What followed next was the most valuable loot this time around.
Leylin looked at the pile of items in front of him and muttered irresolutely to himself.
There were a few broken items, a dagger which had been broken into half, the remnant of a silver palm, with an incomplete silver necklace, with lightning flashing time to time.
The 3 acolytes who died under Leylin's hands were the potential Magi of the enemy academies, so how could they not have magic artifacts on them?
It was a pity, however, that the broken dagger from the female blonde acolyte was only used to summon the aura of the abyss, and Leylin was still unable to figure out how the other items were meant to be used.
As for Silver-Claw Saurun, he was totally a pervert, who actually infused the magic artifact into his own palm.
Leylin could only chop the whole palm down, to try to separate the various properties in the magic artifact.
As for Torash, the magic artifact on him had also destroyed itself, which was the reason why he could unleash an attack of 16 degrees at the end.
The probing of magic artifacts was an extremely dangerous task. Before further information, Leylin did not dare to risk and use these items.
Moreover, who knows if there were some booby trap laid within the magic artifacts by the enemy, thus Leylin felt that he should be more cautious.
If he discovered that they might cause trouble to him, no matter how much Leylin was reluctant to part with them he would still toss them away within this secret plane.
After all, he did not wish for an official Magus to notice him.
"Actually, there is still a magic artifact that can be easily obtained! That is the green vine badge on Jayden's body!"
Leylin saw Jayden use this magic artifact on the dirigible before, back when he used it to suppress Kaliweir, leaving a strong impression on Leylin's memory.
However, this badge was given to him by Professor Dorotte.
As for Dorotte, he was an official Magus in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. If Leylin snatched an enemy's magic artifact and hid in the academy, he might be safe. However if he took Jayden's, then Leylin wouldn't be able to stay in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy anymore.
During the academy's critical moments, if the news that he was still causing harm to fellow acolytes got out, then Leylin's name would be equivalent to the despised street rat, in the Magus World.
He would not lose his rationality for just this little benefit.
"There is this also!"
Leylin flicked his hands, and two differently shaped badges appeared in his hands.
This were the badges of Saurun and the female blonde acolyte. Although they were weaker than Torash by a little, but it was still worth at least 20 to 30 contribution points.
"At first, I'll just hold onto these. If I'm able to find other badges in future then I won't exchange these!"
These two badges were Leylin's insurance. If he was able to collect other badges in the secret plane to accumulate 50 contribution points, then he wouldn't use these.
However, if the contribution points were not enough, then Leylin had no choice, and could only hand over one of them or both.
As for Torash, Leylin felt that his strength was of great importance to his academy and the person backing Torash would have spent enormous efforts in nurturing him and so it was better to not provoke him.
...
Two days passed.
The wilderness found outside the secret plane was lit up with a bright yellow color. From time to time, there were gusts of wind blowing granules of sand, and the living organisms on the ground avoided this place at all cost — even the moles and ants were not an exception.
The entrance to the secret plane was slowly shrinking as if it were a live animal.
Outside of the entrance, the 3 chairmen and all the professors looked at the entrance that was constantly glowing with varying colours and had different expressions on their faces.
Siley looked at the silver hourglass floating in midair. On the upper half of the hourglass, beads of golden sand trickled downwards, finally leaving behind a thin layer.
* Di! * With the passing of time, the final golden bead of sand trickled downward.
"The time is up, let us receive our acolytes!" Siley opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone.
"Are you extremely anxious?" Guru who was at the side smirked, "Every minute more that passes, one acolyte in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy will be slain. Their heads will become the glory of my Sage Gotham's Hut, and hung on the large gates…."
"At this moment, the secret plane might no longer have anymore Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes. We all know that once the acolytes from the two academies have gathered, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes would be meat on a chopping board for us to slice, and is not even equivalent to a lamb.
The other blonde women smiled — but her smiled seemed somewhat malicious.
"Nicola, you still can't let it go?" Finally, a trace of expression surfaced on Siley's face, and it seemed to be - regret?
"I have long since forgotten the matters from the past!" The female blonde woman Nicola said with a frosty expression.
"You can seek revenge for the matters previously, but once you are bent on destroying this academy that I succeeded as a professor, then you will be my eternal nemesis!"
Siley's face too gradually hardened.
"Haha...Haha… You are still as arrogant as before, thinking that you are the main character of some novel, which the earth would revolve around you indefinitely!"
"However such an expression makes me want to puke!" Said the blonde woman as her eyes appeared to emit flames.
"I want to destroy your life's work, destroy the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, even if there is the Lighthouse of the Night mediating, this time, there is still the next time...."
"Enough!" Guru at the side interrupted Nicola.
"Earlier you stopped me and Siley from fighting, but why is it that you can't endure it now?"
"My reason for stopping you was because I want to take action myself!" Nicola's maniacal look grew even stronger.
"Enough!" A dense black colour descended, and covered the sky in an instant.
Amidst the darkness, there was a bright yellow light that came from within, revealing a figure that was wrapped in black robes.
"Sir!" The three chairmen bowed.
They were only rank 2 Magus, yet this person in front of them was a true rank 3 Magus! Every level in the Magus World had an obvious difference like that between the sky and earth.
Previously, it was this Sir that suppressed the 3 of them to mediate the war.
"Since my Lighthouse of the Night has already stepped in, any conflicts that arise after is deemed as a provocation to us, as the contract and date are still effective."
The black-robed man had a pair of dark green eyes. No matter if it was Siley or the other 2 chairman, if these eyes landed on them, they would shudder as if being trapped by some magical beast.
This feeling of imminent death finally brought Nicola out from her madness.
"From now, activate the spell formation, and receive the acolytes within the secret plane!"
"Yes, Sir!"
* Peng! *
A fiery explosion erupted, and set the acolytes behind Leylin on fire, turning them into ashes.
Leylin's footsteps did not stop as he continued to escape.
"It's him who killed Seet, Kroc, and Old Eagle, don't let him escape!"
Behind him, parties of Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle acolytes were formed, a standard party of seven, which continuously gave chase.
Leylin's pursuers gradually drew closer.
* Peng! * Leylin flung another two explosive potions again, where flames continuously extended behind him.
The acolytes yelled and Leylin drew a longer distance from them.
"Damn it!" Leylin's face was downcast.
After killing the 3 acolytes previously, Leylin began his hunting movement all alone again.
At first, it was rather smooth sailing, where he collected another level 3 acolyte's badge. This time, he specifically chose those who were rather old or those with no powerful items on them. They were those who seemed not able to advance further and had no strong backing behind them.
During the later half of the second day, all of the enemy camp acolytes had already gathered and formed group spell formations!
All of them were performed by level 2 or 3 acolyte groups. If their numbers were sufficient, even a rank 1 Magus had to seek retreat temporarily.
Leylin had no choice, so he could only conceal himself and stop his hunt.
With the detection of the A.I. Chip, he managed to successfully hide until this day.
Things went according to how he had predicted: after the acolytes had gathered, they formed smaller squadrons and made a thorough search of the secret plane. They maintained a wanting-to-kill-every-last-enemy posture.
Many Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes were immediately killed, and under the opponent's immense pressure, they could not even resist.
Leylin even saw a level 3 acolyte who carried a magic artifact, but that acolyte could only survive for a few more minutes under the spell formation. Afterward, he was ripped to shreds by the countless rank 0 spells that befell on him. Even the magic artifact became the trophy prize for his opponents.
Leylin could only extend his sympathisation to this fellow acolyte, and covered his tracks even more covertly.
Fortunately, the methods of magicians were extremely strange, and the opponents were only two academies who could not completely be harmonious amongst themselves. This gave the acolytes of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy a chance for survival!
After Leylin estimated that time was almost up, he immediately ambushed a small party, since he was one badge short of his goal.
According to his estimation, once he kills the opponents, then the time would be up, where he would even be teleported out and not need to face the group's counterattack.
"F*ck! This lack of punctuality will have people killed!"
Of course, Leylin wouldn't expect that the time would be delayed due to the enmity of the chairmen, which resulted in an error to his calculations.
After killing one of the level 3 acolyte, he was immediately surrounded and attacked.
"The Fallen Star Pendant's energy was fully consumed the last time and I have not recharged it. If not I could have escaped long ago!"
Leylin gritted his teeth and gave an order, "A.I. Chip! Detect the geographical area and calculation the best retreat route!"
[Beep! Mission establishing!]
Along with the A.I. Chip's indication, Leylin began to make various unexpected ducking movements amidst the dense forest, slowly pulling the distance further away from the pursuing acolytes.
"I have finally escaped!"
After running for over a dozen miles and shaking off his pursuers, suddenly he felt dizzy, and the badge pinned to his chest glowed resplendently.
"F*ck, the teleportation is finally here!"
-x-X-x-
The badge on Leylin's chest emitted a fluorescent light.
Leylin's entire body was then engulfed by a layer of this light and was lifted off the ground as he began to involuntarily rise into the sky.
Floating at a distance within the light bubble, Leylin saw other acolytes in distant regions also floating in the same manner; they looked like stars strewn across the sky.
