Mage Saal

A troop of people riding on horses with three horns and armor were currently crossing a river. With almost fifty of them, they created large ripples on the water scaring any other animals or beasts that dares to go near them.

Even crimson beasts were wary against them. The murderous and overpowering pressure was enough to threaten any other strong instinctive animal, less a giant alligator that's four meter long and at the crimson stage.

Some beasts who started to form their own wisdom knew that fighting a battle that can only led to a losing victory is definitely a no. In this world where strong preys the weak, showing weakness within this jungle or any wounds was akin to being sentenced by death. So these beasts would avoid these kind of parties and just hunt some animals.

Just like a three headed snake who was just six meters away from the path of the group. It's eyes was spewing out with hostility but it still didn't move and just let the fast party move out of its territory before going back to sleep, as if nothing happened.

In the middle of this troop three carriages were pulled by two lion like creatures without a mane each. The carriage was grand and had some kind of solemn air in them.

The coach of the first carriage was a white middle-aged man with a long scar on his face. On his side a long spear was positioned that if anything happens he could immediately pick it up and defend whoever was in the carriage.

On the other two carriages a young man was pulling the middle one with a sword on his back. The last one at the back have two small three feet axes plastered on his back.

After crossing the shallow river the window of the carriage that's covered with some sort of clothe like silk or the likes was opened as a fair jade like hand popped out.

"Aric... are we there yet?" A soothing and clam voice sounded out within the carriage.

"Not yet, young miss. After another four mountains we would enter the Jade Monastery's territory we'll had stop there. His Excellence wanted to find another disciple within this back water grounds. So he shouldn't be in there but we'll still ask if they saw his Excellence." The scarred man said while still focus on driving.

The soothing voice of the girl again sounded out but this time just a hum, as a sign of acknowledgement. As a high tier magician and a dear disciple of a well known mage, Clara was surprisingly not cold to others.

She was warm and friendly to anyone, except that she will have an outburst if someone dares badmouth her teacher in front of her. There's some tendency that her graceful and calm movements would be replace by hundreds of ice arrows.

Now her goal right now was to find her teacher, the Ice Mage Saal. Mage Saal was a talented and prodigy of Ice Magic since when he was conceive and was born the dry grasslands snowed for some reason.

Those phenomenon only happens when some child has almost godly affinity to the particular element and it's not just snow though there's also the radiance of the sun!

The boy has the rare body of dual element and not just some ordinary ones but the rare Light and Ice element. After that incident the house of Green Deer, Saal's family was up by another rank by the king of the grassland.

At the age of ten Saal embarked at the journey of being a dual wielding mage. His teacher and also a dual wielding magician of light and ice but is just ordinary talent one taught him almost all of his prized knowledge before dying six years later.

As his teacher was going back to the northern baglands, a war between an Elven tribe and Orchis brutes happened. And unfortunately his teacher and many other magicians that's called by the Magic Tower Hallow was in between the red zones.

They were sandwich by the two sides before running out of mana and became porcupines and sliced into two. Because of that incident Saal and three other mage apprentice of their dead teacher was called into the Magic Tower.

Apparently Saal's teacher was also the prized disciples of the Tower Master. As a high tier mage Rodrick passed on many high grade magic spells and mana stones to them, he also let them stay in the tower for another three years.

Becuase of the concentrated mana within the tower's Saal finally broke through the magician level at the age of twenty and became an ice magician!

After roaming the Central Plains and having fortuitous encounters and at the age of thirty he broke through the barrier of magician levels and finally became an ice mage which was the dream of his dead teacher.

His light element though was still stuck at high tier magician level. There's not many powerful light users left in this Continent though after that bloody battle between the dark forces.

That's what mages called the warlocks now, the dark foroces of the North. As they believed that the warlocks were the spawns of evil, cruelty and carnage, since the time that the first warlocks roamed the continent almost everywhere they go blood and battles happened.

So most righteous mages formed another group just like the alliance. This particular group though actively enters the Sleeping Devil's Mouth. Not many came back as even the Light Grand Mage Michael was injured by some small fast insect after crossing three mountains.

So most people actually forgot what the warlocks as time passed by, many people been convinced that they have already been killed by those creatures living inside this mountains.

But, oh boy they are gravely wrong! After years passed the once peaceful warlocks became what this group really thought they were.

The cruel, cold, and emotionless killing machines that strive to eliminate all powers that ended their beautiful peaceful life within Leros Pyrgos.

After last month there's already hundred thousand men that is going into the North and many of them came to hunt themselves some warlocks. But they are wrong as they thought that because most of the warlock teachings were burned by themselves many warlocks doesn't know any spells or techniques.

But it was the opposite! There's new skills and spells that's clearly more cruel and terrifying than the last! And the warlocks now became very agile and not sitting ducks that they used to be before.

Now even master archers couldn't hit any warlock as long as they kept running around without any clear path. This greatly worried her, as her senior apprentice sisters and brothers volunteered to go to the North.

Although peak tier magicians at the ages of twenty five those twin brothers and three elder sisters of her's made her worried much. As the lifestones of many magicians that have fought in the North for the last three months now have been continuously dwindling.

