A Sorcerer's Journey 259 Long time No See

Click!
The silkworm cocoon was opened from the outside. Two female humanoid creatures with a similar height to an average human congratulated respectfully, "Respected great sorcerer, you have returned to the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings of the Sorcerer World.
Inside the cocoon, the energy vines that held Grimm in place slowly retracted away.
Because the transmission was done individually, the pulling force generated by the Transmission Front was extremely high. As a Level-1 sorcerer, Grimm had to be sheltered from these forces inside a silkworm cocoon. It provided a stable resistance to the pulling force when the World's Aperture was opened up.
Ignoring the two slaves, Grimm stretched his curled up body out of the silkworm cocoon. Floating midair, the mysterious pair of eyes underneath the Mask of Truth observed the surroundings.
The majesty of this sorcerer awed the two soul slaves, who held their breath quietly. They only lowered their heads in respect.
They were in a circular square with a diameter spanning several hundred meters. A massive hexagram magic array covered the ground beneath their feet. With tall walls surrounding the square, the place looked like a gigantic chimney. A few sorcerers walked out from a reinforced room a few hundred meters away at the top of the square, looking towards Grimm who was sent back to the Sorcerer World alone.
Rumble...
A behemoth cephalopod soul slave stretched out its soft tentacles and gripped onto the silkworm cocoon in which Grimm was transported to the Sorcerer World. It then proceeded to store the cocoon into a room after opening up a large door in the walls.
"What's the situation? Demon-Hunter Sorcerer, your special grant."
The expressions of these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers grew dark upon seeing Grimm being the only one sent back to the Sorcerer World. They flew down to Grimm, asking anxiously with slightly hoarse voices.
These sorcerers were already Level-2 Demon-Hunter Sorcerers.
It's hard to blame these sorcerers for such reactions. There aren't many situations where single Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were sent back to the Sorcerer World. But in such rare instances, it was highly likely that they bore bad news—the announcement of the demon-hunting expeditions' failure.
The failure of a demon-hunting expedition meant the downfall of at least one Stigmata Sorcerer, the destruction of the Void Fortress. But what usually followed close was the Sorcerer World's second expedition!
A second expedition would usually involve multiple more Void Fortresses, the descent of many other Stigmata Sorcerers into the foreign world, or the personal involvement of the Great Necromancer. In other words, the intensity of fighting in a second expedition would far surpass the limits of the average Demon-Hunting Expedition.
In a rare instance where the world was extremely strong, so strong that they were able to resist the second expedition by the Sorcerer World, then the Sorcerer Coalition would immediately send out invitations…