"This is really a beautiful scene!"
Leylin couldn't help sighing in appreciation. His hand touched a badge and holding it he said, "There is no force felt from this badge, it seems that the pulling force of the badge only works on those acolytes who are still alive. If that's the case!"
Leylin waved his hands, and 2 badges that belonged to two level 3 acolytes was tossed out of the light bubble.
These two badges had, at one time, belonged to Silver-Claw Saurun and the female blonde acolyte. Since Leylin had already collected sufficient badges, he would no longer keep these two with him.
"I also have this thing with me!" said Leylin, as he withdrew an iron chain that had an electrical current and also threw that away.
After a thorough examination by the A.I. Chip on this destroyed magic artifact, there was a hidden spiritual force within it which kept pulsating — it seemed that this force had a tracking ability. If Leylin were to bring this item with him, then the professors of the enemy academy would know immediately that he was the one who had killed Torash.
As for the other items taken from the acolytes — the half dagger and the shattered palm — there were no problems if he brought them back with him. They were carefully placed within his rucksack.
"The final procedure!"
Leylin smiled heartily, and removed the Shapeshifting spell.
The muscles on his face contorted, as his height continuously grew. Very soon, Leylin resumed the state of his original appearance.
"I have been acting inside the secret plane with this disguise, where no one had seen my true appearance!"
"I'm afraid after I exit, the enemy academy would wildly search for an acolyte that doesn't exist?" After thinking of the probable scene in the future, he could not help but smile.
"Right now, I am Leylin Farlier, an ordinary Potioneering acolyte!"
...
Looking at the dazzling rainbow coloured exit, Leylin's smile widened yet even more….
With much effort, Leylin managed to suppress the dizziness that came abruptly and did not vomit.
"The feeling of crossing planes is not a great one!"
"Hurry up and move, don't block the way!" A cold voice sounded right beside Leylin's ear.
Leylin hurriedly bowed and left the place.
Only then, did he take a look at the surroundings.
Outside the exit of the secret plane, it looked the same as before. The 3 academies were divided into a triangular formation where they faced each other. Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle members stood closer together, and faced the common enemy, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, in unison.
As for now, acolytes continuously swarmed out from the exit, returning back to their respective professor's side.
"Who is that person?"
Leylin saw a black robed man ahead of the 3 chairmen. He couldn't help guessing the person's identity.
*Shua!* But now, because the black-robed man felt Leylin's unwavering sight upon him, he turned his head around and looked back.
He immediately glanced upon a pair of dark green eyes.
The surrounding world was as if it had been suspended in time; everywhere one could see only green.
The acolytes and professors around Leylin seemed to turned into jade statues where no signs of life could be observed.
Leylin strove to open his mouth, but he found no words coming out of his mouth.
"Leylin! Leylin! Leylin!"
The surrounding statues suddenly opened their mouths, chanting Leylin's name.
"What is happening?" Leylin roared within his heart, but not a single word could be spoken.
* Peng! Peng * The dark green sculptures began to move and green dust constantly fell off of them. Their eyes had become red-colored, as if the sockets had been embedded with rubies.
...
Countless green statues swarmed around Leylin, drowning him….
"Argh!" Leylin suddenly regained consciousness and panted heavily.
"What happened earlier?" The surrounding acolytes now seemed to be doing fine, yet Leylin did not dare to look in the direction of those chairmen again.
"Relax, son!" A pair of hands with a medicinal scent covered Leylin's head, emitting a white glowing light.
"Professor Kroft!" Leylin bowed deeply. Under the white light, he felt much better.
"Was it you who saved me?"
"I did not exactly 'save' you, only a small favour." Professor Kroft smiled and led Leylin back towards their academy's gathering area.
"Official Magi always have a defensive force field surrounding them. Moreover, most of it are instantly activated or have a permanent effect. As for higher ranking Magi, they have an even stronger force field encircling them at all times. An ordinary acolyte cannot even get close to them!"
Kroft explained for Leylin.
"Just now, that Magus from the Lighthouse of the Night did not do it intentionally; he just looked over this side and immediately many apprentices got caught in a hallucination. If a professor wasn't here, then I would have been. . . "
Kroft's expression slowly turned stern, "Leylin, before you turn into an official Magus, remember to steer clear of any high ranking Magus! If not, I would not even be able to imagine your end…."
"I'll keep that in mind!" Leylin's expression was extremely solemn as he nodded his head.
Only a slight glance had almost cost Leylin his life, which left him a lingering fear. Moreover it had resolved his determination to climb up in the ranks of the food chain.
"I don't wish for my soul to crumble immediately in the future just because a high ranking Magus crosses my path in the future. This would really be a grievance!"
Although higher ranking Magus could exercise restraint on their forcefields, it would mean that they were showing their softer side. Leylin could not imagine anyone doing that for him.
"Alright now! Welcome back son!"
After healing Leylin, Kroft revealed a sincere smile.
"Being able to see you again is really great!" Leylin also smiled as he hugged his professor.
At this moment, only then he had time to view the casualties in his own academy.
Due to the teaming up of the other two academies, a huge number of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes had perished previously in the war. Right now it seems that Abyssal Bone Forest Academy suffered an even more severe casualty count.
At this moment, behind the professors, there was only a few scattered acolytes standing behind him. Most of them carried injuries with a gloomy expression.
"Leylin!" A pleasantly surprised voiced sounded in his ear.
"Bicky!" Leylin smiled warmly and hugged the curvaceous and beautiful Bicky.
"Very good. I still believed in you…." Tears welled up in Bicky's eyes.
It seemed like she was worried about Leylin but that she did not know he was the mysterious man who had saved her before.
Leylin took another look at Bicky and was rather surprised when she was actually not injured the slightest, only that her mental state did not seem to to be in the best condition. He could not help but feel so as even if it was a level 3 acolyte from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, under the oppression in numbers from their enemy, they may not be able to protect their lives.
As if seeing Leylin's bewilderment, Bicky spoke on her own accord, "I met Molly right after entering. Also, I met with an extremely powerful enemy acolyte, but a stranger saved me. After that, I met Fayle and it was him who kept me by his side, so I was able to live up till now.
Bicky pointed at an acolyte behind a professor.
Leylin looked over, and it was indeed Fayle who he saw before. After a span of 3 years, he seemed to be even more mature and had more charisma.
With a level 3 acolyte protecting her coupled with some luck, it was probable that she could survive. Leylin nodded his head and did not ask further.
After casually exchanging a few sentences with Bicky, Leylin looked at the secret plane's exit. Most of them were enemy acolytes streaming out, where very few Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes came out. Leylin sighed inwardly, "It seems that this time Abyssal Bone Forest Academy suffered a great loss. I'm afraid that there will be a scenario where Abyssal Bone Forest Academy would have more professors than acolytes period of time.
* Peng! * At this moment, another acolyte walked out from the exit.
This acolyte wore the grey robes of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and had several holes in them. Injuries seemed to riddle his body and there was even traces of blood. Moreover, an arm was missing.
"It's Jayden!" Leylin's pupils contracted.
Towards magicians, missing a limb was no big issue. There were various and mysterious spells which could regrow their limbs.
Jayden braced himself and walked several steps forward. After seeing his professor from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, he smiled and fainted immediately.
* Shua! * A white figure immediately appeared in front of Jayden and caught him.
After the white flash stopped, Leylin saw the appearance of the Magus within - It was a skeleton with an underworld flame in its eyes!
"Professor Dorotte!" Leylin called out the name of this set of bones.
Previously, it was Dorotte who led Leylin into Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. Moreover, he was Jayden's mentor and even gave Jayden a magic artifact. It seemed like he doted on Jayden rather much.
"Alright! After my detection, there are no more surviving acolytes inside the secret plane. Seal the exit!'
The black robed figure standing before the 3 chairmen spoke.
Once he spoke, the 2 camps sank into deep silence, before the murmuring and sighing noises sounded incessantly.
"No! Where is my Torash? He is definitely still inside!"
"Silver-Claw Saurun? Hurry and come out! He is a genius acolyte, how could the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy manage to defeat him?"
...
"Morphis! Morphis, where are you?"
Constant cries were heard from the enemy camp.
And the Abyssal bone Forest Academy's party seemed to have already expected this. Although the numbers of dead acolytes were many, the reactions of all professors were much lower than what Leylin had expected.
Even for the Potioneering talent Merlin, his responsible Professor (Kroft) only let out a soft dismal gasp upon receiving news of his death.
"Torash! Torash! I left spiritual force coordinates on his body; he should be present amongst us here!"
On the opposite side, a blue bearded old guy yelled madly, following which he chanted an incantation.
* Bang! *
A bright blue beam of light drifted floated above Jayden who had fainted. Within this light an indistinct badge of an acolyte could be seen .
"Argh! No! My Torash! I will kill you!"
The expression on the face of the blue bearded old guy contorted, where a massive thunderstorm appeared midair above him.
"Torash's power, when compared to this, is absolutely rubbish." Leylin gulped, and suddenly felt extremely lucky.
