memorized spells and then cast them onto the mana power bank to expel them from their spell slots in their mind so they could memorize them again, then rinse and repeat.

    Doing so many times meant that a mage was exercising their mind allowing it to expand so it could hold more spells. Then when they reached the required number of spells they could memorize within their level, they would somehow instinctively know that they should be able to start memorizing a spell that was categorized as the next rank and once they were successful, that meant that their mage level increased as well.

    According to Frederick, practicing magic like memorizing spells and expelling them was limited because of the length of time a low-level mage could memorize a spell. One advantage of a truly talented wizard was that he or she would be able to memorize spells in a shorter amount of time.

    That meant that because of Anton¡¯s Meditation Aura or possibly the combination of the Prayer, Meditation, and Vigor Auras, the mages in his party system affected by the aura were able to memorize spells at an astonishingly amount of time even beyond what a talented mage could do.

    That was the main reason that everyone was focused on practicing their magic since they could truly feel their mind expanding because of the magely exercise they were doing. It¡¯s as if they were leveling up easily and faster and any gamer knew that if something like that happened, they would be motivated to continue playing, at least at the start.

    The mages in the family were highly motivated because they had all experienced the horror of the Undead Coalition and no one wanted to feel powerless while being chased by monsters. At least if they had wizardly power, they could fight back.

    When everyone saw Anton exit his room, the mages stopped.

    ¡°Where are Father and the others? And Antonia and the others?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°They were still meeting regarding your Cosplay Convention event. Apparently, there are so many details that need to be handled like the venue, the pricing, the decorations, and the activities once the convention started and they are now hiring people to do most of the required jobs.  They are also busy creating a paper advertisement for the event,¡± Frederick answered.

    ¡°We girls are also planning to create our costume after our practice today which was now. First, we will look around at the shops so we can browse for the things that we might need to create our costumes,¡± Lunelle said.

    ¡°I want to be Arwen!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve seen all three movies, you know the characters already but I recommend that you choose someone else since Arwen would probably be chosen by a lot of girls because of her grace and beauty. Galdariel¡¯s the same,¡± Anton said to his sister.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡°Arwen is so pretty! I want to copy the way she moves! It was slow and elegant like a true princess. I also want to copy the way she speaks. It was low, soft and the pace is slow as well but one can¡¯t help but wait for all the things she wants to say,¡± Anna commented.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re happy since the main purpose of the event was to have fun.¡±

    Since everyone was busy, Anton decided to go outside to roam around. The first place that he went to was the deck where he met Torun, Blake, and Andrea. He preferred that location compared to the deck exclusive to the passengers that rented the suites since he felt that most people there were snobs.

    When he arrived at the said deck, he saw his three new friends from Ruandelle there but they were talking to a group of four men. It appeared that some conflicts were happening and the other people surrounding them looked equally annoyed but at least there wasn¡¯t any fear but mostly amused.

    Anton went near them to listen to their quarrel but then after a few minutes, he discovered that they were not really enemies but just loudly quarreling about some instances from the movie. When Andrea noticed him, she informed her brother and Torun about his presence.

    ¡°Anton is here and he is the son of the owner of the cinema. He can solve our dispute!¡± Torun said.

    ¡°Soren¡¯s group said that the king in the Return of the King will be Legolas but we argued that it¡¯s going to be Aragorn since the movie hinted that he was the king,¡± Blake told Anton.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry guys, I told you I¡¯m not allowed to say any spoilers,¡± Anton apologized.

    ¡°What is a spoiler?¡± The young man who was pointed at by Torun as someone named Soren said.

    It was Andrea who explained what a spoiler was based on Anton¡¯s explanation the day before.

    ¡°Is your family really the ones who owned the cinema?¡± Soren said.

    ¡°Well, not the cinema since it''s owned by the ship but the magic item that shows the movies,¡± Anton answered.

    Anton saw that Soren was about to introduce himself and his group of friends but he noticed a movement in the ocean. When he took a closer look it was a group of pink dolphins following a group of gigantic blue whales.

    He wondered if they were the ones he met before, the ones who gifted him the pearl of the ocean. That magic item was highly useful since it allowed him to have a truly restful sleep and he felt that it helped him a lot in relaxing his mind making sure that he was full of energy to tackle the activities that he was doing the next day. As a matter of fact, it was so useful that everyone who tried it, mainly Anna and Lunelle since they were in the same room, his father and Frederick since they were also in the same room before and Frederick wanted to check the effect of the item, coveted the pearl since according to Frederick, the pearl¡¯s effect on mages was huge as well.

    Anton asked Frederick if there was a spell that had the same effect as the pearl and the mage admitted that he didn¡¯t know any spell that had the same benefit one could get from the pearl but then again, he was a low-level mage and only knew a limited number of spells.

    He wanted to provide the dolphins and whales more mana water and maybe they would gift him another pearl.

    Anton used his Telekinesis spell and flew outside the deck but to others in the deck, it might seem like he suddenly jumped off. The people who saw him screamed but he ignored them but he knew that there would be trouble later once he was done with his business with the pink dolphins and the blue whales.

    He briefly looked at Torun and the others and they looked frightened and worried so he gestured at them to say that he was alright. Anton then felt some sort of magic trying to hold him and it was likely the work of a mage who was guarding the deck, the one Torun said was assigned to the place to catch anyone who jumped off.

    He did feel that the magic felt impersonal, like there was no mind behind so more than likely it was the work of some sort of magic item or runes.

 Chapter 335

    Anton flew towards the pink dolphin, which was following the blue whales, but he looked back on the deck and saw someone wearing mage¡¯s robes, together with Torun and the others looking at him sternly. He had an inkling that the mage was someone¡¯s higher-up who was called regarding his flying off the deck.

    He briefly wondered what kind of scolding or even punishment he would receive since this was the second time he had done something like this but Anton had no choice since the Pearl of The Ocean was truly valuable.

    Anton prepared himself to let go of one or more of his enchanted items as a bribe or fine for what he did.

    When he reached the dolphins and the whales, it seemed like they were the group that he encountered before since their behavior indicated that they recognized him. All of them joyfully swam around him and Anton joined them in the ocean. The whales bellowed at him while the dolphins were squeaking.

    Anton knew what they wanted so he immediately cast Frozen Orb but controlled the mana structure enough to turn the spell into water. He knew that what the animals truly liked was the mana in the water that came from his spells and since the spell, Frozen Orb was one of the highest spells of the Sorcerer, the mana contained in the water from the said spell was plentiful.

    He prepared himself to spend several hours with them but truthfully, Anton enjoyed playing with the sea animals. He felt like he had become a creature of the ocean and was glad that his Telekinesis spell allowed him to move freely in the ocean easily. When he returned to the ship Anton would search for a water-breathing spell that he could memorize so he could breathe underwater.

    While playing with the dolphins and the whales, Anton made sure that the Amelia was always in his sight. It wouldn¡¯t be funny if he suddenly got lost in the middle of the ocean.

    Anton thought that more than likely, what the dolphins and the whales truly liked about him was the mana water that he was giving them was inexhaustible. After an hour of playing, it seemed like all of the animals were satisfied with the amount of mana water he gave them.

    He then hugged the dolphins and the whales and said his goodbyes to them individually since he truly liked them and even if they didn¡¯t give them anything, Anton enjoyed playing with them. It was one of the joyful moments in his life that showed that this world was truly a magical one.

    Anton was about to fly off back to the ship when one of the dolphins approached with his expected gift in its mouth. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a shell, meaning it wasn¡¯t the pearl of the ocean but it looked like some sort of pink coral shaped like a comb. It was very pretty so he hugged and kissed the dolphin who gave him the gift and put the coral comb in his inventory.

    The pink dolphins and the blue whales said their goodbye to him when he was high up in the sky by them jumping from the ocean causing huge splashes and he laughed joyfully.

    The sun was about to set and the ocean looked like it was on fire when Anton reached the deck where he flew off. Torun, Blake, and Andrea were still there together with the four young men who were talking to them earlier as well as the mage who was still looking sternly at him.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re so powerful! You just flew off to the dolphins and whales just to play with them!¡± Andrea exclaimed when the three reached him.

    All of the boys were looking at him in awe then the mage approached Anton.

    ¡°Sir Sunder, I would like to speak to you in my office please.¡±

    Anton followed the mage while looking at his new friends wryly and them looking back at him smilingly. Everyone knew that the worst thing that he would receive was probably just scolding.

    They arrived at an office and the mage invited Anton to take a seat. Then the mage who looked like a middle-aged man in his forties proceeded to tell him the consequences of his actions and that he damaged the rune that protected the passengers from falling off the ocean when Anton forcefully pushed through the magic that was supposed to hold a jumper from the deck, bringing them back to the ship.

    Anton apologized profusely and the mage only relented when he gave two enchanted items as compensation. One was the one that produced water and the other was the enchanted stove. Based on the middle-aged mage''s expression while looking at the two items when he demonstrated how one could use them and how to recharge them, there was a good chance that the items would be dismantled and studied the moment he left. He had expected something like that if the recipient of his enchanted items were mages.

    As far as he knew, no one had been able to copy his enchanted items but even if somebody did, they would hardly report it to him. Besides, Frederick mentioned that his items could be imitated using the standard enchantment process of this world but since Anton focused on lifestyle enchantments, item enchanters tend to focus more on offensive and defensive magic, a high-level enchanters would hardly focus on his kind of items.

    When Anton left the official mage¡¯s office, he decided to return to the suite since when he checked the time, it was already seven in the evening. When he arrived there, everyone was still inside but was about to go to the dining hall to eat so he joined everyone.

    The dinner menu was delicious and the entertainment was one of the singers from the Patron Bar according to Lucia so their dinner that night was both satisfying and relaxing due to the music.

    After dinner, everyone returned to the suite including his four rich friends from New Drennor.

    ¡°We worked the whole day for the Cosplay Event and it garnered a lot of interest from the very rich on the ship. The elitist among them did complain when they heard that the event was open to anyone who would purchase the ticket but the fact that it was affordable meant that a lot of people would attend, took away the exclusivity of the party,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°I had to explain to some of my snob friends that they would enjoy the party more if there were more people since everyone would be in costume that came from the movies anyway and the fact that we will offer a high price on the winners of the costume contest meant that people would probably try hard to make sure that their costumes would be the best,¡± Lucia added.

    ¡°Not only that, we copied the video that you¡¯ve shown us about the Cosplay Event and created different categories for the prices like best female costume, best male costume, best children costume, best hero costume, best villain costume, and best overall costume. We might add some more categories to make sure that a lot of people will receive prices. We¡¯re still in the process of choosing the rules for the costumes and one of them was to make sure that those who already one in one category will not be qualified to win in others except the overall costume category, but we¡¯re still not done in setting the rules of the competition,¡± Nemina said.

    It looked to Anton that everyone was enjoying the process of holding the event, which was the most important thing. To have fun since there were very few moments that everyone had fun nowadays.

 Chapter 336

    During a lull in conversation, Anton told everyone about him playing with the dolphins and the whales again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if someone will inform you, Father, and might cause trouble but I handled it with the officer in charge of the location already so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    When his father asked how he handled it, Anton told Anders that he gave a couple of enchanted items that he created to the wizard in charge and it seemed like the mage was happy with them.

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re probably after a pearl of the ocean why you did do it so did the cute animals give you one?¡± Anna asked.

    Anton was startled by Anna¡¯s insight. Despite looking like a silly blonde girl, he shouldn¡¯t underestimate her sister since mages tend to be very intelligent and Anna was beginning to become an accomplished mage.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t give me a pearl of the ocean but gave me a comb made out of pink coral. It¡¯s very beautiful and I studied it already. If you wear it on your hair, it will increase your magical energy by a lot and when used on somebody¡¯s head, it will melt the stress and worries that you¡¯ve been feeling and allow you to rest or sleep calmly,¡± Anton showed everyone the comb made by nature naturally that was created out of pink coral.

    Anton knew what the comb did since when he checked his inventory while the comb was in there and it had a description that said plus one hundred to mana when worn and using on the head would allow the recipient¡¯s worries and stress to drain allowing him a restful nap or sleep.

    He had the inkling that the effect would be similar to the pearl of the ocean.

    ¡°Can I try it?¡± Anna asked and Anton gave the comb to her sister.

    Anna immediately started combing her hair with the coral comb and after a few seconds, everyone could see that she shivered.

    ¡°I feel it. It¡¯s making me so relaxed and it''s making me want to sleep. I assume one will have to leave it to one¡¯s hair to wear it?¡± Anna then twisted her hair in some sort of hairstyle and kept the style in place using the comb.

    ¡°Even though my spell slots are full, I feel that I can memorize more spells! The comb does increase my energy by a lot!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°You can have it then since I don¡¯t need it but please take care of it. It¡¯s a gift from my ocean friends,¡± Anton said to his sister while smiling.

    All of the girls then went to Anna to borrow the comb to try it and soon the ladies were passing the comb to each other after trying it out for a minute or so.

    ¡°Can it only be used by women?¡± Walter curiously asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so but since it looked like a pretty accessory when worn in the hair, the accessory tends to be worn by women instead of men. I guess that if a man is comfortable enough in his masculinity to wear a pretty accessory in his hair then they can do so but the other use should also work just fine,¡± Anton answered.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Walter then went to where the girls were passing around the comb and borrowed it so he could check if it would work on him. Since everyone was curious, they gave the comb to Walter and after using it for a minute or so, Walter exclaimed that he could feel himself relaxing and wanting to go to sleep. He also mentioned that it was not like he was being hypnotized but felt more like he was getting a brain massage if something like that was possible.

    ¡°Since the comb is working for everyone we should all use it every night before we sleep since I think that it has a positive effect on mages,¡± Lunelle said.

    Everyone agreed with her since it only took a minute or two for the comb to work. Then they saw Walter putting the comb in his hair as an accessory.

    ¡°Hey, I feel something different. It feels like there is something in me that suddenly grew. It feels peculiar,¡± Walter said contemplatively.

    After a couple of minutes of introspection, while everyone was inspecting Walter, Anton gasped.

    ¡°The comb was supposed to add a huge amount of energy stats to a mage making them able to memorize and cast more spells but what will happen if a regular person wears the comb? It will add a stat that was previously non-existent and will allow that person to memorize spells, I think. Once he memorized a spell, he should be able to cast it but the problem is, what will happen if he memorize the spell already and then he removes the comb?¡± Anton said to everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that once a regular person memorized a spell due to that comb, even if you don¡¯t wear it anymore the spell will remain to allow that person to remain a mage, and just like any other mage, he or she will only need to exercise his mind to grow the power but I¡¯m guessing that the wizardly talent will be very small,¡± Frederick whispered.

    Everyone gasped because if it were true it would basically defy the normal workings of how a mage was found. That any regular people could become a mage and Anton said it to everyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that there are other magic items in existence that will allow a person to add the energy stats to their body and if there were, why didn¡¯t we hear anyone becoming a mage even though he was considered a regular person before,¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Actually, there had always been rumors of regular people who were detected to have no magely powers becoming mages and it was almost always because of an item!¡± Antonia exclaimed.

    ¡°Not only that, those who wore those items will need to consciously memorize a spell while wearing them and they would have to spend hours, even days just to memorize a cantrip so that meant that if a person didn¡¯t know, they wouldn¡¯t try it out,¡± Frederick added.

    ¡°This must be a core wizardly secret and we discovered it accidentally!¡± Phillip whispered excitedly but everyone heard him.

    ¡°I want to try it out! I want to become a wizard!¡± Walter suddenly said.

    ¡°Walter, please remember that all of this talk is just our supposition and we don¡¯t know how dangerous it could be for you,¡± Anton warned the man.

    ¡°Nevertheless, I still want to try it. Can I try it out?¡± Walter begged and based on Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip¡¯s expressions, they perfectly understood that desire.

    Anton remembered what Frederick had told him before that the desire to become a mage consumed him even though the one who tested him said that he had very little talent in magecraft. He could understand as well since there was no other feeling compared to the mana circling in your body allowing you to bend the fabric of the universe in your hands.

    ¡°If you want to try it, you have to borrow the comb from my sister since it¡¯s hers now and it¡¯ll be her decision. I will also try my best to make sure that you will be safe but I want to reiterate, I will not give my guarantee that you will be safe,¡± Anton told Walter.

    ¡°I¡¯ll lend you my coral comb so you can practice with us during the day,¡± Anna said to Walter.

    ¡°It might be a good idea for you to lend the comb for a long time until he memorizes a simple cantrip. I recommend that you memorize the cantrip Light since it¡¯s a very small spell,¡± Frederick said.

 Chapter 337

    Anton knew that having the pink coral comb was a huge advantage for his family but he had to remind everyone to keep it a secret because the item could be a reason for the family to be targeted.

    After the in-depth conversation about what everyone did to make sure that the family''s Cosplay event would be held successfully and then the talk about the pink coral comb, it was too late for them to watch television shows, so they decided to rest.

    Everyone involved in planning for the Cosplay event informed Anton that the meetings and planning of the event would continue the next day and for several days after that. So in the next few days, everyone would probably be too busy to watch movies or television shows.

    Since Anton didn¡¯t turn off his auras even during the night, the mages in the family found out that they could still practice their magery well into the night.  Anton didn¡¯t stop anyone but he did remind them that it was important to have a proper sleep long enough to make sure that their mind was recharged and with the pink coral comb, no one was worried that they wouldn¡¯t get enough sleep.

    The next day after breakfast, Walter suggested that they should move into a larger suite since he was planning to remain in the family to continue conducting their experiment to check if a regular person using the pink coral comb as an accessory could become a mage.

    Anders agreed since it was simple enough for them to move since they could just put their things in the spatial items and they were good to go so after about an hour, the family moved to one of the largest available suites that consisted of twelve rooms and Walter handled the added payment.  Apparently, when they were informed back in the Rendindura that the largest suite was the one consisting of ten rooms, they were actually suites bigger than that but they were only available to the most important guests of the ship.

    Anton had to admit that the twelve-room suite was highly luxurious compared to the suite that they were previously staying. Now there would be probably more than one room that would remain empty but Anton didn¡¯t bother himself with the rooms as long as he had one by himself. Besides, they all looked the same.

    The advantage of a bigger suite was apparent since the dinner table was large enough for everyone and there was room enough that the mini theater they were planning to set up inside the suite would be big enough that it wouldn¡¯t feel cramped compared to the previous suite.

    Anton still couldn¡¯t fathom how truly large the Amelia was and since he had never been to a cruise line back on Earth, he had nothing to compare it to. According to Frederick, Anton hadn¡¯t even explored a third of the ship yet.

    The moving to the new suite and setting up the mini theater that doubled as their magic classroom took at least three hours so it was around eleven in the afternoon before everyone could practice their magic.

    Unfortunately for Frederick, he was the one who was going to be teaching Walter the basics of magic and Anton could see that the mage was a bit irritated at that because all of the mages¡¯ time was now very precious due to them having the ability to progress extremely fast because of Anton¡¯s auras.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Anton could actually see Frederick¡¯s mild irritation and Walter could as well but when the rich noble offered to pay for the teaching, it made Frederick smile since a mage needed a lot of coins for their resources to progress.

    In the meantime, Anton entered his Diablo II system to level up his character because he had an inkling that there would be trouble soon since everyone on the ship did inform them that trouble usually happens once or twice a week some mild and some were truly dangerous.

    Antonia even informed them that there were instances in the history of the Amelia that they lost almost half of the passengers in a particularly nasty attack decades ago. She did comfort them when she said that it was because the highest mage on the ship back then was just an archmage and now there were Supreme Wizards even an Invincible on the ship.

    Anton didn¡¯t even exit his room when lunchtime arrived and just ate one of the dishes in his inventory and continued leveling up his Paladin. He stopped leveling only when he saw that it was four in the afternoon and practiced his music for an hour to relax. After that, he spent several minutes just mindlessly browsing the internet.

    He checked the comments on the video that he uploaded covering songs and saw that there were several questions about his location since a lot of the viewers saw the movement and concluded that he was somewhere that was moving like a train or a ship. Some asked him where he purchased the elegant robes that he was wearing and some asked if he was cosplaying as some sort of a wizard.

    Anton answered some of the questions but kept them vague enough. Regarding the invitations that he received about collaborations or to become a model or an actor which he thought were just some sort of pranks, he just ignored them. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were true though since being a mage gave a person a mysterious countenance that was highly attractive.  The attractiveness though noticeable wasn¡¯t being thought of prominently by the citizens of this world because when a regular person, who was susceptible to that image, learned that the attractive person in question was a mage, the interest would turn into cautiousness or even fear which was understandable since who would be interested in someone who could turn you into a frog if they get mad at you.

    When Anton went out of his room, he was surprised to see that all the mages including Walter were still focused on their practice.  He had to stop them though since he told everyone that he would be roaming outside to relax. He was surprised to note that everyone was disappointed, even Walter, but he didn¡¯t care and left all the same.

    Anton went to the deck where he met his new friends from Rendindura. He wanted to inform them about the Cosplay Event that will be happening in about a month.  When he arrived on the deck, he saw Torun, Blake, and Amelia. Surprisingly, another group of guys were there as well who were the ones who were debating with Torun¡¯s group about who was the king that would return in the movie Return of The King.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re here! Are you going to jump onto the ocean again?¡± Andrea asked.

    ¡°No, since I don¡¯t see any of the animals nearby.¡±

    ¡°Hey, somebody told us that you¡¯re an archmage! Is that true?¡± Torun asked and when Anton nodded, everyone gaped at him.

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t change the way you talk to me since I¡¯m still younger than you all and the main reason why my power grew so fast is because our family had been hunted by the Undead Coalition for so long and apparently something responded in my that allowed me and my family to escape.¡±

    For the next hour, Anton entertained his new friends with his tale of their family running from Mendi, which was Anton¡¯s country which had already fallen to the undead up until they reached Whaling City and boarded the Amelia.

 Chapter 338

    ¡°So you¡¯ve encountered all types of monsters in your travels! I can imagine that if it were my family we wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive,¡± Torun said to Anton.

    ¡°I think that was also why my bloodline magic got activated and I became powerful so fast. The power of the enemies that we encountered was on a level that if I didn¡¯t have the level of power I had we wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive.¡±

    ¡°When you were telling us about the werewolves, I got goosebumps! That was so scary!¡± Blake commented.

    ¡°The army with liches attacking the village was scary as well!¡± Andrea added.

    ¡°I hope I won¡¯t encounter any vampire like you did! Even when you said that you¡¯ve enslaved three powerful vampires, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to calm down in their presence,¡± Soren, who was with the second group of young people who joined them said. Anton didn¡¯t even know the rest of his group¡¯s name.

    ¡°When we settled in Zalnothel I thought we found our new home since a lot of people assured me that with the number of high-level mages in the city, the place would be safe. There were several Supreme Wizards there and according to rumors since I actually hadn¡¯t encountered him or her, there was also an Invincible Mage. The city was the one who gave me my noble name so that¡¯s why I¡¯m considered a noble now. To tell you the truth though, I grew up as a farmer so I still feel like part of the commoner circle instead of the noble circle. But the mages who granted me my nobility said that it was as it should be since I was also an archmage at a very young age which was almost unheard of,¡± Anton admitted.

    ¡°When I was younger, I wanted so much to become a mage but unfortunately, no one in our family had the talent. Now looking at you having the freedom to move in the air and fighting off armies of undead, I will give everything to become a mage,¡± Torun said and Anton saw that everyone agreed with him.

    Anton would have told everyone that there might be a possibility but the experiment that they were doing with Walter and the Coral Comb wasn¡¯t done yet so they didn¡¯t have any definite conclusion if a temporary mana stat would allow a regular person who had been found to have no mage talent to become a mage but once they confirmed it, he might share it with his friends.

    They spent the rest of the evening talking about everything under the sun and Anton enjoyed it very much and felt himself relaxing. During their conversation, he saw the middle-aged mage who he had to bribe with two of his enchanted items looking at him. Anton didn¡¯t fault the guy since he did made a commotion the day before but it looked like the older mage was reassured when he saw Anton just having conversations with his friends.

    The sun was setting when they stopped conversing to return to where their family was.

    ¡°About the tickets to the Cosplay Event, I think they will be a bit costly since there are going to be a lot of entertaining activities and prices but you all don¡¯t need to worry since I¡¯ll give you entrance tickets once they¡¯re available,¡± Anton told his friends before they separated.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Are you not going to be in trouble if you do something like that?¡± Torun asked Anton concernedly.

    ¡°No since one, there¡¯s only a few of you, two, the idea for the Cosplay Event came from me and, three, I¡¯m a powerful archmage!¡± Anton boasted but his new friends just rolled their eyes which made Anton internally happy since that meant that they were not treating him as someone who should be respected at all costs.

    When he returned to the suite, everyone was preparing to go to the Dining Hall to eat dinner and watch the entertainment that was being provided by the ship. Anton would have liked to decline and focus on his Diablo II system but dinner was one of the times that he would be together with his family.

    He knew that he should take advantage of that since there may come a time when all of them meeting together would be rare. Even Devon, who kept mentioning that he didn¡¯t need to be there, was forced by his father, Lucas, to join them every night.  Besides dinner did not take that long, at most around thirty to forty-five minutes.

    After dinner, Anton¡¯s father and the others told them that they would need to the meeting place they were renting to keep on planning the Cosplay Event. Apparently, Antonia and Lucia truly wanted the event to be the highlight of the year and were going to make sure that it was extremely extravagant. Even Colin and the female bodyguards were commandeered to help them and fortunately for Lunelle, even though her mother told her she needed to become an assistant, Lucas allowed him to join the mages in the family to practice magic in the suite. Unfortunately for Phillip, he was also asked by Antonia and Lucia to help.

    So Anton, Anna, Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, Frederick, and Walter went to the suite to continue their ¡°wizardry¡± while the others went somewhere else. The moment they arrived at the suite, Anton headed directly to his room while the others went to the mini theater set up that doubled as the family¡¯s magic classroom.

    They all decided to practice their magic at that location so that Frederick could answer their questions about magic if they had any since he was the most experienced mage there. Even Anton, who was the most powerful, couldn¡¯t compare to the years of experience as a mage that Frederick had.

    After taking a bath, Anton checked his status in his system and was happy to see that his Paladin¡¯s level had gone up to sixty-five since he had spent several hours earlier leveling up. He decided to just continue leveling up and will only begin to seriously focus on gear hunting once his Paladin reached the lower nineties.

    After leveling up once which took Anton about an hour, he stopped and decided to rest even though it was still early. He decided to browse the Internet for a few minutes before sleeping but to his dismay, when the next time he checked the time, it was already one in the morning so he immediately closed his eyes to force himself to sleep.

    Maybe because of the pearl of the ocean, after a couple of minutes, he was asleep. The next time he opened his eyes, Anton was very happy to see that it was only around six in the morning so after taking a shower and eating food from his inventory, he posted a note on his door that he would be busy and to not disturb him until the round three or four in the afternoon.

    Anton decided to just focus the whole day on just leveling up so after breakfast, he immediately entered his Diablo II system. He was so focused that even though there was an urge for him to stop and do something else, he kept at it and the only interruption was to eat when he was hungry and to use the toilet when he needed to.

 Chapter 339

    Anton was so focused on leveling up his Paladin that after three hours of work, his Paladin reached level sixty-nine. He would have continued, but there was a commotion outside his room and after a few seconds, he heard frantic knockings on his door. He had no choice but to exit his Diablo II system.

    He checked the time briefly using the new watch that he purchased that resembled the watch Edward Elric was using in the anime Full Metal Alchemist and it said that it was eleven in the morning.

    When he opened his bedroom door, Anton saw that it was Frederick who was knocking but he saw that the girls were behind him and they looked a bit scared. Anton also noticed that Walter was speaking to a group of three mages who looked like they were on official business.

    Anton and the others walked to the living room to wait for Walter to finish speaking with the mages and after a few more minutes they were done. He looked at Walter and Frederick questioningly so he could learn what was going on.

    ¡°The Lumbert family who were nobles from New Drennor beside our suite were all murdered last night and were discovered by their sailor guide this morning. The family consisted of seven members together with their five bodyguards. The frightening part was two of the bodyguards were archmages and a part of the Lumbert family,¡± Walter said and the noble looked afraid as well.

    Anyone would be afraid since the fact that the family was murdered even though they were guarded by archmages meant that the murderer or murderers were powerful.

    Everyone gasped when they heard what caused the commotion, even Anton. The girls did hear that somebody was killed but now that they learned more information, the situation became more frightening, and instead of a little bit afraid, all the girls looked really scared.

    Anton wondered if the murder was personal or related to the Undead Coalition.

    ¡°The investigation is ongoing and we will all be questioned later by the mages who are investigating the crime. Right now, the mage group who was investigating the crime is still following all the clues that they found at the scene,¡± Walter continued.

    ¡°Do you have more details about the crime that you can share with us?¡± Anton asked and Walter shook his head.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we inform Father and the others?¡± Anna asked looking worried.

    ¡°Frederick, you go and inform the family. It¡¯s too dangerous to be walking about alone so bring a couple of the spirit wolves with you,¡± Anton summoned all of his Spirit Wolves and commanded two of them to follow, protect, and obey Frederick.

    Anton commanded the remaining three Spirit Wolves to remain. He also summoned the Oak Sage spirit and commanded it to fly above the suite since it had the power to reveal beings that turned themselves invisible.

    All of the girls knew how powerful the Spirit Wolves were and they appeared to take comfort in their presence. He would have summoned the Dire Wolves as well but the summons were huge and would make the place a bit cramp.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I hate this! There¡¯s always something scary or dangerous happening around us!¡± Anna complained.

    ¡°We were told that dangerous situations would occur on the ship at least twice a week and you know how dangerous our world is,¡± Anton told his sister.

    ¡°Yes, but I thought that the dangerous things were like storms or pirates, not mysterious murders even though they were guarded by powerful archmages! What if we¡¯re the ones that were targeted? We only have you and you¡¯re just a single archmage,¡± Anna complained.

    Even though what his sister had said was a little hurtful, Anton knew that it was only fueled by fear so he didn¡¯t mind it.

    ¡°That¡¯s the main reason I wanted you all to practice your magery so you will have the power to protect yourself,¡± Anton told them.

    After saying that, everyone went to the home theatre setup that they were using as their magic classroom and continued memorizing spells and casting them on the mana power banks. After around ten minutes though, Frederick returned with Anton¡¯s father and the rest of the family and friends.

    ¡°Anton, what happened? Frederick told us that a crime was committed in the suite next to us!¡± Anders asked.

    Anton nodded at Walter and his friend was the one who explained everything to the newcomers. It seemed like the ship¡¯s officers didn¡¯t want to cause panic and didn¡¯t tell anyone about the crime.

    While Walter was telling all the details he knew about the crime to his father and the others, Anton thought of what skills could assist him in investigating something like this. Right at that moment, Anton was a little confident in defending his family as long as everyone was within his sight. He had several summons that could assist him in combat and not only that, his Paladin level was high enough that he could choose the auras that he wanted to activate that could help protect everyone.

    He opened his Diablo II system and reviewed agaSin all the spells that the Paladin had access to. Anton could even reset the Paladin¡¯s skills if he needed to.

    Based on his quick review of the Paladin skills, the auras that could be useful were the Cleansing and Defiance Auras. He didn¡¯t need to do a reset since he did put points on all of the auras so Anton could use them in real life if needed.

    After Walter was done telling everyone what he knew about the murder next door, everyone looked worried. Anton then asked to talk to his father alone in his room so Anders followed him.

    ¡°Father, you have to tell everyone that they can¡¯t wander alone anymore. There should always be more than two in a group and they should be protected by at least two Spirit Wolves, two Dire Wolves, or a combination of both. That meant that not everyone should leave the suite which I think would be fine with all the mages in the family since everyone was concentrating on their magic anyway,¡± Anton told his father.

    ¡°Before I followed you here, Selena was very concern about her two friends, Norma and Belue, and asked if we can invite them to live with us. I told her I will need to ask you first,¡± Anders said to his son.

    ¡°You¡¯re the Patriarch of the family, father, it¡¯s your decision. Besides we have surplus rooms anyway. I just want to say that I knew it. You will form a harem sooner or later,¡± Anton joked and that made his father slap his head but it only made Anton laugh harder.

    After their conversation, Anton¡¯s father made his announcement about what he and Anton had decided their actions would be, at least up until the situation was resolved. Anders then asked Colin and Frederick to go out and order lunch for everyone so the two did, followed by two Spirit Wolves.

    While they were waiting for lunch, Antonia kept complaining about the situation, about how it disrupted their plans for the Cosplay Event until Lucia and Phillip reprimanded her and asked her to be sensitive since a family was just murdered. That stopped Antonia but she still looked frustrated.

    Anton then asked Walter if he managed to memorize the cantrip spell Light and Walter said that he felt like he should be able to soon which excited everyone in the group since once Walter was successful, they would have definite confirmation that a regular person could become a mage after wearing a tool that gave them the mana stat although that meant that the mage in questions would have a very low talent in wizardry.

 Chapter 340

    Anton and his family and friends busied themselves with lunch when Colin and Frederick returned with a rather huge amount of dishes. Apparently, one of the famous restaurants nearby cooked a lot of dishes but their usual clientele did not come in.

    ¡°I know that place. It usually serves the customers from these suites and more than likely, the families or groups of people who were staying in our hallway are all in the know about the murders that happened so they should be staying in their rooms right now,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°They could still do what we did, have someone deliver the food to them,¡± Anton said and Antonia just shrugged.

    There could be a lot of reasons why the restaurant business was impacted but one thing they know for sure is that it was related to the crime that happened and the businesses nearby which catered to the very rich would probably be affected. Anton just shrugged and said ¡°More for us then¡± which made Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip laugh but Anders frowned at his son.

    Anton gestured at his father that he was sorry about the comment since it was indeed insensitive.

    After lunch, everyone stayed to talk about the crime that happened but since they all knew next to nothing, that conversation went nowhere. Antonia decided to continue the talks about the Cosplay Event and those who were involved agreed with her since everyone wanted to be busy while waiting for information about the crime and they all knew that they would not be able to concentrate on watching movies or television shows. The mages continued their magic practice. Unfortunately for Devon and Phillip, they were the only ones with nothing to do and they couldn¡¯t leave since the team that was investigating the crime still needed to talk to them.

    The fact that the crime happened next door, even with their influence from being friends with Antonia who was the niece of the owner of the ship, and for being the owners of the cinema, they all still needed to be interviewed.

    Anton went to his room and entered his Diablo II system to continue leveling up his Paladin Character but he chose to play the screen option instead of entering the game virtually. After a couple of hours, he heard people talking outside his room so he quickly checked his level and his Paladin leveled up twice, he exited the game and joined his family in the living room.

    He saw that his father and the others were speaking to several mages. Frederick whispered to him that the one leading the mages was a Supreme Wizard called Supreme Adinor. When the Supreme Wizard saw him, he stopped his conversation with Anders and headed directly to him.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, I¡¯m Adinor, the Supreme Mage handling this case. Can I speak with you?¡±

    Anton told the supreme mage that of course, it was all right to speak with him and invited him to sit on the couch.  Luckily the Supreme Mage was agreeable enough to allow everyone to listen in and that comforted Anton a bit since that meant that they were not considering anyone in their group as suspects.

    Everyone ignored the fact that the Supreme Wizard was a little rude to Anton¡¯s father since they all knew that in the wizardry circle, the most important people were the most powerful mages.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    The Supreme Wizard told Anton that the crime was upgraded to him because there was actually another family that was victimized and it happened only a couple hours ago. When they learned that it happened to one of the rooms that were rented by middle-income families, everyone was surprised since from what they knew, those locations were full of people, and anything extraordinary that would happen there would be noticed by a lot of people.

    Selena, Ander¡¯s lover, was highly alarmed when they learned further that the location was near where Norma and Belue lived. Anton saw her eyes looking at his father pleadingly and Anders nodded.

    The crime was very mysterious. It was not particularly gruesome since apparently, all the victims looked like they just died in their sleep.

    ¡°Normally, a crime like this is easy to solve because we do have spells that could usually pinpoint the murderers easily but right now, they were eluding us. That meant that they have power so please make sure that your family is protected since we don¡¯t know the main reason for the crime, anyone could be targeted,¡± The Supreme Wizard Adinor said.

