The moment Clayde declared his name, Leylin gave out an order silently.
"A.I. Chip, Scan the target in front of me!"
[Beep! Mission establishing, scanning in progress... A defensive forcefield around the target detected, unable to collect data!]
As expected, the A.I. Chip still gave the same answer.
"Which is to say, if I broke through the layer of forcefield, I'll be able to scan it?"
Leylin used an immense force on his legs and charged towards Clayde like a bullet.
*Bang!*
Leylin's right hand bulged, and the strength of his fist reached 7.1 degrees, smashing onto Clayde's chest.
The sound like a hammer striking at leather sounded. With a huge spark, Clayde was sent flying backwards.
Leylin stood at where Clayde stood originally as he looked at his arm.
Black scales appeared above the skin. On the scales, there were tiny traces of flames continuously flickering.
[Data of target's defensive forcefield obtained, comparing to database!]
[Determined target's innate spell as high-temperature forcefield, creating a flame of 24 degrees to burn objects within its vicinity!]
[Target's forcefield damaged: 4.6%. 20 more strikes are estimated to break the defensive forcefield!]
The A.I. Chip reported to data to Leylin.
"Cough cough..."
At this moment, Clayde who was lying on the ground got up. There was soot on his somewhat dirtied face.
"What tremendous speed and strength! A pity that you only advanced not too long ago, so how many rank 1 spell could you have learnt? Two? One? Or do you only have your innate forcefield?"
Clayde patted his chest and yelled.
Often Magi, who just advanced were in their weakest stages, not to mention memorising a few rank 1 spells. More often than not, they could not afford a single use scroll or magic artifact either.
After Clayde had finished yelling, he chanted an incantation immediately.
The energy particles in the air changed visibly, shining a dazzling yellow light.
"This might, at least 20 degrees..."
Leylin's expression turned solemn. Right now his Kemoyin's Scales resistance was only at 27 degrees. It was considered pretty good amongst newly advanced Magi, but it could not fend off all of the rank 1 spells.
Only by continuously tapping into the strength of the bloodline, the Kemoyin's Scales would become stronger.
As for now, once the opponent's attack exceeded 27 degrees, it would immediately break through his forcefield.
"I can't let him cast any spells!" Leylin's pupils contracted
*Crash!* The black light flickered, and finely articulated scales surfaced on his body, even his face was included.
In an instant, Leylin was covered by a layer of snake's scales. He right now looked half snake and half human.
The blackness of the scales had an ancient aura and reflected a cold, glossy light which sent Clayde's heart racing a little faster.
"Such a defensive forcefield? So strong!"
"Die!" Leylin shouted, and he moved quicker than before, charging towards Clayde.
Clayde snorted, and a layer of green light appeared on his body which turned into thorns as they blocked Leylin.
*Bang!* *Bang!*
Leylin's expression did not change as he swung his fists. After two punches, the thorns shattered.
After covering himself with the Kemoyin's Scales and coupling it with his strength, Leylin was now like an ancient creature, with an aura that was unstoppable.
Clayde face turned rather unsightly after seeing Leylin breaking through the thorns like wild grass.
"You damned worm! What other methods you have, use them all now!"
Leylin howled and felt every drop of his blood being set ablaze. It made his appetite to battle even more intense than before.
"Damn it!" As Clayde chanted, he kept on changing positions. Moreover, he even activated several magic artifacts to block Leylin from advancing.
Although the might of these low-grade magic artifacts were not strong and mostly restraint type, breaking through them still required some effort.
After Leylin broke through another layer of ice, Clayde finally finished his incantation of a rank 1 spell. An enormous blue fireball was sent flying towards Leylin.
*Boom!*
After the heat wave had dissipated, the mud around the area melted, creating a large pit.
"Haha... No one could survive after being hit by my corrosive fireball!"
Clayde laughed heartily. The joy of killing a genius early in developing stages swelled in his chest.
However, Clayde's expression very soon changed and he hurriedly retreated several steps, as if he saw something unfathomable.
"How... How's this possible, he's actually still alive?"
In the sea of blue fire, a human figure parted the flames and walked out from it.
At this moment, Leylin's clothes were thoroughly razed to ashes, revealing his scaly body. The A.I. Chip's warning continuously rang within his ear.