-x-X-x-
"Inside the secret plane, one must take responsibility for themselves in the bloodbath; do you wish to violate the agreement?"
Under the massive thunderstorm, Dorotte stood up with many faint silver beast claws on his back.
"Enough!"
The black-robed figure standing in front of the 3 chairmen spoke, and a gigantic dark green hand grabbed at the sky. * Weng Weng! * The massive lightning was immediately scattered by the giant hand.
"I have said before to abide by the agreement!" The black-robed figure growled.
At the same time, the blue-bearded geezer spurted a huge mouthful of blood. Anger was quickly replaced with fear as he knelt down, "Sir, please forgive an old man, who has just lost his nephew, with your magnanimity!"
"Just this once! If not, I will extract your soul and roast it in the abyss for ten thousand years!"
The black-robed figure spoke again.
The blue-bearded geezer then went back to his academy's camp, before giving Jayden a vicious look.
This hatred and determination of killing Jayden gave Dorotte a headache. Crackling and rattling noises could be heard from the skeletal figure.
"Although this time nothing has happened, Jayden will definitely be pursued by Blue-Beard unless he keeps hiding inside the academy!"
Leylin's eyes turned cold.
Earlier, the A.I. Chip picked up several traces of energy waves from spells.
Obviously, it was the search for the enemy who had killed their genius acolyte! If Leylin were to still keep those items that carried their traces, his outcome would now be the same as Jayden.
Those professors who had had their personal apprentices or successors killed by the other party — who was also their sworn enemy — swore they would make the killer pay with their blood!
As for the casualties of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy,they were not considered because the other two academies were facing many more losses.
Although they were bound by the agreement and vigilance of the Lighthouse of the Night, as far as Magi were concerned, if they were to pay the price, they could indirectly find a way to exact their revenge!
For example, not taking action themselves, but suggesting to Magi outside of the agreement to act on their behalf. The black market was also an option worth considering.
...
Late in the night, Leylin returned to his resting area and laid down on his bed. In his hands was a faint yellow test tube that he kept on toying with.
The test tube was made of faint yellow crystals, and its density was extremely high. Holding it in his hands, he sensed a rather heavy feeling.
These crystals were made from a precious ingredient - Nitrogen Crystals. Any spell that was 20 degrees or lesser would not be able to damage it.
Using these Nitrogen Crystals to make a test tube — this was often used to store potions which were more valuable.
According to the olden texts, test tube made from Nitrogen Crystals were known to have preserved the contents even after a thousand years.
Within the faint yellow test tube, there was a ball of translucent liquid.
Leylin casually swirled the test tube. Under the refraction of the light, the liquid within gave off a rainbow-coloured glow, as it continuously whirled, seemingly beautiful.
"This is the Grine Water of the myths which could aid acolytes to breakthrough into an official Magus!" Leylin looked at the test tube and muttered.
Earlier, under the suppression of the Magus from Lighthouse of the Night, the chairmen of Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle had had no choice but to bow their heads, then leading their acolytes away.
Even Torash's professor was not that stupid to offend the high ranking Magus for the second time.
As for Leylin and the rest, they were led back to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy by their professors.
Leylin intentionally glanced and saw that at this moment the acolytes in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy did not amount to over 50.
As for any regular academy, they would have thousands of acolytes!
One can say that Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle had accomplished their mission by almost swallowing the entire batch of successors in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy; if it were not for the fact that a few of their genius acolytes had perished inside the secret plane!
Even so, they originally had 200 acolytes enter the secret plane. Yet in the end only about a hundred came out from it.
Compared to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, this was considered a great victory.
"However… All these have nothing to do with me!" Leylin looked at the potion in his hands that seemed like an illusion.
"What matters is that I got the Grine Water! Moreover, the academy has an anonymous exchange policy, which is extremely thoughtful for its acolytes!"
On the way back to the academy, Leylin and the fortunate surviving acolytes were told about the contribution points they obtained and the details of it, where they can undergo the exchange privately.
Furthermore, the person that was in charge of the exchange was an alchemy beast created by the chairman with no human feelings whatsoever, so it wouldn't reveal the acolytes' exchanges.
One can say that although Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was extremely bloodthirsty, where there was a strong culture of the strong eats the weak, towards the protection of acolytes with true strength and abilities, they still did a rather good job.
Leylin only barely managed to scrape 50 contribution points, exchanging for a standard amount of Grine Water.
As for the catalogue on the contribution points exchange list, there were various precious ingredients, rank 1 spell models, and even spiritual force Potions. Looking on, Leylin felt overwhelmed by it.
At that time, deep down Leylin had some regret over not taking the few genius acolytes' badges along with him.
However, after seeing Jayden with a gloomy expression, Leylin very soon buried this tinge of regret deep inside his heart.
Although Torash's badge was worth at least 50 contribution points, which could be exchanged with many resources, the look that other acolytes had when they saw Jayden was full of pity.
Incurring the wrath of an official Magus for these resources, was it really worth it?
Moreover, the other professors did not know of their apprentices' scores, yet Dorotte knew Jayden's amount of contribution points like the back of his hand. Before anything else, at the very least, half of Torash's contribution points would be taken by Dorotte.
After all, he defended an opposing rank 1 Magus for Jayden!
"Before becoming an official Magus, it is best to maintain a low profile. There won't be anything wrong with that!" Seeing Jayden's outcome, Leylin steeled his heart with this resolve.
His senior Merlin was a great example of this.
Merlin's achievements and talent in Potioneering could be said to be extraordinary. If not for Leylin cheating by using the A.I. Chip, he would definitely be left far behind in this aspect.
But so what?
It was due to Merlin's reputation that made his enemies concentrate their attacks on him, finally causing him to die during the secret plane's bloodbath.
No matter how genius an acolyte was before they manage to grow strong, they weren't even comparable to a pebble on the road.
As for Leylin, he always created the false image of being inferior to Merlin, allowing Merlin to attract the attention off from him. He successfully managed to divert his enemy's attention, so there were very few that bothered about him inside the secret plane.
"However, this trick will not work for the time being!"
Leylin toyed with the Grine Water in his hands, his face gradually turning solemn.
The surviving acolytes after the bloodbath amounted to less than 50, which was even less than the number of professors.
Moreover, all survivors will be deemed as elites!
Under these circumstances, greater attention will be paid to any acolytes!
Leylin did not have any confidence whatsoever to try anything funny for the fear of being discovered.
"Perhaps, I should make a trip outside. Previously, Roman spoke of the high-grade meditation technique. If I found it, it would definitely be much better than the Grine Water…"
Previously, before the Fallen Star Pendant was completed, Leylin had managed to swindle much information from that vengeful spirit, Roman, regarding the information of high-grade meditation technique left behind by the Great Magus Serholm.
According to Roman, the inheritance of Great Magus Serholm was located inside the Dylan Gardens of the Zither Moon Mountain Plains.
Magi who used high-grade meditation techniques were definitely stronger than Magi who used the Grine Water to breakthrough! Moreover, more potential would be realised, revealing more possibilities for future development.
Leylin wanted to climb to the apex of the Magus World. If he wished to have the potential for future advancements, using the Grine Water to breakthrough would be his last resort.
Thinking of the Fallen Star Pendant, Leylin removed the silvery grey cross from his neck.
On the surface of the cross was embedded with various colours of gemstones, which looked to be an impeccable art piece.
However, right now the gemstones on the Fallen Star Pendant seemed to glow dimly, as it had undergone a huge consumption.
[Fallen Star Pendant: Low-grade magic artifact. Effect: Instantly cast a defence. Current condition: All energy consumed, 0%]
The A.I. Chip showed the stats of the Fallen Star Pendant to Leylin.
Fallen Star Pendant — it was the item that attributed the most to Leylin's survival and killing the geniuses of the enemy this time.
The instantaneous layer of defense that the silvery cross radiated, no matter if it was physical of magical resistance, had reached a very high degree. Few below the ranks of an official Magus could penetrate its defenses.
However, in any world, the law of conservation of energy must be fulfilled. Every time the Fallen Star Pendant was activated, it required a consumption of energy. Once the energy was fully consumed, it wouldn't be anything more than a pretty necklace!
"The Fallen Star Pendant's defence is rather good, only that the energy is not enough!"
Leylin felt somewhat regretful, "A.I. Chip! Establish mission. Apart from the calculation ability for the Host, use all remaining computation abilities to find out ways to conserve the energy of the Fallen Star Pendant!"
[Beep! Mission establishing! Beginning to use idle processes to calculate, time is unknown!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
Leylin nodded his head and came to the experiment at the side. He placed the Fallen Star Pendant in the centre of a mysterious spell formation. Around it, were many blue glittering stones.
"Activating process of recharging!"
* Weng Weng! * With the command of Leylin, faint blue light beams shone from the formation. Starlight was extracted from these stones and placed into the Fallen Star Pendant.
[Fallen Star Pendant recharging in process, current state: 1%....] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
The recharge of the Fallen Star Pendant actually only required for starlight to be shone on it. As long as it was bathed in starlight when the energy was fully consumed, the Fallen Star Pendant would automatically complete the recharging process.