    The next part was Anton just answering routine questions and the rest of the members of the family were asked the same things. The Supreme Wizard and the other mages in his team were surprised to learn that there were a lot of novice mages in the family it made Anton nervous when he saw the Supreme Wizard¡¯s curiosity when he learned that Walter was also trying to become a mage under Anton¡¯s family. Walter was a well-known person on the ship but everyone knew that the famous four were untalented in wizardry.

    The interview for the whole family took a couple of hours and Anton was a little impressed at the Supreme Wizard Adinor¡¯s patience. Normally, high-ranking wizards were full of pride and wouldn¡¯t bother for too long on these kinds of things so he didn¡¯t know if it was because of Adinor¡¯s personality or they truly attached great importance to this crime.

    When Adinor and his group left, Anton summoned all of his Dire Wolves and Ravens so they could guard everyone in the family all day. He then reiterated that if they wanted to leave the suite, they would need to bring at least a couple of wolves for protection.

    Anton was so glad that the summoned animals did not smell since if they did, the suite would have smelled like rank.

    Anders and Selena immediately informed everyone that they would go out to look for Norma and Belue and invite them to live in the suite and since Anton¡¯s father was still the patriarch of the family and there were extra rooms anyway, no one complained.

    Anna did receive a knock on the head and Anton¡¯s laughter when she asked their father if they were his girlfriends as well.

    Anton wanted to go out as well so he could warn his other friends about the situation. He didn¡¯t bring any of the summoned animals since he could protect himself. When he arrived at the deck where he usually met with Torun and the others, unfortunately, they were not there so he summoned one of his Ravens who promptly appeared near him and commanded it to look for them.

    He didn¡¯t know if the Raven could do it but then again, there¡¯s nothing wrong in trying. The Raven flew away and surprisingly after around ten minutes, it returned together with Torun, Blake, Andrea, Soren, and his group. Apparently, Soren and his gang lived near Torun¡¯s place on the ship.

    ¡°Anton! We saw a huge Raven flying and when it approached us, we knew that it was looking for us since it actually landed on my head!¡± Torun said indignantly.

    ¡°We remembered that if you want to find us, you¡¯re going to send an animal to us!¡± Andrea said excitedly.

    Anton learned that his friends¡¯ families were excited to learn that their children befriended an archmage and they were very surprised when they learned that Anton was of the same age as them.

    ¡°Can we go somewhere private? I have important news to tell all of you,¡± Anton asked his new friends and they all invited him to a nearby tavern-like establishment where they usually hang out since it was cheap and the owner allowed them to stay in the place for hours without bothering them.

 Chapter 341

    The tavern where Torun and the others led him sells cheap beer and the establishment was fairly huge. The tables and chairs and the bar counter were reminiscences of the taverns that he had seen described in fantasy novels and it brought a warm cozy feeling of parties of adventurers that just returned and now resting and unwinding from the stress they received from their adventures.

    Anton quite liked the place and decided to make it the preferable meeting place with his friends. The fact that the owner of the tavern, who was also the bartender, was so laidback added to its charm.

    He knew the main reason why this tavern was the way it was, was because it was on a ship and the customers were the passengers who couldn¡¯t always buy things for the reason that almost everyone had no incoming coins.

    That was also the main reason why it was important that the ship stop on some of the islands on the way to the New Gale continent so the passengers could supplement their dwindling wealth with the items or services they could sell to the local islanders.

    When Anna expressed her distress about passengers running out of money, therefore running out of food, Antonia and Lucia assured him that most responsible passengers had already calculated their budget during their stay on the ship knowing that the Amelia would spend more than a year on the ocean.

    ¡°It was just there would probably more people who would be in danger of lacking in budget on this journey due to the fact that the Amelia had to leave earlier than planned because of the Undead Coalition but you don¡¯t need to worry too much, Anna. The ocean offers a bountiful resource to anyone who can claim it and the ship has very powerful wizards. That¡¯s the reason why most of the food that was being consumed was some type of seafood because the ship''s logistic teams knew how to spread the Amelia¡¯s resources. Our family has been in the shipping business for hundreds of years, Anna so you don¡¯t need to worry too much,¡± Antonia assured Anton¡¯s sister.

    ¡°Even your brother was able to hunt tons of that delicious Kraken meat,¡± Lucia added.

    Anton thought of the fact that he planned to hunt more magical beasts in case they were attacked again and based on what Harun had told them before, it was inevitable that edible sea monsters would attack them during their travel.

    Torun led Anton and the others to one of the larger tables but they still had to join another table together so they could all fit. He didn¡¯t know where Soren got the table and the extra chairs since all the furniture on the ship was usually bolted onto the floor.

    ¡°What do you want to talk to us about, Anton?¡± Torun asked after they all ordered some cheap beer from the bartender.

    Everyone looked at Anton since they all knew that what an archmage would say would be important.

    ¡°Did you notice anything unusual when you¡¯re in your place?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°Yes! About an hour ago, we noticed that a lot of mages in uniform went to the north side. We didn¡¯t know why since when Norlan attempted to follow them, he received a very severe glare that chased his spirit out from his body,¡± Soren said while snickering.

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    Anton then informed them of what happened with their neighboring suite and the family that was also murdered in that place where the mages gathered. He informed them that the ship¡¯s mages would probably capture them if they spread the information without their approval because they didn¡¯t want to cause panic among the passengers.

    ¡°Why are you telling us though?¡± Blake asked.

    ¡°The mages wouldn¡¯t touch me whatever I do as long as I don¡¯t go over the limit. I¡¯m an archmage and I helped them before. I told you because I want you all to be extra careful. Don¡¯t roam around alone and you have to have a couple of people awake all the time so your family has to sleep in shifts,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°Will that help? You mentioned that the family that was murdered had a couple of archmages in their employ.¡± Soren asked looking frightened and Anton saw that everyone else looked scared as well.

    Anton thought deeply about how he could help his new friends and remembered that he still had a few Spirt Wolf and Dire Wolf summoning tablets remaining in his inventory but he was averse to just giving them those since Frederick kept telling him that he was being too generous to his friends and that would result in them taking advantage of him and not only that, it might also result in his friends treating him as a provider and that could become their crutch.

    He did tell Frederick that it was because he had the means that¡¯s why he was generous but he could understand the mage¡¯s point so Anton was curbing himself in just giving out things freely. Anton then thought what if they purchased it from him? That would allow him to give some sort of protection to his friends but since they bought the items, they would know that they couldn¡¯t just get things from him for free.

    Torun and the others waited for him while he was thinking. Anton finally started speaking.

    ¡°I have an enchanted item that will let you summon a very powerful Spirit Wolf. It can destroy your enemy including those invisible ones like ghosts and wraiths aside from normal enemies. The Spirit Wolf will obey the summoner unconditionally so technically, you can even do evil by commanding it to destroy your enemies even if they were good people. I would have given the item to you for free and just one of them will allow all of your family to be protected I think but my family told me that I can¡¯t give anything for free anymore so you will have to purchase it. I think it would be best if I speak to your elders.¡±

    Anton saw that every young person there got very excited when they heard that they could receive a very powerful enchanted item from him. The good thing about their families was, that they lived close to each other so a single Spirit Wolf should be able to help a lot in defending them but to be honest, he wasn¡¯t sure if the wolf could truly help.

    Why were the archmages employed by the noble family that was murdered got killed without using their magic? Was it because they were taken off guard or were they asleep or something? The good thing about the summoned was it would be awake all the time to guard them. They only needed to feed it, which was different from his summons since it would come from a wooden tablet that he enchanted.

    His friend then led Anton out of the tavern to where they stayed on the ship so their fathers could talk to him. It took around twenty minutes of walking before they arrived in the rooms where they stayed and Anton had to admit that it was better than he was expecting.

    The rooms where Torun and the other were staying were serviceable and clean so Anton knew that at least the ladies in their families were responsible. There were huge windows that were opened so the air was streaming unblocked making everything smell fresh. The ventilation was one of the best that he had seen since there was no stale air anywhere and knew that the windows were just a small part of it.

 Chapter 342

    Anton saw Torun, Blake, and Soren run off somewhere.

    ¡°They¡¯re off to look for the leaders in our family so they can speak with you,¡± Andrea told him, then led him to a nearby room with a table and several chairs.

    According to Andrea, the three families used this room as both the dining room as well as the conference room if needed. She also said that they needed to pay extra for this room even though the Amelia left Rendindura even though the ship was not at full capacity.

    Anton sat on one of the chairs and Andrea and some of Soren¡¯s friends joined him. Andre then suddenly stood up and said that she was going to get some tea so she ran off but returned after a couple of minutes with a teapot and some cups and served tea to him. After several minutes, three middle-aged men appeared.

    Torun introduced his father who was named Borun, Blake introduced his father as Martin, and Soren introduced his uncle who was the leader of their family as Rommel.

    ¡°Sir Archmage, thank you for coming. I hoped that my son didn¡¯t bother you too much,¡± Torun¡¯s father said.

    ¡°No, Sir Borun. I consider Torun and the others as my friends. That¡¯s also the reason why I wanted to speak with you.¡±

    ¡°Sir Archmage, please don¡¯t call me ¡°sir¡±. I¡¯m just a merchant from Rendindura,¡± Borun said.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t call Sir Archmage since every time you do, I feel an urge to look behind me as if you¡¯re addressing an old wizard that just entered the room,¡± Anton said and the young people in the room laughed which made their patriarch glared at them so all of them had to stop themselves from laughing out loud which in Anton¡¯s opinion, made it worse, since now everyone could hear the muffled giggling.

    The situation also made Anton laugh, which pacified the three families¡¯ patriarchs.

    ¡°We¡¯re now aware of the death of the family that was staying in one of the rooms on the north side. One of the mages was a friend of ours and he informed us that the death was very mysterious,¡± Soren¡¯s uncle said.

    Rommel was the youngest of the patriarchs that was staying in that location but on the way to their place, Soren assured him that his uncle was a very capable man and he should be since he was able to lead the family from Rendindura to Whaling. Soren¡¯s father was killed by one of the bandits that was infesting the roads to the city of Whaling.

    ¡°We know how important it is for us to remain silent on this information since we also don¡¯t want to cause any panic to the passengers. Panic in an enclosed place that doesn¡¯t go anywhere can be truly dangerous,¡± Martin, Blake¡¯s father added.

    ¡°We are also aware of how frightening the murderers are since our sons told us that a very wealthy noble family was also murdered and they were guarded by two archmages,¡± Borun said.

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    ¡°I¡¯m not disregarding how powerful or dangerous the murderers could be but I¡¯m thinking that the reason why the archmages weren¡¯t able to defend the family and themselves was probably they were caught off guard or were ambushed or something since we didn¡¯t hear any battle from their rooms. It was the suite next to us so that meant that if there was a spell battle, we would have noticed it immediately,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Regardless. The fact that they were able to murder powerful wizards, probably in their sleep, was a testament to their power, and even if we sleep in shifts as you¡¯ve said to our sons, which we are planning to do, I don¡¯t think we have the power to contend with someone like that,¡± Martin said looking very worried.

    ¡°That¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m here. Your sons may have already told you, that I can provide your family an enchanted item that I created that will allow the summoner to control a very powerful Spirit Wolf. The wolf will obey the summoner unconditionally and it doesn¡¯t need to rest so it can protect you all the time. You will have to feed it though since it will need energy to function on this plane and any meat would do. If we are on land, it can even hunt on its own but since we¡¯re in a ship, you will have to provide food for it,¡± Anton paused for a bit and drank some of the tea that Andrea served then he continued.

    ¡°The problem with the summoning item is that the one who will use it will be the only one who can command the wolf. The summoning tablet would disappear the moment the Spirit Wolf is summoned and if you don¡¯t want the wolf anymore for some reason like you can¡¯t feed it anymore, you will either have to destroy it or command it to run away or you can bring it to me so I can destroy it. Since the summoner was fully in control, even if you destroy it, the wolf will not retaliate but my advice is to try very hard to keep it because it is a very powerful creature and will be loyal to you until it¡¯s destroyed.¡±

    Anton summoned one of the Spirit Wolves that was staying in the suite and it appeared beside him. Everyone was looking at the giant ethereal wolf in awe and to his surprise, Andrea who was sitting beside him did not hesitate and touched the wolf.

    ¡°It¡¯s fur is so soft! I thought since it looked like a ghost, my hands would pass through. It¡¯s so big! Can I ride it?¡± Andrea asked.

    ¡°Yes, you can use the wolf as a mount and it can run through the forest silently,¡± Anton replied.

    Everyone that was in the meeting room approached the Spirit Wolf, even the three leaders of the families. One of the little kids that somehow got into the room even boldly hugged the wolf and laughed out loud which made everyone smile.

    After a few minutes of everyone admiring the wolf, even so far as asking Anton to command the wolf to open its mouth so they could inspect its teeth which Anton amusingly allowed to happen, everyone returned to their seat but the kid who hugged the Spirit Wolf climbed on its back and happily rode the wolf.

    Anton asked Andrea to retrieve the child and after that, he commanded the wolf to return to the suite to continue guarding his family and friends.

    The middle-aged men who were leading Torun and his group families looked at each other for a few minutes and Anton saw that they had decided to purchase the enchanted items.

    ¡°How much are you selling the summoning tablet for?¡± Martin finally asked.

    Anton told the three patriarchs that since Torun and his group were his friends, he would only charge fifty percent of the price but when he gave the price, the men¡¯s eyes grew wide. He then wondered if it was truly pricy since in his opinion, the price of the summoning tablet was just right and he even gave them a very large discount.

    He retrieved one of the golden summoning tablets from his inventory and in doing so, he performed a quick count of how many remained. There were only five tablets for the Spirit Wolves and three for the Dire Wolves left.

 Chapter 343

    ¡°Is that tablet pure gold?¡± Andrea asked when she saw the glittering tablet.

    ¡°Yes since for some reason, the enchantment can only be accepted by gold and nothing else. I don¡¯t even know if the enchantment can be accepted by any other magical materials since I haven¡¯t encountered any magical materials yet. I first tried it with wood since most of my enchantment was written in wooden tablets but wood just burst into fire. I tried it on iron and silver and the same thing happened and only gold accepted the enchantment.¡±

    ¡°Is that why it¡¯s so expensive?¡± Soren asked but he just received a slap on the head from his uncle.

    Everyone knew that with how powerful the Spirit Wolf was, the price that Anton had given them was already considered astonishingly cheap but the fact was, it was still very expensive. Andrea whispered to Anton that even if they pooled their funds, they would have very little liquid funds they could use to conduct business on the islands that the Amelia would stop.

    ¡°How about this? You can have the item and pay me once we¡¯re in New Drennor and you¡¯ve established yourselves. Is that fine?¡± Anton said.

    Torun¡¯s father was very decisive when he uttered his next sentence.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re being kind to us because of your relationship with Torun and the others. If you truly allow us to get the items and pay you when we¡¯re all settled in New Drennor then the only thing we can do is to pay for the full price instead of the fifty percent discount that you¡¯ve mentioned. Can you also let us take three of them? I¡¯m ashamed to say that I know we¡¯re taking advantage of you but all of us here are truly frightened of the murderers who can kill silently.¡±

    Borun was red after he said that and Anton knew that Torun¡¯s father was deeply embarrassed. When he looked around, he saw that everyone looked ashamed as well and Torun, Blake, Andrea, and even Soren looked like they wanted to disappear. They all knew that the reason why he presented the items to their family was because he was their friend.

    He knew through his communication with them during the past couple of days that Torun and the others had deep integrity and would have never taken advantage of him in normal times but these times were dangerous and everyone needed all they could get to make sure their loved ones were safe.

    The three Patriarchs were becoming nervous when they saw that Anton was thinking deeply and he almost laughed. He knew that they were still wary of him being a very powerful wizard and everyone knew that wizards¡¯ temperament was unpredictable so to calm everyone down he uttered his reply to Borun¡¯s request.

    ¡°I can give you three Sprit Wolves tablets. Just remember to pay me once you¡¯ve settled yourselves in New Drennor. You can easily find our family since we will be establishing the cinema there once we arrive in the new continent.¡±

    The three middle-aged men looked startled when Anton said that they could find him in the cinema. They must have forgotten that his family was the cinema¡¯s owner since he was sure that their children probably told them that information. The three patriarchs thanked him profusely after he gave them three golden tablets of Spirit Wolves then. Now he only had five summoning tablets remaining, three were Dire Wolves and two were Spirit Wolves.

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    ¡°To whom are you assigning the Spirit Wolves? Remember that the summoner will be the master of the wolf and will be responsible for the summoned animal. If you don¡¯t want to tell me, that¡¯s fine as well since I¡¯m just curious,¡± Anton said.

    It appeared like the three leaders of the families wanted him to know since they began discussing who should be the ones assigned to summon the wolves. At first, they thought of assigning them to Torun, Blake, and Soren but then the three young people usually roamed around the ship and the wolves would need to stay near the family so the summoned animals could protect them in their time of need.

    Anton then heard that they had decided that the patriarchs would be the ones summoning the animals since they were ultimately the ones responsible for the whole family. He saw that Torun, Blake, and Soren who were listening closely were highly disappointed when they learned that they would not be the ones summoning the wolves.

    When the family leaders informed Anton of their decision, he just shrugged. He did console his friends that if they managed to save enough coins, they could always look for him to purchase the summoning tablets.

    The three patriarchs then decided to use the summoning tablets while Anton was there just to be safe so the first one who used the tablet was Borun, Torun¡¯s father and when his Spirit Wolf appeared, everyone could see that the middle-aged man was highly excited that for a moment, he looked like he was back in his youth.

    Borun then gave several commands to his Spirit Wolf, even silly ones, and the wolf followed them to the letter. Finally, Torun¡¯s father mounted the wolf and commanded it to patrol around the perimeter while he was on top of it even to the point of disregarding everyone.

    Martin, Blake¡¯s father, and Rommel, Soren¡¯s uncle immediately used the summoning tablet as well and when their wolves appeared they also began commanding their wolves and then mounted them and joined Borun in patrolling the area but everyone knew that the three men just wanted to play with the newly summoned wolves.

    ¡°In our family, to differentiate the summoned animals, we usually put different colored scarves on them but I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯ll have your way to identify the wolves.

    The young people who were looking at the three patriarchs roaming around on top of the summoned wolves looked envious and Torun kept asking if it were true that they could purchase their own once they had enough coins even after Anton kept reiterating they could.

    ¡°Do you have any other summoning animals aside from the Spirit Wolves?¡± Andrea suddenly asked and that question drew the attention of everyone left in the conference room.

    ¡°Yes. Aside from Spirit Wolves, I also have Dire Wolves which are bigger and more powerful than Spirit Wolves but they looked scarier so I was thinking it would be best to offer your family the Spirit Wolves instead. I also have Ravens and miniature spirit wolves and ravens,¡± Anton answered.

    Torun and Soren asked to see the Dire Wolves so Anton summoned one. When the Dire Wolf appeared, everyone was taken aback since it did look like a monster. Some of the little children even hid behind their elders. After a couple of minutes of everyone studying the Dire Wolf, Anton dismissed it.

    ¡°What do you mean by miniature spirit wolves and miniature ravens?¡± Andrea asked.

    ¡°Just like what I said. Tiny wolves and tiny ravens. I made it as a toy companion for my sister and friends. If you want I can sell you a tiny raven so you can send a message to me anytime you want. You just attach a letter to the raven and it will fly to me and it¡¯s also much cheaper compared to the original animals,¡± Anton then gave a summoning tablet of a tiny raven to Andrea.

    Anton still had a few tiny wolves and tiny ravens left and when he counted, there were at least five of each after giving one to Andrea.

 Chapter 344

    Anton saw Andrea hesitate when she received the golden summoning tablet from him, although it was much smaller.

    ¡°I can¡¯t afford this, Anton,¡± Andrea said although she was looking at the tablet with eyes filled with longing and the others were looking at it covetously.

    ¡°That tablet will allow you to summon a petite raven. You can use it to send messages by tying a small letter to its legs and as long as the bird encountered that person before, it would be able to find it. We haven¡¯t tested the longest distance that it can travel yet but the whole ship shouldn¡¯t be a problem. You can send a message to me during emergencies and you can send a message to the ones guarding your family. That meant that even though you will be considered its master, anyone can send a message to anyone as long as you allow it. It will only cost you a third of the price of the Spirit Wolf summoning tablet and your family can pay me once you¡¯re settled in New Drennor,¡± Anton told Andrea but he saw that the others were listening closely.

    ¡°I saw some beautiful noble ladies sporting a tiny black bird and tiny dog in their hands and I thought they were stuffed animals! Are you saying that those were real summoned animals?¡± Blake suddenly said.

    ¡°Those people should be the girls in my family. They all have the tiny ravens and tiny spirit wolves summons.¡±

    ¡°Those beautiful ladies are part of your family?! Are they all your sisters?¡± Soren asked.

    ¡°Why are you asking?¡± Anton glared at Soren which made the young man stumble but then Anton laughed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to do anything to you. Besides, you¡¯re just admiring them right?¡± Anton asked and Soren nodded rapidly.

    ¡°If you saw a group of four young ladies, they should be my sister, who was the youngest one and also a mage, her two maids which to be honest, we already consider family members, much like my sisters and the oldest is the daughter of my father¡¯s secretary,¡± Anton said while smiling.

    ¡°The two beautiful twin nobles are just maids?!¡± Soren exclaimed and Anton glared at him again.

    ¡°Idiot! Anton just said that they¡¯re considered by him as his sisters so that meant their nobility.¡± Soren said defending himself.

    ¡°I know, I know! It¡¯s just that they¡¯re all so unbelievably beautiful, like princesses from the stories!¡± Soren said.

    ¡°Yes! Every time I see them, their clothes look new! Their skins are so fair and their hair is so gorgeous,¡± Andrea added.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just the result of a magic that I¡¯ve discovered. I told you before that our family were farmers and that meant that we had the rough hair and skin of farmers but because of one of my spells, our skins became smoother and fairer and our hair became silky and more luxurious. The effects are mostly much noticeable on women,¡± Anton told them since it¡¯s hardly a secret but he didn¡¯t mention the anti-aging effect since that would be more information that his friends needed to hear.

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    As expected, the boys ignored that information even though Andrea became interested but then she remembered the golden tablet she was holding. When Anton saw that, he told her to ask her father.

    After several minutes, the three patriarchs returned with their wolves and Andrea approached his father. Martin listened to what his daughter was saying about the smaller golden tablet that she was holding and after a few minutes of contemplation, he finally agreed, which delighted both Andrea and Blake. Then the siblings argued who would summon the raven but that argument did not last long since Andrea pointed out that the tablet was given to her and a tiny bird seemed fit to be with a girl instead of a boy.

    Everyone then watched Andrea use the tablet which was simply turning on a switch. Anton was a bit embarrassed about that part since he felt that just turning on the switch seemed tacky to him but that¡¯s the only way most of his enchanted items were activated.

    The small golden tablet disappeared into golden particles in Andrea¡¯s hand and a tiny raven appeared in its place. It immediately flew and perched on Andrea¡¯s shoulders hiding itself in her hair. When Andrea commanded it to fly to her hands, it immediately flew there.

    Andrea gushed and kept on saying that her new raven was the cutest animal in the world even though in Anton¡¯s opinion, ravens were hardly cute. As a matter of fact, he found them a bit scary.

    ¡°You will have to bring it around everywhere so it will recognize the people and places on the ship so you can command it to send messages to anyone you like but remember that since it¡¯s tiny, it¡¯s not very strong and could easily be destroyed and once it dies, it''s gone but normal people will probably not be able to hurt it since it should be agile enough,¡± Anton warned Andrea.

    ¡°You mean our summoned animals are not immortal?¡± Borun, Torun¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°Of course not! Nothing is truly immortal, even the gods. Even my summons would die if they received a fatal attack although I can just summon them again,¡± Anton said exaggeratedly using a sentence that he had read from a novel before. That phrase impressed him a bit so he used it since it¡¯s a good instance to use it.

    Andrea was worried when she heard that her summoned raven could die but then gained confidence in her tiny bird when Anton said that normal people shouldn¡¯t be able to hurt it due to how fast it could move.

    ¡°Thank you so much Anton for all the favors that you¡¯ve given us,¡± Martin said to Anton and he just smiled at them.

    The others thanked him again but then all of them were startled when a tiny raven wearing a small blue scarf with a letter on its legs suddenly flew to Anton. He then read the letter and informed everyone that it was his father asking him to go home. Everyone smiled in relief and said their goodbyes to Anton.

    All of his friends followed him outside their family rooms and even followed him up until he reached the hallway where their family suite was located so they would know where he lived but when they reached the area where the rich folks were living, Torun, Blake, Andrea, Soren, and a couple of his friends looked intimidated.

    Anton couldn¡¯t fault them since some of the people walking around, basically, the rich nobles and their guards, were eyeing them although they stopped when they saw him since he was beginning to become famous as the young son of the owner of the cinema and a mage.

    He knew that being the son of the cinema owner probably had more clout than him being a mage since no one wanted to antagonize the owner of the new groundbreaking entertainment that kept them highly entertained during the long voyage.

    His friends noticed that when they saw the people''s gaze change when they them with Anton, they knew that just being with Anton lifted their status and Anton and everyone in their group could actually see some of the people eyeing his friends with speculation probably wanting to know who they were and if they were people who could assist them in forming relationship with Anton¡¯s father.

    Anton knew that they would probably tell their fathers and their patriarchs would probably advise them to make sure that their relationship with him remained strong. He expected something like that to happen since he was an archmage and a noble so he didn¡¯t really mind it.

 Chapter 345

    Anton invited his new friends, Torun, Blake, Andrea, Soren, and his two cohorts, inside their family suite so he could introduce them to his family. When he entered the suite, Anton¡¯s father glared at him for a bit, but then his eyes softened immediately, especially when Anders saw that he was fine and was with a group of young people.

    ¡°Where have you been?! We are very worried for you and also the Supreme Adinor has been waiting for several minutes already,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I was with my friends warning them of the danger. I also sold them some summoning tablets for their protection,¡± Anton told his father.

    He then introduced his friends to his family then his friends left immediately, especially when they saw that a powerful supreme wizard was waiting for Anton. After his friends left, Anton approached Supreme Adinor.

    ¡°I apologize for the delay, Sir. I was just worried for my friends and their family.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine Anton. I just want to inform you and your family, and please don¡¯t spread this around for now, that a couple more people have died. That¡¯s around twenty-six people already. The nobles next door, the family below, and a couple of mages who might have stumbled on the location where the killer was. We wanted to borrow some of your wolves since they might be able to sniff out the enemy and since they¡¯re summoned, I assumed that it¡¯s okay for them to be killed?¡± Adinor informed him and his family and told him of his request.

    Everyone looked shocked when they heard the total number of people that had already died since it was more than the casualties from their previous encounter with the Undead Coalition. In fact, the attack of the three ghost ships and the wraiths on the ship only had a couple of casualties.

    ¡°Are there no spells we can use to track the murderers?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We have tried everything in our arsenal since we¡¯re now prioritizing this case. Of course, we haven¡¯t bothered the Invincible yet. We¡¯re thinking that your wolves could help,¡± Adinor answered.

    Anton lent the Supreme Wizard two of the Spirit Wolves which was fine since there would still be eight wolves remaining to guard the rest of the family which were three of the Spirit Wolves and five Dire Wolves. He also still had the Golem but it was so huge that it would be awkward to summon it inside the ship.

    ¡°Do you have an insight into what the nature of the murderers is? Are they undead or humans?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°At first, we suspected that this was one of the last attempts of the Undead Coalition even though we¡¯re now far from Rendindura but our spells have not detected any signs of death magic. This could be the work of a high-level professional who is not a mage,¡± Adinor answered.

    Anton was surprised. Ever since he transmigrated to this world, he had not encountered any other powerful professional aside from a mage and he had been to several cities. He wasn¡¯t denying their existence since even his Diablo II system had different characters it was just he hadn¡¯t personally encountered one.

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    The Supreme Adinor then left bringing two Spirit Wolves with him. Anton could have offered the two remaining Spirit Wolves summoning tablets to the supreme wizard and he was sure that the powerful mage would be able to afford them without any problem but the Supreme Wizard required a summoned that did not die which meant that there was a huge chance that the Spirit Wolves would be destroyed. That wasn¡¯t a problem for Anton since he could just summon them again but if the animals came from the tablet, once they were destroyed, they would be gone forever.

    ¡°Lucas, Devon can I talk to you?¡± Anton then sat on one of the chairs at the dinner table, which usually meant that anyone could listen in without any problem so everyone stayed, which he found a bit funny.

    Anton noticed the presence of the two new beautiful ladies in the room. It appeared that his father and Selena successfully persuaded her two friends to stay with them during this current situation possibly during the whole voyage which was fine with Anton since the women were really pretty. He realized then that he could have a double standard since Anton knew that he would probably complain if the freeloaders were brute men instead of beautiful ladies. To be honest, their suite was now filled with flowers and that was just fine with him.

    When Norma and Belue saw Anton noticed them, they smiled at him and waved and he smiled back which made Anna snort causing everyone to laugh.

    ¡°What do you want to talk about, Anton?¡± Lucas asked.

    ¡°The Supreme Adinor said that there¡¯s a chance that the murderer or murderers were not mages. I wanted to ask about other professions because, during our travels, I haven¡¯t encountered anyone other than a mage that I can consider powerful enough to be a threat to a mage, no offense.¡± Anton said and Lucas laughed.

    ¡°You mentioned to us before the powerful characters that you can inherit from your bloodline magic. I keep forgetting that you¡¯re truly not that experienced in the ways of the world. Wizards tend to be very arrogant thinking that they are the most powerful in the world, which was to some degree, correct, but others may be just as powerful or even more compared to a wizard. We knew about assassins when you mentioned it since we do have special assassins in this world as well. We¡¯re not talking about those ruffians who accept coins for murder but true assassins who wielded the power of the shadows,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t encountered a true assassin but I¡¯ve heard stories from father and some of my friends. It was said that they could control the shadows, like literally fold them to their bodies and they would disappear. My friends also told me that they have mastered several battle arts that would allow them to fight ten warriors at once!¡± Devon added.

    ¡°Another professional that I encountered when I was young was a very powerful elven archer. She called herself a Moonlight Ranger but I did not see her use her powers since our mercenary team met her briefly in a camp,¡± Lucas mentioned while looking like he was trying to remember the details of that meeting.

    ¡°A friend told me about someone who called himself a Blood Monk. My friend told me that they were fearsome warriors with unimaginable skills but since he was not very good with his words, he could not describe the details of their skills,¡± Devon added who was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable and then Anton heard Devon¡¯s stomach rumbling.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot about dinner. Have you all not eaten yet?¡± Anton asked and his father told him that everyone had been busy and a bit fearful.

    Anton then asked Colin, Devon, and Frederick to get dinner for everyone so they went outside followed by a couple of Dire Wolves. He then continued listening to Lucas share his knowledge about professions aside from wizards while they were waiting for dinner.

    ¡°I also heard about someone who called himself a Cloud Duelist but I don¡¯t know what kind of skill the man has,¡± Lucas continued.

    ¡°I met a woman who said that she has the skills of a Veil Dancer. She demonstrated a bit of skill to us and when she danced everyone in that group became dizzy for a minute,¡± Nemina inserted.

 Chapter 346

    ¡°When I was a boy, my father, your grandfather, told me he encountered a Druid with the same skills you have¡ªthe ability to summon animal companions. Your grandfather also told me that Druid could change into different animal forms though,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    ¡°I have that power as well. I can change into a werewolf or a werebear. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t learn it because I don¡¯t want to change into a monster to slap my enemies to death since I do have other spells to defeat them,¡± Anton said, which made Anders laugh.

    ¡°Our father, when he was alive, told us a story once about encountering an Iron Merchant. At first, we thought that it was a merchant who sells iron but he said that it was a very powerful profession,¡± Belinda suddenly said.

    ¡°Our family had a dealing with a Poison Alchemist once who was some kind of a Gnome. I don¡¯t know if it was his job or if it was a profession with specific skills,¡± Selena said.

    ¡°Again, why haven¡¯t I encountered anyone like that?¡± Anton asked again.

    ¡°It¡¯s because even though we¡¯ve traveled to different places, you were always with your family or with other mages, and remember, even though you have been on the road for a while, it actually wasn¡¯t even one year,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°It¡¯s already November though so in a month, you¡¯ll turn eighteen!¡± Anna excitedly said and Anton was a little startled when he heard that information.

    He kept forgetting that his birthday was supposed to be December twenty-fifth. That date felt a little weird to Anton since it was a special date celebrated all over Earth but he just kept it at the back of his mind.

    ¡°After your birthday, father¡¯s next and he will be turning forty-five in January six. I will be turning thirteen on February twenty-three,¡± Anna continued basically informing everyone of their date of birth and their actual ages.

    ¡°You¡¯re turning forty-five?! At first, we thought that you were in your late twenties but then we had to adjust your age to mid-thirties even though you¡¯re so young-looking when we learned that your oldest son is seventeen, but forty-five?!¡± Norma exclaimed while looking at Anders and even Belue was flabbergasted.

    Everyone laughed when they heard the beautiful woman¡¯s exclamation especially together with Belue¡¯s stunned look.

    Selena left Anders''s side and went to her friends and whispered something to them that made their eyes glow. Anton was sure that Selena informed them of their family¡¯s mana water. Even though everyone was busy, Anton always provided mana water as drinking water during their meals even when they ate in the dining hall, and even if it were not every day, he still tried his best to provide mana water for everyone¡¯s bathing water since the girls would complain to Anna or his father if the bathwater weren¡¯t mana water for several days straight. The main problem was, that Anna was the one who would pester him a lot if she hadn¡¯t bathed in mana water for a while and since it only took a few seconds for him to conjure mana water, he just went to everyone¡¯s bathroom and produce mana water for bathing once Anna pestered him enough.

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    ¡°I now understand why I haven¡¯t met any other professional but basically, the main point of asking about different professions was realizing that not all dangerous things that we might encounter would come from someone doing magic. This case for example. The Supreme Adinor mentioned that there¡¯s a chance that the murderers might be powerful professionals. The mistake that I made was being narrow-minded enough to focus my attention on the undead thinking that most of our problems would stem from them,¡± Anton told everyone.

    ¡°You¡¯re right son. We must be aware that the danger could come from anywhere especially now that the ship¡¯s mages asked for our family¡¯s help through the Spirit Wolves. That meant that the majority of those who needed to know would know that we were assisting the ship¡¯s authority in capturing the criminals and because of that we might be targeted so everyone needs to be very careful,¡± Anders announced to everyone.

    Everyone looked a little fearful after hearing Anders''s announcement but Anton saw that everyone seemed to take comfort in the eight wolves surrounding them including the floating Oak Sage spirit above them.

    ¡°Anton, I remember you also have a very huge monster summons, right?,¡± Lunelle asked.

    ¡°I have two very powerful monsters that I can summon but they¡¯re a bit huge for the ship. One is a big clay golem and the other is a huge bear. I believe you¡¯ve seen them before,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Can we see them?¡± Antonia asked and not only she, but Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were very curious as well, and even Selena and her two friends looked on curiously.

    Anton eyeballed the distance of the floor from the ceiling in the suite since he didn¡¯t want to damage anything when he summoned the bear and the golem. He thought that the two monsters might fit and the suite was big enough so he summoned both the Clay Golem and the Dire Bear.

    When the two monsters appeared, the suite suddenly looked very small since both of the terrifying summons filled it. Not only that, both monsters exuded a terrifying and dreadful aura that even he, the summoner could feel, which made him a little proud since both monsters were his.

    Antonia, Lucia, Walter, Phillip, and even Selena and her two friends suddenly looked terrified but they all calmed down when they saw that everyone else was calm. Anna even ran towards the Dire Bear and hugged it. This time though, Anna couldn¡¯t climb the bear since there would be no space above if the bear stood.

    ¡°The bear also has some special skills and could probably defeat a whole army by himself,¡± Anna boasted as if the Dire Bear were hers.

