Chapter 159: A Guest

'Now that I think about it, what is the average lifespan of a Rank-1 Mage?' Charles asked in curious.

'You don't know?' The Holem's Crown got surprised for a moment and then explained patiently.

'If you had chosen to walk on the path of ancients, you might have gained double lifespan. Unfortunately, you are not that lucky. Hmm, an average lifespan of a Rank-1 Class Mage should be around 140 to 165 years. Meanwhile, an average lifespan of a Rank-1 ancient mage should be around 180 years to 220 years...'

'I will give more detail about the Class Mage's average lifespan now. Rank-2 mage's lifespan should be around 250 years to 300 years. Then, Rank-3 Mage's lifespan should be around 600 to 750 years. But if you stayed in the Rank-1 for too long and Rank-Up only after 100 years, your lifespan would be reduced to a great margin and you would only get around 60 to 70 years of extra lifespan. So, the faster you rank up, the more lifespan you would get during the next Rank.'

Charles nodded his head in understanding and then asked.

'What about Rank-4 and Rank5?'

'Rank-4 Mage should get around 1,200 years to 1,600 years. Then, the Rank-5 Mage should get around 3,000 years to 4,500 years. As for Rank-6, it should be around 10,000 years of lifespan. After that, your soul will mutate and become more solid. That will boost one's lifespan to a maximum level. To put it more simply, an average Rank-7 Mage would get a lifespan of 200,000 years. Those who achieved this stage would be called Demigods. This title should be the same for Bloodline Warlocks, Divines, and Ancient Mages.'

Upon hearing those words, Charles's vision about the mages broadened.

'This...' Charles took a long breath to calm his mind and then asked another question as he thought of the ghost.

'What is that black chain which attached to the soul's chest region?'

'Are you asking about the Death Chain? It should be a necromancer's doing. He must be trying to study the souls to gain some enlightenment about Death.' The Holem's Crown responded calmly.

'Enlightenment, huh. Now that I think about it, I do read some information in the Wisdom library that necromancers live longer than mages. Is it true?' He asked.

'Ugh, yes... Those undead monsters are not to be messed with. They are like cockroaches. As for their abnormal lifespan, it's due to them abandoning their humanity and turns themselves into skeletons. Till Rank-3, they would just age normally like Class Mages and would retain their human physical appearances. But once they Rank Up to a Death Mage, they would abandon half of their humanity and turn into a Demi-Lich. In return, they will get more than 50 thousand years of lifespan...'

'But they would also receive a backlash, though. The Demi-Liches' bones are filled with death energy, and this energy is very harmful to any normal life forms. When the necromancers start abandoning their humanity, the 'Will' of the world would also reject them and might put some severe restrictions. During the next ranking, they would completely turn into Liches and be expelled from any life plane. They would be considered as the nemesis of life forms. So, their only option would be entering the undead plane or the Underworld. It's a plane which even the Titans feared of.' The Holem's Crown said in a solemn tone.

'It seems the universe is so vast. Titans, huh.' Charles nodded his head and then closed his eyes to take some rest.

A few hours later, he woke up due to the kids' noise and opened his amber eyes.

Soon, Jessie, Rhea, Noel, and Titus walked out from their rooms one by one and appeared in front of him.

"Did you guys inform about our departure to the servant?" Charles gripped the cane, stood up with its support, and asked.

"Yes, Teacher," Jessie nodded her head in affirmation.

Meanwhile, Charles turned his gaze towards Noel and furrowed his brows.

"You still look tired."

"I'll be fine, teacher. Moreover, Titus also learned to drive the carriage, so I will be alright." Noel made his face look like a refreshed one and answered in an energetic tone.

'This kid...' Charles took one deep look at Noel before turning around and started to walk out of the house.

Although the darkness was still shrouding the surroundings, the dawn light already appeared in the east, giving a new feeling to everyone's mind.

Then, Noel and Titus went to bring the horses from the left side yard and soon hitched the horses to the carriage.

After that, Titus picked a long whip from the nearby tree and climbed up towards the driver's seat.

On the other hand, Noel, Charles, and the two girls went near the carriage and entered.

Soon, Titus whipped the horses twice, drove the carriage out of their house, then out of Strangers Street, and silently left the Helm Ville.

Under Charles's guidance, Titus drove the carriage into gloomy woodland and moved towards Duke Conor's territory.

Although some bandits and thieves blocked their way, they didn't pose any threat to the group at all.

In few hours, the horse-drawn carriage exited the woods and entered Duke's territory. They saw farmlands, villages, and even a few towns along the way, but the carriage didn't stop anywhere.