However, in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, wanting to bathe it in starlight was an impossible task. Thus, Leylin could only use other methods to conduct the recharging process.
-x-X-x-
Time passed by.
The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's professors and acolytes had gradually recovered from all these sad events and adapted themselves to the present situation.
The current Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had almost become a tomb.
Within such a great academy, one would rarely see another soul.
The classrooms were vacant, the Trading Area was left uninhabited and even the academy's mission area — which has a large, wide wall; on which the missions were hung up — only had a few acolytes accepting missions.
The entire Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had sunk into a stillness as silent and steady as a grave.
In these circumstances, if an ordinary person were to stay here, he would be frightened to death!
However; the great thing was that the acolytes who survived the bloodbath, as well as other professors, were extremely resolute; so they were able to maintain the operations of the academy, even under such circumstances.
However, these state of affairs would not last very long.
According to Leylin's guess, the enrollment period for new acolytes joining the academies of the south coast was fast approaching.
This time, the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy would certainly lower their requirements. Then a large number of acolytes would be able to join and thus reinstate the glory on the surface.
But the nurturing of any talented acolyte will consume a vast amount of time and energy, and not to mention the aptitude of 5th-grade acolytes — where and how would it be easy to find one with such a talent?
The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's heritage had declined drastically during Leylin's generation. It was likely that at least 10 years would be required to regain their former level of glory.
However, Leylin wasn't greatly concerned about these issues.
He once again returned to a thread-like monotonous life — he would cooperate with his professor in his experiments and thus learn from experience.
Meanwhile, he took advantage of the privileges granted to a level 3 acolyte — he purchased large amounts of magical resources and stored information on advanced subjects.
Leylin's aptitude in the Magus World was considered average, neither high nor low, but it was rather decent.
Moreover, he had succeeded in advancing to a level 3 acolyte. In the future, there would be plenty of time for him to breakthrough into an official Magus!
Considering this point, regardless of a professor or an acolyte, all would regard him as a person of very great importance.
Whenever Leylin encounters an official Magus, he would greet them. In return, they would nod their heads in recognition and approval. Also, when acolytes see Leylin from afar, they would immediately greet him.
As for Nyssa and the rest, they did not dare to appear in front of Leylin.
Thinking of Nyssa, Leylin could not help but feel happy for her. In such a bloodbath, she was actually able to preserve her life and even obtain a few contribution points, which was an extremely difficult thing to do.
He overheard that Nyssa had been able to exchange her contribution points for a potion to increase spiritual force and was preparing to breakthrough to level 3 acolyte.
"I hope she succeeds! To heal her body, she needs to, at least, become a proper Magus!"
Leylin thought of Nyssa's injuries and was somewhat dismayed. Right now, in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy; there was only himself, Nyssa, and Jayden who hailed from the Chernobyl Islands.
These thoughts only passed through Leylin's mind. Very soon, he concentrated on the book in front of him.
The book in his hands was extremely thick, the same thickness of two bricks together. However, the paper's surface was extremely small. This was the style of ancient books.
"Mother Earth laid down on the ground and gave birth to 7 children. They are Anger, Sorrow, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, and Fear. Each of her children inherited one of their mother's power. Mountains will tear themselves apart in front of them, and the seas will part before them…."
The book in Leylin's hands concerned myths.
"The ancient writing is extremely obscure, in it, many information about Magi is concealed…"
Leylin's eyes flashed as he commanded, "A.I. Chip! Record!"
Ever since Leylin registered under the administrative area and became a potential Magus, he managed to obtain more access within Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
One of this was to peruse the hidden library section!
Of course, within these books, many information regarding official Magus were erased. At the very most, they were briefly mentioned in passing, with cryptic writings. Normally, people would just gloss over this information.
Even so, Leylin with the A.I. Chip obtained much more information from this hidden library section.
First of all, the A.I. Chip had recorded almost all information that was beneath the topics of Magi. Right now, Leylin could vouch for himself that most professors in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy could not match his knowledge concerning acolytes.
This was a great foundation buildup for Leylin in the acolyte level.
At least now he was aware of the mistakes from breaking through to a level 3 acolyte and even tried to correct them.
One should not look down on such information. If the mistakes are not corrected, even after Leylin becomes an official Magus, his spiritual force would stall for a long period of time, with no chance of ever breaking through.
Furthermore, Leylin found some content regarding advanced meditation techniques.
According to these bits and pieces, together with Roman's information, Leylin could confirm that the chairman of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and those leaders of major guilds and magisterium in the south coast used these advanced meditation techniques to break through.
Hence, they were able to achieve their current levels.
As for the majority of the Magi in the south coast, as well as many professors in the academies, they did not know of the existence of advanced meditation techniques. They used Grine Water to breakthrough, causing them to remain at the level of rank 1 Magus for their entire life!
After looking at all these, Leylin completely sealed the notion of using Grine Water to breakthrough.
"It seems like heading towards the Zither Moon Mountain Plains and obtaining the advanced meditation technique that the great Magus Serholm left behind is necessary for future developments!"
Leylin closed the book slowly and left the library.
Leylin had used the A.I. Chip to record most of the information in the hidden library section. In the future, no matter where he was, he could always perform a search with the A.I. Chip. It was equivalent to carrying a large-scale, intelligent library with him at all times.
"Professor!"
Leylin went to Kroft's lab and bowed to Kroft, who was carrying out an experiment.
Although Kroft was the same as before, Leylin found that his eyes were somewhat dimmed. It seems that Merlin's death had slightly impacted this old man of more than 100 years of age.
"Leylin, my child!" After seeing Leylin, Kroft smiled and he looked to be more focused.
"Regarding my suggestion from before, have you decided on an answer?" Kroft asked.
"Yes, Professor!" Leylin bowed once more. "I appreciate that the Leslie family thinks highly of me, but I wish to try breaking through on my own!"
After hearing Leylin's reply, Kroft's expression darkened. However, Leylin's talent in Potioneering was admirable, even to Kroft. After knowing that Merlin died, Leylin had become his best apprentice, so he could not help but advise again.
"The Leslie family is a great one, with Potioneering as their niche. In there, your talents will definitely be displayed to the fullest. Moreover, the Leslie family has sincerity, where the contract conditions are much better than the academy's."
Leylin displayed a very keen look, but deep down he had rejected Kroft's proposition without the slightest hesitation.
After the bloodbath, Leylin's position in Kroft's heart was elevated.
Previously, when they spoke, Kroft represented the Leslie family in supporting him and made an offer to Leylin.
Leslie family was one of the large-scale Magus family in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, with many Magi supporting it.
Kroft was one of its members.
Having a long standing tradition and history with Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, the Leslie family also possessed a copy of a rank 1 spell and Grine Water.
What Kroft suggested was the same contract signed with the academy. The Leslie family would also give a rank 1 spell model and a Grine Water in exchange.
Compared to a contract with the academy, a contract with a family would have fewer restraints. However, this was not in line with Leylin's interests.
No matter how powerful the Leslie family was, would they be able to provide an advanced meditation technique?
Looking at Kroft, who did not have a single high-grade meditation technique, he already knew the answer.
Under the inheritance of great Magus Serholm, Leylin hoped that he would never have to join a Magi family and put restrictions on himself!
Moreover, Leylin was a person who valued freedom. Unless he was in a desperate situation, he would never consider selling himself to be contracted with a family.
"All these, I know, Professor! But…"
Leylin raised his head, his eyes showing an unshakeable resolve and determination.
"I still wish to try on my own! If I were to fail, I promise you, Professor, that I will definitely prioritise and consider the Leslie family!"
"You…"
Various expressions flashed across Kroft's face. Looking at the most outstanding acolyte he had right now, he suddenly felt a little helpless. "Alright then! You are only 17 now! Youth is precious, it allows you to make mistakes!"
Kroft looked at Leylin and was reminded of his younger self. His eyes revealed that he was recalling a memory.
"Thank you, professor!" Even though Kroft was unreasonable, Leylin was somewhat moved. He never wanted harm to befall his apprentices. This trait was rather praiseworthy within Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
"In that case… How do you plan to overcome this obstacle to becoming an official Magus?" Kroft asked.
"This…" Leylin shook his head, as if in 'embarrassment', revealing an apologetic expression.
"I heard that Professor Dorotte had a piece of remnant information concerning official Magus…"
"Haha…" Kroft laughed, "So this was your plan!"
In the south coast, the information to become an official Magus was often controlled by large guilds, but there was always an exception!
-x-X-x-
After many discussions, the major Magisteriums in the south coast had all unanimously agreed to restrict the advancement to an official Magus.
Under the purview of the contract, all guilds must abide by it solemnly, to control the acolyte's advancement to an official Magus. Even if it was the academy or family absorbing newcomers, they must swear to a strict secrecy.
There was an exception — information found within historical items and places!
In the expanse of the south coast, there were many traces of the Magi remnants.
All of them were located in extremely perilous locations. Even official Magi had to risk their lives to search for a piece of them.
