With the boost from his wind-walking magic, Lynn was moving at several meters per second. He quickly broke away from the battlefield between Furnace Stone and the Falling Star Council.
The landscape blurred as he sped forward, his mind focused, his mental power scanning behind him for any threats.
Suddenly, he sensed a figure approaching him.
But he didn't feel any hostility.
It was Darwin.
Lynn turned sharply, his eyes flickering with a trace of excitement as he gazed at the rusty blue armor floating in the air.
Flight meant freedom and speed.
Unfortunately, only official wizards could normally fly.
For wizard apprentices, flight was only possible through external means like riding magical creatures or using enchanted artifacts.
But such items were not only rare but also incredibly expensive.
Lynn couldn't afford one.
Otherwise, he would have spent every last magic stone to get his hands on a flying tool.
After all, when it came to travel and escape, the difference between being able to fly and not being able to fly was like night and day.
"Big brother, do you need a ride?"
A voice came from within the rusty blue armor, making Lynn freeze for a moment.
But given the urgency of the situation, he quickly made his decision.
Even with wind-walking magic, he couldn't outrun someone flying.
Darwin, who had started escaping even later than him, had already caught up.
"Then I'll thank you in advance," Lynn responded immediately. "Don't slow down just get close to me, and I'll grab onto your leg."
Cautious by nature, Lynn didn't want Darwin grabbing him. Instead, he chose to grab onto Darwin himself to ensure his safety.
As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed his wind-walking magic to its limit, dashing forward.
As Darwin drew closer, Lynn suddenly leaped into the air, grabbed onto the armored leg, and quickly climbed up.
A blue figure shot into the distance, heading deeper into the valley…
Unbeknownst to them, a shadow had successfully escaped the battlefield.
Breaking free from the fighting, a black-robed wizard from Furnace Stone was now speeding straight toward them.
After all, Furnace Stone had come with ten people, while the Falling Star Council had only nine.
With one extra wizard, the Furnace Stone side had a spare.
Now, that wizard was chasing after them.
Dieter dodged a strike from Silver Ash and glanced toward the black-robed wizard flying toward the valley's depths.
His round face revealed no expression.
"The two surviving apprentices one silent and withdrawn, the other a mere mortal… Why would they attract the attention of Furnace Stone…?"
Dieter didn't understand.
What he didn't know was that if the black-robed wizard had been certain that Lynn was the wanted wizard from the bounty poster…
Then, it wouldn't have been just one wizard chasing after him.
Silver Ash would have led every wizard there to hunt him down.
.......................
Under the rapid flight of the blue armor, the two swiftly left the battlefield of the Furnace Stone and the Falling Star Council far behind.
With Darwin's flight ability, Lynn traversed the entire mountain hollow in a short time. Ahead, a rising hillside gradually came into view it was clear they would have to start climbing again.
However, at that moment, their speed suddenly slowed.
Inside the blue armor, Darwin's voice came through:
"Big Brother Lynn, we need to land."
Lynn frowned and immediately asked, "What's wrong? We haven't been flying for long. If there are pursuers, they'll catch up soon…"
Darwin, being straightforward and unguarded, directly told Lynn the reason:
"My energy storage is running low, and I need sunlight to recharge…"
Without energy, the armor would be nothing more than a heavy shell, and Darwin inside it would be just an ordinary person.
Even a second-level apprentice could easily kill him and take possession of the flight-capable armor.
Lynn's eyes flickered with thought, but the idea passed quickly he didn't act on it.
"Can't you use magic stones?" he asked.
Darwin answered honestly, "Without energy, magic stones can activate the armor, but they can't make it fly…"
Lynn nodded and then asked curiously, "That must mean the magic stones aren't high enough in grade. What if you use mid-tier magic stones?"
Darwin hesitated and admitted somewhat awkwardly, "I… I've never used mid-tier magic stones before…"
"Well, that makes sense. After all, he's just a regular person." Lynn mused inwardly before shifting back to the practical issue.
"I have mid-tier magic stones. Try them."
The two descended onto a relatively gentle hillside and slowly came to a stop.
Lynn watched as the rusty blue armor opened, and Darwin stepped out. He then turned around and began fiddling with the inside of the armor.
"It needs maintenance… Some parts are misaligned…" Darwin mumbled to himself.
Lynn's heart stirred at these words, and he casually asked, "Darwin, do you have some knowledge of mechanics?"
Darwin scratched his head, seeming a little embarrassed.
"I don't know what 'mechanics' means. I just somehow… instinctively know how to repair this armor."
"I spent years fixing it before I got it working…" He continued with a hint of pride in his voice.
Lynn was stunned.
