牛奶色隔壁有夫之妇

The mansion was the place where not only Captain Jack but the rest of his crew were staying! They were all improving in their magical path quickly, but Jack was the only one who had reached the rank 1 yet.

"I remember you! Hahaha, I cannot believe we are meeting here!" One of the crew members said.

Not everyone from the original crew was there, as some had parted ways, and others had died, but all of those who were with Jack since the beginning knew Arthur. He had showed up and sailed with them as well. They never forgot his strength back then.

Some of them wondered if they could be a match for Arthur now that they were also learning magic, but none of them could sense the mana emanating from Arthur.

Could the sturdy youth from before lost all of his powers? That seemed unlikely, but strange things happened all the time, so who knows?

"What is your goal now, Jack? You have conquered the sea, and now you are a rank 1 mage. What else do you want to accomplish?" Arthur asked as he drank a glass of wine.

The dinner hall of the mansion was bursting with life as everyone from the crew ate and drank, danced and laughed. It was a party!

"Me? I want to get even stronger because that is the only way for me to explore this world entirely." Jack sap his own glass of wine and said, "what about you, Arthur?"

"I am currently looking for some friends."

"So you are saying I am not the one friend you were looking for?"

"I did not know you were here."

"I know, I just messing with you. Anything I can help?"

Arthur did not want to bring Jack into this mess, but he knew Jack would try to help him anyway, so he might as well just tell him.

He explained about Hiley, how she looked, and some clues he had, which amounted to basically nothing.

"Well, I am on a task of exploring this world too, so if I come across with something, I will tell you, bro."

"Thanks. And you? Want help with something?"

"Not really, but if anything comes up, I will hit you up."

"Alright bro."

They spent an entire day talking about many things, especially their adventures. Jack had so much to tell that Arthur was almost always listening instead of sharing his own, and that was okay with him. It was nice to see some old friends still around. Arthur knew that his journey now will be longer, and those who did not keep up would die of age.

He wished he could stay longer, maybe a week, with his friend, but both of them had things to do. Jack was just passing by that city, and Arthur was also on an important task.

So, Arthur left the mansion the next morning did to his own things, and Jack left the city with his crew.

"If I see anything about your friend, I will send you a message through this mark. Take care bro, see ya!"

"Care, bro."

Arthur stayed still, waving goodbye to his friend. He sighed and said, "should I stay a little longer here, or move to the next city?"

He knew there was no clue about Hiley in Wind Lake, but perhaps that place could have something else for him. What caught his attention was this strange lake, and he wished to have a better look at it.

Morning came and went, afternoon too, and when it was finally night, Arthur went on with his mission. The lake was the most important part of the city, so they had guards taking care of it.

Not only normal guards, but mages too! There were quite a few rank 1 mages during the night, watching everyone who got closer to the lake. Normal citizens were prohibited from getting close to the lake during that time, and those who did could get into big trouble.

Well, it was a good thing Arthur was no normal citizen, and getting near the lake was not a problem for him. But what was the magic behind it? The only way for Arthur to know more about the lake was to go inside, and that was what he did!

Arthur did not jump in like a fish, but used his teleport spell to appear right inside of the water, so the mages heard nothing strange. He also did not swim, as his flight spell worked underwater, making it easier to move around.

"What is up with this place?"

The deep parts of the lake looked like just any other lake. The only difference Arthur saw was the amount of fish there, which explained how everyone fished every single day and the food never ran out.

Some colorful plants were underwater, and the colors of these plants were the reason the lake shone during daytime, like a rainbow. If Arthur was not mistaken, these were magical plants.

"I should get a few samples."

Arthur now had a notebook where he drew and wrote about many ingredients he found around the world. He still wished to pursue more of the alchemy field, and now was the perfect time.

Reaching the rank 4 would take years now, even with his system, and the war was also over, so it was the perfect time to learn other things.

He pulled out a knife from his magical pouch, and cut all the strange herbs he could find, putting them back into his magical pouch for later study. But after doing that, Arthur noticed nothing else about the lake.

"But there is no way the number of fish here is normal. It should have something down here!"

Last time Arthur went into an underground lake, he found Sully, who was now more a pet of his wives than his. But now, with his strength, Arthur could sense if there was a powerful creature beneath the lake, and there was none.

So, the reason for the magical property of the lake was other, and Arthur wished to find out! He searched every corner of the lake, and when he was finally ready to give up, he saw some strange runes marked on a rock at the bottom of the lake.

Arthur went close to it, and it was a language he did not know! Mages had created a spell which allowed them to learn almost all languages known, but it was not working for that one. Could it be so old the humans have no records of it?

He tried to pass his hands on the rocks nearby, as usually if there was a writing, there was a secret passage behind or something. And surely, the moment his hand touched the rocks, it was sent back by some strange energy.

Even after Arthur used some of his strength, nothing happened, as if those rocks were indestructible. When he thought about that, Arthur got excited!

"I am a freaking rank 3 mage, lord of the dragons, and a giant, with a system at the top of that, and this rock is stronger than me? I don\'t know if I feel bad or excited."

After making sure there was nothing else to do, Arthur returned to the surface. With his memory, it was easy for him to replicate the runes he saw down there, so he did, writing them in his notebook.

​ "I will search for it during my travels."

"Hey! You! You cannot be here!"

One of the rank 1 mages watching the area noticed Arthur.

"Well, I guess it is time for me to leave."