Wizards: Starting with Fairy Crests

037: Crimson Royal Court

Shadow Raven walked to an empty chair at the table and sat down, still wearing that seemingly relaxed smile: "Why don't we all get to know each other a little first? After all, we might be 'working' side by side from now on."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite Lin Qi made the first move. His voice was deep and concise: "Black Stone."

Lynch nodded slightly in the shadow of his hood: "Shadow."

"shadow?"

Shadow Raven's gaze immediately focused on Lynch, a hint of understanding and assessment flashing in his agile eyes, and his smile deepened: "So you are the potion apprentice mentioned in Lord Maltz's letter, the one who needs the bloodline of the Phantom Cat Demon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid this 'little adventure' will require a lot of help from you, a professional."

"Stop talking nonsense." Blackstone frowned, tapping his finger impatiently on the table. "Get to the point. We're not gathered here to accompany you in your aristocratic banquet."

Shadow Raven shrugged. "Don't rush, Mr. Blackstone. Two of our companions haven't arrived yet. To avoid duplication of effort, I'll explain the details once they arrive. Don't worry, we won't keep you waiting in vain."

The three of them then fell into a wait once again.

Another half hour passed, and the curtain was lifted again. This time, an elderly man with a hunched back, leaning on a simple wooden cane, entered.

He was wearing a faded old apprentice's robe. He coughed twice as he entered, his voice hoarse: "Sorry, I'm getting old, my legs aren't as fast as they used to be. I'm Old Pipe."

Less than ten minutes later, the last person arrived. He was a young man who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

He entered, wearing a dark gray cloak, and quickly scanned the room before succinctly announcing his name: "Grey Falcon."

Thus, five people gathered in the small room: the summoner Shadow Raven, the middle-aged warrior-style Blackstone, the mysterious potion apprentice Shadow, the aged but piercing-eyed Old Pipe, and the sharp and capable young Grey Falcon.

The dim glow of the oil lamp cast dancing shadows on everyone's faces, and the air seemed to become more stagnant as the number of people increased and everyone restrained their aura.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Shadow Raven finally stood up from his chair, clapped his hands, and attracted everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, everyone's here."

His smile faded slightly, replaced by a more formal expression: "Then, we can now discuss the ancient wizard's laboratory hidden deep within the Whispering Swamp, which was only recently discovered by chance..."

......

A few days later, on the southern border of the Celtic Kingdom, in the Whispering Swamp.

Whispering Swamp is a notorious and terrifying swamp in the area, where legend has it that the lush plants whisper secrets at night, plotting how to devour travelers who have strayed into the forest.

Travelers who overhear their conversations will be corrupted by their voices, go mad, and drown themselves in the swamp.

At this moment, deep within the Whispering Swamp, a small team is making its way.

In the middle of the group, Lin Qi walked forward while cautiously surveying his surroundings.

What one sees is a despairing, morbid scene.

The water was not clear or muddy yellow, but rather dark red like blood clots, murky green like poisoning, or a pale yellow like pus. A thick, rainbow-colored oil film and algae that kept breaking and releasing pale purple bubbles floated on the surface.

The crooked, withered trees resembled the skeletons of drowned giants, with bare branches emerging from the sewage, covered in pale moss and drooping vines. Some trunks even had black burls resembling eyes.

The enormous and eerie carnivorous plant, with its sticky and spiky traps, is strangely brightly colored and sways gently in the breeze, as if making a silent invitation.

Whispering Swamp.

This is a resource-rich area for wizards, but for some reason it is heavily polluted. Just look at the twisted vegetation around here; it's all caused by pollution.

This pollution occurs at the microscopic level, eroding even every elemental particle here. Whether cultivating or meditating in this area, one will be contaminated, resulting in mild physical mutations or even severe distortion and madness.

Therefore, this place has not been occupied by wizards to this day and belongs to the blank wizarding domain in the wizarding world.

"Pah!" Black Stone, walking ahead, spat out the mud that had splashed onto his mouth. His voice sounded particularly rough in the oppressive environment: "Shadow Raven, are you sure this godforsaken place really hides some ancient ruins? Look at what's all around here!"

He waved his hand forcefully, dispelling a cloud of purple mist with a sweet, metallic smell in front of him: "These twisted monstrosities, what normal wizard would build their laboratory in a cesspool like this?"

Shadow Raven's voice came from the back of the group, as he held a compass in his hand: "Rest assured, Mr. Blackstone, my sources are absolutely reliable."

The old man with the pipe next to him asked, "Could you tell me exactly where you got this information from?"

Shadow Raven shook his head: "I'm sorry, Mr. Old Tobacco, I cannot disclose the specific source of this information."

After hearing this, no one asked any more questions. After all, they were all gathered here by Shadow Raven, and they would receive a commission regardless of whether they found a target or not, so there was no such thing as losing money.

Moreover,

Despite everyone's skepticism, they are all secretly hoping for something.

Rumors have long circulated about a hidden ruin in the Whispering Swamp, which has attracted numerous wizards to explore it.

Unfortunately, no one has discovered it yet, and some unlucky ones have even been contaminated.

Over time, this place became deserted.

Now, this Shadow Raven seems very confident, and can even accurately name the ruins. Who knows, he might actually know something.

Listening to everyone's discussion, Lin Qi in the group couldn't help but become curious as to where this Shadow Raven got its information from.

In this team, and even in the entire Abyss Witch Domain, no one knows the truth about these ruins better than him.

Crimson Royal Court!

That was a powerful wizarding organization that was once active on the continent, with a power level as high as level three, no weaker than the vast Abyss Wizarding Domain today.

Unfortunately, this powerful wizarding organization declined and perished more than a thousand years ago.

The ruins potion garden before us was actually one of the many potion laboratories of the Crimson Court, where a very special research was conducted.

At a critical moment in the research, a serious accident occurred, resulting in the leakage of mutated energy and contamination of the area.

At that time, the Crimson Royal Court was already in a state of collapse and was no longer able to deal with the affairs here, which is why the place was left in ruins and abandoned.

Time flies, a thousand years have passed, and even the Crimson Royal Court has been submerged in the long river of history. Of course, no one will remember the laboratory that was once built here.

Even less will anyone remember which experimental project they were researching at the time...

Lin Qi's eyes flickered, and the expectation in them was obvious.

after all...

This is a research project that could potentially extend people's lifespan...