An innate talent for understanding armor? Was there such a thing…?
If Darwin knew mechanics, Lynn could ask him for advice.
But this kind of innate talent… Even if Lynn asked, Darwin wouldn't be able to explain it in any theoretical way.
"Darwin, why are you crossing the Atlas Mountains?"
Watching Darwin repair the armor, Lynn's curiosity grew. He barely knew anything about this ordinary man.
Darwin focused on fixing the armor as he answered:
"When I got the armor working, I found some information inside it…"
…
Through their conversation, Lynn learned that Darwin was born into a noble family.
Although he had no aptitude for wizardry, he possessed excellent talent as a knight.
Before turning eighteen, he had already reached the level of a knight.
One day, in his family's treasure vault, Darwin stumbled upon the blue armor.
After years of tinkering and patching it up, he successfully reactivated it and discovered some information within.
According to the messages left inside the armor, if he brought it to the Nightmare Rift, a wizard there would take him in as a disciple.
To fulfill this goal, Darwin used his means to acquire magic stones and embarked on the journey to the Nightmare Rift.
"He has no wizardry talent… Even if he reaches the rift, will that wizard accept him?"
Lynn wasn't sure. However, Darwin's exceptional natural talent in mechanics being able to repair the armor without any theoretical knowledge was quite remarkable…
At that moment, there was a click from within the armor, and Darwin pulled out a small compartment.
Inside was a faintly glowing yellow crystal, though its light was dim.
Around the crystal were nine square slots, just the right size for placing magic stones.
At present, five of the slots held low-tier magic stones, while the remaining empty slots contained only traces of gray dust residue from completely depleted stones.
Darwin didn't have many magic stones and couldn't replenish the armor's energy in time…
"Nine mid-tier magic stones… That's nine hundred magic stones in total."
Lynn glanced at the empty slots and felt a twinge of pain.
He had barely three thousand magic stones in total, and giving away a third of them all at once was no small loss.
However, since they were in the middle of an escape, Lynn didn't hesitate. He took out nine mid-tier magic stones and handed them to Darwin to place inside.
As the new energy source was connected, a look of delight appeared on Darwin's face. He quickly tested the armor, and in an instant, he soared into the air. The energy flow was much smoother than before.
Lynn smiled faintly, grabbed onto the armor's leg, and the two took off again, soaring along the mountainside.
However, just ten minutes after they left, a figure in a black robe appeared at the spot where they had stopped earlier.
He crouched down, picked up some dust from where they had been standing, and sniffed it, analyzing the traces left behind.
"These two don't have any wizardry marks, so tracking them isn't easy. But by analyzing the residual energy, I've already gotten much closer. The time gap between us was originally fifteen minutes now it's down to ten. It won't be long before I find them."
A flicker of burning desire flashed in the black-robed wizard's eyes.
The Lord of the Aquila Seat had personally stated that anyone who captured one of the fugitives and brought them back would be accepted as his disciple!
Becoming the disciple of the Aquila Seat would make him a prominent figure not just in Furnace Stone but throughout the entire southern region.
That little Lupus Seat was only able to control the Atlas Mountain pass and rake in wealth every day because he was the disciple of the Lupus Seat!
Meanwhile, Lynn and Darwin stumbled upon an unexpected boon.
With mid-tier magic stones powering the blue armor, it seemed completely revitalized its speed had significantly increased, and other aspects had also improved.
Lynn couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This armor had suffered under Darwin's care, never getting a full meal.
If not for the fact that its creator had chosen a sun-absorbing crystal as its core energy source, Darwin might never have made it to the Atlas Mountains at all…
The Atlas Mountains stretched endlessly across the land, resembling a giant serpent.
Fortunately, the checkpoint at Rock City was positioned in the middle, so Lynn only needed to cross half the mountain range.
If he had followed his original land route plan, it would have taken at least three months to traverse.
This was because the mountain range was full of dangers from sudden storms and torrential rains to magical beasts and wizardry hazards, all of which would slow their journey.
But now, by traveling through the air, their risk had been greatly reduced.
Their only concerns were supernatural phenomena in the sky or flying magical beasts.
However, the armor's strong defense and Lynn's protective spell, Yfgríd's Guardian, minimized those threats.
The only limitation was energy.
At first, when they replaced the old stones with nine mid-tier magic stones, they flew at top speed for most of the day.
But once those stones were depleted, they could no longer maintain that speed.
Lynn substituted lower-tier magic stones to keep the armor from completely shutting down, but their pace slowed considerably.
Even so, with intermittent stops and starts, after half a month, they had finally left the Atlas Mountains behind.
Ahead lay the vast and boundless Reed Marshlands…
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 120+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader