Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1349: Section 1350: Return to Castle in the Sky

“Achoo—”

Lyon rubbed his nose and couldn’t help it, he sneezed.

When Lyon felt it was difficult to breathe, a visible field enveloped him.

“Below us is Sebalochi City, Yirong Country’s second largest city. The aches that come with prosperity lead to air pollution,” Angel’s voice reached Lyon’s ears.

Within the purifying field, Lyon finally felt much more comfortable.

As Angel narrated, Lyon also noticed that when they were flying over the city, a thick layer of smog was clearly visible. The causes of the smog were not only the steam from the machinery but also the lofty chimneys piercing into the clouds throughout the city.

Fortunately, the pollution was only within the city. Once they left the urban area, the air quality improved significantly.

“So the price we pay for convenient transportation and comfortable living is air pollution?” Lyon frowned and wondered whether such a trade-off was worthwhile.

In Angel’s eyes, Lyon’s concern was unnecessary.

“Though mortals lack the vision to see the bigger picture, recognizing problems and solving them is what drives human progress,” said Angel. “Now that the issue of pollution has emerged, the growing pains will pass, and the problem will eventually be solved.”

Angel’s optimism about this issue stemmed not only from the fact that “the problem” itself was not difficult to solve but also because Yirong Country had the backing of Sky Mechanical City.

Even if ordinary people couldn’t detect and solve the issue, the people of Sky Mechanical City would not stand idly by.

Lyon listened but didn’t quite understand.

Angel did not explain further, believing that Lyon would come to understand after spending some time in Sky Mechanical City.

After all, Yirong Country was one of the few in the Flourish Continent that had witcher organizations influencing it from behind the scenes.

As the gondola continued to fly, Lyon experienced his first lengthy air travel. He witnessed the formation of clouds and rain, spotted lightning serpents hiding within thunderclouds, observed the rotating eye of windstorms, and enjoyed a perspective from high above to survey the majestic landscape.

Lyon was like a curious baby, constantly looking around this unfamiliar land.

Meanwhile, Angel discussed their upcoming itinerary in Sky Mechanical City with Sanders.

Barring any surprises, they were expected to stay in Sky Mechanical City for a while. The exact duration would depend on the situation at Black Castle’s station. During this period, Angel planned to take Lyon to the New Star Competition to see if they could meet with old friends like Serum and also planned to pay a visit to Master Midora. If there was spare time, he would visit the research institution.

“This New Star Competition won’t have the same problems as the last Purification Garden event, will it?” asked Angel.

Although Angel believed that Sky Mechanical City would not want to damage its reputation two times in a row, this was merely his speculation, and no one could be sure of the actual situation.

“It should be a purely rewarding competition,” Sanders paused. “If you’re concerned, you might as well go ask Muse directly.”

“Muse? The Muse who calls himself mediocre?” Angel asked, puzzled.

Sanders nodded, “Correct. He is one of the two city lords of Sky Mechanical City; he would definitely be privy to the inside story.”

“But I don’t even know him,” Angel frowned, thinking it better to inquire with Master Midora than to ask this Muse.

Sanders replied, “Perhaps he knows you.”

Angel’s name had been making waves recently, and Muse might have heard of him, but Angel did not think he had enough influence to sway such important figures yet.

Sanders did not elaborate, only offering a smile and remaining silent.

Angel still thought the access card to the research institution came from Midora, but Sanders knew better. Midora did not have the authority to issue access cards; the only one who did was the rumored head of the research institution, Muse.

Sanders moved past the subject and continued, “Are you really not going to participate in the New Star Competition?”

Angel shook his head: “No need, it would be a waste of time.”

Sanders did not try to persuade him; with Angel’s current strength, there really was no point in joining the New Star Competition—it would just be bullying. Plus, the final prize of the competition could be obtained by Angel using the research institution’s access card if need be.

While Angel was chatting with Sanders, Lyon suddenly said, “There are thunderclouds ahead again. Angel, should we fly the gondola a bit higher?”

This thundercloud was even larger than the previous ones Lyon had seen. It completely obscured the view, a dark, oppressive mass that engulfed the distant land in darkness, turning day momentarily into night.

