Somewhere at the border of Wadel Kingdom.
At that moment, Abium flew in a particular direction in the blue sky while thinking deeply about the Zistedel Empire.
He knew it would take him several months or even a year to get to the Zistedel Empire if he travel by normal means like horse or carriage. After all, even he can't use magic spells to travel all day.
So, he thought of a completely different method than the Mages and royalties used.
It was through an Airship!
'Even if I have to go by carriage, I can't cross without facing danger due to the Zypher endless forest. So, it's best to travel by safe method. Now that I think about it, the spy of Light Church also mentioned that Sky Tower is hidden deep in the Zypher endless forest, right?' He suddenly thought of the secret scroll and quickly dismissed the thought of exploring the forest alone.
'I'm too weak to explore any dense forest. Moreover, the Holy See and Zistedel Empire must have already occupied the outer area of the forest. Even if I sneak into the Zypher Endless forest, It would be like seeking death. Who knows how many legendary magical beasts are residing in the forest?' Abium frowned as he thought of the dangers hidden in the deep forest.
Although traveling through the Airship was costly, he felt it was affordable with his current wealth. Soon, he flew across the dense woods and reached the Sladel Kingdom's territory on 6th October.
The Sladel Kingdom.
It was a kingdom of merchants and wealth. Instead of Nobles, the merchant companies were the ones who had the most territories. Although a puppet Royal family ruled this kingdom in name, the merchant companies were the actual rulers in many aspects.
The Royal family only had a few royal mages and a few thousand soldiers to protect themselves and was hardly involved in political affairs.
Abium clearly remembered that the royal family called 'Howgett' was also one of the five families of the Bidora Empire and felt pity.
'The Bidora Emperor did turn them into vegetables.' He sighed.
Shaking his head, Abium circled the sky, landed near a rural village named Smoke Village, and started his journey to the Royal Capital of Sladel Kingdom.
...
On 20th October, Commoner's Borough, the Royal capital of the Sladel Kingdom.
It was around 09.30 A.M.
Abium, in a black-haired human boy appearance, entered the Royal Capital of Sladel Kingdom through the eastern gate and went straight towards the carriage house in Commoners' Borough. As he walked into the city, he was deeply astounded by the dense population!
'This kingdom is nothing like Keris or Peral Kingdom. All the buildings and people look wealthy and educated.' He muttered inwardly.
He walked past many shops, inns, and well-built houses and soon arrived in front of a wooden shed surrounded by a grassy yard. Several carriages were parked on the left, and five horses were tied on the right.
After a swift glance, Abium opened the wooden compound gate and walked in.
At that moment, a tongue-clicking sound came from the wooden shed, and soon, a black-haired man with an old hat walked through the small door. He wore a white cotton shirt, brown leather shoes, and regular leather pants.
"Welcome, customer. Are you in need of a carriage? Where would you like to go? Although I have to feed the horses soon, I can do it after dropping you at your destination if the distance is not far." He said as he walked closer to Abium.
"Sky Port." Abium's words were short and cold.
"Oh? It's not far from here. Let's go there using our best one."
Nodding his head, the black-haired coachman invited him into his silk-curtained carriage and replied while bowing his head.
"The fees would be two white gold coins, mister."
Abium didn't say anything as he skilfully took two coins from his pocket, tossed them to the coachman, and entered the carriage.
Meanwhile, the coachman caught the coins and put them in his pouch. Then, he tied the horse to the carriage and started driving the carriage out of the carriage house.
On the other hand, Abium removed the silk curtain a little and looked outside at the people of this kingdom. Instead of regular clothes, most of the Sladel capital people wore costly silk clothes, and women wore jewelry made of gold, platinum, and diamonds, showing off their wealth openly.
'I can also see many common mortals owning spatial pouches... Not only that, some are even possessing low-grade to high-grade artifacts. Are they all merchants?' What startled him was that he even noticed many stalls selling potion materials.
He also confirmed that these people fancy gold jewelry, diamonds, and other assets than power and noble titles with a simple glance.
'Their way of speaking and politeness towards the customers and foreigners is remarkable. If it were Peral Kingdom's capital, most foreigners would get scammed or alienated.'
He also saw a few skyscrapers along the way to the Sky port and felt like he was entering a new era.
He had never seen any skyscraper at this height in his past life and felt like a country bumpkin. After an hour of travel, the coachman let the carriage through the commoners' district and entered the merchant's district.
The carriage soon arrived before a large stadium-like terminal building and went to the parking area, which was located on the right side of the terminal building.
Once the coachman parked the carriage under the tree shadow, Abium opened the silk curtain and walked out.
After that, he turned his head towards the 800-meter-tall control tower on the other side and was at a loss for words.