Grimm had long expected the potential of such a situation. With a flash of his hands, the Special Grant appeared which was then passed over to a white-bearded, white-browed old sorcerer that donned a top hat on his head.
After a while, some of the on-duty sorcerers exhaled in relief, "Thank god your return to the Sorcerer World was just for personal reasons…"
Grimm retrieved the Special Grant and without further obstructions, he flew out of the World's Transmission Front base towards the Tree of Life at high speed.
It was all so familiar.
Never-ending streams of large airships dotted the skies above. Giant bird slaves from different worlds cast great shadows on the ground. Droves of Demon-Hunter Sorcerers riding on Seven-Ring bubbles flew about frantically. The orderly design of the Demon-Hunter Castle formed a neatly arranged pattern on the ground below. Small streams traced the landscape, networks of brick roads criss-crossed the town and lush green vegetation covered the remaining areas.
The four seasonal rotations, the cycle between night and day, all were filled with the potential for life to thrive.
Every single slice of life here was so familiar and comforting.
In comparison to decades spent under the demon-hunting expedition in the Shadow Enigmatic World, Grimm could not help but admire the beauty and grandiose of life in the Sorcerer World, even though what he had seen was just the tip of the iceberg.
A Shadow Calamity happened in the Amonro World?
To a low-level sorcerer in a demon-hunting expedition like Grimm, such a situation was undoubtedly a sizable catastrophe. However, from the perspective of the sorcerer civilization's core, such an event couldn't even cause a mere ripple.
Even if the Amonro World was a hundred times stronger than they were before, the sheer power that the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings could bring about was more than enough to crush them!
Knowing this, Grimm felt proud that he was able to become a sorcerer in the Sorcerer World.
At the same time, he could not help but feel a sense of yearning towards that indescribably vast endless world. He thought about civilizations from unknown worlds infinitely far away, and what their ability they held in their fight for survival. What was their situation like?
As Grimm delved deeper into his thoughts, a sudden jolt went through him. A sense of irritation had floated into Grimm's mind and it was expressed through his face.
'No…'
Perhaps, when he meets the Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer to deal with the Shadow of a NIghtmare curse, he should inquire further about the Bizarre Nightmare civilization that the ancient sorcerers faced against.
Also, how did the relatively primitive ancient sorcerers manage to defeat a civilized opponent that had powers far surpassing themselves.
A few hourglasses later.
The ten-thousand-meter-tall Tree of Life provided a huge cover from the sun's rays. Countless Demon-Hunter Castles were built on the tree branches that were so thick it looked like towering cliffs. Sorcerers from all directions came bustling through the area.
Suddenly, the air on Grimm's shoulder warped and Myna appeared as it shook its head around.
"Caw caw! This familiar atmosphere is like the aroma of butter biscuits, we've finally returned to the Sorcerer World." Myna exclaimed as it widened its eyes.
And yet Grimm replied bleakly, "You've got two days' time to bid farewell to Angelis. After I receive my Demon-Hunting rewards, I will immediately proceed to the Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy in District Twelve of the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings to find my mentor. There. I'll request to meet with the Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer!"
"Two days? Alright, caw caw. I wonder whether that guy has finally managed to climb the ranks into a Level-2 sorcerer or not."
Upon saying this, Myna spread its wings and flew towards the direction of Grimm's Demon-Hunter Castle to pay his Bright Sorcerer neighbor a visit.
On Grimm's side, he flew past the root of the Tree of Life that was so massive it could have been mistaken as a mountain. He continued flying his way towards the middle portion of the Tree of Life. A full half-hourglass passed, and from the cliff-like surface of the tree's bark, a massive tree hole appeared.
This was the place where Rank 3 Honor Badges were awarded after every demon-hunting expedition. As for higher-ranked Honor Badges, they were awarded in other locations.
The Honor Badges, was not just a simple reward of Sorcerer Essences and a trophy of honor. The flow of the Principal Will in the Sorcerer World was not something that could be summoned in any other place.
Snap!
Grimm stopped and immediately, a dozen people walked out from within the tree hole. These were all selfless sorcerers that dedicated their lives to the Sorcerer World. They underwent strict training and all aspired to be the guardians of the Sorcerer World in the future.
As an example, to shoulder the future role of World Guardian was like being an Enigmatic Prophet in the Shadow Enigmatic World.
The Demon-Hunter Sorcerers that were able to come to this place all had a single aim in mind, that was to retrieve the Demon-Hunter Honor Badge. Consequently, the welcoming procedures were far from your average reception process.
That dozen devotees looked at Grimm. Likewise, Grimm looked at these people. One person from this group had made the originally emotionless Grimm flash a look of surprise on his face.
'That fire-red hair, a graceful figure and that proud, unyielding gaze from the depths of her eyes. This lady…
'Sun Child, Mina?
'She's on-duty here as a devotee!'
As the strongest female sorcerer apprentice, she had a great influence on Grimm back when he was just a new trainee at the Sorcerer Academy. Even during the ten years he spent in the demon-hunting expedition, he would always hear Millie bring up her sister in their conversations whenever Grimm and Millie were together.
According to what Millie had to say, their father had placed hopes on Mina that were far higher than Millie herself. He hoped that he could see her become one of the final six guardians of the world in the Sorcerer World, which was the Guardian of Summer.
The Sorcerer World's six highest guardians were categorized under the representations of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Dawn, and Dusk—the six great laws.
As far as Grimm knew, for the Sorcerer World of today, there was only the Guardian of Winter from the World-Core and the mysterious and unpredictable Guardian of Spring.
As for the Guardians of the four other laws, they all had long fallen in battle since the second war of civilization of ancient times. Since then, no one in the Sorcerer World was able to reach the peak on which their predecessor stood, and only empty legends were passed around about the matter.
Grimm looked at Mina, eyes wide open. Equally stunned, Mina looked back at Grimm with the same surprised look, as if unable to believe what she saw.
As a large part of her memories growing up, Grimm's place was forever held at the apex in Mina's heart.
Her admiration of Grimm started way back when he first tried out at the sorcerer academy. Her desire evolved into a heated rivalry that fueled her Body of Flame. And when they finally arrived at the Holy Tower qualification battle, her feelings towards Grimm was best described by the phrase "within sight but beyond reach", which sparked rumors among their batch of Sorcerer Apprentices.
Everything about Grimm was so eye-catching and dazzling during Mina's confusing and mad phase as she grew into a young lady.
In Mina's eyes, Grimm was the protagonist of her coming-of-age story. He developed from a plain, average boy into an apprentice that surpassed everybody else in their batch and became known as the "Genius Sorcerer Apprentice". It could be said that during that time, Grimm found nobody to be his match.
As for now, this genius sorcerer's apprentice had become a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer. Had he really come here after just finishing his first mission?
'Was he really here to get his Honor Badge?'
Mina had doubts in her heart. Was it really that easy to obtain an Honor Badge? Even if he was indeed a genius, It was near impossible considering that the genius elites were all accumulated across the years at this Holy Tower…
A smile broke across Grimm's face as he looked silently towards the nervous group of people in front of him before saying calmly, "Mina, long time no see."

Chapter end