[Host has suffered an energy attack! Element: Fire, Acid. Estimated power: 20 degrees. Actual power: 26 degrees. Host's innate spell, Kemoyin's Scales, was activated! Energy consumed: 34%. No harm dealt directly to Host!]
"It's actually an attack of 26 degrees. Just one more degree to breaking my defense!"
Leylin had some lingering fear before it manifested into a stronger killing intent!
*Bang!* His figure flickered and appeared right in front of Clayde. The fist covered with scales punched Clayde's chest with a tremendous might.
*Crash!* A bright red flame rose from Clayde's chest, engulfing Leylin's fist within.
*Bang!* Clayde's face turned red as he was sent flying backwards.
Leylin stepped forward, ignoring the flames on his body as he throttled Clayde.
"Run! Why don't you run again?"
Leylin's expression turned malevolent, ramming fists after fists on Clayde's body.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Massive explosions sounded continuously, and the earth quivered as if there was an earthquake.
Finally, after some time, Clayde cried out, and the flames on his body disappeared.
[Target's defensive forcefield broken, acquiring data...]
The A.I. Chip's voice intoned, bringing Leylin, who was somewhat frenzied back to his senses.
"What happened? I was actually this impulsive and reckless?"
Thinking of how he did not dodge or block as he smashed his opponent's defensive forcefield, cold sweat trickled down Leylin's forehead.
Normally he would have never acted that way. Not to mention the final barrage of attack like a madman was not his way of handling things usually.
[Clayde Lilytell. Strength: 4.5, Agility: 3.7, Vitality: 5.6, Spiritual force: 31. Elemental Essence Conversion: Fire! Progress: 30%...]
Clayde, who was lying on the ground, had his data extracted and sent to Leylin.
"Elemental Essence Conversion? No wonder his acidic fireball was so strong!" Realisation appeared on Leylin's face.
After advancing into a rank 1 Magus, if one wanted to advance again, the basic conditions was to complete the Elemental Essence Conversion!
At this time, the importance of having an affinity for elements was finally shown. If one does not choose the highest affinity element to cultivate in, it's impossible to have the Elemental Essence Conversion progress to get over 80%. Which is to say, they would never be able to advance into a rank 2 Magus!
Furthermore, with the increase in Elemental Essence Conversion, it would improve the might of spells of that particular element.
Originally Clayde's acidic fireball only had a power degree of 20. However, after the 30% Elemental Essence Conversion it reached 26 degrees, almost breaking Leylin's defenses.
Moreover, the multiplier effect could only be applied on one's chosen element affinity. For instance, Clayde's fiery spell could have a 30% multiplier, but the spells of other elements would remain the same. In cases such as Water or Ice Elements, the power might even be reduced.
However, why would Magi gifted with the affinity of Fire element even use Water and Ice spells?
Blue light flashed in Leylin's eyes continuously. This was the first report of data he obtained from a rank 1 Magus. It could aid his understanding towards himself, complete the database and even compare the stats to a Warlock's.
"You... Kill me now! The Lilytell family will never let you off!"
When the innate defensive forcefield of Magi was broken, they would also suffer damage on their sea of consciousness. At this moment, Clayde was already near his last breath.
"Why do I suddenly feel like the villain?"
Seeing Clayde, who put on a 'loyal and unyielding' expression, Leylin wanted to laugh.
"You wish for death? It's too early for that!"
Leylin forcefully chugged a potion down Clayde's throat. Clayde's eyes turned white immediately, and he fainted. There were even some forbidden runes appearing on his body which isolated the branding of spell formation on his body.
After hastily cleaning up the area and packing his spoils, Leylin picked Clayde up and left the area.
With the vitality of 8.5, even if Leylin were to run for a day he would not be exhausted. The reason why he chose to ride a horse previously was just for convenience.
After running wildly for several li, Leylin then had the notion of checking his body status.
It worried him that he lost his control in the battle earlier.
"A.I. Chip! Bring out the data monitored earlier and investigate the cause of losing control!" Leylin managed to simmer down only after sitting in a refreshing stream and cooling off.
[Beep! Mission establishing! Bringing out monitored data!] The A.I. Chip intoned icily, not bringing any trace of emotion.
[14 Hours 23 Minutes, abnormal activities observed within Host. Blood flow increased by almost 45%, activity of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent blood essence significantly increased!]
The A.I. Chip reported the series of data to Leylin. Through a comparison, there was a strange stimulant released by the Giant Kemoyin Serpent's bloodline during the battle earlier. It was similar to doping, and the stimulation caused Leylin to lose his rationality.