Moreover, even if they were remnants, one cannot be sure of their contents.
Take Leylin for example, previously he spent a countless amount of resources and effort, yet he obtained nothing in the end. It was an extremely common situation.
However, once Magi discovered a trace of ancient remnants and obtain their inheritance or other precious resources, it would be the start of another legend!
Although searching for remnants had many unforeseeable dangers, it still drove many Magi to seek them.
The restrictions on the knowledge to advance to an official Magus was signed by all Magisteriums and guilds of the south coast. Hence, any remnants that existed before the agreement were very likely to contain information regarding official Magus advancement!
This was the reason for the birth of a few guildless official Magi!
According to the information gathered from Leylin's inquiries, Dorotte became an official Magus only after he discovered a piece of information related to advancement while adventuring.
Although the amount of information missing was over 60% of the original and it was definitely not possible to become a Magus just by relying on it, it was still very precious!
Moreover, Leylin was only a level 3 acolyte. Before he became a Magus, he wasn't sure of his importance to Dorotte and whether he could conduct such an important transaction with him.
To obtain this piece of information, it could only be carried out through Kroft.
"Alright then! However, you should know the rarity of information concerning the advancement to an official Magus. What are you planning to exchange for it?"
"Although the information is extremely valuable, this and other single-use records are vastly different. I believe that this will leave Professor Dorotte satisfied!"
Leylin said as he put a hefty bag in Kroft's hands.
"Moreover, after obtaining this piece of information, Professor you can also have a copy of it!"
Towards Leylin's suggestion, Kroft only raised his eyebrows, not saying anything.
But when he opened the bag, he could not help but sigh. "That old bag of bones Dorotte, would most likely not be able to reject you!"
Leylin smiled.
In the bag he handed to Kroft, not only was it filled with a large number of magic crystals and precious ingredients, there was also a Flourishing Flower.
This ingredient was extremely difficult to obtain and had regenerative abilities for magicians with broken limbs.
As for the environment required for the Flourishing Flower to thrive, it must be in a place with a large number of vengeful spirits. Every day, it would be watered with the blood of dying people in order to grow.
These ingredients were not common even in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
After all, in the breeding of artificial spirits, the research done by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy were far less suitable compared to Leylin, who had the help from A.I. Chip.
If not for the news to recall Leylin, he would have already completed this nurturing experiment.
As for this Flourishing Flower, it was a by-product from the experiment lab.
Currently, Dorotte was looking all over for materials to regenerate Jayden's arm, these materials were an enticement which Dorotte could not refuse!
Although he knew this, Leylin was still apprehensive about giving away such a precious material.
As he had produced a Void Flower in the past and now that he had produced another precious ingredient, the Flourishing Flower, it would be hard to prevent suspicion.
But if he wanted a favour from Dorotte, he could not avoid bringing out this Flourishing Flower.
And he was fortunate that this item was rare.
Within the Magus World, there were many examples of frustrated and destitute acolytes who had stumbled across ancient remnants of Magi and turned into an official Magus becoming an overlord of a region.
Compared to them, Leylin's luck was only so-so.
...
Three days later, within the laboratory.
Leylin's wish had at last been fulfilled and now he held the information in his hands.
"Branded Swordsman? What's that?" Leylin frowned, "Wasn't this supposed to have something to help me become a Magus?"
"Haha… when I first received this, I was also rather doubtful. But Dorotte explained it to me," said Kroft.
"Leylin! Magi are people who possess mysterious powers! In ancient times, those with great power were often labelled as magicians! As for Branded Swordsman, through the alchemical runes, a magic spell formation would be branded on their body, allowing them to gain power. It is a small division of the ancient Magi!"
Kroft began teaching Leylin, "I see that you are now a Knight. Therefore, as far as you are concerned, it is indeed appropriate for you to become a Branded Swordsman."
"I understand!"
Leylin was peering through a scrap of information as he said, "Branded Swordsman seem to emphasize more of physical strength training. Through the regular practice and branding, nature's strength would be stored inside their body. In crucial moments, the energy would erupt explosively…."
"Why does it seem to resemble… a Knight?" Leylin's eyes flashed.
"Correct! You interpreted it well! Part of the information regarding the inheritance of ancient Branded Swordsman was widely spread. After some modifications, it was suited more towards regular humans. This turned into the creation of Knights and Grand Knights!"
Kroft nodded.
"Which is to say, a Branded Swordsman is an advanced version of a Knight!" Leylin had now gained some understanding.
"However, it's a pity that more than 60% of the information is missing. Especially the part about branding and spell formation setting, it is almost all gone. Attempting to forcibly brand a spell formation on the body, will only cause the Magus' magic power to be in a mess…."
A regretful look flashed across Kroft's face.
"In ancient times, the combination of Branded Swordsman and Magi were a nightmare to enemies of many other worlds...."
"Although this is the case, I am still very grateful to Professor!" Leylin bowed once again.
After walking out from the experiment lab, Leylin placed the book, which recorded the details of the Branded Swordsman, in his arms.
"Although it is quite dilapidated, I still have the A.I. Chip. Perhaps, I can use it to compute the remainder of the information. . ."
Leylin consoled himself, feeling much better suddenly.
He always liked to prepare a few backup plans.
The advanced meditation technique in Zither Moon Mountain Plains was only a myth. It was derived from a few broken pieces of information from Roman, which almost had zero credibility. If not for Leylin having seen similar content back in the experiment lab close to the Great Mankestre Snake's lair, he would most likely not believe in it.
Moreover, even if the Dylan Gardens existed, would there even be a piece of the great Magus Serholm's inheritance? Even if there was, Leylin did not know if the advanced meditation technique was suitable for him.
By setting off, Leylin would be able to pick up a high-grade meditation technique that was suited to him; Leylin did not dare bet on his luck
Hence, the preparation of a backup plan and now it became necessary to carry it out.
He had a portion of the Grine Water, the A.I. Chip was also simulating the rank 1 defensive spell model. Now he managed to obtain advanced information concerning Branded Swordsman. All these would be simulated into a completed piece of information regarding advancement.
Leylin decided that if he failed to discover anything in the Zither Moon Mountain Plains, he would apply for graduation. He would then roam the south coast, searching for remnants and obtaining information on high-grade meditation techniques.
If he did not obtain a meditation technique suited for him by 50, he would forcefully use the information in his hands to advance into a Magus.
Although this might cause difficulties for future advancements, Leylin felt that if he did not see any hope of advancement by 15, it was better to raise his strength before seeking better alternatives.
On the route back to the dorm.
Recently, Bicky had paid very few visits to him. In the vast level of the dorm, Leylin was the only one who lived here.
Leylin looked at the two sides of the dull and lifeless hall and sighed. "Although the concealment is not too bad, with fewer people coming to bother you, living in such a place is really somewhat dreary…."
After entering his own room in the dorm with the bright lamp, Leylin felt much better.
Walking to the simple experiment lab, Leylin thought in his mind.
"A.I. Chip! How is the progress on the simulation of rank 1 spell defensive model? Also the simulation the Grine Water?"
[rank 1 defensive spell model simulation progress: 14.3%. Estimated completion: 765 days!]
Towards the simulation of a rank 1 spell model, the A.I. Chip gave an unexpectedly long duration. However, Leylin was extremely pleased with this.
Previously the A.I. Chip was not able to estimate the progress of a successful simulation. However, after recording the massive amount of information in the hidden library, the A.I. Chip finally allowed Leylin to see a glimmer of hope in a completed rank 1 spell model!
"As long as it can be completed! Two years, I can afford it!"
Two years later, Leylin would only be 19, still in the prime of level 3 acolyte. This was the benefit of youth, never fearing that time was not enough.
[Calculating Grine Water formula in progress: 5.32%. Estimated ingredients: Fruit of Thousand-Eyed Tree, fresh blood of a Giant Tidal Snake....]
[Estimated effect: A huge consumption on acolyte's life force, to stimulate breakthrough of spiritual force bottleneck!]
"So that's the case!" Looking at the A.I. Chip's analysis, Leylin finally knew why the academy viewed a level 3 acolyte below 20 years of age as potential Magus….
Grine Water's effect was to consume a magician's lifespan in exchange for a stimulated breakthrough.
The younger the acolyte, the more life force there is for consumption. Hence the higher possibility of a breakthrough.
Once an acolyte has an ageing body, they wouldn't be able to breakthrough even with Grine Water. This was because their physical body no longer had any more life force to be consumed.
"It seems that the previous situation has to be altered!"
Leylin stroked his chin. "The matter of searching for high-grade meditation technique will have to be pushed forward. Moreover, I cannot wait till I'm fifty! Thirty years old! After I'm thirty, if I haven't managed to find any high-grade meditation technique, I must try in breaking through!"
After firming his resolve, Leylin tidied up the experiment lab and took out an ancient Potioneering scroll.
-x-X-x-
"Ancient Medicine: Tears of Mary formula. Begin the 1,312,933rd drug simulation!"
