Chapter 133. A Small Matter Before the City Gate
The frost spread across the grass, turning everything within range, including the grass and the wolves that had dodged the sword throw, a shade of white.
A transparent, solid layer began to form on them.
"Woah—!!" The other wolves, seeing the effect of the attack, imdiately howled, and after a brief pause, they quickly turned and fled.
Each of them darted into the nearby woods, disappearing from sight, leaving behind only the few wolves that had been frozen solid.
Fulan used Mage Hand to retrieve the short sword embedded in the ground. The runes on it had dimd, and no matter how much Fulan tried to channel energy, it remained unresponsive.
She knew that the runes were in cooldown, which was why it couldn't be used anymore.
She silently estimated the power of the attack, finding that it was even more potent than the advanced apprentice-level spell, "Frozen Hand."
"If this rune were complete, would its power be on the level of a first-tier spell?" Fulan wondered, staring at the now-dim runes, feeling a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
Though she didn’t know exactly what the missing part of the rune was, nor how to fix it, she could inscribe this rune onto other weapons and replicate it.
"Once I reach Gede Town, I’ll visit that enchanter's shop."
She stored the short sword in her bag, then turned around, releasing a Fireball spell.
The fireball streaked through the air, leaving a blazing trail, and exploded between the three frozen wolves. The resulting flas engulfed all three wolves.
Fulan's Fireball was composed of Dragon Fla, which burned incredibly fast, consuming anything in its path.
The flas didn’t even have ti to spread to the surrounding grass before turning everything to ash.
The three wolves were gone, leaving only clumps of gray and black dust behind.
Her black horse, unfazed by the commotion, continued to move forward.
---
After spending three nights traveling through the wilderness, Fulan finally arrived at the gates of Gede Town.
There was still so dirt left on her boots, which she hadn’t had ti to clean with her Water Control spell, and so plant fluff clung to the back of her robes.
As she gazed at the city walls, she raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"The walls here are taller than those of Lodris."
The city's walls were clearly higher than those of the City of Apprentices. The gates were narrow, only wide enough for a single carriage to pass through.
At this mont, a long line had already ford at the gate.
Thanks to her position on the horse, Fulan could see a large caravan entering the city, with one cart after another slowly squeezing through. So pedestrians were erging from the sides of the gate.
The people ahead of her didn’t even glance back, as if they didn’t notice her, so they didn’t "give way."
But Fulan didn’t mind. She was in no rush and wasn’t the type to push people around.
As the line slowly moved forward, Fulan noticed many signs of past attacks on the walls.
One gap showed scorch marks, and many cracks were visible; there was a large pit with white crystals scattered around, their surfaces appearing corroded.
These signs indicated that the town frequently suffered attacks from magical creatures, hence the damage.
However, this wasn’t a case of large-scale monster hordes—hundreds or thousands of monsters attacking the city at once would have caused far more extensive damage.
The stone used for the city walls couldn’t withstand that kind of assault.
Instead, it seed the town had built the walls specifically to defend against smaller, more frequent attacks.
These monsters could strike at any ti, from any direction, and relying solely on the guards would lead to exhaustion.
The walls could block most attacks, and once the monsters realized they couldn’t breach the walls, they usually chose to retreat.
In the case of stronger monsters, the guards would ring bells to signal the threat.
The line moved quickly, and after a short wait, it was finally Fulan’s turn to be checked.
However, things seed to be going awry, as there was a conflict between two parties.
Kate, with a dark expression, questioned the guard:
"I thought we were just supposed to show our materials and pay the entry fee? Why are you searching ?"
The guard called over two more of his colleagues before responding:
"You fool, look who’s behind you!"
Kate turned around sharply and then saw Fulan standing behind him.
"Only outsiders like you would ignore who’s behind you. People in the Alliance are always aware of who’s behind them..."
"Your docunts say you're from the Highlands Province. I don’t rember hearing about any laws banning mages from persecuting the people in front of them."
"So be honest. If you have nothing to hide, we won’t bother you."
Kate’s face went pale. He hadn’t expected this situation.
He couldn’t afford to get caught—these guards would definitely torture him. He couldn’t withstand their interrogation.
He made up his mind, took a deep breath, and took a step back.
Grabbing his bag, he dashed towards the gap between the guards, moving before the trio could react.
"Catch him!!"
"He’s got sothing on him!!"
The guards imdiately reacted, shouting for reinforcents to block his path.
Kate’s heart raced, but he didn’t slow down. He dodged the pedestrians in front of him and weaved around the slow-moving carts in the gate.
He vaulted up the wall, using the fragnt of the Breathing Technique he had learned in his youth, running along the wall and avoiding the guards who tried to block him.
The gate was a long passage, and he had already evaded three waves of guards. He was now only five steps away from the exit.
There was no one left to stop him now, and he smiled, knowing that it would be difficult to pull off this escape again. But at least for today, he had escaped.
Just as he was thinking about which route to take to avoid any further blockades, an invisible force suddenly gripped his neck and pulled him back.
He lost his balance, falling to the ground, while the guards quickly subdued him, tying his hands.
"Thank you for your help, honored Mage," one of the guards said to Fulan, who had rely glanced at his docunts before confirming that she had indeed passed through Gede Town.
He had noticed the ethereal hand, and he knew it had been the mage’s doing. He silently reminded himself not to stand in front of a mage in the future.
Fulan didn’t respond, riding her horse forward slowly.
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