A Sorcerer’s Journey

“So another Rank-1 Honor Badge holder is born?”

The Celestial Cordillera merely mumbled but to Grimm, it was like the earth was shaking and the winds raging.

Grimm didn’t dare to move and waited silently.

The turtle raised its head again and checked the Rank-1 Honor Badge Mission Scroll before saying, “I remember your life energy. It was… three times ago? Four? Perhaps it was five, but I’ve once brought you to the entrance of the Black Sea Spiral at the heart of the world when you were an apprentice, yes?”

“When I became an Apex Sorcerer Apprentice in the Holy Tower Qualification Battles, you did bring me there,” nodded Grimm as he replied.

“Yes.” The turtle nodded and muttered again, “It’s only been a few centuries, and you’re going to the Heart of the World again? Choose a castle on my back.”

The Celestial Cordillera would wake up once each century to carry the Apex Sorcerer Apprentice on its back.

Occasionally, there would also be Rank-1 Honor Badge holders that would disturb its sleep for the same purpose.

“Alright,” he said.

Grimm then flew over to Third Du Peak that he lived at before. The dark walls were completely overgrown with plants.

Grimm pushed open the castle doors with a creak and saw an elderly marionette sweeping the floor.

“Three-Finger Mountain.”

Grimm glanced at the smart marionette and called its name out before walking over to the foyer of the castle.

The marionette lifted its head and asked in a robotic voice, “It hasn’t yet been a hundred years since the last person went to the Black Sea Entrance. Honorable demon hunter, are you going to go get a Rank-1 Honor Badge?

The marionette did not have a life energy-sensing system, an individual memory system, nor did it have an emotional system. So, it naturally did not treat Grimm any differently.

Looking around the interior of the castle that was exactly the same as he remembered, Grimm nodded and commanded, “That’s right. Now go and prepare some food. There will be someone coming over for dinner later.”

The Celestial Cordillera had already started its journey.

The marionette nodded mechanically. “Yes, Master.”

Grimm nodded in return, and Myna appeared as it was conjured with a thought.

Now, Myna was munching on sticky candy with its tongue giving it a constant lick. He smelled of cream and kiwifruit.

Grimm looked at Myna and asked, “Are you having a party over there?”

“It’s an academic conference!” Myna licked at the candy in his mouth as it corrected Grimm.

Bright sorcerers that were close would often discuss sorcery knowledge between themselves and exchange inspiration. Such activities were inconceivable to a dark sorcerer.

It seemed that this academic conference was what they meant by ‘these activities’.

“We’re going to the Heart of the World, so spend your time here however you want. After that, we head to the Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy.”

After flying around the castle, Myna exclaimed in surprise, “This is…”

Seemingly recalling many unhappy memories, especially Grimm’s look as he held a bone, Myna whined, “Young Master, why did you choose to stay in Third Du Peak again?”

“Because I’m used to it.”

Saying this, he took off the Mask of Truth and headed towards the research lab on the second floor as if wanting to quickly start on the Third Project on the Mask of Truth: the Eagle’s Eye.

The Eagle’s Eye technique was a relatively common support sensing spell used in the sorcery world. As an example, Lefay chose to practice this technique back then.

After a short while, the marionette came to the entrance of the laboratory and chirped in a polite tone, “Master, your dinner is ready.”

“Alright,” answered Grimm.

Myna squeaked excitedly, “Caw~! What are we eating tonight?”

At the dinner table, Grimm stared at the marionette with a myriad of thoughts as he ate.

Perhaps he could buy a similar smart marionette in the future to look after the castle?

Seven days later.

With a little discomfort from the short space-time travel, Grimm glanced outside the window, seeing an endless, heavy black sea.

Huff, huff….

They soon arrived at the black sea.

After an hourglass’ worth of time, the sea became calm as the heavy surface disappeared, and a gigantic black spiral took its place. As if an invisible field of energy was in place, the seawater avoided the spiral and flowed around it instead.

The Celestial Cordillera lowered itself into the spiral below the sea. In an instant, the crashing sound of waves like the roar of a giant beast was heard. This was audible although they were unable to hear any sounds earlier when they were above the sea.

