Are Wizards That Rare?

O’Connor was fairly well-behaved. Perhaps because the warden who held his life in his hands had been so respectful toward Josh and the others, O’Connor did not dare do anything too reckless.

Like punching Jonathan, or making a run for it while taking a bath.

O’Connor was no idiot, nor was he arrogant enough to think he could get away.

As a former soldier, his powers of observation were certainly sharp. He could naturally tell that, whether it was their clothing, the expressions they inadvertently revealed, or the bearing they carried, Josh and the others were far beyond the likes of him.

Perhaps except for the fellow with loose hair and a few braids in it, who made O’Connor feel slightly better about himself. But only slightly.

Other than that thief and his sister, every single person in this group made O’Connor feel pressured.

What the hell is this? Why do rich and powerful young heirs these days all love going on adventures so much?

O’Connor grumbled inwardly a couple of times, but he certainly did not dare say it in front of them.

Taking the money Josh gave him, he left that damned prison without hesitation. He found a clothing shop and bought himself an outfit, then went to a barber to clean up his wild-man hair and beard. Finally, he found an inn, took a proper bath, and grabbed something to eat.

When he appeared before Josh and the others after getting himself cleaned up, they were all stunned. Evelyn in particular stared blankly at O’Connor. Clearly, this woman’s infatuation had flared up again.

This time, though, no one said anything about it. O’Connor’s transformation had simply been too drastic.

Clothes make the man, as the saying went. It seemed fitting anywhere.

Still, O’Connor was not comfortable with Evelyn looking at him like that. He even gave Josh a meaningful look: Are you sure it’s really okay to bring this woman along?

A problem? How could there be a problem? Josh nodded directly, indicating that there was no problem at all. Don’t worry.

What a joke. If this could cause a problem, Josh might as well stop calling himself competent. Even without counting Seraph, he was already at Sixth Tier. With Seraph activated, he reached Seventh Tier!

Though his Seventh Tier state did not last long, it was more than enough.

Still, while in the Seraph state, Josh increasingly felt that it resembled an Uchiha activating Susanoo. But he quickly stopped dwelling on it. It had originally been meant to imitate others anyway, so it was only natural that it looked similar.

"What the fuck? Didn’t you say you’d prepare the equipment? Why is there nothing here? And why didn’t you even buy boat tickets? How are we supposed to get there without taking a boat?"

As they prepared to set off, O’Connor intended to inspect their equipment. After all, he was the soldier. Checking whether anything had been overlooked was only natural to him.

But what left him dumbfounded was Josh merely spreading his hands and saying they did not need that stuff at all!

What made him curse outright was that this group had not planned to take a boat in the first place. Good Lord, how were they supposed to get there without a boat? Walk?

They might walk through the desert until they were nearly dead and still not reach that damned City of the Dead!

At that moment, O’Connor felt he might have been better off staying locked up in prison. Rather than dying alongside these people, he might as well wait to die in there. Since he was doomed either way, it was better to choose the relatively more comfortable way to die.

At this point, O’Connor had placed Josh and the others in the same unreliable category as Evelyn. He was already wondering whether he should find a chance to quietly slip away while no one was looking. He really did not want to die!

"If I say there’s no problem, then there’s no problem. As for how we’re getting there, it’s very simple. That’s not something you need to worry about. Your job is to lead us through the desert and find that damned place."

Josh shrugged helplessly. He understood O’Connor’s doubts. But Josh honestly felt there was no need to make things so troublesome. He had encountered that river when he first arrived. It was just that he had not thought much about it at the time and simply followed the river downstream to Cairo.

Josh could now basically confirm that he had indeed crossed over and landed near Hamunaptra. They simply had not realized it themselves.

Since that was the case, things were much easier. They only needed to teleport directly upstream, then have O’Connor lead them into that damned City of the Dead.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that? Wait here in this hotel? Or find a wizard to teleport us there?"

O’Connor mocked him helplessly. Evelyn and Jonathan also looked at Josh with curious expressions.

They came from civilized countries, so naturally they could not believe in something like wizards. They were merely curious about what Josh intended to do.

What they had not expected was for Josh to look unexpectedly serious as he glanced at O’Connor, then say strangely, "How did you know I planned to teleport us there?"

"Dement! You people are absolutely insane!"

O’Connor stared blankly at Josh for a while before the corners of his mouth finally twitched beyond endurance.

