34 Grand Continental Entrance Examination

The silvery daylight pushed back at the darkened edges of dawn, reclaiming the colors of day that had been washed into grey by the moonlit night.

A silver gray car cruised down the freeway, travelling at high speed.

Inside Merlin was reading through the reports, he rubbed his tired eyes and gazed at the passing buildings and empty streets.

Merlin put away the documents in his hands and then he slowly leaned back and closed his eyes. It was a long night, Merlin was tired and wanted to take a short nap and relax for a some time.

After a short while, his SmartWatch started to ring causing Merlin to wake up in annoyance. After fixing himself Merlin tapped at his terminal.

In a half beat the call connected.

Merlin spoke in a calm and collected voice .

"Hilven, So how did the investigations go, any leads?"

The other side of the terminal was Arsln Guard Captain responsible of free market, Hilven Arsln.

"Nothing notable so far. According to Elder Arden, it is nearly impossible to survive the mixed poisonous gas if got infected. He repeatedly checked the toxic levels and came to a conclusion, the outer layer of the smoke cloud is a thin layer expanded outwards and it will vanish after a couple of days, as time pass by the intensity and toxic level will automatically decrease."

"Only the place that the arrays covered had extensive poison and corrosion and is hard to remove."

"The only redeeming feature is that the chain explosion hasn't made this place turned into a death land. And…"

Hilven hesitated for a moment and said in a uncertain voice.

"Elder Arden….he said that perhaps…..perhaps we could turn the poisoned land into a blessed land for Arsln family."

Merlin was surprised after contemplating for a moment he could understand his line of thinking, he immediately ordered.

"Sent me the reports. You also have to include Elder Arden's views and suggestions."

"I have already finished here and will immediately send the reports. Is there anything else?"

Merlin thought for a moment then asked. "How about other influences, how are they faring? Any troubles?"

Hilven replied."They have been law-abiding and the only....Wait.....What!!...…Are you sure?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed, he thought.

'What's happening over there? Is someone…'

Merlin's eyes flashed with a icy light, he quietly waited for Hilven.

Soon Hilven's voice came back.

"Merlin, big news, there is a big news."

Merlin hearing the hurried voice of Hilven and knew that it must be something significant, with a solemn voice he spoke.

"First calm down then tell me, what did you find?"

For a short moment Merlin didn't heard anything only a fast slowing breath, he waited.

Hilven didn't took much time, he organized his thoughts and spoke.

"Before I called I heard that Creed family selling information related to the fight happened here. It's most likely that they used Eye of the Sky and saw something that we missed. So I have instructed my subordinate to find out if we could fish something from them."

After taking a deep breath Hilven continued, "He didn't get much, the only information he received was 'A Maxim Level powerhouse interfered'. "

Merlin was astonished, he immediately thought about the ashblack smoke cloud.

"I will contact the Elders. Try to find more if you can."

On the other side Hiven bitterly smiled, "Brother Merlin, I don't have much money. The Creed family are greedy wolves, they have informed us that the value of the information at 3 stars, so…..it is better if you ask the elders to buy from them."

Merlin was stumped by Hilven's reply.

"You....Alright I will take care of it. You just do your job."

Merlin laughed and shook his head while hanging up.

Merlin had a pensive gaze. He quietly murmured. "A Maxim Level character…But who? Is it someone from the Arslns or…"

Merlin quickly squashed his assumptions and got rid of excessive thoughts.

'It is not something I need to care about. Let the elders worry about it.'

*****************

On the Amarnath mountains,

Inside a grey ancient building made of stone, seven elderly person sat around a wooden round table. Before each of them a stack of papers were placed.

Everyone wore plain clothes with no additional magnificence styles. Some of them looked solemn while some lazed around and some even dozing off.

Tap tap

The middle-aged man wearing white robes tapped his hand on the stack of papers causing everyone's attention.

The old man dozing off awakened and spoke in a helpless and annoyed tone.

"Ahh, can't you guys even let this old man sleep for a while."

Another old man beside whose hair and beard was full of silvery white shot him a glance and said in a lazy voice.

"Old Eight, you should learn to take some responsibilities, not just wander around. This is why you are always dozing off."

The old man called Old Eight immediately jumped in fury and lashed out. "I was always been a responsible, respectful and admirable man, who do you think went to the unseen end of the deserts and swam in deep dark oceans in search for mystical herbs. Don't speak nonsense Old Ninth."

Old Ninth responded in a laid-back attitude, "Ehh, is it so? Bu…"

"Cough, Cough…."

Interrupting both of them the middle aged man coughed violently.

"Ah sorry, It has been cold lately."

Both Old Ninth and Old Eighth snorted in disdain.

The middle-aged men once more gave a short cough and said.

"Something happened, first read the reports in front of you. You will understand the problem."

