Warlock of the Magus World

by Stayrr

What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights? An awesome MC is what happens! A scientist’s goal is to explore the secrets of the universe, and this is exactly what Leylin sets out to do when he is reincarnated. Dark, cold and calculating, he makes use of all his resources as he sets off on his adventures to meet his goal. Face?

3. 53

Read Warlock of the Magus World - Chapter 53 – Subordinates online free - Novel Full

Subordinates

Leylin followed Dylan into a large white-coloured tent.

A smell of incense inside permeated the air. It masked the musky unwashed odor of the slaves and various bodily excrement. Despite this, the atmosphere was much better than outside.

The slaves in here wore some thin clothes that could somewhat cover their private areas.

Dylan brought Leylin to a few extremely muscled guys, "They were all raised and taught by a Knight! How do they look? I dare say these definitely meet your requirement!"

Leylin nodded his head and walked towards a large bald guy, "A.I. Chip! Stat Scan!"

[Beep! Target's Strength: 3.1, Agility: 2.8, Vitality: 2.9, Spiritual force: 1.5. Status: Dowsed in neurotoxin!]

The other Knight level slaves' stats were more or the less similar. Leylin observed that their pupils were widened and somewhat dispirited.

"The mind of these Knights seem to have been affected by something……"

Dylan hurriedly smiled apologetically, "Knights' resistances are always higher than normal, to meet the various needs of our customers, we are unable to use standard marking to control their consciousness! They have all undergone constant brainwashing and corporeal subjugation. Furthermore, they were controlled by drugs, turning them into high-level servants. Although they might not be as bright as regular Knights, they are still able to understand some simple commands.

Branding of the consciousness was what official Magi used to control their servants. However, it was somewhat ineffective if acolytes were to use it.

Dylan obviously noticed Leylin's strength before offering this batch of goods to him.

"It's not bad, what's the price?" Leylin asked.

"100 magic crystals each!" Dylan replied.

Leylin nodded his head and picked out two with the best stats. After paying the magic crystals, he received a scorpion-like organism from Dylan.

"The sting of this Desert Scorpion contains a unique poison. These poisonous secretions from this scorpion were used on your two slaves. If they do not take the antidote produced by the scorpion in 10 days time, they will die horribly! Of course, this is should be used as a last resort to control them. After all, during their training, they have already been brainwashed to obey their Master's commands! Now, the lives of these two Knights are yours!"

Dylan respectfully handed the box containing the scorpion's sting.

Leylin nodded his head and kept the box. "Also, I require a serving maid, one who can take on the role of assistant during experiments……"

As Leylin walked out of the market, two Knights wearing armour and a delicate yet pretty maid followed behind him.

The maid's eyes were limpid and she wore a black cotton dress. According to Dylan, this maid received extensive training since she was young. She was more than capable to take on the role of an assistant for simple experiments. She met Leylin's requirements rather well. Moreover, she had taken the Mandara Flower's essence, which could counteract the radiation from a Magus. This kept her looking youthful.

The cost was her life span, which was shortened to only 30 years.

"Ellinel Market did pretty well in designing this level. We can actually choose our exits freely. However, this is a service only premium customers may enjoy!"

When Leylin and his servants appeared, they were no longer at the small village. They were at the outer walls of a city.

This was a premium service provided by the Ellinel Market, but there was also a fee for it.

If this helped him avoid more trouble, it was worth it for Leylin who was not very strong right now.

"Master!" The Knights and the maid knelt and saluted him.

"En!" Leylin nodded his head indifferently, "Do you have names?"

The two Knights looked at each other, and their eyes dimmed eventually, "No, please grant us one, Master!" The maid too shook her head and indeed seemed rather pitiful.

"You will be called Greem! He pointed to the larger Knight. "You will be called Fraser!" This was another Knight.

"As for you!" Leylin looked at the beautiful maid, "Anna will do!"

"Thank you for granting us names, Master. We will loyally engrave it in our hearts!" The three subordinates knelt on the ground and kissed Leylin's shoe.

"Alright." Leylin waved his hands and got them to stand. He then looked at his surroundings.

It seemed to be a small forest, and there was even the silhouette of a large city ahead. It was, at least, ten times bigger than the city he was in earlier. The entrance had carriages and carts going in and out. It seemed to be flourishing.

"Greem! Go buy a horse carriage in the city, I'll wait for you here!" Leylin tossed a black purse to the larger Knight.

"Also, buy some goods for our journey, as well as some clothes!" Leylin instructed him.

Even since he destroyed his chest of spell books and sold all his potions, His remaining possessions amounted to over 3000 magic crystals all in all. His luggage too was reduced by more than half. He could fit all of them in a knapsack. As for the camping items he used previously, he already destroyed them before going to the market to save himself the trouble of going back.

"Yes, Sir!" Greem took the money purse and bowed slightly as he was about to leave.

"Also, don't call me Sir from now on, Young Master will do!" Leylin touched his youthful face and was somewhat stumped.

"We obey!" The three of them knelt on the ground.

Seeing the figure of Greem leaving, Leylin suddenly turned and asked Fraser, "Do you have any inkling of the time before you became a slave?"

Fraser had brown hair and blue eyes, and his body was littered with scars. Moreover, his age could not be determined, but he seemed to have had an abundance of experiences and suffering.

"I can't remember anymore! Every time I try, I feel a splitting pain in my head." Fraser touched his forehead as if trying to recall something. His visage crumpled with pain.

"So it's like this!" Leylin surmised that it could be the influence of some drug or spell that was only effective on normal humans. Right now he could probably break it if he spent some time on it, but he absolutely had no intention of doing so.

After all, his objective was to acquire subordinates, not to seek trouble. Those who were captured as slaves were the losers of battles and wars. If they were to recover their memories and seek Leylin's help, what should he do then? Even if they don't, who knows if they will continue remaining loyal to him.

"How about you?" Leylin looked at the shy Anna.

Anna's skin was extremely white and gave off a milky glow. It made Leylin impulsively want to touch her. Her face too was extremely exquisite like a doll's.

"Anna has been raised by a merchant since childhood, and was eventually sold to Sir Dylan……"

"For a maid like her, it was naturally more convenient to groom her at a very young age. Moreover, she had to learn various knowledge, and grooming of etiquette. Only then would she deserve the fondness of those higher ups. Of course, she had to take some lessons in pleasing men. Anna looked at Leylin who was still shrouded in the cloak, unable to discern his countenance. However, based on the voice alone, deduced that it should belong to a younger person. She could not help but blush.

What lessons have you taken before? How much do you know about the Magi?"

"I have learnt and , but……but only some preparations of simple ingredients. Anna is not an acolyte. For experiments that require the use of energy particles, I am powerless in that area……My apologies, Young Master!" Anna's fingers clenched her dress and seemed discomfited.

"That's not bad at all." Leylin was actually satisfied.

He had many secrets. Letting an outsider join his experiments was inappropriate. Helping him with basic preparations was already good enough.

If he wanted a Magus assistant, he or she must be at least acolyte level. This level of a slave is extremely expensive and was always riddled with problems too.

Although he did not see any in the slave market, Leylin knew that some other place in the market, there would be another slave market that specialised in selling acolytes as slaves.

After all, for many Dark Magi, it was only acolytes who could resist radiation, were to best subjects for their experiments.

As to sources of such acolyte slaves, they made use of war criminals or prisoners.

If Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was completely defeated, and the headquarters seized, then the fate of all the acolytes in the academy- apart from the ones backed by strong factions- will most likely end up as slaves.

As for people like Leylin who escaped earlier, he could only draw a clear line between himself and the academy in future. And take the four seas as his home, becoming a pitiable wanderer.

"Right now, I can only pray that the academy wins…… Even if they lose, I hope they don't lose badly……" Leylin looked towards the west, his expression a little grim.

Seeing Young Master become pensive, Anna and Fraser bowed their heads too, not daring to utter a word.

With the noise of rolling wheels gradually getting closer, Leylin could see a Knight driving a horse carriage, the appearance seemed to be Greem.

The horse carriage was pitch black in colour and did not have much in the way of patterns on it. The merchants who sold the carriage did not know if Greem belonged to the nobility, so they did not dare inscribe on the carriage. However, it looked extremely sturdy. A couple of large black horses were pulling it, dashing rapidly towards Leylin.

"Young Master!" Greem got down the carriage, and handed the money purse back to Leylin with both hands, "The carriage cost……"

"No need for further discussion." Leylin took it over, and then threw the money purse to Anna, "In the future you will deal with the finances, if there is not enough then ask me!"

"Yes, Young Master!' Anna carefully kept the money purse.

In it were only a few gold coins used by normal humans. Leylin only required a little effort to get as much as he wanted. What he was concerned about were the magic crystals, the currency used in the Magus World.

It was a pity that even in the South Coastal Regions, magic crystals were in extremely high demand as currency. After visiting so many markets, Leylin could see shops exchange coins for magic crystals, but never the other way round.

These were his subordinates in the future. After thinking for a while, Leylin undid his hood. and revealed a dashing face. His appearance, however, was still in its slightly altered state.

"You will be my trusted aides in the future, so take a look at my true appearance!"

The reason why Leylin disguised himself was to buy and sell resources. Right now since all his potions were sold, he did not need a disguise. These people also had to meet Leylin daily, so they will definitely see his true appearance–so the sooner the better.

After Leylin removed the spell, the muscles of his face twitched, and returned back to his original youthful visage.

Seeing Anna and the rest nod their heads, Leylin commanded, "Let's set off towards Eastwoods Province!"

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Roran City

On the wide road, a horse carriage rapidly sped by. In the driver's seat sat two large guys wearing metallic armour and long swords. One look and people got the message that they were not to be messed with. Farmers in the vicinity scurried out of their way.

Inside the carriage, the smell of wood and lacquer mixed together and was somewhat unpleasant.

Leylin's nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of perfume. Seeing that Anna was blushing beside him, Leylin smiled and beckoned, "Come here!"

When she drew near, Leylin made her recline halfway, then lay his head on her chest.

His hands conveniently roved around Anna's thighs. The thin cotton fabric could not hide her beauty. Leylin felt as if both his hands were touching a piece of warm and soft jade.

Savouring the softness he was leaning on, and hearing Anna's panting, made Leylin feel extremely content. He sighed, closed both his eyes and stayed still.

He had had been feeling on edge lately, as he had to exercise prudence after every trade. This occupied a lot of Leylin's thoughts. Now that he did not have to do so anymore, Leylin could finally take a break, and obtain ample time to rest. He even had two Knights to take care of the trouble.

Naturally, the two Knights would be sleeping outside, leaving the interior of the carriage to their master and the maid. Leylin was no gentleman. Moreover, Anna was also quite a beauty and excelled in that area. Idling away in the carriage, he naturally had already bedded her. There was even a faint trace of dark red blood on the cabin's floor.

As a maid bought by Leylin, how could Anna resist her master? All along the journey, she served him wholeheartedly and tried various positions with him, which also satisfied a few of his fetishes.

"Thankfully I am a magician. I can use magical herbs and undergo meditation to continuously recover and increase my vitality. With the previous Leylin's sad physique, I would most likely have aged prematurely……"

Leylin ordered mentally, "A.I. Chip, show me my stats!"

[Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte. Strength: 2.7, Agility: 2.8, Vitality: 3.0, Spiritual force: 4.6, Magical Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

"Four to five months have passed, and I persisted in meditation everyday. To think that there was only an increase of 0.2……" Leylin's expression was a little unsightly, "I have to hurry to my destination and settle down to try brewing the ancient potions. Who knows when I will meet the requirements for advancing?"

All acolytes encounter a bottleneck when advancing to level 3. Even a fifth-grade acolyte like Jayden still requires years of training in order to breakthrough.

After analysing the conditions needed to advance, mastering the spells and brewing reactive elixirs became trivial. Only getting past the 7 spiritual force bottleneck remained baffling for countless genius acolytes. Even official Magi did not have good solutions to address this aspect of spiritual force cultivation. Only constant painstaking meditation had any effectiveness or maybe the use potions and the sort could be an alternative. The cost of these, unfortunately, could not be borne by the typical acolyte.

Right now Leylin too was stuck on the same spiritual force bottleneck.

"A.I. Chip! How is the analysis of the two potions? And what is the progress in deciphering Lowian's Teachings?"

[Beep! Azure Potion analysis progress: 100%, Tears of Mary analysis progress: 78%, Lowian's Teachings analysis progress: 63.7%] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"The Azure Potion has been fully analysed long ago. Unfortunately, the main ingredients are now completely extinct. Finding substitutes requires countless experiments. As for the Tears of Mary, it has been at 78% for 3 months now with no signs of progress at all. Could some crucial procedures be missing?

Leylin's brows furrowed; the A.I. Chip's processing ability was extremely powerful. The progress in analysing the ancient potion Tears of Mary analysis stagnated at 78%, which made Leylin rather surprised.

"These formulas that Professor Kroft gave me should be correct. If the A.I. Chip could not analyse them after all this time, it might have met with some difficult question that was beyond the parameters of the databank……Tears of Mary! Tears!" Leylin guessed.

"Could it be……That this ancient potion formula has something to do with a soul?"

After all hearing the name of this potion, one will easily associate it with some ill-fated event.

As for Lowian's Teachings, the progress was rather good. Although the creator used extremely complicated coding to ensure secrecy, the A.I. Chip was least daunted by the complicated computations.

Leylin roughly knew the general contents of this scroll through reading the previous portions that have been analysed.

"Unfortunately, though this item is not bad, I can only make use of it when I become a level 3 acolyte!"

Leylin shook his head and got rid of these distracting thoughts.

Suddenly, the horse carriage stopped.

Leylin's brows furrowed as he asked, "Did something happen?"

"Young Master please be at ease, it is merely a group of bandits who have blocked the path!" Fraser has already gone over to take care of it!" Greem's voice travelled through the wooden wall.

* Ping Pang! Bang! *

As expected, moments later it seemed that negotiations failed. The sound of various weapons clashing could be heard. After a few profanities and continuous wailing, Fraser's voice was heard saying "It's settled." The horse carriage once again resumed the journey.

This kind of an outcome made Leylin feel very satisfied.

The reason why he bought two Knights and a maid was so that all the trifling matters would be handled by them, allowing him more time to focus on researching spells and doing more experiments.

These matters along the way were trivial. Leylin had the faint outline of a plan that would require the participation of many people to accomplish. And these 3 people were at the core of it.

"Young……Young Master!" Anna who was behind him, let off a low pant.

Only then did Leylin realise that his hand slipped. While he was deep in thought, his hand had unknowingly touched Anna's private part.

Leylin smiled and withdrew his hand.

Seeing that Anna's face was still flushed, he said, "Right now Young Master is occupied with something! I'll have time tonight to play with you……"

These intimate words made Anna somewhat shy as she lowered her head.

Pretending not to see the temptation right in front of him, he said "A.I. Chip! Transmit the fully analysed Azure Potion formula!"

Leylin always drew a clear line between entertainment and research. At the most crucial moment, he would definitely not be infatuated and lose the will to improve.

Seeing Leylin had already closed both his eyes, Anna's eyes dulled. She then rearranged her clothes back to its former neatness and tried her best to adjust her body so that Leylin could rest more comfortably……"

Night fell after what felt like a moment.

Leylin regained consciousness after meditation.

"Young Master! There is a city not far from here!" Greem's voice travelled over.

"Where are we now?"

"According to the markings on the map, we should have already entered Eastwoods Province. This is Roran City, which is situated at the provincial borders!"

The crashing sounds of things being rummaged sounded, as Fraser spoke.

"Roran City huh?" Leylin muttered to himself and adjusted the map stored in the A.I. Chip.

On the faint blue map, a red coloured line was linked with many cities. Roran City was towards the west of Extreme Night City, only several days' journey.

"After half a year of travelling, we are finally arriving huh?" Leylin felt a little rueful.

The reason why he chose this place earlier was its distance from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy- he wouldn't be affected by the conflicts taking place over there. Another consideration was that only by being far away from the academy, would he be able to conduct a few prohibited experiments.

After all, he had the A.I. Chip in his body and also the process for many of the experiments were very unusual. If he had experimented at the academy, using the remnants or rubbish, the possibility of being discovered was inevitable.

However, Leylin felt less restrained ever since he had left- like a caged canary that was set free and soared into the sky.

Leylin opened the carriage door, and a gust of cold wind blew in.

"The feeling of freedom!" Leylin looked at the city, which seemed a little desolate, and the nearby farmers. He could not help but smile.

"First, find us a place to lodge in We'll set off tomorrow morning!"

Leylin gave the orders. In the wild, it was natural to either stay in the horse carriage or inside a tent. However, since they had reached human habitation, Leylin naturally did not want to deprive himself of this chance.

The black-coloured horse carriage entered the city under the respectful gaze of the guard.

To the people in Eastwoods Province, having a horse carriage, guards, and a maid, elevated Leylin to the level of idle nobility.

In fact, Leylin was indeed a descendant of nobility. It was just that it was not this continent's nobility.

Leylin never considered using the dukedom title from Chernobyl Islands here. However, the status of a noble could indeed greatly reduce problems.

After finding a place at a local inn for lodging, Leylin called an attendant over.

"Do you know where I can hire people here?" Leylin played with a gold coin in his hands.

Seeing Anna behind Leylin, and staring intently at the gold coin in Leylin's hands, the attendant could not help but to gulp down a mouthful of saliva.

"Most respected Sire! If you require attendants, the employment marketplace beside the city lord's Manor would be your best choice. There, you can hire strong warriors, proficient housekeepers, and even various maids and stable hands……"

"Very good! Bring me there tomorrow and this gold coin will be yours!" Leylin smiled.

This time, he could stay in Extreme Night City for a long period. Leylin naturally wanted peace and quiet. He required people who could carry out his bidding. Since he did not want to be controlled by others, he would not be able to avoid wielding his own influence.

With Anna and the two Knights as his core retainers, and hiring a few more from Roran City, his retinue would be more or less complete.

Although he could hire more people in Extreme Night City, they will definitely be infiltrated. As for Roran City, although it could not be avoided, it was good to reduce the numbers and influences to a minimum.

Dinner was white bread with vegetable soup. Although the shop owner had already taken out the best items to serve Leylin, it was still somewhat lacking compared to the academy's cafeteria.

As Leylin was eating, many customers in the shop hid in the corner. They wore grey or brown coarse robes. Their gazes carried respect and fear.

Looking at the empty space around him, Leylin smiled bitterly.

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Roran Hawks

The next morning, Leylin was guided to the employment marketplace in Roran City by the attendant.

The employment marketplace was beside the city lord's castle, so the public security there was not bad. At the very least Leylin did not see any brawls taking place.

Along the way, there were many people who looked at Leylin and his group. They were especially interested in Anna, who was behind Leylin, as she was an exceptional beauty, and was even more so after some dressing up. Fortunately, they did not dare try anything funny for they were rather fearful of Greem who was covered in steel armour.

"Sir! This is the employment marketplace in Roran City. All the people you require can be found here, besides you can also issue any mission related hiring……" The attendant explained to Leylin's group of three.

As for Fraser, Leylin made him stay at the inn to look after the horse carriage and luggage.

Although the important possessions such as potion ingredients and magic crystals were on Leylin, if they were to lose a few items like gold coins and the sort, it would prove rather troublesome.

Leylin surveyed the employment marketplace before him.

In his view was a large field, with groups of stable hands, mercenaries and the sort squatting on the ground, waiting for some employer to hire them.

Leylin knew that there had to be a slave market too, however it could not be displayed blatantly out in the open. After all, even a Magus market had to organise one covertly.

However this was well within Leylin's plans, he only wanted an entourage to hire here, so his requirements were lower.

"Young Sir, may I help you with anything?" As Leylin entered the marketplace, a group of traders and merchants swarmed around him. They were obviously dazzled by Leylin's lavish attire and shouted themselves hoarse as they tried to promote their products.

"I need a group of mercenaries to escort me to Extreme Night City, and also to guard my estate there. The contract duration would be at least two years!" Looking at the fervent traders, Leylin stated his requirements.

After reaching this part of the continent, Leylin realised that the novels, in his previous world talking about mercenary groups and bandit gangs and the like, were all nonsense.

Apart from a few large cities that Leylin was yet to visit, in Roran City and other smaller city marketplaces, there were no such groups to speak of.

All such employment, assassinations or similar missions, were arranged at the local bars or trade offices, some locations were even extremely bizarre.

"After all, the costs have to be factored in, and, if the remuneration does not even cover the cost of operations, there wouldn't be any fool who would be willing to toss their gold coins into the water!"

"Then could I inquire if you have any requirements regarding the number of escorts and their strength?" A skinny man with a shiny bald head squeezed through the traders and asked loudly.

"Number of people huh? Around 10 to 15! Their strength only needs to be equivalent to the average guard's standard. The only request I have is loyalty and honour! As the mission might extend over 2 years, I will have to issue a contract, and the salary is to be given monthly!"

Leylin said blandly.

"In that case, I have a group of mercenaries here that fits your requirements!" The bald trader smiled.

"The Roran Hawks mercenary group has just finished their vacation. Moreover, they are citizens of Roran City, so their reputation can definitely be assured of!" The bald trader explained.

Leylin noticed that when the baldy mentioned the Roran Hawks mercenary group, the crowd all turned silent. There were even respected and envious looks. It seemed like the Roran Hawks had a large reputation around here.

"Alright then! Bring me to have a look at them, the commission will definitely be given to you later!" Leylin said.

"Please follow me!" The bald trader led the way, bringing Leylin out of the marketplace.

After the attendant in the inn received his gold coin, he bade his farewell. Anna and Greem followed closely behind Leylin; the current group of four walked on for about half an hour before reaching the southern part of the city.

Having reached here, the surrounding buildings were constructed differently. If the central part of the city was modelled after the city lord's castle, with the buildings being extremely imposing and respectful, then the southern part of the buildings were multi-coloured with various styles. Very much like residential estates.

"This seems to be the area where the free citizens of the city gather!" Leylin muttered as he looked at the crushed rock laid into a pavement, and the small flower terrace and stone-made lamp.

"You have a good eyesight, Sir. Those who live here are predominantly the traders and free citizens of Roran City. The Roran Hawks mercenary group also reside here!"

"Are you not going to bring us to the training grounds of this mercenary group?" Green asked at the side.

"Respected Sir! Roran Hawks mercenary group is only a small unit, and their number does not exceed 30. Their reputation is only spread within Roran City. It is only a casual alliance formed by their leader. The cost of renting some space for them to train would have made their mission earnings obsolete. Thus, who would be willing to do that?" The baldy said with a wry smile

"Normally, the members are each busy with their own matters. They gather only when they receive a mission!" Saying which, the baldy looked at Leylin, and smiled apologetically, "Although the Roran Hawks Mercenaries are few in number, most of them are retired veterans. Moreover, their leader was once a middle ranked troop leader in the army, and his strength is not bad……"

Obviously, the baldy was worried about Leylin being prejudiced against the mercenary group, but these matters could not be concealed either, so he could only say before they found out.

"A middle-ranked troop leader huh? I am looking forward to meeting him!" Leylin smiled, he actually did not really mind who he hired in Roran City, as their roles will primarily be to run errands for him in future.

"We've arrived!" The baldy brought Leylin and the rest in front of a two-storeyed villa. Within a circle surrounded by a rosewood fence, there was a small pond and garden. There was a type of small white flower, their petals being extremely small, but with a dense aroma, a middle-aged lady was currently watering the flowers.

"Hello! Madam Lariette! Is Fayern around? I have brought some business for him!" The baldy greeted the lady watering the plants.

"Of course, he's around, my dear friend!" Before the lady got to respond, a bold and unrestrained voice sounded from within the house.

A large guy wearing a white-coloured shirt walked over and hugged the baldy.

"My dearest Fayern! Let me introduce to you- this is Sir Leylin who came from the central part of our city. He wishes to employ your Roran Hawks mercenary group to escort him to Extreme Night City!" The baldy explained to Fayern.

"Hello! Respected Sir, if you choose to go to Extreme Night City, then the Roran Hawks mercenary group would be your best bet. We have traversed the route over 100 times, and recognise every rock, nook, and cranny on the path."

Fayern bowed slightly towards Leylin and laughed as he spoke loudly.

Leylin noticed that this group leader's eyes had been sizing up the three of them. Especially lingering on Greem for a while, as if discovering something. However, he overlooked Leylin.

"A crude outer appearance but his inner qualities are astute! He is also a Preparatory Knight!" Leylin observed, and at this moment, the A.I. Chip scanned Fayern's stats.

[Name: Fayern. Strength: 1.8, Agility: 1.5, Vitality: 1.7, Spiritual force: 1.4]

These stats amongst Preparatory Knights was only considered average, however from Fayern's callus and multiple scars on both of his hands, it can be seen that he has bountiful experience as a mercenary.

"We can discuss this later, won't you invite us in to take a seat?" Leylin smiled and gestured towards the villa.

"Oh, of course, I will! Please enter!" Fayern patted his head and moved his body while bowing. His right hand stretched, making an invitation for them to enter.

After exiting the garden, it was soon the living room of the villa.

The floor was painted red, and on one the four surrounding walls there hung a rusty and stained cross blade. Beside it was a skull belonging to an elk, with bent antlers that were intertwined and had a jet-black lustre.

Fayern cordially invited Leylin and the group to have a rest on the sofa in the living room. He also asked Madam Lariette to give Leylin and the rest a beverage similar to black tea and then began to discuss the details.

"I heard from Nigel that this respected Young Master wants to go to Extreme Night City? If it is not inconvenient, could you tell me the reason why? Please forgive me, only after assessing the risk can the group make preparations for it……" Fayern's tone was rather sincere.

Leylin sipped on this beverage similar to black tea- it was rather sweet and salty and thus he did not like its taste- before he placed the cup down.

"Regarding the mission, this time, I only wanted to start some business there and require manpower for security. Do not worry about any other trouble!" Leylin looked at Fayern, while the latter was rather embarrassed and looked down.

Obviously, Fayern assumed Leylin was the bastard son of a noble who had lost in a power struggle and was sent away.

"The reason why I hire you was because the people in Roran City will not be easily bought when compared to those in Extreme Night City. Moreover, I have received news that there were some interesting events recently happening within Extreme Night City……" Leylin smiled and said.

"Interesting events?" Group Leader Fayern guessed, "Is it about the incident where the vegetation near the surroundings of Extreme Night City suddenly withered? "

"Correct! A forest, the size of a small village, suddenly withered. It really makes one worried. Because of this incident, I believe it is necessary to increase the strength of the guards."

