A Sorcerer’s Journey

Seven days later.

Grimm was finally satisfied after spending nearly a week searching every nook and cranny in the Metal Castle Laboratory. Activating the piece of ruby in his hands, he left this pointless Narrow World for good.

In short, Grimm’s gains were surprisingly far greater than the loss of his magic staff.

Grimm was tossed out from a pink energy vortex of the World Fragment’s sealed space.

“How are you doing Grimm?”

A Dwarf Tinman asked as it clung to a magic staff roughly twice her own height. It was apparent to Grimm that her Mental Power had dropped significantly after she experienced her own rebirth process. Consequently, she was facing difficulties casting basic sorcery spells using her default magic powers.

“Not much problems so far,” Grimm replied.

Shortly after their brief exchange, the Seven Ring Covenant between Grimm and the Dwarf Tinman pit up before turning into a dense column of Sorcerers’ Will which slowly dissipated into the air around them.

Nodding her tiny head, the Dwarf Tinman said in relief, “After my rebirth, I only have three hundred years left to live. I should be rejoicing that the inherited sorcery tool wasn’t lost in my hands…”

“Caw caw caw caw! You finally came out, Young Master.”

Myna flew over from the other side of the room. He flapped his wings a few times while he slowly landed on Grimm’s shoulder.

Grimm acknowledged Myna’s welcome with a silent nod. A mouth-watering banquet began a few hourglasses after the Dwarf Tinman’s invitation.

On the day after, Grimm bid his farewell to the Dwarf Tinman before leaving for the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings at high speed.

The view of the peaceful, yet bustling Seven Ring central district was astoundingly beautiful. Its population density far surpassed that of the Sorcery Academy districts located further away in the outskirts and was the perfect place for human life to thrive.

With a loud “whoosh”, Grimm zipped through the air as his sorcerer robes fluttered in the wind.

One month later.

At an entrance point of the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings defense barrier.

Ignoring the row of Arcane Sorcerers standing in line for inspection, Grimm slowly made his way through the crowd. The Arcane Sorcerers looked at him with hatred in their eyes, while the devotees eyed him with suspicion. Then, as he stood in front of the crowd, he announced solemnly, “I am here to turn myself in, to accept my own lawful judgment.”

The crowd was dumbfounded by what they heard.

Some of the Arcane Sorcerers were astonished after finding out Grimm’s identity as a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer.

There were a total of four devotees present at the scene. One of the female devotees smiled as she assured Grimm after secretly communicating with the Guardian of the Seven Rings, “Those who voluntarily turn themselves in for lawful judgement, as long as the crime committed is not too major, all can be atoned with a few Sorcerer Essences. You need not worry too much.”

Grimm went silent under the Mask of Truth.

After a short while, a Seven Ring Snail Emissary flew over to Grimm and said, “Rank-3 Honor Badge? Follow me.”

“Understood.”

Nodding his head, Grimm descended onto the massive shell of the Seven Ring Snail Emissary which proceeded to fly toward the Tree of Life that stretched into the clouds.

The snail traveled at an astonishingly high speed. Myna, who remained on Grimm’s shoulder cleared his throat in surprise.

“Caw caw, Young Master… Say, if I were to follow you there, will I receive judgment too? You have to know that I have always secured the honor of the Steel Emblem Myna. Maybe…I should hide away first?”

Grimm squinted at Myna and replied, “You are free to choose.”

“Caw, free to choose? Haha, well then, see you again, Young Master!” Myna said, after which he opened up the Dimensional Gap and flew into it.

Grimm was almost taken aback by Myna’s audacity. This bastard…

The structure of lawful judgment was equally distributed to each individual Holy Tower.

One must have the status of a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer in order to enter into it. This reminded Grimm of his experience of being interrogated in a sorcerer prison cell after the Gory Test during his apprenticeship days.

At the time, being able to enter into a sorcerers’ prison as a mere sorcerer’s apprentice ironically came off as a kind of “honor” for Grimm.

The Seven Ring Snail Emissary brought Grimm into a mysterious underground structure beneath the Tree of Life. The cold, indifferent Demon-Hunter Sorcerers who entered and exited the place all eyed Grimm with an unfriendly gaze.

Hanging high above them were the black-colored ancient characters for “Sorcerer’s Laws”.

“Turning in yourself?”

A white-bearded sorcerer who sat on a high platform looked down at Grimm. This man was one of the Sorcerer World’s guardians, whose abilities were enough to defeat multiple Level 3 great sorcerers.

“Yes.”

Grimm replied in a low-spirited tone as he nodded his head.

Inhaling a puff of smoke, the white-bearded sorcerer rummaged on the platform for a while before producing a piece of parchment paper, which was handed over to Grimm. “Not bad, the Sorcerer’s Will will always show mercy towards Demon-Hunter Sorcerers who repent on their wrongdoings, especially for Dark Demon-Hunters like you, who have made great sacrifices in the name of the Sorcerer World.”

The “great sacrifice” in question referred to the Dark Sorcerers’ cruel selection and training system.

Huff…

Exhaling a ring of smoke, the white-bearded sorcerer pointed towards the parchment paper and continued, “Write on it, your sinning process, your motive for sinning and your path of repentance. I will give you a fair trial after your sins are attested by the Holy Tower.”

“Alright.”

Picking up the quill pen, Grimm started writing what was required on the parchment paper.