Their lifestones broke or have little radiance indicating either death or gravely injured and is hovering in the bridge of life and death. Their second eldest uncle a grand fire mage and the senior apprentice brother of Saal has his lifestone continuously losing radiance.

There's only two logical explanations about that. Either he was injured and his life force was coming out of his body while he couldn't stop it or he was in constant battle and is being injured while couldn't take a single break to recuperate.

That's the only logical thing she could think right now. So she will try to persuade her elder apprentice brothers and sisters to not go there, until the first three batches finally have some foothold in there. Now to persuade them she needed her teachers blessings.

Just one word form he teacher even the naughty and playful senior sister of her's would obey. As they owned their lives to Saal, she for example was an orphan of war.

She came from a noble lineage and almost the last descendant of the lineage, Saal rescued her in the hands of her captors that's gonna execute her and Fifteen other same bloodline descendants.

Now all of them were in depth with Saal, and surprising enough was that, out of fifteen of them thirteen have high affinity to magic and the remaining two are also have rare constitution of warriors.

Two of them with have rare bodies that have high affinity to ice and light. Clara had the ice affinity while Claris her biological sister have a rare constitution of Light affinity.

But compared to the phenomenon that Saal made they were considered ordinary at best. Saal was a good teacher to them, he let them experience the hardship that he had experience when he was all alone surviving in the wilderness fighting for food against beast.

But there's only a disadvantage against their teacher, he loved to search for talents to pump within the group. He have already found thirteen fire apprentices, seven water apprentices and two lightning apprentices.

While he was still trying to find a disciple that had the same affinity like him, the Ice and light affinities. They were rare, just like the magma body.

Within maybe a hundred children there's gonna be one that can absorb mana suing the meditation technique and had an affinity to an element.

Then having the affinity of ice and light was like one in a thousand of magic affinity children. He as an dual one was like one in a thousand of both add the fact that he caused natural phenomenon then he really is the child of fortune.

After crossing four mountains the convoy finally stop at a foot of a mountain. A large mountain path laid in between the tall trees.

After getting out of the carriages, Clara and the four more other passengers calmly walk towards the stone path leading up to the mountain while the horse riding warriors stayed.

These warriors are confident in the safety of their young misters and misses. Jade Monastery, though looks like a dilapidated and abandoned it was a home of thousands of bald people.

And not just ordinary bald people but very powerful bald people. After walking for an hour or so one of the four boys in Clara's group couldn't help but stop and again look around.

He turned around many times before he nudge the other boy. "Jake, are we lost? Cause if not... then is this must be an illusion?"

Jake looked at him strangely but also nodded his head. The other three girls and two boys also couldn't help but secretly agree. The stone path they are taking looks like it hadn't been step upon many years now as there's moss and some dust within the stone pavement.

Clara who clearly heard what the boy said couldn't help but smile."We aren't lost or in a formation. It's just that some people or groups are eccentric and have different understanding of the world."

Though vague and very confusing the group still nodded their heads, as what their powerful senior sister said.

One of the boys within the group said in an uncertained tone. "Senior, is this really a living place? Why do I feel it's abandoned hundreds of years ago."

While walking at the stone path they saw many lamps were already extinguish and the candles inside were gone. There's also some lamps that's swallowed by the vines growing near the ston path.

Just these observations alone made the entire group hesitate if there's really any living person within this very mountain.

There's also some small animals roaming the stone path without care, but upon seeing them these animals would immediately rum away. This just strengthen the kids belief of this place is a haunted place and not a monastery of bald people.

This monastery was situated near the cliff side of the mountain directly facing the three dangerous places of Blue Mist Valley, Crimson Demon Forest and the Mirror Lake.

Looking at the great view Clara couldn't help but sigh, as she looked back and forth between the abandoned looking temple and the great view. She heard rumours about how this monastery, one of them was that no one would welcome visitors until they came inside the monastery, the other part is the how abandoned looking this monastery was.

That time she just scoffed and didn't believe as a powerhouse within the regions, how can it not be grand, if not grand then atleast a solemn looking place. Clara has seen many giant and grand buildings, palaces and castles within her travels but this is the fourth time she saw a almost abandoned looking powerhouse base.

In the large gate of the monastery dust has almost painted the red door if not for the fact that they saw monks with white clothing looking at them with curiosity at the second and third floors of the monastery then she'll think that this place is really abandoned.

After three knocks a slow tapping of shoes sounded out on the other side before some cling clangs were heard in the door. Then the gate was opened and what was outside was almost the same inside.

Though it looks much cleaner and neat than the outside. At least there's no dead trees and withered leaves inside.

"What can we do for you young benefactor?"

An old monk that exclude a very powerful aura in the Elder Realm was the first one to greet Clara and her little juniors. On his neck a large jade sarira looking necklace was hanging.

Clara smiled, as she cupped her white hands to show some respect. "Imminent monk of the monastery, have you seen a eight foot tall white and blue robed man in these regions?"

The elder monk thought about it before nodding his head. "Three weeks ago, a benefactor with ten other younger ones and a Paradise Enforcer was seen by a junior of our monastery at the South."

Clara was delighted as she knew that her master had once had friends within this place, although she don't know what powerhouse his friend was affiliated with.

With a charming smile she again asked the elder monk. "Can you call that junior monk, your imminent?"

The old monk nodded and beckoned Clara's group.