"Concerning the earnings, I can give each a monthly salary of one gold coin. However, each one must sign an employment contract for agreeing to follow my commands for at least 2 years or more."

Leylin interlocked the 10 fingers of his hands, as he gave his opinion.

Fayern's face was indecisive, clearly he was making a choice. After being silent for some time, he struggled to say, "The other matters will be alright, what about the mission duration?"

"Although the period of two years is rather long, you don't really have to always stay at Extreme Night City. I promise you during any idle period, I will grant them leave to visit their loved ones. Also, if they want to bring their wife and family over to Extreme Night City, I can also arrange an appropriate position for them……" Leylin's voice reverberated in the living room.

"Sir, I have seen your sincerity. I would like to talk it over with a few of my brothers; after all, I do not run the mercenary group alone. I can give you an answer tomorrow, so please be rest assured, Sir!", said Fayern as he stood up and bowed slightly.

"Good! We will wait for good news from you!" While Fayern saluted, Leylin calmly got up and together with his servants and the bald trader, left the villa.

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A Visit

A golden object arced, flashing in the light, and landed in the arms of the bald trader.

"Take this; it's the commission that you deserve," Leylin said

"Many thanks for your conferment, most respected Young Master!" The baldy hurriedly bowed.

"Next, I need a housekeeper and two people who can keep accounts well! If you're able to find them for me, this gold coin is yours!" Leylin flicked a gold coin on his hand.

"Let me think! Let me think!" Seeing that it was another gold coin waving its hand at him, the baldy suddenly became lively. He began muttering incoherently while grabbing his bald head and racking his brains. "That's right! Old Welker! Old Welker was a housekeeper for a Baron before. Recently, He has been saying that he wants to come out again to make a living!"

The bald trader said.

"Very good! Bring me to him!" Leylin nodded his head approvingly.

Two days later, in the morning. While the mist still had not completely dissipated, there was still some frostiness lingering in the cold morning air.

* Creak! * Roran City gates opened slowly, and a horse carriage emerged from between them.

A dozen odd mercenaries, wearing broken armour and carrying metal spears and bows, escorted a large horse carriage as it slowly left the city.

In front of the horse carriage, Fayern was leading a brown colored handsome steed. Behind him was a 20-year-old mercenary carrying a red-coloured flag. On it was embroidered the image of a hawk; the insignia of the Roran Hawks mercenary group.

Greem rode close to the horse carriage having given up the driver seat. The person who sat there instead was a white-haired geezer. Although he faced the wind and his hair was blown about wildly, his clothes were impeccable and without any creases.

He was the housekeeper that Leylin got– Old Welker. Earlier, the Baron he served had gone bankrupt, hence, he became jobless. He was in the same boat as the bald trader who visited him and joined Leylin's party.

Going from Roran City to Extreme Night City only required 7 days. Roran Hawks mercenary group was worthy of Fayern's praise. They were extremely familiar with the route and could even find lodging along the way, saving them from the hassle of setting up camp.

7 days later, the group safely arrived at Extreme Night City.

Leylin lifted open the hanging screen on the horse carriage and saw that the clouds ahead were rather dark. The layers of cloud were crowded together, completely blocking any sunrays. It seemed that it would rain soon.

There was also a shadow cast on the surrounding bushes and grasses, which made it look very gloomy.

"Fayern!" Leylin walked out of the horse carriage's door, "Didn't you say that Extreme Night City has a large area of vegetation that withered? Which area was that?"

"Young Master!" Fayern grasped the reins firmly and reduced the pace of the horses to match the pace of the horse carriage.

"Extreme Night City is enormous. These mysterious happenings only belong to a small portion in the eastern part. Normally, we try our best to detour around that area. After all, humans have also done their best to avoid danger……"

"Where is that forest?" Leylin leaned against the side of the door as if he was enjoying the scenery.

"The eastern part of Dark Night Woods is closer to the core of the city!" Fayern looked at Leylin and he lowered his voice and said, "Dark Night Woods had an abundance of certain herbs. Ever since the withering event, however, the supply of herbs in Extreme Night City has decreased by 30%!"

"Is that so?" Leylin smiled. Extreme Night City was considered a large city in Eastwoods Province and one of the pillars of its economy was the herb industry. Now, it seemed that most likely the City's Lord and his officers were worried about the situation.

"Dark Night Woods? I'll remember it!" Although the woods in the kingdom were rather dangerous, this was only true for normal humans. Leylin even traversed his academy's Abyssal Bone Forest, so naturally he was not worried about the present dangers.

"Did any of the herb gatherers disappear in the withering zone?" Leylin asked suddenly.

"Herb gatherers? You mean various hired hands, bandits, and adventurers?" Fayern shrugged his shoulders, "The woods are full of dangers, and a few people dying is very normal, so who knows?"

As the two conversed, the horse carriage slowly approached Extreme Night City.

The city walls were not very high, yet they were extremely thick. It seemed to be made by piling granite rocks, and was extremely sturdy.

The guard at the city gates recognised Fayern and allowed the horse carriage to enter after payment of the toll fee.

"Let's find lodging first!" Leylin ordered briefly.

Night approached, and Leylin sent Anna, who was serving him, away and stayed alone in the inn's room.

Opening the window, a cold gust of air blew in. The outside was extremely dark, and there were few lighted lamps.

Leylin closed the door and took out a blue coloured crystal ball from the sack he carried at all times.

This crystal ball was extremely small and let off a strange glow. In the centre of the glass were many golden specks of light that continuously rove about like little fireflies.

"Activate!" Leylin muttered an incantation.

The specks in the crystal ball started to shift about until finally forming a strange symbol.

This symbol was rather curvy and swirled continuously. It finally looked like an eye that was bloodshot.

Leylin's expression was extremely solemn. First, he turned the symbol towards his face allowing his somewhat skinny face to be reflected onto the crystal ball.

"Shadow Calendar, Year 1032, Month of the severe cold, Day of the ravens weeping." Leylin enunciated slowly in an extremely distinct voice.

"Today, I have arrived at Extreme Night City and am currently residing at Hoof's Inn." Leylin turned the crystal ball so the surroundings were reflected into the symbol inside. He then walked over to the windowsill and soaked up the imagery outside.

"Currently, news has it that the withering area belongs to the east area, Dark Night Woods. As of this recording, there have been no reports of any member's death. Tomorrow I will prepare to set off and enquire, maybe gather new information."

"The above-mentioned records are by level 2 acolyte, Leylin Farlier!"

After he finished speaking, Leylin wiped the crystal ball with his pale white fingers. *Hehe! Hehe!* From within the crystal ball came a strange sound, like a kid's laughter. Following which, the eye symbol flickered and disappeared, turning back into countless golden specks of light

The crystal ball was given by the academy to Leylin to be used as proof of having undertaken the mission.

The crystal ball was able to record a few scenes and voices. All that Leylin had to do was to record every important event during the mission. He could then hand it over as proof upon returning to the academy.

Of course, the crystal ball's controlling right was with Leylin. As long as he did not want to activate it, the crystal ball would not be able to record anything without his magical support.

This was why Abyssal Bone Forest Academy dared to allow their acolytes to go out on long-term missions without fear of being duped.

"From Fayern's description, the withering danger zone is not that huge. I'm afraid that it could either be some tree demons or organisms that feed on humans. A level 2 acolyte would be more than enough to deal with them!"

Leylin weighed things carefully, "I don't have to be that frantic, I still have over two years! I should first send some mercenaries over to have a look……"

"The most important thing at hand now is to settle down here. Moreover, I have to visit a 'friend'…… Leylin's lips curved into a mysterious smile.

Although the location of Extreme Night City was rather remote, it was close to a few Magi resource points. There was even a magic crystal mine nearby that was being excavated. Of course, the resources were already exhausted, but they still attracted a good number of wandering Magi and small families. It even gave rise to a small scale Magus market and was indicated on the map Bicky gave.

Moreover, within the short span of time, while they were entering the city, the A.I. Chip had already picked out several energy waves emitted by other acolytes. It seems that there were quite a few acolytes living in this city.

This was extremely normal, as wandering magicians or those who were reclusive preferred remote towns to settle in, and to better conceal their identities.

Of course, due to having longer lifespans, appearance and radiation emissions, they cannot stay in the same area for long, often changing locations after a few years.

While Leylin was thinking thus, he yelled, "Anna!"

"Young Master, what are your instructions!" Not long after, Anna entered wearing a beautiful red dress. As she curtseyed, her snow white calves were revealed.

"Prepare a gift; I want to pay someone a visit tomorrow!"

"As to the specifics, Welker will tell you!" Leylin yawned and stated blandly.

After dismissing the somewhat disappointed Anna, Leylin casually set up an energy particle array as an early warning device before he blew out the candles and entered dreamland.

The next morning, Leylin left with Anna who brought along a beautiful hat.

"Is this the gift that Old Welker picked?" Leylin took the cap and gave it a once-over, realising that it was made of beast hide. It was very smooth to the touch, and there was also a feather stuck on it.

"Housekeeper Welker said that in Extreme Night City, Sticking the Night Hawk's feather on a leather cap represents peaceful intent and friendliness. It is the gift of choice when paying a visit for the first time!" Anna put on a rather frightened expression.

"Young……Young Master! Are you going to visit another 'Sire'?" Anna's voice became somewhat shaky.

"Yes! He is also an acolyte!" Leylin lowered his voice so that it was only audible to Anna and himself.

After he spoke, he saw the young girl's shoulder trembled. Leylin smiled, Anna was sold to a Magus before she was resold as a slave. It seemed to have been a traumatic experience for her.

"If you're afraid, you can always go back first!" Leylin moved forward and embraced Anna's slender waist.

"No! Anna wants to go together with Young Master!" Anna forced herself to smile.

Leylin shook his head, "Follow me if you want to!"

Extreme Night City's construction was somewhat gothic with sharp spikes on the roof tops. The pavements were also layered with smooth rocks giving the impression that Extreme Night City was one of the wealthier cities around.

As Leylin and Anna neared the eastern side of the city, the people's outfits here became much more urbane than that of other places and the decorations on the buildings became more gorgeous too.

"It seems like the east of Extreme Night City is where the nobles and scholars congregate."

Leylin looked at the clusters of flowers on both sides of the road. There was even an outdoor fountain. He could not help but smile as he said to Anna.

Afterward, the two of them came to a white-coloured two storey villa. On the door plate was hung, "Cecelia Main Street, 59".

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Murphy

Leylin rang the doorbell that hung on the door. A crisp ring of a bell could be heard, followed by the noise of scurrying footsteps.

"Hello! May I ask who you are? Do you have an appointment?" A meticulous looking butler appeared in front of Leylin.

"Leylin Farlier, I am here to visit the owner of this villa!" Leylin smiled.

The butler obviously looked distressed as he said, "Sir, as you know, my master, Murphy, is a renowned scholar. His schedule every day is extremely packed, perhaps……"

At this moment, a girl, who seemed like the maid, hurriedly ran over and whispered into the butler's ears.

The butler's complexion immediately changed as he bowed deeply, "Master invites you into the living room!"

Leylin smiled as he retrieved the energy waves he radiated.

Upon entering inside the villa, there was a corridor littered with various art pieces like paintings and exhibited on the faint yellow colored walls were all kinds of oil paintings, and other specimens of art, which were rather pleasing to the eyes.

As the living room came into view, it became quite obvious that it was a spacious house.

The decor in the room was extremely aesthetic. Although there were no dazzling golden or silver items or gems, these pieces had an aura of history and gave off a feeling of understated elegance.

Beside the fireplace in the living room, an old scholar with white brows and beard lounged on a dark red recliner.

The old man's eyes seemed muddy with only occasional traces of intelligence within.

The old man's originally squinted eyes opened upon seeing Leylin. He stood up and spread his arms in an embracing gesture, "Welcome, my young friend!"

Leylin went forward to hug the old man, "It is an honour to be able to meet you! I hope you like this present I brought for you!"

Anna stepped forward and handed over to the butler an extremely exquisite cap.

"I like the tail feathers of the night hawk. They represent peace!" The old man waved his hands, "Lille, you may take your leave, I want to have a good chat with this friend of mine!"

"Take your leave too!" Leylin told Anna who was beside him.

After extending their salutations, the few maids, and the butler left, closing the door behind them. Very soon, there was only Leylin and the old man left in the living room.

"Alright, let's reintroduce ourselves! Murphy, level 3 acolyte! I have been a resident of Extreme Night City for 3 years now……" The old man's eyes showed signs of his reminiscing past events.

"So then, guest from afar, how about you?"

"Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte and wandering Magus. I have recently come to Extreme Night City and wish to reside here for several years." Leylin smiled and executed the bow between Magi.

"I detect signs of youth in your body. Being able to advance into level 2 acolyte at this age, you have a rather great aptitude!" Murphy sighed in admiration.

"I was just lucky……" Leylin demurred. Although the old man's body had degenerated, the energy waves of a level 3 acolyte told anyone that it was not good to provoke him.

"A.I. Chip, initiate scan!"

[Murphy. Strength: 1.5, Agility: 1.4, Vitality: 2.9, Spiritual force: 2.9, Magical Power: 8. Status: Healthy. Evaluation: level 3 acolyte, relatively dangerous!]

The A.I. Chip faithfully relayed the figures onto Leylin's field of vision.

Being a wandering level 3 acolyte, Murphy's array of magic spells definitely surpassed Leylin's. Moreover, he would have some extremely-difficult-to-deal-with trump cards hidden to protect his life.

However, Leylin came with good intentions. From the A.I. Chip's area scan, the number of acolytes residing in Extreme Night City was not high. As for this Murphy, he radiated one of the strongest energy waves.

After exchanging several polite greetings, Leylin delved immediately into the main purpose of his visit.

"So it's like this! I wish to reside permanently in Extreme Night City, and even open an ingredients shop. You know, the procedures are extremely tedious, and I also need a resident to act as my guarantor……"

"So you came here to look for me?" Murphy smiled and drank the cup of red tea that was on the table.

"To be honest, as an ambitious and truth seeking Magus, gold coins and the like should no longer sway us. Although I don't know why you arrived at this conclusion, on a whim perhaps? Or for some other reason? To me, this indeed is a small matter!"

"Coincidentally, I have some friendly relations with the Lord of Extreme Night City. One of his sons is also under my tutelage. Moreover, any city lord will not refuse the request of a Mysterious Entity…… The residential procedures here in Extreme Night City, as well as the shop permit, can all be settled very easily." Murphy guaranteed.

"Then I must really thank you!" Leylin nodded his head, "If there are any areas I could help you with, do not hesitate to ask!"

Although this was said to satisfy the requirements of etiquette, both Leylin and the old man knew that it was mentioned as a mere courtesy.

The handling of residential procedures may be difficult to regular humans. However, for a famous scholar like Murphy, it was only a matter of a few words. Even if Leylin wanted to handle these procedures by himself, he would have to spend more time than the old man.

For both Murphy and Leylin, this matter was simply a means to establish a basic friendship of convenience between them.

"Extreme Night City is a peaceful and quiet place. If you wish to have peaceful days then this place will definitely meet your needs. Later on, I will also introduce you to a few friends of mine. However, there are some set conventional customs that have to be complied with……Don't worry, they are all customary practices, for example, one should not massacre the residents or something like that!"

"I definitely agree!" Leylin's coming to Extreme Night City was to avoid the chaos of war and intrigue. Naturally he would not do anything that would draw attention to himself.

Leylin and Murphy then talked about many Magi related questions, from how to stabilise a spell model for advanced levels to some of Murphy's personal adventures.

Although Murphy was only a level 3 acolyte, his experience was abundant due to having remained at this level for a long time already. This made Leylin feel that the trip was not in vain.

On the other hand, Leylin's vast knowledge and eidetic memory shocked Murphy.

Both of them regretted not having met earlier. They even had their lunch together all the way until dusk before Murphy let Leylin leave. When they bade farewell, they even arranged for their next meeting.

"According to what Murphy said, the magicians in Extreme Night City are all of the acolyte level. As for the few nearby cities, official Magi were also extremely rare making this place very suitable for an acolyte to live in!"

The inquiries he made today caused Leylin to feel at ease, letting him walk at a slower and a more relaxed pace.

"Only regarding this case where plants and wood withered is Murphy completely ignorant. After all, he is already quite old and does not wish to take risks……"

The two street lamps were lit with a dim yellow flame, allowing Leylin to see the road ahead.

Anna followed quietly behind Leylin. Being an outstanding maid, she obviously knew what she had to do, which was not to interrupt Leylin while he was deep in thought.

After Leylin ran through a simulation of his plans one more time, they had both arrived at the inn.

"Young Master!" "Sir!"

Old Welker, Greem, and Fraser came forward to receive them.

Leylin nodded his head, "After dinner all of you come to my room. There are many things I want to inform all of you regarding my future plans!"

Dinner was vegetable salad and mutton soup, followed by huge pieces of dried cookies. After Leylin finished and allowed Anna to clean up, the core people among his subordinates went to Leylin's room.

Leylin sat on a chair wrapped in beast hide and quietly listened to their reports.

"Welker, how was the search for a residence?"

"Young Master, Old Welker has already contacted a Knight who is preparing to move to Sage Province. He is willing to sell a small manor in Extreme Night City to you." Old Welker reported. Despite being an old man, he was brimming with energy after finding them a new home.

"Very good, what is the area like? Is the place enough to house all of us? How much is it?" Leylin asked.

"Please be at ease Young Master. Old Welker, I have gone to the manor and taken a look today. The area was very big and has no problem accommodating a hundred people. Moreover, there is even an oil palm forest, a fish pond, and a mill. Knight Victor originally built it according to a baron's standards. He never thought that it would change ownership this quickly. As for the price, Knight Victor has set it at 5000 gold coins!"

"It's not that expensive, gold coins aren't an issue!" Leylin twined his fingers. To a Magus, such earthly items as gold coins are insignificant. What they were concerned with were only magic crystals, high-grade ingredients, and the acquisition of remnant ancient knowledge.

Leylin had high-grade magic crystals of his own. Any one piece would be able to fetch a price far surpassing this amount of gold coins. However, Leylin was not prepared to do that. After all, magic crystals were rarer. If he really could not get the gold coins, then he would go borrow some from Murphy in exchange for a few potions–which was not a bad idea at all.

"Very well!" Let's take a look tomorrow. If the price and the area are both suitable, we can sign the contract immediately." Leylin nodded his head, saying, "Also, go walk the streets and scout something for me. Recently, the herbs available in Extreme Night City have decreased. There will definitely be many small-sized shops that can no longer manage and are about to close down. Go and look into them first!"

"Forgive me for asking, but Young Master, are you thinking of opening a herb shop? The permit for doing such business has rather strict requirements……" Fayern said.

"Regarding that, none of you have to worry. I have already made arrangements. The permit will be here in a few days."

Hearing this, Fayern and Old Welker were dazed. To be able to guarantee such a thing quite easily, Leylin's identity as a noble had already been confirmed.

"In Poolfield Kingdom, the nobility represents progress and hope!"

With this in mind, their gazes towards Leylin became more fervent.

Fayern silently clenched his fists. Being one of the few who could look ahead, he naturally knew that he could not work as a mercenary for much longer. Most of the mercenaries carried a lot of injuries and scars with to their graves knowing little enjoyment in their typically short lives. However, getting hired by this Sir Leylin as his private army could be the fastest way out of the trade.

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A Banquet

The brilliant rays of the sun lit up the path with a golden light. Walking on it was like walking on a golden, paved road.

Today Leylin had especially changed into formal ceremonial attire. He had Greem personally drive the horse carriage to Murphy's villa.

Similarly, Murphy also wore formal attire and carried a black cane as he waited. After seeing Leylin, his wrinkled face revealed a joyous expression, "Welcome, my friend!"

"My apologies for being a little late!" Leylin opened the window and said.

"The agreed time isn't up yet, I just deliberately got out earlier!" Murphy got into the horse carriage with the help of his servant. With the crack of the whip, Greem drove the horse carriage towards the centre of the city.

"City lord's banquet is to be held today. He invited you too. After all, as the owner, he has developed a curiosity for any guest with strength…" Murphy left his sentence hanging.

"That's understandable!" Leylin answered. As someone who has control over a city, seeking Leylin out only after so many days since he had entered the city was somewhat surprising.

"Are you somewhat bored?" Murphy noticed Leylin's indifference.

"To be honest, I am not adept at these kinds of social interaction. Given a choice, I'd rather stay inside my experiment lab…" Leylin smiled wryly.

"Haha…"Murphy let off a benign laugh, "I felt exactly the same way when I was younger! However, you must learn to enjoy life, young man! Compared to tasteless experiments, delicacies and fervent, unrestrained women can sometimes lead you towards excitement!"

Leylin nodded his head. This was actually the difference between retired magicians and newly advanced ones.

Murphy has no way of advancing in the path of a Magus anymore, so he could only divert his enthusiasm towards other areas. As for Leylin, he still had a lot of options, so he naturally would make use of the time to cultivate–not waste it on such mundane matters.

"Brighten up kid!" There are several comrades I will introduce you to…." Murphy smiled lightly.

"Could they be…?" Leylin's eyes flashed.

"Indeed! They are acolytes like us, and they are all younger than me. You would have some common interests to talk about."

"I'm starting to look forward to this banquet now!" Leylin's lips curled up and smiled.

The city lord's castle was in the heart of Extreme Night City. Standing guard around it were two rows of fully equipped black-armoured arms men.

"Those are the Black Iron Guards of Extreme Night City's Lord, Viscount Jackson. They once defeated a 500-man army troop with roughly hundred men.

After alighting the horse carriage, Murphy introduced Leylin.

Leylin looked around. There were several other horse carriages in the vicinity. From time to time, gentlemen in lavish attire and ladies in low-cut ball gowns got down.

Murphy appeared to have quite a reputation amongst this circle of nobles based on the exuberant greetings Murphy happily responded to. They even chatted for a while before moving on.

Upon seeing Murphy, the guard at the door ran in immediately. Not long after, an extremely loud voice boomed from within.

"Murphy, my friend! You have finally arrived!" Accompanying the voice, a burly middle-aged man walked out of the castle. The nobles and troops around respectfully greeted him. This apparently was Viscount Jackson of Extreme Night City.

Leylin's height in the South Coast area was considered average, but this Viscount Jackson was actually taller than him by two heads. He had the classic western features and an extremely wide forehead. He even had extremely long sideburns.

Jackson gave Murphy a firm hug, "Little Jackson has always been asking about you!"

"I too miss that cute fellow. He is one of the smartest amongst all my students!" Murphy said.

"This is a good friend of mine from far away, Sire Leylin Farlier!" Murphy introduced Leylin to Viscount Jackson.

"Extreme Night City welcomes you!" Jackson sized up Leylin, and opened his broad shoulders, giving Leylin a hug.

Leylin's smile was somewhat stiff, which he quickly concealed.

Right at that moment, he was completely distracted by the stats shown by the A.I. Chip.

[Jackson. Strength: 7.9, Agility: 4.5, Vitality: 6.3, Spiritual force: 3.5. State: Healthy. This human is deemed as dangerous, it is strongly suggested that the Host maintain a distance of 50 metres from this person.]

"These stats can only belong to a Grand Knight!" Leylin's pupils shrank.

"The vitality of Grand Knights is extremely high. And, after constant activation and stimulation of their internal life energy, they have surpassed the bottleneck that held back most humans. Moreover, they have also developed a slight resistance to rank 0 spells." Leylin recalled a description he had read before.

"Very well! You should be a Knight too, right?" Lord Jackson was slightly astonished by Leylin's strength, and he looked upon Leylin now in a friendlier light.

"I only recently advanced, and am nowhere close to you!"

Leylin said humbly and ordered the A.I. Chip, "A.I. Chip! Show me a simulation if I were to fight against this city lord Jackson."

[Beep! Establishing parameters, inputting data, simulating battle scenario, predicting outcome….]

A large light screen flashed continuously, and the results: [Battle simulation complete. 50 metres and beyond, Host win rate is 89.8%. Between 20 to 50 metres, Host win rate is 58.7%. Below 20 metres, Host win rate is 33.9%!]

"As expected, the physical power of Grand Knights is extremely astounding. They are capable of closing the distance before a magician can cast a spell. If magicians do not try to stay out of range, they would be on the short end of the stick!"

Leylin's expression did not change as he walked together with Murphy into the castle's hall.

It was obvious that the large hall had been decorated for the occasion. The marbled floor was so smooth that it reflected the figures of people walking around on it.

A huge golden chandelier hung from the centre of the large hall. It was densely packed with lighted candles that shone through the surrounding coloured crystals letting out a colourful light.

At the side of this huge hall, was an orchestra of musicians wearing swallowtail coats and performing a slow enjoyable tune.

The area filled with long tables covered in white cloth. On these tables were gold and silver platters with various fruits and barbecued meat. On the side, there were even flasks and silver flagons, which emitted the strong aroma of wine.

Right in the centre was a huge open space where many of the nobility were waltzing to the music.

"It seems like a ball with a buffet on the side!" Leylin nodded his head.

"Go enjoy yourself! I'll have to say hello to a few old friends!" Murphy said to Leylin.

"Please do!" Leylin gestured with his head in assent. He then picked up a cup of grape wine and sat on a nearby sofa.

Not long after, he spotted Murphy together with a number of coquettish women in revealing outfits. They even entered a small side room, which made him rather speechless.

"He's so old and he still wants to pretend to be rather strong, can he even make it?"

"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" Just as Leylin was thinking such indecent thoughts, an elegant voice sounded beside him.

Leylin raised his head and saw a young lady wearing a purple gown. She a head of golden hair that fell to her shoulders like a waterfall; even her skin was a milky white.

Looking around, Leylin discovered that there was no one else near him. Leylin was quite good looking and kept himself well groomed, which naturally attracted a few young ladies.

"Of course, I don't mind!" Leylin smiled lightly and chatted happily with the young lady.

To him, the combination of his memories from a previous life and the memories of this body's previous owner made making a little girl happy an easy task.

Not long after, the young lady was completely enraptured by Leylin's made-up stories.

"Haha…Haha, running naked on the street? He actually did that?" The young lady completely lost her earlier elegance; she laughed almost uproariously without much of her former delicate demeanor. This drew a lot of curious stares from the people close by.

"Sorry to interrupt you Leylin! However, our friends are here!"

Murphy followed closely by several noble women with whom he had just tangled violently, walked over. Surprisingly, his attire was still extremely neat and tidy, which left Leylin rather shocked.

"Alright, I have to go!" Leylin made a helpless gesture and rose from the sofa.

"This…Sir! After talking for so long, I haven't asked for your name yet?" The young lady slapped her forehead.