    ¡°Not only that, my son told us if the bear was somehow defeated, he could just summon it again immediately!¡± Anton¡¯s father boasted as well and that made Anton smile.

    Anton¡¯s four rich friends approached the two monsters that were in the middle of the suite and inspected them minutely. When they saw that the Clay Golem was just standing there like a statue and the Dire Wolf was lying down on the floor acting very lazy with Anna hugging it, the four nobles and even Selena and her two friends began touching the two monsters.

    Everyone then heard the door opening and Devon, Colin, and Frederick entered with a group of men carrying everyone¡¯s dinner. When the three saw the two terrifying monsters, they were calm since they had seen them before but the sailors who were carrying some of the food were surprised and hugely frightened and would have dropped the food that they were holding and ran off.

    Anton thought that the only thing that stopped them was seeing Anna hugging the Dire Bear and Frederick''s repeated assurances that the monsters were summoned creatures by the family mage.

    Anton told everyone that he was going to dispel the two summons since they were taking up space and the people who were helping the others to carry their dinner were frightened. When the two monsters were gone, all of the sailors calmed down even when they saw that there were still many wolves inside the suite. He guessed that seeing the two huge monsters made the wolves look tiny and tame to others.

    Once the food was laid down on the table, Anton saw Phillip paying the sailors a lot of coins, and more than likely he added more tips because of the fright they experienced.

 Chapter 347

    The dinner that night was tense because of the dangerous crime that happened and the criminals weren''t caught yet making everyone feel a little afraid, even Anton. He wasn¡¯t scared for himself because his defenses were high enough that he should be able to weather any physical or magical attack without any problem.

    Anton''s character''s armor and accessories, which also translate to real life, were prodigious. To be honest, he didn¡¯t know the limits of his defense and knew that he should take some time to test them it was just he didn¡¯t know how.

    For the physical part, it was easy enough which was just to have someone physically powerful to hit him that wouldn¡¯t cause debilitating injuries if his defenses were penetrated. The magical part was tricky since he didn¡¯t know any mage that was powerful enough to threaten his magical defenses that he could completely trust with knowing his possible weaknesses.

    After dinner, at first, Anton thought that some would ask to watch a movie or a television show but apparently, the fear that was brought on by the situation wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to concentrate on something trivial however enjoyable it might be.

    Everyone decided to just mingle inside the suite and wait for anything to change. Antonia and the others were hopeful that the situation would be resolved soon since the powerful mages on the Amelia were already working on it. They also decided to rest early and Anton¡¯s four rich friends from New Drennor decided to stay with their family since that would allow them to feel more secure even though their places supposedly had people capable of guarding them. Anton was a bit surprised when Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip trusted his summoned creatures more.

    ¡°Anton, can you summon your golem and your bear when we go to sleep? I will be more comfortable to know that those huge monsters of yours are there in the center of the suite guarding us,¡± Lucia said before entering the room that she would share with the others to sleep.

    At least with the new suite that they transferred to, there would be enough rooms that more people could stay a while but even if there were fewer rooms, the girls were too scared to just sleep in pairs and decided to group.

    Anton heard Anna and the others talking to Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle about which room they should stay. They planned to stay together in a room with some of the wolves by their side guarding them.

    ¡°The golem and the bear are too huge to be summoned. It will be harder for the summons to move with limited space and I think the wolves should be enough. I can summon them anytime if I truly need to,¡± Anton replied and the other had to accept that fact.

    That night they started resting but as per Anders¡¯s command, all the doors remained open so the wolves could enter immediately if something attacked them.

    Normally, it should not have been a restful night but with the help of the pearl of the ocean for Anton and the coral comb that was passed around, everyone slept peacefully aside from the people that were assigned during the hours that they were supposed to remain awake.

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    Lucas and Anders created a shifting schedule for some of the others. The first shift would be the female bodyguards, then Devon and Lucas, then Colin and Fredrick. At first, Anton told his father and Lucas that the wolves should be enough to guard them and there wouldn¡¯t be a need for the others to remain awake but his father and Lucas insisted.

    Anton thought of entering his Diablo II system and leveling up his Paladin before going to sleep but he felt a little tired so he decided to sleep immediately. He was woken up by a commotion though after a few hours and when he checked the time, it was only around two in the morning.

    Everyone went outside their rooms and they saw Devon opening the door for the Supreme Adinor and two of his assistants. They were actually woken up by the Supreme¡¯s frantic knocking on their door.

    When Supreme Adinor saw Anton, the powerful mage approached him hastily.

    ¡°Anton, your wolves were killed. Three archmages were patrolling around Hallways A and B since those were the locations where we thought the next attack would be held and we were somewhat correct. Your two wolves howled and ran towards Hallway B and the three archmages that were with them were left behind but they did follow as fast as they could. One of the families in Hallway B was in the midst of being attacked by three men, possibly more who were wearing black according to the glimpses that the mages received,¡± Adinor said.

    Anton invited the Supreme Wizard to sit in the living room and continued telling him the happenings that night.

    ¡°When the mages that were accompanying your wolves arrived, the wolves were just destroyed by the men but the mages were still far away so I apologize for that. You wolves did wound a couple of the men in black and since we¡¯ve gotten a hold of some blood, we should be able to trace the group of men soon.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry Sir since my wolves are just summons and I can summon them again without any issues,¡± Anton then summoned two new Spirit Wolves and he saw the Supreme Adinor smile.

    Anton was shocked though since as maximum-level Druid with powerful gear and maximum-level Spirit Wolves, his wolves were powerful and no ordinary men could destroy them. The fact that they were destroyed in a few minutes meant that the enemies were very powerful.

    Supreme Adinor left with the two new Spirit Wolves but before he did, the powerful mage said that a lot of archmages would continue to patrol and this time, they would be in a group of four for protection. The supreme also said that the two wolves would be separated into two groups so they would be able to cover a lot more area.

    After the supreme left, Anton remained on the couch thinking deeply and Anders noticed that something was wrong.

    ¡°What happened Anton? Why do you suddenly look worried? Earlier, you were calmer.¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°My Spirit Wolves are very powerful, Father. That means that the enemies this time are very powerful. We need to be more vigilant,¡± Anton said which he thought was a mistake because the girls in the suite became more scared.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much Anna. Do you want me to summon the Dire Bear?¡± Anton asked and Anna nodded so fast it was almost funny.

    Anton looked around and the women looked like they agreed with Anna. That they would be calmer with the presence of the powerful dire bear. He accepted then that if they were attacked and the bear had to take action, the suite would be destroyed. Antonia should be able to handle any damage that their rooms would receive if that was the case.

    When the Dire Bear appeared, Anton was correct. All the people, not only the women, took comfort from the presence of the bear. He knew that they would even like the Clay Golem to be summoned as well but the suite really wasn¡¯t big enough for the two monsters.

    After that, they all went back to their rooms to rest but Anton saw that most of the people were looking at the bear and Anna even climbed on top of the bear that was lying in the middle of the suite.

    What was funny was, that some of the girls joined Anton¡¯s sister so now the bear was surrounded by girls. He hoped that the situation would be resolved soon since everyone was truly frightened.

 Chapter 348

    Anton was happy that the death of a family was prevented because his two Spirit Wolves that was patrolling together with the archmages detected the enemies but he also felt a little wary about the new enemies since they were powerful.

    His Spirit Wolves were truly powerful and no ordinary people could contend with them.

    ¡°Everyone I have to give you a warning to be very careful during the next few days, at least, until the criminals are apprehended. They seemed to be very powerful so please don¡¯t leave the suite for now and if you do need to, please don¡¯t be alone, and bring at least a couple of wolves with you and one of them should be a Dire Wolf,¡± Anton said to his family and friends.

    ¡°Your suite will be very noisy then since we will be conducting our business here like the meetings for the Cosplay Event,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°I was told not to open the cinema for now. The Supreme Mage said that it would be dangerous for the viewers since if enemies attacked defenseless people while they were gathered together, it would be a massacre,¡± Anders said.

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll all be fine here. We, the mages will be busy with our magic practice anyway during the day,¡± Frederick said but Anton could see that Devon and some of the others like Phillip and Selena¡¯s two friends were a little gloomy about being confined to the suite but then again, Anton already told them that they could go outside as long as they brought a couple of wolves with them for protection if they value their lives.

    Then all went back to their rooms to continue resting that night. Anton wondered about the goal of the enemies. Did they have specific goals or were they just creating chaos? Were they part of the original passengers or did they enter the ship somehow? Then again, it was not his responsibility to learn that information and he wasn¡¯t curious enough.

    Normally, with the situation, people wouldn¡¯t have a restful sleep but because of the Coral Comb and the Pearl of the Ocean that came from the Pink Dolphins and the Blue Whales that Anton befriended, everyone surprisingly slept well. The good thing about the powerful artifacts from the ocean was they didn¡¯t put anyone in a deep sleep that they couldn¡¯t wake up immediately. It was still a normal sleep that one would awaken immediately if disturbed. It was just that once you¡¯re asleep because of the items, it will be a restful sleep that would rejuvenate one¡¯s mind and body.

    Even Anton¡¯s rich friends from New Drennor began to look at the Coral Comb with desire because as busy people, they knew the benefits of a restful sleep and the comb already proved itself. They kept offering coins to Anna for the comb and his sister wisely ignored them.

    Anton was glad that there was no more incident until morning arrived. It appeared that the attacks only happened at night. Lucia also happily announced that the Dining Hall was open and active so they all went there for breakfast.

    Because of the work of the mages, there were still very few people who actually knew about the gruesome incidents and Anton was very surprised that they were also able to prevent the information from spreading within the middle part of the ship where Torun and the others were located. In Anton¡¯s knowledge, information was very hard to contain but he knew that if there were more victims, no one would be able to prevent the news from spreading to everyone. That was, if they didn¡¯t use any magic since, to be honest, Anton still did not have any idea what the true capabilities of magic were. The only thing he knew was to attack and defend with spells. He didn¡¯t have any idea of how powerful magic was in other ways like mind magic, dimension magic, chaos magic, and things like that and those were just his speculations that came from reading novels and watching fantasy shows from Earth.

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    Anton¡¯s magic was straightforward. He cast elemental spells that would damage his enemies, cast buff and healing spells that would increase his and his allies'' defenses and heal them of their damage, and summon creatures that would assist them in their fights. He remembered one fantasy book where straightforward spells like his were considered lower-tier spells. In that book, the spells that were considered high-tier were the ones that would allow a wizard to travel dimensions, alter the fabric of matter, bring into reality conceptualized ideas, and more of the same advanced and complex spell crafting.

    He didn¡¯t know if there were spells like that in this world but Anton was guessing that there were. That was also the main reason why he wasn¡¯t truly considering himself as an archmage. He was just a brute wizard who used spells to pummel others. He would only truly consider himself a true wizard if he could cast spells with those types of complex powers that he was thinking about.

    Anton had this tentative idea that once his family was safe and once he reached the pinnacle of his Diablo II system which admittedly would be extremely difficult since the idea that he could change and combine the structure of his Diablo II spells made them complex enough, he would then apply to become a student of truly learned wizards or sages of this world and learn the mystery of the universe. That was the only way he could learn how his system truly works.

    Of course, before he would do something like that, Anton also wanted to become an adventurer first to fulfill his otaku dream of becoming an adventurer in another world. He didn¡¯t even know if the place that they were going to would have something like the standard Adventurer guild that any otaku could see in animes and novels.

    After breakfast, everyone set up the suite as their temporary workspace. The dinner table would be the conference room for his father, Nemina, Antonia, and Lucia, and whoever they needed to talk to.

    The home theater setup was still going to be used as everyone¡¯s magic classroom. Anna, Frederick, Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, and Walter would be using it to practice their magic. Anton noticed that most of the mana power banks were already filled and soon they would be using the table that he had made as a huge mana power bank to cast their spells to empty their spell slots so they could memorize their spells again.

    Anton found that sort of magic practice tedious and was glad that he didn¡¯t have to practice his magic that way. He would practice his magic by entering his Diablo II system and leveling up his Paladin character in his room which the door would remain open.

    He wondered how the mages in the family would be able to practice their magic with his father and the others creating noises at the dinner table that was transformed into temporary office space. Even Selena and her two friends were a little noisy. Apparently, the three beautiful women were now in their room arranging all of their belongings to be converted to new by Anton which was promised by his father and would do later during lunch.

    Anton found that situation a little funny since before they went to the Dining Hall for breakfast, his father approached him and with a red face asked him to repair Norma and Belue¡¯s clothes and other belongings using his magic. Selena had been telling them of his wonderful magic that made clothes, and pieces of jewelry, however old and torn to something new. Of course, he agreed but he did joke about it a little about making Norma and Belue his father¡¯s harem which earned him a knock on the head.

 Chapter 349

    Anton entered his bedroom after breakfast but he kept his door open so he would be able to get to his family fast enough if something happened. The suite looked like it was filled with wolves but there were only eight wolves. Five were Dire Wolves and three were Spirit Wolves. Two were lent to the ship¡¯s mages so they could assist in finding the attackers that killed the two families.

    It would have been three families by now but he was proud of his two Spirit Wolves who detected the attackers in time to prevent the attackers from killing more people. It was also then that the mages discovered that there was more than one perpetrator and that they were wearing some sort of uniform black clothes. If Anton had seen those people, he would have known that they were wearing what looked like ninja costumes.

    He did come to that conclusion when one of the mages who saw the attackers described what the perpetrators were wearing. Anton didn¡¯t think much of it since black tight clothes were standard wear for someone who didn¡¯t want to be noticed during nighttime.

    For several hours he concentrated on leveling up his Paladin Character but at around ten in the morning, he heard someone shouting outside so he immediately exited his Diablo II system and hurried out from his bedroom.

    When he saw the look of celebration on his family and friends¡¯ faces, Anton was relieved since it wasn¡¯t some sort of attack.

    ¡°Anton, I finally memorized the Cantrip Light! I¡¯m now a mage!¡± Walter exclaimed and then the man suddenly burst into tears which surprised Anton.

    Since Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip were there as well, they all hugged Walter. They had been friends for a long time and based on what Anton could see, the three probably understood Walter¡¯s emotion. There were times in their lives when they desired to become mages since their family would then truly consider them the backbone of their respective clans but alas, they didn¡¯t have the talent. But now one of them finally passed the hurdle of being an ordinary person and became a mage they all knew that even if Walter had become a mage, he would probably be considered as one of those who had very low talent and would probably encounter a very difficult time in climbing up the wizardly ranks.

    Although, given that they had one year in the ocean, with the help of Anton¡¯s aura, he should be able to climb fast enough that when he arrived in New Drennor, they might allow him to receive the resources of a standard mage. The miraculous thing about Anton¡¯s auras was that if a mage was diligent enough under his auras, what should have taken a mage seven to ten years of effort to increase their rank could take them just one year.

    That was also the reason why everyone received strict instructions from Anders not to share the information with just anybody.

    It took Walter three days to memorize the Cantrip Light which was the average time a not-so-talented mage could memorize their first cantrip. It proved their theory that a magic artifact that added total mana to a person would allow them to memorize a spell and become a mage. It probably remained undiscovered because if a regular person attempted something like that without Anton¡¯s aura, it would probably take around fifteen to twenty days before they were successful in memorizing a cantrip. That usually meant that at around four or five days, people would just give up and say that it was impossible.

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    While everyone was congratulating Walter, Frederick kept advising Walter that he had to be more diligent in exercising his magic capability while he was under Anton¡¯s auras and Walter just kept nodding while crying which made Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip laugh.

    ¡°Are the three of you not going to give it a try of becoming a mage?¡± Anton asked Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip curiously.

    ¡°You mentioned that you only had one spot left in your system that would allow a mage to practice and I don¡¯t want to take up that space since you might need it and from the looks of it, Lucia and Phillip were the same. Besides, I¡¯m used to being a regular person since I do have power as well because of my wealth,¡± Antonia said while Lucia and Phillip were nodding.

    ¡°I also think that I wouldn¡¯t be able to take the effort of just staying in one place memorizing a spell for several hours,¡± Phillip said while shuddering but Anton knew that the three were just giving excuses.

    If anyone there was honest, they would have said that they wanted to be mages as well but time and some things were limited.

    Anton laughed when he heard what Phillip had said and he was thankful that he wasn¡¯t also doing something like that since his way of powering up was leveling his character by playing his Diablo II system but to be honest, he was an otaku enough that if there was no choice but spend an ungodly amount of time memorizing spell to increase his power, he would have done it.

    After several minutes of celebrating, they all returned to what they were doing before. The mages went back to memorizing their spells and casting them to the mana power banks to empty their spell slots and memorize spells again. Walter didn¡¯t cast his spell onto the mana power bank but cast the Cantrip Light and summoned a mage light which brightened the area where the mages were practicing.

    Walter¡¯s eyes were full of wonder of the magic that he cast and he resolutely began memorizing the spellbook that he had for the Cantrip Light. Anton knew that once Walter was able to create his own grimoire, Frederick would assist him since Walter was paying Frederick a lot of coins.

    Everyone went back to what they were doing but Anton stopped again during lunchtime. His Paladin character leveled up to level seventy-six. His Paladin¡¯s build was still catered for gaming and not for real life since he could only tweak his character build for real life once he reached the maximum level for that specific character but it shouldn¡¯t take too long before he reached the Paladin¡¯s max level.

    When Anton went out of his room, he saw his father asking Frederick, Devon, and Colin to go get lunch while they were guarded by one Dire Wolf and one Spirit Wolf. While everyone was waiting for the three to bring their lunch to the suite, he followed Selena, Norma, and Belue to the room that Selena¡¯s two friends were using.

    The two ladies wanted all of the things to be ¡°spelled¡± into becoming new and even though there were a lot, it shouldn¡¯t take Anton long so he immediately worked on it and after thirty minutes, he was done. Norma and Belue, and even Selena who experienced it before looked at their things with wonder. Everything looked like they were newly made and they were also very clean.

    After thanking Anton several times,  Selena, Norma, and Belue began inspecting their things one by one excitedly. Anton joined his family at the table waiting for Devon and the others for their lunch. He could have eaten one of the stored foods in his inventory but it was a time for him to be with his family so while they were waiting everyone talked about anything they were interested in.

    Suddenly, the door was opened with force and a bloodied Frederick entered together with a severely wounded Devon and Colin followed by the Dire Wolf while the Spirit Wolf was inconspicuously absent.

 Chapter 350

    Anton immediately removed everyone from his party system and added Devon, Frederick, and Colin. Since his Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor had always been active since everyone had been practicing magic, the three men began to heal rapidly.

    Devon and Colin, who looked like they were at death¡¯s door, began to revive, and in a minute, the three of them were fully healed even Frederick who was slightly wounded.

    Since the three of them were dirtied with blood, instead of asking them what happened, Anders and Lucas commanded them to take a bath and after a few minutes, they were ready to tell everyone what happened.

    ¡°We were waiting for the food to be cooked when the restaurant was suddenly attacked by five men who were wearing tight black clothes. I noticed that their targets were us but because the two wolves met them immediately, a battle started. The two wolves were very powerful and cunning and the five men, although very powerful, were not able to bypass your summoned animals,¡± Devon said while Nemina was laying out the food that was stored in her and her husband¡¯s spatial items.

    Every member of Anton¡¯s family had a spatial item since Anton suggested to his father that each one should have one and Anders had been generous enough to purchase one for each of them. Then they all copied Anton¡¯s habit of storing a lot of cooked food or food that did not require preparation in their storage items. They were thankful that Anton also created an enchanted item that produces water since they did not have to store water, only the water-producing magic item and a few mana power banks.

    ¡°After a few minutes, the five men concentrated on the Spirit Wolf, probably because it was smaller but before it died, the two wolves managed to kill two of the attackers. Devon and Colin joined the remaining wolf in attacking the remaining three men while I supported them using my magic but the men were truly powerful. The Dire Wolf severely wounded one of the attackers but Devon and Colin were gravely wounded as well. Thank goodness that the last two men ran off after that and we hurried here,¡± Frederick said.

    Anton remained silent and summoned a Sprit Wolf since one was killed while Anders and Lucas talked with Devon and Frederick regarding the attack. He didn¡¯t speak because he was very angry. ¡°How dare they attack my own!¡± That was what Anton was thinking, which he knew was some form of pride but he truly felt the beginning of almost unquenchable wrath.

    At first, he didn¡¯t understand why he was so angry but then he thought, what if the one who went outside was his father or his sister? Based on his speculation and the conversation that his father and Lucas were having, the attackers targeted his family members. There was a chance that the attackers waited for someone from the family to exit their suite and more than likely, their family was targeted because Anton assisted the ship by providing the wolves who were able to track them.

    ¡°To be honest, we were able to drive off the remaining two attackers because me and Colin started using the Wand of Ice Bolt that you¡¯ve provided,¡± Frederick said.

    Anton then knew that to truly protect his family and friends, he should start thinking about crafting powerful defensive items. He did start crafting an enchanted item that would contain the Frozen Armor spell but due to the complexity of the mana structure and his prioritizing leveling up his characters and other matters, he put it on hold. He decided that he would prioritize crafting the defensive items.

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    Soon they heard some knocking on their door and when they heard through the door that it was the Supreme Adinor, Colin let the wizard in together with two of his assistants.

    ¡°We heard that your family members were attacked.¡± The mage said.

    Since his father saw that he was preoccupied, Anders was the one who talked with the Supreme Mage. His father repeated Devon, Frederick, and Colin¡¯s report to the powerful wizard and after several minutes, Adinor and his assistants left.

    ¡°What are you planning?¡± His father whispered to him when the others were preoccupied with talking about the attackers.

    ¡°Those attackers actively attacked our people, Father. I decided that I will hunt them later.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s dangerous!¡± Anders whispered fiercely not wanting to disturb the others.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m very powerful. A simple physical attack will not damage me and I have very high defenses against magical attacks. Those ninja wannabes wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt me. I want to resolve this issue as soon as possible since our family is being affected. We were attacked and even our business is affected.¡±

    ¡°I understand but please be very, very careful. What is a ninja wannabe?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked and he smiled.

    ¡°It¡¯s a warrior from a land steeped in respected culture. Those warriors were supposed to be the hidden hands of powerful people who functioned as their assassins and for other nefarious things. They were powerful warriors and mighty mages supposedly. I do have movies and some animated films and shows that feature them,¡± Anton answered and his father just nodded.

    ¡°How will you begin your hunt?¡±

    ¡°Later tonight, I¡¯ll walk alone roaming the halls. Basically, just being bait and once they attack me, I¡¯ll use my magic to capture them instead of killing them so the ship¡¯s mages can begin the process of interrogating them so they can root out these scumbags,¡± Anton told his father.

    Their whispering was then interrupted by Anna.

    ¡°Anton, can you cast your spell again that allows us to practice our magic fast? I want to practice my magic,¡± Anna said.

    Anton knew that all the mages were experiencing the same thing that he had been experiencing about wanting to increase their power as soon as possible. Each one of them knew that personal power was the best way for a person to protect themselves and their families. He then added all of the mages again to his party system after removing Devon and Colin then they all started eating the lunch that Nemina prepared.

    After lunch, Anders announced that there would be a meeting and Anna, who complained that she wanted to practice her magic received a fierce glare from their father.

    ¡°Since Devon and the others were targeted, no one can¡¯t leave the suite for now. We are thinking that our family was now the target of this organization since we lent them the wolves and that the summoned creatures could detect them. If anyone wanted to go somewhere, the reason should be very important and if it is, they will need to be accompanied by at least five wolves,¡± Anders said to everyone and since everyone was terrified of this unknown organization who they didn¡¯t know the purpose of, everyone would follow Anders¡¯s command without complaint.

    After that announcement, all the mages returned to practicing their magic while Anton went inside his room to continue leveling up his Paladin Character. Since they were in a delicate situation, he decided to use the screen option instead of opting to enter the world of Sanctuary virtually.

    Anton exited his Diablo II system when four in the afternoon arrived. He was happy to see that his Paladin was now level seventy-nine. Just a few more then he can reset the Paladin¡¯s skill to a build that would help him a lot in the real world. He also planned to start hunting for Paladin¡¯s Best in Slot gear once he reached level ninety-three and above.

 Chapter 351

    Anton left his room and saw that everyone had stopped doing their business and were relaxing. There were some pastries and drinks at the table. Lucia said that they asked Harun to deliver food to them. They thought that the sailors should be safe enough from attacks since the general staff of the ship seemed to be safe. When Devon, Frederick, and Colin were attacked at the restaurant where they tried to order lunch, the attackers didn¡¯t attack the staff there.

    Anders and Lucas mentioned that they shouldn¡¯t assume anything since they did not know the motivation of the attackers but Anton saw that they were glad that Harun arrived in their suite safely with the other men who brought the snacks.

    Anton was truly livid at the fact that his whole family was terrified of going outside their suite and terrified that the people who associated with them even as so far as just delivering them food would be hurt. He decided that he wouldn¡¯t rest until he captured some of those attackers alive so they could question them and finally root them out of the ship.

    ¡°So, what are we going to do? Do you all want to watch something?¡± Anton asked everyone since watching a show might take their minds off from their fear.

    ¡°I¡¯ll not be able to enjoy whatever movie or show that we¡¯ll watch so instead of wasting them, let¡¯s just relax a bit then go back to work. Since we had a lot of time concentrating on the Cosplay Event, I¡¯m proud to say that we are ironing the details intensively,¡± Antonia said.

    All the mages just wanted to go back to practicing their magic. It was as if the situation made them realize that they truly needed to rank up their power as soon as possible and all of them couldn¡¯t wait to practice, especially Walter.

    The man knew that he only had a limited time to have exclusive access to Anton¡¯s auras which allowed him to memorize spells in the shortest amount possible for his talent since without the auras, the length of time he had to spend to rank up was abominable. At least that was based on what Frederick had told him and according to Walter, based on his gut instinct, the mage was right.

    Walter said that he needed to rank up as soon as possible so that his family would consider him as a mage who could support the family and would then allow him to concentrate on magic and siphon magical resources to him.

    Anton felt a twinge of sadness when he saw Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip looking at Walter with a mixture of mild envy and acceptance at different times. When Phillip saw him looking at him, Anton made the mistake of showing his pity so the noble approached him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t pity us, Anton. The four of us would have preferred to become mages since being a wizard is the only true strength that everyone recognized. It¡¯s the doorway to the true mysteries of this world and according to my great grandfather who is an archmage, is the only way to becoming a god. But fate already dealt us the path of being regular people and even if we¡¯re part of the mundane, we have incredible wealth, and that in a way is also power. Some lower-rank mages even had to bow to us. I¡¯m glad that Walter can follow our childhood dreams of becoming a mage but all of us knew how incredibly difficult the way would be for Walter moving forward and Antonia, Lucia, and I chose not to follow that footsteps.¡±

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    Phillip smiled at him and continued.

    ¡°We actually made some calculations. Based on what Frederick had said, while on the ship, if Walter weren¡¯t under your aura, he would have probably reached at most wizard rank two but that was if he were incredibly diligent, practicing his magic day in and out but more than likely he would only be able to reach rank one. Under your auras, there was a chance that in a year he would reach rank 4 or 5 which is already very powerful and the family would value him but only Walter wanted to try that path. Once we leave your company, it will be very hard for Walter to rank up anymore. The three of us would just remain rich nobles using our wealth to increase the family¡¯s wealth and enjoy our lives to the fullest.¡±

    After that conversation, Anton assured Phillip that he understood and respected their choices.

    Anton stayed outside his room and conversed with his family while the mages practiced their magic. Norma, Belue, and even Selena kept thanking Anton for the things that he fixed and also thanked him again for allowing them to stay in the suite.

    He assured the women that they didn¡¯t need to thank them again and if they consented to become his father¡¯s girlfriends, he would welcome them with open arms which earned him a knock on the head from his father and made everyone laugh except Anna who was looking at him with an indignant face after stopping her magic practice briefly.

    Selena, Norma, and Belue looked shocked when Anders hit Anton on the head even if it was only a playful hit. They knew that Anton was a very powerful archmage and from their experience and what they had seen in New Drennor, no archmage would allow themselves to be treated with such indignity. They kept forgetting that he was only seventeen years old and about to turn eighteen in December, which was less than two months away.

    The three women then talked about their lives in New Drennor which everyone considered valuable information because the ladies'' insights were different from Antonia and her group. Their stories revolved around the ordinary to the middle-income families of the said city and Anton knew that his family¡¯s main customers for the cinema would be them.

    After that the meeting for the Cosplay continued and Anton listened in for a bit but soon, their meeting revolved around Anders and Nemina¡¯s plans when they reached New Drennor. Anton then shared some business insight like creating merchandise based on the movies that they could sell to the customers.

    He gave some examples like creating clothing, mugs, plates, and other ordinary paraphernalia that were designed to look like they came from movies or even containing the images of the protagonists or even some of the sceneries from the film.

    That suggestion excited Anders, Nemina, and even Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip so they devised plans that they could implement once the cinema theater was open in New Drennor. Even Anton who grew up on Earth was impressed by his family and his friends'' plans and couldn¡¯t wait to reach the new city so the plans could be implemented. Everyone had excited faces since everything that they were planning was new and exciting.

    It was not so much for the coins that they would earn, but they did expect to earn a humongous amount of it, but the lives that would be brightened with excitement because of the movies. With the movies and shows, people didn¡¯t have to gamble their life away as adventurers to experience exciting lives since for the length of the movie, they could partake in the lives of different heroes and experience their joy and sadness. They knew it would happen since everyone in the room, including Anton, experienced it while watching movies and shows.

 Chapter 352

    Anton''s conversation with his family and friends lasted the whole afternoon until evening. It was a bit funny to see them talking very loudly while the mages practiced their magic in the nearby theater setup they had in the suite.

    He almost laughed out loud when Anton sometimes saw them pausing a bit and looking irritably at the people in the suite who were disturbing them but they just simply went back to memorizing and casting their spells.

    Everyone had to carry the burden of making do with whatever they had because of the situation but Anton would try his best to resolve the situation as soon as possible. He knew that it was his pride talking because if one looked at the situation, how could he, a single archmage, deal with something that a Supreme Wizard and several archmages from the ship were having trouble with?

    The confidence that Anton had was using himself as bait. At first, he thought of using his summoned animals like the Ravens to track down the enemies but that would defeat the purpose of acting as bait. The best thing that he could do was act like he was some stupid youth roaming around defenseless and since his family seemed to have been targeted by the criminals, it was almost certain that he would be attacked.

    Anton truly wasn¡¯t afraid for himself especially if the attackers were just ninja wannabes since based on Devon, Colin, and Frederick¡¯s description, most of the attacks, even backed by what he supposed as special skills, were physical ones. His defenses were considerable coming from different spells. He had the Sorcerer¡¯s Frozen Armor and Energy Shield, the Druid¡¯s Cyclone Armor, the Necromancer¡¯s Bone Armor, and the Paladin¡¯s defensive auras aside from the actual armor pieces and accessories that his character was wearing that were being reflected in real life.

    He had an inkling that even without the spells, the ¡°Best in Slots¡± gears that he was wearing were possibly enough defenses that he would not receive any damage and even if he did, his healing auras were truly powerful and he had thousands of Full Rejuvenation potion in his inventory.

    Right now the gear that his character was wearing was the very best gear a Sorceress could wear but once he had all the characters and hunted all of the best gears of all the characters, he would then research the combination of armor, weapons, and accessories that would best serve his needs in the real world but for now, the Sorceress items were powerful enough.

    During dinner, Lucas volunteered to get dinner for everyone together with Devon, Colin, and Frederick but this time, they were followed by two Spirit Wolves and three Dire Wolves. Anton felt that Lucas and the others should be safe since their first attack on Devon and the others failed, the attackers would probably consider their next move carefully but of course, he kept in mind what his father and Lucas had said about not assuming things.

    ¡°Everyone, I will be removing all of you from my system so tonight you will not have the auras to assist you in memorizing your spells. I planned to roam around acting as bait and capture some of those ninja wannabes so the ship¡¯s mages can finally root out the attackers,¡± Anton announced to everyone while they were waiting for dinner.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that very dangerous?¡± Selena asked worriedly but when she, Norma, and Belue looked around, they saw that everyone in the family was calm.

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    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Anton. He was able to battle with an army of the undead consisting of several liches and high-ranking vampires,¡± Anna told the three women.

    ¡°He also defeated a powerful werewolf pack and I¡¯m guessing that those attackers were only as powerful as those monsters,¡± Lunelle said.

    ¡°He even captured and enslaved a Vampire Duke before together with two of the vampire¡¯s powerful progeny. They were really powerful and helpful but the Undead Coalition destroyed them,¡± Frederick added.

    ¡°I remembered when he subdued an army of monsters that gathered in the forest and attacked a caravan. Those monsters gathered because of the coalition but Anton effortlessly slaughtered them,¡± Lunelle continued.

    The three women''s eyes widened when they heard Anton¡¯s battle history and even Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip were impressed. Everyone knew that Anton was an archmage since the other mages said so but due to him appearing very young, how his father and the others in the family treated him which was mostly just like a regular member of the family, and possibly his behavior as well, the others had not truly grasped the fact of how powerful an archmage could be.

    ¡°If an archmage is that powerful how can those attackers manage to kill off the two archmages that were with the first family that died?¡± Norma asked.

    Everyone looked at Anton since most of them were probably wondering the same thing.

    ¡°They might have been sleeping and then caught by surprise or were poisoned before or something,¡± Anton shrugged.

    ¡°Will something like that work on you,¡± Anders asked and Anton simply shook his head confirming that something like a surprise attack wouldn¡¯t work on him.

    That simple confirmation looked like one of the things that truly impressed his four rich friends and his father¡¯s girlfriends.

    ¡°Norma, Belue, Selena, I have a gift for you three. Here are Wands of Ice Bolt. Ask Father to teach you how to use them so you will have something to defend yourselves in case you are attacked. As I¡¯ve said, I¡¯ll give you a lot of magical things if you consent to be my father¡¯s girlfriends,¡± Anton gave the wands to the three women and the three accepted them while having red faces.

    Anton¡¯s father shouted at him which made everyone laugh and Anna was glaring at him. Ramona and Belinda looked like they heard something scandalous but most of the people there found the situation extremely funny. There was even some sort of acceptance on some of the others'' faces since having multiple mistresses was normal for the very rich and due to Anton¡¯s support, his family would certainly become one of the richest in New Drennor if they all arrived there safely.

    Soon, Lucas and the others arrived with their dinner and everyone enjoyed their food. After that, they all decided to watch a couple of television shows to pass the time before they rested so Anton played the next episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Xena: Warrior Princess. Surprisingly, when Anton asked what was the next episode would be, it was Colin who answered. He was actually taking notes on the last episodes of the television shows that they had been watching. Lunelle was also nothing them down though and she confirmed that Colin¡¯s notes were correct then the two compared their notes and fixed some of the discrepancies.

    At least, during that time, everyone forgot the situation they were in and enjoyed the shows. Norma, Belue, and Selena were very excited and after the shows ended, they had a lot of questions that Anton¡¯s family and friends were willing to answer. The talks went on for a long time but soon everyone went to their rooms to sleep.

    At around midnight, Anton prepared himself to go out of the suite to begin his hunt for the attackers. He summoned the Dire Bear and the Clay Golem though to make sure that his family and friends were safe in his absence then cast all of his defensive spells making sure to turn off the visual special effects of the buffs.

    Anton was thankful that he had that option since if people saw him walking around glowing, looking like some sort of deity moving around the halls, it would probably cause a panic and the attackers would probably not take his bait.

 Chapter 353

    Anton wanted to go to the Patrons Bar at first, but there was a chance that the attackers might involve the regular passengers, so he changed his plan and decided to go to the deck exclusive for their hallway, which was mostly for the very rich, which meant that there wouldn¡¯t be anyone there due to the time, he assumed.

    He made sure to stroll, giving anyone monitoring the hallways a chance to see him. Anton was hoping that he didn¡¯t need to do this for several nights since he wanted to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

    When he arrived at the deck, there were a couple of guards standing by. Anton entered it and as expected there was no one there. He looked at the ocean and it was truly dark provoking fearful images to those who were susceptible enough or had some sort of phobia of huge dark places. Anton could imagine humongous behemoths lurking underneath the ocean or some kind of army of swimming monsters but even if he indulged himself in imagining those kinds of things he kept his awareness in his surroundings.