By the end of the day, the group finally saw a fortified city in the middle of a lush grassy plain. The defensive wall was more than five-meter tall, and soldiers stood on the top with different weapons in their hands.

Eastford City was a city that famous for merchandise and trade. Not only that, but this city was also renowned for its unique Dream Wine that was produced using rare purple grapes.

It was a city with a population of five hundred thousand people!

Charles and the kids also saw a very small queue at the entrance and quietly joined in.

After some time, Noel finally got the approval to enter the city and led the carriage inside.

At the same time, one guard checked the timer, took out a white horn, and blew it with full force.

Errnnnn!

In a minute, a few silver-armored soldiers blocked the few citizens from entering the city and shut the four-meter-tall metal door with full force.

Meanwhile, the city also turned a little dimmer, and soon street lamps began to light one by one.

The main street was wide and narrow. The people in the city mostly wore luxurious silk clothes, and the men put traditional chaperone hats over their heads.

As the carriage drove inside, some cries echoed from the nearby houses from time to time, and the passerby citizens even avoided looking at the carriage.

No, they were avoiding all the foreigners!

On the other hand, the soldiers also appeared all over the city and patrolled everywhere like watchdogs. They even stopped the suspicious individuals from time to time and inquired about their identities!

Charles also opened the curtain and noticed anxiety in their eyes.

Not only that, but he also sensed a strange rotten flesh smell in the air and furrowed his brows.

'It seems safety is not guaranteed in this city. Even the soldiers are showing anxiety towards something.' He made a guess and soon asked Titus to stop near a fruit shop.

After that, Charles walked out from the carriage and asked the shopkeeper about the location of the Shade Merchant Company.

Then, the carriage didn't stop anywhere and directly went to Market Street.

Along the way, Charles's group even saw some wounded soldiers with bandages and became more curious about the reason behind this.

While Charles was in muse, Noel already reached the destination, parked the carriage near a three-storied building, and informed everyone about their arrival.

Nodding his head, Charles walked out of the carriage, told the kids to stay in it, and brought Jessie into the Shade Merchant Company to purchase Class Gems.

Although Churches don't have much influence in the Iron Kingdom, that doesn't mean they had left with no option at all.

In truth, the Churches had long infiltrated deep into the kingdom's economy in the form of companies and already monopolized many things.

Once Charles and Jessie went inside the three-storied building, they soon met the shop manager and brought four Rank-2 Class Gems at the cost of 2,900 Moon gold coins!

Although buying the Class Gems in black markets was costlier, Charles didn't put much thought into it.

After that, he and Jessie walked out of the shop and entered the carriage. Then, Charles asked Noel to drive the carriage towards North Street.

'The bank manager gave me a hint that nighttime is dangerous for foreigners... But going out of the city during the night also is not possible...'

While he was thinking, Noel pulled the ropes and drove the carriage towards North Street.

A few minutes later, they found an excellent Inn called Horned Deer's Inn and booked three rooms.

After settling in his room, Charles opened the window curtain and narrowed his eyes.

'Someone seems to be attacking this city during night time... From the information I gathered from passerby and the shopkeeper, murders are happening from time to time and there are also many kidnapping incidents in the past six months... I also heard similar words from an inn lady in Helm Ville... Is an organization behind this incident? Necromancer? Or, is it another party?' He had long sensed the impending danger and got curious about the enemy's real identity.

...

At that moment, a curly black-haired woman in a grey robe walked into the Horned Deer's Inn, appeared in front of the reception desk, and adjusted her round eyeglasses.

She had a slightly wrinkled round face, grey eyes, fleshy nose, and held a strange silver pocket watch in her hand.

In the meantime, the receptionist lady stared at the guest for a moment and soon bowed her head.

"How many days do you want to stay here, ma'am?" She asked politely.

"Give me one VIP room for a week." The black-haired woman spoke.

Meanwhile, the receptionist lady calculated the amount in her mind and answered.

"That would be 15 gold coins."

Upon hearing the cost, the black-haired woman let out a fake cough and soon took out a bunch of gold coins from her void pouch. Then, she counted the right amount and gave it to the receptionist.

"Your room number is 302 and it is on the third floor, ma'am." The receptionist responded calmly before giving a metal key to the black-haired woman.

On the other hand, the black-haired woman caught the key from the receptionist's hand, turned around, and started walking towards the wooden stairs.

As she was about to take the first step, the receptionist suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask the guest's name and asked in an anxious tone.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Could you please tell me your name?"

Upon hearing the receptionist lady's anxious voice, the black-haired woman suddenly paused for a moment, raised her hand, tapped it on her forehead, and spoke.

"Emilia. My name is Emilia Wilson."

Saying so, she moved her hand, adjusted her robe, and started to go upstairs.