"Leylin Farlier, just call me Leylin!"

"I…I'm Alicia, my house is located at Cecelia Main Street, 34. You're welcomed to come over to play anytime!"

"Haha, I never thought that you might be so sought after by ladies huh!" After the both of them left, Murphy made fun of Leylin.

"It's only a young lady who likes to listen to stories. Have they arrived?" Leylin asked.

"They're all here, followed me!"

Murphy said, and brought Leylin to a small room beside the dance hall.

There were several acolytes already waiting in the room. Leylin could sense that their energy waves made them either level 1 or level 2 acolytes.

Murphy obviously had the highest standing in this circle. When he entered, the acolytes all stood up to receive him.

"Alright!" Murphy swept his gaze around, "Let me introduce all of you to a new comrade! Leylin, he came from the west…."

After Leylin's self-introduction was over, he could not help but ask Murphy, "Would a gathering like this cause an issue?"

"No worries, Jackson has reared some Beastmen and their noses are more sensitive than a dog's. He already knew of our identities long ago. It's just that all of us do not mention it explicitly!"

An acolyte with acne spoke, picking up a silver flagon and drinking from it from time to time.

"Oh! Mayflower, my Mayflower!" At this moment, a guy's heavy panting sounded.

"Oh! Baby! So hot, so good!" A woman's murmuring groans followed soon after.

It seems like there was a couple in ardent passion in the room next door.

Black lines formed on Murphy's face. He promptly swung his hand and a faint energy membrane enveloped the room isolating the noise of the outside world. "This is an accident, an accident!" His old face actually reflected his embarrassment.

Leylin wanted to faint, and there was a voice that repeatedly echoed in his mind. "Alright! I really shouldn't harbour any hope toward this group of acolytes. They are all just a bunch of trash that has completely lost their motivation and prudence!"

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Recording

Of course, on the surface, Leylin continued to pretend that he was naive as he began to converse in a friendly and amicable manner with this group of acolytes.

After the ball ended, the various horse carriages from different families set off. In a secret chamber within the city lord's castle, the Viscount Jackson that Leylin saw today was talking to his subordinate.

"Is it confirmed?"

"I have detected the smell of a Mysterious Entity on his body. It has also been confirmed that he is extremely young!" The person who replied was draped in black robes; tufts of yellow fur could be glimpsed growing on his face.

"He is different from those befuddled acolytes. I do not think he will be retiring at such a young age. No matter if he is hiding from enemies or is concealing some other motive, his appearance is not good news for us!" A worried expression flickered through Jackson's steely face.

"Please pardon my forthrightness! Although we are able to deal with a Mysterious Entity right now, if we draw the ire of the rest of them, then whatever gains we achieve would not make up for the losses we may incur!"

The Half-Beast Man said slowly.

"Indeed!" Jackson became quiet for some time before giving out an order, "Do not incur the wrath of the other party, but never let him out of your sight!"

"I understand!" The Half-Beast Man disappeared into the darkness….

Ever since the ball, Leylin's agenda progressed extremely quickly. First, he borrowed 4500 gold coins from Murphy to buy the villa.

Afterward, through the search done by Old Welker, Leylin chose a medicine shop that was about to close down but had a good geographic position. He took over it and obtained the shop permit.

With the unexpected enthusiastic help from the city lord's castle, many procedures were actually settled in a matter of days.

Of course, Leylin discovered a few spies loitering around the medicine shop and the villa. However, these secretive parties exercised restraint against Leylin, and only made basic surveillance measures, not insinuating their influence onto Leylin's people. So, Leylin was not too bothered by their presence either.

Through Murphy, he hired a few pharmacists. Once the minimum standards for managing the medicine shop were met, he then completely handed over the reins to his core personnel and buried himself in his magic experiments.

After some renovation, the Knight's villa looked even newer than when it was brand new.

Previously, the Knight stayed in a three storey high, white-brick loft. Now, Leylin chose the few really big rooms for his private use.

The largest of these was used as his bedroom while the rooms on both sides served as a study room and an experiment lab. After putting in place a few detection spells he had learned at Abyssal Bone Forest Academy as an early warning grid, he passed down strict orders to his subordinates that without his order, no one was access to these rooms.

As for Greem and Fraser, they were posted near the master bedroom, as guards.

Fayern and other mercenaries were all given guard duty that rotated between the villa and the medicine shop. Leylin also gave out notices that serious and hardworking people may purchase small tracts of land on his property in 3 years later, permanent residence being a possibility for qualified persons or families. This was a very strong motivation for normal mercenaries and farmers.

Occasionally, Leylin looked through the windows and saw the serious hardworking serious mercenaries and farmers at work.

Because he always stayed at the villa, apart from the occasional visit to Murphy's place, he rarely even went to the medicine shop. The rumors that were slowly spreading outside gained Leylin the reputation of a benevolent yet lazy villa owner.

"Young Master! The people from the medicine shop are here!" Anna's voice travelled through the door.

"Let them drop off the items in the living room and get Greem to move them to the experiment lab!" Leylin used his fingers to tap on the window pane, letting off a dull thudding noise.

"Your wish is my command!" The voice very soon was replaced with noises of things being moved about.

A dozen minutes later, Leylin came to the experiment lab.

Right now, the originally spacious experiment was littered with crates and a few wooden long tables. There were no windows in the room, and only a chandelier hung from the ceiling emitting a dim glow.

"Young Master! According to your orders, the medicine shop has acquired for you every type of herb that can be found in the market."

Anna lifted her dress and curtseyed. She turned around and opened a red wooden crate revealing stacks of tied roots and stems, as well as many other herbs of indeterminate quantity and type. On the side of each stack or bundle was stuck a yellow paper note indicating the names of these herbs.

"Also, these are all the formulas that normal pharmacists own. They are only to normal humans.

Anna handed over yet another stack of dark yellow parchment notes.

Leylin's eyes skimmed over these and placed the list on one of the long tables.

"All of you may leave! Anna, stay behind!" Leylin waved towards Greem and his assistants.

Greem bowed and strode through the large heavy door, closing it behind him.

With a huge clang, the experiment lab's lighting turned even dimmer.

Leylin's brows furrowed. He took out a white coloured rock from his sack.

He then pressed his fingers lightly on the rock and a layer of bright white light radiated from it.

This was a Sunlight Rock. It is an item that magicians normally use during their travels. Slight radiation energy is contained in it that can let out a bright light for a prolonged period of time.

However, this radiation was extremely small and could only be used for illumination.

"This is much brighter than before!" Leylin was very satisfied as he looked at his well-lit surroundings. He then said to Anna, "Store the herbs well, and arrange them in an orderly fashion on the experiment table!"

"Yes." Anna hurried with her task.

Leylin casually picked up a purple coloured fruit. This fruit was the size of a thumb It had lost all the water contained on its surface, thus its wrinkly exterior. Its weight was extremely light too.

"According to the medicine books delivered yesterday, this is the Warter Fruit, a type of fruit that grows in swamps."

Leylin placed a finger on the surface of the fruit, "A.I. Chip! Extract data and save it in your databanks!"

Right now he no longer had to ingest the herbs. He could determine their medicinal properties with a mere touch.

[Beep! Data extraction in progress!]

In Leylin's field of vision, the A.I. Chip overlaid a light blue screen, with many numbers and figures that changed constantly.

[Name: Warter Fruit. The area produced: Swamps. Uses: Mild poisonous properties with a numbing effect. Data stored!]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned before a second had gone by.

"Very good. Again!" Leylin picked up another dried stem.

This was one of the reasons why Leylin had opened a medicine shop. Through his years of being an apprentice under Kroft, he recorded almost all the herbs used by Potioneering Masters, storing it into the A.I. Chip's data banks.

However, those were special ingredients used by the Magi. As for herbs used by normal people, the A.I. Chip had no record of them. He now had to fill these missing bits of information.

Moreover, Leylin obtained two ancient potion formulas from his mentor and wanted to find substitutes for them. This could only be accomplished through innumerable experimentation and the consumption of huge amounts of precious and rare herbs. Even if Leylin had the A.I. Chip, he could not get around this step in the process.

With such a vast undertaking, Leylin could see no end to the task at hand even if he expended all his magic crystals.

However, if some ingredients could be substituted with herbs used by normal humans, he could economise by a huge margin.

"Although this might just be a daydream, the advantage was the potential savings a successful substitution promised. No matter how many experiments, it would still be considered a favorable exchange. Thus, by utilising the terrifying processing capabilities of the A.I. Chip, there is a glimmer of hope.

Leylin's gaze was resolute, "Anyway, no matter how many ingredients I consume, they are just ingredients used by normal humans. I only need to spend some gold coins to be able to buy them again. This is much better than spending magic crystals!"

As for the investigation he commissioned, it had long since been tossed to the back of Leylin's mind.

After all, there were still two odd years of time and as long as he fully carried it out within these two years his mission would be counted as accomplished.

Even if the mission were to fail, because Kroft was his teacher, the worst punishment would be a fine a few magic crystals. Hence, Leylin was not the least bit worried.

Time slowly passed, and the experiment lab became quiet. There were only the occasional scraping noises Anna made when placing herbs on the table.

Two days later, only Leylin remained in the lab. His face had a happy glow to it.

[3217 types of herbs successfully stored in the databank. Would you like to create a separate folder?]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"No! Combine them with the earlier record we made of some normal ingredients, establish a folder using the name "Compendium of ordinary ingredients"! Leylin ordered.

[Folder created…transferring relevant simulation models into the databank]

"Alright, next will be an analysis of the various combinations of medicinal properties. This is a huge project, even with the simulation I must still carry out experiments to verify the actual data and increase the probability of getting the results I desire."

Leylin thought.

"Young Master, it's time for dinner." Anna's muted voice sounded through the door.

"Okay, I'm coming out." When it was time to work, he worked; and when it was time to rest, he rested. This was his principle for living. He would seldom do things like neglect food and rest to conduct more experiments, unlike other magicians.

To him, along the path of pursuing truth, appropriate rest was allowed.

Leylin smiled and tidied up the experiment table before leaving the lab.

"When I am conducting important experiments, I will hang a sign on the door. At that time, do not interrupt me no matter how many days I stay inside. Do you understand?" Leylin told Anna who was serving him.

"I'll do as you bid, Young Master."

"And what's for dinner?" Leylin walked towards one side of the room. Although many masters practiced eating some meals together with their subordinates, this did not fit the customs of the Magi. So Leylin ate alone most of the time.

Several plates of food covered with hemispherical cloche tableware were arranged on a serving platter and placed on a small, round and white-colored table.

"It's veal with purple vegetable soup and apple strawberry pie!" Anna said lightly, lifted the cover. A strong appetising aroma permeated the air.

"Not bad!" Leylin nodded his head as he let Anna place a napkin around his neck. He picked up the knife and dinner fork and began to eat.

"Also, remember to remind me tomorrow to set aside an hour of my time every day for Knight training!"

Leylin said to Anna, having suddenly recalled something. He had already ignited his internal life energy. As a Knight, he only needed to train some more to get his various stats above 3. Although Leylin planned to walk the path of a Magus, he had nothing to lose by increasing his stats.

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Hove Violet Leaves

The cold winter breeze was blowing and a bone-piercing chill permeated the air.

On a small field, Leylin was practising his cross-blade techniques while half-naked.

The muscles on his chest had become more defined. Although not very prominent, they were very robust, exuding a sense of vitality.

Forward! Uppercut! Pierce! Every move was a flawless, textbook-perfect execution.

After Leylin finished his training, Anna– who was observing from the side– hurriedly ran forward and handed him a white towel.

Leylin dried his sweat and called his stats onto his visual field.

[Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte, Knight. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.2, Spiritual force: 4.7, Magical Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

"A.I. Chip, what is the progress from today's training?"

[Assessment in progress! Host's internal life energy has been raised to the maximum, further increase is not possible at the moment!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"This day has finally arrived!" Leylin exclaimed, "Being able to maximize these stats was already good enough. Even if I were to spend more time, I will not necessarily gain anything more. From now on his Knight training could be put on hold. After all, I just need to practice my blade skills in the future, so they don't get rusty. With the A.I. Chip, this is no challenge at all."

After the early morning Knight training ended, Leylin took a brief respite and waited until he was fully recovered before burying his head in more experiments.

Within the lab, Leylin placed a violet leaf into a beaker and added to it one spatula of a green-black, ink-like solution. He then lit a flame underneath the beaker.

The bright yellow fire continuously licked the bottom of the beaker, and purple bubbles began to froth.

"A.I. Chip! Record this down. Test 145, items of substitution: Hove Violet Leaves, Ninuo Root."

[Record complete.] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned as it recorded in detail the various medicinal properties and reactions obtained through the experiment.

In this span of time, Leylin had already conducted more than a hundred experiments and made use of the A.I. Chip's simulation feature over tens of thousands of times.

"This is the moment! I have a very strong premonition that it'll be successful this time."

As he murmured to himself, Leylin glanced at the volatile, green- and purple-coloured mixture.

Using normal human herbs as ingredients to synthesize the medicinal properties of magic herbs just seemed to be a fantasy, besides there were countless hurdles to overcome.

Although these experiments required ingredients that could be bought with gold coins, some magic ingredients were still needed to catalyse certain aspects of the experiment.

These were all magic ingredients that Leylin had acquired from the Magus Market. He had now almost used up all of them all.

Without the A.I. Chip simulating a large proportion of his experiments, Leylin's rate of consumption would far outstrip his current rate.

Synthesizing a few important ingredients could already dry up Leylin's resources.

* Crash! *

The violet leaf in the beaker completely dissolved and the green coloured liquid became more translucent.

"This is it!" Leylin eyes widened. He picked up a glass rod and stirred in a counterclockwise direction at the same time extending a thread of spiritual force carefully into the contents of the beaker through the glass rod.

As the seconds became minutes, Leylin's face grew more and more solemn. A few beads of sweat even began to form on his forehead.

* Ding Ling Ling! * A crisp ringing sounded from the beaker. At the heart of the faint green liquid, many black wormlike dots appeared and began continuously extending themselves in all directions.

Leylin's expression did not change and his hands were as quick as a phantom, as he took a red-coloured pearl– lying on a petri dish nearby– and added it to the ongoing reaction.

* Pi Pa! * As the pearl was tossed inside, the black dots in the beaker quickly retreated and the faint green liquid became fainter and fainter, completely turning transparent.

[Beep! Azure Potion main ingredient substitution succeeded! Assessed as capable of standing in for 45.8% of the main ingredient's medicinal properties.]

This prompt was extremely pleasing to Leylin's ears.

"After combining several conjectures into tens of thousands of the A.I. Chip's simulations, I have finally succeeded!" A corner of Leylin's lips quirked up into a smile and he clenched his fist tightly.

At the same time, Leylin deeply lamented about the fact even though he was a Potioneering Master, it was difficult to modify formulas.

He had the original formula, and the A.I. Chip to run simulations for him. This saved a lot of time and ingredients. Even so, he took this long to successfully modify the formula. Instead, if it was his Senior Merlin, he might not even be able to afford the cost of the ingredients, and that also true for the powerful family that supported him behind the scenes.

Squandering precious ingredients for a gamble with a chance of less than one in ten thousand was simply illogical to the typical Magus.

Moreover, during the process of experimentation, each failure would be an agonizing psychological burn that would singe the psyche of a Potioneering Master, day and night. If one could actually change the formula, then that would be out of pure luck, even for Potioneering Grandmasters who had abundant experiences and skill.

However, once the formula was changed, it would lead to huge profits, especially for a potion that could raise spiritual force.

"A.I. Chip! If I were to substitute the original ingredients, how much will the retained effect be?"

[Comparison in progress. Databank information is insufficient. Establishing conjecture. Simulating…Beep! The new formula will retain roughly 35.4% of the original's effectiveness.]

"This is on the low side, but I have no choice. The substituted ingredients are mainly normal ones even commoners can obtain. Quantity can compensate whatever is lacking in quality."

Leylin analysed the pros and cons of the new Azure Potion, "Based on this, the price could be in excess of 100,000 magic crystals. A pity, this formula was achieved with my current stats. For other people, the effect would be extremely hard to predict. Moreover, the procedures are extremely complicated and some steps are impossible to do without the A.I. Chip. Other Potioneering Masters, will definitely fail many times when brewing this potion."

In fact, it was clear to Leylin that even if he became an official Magus, once others became aware of this formula, he would not be able to hold onto it. After all, the ingredients for this new spiritual force formula could be bought in mass amounts. It would be game-changing for the lower levels of the various academies and factions. None of them would willingly let go of such an opportunity.

After making up his mind, he burned the formula completely into his memory. The potions he would brew would only be for personal consumption. Leylin then tidied up all traces of his experiments, before stepping through the door of the experiment lab.

"Young Master." Anna, who was dozing on a chair nearby, got up in a hurry.

"Housekeeper Welker has been looking for you for two hours. There appears to be some crisis at the medicine shop!"

"Oh? Let him come to my study after dinner!" Leylin took off the soiled, sterile robe designed especially for his experiments and changed into more casual soft clothing.

"Apart from Welker, are there any other recent incidents?"

Leylin lounged on a nearby sofa. On the table beside it were purple grape-like fruits and some red berries, which Leylin usually liked to eat.

"Knight Fraser came over earlier and said that the reward mission you commissioned has some developments!"

Although Leylin did not give a high priority to the academy's mission, some superficial work still had to be done. He, thus, issued a mission notice to the mercenaries and adventurers of Extreme Night City to scout the situation within the depths of the Dark Night Woods, the reward being 1000 gold pieces. It seems that the mission notice was beginning to bear fruit.

After dinner, Leylin received Old Welker and Fraser in his study.

Fraser wore leather armour and was as robust as ever. As for Old Welker, he looked careworn and his body had hunched over.

Old Welker bowed towards Leylin, "Respected Young Master, our earnings from the medicine shop this month is…."

"No need for that!" Leylin leaned against the study table behind him and waved his hands interrupting Old Welker's speech, "Pass down instructions to buy all Hove Violet Leaves, Ninuo Roots, and Three Flowered Snake Fruits…."

"Then Young Master, how many of them are we buying?"

"All!"

"All?" Old Welker raised his head and looked at Leylin in astonishment.

"That's right. The three ingredients that I've stated, you must buy all of them in the market, and store them at the villa." Leylin remained indifferent as he said this.

"But…may I remind the Young Master, the medicine shop business is not doing well, together with the herbs that Young Master purchased from time to time, our balance books right now are already in a precarious state…." If not for the villa forking out gold coins all the time, the shop would have been bankrupt by now– this was something, though, that Old Welker did not dare to voice out so he kept it to himself.

"I know that, but you must remember this. If the gold coins are not sufficient, you may take more from Anna. These purchases must not be discontinued. These are my standing orders." Leylin steepled his fingers. Although he was approximately 15 years old, he could apparently impose his will.

"Al….Alright! I got it." A layer of cold sweat beaded Old Welker's forehead. He immediately bowed then left.

He was not the same as Anna and the three men who were aware of Leylin's identity. It was only natural that he was a little apprehensive about the way Leylin handled financial matters.

However, for Leylin, the only reason he set up a household was to serve his own purposes and to help him with miscellaneous tasks such as the collection of ingredients. So the loss of some gold coins was no big deal.

Anything and everything was to pave the way for his progress to become a Magus. Everything else was a nuisance.

"Although I have walked the path of a Magus, it is just to obtain freedom and a worry-free life. It is a pity, though, that my current strength is far from enough."

Leylin sighed deeply. He appeared to have become a person of consequence within Extreme Night City, largely owing to his having a villa and servants. However, for Magi, such things were illusory soap bubbles that could completely vanish with a gentle tap.

The collateral damage of a battle between any two official Magi would definitely be a deadly situation for the current Leylin.

What was the point of fleeting comfort when life or death was not entirely guaranteed?

"More importantly, if the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was totally defeated, then Sage Gotham's Hut would perhaps classify all of the faculty and students of the academy as fugitives. I would have to abandon everything and flee."

"In this chaotic era, only one's own strength can ensure freedom."

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Brey Canyon

After Old Welker left, only Leylin and Fraser remained in the room.

The Knight knew of Leylin's status as a magician, so Leylin's attitude was a little more lax too.

Half lying on the recliner, Leylin's eyes squinted, "What is the update on the withering woods?"

Fraser lowered his head to signify his respect, as he said, "Respected Young Master, according to your orders, I sent many scouts out to reconnoiter the withering woods. At the price of 1 dead and 2 seriously injured, I finally uncovered some clues."

Recent events at the withering woods had led to a direct decrease in herb harvesting. As of this moment, several huge factions had also sent scouts with the same intent. But even after having sent many scouts, they were all ambushed.

According to a few eyewitnesses, they had suffered from some ridiculous attacks from a black entity within the woods. So far, it was only known that that entity was an extremely swift monster. Apart from that description, nothing else was known.

"Go on." Leylin's voice was extremely calm.

"One bandit was finally able to see clearly what that monster looked like, during one of its ambushes. This is the sketch he drew."

The Knight handed over a sketch to Leylin.

Leylin took a look. On the sketch paper was a kind of four-legged, snake-like creature. Its body was littered with scales, it had a forked tongue, and on its crown was a small horn.

"What else did the bandit say?" Leylin asked.

"He said that this creature was about two metres in length. Its whole body was a yellowish-brown and it was extremely fast." Fraser added.

"It had such an appearance?" Leylin said as hurriedly recalled an illustrated handbook of unusual creatures he had seen back at the academy, "It's rather similar to the Blue Lizard, but the colour is not right. It also appears to be similar to a snake-type!"

"However, the fact that a few scouts were able to escape shows that this creature is not very dangerous. A level 2 acolyte should be able to deal with it." Leylin calmed down.

At the moment, though, he still did not have any intention of settling this personally. Apart from the potion experiments entering a crucial stage, the withering woods event had not been investigated fully. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Leylin would not risk his life for unknown dangers.

"Pass these orders down. No matter who, as long as they can capture or slay this creature, I will reward them with 2000 gold pieces! Also, any materials from the creature, be it scales, blood, skin or horn, I will give an additional 200 gold pieces for them."

Leylin said blandly.

"Yes, Milord, allow me to issue these mission orders." Fraser bowed.

"Go." Leylin waved his hands. Fraser bowed again before striding off.

Three days later, east of Extreme Night City, in a small canyon.

Leylin wore black robes and walked on the mountainous path along the canyon. Against a person like him with all of the stats above 3, these obstructions were not an issue at all. He trotted on as if taking a leisurely walk in his backyard.

Behind him followed an armoured Greem, who also wore a mask with his helmet to conceal his appearance.

"We're here! Brey Canyon Market!" Leylin said softly as he felt the energy waves fluctuating in the vicinity.

This market was on the map that Bicky had given to Leylin. It was situated close to Extreme Night City and served as a resource exchange point. Previously when Leylin chose the mission, part of his intent was to visit this market.

"Halt!" A girl's voice rang. Leylin turned towards the direction of the voice. He discovered a little girl, riding a mountain goat, moving towards them.

The mountain goat's four hooves skipped and hopped along the cliff. It actually moved very quickly, reaching Leylin's side in a few moments.

"You are a magician?" The little girl sized up Leylin and asked indifferently.

"Yes, I am a wandering magician. I wish to enter the market. This is my servant!" Leylin pointed to Greem behind him.

"This servant's strength has already reached that of a Knight's? You're strong!" The little girl gave a thumbs up, "The fee is 1 magic crystal each for you and your servant. If you think that's expensive then he can wait outside."

"No need for that!" Leylin took out 2 magic crystals and handed it over to the girl.

"I wish to know where in this canyon I can obtain the latest information!" Leylin asked casually.

"You're new here, aren't you? In here, I have the most updated news!" The little girl smugly tilted her head up and her face had an expression that said, "You may beg me for it."

Leylin was rather speechless. From the A.I. Chip's scan, this little girl was a level 3 acolyte. Her strength was actually higher than Murphy's. She was definitely no longer a youth, appearances aside. It was hard to figure out why she maintained the countenance of a child.

"Could this respected guardian tell me what the price would be in order to obtain some news?" Leylin bowed slightly.

"You are rather pleasing to my eyes, so 1 news item in return for 1 magic crystal!" The little girl put on an expression that looked as if she thought highly of Leylin.

"Alright then!" Leylin smiled wryly and handed over a magic crystal.

"What is the progress of the war at Abyssal Bone Forest Academy?"

"Recently, magicians who bought news from me have also enquired about this." The little girl scratched her head, "According to the latest updates from yesterday, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy still persists due to their reliance on their magic spell formation. acolyte fatalities have not been low, however.

Upon saying this, the little girl murmured, "Calm down! Calm down! The war's conflagration will not extend to here. There aren't even that many reliable resource points in this place, so how can it attract the attention of the academies. Only acolytes might come here occasionally."

"I know that. Then do you know the reason for this war?" Leylin handed yet another magic crystal.

The little girl hurriedly took it, "Who knows? It seemed to be for a sceptre or some jewel…."

"So it's like this!" Leylin nodded his head, indicating he had nothing more to ask.

"Young man, I hope you find what you need in this canyon, without any problems!" The little girl waved her hands and patted the goat she rode. It resumed its hopping, and very soon they disappeared from his sight and into the canyon.

"Let us also go in!" Leylin said to Greem behind him.

Coming to the canyon this time, Leylin was on an extremely tight schedule. A number of his experiments have reached a crucial stage. The modified Azure Potion formula was also nearing completion.

It was a pity that some of the magic ingredients he stockpiled before had been depleted. He, thus, had no choice but to venture from his home.

"Soon! I only need to complete the supplementary ingredients, and then begin to try brewing the Azure Potion. By then my spiritual force, which has been slowly increasing, will receive a huge boost!" Leylin eyes seemed to glow with fire.

Following the narrow route along the precipice, Leylin carefully entered the depths of the ravine. In this resource exchange point, the stores were all set up within the holes that dotted the cliff, a little like the caves of primitive men.

Leylin walked into a potions shop called "Langford's Potions". The cave was extremely dark, only a few rocks radiating green light illuminated it.

These rocks seemingly made every item inside the cave emanate a green glow making the scene look extremely gloomy.

"Hehehe! What do you want?" A dark and sorrowful laughter could be heard.

From behind the counter, an old dwarf walked out. His face was full of wrinkles, was bald and most of his teeth had fallen off too.

"I require 20 standard servings each of Tendril Leaves, Water Crystal Fruits and Dragon-Eyed Grapeseed!"

Leylin enunciated slowly.

