"My name is Jenna, I'm a local Magus of Teljose. You are surprised upon seeing these many crops, aren't you?"
The female Magus smiled and struck a conversation with Lancy.
"Indeed, you seldom see wheat grow this tall and let's not forget the quantity… "
"This is a Magus' blessing! In a while you can experience it by yourself!"
The female Magus wore an expression of mystery but also expectation.
"I'm looking forward to it!" Lancy smiled briefly.
She could judge with just a look that this woman is like an innocent sheep, lacking the experience of meeting Magi of her peers and extremely curious about everything. But it seems her master is quite interested in this woman, otherwise he would have commanded her to move forward.
Lancy glanced back at the carriage and thought, 'She's like a young lady from a large family, that has wandered off. Is that master's type?'
Afterwards Lancg stopped observing these matters, as the City of Teljose was appearing in front of her eyes.
In her line of sight, there first appeared a black dot.
Afterwards, that black dot increased in size as if it turned into a dark cloud, enveloping the whole sky.
Her jaw dropped — she saw a tall and erect mountain, reaching through the clouds and standing quietly on the plains.
In addition, on that large mountain there were numerous tightly packed buildings and black dots moving around on the many layers on that mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, a large tall city wall was erected in a circular fashion. A visual estimate gave its height at a couple of dozen meters and that it was entirely made out of grey granite. It looked extremely impressive.
At the giant peak of the mountain, there were layers of luxuriant snow. Smoke was continuously emitted from the peak, as if it was going to erupt at any given moment.
"An active volcano! Teljose City is erected on an active volcano!" Lancy gasped.
"Correct! Keep on looking around!"
The Magus Jenna pointed towards the opening of the volcano with a laugh.
Boom!
Countless black smokes were rising, the whole volcano was coming to life. Just like a mythical giant laughing sadistically at the sky.
A giant pillar of smoke rushed into the sky, coloring part of the sky black.
"The volcano erupted but there were no tremors. This must be the work of the Magi of Teljose City?"
"Correct, continue to look!" Jenna pointed towards the black clouds, "Magus' blessing will soon descend!"
Rumble!
A soft rain was arising, tiny droplets of black rain were falling through the breeze.
Back rain fell on the ground, turning the whole ground ashen grey.
Soon a couple of farmers ran out from the fields, kneeled in front of Lancy, Jenna and other Magi and kowtowed respectfully as they said, "We thank our lords, the Magi, for our harvest!"
"This is volcanic ash?!" Lancy was captivated by the scene before her while, Leylin sitting inside the carriage started to emit a faint light, it enveloped the giant carriage and kept the black rain on the outside.
Volcanic ash was naturally nutrient-rich, which was conducive for plant growth. Coupled with some other things the magicians had added, it was no wonder crops here had an astonishing form and output.
"That's right, the Magi control the Teljose Volcano's eruption. They transport and evenly distribute the volcanic ash across the plains and fertilize the land. As for resources such as geothermal energy, the Magi will collect them and convert them into a source of power for Teljose City. Hence, the alternate name for Teljose City that I love even more — Nightless City!" Jenna explained
"….. Wow..." Lancy murmured. To control such a big live volcano, they needed constant maintenance and advanced magic spell formations.
Furthermore, to directly control a volcano as a power source and a place to live… This kind of design and boldness would leaven anyone feeling admiration towards these Magi.
Lancy glanced at the normal people kneeling before them, but except for fear in their eyes she saw reverence and admiration, "…The normal people here live a very different life then eastern provinces."
"Yes, magicians are a group of intellectual people. They did this because it was for their benefit." Jenna nodded her head. "The way we see it, the normal people that are alive are also a type of resource. Besides, as long as there is sufficient people, they can serve us at all times, procuring resources, and in addition, sow our seeds and producing acolytes of excellent quality, increasing new bloods…"
"Hence, in the middle of our light Magi region, not only were there Magi who specialised in solidification innate spells to be used for helping to prevent all kinds of natural disasters, there's even a full-time Magus in charge of farming land and increasing harvest yield…"
"This… this really is…"
Lancy glanced at Jenna who seemed pure and straightforward, but still considered herself superior to regular humans, similar to how the dark Magi thought of themselves.
