Chapter 8 Price and the Third Ring
The Supreme Master has always been selfless to Salomon. Although the Venerable is also to other apprentices, the Supreme Master does not mind taking Salomon to see the darkest places in Kamataj.
Just like the shadows under the sun, Kama Taj is not the kind of particularly "just" organization.
"You see now, the price of magic." The Venerable took Salomon into a courtyard where many ascetic monks wearing red monk robes and white gray were standing. They had abscess and deformity that ordinary people could not imagine. However, these pains and itching did not change the expression of the ascetic monks. They were still calm and muttered.
"They believe in magic, so they are willing to bear the cost of magic for Kama Taj, to be precise, for me...but, how should you pay your bill?"
"I think it's a good idea to use spell casting materials, teacher." Salomon held back his nausea and looked at the pustules and wounds, trying to slow down his breath and avoid inhaling the rotten smell of wounds. He said: "You also know that the knowledge that the Holy Scar brings me is very special, but I think I can still repay my bills, and I don't just grow some weird things on my body."
"During World War II, there was a mage named Monal. He is still alive and you may see him in the future. Every time he saves a girl under NaCui, he will drown a rabbit on the way home." The Venerable put away the folding fan and knocked on Salomon's head. "The price of using magic is not all physical distortion, but other things, such as emotions, love, and interests. No one knows what to pay for his bill, which cannot be offset by casting materials.
I have paid my price, and you will pay your price in the future.”
According to the Venerable, walking on this path means paying the bill of life. When Salomon didn't know what he had paid to come to Kamataj, perhaps Jezebel's life or something else, the Venerable is not sure about it.
As for the last ring, the Supreme Master urged Salomon to get it as soon as possible, and the Venerable also provided a map and... a book?
"After many years, a new tomb was dug near a sunken old tomb. The two tombs share a tombstone. There is a line of inscription engraved on it: a piece of black land and a red A character." When the little master read this passage at the end when he was looking through the book.
The author of this book is Nathaniel Hawthorne, the greatest romantic novelist in the 19th century in the United States. The "black" land familiar to this book "Red Letters" refers to Hawthorne's hometown, Salem.
This land was called New England by the Puritans. The passengers of the Albert landed in Salem and initially settled in Salem town, and then slowly built Boston. Since then, Salem town has welcomed a continuous stream of Puritans, including Hawthorne's ancestors.
There was also a case of religious persecution, which was the famous Salem Witch Case. The Puritans of that era had a fanaticism that people could not imagine today, and the chief judge of this trial was John Hawthorne, the ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
But now, the local government in Salem has developed the "witch" into a selling point, vigorously promoting the tourism industry, and even the witch cemetery. The whole town has a strong mystical atmosphere. On Halloween, strange witches, big and small, gathered together with the devil.
There is even a witch museum in Salem. This museum is very small. Salomon sat in the center of the museum. The walls around him lit up one after another, showing the situation of the witch trial case that year.
For ordinary people, the Salem Witch Case is a somewhat sad religious joke, but for Salomon, he smelled some indescribable smell, as if it was the stench of alien magic... Perhaps the Salem Witch Case might have been a bit suspicious at the time. This magic power cannot be attached to this land, but it has become increasingly dull over time.
Perhaps the two little witches who triggered the trial that year were not ordinary people, but the innocent people involved in it were enough to make people taste the disgusting fanaticism of the Puritans.
The clothes of Salomon and Master Xiao Wang did not attract attention.
As I said before, the atmosphere of mysticism here is very strong, and the descendants of the fanatical Puritans at that time no longer stick to their faith. There are many tourists here who come to pursue witches every day. It is normal for a few to dress like wizards, and it is not worth making a fuss.
"So where is the ring that the Venerable said?" Master Xiao Wang looked around, staring at everyone's ring, trying to find something unusual.
"Oh, will you still move?"
"What's going to move?"
"Of course it's a map." Salomon pointed to the map he opened, with a small red dot marked the position of the ring. He said, "We are going to say hello to the descendants of the Puritans back then."
"Which stubborn madmen are you talking about?" Master Xiao Wang clenched his fists, "You must remember the teachings of the Venerable and not allow magic to be displayed in front of ordinary people... So fists are more useful."
"King, you can't even use a ring of Raggador now. If the Venerable hadn't created so many spells that could use his own magic, you wouldn't even be called a spellcaster." Salomon raised his head and tried to compare the location on the map with the real building. "And others also have guns, don't forget that this is the United States."
The Ring of Raggador mentioned by Salomon is one of the common spells of Kama Taj. It is manifested in the presence of a magic shield on each hand, one is orange-yellow and the other is red.
This is the difference between magic output. There is not much difference in spell structure, but it is also the first magic that Kama Taj's mage learned after obtaining magic power.
"OK, OK, then what should we do now?" Master Wang's chubby cheeks were filled with impatient emotions, and the fat on his cheeks trembled from time to time.
"Use magic, my dear king." said the young mage, "Wait for our target to appear, have you brought the money?"
The reason why the Supreme Master asked Wang to follow Salomon is not only because Master Wang has not signed a contract with Emperor Weishan, but because Wang is one of the rare and less rigid apprentices in Kama Taj.
When other mages met wild magicians, they often shouted and killed, but their strength did not keep up with their momentum. Their years of protection made them grow a lot of arrogance, making it difficult for them to look down on ordinary people. In fact, those tricky targets were almost solved by the Supreme Mage himself, leaving some low-level miscellaneous soldiers to hand them over to other mages of Kama Taj.
Simply put, the Supreme Mage is a legendary wizard. Except for a few mainstays of Kama Taj, other wizards may not exceed level 10. Unpredictable, a bullet can easily conquer the lives of any mage except the Supreme Mage in Kama Taj.
The Supreme Master also noticed this problem. In the past century, human development has been much greater than in the past few thousand years.
If Kama Taj cannot face the power of ordinary people, he may suffer a great loss in the future. Master Wang is one of the talents that Supreme Master focuses on cultivating, and broadening his horizons is exactly what he and Salomon need to do.
Chapter completed!