"Oh!" The old dwarf stood rooted to the floor not moving, "These are all potion ingredients and their prices will not be ordinary! Are you a Potioneering Master?"

"That does not seem to concern you in any way." Leylin's brows furrowed, this old geezer's attitude made him rather displeased.

"Young man! Could it be that no one taught you to respect the elderly?" The dwarf geezer smiled and the pupils of his eyes seemed to swirl continuously.

[Warning! Warning! The target's body is radiating magical energy waves!] The A.I. Chip's alert sounded.

Greem who was behind Leylin fell without making a sound.

"Damn it!" Leylin cursed. A few acolytes and even official Magi, because of getting injured while advancing or due to being contaminated by radiation from experimenting, caused them to become mentally unstable. They often exhibited craziness. Obviously, Leylin met one such today.

According to the A.I. Chip's scan, the dwarf opposite him was a level 2 acolyte, but his spiritual force was much higher than Leylin's.

The magical power in Leylin's body circulated, allowing him to escape from the old geezer's spell, "An Illusionary spell? Doesn't seem like it! It should be some passive spell if it's like this!"

Leylin's robes shook, and a fire red potion was now in his hands. His whole body let off a very dangerous feeling.

"Hahaha…Just like this! Just like this! Death is beautiful, and is descending upon us soon!" The dwarf geezer laughed manically and danced in joy.

"This person has gone completely crazy!" Leylin got ready to throw the explosive potion in his hands, and to find an escape route.

He did not want to engage in a broil with a madman without cause nor reason. Besides, winning will not net him any gains.

"That's enough, Langford!" Just when the dwarf geezer was preparing another spell, a voice travelled over. It was the guardian, the voice of the little girl who rode the mountain goat.

"Marissa! I've had enough of you!" The dwarf geezer howled loudly, and he made an incantation. Black coloured smoke congealed in his hands forming a massive black ball.

The surrounding shelves that held various ingredients were on the verge of collapse under the energy waves emitted by the black ball.

"Damn it! Langford's time is here again. Which one of you can help me?" The little girl's voice travelled over again, this time sounding rather exasperated.

"Foos!" "Ocker!"

Two extremely short incantations travelled over and gave Leylin a shock, "They're all level 3 acolytes! I heard that not only can the spiritual force of level 3 acolytes support a few rank 0 spells, they have also grasped the technique of phrase casting, which shortens incantations to a few syllables achieving near instantaneous casting."

After the few syllables were cast, many green vines appeared within the cave. Some of the huge vines held Langford's hands and feet together.

Langford roared continuously. He prepared to toss the black-coloured smoke ball out.

At that moment, a red coloured arrow ripped through the air and flew directly at the heart of the ball.

* Poof! * The surroundings let off a light ring as the black smoke and the red arrow continued to counteract each other before finally disappearing into nothingness.

"A positive energy arrow." Leylin's pupils contracted, "The level 3 acolyte who struck from the outside, no matter their battle ability or spell comprehension, they have far surpassed me!"

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Modified Potion

"What are you guys doing? Put me down quickly!"

At this moment, Langford, who was trapped, transformed rapidly.

The maniacal look on his face vanished, and his eyes showed sanity. The originally bald head had grown a large amount of green hair that quickly extended to his ankles.

"Look his hair is already growing, it seems like he has regained his sanity!" The little girl's voice rang out and the green vines were retracted.

"Langford! You actually did not master anticipating when your episodes of insanity would trigger. You even broke the rules of the canyon by startling our customer! You better obtain our guest's forgiveness. Otherwise, you will be chased out of this place!"

Two voices gradually left, and Leylin did not see the other two level 3 acolytes, even after the battle had ended. Moreover, even the interior of the cave remained unharmed.

Upon noticing that something was amiss, the dwarf hurriedly bowed before Leylin, "My apologies, Sir! Due to some mental strain, there are times when I'm unable to control myself. I hope you will allow me to make amends for the inconvenience I caused."

Langford was a little dispirited, "Earlier I really thought I had the timing down. Alas, I never anticipated that it would flare up more often than before, who knows if I really have to move out…."

Leylin too did not know how to react in this situation. He could only say, "Then please wake my servant up. Also, hurry and bring the ingredients I requested!"

"Of course!" The dwarf geezer dragged his long shaggy hair and stood in front of Greem. He lifted Greem's eyelid to have a look, "Your servant has only fainted temporarily. He will recover after a short rest!"

He then took some brown coloured powder from his robes and made Greem swallow them. Not long after, the burly fellow woke up.

Langford then brought out a small box and handed it to Leylin, "To compensate for your trouble. Furthermore, I can give you a 50% discount!"

"…" Leylin was a little speechless, but he still handed the magic crystals to the geezer and gave the box to Greem for him to carry before he bade farewell.

As they said their goodbyes, Langford bowed deeply again, "If you still wish to trade with me, please remember, only when my hair has grown past my ankle, will I be in a period of sanity. The rest of the time, avoid me for the time being.

Leylin nodded his head and left the canyon with Greem.

Originally, he was in a mood to browse around. However, after this incident, he had completely lost interest. Who knew if there were other crazy people in this canyon.

The path of a Magus is treacherous, each failure in advancement–be it through an experiment or as a side effect of spell radiation–can cause irreversible damage to those involved, even costing them their lives sometimes.

Adding prolonged longevity and immense power, over time a Magus' character would undergo some kind of change; some may even develop mental problems.

Leylin thought of Langford and the two level 3 acolytes who had rendered their assistance. The feeling they gave Leylin was completely different from that of the acolytes of Extreme Night City.

To put things in perspective, it was like a pack of wolves against lambs.

"It seems like real magicians very seldom prefer to stay around humans, and they predominantly stay in rural areas.

Seeing the might of those two level 3 acolytes today made Leylin somewhat more zealous, "Once I have successfully brewed the Azure Potion, I too can quickly advance to that level!"

In the lab, under the brilliant light, Leylin took and stared at a test tube from the table. It continuously bubbled with blue froth.

With extremely firm hands, he shook it according to a mysterious rhythm.

The blue bubbles in the test tube continued to froth upwards then vanish as it reached the brim.

[The reaction in the potion has become extremely stable, and is estimated to exceed the threshold in 3 Minutes 24 Seconds!] The A.I. Chip's observation alerted.

After reporting this condition, a timer at a bottom corner of Leylin's visual field started the countdown.

When the countdown reached 0, Leylin immediately used the ancient Byron language and muttered an incantation, "This is the azure blue ocean, come! My little babies!"

His other hand immediately dropped some of the blue crystals he was holding, into the test tube.

* Weng Weng! * The test tube started to tremble.

A few streaks of a brilliant blue light flew out of its mouth and rotated around it turning into little blue coloured mermaids.

These little mermaids had a girl's torso and were only the size of Leylin's thumb. On their chests hung two shell pieces while the bottom half of their body was that of a fish's tail. At this moment, they were holding hands together, circling the test tube, singing, and dancing.

Their sweet distinct elegant voices sang and it reverberated within the room strumming on Leylin's heartstrings.

"The final step! Resist the alluring voices of the mermaids!" Leylin's expression tightened.

Rumours had it that the singing voices of mermaids not only have terrifying bewitching energy, but these voices were also used to prey on sailors in the deep seas. Many suspected these mermaids as main culprits behind the creation of ghost ships!

Right now, Leylin felt a strong impulse to throw everything he owned to the side, and dive straight into the ocean.

"This is only an illusion. It only has the 10% of an actual mermaid's might. If these were real or were cast by mermaid Magi, what would the effects be?" Leylin clenched his teeth and gave off a layer of grey-black light from his body deflecting these voices.

"Manse!" After waiting for roughly 30 seconds, Leylin suddenly blurted out a word.

* Chi Chi! * Black coloured needles appeared piercing through the chests of those little mermaids.

Agonised expressions could be seen on the pretty faces of the mermaids. Suddenly, they dissolved and turned into a few drops of blue liquid that returned into the test tube.

Huge amounts of bubbles, crystals and the drops of liquid rapidly merged and at that instant turned into a test tube half filled with a dark blue potion.

* Crash! Leylin shook the test tube lightly. From within the test tube came the crashing sound like that of great surging waves in an ocean.

[The modified Azure Potion has been brewed successfully.] The A.I. Chip indicated.

"A.I. Chip, how potent is this potion compared to the original formulation?" Leylin asked.

[Beep! Collecting the vapours. Analysing and comparing data… Estimated to have 33% of the original potion's effect.]

Although the previous estimate was 35.4%, there would be some minute differences during the actual brewing. Furthermore, it was the first time he did this experiment, so achieving this effect made Leylin very content.

"A pity that the consumptions of Hove Violet Leaves for this process is too high!" Leylin looked at the remnants of the Hove Violet Leaves lying on the side.

Only the essence from the middle of a whole piece of Hove Violet Leaf could be used for the potion. Apart from that, many complicated steps also had to be accomplished resulting in the high consumption rate.

He estimated that even after Welker bought all of the ingredients available, it would only allow Leylin to brew the potion another 30 to 40 times.

"Now, I wonder what the effects of this ancient potion are?"

Leylin's eyes flashed in anticipation. He directly walked to an empty space and sat cross-legged on the floor. He then poured the Azure Potion into his mouth.

"It's a little bitter, and has a rather fish-like odour." The muscles on Leylin's face twitched, "The palate of these ancient Magi was just so-so…."

"According to the A.I. Chip's calculations, the best complement to potions that increase spiritual force is meditation!"

Leylin thought of this before completely entering into a meditative mode.

This time, the meditations effect was very obviously different from before. With a vague concept of time, Leylin felt like he was in the middle of an azure blue ocean and boundless blue sea water squeezed his middle almost suffocating him.

When seen from the outside, the muscles on Leylin's handsome face twitched, and drops of sweat continuously dripped out.

Almost two hours later, Leylin abruptly opened both of his eyes.

"Phew! The feeling from meditating like this is several times more uncomfortable than before!" Leylin shook his head.

The meditation of an acolyte, more often than not, led to exhaustion afterwards. However, right now Leylin felt his whole body aching, especially his brain, which felt like someone took a large metal hammer and kept smashing it. Even now he was somewhat dizzy.

"A.I. Chip. Display my stats." Leylin ordered.

Immediately, a blue screen appeared before Leylin and showed a stream of numbers.

[The Host's spiritual force has been detected as undergoing a rapid rise!] [Host is under the influence of an unknown, spiritual force increasing by 0.01] [spiritual force increasing by 0.01] [The meditative state is deepening. Effect optimised. spiritual force increasing by 0.03] [spiritual force has reached the threshold, increasing by 0.05]

[Meditative state ended, Host's stats undergoing change. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.2, Spiritual force: 4.9, Magic Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

Rows of data were displayed, and Leylin discovered at the end that his spiritual force had increased by 0.2.

"This figure!" Leylin's eyes widened, "If the original ingredients were used, doesn't that mean that I can increase the spiritual force by about 0.7 at a time! It is indeed worthy to be called an ancient potion. Even for official Magi, this is a pretty good outcome!"

"A.I. Chip, assuming there are enough potions on hand, how much time will I need to reach 7 spiritual force points?" Leylin asked.

[Inputting effect of Azure Potion, establishing simulation, factoring tolerance principle, calculation in progress….]

The A.I. Chip began calculating, dozens of seconds later, the A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

[According to the Host's resistance to medicinal properties, it is estimated that the Host will achieve 7 spiritual force points after two months!]

The necessary conditions to advance to level 3 acolyte was to have mastery over at least 2 spell models, a spiritual force of 7 and to use a reactive elixir.

Leylin had gotten the spell models and reactive elixirs long ago. What kept him back was this spiritual force bottleneck.

"A pity, though! The success rate for brewing the Azure Potion is extremely horrifying. Even if it's me, I will at most succeed one out of ten times!"

"Hove Violet Leaves. I need huge amounts of Hove Violet Leaves. If it cannot be done, I must organise a trading party to acquire them from other cities."

Leylin clenched his teeth. His eyes revealed obvious desire.

"Young Master!" As he walked out from the lab, Anna, who was waiting outside, greeted him immediately.

"Pass these orders down. From now on, our establishment will cease all operations and devote all resources towards purchasing Hove Violet Leaves. Moreover, Fraser is to make a trip to nearby cities to acquire them!" Leylin's expression was extremely grim.

"Yes!" This was the first time Anna had seen this side of Leylin, so she hurriedly retreated.

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Mutated Organism

The bitter cold of winter passed, and the weather began to get warmer.

Standing on the villa, Leylin could already see the minuscule green dots from afar. On nearby fields, there were even farmers laboriously working.

"A year has passed unknowingly; I am already 15 years old now!" Leylin's hands pressed on the windowsill, and his eyes seemed to be disconcerted.

All of the Hove Violet Leaves available in Extreme Night City had been bought by him. With continuous brewing, he managed to get 5 Azure Potions, bringing his spiritual force to 5.8.

Unfortunately, any potion, when used excessively, would produce a resistance towards it, and the effects would be reduced over time. Originally, he had estimated that his spiritual force would reach a value of 5.9 with the resources available. However, in reality, it fell short by 0.1 without any apparent cause.

"Right now, I can only place my hopes on Fraser and the rest who have gone to neighbouring cities to purchase the ingredient."

Leylin rested by the windowsill. He stretched his hands and plucked a bunch of red berries from the table munching on them as snacks.

"Compared to other acolytes, however, my progress is akin to flying. After all, even the heir of a large family cannot use potions endlessly. What's more, these are precious potions that could increase spiritual force."

Within a month, Leylin already chased up to the fifth-grade acolytes who had pulled away from him over a year ago.

"It's fortunate that I'm outside the academy. Only then am I able to pursue my experiments without fearing of the consequences, and use potions such as these!" Leylin was suddenly rejoicing over the benefits that the war brought him.

"However, even if the war ends now, I wouldn't dare go back. I must, at least, wait until the 3 years mission duration is up. Only then will my excuse be plausible.

At that moment, Leylin estimated that he would already be a level 3 acolyte. Apart from the professors, he would be considered to have power, and would be regarded as a more important member. Moreover, with these years as cover, he would have enough time to think up a few explanations to cover his tracks.

"Master! An emissary from the city lord has arrived with an invitation." Anna knocked on the door, entering only after getting Leylin's permission.

Because of some Magus' doings, her face looked as youthful as ever, never changing.

"An invitation?" Leylin was a little skeptical. He did not have many relations with Viscount Jackson all this while.

After looking the missive over, "A gathering? On the invitation, it was specifically stated that Murphy and his circle of people were invited, which are all acolytes!"

Leylin surmised, "Could it be? Some mysterious thing has happened that requires the help of magicians?"

"Anna, prepare a horse carriage and a set of formal clothes for me. I have to leave for a while."

Leylin said this without giving it another thought. Towards the Grand Knight, Viscount Jackson, who was also the Lord of Extreme Night City, it was difficult for an acolyte to interfere with his might. Therefore, Leylin did not want to be on bad terms with him.

Moreover, due to the decreased supply of Hove Violet Leaves recently, Leylin did not have any other important things to do, so he could make time for this gathering.

"I'll have a look, and I haven't seen Murphy for some time now!"

In the heart of Extreme Night City, the castle-like building which was built using grey rocks was extremely magnificent. There were many soldiers patrolling the area, revealing its prestige.

* Ta-Ta! * A black horse carriage suddenly halted in front of the city lord's castle. The carriage door opened, and a brown-haired noble youth stepped down from it. He looked rather thin, but his bright eyes were filled with vigour.

At that same instant, another horse carriage, made of reddish brown wood, halted alongside it too. From it stepped out a white bearded geezer who was carrying a book. He radiated a scholarly aura.

After seeing Leylin, every wrinkle on the old geezer's face loosened as he smiled. He took the initiative and spread his arms out, "It's been a long time, my friend!"

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Scholar Murphy!" Leylin smiled as he gently hugged the old man.

His relationship with Murphy was pretty good. Although this old geezer had a few demerits, but it was undeniable that some of his experiences were a source of great enlightenment for Leylin. When Leylin had first arrived in Extreme Night City, Murphy had also given much help to Leylin.

Both of them conversed casually. They flashed their invitation cards at the same time as they went past the guarded entrance.

A person, rather like a butler, led Leylin and Murphy through the garden and brought them to a small-sized living room.

Several acolyte residents were already there and Leylin went forward to greet them.

There was a circular sofa in the middle of the living room, with a mahogany table at its centre. It seemed to suggest equality between status and levels.

"Welcome, my friends!"

The tough looking Viscount Jackson entered. He looked the same, to Leylin, as he looked a year ago. Time did not seem to have caused any changes in him, apart from a few more strands of hair white behind his ears that is.

"City lord!" The acolytes all nodded their heads.

"Come, no need for formalities! Sit!" Viscount Jackson casually sat on the sofa and serving maids that wore low cut blouses served some red tea as refreshments, with matching flavoured cake and biscuit snacks.

"Why does the atmosphere seem to be like a conference and afternoon tea?" Although he had his doubts, Leylin never revealed anything.

Viscount Jackson and the acolytes sat in a circle, and, from time to time, they discussed the latest news. On the whole, the atmosphere felt extremely amiable.

"A pity, Viscount Jackson is known to be a cold-blooded person. I heard that to suppress a riot, he immediately ordered the execution of a whole village, even hanging all its resident's heads on wooden stakes…."

Leylin still put on a friendly mannerism, but deep down he exclaimed, "As expected, to interact harmoniously, one must first have the prerequisite of equal power!"

"Yes, speaking of Baron Fey, he has recently been distressed about the issues of the medicine shop!" Viscount Jackson inadvertently spoke of this while chatting idly.

"We have also heard of the withering woods of Dark Night Woods for some time now. Only that we have not arrived at any solution yet!" An acolyte sitting at the side spoke, playing at being a character interested in delving deeper into this topic.

Murphy's brows furrowed, "I believe that my lord Viscount will definitely have a solution, right?"

However, Viscount Jackson smiled wryly, "My friends! I have already used ravens to inform the royal family, but up to now I have not received any reply….I am completely at a loss about what to do in this situation!"

"Royal family?" Leylin's heart thumped, the royal family behind the Poolfield Kingdom was supported by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. The relationship between the two parties was extremely intricate. This mission appearing in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was finally no longer strange anymore.

Speaking of which, he was even the representative sent by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy to remedy this problem, but he had been lackadaisical about it. He had finally forced Viscount Jackson to have no solution but to request help from this group of acolytes.

Although deep within he smiled cynically, on the surface Leylin still put on the same front. He picked up the cup of hot tea and sipped, without any intention of owning up.

"Is it only a high levelled creature that had mutated? Could it be that Sire cannot even resolve this?" A red-haired, middle-aged man asked.

Leylin recognised this person; he had opened an apparel store in Extreme Night City and many clothes in his villa had been purchased from there.

The city's residents knew that the owner of this clothing store was a friendly, middle-aged man, who even has a beautiful daughter. But they never knew that he was a magician.

"Truth be told, I have already struck against it once before! I have even killed a lizard type creature, but it was of no help towards this withering woods case!"

Viscount Jackson flicked his hand.

"Right now, the withering woods area has expanded to a span of about two villages. If not resolved, sooner or later, it will encompass the whole of Dark Night Woods. When that happens, obtaining another herb from it would be only a dream!"

Viscount Jackson clenched his fists.

The herb industry was the pillar of Extreme Night City's economy. Every year the city lord's castle gained a lot from the high taxes it imposed on these trades. Right now its tax income had been drastically reduced. It was no wonder that Viscount Jackson was unable to sit still.

"Could you let us have a look at the composition of some of that lizard's body parts?" Murphy asked.

"Yes!" Viscount Jackson clapped his hands, and a golden yellow-haired maid brought forward a silver tray. Displayed on it were some brown-yellow scales.

The surrounding acolytes all picked up a piece; Leylin too placed one in his hands.

"A.I. Chip! Scan!" The brown yellow scales were the size of a thumb, cold to the touch.

[Suspected to be the scale of a mutated creature, estimated to be a mutation of a lizard type in the Poolfield Kingdom! The surface emits mild radiation, the quality is a mess, extractable materials have been destroyed, useless as component material!]

The A.I. Chip relayed the information after the scanning.

"No wonder the magicians in the canyon did not react! There was simply no use of this creature's body parts to magicians. It's the whole body is not even worth a magic crystal. Who would do such a strenuous yet unrewarding task!"

Leylin was somewhat enlightened. To Magi, benefits were paramount. They will not do anything that reaped no benefits.

The withering woods case happened on the boundaries of Extreme Night City. If there were any benefits or some magician who liked the creatures material, it would have long been resolved by the acolytes at the resource point in the ravine.

Their letting this current state of affairs continues only meant one thing: there were no benefits at all from solving the withering woods debacle, only trouble. If there were any benefits, they were too small to cover the potential losses a venture would incur. This was why it had not been resolved after all this while.

"What a pity! It is not a high-level creature that magicians need, just a mutated organism, which has no use to them!" Murphy said after picking up a magnifying glass like object and scrutinising the scale for some time. He reached the same conclusion as Leylin.

"How is that? Any solutions?" Viscount Jackson put on a hopeful expression and looked at his guests.

"Most mutated organisms were caused by long-term exposure from its surroundings. Without further detail and research, I cannot make arrive at any conclusion from just this! Moreover, I don't think that this creature is the main culprit for the withering woods."

Murphy shook his head.

"I am willing to give 30 magic crystals to every person, in addition to 5000 gold coins to ask you guys to scout the area. How about that? This is my request, on account of us being old friends!'

Viscount Jackson looked the people in the circle and saw that the other acolytes too lacked interest. He could not help but clench his teeth as he stated this.

"Since it is troublesome for my lord Viscount, I definitely will not refuse!"

Murphy said somewhat grudgingly.

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Withering Woods

Pressured by Viscount Jackson's aggressive request, very soon the other acolytes agreed too.

After all, they had been in his territory for so long, and he was also a Grand Knight, so it would be awkward if they were to decline.

However, there was an exception, the acolyte with acne, whom Leylin saw before, refused without hesitation.

Finally, the Viscount's gaze focused on Leylin, "How about you, Mister Leylin?"

Viscount Jackson had some reservation towards Leylin. This was because the timing of Leylin's arrival was a coincidence which made him guess that this acolyte was the emissary who had accepted the royal family's mission.

It was a pity that ever since Leylin had arrived, he had spent most of his time in the manor, and rarely left the place. Neither were there any magicians who came forward seeking revenge on him, so it seemed like this acolyte was truly reclusive.

If it were not for the fact that Leylin gave orders so a mission to the withering woods would go forth, Viscount Jackson would have been utterly disappointed.

"After all, it has to be done, and going in as a party is better!"

Leylin thought deep down, yet on the surface he appeared extremely hesitant, "Recently I have been researching potions, and am extremely busy. Some of my experiments have reached a crucial stage…."

"Still, I beseech Mister Leylin to take time out for this!" Viscount Jackson said suddenly, "I know that you have been buying Hove Violet Leaves en masse recently. This ingredient is rather rare, and other cities as well do not have too much of this in their reserves. However, our castle has a storehouse. If Mister Leylin agrees to go on this scouting trip, I am willing to add those in our reserves as a reward!"

"Hove Violet Leaves?" Leylin eyes flashed; this was an unexpected surprise. He estimated this offer to be Viscount Jackson's threshold. Leylin appeared to 'struggle' on the surface, before finally agreeing.

Afterwards, the acolytes made plans for a concrete time to meet, before leaving hurriedly to make preparations.

For this bunch of acolytes, who wholeheartedly wanted to retire and live like princes, Leylin did not put much stock in their actual battle prowess.

"However, when all is said and done, they are still acolytes. Their basic spells, once cast, should still be something." Leylin consoled himself.

At this moment, Murphy who just bade the others farewell walked beside Leylin with a frown on his expression, "Young man, when we reach the withering woods you have to protect me."

"Sire! You are level 3! A level 3 acolyte! While I am but a level 2 acolyte!" Leylin eyes widened.

"Sigh…I'm already too old for this. I have forgotten much of my spell repertoire. You understand, forming the spell model is meticulous work, a small miss-step, and the explosion will not even leave behind corpse!" Murphy had a helpless expression.

"You, how long has it been since you last cast a spell?" Leylin suddenly had a bad premonition.

"It seems almost 30 to 40 years! As you know, I have always regarded myself as a scholar!" Murphy said very innocently.

"F*ck!" Leylin felt rather regretful suddenly.

Two days later. In the morning, Extreme Night City's gates opened. Through those gates came a squadron of soldiers escorting a party in the middle. The group left the city's perimeter at a rapid pace.

"I never thought that Viscount Jackson would also set off with us!" Murphy seemed to be very happy. Having a Grand Knight around, left him greatly assured.

Riding beside him, Viscount Jackson wore black-coloured, steel armour with a helmet that covered his entire face.

"How are your preparations?" Leylin found a suitable time and whispered into Murphy's ears.

"I have concentrated these past 2 days, and can barely use two spell models," Murphy replied softly.

"That's good!" Their conversation before was of a joking nature. Leylin would never believe that this crafty old geezer did not have any life-preserving trump cards up his sleeves.

The Magus world is not a peaceful place. Without enough skills, Murphy would have long since died. So how could he have survived until now as a mere scholar?

"However, even the Black Iron Guards have been activated? There seem to be two small squadrons, about 20 men!"

"Of course, these are all elite troops of the city!" Murphy said. Actually, both he and Leylin knew that in the withering woods, those two squadrons served only one purpose. Cannon fodder!

Dark Night Woods wasn't that far from the city. After travelling for about half an hour, the group managed to reach the wood's outskirts.

"The danger level here is comparable to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, despite its smaller size. At least, if a normal human were to be more alert, they can enter and leave here as they please when gathering the herbs!"

Leylin was at the centre of the party. Seeing the two squadrons paving the way at the front, his mind wandered.

Along the way, Leylin felt the life force of the Dark Night Woods reducing. Although it was spring, the woods seemed to lack vitality.

Moreover, everyone felt that their bodies were getting heavier and there was a shadow that veiled over their hearts. It felt extremely repressing.

Leylin looked around. The roots of the tree showed signs of withering. Some of the fresh sprouts have even turned pale yellow.

"The withering area has not extended to this point, but this is just a hypothesis!" Leylin gasped.

"It is indeed different here now! My family used to be hunters. In past years, there used to be animals prancing about in this area. There were many wild vegetables and fresh herbs…."

Leylin overheard the words a few soldiers whispered among themselves.

"A.I. Chip! Any change in the air around here?"