The one difference they had was in their system.
Akin to the herding of sheep, dark Magi tended to operate in a more boorish manner and would reap the harvest at irregular intervals. In comparison, light Magi adopted a micro-management style, taking special care of each and every sheep.
But they both had the same purpose — to obtain the needed materials from regular humans.
Just based on this process, anyone can see that the regular humans in the light Magi region had a more comfortable life, compared to those living in Poolfield Kingdom.
"Very surprising, isn't it?"
Jenna laughed, "Seems like you've always been travelling around the dark Magi region. But once you've arrived at the Nightless City, you'll need to learn to acclimatize, and adapt to the new rules…"
Jenna's words implied that she had discovered Lancy's true identity.
Lancy didn't really care, Evans family wouldn't dare cause trouble here and Leylin already told her that he wasn't a rouge magi nor a wanted man, there is no problem even if anyone guess they were Dark Magi.
Teljose City, or reputed for being a Nightless City, on one hand was the accumulation of the light Magi's hard work, and on the other hand was supported by the dark Magi.
If the dark Magi was totally removed, then Nightless City's total trades would immediately fall by more than half!
No trade center would reject a dark Magi member from joining them. Dark Magi from all over the continent disguised themselves in order to enter Nightless City each day. Their aim was to trade items, amongst other activities.
The guards of the city turned a blind eye to their actions.
It could be said that Nightless City's prosperity was largely dependent on the dark Magi.
Lancy led the carriage forward accompanied by Jenna and the Knights and soon ahe saw a glimpse of Volcano City in the afternoon, but it was only after the sky dimmed that she reached the gate.
At the moment, there were rows of people queueing up in front of the gates of the city.
The numerous heads seemed like ants as they were separated into different groups and entered various entrances.
Beside the many small doors, there were also several huge passages. The gates to the city itself were over ten metres high, and the passageways were closed.
"These doors are for giants and large creatures, so they aren't usually open!" Jenna explained at the side.
"As for us, we are official Magi, so we are able to enter by the prestigious pass! Your Knights can also follow."
Jenna explained as she led Lancy and her group to a smaller door which was quieter.
As for the doors on both sides, there were even a dozen guards with the strength of level 3 acolytes, their bodies radiating the energy waves of their magic artifacts.
"Respected Lords, may I ask if it is a temporary or permanent lodging…"
After seeing Lancy and Jenna, these dozen acolytes immediately bowed and greeted them.
Leylin opened the window and looked at them, he noticed they held a circular item that was emitting the glow of a magic spell, in their hands. Looking at the runes on the surface, it should be the runes formation to detect energy waves.
Jenna immediately raised her right hand and revealed a white ring on her finger.
The ancient ring had a silver body with detailed inscriptions on the surface, constantly emitting bits and pieces of light.
"So it's a Lord who has a permanent residence. Please enter!" The acolytes respectfully made way.
"It's our first time here. Are there any procedures I need to follow? And what about my servants?" Leylin sitting in the carriage asked the acolyte.
Jenna turned to look at Leylin because of her curiosity but she couldn't see him because Leylin opened windows on the opposite side.
"Yes. For magicians who enter for the first time, we have a simple procedure. You can pay 200 magic crystals and obtain permanent residence, or spend 10 magic crystals and stay in Nightless City for a month! As for the servants, we would simply record their information in your database and they can enter without any payment."
"Prepare two permanent residences for me and my follower." Leylin immediately tossed out four high-grade magic crystals.
"Of course. Please wait a moment…" The acolyte quickly produced a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it. "May I have your name?"
"Leylin Farlier!"
"Here is your token. Please keep it well!"
The whole process was surprisingly straightforward. The acolyte merely asked for Leylin's and Lancy's name, noted it down, and then passed them a silver ring.
"This is a token you will need to enter the city. Please keep it safe! Also, please do not linger on the streets after 12am. If not, the law enforcement group will apprehend you!"
The acolyte reminded him as he bowed.
Leylin nodded in understanding before closing the window, Lancy drove the carriage inside, the Knights got down from their horse and followed her.
Lancy saw Jeena was waiting on the other side and a burly blonde man was standing with her.