Chapter 270
Chapter 270 The Esoteric Duels
Four days later.
After passing by seven public cities, the flying ship finally landed in Guardia Port, located in the Wendu area.
Any further west and they would have been crossing through the unpopulated primal forest. The small flying ship they were on couldn’t possibly be up to such a difficult task. If they wanted to successfully reach the Silver Union territories, they would have to transit to another, more resilient, transport. An aerial fortress- the floating battleships.
When Greem, Alice, and Snorlax finally descended from the flying ship, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a terrifyingly massive ship. All of them were shocked.
This was a gigantic ship, completely black on the outside. Its size was at least ten times that of a normal flying ship. Three towering masts were situated on the front, middle, and back of the ship. A massive sail, much like the ones used on ordinary ships, had been placed on the top of the masts. However, Greem sensed that these masts weren’t driven by wind.
Greem’s vision was extremely sharp. Even with a quarter of a kilometer distance between himself and the ship, he could still see the strange runes and magical lines drawn on the surface of the masts. The masts reflected a cold metallic gleam under the bright sun. Just a single look was enough to tell of its resilience and toughness.
There were countless portholes on the body of the ship. However they had all been covered with thick metal boards, blocking everything within from sight. Even so, Greem, with his experience from the previous world, knew very well that battleships couldn’t be divorced from cannons. These portholes were most likely where the cannons fired out of.
The only way inside was to join the Silver Union and rise to become one of the parliamentary members. Otherwise one would never be able to take a single step into the place for as long as they lived!
The central circle was the main area of activity for the normal members of the Silver Union and the esoteric adepts. Only adepts that had been recognized by the Silver Union were allowed to stay and study in the place.
Most trading activities was concentrated around the outer circle of the Castle in the Sky. Non-Union members were also allowed to set up shops there. However, the right to own a store in the outer circle was decided by a test every ten years. This test came in the form of a fair and just Esoteric Duel.
The Esoteric Duels came in many forms. There were the duels between potions masters, the duels between alchemists, and the duels between golem masters… all arts that were categorized as those of esoteric adepts were included as possible forms of duel.
Apart from the shops managed by the Castle in the Sky, the shops available to outsiders was limited. As is the case in an economy, high demand begets high prices and intense competition! Any adept clan or organization that wished to possess a shop on the Castle in the Sky had to find a way to win the Esoteric Duels in order to win the right to stay in the city.
Every existing shop would have to accept challenges by outsiders during the years of the duels. Both sides would invite esoteric adepts to fight for them in a fair and just duel. The winner would stay, and the loser would have to leave the Castle in the Sky!
The Byron Clan’s shop had a long history of over seventy years. This was also the main way their clan obtained high-grade resources. They couldn’t afford to lose this shop.
This year, their shop had received a difficult challenge from the Gerto Clan. As the challenged, the Byron Clan had the right to choose the topic of the Esoteric Duel. Naturally, they chose the Golem Masters’ Duel.
In truth, this was also one of the rules that the Silver Union had intentionally created to elevate the status of the esoteric adepts across the continent!
By facilitating these duels, all adept clans and organizations that wanted a spot on the Castle in the Sky had to try their best to cultivate a capable esoteric adept. If they couldn’t cultivate one themselves, they would have to hire an esoteric adept from the Castle in the Sky.
The status of the esoteric adepts rose in this manner, swiftly and quickly rising to become irreplaceable parts of the clans and organizations. Some talented but poor esoteric adepts would be able to take advantage of this opportunity to gain enough resources to further their research.
However, this spelled trouble for adept clans who didn’t have enough resources to train an esoteric adept themselves.
After all, the cost of doing so was not something that a small-sized clan could ever hope to shoulder. A proper esoteric adept, be it an alchemist that could craft magical items, or potions masters and golem masters, required a massive investment of resources to become qualified in their fields.
Most esoteric adepts came to be after hundreds and thousands of failures in their research and cultivation. The amount of resources lost in the process was an astounding number that could throw anyone into shock.