"This is the origin of the Warlocks' emotional aftereffects?"
Leylin muttered, immediately asking, "A.I. Chip, bring out the best solutions to solve this!"
[Beep! Method 1: Forsake the Giant Kemoyin Serpent! Method 2: Use the Serenity Potion! Method 3: ...]
Very soon, the A.I. Chip presented the possible solutions to Leylin.
-x-X-x-
"The ingredients needed for Method 3 and above are too precious. I can't even get them now!"
"Right now the Giant Kemoyin Serpent's bloodline is already fused with my body and even the soul. Forcefully removing it would mean that I will demote from a rank 1 Warlock. I might even lose my life, so this is impossible!"
"It seems like I can only hurry and brew the Serenity Potion!" Leylin's face was solemn.
He long since gotten the formula and even gathered the ingredients in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. Brewing the completed potion was only a matter of time.
He thought he could rely on his willpower to overcome adversities. However, the emotional fluctuations had perplexed Warlocks for hundreds of thousands of years. It was something that could not be easily overcome with mere willpower.
Leylin was always proud of being a rational person. A circumstance where he could not control things was tormenting for him.
After which, Leylin looked at a nearby cave and gave a cold smile.
After stripping Clayde of his belongings, he trapped Clayde, who was unconscious, in a cave.
Leylin was somewhat anticipatory on the information about the Lilytell family.
Even though he suspected that Clayde has some sort of tracing spell on him, Leylin still decided to grill him.
As long as he acts fast enough, Leylin predicts that he can leave before Clayde regains full consciousness.
Moreover, the enemy merely assumed Leylin to be a level 3 acolyte; they would never anticipate that Clayde would fail. However, Clayde will never have the chance to be assigned to such an easy task in the future.
...
After a few hours, Leylin retrieved what he wanted and left the area.
Nothing was left of Clayde's presence in the area except for a pool of yellow pus.
"I never thought that Bosain's backing would be this powerful. He was the only grandson to an elder who had reached the requirements of advancement by having an Elemental Essence Conversion of 80% and above..."
Leylin pondered on the latest developments as he hurried along his way.
Potion Masters crafted different types of potions. Leylin accumulated an assorted bunch of torture methods from the experiments in Extreme Night City. Leylin tested these torture methods on Clayde. Very quickly, the official Magus was driven to near insanity, letting the cat out of the bag in the process as he begged for a quick death.
According to Clayde, Bosain's grandfather was a powerful elder of the Lilytell family and also a magus that Clayde was serving.
This was the reason why he was able to command the rank 1 Magus.
After eliminating the linchpin of the enemy and Clayde, Leylin knew that the powerful elder's hate for him grew by the day.
However, there was still good news at the end.
Because of selecting the head inside the Lilytell family, the internal conflict in the Lilytell family had reached a critical point. The various elders were not affiliated with each other; thus, Leylin only needed to worry about escaping from Bosain's' grandfather.
However, the audacity of Leylin to kill the enemies' linchpin magus has angered all of the clans in the family and they will certainly not mind dispatching of Leylin if it was convenient.
Alone, Leylin stood no chance against the powerful clans
Leylin took little time to realise that his best option was to escape
The Poolfield Kingdom was Abyssal Bone Forest Academy territory, which was sort of Lilytell family's gathering grounds. The more to the east, the more obvious it gets.
The region to the north was filled with unspeakable dangers. Leylin decided that West was the way to go. He ploughed through the Zither Moon Mountain Plains and entered the vicinity of the Sage Gotham Hut
The two forces just had a war, where they were irreconcilable like fire and water.
In the vicinity of the Sage Gotham Hut, the influence of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was definitely the weakest.
However, Leylin was not planning to stay for long in the vicinity of Sage Gotham Hut. Although they would definitely be willing to rope in an official Magus and even put the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy at a disadvantage, Leylin had never planned to be a pawn for them.
The whole south coast was still big! Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and Sage Gotham Hut only belonged to the remote area on the eastern side of the south coast, like the rural area.
After passing through the Inlan Dukedom controlled by the Sage Gotham Hut and passing through the Great Canyon Margaret and traversing through a dozen more kingdoms, he reached the central area of the south coast.
It was said that the Light Magi in this area held the highest power and could live in harmony with regular humans. Massacres and battles seldom occurred here.
