Extraordinary Voyage

"Hahaha, teacher, did you notice how incredible his expression was just now! He clearly wanted to rip us off, but in the end, he had to force a smile and give us a half-price discount."

The two of them walked out of the "Violet Eye" extraordinary gear store, and Angie couldn't stop laughing as she held Aiven's hand. Joy, surprise, disappointment, regret... She had never seen so many expressions on one person's face.

In fact, Aiven also did not expect that the identification from the "Violet Eye" would offer such a considerable discount in their stores. He had underestimated the power of that small card.

He planned to ask Delis, Anthony, Alva, and the other senior members about it the next time he saw them.

Hearing Angie's words, Aiven gently tapped the girl's nose, "Speaking of which, in the end, you only chose a single holy white crystal. Don't regret it; you agreed there would only be one gift."

The holy white crystal, which can assist a white wizard's meditation, was nice and suitable for beginners like Angie. But its actual value wasn't very high, especially compared to the "Wild Talisman" he bought.

"This holy white crystal is different; I really like it. I even gave her a name, Minnie! How does that sound?" Angie held the adult fist-sized oval white crystal, very certain of her choice.

Aiven had no choice but to chalk it up to her still being a bit childish, sighing lightly:

"I don't even know if leading you onto this wizarding path is right or wrong. Just now, using the store's instruments to test you, your Spiritual Talent exceeded your affinity with positive energy. Even if I sent you to the Church of the Goddess, you'd be eligible to compete for the position of Saintess who listens to the divine oracle."

"I don't want to be some Saintess! I just want to be the teacher's student, to become a great white wizard." Something about this statement must have touched Angie's tear ducts because she started to cry.

Indeed, a woman's mood is as unpredictable as a June sky, regardless of age.

"Alright, alright, I'm not complaining. Now that you've officially started on the wizard path, it's too late to join the church."

Aiven had to coax her for a while before Angie finally broke into a smile.

Angie, who was always sensible, probably only showed such fragility over this matter. Aiven, as her teacher, was already her only "family" in this world.

"Huh, why is it so quiet?"

After finally placating the girl, Aiven suddenly noticed that the Crow Market was unusually quiet. Not only had the once bustling crowd vanished without a trace, but even the usual "vendors" had disappeared.

"What are you doing? We are legitimate merchants registered with the Crow Market!"

"Stop!"

"Please let me go, I haven't done anything wrong!"

The distant hubbub made Aiven realize, "Something's happened?!"

But before he could react, they were noticed first by some people who had lingered in the street for a long while.

"There's someone over there! Don't run and submit to an inspection!"

From the market's entrance, two fully armored knights with longswords at their waists and giant steel shields in hand were rushing toward Aiven and Angie like human tanks.

Bang... Bang... Bang...

Even from a distance, an invisible oppressive feeling bore down heavily. Can you imagine a tank barreling toward you at 60 kilometers per hour?

"Ah—"

With a scream, Angie was obviously startled, hiding behind Aiven and clutching his clothes, not daring to move.

"Who are you? Where were you hiding just now? Come over and submit to an inspection!"

The two towering heavy knights stood before Aiven, casting a shadow and barking orders without any courtesy.

"The Church? Since when did the Church have the authority to intervene in the Crow Market?"

Seeing the black cross with anchor tips on their chestplate, Aiven recognized them as knights of the Iron Wall Knight Order belonging to the Goddess Church.

It was odd that the Crow Market, traditionally a neutral zone after various power struggles, was now being inspected by church officials.

"That's none of your concern. We've been authorized by the city's upper echelon to search for criminals here. Please cooperate with our inspection. Follow us; a knight squad is stationed here, so don't try to escape."

They surrounded the two, front and back. If they didn't cooperate, the knights seemed poised to act. They completely ignored the "Violet Eye" store nearby, indicating a tacit understanding and boundaries between major powers.

Aiven wasn't afraid of the inspection; he was just curious about what had happened, so he went along with the knights to the Crow Market's exit.

There, many "customers" like him, cloaked in black, were being inspected. Some had even been fitted with heavy rune shackles.

Seeing this, Aiven frowned slightly.

"Move!" Clearly, the Iron Wall Knight held no goodwill towards those likely to be wizards, shoving Aiven hard, but surprisingly, failing to move him.

Thud—

With a dull sound, though Aiven was noticeably smaller than the Iron Wall Knight behind him, he felt more like an iron wall.

Aiven suddenly turned, his gaze shooting like two cold bolts of electricity from the shadow beneath his hood, striking the knight's eyes beneath his steel faceplate.

"Is the Goddess' doctrine to disregard the glory of the Divine Spirit, abuse power, and oppress the innocent weak?!"

As if cold blades threatened his throat, the knight instinctively stepped back to avoid it, but quickly recovered, shouting in anger and shame, "Damn wizard, how dare you use witchcraft on me!"

Clearly, he couldn't believe a normal person could use such a method. Perhaps attributing it to mysterious witchcraft soothed his ego.

His right hand, clad in an iron gauntlet, clenched into a fist, ready to teach this seemingly unimposing "wizard" a lesson.

Despite knowing that not all wizards appearing at Crow Market, a haven for magical transcendents, were heinous black wizards, his shame-fueled anger left him unmoved.

Crash—

The punch tore through the air with explosive force!

Facing the iron fist, Aiven didn't even blink, while terrified Angie could do nothing but close her eyes tightly, clutching Aiven's sleeve, trying to endure it with her teacher.

Smack!