The warm winter sun hung high, and the morning light it cast pierced through the white mist that enveloped the Town.
That was the trace left by the burning houses last night, as if the Town was wrapped in a white shroud, completely devoid of warmth.
Dago and Serena were up early; Dago placed three homemade incense sticks into Old Marico's mound in the corner of the courtyard.
Serena, puzzled, asked him what it meant, and Dago said it was a custom from his hometown, to ensure that those who had passed away would always remember that those above still cared for him.
She also learned from Dago, offered her respects, and then placed three incense sticks.
The two walked together into the empty tea room; a thin layer of dust had already accumulated on the table.
By now, most of the people at the Wizard Inn had already fled, leaving only an old man still holding vigil at the Inn's front desk.
Dago once asked him why he didn't leave the Town, and he said he had worked at the Inn his entire life and only wanted to die in this most familiar place.
This was also the main reason why most of the elderly remained in the Town; many were unwilling to leave, not wanting to burden their families or die in a foreign land.
However, at this stage, it was basically impossible to leave the Town.
The forest on the outskirts of the Town had completely fallen, with Black Robe Wizard patrol teams everywhere, and no Town caravan could pass through the forest.
Currently, only one way remained to leave the Town: by taking the Academy's Rune Airship.
However, Dago was still unsure how to acquire an Airship ticket, so he decided to go to the Wizard Hall to inquire.
After telling Serena his plan, he arranged for her to stay at the Inn and await his news.
With the destruction of the northern defense line last night, and the deaths of many mercenary Wizards and civilians, people from the Town's outskirts moved towards the central area of the Town.
Dago walked down the Town's main street; the smell of black smoke had not yet dissipated, mixed with the pungent odors of blood and corrosive energy.
On the street, there were still magic pits left by Black Robe Wizards from last night, and elders and some middle-aged people were cleaning up the aftermath of the battle, such as the bodies left behind when the Black Robes fled.
Generally, the Dark Blood Council has Wizards specifically for collecting battlefield corpses; in the Wizarding World, corpses are also a consumable material.
Dago stood before the Wizard Hall; it was still as magnificent and beautiful as ever. If the Town were to be breached, this place might not even be, one could say it was a sturdy fortress protected by rune arrays.
Stepping into the Wizard Hall, there were many dried bloodstains on the marble floor.
Many mercenary Wizards, mixed with a small number of Academy Wizards, lay on the marble floor; it seemed this place was being used as a temporary aid station.
In a corner, a young mercenary Wizard huddled in a faded wool blanket, his left pant leg dangling empty. The gauze wrapped around the stump was soaked with blood, spreading dark brown stains.
His left arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, and beneath the bandage, the tips of shattered bones were faintly visible. Each weak breath pulled at the wound in his chest, making his brows furrow and fine cold sweat bead on his forehead.
His eyes were half-open, and no light was reflected in his cloudy pupils, only a dead gray, as if he was still trapped in the memory of being tortured and killed by a Black Robe Wizard.
Not far away, another injured person was struggling to move, trying to pull up a slipping wool blanket.
A piece of flesh had been corroded from his right leg, and the exposed muscle tissue glowed an abnormal dark green under the dim light. Some corrosive energy seemed to still linger within it; every time he moved, he gritted his teeth in pain, letting out suppressed groans.
Dago couldn't bear to watch, so he stepped forward and gently stroked the wound on his right leg with his snow-white right hand, using ice energy to clear the remaining corrosive energy for him.
He looked at Dago, his eyes hollow, as if his soul had already left this scarred body.
Finally, he softly squeezed out a sentence: “Thank you, Wizard.”
Only the suppressed breathing of the injured, soft sobs, and the hurried footsteps of Wizards with healing spells echoed in the Wizard Hall.
Dago stood up and left the aid area, a strange anger rising in his heart, but he gritted his teeth and suppressed it.
He went to the Wizard Hall counter to inquire about Airship tickets; the front desk staff pointed to another counter in the corner.
Dago quickly went to the counter he indicated, and found that behind the counter was the curly-haired youth he had met before.
“Hello, how do I buy an Airship ticket?”
Dago asked kindly.
When the curly-haired youth recognized Dago, he glanced behind him, not finding the beautiful woman from last time, and a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes. He said impatiently to him, “Go, go! Can you even afford a ticket?”
After he said this, Dago's eyes surged with mental power, pressing directly towards him.
Dago was already in a bad mood, and now this curly-haired youth dared to speak arrogantly and provoke him.
The curly-haired youth's face instantly turned pale, cold sweat pouring from his forehead, as if he himself was a rabbit at this moment, facing the top predator, dangerous and deadly.
“S-s-s-s-sir... I'm sorry, I'll tell you, I'll tell you,” he stammered tremblingly.
“If you don't learn manners next time, very bad things will happen. Be aware of that.”
Dago withdrew his mental pressure and said to him in an unfriendly tone.
The curly-haired youth wiped away the large beads of sweat from his forehead, nodding frantically.
“Currently, to obtain an Academy Airship ticket, two conditions must be met: first, pay one hundred low-level magic stones, and second, provide valid proof of killing a Dark Blood Council member.”
The curly-haired youth dared not look Dago directly in the eye, lowering his head and speaking respectfully.
Dago rubbed his chin, pondering whether he met these two conditions for the Airship ticket.
The underlying meaning of these two conditions was that anyone wishing to leave the Academy Town at this stage not only had to be very wealthy but also had to have contributed to the Academy.
After a moment of thought, he placed the Dark Blood Council emblem, which he had kept in his storage ring, in front of the curly-haired youth.
“Is this acceptable?”
The curly-haired youth was stunned; at first glance, he wasn't sure if the emblem was acceptable because Dark Blood Council emblems were generally not that large, while Dago's was as big as a palm.
He carefully picked up the emblem and observed it repeatedly; every Dark Blood Council emblem was specially made and contained a unique dark crystal aura.
After a moment, he concluded: it was indeed genuine.
And it was a Dark Blood Council emblem he had never seen before; such a strong dark crystal aura indicated that this individual had killed a high-ranking member of the Dark Blood Council.
Then, with a look of reverence, he said to Dago, “No problem, it's valid proof of killing a Dark Blood Council member recently.”
Dago nodded, and as if by magic, with a flip of his hand, ten medium-level magic stones appeared in his palm.
The curly-haired youth naturally recognized the storage equipment, looking enviously at the pile of magic stones in Dago's hand. He reached out, took them, placed them in the safe behind him, and retrieved a golden card inscribed with runes.
He bowed, holding the golden card with both hands and presenting it to Dago.
“When can I board?” Dago asked with a smile as he accepted the golden card.
“The airship departs at twelve noon today. You absolutely cannot be late; if the airship leaves, the ticket becomes void. Also, the ticket has anti-counterfeiting marks, and it's one ticket per person.”
The curly-haired youth answered earnestly.
“Alright.”
Dago put the golden card into his storage ring and turned to leave the counter.
He quickly walked out of the oppressive Wizard Hall. Dago took a deep breath of cold air, which made his burning chest feel a little better.
He decided to give this Airship ticket to Serena, to get her away from the vortex of war.
Currently, she was only a Level Two Apprentice Wizard, and had only mastered two spells. The upcoming Town battlefield might see battles of Formal Wizard level.
To put it bluntly, even the aftershocks of the battle could kill her.
He couldn't disregard his own safety to unconditionally protect her. He was staying in the Town not only because of his own strength, but also because he could quickly accumulate resources for promotion to a Formal Wizard.
Chaos is the ladder to progress; this was one of his guiding principles.
After overall consideration, sending Serena to a safe place first would allow him to act freely.
