From MC's Perspective:
"10 mid-grade mana stones, uh." I muttered to myself after leaving the building.
Then I examined the online ticket on my watch. It was enough to get me inside the Merchant Alliance's Airship.
The female staff member had already directed me to the Merchant Alliance Office. They have their own building and airship platform.
Then, without wasting time, I began walking towards that location.
40 minutes later,
I arrived at the Merchant Alliance office. In front of me is a massive multi-story circular glass building.
I am wearing a mask and an adventure suit. So the guards immediately prevented me from entering. I then showed them my online entry ticket.
Seeing this, both guards exchanged looks. I noticed some suspicion in their eyes.
"Wait for us here. We will notify our manager. Following that," one of the guards departed.
Seeing that I sighed inwardly. Though they are suspecting my identity. But they can't afford me to shoo me away. Because I'm one of their potential customers.
If the middle-aged women's words are correct, the people running the merchant union will not conduct any background checks as long as I pay them money.
Not long after,
A middle-aged man wearing a black suit arrived. His skin was tanned. His hair was brownish gray. But he gives off a scholarly aura.
"Hello, my name is Antony. I'm the manager here," He greeted me with a smile.
"My name is Ethan Brown," I introduced myself, then showed him my online entry ticket.
The Manager Antony raised his brows. Then he checked the online ticket.
Antony responded,"There is no doubt. It is a service provided by us. You can look at our airship deck."
At the same time, he attempted to pry the visitor's details. However, he failed to do so. He was taken aback a little. But he did not show it on his face.
"If you do not mind, I will take you to the airship," He added.
Hearing that, I replied, "Alright."
Both guards looked surprised. Typically, their Manager will not do this type of work.
Then Manager Antony led the way, and I followed him.
While walking, I keep an eye on my surroundings. I am looking for traces of the Peak Level Wizards.
After passing the circular building, we arrived at a vast and open field. Where different sizes of air ships can be seen on the ground.
"Which one is going to the Sand Rock Country," I asked.
Antony swept his gaze over the airships before saying, "No.2, brown one."
He then directed me towards the brown medium-sized airships. As I got closer, I noticed people on the deck. They appeared to be prepared to depart.
When we arrived before the airship. Everyone took notice of the Manager Antony. We both did a simple leap before landing on the deck.
"Where is Captain Howland?" Antony asked.
The next moment, a middle aged man wearing Captain's uniform appeared.
"The visitor has an entry ticket. Show him around?" After saying that Antony left.
On the other hand, I turned to the Captain and greeted him.
"Hi, I'm Ethan," I said.
The Brown Air ship carrying the emblem of the Merchant Union had left the sphere of Lizzen Nation. They are on their way to their destination.
A few days later,
In the early morning, the Brown Merchant Airship made a stop at Bright Nation's Merchant Union. Which is situated in the Capital. They have some goods to deliver.
The Capital, like other wizard countries, has a high concentration of mana. Some servants are taking a break to meditate here. While others are unloading the items. Since it was their turn to work.
Inside the Gregor Mansion.
I am sitting cross-legged in the middle of the hall, meditating. Unlike other days, today is a little different.
My Gravity Physique is about to reach level 100. I am looking forward to the changes it will bring.
Then I arranged the mana stones around me. I cradled one in my palm before closing my eyes. I started running the mental method.
As the Gravity Mana particles travel throughout my body. Internally, I sense that a hole is being filled. Over time, small amounts of mana particles are absorbed by the mana core space.
Click!
At one point, I felt a click from somewhere deep within my body.
Argh!
The next moment, a heartbreaking pain emanates from my body and mind. I felt even more pain from deep within my body. I guess it is the soul.
My mind went blank before I lost consciousness. The following moment, a deep suction comes to the unconscious body. It started to form mana from the mana stones.
A mana whirl formed, and a dense, pure mana began to flow into the unconscious body.
In the blink of an eye, the piles of mana stones surrounding the body turned to dust. However, the suction becomes even stronger.
From outside, dense mana begins to enter the Gregor Mansion from all sides. Then they all find ways to enter the unconscious body.
The suction strength increases over time. The unconscious body was wrapped in mana white mists like a cocoon.
The unconscious body is going through magical changes.
Outside,
Everyone was in shock. A typhoon appears above the Merchant Alliance's airship. The force swept away the workers.
Captain Howland is doing his best to protect the Airship.
The sudden appearance of the Natural Phenomena has taken Bright Nation Merchants by surprise.
They did not take this seriously. Rather, they are enjoying the conditions of the Lizzen State Merchant.
If anything happened to the AirShip, the Merchant Alliance would suffer a massive loss.
"What's going on?" Howland asked himself.
He was standing in mid-air, close to the Airship. He can see what is happening. A dense flow of pure mana is entering the AirShip. This means that there is something in the Air sip that is attracting mana.
Howland is breaking into a cold sweat.
"Do not tell me that a powerful magical artifact was a product to deliver," Howland muttered to himself.
If this is true, they will be in a lot more danger from now on. He noticed that Bright Nation Merchants had yet to discover the anomaly. He hopes the phenomenon passes before they can figure out what is going on.
1 hour later,
The typhoon dissipates and the sky returns to normal.
Howland sighed with relief. Then he instructs the workers to unload the items as soon as possible.
But he had no idea that some of the Bright Nation Merchants were already on to something.