Trace
Trace
"Wow, junior brother, you must be a rich guy. I heard mount wolves are the number 1 land mount. When are you going to let me ride it, huh? Said Carlos.
"Let's talk about the mount wolf later. Just give me the map first," Abel said, slightly irritated by Carlos's careless attitude. There was no way Black Wind could let other people ride it. Even if Abel had commanded, it wouldn't let anyone get close to his back for even a second. That was the nature of a mount wolf; they were an extremely loyal bunch and would only identify one person as their owner. If Carlos was not afraid of getting thrown to the ground, then he could go for it.
"Here's your map. Since you have such a fast mount wolf, you'll definitely get separated from us. Just remember, don't initiate an attack. The rune signs you have are enough to kill off those rank 3 and below wizards, but wizards higher than that are a whole other league. You must be careful," Carlos said with a worried tone, taking out the map from his pocket.
"Understood, Carlos." Abel snatched the map and threw it into his portal bag. He immediately turned and ran downstairs.
"Ah, a portal bag. If I can also get one, that would be amazing." Carlos mumbled with admiration.
After half a day, Abel arrived at the magic gem mines marked on the map. Since there were many low ranking wizards joining this battle, Abel did not summon White Cloud. He only arrived on Black Wind.
One of the magic gem mines was located 500 miles west from Bakong City, and another was located 600 miles around the east-west direction from Bakong City. The map also marked all the places with resources that had not been attacked yet. They were all very close to Bakong City. He could see why the magic towers were built around here.
Bakong City was the biggest city in the Duchy of Carmel so there were a lot of quality items for wizards. Secondly, since all of those important resources were concentrated near Bakong City, wizards also needed to be concentrated just outside of Bakong City.
Abel rode Black Wind towards a road on the mountain, which was reinforced by humans. He did not see anyone along the way. It was only after he took a turn on the mountain road, he saw a decent-sized mine. Around 10 miners were moving the scattered rocks away from the tunnel. When they saw Abel, he stood up in shock.
An old miner stepped up, looking at the intimidating Black Wind and said: "Mr., what do you want?" The old miner sounded so brave. It was almost like he knew how to fight.
"I am a wizard from the Duchy of Carmel. I was sent here to take a look at the damaged condition of the mine," Said Abel as he took out his identity card and held it in front of the old miner's face.
"Sir, 2 dead bodies were there. The old miner let out a breath of relief, but he still looked a bit nervous pointing towards a shed. He proceeded to point towards a hole and said," there are still 2 wizard's dead bodies trapped. We are already trying to get them out as soon as possible."
"No rush, were you there when the attack happened?" Abel gazed at the old miner, then towards the 10 or so other miners standing on the spot.
"The only survivors were another 2 injured miners and me. They've already been sent down the mountain for treatment," Said the old miner in sorrow.
"They killed ordinary people as well?" Said Abel in disbelief.
"Yes, after those wizards arrived, the first thing they did was blown off the defense. Afterward, they just killed anyone they saw. I stood on a rock, but I was so scared that I slipped and hit my head. When I woke up, I realized everyone was dead other than us 3. Wizard Morton arrived not long afterward and organized people to help us repair the mine," As the old miner spoke fearfully. He was reminded of the demon-like wizards of the other day.
Abel understood that only Wizard Morton could have speed like this in the Duchy of Carmel. So he could rush here in almost no time. But since those wizards had killed miners as well, it seemed like they were trying to slow down the magic gem production in the Duchy of Carmel. Therefore, they decided to attack the core resource of Wizards in the Duchy of Carmel.
"You can continue your work. I'll take a look around." Said Abel saving his hand towards the old miner.
At the entrance of the mine, there were some marks of a damaged defense circle. Although he didn't know too much about them, he could tell this was a simple one. The normal red lamp, a magic gem that the defense circle used was scattered into countless small pieces on the ground. The surface of the magic circle was intentionally damaged as well.
There were some pieces of used up rune signs on the ground. The Wizards who attacked were very well prepared. This circle was mostly used for defending against physical attacks. If it was hit with a magic attack that exceeded its limit, it would be destroyed immediately. Those wizards prepared many rune signs to destroy this defense circle.
Abel kept looking as he walked. The marks on the ground reflected the nature of the battle. It was an unfair battle. It was completely one-sided.
Abel arrived where the dead bodies were placed. There were 2 low ranking wizards on one side, while the dead bodies of the 10 or so miners were lying on the other side. Fire attacks were too great. Most of the dead bodies were so burnt, and their faces were basically unrecognizable. After a close examination, Abel stood up, disappointed. There wasn't much evidence left behind.
"Woof woof!" Black Wind began to call next to a big rock. It must have discovered something.
Abel quickly walked towards Black Wind and took a look. There was a small crack between 2 rocks, and a faint light was coming out of the crack. There was a piece from a grey shirt at the bottom of the crack. It seemed like that corner of the shirt was ripped off by some sharp rocks and landed at the bottom of the crack.
It was a meter deep, but extremely small, impossible for humans to reach. This could very well be the reason no one took it out.
Still, this wasn't a problem for Abel. He took out the magic cane with the 'spirit transfer' ability from his portal bag, unleashed the 'spirit transfer' spell, and in a flash of white, that the corner from a grey shirt appeared in his hand.
"Come here Black Wind, smell this. See if you can find this person!" Said Abel as held up the shirt corner towards Black Wind's nose. As far as he knew, even dogs, the descendants of wolves, had a strong sense of smell, so a spirit beast mount wolf should have the same abilities.
Abel was right. Black Wind told Abel through the soul chain that it could find out who this belonged to.
In a rush of excitement, Abel hopped on Black Wind and sped down the mountain.
After Black Wind went down the hill, he sniffed the air a few more times. It no longer walked on the main road. Instead, he entered into a small road when it came across a dissect road. At last, he stopped in front of a house.
It was an ordinary house made of mud and stone. The front door was opened wide. The moment Abel jumped down from Black Wind and got close to the house, the stench of blood rushed towards him.
Abel put the 'frozen armor' on his body, and carefully entered the house. The moment he entered, he saw the dead body of a farmer and his family, there was even the dead body of a 2-year-old kid. The 3 dead bodies were just lying still next to the corner of the wall. It was clear that the 3 of them were dragged here, and struck to death with a sword. It seemed like those wizards didn't even want to waste their mana on ordinary people.
Abel stared at the dead family, especially that 2-year-old kid. He felt a fiery rage burning within him. Of course, Abel had killed a lot of people in the past as well, but he had never harmed an innocent. What those wizards had done was beyond Abel's comprehension; they wouldn't even spare the life of a 2-year-old child.
Abel walked through the rooms and arrived at the backyard. There were footprints of horses, which showed the reason why the family was killed. Those low ranking wizards needed a place to put their horses, and this house just so happened to be close to the mine. So, that was the reason the family was killed.