Four days later.
After going through 7 public cities along the way, the airship finally parked in Guat Port in Wendu area.
If he went westward, he would have to pass through the uninhabited virgin forest. The small airship he was riding on now could not afford such a difficult task. If he wanted to successfully reach the area ruled by the Silver Alliance, he could only switch to a stronger sky fortress—the floating battleship.
So when Greem took Alice and Kirby to step off the flying ship, he was shocked by a terrifying giant ship not far away.
This is a huge black battleship, more than ten times the size of an ordinary flying ship. The three tall masts are distributed in the front, middle and rear of the hull. Although there are sail-like canvases raised on them, Greem can feel that they are definitely not driven by wind power.
Greem has good eyesight. Even half a mile away, he can still clearly see many strange runes and magic lines of unknown purpose engraved on the mast. Moreover, under the sunlight, the mast reflects a cold and cold metallic luster, giving people an unbreakable sense of solidity at first glance.
There are countless portholes on the shuttle-shaped hull, but they are all covered by thick metal plates, making it impossible to peep into the secrets inside. However, based on Greem's previous life experience, a strong ship can never be separated from the cannon, and that may be the point of fire for this floating warship.
The only thing I don't know is what kind of war witch weapon is hidden inside.
There is also a two-story ship building above the hull, but it does not look like it is used for living, but it looks like a platform for wizards to fight and cast spells.
The entire jet-black floating battleship was moored quietly on the high ground. From a distance, it looked like a terrifying steel giant entrenched there, giving off a cold and powerful aura.
This is probably the floating battleship prepared by the Silver Alliance to cross the dangerous waterway!
It wasn't until Greem took his eyes off the floating battleship that he realized that the place where the airship landed was not a city, but an airport specially used for the transfer of materials and personnel.
Along the edge of the forest, you can see rows of huge and thick wooden houses, countless humans and strange-looking alien coolies carrying goods in and out, obviously there is the storage warehouse of the airport. On the side away from the forest, there are rows of stone houses. In the open space in front of the stone houses, there are many wizard-like guys looking at this side and pointing, as if they are talking about something.
In the center of the airport, there is a tall and thin stone tower, with mysterious runes shining on it, one after another hidden detection fluctuations are slowly sweeping through the void, and the furthest distance can reach the forest tens of miles away.
Guard tower!
The internal space of this kind of high tower is too small, it is impossible to accommodate too many wizards, and it is impossible to hold large war wizards, so the main purpose is to guard and investigate.
And 5 miles behind him, he could see the rolling black forest.
This is already the border of the human settlement in the central part of the mainland, and there is no sign of human reclamation activities in the surrounding forests, let alone any large settlements. However, there are still sporadic hunting teams and adventurer teams operating in the edge of the forest, and occasionally some wizards looking for materials will come and go here.
Just as Greem was slowly browsing the airport, a deep and hoarse voice sounded beside him.
"Welcome, Your Excellency Greem!"
Greem turned his head and immediately saw the wrinkled old face of Wizard Angus.
"Nice to see you again." Greem smiled and nodded.
"Your Excellency has just arrived, so let's find a place to rest first! The ferry ticket to the Sky City has been arranged, and we will be able to set off in three days." Compared with before, Wizard Angus was obviously much more polite.
"Isn't there a floating battleship there? Why did you wait so long?" Greem asked curiously.
"The floating battleships are ready, but the number of wizards is not enough!" Angus simply explained: "The waterway through the Sky City has gone through thousands of years of changes. Although the distribution of monsters along the way has been basically figured out, it is still a There is danger. Therefore, to be on the safe side, every time the floating battleship will stay in this airport for a few days, and only when a sufficient number of wizards are gathered will they set off."
"Sufficient number of wizards?" This was the first time Greem had heard of these things: "How many will there be?"
"Under normal circumstances, sixty wizards are enough. If you encounter some high-level wizards who drop by, it's not a big problem to have a smaller number."
Greem couldn't help but secretly startled when he heard the words.
Sixty wizards
The wizards of the entire Sarubo family may not be able to reach such a scale, and such a large number of wizards are needed for a floating battleship to pass once. And as far as he knows, such a floating battleship needs to pass once every half a month.
Calculated from this, the number of wizards traveling between the two places every year is simply an unimaginable number!