Leylin's plan was to continue his progress in this area.
Although he only needed to meditate the high-grade meditation technique to advance, it did not mean that he had no need for resources.
Rather, it was just the contrary, no matter if it was for Elemental Essence Conversion or the decreased time between meditations, Leylin required resources, lots of magical resources!
At the same time, he required huge quantities of potions and to obtain enough gold for it.
All these required a distribution centre to collect the ingredients.
The largest markets in the south coast were in the central region, which was overseen by the Ennea Ivory Ring Tower and other large magisterium.
As he thought of Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, Leylin recalled George.
It was a youth who set off at the same time as him, finally entering the Ennea Ivory Ring Tower for his studies. In a flash, five to six years had passed. George had a fourth-grade aptitude, so it was very likely he had already advanced into a level 3 acolyte.
"I wonder how they are now."
Leylin muttered as he sped up his pace towards the Zither Moon Mountain Plains.
*Bang!*
A huge cave immediately crumbled into a landslide, showing the apparent rage of the person who struck it.
Under the rubble, the figure of an old man in silver white armour could be seen.
There were some strange metal ornaments on this old man's face, his eyes showing his wrath.
"Clayde... Clayde was actually killed too!"
"I will definitely not let you go!" The old man gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging.
...
Fayle's frame of mind was somewhat good the past few days.
Especially when his servants and acolytes called him; Lord Magus Fayle', he would often have some smugness from it.
Fayle did have the ability to be arrogant.
Before the age of 30, he already advanced into an official Magus! This degree of progress even shocked his mentor.
Fayle enjoyed giving this astonishment to others.
Moreover, with his title as a genius, the Purple-Gold Flower family took its initiative to rope him in, offering him an attractive contract.
The restraints from the spirit contract were much looser than those given by the Academy.
Although he lost some freedom, it was insignificant compared to the knowledge of advancement and a rank 1 defensive spell model.
Without these two items, he would never be able to advance into a rank 1 Magus; maybe to add one more item-Rainbow Potion!
Fayle immediately thought of Bicky after recalling the Rainbow Potion. "I guess that fool has already been killed off by her family?"
He smirked in disdain.
Previously, if not for Bicky always sending him magic crystals and other resources, he would have already kicked her away already.
Moreover, Bicky unknowingly revealed that her family had a Rainbow Potion in their possession, so Fayle could not hold back from wanting it.
First, he put on an act to save her in the bloodbath to deepen their relationship. Afterwards, he told her of his concerns in advancement, and requested her to steal her family's treasure!
"Hng! I, Fayle, will be a monarch unifying the south coast in future. Why would I even have my eyes on such trash?"
Furthermore, according to some inside information, the Purple-Gold Flower family wanted to betroth a young girl to him. This was normally the methods used by Magi families to rope in genius Magi.
Not only could they bind him on their bandwagon, but they could also inject new heirs with superior bloodlines.
"Men...Mentor, it's time to have lunch!"
A shy voice sounded. It was a blonde female acolyte wearing grey robes. She was only about 11 or 12, where there was some baby fat on her cheeks.
"En!" Fayle acknowledged and caressed the girl's cheek.
The girl's face reddened yet she did not dare to move, letting Fayle touch her. Finally, she left with an embarrassed expression.
An insatiable lust could not be concealed in Fayle's eyes as he watched the girl's leaving figure.
Fayle knew that he had some fetish towards this aspect. For example... He did not like mature women but only young girls!
This little girl was an acolyte he had taken in after becoming an official Magus. As for why he took her under his wing, it was the Purple-Gold Flower family's request. On the other hand, it was also after seeing how she was this pure and lovable.
He always felt it was disdainful to hide his desires.
Moreover, to outsiders, there was nothing wrong with that.
Official Magi always have special rights. Furthermore, if it was only this much the Purple-Gold Flower family had to invest in to get the teachings of an official Magus, the little girl was definitely benefitting from it.
Fayle, whose robes was neat and tidy, sat on a long table.
Beside him was the little girl from before.
Around them, there was a dozen of maids and menservants quietly attending to their needs.
In reality, there were the servants assigned by the Purple-Gold Flower family, so he did not have to waste a single coin.
Moreover, even this tower that he lived in was constructed by the Purple-Gold Flower family and sent to him by the initiative.
Every time something like that happened, Fayle would be put in a good mood.