[Scanning. Comparing with the database! Conclusion: Oxygen density/levels decreased by 3.7%, Nitrogen density increased. An unknown noble gas has appeared. It currently accounts for 1.2% but its density continues to rise!]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"Could this inert noble gas be the perpetrator of this withering woods event?" Leylin stroked his chin, allowing the A.I. Chip to continue.

"Be careful! We have entered the withering domain!" Viscount Jackson roared at the forefront of the group.

Leylin patted his leather armour. Beneath it was the grey robes of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acting as a second layer of defense. He had even purposely removed the academy's insignia earlier.

What the accompanying acolytes lacked were the ephemeral defensive constructs that the Magi layered around themselves as they went into battle. Victory often revolved solely on whether the spells cast managed to strike an opponent.

"Instantaneous spell casting, Potioneering Spells, magic artifacts were all great enhancers of an acolyte's battle strength!"

Leylin reached into his robes and took out a potion from a leather bag tied around the waist.

In Brey Canyon, he had replenished his ingredients and had made many explosive potions as his ammunition for this expedition.

As the group advanced, the environment began to change.

More and more dried withered plants and trees filled the woods. They let off an aura of death and decay.

Leylin reached out and grabbed a twig in passing. His eyes flashed, "It has already lost all its water content, and even…."

Exerting a little more force in his palm, the twig immediately turned into white dust, trickled through the gaps in his fingers and floated down towards the ground.

"Even the internal structure has been completely destroyed!" Leylin's heart felt rather heavy. A power like this already exceeded his expectations.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Viscount Jackson asked Murphy who was beside him.

"The heart of the woods! Only by reaching the center of this withering region, can my spell exert enough effect!" Murphy had an extremely solemn expression. He withdrew a spectacle-like item and hung it on his nose.

A wide withered tree lay on the ground. It had an extremely spongy feel when stepped on.

[Warning! Warning! Dangerous organism ahead!] The A.I. Chip's alarm went off suddenly and Leylin tried to think of an excuse to use so he could warn the others.

* Hu! * Suddenly brown-coloured branches and twigs flew up. A black figure came charging towards them.

This figure was extremely quick. It opened its jaw littered with snow white fangs. A red-coloured tongue flicked out.

* Su Su! * The tongue coiled around one of the guards on duty at the front and retracted its tongue. * Pa! * The guard's spear fell.

"Be careful!" At this moment, Viscount Jackson gave a warning.

"Argh!" The miserable cries sounded. The guard, trapped in the tongue's coils had already disappeared into a black hole. He was snapped into two halves. Fresh red blood and guts spilled onto the ground.

"Damn it!" Viscount Jackson shouted angrily and brandished the wide sword that hung from his waist. He immediately went and engaged the black figure.

"Sluggish Spell!" The red-haired shop owner waved his hands. A yellow-green light was shot. It turned into a circular ring that closed on the black figure. The other acolytes began reacting and started their own incantations.

* Sssii! * With the hissing of the creature, the black figure's speed finally slowed down revealing its appearance to everyone.

Its body was clay-yellow in colour. It had four legs, a tongue that was like a snake's and a small horn on its forehead.

"Wasn't it reported that this creature died already? Why is there still one?" Leylin was suspicious, but he still activated the A.I. Chip.

[Beep! Unknown organism. Strength: 5.5, Agility: 4 (6-7), Vitality: 5, Spiritual force: 3. Similarity to Blue Lizard 67.4% and to Mance Earth Snake 45.8%]

"It's a rather strong creature. Apart from its low spiritual force, it doesn't have any obvious flaws. Their numbers are also unknown; no wonder Jackson was not able to deal with them alone!"

However, as the Sluggish Spell took effect, this strange lizard's speed obviously took a hit. After a brief exchange of blows, the Viscount shouted, "Death Arc of Light!"

From within his blade, a resplendent circle of light expanded into the shape of a blade. It streaked past the lizard's neck.

"A Knight-class killing technique! It has the same properties as my Cross Slash. However, Jackson uses it with ease. He has not even used any Knight secret technique."

* Bang! * The two passed each other. The huge lizard charged forward another few steps before suddenly crashing to the ground.

* Sssii! * Clay yellow scales landed on the floor one by one. Around the lizard's neck area was a huge cut. Dark red blood spilled on the ground.

"All of you look!" An acolyte shouted suddenly.

With the death of the lizard, its body continued to cave inwards, with the scales continuously falling off and littering the ground. The blood quickly evaporated too. Within a few short minutes, there was only a white skeleton and some yellow scales left on the ground.

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Deep Underground

"There's no need to look anymore. The same thing happened when I killed these creatures before."

Viscount Jackson took out a white handkerchief and wiped his blade clean, before sheathing it into the scabbard.

"There's actually a self-disintegration phenomenon when it dies!"

Leylin was somewhat surprised. This did not correspond to the laws of nature.

Looking at the skeleton that was still emitting white smoke, Leylin picked one of the bones up.

The dried white bone was littered with cracks. It felt like any slight press would cause it to crumble. Leylin exerted a little more force, and with a hissing sound, the dried bone turned into fine powder.

"En, something's off!" Leylin's eyes flashed. He discovered some fine threads of veins within the white bone powder.

[Target still exuding vital energy. Identified to be a high-level pathogen. The host is recommended to keep a distance!] At this moment, the A.I. Chip's scan appeared in Leylin's vision.

Leylin hurriedly flung off the powdery substance and began radiating internal energy particles from within his hands to cleanse them.

"What's wrong?" Murphy too discovered that something was amiss.

"Be careful of those bones, there's something inside it!" Leylin's brows furrowed and he hurriedly distanced himself from it.

* Sssii! * At that moment, more red blood veins appeared on the desiccated lizard's skeleton. The bone began to exhibit innumerable puncture holes. It seemed like the veins resided within the bones previously.

Countless more blood red veins took shape, intertwining like the branches of a tree and started transforming into a small-sized creature.

It was rather similar to the creature before, but now its body was blood red. From time to time, red veins popped out. The creature did not have eyes or a mouth. Its four legs appeared extremely sturdy, however.

* Xiu! * The creature's attack was extremely fast. Before Viscount Jackson and the other acolytes could react, it left its original position. Only a red, blurry line could be seen.

"Give chase! This creature definitely has something to do with the withering woods!" A person covered fully in grey robes whispered something to Viscount Jackson, who immediately gave the order.

"That grey-robed person has always been following Viscount Jackson ever since we left Extreme Night City. He must be a trusted aide. He also has great detection abilities."

Leylin eyes narrowed as he used the A.I. Chip to scan. "This appearance and figure, there is also the energy waves of a level 2 acolyte? Interesting!"

"Hurry! Keep up!"

Upon hearing Viscount Jackson's orders, the Black Iron Guards immediately followed suit, overtaking Viscount Jackson and keeping him in their midst. The grey-robed person followed closely behind.

The remaining acolytes looked at each other. Murphy, a little helplessly, said, "Let's follow them!"

Leylin purposely suppressed his speed and kept to Murphy's speed, "That thing earlier, do you have any guesses as to what it was?"

"It seems to be some kind of parasite! According to its strength, the mother-parent has, at least, the strength of a level 3 acolyte….Or even that of an official Magus!" Murphy smiled bitterly.

Leylin and his small group were no threat to an official Magus. Any rank 1 spell could easily obliterate their entire party.

"That shouldn't be!" Leylin shook his head. According to the A.I. Chip's calculations, that parasite's strength was not bad. The mother-parent's body should at most have the strength of a level 3 acolyte, theoretically speaking. Otherwise, Leylin would have been the first to run away.

"It is only…..just an investigative mission, I even picked it myself. That it can actually involve an organism with the strength of a level 3 acolyte, how bad can my luck be…." Leylin did not know what to think of himself anymore.

He was happy that he did not come here on his own before. Otherwise, unlike the main characters in the novels of his previous world, he was incapable of those fictional bursts of power in times of adversity. And the only outcome would be death.

"Be careful, we are venturing deeper. I can already feel the dense negative energy aura in the air!"

An acolyte howled.

Leylin had a higher perception towards negative energy. After all, his main affinities were Shadow and Dark Element particles. Just like Plant affinity and Light affinity emphasized on positive energy research, Leylin's affinities made him spend more time exposed to negative energy compared to the others.

"It's almost like the surroundings of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. No wonder I feel like a fish back in the water."

Leylin pulled up his sleeves and covered the smile that pulled at the corners of his lips.

* Clang! * Sounded their armour as the group halted.

"It disappeared! I saw that red creature pausing at this spot for a moment, then it suddenly disappeared!" Jackson brandished his long sword, "Be on guard!"

The Black Iron Guards immediately formed a circle protecting Jackson and the acolytes within to prevent any sneak attacks.

"This should be the heart of the withering woods!" Murphy rubbed his nose.

"The scouting method I have prepared can now be used!" Murphy took a black coloured potion from his robes and poured the contents on the ground after opening the plug.

* Plop plop! *

After the black coloured potion was poured on the forest floor, it actually turned into tiny ants scampering in all directions.

After the potion was used up, Leylin estimated that there were close to ten thousand ants that appeared.

"A scout like this can be considered to have omnidirectional coverage. It will be extremely difficult for that creature to escape!" Leylin thought.

As expected, after roughly a dozen minutes, a black coloured ant appeared at Murphy's feet, crawled on his robes all the way to his ears, and appeared as if it whispered something.

"It's been found! Follow me!" Murphy followed the ant and led the group to a withered oak tree.

"Move this oak tree away!" Murphy pointed at the large tree, "According to my probing, there seems to be a secret tunnel underneath it."

"Squad 1! Go!" Jackson waved his hands.

Several Black Iron Guards went forward and stabbed their pikes at the oak tree.

The withered oak tree did not seem capable of withstanding the assault. After being pierced multiple times by the pikes, many pieces and chips of bark filled the air as if it were snowing. The ten guards hurriedly moved the completely withered oak tree away revealing a dark sinister tunnel.

"Here it is!" Murphy's eyes flashed, and he chanted an incantation.

The widely spread black ants returned from all directions and entered the hole.

Suddenly, Murphy's face turned pale, and his body fell backwards, almost fainting.

"What happened?" Leylin appeared behind Murphy and supported his waist.

"There seems to be an extremely dangerous creature inside. It destroyed all of my precious babies!" Murphy's expression appeared very unsightly.

"What should we do?" An acolyte asked, apparently wanting to leave.

"Prepare a fire!" Jackson waves his hands, "We'll have a look down there!"

"Yes!" The guards quickly carried out their lord's orders. Leylin and the other acolytes looked at each other. Having no other choice, they could only follow.

The hole was rather small. A grown man needed to crouch before they could enter. However, the tunnel became more spacious the deeper it went, until a number of guards could walk abreast, even raising the fire torches high did not touch the cave's ceiling.

"This is going to be troublesome! From the height of this cave, that 'parent's' body will definitely not be small." Leylin felt the leather sack hanging from his waist. If not for the multiple trump cards he prepared, he might have already sneaked away and left the group by now.

After all, his life was more precious than the wrath of a city's lord.

"Lord Viscount! There's a fork ahead!" A squad leader reported to Jackson.

"Let me have a look!" Jackson stepped forward.

Leylin followed behind. As expected, there seemed to be two perfectly similar tunnels ahead. Looking at the darkness of their unfathomable depths, one could not see the tunnel's end. It felt like walking into the huge mouth of a beast.

"The negative energy in here is becoming too dense. Some of our scouting methods cannot be used here!" The city lord's aide, the grey-robed person spoke.

"Call two men to reconnoiter each path ahead!" Jackson's brows furrowed as he gave the order.

"It would be better to let me do it!" Leylin walked forward suddenly.

Since he knew that the 'parent' was extremely powerful, he did not want his side to lose too much battle strength.

"Since Mister Leylin has decided to step forward, then it's for the best!" Viscount Jackson smiled.

Leylin walked forward several steps and took out a transparent crystal from his robes.

"Gurisitong – Jiaonateyer!" Leylin chanted. A black vertical pupil suddenly appeared within the depths of the crystal.

The vertical pupil was the same size as a human's, but it did not have the white of a human eye. Looking at this pure black pupil made one feel as if it could tear their souls from their bodies.

"This is… The Negative Energy Eye!"

"Only acolytes who specialise in negative energy are able to use it!"

The acolytes behind began to whisper and their gazes contained more hostility and fear than before.

The rank 0 spells of magicians who specialises in negative energy are generally more destructive and their personalities were more bloodthirsty and savage than most other Magi. This normally meant being a Dark Magi.

The regular magicians' hostile looks were understandable.

Leylin did not have any inclinations of explaining himself to the people behind him whatsoever. His fingers exerted force and pinched the crystal to pieces.

The black pupil split into two. One floated into each tunnel.

Following the vertical pupils mentally, Leylin's closed his eyes. Viscount Jackson became rather nervous as he stared at Leylin. The group grew quiet, only the constant soft snapping noise of torches burning could be heard.

A few minutes later, Leylin opened his eyes, "On the tunnel to the left are a few mutated lizards. At its end is a large granite rock."

"As for the one on the right, I only know that it leads unknown distance downwards. My spell got smashed after I tried probing further."

"Since it's that way, let's all go down together." Jackson pointed to the tunnel on the right.

The right side of the cave got damper and more humid. Leylin touched the mud walls and found a few moss-like plants strewn all over it dripping wet, "It's moist!"

Leylin's heart lurched, but his expression remained impassive. He took out a white handkerchief from his robes and wiped his hands clean.

"I'm afraid we're nearing the nest of those strange creatures."

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Rune Shackles

"Light! There's a light ahead!"

A guard walking in the vanguard shouted.

Leylin took a look. Indeed, the far end of the tunnel was radiating light.

"Enter!" Jackson gripped his large sword with both hands and was the first to rush in.

The rest followed suit.

Light! Eye-piercing light radiated downwards from above!

Leylin's eyes were stinging — tears flowed down uncontrollably. He immediately used his hand to cover his eyes.

"Argh!" "Monster!" "Be careful!"

Various shouts resounded, and weapons were brandished.

[Alert! Imminent attack ahead! Optimal response: step back and crouch!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned and projected a faint blue screen.

On the screen, a talon the size of a palm was clawing towards Leylin.

Leylin hurriedly retreated a step and crouched to dodge the attack.

Amidst the wails all around, Jackson's faint howling could be heard.

After the A.I. Chip's scan, Leylin could see that many lizard-like creatures were making use of their familiarity with the geography to attempt a massacre of Jackson and the squad of guards around him.

The sneak attack was so quick that when Jackson and the rest finally reacted, the whole squad already suffered heavy casualties.

As Leylin swept his gaze across the scene before him and his eyes finally adjusted to the bright light. He realised that the floor was already littered with corpses. Many of them had traces of having been chewed on by these strange creatures.

At that moment, only the 2 Knight level squad leaders and the grey robed figure, who always followed behind Jackson, were all that remained of the group with Jackson.

As for the acolytes, one had fallen to the ground and another had a large wound on his abdomen that was oozing blood.

At the apex of the cave, white-coloured jellyfish-like creatures were floating. The flash from earlier had radiated from their bodies.

"The surge of light radiated from these jellyfish could actually increase instantaneously and produce an effect similar to a flashbang grenade. The coordination demonstrated by these strange creatures that caused several deaths and injuries definitely hinted at some intelligence controlling them from behind the scenes!"

After light burst from the jellyfish, they seemed to have become a little dispirited as they floated around in the air. Although there was still some light emanating from their bodies, it was not piercing to the eyes. It seemed like the flash from earlier was a one time attack.

"This is a Flash Jellyfish, a kind of subterranean creature. Their earlier attack can only be used once. They need a day of rest before emitting such an intense burst of light again!"

Murphy appeared, clutching a book to his chest.

"What we need to deal with are not these parasitic organisms, but that fellow in the middle!" Leylin pointed to the centre of the cave, and smiled bitterly.

Leylin and the rest entered a large underground cave earlier, where the ceiling was littered with stalactites and Flash Jellyfish, which allowed them a panoramic view of the interior.

At this moment, in the cave, there were many mutated, yet familiar creatures. There were lizards, brown bears, and elks, all numbering over a dozen. At the centre most of them all, there was an enormous yellow snake that seemed to be the king, as it was guarded by the other creatures.

"It's Mankestre – Great Withering Snake Mankestre!" Murphy's book fell from his hands to the floor, letting off a bang.

"A.I. Chip, scan!" Leylin instructed.

[Great Withering Snake – Mankestre (Half-adult body) Strength: 11.9, Agility: 6.5, Vitality: 14, Spiritual force: 8] [Abilities: 1 – Parasitic. A Mankestre is able to develop an extremely strong parasite in its body, and spread it to other organisms, making them its underlings.] [2 – Wither. In any areas where a Mankestre has passed by, the plants will die, and become a type of nutrient for the Mankestre. An adult Mankestre possesses the strength of an official Magus, and can transform an entire forest into withering ashes.] [Source of information: , ]

The A.I. Chip delivered the information immediately in front of Leylin.

"Half-adult body? It doesn't seem to be at its adult stage!" Leylin first heaved a breath of relief, before shouting out loud, "Murphy, don't be fooled by its appearance. This is but a non-adult Mankestre. We still have a chance!"

"Indeed!" Murphy scrutinised the brown yellow colour of the huge snake and finally recovered from his fright, "An adult Mankestre is at least 100 metres long, and this snake is obviously not of that length yet. A number of parasites that it produces is also not right!"

"This huge snake is the cause of the withering woods?" Jackson asked at the side while staring at the huge snake as his Adam's apple moved.

"That's right! A Mankestre uses the juice of plants as their food. They are rather crafty and lazy, and also hate to move about. Basically, it uses the parasites to gather food for itself!"

Murphy, who had bountiful experience and wisdom, was extremely aware of the habits of the huge Mankestre Snake.

"So then, if we kill it, the herb production in Dark Night Woods can recover again?" Jackson used his long sword and pointed at the huge yellow snake that was protected by its parasitic mutated creatures.

"In theory, it should be the case as long as you kill it or drive it away. Although its death cannot revive the withering woods, it can still allow the prey and woods to slowly recover back to what it once was!"

Murphy smiled wryly.

* Hiss! * The snake coiled in the centre of the cave hissed, and let off a low, snake-like speech.

It was a kind of sound made by the friction of rubbing two pieces rotten leather together, which was extremely unpleasant to the ears.

The creatures surrounding Leylin and the rest seemed to have received orders, and howled as they charged forward!

Leylin casually took a look, "There are too many creatures, and the parent body is not yet dealt with, I must conserve my magic power!"

"A.I. Chip! Simulate the most optimal method of attack!"

Leylin pulled out his cross blade.

[Beep! Inputting situation data, initiating build with Host's stats!] [Calculating battle simulation for the most optimal method!] The A.I. Chip continuously displayed the attack style of creatures surrounding home.

Leylin's feet moved as he dodged a brown bear's attack. The cross blade in his right hand drew a strange trajectory, and deflected the paw of the bear, and directly pierced through its skull.

* Bang! * The huge brown corpse of the bear fell to the ground, and even the Mankestre Snake had taken notice, looking at Leylin.

Leylin's scalp tingled, as he hurriedly kept his distance.

"Nicely done!" Jackson shouted in admiration. His body seemed to turn into a gust of wind, and continuously ravaged the mob of creatures, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"It seems that Jackson has ignited the secret Knight technique! His technique should be enhancing his agility "

The few acolytes also casted their rank 0 spells that they had prepared and assisted in killing these creatures.

Leylin only took a look and did not bother about them anymore.

* Sssii! *The corpse of the brown bear that Leylin had killed rapidly decomposed. From the bones, many veins appeared, which turned into the creature that Leylin and the rest had been chasing earlier. The creature then climbed into the Mankestre's mouth.

The Mankestre Snake opened its mouth and revealed rows of razor sharp teeth. Its tongue coiled, as it swallowed the strange red veined creature into its belly.

"Retrieving its parasite huh?" Leylin was rather shocked.

After swallowing the parasite, the Mankestre Snake finally uncoiled and looked at Leylin and the group, who were unrestrainedly slaughtering the creatures. Its crimson eyes showed signs of rage.

* Bang! * The huge body of the snake shot out, and the entire cave trembled violently.

The huge Mankestre Snake's body moved at an alarming speed, charging towards Jackson.

"It's too quick! With an agility of 6.5, I can only see its afterimage " Leylin rapidly retreated, and at the same time, he used the cross blade to block his chest.

A surge of immense force came rushing over, and the cross blade that Leylin held onto flew in the air, completely broken .

"Such a strong force, and it's only a casual swipe!" Leylin's pupils constricted.

The Mankestre Snake opened its jaws wide, and its razor sharp teeth snapped at Jackson, bringing about a fish-like smell. If Jackson were to be caught, he would definitely die without a corpse left.

"Sir!" The remaining two Knights and the grey robed person shouted.

"Hah! Good try!" At the brink of death, Jackson finally released all of his internal energy, and the sword pierced at the crown of the snake with a speed that was hard to track by eye.

The sword, however, only left a white spot on the scales of the snake. As for Jackson, he used the force to rebound, and twisted his waist, evading the snap of the snake's jaw.

"Protect our Lord!" The two Knights rushed forward. The Mankestre Snake let out a ferocious roar, and directly gobbled the two Knights into its belly.

"Secondary Fireball!"

"Acidic Aqua Shot"

At this moment, the other acolytes also cast their spells, striking the body of the huge snake.

* Bang! * A black arrow with a yellow flame exploded from the body of the huge snake, revealing two scorched holes/wounds/gashes.

The huge snake let off a roar, which carried a tinge of agony. Its scales shook, and it sent its tail flying towards the few acolytes.

"The vitality of the snake is too high, any normal rank 0 spells would not be able to affect its movement at all!"

The huge snake swatted its tail, and a few acolytes who were unable to dodge in time were turned into meat pancakes, and blood oozed from beneath the snake's body.

"No! Decker! Lancer!" Murphy cried hoarsely in anguish.

"There's no choice, we have to retreat first!" The few remaining people huddled together, when the grey robed figure behind Jackson spoke in a deep growl.

"No! This damned worm dared to kill Decker and the rest! I will definitely not let it go!" Murphy's eyes were rather bloodshot.

"I have a spell that can temporarily restrict its movements, the rest will be up to you guys."

Murphy stepped forward, placed the monocle that he always carried in his hand, and tossed it towards the huge snake.

* Bang! * The glass shattered on the huge snake, and many dark red runes suddenly surfaced.

The dark red runes multiplied, and turned into the shape of a long chain, binding the snake within it.

"What a powerful restraining spell!" Leylin's eyes flashed, "It will not be able to move for at least half a minute, so use whatever methods you guys have in that time."

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Defence Potion

The fine rune shackles were the size of a strand of hair compared to the huge Mankestre snake. However, under the restraint of the shackles, the huge snake was helplessly locked to the ground, not even able to move.

"Hurry, charge!" Jackson howled, and the huge sword radiated light.

On the other side, the grey-robed person too lifted his cloak, and revealed a Half-Beast Man appearance as he hurriedly chanted an incantation.

* Roar! * The remaining creatures felt the danger that their parent was in, and rushed forward, with no thoughts for their own safety, towards Leylin and the rest.

"Go to hell!" Leylin pulled out a few fire red coloured explosive potions and decimated the remaining creatures into ashes.

"To the Mankestre snake, the eyes are their achilles heel, and is even more vulnerable than the heart.

Leylin howled, at the same time chanting.

Along with the chanting of the mysterious and ancient Byron language resounding in the cave, a hoard of congealed and thick black oily bodies appeared beside Leylin, completely surrounding him.

These black, oily figures circled around Leylin, giving off bubbles from time to time, and letting off a sound that was akin to decomposing material. While he continued to chant, the black oiled figures continuously changed shape, finally turning into a black lion head-like apparition.

"Go!" Leylin pointed.

The black lion head roared, and charged towards the crown of the huge snake which was being restrained.

* Pu! * The lion head immediately bit on both of the Mankestre snake's eyes.

* Sssii! * The huge snake writhed continuously, letting off an agonised screech. The rune shackles on its body were also emitting off red smoke.

"Hurry!" I cannot keep this up much longer!" Murphy completely diverged from his scholarly image and howled without a care.

The black lion head continuously chewed on the head of the huge snake, and finally dissolved, turning into a puddle of greasy black oil, that covering the head of the huge snake, and eventually covered both of its eyes.

"It is now!" Leylin eyes flashed and withdrew a test tube. The contents radiated a blood red light, which excreted feelings of danger.

This was an explosive potion, but was much larger in comparison had a larger blast radius was larger in circumference as in compared to the previous potions.

The muscles of Leylin's right arm bulged as he tossed the potion directly into the black oil.

* Bang! * A tremendous flame rose, completely engulfing the huge Mankestre snake, and burning it savagely.

The huge snake continuously tossed its head, which looked like a huge burning torch from, side to side.

The rune shackles around it also let off creaking noises which meant that it could not endure for much longer.

"The decomposing oil water that comes from the subterranean area, together with the A.I. Chip's modified explosive potion gives off a combined attack of at least 9 degrees!"

Blue light in continuously flashed from within Leylin's eyes, as he recorded the figures from the explosion.

"Pant! Pant! The earlier attack has already broken through most of the huge Mankestre snake's defence! Now is the time to kill it!"

Leylin panted violently, and his face was extremely pale. It was like he had completely depleted his spiritual force and magic power, and he staggered several steps behind.

From an area of his sleeve which was concealed from others, another of the modified explosive potions, which was used earlier, appeared in his hands.

Leylin would never place his hopes completely on others, especially at crucial times like this.

At this moment, the Half-Beast Man had finished chanting his spell.

"The strength of my forebearer's totem, transform now into frigid ice, and grant me the might to slay the Mankestre snake!"

The Half-Beast Man finished his spell, and touched lightly on Jackson's sword.

* Sssii! *

On the blade of Jackson's huge sword, a layer of frost began to envelop it, , and the frost grew more and more, before finally enlarging the of the blade to double of its original size, and turning it into a frost greatsword!

What the Half-Beast Man had cast was actually a kind of rarely seen spell which could enhance weapons!

"According to the scan of the A.I. Chip, at this moment, the greatsword in Jackson's hands already has the strength of a basic level magic artifact!"

Leylin eyes flashed, "It is a rather decent enchanting technique!"

Jackson had obviously teamed up with the Half-Beast Man many times before. Earlier, he had been conserving his energy, and once the greatsword had completed the layer of frost, Jackson howled and raised it above him, charging and chopping towards the neck of the Mankestre snake.

The sword, which seemed like a giant crystallised ice sculpture, directly chopped at a blackened patch of the huge snake with Jackson's strength of a Grand Knight.