Looking up, Lyon couldn’t see the top of the thundercloud either.

As the gondola continued towards the thundercloud, Lyon suggested to Angel.

Angel shook his head: “No need, continue flying forward.”

As soon as his voice fell, Lyon wanted to persuade him further, but Angel actually accelerated and rushed into the roaring thundercloud. As Lyon frowned, he suddenly noticed a shadow appearing in front of the clouds.

This shadow looked like a building, but what was most strange was that the building was upside down, as if the earth had been inverted.

“What is this? Can mirages appear in the clouds?” Lyon was puzzled when suddenly, the gondola shot into the dim core of the thunderclouds at great speed.

Instead of rampant lightning, what was revealed before Lyon was an immense aerial city, its limits out of sight!

Entirely forged from steel, filled with the beauty of sharp angles, with countless steam airships surrounding it, it resembled an airborne fortress!

Lyon was completely shocked by this scene; he had seen the cloud soil above Pat Manor and had once imagined how spectacular a city built from the clouds in the sky would look!

But now that the real Castle in the Sky was before him, he knew how petty his imagination had been.

The grandeur of the Castle in the Sky before him could not be described as merely magnificent; for Lyon, it was nothing short of epic!

“This, is…” Lyon was suddenly a little dazed.

Angel whispered beside him, “This is the Sky Mechanical City.”

…

The gondola retracted its light and, with the help of an Illusion Technique, transformed into an ordinary flying boat.

Angel also changed his appearance using an illusionary technique.

Among the hisses of steam airships, Angel steered the gondola into the domain of the Sky Mechanical City.

The closer they got, the more Lyon was enchanted by the grandeur of the Sky Mechanical City.

Now, Lyon finally understood why the shadow he had seen before looked like an inverted building. The Sky Mechanical City was divided into two sides, with a city on the front and another on the back. Indeed, for their current direction of gravity, the city on the back was upside down.

As for why this was the case, Lyon had no clue until they approached the Sky Mechanical City and discovered that the spatial orientation here was adapted to the surroundings.

Such a bizarre condition could probably only be achieved in a supernatural world.

Since the back city area was only accessible to internal personnel of the Sky Mechanical City, Angel steered the gondola towards the front.

This was actually the first time Angel was entering the Machinery City from outside in a gondola. Previously, he had always used teleportation arrays.

During the entry, Angel also noticed that perhaps due to the arrival of the New Star Race, there were many more people in the Sky Mechanical City than he had ever seen before.

All sorts of Transcendents used different methods to come to the Sky Mechanical City.

In just a few minutes, they saw hundreds of arrivals, almost all apprentices. Since the strengths of the apprentices varied, and not everyone knew the Art of Flying, they all displayed their own extraordinary abilities.

Some used vehicles, some clumsily flew while grabbing the feet of large geese, and others used amazing natural Tricks; enormous vines grew with the wind and reached into the clouds, allowing people to climb them and enter the Sky Mechanical City.

It’s worth mentioning that the owner of these vines was standing at the top, collecting tolls from every apprentice who used the vines.

The various Transcendents made this first-time spectacle a revelation for Lyon.

“Is this the world of the Transcendents?” Lyon’s eyes shone brightly.

“This is just a microcosm of the Wizards’ world,” Angel replied softly.

The entry process was simpler than Angel had imagined.

Individuals entering were not stopped. Large vehicles, however, were checked by the hovering Enforcement Squad airships outside to verify their origins.

Since Angel’s gondola was too small, it was classified as personal transportation and thus was not stopped, entering the Sky Mechanical City directly.

The moment the gondola entered the Sky Mechanical City, in a steel tower on the city’s backside, shaped like a Blood Tree, a man who had been immersed in research suddenly lifted his head.

He was an exceptionally handsome young man.

Across from the young man, a hunched old man was muttering, “This limb’s mandible seems to conflict with the composite materials, maybe switch to pure materials, what do you think?… Muse, Muse?”

After calling out for a while without a response, he looked up puzzled, “Muse, what are you looking at?”

After a while, Muse replied with a light laugh, “Nothing much. I just noticed that the access card I lent in your name has apparently been returned to the owner who is now back in the Sky Mechanical City.”