Chapter 13 The city under the dark world

____" This thing is of great value. I can't accept it, Master," Phantom said, still not reaching out to receive it.

____It wasn't that Phantom was a good person or wanted to pretend that he wasn't greedy, but Phantom knew that accepting money from others meant that he would be indebted to them for the rest of his life. Perhaps today, he received 1,000 gold coins from Grandmaster Keet, but he might have to pay them back a hundred times more than this amount of money. Phantom knew this because he had been through it before, and he didn't want to be indebted to anyone again.

____In fact, what Phantom really didn't want to accept was the Dimension Ring, not the gold coin. The Dimension Ring that could store a lot of items was considered a legendary level magical tool. Dimensional tools that expanded storage space were extremely rare. The cost of the tool itself was worth millions of gold coins. If it weren't for these two level people, it would be difficult for anyone to possess such a magical tool.

____"Don't think too much, kid. Remember, when adults give you something, don't refuse ! " Even though Grandmaster Keetus said that, Phantom still stood there with his head bowed indifferently.

____"If you don't feel comfortable accepting it, then I will consider this money as a loan to you. When you have enough money in the future, you can return it to me. Take it ! " Grandmaster Keetus said as he stuffed the ring into Phantom's hand without asking for his consent again.

____"Thank you very much, Master." Phantom accepted the ring and bowed his head, speaking in a calm voice.

____Phantom could feel that Grandmaster Keetus and Bishop Vanessa were both truly sincere to him and did not want anything in return. But in the past, he had thought that his younger brother was also sincere to him. After the last day of his life before, it made Phantom unable to trust anyone anymore. His spy skills allowed him to pretend to be a cheerful, friendly and easy-going boy. But no one knew that the wounds inside Phantom's heart made him never be able to trust anyone again forever.

....

____It wasn't often that Phantom got the chance to walk outside of St. Maria's Church. It wasn't that Phantom was imprisoned or that there were orders forbidding him from leaving the Church, but rather that Phantom had been practicing magic all the time, leaving him with little time to even breathe.

____After he became a Novice, he pretended to kneel and pray to the Lord of Light day and night. Of course, what Phantom had done had caused this small body to bear the pain and stress all the time. But his hard work had paid off. Phantom was quite certain that his original basic magical talent must have been a low-level magical talent, and it should have only one element, which was wind. No matter how much Bishop Vanessa had mercy on him, Phantom was certain that his talent alone would definitely not be able to shake the steadfast heart of the great sorcerer Keetus.

____At first, Phantom had never known Grandmaster Keetus before. However, he later heard of Grandmaster Keetus's reputation from the sisters. They were so happy for Phantom that they almost jumped for joy after hearing the news that Grandmaster Keetus had accepted Phantom as his last direct disciple. Grandmaster Keetus's entire history made him almost the most influential person in the Aurora Kingdom's court. Everything could be summarized in one word. The current Aurora King's throne is still secure today because of this legendary Grandmaster.

____Phantom hadn't expected his teacher to be this famous in the Aurora Kingdom. This made Phantom quite worried . For a former spy like him, being in the spotlight and being watched by so many people wasn't something he was good at.

____Phantom could do about this. He could only move forward and deal with it. Phantom thought absentmindedly as he dragged his legs along the snow to look at the things he needed to buy from the shops on both sides of the road. The constant snow that fell like it was Christmas made everything look pure white. But if someone looked closely at the path Phantom walked , they would see that there were no footprints behind Phantom. There were only traces of his magic cloak covering the snow. That was because even after leaving the church, Phantom still did not stop practicing magic. Phantom wanted him to be able to use magic as proficiently as if he were breathing. In fact, even when he slept, Phantom was still trying to maintain his wind magic status. But it was too difficult, so Phantom was not even close to succeeding.

____The shops on both sides of the road made Phantom quite excited. The buildings on both sides of the road were two or three story houses, some of them were made of wood, while others were made of cement. Their architecture was beautiful, to put it simply, it was like Renaissance architecture. However , what Phantom noticed that the technology that the Aurora Kingdom was particularly good at was the luminous materials.

____Due to the dark clouds covering the sky almost all the time, lighting is very important. To bring logs, coal or oil to provide light all the time is a great waste of resources. The harsh environment makes these resources a luxury and expensive.

____But as if this world wants to give humans a chance to struggle, this dark world has many special minerals that can give off light in itself. One mineral that has the property of giving off light is called Lightium. Lightium is a special mineral that can be used for many purposes, such as creating magic tools, scepters, magic staffs, but what the Aurora people like the most is to create house paint or mix it with some cement to make the house glow in the desired spot.

____Especially St. Maria's Church, every building within the Church area will be mixed with Lightium ore in the construction. However, Lightium ore is a very rare and expensive ore. Even St. Maria's Church can only coat it in a few places, such as the great hall in front of the church or the church's outer walls. Every church in the Cathedral of Light can glow all the time, no matter how dark the world is, making the church look sacred all the time. This is the highlight of the Cathedral of Light that makes it have many believers.

____As for houses and shops, they can only coat Lightium in small areas where light is needed, such as storefronts or areas where they sell their products, and these have become the highlights of Aurora City. However, the areas with the brightest light and where the most Lightium is used are the four enormous outer walls of the Metrolight City.

____The phenomenon of darkness that the world has to face has not only made life difficult for humans, but it has also given rise to ferocious beasts and demons. Outside of Aurora City, there are ferocious beasts everywhere. It has made it even more necessary for humans to live in the city and find it difficult to travel out into the land filled with darkness.

____Many human kingdoms have struggled to survive in this cruel world, battling both beast and humans. Some cities have even built their cities on large mines where they have discovered Lightium, and other minerals that can give light. Other kingdoms have even survived on World Trees that can glow and drive out darkness.

____Phantom was not sure if he would be able to survive in this dark world, so although the markets on both sides of the road were filled with many interesting shops selling magical scepters and orbs, magical clothing that emitted light, sparkling jewelry, magic books, herbal and potion shops, and magical pets, Phantom only looked at them with interest and did not buy any of them.