City of Sin

Book 2, 107

Wealth

In the midst of the endless void between the myriad planes was a small floating island.

This island was about a hundred square kilometres in size, with undulating terrain. At the west was a small snowy mountain with a sparkling lake, gentle waves breaking on the surface. Its water flowed down into a small stream, before branching out into more than ten small pools midway. These pools were clearly man-made— each was fashioned out of different materials.

If one looked from afar, the mountain was covered with dense mist and dew. Each pool shone with its own unique colour and glamour in the midst of this fog, the different glows making one feel like they were in a dreamland.

Any mage that stood atop the mountain would be surprised to find the sheer density of mana in the trickling stream, as if the lake was made of liquid mana. Just a sip of it was more effective than the strongest potion.

As this mana-filled water flowed into the various pools, it miraculously transformed into different elements. Air, fire, earth, light, electricity... It was as if each pool was a purifier that extracted elemental power from this mana. Most of the pools transformed this liquid into elemental power, but some even transformed it into various kinds of potions.

Sparkling crystals littered the bottom of the elemental pools. These were crystallised elemental power, sources of great amounts of mana. Sparkling crystals were scattered across the bottom of the element pools. This was the crystallisation of elemental power, the source of magic that also birthed the runecrafting, alchemy, and the entire world of magic.

At the bottom of the lake were heaps of magic crystals, some as tall as a person, that were continually expanding. The swelling water in the lake brushed up against them and then flowed across the land, taking away some of their mana even as new crystals formed at the bottom of the lake.

At the foot of the mountain and all around the perimeter of the island were exotic trees that formed a dense forest. Their trunks stood tall and straight, with no leaves on the countless golden branches that hung downwards like those of a willow.

The primal energy of the void generated explosive energies that constantly battered this small island, and these trunks stood tall and unyielding while their golden branches danced wildly in the commotion. The energies of these storms were like the sun and rain to these trees, eagerly absorbed by the branches. Whenever the energy storms passed through the forest ringing the island, almost all of the violent energy was devoured and depleted, causing it to die down to a gentle breeze.

Once these unusual trees took in enough energy, they radiated dazzling gold light. Sine if these rays fell on the magical barrier protecting the island, repairing the portions that had been damaged and preventing the storms from completely ravaging it. The rest of the energy was sent into the interior via the roots, eventually converging at the lake atop the mountain where they transformed into pure mana.

This formed a cycle. Whenever the trees were depleted of the energy they had absorbed, they would lose the ability to repair the barrier and a part of it would break, forming a gaping hole that allowed the chaotic energy to enter. The storm would rush forth like water from an opened dam, destroying everything in its path. But then it would meet the dense forest, and they would absorb its energy to repair the barrier and stored some of it in the island.

The slope grew gentler the farther one went from the mountain, eventually ending up in a flat plain. Lakes and streams were everywhere, nourishing the grass and flowers that were everywhere.

East of the plain was a rather magnificent tower, its seven stories making for a total height of fifty metres. The entire structure was made of blue magic crystals, the rarest and most precious material used in building magical structures. There were actually four materials that were better for such construction, but legend had it that only gods could afford to build palaces out of them.

A secondary building attached to the tower transformed the entire place into a palace. A stream of enchanted puppets constantly entered and exited the palace, occupied with their own tasks.

If one looked up at the sky, they would only see an endless black void. Splendid beams of light occasionally flitted across the sky; only experienced mages knew the terrifying destructive powers of those rays. They came from the random explosions of energy storms, always magnificent to look at with their myriad colours. Even an expansive mountain range would burst into a million colours and disappear into the void if this beam struck it.

A powerful will suddenly descended upon this island floating in this void, infusing it with vitality. The branches of the strange trees danced in the chaotic power of the energy storms, and the exquisite flowers in the fields of grass started to blossom and bear fruit. The speed of the enchanted puppets increased greatly as well.

A huge teleportation gate was activated at the field in front of the palace, countless magical symbols interweaving in the void. Sharon took big strides as she walked out of the portal, casually waving her hands to toss a few magic balls to the ground.

The balls exploded upon hitting the ground, revealing a number of elves. Silvermoon elves, high elves, dark elves, sun elves... it seemed like every elven species was represented in the tens of elves present here. The elves were of all races, and be they male or female they were all beautiful. In an elven tribe, each would be an outstanding individual.

Mana poured out from under Sharon’s feet, and she floated up three metres to tower over everyone else, even the puppets.

She waved her hands with vigour, her gown gently falling back to reveal a slender white arm, “You guys, go there! You lot, move all the boxes in room 3110 to the east side. You, you, and you, go activate the cages in a few of the bigger rooms— How many? You decide, if there’s too many or too few, you’ll get it from me!”

The legendary mage spoke with lightning speed. Everyone present set off in a frenzy, starting to fulfill their tasks. The puppets and elves all did their share, but it was still hard to finish the job.

However, there was peace amidst all this chaos. The puppets were surprisingly lively, possessing remarkable intelligence. The elves were rather skilled at their jobs as well, each at or above level 12. Even mages at that level wouldn’t have trouble moving boxes that weighed several tens of kilograms, and those of the Deepblue were widely known for their strength.

Amidst all this chaos, the enormous gate was activated yet again. Sharon pointed at an exquisite brazier atop the gate, and it blazed with blue and gold flames. The energy surges on the other side grew quite intense.