The Wizard World

“I will feel happy just by looking at it, and it will bring fame to my whole family. I’m sure If I can win the auction, my life will be more complete!”

Tinos was so excited that he almost jumped out of the sofa.

Angele shook his head, speechless.

*BAM*

Someone pushed the door open from outside while everyone was still staring at the gem.

People finally stopped looking and turned back to see what was going on. They also started chatting again. A young girl in a black one-piece appeared by the door, slowly walking toward the auction block. She looked calm, and it seemed the two guards knew who she was. They hesitated to stop the girl from advancing.

“Ness! Do you know what you are doing!” a deep voice came from the third private room.

“Ness? The daughter of...”

“It’s her...”

The nobles started to talk about the girl. It seemed like most of them knew her.

Tinos stood up and walked toward Angele. He looked down the glass.

“That’s Ness Zweig, the girl I told you about. Finally, it begins.”

Tinos had a delighted smile on his face.

“I really don’t care... It’s just an average sad love story.”

Angele poured himself another glass of fruit wine.

“Come on, it’s not just that. I wouldn’t bring you here if it was just a dumb story.” Tinos smiled, “Ness’ lover is named Anyua, and the treasure he took from his family was really important. The item was almost the cornerstone of his family.”

“Huh? Really? I thought it was the gem.”

Angele was a bit surprised.

“You know about the concept gears, right?” Tinos swirled his glass and sipped some milk. Some white liquid stuck to the corner of his mouth, and he licked it off. The scene was a bit frustrating to watch.

Angele turned to the other side and nodded. “I heard the Sun of the Tribe was a concept gear, and such gears were crafted by the Wizards or Alchemists from the Vlasov’s era. The amount of time required to equip the gear was reduced to the minimum, but the crafting method was long gone.”

“This treasure is related to concept gears.”

Tinos had a mysterious smile no his face.

“Is it? Finally, something exciting.”

“You’ll see.”

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

“Do you know what you’re doing?” the man kept repeating this sentence.

“I do actually, father,” the girl answered in a calm tone.

“Someone, take her away!” the man yelled in anger. It seemed like something in the private rooms was making his voice clearer.

Several guards rushed out through the small doors on both sides of the hall, charging toward the girl.

“Anyua! It’s a trap! Run! The auction market colluded with them, so they already know you’re here!” the girl suddenly started to yell.

She struggled, trying her best to dodge the incoming guards. They did not want to really hurt her, so they were holding back.

“Ness!” A man suddenly stood up and rushed toward the girl. He quickly put down several guards, grabbed her hand, and started running toward the exit.

The handsome man had red hair and black pupils. He looked nervous. However, their route to the exit was blocked by a tall man, and the handsome man pushed Anyua back.

The tall man was wearing plate armor pieces, and his gloves were made from metal as well. The man’s black hair was short, and there was no emotion shown on his face. He looked extremely strong.

The two and the tall man were not moving.

A middle-aged man in a black noble’s suit walked out of the door from the side and stopped by the tall man. He was staring at the couple

The middle-aged man had a serious look on his face, and his appearance was relatively identical to Ness’. Most importantly, Angele knew the man had blood on his hands just by looking at him.

“Knight Zweig, the only Knight stronger than him in the city is my brother,” Tino explained. “He is Ness’ father, and he’ll become a Grand Knight sooner or later. Besides my brother, Knight Zweig has the most power in the city and a lot of Knight level warriors working for him.”

“Huh, sounds scary.” Angele nodded. “How about the one in heavy plate armor?”

“Knight Ali, a top-level Knight. Knight Zweig saved the man’s life many times during the war, so Ali decided to work for him later. His loyalty to Zweig is unquestionable.”

More and more people started talking in the hall.

Angele slowly sat down on a chair and leaned back.

“The young ones are in trouble,” Angele said calmly.

“Sounds like you are much older than them.” Tinos laughed and looked at Angele.

“Well...” Angele remembered he was only 16 years old and smiled.