"What's today's lunch menu?"
"Fresh tenderloin beef, My Lord!" An old housekeeper bowed and replied.
A pretty maid went open and opened the golden lid. An aroma of hot food wafted in the air. In the middle was a well-done beef tenderloin steak, coupled with soup and juice.
Fayle expertly cut with the knife and used the silver fork to poke the meat.
"This meat... Seemed to be redder than regular beef..."
Fayle spoke indifferently and placed the meat piece into his mouth...
After eating, Fayle used a white napkin to wipe his lips.
"Today's beef flavour was pretty good, where did the beef come from?"
"My Lord! It was a meat vendor who approached our front door and pitched a sale. I saw that the steak quality was not bad, so I bought a few..." The housekeeper reported.
"Isn't this the outer vicinity of the Purple-Gold Flower family? There are actually meat vendors coming up to sell their goods?"
Fayle suddenly felt that it was absurd.
-x-X-x-
"Yes, I remember it clearly. That meat vendor wore a black hood, his dishevelled hair covering half his face. There was a metal hook on his left hand…"
The housekeeper vividly recalled the memory of the meat vendor.
"This is really strange!" Fayle shook his head and looked at the little girl beside him.
"How is the construction of your mind runes coming on?"
"I have already constructed three but I can't seem to construct the fourth! Also, inside the
"So it's like this?" Fayle interlaced his fingers.
"Your progress is too slow. Tonight you must come to my room, I'll be personally 'coaching' you!"
"Yes, Mentor!" The little girl replied softly.
*Dang Dang Dang!*
The copper grandfather clock in the hall gave a resounding boom and the clock struck 12 times. The sky outside had already darkened and one could slightly see some visible blue stars.
"It's already so late, why isn't Nida here yet!"
Fayle slammed opened the door with a loud bang, annoyance evidently seen on his face.
"Nida! Nida!" Fayle began to shout.
His voice echoed throughout the silent hallway, reverberating for a long distance.
The surroundings were in dead silence. Fayle could even hear his own breathing and the flow of his blood.
"Housekeeper! Housekeeper! Maids! Where are they?!"
Impatience began to show on his face, as he hurriedly put on his outer garments and stepped outside of the door.
*Dong Dong Dong!* The sound of leather boots striking the floor was heard.
A black figure walked slowly towards Fayle.
"Who? Who's there?" Fayle called out warily, a silver short sword appearing in his hands.
No matter how Fayle shouted, the footsteps maintained a constant pace that was neither too fast nor slow and walked towards him.
When the black figure drew closer, Fayle could almost see the full appearance of the figure.
It was a middle-aged man who wore black robes. On his chest hung the trademark apron that butchers wore. On his head was a black hood, his dishevelled hair covering most of his face. What was especially attracting was his empty left sleeves. Instead, only a rusty metal hook was seen at the end of the sleeve.
This description perfectly fit the one that the housekeeper mentioned earlier.
*Weng!*
The silver short sword glinted and flew directly to the man with a whistling sound.
*Pu!* As if piercing through an illusion, ripples appeared on the meat vendor's body and the silver short sword went through it.
"Illusory spell?!" Fayle's lips started to move as he chanted a high pitched incantation.
*Xiu Xiu!*
A mixture of the sound of a quick panting on a metallic flute and like the sound of a rusty knife scraping against a metal continuously sounded, causing ripples in the air.
After the whistling sound ended, it was still absolute silence in the tall tower, as if the world only had Fayle and the meat vendor in it.
The black robed man immediately raised his left hook and swung it at Fayle.
*Bubble!* From Fayle's body, a layer of fluid formed transparent water shield, blocking the metal hook's assault.
This was Fayle's innate spell which was finally activated in crucial moments!
Seizing this opportunity, Fayle hurriedly chanted and multiple frost spikes were shot towards the man.
*Pu!* *Pu!*
The frost spikes entered the body and countless blood was spurted out. However, the man in the robes seemed not to be conscious about it, even his expression did not change, like that of a zombie who did not know pain. He continuously brandished his metal hook, causing ripples after ripples on the water shield.
"F*ck, what is this damned thing?"
Fayle struck at the man in the robes for several more times before his mental fortitude seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
No matter if it was physical or magical attacks, it all amounted to nothing when they landed on this man's body.