Leylin had received 2 sheets of medicinal formulas from Professor Kroft. One of them was about the Azure Potion, for which he had found substitute ingredients that had helped him reach his current level.
The other one, Tears of Mary, involved the concepts from his soul research. This had left Leylin at a loss as to how he should proceed.
Afterwards, with the observations from the bulk experiments at Extreme Night City, Leylin had gathered vast amounts of data regarding souls, and was thus pushing for the analysis of the formula of the ancient drug, Tears of Mary.
Finally, after having obtained the Grine Water, the A.I. Chip had performed reverse engineering to find out the refining process of the Grine Water, and had eventually overcome the last obstacle in concocting the Tears of Mary.
However, to Leylin's dismay, he found that some of the steps in the formula for the Tears of Mary could only be completed by an official Magus!
Moreover, many of the processes required huge reserves of spiritual force that was at least at the level of an official Magus.
This situation proved that Leylin's prior guess was correct — the Tears of Mary was definitely the secret formula for the ancient Magi to increase their spiritual force!
Thus, Leylin's eagerness to successfully configure the Tears of Mary was reinforced.
His spiritual force had not increased over a long period of time.
His body had developed a complete resistance to the modified Azure Potion, so even if he were to drink more of the potion, his spiritual force would not increase even a little bit.
Also, after having increased his spiritual force using medicine, trying to increase it using his regular meditation technique was something he couldn't endure because the rate of increase was similar to a tortoise's pace.
His current spiritual force was just not quite enough to be able to break through the boundary to become an official Magus.
According to the A.I. Chip's calculations and his own estimation, with his regular meditation, it would take him several years to become an official Magus!
Leylin could not wait that long, hence he brewed a new type of potion. Apart from that, he had been collecting other formulas all the while.
Other ancient potion formulas were mostly controlled by the official Magi. Leylin did not have many treasured ingredients with him that he could exchange for, and did not wish to draw too much attention to himself..
Moreover, compared to simulating and brewing an entire new formula, more than half of the formula for the Tears of Mary was solved so it was the better choice.
Leylin boldly replaced a few brewing processes that could only be executed by an official Magus into one that was suited for a level 3 acolyte to brew with.
After tens of thousands of modifications, together with the A.I. Chip's millions of simulations, Leylin's experiment now was very close to succeeding.
"First of all, I need the basic material for the formula, a female vengeful spirit!."
From the corner of his experiment desk, Leylin picked up a brand new Confining Spirit Sphere. Within it was a woman wearing a red gown, and looking at Leylin with an expression of fright.
The energy waves emitted from this female vengeful spirit which was not even close to those of Roman, who was only a level 1 acolyte.
After most of the acolytes in the academy had perished, it was the golden age of self-development for the surviving acolytes.
Originally, the resources for the acolytes in the academy had been for a thousand acolytes, but now, they had all been released for these 50 remaining acolytes.
Furthermore, the prices of all ingredients and spell models had been marked down drastically compared to the time before the bloodbath.
For example, a vengeful spirit was originally a rare commodity in the market. Once they had been seen on the market, they would have been bought immediately by acolytes, and the prices could have been up to 500 magic crystals.
As for now, Leylin went to the counter to look at the price, and bought it immediately. His expenditure did not even amount to 100 magic crystals!
Of course, this was a disguised reward from the academy to the survivors!
This situation continued all the way until the next batch of recruits.
However, in this discounted sale, Leylin quickly threw away the notion of reselling at a high price outside. The academy had long since forbidden this. If they were caught, the circumstances would be severe.
Leylin made use of this opportunity, and spent half of his magic crystals savings, buying a large amount of resources and strange spell models.
The female vengeful spirit in the Confining Spirit Sphere had long, silver hair; dark blue eyes; and soft, moistened lips. She also had a slender waist and long legs. When she was alive, she would have definitely been an outstanding woman who drove men crazy!
"What a pity!"
Leylin sighed, yet his hand continued to move and dropped a silver liquid onto the Confining Spirit Sphere.
This was the "Dissolving Spirit Potion". Back when Leylin had specially prepared it for Roman, with only a few drops, Roman would have definitely been shrieking for half a day, and even sustain a severe injury.
As of now, the remainder was used by Leylin here.
"Ah… It hurts! Please… I beg you! No…!"
The vengeful spirit continued to wail from within the crystal ball. Towards such an extraordinary woman, any man would have at least hesitated deep down within their heart.
However, Leylin's brows had not furrowed the slightest as he continued the movement with his hands.
As more of the Dissolving Spirit Potion was used, the pleading of the female vengeful spirit was becoming more and more muffled. Even her red robes were slowly dissolving, revealing an illusory, and yet alluring glowing skin.
"You want to entice me?" Looking at this scene, Leylin's lips curled up in ridicule.
"Vengeful spirit! Reveal your original ugly form!" Leylin raised a finger with a large, black needle protruding from the nail.
* Sssii! *
The black long needle pierced through the crystal ball, and directly into the chest of the female vengeful spirit.
"Argh!" The female vengeful spirit let off a hair-raising scream, and her body became blurry. Once she could be seen again, the vengeful spirit that was in front of Leylin's eyes had taken on a completely different form.
The face was filled with scales and wrinkles, and the orifices seemed to be misaligned, as though someone had casually attached them to her face. There were a few strands of green hair on the sides of her bald head.
The mouth opened and closed, and razor sharp teeth could be seen. From time to time, a disgusting, viscous liquid could be seen dripping from her scarlet tongue.
"Ao!"
The female vengeful spirit's eyes contained a greed that could rip people apart. She stared intently at Leylin as if wanting to gobble him down immediately.
"Your outer appearance and inner self are ugly throughout!"
...
Leylin mocked her and laughed, before drawing another mysterious magic rune...
The experiment lasted for over a dozen hours and continued the way until the second day before the end was near.
Inside the experiment lab.
Inside a scarlet pentagonal formation, a naked body with bumps through could be seen. The beautiful face of the female vengeful spirit had been tied down by a metal chain, trapped within the spell formation.
At this moment, although the female vengeful spirit looked to be phantom, as if disappearing in the next moment, her face no longer had the craze and hate from before. Instead, there was a shy expression on it.
Combining with the binding of the metal chains, it even creates a sadomasochistic desire!
Leylin looked at the naked woman in front of him, his face revealing a satisfied expression. "After a long day, I have finally removed all of the grievances from it!"
"Thank you! Young man! However, could you release me and give me some clothes to wear?"
The woman spoke within the formation, her voice as delightful as a black-naped oriole bird.
"Are you joking? I spent so much effort to release you from your grievance, not for some gratification!"
After hearing Leylin's words, the female vengeful spirit suddenly felt that a calamity was looming over her.
Disturbed, crazed and pondering expressions flashed through Leylin's face. Finally, they all uniformed into only one expression—Apathy! Indifference towards everything!
...
A few hours passed.
At this moment, there was a chill permeating the experiment lab.
One could almost hear the wails of vengeful spirits within these four walls.
As for the female vengeful spirit in front of Leylin, it had almost lost its human appearance.
"The last step!" Leylin picked up a silver fork and pierced the female vengeful spirit's head through the eyes.
"Pu!"
As if made from some special materials, the silver fork directly pierced through the female vengeful spirit's eyeball.
"Hehe!" The female vengeful spirit squirmed and screamed like a wild beast, as if without a tongue.
After the fork had pierced the eyeball, the face of the female vengeful spirit could barely be made out. Two trickles of blood tears flowed down.
"This is the ancient potion—Tears of Mary?"
Leylin raised his hand, dripping a few drops of blood in his hands.
An icy cold and viscous sensation was felt.
"The spirit is an illusory thing. As for me, I could actually come in contact with a spirit's tears, what a wonder…."
Leylin muttered as he smeared the red potion on his eyes.
* Bang! *
An extremely spicy sensation travelled from Leylin's eyes, causing immense pain.
Red! His vision could only see the colour red!"
There seemed to be a woman's voice sounding inside his brain as if narrating something. The voice gradually grew louder and louder.
Finally, Leylin could only grab his head and head-butt viciously against the wall, to ease this symptom.
The A.I. Chip's indicator appeared in front of Leylin.
[Subject underwent an unknown effect. spiritual force increased. Currently, it is 14.3….]
The data that represented Leylin's spiritual force continuously increased.
14.8
15.3
15.8
16.1
The number which represented the spiritual force continuously rose, finally stopping at the number 16.1.
"Hu… It has finally passed!"
Leylin rubbed his temples firmly, as he inhaled a lungful of cold air.
"Although it's very painful, the side effects are not too much…"
Before he could finish speaking, Leylin discovered that there was a thin layer of mist in the surroundings.
A flash of red colour robes streaked past in the room.
Leylin wanted to move, yet the air seemed to be extremely muddy like starch paste. Any movement would be difficult to execute!
Finally, the owner of the red robes appeared in front of Leylin — the vengeful spirit!
At this moment, more than half of the vengeful spirit's head had dissolved.
"If it was another time! Such an attack!"
Leylin was extremely unwilling, but he was still struck in the chest by that claw.