The young man was grabbed by several guards, and they hit him hard. Knight Zweig held Ness’ hands tight while she was trying her best to help Anyua. She cried, screamed, but could not move at all.

“Please! Please! I beg you! Stop hitting him!” Ness’s voice was raspy, and there were tears dropping down her face.

Zweig looked at one of the guards, and the guard hit the back of Anyua’s head with the iron bar in his hands.

*BAM*

“No! Anyua!” Ness had tears all over her face, and she almost passed out after seeing Anyua get hit in the head.

Anyua lay on the ground. It seemed like he could barely move, but he was still trying to reach out to Ness. The blood kept dripping down his chin, and the red carpet on the ground looked darker after soaking the blood.

Zweig did not care what his daughter thought and continued to tightly hold Ness’s arms.

“I told you already. You’ll pay for what you did. Anyua, if you hadn’t ignored my warning, none of this would have happened.”

Zweig stepped on Anyua’s head.

Knight Ali handed a sword over to Zweig. The Knight raised it into the air, aiming at Anyua’s heart.

“Farewell, Anyua.”

The sword started coming down.

Suddenly, the right side of Anyua’s neck started shining. A twisted red rune appeared on his neck within several seconds.

“The rune!”

Zweig’s expression changed.

Inside the first private room.

Angele almost jumped up.

“That rune...”

He was surprised, and his face looked serious.

*CHI*

Rays of red light started coming out of Anyua.

Someone’s strange singing echoed in the hall, sounding like the voice of a siren. The ethereal voice sounded clean and attractive.

Zweig and the guards backed off quickly, staring at Anyua with fear clear on their faces.

“It’s the curse!” one of the nobles in the hall suddenly shouted. “That’s the curse from Holy Gear!”

Anyua was floating in the air, and the Stone of Lisa started shining as well. It disappeared from the box, turning into a red line. The red line quickly flew into Anyua’s hand.

The light became more intense, almost blinding everyone in the hall. After reaching Anyua’s hand, the red line turned into some bloody red liquid which covered up Anyua’s whole body. Within five seconds, the liquid solidified and became a suit of red crystal armor. There were thorns on the suit’s shoulder and arm pieces. The whole suit was horrifying.

Anyua looked like a strong warrior inside the red crystal armor suit.

“Holy Gear! Let’s finish him off before he learns how to use it!” Zweig yelled, drew his own sword, and charged toward Anyua. Knight Ali followed after him, and the other guards started charging as well.

Anyua’s eyes turned white, and he raised his hands.

*Crack*

The time stopped in this space after the noise.

Everything stopped moving: the people, objects, tears on Ness’ face, the blood, the falling glasses, and even the people charging toward him.

It was almost like they were frozen. The colors in the space were gone, and everything turned black or white.

Anyua’s suit was still shining. It looked like he had already passed out, something else controlling his behavior. He summoned a red crystal dagger to his right hand.

He stepped forward, about to stab Zweig in the chest. Suddenly, some green light dots from the first private room caught his attention.

Anyua then turned back and looked at the second floor. Through the glass, he could see Angele moving green light dots around.

Angele stared at Anyua calmly. They were the only ones in the hall that still had color on their bodies.

The place was deadly silent.

Angele suddenly felt depressed and lonely. He felt like everyone around was dead, and the strange feeling made his heart pump fast.

The two stopped looking at each other at the same time, and the dagger in Anyua’s hand was absorbed into his armor. Anyua grabbed the frozen Ness and slowly walked toward the exit.

*Crack*

After they left the place, colors returned to the auction room, and everything started moving again.

“Holy Gear? That gem is the Holy Gear?” Tinos jumped up and shouted.

Angele sat on the chair quietly and narrowed his eyes. He held the handles tight, finally having experienced a similar power to the green gem again. The power that could stop time.

“But, it’s not the Agility Burst...” Angele mumbled. He stood up, looked at the place where the couple had hugged each other for several seconds, and left.