    Anton waited for a couple of hours but nothing happened. He speculated that he was very obvious in his actions that was why no one attacked him. He felt disappointed since he really wanted to capture some of the enemies so they would finally know who the attackers were.

    After waiting for another hour, Anton sighed and decided to roam around somewhere else. He decided to visit Maide and Bailey where they were corralled. When he arrived there, the person who was looking after the animals was a little surprised but not too much since it wasn¡¯t rare. Some of the rich passengers who brought their favorite animals like their horses or their hounds often visited and sometimes those people didn¡¯t care what time it was.

    When Maide and Bailey saw him, they were glad to show Anton their affection and of course, he rewarded them by providing mana water to the two horses. He also added the two horses briefly to his party system and activated his auras to make sure that their family animals were not suffering from any underlying diseases.

    ¡°What are you feeding them, Sir?¡± A young man asked. That person was one of the people who were looking after the animals.

    ¡°It¡¯s magical water that will keep my horses healthy,¡± Anton answered.

    ¡°Is that the reason why they¡¯re so intelligent?¡± The young man asked and Anton simply nodded.

    ¡°Can you also provide them to the other animals? I just wanted to make sure that everyone is as healthy as they could be,¡± The young man shamelessly asked.

    Anton wondered why the ship¡¯s stableman or whatever he was called was courageous enough to ask a mage for something like mana water that he produced but looking at the youth¡¯s face who was hardly older than himself, he knew that the young man¡¯s affection for all the animals probably brought him the courage to do so and coupled with Anton¡¯s young looking face, he found his courage to ask.

    Anton simply nodded and went around the place to give all the animals there which were a combination of horses, large dogs, donkeys, and even cows mana water. According to the one handling them, all the animals that were placed here were considered pets and not food so even some of the pigs that Anton saw were not food but actual pets. It took him an hour to provide all the animals there some mana water for them to drink and since he was going around, he decided to add each one of them, seven animals at a time while his auras were active so he could heal them and based on his mana¡¯s reaction, some of the animals were sick.

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    The stableman saw what he was doing and when he asked, Anton simply told the man that he was healing the animals and the man looked very grateful and was almost on the verge of crying. Anton knew that the man was one of those who probably cared for animals more than people but of course, that was just his guess and he might be wrong.

    After he was done with the place, he continued roaming around. At first, he thought of visiting some of the attractions on the ship that was supposed to be open all day but then his reasoning of not affecting regular passengers in case he was attacked stopped him.

    Anton decided to return to the suite and thought of doing the same thing the next night. When he entered the suite, he saw that his father was waiting.

    ¡°Why are you still up?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°I was worried,¡± Anders simply answered.

    ¡°Well, nothing happened. At first, I thought that maybe the attackers only attacked once a night and since they already attacked Devon and the others, they probably stopped but they did kill two families in one night before. I plan to do this again later tonight,¡± Anton told his father and Anders nodded and returned to his room.

    He saw that his sister was up looking at him through her door in the room that she shared with Lunelle and when Anton looked around, noticed that everyone was awake. He was touched that his family and friends were worried about him but when he waved at him, they all went back to sleeping.

    Anton went inside his room and slept. The next day, they all went to the dining hall to partake in the breakfast buffet and thankfully everything was business as usual. While they were eating, Anders announced that they would open the cinema that day since they couldn¡¯t behave in fear all the time. There was also no attack last night so everyone was beginning to calm down but to Anton, it just felt like the calm before the storm.

    After breakfast, they all return to the suite. Anders, Nemina, Lucas, Devon, and Colin would go to the cinema to re-open it and they would be guarded by three Dire Wolves, two Spirit Wolves, and three Ravens that Anton had summoned.

    The rest would remain in the suite to guard everyone else together with the Dire Bear. Selena, Belue, and Norma insisted on going with Anders so Anton allowed them to come. Anton asked his father if they wanted to bring the Clay Golem with them and surprisingly, his father agreed.

    ¡°It¡¯s a deterrent to any attackers and also a good form of advertisement for the power of our family so no one would think of anything nefarious to our cinema,¡± Anders said.

    Anton immediately summoned the Clay Golem and commanded it to follow his father¡¯s command. He was glad that the cinema was near enough their suite so that all of the summoned creatures could follow his father without any problem and was thankful that the area of effect of the summon, meaning the area in which they could function away from Anton was extremely large.

    Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip planned to go somewhere else and they weren¡¯t worried since as rich nobles and with Antonia being the niece of the owner of the Amelia, they were guarded by very powerful wizards.

    The rest remained in the suite to practice their magic so after that, their day began. Anton went to his room to level up his Paladin. He still chose to play the game using the on-screen option since he wanted to be a little aware of the surroundings in case something happened.

    That meant that he couldn¡¯t continue his project of creating the Frozen Armor enchanted item since he could only do that while he was inside the game and he couldn¡¯t practice enchantment outside the game since there were instances when explosions happened. He didn¡¯t want to damage the ship.

 Chapter 354

    Anton stopped leveling up his Paladin character at around thirty minutes passed eleven in the morning. He wanted to join the others for lunch and to get news of what happened outside their suite. He did level up his Paladin to level eighty-five and he had to admit that playing the game using the screen option wherein he played the game just like he would in front of a computer was significantly faster than entering the world of Sanctuary virtually. As a matter of fact, Anton knew that if those veteran Diablo II players on the most famous streaming site learned how slow he was in leveling up his characters in Diablo II, given the fact that his leveling up his characters was his way to power, they would have probably tried their best to beat him.

    Anyone of those expert players might have thought that if they were the ones given the same power system they would have been gods by now and that was what Anton thought as well at first but he discovered gradually that it was not as shallow as that.

    The main reason why he was so slow and that there was a need for him to level up his characters virtually was because there was a need for mind and body to recognize the mana structure and mana pathway of the different spells of different characters. That was the only way for him to learn the detailed intricacies of spells so he could either change the structure enough for him to add some effects like increasing the mana consumed to make the spell bigger or manipulating the structure to change the essence of the spell. That was where the mana water came from.

    That was also the reason why he was able to create enchanted items based on the Diablo II spells. That was why he couldn¡¯t just focus on completely hurrying up his character to reach maximum level because if it was just that, any gamer could have done it fast enough that by the time they reached Zalnothel, he would have had all of his characters at maximum level.

    When Anton went outside his room, everyone had already stopped practicing magic and was gathered at the dining table.

    ¡°What are you all there?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°Sir Walter asked Harun to order lunch for us and we¡¯re waiting for them,¡± Anna told his brother.

    After a few minutes, Anders and the others entered the suite.

    ¡°Father you¡¯re back!¡± Anna said saying the obvious.

    ¡°We wanted to join everyone for lunch and we also wanted to make sure that everyone in here is safe and wanted to let you know as well that we¡¯re safe,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    Anders also told them that Antonia and the others were busy and wouldn¡¯t be joining them for lunch.

    Soon Harun arrived with others bringing the lunch spread that Walter had ordered and everyone was thankful that there was plenty for everyone.

    While eating, Anders told them that the cinema was operating normally and they hadn¡¯t encountered anything out of the ordinary. Anton¡¯s father did receive a lot of inquiries from some of his friends regarding the huge golem and the five wolves that were guarding them.

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    ¡°Your father kept boasting that his ¡°son the archmage¡± was worried about his father¡¯s safety that¡¯s why his ¡°son the archmage¡± summoned fierce wolves and a powerful golem to guard the family,¡± Selena smilingly said.

    ¡°Your father¡¯s friends kept admiring the summoned creatures that your father began to strut around while the summons followed him. I think he would have climbed the golem¡¯s head if he could preserve his dignity,¡± Norma added making everyone laugh while Anders mock glared at the three women.

    After lunch, everyone went back to their business. That afternoon, Anton gambled and entered his Diablo II system world since he really wanted to resume his project Frozen Armor magic item since he wanted his family and friends to be protected.

    The first problem that he had encountered with creating an enchanted item that would have the Frozen Armor was the need for it to be activated only when attacked since if it was active all the time, the mana storage on the item wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the mana consumption and that would also degrade the item fast.

    The second problem was he couldn¡¯t use wood for the base item since apparently, the mana structure of the Frozen Armor spell was too complex for wood and that meant that he had to create the item using iron, steel, silver, or gold.

    The third problem was, that his original plan was to inscribe the Frozen Armor spell on a piece of armor but that would only work for men and warriors at that since they were the only ones who had the strength to wear heavy armor. That meant he had to choose something else so the women could wear the items as well. He then chose to inscribe the mana structure to an accessory but it had to be big enough to contain the structure of the spell which was large and big enough to have the mana storage capacity that would protect the user for a good amount of time when the spell was activated.

    He spent several hours thinking of the solution for the automatic activation but he didn¡¯t find any so that meant that he would have to use the same old and tired ¡°switch the item on¡± process for his magic item which was, to be honest, as an item enchanter, was very embarrassing.

    That meant that if a person was carrying his Frozen Armor enchanted item and thought that they were in danger, they would need to switch on the item. If they were ambushed, they would need to take precious several seconds to switch on the item which was truly dangerous since that could mean their lives but as for now, that was the best Anton could do.

    Starting after lunch until four in the afternoon, the ¡°switch on the item¡± idea was the only solution Anton could think of but at least that was progress. He exited his Diablo II system and would think of his next stop when he resumed either later or the next day.

    When he joined the others outside his room, he announced that the spell allowing them to memorize spell would now be removed and would resume the next day.

    ¡°I want to practice some more, can you extend it at least until you leave for your hunt tonight or if you really need to go out,¡± Anna complained.

    Anton thought for a bit and agreed so he added the mages to his party system again and activated his auras. Surprisingly, not only Anna, but all the mages were delighted with his decision to extend the practice time until he needed to leave the suite.

    ¡°I just thought that you all need some rest like maybe watch some shows or movies,¡± Anton told them.

    ¡°Maybe. Once we get tired of practicing our magic but for now, I personally feel that I need to keep practicing,¡± Anna said and based on the others'' reactions, they felt the same way, even Walter.

    This time though, his father and the others didn¡¯t return to the suite so finding himself with nothing to do, Anton resume his Frozen Armor enchanted item project. Since he already decided to stick to the ¡°switch on the item¡± process for now, he now thought of what item he could put the enchantment on but before doing that he had to make sure that he could inscribe the actual mana pathway and mana structure of the enchantment but for now, he could only do it on a tablet, either an iron or a silver tablet since gold was very expensive.

 Chapter 355

    Anton focused on creating the Frozen Armor enchantment on the silver tablet that he made by manually melting silver coins using his Fire Bolt spell on a hastily created mold that he made using his Telekinesis Spell.

    It was simple enough. He retrieved sand from the desert outside the city of Lut Gholein, put it in a wooden container, stamped a wooden tablet on the sand layer then poured the molten silver on it. After a few minutes, voila, he had ready-made silver tablets. He did it for around thirty minutes until he collected enough number of them for his enchantment creation. He knew that he would probably need to do a lot more silver tablets before he gained success in creating the enchantment. He would also need to convert some of his gold coins to silver through the ship¡¯s merchants but for now, he had enough.

    For the next three hours, Anton focused on the enchanted item research but there were already glimmers of success, and more than likely, if he still focused on it the next day, he would have a prototype by the end of the day tomorrow.

    Anton exited his Diablo II system and joined his family for dinner. That night no one complained when he told everyone that he would be turning off the spell that allowed them to practice their magic.

    After dinner, they watched a couple of television shows which were then the next episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Then Anton announced that he would be resting since he wanted to continue his ¡°baiting the enemy¡± plan later that night. The good thing about the pearl that the pink dolphins and the blue whales had given him, whenever he wanted to rest, he could do so since the pearl would allow him to fall asleep whenever he wanted and the magic of the pearl would make sure that the sleep would be a restful one. In fact, even if it was noisy outside his room, which it was since everyone was still awake and conversing, he didn¡¯t want to close his door because of the situation, he would have had a hard time sleeping and that¡¯s why he loved the magical pearl.

    Anton woke up from the alarm that he set up in his browser in his system. The good thing about his alarm inside his Diablo II system browser was that he was the only one who could hear it so he didn¡¯t disturb anyone else.

    He cast all of his defensive spells and proceeded to exit out of the suite to begin roaming around. While strolling along the hallways of the ship, Anton felt like he was a ghost. He would have then levitated forward by using his Telekinesis spell which was an intrusive thought that entered his mind but he held off in doing that since that may alarm his would-be attackers or may even frighten the ordinary passengers that sometimes appeared.

    Anton found that traveling for a year in the ocean was a bit weird. It felt like your life suddenly would stop like it was frozen in time especially if you¡¯re a regular person. The other people on the ship wouldn¡¯t be able to continue to cater to your business if you have a business on the ship since no incoming coins were entering their family. Everything was probably on a budget and only the very rich could be extravagant.

    The people who found their wealth through traveling the ocean could probably explain it to Anton like what Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillips¡¯ family were doing but he wasn¡¯t interested. Once they reached their destination, Anton would prefer not to travel the ocean again if he had any choice on the matter.

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    The funny thing was, At first, Anton thought of this world as Earth¡¯s parallel world. He thought of Rendindura as Europe and thought of the Gale Continent as America, especially when he found some cultural similarities in some of the people in those continents like the cowboy costumes or the Indian apparel that some of the people were wearing that he found when he was roaming around Whaling City but when he carefully studied the known continents it was very different and he was guessing that the reason why there were similarities in culture and clothing was because of the environment.

    If Anton was an academic or a learned scholar, the subject would have been very interesting in his opinion but he was not so he decided not to fall into the trap of thinking that this world was Earth¡¯s parallel. He couldn¡¯t fault himself though because aside from the Americas, he also found the same culture in Whaling that resembled the old India, Japan, Korea, and more.

    Anton thought a lot of things while he was walking around but he finally reached the exclusive deck for their hallway again and entered it. While he was there, he thought of who could the attackers were. He was guessing that it was still a part of the Undead Coalition¡¯s attacks because even though the ninja wannabes were not undead, who was to say that the organization did not employ the non-undead?

    He had to admit that the attackers could be from some other malicious organization that had a very specific goal but thinking about that depressed Anton since that would prove that this world was truly dangerous. The Undead Coalition¡¯s bid for world domination was depressing enough, now there were more evil organizations? So Anton was hoping that the ninjas were still from the coalition since that would make him focus on just one enemy.

    Anton had been staying on the deck staring at the dark ocean for less than a couple of hours when he felt malicious gazes on him and that made him happy. That meant that those ninja wannabe took the bait.

    All of his auras and all of his defensive spells were active since Anton had been renewing the spells whenever they lapsed. Then he heard some clanging sounds. When he looked around, Anton saw daggers on the floor meaning they probably threw those at him and the daggers were not able to penetrate his defenses.

    Anton then saw five ninja wannabes appear and for a brief moment, he felt sad about the two sailors who were guarding the door to the deck since they were probably dead if they were truly staff of the ship.

    He kept his buffs and auras special effects turned off since he wanted to make sure that the attackers would continue to think that he was some sort of defenseless youth and not run off. Anton wondered if he would be able to capture all five of the ninjas and decided to try.

    Just like those Kungfu warriors, they kept jumping around, throwing things at him. It almost looked funny since to Anton, the ninjas looked like monkeys. One of the ninjas saw that their thrown weapons were ineffective so one threw some sort of smoke bomb. The smoke was probably either a sleeping smoke or a poisonous one and Anton thought that his defenses and vitality were probably powerful enough to protect him but he didn¡¯t want to take any chances so he teleported out from the center of the smoke bomb and tried to capture the ninjas using his Telekinesis spell.

    Anton managed to capture three of the ninjas and was about to do the same thing to the last two but those two suddenly jumped from the deck and he wasn¡¯t fast enough to capture them since he was already using his Telekinesis in multiple ways, holding three of the ninjas tightly. He also forcefully added the three that he captured in his party system since that would prevent them from dying since the auras would forcefully heal them.

    He was just glad that his party system didn¡¯t require the consent of the people he wanted to add and that made it convenient for Anton since he wanted to make sure that those ninjas would remain alive even if they tried to commit suicide.

 Chapter 356

    Anton was calling the attackers ninja wannabes because of their dark clothing but when he observed them carefully, their clothes looked more like those worn by desert warriors with fully covered arms and faces. They were also wearing gloves and everything was dyed in black.

    The three attackers were floating in place since the other two already escaped. Anton wasn¡¯t really sure if the other two dove to the ocean but more than likely, with their skills, they were able to escape safely in other parts of the ship.

    He removed the cloth that was covering the three faces and when Anton saw their visages, they did look like men from the desert with their sun-burnt dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair. They had the look of panic on their faces and there were some sort of foamy bubbles leaving their mouths. It was possible that they had bitten something that contained poison causing their mouths to foam that would eventually take their lives but because of Anton¡¯s healing auras, they were continually being healed.

    Anton did notice that there were movements in his mana bar meaning that the Prayer Auara was healing the three men. Since the Meditation and Prayer Aura came from his mercenary and his Vigor Aura came from his bow, it meant that he could activate another defensive or support aura so he immediately activated the Cleansing Aura since just like with his other characters, he put a single point on every one of the Paladin¡¯s skills. He even put a single point on every one of the Necromancer¡¯s spells including the skeleton summoning spells even though he had no intention of using them.

    He saw that the three men suddenly seemed surprised. They probably noticed that the poison in their bodies was leaving them and they looked at Anton in horror. Anton cast a minor Cleaning Spell on the men¡¯s faces to remove the remnants of poison from their lips so there would be no accident since he didn¡¯t know how potent the poison the men used.

    Suddenly the Supreme Adinor appeared covered in powerful magic with a face full of wrath but the powerful supreme wizard immediately calmed down when he saw Anton standing there unharmed with three men floating before him. It was obvious that the floating men were captured by him since they were unable to move even the tiniest bit.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir. Five men attacked me but the other two managed to escape by diving into the ocean but I have a feeling that with their movement skills, they probably re-entered the ship to hide. These three tried to kill themselves by ingesting some sort of poison since foam appeared in their mouths but I cleaned their bodies of poison and healed them. My healing spells probably healed all the ailments in their bodies,¡± Anton answered the Supreme Wizard.

    The Supreme Adinor suddenly cast a spell and three glowing large collars appeared and enveloped the three men¡¯s bodies.

    ¡°Go ahead and let go of the men. The spell that I cast will prevent them from moving and thank you for making sure that they are alive. I must say, your healing spells are very powerful. Truly impressive, Sir Archmage,¡± Adinor praised him.

    ¡°Thank you for your praise, sir. I¡¯m happy that I was able to help. These attackers are affecting our family¡¯s morale. I hope with these three men, these attackers will be rooted out from the Amelia,¡± Anton bowed.

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    ¡°We will make sure of that even if we destroy their souls. I will inform you of whatever we will learn from these prisoners,¡± the supreme wizard said.

    Several mages entered the door to the deck and three of them cast a spell that lifted the three prisoners. The mages then reported the two dead sailors who were guarding the deck door and the supreme wizard¡¯s face darkened and looked at the prisoners fiercely.

    Anton could understand the Supreme Adinor¡¯s reaction. Those sailors were not warriors but ordinary staff members of the ship assigned to prevent ordinary folks from entering the deck during off hours for their safety. Anton didn¡¯t know that they only let him in because they recognized him as an archmage and probably had some ship¡¯s business that needed to be done on the deck.

    ¡°How did the sailors die?¡± Anton asked the mage who was reporting.

    ¡°They died from some sort of poison.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re truly dead and not in some sort of suspended animation due to the poison?¡± Anton asked and the mage shrugged.

    The Supreme Adinor rushed to the two sailors and examined them by casting some sort of spell on them.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, you are right! These men are still alive. Quick go ahead and find a healing priest!¡± The Supreme Adinor shouted.

    Anton then said to the powerful supreme wizard to let him see if his healing spells would heal the poisoned men and when Adinor nodded, he immediately removed the three prisoners from his party system and added the two sailors. Since all of his auras were still active including the Cleansing Aura, soon the two sailors revived and after a couple of minutes, returned to being two healthy men.

    All the mages in there including the Supreme Adinor looked impressed at what Anton had done.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, your healing spells can rival the most powerful priests! It¡¯s unusual for a mage to have powerful healing spells since these types of spells are almost always the purview of the divines. I would have asked you for a copy of your healing spells but all of the Supremes and above know that you¡¯re primarily a bloodline mage and most of your spells are from your bloodline magic and I assume your healing spells are?¡± Adinor asked and Anton nodded.

    The other mages in the area looked at Anton in awe when they heard because those were rare and those who became powerful enough to become an archmage through their bloodline magic were rarer still and that was according to the Archmage Voduria back in Zalnothel. More than likely, Anton thought that the other mages were impressed not because of him being a bloodline mage but because the Supreme and above wizards in the ship knew him.

    Anton found it funny that his excuse of him being a bloodline mage was still working. He thought about it before and he thought that maybe the best description one could give him wasn¡¯t a bloodline mage but a system mage but he would stick to bloodline since those exist in this world.

    The two sailors thanked all the mages in the area for healing them and the Supreme Adinor commanded them to rest. Adinor and his mages left bringing the three prisoners with them leaving Anton and the two sailors behind. Once they were gone, Anton told the sailors that he would return to his suite so after that, he hurried home to his family and friends.

    He was glad that this situation was almost resolved but he would only be truly relieved once those attackers were rooted out from the ship. Anton didn¡¯t doubt that it would be resolved soon because the Supreme Wizards were truly powerful and they should be able to retrieve enough information from the three prisoners.

    On the way to the suite, he surprisingly met Harun. Apparently, their sailor guide received a command from higher-ups that Anton was returning from the deck and to make sure that he was comfortable. Anton didn¡¯t know if the regular staff like the sailor knew about the attacker. Certainly, they knew that some families were attacked but he didn¡¯t know how deep the information they had so to prevent misinformation, Anton didn¡¯t share anything about the attackers.

 Chapter 357

    ¡°Harun! I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re here. My family needs to celebrate something. Can you help me find someone to cook these three kilos of Kraken meat?¡± Anton gave the meat and several gold coins to the sailor who told him that he would be happy to help and to wait for an hour for the food to be served.

    Anton knew it was bothersome since it was only around four in the morning so he added more gold coins which made Harun thankful.

    When Anton arrived at the suite, he made enough noise that everyone woke up.

    ¡°Anton, what happened?!¡± His father asked looking alarmed.

    ¡°I asked Harun to cook us some Kraken meat so everyone wake up and let¡¯s celebrate! Soon the issue with the attackers should be resolved. I captured three of them and the Supreme Adinor said that those prisoners were enough for the enemies to be rooted out from the ship. The supreme also said that they would inform us of the results of the interrogation,¡± Anton happily announced.

    ¡°Why are we celebrating early? What if they found out more problems from those enemies that you captured?¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Then we will resolve them and we can celebrate again! There¡¯s nothing wrong with celebrating multiple times,¡± Anton retorted.

    Soon, Harun arrived with other men bringing with them multiple dishes made from the Kraken tentacle meat. Anton was truly glad that he still had a lot of them in his inventory since he considered the tentacle of the Kraken as a miracle meat. What was supposed to be an inedible animal was turned into an out-of-this-world delicacy because of magic and he still had tons of it.

    Soon everyone was enjoying the dishes that were made out of Kraken meat. Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter were still staying in their suite and Anton knew that they were only using the attackers as an excuse since their places were secure enough. Anton was just happy that his friends wanted to be near him and his family and that meant being with them made them happy, which was in his opinion a good thing.

    Selena and her two friends had only eaten the Kraken tentacle meat a few times so they were particularly voluble in their appreciation of how delicious the dishes were.

    The sun was already up when they finished eating all of the dishes and completed their celebratory meal. The mages wanted to start practicing their magic so he added all of them to his party system and activated his auras. Anton was a bit tired himself so he told them that he would sleep first so he went to his room to rest. He did waste an hour surfing the internet before sleeping but before he did, he happily looked at the pearl that was placed on the bedside table.

    He woke up after a couple of hours and Anton felt fully rested even though he only slept for two hours. When he checked the time, it was only around nine in the morning so after showering, he entered his Diablo II system to continue his project of completing the item that would contain the Frozen Armor spell. He also decided that once he was successful in constructing the mana structure and mana pathway for the Frozen Armor, he would start tackling the mana structure and mana pathway of the Druid¡¯s Cyclone Armor spell since he felt that Frozen Armor alone wasn¡¯t enough protection.

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    Anton thought of his other defensive spells and wondered if they were viable to be etched into an item but for now he would complete Frozen Armor and Cyclone Armor first.

    He thought of the Bone Armor spell but the users might be weirded out by the bones that would float around once the spell was activated. Anton thought that his enchanted item probably would not have the option that he had to turn off the special effects of the spells.

    When lunchtime arrived, Anton paused his research and joined his family for lunch. Everyone was eating already.

    ¡°Hey, why didn¡¯t you wait for me?¡±

    ¡°I saw that you¡¯re busy with your weird meditation so I thought that you¡¯ll just eat once you¡¯re done. Your magic practice is still so weird. You just sit there doing nothing and then your power increases,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°You¡¯re all doing the same thing. You sit there doing nothing as well,¡± Anton retorted.

    ¡°We¡¯re memorizing and casting spells!¡± Anna replied.

    ¡°How did you know that I wasn¡¯t doing the same thing? Maybe my spellbook for my bloodline magic is in my mind and I¡¯m practicing my magic by memorizing my spells using my mind and casting them in my mind as well,¡± Anton said with a serious face.

    ¡°Is that what you¡¯re doing?¡± Frederick asked curiously and everyone at the table looked curious as well.

    Anton laughed and said no, which made Anna say that he was hateful but Anton just continued laughing.

    ¡°I can¡¯t explain my process to all of you since it¡¯s truly different and it would not help any of you, believe me.¡±

    After lunch, all of the mages returned to practicing their magic but he noticed that they were now using the small table mana power bank that Anton had made. He would probably need to create a new one soon.

    Before he entered his room, they heard some weird knocking on their door since it wasn¡¯t so much a knock but some sort of tapping noises. When Frederick opened the door, a tiny raven entered with a small letter attached to its feet.

    Anton knew that it was Andrea¡¯s raven. The letter was about their group inviting him to hang out later in the afternoon at the common tavern. He wrote a reply that he would be there, tied the letter back to the tiny raven¡¯s feet who was now wearing a scarf that had a cute pattern design on its neck. When he was done tying the letter, the small raven flew off, returning to its owner.

    ¡°Who was that raven from? I know all the holders of our tiny ravens,¡± Anna curiously asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s from Andrea. She¡¯s one of my friends who lives in the commoner area who purchased the tiny raven.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s that rich?¡±

    ¡°No. Their family was from a merchant family from Ruandelle. They plan to relocate to the Gale Continent just like us,¡± Anton answered his sister.

    ¡°Is she your girlfriend? If she¡¯s not rich, how can she afford the raven?¡± Anna teased him.

    ¡°Their family purchased a regular Spirit Wolf for protection and a tiny raven so they can send messages and no, she¡¯s not my girlfriend. I can¡¯t afford a diversion right now since all of us are still not truly safe. I need to continue pursuing power since the only way for us to continue living happily was to make sure that we have enough power that no enemies could harm us,¡± Anton said seriously.

    Anna looked at him and without saying anything went back to where their home theater system set up where they usually practice magic and continued memorizing her spells. What Anton had said was a bit of a downer and he regretted it a little bit. He didn¡¯t want to pressure his sister to disregard everything but her magic. He would have consoled his sister but Lunelle just tapped him and shook her head.

    He knew that he could trust Lunelle to handle the situation since she had become some sort of an elder sister to Anna and she would also tell him everything that Anton needed to learn.

 Chapter 358

    Anton was about to enter his room when his father entered the suite followed by everyone including a mage that he recognized as one who always accompanied the Supreme Adinor.

    When the mage saw Anton, he headed directly to him and introduced himself.

    ¡°Archmage Sunder, I¡¯m High Wizard Levonur, secretary to the Supreme Adinor. I¡¯m here to tell you the results of the interrogation.¡±

    Anton invited the High Wizard to sit in one of the chairs at the dining table but the mage noticed that everyone remained there and that Anton let them. He was amused to see the High Wizard hesitated for a little and expected that the mage assistant would say that the information that he had was for his ears only.

    He looked around and saw that Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip also looked at the High Wizard in amusement. The High Wizard looked around as well and was surprised to see the four nobles so instead of further hesitation he delivered the information that the High Wizard was supposed to give Anton.

    ¡°Please remember not to divulge the information yet since it might cause panic to the general populace of the ship and this is by the command of the Supreme Adinor,¡± The High Wizard said after introducing himself.

    After Anton, his family, and friends assured the High Wizard that they would not spread the information yet, the Supreme Adinor¡¯s assistant gave most of the information they had learned from the three men Anton had captured.

    The attackers were part of the most powerful and evil assassin organization based on Rendindura and one of the counselors of the Council of Monarch Liches and Grand Necromancers of the Undead Coalition took over the management of the organization by killing all of the elders and the leaders of their group and took control of them. Their specific group¡¯s mission was to try and take over the Amelia and control the ship to return to Rendindura.

    The assassins didn¡¯t know that the ship had an Invincible on board so they knew that their mission was futile but they would still try their best to kill as many of the mages in the group before they were wiped out and they were confident that before they were rooted out, majority of the mages would die on their hands but they received a message from the Undead Coalition.

    There was supposed to be a powerful artifact on board that was in one of the hands of family members of the noble that was killed and that artifact was powerful enough to even hurt an invincible but that noble didn¡¯t know its power. The three assassins didn¡¯t know what kind of artifact it was and the only one who knew was their leader who was still hidden amongst the ship¡¯s passengers.

    They didn¡¯t find the artifact on the man that was supposed to be holding the artifact and none of the other family members had it. Based on the information that the assassins acquired, it might have been passed on to one of the regular passengers of the ship and that was the second family that was killed.

    One of the biggest problems that they had was the assassins, either through the powerful ship¡¯s mages'' spells or tortures confessed that there were forty of them on board. Right now the Supreme Wizards were trying to best to concoct a spell that would identify the assassins through any markings or something else but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful for now. The High Wizard admitted that it would only be a matter of time since the Supreme Wizards were truly very powerful and they hadn¡¯t even involved the Invincible yet.

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    Selena asked the question that everyone was thinking which was ¡°Why not?¡±

    The High Wizard didn¡¯t recognize Selena but the fact that an archmage and several powerful nobles were there including the niece of the owner of the ship, he answered the question.

    ¡°An invincible would not be involved in matters that don¡¯t constitute the total destruction of the Amelia. Believe in our Supreme Wizards since they do have the power to solve this issue.¡±

    When Norma and Belue commented softly that it would probably cause more innocent lives, the High Wizard just shrugged and Anton thought that the mage would have probably said, ¡°They¡¯re just regular folks,¡± if Antonia and the others were not there. That was based on the mage¡¯s facial expression but he couldn¡¯t condemn the man for what he was thinking or believing in especially if he hadn¡¯t voiced it out.

    After the High Wizard assistant to the Supreme Adinor left, Anna made a comment.

    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s too early to celebrate!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I also told you that even if it wasn¡¯t resolved yet, we, or rather the ship¡¯s mages will resolve it then we can celebrate again. I¡¯m sure that this time the remaining assassins would think twice about attacking our family since I did capture three of them. Just remember that if you want to leave the suite, you will have to take several wolves with you. That meant that you can¡¯t all leave at the same time but even if you do, you will still need to group together,¡± Anton replied to his sister.

    ¡°Are you still going to continue with your ¡°Bait the Assassin¡± plan?¡± Frederick asked and it was Lucas who answered.

    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t work anymore. Two of the assassins escaped and now they knew how powerful Anton is. Most likely, even their leader is not Anton¡¯s equal in terms of power. I¡¯m even guessing that even if all the Assassins grouped and attacked Anton, they wouldn¡¯t win. The fact that Anton said that their projectile which was backed by their skills didn¡¯t even penetrate his defenses and the fact that Anton can fly and even magically move from one place to another instantaneously would mean that Anton could defeat them without any issues. The only thing they could do now was to continue hiding to try and find the artifact that was supposed to be powerful enough to hurt an Invincible which I truly doubt.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean to us?¡± Lunelle asked his father.

    ¡°That meant exactly what Anton had said. We can return to what we have been doing but we still need to take very good care and make sure that we are in a group together guarded by several wolves and one of the huge monsters like the Clay Golem or the Dire Bear.¡±

    Selena who was hugging Anders, Norma, Belue, and Anton¡¯s four rich friends from New Drennor was looking at Anton in a new light. They knew when they heard the stories of Anton¡¯s battle with monsters in Rendindura that the young archmage was powerful but Lucas listing his capabilities against the assassins brought forth the fact that the young archmage was truly one of the most powerful mages in the ship.

    Anton jokingly acted humbly which made everyone laugh. That also brought complaints from Lucia. She said that the main reason why they almost couldn¡¯t accept that Anton was truly powerful was because of how he behaved.

    ¡°I prefer him that way. He doesn¡¯t have the vomit-inducing arrogance of the young and powerful mages from New Drennor,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°You mundanes! How dare you behave in front of me so casually!¡± Anton said arrogantly with his nose up in the air, pretending to be some arrogant noble and that behavior only earned a smack on the head from his father which made everyone laugh again when Anton complained saying that he¡¯d turn dumb if Anders kept smacking his head.

 Chapter 359

    ¡°I¡¯m almost done with one of my newly created enchanted items which will allow the holder to be protected by the spell Frozen Armor. That spell will increase your defense and will freeze any melee attacker who attacks the user. I will also try to add another spell on the item that will protect the user from elemental damage but that will probably increase the length of time I can produce the enchanted item,¡± Anton announced to everyone.

    ¡°What kind of item is it?¡± Anna asked and Anton shrugged.

    ¡°Right now, I¡¯m still constructing the spell and putting them into a silver tablet since only silver and gold can hold the spell just like the summoning spells. Once I¡¯m done with the structure of the spell, I can then select an item where to attach the spell.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you should choose a ring! Or maybe a necklace!¡± Anna said excitedly but Anton shook his head.

    ¡°A ring or a necklace is much too small for the spell enchantment. It should be bigger and the only thing that I can think of is maybe a silver bracer or possibly a belt. We can think of what item we can attach it to once I complete the whole spell structure,¡± Anton said.

    Anton saw that every one of his family and friends was excited to receive the new enchanted item that he was creating so after that conversation, he went inside his room to continue his project of creating the item.

    Outside the Rogue Encampment where he usually conducted his item creation and enchantment research, Anton thought of the item that he was creating. The problem with Frozen Armor was it increased the defense rate of the caster but it would be negligible if the user did not have any defense points so the only benefit one would receive was that the attackers would be frozen for a few seconds which if it were a normal person, would cause severe damage to them.

    He thought of adding the Cyclone Armor from the Druid skill tree to the item but that spell would only protect the user from elemental attacks which was also great but most of the attacks that his family and friends would receive were physical.

    The best spell that he could attach to the enchanted item was the Bone Armor spell from the Necromancer skill tree but with how everyone feels about death mages, he was wary of attaching a spell that would remind everyone of the cause of the downfall of Rendindura.

    He then thought that maybe the effects of the Frozen Armor and Cyclone Armor spells would cover the floating bone effects from the Bone Armor Spell.

    Anton immediately exited his Diablo II system and went out of his room.

    ¡°Everyone I need your opinion about the spells I¡¯m going to attach to the defensive items I¡¯m creating,¡± Anton told the mages who were still practicing while seated in the seats that were arranged in front of the projector screen that they had set up to watch shows.

    He explained to everyone the differences between the three armor spells that he considered attaching to the new item but when he was done, all of them were looking at him wide-eyed.

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    ¡°Any one of the spells that you described is incredible already in itself and you''re attaching the three of them?! That would be a godly item then!¡± Frederick exclaimed.

