He Holds a Rose from the Abyss

After Raphael stepped off the stage, the crimson curtain was pulled open little by little, a beam of pale yellow light hit the stage, and the music gradually sounded.

-The young mage stood on the stage and started his journey.

-He walked past the iron fortresses of the dwarves and the graveyards of the elves, and stepped into the entrance of the abyss.

-The setting sun is like blood, the crow is wandering in the sky, the bard is still singing the epic of the past, but no one knows that the new epic has been born.

- He burned the rose garden.

Chi Lang leaned on the chair for a long time. He didn't recover from Raphael's questioning. He felt that he should be trembling, but he felt it again from the hand clenched with Sheffield. A little peace of mind.

He gave a small part of his mind to the opera on stage, and most of his mind to Sheffield. He could hear Sheffield's breathing approaching slowly, and finally felt the slightest breath in his ear.

Sheffield's voice was extremely clear: "You guessed it? Chi Lang, tell me, what did you guess..."

Chi Lang moved slightly to the side: "You..." Halfway through his words, he stopped again: "Let's go back and talk, it's not good to talk here."

"So what do you want to talk about now?" Sheffield asked him.

Chi Lang looked at the opera on stage: "Is the story about Hubert on stage true?"

"Almost, some things are exaggerated. For example, he mastered high-level magic when he was thirty years old, not twenty years old as in the opera."

"Then why did he enter the abyss... to fight the Demon King?"

"If someone wants to be a god, a creature from the abyss must die. When he dies, he becomes a demon."

Chi Lang was stunned and asked, "Why did you burn down the rose garden?"

"The devil lives in the rose garden."

"Then... can the rose garden be rebuilt?"

Sheffield didn't answer.

"It's alright, just plant roses and prune them. You think that in our college, the rose garden has never been taken care of by anyone, and it still grows very well, so it's alright."

"When he died, he became a demon king, so if he was alive, he would not be a demon king. He can be touched and allowed to be liked."

Sheffield's other hand suddenly held Chi Lang's face, and his breath almost touched Chi Lang's face, making Chi Lang feel as if he was about to kiss him.

Illumination lights up over their heads again, and the opera goes to the last act.

Chi Lang looked at the sudden light, blinked, and the tip of Sheffield's nose almost touched his.

Chi Lang felt that Sheffield looked unhappy, like being disturbed.

The magician in charge of the lighting technique was an old man, and his movements were a little slow. He floated in the air with the levitating technique, making the seats light up one by one.

He leaned his head: "The underground entrance is open, you can go now if you want." After a pause, "What are you doing?"

Sheffield responded quickly: "As you can see, we're... kissing."

He kissed Chi Lang, though only lightly.

The entrance to the ground floor opened, and a rectangular opening was opened in the rotation of the two rows of seats.

Chi Lang saw Raphael walking in too, and pulled Sheffield's sleeve: "Do you have anything else to buy? Why don't we go in..."

It is better to hide from the priest.

Sheffield: "Why did you come to the Opera House? Didn't I tell you not to come?"

"Ah, Ruth said there will be some muskets and the like passed down from the dwarves, I'll take a look, but I just saw one, I shouldn't be able to buy it, and the others are fine if I don't..."

"Then go and see," Sheffield said. "It's alright, that priest feels powerful sometimes, but most of the time it's pretty ordinary."

"Sometimes very powerful?"

Sheffield looked at the entrance: "The higher the level of magic, the more restricted it is, and it takes years of hard work to get power from the gods, but that priest... For a few seconds, I felt the power of a cardinal... "

"So, if you meet that priest, please stand by my side, always, always stand by my side, and protect me..." Sheffield smiled and made a mouth shape to Chi Lang—"Otherwise I will be found out."

Chi Lang nodded.

The staircase at the entrance is very long and it is a spiral staircase. After reaching the end, it presents a magnificent scene.

The entire underground "Palace of Knowledge" is about three stories high, and the top of it is made into a starry sky, which is still slowly flashing. In front of them was a circle-shaped booth. The magicians stipulated that the lowest-level materials should be traded at the outermost periphery. The further inside, the more advanced the traded items.

And at the center of all these circles, is the Magic Codex.

But Chi Lang found traces of the musket in almost every lap. The shapes of these muskets are different, and the accuracy is also very different, but without exception, the price is very high, because the magicians have added magic circles on them.