Seeing Greem's surprised expression, Wizard Angus smiled understandingly.
"Don't be surprised, when you go to the Sky City, you will feel even more shocked. There will be more wizards than you can imagine. Come on, I have arranged a place for you to rest, you are here first Wait patiently for three days. Three days later, a new airship will arrive here, and the sixty wizards needed will be assembled by then!"
I see!
After understanding the reason, Greem let go of his worries and led Alice and Kirby to the row of stone houses under the guidance of Wizard Angus.
The dwellings here are also very simple, except for a wooden bed in each stone house, there is only a set of simple tables and chairs, and there are no extra decorations. Of course, if you think this place is not good, you only need to walk 20 miles to the east, and there will be a small human city with all the entertainment facilities there.
But Greem didn't have the heart to have fun. As soon as he settled down, he dragged Wizard Angus into the secret room and talked in detail.
After all, he didn't know the specific situation of the trip to Sky City this time. When he got there, he still didn't know what to do and how to do it. This was too passive for Greem, who always liked to make decisions before acting!
If it's just helping the Byron family where Wizard Angus belongs to win a small game, then he doesn't have to be so concerned. But now he wants to keep Kirby in Sky City, so the more he knows about the situation there, the greater the chance of success.
Through the eloquent narration of Wizard Angus, Greem finally understood the basic governance structure and rules of the Sky City, and also had a preliminary understanding of the so-called competition.
In the description of Wizard Angus, Sky City is a wizarding city floating above the sky. The entire city is distributed in a circular ladder, which can be roughly divided into three parts: the inner ring, the middle ring and the outer ring.
Among them, the inner ring is an area that only senior members of the Silver Alliance are allowed to enter, and the main control core of Sky City is located there. And there are also the Prophet's Tower, the Vortex Tower and the Obelisk, which are famous throughout the Wizarding Continent, as well as the desirable Storm Fortress.
And the only way to get there is to join the Silver Alliance and become a member of the council with honor, otherwise it will be difficult to step into one of them for life!
As for the Central Ring, it is the main activity area for ordinary members of the Silver Alliance and the esoteric wizards. Only wizards approved by the Silver Alliance can settle and study there.
As for all commercial activities in Sky City, they are concentrated in the outer ring, where non-alliance members are also allowed to settle and open shops. However, the shop management qualifications are assessed every 10 years, and the assessment method is a fair and reasonable esoteric competition.
There are many ways to compete in the esoteric arts. There are competitions between pharmacists, competitions between alchemists, and competitions between puppet masters... As long as it is the category covered by the esoteric wizards, it can be used in the city of the sky. Find similar contest entries.
In addition to the stores operated by Sky City, the number of stores that can be sold to the outside world is limited. Therefore, rare goods can live, and those with high prices get it! Any wizard family or organization that wants to win a store in the Sky City must try to win the Upanishad Competition in order to be eligible to stay here.
Every existing store must accept the challenge of outsiders in the year of competition, and both sides invite mysterious wizards, and then compete fairly. The winner stays, and the loser leaves the castle in the sky sadly!
The Byron family's store in the outer ring has a long history of more than 70 years, and it is also a main way for their family to continuously obtain high-level wizard resources, and they cannot be easily lost.
This year, the store of the Byron family has been challenged by a powerful family called the Gretor family. As the challenged, the Byron family has the initiative to select the esoteric sports. And their choice this year is undoubtedly the puppeteer competition.
This is actually a method deliberately played by the senior management of the Silver Alliance in order to improve the status of the esoteric wizards!
Using this method, any wizard family or organization that wants to enter the Sky City can only work hard to cultivate a powerful esoteric wizard. If you really can't cultivate it yourself, or simply choose and hire a mysterious wizard in the sky city.
In this way, the status of the esoteric wizards has also risen. Many esoteric wizards with outstanding talents but with little cash can also take advantage of this opportunity to obtain enough resources to continue their own research.
But in this way, those wizard families who have more than enough heart but not enough power will suffer.
After all, if you want to train a qualified esoteric wizard, whether it is an alchemist who can refine magic items or witchcraft equipment, or a pharmacist or a puppeteer, the expenses involved are not what a small family can support. .
Most esoteric wizards are sharpened from thousands of failures, and the resources consumed by each failure are a staggering and terrifying figure.