Evelyn and Jonathan were not much better. They both stared seriously at Josh, then looked at Natasha and the others behind him, who all wore expressions as if this were perfectly natural. They suddenly wondered whether they had run into a group of lunatics.

"Enough with those unbelievable expressions. The world is vast. It’s only natural that there are many things you haven’t seen or understood. I can even tell you responsibly that the legends of the City of the Dead are real."

Josh casually explained without caring about their looks. Then silver light began to seep from his body. Soon, a silver ring of light appeared before O’Connor, Evelyn, and the others, accompanied by all manner of runes that immediately made them wonder whether their eyes were playing tricks on them.

"Stop rubbing your eyes. You’re not seeing things. Get ready to go."

After setting up a Warping Leap, Josh looked speechlessly at the three of them rubbing their eyes with all their might and said weakly. Then he walked straight into the ring of light and told them to hurry up and come in.

The three exchanged looks. Seeing that Josh’s other companions had already stepped inside, they hesitated for a while before walking in distrustfully.

In an instant, a dizzying sensation assaulted their minds. It felt like motion sickness and was extremely unpleasant.

Fortunately, the sensation came and went quickly. In just a few seconds, they discovered that they were no longer in the inn room, but in the middle of a vast desert.

"Th-this is teleportation? F*ck! This isn’t scientific!"

O’Connor stared blankly at the desert before him. He even slapped himself hard to make sure this was not some illusion. He had struck himself so fiercely that his face had begun to swell.

Josh looked at O’Connor as if he were an idiot. This guy was really ruthless. But he also had a strong heart. After his initial shock, he stared at Josh with a fanatical gaze. Josh had seen that kind of look plenty of times and did not feel much about it. Evelyn and Jonathan were looking at Josh in much the same way.

"Th-this is magic?"

"What else would it be? What kind of power, or what kind of technology in this era, do you think could bring you hundreds of kilometers to this damned place in an instant?"

Josh shrugged. Not to mention this era—even if technology developed for another hundred years or so, it still would not be capable of this.

Of course, some eras with wildly advanced technology trees and geniuses everywhere might possibly manage it. Otherwise, instant teleportation was not something just anyone could achieve.

Looking back at Natasha and Garen, Josh realized they did not seem to feel anything at all. Thinking about it, they had apparently long grown accustomed to this kind of teleportation, so it was natural that they felt nothing. Only Alexios seemed slightly uncomfortable, though Josh also noticed that he had begun observing their surroundings.

"But isn’t magic something that only exists in novels? How could it possibly appear in reality?" Evelyn still found it unbelievable.

Then she suddenly thought of something. "Or… have you always existed, only hidden yourselves away?"

"If you insist on thinking of it that way, that’s not wrong."

Josh nodded. Quite a few worlds really did have wizards hiding among the masses. They could be inconspicuous nobodies, or people of distinguished status, just like in the Wizard World.

An entire school was completely hidden in the United Kingdom, yet almost no one could discover it.

"You mean wizards really exist? And there isn’t just one of you?"

"What’s so strange about that? The people behind me aren’t ordinary people either. And there are wizard schools in the United Kingdom and the United States. It’s just that Muggles like you can’t sense or see them at all."

"What’s a Muggle?"

"An ordinary person without magical power."

After casually telling them some of the Wizard World’s settings, Josh could not be bothered to explain any further. But even that little bit of information was enough to shock them. As for whether they would go looking for it?

Josh did not care in the slightest. It was not even a product of this world. They would have to be dreaming if they thought they could find it.

Josh looked left and right, wondering what he could find to use as transportation. He truly had no idea which way to go for the rest of the journey.

Though he had teleported into Hamunaptra, he had not memorized the route when he left. Besides, every direction looked the same to Josh. It was all damned sand—how was he supposed to find the way?

However, Alexios, who had been observing the surroundings all along, suddenly looked at Josh in confusion. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Um, Lord Josh, haven’t we been here before?"

Josh’s expression stiffened, but he quickly recovered and pretended not to know anything. "Have we? Why don’t I remember?"

"But why were you able to teleport so skillfully to this exact place? And although the desert ahead all looks the same, I’m certain that I—"

"Enough, Alexios. If you want to see your friends and family sooner, could you please shut up first?"

"Yes, Lord Josh."