* Pu-chi! *

Red hot blood flowed down continuously from a deep gash on the neck of the Mankestre snake, which seemed to be almost half a metre deep. One could even see the whites of the bones. The huge snaked roared, and headbutted with all its strength.

* Bang! * Viscount Jackson was immediately knocked away, and even the breastplate he was wearing was dented inwards.

The frost greatsword landed upright by his side, burying itself halfway into the ground.

* Ping Ping Ping! * The layer of ice continuously cracked, and finally even the sword, which was made of steel, shattered into countless fragments that landed on the floor.

"It seems like this spell isn't completely flawless either!" Leylin was still in the mood to observe leisurely.

However, at this moment, Murphy's complexion turned red, "I can't control it any longer!"

Under the continuous struggles of the Mankestre snake, the rune shackles around it finally collapsed with a rattling sound. As for the price of being able to free itself, the snake had already suffered a dozen wounds which penetrated through its scales.

As for the heavily injured Mankestre snake, its bloodshot eyes turned even more crimson. With lightning speed, it swiped and coiled its tail. Before Leylin could react, he realised that there was one less person beside him. The Half-Beast Man which originally stood there was now wrapped up in the snake's tail.

"No! Save me!" The tail continuously constricted, and the huge snake's figure almost covered the entirety of the Half-Beast Man.

At this moment, Jackson, who was not sure if he was still alive or dead, lay on the side, and could not answer his subordinate cries at all.

* Ga-cha! * With a creaking noise, the ear-piercing sounds of bones shattering resounded in the air. The Half-Beast Man's distressed cries climbed higher in pitch, until finally, it turned into dead silence.

Leylin watched the huge, moribund snake attentively, as he drew a few potions of various colours.

* Bang! *

A huge black figure attacked, and hit a yellow test tube that had left Leylin's hands. In the surrounding area, a layer of yellow light appeared, and engulfed Leylin's entire body.

The immense might crashed into Leylin and he was sent flying, crashing into a nearby granite rock. Mud flew above his head as he landed, and there was even a huge impression left on the rock behind his back.

At the same time as Leylin was sent back flying, a layer of intense red flames extended from the snake's tail, and multiple colours of light also blossomed on the snake's body, finally resulting in the cries of the Mankestre snake.

The yellow light shattered into many pieces, before finally dissipating into the air.

Leylin's body was completely unscathed, and seeing the many spots of dazzling yellow light, he grimaced.

"The weakness of acolytes is that they always have no defensive measures!"

The defensive spell models for rank 0 spells were extremely uncommon, as they were not very practical. When an acolyte is being attacked, rarely would they have time to chant those spells.

As a result, in battles between acolytes, whoever was struck first by a spell would end up defeated or killed.

This scenario would last until one reached the stage of an official Magus.

Apart from this, there was another method, which was to borrow strength from special items. For example, defensive or strange items which could instantly activate a defence spell.

However, such high leveled defensive items were even difficult to obtain for official Magus, so they rarely appeared in the hands of an acolyte.

Leylin and the other acolytes, together with the Half-Beast Man, all had no defensive items. At most, they only wore leather armour, which had absolutely no resistance against spells.

Moreover, a simple roll of the Mankestre snake would have already been able to grind them into a meat paste.

"According to the records of the academy, there are still a number of acolytes who die at the hands of Knights and Grand Knights. However, there has never been any instance of an official Magus dying at the hands of ordinary humans!"

As for this yellow potion, it was Leylin's latest experimental result – Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion!

A potion like this has already separated itself from the category of elementary potions. It was a kind of beginner's potion, and even amongst the beginner potion category it was extremely difficult to brew.

As for the effect, it would produce a one-time defensive layer of light, which would defend against any spell or physical attack of ten degrees or less!

With Leylin's amassed wealth from selling potions, together with the A.I. Chip continuous simulation, he had finally managed to make only two bottles of it.

The amount he spent for these had already exceeded over 1000 magic crystals!

"These potions are not easily affordable by others, and all official Magi attacks have an attack strength of over 10 degrees, so this Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion is best used only at the level of battles between acolytes. However, every bottle costs at least 500 magic crystals. Even direct heirs to large families would not be able to afford it!"

However, for Leylin who had the help from A.I. Chip, which could elevate his success rate, combined with his Potions Master identity, he could brew the Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion, suppressing the cost to around 200 to 300 magic crystals. Although it still remained steep in price, as it was a trump card, it was acceptable.

"Leylin!" Murphy's eyes widened, "You…Are you alright?"

"En! I've wasted an expensive defensive potion that I've acquired!" Leylin's face darkened, and seemed to be extremely saddened by the loss.

"This damned beast, I'm going to kill it!"

On the other side of the battlefield, the huge Mankestre snake lay half dead on the floor, seemingly spent, and having wounds strewn across its body.

First, it was hit with Leylin's hybrid attack, before almost having its head chopped off by Grand Knight Jackson. Afterwards, it escaped from Murphy's rune shackles through brute force, before it was finally struck again by Leylin's potions.

The snake head, which was always held high with pride, now lay helpless on the floor. Its tongue hissed, and blood continuously flowed out from its neck area.

"After having suffered from such a devastating injury, no matter how tenacious the life force of snake type creatures are, they will absolutely still perish!"

Murphy gritted his teeth, and shot a green coloured pyramid shaft, which directly lodged itself into the eyes of the huge snake.

* Pu! * The snake's eyes were finally pierced through, and a layer of creamy red and yellow liquid splashed out, which was sparkling yet translucent.

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Returning to Extreme Night City

"The eyes are where the life essence of the Mankestre snake is, and it looks like this huge snake is about to die!"

Murphy looked at the huge snake, which was in its last moments, and said rather bleakly.

"Be optimistic my old friend!" Towards Murphy's bleakness, Leylin discovered that he actually could not utter any words of comfort.

After all, the casualties, this time, were too much. From a group of roughly 30 people, the Black Iron Guards were completely wiped out, and Murphy was the only acolyte that survived.

Moreover, the city lord and the Grand Knight, Viscount Jackson, was severely injured at this moment, and his life was in peril.

And the source of them all was this huge Mankestre snake!

"City lord? Right, Leylin! Hurry and look at Jackson!" Murphy slapped his forehead.

"You only thought of him now?" Leylin was rather speechless, and walked around the huge snake corpse, coming to the other side.

Viscount Jackson was lying on his back on the ground and his chest was sunken in a cavity. On the corners of his lips were traces of blood, and he was in an unconscious state.

Leylin hurriedly took a look, "3 broken ribs and the arm and leg bones are all also broken. As for the rest they are fine. With the vitality of a Grand Knight, he should be conscious in a few hours.

"That's good! This is the only good news I've heard all day today!"

Murphy walked towards that huge, lifeless snake, and said, "This seems to be a Mankestre snake which has not yet grown to its adult stage. If it was an adult withering huge snake, it could be very likely that the water content in our bodies would have been sucked dry the very moment we entered the cave!"

The huge Mankestre snake's head fell onto the floor, and a pair of eye-shaped pearls were pierced by the pyramid shaft, and dazzling fluid flowed out from within.

"Even so, the materials on this huge snake, would also be worth thousands of magic crystals!"

Murphy caressed the yellow-brown scales of the huge snake as he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the other eye of the Mankestre snake opened! Its gaze, filled with hatred, immediately landed on Murphy. It opened its jaws, and the razor-sharp teeth was about to snap Murphy into two.

This huge snake was not completely dead!

Earlier it had feigned its death, and right now, it finally revealed its razor-sharp teeth and was about to kill this repulsive human.

Against such an attack, Murphy was completely not protected and he stood there stunned, not moving at all.

"Be careful!"

Right when the snow-white teeth was about to land on Murphy, a silver chain suddenly flew out and wrapped itself on Murphy's waist, pulling him out of danger's way.

A black arrow directly pierced the other eye of the snake, and the Mankestre snake continuously writhed and finally ceased moving.

* Huff! Huff! Huff! *

Murphy panted violently, "Ley… Leylin, thank you! I owe you my life!"

"No problem! You gave your support to me back then too, didn't you?" Leylin smiled as his gaze fixed on the huge snake, up until when the A.I. Chip's voice sounded, [Target has completely lost all signs of life] did he heave a sigh of relief.

Under the detection of the A.I. Chip, although there were no more energy movements from the huge snake earlier, there was still a thermal response.

Of course, many kinds of creatures must be dead for a while before all thermal signs completely vanish.

However, because of that, Leylin was even more vigilant. Besides, intentionally or accidentally, he led Murphy forward and finally verified whether the large snake was truly dead.

"What a pity! If this Mankestre snake were to die before, its other eye would have absolutely been valued over 1000 magic crystals, but right now, the value of the whole corpse is greatly reduced."

Leylin was somewhat helpless at he looked to Murphy, who was at his side.

"About the attack earlier- you actually did not dodge it, which makes me rather surprised!"

An unexpected flush reddened Murphy's cheeks, "After using the rune shackles, my spiritual force and magic power are greatly weakened. In this period, I am just another old geezer on the street…."

With regards to Leylin, who saved him earlier, right now it could be said that Murphy trusted him greatly and actually even shared such a secret with him.

"Alright! Let's hurry and harvest the materials of this Mankestre snake, and then return to Extreme Night City!"

Leylin sized up the chaotic scene. Leylin and the three of them had absolutely no way to move those corpses on the ground, so they could only return back to Extreme Night City and ask people to retrieve these corpses.

With the death of the huge Mankestre snake, this area should no longer pose a threat in future.

"Haha… This time Leylin, your contributions have been the most, so you should be allowed to harvest the best material!" Murphy smiled.

Concerning this matter, Leylin did not have any notions of killing Murphy and claiming all the loot for himself.

Murphy did help him earlier, and on the other hand, right now Murphy and him were the only two acolytes left, so he would definitely monopolise a large portion of the resources, thus he did not have to take a risk and kill people.

From the whole Mankestre snake, the most valuable ingredient would be its eyes, after which the remaining materials would only add up to a total of 1000 to 2000 magic crystals, which was not enough to bewitch Leylin yet.

If right now there was some rare materials worth ten thousand magic crystals, who knew if Leylin would harbour some bad intentions.

"Decent scales, combined with the snake skin, should be able to produce many sets of soft armour." Leylin went forward and unsheathed his cross blade, before dissecting the huge snake. Murphy too helped by his side.

After a moment of being busy, Leylin and Murphy had harvested some of the more valuable portions of the huge snake. As for the remaining items, they could only be transported with help from the city lord's castle.

* Gu Lu Lu * The axles of the carriage resounded continuously, and Viscount Jackson opened his eyes.

"I am…still alive?" What entered his vision was a sky filled with resplendent starlight, and he felt his body rising and falling in accordance with the movements of the horse carriage.

Viscount Jackson discovered that his chest was already bandaged, and a refreshing feeling dispersed the pain, which showed that the healing process was extremely professional.

"Who was it that saved me?" A doubt crossed Viscount Jackson's mind, and he tried hard to untangle his thoughts.

"City lord! You are finally awake!" A face with a white beard and white eyebrows appeared in front of Viscount Jackson.

"How is it? Do you still retain your memories?" Murphy shook his finger in front of Viscount Jackson.

"Was it you who saved me? How are the others?" Viscount Jackson struggled to speak, and his voice sounded hoarse, like a ruined bellow.

"It wasn't me, but Leylin who saved you!" Murphy pointed at Leylin who was driving, "We three are the only survivors of the whole group… After exiting the woods, it took me a while to obtain this spacious horse carriage…."

"They're all dead?" Viscount Jackson flung his head to the side and an unexplainable sorrow welled from the bottom of his heart.

"Lord Viscount! It seems like you are alright now!" Leylin turned back, and tossed a green bottled potion, "This is a healing potion, I hope it will be of use to you!"

Murphy caught it, and fed it into the mouth of Viscount Jackson.

After taking the potion, Viscount Jackson only felt a hot wave surging through his four limbs, and he finally regained some energy from it.

"Towards Leylin's generosity and grace of saving my life, I will definitely repay you when we return!"

"If possible, please give me all of the Hove Violet Leaves in the castle. That would be the greatest recompense!" Leylin raised his request without a tinge of restraint.

"Of course!" Jackson was stunned, before immediately agreeing.

With the advance of the horse carriage, the silhouette of Extreme Night City gradually appeared.

A few soldiers were still guarding the post, scrutinising the people that came and went.

Jackson looked at the distant scene, and his eyes quivered, and finally two streams of tears flowed….

The city lord's castle's reconnoiter group had perished completely. Even news of Viscount Jackson, as a Grand Knight, having been seriously injured had spread and immediately caused an uproar in Extreme Night City.

Even after two days, the news did not die down. Instead, it even spread throughout the area,

As the city lord of Extreme Night City, Viscount Jackson always used his status as a Grand Knight to suppress many dark factions. However, when the news of him being injured spread, it caused several ripples and undercurrents inside the city.

At this moment, the strength of the city castle was waning, even the few acolytes who were friendly towards Viscount Jackson had died. Jackson who was nurturing his grief had to face with all these, and was rather overwhelmed by all these.

Leylin who stayed in the villa outside the city heard some of the news.

However, since he had returned from the venture, he always holed himself in the experiment lab, and even refused many invitations from the city lord's castle and other factions.

Under the bright light, Leylin stared; his eyes fixated on a petri-dish.

On the surface of the glass petri-dish, a small red lump of flesh continuously swelled, and from it grew many tentacles.

Leylin picked up another pipette, and placed a drop of the yellow potion on the lump of meat.

* Sssii! * The meat dissolved, and turned into a puddle of crimson-red with yellowish blood fluid.

"I have finally managed to purify it, the primordial blood essence of the huge snake!" Leylin looked at the petri-dish, as if seeing the most precious treasure in this world.

"A.I. Chip! Scan composition!"

[Beep! Mission establishing, scanning in progress…] [The list of genes has been generated, comparing to database….]

"99.8%……"

[Beep! Similarity of the blood essence with a normal huge python: 99.8%! Determined as the blood essence of original huge pythons! After remodelling in the later stage, there were new types of genes…]

The A.I. Chip continuously reported the conclusions, and even projected the list of genes in front of Leylin's eyes.

From the multicoloured image, the blood essence of the huge Mankestre snake that Leylin saw earlier was actually the same with regular huge pythons.

"Indeed! This huge python is the result of an experiment by magicians!" Leylin nodded his head. He still remembered clearly that after the A.I. Chip had scanned the huge python, it had added the words half-adult to its name.

However, if not for the accuracy of the A.I. Chip down to the atomic level, Leylin would never unravel the secret behind it. Even other magicians would not be able to realise the difference.

"Two more days, and that area should be calm again!"

Leylin informed his subordinates that he was going to undergo a very long duration of experimentation and that they are not to bother him with any matters and then he secretly left the villa.

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Vestige Traces

The night was dark, and there was tranquility. Dried up old trees littered the surroundings, and on the branches, there were ravens ruffling their feathers.

* Bang! *

The grass patch below the tree tore open, revealing a dark passage beneath it.

Leylin was draped in black robes, and his face was veiled. One would not be able to see his face.

The nearby villa was still lit with lanterns, and the patrolling mercenaries did not know that their master had already left the villa.

In Leylin's experiment lab, there was a direct passage which Leylin set up himself, with no one being the wiser.

"Since that huge Mankestre snake is an experimental body, there should be some experiment labs nearby from magicians! Moreover, that huge Mankestre snake had actually occupied Dark Night Woods for a few years, and not one magician had stepped forward to deal with it. There could only be one reason for that!"

Leylin's eyes flashed, "That experiment lab is most likely abandoned! The magician in it, due to some circumstances, could no longer look after it, or is most likely dead! That is why the huge snake could escape from it!"

For magicians, seeking ancient vestiges had always been in their best interests.

The remnants left by ancient Magi, such as official Magi experiment labs, would often contain many valuable data and ingredients, high levelled research, spells and magic artifacts with immense might. These were all items that magicians always sought after.

Rumour had it that more often than not, there were examples of acolytes who were lacking having stumbled upon ancient remnants, and beginning to wield tremendous power after that.

Of course, there were failed ventures and explorations where they finally died under the ancient mechanisms or curses from the corpses.

However, for magicians, searching for vestiges was still a very beneficial thing to do.

From an experiment lab which could create a half-adult huge Mankestre snake, any one item in it could let Leylin immediately get rich quickly, and even obtain more precious ingredients and knowledge to pave the way for him to advance into an official Magus in future.

"Since I have already found some traces, I will definitely have a look at the experiment lab!"

Leylin's gaze was determined. He was not afraid of risks, especially when the benefits strongly outweigh the risks.

For this venture, he had specially prepared many items, which were enough measures to counter against any sudden developments.

As for his subordinates? Not only were they easily susceptible to divulging news, but under the traps set up by official Magi, even Knights were only an existence slightly greater than ants. They were completely of no use, hence Leylin even kept his departure from them.

Leylin journeyed for several nights in a row. Since there were no people around, he could use many of his methods.

He splashed a green potion onto the ground, bringing about a ball of green coloured wind particles, which wrapped Leylin's body within them. His whole body seemed to turn into a breeze, and disappeared into the night.

What Leylin used was a hastening potion which he had formulated throughout the years.

As an outstanding Potions Master, no matter if it was using potions to journey or fight, he was entirely in his element.

In the original passage, where Leylin and the others had battled the huge Mankestre snake.

People had already been sent from the city lord's castle to retrieve the mutilated corpses and largely dissected huge Mankestre snake. What remained were many impressions on the ground, as well as traces of flames and frost, which spoke of the intense fight that had occurred previously.

"The scenario from earlier has already been recorded down by the crystal ball given by the academy. To use that to signify the completion of mission is absolutely acceptable."

From the battle previously, Leylin had used the crystal ball to record only most of the exploration mission, especially the corpse of the huge Mankestre snake at the end.

With some ingredients from the corpse, as well as the record from the crystal ball, it could be said that Leylin's mission in Extreme Night City was finally completed.

However, he had no plans whatsoever to leave at all.

Not mentioning whether the mess of a war that Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was entangled in at the moment already had a victor, Leylin did not want to go back during this period.

He had just managed to formulate a modified formula for the Azure Potion. Now would be the best time to break through into a level 3 acolyte, so why would he risk going back to the academy and expose himself in the process?

As for Extreme Night City, Leylin did not even see an official Magus, which put him at ease to carry out his experiments and breakthrough.

Leylin would wait for a buffer of three years after the dust settled for the war of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. Although his advancement to a level 3 acolyte would still be fast that way, it would not be as eye catching!

At that time, he could figure out an excuse, and cover his tracks easily.

As for the corpses of the acolytes on the floor, naturally, they had already been inspected by Leylin. Back then, he had kept all the valuable items for himself before bringing the heavily injured Jackson and Murphy to leave the place.

"However, that group of acolytes were all paupers, and not a single one of them had more than 10 magic crystals! Only on that Half-Beast Man acolyte, there was still a frost smelted gold rune which can be considered to be rather good!"

Leylin grumbled in his mind, as he came to the centremost area of the cave.

Under the light radiated by the Flash Jellyfish, the whole cave was extremely bright. Leylin could see that on the ground at the centre, traces of where the huge Mankestre snake was coiled were still apparent.

"It actually managed to make such a deep impression, they are indeed of the same nature narrated by compendiums: an extremely lazy being.

Leylin crouched and felt the earth that was sunken in.

"A.I. Chip! Record composition!"

[Recording completed, comparing to normal earth data in the databank. The target has 0.0005% of compound remnants, and is tentatively determined to contain Maike alloy!]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

Maike alloy was a type of artificial metal, made by spells of magicians, that was extensively used to construct incubation pools in experiment labs.

"This is right!" Leylin eyes flashed with glee.

"A.I. Chip, is it possible to follow the tracks of the snake and find its original breeding area?

[Scanning in progress! The target's data has been heavily covered by other creatures and is lacking in important information. Mission failed!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

Leylin scanned the surroundings. The ground was littered with claw marks from various creatures. Such was the devastation left by the parasitic abilities of the huge Mankestre snake.

"What a pity…." Leylin shook his head.

"However, according to the habits of the huge Mankestre snake and the clues left by the other traces, that experiment lab should not be far off from here!"

Leylin commanded the A.I. Chip, "A.I. Chip, scan every item in the surroundings!"

[Missions establishing, beginning imaging!]

Along with the A.I. Chip intonation, the image of a blue coloured map was projected in front of Leylin's eyes.

In the centre was a huge cave, with many small tunnels in the near vicinity. Leylin even found a few parasitic bodies that had survived through sheer luck. However, it was unknown how much longer they could live for when the parent was dead.

The map expanded until it finally reached the limit of its range.

Leylin's brows furrowed, " A.I. Chip, restart scan! Lower the precision to the lowest, and search in an extended perimeter! Begin running through a checklist of radioactive density!"

With the command, the map in Leylin's eyes turned more out of focus. However, the perimeter extended, almost encompassing the nearby geography of the cave too.

"Maintain this area and precision!"

Leylin walked out of the cave and began running towards a direction. Following his movement, the edge of the map also continuously expanded….

A few hours later, Leylin walked towards a large black granite boulder.

"The surrounding areas have already been inspected. Although the radioactive densities are higher, this should be where the shedding of the huge Mankestre snake took place previously!"

"As for the only place with no radiation, but not within the scope of the A.I. Chip's scanning perimeter, this is the only place!"

Leylin looked at the large black granite boulder in front of him. This boulder was of the height of several humans, almost the size of a small mountain.

In the map that the A.I. Chip scanned, this huge boulder had absolutely no traces of radiation. Even standing before it now, the A.I. Chip still did not detect anything.

"This kind of scenario has happened several times back at the academy. It is due to the spell formations set by official Magi, which are interfering with the detection of the A.I. Chip!"

Leylin stroked the surface of the large black granite boulder. It was ice cold, damp, and had algae growing on it.

"However….What I must do to enter?"

Leylin exerted strength in his right arm and grabbed some of the rock powder.

"A.I. Chip! Analyse composition!"

[Beep! Mission establishing, in the process of gathering data….] The A.I. Chip's voice continuously intoned, and a screen appeared in front of Leylin that was densely packed with the various data of the granite rock.

"It seems like there are no differences between this and a normal granite rock!" Leylin drew the data of normal granite rock and made a comparison. However, he finally had to acknowledge that the magician defended his secrets very well. Leylin had absolutely no way of finding the entrance to the experiment lab.

"However, since that huge Mankestre snake was able to come out, it means that the defense in the spell formation has some sort of problem. I just require more time to inspect…."

Leylin stroked his chin and began setting up a tent beside the granite rock.

He decided to stay here for a long time in order to continuously detect any loopholes or weakness in the spell formation, hoping to find a way to enter.

After all, there won't be anyone coming to the vicinity of the withering woods anymore, especially when the city lord's castle has sent people to retrieve the corpses of the acolytes, troops and the huge snake.

After chewing on several biscuits that he brought along with him, Leylin began to analyse the spell formation on the large black granite boulder.

Of course, he only dared do this as he was sure that the owner of the lab was already dead through his observations and conjectures. Who knew if that unknown magician had long since died a natural death.

"After having been here for so long, yet with no magicians coming out, the accuracy of this conjecture has yet been raised by 30%.

Leylin stared at the large black granite boulder before him with a zealous expression contained within.

"If I manage to dispel the spell formation, the items in there are all mine!"

For Leylin, who was a level 2 acolyte, an experiment lab belonging to an official Magus was a huge treasure trove!

"Only that… The traps set by official Magus are extremely dangerous. I must absolutely not be blinded by greed and fall into a trap!"

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Gnawing Slate

Time passed by. In the blink of an eye, Leylin had tarried beside the large black granite boulder for 5 days.

In those five days, Leylin tried every method he knew on the large black granite boulder. He finally found a few loopholes he could exploit.

Leylin already confirmed that the granite boulder had a spell formation set up within. But it was in a damaged state.

According to the wear and tear, this formation had already been in effect for over a hundred years.

The cause of this extensive damage might very well have had something to do with the huge Mankestre snake's escape earlier.

"Some portion of the magic spell formation has already been damaged by that snake. That's why there are detectable traces leaking out. Without those leaks, even with the A.I. Chip's assistance, finding this place would not have been easy."

Glee spread across Leylin's face.

Due to his experiments these past few days, he managed to assemble a set of spells that gave him a 70- 80% chance of opening the entrance to this experiment lab.

The cyclical timing inherent to this spell formation meant that the damaged parts only appeared at certain times. Leylin needed to wait for this window of opportunity.

The sun gradually set and the surrounding area became shrouded in darkness.

Owing to the death of the huge Mankestre snake, the withering woods would eventually recover its former vitality. Unfortunately, this would require at least a hundred years. Right now, there was only that deathly suffocating silence permeating the withering woods, which would insidously choke anyone who dared enter.

Leylin did not care a whit. Oblivious to the heavy atmosphere, he sought out a level rock and started brewing potions on it.

Moonlight fell. Very soon the woods was enveloped in a layer of silver sheen. The full moon today was exceptionally bright. Curiously, there was a tinge of saffron tinting the moon.

Leylin snapped open the pocket watch he brought with him, "It's almost midnight!"

He rose and sauntered to the side of the large black granite boulder. As moonlight from the full moon shone on the surface of the granite rock, its black stone skin suddenly came off and revealed a network of blood vessels coalescing into a silvery archway. They pulsated continuously as if absorbing the moonlight.

"This is it!" Leylin's eyes flashed. He quickly emptied the contents of the potions he just brewed onto the surface of the granite rock.

* Sssii! * A large amount of white mist rose and corroded the surface of the rock, leaving the network of blood vessels in chaos.

"Karamanda…." Leylin chanted the incantation softly. His voice sounded extremely depressed like the muttering of a jilted woman.

In time with the chanting noises, the silvery network of veins settled and continued to combine, then finally turned into a circular passage.

Seeing this, Leylin was elated. His chanting voice became more frenzied as he repeatedly tossed the few ingredients in his hands into the passageway.

* Bang! * Along with Leylin's final chant, the large black granite boulder completed its shape change. Close to Leylin, the silvery archway earlier disappeared. Instead, the entrance to a dark tunnel materialized.

"A fake passageway actually got conjured!" Leylin shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

At that instant, the eyes of the black raven perched on his shoulders, glinted with human intelligence.

"By harnessing some of this spell's effect, I should be able to use this raven to break into the experiment lab in a short timeframe. Everything it sees would then be relayed into my right eye like a holographic projection!"

As Leylin shut his right eye, the raven cocked its head lightly before giving a cry. Then, it directly flew into the dark tunnel.