    ¡°I believe your main problem was how the Bone Armor would trigger negative responses from the onlookers to the user of the item, am I right?¡± Walter asked and Anton nodded.

    ¡°Go ahead and let us take a look then,¡± Anna said so Anton cast the Bone Armor spell.

    Tens of bones ranging from as small as fingers to as big as the bone of the forearm eerily appeared from the air and began circling Anton. Ramona and Belinda looked scared and Anton had to admit that he did look eerie with the bones circling him.

    ¡°You said that the effect of the Frozen Armor and Cyclone Armor might cover them. Let¡¯s go ahead and take a look then,¡± Walter suggested so Anton cast Frozen Armor and Cyclone Armor next.

    Ice Crystals appeared and surrounded him then Gray Wind circled him as well.

    ¡°I feel like it made me look much more sinister. The bones now looked grimmer with them looking like frozen bones while I¡¯m surrounded by ice crystals and the wind circling me as well. I feel like I¡¯m cosplaying as a powerful undead Necromancer,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°They do look sinister but the important thing is they look very powerful! If it was me, I will not care what other thinks. As long as the spell protects me, I will gladly use it. If they think of me as a necromancer, I could easily correct them and if they¡¯re important enough, I can even show them the item,¡± Walter said while looking at the spell surrounding Anton.

    Now all the mages were inspecting the spells that floating around Anton and Frederick even tried to touch him.

    ¡°I can feel the mana surrounding you! I don¡¯t feel any other effects though. I expected to feel the cold or the bones,¡± Frederick said with wonder in his eyes and his voice.

    ¡°You¡¯re not attacking me that¡¯s why. I¡¯m also guessing that you will not be affected by the effect of the spells since you¡¯re in my party system but don¡¯t try it. I don¡¯t want you to suddenly die,¡± Anton joked.

    Frederick suddenly took back his hand as if he touched something hot and Anton laughed.

    ¡°Will your spells really hurt me?¡± Frederick asked and Anton shrugged since he truly didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°So it¡¯s decided then. I will try to attach the three armor spells on the item and you don¡¯t care if the item will make you look like some sort of icy god or goddess of death?¡± Anton asked.

    That question made everyone''s eyes light up and Anton completely understood. Who wouldn¡¯t want to look like a powerful being even for a few seconds while an enchanted item was activated? He could see them imagining themselves like him, walking around, impervious to damage, attacking everything in sight with spells, as powerful as a god.

    Everyone then said that they actually wanted the effects since they couldn¡¯t wait to get a hold of the item. Anton explained to them though that right now he didn¡¯t have the capability of attaching an automatic activation on any of the enchanted items that he had made and that the item would need to be switched on when needed and switched off the moment they didn¡¯t need the defensive spells anymore.

    Anton felt a little embarrassed when he said that since it felt like the fact that all of his enchanted items still needed to be switched on to be used seemed like he was an amateur enchanter which he truly was and studying regular enchanted items didn¡¯t help since the system was totally different from what he was using.

    He knew that someday, he would give some time to study the different activation processes of his enchanted items so he could have something other than a switch.

    ¡°When are you going to complete the item?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°I will probably need several more days. Maybe even a week.¡± Anton answered.

    After that, Anton entered his room to continue working on the defensive enchanted item while the rest of the mages returned to practicing their magic.

 Chapter 360

    Anton had to stop his experimentation with the defensive tablet that he was creating since it was already four in the afternoon. He was successful in etching the mana structure of the Frozen Armor on the silver tablet and had also created the mana pathway that supplied the mana to the structure from the mana storage that he had drawn at the bottom of the tablet.

    The tablet was overly large for now since Anton planned to draw the Frozen Armor spell at the top left side, then the Cyclone Armor at the top right side, and the Bone Armor spell at the middle part. Then the mana storage which was drawn at the bottom would be connected by an extremely complex mana pathway to the three spells.

    This was the first time Anton tried something like this since all of the magic items that he had made consisted of just one spell although some of them were modified to take in less or more mana or even modified to change the structure of the spell like the Ice Bolt to water.

    Anton was a little proud of himself for completing the first part and when he activated it by turning on the switch it worked adequately. The difficulty of the item that he was making was making sure that the Frozen Armor would work together with the other two armor spells.

    He stored everything in his inventory and then exited his Diablo II system. When Anton went outside his room, everyone was done with their magic practice and was eating pastries that were brought by Antonia and Lucia.

    Anders and the others were also there eating snacks. Based on the conversation that Anton was hearing, everything went fine that day.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the golem?¡¯ Anton asked since he didn¡¯t find the golem inside the suite. Of course, if he wanted to, he would know immediately where the golem was.

    ¡°It¡¯s outside the door. It¡¯s too cramped in here with two giant monsters staying in the middle. At least the Dire Bear, when lying down like that looked like some sort of sofa that one could sit in,¡± Nemina said and Anna and Lunelle were indeed sitting on top of the bear.

    ¡°The bear is so soft and warm! I would like it to be my bed during winter,¡± Anna commented while hugging the bear.

    ¡°The Dire Bear is one of my most powerful spells and I could probably create a summoning tablet for it but you¡¯re going to encounter severe logistic problems. Once it was summoned by anyone using a tablet, it would exist in the world and that meant that it would need to be fed a lot, and I mean a lot of meat. Not only that, as you can see, it would require a lot of space. At least as my summon, I can dispel and summon it anytime I want and it didn¡¯t need to eat or defecate,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Can you change it so that we can store our summoned animals back to the tablet?¡± Anna asked.

    ¡°For now no. The material that I¡¯m using for the summoning spell is gold and as you can see the moment you use it, the tablet disappears. If there are more powerful materials that could hold the summoning spell without disappearing, I haven¡¯t encountered them yet and once I do, maybe I can modify the spell so you can summon and unsummon the animals but for now, that¡¯s just a guess,¡± Anton replied.

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    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of powerful magical materials like mithril or orichalcum but I haven¡¯t actually seen them yet,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°I know of them but from what I¡¯ve seen, if you construct your enchanted item with those, the cost of the tablet would skyrocket, possibly at least a hundred times what it costs you to make it,¡± Walter said and Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip nodded since based on what they had said, their families did deal with some magic resources for the mages in their families.

    Anton then told everyone that he had a meeting with some of his friends and he was late already. They were supposed to meet at that tavern where he stayed with Torun¡¯s group before. He didn¡¯t know what the others would do once he left but they could manage. Everyone should be safe since five wolves and two huge monsters were guarding them.

    It was already five in the afternoon when he arrived at the Common Rabble, which was the name of the tavern that Torun and the others stayed in most afternoons if they were not doing anything important. The tavern wasn¡¯t big so he saw Torun¡¯s group immediately.

    Torun and the others joined a couple of tables and they were now busy talking to each other in very loud voices. When they saw Anton they all greeted him so he sat beside them without any flare.

    ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Torun said and because it¡¯s an opportunity, Anton replied with one of the most beloved lines on Earth.

    ¡°A wizard is never late, he arrived precisely when he meant to,¡± Anton said then he laughed.

    The others just rolled their eyes at him since they also knew where the line came from.

    ¡°Our magical practice usually ends at four in the afternoon. My family then talked to me first that¡¯s why I¡¯m late.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯re not doing anything important anyway, just hanging out,¡± Blake said while he and his sister were playing with the tiny raven.

    ¡°Actually, I want to purchase a tiny raven from you as well,¡± Torun said and Soren shouted, ¡°Me too!¡±

    Anton asked the two why they sudden interest in the little raven.

    ¡°It¡¯s now very famous. Andrea and Blake, well, basically everyone in their family is using the raven to send messages to everybody even those that are not important. I even received a small letter with nothing on it but ¡°Good Morning!¡±. They¡¯re just showing off the bird!¡± Torun said looking aggrieved.

    ¡°Did you know that somebody tried to capture the bird? According to our investigation, Meno¡¯s group caught it and then locked it in a cage but according to some of his friends who ratted him out, the bird disappeared from the cage and appeared beside Andrea!¡± Soren said.

    ¡°What happened to that Meno?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°We beat him to an inch of his life, of course!¡± Blake said and Anton just smiled since based on everyone¡¯s reaction, that Meno was probably fine.

    It was interesting though that the tiny raven had that capability. Anton actually didn¡¯t know that. He knew that it would happen on his summons if they got too far away from him but not to the summons from the tablet. He didn¡¯t even know the raven¡¯s range. The only thing he knew was it was very significantly larger than the other summons, which was understandable since it was a flying animal.

    ¡°I can give you and Soren tiny ravens but I would need written confirmation from your patriarchs that they are allowing you to purchase the ravens. It will be the same price as Andrea¡¯s and you can pay once you can pay just like with the wolves,¡± Anton said to both Torun and Soren.

    Soren looked worried but Torun looked determined. Anton knew that there would be discussions that would happen later in their families. Based on his calculations, their families could afford the price of both the wolves and the ravens, it was just, that they were wary of overspending since they didn¡¯t have incoming funds while they were on the ship. Their finances should stabilize once they re-started their business in New Drennor and based on what they had said, it would not be too difficult for their families to do that since they had connections in the city.

    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll go to your suite tomorrow afternoon!¡± Torun said and Anton replied that it should be after four in the afternoon since there was magic practice in the morning.

 Chapter 361

    Anton enjoyed hanging out with Torun, Blake, Andrea, and Soren and his gang. They talked mostly about the movies that the cinema had shown and kept reiterating that all of them were excited to see the last movie which would be in the cinema in a few days.

    ¡°Have you all thought of which costumes you¡¯re all going to wear at the costume event that will be held in a few weeks?¡± Anton asked everyone.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know if we can attend. We heard rumors of how much the price was going to be and it¡¯s a bit steep for us,¡± Torun said and everyone nodded.

    ¡°Why do you care about that?! It¡¯s my family¡¯s event so of course you can come and there¡¯s no need for all of you to pay. As a matter of fact, all of your family members are invited and for the ticket, just show anyone who¡¯s going to be assigned as door guard your little raven or family¡¯s Spirit Wolves,¡± Anton rolled his eyes at his friends.

    Torun and the others thanked him but then they returned to talking about The Lord of the Rings movies. Anton understood why the fantasy trilogy was well-received by the cinemagoers. The trilogy was a well-crafted masterpiece of a movie series but he briefly wondered if the people of this world consider them as fantasy. Since there were magic and fantastical things in this world, would that mean that the movies based on fantasy were actually considered reality or at the least just fiction? What would they consider fantasy then? It was so interesting that Anton couldn¡¯t help but ask his friends.

    ¡°Hey guys, can you all define for me the meaning of the word fantasy and can you give me examples?¡± Anton asked everyone which interrupted their robust conversation about the films.

    Normally, other customers would have complained at how loud they were but since this was a niche location, there were hardly any people around except for them, and those few that were there were actually listening in to their conversation and were talking about the films themselves.

    Torun and the others looked at Anton questioningly and Anton just kept on nodding.

    ¡°Fantasy means something fantastical meaning a situation that wouldn¡¯t happen normally. Normally it pertains to the workings of the gods like their messengers appearing to an ordinary farm boy,¡± Blake said.

    ¡°So anything related to gods?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Not really. Just anything that was not supposed to happen normally,¡± Torun replied.

    ¡°Can you give me an example not related to the divines?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°There was this mountain near Ruandelle that was supposed to have a doorway to a fantasy realm. According to the stories, the people of that realm can build ships that can travel on the air or even beyond and go to different worlds and dimensions,¡± Soren answered.

    That sentence made Anton pause since based on what Soren had said, those he considered Science Fiction were probably the ones being considered as Fantasy by the people of this world. Then he thought that the term Science Fiction might not exist in this world yet since they were still in the medieval era.

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    Or maybe he thought wrong to consider the era as medieval since with the existence of magic, science would have a hard time entering the sight of the people of this world so maybe the correct term was the magical era. Anton then wondered if magic would wane then the growth of science would occur calling that era the science era. That was an amusing thought that could be a premise of a good fantasy, sci-fi web novel.

    ¡°Why do you suddenly ask about the word Fantasy?¡± Andrea asked.

    ¡°Did you know that in the dimension where the movies came from, magic doesn¡¯t exist? So any stories with magic in them just like the Lord of the Rings are considered Fantasy movies. In our world magic exists so what genre is the Lord of the Rings films? Fiction or Non-fiction?¡± Anton said to his friends and then asked the question about what genre they consider the Lord of the Rings was.

    ¡°No magic?! How is that possible? How do they fight off powerful monsters?¡± Torun asked, not believing what Anton had said.

    ¡°In that dimension, there¡¯s no monsters to fight off. Wars are fought using cold and hot weapons meaning knives, swords, and guns which were advanced weapons that can shoot off thousands of small metals.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine a world without magic or monsters!¡± Andrea exclaimed.

    ¡°The dimension where the movies come from relies on science which is a study of how the world works in its most basic form. Because of that, they were able to create movies that came from their artists¡¯ imaginations and they were able to realize in a movie using the technology that was created because of their hardcore belief in science. That dimension was also able to create ships that can travel the lands and the waters at extreme speed and the story that you mention about ships that can travel the air? They were able to create that as well so they could travel between their continents in mere hours instead of like us taking more than a year. They also manage to create a ship that can travel to their moon. That¡¯s how advanced they are.¡±

    Anton¡¯s friends were fascinated by what he had said about Earth. He thought that now, they thought of Earth as the land of fantasy which was some kind of funny reverse situation.

    ¡°I wish I could see what their dimension looks like,¡± Andrea whispered but Anton heard her clearly.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. There are a lot of movies based on their dimension so soon a few movies will be shown based on their reality.¡±

    ¡°By the way what does non-fiction mean?¡± Torun asked.

    ¡°Movies are categorized based on their genre. Stories about a love story between people are called Romance. Stories about fighting are called Action and those that tell of the heartbreaking tales of people are called Drama. Non-fiction is stories about real people or real life and since I¡¯ve mentioned that in the dimension where the movies came from, magic isn¡¯t real, they call anything that has magic ¡°Fantasy¡± and since we have magic, what will our people the genre of the Lord of the Rings?¡±

    Nobody answered Anton and most of his friends just shrugged and since it wasn¡¯t really that important, Anton just let it go. Anton and his friends then talked about which costume they would wear at the costume party since it was explicit that all the costumes should be based on the Lord of the Rings films.

    After that discussion, Anton finally warned his friends that the problem with the killers wasn''t resolved yet so they had to take care and try not to roam around alone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nowadays we¡¯re all together and during the night, the three spirit wolves are making our families safe,¡± Torun said.

    Anton would have liked to tell them some more specific information but they did promise the secretary of the Supreme Wizard Adinor that they would spread the information yet. Not only that, his friends wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything else but worry so he decided to just keep his mouth shut.

    ¡°Those wolves are so intelligent and obedient! They would follow the commands of our fathers to the letter. They were very diligent in patrolling our areas together with whoever was assigned to them,¡± Blake said.

    Anton then told them that he was glad that the wolves were able to help them feel calm during these trying times. Everyone had been on edge because of the Undead Coalition so they all deserved some relief from worries while they were in the middle of the ocean.

 Chapter 362

    Anton felt like a kid while he was with Torun and the others. He felt like he was back in his senior year of high school talking with his friends about any topic under the sun. For a moment, he forgot about magic, the undead, the need to become powerful to survive, and any other stressful things in his life and he was glad.

    He was only twenty-three when he left Earth, but he had to admit that his maturity was probably stuck just after high school. After graduation, his life took a turn for the worse, and he was stuck in a dead-end job that did not bring him personal growth. It was like he contracted some sort of brain rot disease that left him stuck for years, and now he was back to growing up.

    Anton was glad that his body¡¯s age was seventeen turning eighteen in a month because if he was being honest, his maturity when it came to dealing with other people was at that age. When it came to dealing with his responsibilities, his maturity level might be older than that and even though it was a little stressful, he liked feeling responsible.

    He also had to admit that he was overly kind and generous when dealing with his family and friends. It was just that was the only thing he knew how to deal with others and he thought that there was nothing wrong with that. If he had transmigrated in a place or in a situation that was desperate maybe his dealings with others would be different. Maybe more geared toward being cruel to survive but that was just his supposition.

    His talks with Torun, Blake, Andrea, Soren, and his gang were all over the place. They discussed the movies, their relationships, and funny, stupid things, and again for a moment Anton felt like a kid again. When they got hungry, they left the tavern and looked for a place where they could eat. Torun and the others brought him to a nearby restaurant catered to ordinary passengers. The food was cheap, not that tasteful but filling and he loved every mouthful.

    ¡°Guys, it''s already midnight. Will your families not worry about all of you?¡± Anton asked when he checked the time on his system browser.

    ¡°I sent Luna to my father to inform him that we are with you and they sent a letter back to take our time,¡± Andrea said and when she saw that Anton had a questioning look on his face, she gestured on her tiny raven.

    ¡°If we¡¯re alone or with somebody else, we would have received an order to go home and then received severe scolding but since we¡¯re with an ¡°archmage¡±, it was alright since they wanted us to foster a tighter relationship with you since it will only benefit the family,¡± Torun said.

    ¡°My father even wanted to match Andrea with you so you can become part of the family,¡± Blake absently said while munching on something.

    That sentence from Blake brought a smack on his head from his sister and everyone laughed.

    ¡°I¡¯m much too young for a relationship. I¡¯m only seventeen and I need to focus on my magic. I¡¯m sure that the Undead Coalition will not stop with just conquering Rendindura so the moment they turn their gaze on other continents, I want to be powerful enough to contend with them,¡± Anton said with a touch of melancholy coupled with excitement.

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    He surreptitiously looked at Andrea and it seemed like Andrea wasn¡¯t interested in him romantically because the girl looked like just everyone else. With a worried and concerned look on their faces.

    ¡°Will the undead really attack the Gale Continent?¡± Torun asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure but if it was me and I¡¯m powerful and ambitious enough, I would try my best to conquer the whole world so I¡¯m guessing they will not stop.¡±

    Anton¡¯s friends looked worried so he consoled them.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much. It might not happen but if it does, it will be far away in the future. The best thing that we all can do is live our lives to the fullest and try our best to prepare ourselves for any situation.¡±

    They were quiet for a moment but after several minutes, they returned to being lively continuing their discussion that was mostly focused on movies. His friends even managed to persuade Anton to give them hints about movies that may come out in the future and Anton gave them brief descriptions of some of the movies like the Harry Potter series, the Star Wars series, some of the action films, and romantic films.

    The short tidbits that Anton had given to everyone about the different upcoming films that their family might show truly excited each one of his friends. He had to emphasize that what Anton was saying was not written in stone. Their family was supposed to show a few movies while they were in the ocean since the true core of their business would only happen when they finally found a place of their own in the Gale Continent.

    After a while, the day for them had to end so during a lull in their talks, Torun said that they had to return home and Anton agreed. While walking back to the suite, Anton checked the time briefly, and it was already past one in the morning.

    When he arrived in the suite, he saw that his father, Lucas, and Nemina were still awake talking with each other.

    ¡°Why are you all still awake?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for you. Did something important happen?¡± Anders asked his son.

    Anton realized that he was inconsiderate by not sending a message to his family about where he was. He should have followed Andrea¡¯s example of sending a letter through one of his raven summons but it simply did not enter his mind. He was used to doing what he wanted by himself but he knew that the main difference was, that Anton was always in the suite when he did it. This time though he was with his friends.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry father. I was with Torun and the others and we didn¡¯t realize the time until it was late.?

    ¡°What were you doing?¡±

    ¡°Just talking about anything that we can think of. One of the interesting that we discussed was purchasing a large unused land in the place where we will establish ourselves and turn into some sort of Hollywood. The cinema would be the center and the business establishment there would consist of the businesses related to the movies like selling movie props or costumes. There would be other entertainment centers a live theater where actors could establish themselves or a tavern with a stage where minstrels and bards could show off like the Patron Bar. There would also be restaurants that would mimic the food from the movies or something.¡±

    Anders and Nemina looked highly curious so when Nemina asked to elaborate, he searched for a video clip showing Hollywood and some other clips of famous amusement centers on Earth and showed them to his father and Nemina. Considering the time, Anton didn¡¯t want to disturb the others in the suite so he decided that he would mute the sounds but before he played the videos, Antonia, Lucia, Phillip, and Walter who were staying with them still for some reason joined them.

    Nemina told them the concept of what Anton had shared regarding creating a business plaza wherein the center would be the cinema. The four nobles were highly interested in what they learned and all of them stayed to watch the videos even though it was already the wee hours of the morning.

    If Anton was being honest, he told them about the Hollywood and Amusement Center concept to divert his father¡¯s attention from him not telling his whereabouts earlier and it proved successful.

 Chapter 363

    Their discussion about the concept of Hollywood and Amusement Center, specifically, Disneyland lasted for hours and soon the sun was up. Everyone else who was sleeping was surprised to learn that the others didn¡¯t sleep and just kept talking the whole night, but it didn¡¯t matter. One night without sleep did not affect any of them and it did divert the attention from the dangers of the hidden attackers to the business opportunities they could start once they reached the Gale Continent.

    At least the concept of Disneyland wasn¡¯t too alien to anyone in his family or to his friends, since they had seen some Disney films. When he showed video clips of little children or even toddlers hugging the Disney mascots while visiting Disney, Anton was amused to see that there were tears in Antonia and Lucia¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I really like that tagline. ¡°Where dreams come true¡± and these little children who had seen the animated films saw their beloved characters come to life! It¡¯s so heartwarming!¡± Lucia exclaimed and Antonia nodded.

    After that they all went to the dining hall to eat breakfast. Anton overheard Lunelle asking her mother what they talked about all night.

    While they were eating breakfast, someone came and went directly to Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Phillip. The man reported to the four while they were eating and they seemed to not care if Anton and his family overheard the report. There was nothing important in what the man was saying since the man just said that everything was peaceful last night.

    ¡°What do you think those attackers'' next steps are?¡± Anton asked Antonia and the other three.

    ¡°Based on what happened and the information the mages received from the ones you captured, they would like low but will not stop searching for that supposedly powerful artifact,¡± Phillip said.

    ¡°Do you know what the ship¡¯s mages'' next moves are concerning those attackers? It¡¯s too dangerous to leave them be,¡± Anders asked.

    ¡°Once they have decided on what to do, we will learn of it soon,¡± Lucia said confidently.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that they¡¯re still researching how to use magic to identify the assassin group¡¯s members,¡± Walter said.

    ¡°The major problem in our current situation is, that those in the know will continue to worry until those assassins were captured, including us,¡± Lucia added.

    ¡°We just have to be extra careful,¡± Anton¡¯s father commented.

    ¡°I just hate it. Instead of us fully concentrating on our upcoming cosplay event, we have to worry about those scums who sold themselves to the undead. I think I¡¯ll talk to mages later and urge them to solve this problem as soon as possible or I¡¯ll say to my uncle that I¡¯ve lost my confidence in them once we arrive in New Drennor,¡± Antonia complained.

    If Anton had to be honest, he also felt the same frustration that Antonia was feeling. He wanted to focus on developing his power by leveling up his character and creating his enchanted items but instead, his attention was divided by worry about those stupid ninja wannabes attacking his family and friends.

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    For a moment, Anton hoped he was one of those witty, intelligent, anime protagonists that had godly deductive and investigative capabilities so he could deduce where the enemies were and root them out so they could return to their regular day-to-day business on the ship but alas he was not one of those.

    Anton suddenly apologized to his system thinking that he wasn¡¯t complaining about his system since it did make him powerful quickly, allowing him and his family to survive until then. He didn¡¯t want his system to suddenly disappear or anything like that and he suddenly worried that that may happen. He wondered if he should start memorizing regular spells so that at least he would have a modicum of power if for some reason his Diablo II system abandoned him.

    When they returned to the suite after breakfast, Anton checked his grimoire which contained the spells that he had access to within the regular magic system of this world, and saw several spells. For cantrip spells, he had Sleep, Mage Light, Mage Armor, Charm Person, and Clean Item. For level one spells he had Comprehend Language, Disguise Self, Detect Magic, and Clean Small Area. For second-level spells, he had Gust of Wind and Clean Large Area and for level three spells he had Stinking Cloud, Invisibility, Mass Hold Person,  Wall of Stone, Disguise Self, and Floating Disk.

    His problem was, that the only spells that he had memorized and were always ready to cast were just the cleaning spells. Thinking about it, of all the regular spells that he had written on his personal grimoire he had actually cast some of them one time and then he abandoned them. If his rank was based on memorizing standard spells, he would have probably been stuck at the cantrip level of power but for some reason, his wizard ranking for the standard magic system of this world was also based on his Diablo II system so based on the result of the magic device that tested the power of mages, he had reached the archmage rank which should allow him to cast level six or seven spells.

    Although some of the spells that he had listed on his grimoire were useful, his go-to spell casting was to use the spells from the Diablo II world since his body and soul were familiar with those spells. He also didn¡¯t have to cast spells using verbal, somatic, or material components which made the spell casting easier for him and even though he had been using his spells without those components, it wasn¡¯t questioned by any of the mages since there was a lot of professions that could use their powers without those components as well.

    Anton had a feeling deep inside of him that his Diablo II system was a part of his very existence so it wouldn¡¯t disappear on him but he thought that it would be a good idea to have more standard spells in his grimoire but then he thought of the funds require to grow his library. It would take a massive amount of wealth based on what he had seen of what spells, especially the higher-level ones, cost. He knew that once their cinema business was established in New Drennor, gold was not going to be a problem for him and Anna.

    He decided then that he would inscribe a single spell to his grimoire and memorize a spell once a week. Even though Anton thought that he might not use them, it would still be a good idea for them to be there when he needed them. It was just he found that memorizing spells was a bother even though it would only take him several minutes for each spell. With his system spells, they¡¯re just there, ready to be used anytime he wanted.

    Anton thought that if anyone knew, they might ask why not memorize more spells since it would only take him a few minutes but had too many things on his plate already. He needed to concentrate on leveling up his characters and then hunting for the ¡°Best in Slot¡± gears. Then he needed to practice each of his characters'' spells so he could master them. By mastering his spells, his system would allow him to modify or combine the mana structure of his spells and that would take a tremendous amount of time. Even the ice spells from the Sorcerer character, which he had the most practice in, would only be considered as just a step above the novice mastery.

 Chapter 364

    If Anton wanted to categorize his spell mastery, Anton would give them several ranks like Novice, Amateur, Adept, and Master and if he wanted to be honest, he was only in the Novice rank in all of them and he would only consider himself as Amateur in some of the spells from the Sorcerer skill tree.

    It wasn¡¯t a formal categorization but something he invented based on the web novels that he had read but knew deep inside that he was right. He was even surprised that his system was not adapting it but he was guessing that his system would only do so once he had maximized the levels of all of the characters from his Diablo II system.

    Anton was thinking about the things that made his schedule too busy for him to add memorizing the regular spells included in his daily routine and he was diverted by the thought of ranking his mastery over his Diablo II spells. Some of the others on his plate were his enchanted items creations. Most of his created items were things that he thought he and his family needed to make their lives safe and comfortable so he thought that if there was an item that they needed, he prioritized making them just like how he was prioritizing the defensive items that he was creating since he thought that it was a necessary item to make sure that his family was safe.

    Aside from those, he also didn¡¯t want to stop practicing his music since he felt that it was a necessity since it allowed him to rest his mind and soul. He had even paused them for several days already due to the situation with those assassins and he felt personal guilt over stopping them since they were for keeping his mind healthy. That meant that adding more to his daily routine like practicing the standard magic of this world might burn him out really fast.

    Anton also wanted to spend time with his family and friends since he didn¡¯t want to isolate himself. He didn¡¯t want to become some psychotic mage who preferred to be alone. He had already isolated himself when he was on Earth when his parents died and he didn¡¯t want to do something like that again in this world.

    Anton spent his morning inside his Diablo II system completing the defensive item that he was making. It was a very complicated project since he had to inscribe three armor spells in an item. He was successful yesterday in adding the Frozen Armor spell onto the tablet so his next step was inscribing the Cyclone Armor spell.

    By the time he lunchtime arrived, Anton was almost done with the Cyclone Armor. His next step was to make sure that it would activate with the Frozen Armor at the same time. After that, he would then inscribe the Bone Armor spell and the next step was to make sure that all three spells would play with each other without any conflict.

    That wasn¡¯t the end of the problem for the defensive item. Once he was successful in making sure that the three armor spells would activate at the same time, he needed to make sure that the mana storage would carry enough heft to support the three spells since they would be a massive mana drain.

    Not only would the mana drain constantly from the mana storage while the spells were active, but the moment they received damage, it would bite on the mana stored on the item hard so to be truly useful in battle, the mana storage should have at least three times more what the air conditioner item had which by his calculation was only good for a single battle.

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    What it all meant was it was truly impossible for him to put the mana structure of the spells and the mana storage in a small accessory.

    During lunchtime, Anton only stopped for a few minutes to eat some of the food that he stored in his inventory since he wanted to complete the item as soon as possible. No one disturbed him since he did post a notice on his door that he would not join anyone for lunch and if anyone was truly curious, his door was open and they could see him with his eyes closed while seated on his bed.

    By the time four in the afternoon arrived, Anton had successfully completed inscribing the Cyclone Armor spell on the silver tablet that he was using. It was faster than the Frozen Armor spell since he knew what needed to be done through the example set by the Frozen Armor spell. That meant that the Bone Armor spell would be easier still but then the next step was to make sure that three spells would work together but that would be the project for the next day.

    When Anton went outside of his room, the mages had already concluded their practice for the day and were talking with each other about their thoughts on magic and the epiphanies that they had encountered. He noticed that his father and the others were not there so he briefly checked his summons and when he found out that every one of them seemed to be alive, he knew that the others were fine.

    ¡°Why is Father and the others not here yet? Does anyone know?¡± Anton interrupted the mages'' discussion.

    ¡°Your father sent Colin earlier to inform us that they would attend a meeting that was going to be held by the nobles,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°Since The Return of the King was just released, it probably renewed the interest of some of the nobles to participate in the cinema business. Everyone knew that the cinema would bring in massive wealth to your family and a lot of the families wanted a piece of that pie. You don¡¯t need to worry too much about it, Anton, since Antonia, Lucia, and Phillip would know what to do and would assist your father and Nemina. Even your father¡¯s woman, Selena, and her two friends would know what to do as well,¡± Walter commented.

    ¡°I miss eating the Kraken tentacle meat. Let¡¯s ask Harun to have some cook for us,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Do you want me to find him?¡± Frederick asked and Anton declined saying that it was still too dangerous for any of them to move alone.

    Anton summoned a Raven and tied a letter on its leg requesting Harun¡¯s presence. They only waited for a few minutes when Harun arrived with the Raven on its shoulder. He commanded the Raven to stay by Harun to make sure that their sailor guide was safe.

    Anton then gave Harun several kilos of the Kraken Tentacle meat and several gold coins. Since this was not the first time, Harun knew what to do and left immediately. Anton still commanded the Raven to stay by their guide since he didn¡¯t want anything to happen to the sailor while doing their bidding.

    While they were waiting, the mages continued talking about magic while Anton listened. It was basically Frederick and Anna teaching what they knew of magic to Lunelle, Walter, and the twins, Ramona and Belinda. When some of the questions were too difficult to be answered by either Frederick or Anna, they told them that they would find the answers with the other wizards in the next wizards¡¯ conference which would be by tomorrow.

    Anton was useless when it came to their magic but everyone already knew that his magic was a different system from theirs.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous for the wizards to meet while the assassins¡¯ organization is still about?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°The wizards knew that so there would be several Supreme Wizards there to make sure that everyone is safe,¡± Frederick answered.

 Chapter 365

    Dinner was lively that night since the food served consisted of the Kraken tentacle meat which Anton had to admit was still truly delicious to everyone even though they had eaten the dishes that consisted of the meat several times. The fact that the tentacle meat was added to various dishes made the rare meat truly shine.

    Anton was glad that he still had a ton of the meat but he still wanted to encounter more of the sea monsters so he could get more of them. The taste was truly divine and the fact that they were keeping the meat for themselves aside from the few kilos that he had already given to Harun was making the tentacle meat last, which wasn¡¯t a problem since food didn¡¯t spoil inside his inventory. Any other spatial item shared that ability.

    Of course, that meant that they didn¡¯t go to the dining hall for dinner that night and ate inside the suite. Before they ate though, Anton told everyone that he wanted to eat while watching a movie and he wanted to select a movie that he hadn¡¯t seen before.

    Anton remembered that when he was a child, he loved the animated television show Spiderman but those were the times when his parents on Earth were still alive and their family, happy. When the movies about Spiderman came out, he didn¡¯t have the time or the funds to watch them and when he checked the internet there were several variations of the movies already so he decided to watch the first one starring Tobey Maguire.

    Those movies were old but Anton hadn¡¯t seen them as well since money was really tight for their little family and he had this ambition to help his loving parents as soon as possible so he focused on his studies.

    ¡°The movie that I¡¯m going to watch is based on the present circumstances of the dimension or realm where the movies came from so it¡¯s going to be very different to how we live our lives here in our world so don¡¯t be surprised. I know you¡¯ve seen a few movies before that defy what we know of the world like the Star Trek shows so just keep an open mind, okay? If you have any questions, please keep them until the end of the film since I haven¡¯t seen the movie as well and I want to watch it without having to answer your questions.¡± Anton announced.

    After that, Anton played the first Spiderman movie starring Toby Maguire and he had to admit that Spiderman was still his favorite superhero. Eating while watching a movie brought a different feel to their dinner that night especially when both were superb. The food was delicious and the movie was highly entertaining. After that movie had ended, the questions came pouring in. Mostly about the regular lives of the people from Earth so Anton had to answer questions about the level of technology and how far apart it was from the technology from the Star Trek show.

    Anton had to explain that according to the Star Trek lore, the current era of the dimension where the movies came from was two hundred years behind Star Trek but he had to explain that the Star Trek television show isn¡¯t real like Earth. He had to reiterate that the Star Trek franchise came from the imagination of the artists from Earth and it was only possible to show those imaginations on the screen due to the current technology of the dimension where the movies and television shows came from.

    ¡°Does that mean that our technology and possibly our era is hundreds of years behind that of ¡°Earth¡±?¡± Anna asked.

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    ¡°At first, that was what I thought but that could be wrong. My hypothesis, which could be wrong as well, is that we¡¯re living in parallel beside that dimension. It was just our world developed differently from theirs because of magic. The most powerful beings in our world would be able to conquer the whole of Earth without any problem, I think, but of course, I¡¯m not sure. They only managed to recently reach their moon through their technology but the most powerful beings in our world could traverse different dimensions according to some of the mages that I talked to.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that I, as a novice mage can defeat several people from ¡°Earth¡±?¡° Anna continued asking.

    ¡°Based on what I had seen of that dimension, you can imagine it as this. Because of the lack of magic in their world and the fact that there were no monsters, just regular animals, in their wild, they developed differently. They did have wars and their wars were fought with weapons made with technology and they are powerful but supposedly, only those with authority can handle those weapons. Of course, it¡¯s different in every country there but if you as a mage were placed in a regular town, you would be more powerful than the regular townsfolks but then if you caused havoc, their authorities would come in bringing some of their weapons and as you¡¯ve seen in the movies, you will not be able to contend with those.¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re able to go to their realm, we don¡¯t have to disturb their lives! We can just use our magic to earn their currency and buy some of their things. Their clothes, though some of them looked scandalous, looked great!¡± Lunelle said.

    ¡°I will buy some of their technology so I can study them,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°Maybe someday I¡¯ll be able to open a dimensional gate to that realm but for now, it¡¯s just a dream.¡±

    The talks about the movie and the current technology of Earth continued while some of them cleaned up the suite. While casting his cleaning spell, Anton overheard Norma and Belue talking to Selena. They told her that they were lucky to be able to stay with Anders¡¯s family since they were able to watch unique shows and that made him smile a bit. It was pleasant to hear that people who associate with them enjoy themselves. Even the four rich nobles from New Drennor were almost always with them every day.