Instead, every strike from this metal hook continuously consumed the energy needed to maintain the innate spell. Fayle could clearly feel that if the opponent were to attack several more times, his innate spell would completely shatter.
"Run!"
Under the life or death crisis, Fayle felt as though he returned back to his acolyte days where he had to greet every Magus respectfully, before turning around and running away.
*Dong Dong Dong Dong!*
Hearing the approaching footsteps of the man wearing the black robes resounding in his ears, it made Fayle run even faster.
20 metres!
10 metres!
5 metres!
1 metres!
Fayle grabbed hold of the large main doors of the tall tower and dashed outside.
*Peng!* The door behind was closed shut. To Fayle's utter dismay, he actually appeared inside his bedroom once again. Also, there was only a 3 metres distance between him and the man now!
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What's happening?"
Fayle gritted his teeth and continued to run, yet returning to his room every time.
Finally, tears and mucus ran down Fayle's face as he returned yet again to his room and closing the door shut tightly.
*Dong! Dong!* The knocking sounds that were the footsteps of the death god. Fayle felt that every step was stepping directly on his heart.
"Mentor! Papa! Mama! Save me!"
Fayle crouched behind the door, crying like a little child.
As if hearing his pants, the booming footsteps halted. Finally, when it was just one step away from the door, it disappeared….
Fayle was pale stricken as he waited for a good half hour before his trembling hands opened the door, only to see no one there.
"Hu...."
Fayle exhaled a large breath and collapsed to the ground as if all the bones had been removed from his body.
"It's finally gone! I must write a letter to Mentor tomorrow and let him check what had transpired…"
Fayle closed the door.
Suddenly, just when he had turned around, a dishevelled face appeared right before him.
What came closely following it was a black metal hook!
*Pu!* This time, the black metal hook directly broke through Fayle's defensive forcefield and gouged his right eyeball out.
The moment his eye was hooked out, black and red viscous liquid mixture flowed out.
The man seemed to be unsatisfied as his sent his hook at Fayle's head again!
*Bang!* Fayle's body was sent to the ground from the force. The metal hook bore through his brains deeply. Fayle was still unconsciously writhing before he lost all signs of life.
*Brush!*
Following wipe, the man in black robes immediately withdrew a greasy bone saw and began to expertly dissect Fayle's corpse.
After the dissection, Fayle's muscles had been completely stripped clean. The colour of it too turned even redder, revealing the veins of blood, similar to that found in the beef tenderloin!
Winding the time back to yesterday morning.
The black robed man knocked on the kitchen's door of the tall tower, revealing a hideous smile. "Do you want to buy meat? I have good tenderloin steak for sale…"
...
Several li away from Fayle's tall tower, Leylin looked at a spell formation with a solemn expression.
In the centre of the formation, a black flame was flickering, in the heart of it was the scene of Fayle's ending.
With the images continuously flashing by, Leylin stared at the image without blinking, mysteriously chanting at the same time.
Finally, after the black robed man killed Fayle and scoured his flesh clean, Leylin's expression loosened.
*Pa!* The black coloured spell formation collapsed.
The surroundings immediately quietened down and a dead silence followed after.
*Dong Dong!*
The black robed man inside the image earlier appeared in front of Leylin.
"You're here now?" Leylin seemed to have expected it, with no shocked expression on his face.
"Shihiohj" The black robed man let off several indiscernible words and charged towards Leylin.
*Bang!* The black metal hook was grabbed by a scaly palm.
Leylin faced the black robed man and could even see the crude construction of his facial features.
"Look into my eyes!" Leylin spoke gently with a hissing voice like that of a snake's.
The black robed man unconsciously looked into Leylin's eyes.
At this moment, there were some phenomenal changes in Leylin's eyes — both his eyes turned into vertical pupils, letting off the crystal glow like amber!
Innate spell—Eye of Petrification!
*Ka-Cha!* *Ka-Cha!* A grey-white colour extended from the man's face to his whole body.
Several seconds later, the black-robed man completely turned into a grey-white statue.
"Seize the chance!" Leylin picked up the grey statue and tossed it into the heart of the black formation!
*Crash!* The stone statue shattered in pieces, from it grayish-white gases appeared as if wanting to form into a human figure.
"Dust to dust, earth to earth, return to where you came from!"
Leylin chanted in the ancient Byron language.
A black circular whirlpool suddenly appeared in the middle of the formation. With a huge suction force, it sucked in the grey-white gas in.