Many scenes flashed past Leylin's closed right eye.

He felt like he was flying. The scenery below him were all relayed into his mind's eye.

The passage was extremely short. In moments, the raven reached the other end.

Leylin saw a small-sized villa appear in front of him. Its walls shimmered with spell light.

Green coloured vines crawled and filled the wall. On it were some sort of red-coloured flowers with what looked like bone petals.

"This is…." Astonishment surfaced from the depths of the raven's eyes, "Devil Vines? Bone Eating Flowers? I originally thought they were all extinct, but there are actually some in here!"

On the villa's entrance was a jagged circular hole the size of Leylin's palm. Leylin surmised that this could be the spot the Mankestre snake broke through during its escape–way back when it was but a youngling.

Near the hole, a white skeleton draped in black robes lay on a grey-coloured stone platform!

"According to the way the skeleton is positioned, it was obviously an acolyte like me who accidentally stumbled upon this place. He tried to break into the villa and perished in this sorry state!"

Leylin's steeled his heart. He telepathically maneuvered the raven to alight beside the bones and let the bird pluck on it with its black claws.

A crash resounded, a heap of items fell from the robes.

A book, several yellow parchment paper, a heap of bottles, and a yellow bronze ring tumbled onto the floor. A 'K' symbol was inscribed on it.

"Seems to be some kind of identity verification!" Leylin casually had the bird fiddle with the ring and peep at the book.

After using the raven's feathers to clear the dust, a row of esoteric patterns and cursive handwriting emerged.

"These characters…? They seemed to be in Ancient Terrestrial Elven language! I have seen these before in the library!"

Leylin was stunned. He immediately began to decrypt the words, "Terrestrials… Terrestrial Elves! Alchemist of the Terrestrial Elves, Torozar!"

"It is actually information pertaining to alchemy!"

Leylin was in ecstasy, "It was mentioned in the library's records that the Ancient Terrestrial Elves were renowned for their exquisite alchemy, as well as their enchanting capabilities! If I were to obtain these information, I may begin attempting some of the things recorded in the Lowian Academy Teachings…."

With the A.I. Chip's overpowered calculation abilities, the Lowian Academy Teachings, which Leylin bought earlier, was already completely decrypted. Part of data was about a method for synthesizing a magic artifact.

Of course, it was only a low-grade magic artifact. However, in Leylin's current state, this was a rather huge temptation.

He, alas, spent most of his time on Potioneering and Magic studies, so he had next to no inkling whatsoever concerning Alchemy and Enchantment. Moreover, such high level information was always kept under rigorous control. Regular acolytes did not have the clearance to access them.

Even if Leylin had a way to synthesize a magic artifact, it would still be extremely difficult.

Luckily, with the Alchemy information material here and the simulation capability of his A.I. Chip, Leylin completely believed that he would be able to synthesize this magic artifact once he became a level 3 acolyte.

"Bring this book out!" Leylin was already thinking of retreating.

To him, just knowing that within the granite walls was an abandoned experiment lab with degraded defenses made today's probe an extremely fruitful one. Obtaining advanced information on Alchemy was an unexpected bonus.

The raven grabbed the book with its claws with much effort. As it turned around, it lightly brushed the parchment paper. With a hissing sound, the ancient piece of paper disintegrated

Leylin was stunned, "Has it already eroded to this state?"

* Hehe! Haha! *

Just as Leylin's raven was about to fly off with the book, the surrounding area reverberated with a child's ominous laughter.

"The defence formation activated! Damn it, I only have two more minutes!"

The black raven flapped its wings, preparing to rise and fly away.

*Ka-cha! * The grey coloured platform split open, revealing a huge jaw serrated with razor sharp white teeth.

In one ferocious snap, the raven was torn to pieces.

* Pu! * On the surface of the giant black stone, Leylin crouched down and grabbed at his right eye with his hands.

A wave of searing pain hit him. It felt like someone was digging out his eyeball directly from its socket.

* Huff Huff Huff * panting heavily, Leylin slowly recovered a good while later.

The muscles of his handsome face contorted and red veins could be seen filling the white of his right eye. A blood vessel burst and drops of blood fell to the ground.

"Magic spell backlash!" Leylin sucked in a lungful of cold air and withdrew a red potion from his sack. He unplugged it and began drinking its contents.

Several moments later, Leylin stood up, feeling much better.

"Careless! I never thought that apart from the Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flower, there was even a Gnawing Slate."

Leylin looked at the original position of the tunnel entrance. The surface of the huge black granite boulder remained smooth. The entrance seen earlier seemed to be merely an illusion.

"Devil Vines, Bone Eating Flower, Gnawing Slate, and other mechanisms. I cannot infiltrate in this place right now, what a pity…."

Leylin deduced this from the spells he had in his possession and the ingredients he owned.

"I'm afraid that only after I advance into level 3 acolyte, will I be able to enter this experiment lab!"

Leylin concluded, "Anyway, I now known the true location and its access protocols. Moreover, I have visually confirmed the presence of precious informative material regarding Alchemy inside. So this venture was not a complete waste of effort!"

Right now, the experiment lab was too dangerous for Leylin. He was not someone who got easily dazzled by greed. He decided to leave exploring this place to a later date and returned to the villa to cultivate.

Leylin calmed down as he focused on resting and recuperating from the damage done to him by the spell earlier.

He then went towards the tent area where stowed his things. He then erased all traces and tracks left by his recent activities.

"This defence spell formation has lasted over a hundred years. There were almost no loopholes a random passerby could exploit. I only need to erase my tracks. Adding more defensive measures or illusory spells would be superfluous."

Having finished arranging everything, Leylin took a last glance at the black rock. Then, without the slightest bit of hesitation, he left.

"I have warned them before about the laboratory in the manor, so Anna and the others would not dare enter it. If I can return undetected to my laboratory, I can keep what happened here a secret."

"Concerning Extreme Night City, Jackson only suffered some superficial injuries. He should be mostly have recovered by now after following my treatment. He is most likely pretending to be seriously injured to lure any turncoat and renegade from their snake holes!"

"Whatever the case may be, matters regarding the city lord's castle are not my concern. I need not understand them. When I get the promised Hove Violet Leaves, I will immediately begin brewing the potions needed to breakthrough into level 3."

To Leylin, increasing his own power was all-consuming. Otherworldly influences and the sort were considered a waste of energy. Since he did not care about such things, he was also disinclined to paying attention to these matters.

But if anyone dared to entertain the idea of harming him, he would kill them!

As far as magicians were concerned, eradicating a few worldly powers or factions required almost no effort.

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Preparing To Breakthrough

The heat wave caressed the earth. In the blink of an eye, a few months passed, and it was autumn.

In the small villa, Leylin swirled a tastefully refreshing iced grape juice in a wine glass.

He was attired in a leisurely frivolous apparel favoured by nobles and looked quite lackadaisical.

"A.I. Chip! Bring up my current stats!"

[Beep! Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte, Knight. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.2, Spiritual force: 7.1, Magic power: 7 – (magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force). Status: Healthy]

"I have finally reached the 7 spiritual force bottleneck!" Leylin sighed as he looked at the data.

After getting back from his solo exploration several months ago, Leylin got busy brewing potions to breakthrough the spiritual force bottleneck.

Viscount Jackson had expeditiously sent over a warehouse full of Hove Violet Leaves. At the same time, Fraser and the others continued to purchase ingredients found elsewhere as per Leylin's standing orders.

Sadly, the modified Azure Potion's brewing success rate was on the low side while consumption of Hove Violet Leaves was outrageously high. On top of that, Leylin could only take in the potion during the most optimal times recommended by the A.I. Chip for maximum medicinal effect. It was only now that he reached a spiritual force of 7.

"Young Master! Fraser's back!"

On the other side of the door Anna wore a black gauze ensemble that showed off her alluring curves beneath the fine muslin, especially her snow white thighs which was seductively enclosed in black fishnet stockings.

Right now she acted as Leylin's chief aide, at the same time she had control over the finances, which could be considered as having high authority. However, in the presence of Leylin she was as gentle and as obedient as a little pussycat.

"Let's go! I'll go meet him!"

Leylin got up and left the room, his leather shoes gave off a thudding noise on the floorboard with each step.

"Young Master!' Upon seeing Leylin's arrival, two maids hurriedly curtsied.

"En?" Leylin suddenly walked in front of a maid. She had snow white thighs and perky breasts, but right now her head was lowered and she dared not move.

"You're new here?" Leylin caressed her smooth chin. Her face still had some residual baby fat on it making her look extremely adorable.

"Yes… Yes, I am Trixy, the daughter of Luke who works in your farm ranch milord!" The maid replied softly did not dare reject Leylin's teasing.

"Work hard!" Leylin waved his hands as he left.

"That maid earlier should now be very agitated huh?" Leylin slowly rubbed his fingers against each other as he revealed a mischievous smirk.

Ever since he had been transported to this world, because he occupied the body of a youth, he realised that his attitude was reverting more and more towards one befitting the host's age. During emergencies or crises, it was not obvious. But now that he was in safe haven, he could not help but have some notions of tomfoolery.

He expunged the expression on his face as he strolled to the warehouse. He was once again the great and stern magician lord.

"Young Master!" Fraser stated as he half knelt on the ground. "Your subordinate, I have collected another 20 pounds of Hove Violet Leaves from Austere Winter City. They have all been stored inside the warehouse!"

"Very good!" Leylin walked to the warehouse, and took a look at the amount and quality of the Hove Violet Leaves.

Amongst the whole pile, the only ones that could be used for potion brewing were those whose central stems were thinner than the stalk of an oat. The amount of spiritual force an Azure Potion provided remained considerable enough to justify Leylin's continued use, despite the increasingly high resistance towards the potion he was developing.

The bizarre purple leaves filled half of the warehouse. There was a strange scent permeating the air, a rather stinging sulfuric pungence.

Leylin casually picked up a purple leave, "A.I. Chip, detect properties!"

[Beep! Gathering data!]

After a brief pause, the various properties of the Hove Violet Leaves were projected onto Leylin's visual field. The chemistry, the medicinal properties- even the smidgen of various residue from other items on the surface of the leaf- all projected by the A.I. Chip.

"Based on this inspection, this batch of Hove Violet Leaves will still do!" Leylin nodded his head.

"Young Master!" Fraser lips moved, yet he did not speak.

"Say what you want to say!" Leylin's brows furrowed.

"All the Hove Violet Leaves in Extreme Night City have now been purchased by us. What remains are those of poor quality. In fact, Greem and I have already seen a number of counterfeit batches from traders who wished to hoodwink us.

"Indeed, Hove Violet Leaves are a special product only found in Eastwood Province. They take at least a year to grow!"

Leylin stroked his chin, and estimated the amount of Hove Violet Leaves in the warehouse.

"Put our purchasing drive on hold until next year's Hove Violet Leaves hit the markets. We can then resume buying them again!"

From this recent batch of Hove Violet Leaves, Leylin discovered that the quality was getting poorer and poorer. Some could not even be used for potion brewing.

Indeed, it seems like he purchased quite a huge chunk of the total Hove Violet Leaf production in this area.

The ingredients in the warehouse should be enough to meet my requirements for manufacturing enough potions to get to level 3 acolyte. As for official Magus, it is not something that I can consider right now.

Leylin entered into deep thought. Right now his spiritual force has already reached 7. He has long since brewed the Reactive Elixirs. Advancing to level 3 acolyte no longer posed any problem for him at all.

However, Leylin still knew nothing about how to advance to official Magus from level 3 acolyte. Even though Leylin was authorized to access the academy's library, he had not found any hint of the process.

It seemed like the academy had forbidden all information pertaining to this topic.

"Whether the academy or the market, I have always paid special attention to information related to official Magus. Until now, I could not even unearth a single clue.

This was also why Leylin was hesitant about leaving Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.

The higher ups in the Magus World kept a tight lid on all information regarding how to advance to official Magus. More so for Leylin, who became an acolyte from afar. He had to fulfil certain requirements and run errands before he would be granted a peek at the advancement methods to study them.

"This is something out of my control. Maybe the Magus experiment lab has something that I can profit from?"

Leylin thought again of the Magus experiment lab concealed near the withering woods.

After his previous stint there, he could already confirm that the person who left the experiment lab was an official Magus. Moreover, it had been forsaken for a long time already.

This was a piece of good news.

He only needed to be rid of all the spell formations laid on the experiment lab. Then, everything in it would be his, including the unlucky magician's items lying just outside the door.

"level 3! I only need to advance to level 3 acolyte, and imbue another set of rank 0 spells so I can depart!"

Leylin made up his mind.

In a small secret lab with an extremely simple layout, there weren't many household items, only a wooden bed in the middle.

Leylin sat cross-legged atop the bed. Before his impassive face was a tangerine-yellow potion.

He was prepared and determined to breakthrough to level 3 acolyte.

He did not breathe a word of this to anyone. Like before, he informed Anna that he was just going to carry out an experiment. No matter what happened, he didn't want any interruptions.

It was not that he couldn't trust his subordinates but they had neither the strength nor the ability to render aid if anything untoward happened. They wouldn't be of much use so he might as well hide the fact that he was attempting to breakthrough.

After all, he 'disappeared' from the villa from time to time. His manor staff had gotten inured to it by now.

Once he had accomplished what he set out to do, when he next appeared before his people, everything would have been fait accompli.

Although there might not be any prying eyes or ears, especially any spies sent by his adversaries, he was conscientious of the possibility.

"level 3 acolyte, the final step before official Magus. For first grade and second grade acolytes, level 3 has always been hailed the peak of cultivation.

A level 1 acolyte could merely use energy particles, but could not cast any spells yet. Their fighting strength was roughly equivalent to a Knight's. As for level 2 acolytes, they were able to cast some rank 0 spells. Though these were simple ones, it bolstered their battle abilities to such an extent that they surpassed the Knights.

level 3 acolytes, on the other hand, had exponentially greater spiritual force than regular humans. They had a more profound understanding of spell theory and its uses in combat. They were masters of techniques like instantaneous casting, which enabled extremely rapid casting of prepared spells. Even Grand Knights were not their opponents.

Moreover, level 3 acolyte had always been considered the preparatory stage to becoming an official Magus. The faster one advances as a level 3 acolyte, the higher chances of eventually becoming an official Magus.

Among Magus academies and factions, the number of official Magi was extremely small. Level 3 acolytes were universally considered the backbone of any academy's or faction's battle strength!

Any young level 3 acolyte was counted as a valuable asset of the academy. These institutions were inclined towards dedicating resources to nurture them, hoping that these seeds would advance beyond level 3 acolyte in the future.

"Breaking through level 3 acolyte requires mastery of two spell models, a spiritual force of 7, and the aid of Reactive Elixirs!"

Leylin picked up the tangerine-yellow potion before him.

"I have long since gotten both the elixir and the requisite spell mastery. Now, with the help of the Azure Potion, I have also met the spiritual force requirements, all within a few months. This speed has long since surpassed Jayden's aptitude. A fifth grade acolyte!"

Even if they were genius acolytes of the fifth grade, before the huge gulf between level 2 acolyte and level 3 acolyte, 3 years would be the minimum they would spend getting there.

However, after obtaining the potion, Leylin's speed had long since surpassed that of Jayden and the rest. In no time at all, he had reached the standard required to advance to be a level 3 acolyte.

"As long as my spiritual force gets enhanced, even if the breakthrough fails, I can always make another attempt. My body would suffer some major damage though, so being successful in one go is for the best!"

For the final time, Leylin mentally reviewed all information regarding advancement to a level 3 acolyte. After confirming that he had not left anything out, he popped the cork keeping the tangerine-yellow potion securely plugged.

"This Reactive Elixir is not meant to be drunk!"

Leylin undressed and smeared the Reactive Elixir over his face, limbs and chest.

The potion felt rather cool wherever he smeared it. However, after a few moments, a wave of heat gradually coursed through his skin. In an instant, his skin started to shudder and turn beet red.

[The Reactive Elixir is taking effect, medicinal properties under surveillance!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

As the potion continued to take effect, Leylin felt as if the potion coating his skin had come alive and was worming its way through his pores and into his body.

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Advancing To Level 3 Acolyte

An itch!

An unbearable itch!

Leylin felt that his bones had split open and many ants came crawling out from within. An extremely itching sensation was coursing through his body at this moment.

"Damn it! And I actually have to enter a deep meditative state under this condition and remodel the mind runes."

Leylin's face turned red. He clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to scratch his body as he closed his eyes.

Due to the adverse yet intense effect on his body, Leylin spent several more times longer to enter a meditative state.

Inside the meditation, Leylin seemed to have come to a place.

The surroundings were a grayish blur. Up in the air, there were many lights which seemed like stars, illuminating this place.

Leylin lifted his head. In the air were 24 mysterious runes- glowing with a fluorescent light- which gathered to form a circle.

These were the mind runes that he had painstakingly constructed during the past few years.

Although these mind runes were all constructed through various special means, each and every one of the construction required a huge amount of effort and time. Previously, Leylin had spent more than a year before he could finally construct them in his mind.

"The mind runes of a level 2 acolyte cannot be considered to have fully consolidated. A level 3 acolyte has to integrate the mind runes together based on the foundation set in level 2 acolyte. Moreover, there needs to be a reinforcement of the sea of consciousness!"

Leylin was extremely curious towards that state too.

Right now, he was in a completely 'conscious' state. The sea of consciousness did not appear in any parts of his body. At least, the A.I. Chip had already used a microscopic scan at the atomic level on his body but yet could not find anything.

"The cultivation of Magi spiritual force, may very well have crossed over into the aspect of souls!"

Leylin let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart. And at this moment, the sea of consciousness had a phenomenon.

A layer of tangerine-yellow light continuously permeated over the blurry, grayish mist. Not long after, the whole of the sea of consciousness turned into a bright tangerine-yellow.

"This is the effect of the Reactive Elixir! It was only with a potion that can be smeared on the body, and I also know of the ingredients it is made up of, but that it can actually affect my sea of consciousness, that is really mysterious…."

Before Leylin could gasp again, the tangerine-yellow light immediately rushed up into the sky, as if it wanted to dye the 24 mind runes into a tangerine-yellow colour too.

* Bang! *

The mind runes let off a glow and rejected the contamination of a foreign object, A huge force of impact travelled over. Leylin's vision darkened, and he almost fainted.

"Suppress it!" Leylin hurriedly borrowed the strength of his spiritual force, to suppress the resistance of the mind runes.

* Pop! *

Towards the mind runes that he constructed, Leylin's mastery over them was not little. A few seconds later, the 24 mind runes all stopped resisting, and they were dyed a tangerine-yellow

Under the contamination of the light, the many mysterious patterns appeared on the surface of the mind runes.

These patterns continuously kept extending till they had completely covered the surface of all the mind runes.

* Bang! * The 24 mind runes finally stuck together, forming into an even greater rune.

In Leylin's sea of consciousness, many patterns also appeared. And after the presence of these patterns, the sea of consciousness turned even more resplendent and transparent, as if it were being reinforced.

After the reinforcement, as if listening to some command, the tangerine-yellow light hurriedly retreated, immediately vanishing in the sea of consciousness.

The large mysterious rune let off a glow, and Leylin's consciousness was pushed out from it.

"Where is this place?"

Leylin grew confused; suddenly releasing that he was in a mysterious place. The area was pitch-black, with no light whatsoever.

He wanted to reach out, but there was no concept of "hands" as if he never had any hands before.

In this manner, he floated in the air with no concept of time, yet he couldn't move.

To Leylin, in this space, every minute was like a dozen years.

This feeling could completely drive a sane person over the cliff.

Leylin was somewhat frustrated, "Haven't I advanced into a level 3 acolyte yet? Why would I come to this space? How long has the time passed?"

Suddenly, Leylin's heart jumped, "A.I. Chip!"

[Beep!] A bright blue screen was projected in front of Leylin and although it could not illuminate the darkness, still it made him feel much better.

[Scans have picked up that the Host's spiritual force is in an abnormal state. Under this circumstance, the Host will fail the breakthrough to a level 3 acolyte in 5 Minutes 23 Seconds! 13 Hours 45 Minutes later, due to the failure of all organs death will ensue! Whether to use magic power to get rid of the status? Yes/No?]

"Yes!" Right now Leylin completely did not feel any magic power left in his body, but the A.I. Chip could still circulate it, which made him elated.

[Obtained Host's confirmation and now transferring magic power. In the process of getting rid of the abnormal status….] Along with the A.I. Chip's voice intonation, there was suddenly a strange movement in the pitch-black space.

Leylin's eyes flashed open. He realised that he was still in the secret lab and that not much time had passed since he began.

"During the advancing to a level 3 acolyte, there are actually such strange scenarios!"

Leylin's expression was solemn. His degree of progress was too quick, most of his knowledge had been obtained from the library and also from the simulations and conjectures of the A.I. Chip.

He had no info about some scenarios of advancing into level 3 acolyte.

"Normally speaking, when many level 2 acolytes are in the midst of advancing, they all have their Professors to explain in detail to them… but I'm unfortunate! Even Professor Kroft wouldn't have expected that I would face a breakthrough this quickly!"

Leylin held onto many secrets and would never tell the truth. In Kroft's eyes, he was just a newly advanced level 2 acolyte, so why would he tell him about some notes to pay attention regarding the advancement to a level 3 acolyte?

Furthermore, the books in the library were available commonly. Many things in it had vague explanations. Even if Leylin had the A.I. Chip and was able to erase the false information, together with his experiments, he wouldn't be able to obtain the perfect results.

This caused Leylin to encounter a phenomenon that occurred during his advancement and he was at a complete loss.

"Luckily I had the A.I. Chip this time, if not I will be finished! The road to becoming a Magus is indeed very precarious!"

There was some lingering fear in Leylin's heart.

But this, too, confirmed his deductions. The A.I. Chip had been with him when he was transported and for some unknown reason, it had merged into his soul.

Hence, when his soul met with an abnormality and was isolated and without help, he could still activate the A.I. Chip to get rid of the inner influences from the outside.

"So, advancing to a level 3 acolyte is not about the combination of the mind runes nor reinforcing the sea of consciousness, but about the space of darkness that comes after!"

Leylin suddenly understood much more. All these were usually precious information secrets that were not announced by professors or the academy, many factionless acolytes usually died during this aspect.

[Beep! The Host's spiritual force has some change and is more lively. The Host has advanced into a level 3 acolyte! spiritual force increasing….] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

Following which, Leylin felt dizzy, and his spiritual force increased at a rapid speed.

7.2

7.3

7.5

9.7

10.1

The spiritual force which seemed to ride on a rocket had continuously increased. When the final number jumped, it turned into 10.1, and finally stabilising itself.

"My head hurts!"

With the sudden increase of the spiritual force, right now Leylin's body could still not adapt to the change. He had a runny nose and when he touched the area, he realised that he was bleeding from his nostrils!

"The increase in spiritual force is too fast, and the body could not take it!"

Leylin smiled wryly but very soon his expression changed and cracking noises came from within his body. At the same time, intense pain travelled from all parts of his body continuously.

Leylin's facial muscles contorted and he fell flat on the bed, like a shrivelled up shrimp.

"Damn it! Damn it! The Reactive Elixir's effect is up and the backlash from the potion has started!"

Leylin howled, "A.I. Chip! Begin to coordinate with the magic power and get rid of the remnants from the elixir!"

A layer of a grayish-black halo of light appeared and floated on his body, enveloping his whole body. Along with the flickering of the halo, much of the yellowish-black pus was expunged from Leylin's pores, releasing a very acute stench.

A dozen minutes later, Leylin struggled to get up. He took out a red-coloured potion from the bag lying beside him and drank it fully before his expression changed for the better.

At this moment his body was drenched in sweat and pus, bringing about an acidic stench, as if he had just been scooped out from the sewers.

Leylin tried to pick himself up. His face was pale stricken and he was weak in the knees. His eyes were sunk in as if having been bedridden with an illness for many months.

After pushing open the door of the secret lab, Leylin jingled the bell placed beside the door.

* Ding Ling Ling! *

A crisp yet penetrating sound rang, and it travelled far after a while.

"Young Master! You…" A few minutes later, Anna brought two maids as she rushed over. It seemed like Leylin's lips were covered by his hands.

"It's fine! Send me to the bathroom! I wish to take a shower!"

"Do you want me to call the herbalist or doctor over?"

"No need!"

Half an hour later, Leylin lay in a pool that was constructed from marble. The warm water flowed over his body, bringing away the dirt and grime from him.

Anna was buck-naked as she nestled up against Leylin. She used a white towel to scrub his body.

"Mi….Milord! Your deer blood soup and steak!"

On the other side, Trixy too was stark naked, and her delightful curves were all exposed in front of Leylin eyes. She blushed, as she carried a propped up tray over.

The ray was made of wood and floated on the pool. Leylin picked up his utensils and ate voraciously.

Some time later, Leylin wore a loose bathrobe and reclined on a nearby chair. His back leaned against Anna's chest and enjoyed the sensational perky abundance.

And at his side, Trixy and another beautiful were giving a massage to Leylin.

They had only donned some clothes, which were smaller than a palm. The private areas weren't covered, only faintly discernible at times. This made it even more embarrassing yet alluring.

Trixy and the other maid were only daughters of farmers and they had toiled in the farms since they were young. They had a layer of calluses on their hands even. However, they were extremely young and their slender figures were beautiful. Their bodies radiated the vibrancy of youthfulness. Compared to Anna, it was a kind of wild flavour.

However, right now Leylin completely did not have any interest to engage in an intense bout with them. Instead, he felt somewhat traumatic about the advancement today.

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Reexamination

"A.I. Chip! Bring forth my current stats!" Leylin commanded inwardly.

[Beep! Leylin Farlier, level 3 acolyte. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.5, Spiritual force: 10.1, Magic power: 10 – (magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force). Status: Healthy]

The A.I. Chip projected the data in front of Leylin's eyes. Apart from him, nobody else could see it.

Leylin closed his eyes, yet his mind was rapidly processing and thinking.

"En! My vitality has increased by 0.3, which should be related to the use of the Reactive Elixir. Also, not only did my spiritual force increase to 10.1, I can feel that my spiritual force is brimming with more energy as compared to before. My perception towards energy particles in the air has increased too, so casting rank 0 spells should now be easier!"

"The realm of a level 3 acolyte is indeed not something a level 2 acolyte can compare to. However, the process of advancing is too perilous!"

Leylin put on an expression of lingering fear. No matter if it was his consciousness being trapped in the black space, or the backlash from the Reactive Elixir, they were all developments which he had not expected.