    The next day, Frederick invited Anton to the wizards¡¯ gathering but he declined. Even though Anton knew that it would be very interesting to attend the gathering since there was a chance that he would be able to see different magical items that were created by the ship¡¯s mages or even the passengers who were wizards and possibly hear unique lectures that could inspire him, he thought that it¡¯s more important that he complete the magic item that he was creating since it¡¯s an item that would make his family and friends safe.

    Not only that, once the defensive item was complete, he could go back to leveling up his Paladin. Even though they were now several weeks away from the continent of Rendindura, the nagging feeling that they were not safe from the Undead Coalition remained in Anton. He wondered if there would come a time when he would truly feel safe in this world.

    Even then, there were still hidden assassins on the ship and they were from the Coalition even though they were not undead.

    Ever since he arrived in this world, they were always running from danger. ¡°Maybe I developed some sort of PTSD,¡± Anton thought but then again, everyone had the same experience as him. He remembered the time when he naively thought that he would join an organization in Zalnothel so he could fight it out with the undead but then he learned that the power of the coalition was overwhelming so here he was now, still running with his family.

    He wondered if the ocean was enough to truly remove themselves from the consideration of the Undead Coalition but then Anton knew that the undead truly wanted this world for themselves based on their action so the best thing that he could do was to continue growing his power.

 Chapter 366

    Anton thought that the mages would keep on practicing their magic instead of going to the wizards¡¯ meetings. But the new mages like Lunelle, Walter, Ramona, and Belinda urged Anna and Frederick to go to the hall where the wizard gathering would be held since they needed to shop for spells they could use.

    Each one of them thought that they were already on the verge of rising in their wizardry rank and they wanted to prepare the spells they wanted to have.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad that I saved all my coins!¡± Ramona said and Belinda agreed with her sister. The spatial items that were using were gifted to them by Anton¡¯s father since Anton told Anders that it would be very helpful if everyone had their own storage item and that they were filled with necessities.

    That meant that Anton was alone in the suite since all of his summoned animals were with his family and friends, even the Oak Sage spirit.

    One advantage of letting the others bring his summons with them was he could always determine through his system if one of his summonses died.

    Anton only stopped briefly to eat lunch when lunchtime arrived but because of that, he created his prototype for the magical defensive tablet that contained the Frozen Armor, Cyclone Armor, and Bone Armor spells.

    He thought that it would take him several more days before he would have a working prototype but ever since he successfully created the mana structure spells for the Frozen Armor, because of the similarities the other armor spell had with the Frozen Armor spell, the mana structure for the two remaining armor spells were easier to modify. Not only that, but the moment he made the Cyclone Armor spell work with the Frozen Armor spell, adding the Bone Armor was easier still.

    The item would still need a lot of polishing like modifying the structure so that the mana that was going to be consumed would be more efficient and he thought that he still needed to increase the mana storage capacity. That would take him several more hours so that meant that he could probably present a working item to his family and friends by tomorrow evening.

    Anton noticed that his family and friends did not return to the suite when he exited his room at around four in the afternoon but the fact that all of his summonses were alive and well meant that they probably did not encounter any danger or difficulties. Even if they did encounter something, any one of them could send their little raven to him.

    So after eating a snack, Anton returned to competing for the defensive item. He had to stop at around seven in the evening since Colin arrived with a message from his father to meet them at the dining hall and that everyone was there already so he followed Colin to the hall.

    Anton joined his family at their table and asked what they did for that day.

    ¡°Business as usual for the cinema but there is now great excitement for the event that¡¯s being prepared by Antonia and Lucia,¡± Nemina said.

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    ¡°People are so in love with the Lord of the Rings franchise that a lot of the passengers, regardless of their status, are obsessed with them,¡± Selena said.

    ¡°Even some of the non-humans like the elves and the dwarves on board the ship, who admitted that dwarves and elves in the movies were so different that the movie non-human species were almost alien to them as well, began dressing like their movie counterparts,¡± Antonia said while laughing.

    ¡°It so funny to see the elves on the ship trying to behave as gracefully as the elves from the movies and some even used magic to imitate the light that surrounded the movie elves sometimes,¡± Norma added while laughing as well.

    ¡°The funniest are the dwarves! They tried to behave boisterously like the movie dwarves and some began growing their birds since all the dwarves in the movies had beards!¡± Phillip said while shaking his head.

    ¡°Weirdly enough, the halflings are not imitating the hobbits. Even though the hobbit¡¯s philosophies of living peacefully and contently in the Shire was admirable, most of the halfings I met said that they wouldn¡¯t be able to live that way,¡± Walter said.

    ¡°They also found it weird that halflings in the movies had weird feet and that they all had curly hair,¡± Belue said.

    Anton remembered that the halflings in this world resembled the halflings from the Dungeon and Dragons franchise. Actually, Anton found it interesting that most of the creatures, species, monsters, and even some of the magic systems that he had seen resembled those of the DnD franchise. He had to admit that his knowledge of this world was very shallow. He didn¡¯t even know the name of this world.

    In his defense, Anton only existed in this world for less than a year and most of that time he and his family were on the run. He wondered briefly why he never asked the name of this world so he did.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Frederick asked Anton curiously.

    ¡°It¡¯s just funny to me that I know the name of the realm where the movies came from which is called ¡°Earth¡±, but I didn¡¯t know the name of our planet.¡±

    ¡°Our dimension is called Chauntea which is named after the great mother,¡± Fredrick answered.

    Anton almost cursed out loud. Since he had access to the internet, he knew about Chauntea since she¡¯s one of the divines in the DnD franchise. Because of that, he now truly wondered if this world had any connections to the creator of the Dungeon and Dragons franchise.

    He knew almost nothing about the franchise and Anton wondered if he should start learning more about them but then again, he knew nothing about this world as well. Anton then just shrugged and thought that he would just accept whatever came his way since if he thought about the possibilities of conspiracies, it would only exhaust him.

    He had a theory that maybe the creators of the franchise dreamt of this world and other similar worlds so they created their stories based on the worlds they dreamt about but of course, it was just a theory.

    Soon, their food was served, and the show for that night, which was the performance of one of the bards from the Patron Bar started. The singing voice of the bard was beautiful and Anton found it pleasing to the ear so he enjoyed their dinner tremendously.

    After dinner, they all went to the suite and when they arrived there, Anna asked Anton if they could watch the second movie of the Spiderman franchise starring Tobey Maguire since he did mention that it consisted of three movies.

    ¡°Why do movies always contain three parts?¡± Anna asked and Anton just shrugged.

    Lunelle then argued that some movies were stand-alone but then Anna mentioned that most of the notable ones were trilogies. Anton then told them that it almost always comes down to how much the movies earned. He told them that based on what he had observed, if the movies earned a lot, it was almost guaranteed that a second film would be created and if that second film earned a lot, then a third one would be made.

    Anton then continued that some of the films that did earn a lot of wealth for the moviemakers didn¡¯t allow for part two like the movie Titanic, for example.

 Chapter 367

    Anton, his family, and friends watched Spiderman Part Two that evening, and after about an hour of conversation about the film, they all rested for the night.

    The next day, every one of the mages doubled down in their magic practice after breakfast, as if the day before when they skipped practicing their magic due to the wizard gathering was a huge miss for them even though they did manage to purchase the spells they wanted to have once they ranked up.

    Anton didn¡¯t know if the mages in the family were affected by his behavior of wanting to get powerful as soon as possible but even if they were and it resulted in them ranking up in their wizardly rank then it was all positive.

    He knew that he was not the only one affected by the nagging feeling that there was a need for the mages to become as powerful as they could be since based on what Frederick and the others had said, all the mages on the Amelia were also doubling down on doing everything they could to powerup.

    Anton knew that even though the Gale Continent was far away from Rendindura, there was no doubt that sooner or later, the Undead Coalition would turn their gaze to other parts of the world once they conquered the whole Rendinduran continent.

    No sane person wanted to be under the yoke of the undead and since Anton couldn¡¯t imagine that kind of life as well others were probably the same as him.

    Life went on with Anders and the others as normal. They ran the cinema well even though in reality, their family wasn¡¯t earning much coins from the business but every business on the ship was the same. Once they stopped at the next stop, then the ship¡¯s economy would be boosted but from what Anton knew, their family would not add any additional business, just the Cosplay Event.

    Anton didn¡¯t worry about their finances since they did have enough and more to tide them over until they reached the Gale Continent. He then focused on completing the magic defensive item and when lunchtime arrived, the mana structure, mana pathway, and the size of the mana storage was complete. The only thing he needed to do was select an actual item where he could inscribe the enchantment.

    So far the only item that he could think of was a belt with a wide enough buckle where Anton could inscribe the mana structures and pathway but the buckle would need to be very wide and when he imagined what it would look like, in his mind, it would resemble those belts that wrestling champions would receive when they won the championship and that made him smile.

    He immediately went to work after eating a bit of food for lunch. Anton melted a lot of silver coins he had left and used the sand that he retrieved from the desert outside the city of Lut Gholein to create an oval mold into which he would pour the melted silver. Once the silver wide buckle was created, he would inscribe the mana structure of the Frozen Armor, Cyclone Armor, and Bone Armor spells as well as the mana structure for the mana storage and inscribe the mana pathway that would connect the spells to the mana storage and to the inevitable switch to turn the enchantment on or off.

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    At first, Anton thought of adding the mana structure of the Warmth Spell so that the item would retrieve mana from the environment that would fill the mana storage if it was not in use but he would probably do so at a later time because that would truly make the enchanted defensive item extremely complex and they did have a lot of mana power bank due to the magic practice that the mages were doing every day.

    When the buckle was created which took no time at all, Anton made an effort to polish the wide buckle so it would shine and look aesthetically pleasing. After that, he began inscribing the spells at the back of the wide buckle. Once he was done, he mangled one of his belts and attached the belt strap to the loop that he added to the buckle.

    Anton tried to wear the belt first to check if what he made could be worn and once it was on his waist, he tried several movements to check if it would encumber him somehow but it didn¡¯t.

    Please with what he made, he inspected the belt using his inventory, and his system named it Anton¡¯s Magic Belt. The simplicity of the name displeased him but Anton just shrugged and studied the details of the belt. It stated that the belt when activated would provide the wearer the defensive power of a level one Frozen Armor, Level one Cyclone Armor, and level one Bone Armor, but he was surprised to note that the belt would also give the wearer one hundred to the mana stats and for some reason ten to defense.

    Anton felt that the level of the spells was too weak but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t create a mana structure that was greater than his spell level, and right now, all of his defensive spells were at level one excluding the Energy Sheild. He stopped for several minutes and contemplated and after a while, Anton decided to erase the mana structure that he inscribed on the belt.

    He used his once-a-week reset to reset his Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Druid Skill tree, and since he had a maximum level on all three of those characters the changes that he made wherein he maximized all of his defensive spells didn¡¯t affect the spell line up much. When he was satisfied with the skill points arrangement that he did for all three of the characters that would work well in the real world including the newly maximized defensive spells, Anton returned to inscribing the mana structure of the spell but this time, he would check on up to what level he could inscribe to the silver buckle.

    Anton was really glad that modifying the mana structure of the spells to increase their level wasn¡¯t too complicated and he was soon able to do it but he knew that the main problem that the user of the item would encounter was the mana that was going to be drawn by the higher level spells from the mana storage would increase significantly. That meant that he really couldn¡¯t inscribe a level twenty armor spells onto the item.

    Anton tried inscribing a level fourteen Frozen Armor spell first but the silver buckle suddenly melted which made him flabbergasted.  That meant that the silver material would not be able to handle powerful spells.

    He made several silver buckles and through trial and error, found out that he could only inscribe up to level-five armor spells to the silver buckle and that the item could only be used up ten times before the buckle got destroyed so he added a number that would indicate how many uses were left and was glad that the mana structure for that was simple enough to be added.

    When the prototype for the magic belt was done, Anton was happy and since he had two more buckles left, he made a second and third magic belt. He exited his Diablo II system and was surprised to see that it was already six in the evening.

    Anton went out of his room and saw that everyone was in the suite talking with each other.

    ¡°Good news! I completed the magic defensive item that I was making!¡± Anton happily announced.

 Chapter 368

    Anton¡¯s announcement surprised everyone in the suite.

    ¡°I thought you said it would take at least several more days?¡± Anton¡¯s father asked.

    ¡°I thought so as well but I managed to complete it earlier.¡±

    Anton then showed the belt to everyone.

    ¡°It¡¯s ugly!¡± Anna suddenly said while Lunelle clasped her hands over Anna¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°I agree but unfortunately, the mana structure for the spells needed a wide enough surface that would accommodate them, and accessories like necklaces or bracers are simply too small. If you want something tasteful, you could give me something as wide as this that you could easily wear then I would inscribe the enchantment onto it. For now, this item is called Anton¡¯s Magic Belt and once it¡¯s turned on, it will protect the wearer since it would activate three armor spells which are the Frozen Armor, the Cyclone Armor, and the Bone Armor spell which would increase the wearer¡¯s defense, protect him or her from physical and magical attack. Not only that, while being worn, like the comb that Walter is currently borrowing from Anna, it would add one hundred mana to the mana of the user!¡± Anton excitedly said.

    Everyone gaped when they heard the capability of the belt.

    ¡°That¡¯s already a legendary artifact!¡± Frederick exclaimed.

    ¡°Not really since for now, the item is limited to only ten uses and after one use, you will need to recharge the mana storage immediately. After the tenth use, the item would be destroyed.¡±

    Anton then asked Frederick to demonstrate the use of the item. When Frederick wore the belt and turned it on, floating ice appeared and began surrounding the mage. Then wind flew from everywhere and circled Frederick and lastly, pieces of bone made of mana appeared and eerily circled the mage but all in all, Frederick suddenly looked like a very powerful mage with the effect of the belt in full view of everyone.

    ¡°The belt when activated would only last for an hour until all of the mana in the mana storage is depleted but the depletion could be significantly faster if you¡¯re being attacked,¡± Anton said.

    Anton then waved his hands at the special effects magic that was surrounding Frederick.

    ¡°As you can see, people near him would not be affected by the magic that is currently surrounding Frederick since the magic would only activate if he was attacked,¡± Anton said then he retrieved an ordinary sword from his inventory and suddenly attacked Frederick.

    Of course, Anton only mildly attacked the mage since with his Strength stat, he could actually damage Frederick. When his sword touched Frederick, everyone could hear a clanging sound and saw that the mage wasn¡¯t affected by the sword. They saw that Anton was suddenly frozen solid but after a few seconds, the ice that was encasing him melted.

    ¡°As you can see, if the user of the belt was attacked, not only it would protect him from damage but the attacker would be frozen in ice for several seconds and the damage the ice would cause would be considerable to normal people so I recommend that you don¡¯t do that but if you want to test it out, make sure that you¡¯re beside me or a healer,¡± Anton said.

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    ¡°At first, I thought of adding a spell that would allow the magic belt to retrieve mana from the environment but that would cause the structure to become overly complicated and since the user could only use them ten times, I thought that it would not be worth it,¡± Anton continued.

    Antonia, Lucia, Walter, and Philip as well as Selena, Norma, and Belue were all gaping at Anton.

    ¡°I know you can make enchanted items but I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re this accomplished!¡± Phillip exclaimed.

    ¡°If any of the families in New Drennor discover that you have this capability, they might abduct you,¡± Lucia joked.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t joke about that since they might actually do it. But I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t need to worry too much since you being an archmage will be the best deterrence that your family can have regarding actions like that,¡± Antonia said.

    ¡°I thought that with the floating bones, it would look eerie but it actually looked beautiful,¡± Lunelle said while looking at the magic that was surrounding Frederick.

    ¡°You look like a very powerful mage!¡± Anna complimented the mage and Frederick began strutting while the belt was active.

    ¡°Remember that you will need to bring extra mana power banks with you so you can recharge the belt if you need to.¡±

    Anton then gave the two remaining belts to his father to distribute after saying to everyone that if they wanted something more aesthetically pleasing, they could commission an artist to create something like the belt but to remember to copy the width and length of the silver buckle so he could inscribe the spells to it correctly.

    The women then began discussing what kind of item would best serve as the basis for the defensive enchantment while the men borrowed the two belts that Anton gave his father so they could examine them minutely.

    Anton was startled when he overheard the girls discussing corsets and buckles filled with crystals and gems while the men were talking about creating something sturdier and thicker. Devon even suggested that they should create something like a breastplate.

    After a while, Anders announced that it was time for them to go to the dining hall. During dinner, the discussion on which item they would choose to have the enchantment continued and they kept asking Anton if the item they chose was feasible. He had to finally declare to them again that as long as it was as big as the silver buckle that he made and could be worn in the body, it was feasible.

    When dinner was over, they returned to the suite they briefly discussed the assassin¡¯s group when Anton asked if there was any news regarding them. Unfortunately, the assassins were lying low and Anton wondered what was taking the powerful wizards on the ships so long to capture them.

    They then watched the last film in the Spiderman franchise starring Toby Maguire. As usual, after the movie ended, everyone discussed the films but everyone still bombarded Anton with questions about Earth¡¯s technology and other inventions.

    They were particularly fascinated by the concept of smartphones and Anton had to show them video clips from the most famous streaming website about people using their phones. The fact that each cellphone user could connect to the internet and access documents, pictures, and videos anytime they like astounded everyone.

    They were so enamored with those devices that Anton began listing the negative impact of the smartphones that plague the people of Earth but based on their reaction, Anton knew that the only thing that remained in their minds were the advantages.

    Anton didn¡¯t worry too much since smartphones were much too futuristic for anyone in this world to invent. Maybe a mage could invent something using magic but the process would be very complicated and there was a huge chance that even if something like a magical cellphone would be invented, the mages would probably keep the magic device to themselves.

    Also, unfortunately, because of the ambition of some evil organization, wizards couldn¡¯t focus on magic innovation but instead focus their power on increasing their offensive and defensive capabilities therefore increasing their chance to survive in the upcoming confrontation with the undead. Everyone knew that it was inevitable. There would be confrontations in the future.

 Chapter 369

    The next day was hectic for Anton¡¯s father, Nemina, Antonia, and Lucia since it would be the day that the official announcement for the Cosplay event would be held. Even though rumors about the event had already spread amongst the fans of the Lord of The Rings trilogy on the ship, there was no confirmation from the owners of the cinema but that day, Anton¡¯s family and friends would finally release the flyers they had prepared for the event.

    The brochure would inform everyone that the event would be held on the islands of Norbuna where Antonia¡¯s family owned a warehouse that they would convert to a convention slash party hall the day after the Amelia arrived on the island. The ship should arrive in Norbuna in about three weeks and that was plenty of time for those who would purchase the ticket to prepare their costumes.

    After breakfast, they briskly went on their way to work on their business that day. Anton was holding onto one of the flyers or leaflets that Antonia and Lucia had made. The flyer was particularly gorgeous since it looked like an artist''s drawing of one of the posters made to advertise The Fellowship of The Rings film. The fact that there were tens of them probably made the artist exhaust himself since Anton thought that the flyers were probably made by hand.

    The flyers would inform everyone that The Lord of The Rings Cosplay event was a three-day event and since the ship would stop on Norbuna for a total of five days, it was enough for the whole convention to be held on the islands. The price for the ticket was written on the flyer and Anton was surprised at how costly it was. He thought that just like his family, Antonia would price the ticket for the Cosplay event lower since the passengers did not have incoming coins but Anton just shrugged since it was their decision and they probably had a good reason why the tickets were priced that way.

    The flyer also listed different competitions and some of the prizes that the winners would receive. Aside from gold coins, some magic items would be included and even Anton¡¯s newly created Magic Belt was one of the prices. Some of his magic items were listed as prices as well like the tablet of air conditioner, the cup that produces water, the Ice Bolt wand, and more. Some magic items were listed as prices as well that Anton didn¡¯t recognize and they probably were from Antonia and Lucia¡¯s collections.

    The competitions that were listed were best female costumes, best male costumes, and even best children''s costumes. There were also specific ones like the best elven costumes, the best wizard costumes, the best dwarven costumes, the best Hobbits costumes, the best Uruk-hai costumes, and more. After reading the prices that would be given, Anton understood why the ticket price was so expensive.

    When they arrived in the suite, the ladies, instead of practicing their magic talked about the costumes they would make for the cosplay event. Thankfully, Anna and Lunelle would make Anton¡¯s costumes and he didn¡¯t even have to be measured since they would base the size on one of his clothes.

    Surprisingly, even Walter and Frederick joined in on the fun based on what Anton heard while he was inside his room leveling up his Paladin character. He was leveling up his character using the on-screen option instead of in virtual mode since the day was extremely busy and Anton thought that his family and friends would be forced to disturb him that day sooner or later and he was correct.

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    At around ten in the morning, Anna barged in on his room and told Anton that they would be bringing the rest of the wolves with them since they planned to go shopping for materials that they would use for their costumes. Everyone was excited and Anton decided to go with them since he too was infected by the liveliness of everyone in the group.

    They went to the bazaar where they had been before where Anton purchased his watch that resembled the ones from Full Metal Alchemist. There, the girls busied themselves purchasing all the things they would need to create their costumes. Anton learned that the girls would create a Celeborn costume for him but that meant that he had to wear a long blonde hair wig. Walter wanted to wear a Legolas costume even though Anton mentioned that there would probably be hundreds of Legolas that would attend the event.

    Curiously, Frederick wanted to wear an Uruk-hai costume which surprised everyone since everyone thought that the mage would either choose an elven costume or a wizard costume. Unfortunately, if the moviegoers wanted to select the wizard costume, they would have to choose either Gandalf or Saruman since the rules indicated that only the characters that were seen in the Lord of The Rings trilogy could be selected.

    The ladies kept changing their minds on which character they wanted to portray while they were selecting the materials they wanted to purchase and Anton knew that it would probably take them the whole day, possibly several days before they finalized their decision.

    Anton got tired of shopping so he told everyone that he would return to the suite to practice his magic. The wolves were following the group but they had been a common sight already since Anders and the others were followed by the wolves and the Clay Golem every day as well. The Dire Bear was too big to bring anywhere so it always remained in the suite.

    Before he left for the suite, Anton found a place where he could eat lunch and after he was done, he returned to his room immediately to continue leveling up his Paladin character.

    While busy leveling up, Anton briefly wondered if the assassins would make their move while they were in the islands of Norbuna.

    Anton exited his Diablo II system at around four in the afternoon and was surprised to notice that the ladies were still not back yet from their shopping spree. He thought of going outside the suite to roam around but decided to just continue leveling up his Paladin. As of that moment, his Paladin was level eighty-nine and it wouldn¡¯t take long till he reached the maximum level. Once his character was in the mid-nineties, he would then spend time hunting the best gear for the Paladin and that would take quite some time.

    He was about to enter his Diablo II system again when he heard a knock on his door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see that it was Torun, Blake, Andrea, and Soren without his gang. Anton invited the four inside the suite but when they entered, they were startled to see the huge Dire Bear. When Anton told them it was one of his most powerful summoned creatures, the four rushed to the Dire Bear and fearlessly examined the animal closely.

    Anton guessed that living with the summoned Spirit Wolf and seeing the Dire Wolves every day since they mostly followed his father and the others whenever they were out made them realize that there was nothing to fear if the creature was a summoned being.

    Just like Anna, Andrea even boldly climbed on top of the Dire Bear and treated it as some sort of comfortable bed. The boys examined the bear¡¯s claws and their faces were full of amazement and a touch of fear at how large the Dire Bear¡¯s natural weapon was.  Anton even boasted about the different skills that the Dire Bear had and that it could contend with small armies.

    ¡°Are you also selling a summoning tablet of Dire Bear?¡± Soren asked.

    ¡°No, since I haven¡¯t found any materials that can hold the spell structure of the Dire Bear. I¡¯m sure that once we reach New Drennor, there will be some there but according to one of my friends, the cost would be gargantuan,¡± Anton replied.

 Chapter 370

    Anton served some of the food that he had in his inventory to Torun, Blake, Andrea, and Soren and they enjoyed the snacks while they sat surrounding the Dire Bear, enjoying the warmth the huge animal was exuding.

    The main reason why his friends visited him was to inquire about the Cosplay event. They saw the flyers that were being distributed to the passengers and even though they were excited especially when they saw the prizes, they were aghast at the price of the entrance tickets.

    ¡°My father saw the flyers as well and since we already told everyone that we could attend the event free of charge, they told us that we¡¯re taking advantage of our friendship with you,¡± Andrea said.

    ¡°It¡¯s my family¡¯s event although it will be hosted by one of my friends. That meant that as an archmage of the family, I had the right to invite anyone I wanted and I already invited you all and your family and that means that you don¡¯t have to pay for the entrance tickets. I¡¯ve read somewhere before that the only reason why one would suffer through having power was to defeat your enemies and reward your friends so this is the result of me having power, having the privilege of inviting my friends to an event that was mostly going to be celebrated because of what I did,¡± Anton said while rolling his eyes at everyone.

    Andrea smiled while the others just shook their heads. After that, they talked about the costumes they were planning to wear.

    Andrea would wear an Eowyn Costume, Blake chose to come as Eomer, Eowyn¡¯s brother. Torun wanted to be Aragorn during the event and Soren said that he liked Boromir and would wear something like what Boromir was wearing.

    ¡°When are you going to start preparing your costumes?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°No rush since the event is still around three weeks away. We have plenty of time,¡± Torun replied.

    ¡°Are you sure about that? My family and friends started to prepare their costumes today. They¡¯re now in the bazaar shopping for materials they want to use to make their costumes. If you hope to win any of the prizes, I suggest that you work on your costumes already,¡± Anton told his friends.

    That comment made Andrea worried and without further ado, urged her brother and the others to start making their costumes so after a while, they all left together even though Torun and Soren still wanted to stay with Anton.

    After a few minutes, the others returned from their shopping spree and the moment they arrived, the ladies retrieved all the materials they bought and placed them on the dining table. Then the ladies took their notebooks and their pens and started drawing the costumes they wanted to create.

    Unfortunately for Anton, he was asked by everyone, including Walter and Frederick, to show clips of the characters from the movie so they could inspect the details of the costumes.

    ¡°What''s with the effort?¡± Anton asked.

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    ¡°There¡¯s no exclusion on the possible winners of the best costumes. That means that anyone can win!¡± Walter said.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that unfair if the family and friends of the cinema owner win?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°No, since the panel of judges would consist of different people from all walks of life,¡± Walter answered.

    ¡°Still, you will have a huge advantage over others since I can show you the details of characters'' costumes every time you want,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°Well starting tomorrow, the trilogy will be shown every day starting from The Fellowship of The Ring to The Return of The King consecutively so those who want to check out the details of the character¡¯s costume they wanted to make, can watch the movie again. Not only that, the tickets that they will purchase for the day can be used for that day and that meant they only had to buy a single ticket for the three movies until the event,¡± Walter continued.

    Anton¡¯s eyebrows rose when he heard that but then he showed them the advantage they had over others. Using the internet, Anton showed them some of the plans to create detailed costumes for each of the characters from the trilogy since the netizens from Earth uploaded them.  The plans include colorful pictures and videos on how to create specific patterns and even the correct stitching one could use. Although not useful, some of the plans even included places where one could purchase some of the accessories.

    When they saw the plans, they all gasped and each one of them clamored for Anton to search for the plan of the characters they chose. Anna said that she chose Arwen which he found weird since Anna had blonde hair and would have been perfect for any other blonde characters like Eowyn. He quickly found the plan for the dress that Eowyn wore when she first appeared in the Two Towers film and showed it to Anna but she insisted on coming to the event as Arwen so Anton found the plan for one of Arwen¡¯s dresses. The plan was so detailed that Anna quickly copied them.

    ¡°Now I understand what you mean about the advantage that we will have but that¡¯s the world for you. There¡¯s no total equality,¡± Walter shrugged.

    While everyone was copying the details of the plans for their costumes, Anton thought of how silly everyone was being but then he internally shrugged. These moments might be the only moments they had to enjoy themselves. He felt that the world was at war with the undead and soon no one would have time for any sort of silliness and would only focus on fighting it out with the undead so Anton didn¡¯t begrudge anyone for enjoying these moments. He decided that he would try his best to enjoy them as well since having his Diablo II system allowed him to become very powerful. He would probably be in the middle of the war with the coalition in the future.

    While some were busy copying their costume¡¯s plan from the projector screen, others were busy reviewing the details of the plan they already copied when Andres and the others entered the suite.

    Anton explained to his father and the others the situation and reiterated that it might be unfair for the members of the family and friends to be included in the competition for the best costumes. Anders was about to agree with his son when Antonia and Lucia said what Walter had said earlier. That there was no absolute fairness in this world. After that, they asked Anton to show them the plans for the costumes for the characters they would choose.

    Devon and Colin told everyone the characters they chose and for Anton¡¯s father, Selena told everyone that Anders would come as Aragorn and that she would be his bride, Arwen. Anna complained that it was going to be weird since she chose Arwen as well.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a limited amount of characters in the Lord of The Rings so it¡¯s inevitable to have tens of Arwens, Eowyns, and Galadriels,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°We realize that now so the next time we hold a cosplay event, it will include all the movies that were shown in the cinema but more than likely it will be on New Drennor after the cinema¡¯s established there,¡± Antonia said.

    Anna grumbled then changed her mind and chose to come to the cosplay event as Eowyn so she asked Anton to show her the plans for Eowyn¡¯s costumes.

 Chapter 371

    During dinner in the dining hall, Harun informed Anton that they would pass some sort of belt area in the ocean where a lot of delicious sea fishes would pass by. The Amelia would stop for a few hours so that sailors could catch fish for the passengers and crew.

    ¡°Are we allowed to catch our own?¡± Anton asked the sailor assigned to their family as their guide.

    ¡°Yes, but only after the crew is done,¡± Harun replied.

    Anton wondered how he could catch fish using his skills.

    ¡°Do other mages participate in catching fish?¡± Anton suddenly asked Harun while thinking about how he could catch the fish himself and Harun shook his head.

    ¡°Mages will not bother with something like that since there are people that will catch the fish for them,¡± Lucia told Anton with a wry expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m interested since it sounded fun and besides, I have tons of space in my spatial inventory and can store food there without it going bad. Maybe I can catch fish and sell them for gold!¡± Anton said while imagining flying above the ocean trying to use spells to catch something like a Bluefin Tuna.

    ¡°It would be better if you just craft enchanted items and sell those instead since that will earn your family tons of gold,¡± Phillip suggested while eating some of the delicacy that was served to them by waiters.

    To be honest, Anton found their lifestyle inside the Amelia a bit decadent. It felt like they were not really traveling because they were on the run but instead, it felt like they went on a cruise vacation. He knew deep inside that it was all because of his Diablo II system. It allowed him and his family to have the means to run in style.

    ¡°I know all of that It¡¯s just that I think I¡¯ll find the process of trying to catch a fish using my spells interesting. Maybe I¡¯ll find a treasure like when I played with the dolphins and the whales. Besides, it will probably take me just an hour or so and I don¡¯t even have to bother the Amelia since I can fly over the ocean and even if they leave, I can catch up to it easily enough.¡±

    Philip just shrugged and his family just shook their heads when they heard Anton¡¯s plan but they let him be since he had always taken care of the family making sure that they were safe and comfortable, and if there were instances that the young mage wanted to play, they would certainly indulge him.

    After dinner, they all returned to the suite but this time everyone seemed to be tired since there were no requests for movies or television shows, at least verbally, even though some of them wanted to do so.

    Anders announced that it was now fine to close their bedroom doors just to be aware of the surroundings and to respond fast enough to any sort of danger. Everyone also needed to have a wolf inside their room so the summoned animals could always guard them.

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    ¡°You just want to have a ¡°sexy time¡± with Selena,¡± Anton joked.

    Anders shouted at him since even though the term was unfamiliar to everyone, they knew what Anton meant through context, except for Anna and when she asked what his brother meant, everyone just laughed. She kept asking until Anders shouted at her too and that made her pout while mumbling she just wanted to know what ¡°sexy time¡± meant.

    Anton liked how his father was behaving. He loved how the man was indulging in love and life. He knew that his family, especially his father, didn¡¯t have an easy life and now they had the means to enjoy their lives. At least at this moment, Anton believed that they should do so.

    When he entered his room, Anton took a shower first then after that planned to spend a couple of hours before sleeping to level up his Paladin character. He knew that the others were also practicing their magic and was glad that even with all the distractions that were happening, the mages didn¡¯t lose their goal and focus which was to increase their power as soon as possible.

    After a couple of hours of playing, Anton was happy to see that his Paladin¡¯s level increased to level ninety-two. He thought that it was time for him to hunt for the ¡°Best in Slot¡± gears for the Paladin so he would do so the next day. Once he had the best items, which could take him several hours, even a few days, he would return to reaching the Paladin¡¯s maximum level.

    He then thought of which character he should level up next but truthfully, any of the remaining characters would be fine. Anton decided that the next character that he would level up next would be the Barbarian since that would allow him to become physically powerful.

    The next day during breakfast, Harun informed Anton that they would reach the area where the fish would pass through in a couple of hours and he told the sailor to inform him once the crew was done fishing.

    Anton thought that the best skill that he could use to catch the fish was the Tornado spell from the Druid¡¯s Elemental skill tree and since he did put points on all of his skills, which he had been doing ever since his first character which was the Sorceress, he had access to the Tornado spell and he did spend some time practicing the said spell. Of course, he had to make sure that the Tornado spell that he would cast would be mild enough to gather the fish but not kill them since he wanted them to be fresh although he did have to make sure that they were all dead because if they¡¯re alive, he wouldn¡¯t be able to store them in his inventory.

    After breakfast, Anton¡¯s father and the others headed to the cinema to check their family business while Antonia and Lucia went to meet up with the people they hired to construct the decoration that would be put up when they reached the warehouse in the islands of Norbuna where the Cosplay Event would be held.

    Anton didn¡¯t know where Philip would go since the man didn¡¯t seem interested in participating in the management of the Cosplay event. The rest would return to the suite to practice their magic just like Anton.

    In the suite, Anton began his plan of hunting for gears so he spent several hours doing so but at around ten in the morning, Harun arrived to inform him that the crew was almost done with catching the fishes.

    Anton immediately followed Anton and they reached the location where the crew was finishing up. He saw that they used some tiny boats and nets to catch the fish and was astonished at the amount that they managed to catch. It looked like there were tons and tons of different varieties of fish and Harun admitted that the crew used some magic items as well.

    Harun also informed him that the ship was willing to sell some of the fish to him if he truly wanted to and that meant that there was no need for him to actually catch fish. That made Anton a bit sad since he really wanted to experience becoming a magic fisherman for an hour or two.

    He decided that it wasn¡¯t worth it anymore and told Harun exactly that and returned to the suite to continue hunting gears for his Paladin character.

 Chapter 372

    Anton found that the novice mages were listening to Frederick giving a lecture about magic when he arrived at the suite. He forgot that the mages would not be able to practice their magic without him there since it would exponentially increase the time they needed to memorize a spell.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d spend some time catching fish?¡± Frederick asked when he saw Anton enter the room.

    ¡°I find that there¡¯s really no need for me to do so. The crew actually caught tons and tons of fish already and Harun said that if I wanted to have some, I can purchase them directly from the sailors and it will not cost a lot.¡±

    ¡°We knew that and I think we told you that. We thought that you wanted to fish for the experience,¡± Walter said.

    Anton just shrugged and grumpily went to his room and shut his door which made the novice mages laugh.

    Everyone returned to memorizing their spell and casting their spells on the mana power bank but the mages already started using the huge power bank that Anton crafted to look like a coffee table.

    During lunchtime, Anton joined the others to eat lunch and Frederick reminded him that there would be a need for another coffee table mana power bank soon. Anton contemplated about the mana that was being stored from the spells that the others were casting so they could empty their spell slots. He thought that with so very few enchanted items that Anton had made, the mana power bank was a waste. The fact was, his power bank could only power up the mana storage of the items that he had made so he asked for suggestions from the mages on how they could use the mana that was being stored.

    Unfortunately, no one could think of any, and surprisingly the best suggestion came from Anton¡¯s sister, which was to create an outlet on the huge mana power bank coffee table that would let the mana go back to the environment if they needed to.