From his relationship with Lefay, he only came to know upon returning to the Sorcerer World that Lefay had a bounty on her for being a Black Sorcerer’s apprentice. After that would be the Enslavement Sorcery by Hattori the Hidden.

Bit by bit, Grimm written down the sinning process down onto the parchment paper. Upon finishing the list, he returned the paper to the white-bearded sorcerer. The sorcerer smoked his pipe while roughly reading through the contents of Grimm’s confession. After a moment, he tucked away the parchment paper before nodding his head while saying to Grimm, “Alright, you shall receive fair judgment as soon as your sins are attested. For the time being, you shall not leave the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings defense barrier unless absolutely necessary.”

“Understood.”

Under the direction of a devotee, Grimm left the stress-inducing Demon-Hunter Sorcerer courtroom.

According to Grimm’s knowledge, the waiting time for one’s trial could range from days to years. As for cases similar to Grimm’s, the waiting time was usually between three to six months.

Returning to his Demon-Hunter Castle, Grimm calmed down and started arranging his tasks.

The first thing he had to do was to organize and store the experimental specimens he collected from the Shadow Enigmatic World.

After that, Grimm once again entered into his “World Laboratory” to check on his pre-existing Golden Breedsnot Trees as well as to plant the three Golden Breedsnots he received as a reward from the Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer.

Grimm also planted several other plant specimens that posed no danger of conflict with the existing organisms on the small island.

Then, Grimm started reparations of the badly damaged sorcery books he discovered in the Narrow World. Even so, one of the books was far from salvageable. Grimm sighed as he stored the remaining books into his private library.

Following such a tight schedule, three months passed by with Grimm barely noticing.

It had just been a few years after Grimm’s return to the Sorcerer’s World from the Shadow Enigmatic World. Millie, who embarked on the same expedition with Grimm, had yet to return.

Grimm estimated that it would take ten or more years before she could return to the Sorcerer’s World. He also wondered if they would get the chance to go on the same expedition together again.

As Grimm’s day of judgment grew nearer, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of pressure, agony and regret washing over him.

He sighed as he flew over to the Mission Bounty Hall.

Grimm walked past the crowds of Demon-Hunter Sorcerers towards an intelligent Mechanical Marionette stationed at a service desk.

The Mechanical Marionette was designed to look like a cute little girl. As Grimm walked over to her counter, she asked in her stiff, robotic voice, “Respected sorcerer, how may I help you?”

Taking out five Sorcerer Essences from his sleeve, Grimm replied solemnly, “I’d like to issue a reward. A reward for sorcerers who can crack the Sorcery Tools Elemental Password. Put the address as Grimm’s Demon-Hunter Castle.”

The little Mechanical Marionette diligently noted down the string of information given by Grimm.

“Alright, I have received the five Sorcerer Essences for the reward. Though, you still have to pay an additional hundred Sorcerer Coins as a processing fee. Alternatively, you can choose to pay with Sorcerer Essences, or Magic Stones,” the mechanical marionette said with her unchanging robotic voice.

Clink, clink, clink…

After depositing a hundred Sorcerer Coins onto the desk, Grimm turned around and left.

Two days later at Grimm’s Demon-Hunter Castle, there were already two Demon-Hunter Sorcerers who have given up trying to decode the Elemental Password. The third Demon-Hunter Sorcerer exclaimed at Grimm’s metallic sphere as soon as he entered the castle. “Hey, that’s the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft!”

“Starfall Reconnaissance Craft?”

Grimm’s jaw dropped as he heard the sorcerer’s exclamation. He looked in disbelief at the metallic sphere he bumped into in the Narrow World.

‘So this is the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft?’

The Starfall Reconnaissance Craft was the iconic flying device of a famous Level 3 great sorcerer, also called the Reconnaissance Sorcerer from the Demon Hunter Consociation.

This Reconnaissance Sorcerer used an array of ingenious methods to search for potential worlds for the Sorcerer World’s expeditionary force.

Once the Reconnaissance Sorcerer found a target world, he would start sending intelligence reports about this undiscovered world. He would also perform special missions in the sensitive zones of this new world in search of the most suitable area for the descent of the Principal Void Fortress from the Sorcerer’s World.

The World Laws were naturally different in these sensitive zones in comparison with other areas, which by itself, attracted the stronger native creatures.

In other words, the danger involved in the Reconnaissance Sorcerer’s missions were unimaginable, and it was also one of the most common ways for Demon-Hunter Sorcerers to obtain a Rank-1 Honor Badge.

However, in comparison to killing off a World Lord or subverting the missions in Demon-Hunting Expeditions, the Reconnaissance Sorcerers’ tasks were more realistic despite its difficulty.

Because of the special nature of their profession, these Reconnaissance Sorcerers’ flying devices had to withstand the Void Energy as well as the Destructive Energy. Their biggest feature though, was its extreme top speed.

The average sorcerers’ flying device would take a few hourglasses to a few days’ time before reaching top speed, allowing them to cruise the world.

But for the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft to reach its mind-boggling top speed would take months, sometimes up to a year. This is crucial for its special ability to shuttle the Endless Void.

This Demon-Hunter Sorcerer looked at Grimm and said, “On top of the existing reward, I would like you to pay me five additional Sorcerer Essences. This is because the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft’s Elemental Password system isn’t something that can be solved using modern sorcery methods. It should be quite obvious to you that this is an old fella left over from ancient times.”

“No problem!”

Grimm replied hastily.