After the whirlpool disappeared, Leylin then heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
"Such a curse cannot be easily activated by anyone!" Leylin smiled wryly.
After destroying all traces of Clayde, Leylin hurried along the way as he brewed the Serenity Potion, finally suppressing the emotional fluctuations that Warlocks had.
However after some thought, he wanted to see things come to an end. So he decided to kill Fayle before escaping the area.
The Lilytell family would definitely have a wanted list on him through the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, so what if he were to add another pursuer, the Purple-Gold Flower family to it? Anyway, it was the wanted list put up by Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, so having one or two families chasing after him had no difference.
Furthermore, Leylin saw a rank 1 curse spell inside the Book of Giant Serpent. It could completely kill Fayle with no one the wiser, and no trouble would come after him.
However, Leylin did not think that this curse was this malicious, it would even reverse the sorcery on the spell caster!
This left him with some lingering fear, especially after seeing the monstrous way Fayle was killed.
These rank 1 spell requirements were extremely harsh.
First of all, he had to cast a Darkness body and use the opponent's trace of scent, if not it could not be casted.
Afterwards, it required one to know the basics of spirit bodies. Fortunately, Leylin had amassed some experience in Extreme Night City, so he picked it up rather quickly.
Finally, this curse had a limitation which was the distance. Moreover, it could only attack a target that had lower stats than the spell caster.
-x-X-x-
The Book of Giant Serpent mentioned that the curse had had to have stats lower than the spell caster. If any one stat of the target is higher, the might of this curse would be reduced by more than half.
Leylin found out that once the curse has ended, the caster still had to face the wrath of a vengeful spirit which was summoned in the process.
It was absolutely ridiculous!
With so many prerequisites, and being only able to deal with targets with lower stats, finally having to suffer the backlash from a vengeful spirit!
In Leylin's opinion, this kind of curse wasn't very useful.
However, Fayle met this requirement just right.
He had just advanced and embarked on the simplest path. The various stats were lower than Leylin. Moreover, he had already collected his scent when he was with Bicky previously.
Adding on to the various reasons, Fayle had become Leylin's first sacrifice to practice the curse on.
"I always feel that there's something wrong with this curse, it's better to use it lesser in future!"
Leylin patted off the dust on his body.
"However, with the disappearance of the great Magus Serholm, the people on south coast who can recognise this curse are barely alive, no to mention finding out who the caster was. No matter how the Purple-Gold Flower family investigates, they couldn't trace it back to me…"
If Leylin could avoid such troubles and remove all traces of himself, he would do so, never leaving behind any leads.
After the task was completed, Leylin left the Poolfield Kingdom.
...
In the Inlan Dukedom, on a broad road, a black horse carriage continuously sped on it.
The wooden wheels which were galvanised by iron let off creaking sounds.
As there were no shock absorbing functions, the rise and fall of the carriage was extremely great, so the passenger inside the horse carriage did not have a good ride.
It seems that this rented horse carriage had all sorts of passengers on it. There was a white-bearded old man with his granddaughter, wanton women, and even those merchants wearing caps hugging onto their belongings tightly.
In their midst, there was a black cloaked youth.
The youth had pure black hair with some lustre on it. His handsome face had a radiant smile, which made him have a strange yet strong charisma!
This person naturally was Leylin.
After using the curse to kill Fayle, he no longer had any concerns, so he left the Poolfield Kingdom immediately.
Although the Zither Moon Mountain Plains was rather dangerous for acolytes, Leylin who was a Warlock that surpassed regular rank 1 Magi treated it as a walk in his back garden. It was a place where he could roam around freely.
After arriving at the Inlan Dukedom, Leylin finally relaxed!
Ever since the armistice, there has been peace between the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and the Sage Gotham Hut. However, with the increasing degree of hostility, even the powers of the secular realm were affected. There was news of this two great kingdoms going to war once again.
No mercy would be given to the two kingdoms' official Magi. Once spotted in enemy's territory, they would be viciously hunted down.
With much of the troubles passed, Leylin began to feel more relaxed. He abandoned the notion of ploughing through his travels as a lone wolf and instead made use of secular methods to conduct his travels.
Since he did not opt to join the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy after his promotion, Leylin was not affected or restricted by the armistice. However, he was still in a precarious position.
As a betrayer of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and with no intention to join Sage Gotham Hut, he had to be careful while in their territory.