To Leylin, all the data and information he had garnered was still too little. Although the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities were extremely tremendous, if the basic information was not there, being able to simulate the correct advancement technique was already considered to be not bad.

As for the setback met during the advancement, due to the various differences in vitality between people adding on to the shortage of information, even the A.I. Chip was unable to predict them.

"After all, in the library that Abyssal Bone Forest Academy opened for its students, much information had been restricted. Some high levelled information was not even released to be read by the acolytes!"

"Also, even if the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities are comparable to 10 supercomputers, the Magus World has, at least, tens of thousands of years of history. With all of the hundreds of thousands of acolytes experiments, the results and models will surpass the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities!"

"The advancement, this time, was indeed rather lucky, and luck played an important factor in it!"

Leylin's face turn solemn, "I cannot go on like this next time! This is only for advancing to a level 3 acolyte! In the future, when I advance into an official Magus, I won't be so lucky if something like this happens again!"

The difficulty of the advancement from a level 3 acolyte to an official Magus far exceeded that of advancing from a regular human to a level 3 acolyte,

And if at that time there were some mistakes or oversights due to negligence, even if Leylin had a few lives, it wouldn't be enough to save him.

"After returning, I must inquire greatly about all the details pertaining to advancement into an official Magus, and not try to break through blindly again!"

Leylin gave himself this mission for the future.

"What's next is to wait until my body has adapted to the sudden increase in spiritual force, and muster the few rank 0 spells that only level 3 acolytes can learn, then go back to reexamine that lab!"

Leylin opened his eyes and sent Anna and the other two maids away. After setting up a circle of warning with a spell formation, he dragged his weary body onto the bed on the other side and entered into slumber.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed like that.

Night and the splendor of moonlight shone upon the ground. It was another full moon night.

Nearby the withering woods, beside that same large black granite boulder, Leylin muttered an incantation and repeated the same procedure as before.

Seeing the same dark hole of the cave, Leylin smiled and walked in.

After the observation of his previous exploration, he had already roughly understood the rules that were governing the spell formation. Moreover, he recorded all the danger inside there and had a way to counter them.

Furthermore, he had already advanced to a level 3 acolyte and had more confidence to break the defensive mechanisms laid by the unknown Magus.

The black tunnel passage was very short, and the surface was extremely shiny, reflecting Leylin's black robed figure. It was even projected at multiple angles on the wall behind Leylin.

The villa that Leylin had seen previously was at the back of the tunnel. The Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flowers still littered the floor. There were even grey slates on the floor, and within it resided the Gnawing Slate.

On the door of the villa, there was a circular hole. At the side of it was a corpse and a black diary which brought lustre lay beside the corpse. Seeing this book that had records of Alchemy, Leylin's heart began to palpitate faster.

In Leylin's eyes, the exterior of the villa was set up with a dangerous halo of light coming from magic spells, and it was unknown how many traps were concealed under the brilliant light.

* Hehe! Haha! *

Just as Leylin's right foot stepped on the stone slate, a childish laughter sounded. The slates on the floor twisted open and revealed a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, snapping viciously at Leylin!

"The first defense! Gnawing Slate!" Leylin smiled and tossed a gob of black stuff into the huge mouth.

* Ka-Cha! * The huge mouth gobbled up the black mass.

* Pu! * The grey mouth chewed, and immediately spit the black residue out. A red tongue continuously flickered outwards, and spat a yellowish green spittle.

This scene looked very much like a regular human eating something disgusting and spitting it out.

"With Stinky Stench Flower, Faeces Carapace Mantis, and the Rotten Stemmed Grass as the components of this vomiting powder! It is indeed the bane of the Gnawing Slate!" Leylin looked at the grey slate vomiting again, which immediately grew two small legs as it ran away, and the sight made Leylin laugh.

"To the unknown Magus, this should be a temporary lab since the spell leaned towards concealment. As for its resistance, there should only be 3 layers! Moreover, using the Gnawing Slate, Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flowers combination, this is the trademark defensive measures of the Michael School of Thought!"

Leylin walked towards the front door, and immediately grabbed the black diary with his hands.

It was extremely heavy, and carrying it felt like carrying a brick. It was probably made with special materials.

Leylin kept the diary in his robes and walked towards the large door.

A layer of blackish green vine immediately wrapped around the door, and on it, many red petals bloomed. The petals assembled, and actually formed the face of a female.

"Intruder! This is somewhere that you shouldn't have come!" The petals formed the opening and closing of the lips as the female talked.

"The Magus in there is already dead, I will inherit his fortune! As for you, I will keep your existence alive, and give you all the nourishment you require for evolving, how is it?"

Leylin took a red coloured fruit from his sack, "To you, the whole experiment lab cannot even be compared with this ingredient in my hand!"

"With it, you may even leave in the future, and regain your freedom, returning back to the woods where you came from…." Leylin spoke softly, with a tinge of beguilement.

"Freedom!" Hesitation and contemplations streaked across the woman's face.

"I cannot betray the promise from before! Outsider, please leave!" The woman struggled, but she still rejected Leylin's proposition. A green vine continuously writhed, as if it would strike anytime.

"Sigh…." Leylin returned the fruit to his sack and sighed, "I thought that I wouldn't have to strike!"

"Stubborn intruder, only death will be your ending!"

The Bone Eating Flower howled, this time changing into the face of a male, and many black vines immediately came lashing forward.

* Bang! * The black shadow charged forward, and Leylin ducked with his body. The thick vines slapped the floor, and the stone pieces flew in the air, revealing a huge pit.

"Don't be so impulsive, what if you damage the experiment lab?"

A layer of green light flew into the vine in the air, turning into a ball of light, and enveloped the flower and vine completely. The vine's attack speed decreased.

Leylin's brows furrowed and he took out a black powder from his sack, before sprinkling it all over the ground.

Moreover, as he scattered the powder, Leylin hurriedly chanted an incantation.

"Intruder! Die!" The human face formed by flower petals roared, and continuously changed, sometimes it was the voice of a male, and sometimes it had the face of a female.

* Bang! Bang! Bang! *

The blackish green vines were continuously brandished and hit many holes in the surrounding walls of the cave.

Leylin relied on the stats of a Knight to dodge, and his incantation never stopped.

Finally, after Leylin ran around the villa, the surrounding was already scattered with the black powder.

At this moment, the chanting stopped. Leylin pointed a finger at the human face, "Go to hell! Cloud of Afterlife!"

* Boom! *

The black powder continuously dissolved, turning into a gaseous body, and formed into an ominous black cloud that engulfed the entirety of the villa.

* Sssii! * From within travelled noises, which made Leylin recall the decomposition process of a man eating plant.

The black clouds grew denser, finally shielding what was happening within.

However, there were the occasional sounds of the Bone Eating Flower which continuously waned and finally disappeared, only leaving behind decomposing sounds, which would make people cringe.

5 minutes later, the black smoke dissipated, revealing the villa from before again.

By this moment, the surface of the villa had been severely corroded, and it looked as if it was going to collapse any moment.

The Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flower had long since disappeared, leaving behind only a few remains.

"What a despotic spell! Cloud of Afterlife, a rank 0 spell which only level 3 acolyte can muster. Each use costs 5 spiritual force and 5 magic power, but it is worth it!"

Leylin nodded his head approvingly.

With one use of Cloud of Afterlife, not only did the Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flower disappear, the villa had suffered from extreme corrosion, leaving behind only part of the defense, which could be said to no longer pose a threat to Leylin.

Moreover, the Cloud of Afterlife was a Shadow, Dark Element spell which was the least destructive. It was something Leylin specially chosen in order to destroy the spell formation on the villa, at the same time leaving behind the construction of the villa.

"Only that…. The villa seems to have been corroded, and cannot stay erect for much longer!"

Leylin walked forward and knocked on the wooden door. * Crash! * The wooden door immediately crumbled into many pieces and fell to the ground.

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Great Magus Serholm

"I must hurry!" Leylin strode into the villa.

"A.I. Chip! Scan the main structure of the villa!"

[Mission establishing, beginning scan….]

Previously, the A.I. Chip could not scan the blueprints of the villa due to the layer of spell formation and defensive measures on the surface of the villa.But, that was not the case now.

Very soon, a layer of light in the shape of a blue map appeared in front of Leylin's eyes.

"En! There are two storeys in the villa. On the higher floor, it's the bedroom and bathroom! The first floor would be the guestroom. As for the experiment lab, it is located underground! The entrance is built into the back of a wardrobe!"

Under the scan of the A.I. Chip, the interior of the villa was displayed in front of him fully.

"To the bedroom first!" Leylin rapidly ran up the second floor.

Gripping the yellow bronze handle, Leylin opened the large door to the bedroom. A layer of dust immediately infiltrated his nose. The surface of Leylin's body automatically created a layer of black coloured light membrane, shielding him from the dust.

Leylin then scanned the area, "Everything is all neatly placed!"

The bedroom was very small, with only a bed, a table and a chair, and a closet.

Leylin opened the closet, "The clothes have all disappeared, it seems that the owner here has prepared to abandon this place!"

Although he had thought of this before, Leylin was still somewhat disappointed.

He immediately rummaged through the bedroom but found nothing of value. Even the drawers of the table were empty, and there was only some blank parchment paper in the corners of the room.

"These should be remnants of the diary or record book! A pity that there's nothing written on them!"

Leylin felt that it was somewhat a shame. His eyes suddenly flashed, "Diary! I got it!"

The yellow parchment paper was very old and seemed as if would break into many pieces. However, to Leylin, these few pieces of parchment paper were supreme treasures!

"A.I. Chip! Scan the traces on the parchment paper!"

Leylin ordered, and a layer of blue light was immediately projected in front of his eyes. As for the parchment paper, lines of red handwriting were intermittently surfacing.

"This is something that the Magus wrote on a piece of parchment paper, but traces of his handwriting were left on these pieces of parchment!

Leylin was somewhat elated. Magi would only use spells to appraise items, but there were spells that defended against such attempts. However they had absolutely no defences against Leylin's previous world's graphology, and he eventually found some clues.

The information on the parchment paper was extremely disorderly. Many characters were overlapping with one another, and even the A.I. Chip was unable to differentiate between them.

After putting together the scattered pieces, what little information Leylin gotten should have been this diary:

September 1st, clear. Extreme Night City is a very tranquil city, I hope I can carry out my experiments here peacefully….

December 5th, dark. Oh! Damn it! The experiment has failed yet again, as expected! The difficulty of synthesizing bloodlines has far exceeded my expectations….

What remained was extremely vague, and even the dates could not be deciphered:

After reading Wayne's letter, I conducted a few more experiments. I have to admit, he was right, I was heading in the wrong direction all along, this is indeed some sorrowful news….

The experimental body has failed completely. As for what's left of the eggs, even if they could hatch, my plan has completely failed. Oh, my heavens….

There is nothing of value here anymore. Maybe I should go to the Dylan Gardens to have a look. Wayne said that his experiments have already achieved a few stages of success, this is a great piece of news for us….

The contents of the diary stopped here, it was a continuous record of a Magus' failure and ended in the abandonment of the lab.

Besides a person called Wayne from the Dylan Gardens, Leylin gained nothing whatsoever.

However, there were too many Wayne's, and as for Dylan Gardens, Leylin never heard of it before.

"Not right, wait a minute!"

Leylin's eyes suddenly flashed, and in the corner of the parchment paper, he discovered a name.

The faint red writing was extremely vague, hence, Leylin almost missed it earlier.

"Nor… Norco Curadu Sfar!"

"Norco Curadu Sfar!" Leylin's eyes widened, "Great Magus Serholm!"

"Could it be that the owner of this lab was the great Magus Serholm?"

Norco Curadu Sfar was a legend of the south coast! In the legends, not only was he an erudite scholar, he had obtained extremely outstanding results along the path of a Magus. He had even led the whole of the south coast Magi to repel the countless advances of the subterranean people and marine creatures.

This kind of great Magus was the role model for all Magi in the south coast.

Earlier in the market, the dishonest merchant who tried to sell Leylin the Lowian Academy Teachings had tried to pass off the original decrepit page as the writings of the great Magus Serholm, but it was seen through by Leylin.

"A respected figure like this, his legacy would definitely be of value. A pity that the two storeys were left with nothing and there definitely would not be any legacy or things of the sort!"

Regret streaked across Leylin's face, but he still memorised the contents on the parchment paper.

"I hope that there will be something to gain from the experiment lab!"

Leylin gave the bedroom one last disappointed glance before he puffed out a breath, and blew the parchment paper into bits.

Coming to the wardrobe on the first floor, originally, the in built wardrobe should have been stuck on the wall. However, due to a small crack, Leylin could now see the passage behind it.

This should be something that was done by the Mankestre Snake.

Leylin shifted away the emptied wardrobe, and the black passage appeared before him.

* Pa! * Leylin snapped, and a layer of light illuminated the area, dispelling the darkness and revealing a flight of steps that led downwards.

Leylin's eyes flashed fervently as he walked down.

* Clang! *

The leather shoes and ground made a dull noise from friction.

Compared to the villa above, the underground space was more spacious, and was almost the size of 3 to 4 villas.

Criss-crossed walls littered the area, separating the underground lab into a few large areas.

Leylin continued down the passage, and from time to time, he could see the labelling of the areas.

An ancient handwriting was used. However, it had some relevance to the Byron language. As Leylin walked, he looked.

Data area, garden area, incubator area, potioneering area, herbology area… Each and every special area appeared in front of Leylin's eyes.

After seeing the incubator area, Leylin's eyes flashed, and he walked in.

A ball of light always floated around him, illuminating the sight of the incubator area.

What initially entered Leylin's sight were many circular glass domes, but the glasses had already cracked, revealing many rotten eggs of mysterious organisms.

Under the alert from the A.I. Chip that there were no signs of life around, Leylin put on a pair of gloves, and held a grey egg that resembled a granite stone in his hands.

[Scanning in progress, similarity level to the Mankestre Snake: 73.2%, Huge Wood Python: 34.5%, Huge Tree Lizard: 13.8%]

The A.I. Chip continuously projected the results of the scan.

"It seems like these are all the brothers and sisters of the half adult Mankestre Snake!" Leylin gasped as he saw the many dead eggs within the glass domes.

If they were all still alive, Leylin would most likely not be able to escape.

After some searching, Leylin discovered a strange incubating pool. On the surface of the glass ball, there was a circular hole that was cracked through, and the remnants of some egg shells.

"The Mankestre Snake from earlier should have been bred in this incubating pool…."

Leylin sized up the area and was unresigned as he continued searching, finally obtaining nothing. He could only pick up a dead egg that looked like a stone and toss it.

Data area, garden area, potioneering area, herbology area…

Leylin looked over everything once. The great Magus Serholm would have definitely spent a lot of time and effort on it. The set up in each area was extremely thorough.

However, when he left, he brought along everything with him. Leylin, who originally wished to get lucky, had now also completely tossed that notion away.

Apart from the few blank pieces of parchment paper in the bedroom, there was nothing that Leylin found.

"The final area! The dissecting room!"

Leylin wore a disappointed expression that he found difficult to mask, and walked into the room.

* Clang! *

The steel door boomed opened and a concentrated aura of dense negative energy permeated the air. Leylin could even hear the faint wails of countless souls.

"On the way of a Magus who seeks the truth, one can never avoid spilling blood!" Leylin muttered the maxim of the great Magus Serholm.

After sizing up the area, Leylin noticed that there were some traces of black blood on the white experiment table. He picked up some powder from it.

"A.I. Chip! Scan!"

[No surviving cells were detected! Due to various intense radiations, there are deficiencies and mutations in the fragments of the cells, unable to detect source!]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"F*ck!" Leylin felt utter disappointment as he kicked the experiment table.

Towards Magi who loved explorations, nothing was more disappointing than devoting countless effort and energy to enter the vestiges of ancient times and returning empty handed.

Although the Alchemy diary could already be considered to be extremely beneficial to Leylin, compared to the great Magus Serholm, that kind of loot was somehow inadequate.

This was the great Magus Serholm!!! An official Magus that was at least rank 4!!!

But in his lab, Leylin gained nothing at all, which made him extremely vexed.

"Forget it! At least I still have the diary of that unlucky fellow. I did not suffer any loss. Moreover, this experiment could very well be a lab that the great Magus Serholm used when he was a rank 1 or 2 Magus. If not, I would have definitely not been able to enter…."

Suddenly, Leylin was rather glad.

If he had trespassed into the lab of the great Magus Serholm when he was at his peak. and if there had been some curse laid out, Leylin certainly would have been unable to resist right now.

* Bang! *

As if kickstarting some kind of chain reaction by kicking the experiment table, a gust of wind blew past the ground, turned into a whirlwind, and coiled the dust up in the air.

"Eh?" Leylin's face tightened, and his right hand extended into his waist pouch.

The cyclone grew larger and larger, before finally forming into a translucent human figure.

"How many years… How many years has it been already! I have finally caught a whiff of a living human!" The translucent figure seemed to gasp and revealed a vague elderly visage.

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Holding Captive

"A spirit body!"

Leylin's pupils contracted.

The Magi were clueless as to the appearance of spirit bodies but most of them assumed that a spirit body was the external embodiment of a soul.

Also, many Magi were in the dark with regards to the formation of a spirit body.

It seemed that the creation of a spirit body required many coincidental encounters. Sometimes, even a regular human could turn into an evil spirit after death, yet even official Magi never had such things happen to them.

Moreover, spirit bodies were extremely rare. With regards to their research, even if the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had a large number of observations, they only slightly understood the behavior of spirit bodies.

As the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy only sought knowledge, Leylin managed to learn a little about spirit bodies through a few words mentioned by professors, so he wouldn't be like others who might be frightened.

"Who are you?" Leylin asked warily as he retreated back by several steps.

"Name?" The translucent spirit body shook its head, "I've forgotten that long ago!"

"Countless years have passed and I have been wandering here always, up to this day! I felt that an interesting fellow had trespassed into my lab, so I came out to have a look at you!"

Leylin's eyes flashed, "So you are the owner of this lab! Accept my apologies, for interrupting you so presumptuously!"

Saying so, he gave a polite bow used between Magi and his gesture had no flaws.

The spirit body's faint lips curled upwards, "I like little fellows with manners!"

He reached out his translucent hand, and a layer of light appeared in his hands, "You can obtain a great present from this magnificent wizard!"

"Really? Honestly, this is too good!"

Leylin seemed to be 'ecstatic' as he stepped several steps forward. Suddenly, a gob of green ball appeared and was shot out from Leylin's hands, which passed the spirit body, directly landing on the experiment table behind.

* Sssii! * A large hole corroded through the experiment table.

"A physical attack has no effect?" Leylin's turned solemn.

"Little fellow, what are you doing?" The spirit body smiled but it seemed to be more sinister from before.

"This is the magnificent Magus Roman's inheritance, which can allow you to successfully advance into an official Magus!"

"Are you kidding me? You are just a spirit with a grievance that impersonated your owner!"

Leylin retreated several more steps and a purple potion appeared in his hands.

"I reckon that light in your hands is not anything good!"

* Bang! * The potion flew from his hands and let off an intense combustion. The purple smoke rose continuously, and under the engulfment of the purple mist, the layer of light in the spirit body's hands dispersed, revealing a sinister looking visage that howled with unwillingness. It looked rather similar to the spirit body.

"A malicious, vengeful spirit who loves to invade the physical bodies of living humans!"

Leylin thought of some distant narration and exclaimed, "Vengeful spirit! You are a vengeful spirit!"

"Who knows?" The spirit body had a bloodthirsty smirk.

"The thing that really lured you out should be this book right?" Leylin waved an Alchemy diary book, which he retrieved from his robes.

"Indeed! This is something that belongs to me!" Seeing the black diary, the eyes of the spirit body seemed to be reminded of something.

"You are the corpse at the front door. During the exploration of this lab, you were killed by the Gnawing Slate. Your spirit was trapped by the spell formation, before finally turning into a vengeful spirit!"

Leylin summarized the series of events, as he already knew who the real owner of this lab was.

"An intelligent kid!" The spirit body toyed with its fingernails, "A pity that you will die here today!"

* Whoosh! *

Leylin only felt a light flashing by and tried to dodge, but he found several traces of blood on his chest.

"The smell of fresh blood!" Seeing the blood, the expression of the spirit body turned even more desirous and he placed his fingers in his mouth and licked them.

"What a quick movement! The naked eye cannot keep up with it!"

A blue light appeared from Leylin's eyes, and the A.I. Chip calculated quickly.

"You won't be able to escape! Surrender and become an offering of the magnificent Roman!" The vengeful spirit howled and charged forward again.

His fingernails sprung forward as if turning into a razor sharp blade.

* Dang! * A layer of light membrane appeared from Leylin's body, shielding him from the force of the frantic attack.

Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion!

"I've caught you!" Leylin sneered.

Leylin could not entirely keep up with a spirit body, which travelled as fast as the wind. Even if the A.I. Chip could calculate its trajectory and movements, with Leylin's physical abilities, he could not follow it. Moreover, due to the illusory appearance of the spirit body, most physical attacks were of no use.

Thankfully, Leylin's potion- the Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion which he had concocted before- was the only defensive potion that acolytes had access to. There were even some suppression effects towards spirit bodies.

The hand, which was enveloped in light, directly grabbed hold of the right hand of the spirit body.

"Im…Impossible! How are you able to touch me?"

The spirit's face contorted and it howled as it struggled.

"Spirit bodies may be very mysterious to the acolytes of other academies, but it's a pity that you met me, who came from the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy! Accept the fate of a failure!" Leylin's face was serene and he took out a black coloured crystal ball.

This was something that he had managed to obtain in the academy- a Confining Spirit Sphere, which was specifically used to capture and store spirit bodies.

* Chi! * After the black coloured crystal ball came into contact with the spirit body, glowing light radiated and a suction force appeared on its surface, which sucked the continuously howling spirit body directly into it.

Minutes later, nothing stood in front of Leylin anymore. The inside the black crystal ball had an extra-translucent figure in it; thus, the black crystal had a resemblance to amber1.

Leylin heaved a sigh of relief. "Thankfully this old geezer is only a level 3 acolyte, and fortunately, I had the Trevor's Revolving Shield Potion and Confining Spirit Sphere. If not, I would have been in trouble today…."

Concerning spirit bodies, the strength of their soul would determine their might.

As for the meditation of magicians, it is the cultivation of spiritual force, a type of method to strengthen their soul.

There was once an official Magus who, when he transformed into a spirit body, actually retained his spell casting abilities, finally turning into a spirit body Magus.

If today he met with a spirit body that was an official Magus, Leylin would have had no chance at all of escaping.

Once a physical body is occupied, the soul will forever be connected to it.

Looking at the black crystal ball in his hands, Leylin thought and then added several more seals on it, then placed it into a small black sack. He even tightened the mouth of the sack and hung it on his waist.

After doing so, Leylin searched the entirety of the villa. After confirming that there were no more oversights, he left the place with extreme regrets.

"What a pity!"

Leylin looked at the huge black granite boulder behind him, and without further hesitation, he rode a handsome blade steed and rapidly left the area,

* Boom! *

When he left, the huge black granite boulder exploded loudly, destroying the whole area and turning into ashes.

Half a month later, in the experiment lab, Leylin closed the black diary after reading its last page.

"I never thought that the synthesis of a magic artifact as depicted by Lowian Academy Teachings, or the ancient formula of the Tears of Mary, would include the aspect of souls…."

Leylin had only heard of this information vaguely from Kroft back in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, but he had never researched it on his own.

"I'm afraid that… I can only adopt the crudest method, which is to research and observe from various trial and error experiments. Also, I have to use the A.I. Chip to gather data…. In this aspect, perhaps Viscount Jackson, in his capacity as a city lord, could help me …."

Thinking of which, Leylin took out a black crystal ball from the corner of his lab.

The crystal ball was originally placed on an altar with mysterious runes scribbled over it and there were 3 white, lit candles that surrounded it.

Leylin knocked on the surface of the crystal ball.

* Dong! *

A wave suddenly erupted, and the mist in the crystal ball dispersed, revealing a vague fuzzy figure.

This figure only had the upper half of its body, and its lower limbs were replaced by the continuously swirling white mist. As for its countenance, it was that of an old geezer.

This old geezer's expression was extremely rapt and fright permanently lingered on his face, as if it was a small worm that was solidified within amber.

Looking at this vengeful spirit, Leylin suddenly laughed and chanted an incantation.

"Where is this? Release me quickly…." Suddenly, the solidified contents in the crystal ball turned to life again. The old geezer howled. Although his face was still filled with vehemence and craziness, it could not conceal his fear and helplessness!

"How is it, Mister Roman? How is the feeling of having your thoughts frozen?"

Leylin propped the ball in front of him.

"It's you!" The vengeful spirit head-butted the surface of the crystal ball, but it was to no avail.

Seeing Roman, who was like a helpless mosquito, wildly charge against the interior walls of the crystal ball, Leylin chuckled and flicked his finger at the surface of the crystal ball.

* Bang! * Roman, who was inside, seemed to have been struck by a steel hammer and collapsed onto the ground, completely dispirited.

"How is it? Now, hurry up and tell me everything you know about the experiment and your life. I may consider letting you off after that!"

Leylin's face was impassive.

"Dream on!" Roman put on a resolute expression.

"Then I have no choice!" Leylin shrugged his shoulders and placed a fiery red rock beside the crystal ball.

"Arghhh!" Flames immediately appeared on Roman's body, as he wailed pitifully.

"In the aspect of adding suffering to a spirit body, I have some skills! Moreover, in this crystal ball, you cannot even commit suicide. This kind of torture will last for a very long time! A veerrrrry loooooongg tiiiiiime…."

Leylin dragged his last words to the extreme, which would make someone who listened to it want to sleep.

"Be… A Bewitching Charm? Dream on!" Roman, who was squeezed into the crystal ball, gritted his teeth.

"That is some unexpected mental fortitude!"

Leylin's brows furrowed, "It seems like I have to cast it once a day in the future, to make this vengeful spirit's life force reduce greatly…."

The life force was the foundation of vengeful spirits. When the life force of vengeful spirits is weakened, their intelligence will often lower, turning into a retard.

Under the current circumstances, adding on to the bewitching charm, there is a great chance of success.

Even if it did not drive Roman crazy, there shouldn't be any issues at all. Leylin, as a Potions Master, had confidence in preserving Roman's life force before it dissipated. By prolonging Roman's life force, and repeatedly torturing him, with perseverance, Leylin would obtain the information he needed.

As for what Leylin had now, it was time. Time to toy with Roman slowly!

1. Amber, a gemstone that may have some fossil trapped in it.

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