'It's so tall.' Quickly closing the wide-opened mouth, Abium stepped forward and walked into the terminal building where all the administrative offices were. On his way, he saw hundreds of passengers in formal clothes walking in and out of the terminal building and started mimicking their actions.
Most of them carried a small suitcase and a few document papers in their hand, which piqued his interest. But he didn't let his ignorance show on his face and walked on the steps to the terminal building.
'Behind the terminal building must be the Sky pad where airships would stop by and transport passengers from this kingdom to other places.' Abium thought inwardly.
Although he hadn't visited any Skyport, that doesn't mean he hadn't heard of it.
In truth, his elven friend had bragged about this port multiple times.
From him, Abium learned some important key information!
'The Airship rarely come to this Sky Port Tower. Not only that, but booking a seat is also very expensive.'
While in deep thought, he arrived in front of the terminal building and gave Jeeves's original identity document to the security guards.
Meanwhile, the security guards did a lengthy check-up using a few strange artifacts and let him in.
Following that, he walked into the ticket counter and brought one ticket to Zistedel Empire at the cost of 2,304 white gold coins!
Even the Peral Kingdom's Royal Family would find it hard to spend such a lump amount in one go.
When he heard the amount from the Ground Attendant, Abium almost shouted in shock. Thankfully, he managed to calm his mind and took the ticket from the attendant.
Then, he looked at it carefully and read his departure date.
'27th November, 3 A.M.'
'Hmm, I still have over a month left for my departure.' Abium skillfully folded the ticket paper and stored it in his spatial ring.
After that, he didn't waste time in the terminal building and quickly left.
Then, he moved towards the carriage house, rented another carriage, and left the Sky port with a bitter look.
'My 2,300 white gold coins gone in an instant!' He groaned from time to time as the carriage moved.
...
Two hours later, Abium entered a giant skyscraper named Baker Hotel and booked a high-class room on the sixth floor for 37 days at the cost of 74 gold coins.
After he got the room key from the receptionist, he moved to the stairs and soon arrived in front of his room on the sixth floor.
He then inserted the metal key into the keyhole and opened the door with a loud click.
The next instant, his amber eyes widened all of a sudden.
'Not bad, not bad at all.' Abium smiled as he looked at the main hall.
A comfortable hall with paneled walls, floors tiled and carpeted, and provided with polished chairs appeared before his eyes.
Abium walked in calmly and noticed the kitchen, bedroom, and dining room on the right side while pastries, wardrobe, and bathroom on the left side.
After inspecting the rooms for some time, he went to the bathroom and took a long bath to freshen himself.
Afterward, he took a nightgown from the wardrobe and moved towards the bedroom. Within a few seconds, he appeared before the bedroom door, opened it with a click, and walked in.
He saw a large single bed at the center and a wooden table on the bed's right side. He first went near the table, removed his surcoat, put it on the table, and then started removing his clothes.
After that, he took out a nightgown and wore it.
'I should rest and then think of my next plan.'
With a tired expression, he lay on the cotton bed, placed his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes.
Before long, a loud snoring sound echoed in the room.
He rolled on the bed and slept for a whole day without any worry in his heart.
By the time he woke up from his deep sleep, it was already around 3 A.M.
He sat up while yawning, removed the bed sheet, and went to the bathroom to clean up.
After that, he returned to the bedroom and started thinking about his next plan.
'I have more than 35 days of free time. I must utilize it carefully.' While thinking, he placed his hand on the bed and stored it in his separate spatial ring. He kept the carpet, table, and other things, drawing runic circles all over the tiled floor.
For the next seven hours, he stayed in the room and patiently spent time creating a magic array.
Once he finished that, he sat on the tiled floor cross-legged and took out his spellbook from his spatial ring.
'Which spell are you planning to construct, kid?' Azolla asked in curiosity.
'I'm still thinking,' Abium rubbed his chin and went silent.
'Construct a Fire-related second-tier defense spell, kid. You can use the Sun Divinity to strengthen the spell model when creating.' Azolla said calmly in his mind.
Abium wasn't surprised by her words.
In truth, he did have the same thought lingering in his mind. After thinking, Abium nodded and took out the Sun Divinity and the Soul Tricker from his spatial ring.
After that, he carefully placed the Soul Tricker artifact on his palm and began absorbing the spiritual power.
[Spirit power increased by 3.0]
[Spirit power increased by 2.0]
[Spirit power increased by 2.0]
[Spirit power increased by 3.0]...
Abium patiently absorbed the spirit power for an hour and almost absorbed 50 percent.
'494.' Abium stared at the spirit power number with bewilderment for a few seconds and sighed.
'I need a long way to reach the peak level second-tier mage.' He placed the Soul Tricker artifact back into his spatial ring and shifted his attention to the Sun divinity.
'I can feel the mystic power hidden in this divinity.' A smile appeared on his face as he stared at the Sun divinity for a moment and closed his eyes.