    According to Anna, the power bank was still convenient compared to finding a place to cast their spells to empty their spell slots. It would be too bothersome for them to leave the suite just to cast their spells and then return to the room to start memorizing again, not to mention that there was still a possibility that the assassin might target them if they were alone.

    Anton agreed with his sister so after lunch, he stored the coffee table mana power bank inside his inventory so he could modify it inside his Diablo II system.

    Thankfully, the outlet that would release the mana stored in the coffee was simple enough since Anton only needed to modify the mana structure to create an extra mana pathway to a switch that could be turned off or turned on to release the mana.

    Anton tested releasing the mana several times and found that there was no issue so exited his Diablo II system and brought the coffee table mana power bank to the others.

    When Frederick tested the switch that would release the mana, everyone was astonished to discover the side effect of releasing the stored mana in the suite. The suite was slowly becoming filled with tamed mana and every mage felt it. Apparently, the mana that was stored and then released became tamed and not raw anymore allowing the mages nearby a huge benefit in memorizing and casting their spells.

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    Frederick excitedly told Anton that they could actually market the coffee table power bank as a magic item that would increase the tamed mana in an environment allowing mages to practice their magic easily which was almost like a mini-effect of the Meditation Aura.

    That meant that inside the suite, once it was filled with mana from the mana power bank, the advantage that the mages would have would increase again and that visibly excited Frederick. Anton knew the reason why Frederick was like that was because the mage was now experiencing how the genius mages increased their rank. Anton remembered when Frederick told them that his talent was considered very poor and reaching the archmage rank was just an illusion of a dream but now, with his aura and now, the environment that would be filled with tamed mana because of an item that he had made, would allow Frederick to increase his wizardly rank fast enough that he could see a chance that he could reach the archmage rank in his lifetime as long as he stick with Anton and his family made the mage¡¯s blood boil.

    Even Walter looked as excited as Frederick. The rich noble knew that his talent for wizardry was poor. Even poorer than that of Frederick¡¯s but while he was with Anton and his family, there was a chance to increase his rank fast enough as well while they were on the ship.

    After that exciting discovery, Frederick emptied the coffee table power bank with all of its stored mana then the mages started casting their spells onto the mana power bank again. Anton returned to hunting the best gear for his Paladin until four in the afternoon. After that, they all stopped practicing magic.

    It was already an unspoken rule that the magic practice would stop at around four. Anton noticed that the suite was now almost filled with mana but he also noticed that the tamed mana did dissipate slowly.

    Anton¡¯s father and the other arrived early and they all spent time talking about what they did for that day. Frederick shared with everyone the newly discovered side effect of letting out the mana that was stored in the coffee table mana power bank inside the suite.

    ¡°Is it going to affect normal people?¡± Anders asked Frederick.

    ¡°In a way. According to the mages that I talked to, living in mana rich environment will allow normal people to become healthier and live longer. Because of that, several mages conducted some tests to see if that would allow regular people to become mages if they live in a place that¡¯s rich in mana but the test didn¡¯t yield any result.¡±

    Anders then shrugged and said that as long as mana-rich rooms would not affect anyone negatively, it was fine.

    Frederick had to explain that the coffee table mana power bank could now be considered one of the most valuable items that Anton had made and would be able to bring a gargantuan amount of coins to the family. The coffee table would be particularly valuable to magic schools or noble families who were raising mages because the mages could cast their spells onto the table to empty their spell slots and then once the table was full of mana, the mana would then be released to a room which would fill that room with tamed mana that would allow mages to practice magic better. So the coffee table mana power bank would create a mana loop in an enclosed area that would greatly benefit mages.

    Everyone in the suite gaped at Frederck then as one took a look at the coffee table that was now worth a lot of coins.

    ¡°Your family is truly blessed by the goddess of magic,¡± Antonia softly said to Anders.

    Anton just shrugged and told his father that once they reached New Drennor, they could sell some coffee table mana power bank to increase the family¡¯s wealth, and Anders just absently nodded. Selena looked particularly excited as well as her two friends, Norma and Belue. Anton knew that Selena was probably thankful that she fell in love with his father since their family truly had the potential to be one of the richest in any place they went to.

 Chapter 373

    It was only about a week before the Amelia would arrive on the islands of Norbuna. There was a feverish atmosphere inside the ship. Everyone was excited about reaching the islands since it was the first time in a few months that the people on the ship would touch land again. Not only that but there was a major event that would happen, which was the Cosplay Event that was based on the Lord of Rings movies. Not only that, the economy inside the ship would be injected with new blood from the people of the islands.

    Every businessman on board the ship expected to earn a lot of coins from the people of Norbuna since the Amelia would be one of the last ships that would travel from Rendindura to their lands because of the Undead Coalition¡¯s attack.

    Not only that, during the last week before they arrive in the islands of Norbuna, Anders, with suggestions from Antonia and Lucia made the showing of the three Lord of The Rings movies free of charge, which greatly excited all the passengers especially those who were without means to watch the films repeatedly.

    Each one of his family members and his friends were now also carrying Anton¡¯s Magic Defensive Item. He couldn¡¯t call it Anton¡¯s Magic Belt anymore for some of them since the items the others brought for him to enchant were different things. Aside from the belt, they brought in metal corsets, breastplates, and other pieces of armor. The main difference was, that the ladies brought very aesthetically pleasing items filled with glittering jewels while the men brought something that would be considered ¡°manly¡±.

    In Anton¡¯s opinion, the men were the ones who were over the top on what they brought since the items they brought were too ¡°masculine¡± which was the only description that he could think of. He thought that they might have seen what the ladies commissioned or brought and wanted to separate their items from theirs. The only thing he could say was that the item that his father chose was fitting for a wealthy nobleman which was a belt but Selena was the one who chose that for him. That meant that the first four Anton¡¯s Magic Belts that he had made inside his Diablo II system were now inside his inventory, unused.

    Another funny thing that happened was, that all of his family members and friends who had the magic defensive items kept needing to recharge the mana storage all the time because they kept activating the defensive spells to show off to others. The spells were impressive and beautiful to look at that¡¯s why everyone kept boasting them off and for a while, all the mana power banks were being drained off to recharge their defensive items, even the coffee table mana power bank.

    Not only that, Nemina informed Anton that they had received several inquiries about the defensive items but as per Philip¡¯s advice, they decided to hold off on selling them, at least until the assassin issue had been resolved. The good thing was, that Anton was not the one who dealt with prospective customers, and there were a lot of them, but his father and Nemina so he remained undisturbed while leveling up his character inside his Diablo II system.

    During the weeks before they arrived on the islands, the family celebrated two major events, which were Anna graduating from being a Novice Mage to a Level One Mage and Frederick reaching Level Two. At first, Anton always confuses the official rankings of the wizards. He usually thought, though it changes from time to time, that the starting point of wizards was level one so he always thought Anna was already a level one mage. Apparently, the rankings start with zero.

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    Regarding Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, and Walter, they would probably reach level one in a few weeks or so.

    When Anton briefly checked the internet for the rules of magic or spell casters in the DnD franchise, the spells start at the Cantrip Level although he knew that the magic system of this world somewhat resembled DnD, it was just ¡°somewhat¡± so he knew he shouldn¡¯t refer to the gaming rules of DnD for knowledge about this world magic system.

    If he really wanted to learn about the magic system, it would be best for him to actually study it under a mage or a school but with his own Diablo II system, that was not a priority. Maybe someday when he milked all he could from his own system, then he could turn his attention to the magic system of this world.

    Anton doubted that he would outgrow his Diablo II system though since based on all the web novels that he had read, which again, he didn¡¯t know if he could count on them for knowledge, that systems would grow with the holder infinitely and that meant that his Diablo II system would be able to grow with him as well.

    For a while, Anton thought of the possibilities that his Diablo II system would grow into. Would it allow him to create specialized characters like a modded Diablo II or would it branch out to other Diablo games like Diablo III, Diablo IV, and even the mobile game Diablo Immortal? If it did branch out to other Diablo games, he would have to learn the games since the only Diablo games that he was familiar with were Diablo III and Diablo Immortal. He then wondered why his system did not start with Diablo I. Of course, he wasn¡¯t sure that would happen since his system did name itself the Diablo II system so if it was based on that, he doubted that it would lead to other games but the only thing that he was sure of was anything could happen to his system so he shouldn¡¯t assume.

    Anton managed to gather the ¡°Best in Slot¡± gear for the Paladin character and then after that, he concentrated on leveling it up until he reached the maximum level. He then reset the skills of the Paladin to the skills that would mostly help him in real life but as tradition had it, which started from his Sorceress character, he did put a single skill point on all of the skills even those that he was not using so if he needed them in real life, it would be available. Not only that, with a single point on the skills, he could use them in crafting items.

    Anton planned to level up the assassins next. At first, he wanted to level up the Barbarian since that would allow him to have great physical strength and skills but since the Assassin group from the Undead Coalition was hiding in the ship and was patient enough to not take any action for weeks, they were like the Sword of Damocles that was hanging on their head all the time. That meant that knowing the skills of the assassin character that he could use in the real world might be beneficial for him in dealing with that Assassin group.

    At around four in the afternoon, after he reached the maximum level of his Paladin, Anton wanted to celebrate by roaming around the ship. He had been closeted in the suite for weeks on end and he was feeling a little stifled. He didn¡¯t even join Torun and the others during the past few weeks but focused on hunting gears and leveling up his Paladin. He was surprised at how long it took for him to hunt all the items that he would like his Paladin to have. Not only that, after hunting the best items for the Paladin, he did the same with all of his characters and that took a while as well but the good thing was that all of his characters now had the best gears and that was the main reason why he only reached the maximum character for the Paladin a week before landing to the islands of Norbuna.

 Chapter 374

    Anton left the suite after telling everyone that he wanted to roam around the Amelia. With his presence gone, at least for a few hours, the mages in the family could rest from practicing their spell casting and spell memorization and do something else.

    He had to reiterate to everyone that the assassin problem was not yet resolved so if they planned to go outside, even with the new magical defensive item, they still would need to be in a group bringing the wolves with them and if necessary, the Dire Bear as well.

    ¡°We can¡¯t bring Flora with us, she¡¯s so huge! She can¡¯t fit in some of the places on the ship,¡± Anna said.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Flora?¡± Anton asked, feeling a bit dreadful at hearing the answer.

    ¡°The Dire Bear, Dummy!¡± Anna answered.

    ¡°You can¡¯t name the Dire Bear, Flora! First, it doesn¡¯t have a gender since it¡¯s a summon. Second, it¡¯s a giant monster capable of slaying armies! How can you name it Flora!¡± Anton shouted.

    ¡°Just let it be, Anton. What does it matter if your sister named her, Flora,¡± Lunelle said.

    Anton just rolled his eyes and sighed while Anna snorted at him. He then went outside the suite to roam around so he could relax.

    The first thing that he did was to visit the Patron Bar since it¡¯s been a while since the last time he visited it. Upon entering, he heard a bard performing on the stage and it brought a humbling experience again to Anton when it came to music. Before the Amelia, he thought that he was one of the best musicians around since he was really good at singing and his guitar playing was good enough to support his singing but when he heard the true bards, he knew that he was a good amateur at best.

    He did gain a bit of pride when some of the musicians that he talked to said that Anton was talented and that all he needed was training. He knew that he could have walked the path of a music artist if he didn¡¯t have his Diablo II system but for now, he was focused on increasing his power as soon as possible through his system. He did feel a little guilt for not practicing his music for a few weeks and he resolved that once he started leveling up the new character which would be the assassin, he would again spend some time practicing his music.

    Anton then thought that maybe the main reason why he was feeling stressed and wanting to relieve himself by roaming around was that he had stopped practicing his music. Before, without fail, he would practice his guitar and do some cover songs, and maybe doing those relieved some of the stress that was building up inside of him regarding the need to become powerful so he could defend himself and his family from the undead in case he encountered them again. It was possibly a mistake for stopping his online music lessons thinking that the time could be well spent in concentrating on his Diablo II system.

    Anton decided then that he would not only practice and do some cover song work, but he would also look for an advanced music lesson online and start again, but this time, he would make sure that the lesson would only take an hour.

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    He ordered a cup of coffee and continued listening to the song that the bard was singing. Anton found the music interesting since most songs from this world that he had heard were complete stories. Stories about heroes vanquishing their foes, adventurers successfully conquering a dungeon or a labyrinth, and love stories about a man and woman successfully concluding even against incredible odds. Some of the songs were incredibly long, and if you listened to them, you were actually hearing someone telling a complete story.

    Anton stayed in the Patron Bar for about an hour then he left. He wanted to roam some more so the next place that he visited was one of the decks on the ship. He wanted to view the ocean at least while it was bright enough since the moment the sun set, he would not be able to see anything anymore.

    Looking at the ocean was incredibly calming, and Anton felt his stress draining away while watching the waves play upon the surface of the ocean. While the sun was setting, the ocean turned from blue to golden, and it was breathtaking. For a moment, he could understand why some people preferred to spend their lives on the sea. After a while, Anton left the deck and went to where Maide and Bailey were staying.

    When he arrived where the animals were corralled, Anton found the horses energetic and was incredibly thankful for the care that the caretakers were giving the animals. Maide and Bailey were incredibly affectionate towards him. He provided mana water to them and temporarily added them to his party system while all of his auras were activated, but the fact that his mana didn¡¯t dip meant that they were healthy. Before he left, he gave some coins to the caretakers to tip them for taking care of the horses well.

    After that, Anton visited the tavern where Torun and the other usually hang out, but they were not there, so he stayed there for a mug of ale and then left soon after. When he arrived back at the suite, they all went to the dining hall for dinner, and after that, they spent a few hours catching up on the television shows that they were watching.

    They were still rotating on watching Xena: The Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the animated show Avatar: The Last Air Bender, and that night, they watched an episode of each of the shows. Soon, Anton would have to think of what television show they would watch next.

    Before he went inside his room to rest, Anton told everyone that for the final week before reaching the islands of Norbuna, he would concentrate on his magic so he would stay in his room all day up till dinner time.

    ¡°Is that a good idea, Anton? You shouldn¡¯t do that and should go outside so your mind can rest,¡± Anders told his son.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much, Father. I will stop for an hour or two each day for my music so I can relieve any stress that I might accumulate. It¡¯s just that I have an inkling that the assassin group might move while the Amelia is in Norbuna. The next character that I¡¯m going to learn the skill of is the assassin, and I think that knowing the skills of an assassin, even though they might be different from the attackers, would be incredibly helpful to me. My door will remain open, though, so anyone can still get my attention anytime they want,¡± Anton said to his father.

    ¡°Does that mean that we can practice our magic all day as well?¡± Walter asked and not one of them failed to notice the man¡¯s excitement.

    ¡°As long as I¡¯m in my room, that means that you will all be able to use the spell that lets you practice your magic faster than normal.¡±

    Every mage in the suite was excited because that meant an additional several hours for them to practice their wizardry. When Anna and Frederick ranked up, it motivated the rest to practice hard so they could catch up. Walter, in particular, was highly motivated because he knew that this unworldly speed that he was experiencing in practicing his magic could only be done while he was near Anton, and the moment they reached New Drennor, it would be very difficult for him to have the same advantage anymore.

 Chapter 375

    The week before they arrived on the islands of Norbuna, Anton focused on leveling up his newly created Diablo II Assassin character. He didn¡¯t know much about the Assassin, so he followed the build suggested by gamers on the Red streaming site and the guide written on the most famous Diablo II websites.

    The only thing that he could say was that Anton wasn¡¯t built to play melee characters. Even with the Paladin, for leveling-up purposes, he built it as some sort of caster while his Necromancer and his Druid were both summoners. Now he would be forced to truly become a melee character and he would take it as a chance to learn and get used to coming face-to-face with the monsters from the world of Sanctuary.

    On the first day of the last week before arriving in Norbuna, Anton went back to becoming an otaku, not leaving his room. The only difference was he kept the door open so anyone could see what he was doing, which was him looking like he was meditating. At the very least, during lunchtime, he joined his family in eating lunch for a few minutes then he immediately returned inside his room to continue the leveling-up process.

    Perhaps because everyone could see his focus, the mages in the family including Walter were the same. Anna and Frederick, who were still elated about reaching the next wizardly rank were also focused on memorizing their spells so they could fill all their spell slots and then casting the memorized spells on the coffee table mana power bank to empty their spell slots. Frederick also made sure to release the mana from the huge mana power bank whenever it was almost full so they could repeatedly cast their spells again whenever they were done memorizing them.

    This effectively allowed everyone to memorize their spells, exercising their mind so they would grow and because they kept doing it, the growth of their mind when it came to holding spells was extremely fast. The fact that Anton¡¯s auras allowed them to memorize the spells extremely fast and together with the rich mana environment because Frederick kept releasing the mana stored in the mana power banks, everyone felt the extreme speed that they were experiencing when memorizing spells.

    Walter, Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda were also highly motivated. The fact that Anna and Frederick ranked up gave them great motivation to reach their next rank as soon as possible. The four of them knew that their wizardly talent was abominably poor, and the only reason they were able to be on par with talented mages was because of Anton¡¯s aura and the recent mana-rich environment. All of them knew that this situation wherein Anton was available all day so they could mooch off from him through the spell that he was emitting was not permanent so they were making sure to take advantage of it.

    The fact that the family allowed Lunelle, Ramon, and Belinda to concentrate on their magic was a boon to the three of them since Lunelle was supposed to help her mother, and Ramona and Belinda were supposed to be Anna¡¯s attendants. That meant they should have been busy assisting Anders and Nemina with the family business, but Anton¡¯s father and Lunelle¡¯s mother told them in a straightforward manner that since they were blessed with the opportunity to become mages, they should take advantage of it.

    This made the loyalty of the three women to the family rock solid. They were very thankful that Anton, even though he was a very powerful archmage, still behaved like an ordinary teenager around them, and not only that, he kept making sure that the whole family was safe and comfortable.

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    Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda knew how a normal, young, powerful mage usually behaved, and they kept thanking the divines that Anton wasn¡¯t like them. During the times they mingled with other wizards in the ship together with Anna and Frederick, they heard stories of the atrocities that young powerful mages usually get away with, and most of the time, it was centered around them committing those atrocities to young women like them.

    A lot of the wizards were actually envious of Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda because instead of the family treating them as servants, which technically, they were, they were being treated as family no less than how Anna was being treated.

    Lunelle knew, since she had been part of the family for a long time, the main reason why that was so. Anton¡¯s family were normal farmers who recently came into power, and they still treated everyone around them as if they were still a normal farmer family. She did find the behavior of Anton highly peculiar because even though Anna¡¯s brother treated them with kindness and respect, it wasn¡¯t the behavior of a normal farmer boy. Lunelle then thought of how Anton had a window to another, more futuristic world and she attributed the weirdness of the young archmage¡¯s behavior to that.

    Anton''s focus was tremendous because even after around four in the afternoon, he only briefly stopped to eat some snacks and then went back to his ¡°meditations¡±.

    He did stop at around seven in the evening when everyone was there in the suite, but Anton was very happy because this allowed his assassin to level up from level one to level twenty-five. The next day, he planned to spend a couple of hours practicing the skills of the assassins since the main purpose of choosing the assassin to level up next was for Anton to familiarize himself with the assassin¡¯s skills. He mostly planned to focus on the Assassin¡¯s Shadow Discipline skill tree since Anton thought that that was what the Assassins were supposed to be experts in.

    ¡°How¡¯s the results of your meditation?¡± Anders asked his son.

    ¡°Good. I learned the skills of the Assassins!¡± Anton boasted then he went to the center of the suite and demonstrated all the skills for the Assassin that he learned.

    Anton¡¯s family members clapped their hands but Antonia, Lucia, Walter, Phillip, and the three women, Selena, Norma, and Belue, which Anton secretly calls Anders¡¯s Harem looked astounded.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re a wizard?!¡± Philip exclaimed.

    Anton was about to tell them candidly how his Diablo II system worked when Frederick beat him to it.

    ¡°It¡¯s how Anton¡¯s bloodline magic worked!¡± Frederick said.

    He realized then that the mage was protecting his secret. Anton still had a na?ve idea that since the people in the suite were his friends, it was alright for him to disclose his secrets but then with Frederick, his father, and Lucas eyeing him, he knew that it would be a mistake for him to overshare.

    Anton knew that his secrets were profound and the family was even warned not to tell outside the family what they knew like the effect of Anton¡¯s aura in mages and the effect of the comb from the dolphins in turning a regular person into a mage.

    Not because they were going to betray the family or something but because it could endanger their lives since people were interested in secrets, and sooner or later, their family would be targeted because of the secrets Anton had.

    Anton¡¯s family was still safe while they were inside the Amelia, but once they were in New Drennor, they could be entangled in the machinations of the powerful families there, but then again, there was a chance that the powerful families would be very busy in the future because everyone knew that the Undead Coalition¡¯s ambition would not stop in Rendindura.

 Chapter 376

    Anton showed off a few more of the Assassin¡¯s skills, which flabbergasted everyone since most of the skills from the mysterious hidden killers were not known to regular mages or even regular people. Apparently, those stealth warriors tried to keep their skills secret to make sure that people would not have any counter for them when the assassins used them.

    He had to reiterate to everyone that the skills that he had shown them, like some of the martial arts skills and some of the Shadow Discipline skills, were probably not exactly the same as those of a regular assassin since Anton didn¡¯t actually know what skills regular assassins had.

    During dinner, Anton was thankful that his father was the one explaining to the newcomers like Antonia¡¯s group and Selena and her two friends why Anton had access to skills from different professions. They knew about the healing spells since Anton had not been secretive when using them and he might have mentioned something about his bloodline magic to the others before. They also had seen the animals that he had summoned like the Spirit Wolves, the Dire Wolves, and the Dire Bear. They also knew that Anton had access to some spells that those who practice the magic of the undead had.

    Anton was extremely surprised at how good his father was in bullshitting since Anders told them that his son would awaken the spells that were hidden in his bloodline that came from a long legacy of heroes and those heroes were a mixture of different professions. Anton thought that his father took inspiration from the animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender but unfortunately for him, everyone on the table had seen the show as well.

    Antonia and the others clearly indicated through their expression that they knew that Anders was bullshitting but what was impressive was Anton¡¯s father kept a straight face while telling the absurd lies.

    Thankfully, they didn¡¯t ask any more about Anton¡¯s magic since every powerful family had secrets and apparently they already intruded on some of the core secrets of Anton¡¯s family. Antonia did inquire gracefully if Anna had the same powers and Anders said that not yet since Anton received his legacy when he was seventeen years old.

    Anton didn¡¯t know if what his father had said could endanger the family or Anna because he implied that Anton¡¯s sister would receive the same powers when she reached the same age as Anton but he thought that his father probably knew what he was doing.

    He could understand a little bit why his father had done that because the more power their family had, the safer they should be especially when they reached New Drennor. Anton had to admit that the reason why he was rushing was he wanted to officially reach the rank of Supreme by the time they reached New Drennor and he thought that maximizing all the levels of all the Diablo II characters would allow him to reach that. Reaching the Supreme Rank, at least if it was indicated by the standard mage¡¯s rank detection device, would allow their family to be safe from the rich noble families of New Drennor.

    While they were eating, Anton thought of some other ways he could make the family more powerful and the only thing that he could think of then was for him to create enchanted items based on his skills that should only be exclusive to his family.

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    The best skill that he could think of, especially for protection, was the skills of the Paladin but he wouldn¡¯t start exploring that yet since Anton truly wanted to reach the maximum level of his Assassin first and then start on either the Amazon or the Barbarian characters.

    Since he was now reaching the end of his journey with his Diablo II system, he wondered what his system would do next. The other parts of his system like mastering the spells so he could alter and combine them weren¡¯t truly part of his Diablo II system original content so he wouldn¡¯t include it as truly part of the system. He thought of the other game franchise in the Diablo game but he was beginning to doubt that it would branch out to other Diablo games since his system was specifically titled the Diablo II system, not the Diablo System.

    Anton then shrugged since once he maximized the level of the last character, then he would know the next thing his system would do.

    After dinner, they all returned to the suite and watched a couple of episodes of the television shows that they were watching. The television shows had become a family tradition that they did almost every evening and it was a way for everyone to unwind from what made them busy during the day.

    When they were done watching the shows, they went to their rooms to rest but some did stay to have conversation with each other. Sadly, before, they could go out and roam the ship for a bit but because of the threat of the assassin group and that everyone in the family knew that they were likely going to be targeted because Anton managed to capture some of the assassins, therefore interrupting their plans, so they had to remain in the suite. The mages talked about their magic and ways to increase their efficiency.

    Sadly, the most affected by their confinement to the suite was Devon. Normally, Devon would be out and about doing his thing but since Lucas forbade him from going out because of the assassin situation, the young mercenary was getting antsy. Unfortunately, whatever reasoning he presented to his parents that he would be safe alone while roaming the ship, they were all rejected, and that he just had to wait until the current problem was resolved.

    They did try to alleviate Devon¡¯s irritation by saying that the powerful ship mages should be able to resolve the situation soon.

    Colin and the female bodyguards they hired were quiet, how showing any of their opinions. To be honest, Anton sometimes forgot that they even existed, which according to his father was the good mark of a good bodyguard or attendant but he still found it weird.

    Anton did ask Nemina to make sure that they were comfortable within the family and Nemina assured him that the guards were happy. They were not really gambling with their lives since the only thing that they did was to guard the ladies and the ladies in the family usually just stay in the suite.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that very boring for them?¡± Anton asked Nemina.

    ¡°In mercenary work, that usually happened and that is the best situation that a mercenary could hope for since that meant that they were getting paid while they safe. Besides, the guards can also watch the shows and movies that we¡¯re watching free of charge,¡± Nemina shrugged.

    Anton would have preferred to use the time after watching the television shows that night to practice his music but he decided to skip it since it might disturb the others so what he did was surf the internet before sleeping.

    The next day was mostly the same. After breakfast, Anton focused on leveling up his Assassin character while the mages in the family practiced their magic outside his room. His father and the others went out to make sure that there were no problems in the cinema but during the afternoon, his father arrived together with two Supreme Wizards. The Supreme Numinor and Supreme Adinor came to visit Anton for some reason.

    When Anton heard the commotion outside his room, he immediately exited his Diablo II system and was highly surprised to see the two Supreme Wizards together with his father.

    ¡°Esteemed Supremes, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today?¡± Anton asked after inviting the two supreme to sit on the sofa in the living room.

 Chapter 377

    Anton looked at the two Supreme Wizards who visited their family rooms without any announcement and wondered what brought them to him. He knew it wasn¡¯t about the Assassin Group who plagued the Amelia since they could have sent a low-ranking wizard to inform him if it was about them.

    The two Supreme Wizards looked around, and Anton wondered why. However, he immediately realized what the two wizards wanted when his father invited everyone in the family and Anton¡¯s friends outside the suite. So they all exited the room together with the summoned wolves, the Clay Golem, and the Dire Bear to make sure that they were guarded. When everyone was gone, Anders returned and sat beside Anton.

    The two Supreme Wizards blinked when they saw Anders¡¯s actions and Anton could see them remembering his age.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you¡¯re only seventeen years old. The fact that you¡¯re an archmage and an extraordinarily powerful one at that at such a young age is truly rare,¡± Supreme Numinor said.

    ¡°Your rooms are filled with mana, and that¡¯s actually why we¡¯re here,¡± Adinor said after looking around Anton¡¯s family suite.

    ¡°It had come to our attention that you managed to create an item that would allow a place to be filled with purified mana which will allow wizards to practice their magic much easier,¡± Numinor said.

    Anton wondered how they got a hold of that information but he remembered that even though his family and friends were informed not to spread the information, it was not strictly enforced since they did plan to sell them soon, probably once they arrived in New Drennor.

    ¡°You¡¯re correct sir. I stumbled upon that creation by accident. As you know I¡¯m also an item enchanter and I created an item called mana power bank that will allow the users of my items to recharge the enchanted items that they¡¯ve bought from our family using the mana power bank. When the mages in our family wanted to practice their magic, instead of casting their spells somewhere, I decided to create a huge mana power bank so the mana wouldn¡¯t go to waste but since everyone was diligent in their practice, we needed to empty the mana power bank so I decided to install an outlet that will let the mana out from the power bank but it seemed like the mana that we released from the mana power bank was pure that it enriched the environment with mana that was beneficial to mages,¡± Anton said to the two Supreme Wizard.

    ¡°Can we buy a mana power bank from you then?¡± Adinor asked.

    ¡°I have no available one right now and it will take a while for me to create one, probably a month. Regarding the price, please talk to my father and his secretary,¡± Anton replied.

    ¡°Thank goodness that you¡¯re easy to talk to, young archmage. I thought you would try to keep that invention to yourself. Most mages would have,¡± Numinor said while looking at Anton approvingly.

    ¡°As you may notice sirs, most of the items that I make tend to help people''s lives easier. I usually avoid creating weapons since my idea was to use my magic to better the lives of people. I know that in these times, I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid creating weapons but I still try to create things that help people instead of destroying them.¡±

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    ¡°That¡¯s a good ideology to follow and as you¡¯ve said, it will be exceedingly hard to stick to that conviction because of the enemy humanity faces but I applaud your philosophy and I applaud your parents who taught you to become a better mage, or rather a better human being, compared to others,¡± Adinor complimented Anton and Anders.

    ¡°We will leave then and allow you to continue your day,¡± Numinor said then both Supreme stood up and left.

    Once they were gone, Anders asked a question to his son.

    ¡°Does it really take you a month to create that table?¡±

    ¡°No. It usually takes me just several hours,¡± Anton replied and his father understood his reasoning.

    ¡°Why did they want the others to go away?¡± Anton loudly wondered.

    ¡°They may have thought that it would take some time to persuade you to provide them that table that releases mana and they don¡¯t want others to see them begging or rather persuading a lower-ranking wizard. You have probably caught them off guard by how easy it was for them to talk to you regarding the item.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought of making any of my items that I¡¯ve made a secret since as I¡¯ve said, most of them are focused on bettering the lives of people. I would only consider hiding an item if it¡¯s something that would negatively impact a considerable amount of people.¡±

    ¡°How much are we going to sell that table mana power bank for?¡±

    Anton shrugged and told his father to talk it out with Nemina and if they needed to, asked advice from Frederick and Antonia¡¯s group.

    After that talk, Anton¡¯s father called everyone back to the suite which surprisingly took some time since Anders had to find them. Anton returned to his room and checked his inventory for the materials that he could use to create a second table so he could create another mana power bank that he could provide the Supreme Wizards. Unfortunately, there were none so he exited his Diablo II system and went out of his room.

    Luckily, everyone was back so he asked Frederick to find him a table similar to the coffee table mana power bank.

    ¡°Are you going to create a second one? This one¡¯s enough for us since we can release the mana anytime we want,¡± Frederick said.

    ¡°The Supreme Wizards got a hold of the information that we have an item that would allow a room to be enriched in tamed mana so I have to create a second one and sell it to them,¡± Anton told the mage.

    ¡°How did they find out?¡± Frederick asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but it¡¯s not important since it¡¯s not a huge secret anyway and we do plan to sell it to others once we reach New Drennor,¡± Anton said.

    Frederick then told Anton that he would look for one then he reminded the mage that he should find something aesthetically pleasing since it was for the Supreme Wizards.

    Anton returned to leveling up his Assassin for several more hours and only stopped briefly to eat some snacks. When nighttime arrived, he joined his family for dinner in the dining hall but he was happy enough at the level his Assassin achieved, which was level thirty-one and that meant that he had now access to all of the Assassin¡¯s skills.

    He planned to study them in detail the next day since Anton had this nagging feeling that the assassin group that was sent by the Undead Coalition would make their move when they reached the islands of Norbuna.

    Anton briefly wondered what kind of movement those enemies would make but he knew that whatever it was, it was futile. The Amelia had several powerful mages and the assassin group wouldn¡¯t be able to contend with them. Not to mention that there was supposed to be an Invincible Wizard aboard as well. He hadn¡¯t seen that powerful being but everyone assured him that there was one and to be honest, that knowledge brought comfort not to him but to everyone.

    It was nice to know that there was somebody on board who could protect them in case the worst happened. Anton was just praying, like everybody else on the ship, that the Invincible Wizard would never need to make a move.

 Chapter 378

    ¡°Why did you tell them it will take you a month to craft the huge mana power bank?¡± Frederick asked while they were eating lunch.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want them to know that I can make items anytime they want. I don¡¯t want to be treated as some one-man factory since I imagine that once we arrive in New Drennor, the organization that those Supreme Wizards belonged to be huge and that their place would probably need a good amount of huge power banks to fill their places with tamed mana. I know that those locations were probably located in a rich mana environment already, but our mana power bank had a huge advantage since one can select a special place where they can have a concentration of tamed mana for practicing magic. If they find out that I can churn several items in a day, they might try to persuade me to create several at once, leaving me no time for myself,¡± Anton answered the mage.

    ¡°Not only that, scarcity will allow us to control the price we can set for those items bringing wealth to the family,¡± Nemina added.

    After lunch, Anton and the mages return to practicing their magic while Anders and the others return to doing the family business. Antonia and Lucia were very busy with the Cosplay Event since it was a good distraction for the rich passengers of the ship. Everyone could feel the excitement in the air regarding the event, and some were already wearing their costumes while roaming around the ship.

    Antonia even told them a funny story about a few noble ladies who admitted that the costumes that they were wearing were not the ones that they would wear during the event. That meant that some of the truly rich passengers prepared several costumes.

    During the last week before they arrived in the islands of Norbuna, Anton concentrated on leveling up his Assassin character, even declining Torun¡¯s invitation to hang out with them in the tavern. He just replied to them that he was on the verge of a breakthrough, so he couldn¡¯t leave his room.

    Anton did join his family during lunch and dinner so he could avoid being called a complete recluse. When the announcement arrived that the Amelia would arrive in Norbuna in a few hours, they were eating breakfast. Anton quickly reviewed his gains from the last week. His Assassin leveled up to level eighty-five. The only thing he needed to do for the Assassin was to reach the maximum level and hunt for the ¡°Best in Slots¡± Assassin¡¯s gear.

    He also spent at least an hour a day practicing the skills of the Assassin since Anton wanted to make sure that not only he had the skills but was also well-versed in using them, especially the Shadow Discipline skills.

    After breakfast, everyone got busy in preparation for the disembark to Norbuna. The excitement in the air was palpable. The only disappointing part was there were very few items, enchanted or otherwise, that their family could sell.

    Anton did tell his father that once everything was sold, they would have to purchase a lot of aesthetically pleasing items and other raw materials that he could use to create enchanted items since he wanted to have a lot of enchanted items that they would be able to sell when they reached the next stop or even when they reached New Drennor.

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    Anna urged Anton to provide them with a generous amount of mana water for bathing so they could bathe in mana water before disembarking from the ship to Norbuna.

    Anders and Nemina were excited as well since the stop to Norbuna would inject a lot of funds into the family since even though a few items were left, most of the items were valuable. Nemina would have preferred to have a few more of the enchanted items, but Anton didn¡¯t manage to create new ones because of the lack of materials. That was one of the reasons why he asked his father to try to purchase a lot of them when they reached the islands.

    While everyone was preparing, an announcement from the captain came out from the hidden speakers that surrounded the Amelia.

    ¡°We will be arriving in the Islands of Norbuna in a couple of hours. Please make sure to behave well while we disembark. We will be staying on the islands for a total of five days. For more questions about the Islands, I¡¯m sure that the islanders prepared several people to be the guides. You can also ask the ship¡¯s staff if you have questions.¡±

    After that announcement, the feverish excitement that exuded from everyone more than doubled, and even Anton was affected, but since he had nothing to do, he decided to check the pier by going to the deck that faced the islands.

    There were a lot of people roaming around, but Anton noticed that the sailors were also scattered all over the place to make sure that everyone was being looked after. There were also several mages that were patrolling around.

    He was glad that Anders still decided that everyone should stick together while they were guarded by the wolves. Anton had to dismiss the Dire Bear and the Clay Golem since they were simply too big to move around.

    When Anton arrived at the deck overlooking the pier, there were a lot of people who went there to observe as well. When they reached the pier, several staff from the Amelia disembarked first and set up a station where the passengers could register first. Everything looked organized, but Anton was glad that since his family was considered one of the elite passengers, a dedicated staff came to their room to register their information, and then they would disembark using a special gate, which would result in them reaching the islands first.