Chi Lang was not sure whether he could use "mechanical time" to drive the magic circle on the firearm.

He pulled Sheffield from the outermost to the innermost, and saw the last musket on the penultimate lap.

To be precise, it is a phantom of a musket, and the real thing is not here.

"This is the gun of Lattilu. I am the agent of the magician Colin. If you want to buy it, please go directly to the 'House of Knowledge' in the imperial capital and contact the great magician Colin." Stand in front of this gun With a small magician, he bowed his head and said so.

This gun was a bit longer than the flintlock gun that Chi Lang was holding. It didn't have a gunpowder well, but instead had an area above the trigger that was covered by a long cover.

Chi Lang: "Is this gun... is the ammunition loaded from the back of the gun?"

Agent: "That's right."

Chi Lang: "Did that Master Colin make it?"

This is too great. Ruth is still studying the muzzle-loading gun without even a rifle, and according to Ruth's meaning, his research is not lagging behind in the Magic Research Society.

The breech gun has appeared here, which is equivalent to a hundred years of technology ahead in history.

The agent smiled complacently: "No, this is the trophy from the dragon cave that Master Colin slaughtered the golden dragon Bazel."

Slaughter... dragon?

"It was actually made by the alchemist of the dwarves, and it was enchanted by elf magic. The elves and dwarves have always been at odds. This should be very rare. It is a firearm that the two races cooperated with."

Chi Lang felt that this thing must be very expensive, and he finally asked, "If it's so powerful... Why doesn't Master Colin keep it for himself?"

"Master Colin is dedicated to studying the highest realm of magic, and regards foreign objects as obstacles, so he wants to change his hands."

"Do you want to buy it?" Sheffield asked him.

"No, I don't think I can use it either," Chi Lang thought for a while, and then asked, "Can I take the liberty to ask about the price of this gun?"

Agent: "Master Colin once said that only those who have a property of more than 100 gold coins can make an inquiry."

…

Chi Lang completely retracted his thoughts on this gun,

At this time, they were standing against the central area, and with a slight tilt of their heads, they could see the Magic Codex placed in the center.

Obviously, this Magic Codex was a pleasant surprise for the magicians present.

There are many people around the center. The first attack magic that almost all magicians learn is the magic missile that Hubert has improved. Hubert belongs to the kind of sculptures that are not only often seen, but can also be found in textbooks. People you see over and over again.

And his magic code can be called the bible of magic.

Raphael stood aside and watched the group of magicians. He seemed to have noticed Chi Lang's sight and walked over here.

Chi Lang subconsciously took a step forward and stood in front of Sheffield.

"Hello, you just said that your bullet killed the monsters in the abyss, right?" Raphael asked with a smile.

Chi Lang nodded.

"Can you describe the specific process? Because I'm doing research on monsters in the abyss recently..."

Chi Lang: "Ah, that's right, I pressed the trigger, and that monster died."

Raphael: …

"That monster should have been injured, so I missed it, otherwise it wouldn't be killed." Chi Lang added.

"So," Raphael seemed to accept the answer, "Have we met somewhere before?"

Sheffield clenched Chi Lang's hand tighter.

"Yes, outside Margaret's Magic Tower."

"Are you a student of the Magic Academy? Don't you want to read the Magic Codex?"

Chi Lang shook his head, just about to say something.

Sheffield put the scabbard in front of Raphael, and he raised his eyebrows: "Master Priest, isn't it too rude for you to use magic in the 'Palace of Knowledge'?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chi Lang felt a touch of warmth on the back of his hand. He looked down and saw a pale yellow cross on the back of his hand. There are also some messy lines on the cross.

"This is an investigation of the Holy Light. The church recently stipulated that it should be used by all those who are infected with the breath of the abyss, not just this one..." Raphael bowed slightly.

"Although I don't know how you silently used the magic, it's better if you stop." Sheffield brought the scabbard forward.

"Then I'm also curious, how did your Excellency do it, so sensitive to the breath of magic?"

Chi Lang felt that it would be very bad for this conversation to continue, and Raphael would have doubts again.

So Chi Lang said out of place in this tense atmosphere: "He is not sensitive to the breath of magic, he is sensitive to me... to changes in me."

Raphael: …