An icy cold chill started to spread from his chest.
-x-X-x-
The vengeful spirit wearing red robes continuously attacked, clawing strips of flesh off of Leylin's body.
Leylin's expression of anger turned into indifference.
A few minutes later, he opened his mouth with difficulty, "Gurisasi ~ duoluxian!"
A dark-green flame burned on Leylin's body, setting everything in the experiment lab ablaze….
"Hu…"
After the dark-green flame was extinguished, Leylin recovered his mobility.
At this moment, he finally had enough strength to look around at his surroundings.
The experiment lab was the same as before, all apparatus lying neatly in their original position.
As for the pentagon formation, it had lost all of its light, and the vengeful spirit was nowhere to be found.
On Leylin, there were no traces of injuries, yet his expression did not seem well.
It was because different indicators flashed from the A.I. Chip:
[Host has suffered from an unknown forcefield attack, determined from the database to be caused by a vengeful spirit! vitality decreased by 0.1]
[Host has suffered from an unknown forcefield attack, determined from the database to be caused by a vengeful spirit! vitality decreased by 0.1]
[Host has suffered from an unknown forcefield attack, determined from the database to be caused by a vengeful spirit! vitality decreased by 0.1]
After 3 indications, Leylin's face looked even more awful, "A.I. Chip, show me my current status!"
[Beep! Leylin Farlier. Level 3 acolyte, Knight. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.4, Spiritual force: 16.1, Magic power: 16 (magic power is in synchronisation with Spiritual Force). Status: Healthy]
After the upgrade from using Tears of Mary, Leylin's Spiritual Force reached 16.1. However, his vitality decreased by 0.3. Clearly, this was caused by the attack of the vengeful spirit.
"As expected, an ancient potion's formulary cannot be modified so easily!"
Leylin sighed. He acted on his own initiative, changing many processes of the formulary, thus causing such an outcome.
"However, this decrease in vitality, compared to the increase in Spiritual Force, shows the value of this potion!"
Leylin was certain of his modified formulary for the ancient potion, Tears of Mary.
"Ancient potion - Tears of Mary modification successful, Host to give a name!"
The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
"Blood Vengeance Potion!" Leylin thought of the final, flash of red, blurting out the name.
Although this potion requires a vengeful spirit as an ingredient, which was somewhat cruel, it was a potion that was hard to come by!
A single use could raise Spiritual Force by 3 points! The only minor backlash was : it was on the same level as the Azure Potion that Leylin had modified before.
As for the formulation process of this potion, it was somewhat ruthless. However, Leylin did not bother about it.
For Leylin, carrying out ruthless actions and even killing people, was well within reason when in the face of benefits!
People who only kill for joy were mental and inhumane.
In his previous world, the environment was peaceful, so naturally he had also advocated peace then.
However, in the Magus World, war was everywhere. Deaths occurred daily. The plebeians who faced dawn did not know if they would be alive to see the sun set.
The law of the jungle and survival of the fittest were proclaimed explicitly by various powerful guilds and organisations.
After coming to this world, Leylin followed 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do' and this became a completely egotistical person.
As long as this potion was beneficial and did not cause him much hassle, he would not hesitate to create more of it!
"This is the feeling of achieving 16 Spiritual Force, huh? How amazing!"
Leylin shut his eyes, feeling the difference this increase brought him.
Under his control, the Spiritual Force seemed to be a silver thread as it swept past every item in the room. Moreover, each of the item's physical shape was perceived within Leylin's mind.
For regular acolytes, this was an extremely fresh feeling. However, Leylin saw that after a certain standard was achieved in Spiritual Force, it had a scanning effect similar to that of the A.I. Chip!
"This effect, if mastered properly, could discover a majority of ambushes, never having to fear for another sneak attack!"
Leylin appreciated the wondrous use of the Spiritual Force.
"It's a pity, however. For me, this is not as useful as the A.I. Chip!"
In his sea of consciousness, waves of Spiritual Force constantly surged at the borders, continuously expanding the area of the sea.
"Only that this external change is too obvious!"
Leylin picked up a bronze mirror. On the screen of the bronze mirror, a brown-haired youthful countenance was reflected. However, a pair of gleaming eyes flashed like diamonds in the night.
Normally, the upper limits of Spiritual Force for level 3 acolytes were 15, yet Leylin far exceeded this figure.
Moreover, when level 3 acolytes were about to breakthrough into an official Magus, their eyes would often show unusual signs of attraction.
That was the result of the boundless expansion in their massive sea of consciousness.
However, for Leylin, this was not good news. To others, he was just a newly advanced level 3 acolyte, yet now he exceeded those limits, this would bring about curiosity and suspicion from others.
If it was some regular acolyte, Leylin wasn't too afraid. But if an official Magus required him to cooperate for questioning, then Leylin would meet with some trouble.
After all, Leylin had no confidence against official Magus since the A.I. Chip could not detect them.
"I can only conceal this for the time being!"
Leylin chanted a short incantation.
Creaking and cracking noises resounded on his face and his eyes dimmed, no longer radiating light.
This was a simple use of the Shapeshifting spell—the ability to modify facial features.
Many female official Magus would obtain such a spell and cast it on their faces, achieving a beautification effect.
"I hope this can conceal my presence for the time being!" Leylin was not confident.
After several modifications of the Shapeshifting spell by the A.I. Chip, level 3 acolytes would not be able to discover this.
However, Leylin was completely unsure if he could face an official Magus
If they just walked past him, they may not notice his concealment. As long as they did not use any detection spells, he should be able to mask it.
Deep down in his heart, Leylin had already decided. After travelling around the Poolfield Kingdom and discovering the vestige traces, he would set off to Zither Moon Mountain Plains in search of the remnants of the great Magus Serholm.
In any case, Leylin had expressed his interest to Kroft for wanting to travel, so suggesting it not did not seem too abrupt.
After making some arrangements, Leylin rubbed his rumbling stomach, giving a wry smile. His experiment had already extended over a day's worth of time.
No matter how high his vitality was, he was still a mortal, unable to escape from the laws of nature. Hence, there were symptoms of hunger.
Although he could replenish his strength with potions, Leylin still felt nauseous. Moreover, if the circumstances allowed for a better option, he would not mistreat himself.
Since the academy had a restaurant, why waste a potion?
Leylin cleaned up and opened his dorm's door.
* Pa! * A white letter fell onto the ground. It seemed like someone paid Leylin a visit earlier. However, after seeing him concentrate on his experiment, they did not dare intrude, hence leaving a simple note.
"Who would it be? Bicky? Nyssa? Or someone else…"
Leylin opened the letter in curiosity.
After seeing the signature, Leylin's expression was shocked, "It's actually Jayden!"
As a fifth-grade genius acolyte, Jayden was somewhat of a lone wolf, seldom interacting with other acolytes.
As for now, Jayden actually took the initiative to meet with Leylin, which shocked Leylin.
"However, since he's visited me, then I'll meet him!"
After thinking for a while, Leylin raised his somewhat pale finger, directing scribbling on the white note.
Every time his finger drew across, red characters would be left on the note.
There was a simple spell cast on this paper note by Jayden, which could transmit some simple information. Of course, it was only usable in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy area, widely loved by acolytes.
The recipient's reply was extremely quick. Very soon, Leylin met up with Jayden inside of a room in the restaurant.
Jayden now seemed to be gloomier. Looking at the area of his severed limb, Leylin noticed that a slim tiny arm had regrown and could not help but laugh.
It seems that his Flourishing Flower had been given to Jayden by Dorotte. What he did not know was the promise Jayden had to make in exchange for the Flourishing Flower.
"I have not thanked you regarding the Flourishing Flower!"
Jayden sat on the white chair, raising his cup to Leylin.
This gesture was somewhat impolite. Leylin frowned internally, yet not did not outwardly speak much about it.
After looking for a chair to sit down, he ignored the delicacy and aroma displayed in front of him. Leylin smiled in sincerity, "Regarding the information of official Magus that Professor Dorotte had exchanged with me, I should be the one expressing my thanks!"
Naturally, Leylin had no clue that Dorotte had this information of advancing into a Branded Swordsman.
It was Jayden who had leaked the news to him. As for the reason why—it was probably due to Leylin 'accidentally' letting Jayden know that he had the Flourishing Flower.
For Leylin, he would reap the largest benefit from Jayden, who desperately needed the Flourishing Flower to regrow his limb.
Jayden's expression turned softer, "No matter what, we are acolytes who came from the same area, so it's well within reason to help each other…."
Leylin too gave him some superficial replies, before Jayden finally revealed his motive for seeking Leylin today.
"Leylin, Professor Dorotte had long since told me that the information he had given you, a major portion of it was missing. There is no way that it could be reliable for advancing into an official Magus. It is because you also want to look for other traces that you are eager to go exploring, isn't it?"
"Of course, no matter if it's the academy or the families, their conditions are too much!"
Leylin interlocked his fingers.