    While looking at the pier, Anton was so tempted to just fly to the islands, but he didn¡¯t want to add to the chaos, so he simply returned to their rooms to join his family in disembarking the ship.

    Soon, they joined the other passengers in lining up to get off the ship, but since they were surrounded by ten wolves, the other passengers kept their distance from them. There was no fear in the faces of the other passengers, though, since they had gotten used to the wolves surrounding their family whenever they were around and about the ship.

    According to Harun, who was following them, the Islanders had several hotels nearby that passengers could rent while they were staying in Norbuna, which made Anton glad since he wanted to rest on land, at least for a few days.

    Their exit from the ship went smoothly, and Harun declined the offer of a guide for Anton¡¯s family since he would undertake that job. According to Harun, he had become familiar with the Islands since he had been part of the Amelia for several years and had been visiting the islands ever since he started working for the ship.

    At first, Anton thought that Norbuna was some sort of tropical place, but unfortunately, the islands looked cold and gray, much like the islands in Europe that he had seen in movies. He actually thought that they would be greeted by the islanders wearing some sort of national costumes that resembled those the Hawaiians wore back on Earth, but instead, the few citizens that he had seen resembled those people from the Victorian Era based still on the movies and shows that he had seen.

    So, instead of arriving in Hawaii as he thought, they arrived in some sort of parody of England, which hugely disappointed Anton.

 Chapter 379

    ¡°Why do you look so disappointed?¡± Anna asked Anton.

    ¡°I thought we¡¯d be arriving on some tropical island with beautiful beaches, green vegetation, hot, humid weather, and people with smiles on their faces wearing traditional islander clothes. Instead, the place looked gray and gloomy. And it¡¯s cold!¡± Anton complained.

    Anna shrugged and told his brother that she had read what the islands of Norbuna were like, so she wasn¡¯t expecting anything else.

    ¡°At least we¡¯ll be able to buy a lot of things from here since, according to what I¡¯ve read, the people here were descendants of mages, and that meant that there should be a lot of magical items and potions,¡¯ Anna said while observing the surrounding area.

    The streets were just like the streets of some of the cities they had passed through when they were traveling in Rendindura, so it almost seemed like they just returned to their home continent. The buildings were a combination of stone and wood, just like any other buildings one would find in the city of Leminthor or Ruandelle.

    They arrived at a rather large hotel, and Anton told his family that he would like to explore the islands alone. He reiterated that if they wanted to do the same thing, they had to be in a group surrounded by the wolves since he was almost sure that the assassins from the Undead Coalition would make their move here on the islands. Anders nodded and told him to be careful, and after that, Anton memorized the location of the hotel and then began walking down the streets.

    When Anton looked back, Devon and Anna were both looking at him in envy, and he teased them both by waving at them jovially. There were many shops on the street that he was walking by, and Anton thought that he might be in some sort of merchant district. The shops consisted of different things like shops for clothing, accessories, shoes, hats, and even general groceries, but there were an unusual number of magic shops that sold magical weapons, armor, robes, spellbooks, and other enchanted items that it almost like he was like in the world of Harry Potter in Diagon Alley.

    Anton didn¡¯t enter any shops since he wanted to explore the layout of the land first. He noticed that the Norbunans, or whatever they¡¯re called, were rather reserved people. They had straight faces, and their clothing reflected their straight-laced personalities. The women were wearing long-sleeved clothing with skirts up to their ankles, and with no exception, all of them were wearing hats, and the men were the same. The clothing did look fashionable, and Anton knew that he was affected by the movies that he had seen with the same clothing, like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and more than likely, the women in the family who had seen the movies would be able to make the same comparison.

    The next street was mostly the same, but this one consisted of shops that sold more normal things like sculptures and paintings, and there was even a flower shop.

    He continued his exploration, and even though he was clearly a foreigner because he was wearing different clothes from the locals, the people just simply looked at him and moved on. Normally, Anton would have been approached by a local youth offering to be his guide for some coins, but this time, they were weirdly not present.

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    Anton thought that maybe because the people of this place had a reserved behavior and since he was told by Anna that most people here were descendants of mages, maybe they had extraordinary pride that prevented them from doing something so lowly as being a guide, but then when he arrived at the next street, he knew that he was mistaken.

    A group of children approached Anton, offering to guide him through the whole islands, and when he looked around, he saw the clothes that the people were wearing were now more normal, like simple tunic shirts and pants. He then now realized that he was probably walking through the rich or noble section of this local city.

    He declined the children¡¯s offer to be his guide since he wanted to explore the city on his own, like some sort of mini adventure.

    Anton finally decided to return to the hotel after he reached what probably the people would term the slums. He did encounter some people who tried to rob him, but those people ran away immediately after he showed some simple spells. He didn¡¯t even need to touch them with the spells since just a simple tiny ball of fire hovering above his hands almost scared the robbers to death.

    When Anton decided to return to the hotel, he discovered that he was lost, and he felt a bit embarrassed. He didn¡¯t want to bother anyone by asking for directions, so he tried to do what Gandalf did when the Fellowship was lost in the mines of Moria, which was to follow his nose. Since the hotel was near the ocean, he reckoned that he could follow the way with the strongest smell of the ocean, and that should bring him nearer the hotel, but after about an hour of walking, he knew that it was the wrong move.

    Anton became hopelessly lost, but he wasn¡¯t worried since he had the last option of just flying above and looking for the hotel that way, besides, being lost was an adventure in of itself because it allowed him to truly explore the place.

    At least, away from the first few streets that he walked through, the behavior of the people was normal, and it dispelled the ¡°Twilight Zone¡± feeling.

    People from the poorer section began pointing at him because of the robes that he was wearing, and he almost wanted to go somewhere and change his clothes to more normal ones. When lunchtime arrived, he did ask the locals that was on the street the best restaurant that he could go to, and when the people heard his questions, a couple of kids ran to him and offered to be his guide for a few copper coins. Anton had no choice but to submit to the inevitable and hired the two kids, who were brothers, to be his guide.

    ¡°My name is Tomas, and this is Renor. Do you have a budget range?¡± Tomas, Anton¡¯s new guide, asked.

    Anton simply shook his head and told the brothers that it didn¡¯t matter what price range as long as the food was the best. He could see the gleam in the two kids¡¯ eyes, who looked like they were around eleven or twelve years old.

    ¡°I know the best place! I always wanted to try their food since people said that the taste was heavenly!¡± Tomas said, and both kids were almost drooling.

    Anton was amused that the children took it for granted that he would treat both of them in the restaurant that they were going to.

    After about an hour of walking, Anton recognized the street that they went to, which was where his hotel was, and that solved his problem of being lost. When he entered the huge restaurant, he laughed when he saw his family gathered at a huge table that was prepared for them, so he immediately went there.

    ¡°Anton, you¡¯re back! Who are those snot-nosed brats!¡± Anna exclaimed.

    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re a brat yourself!¡± Renor loudly said, which caused Anton and the others to laugh.

    ¡°They¡¯re my guides. I became lost when I was exploring, and they helped me get back here,¡± Anton said, then joined everyone.

    Without being invited, Tomas and Renor joined them as well and began looking at the menu that was still on the table, which made Anton laugh.

 Chapter 380

    Surprisingly, the local food was still the same as in any restaurant in Rendindura. Considering that the Islands of Norbuna were a couple of months away from Anton¡¯s original continent by ship, he was expecting them to be different, but the fact that the local buildings were almost exactly the same as one could find in Leminthor or Ruandelle, Anton should not have expected that it would be different.

    ¡°Why is everything here the same as in Rendindura?¡± Anton asked Harun, who joined them for lunch. He couldn¡¯t help himself and asked the question that had been bothering him ever since he explored some of the local areas.

    ¡°A friend from here told me that the founder of the city here was a mage who was the son of a merchant from Leminthor. He modeled everything when he was building this city from his home city,¡± Harun answered.

    ¡°The dresses are different, though. It¡¯s like those dresses that Ms. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy wore in that movie Pride and Prejudice,¡± Lunelle said.

    ¡°Oh yes, that was it! The clothes of the locals were bothering me somehow,¡± Anna commented.

    ¡°Those clothes are worn by the well-off, I think, since when I arrived at the normal poorer areas, the clothing was the same as in any city in Rendindura,¡± Anton told the girls.

    After lunch, Anton was about to pay the two boys who guided him back to the hotel where his family was staying, but the boys declined, saying that they were satisfied with the high-end meal that they had tasted. He was a bit impressed by the boys'' principle, which was uncommon to commoners in a normal city. After that, the boys ran off back to where he met them.

    ¡°Are you coming with us to check the location where Antonia and the others are setting up the Cosplay Event?¡± Anders asked his son, and Anton nodded.

    The whole group then followed Harun, who led them to the warehouse that was owned by Antonia¡¯s family. When they arrived there, it was so busy that they all thought that it was a mistake to visit the venue while everything was undergoing construction for the party. Antonia, Lucia, and Philip were there though.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind the chaos. I assure you that the place will be ready by tomorrow! I¡¯m so excited! This will be the event of the year!¡± Antonia exclaimed excitedly.

    Anders and the others promised to stay and help with the preparation. Even Lunelle, Ramona, Belinda, and Frederick had to stay and help. Many things needed to be done, like preparation for the prices and stuff. That meant that Anna had to stay as well to help since she couldn¡¯t explore on her own.

    ¡°Can I join Anton instead?¡± Anna asked her father, who looked at Anton.

    Anton nodded to his father, and Anders nodded at her daughter¡¯s request, which made Anna cheered.

    While they were walking away from the warehouse that would turn into a convention location for the Cosplay party, Anna kept asking Anton where they would go next. They left all the summoned animals there, though, but Anton informed them that if they went somewhere far enough away while shopping, the wolves would disappear. Antonia and Lucia assured him that the place was well-guarded, so he didn¡¯t have to worry too much.

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    At first, he thought of dispelling the summoned animals, but with how wide the area of effect his summoning skills had, there was a chance that they might not go far enough away that the summons would appear by his side. If it did that, he could just dispel them then.

    At the very least, the summoned wolves from the tablets by his father, Lucas, Devon, and Colin, would remain by their side.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go shopping, of course!¡± Anton told his sister, which made her cheered again.

    They had the whole afternoon for themselves, so the first place that they went to was a magic shop that sold magic items and spellbooks since Anna asked him to visit that place first. Anna purchased a couple of Spellbooks, but the other items in the shop didn¡¯t interest Anton and his sister.

    The second place that they went to was the one that sold sculptures made from different materials as well as other arts like paintings and vases. They spent a much longer time there since Anton wanted to purchase a lot of items that he could enchant and sell when they reached another place. To make sure that his sister wouldn¡¯t get bored, he actively asked her opinion on the best-looking pieces of sculptures. Anna even suggested where Anton could place the enchantments on the sculptures.

    The owner of the gallery gave them a huge discount since they purchased a considerable number of art pieces, almost sweeping off all of the store¡¯s sculptures, regardless of the material it was made from. The smile on the store owner¡¯s face grew very wide by the time their shopping spree ended.

    The only mar in their shopping experience in that store was the obvious gleam of greed in one of the attendants who was helping the owner. Even when they stored all of the items they purchased in Anton¡¯s inventory, instead of getting scared, the attendant¡¯s greed became more obvious since he probably thought that they had storage rings or something. By the end, Anton was tempted to capture the man and flung him to the ocean using his Telekinesis spell.

    He would have to lecture Anna, though, since she remained oblivious to the evil intention that the attendant was showing towards them.

    ¡°Anna, didn¡¯t you notice that store attendant¡¯s expression?¡± Anton asked his sister the moment they stepped outside the store out of earshot from the store¡¯s personnel.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m quite sure that the man, possibly together with some of his cohorts, would try to rob us,¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t they know that we¡¯re wizards?!¡±

    ¡°Probably not, not even when I used my magic to store all the items that we purchased. It probably added to his greed since he was sure that we owned spatial items.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do then?¡±

    ¡°Continue with our shopping, and if or when they attack us, I¡¯ll let you handle them first so you¡¯ll have experience in defending yourself using your magic and your wand of Ice Bolt.¡±

    Instead of getting scared, Anna became excited. While they were running away from the Undead Coalition when they were in Rendindura, all the battles that they encountered were handled by Anton, his father, Lucas, and Devon, and the women were just bystanders. Since they had been through several battles, Anton knew that his sister¡¯s mettle was sturdy. She just needed an actual battle experience, and even though she¡¯s just a level one wizard, with the help of the wand of Ice Bolt and Anton¡¯s Magic Belt, which was the very powerful defensive item that he constructed for his family, she should be able to go through her first battle without any problem.

    The next store they went to was the one that sold women¡¯s clothes, shoes, hats, and accessories. There they spent a couple of hours since Anna had to try everything in the store, and Anton couldn¡¯t even enter his Diablo II system to browse the internet since Anna kept asking for his opinion, but he made sure to keep an interested and happy face since it was very rare for him and Anna to enjoy themselves together.

    The store attendants were very helpful, probably because of how the siblings looked. They looked like nobles with their fair skin and rich clothing. Sure enough, Anna spent an ungodly amount of coins to purchase a huge amount of items from the store that she promptly stored in her spatial ring. One of the salesgirls even gasped when Anna used her storage ring since a spatial item was a sign that a person was extraordinarily wealthy.

 Chapter 381

    The next store that Anton and Anna went to sold items for men. They only spent a few minutes there since after buying a couple of clothes and shoes, Anton told his sister that he was satisfied.

    While he was trying out the clothes, Anton thought of why he didn¡¯t try putting enchantments on clothing. He decided then that once they were back on the Amelia, he would try doing something like that, and if he was successful, he would put magic on his family¡¯s clothing to ensure their safety.

    It was already around five in the afternoon when they stepped out of the store that sold men¡¯s items. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves, and they both did not want the day to end, so instead of returning to the hotel, they decided to find a nice place where they could eat.

    While they were walking, they went through an alleyway trying to find a nice restaurant or a caf¨¦, and if they were normal people, that alley would have been a huge mistake. As expected, the attendant of the owner of the art store, together with four other people, accosted them at that place.

    The attendant of the owner of the art store and two others appeared in front of Anton and Anna, and a couple of other men appeared behind them.

    Anna cast the spell Grease beneath the three men at the front, causing them to stumble then she immediately confronted the two men at the back of them. She activated her magic belt, causing three spell armors¡¯ magic effects to appear.

    Anton¡¯s sister then cast the spell Fire Bolt on one of the men at the back, causing him to fall. Because of her spell casting and the effects of the three armor spells, the second man behind them became extremely fearful, causing him to run. Anton and Anna let him go, and then she confronted the three men who were still stumbling from the Grease spell.

    Anton experienced a mild shock when Anna cast Fire Bolt toward the Grease spell without hesitation, causing the area to be covered in fire. After a minute of horrible screaming from the three men, Anna cast the cantrip spell Control Flames and caused the fire to disappear.

    Now, the attendant and his two assistants and the one behind them who were lying down, injured by the Fire Bolt, were horribly disfigured from the fire. Anton immediately added the men to his party system and activated his auras, causing the attackers to be healed.

    After a couple of minutes, all the men woke up, and when Anna saw them fearfully looking at her, she cast the spell Fire Bolt but let the spell hover in her hands.

    ¡°Are you still planning to remain here?¡± Anna icily asked the men, causing them to immediately get up and run from them.

    Anna dispelled her Fire Bolt spell and turned off her defensive magic item. Anton clapped his hands.

    ¡°Anna! I¡¯m so impressed! You didn¡¯t even need to use your wand of Ice Bolt.¡±

    ¡°I know, and my defensive item wasn¡¯t even touched at all, saving me a lot of mana,¡± Anna smugly said.

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    ¡°You didn¡¯t even hesitate in burning those men!¡±

    ¡°I did attend several classes, and in one of the lectures, the novice mages were informed that a wrongly placed mercy had caused the deaths of even some of the most powerful wizards. Even if they died, I wouldn¡¯t regret it. They planned to rob us and possibly kill us to cover their crime. I¡¯m still thankful that you healed them, though.¡±

    Sooner or later, Anton knew that his sister would need to learn how to kill to defend herself and everyone dear to her, but Anton was glad it was not that day. At least, the enjoyment of their shopping experience would remain unspoiled.

    Anna critiqued herself while they continued looking for a restaurant, and even Anton learned a little bit about what his sister had said that she could have done better.

    When they got out of the alleyway, they saw a nice caf¨¦ by the street, but suddenly, a group of men who looked like they were officers because of their uniforms arrived, and behind them was the attendant.

    ¡°That¡¯s them, officers! They¡¯re evil wizards!¡± That attendant of the owner of the art store shouted.

    ¡°You will have to come with us!¡± One of the officers said.

    Anton became so irritated by the nerve of the vicious attendant, and it looked like the officers were somehow in cohorts with the evil man. He didn¡¯t want to entertain their corruption, so he immediately activated all of his auras and defensive spells, making sure that the effects were visible, and started flying above the heads of the officers using his Telekinesis spell.

    ¡°I¡¯m Archmage Anton, one of the passengers of the ship Amelia. That man who was accusing us tried to rob us when he saw that we¡¯re wealthy, and I see that you¡¯re all corrupted!¡± Anton shouted, then he captured all of the officers and the attendant using his Telekinesis spell but left one police free.

    ¡°You! Lead us to your headquarters!¡± Anton shouted.

    At first, the free soldier shook his head, but when he saw Anton¡¯s glowing eyes, he succumbed and started leading Anton and Anna to their offices. Anton saw that his sister activated her magic belt, causing her to have a magic defensive glow as well. While she did so, she told Anton that his shout made him sound like a little kid pretending to be a wizard, causing Anton to stumble a bit.

    Anton and Anna followed one of the officers while the other soldiers were held by the Telekinesis spell, including the attendant, and were floating behind them, following them. After ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a huge official-looking building. Suddenly, a huge number of people burst out of the building and confronted Anton and Anna.

    ¡°Sir Mage, how may we help you, and may I ask why are you detaining my men?¡± The man said.

    He was probably their commanding officer, and based on the clothing that the men wore, he was probably a high-ranking mage, maybe even a High Wizard or an Archmage.

    ¡°My name is Anton Sunders, and this is my sister Anna. I¡¯m an archmage, and we are passengers from the ship, Amelia. Earlier, we bought a lot of art pieces from a shop, and this man was one of the attendants. Then he tried to rob us, but because of our mercy, we didn¡¯t kill him and his companions, but then he brought these¡­soldiers who tried to arrest us while accusing us of being ¡°evil¡± wizards,¡± Anton said.

    ¡°My name is Chief Ambrose, and I¡¯m a High Wizard, Sir Archmage. I would like to apologize for the behavior of my men and assure you that justice will be served. I also want to thank you for your mercy and wouldn¡¯t have faulted you if you had killed all of them,¡± The man who called himself Chief Ambrose said.

    Anton released all of the men, including the attendant, and with the chief¡¯s signal, the officers behind him captured everyone. All of the soldiers were glaring at their colleagues, and Anton could see the blame in their eyes as if they were saying how stupid of them to accost an archmage. Even the attendant looked severely depressed when he realized he tried to rob an extremely high-ranking wizard.

    Chief Ambrose''s men brought the other officers that Anton captured and the attendant inside the building while the chief offered to lead them back to their hotel himself. Anton agreed, and he turned off the special effects of his defensive spell, and Anna did the same.

 Chapter 382

    Anton, to be honest, was a bit relieved when he encountered the citizens of the Islands of Norbuna since, based on what the others had been telling him that the people of the islands were descendants of mages, he thought that the majority of the population would be mages but based on his observation so far, it was mostly the same as any other city in Rendindura.

    He was a bit apprehensive about encountering a place where everyone would be mages because, based on the novels and animes he had seen, locations like that tend to have very prideful citizens who would be very hard to get along with.

    Chief Ambrose, who was the leader of the police officers of this region of the islands, Anton assumed, was amiable enough even though he was already a high wizard at a young age, but that just could be because Anton was an archmage himself.

    While they were walking, Anton wondered if Ambrose was the true leader of the police stations of this region or even if they were called police since based on the television shows that he had seen, the Chief was the top leader in any police branch.

    Ambrose had been telling them about the islands, like where they could go to go sightseeing or the best shops they could go to purchase magic items, things like that.

    ¡°Thanks so much for that information, sir,¡± Anna said, memorizing all the things that Ambrose said since Anna still had plans to shop around.

    When they arrived at the entrance of the hotel, the sun had set. Chief Ambrose declined Anton¡¯s invitation to enter the hotel with them so he could join them for dinner, but the man looked at Anton expectantly. He then thought quickly about what the man was expecting, and he thought of a possibility.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Chief Ambrose. I wouldn¡¯t pursue this issue, so rest assured.¡±

    Ambrose looked relieved and thanked them again; then, the man left to return to their headquarters. Anna ran inside the hotel ahead of Anton, so he followed his sister, who headed directly to the restaurant. There they found everyone, including Antonia, Lucia, and Philip. The restaurant was also full of people from the ship, and he briefly wondered where Torun and the others were staying.

    Everyone was talking about the happenings that day while they were waiting for dinner, but Anna stole everyone¡¯s attention when she started talking in a very loud voice about her battle with the would-be robbers.

    While she was in the middle of giving blow-by-blow details of her triumphant battle, Anton¡¯s father looked questioningly at him, and Anton just shrugged, but he knew that his father would probably talk to him about Anna¡¯s situation later.

    Anna looked so proud of herself, especially when the girls, including Selena and her two friends, kept admiring her actions. Ramona and Belinda kept exclaiming that they would probably be too scared to take any action, while Frederick told them that what happened with Anna was one of the reasons why it was important for them to rank up as soon as possible.

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    ¡°We¡¯ve seen several battles already, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to take action when you¡¯re in my place,¡± Anna comforted the girls, and she even included Lunelle.

    Anton agreed with his sister, though. Everyone had seen several battles, and he was quite sure that every member of his family would be able to take action when they were placed in a desperate situation. At least now, with them learning magic, they could help with battles that Anton was sure would take place in the future.

    ¡°I¡¯m very proud that both of my children are now very powerful,¡± Anders said, and Anna looked even more smug.

    Soon, their dinner arrived, and the topic of their conversation shifted to the Cosplay event that would start the next day.

    Antonia told Anton that everything was on schedule, with a comment from Devon that it was the result of the overwhelming power of coins.

    ¡°Where are the other passengers staying?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°There are several inns on different streets, and all of them are full right now because of the passengers. According to what I¡¯ve heard, because of the tales, the passengers were spreading about the movie trilogy, some of the locals are planning to attend the event even though they had no idea what the Cosplay Event is all about, so we decided to run a cinema on the warehouse next door that will show the three movies simultaneously during the Cosplay Event. Of course, the tickets for the movies are going to be very pricey,¡± Lucia said.

    ¡°The main Cosplay Event will be on the third day, so you, those who aren¡¯t interested, don¡¯t have to attend tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,¡± Antonia said, but by the look on everyone¡¯s faces, everyone would probably show up in the party at least for some time, and even Anton planned to do so.

    At the very least, Anton had to be there during the opening since he had invited some of his friends to attend the event free of charge, and he didn¡¯t want them to encounter any issues at the front door.

    ¡°The party tomorrow would start at ten in the morning. Lunch would be served by the event coordinators, but those who wanted to eat would have to pay for them since the food was prepared by the chefs from the restaurants on the ship,¡± Lucia added.

    ¡°Some of the shops that are running on the ship also noted which products would sell, and they had prepared them like ready-made costumes from the movies. They were ecstatic when they learned that the movies would be shown to the locals since that meant that the products they would sell, which you call ¡°Cosplay Merch,¡± would probably all be sold off,¡± Nemina said.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons why the whole ship is on board with our event since everyone would probably earn a ton of coins from the locals,¡± Philip said while eating some of the delicious food that the hotel prepared for them.

    Anton had to admit that the food was top-class, but he understood that the hotel was the best in this area, and with how much they were charging, he expected nothing else.

    ¡°I brought your costume inside your room,¡± Anders told his son, and Anton thanked his father.

    Anton then overheard the ladies talking about activating the magic defensive items that Anton created because the effects of the aura would magnify the magnificence of their costumes. Anna then commented that their entering together while their items were activated would cause a commotion and envy with the others, and that brought a gleeful expression to all the ladies, including Selena and her two friends, Norma and Belue.

    After dinner, Anton was surprised that Antonia, Lucia, his father, and the others were still planning to return to the Cosplay Party location for what they called the ¡°finishing touches.¡± They wanted to make sure that there would be no problem the next day. Anders also wanted to make sure that the cinema for the locals would run tomorrow without issues. Anton decided to join his family since he wanted to make sure that he would be with everyone in case something unexpected happened.

    He didn¡¯t forget that the assassin group from the Undead Coalition was still lurking, and they had been lying low. Anton still had a suspicion that they might take action while they were all in Norbuna.

 Chapter 383

    Anton was astonished at how proficient Antonia and Lucia were in planning the event. He could not imagine doing so in just a single day, but the venue was well decorated and reminiscence of the scenes one could find in the three Lord of The Rings films.

    In one corner, one could see the decorations copied the quaint little village of the Hobbits, complete with a peaceful vibe, but Anton could see that it was decorated as if it was Bilbo¡¯s birthday, just like in the first film, The Fellowship of The Ring.

    In another corner, the decorations looked like Rivendell, and Anton had to admit that the workers truly knew what they were doing since even though there was a small amount of time that was given to them, they managed to rival the scenes one could see in the movies.

    Anton did see several mages among the workers, so he was sure that a large part of how they were able to complete the decorations was because of magic.

    In another corner, one could see the streets of the White City, and in another, one could see the dark and grim corner of Mordor.

    Another part of the venue was the gardens of Isengard before Saruman converted it into a factory to create the Uruk-hai.

    One constant thing that Anton could see was the boutiques and tables that were scattered among the decorations, and he assumed that that was where the merchandise and food would be placed.

    That night, the warehouse was extremely lively, with a lot of people very busy making sure that the party would be successful the next three days. The merchants who would participate were busy filling their boutiques and tables with the items they would sell to the event attendees.

    Anton admitted to himself that he was getting excited as well. When he was on Earth, he had never attended a comic convention, only read about them. He didn¡¯t have the time and the funds to attend one, but he always wished that he could attend one.

    Even though the venue was well decorated, the sad part that only Anton would think of was the fact that the event was dedicated to a single franchise. The Cosplay Convention would have been more exciting to him if it was something one would see on Earth, where it was a combination of different animes and movies, but he would take what he could and would do his best to enjoy the event the next few days.

    Anton saw that Antonia and the others would probably be busy the whole night, so he commanded the Spirit Wolves and the Dire Wolves to spread out to make sure that the location was well guarded, including the warehouse next door where the cinema would be held.

    He even summoned the Dire Bear in the middle of the warehouse where the Cosplay Event would be held after informing everyone to make sure that everyone in the venue would be guarded extensively. The Clay Golem was summoned as well, but that one, he commanded to guard the cinema.

    Anton then went to the cinema to check with his father. When he entered the cinema, he was flabbergasted by what he saw. The whole cinema was well decorated as well, and the whole place looked like Rivendell.

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    Anders was busy commanding the workers there, with Nemina and Lucas assisting him. Colin was following his father, and Devon was doing the same with Lucas. Anton saw Norma and Belue sitting in a corner, so he approached them.

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed at how everything looked!¡± Anton commented.

    Norma and Belue looked at him.

    ¡°To tell you the truth, Sir Anton, we were as well. We saw when the mages put up the decorations, and one thing I could say is that the power of coins is astounding,¡± Norma said.

    ¡°I should have stayed as well and observed how the mages did it. I probably would have learned a thing or two.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what your sister said as well. Especially when Lunelle and Anna¡¯s two maids told her what the mages did,¡± Belue added.

    ¡°Well, Anna did have her adventure when she was with you shopping, so everyone experienced different things,¡± Norma said.

    The girls were in the other warehouse where the Cosplay Even would be held. Before Anton left for the cinema location, he overheard the girls planning to have a table of their own where they could sell things and Lunelle informing them that they did have a boutique where they could sell the remaining weapons, armor, and other items that Anton fixed and also the remaining enchanted items that Anton had created.

    Anton would have doubted if the items would sell if he didn¡¯t know that the locals would be included in the event and with how high the ticket price for the Cosplay Party, he knew that only the well-off would be able to attend and those types of people would certainly become good customers for all the merchants from the ship.

    After observing his father and the others for several more minutes, Anton returned to the Cosplay Event venue since the decorations there were more interesting. When he arrived there, he briefly checked the time it was already eleven in the evening, but everyone was still very lively. He roamed around and saw that the boutiques were beginning to be filled with merchandise. He inspected all the items and knew that his collection of gold would suffer during the Cosplay event since he wanted to purchase everything he was seeing.

    Anton did hear from Antonia that the items of the merchants would probably start being sold out once the locals had seen the movies, and that meant that it was going to be the day after tomorrow.

    Anna then commented that she was sure that the winner of the costume contest would probably be the passengers since they were the only ones who had the time to prepare their costumes, but Lucia mentioned that she shouldn¡¯t disregard the motivation of people the costume judging would happen on the third day, and that would give the local several hours to prepare their costume, but Anna doubted her.

    Even Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda sided with Anna, and Anton had to admit that with so little time, he didn¡¯t think the locals would be able to win as well, but he kept his mouth shut because he knew that he shouldn¡¯t underestimate anyone.

    At around two in the morning, Anders commanded Anna and Anton to go back to the hotel to rest. Their father told them that it was not a good idea for the growing children to stay up late, so the siblings had no choice but to return to the hotel, followed by Lunelle, Ramona, and Belinda. Everyone else had to remain to help Anders and Antonia.

    Anton did see that those who remained did not complain, instead, they were excited, even Devon. He saw that Lucas¡¯s son was talking to one of the female workers, and Anton almost laughed out loud.

    When they arrived at the hotel, they headed directly to their rooms. Anton summoned his Ravens and commanded them to look after everyone. At least with the summoned birds around, they would be able to inform him if somebody tried to attack any of his family members.

    Anton saw the costumes that were prepared for him by his family members laid down on the bed, and he couldn¡¯t help himself but try them. The costume was impressive, especially the mini crown accessory that was part of the costume, but he doubted if anyone could tell who he was with the costume on. He was supposed to be Celeborn, and they even prepared the wig, but he would try that on the next day.

 Chapter 384

    Anton woke up from the noise coming through his door. It was his father wanting to make sure that he would join everyone in the grand opening of the Cosplay Event. When he checked the time, it was already eight in the morning. The opening of the Cosplay Event would be in a couple of hours, and his father wanted to make sure that everyone would be there with plenty of time to spare.

    He joined his family and friends downstairs for breakfast after he took a shower from the bathroom inside his room and was thankful that the hotel had bathrooms inside the rooms. He knew he shouldn¡¯t have wondered since, at the price that they were paying, it only made sense that the facilities were complete.

    Even though everyone hardly anyone had any sleep, Anton could see that all of them were excited. While they were eating breakfast, Anton informed everyone that the cinema was already open and it was full house already even though it was very early.

    ¡°How did the locals know about the films?¡± Anton asked his father.

    ¡°By word of mouth. The passengers and the crew talked to the locals during their business of ordering the supplies the ship needed yesterday, and most of them were wearing costumes from the films already, which, of course, caused their business partners to ask questions.¡±

    ¡°We will be earning a lot of gold coins from the locals since we priced the cinema tickets absurdly high. It was still full house, though, since the locals were driven by curiosity. The locals were also prepared to spend their coins since ships don¡¯t come very often,¡± Nemina added.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t there any formally scheduled trips from Rendindura or any other continents, for that matter?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°Well, according to your friends Antonia, Lucia, and Philip, the citizens of Norbuna knew that they might not encounter any travelers from Rendindura because of the Undead Coalition¡¯s invasion. They would probably start stopping any ships that came from our home continent from now on to make sure that no undead would arrive in the islands to cause trouble,¡± Lucas said.

    ¡°Apparently, some of the ship¡¯s mages flew ahead of our arrival to inform the mages of Norbuna that hour ship is clear of the undead, but they did inform the locals of hidden assassins,¡± Fredrick mentioned.

    ¡°How come they¡¯re being honest?¡± Anton asked.

    ¡°They probably didn¡¯t want to cause any incidents in case the hidden assassins started causing trouble. At least with the locals informed, the guards, locals, and from the ship are being very vigilant,¡± Anton¡¯s father said.

    Anton was happy about that since he wanted to have a peaceful Cosplay Party. He wanted to enjoy the event together with his family and friends.

    After breakfast, they all headed to the warehouse where the Cosplay Event would be held, even though there was still an hour left before the formal opening, a huge crowd was lined up to enter the warehouse, and most of them were the passengers of the Amelia.

    Anton knew that the next day¡¯s crowd would probably be bigger since it would include the locals who were currently watching the movies next door. He saw Torun and the others lining up as well, but he directly invited them to come up with him so they could enter the venue first.

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    When they reached him, they all went inside first, leaving Antonia and the others to check the customers who were going to enter the event. His father and the others headed directly to the cinema next door to examine the happenings there.

    Anton, Anna, Ramona, Belinda, Torun, and the others went inside the venue first with the blessing of Antonia and Lucia.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it unfair that we¡¯re here first?¡± Andrea asked with a bit of trepidation.

    ¡°Of course not. This event was my idea, so at the very least, we have the privilege of entering it first,¡± Anton boasted while Anna snorted.

    ¡°It might have been your idea, but you haven¡¯t moved a muscle to help in setting it up,¡± Anna said, and Anton just shrugged.

    Everyone was giddy with excitement, and the air was filled with energy that one would only encounter in these kinds of events. Anton imagined that the same energy could have been in the air in comic cons all over Earth, this kind of energy was addicting, and that was one of the reasons why a lot of people were avid attendees of comic conventions. Anton had to admit that if he had the time and the means, he would have been one of them.

    It was fun to roam around the convention looking at the decorations that resembled those of the scenes from the film trilogy together with Anton¡¯s friends. Especially since the merchants and all the workers they hired to take care of their boutiques were wearing costumes.

    Anton and the others were hugely surprised when they stumbled into a place that sold fan-fiction books based on the Lord of The Rings movies.

    Soon, they saw that the venue was open, and a lot of people entered. The Cosplay Event became livelier, and there were smiles on everyone''s faces.  The excitement was truly palpable, and Anton began to feel like he was back on Earth attending one of the famous comic conventions that he had always dreamed of attending. It was one of his regrets, actually, and the thought that he managed to attend one in a different world fulfilled something he thought was unimportant but somehow made him let go of a lot of things from the old world that was holding him back.

    He knew that the future was uncertain and filled with danger. This world was an exciting one, full of mystery and magic, but the danger it held was also something that could encompass the whole world.

    Anton was sure that there was an epic fight that would happen in the future, and these types of joyful moments might be rare, so he fully intended to embrace it for the next three days. At the very least, it was going to be one of the memories that he would probably treasure while in the middle of his fight with conquerors.

    He then decided to forget about the depressing thoughts that were filling his mind, and that was the moment that Anton fully embraced the enjoyment of the event.

    Anton, together with his friends, roamed around, fully enjoying the sights they were seeing in the venue. They admired the people¡¯s costumes and the items that were for sale, and he had to admit that he had already spent a good amount of coins purchasing items that he knew he would regret buying when he examined them again in the future. Not because he didn¡¯t need those items but because of the fact that they were severely overpriced, but buying merchandise at a convention was part of the fun.

    Anna was the same as him, purchasing everything she fancied, which were mostly dresses and accessories based on the Lord of The Rings films. Anton couldn¡¯t believe how ingenious and fast the merchants were in creating the products they were selling and knew that magic must have been involved the way magic was involved in making sure that the venue would be ready in a day.

    The music that was floating around was great as well, and Anton could imagine them coming from the composers of the music of the Lord of The Rings Films. This one he could believe since he had been to the Patron Bar several times and knew how talented the bards and minstrels of this world were and knew they could copy the music of the Hobbits partying without any problem.