The vast black sea spiral was bottomless. No light could escape as the seawater flowed around it.

The Celestial Cordillera stopped midair at the center of the spiral. Like a fly on a dinner plate, it was tiny in comparison.

After a long while, a sorcerer riding a red flying carpet appeared. A magical light was hanging from her hat—this was the sorcerer world guardian that received Grimm and the other sorcerer apprentices a few centuries ago.

He looked towards Grimm who was on the Celestial Cordillera.

Adorned with a mask decorated with a gray-spiral design, she held a magical staff with a ram’s skull, and with a sorcerer robe like flying sand, a bright-feathered parrot perched on her shoulder.

He…

Was she a Level-1 Sorcerer?

Since she was sent here by the Seven Rings World guardian but wasn’t an apprentice, she was definitely a demon-hunter here to get her Honor Badge from the Guardian of Winter. No regular Joe would be able to come here as they pleased.

This was the Heart of the Sorcerer World!

“Honored World Guardian, this is my Rank-1 Demon Hunter Mission Scroll.”

Grimm handed the scroll over to the guardian. The scroll was imbued with the will of Black Isotta so there would be no counterfeits.

At the same time, Grimm could sense the energy of the guardian and was left in awe.

The sorcerer world was way too strong when compared to the small worlds he had visited on one demon-hunting crusade. Even if they had been affected by the abyss of civilization and hadn’t yet returned to their full glory, the small worlds still wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to it.

For those small worlds, the sorcerer world was mysterious, unfathomable and terrifyingly strong.

Even the Celestial Cordillera and the world guardian in front of him were already Infernal God-level organisms in terms of the Infernal Spirit World.

By comparison, in the sorcerer world, the Celestial Cordillera turtle was only a pet of the Seven-Rings Grand Celestial Sorcerer that he had single-handedly developed.

As for the world guardian sitting on the flying carpet in front of him, Grimm didn’t know how many there were in total, already seeing eighteen when he came here as a sorcerer apprentice!

In the sorcerer world, there had to be at least eighteen World Lord level world guardians!

They had appeared back when Grimm accepted the world heart fragment as a reward for leading the Seven Elemental Holy Towers from the Sorcerer Continent, the Five Great Abyssal Towers from the Underground Abyss, the Umbra Sorcerer Academy, the Holy Tower of the city in the sky, the Sea King Altar Holy Tower, and the creatures from the Black Sorcerer Tower into the Heart of the World.

Above these world guardians were the six famous Grand Celestial Sorcerer-level guardians of spring, summer, autumn, winter, and the guardians of day and night.

After the Second Civilization War, only the spring and winter guardians were left in the sorcerer world.

Mina, who had the Body of Flames, for example, was working towards one day becoming a Guardian of Summer of the Sorcery World.

World guardians evolved in a different way when compared to demon hunters.

Once Mina finished being a Devotee and accepted the sorcerer world’s will to become a world guardian, she would be at least a Level-3 Great Sorcerer!

Of course, in exchange, she would never be able to leave the sorcerer world ever again.

The sorcerer world was way too vast when compared to small worlds like the shadow world and the burrow world.

Even if it was just the academy grounds of the twenty-eighth sector under the leadership of the Seven Rings Holy Tower, it would still be many times larger than these small worlds. The sorcerer world contained seven of these Holy Towers.

The areas under the command of the seven Holy Towers were the only areas suitable for living after half of the Sorcerer Continent was deemed uninhabitable following the Second Civilization War.

Adding to that was the fact that the Sorcerer Continent took up only 30% of the surface world, with the rest made up by oceans and glaciers.

The underground abyss, on the other hand, was as big as the surface world.

In general, the ancient sorcerer world was at least a thousand times larger than the shadow world!

This was not taking into account the city in the sky, the altar of the sea king, the nightmare world’s shadow, all sorts of half spectral world fragment entrances, demon hunter space fragments with varying sizes, all types of stigmata sorcerer world fragments, the holy tower world developed by the Grand Celestial Sorcerer, all the different clans and villages led by the sorcerer alliance…

The Sorcerer World was way too vast and was definitely out of Grimm’s league.