"I heard what happened."The green robed man on the left side of the middle-aged man said.

Turning to face the middle-aged man he continued, "Fourth Elder, Do we need to meddle in this?, Isn't all the plan crafted in the last meeting. Let the young ones handle the minor problems."

The one who called the fourth elder sighed and spoke in a low voice. "Something unexpected happened, new factors came into play."

Others nodded slightly and did as he instructed.

After a long while, all the elders put the reports back to the table, everyone was quiet, each in their own thoughts.

Breaking the silence fourth elder asked,

"Dr. Frankenstein, Do you know him?"

No one spoke, everyone quietly looked at each other.

Fourth elder rubbed his chin and spoke softly, "I have asked around. But no one knows any Frankenstein."

"Is it an impostor?"

"No way, Will anyone dare to pretend as a doctor?"

"According to the information we bought from Creed family, Dr. Frankenstein could be an expert in poison and array studies. He entered and exited the array only using the array skills. So he is most likely an Array Master with high attainments in the field of array."

"To be an expert in poison, he must be an Alchemist." Another elder said in a firm tone.

"An Array Master and an Alchemist. His accomplishment in both fields are not low, it won't be hard to find someone like him."

"Even so there are only a handful of Doctors in all of Sea-Mist plane. A new one won't just sprout from anywhere without any reason."An elder with a refined look said with an uncertain tone.

"Fifth elder, we are going off-topic. The most important thing we need to find is, why? Why did he came here? For what reason."

"And also what did those two chaps got that made him intervene and snatch it."

"It must be something extraordinary."

Someone quickly chimed in.

"Is it a Gold grade artifact or other magical item."

"Not possible, I have know about people like Blood Hawk mercenary. They won't take this much risk for an ordinary Gold grade artifact. In ordinary circumstances if he couldn't snatch it, he will spread or sell information about it."

"So the only possibility is that, whatever they had it was immensely valuable treasure or incredible useful for them."

The others nodded and came with many possibilities regarding the treasure.

"They wouldn't have just one treasure with them."

"The level of poison indicates that the quantity and quality of poison is high. To get so much poison, his wealth….." The elderly person shook his head and didn't continued.

"If I remember correctly, we have given many poisonous type potions to him. Wasn't it Seventh Elder who was responsible for the transaction?" One of the elders in the meeting directed his question to an middle-aged man with white silvery hair but black beard, a strange combination.

"Yes, I was the one responsible for transaction. Only after repeated confirmation did we let him go, he may have bought the other poisons elsewhere much earlier." The Seventh Elder hurriedly replied.

"From the Toxic report, it is clear that he had more channels for transactions and the wealth he showed to us was only one fifth of his total."

Fourth elder sighed and asked the Seventh Elder, "What about the tomb of Nature Magi Alexander? Is the information confirmed?"

"Yes, our people are already there Tenth Elder is leading the team. He already found a sub-plane and getting ready to enter."

Fourth Elder nodded and said to others, "it's no use in cry over spilled milk. Use our sources and try to get information related to Dr. Frankenstein. And.."

Fourth elder focused his eyes on the Seventh Elder, "Please try not to cause similar blunders in the future."

Fourth elder's tone was full of hidden meaning. It was Seventh Elder's nephew who was negotiator in the transaction with both Antonio and Hawk.

Seventh Elder understood the Fourth Elder's meaning and his face started to redden, it was not known whether it was due to fury or embarrassment, he lowered his head and said.

"Of course."

"Fourth Elder, in this report there is no mention of death of neither Antonio nor Hawk. Are they still alive?" An elder tapped the report and questioned.

Fury threatened to erupt from the eyes of Seventh Elder, he raised his head and looked towards the Fourth Elder. He also wanted to know.

"According to the information we got from Creed family and by matching with battle traces, position of dead body and counting the dead bodies we have arrived at a preliminary conclusion that they are alive. So inform your own forces and keep a strict watch. Any information regarding them will be sent to Hilven Arsln. He is the one leading this mission."

"As for the previous plan of building a Tier 3 Potion factory, it will be delayed until we find a new suitable location."

Eighth Elder raised his voice and asked, "So are going with Arden's plan."

Other Elders also was interested.

"It's a good opportunity."

"A feasible plan."

"For a more perfect plan, we may need to personally enter."

Fourth Elder nodded slightly and spoke.

"I will discuss it with Second Elder and Patriarch. The Grand Continental Entrance Examination is going to start next week. We have to empty our schedules before then."

"I heard that Entrance Examination this time have Abyss creature."

"Abyss creature? That will be tough."

The Elders in the meeting hall started to talk with great fervour.

Fourth Elder sighed. He stood up and quietly departed.

'I am getting tired of this or am I getting old. Sigh.'

Others didn't notice or just straight out ignored him and continued to talk with renewed passion and vigor.