This notion was considered by many level 3 acolytes. Only when the adventure for the remnants was unfruitful and acknowledging that the golden period of advancement was almost over, would they then consider signing a spiritual contract with the academy or the families.
-x-X-x-
"I just happen to have a trace of remnants regarding official Magus…." Jayden added.
After listening to Leylin's reply, Jayden's smile grew even wider.
"Remnants? Clues? You actually dare to go out?"
Leylin was somewhat shocked. In the eyes of an outsider, Jayden was the murderer of Torash from the enemy academy. The hatred held by the enemy official Magus was already locked onto him, yet he still dared leave for an exploration?
After hearing Leylin's words, Jayden's face darkened.
"I will kill that old geezer sooner or later! I'll turn his corpse into a specimen and keep it in my lab…"
After cursing, Jayden then explained to Leylin, "The power of the Lighthouse of the Night is still formidable. Under the mediation of that lord Magus, the Sage Gotham Hut and the Whitewoods Castle would not dare to exact revenge hastily; not unless they wish to be destroyed!"
"On the contrary, with the passing of time, the treaty was agreed at a span of 20 years. My situation consists of constant dangers. Hence, for this, I have to retaliate somehow, to ensure myself with the ability to protect my life!"
"Becoming an official Magus?" Leylin's brows furrowed as he guessed Jayden's intention.
"Indeed! To go against an official Magus, one would only have the ability after becoming an official Magus!" A longing expression streaked across Jayden's face, "Once I become an official Magus, why would I still be afraid of the enemy's retaliation?"
Leylin nodded his head — Jayden's train of thought was correct.
The protection of the academy and the professors were external factors, which could be removed at any given time. Only the strength that belongs to oneself is the most reliable factor!
After understanding the situation briefly, Leylin began to relax, slowly reclining in his chair.
"So then, I have two questions. Where are the remnants? Why me?"
Jayden inhaled a lungful of air and knew that if he did not reveal any information, Leylin would naturally not take the bait.
"I cannot reveal the location of the remnants. However, I can tell you the general location. It's near Zither Moon Mountain Plains…."
Upon speaking the four words, 'Zither Moon Mountain Plains', Leylin's pupils contracted, yet very soon he recollected himself. This change, which happened which a fraction of a second, went completely unnoticed by Jayden.
"As for why I sought you out?"
Jayden smiled wryly, "Zither Moon Mountain Plains is littered with poisonous plants and miasma. A Potioneering acolyte needs to come along, to ensure our safety… Right now in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, the person I am familiar with, who is also a level 3 acolyte, is only you…."
Leylin stared blankly, only then did he recall that the acolytes in the academy barely amounted to 50.
Back when Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had thousands of acolytes, there were plenty of Potioneering acolytes around. Hence, Jayden could take his time to choose.
However, after the bloodbath, Jayden's choice was extremely limited, so much so that the only option left was—Leylin!
"Although I don't know if the remnants that Jayden mentioned were left behind by the great Magus Serholm; since the vengeful spirit Roman had found clues to it, it's well within reason that Jayden had discovered something too…."
Thoughts spun in Leylin's head, yet on the surface, he looked hesitant.
"The war has just ended. Right now it's too dangerous to leave the academy…."
"According to my sources, the remnants are of an official Magus. There could very well be information and resources on advancing into an official Magus. Isn't that what you need right now? Moreover, as long as you agree to participate, the reward aspects…"
After looking at Leylin's expression, Jayden felt hurried, hence, he continued to elaborate, even adding a few bargaining chips.
Leylin put on a struggling expression, finally agreeing to give it some thought over these couple of days.
After seeing Leylin act like this, Jayden could only consent.
After all, apparently Leylin seemed to be somewhat moved towards the end.
As expected, on the second day, Leylin sought out Jayden, informing him of his decision to participate.
...
Early in the morning
Leylin and Jayden rode on two black horses each, leaving the compound of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy under the rays of the dawning sun.
Before leaving, Leylin looked at the distant graveyard of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy for one last time.
The grey granite construction seemed to be littered with cracks, as before. However, it might just have been a misconception, but those cracks were seemingly smaller now.
It was as if this massive graveyard was a living organism amidst the processes of recovery.
"The next time I return, there will surely be many changes!"
After that last glance at the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, Leylin disappeared into the dark forest.
...
Five days later, within the Poolfield Kingdom, on the outskirts of a province in the west.
On the road, 3 acolytes were waiting.
* Ta Ta Ta! * As the 3 people looked away into the distance, two figures on horseback appeared on the horizon.
Those two riders stopped in front of the 3 people, revealing the countenance that belonged to Leylin and another unfamiliar acolyte.
"Leylin, let me introduce to you, this is Mister Bosain, from the Lilytell family…."
The stranger's voice belonged to Jayden, as he introduced them to Leylin. To avoid trouble, Jayden had masked his appearance.
"Also, this is Shaya and Roth!"
Jayden introduced the group to Leylin. Bosain had golden bright hair and wore silver robes --- appearing dressed very grandly. If not for the acolyte mark, Leylin would even think that it was some professor who joined Jayden's group.
However, Jayden specially emphasised on the Mister honorific and the explanation on the Lilytell family, giving Leylin a shock.
"Lilytell family? One of the big-three families in the academy, where every generation has produced at least one official Magus?"
"Indeed, in addition, the chairman of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was elected by the big three families."
Bosain added, pride evident on his face.
"Which is to say, he could have direct access to high-grade meditation techniques! Or, I can…" Leylin outwardly displayed a shocked expression with a tinge of envy, satisfying the ego of Bosain.
However deep down, he had some villainous thoughts.
As for Shaya, she was a fire-haired female acolyte, reminding Leylin of Neela. Ever since his return to the academy, he hasn't seen Neela once.
She could be dead, or she did not receive the academy's notice. There was also the possibility that she abandoned the academy and escaped.
Towards her, Leylin only sighed gently, before removing her from his thoughts.
As for the last member of the small party—Roth—he was the archetype male of the West. His stature was tall and big, taller than Leylin by half a head, his face containing a simple and honest expression.
However, Leylin did not dare to be careless. acolytes who could survive in the bloodbath were not simple characters.
Moreover, these 3 people had the energy waves of level 3 acolytes. Bosain and Shaya even had the aura of magic artifacts on their body, as detected by the A.I. Chip.
"Hello! I'm Leylin, a Potioneering acolyte, I hope that…"
Leylin introduced himself to the rest.
"The Zither Moon Mountain Plains is perilous, however, I have heard of your reputation being only lower to the Potioneering genius Merlin! I believe that you would ensure our logistics and safety. . . "
Bosain smiled amiably at Leylin, giving a feeling of warmth.
"I'll try my best!" Leylin nodded his head.
"Alright! It's getting late, let's set off!"
Leylin nodded his head, and the five of them began their journey.
However, deep down, Leylin was somewhat disgruntled towards Jayden's action of adding more members without consulting him. He certainly did not approve of the current situation.
Moreover, Bosain's identity seemed to give him a troublesome feeling.
As if noticing something, Jayden engaged in a private conversation to explain to him.
"Bosain and the rest found out about my plans incidentally and insisted on joining. For this reason, he did not hesitate to keep the truth from his own family members and his professor, and sneaked out of the academy!" Jayden smiled wryly, "You know it as well, I am unable to refuse them!"
For the big families behind the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, it was the most dangerous period right now since the war ended. Bosain, as the successor of the family, has to always be inside the academy compounds.
However, now he did not even bring a bodyguard, which indicated that this was a covert exploration. Even his family did not know of his destination.
Concerning this, Leylin could only smile wryly and be more wary of his surroundings, with no better idea in mind.
The Zither Moon Mountain Plains was situated on the western borders of the Poolfield Kingdom. It was the boundary between the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and the Sage Gotham Hut.
These two forces had just ended a huge war and Jayden even carried a blood debt since he killed the enemy's genius. Once this party was discovered, they would definitely have problems.
No matter if it was Leylin or Jayden, or Bosain and the rest, they were all intelligent and conscientious people. Moreover at crucial moments, they had the courage to fight for their lives.
Along the way, the five of them changed their travelling outfits into those of young, noble masters and mistress, continuously travelling along the western borders.
Without a doubt, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that knowledge and power were wielded in the hands of nobles. In the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, most acolytes were born of nobility and had no need to learn how to dress as one.
This was why the five of them dressed as nobility. Their disposition was naturally formed, if they were to dress as someone else, they would definitely be noticed.
Leylin too tried to get closer with the other 3 acolytes.
Shaya and Roth were rather friendly. The most important factor was that Leylin was also a level 3 acolyte, moreover, he was acknowledged by them in having talent in Potioneering, so they were somewhat friendly.
As for Bosain, he had the behaviour of being an elite amongst magicians.
Refined and courteous, yet arrogant to the skies. He had the deceitful characteristics of the nobility, so he appeared somewhat indifferent towards Leylin and the other acolytes.
Leylin felt that once he spoke of any information regarding the high-grade meditation technique, he would definitely gain the attention of Bosain.
However, even if that was the case, after many days being together with them, Leylin had, more or less, determined their stats.