Blending amongst the regular humans seemed like a good way to travel.
The downside was that the traffic conditions while travelling with the plebeians were pretty bad.
A scowl crossed Leylin's' face as he experienced the chaotic congestions and rancid odour emitted from the carriage.
If there was an alternative way to travel, he would have long ago alighted from this carriage.
Amidst the foul experience on board the carriage, Leylin noticed a child dressed pink seated opposite him and let out a brief smile.
The adolescent female child had a pair of sapphire-like eyes and milky white skin. She spotted Leylin smiling at her and smiled back friendly at Leylin.
The little girl's grandfather seated next to her spotted the interaction and immediately pulled her close to his side. He whispered words into the child's ear which caused her to hurriedly avoid Leylin's attention. Although hard to hear, It was most likely a warning against the dangers lurking outside.
Following which, the white-bearded grandfather stared menacingly into Leylin's eyes as a sign of warning.
Unaffected by the grandfather's hostility, Leylin let out a chuckle.
Leylin felt an aura of familiarity from the little girl. Although just 12 or 13 years of age, she was already exuding an odd amount of charm, causing passengers of the carriage to constantly steal glances at her.
Even Leylin was fascinated by the little girl.
After observing her for a little while more, Leylin came to the conclusion that she had a Warlock's bloodline!
The strength of Warlocks came from the bloodlines. Their descendants would also carry traces of their bloodline. However, it was extremely difficult to unearth that strength again.
For instance, this little girl's bloodline was already extremely thin. Moreover, there were no energy waves coming from her. She was the most regular of humans, not even an acolyte.
Also, the further away from the first generation Warlock, the bloodline would slowly thin out over the generations, finally turning into regular humans again.
However, in the second and third generations, there were still plenty of decent quality bloodline inherited.
Hence, Warlocks tend to reproduce often to establish their own family.
Leylin, for example, was a first generation bloodline. If he had any descendants, his children and grandchildren's bloodline would also have the strength of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent!
This scenario was somewhat similar to the Magi families, yet different.
The main thing that Magi wanted to pass on was their soul aptitude, every generation may be regular humans with no aptitude. Furthermore, although both the Warlocks and Magi held bloodlines in esteem, the Magi would not mind accepting fresh blood to raise the genes passed down in the family, which might sometimes exceed that of the ancestors!
However, Warlocks were different. They revered the purity of bloodlines, so they would protect the purity of the bloodlines and soul through the marriage of relatives. To them, if an outsider joins their family, not only would it not increase the density of the bloodline, it would even contaminate their bloodline.
Moreover, the descendants inheriting the bloodline of Warlocks found it extremely difficult to advance into an official Magus. Unless they found a high-grade meditation technique that was suitable for their bloodline. Under normal circumstances, these things were usually passed down from the first generation.
However, once the density of the bloodline thins out, or if the inheritance of the high-grade meditation technique stopped, it was often the start of a Warlock family's decline.
When a Magus family declines, there was the possible chance of their descendants bringing it back to glory. However, it was extremely difficult for Warlock families to do the same.
Unless the descendant found the original source of bloodline, or through some other methods to replenish the strength of bloodlines!
In the Central Continent, there were 3 schools of thoughts. Families consisted of either those who revered high-grade meditation techniques, those with bloodlines or some other assortment of the magisterium. This were the 3 main representatives in the continent.
This information and news naturally came from the Book of Giant Serpent written by the great Magus Serholm.
From some information that the great Magus Serholm had revealed, he was most likely in the central continent, yet for some unknown reason, he went to the south coast.
As Leylin was a rank 1 Warlock, he was extremely sensitive to his kind.
On that old geezer's body, Leylin could not detect a single trace of the bloodline.
It was very evident that he was not the biological grandparent of that little girl.
However, this old geezer was not any regular human. Leylin detected a trace of acolyte's energy waves from him. Looking at the might, it belonged to a level 2 acolyte.
"Interesting! A housekeeper? Or adoption?" Leylin smiled 'apologetically' and continued with his pondering.
What was undeniable was that Leylin had an extreme interest in his same kind.
Although it was most likely that no high-grade meditation techniques could appear on her. Even if there was Leylin would not use it, unless she was had the bloodline of snake types.
However, as the descendant of another Warlock, Leylin had a very good comparison sample on how to unearth his own strength from the bloodline.
Moreover, he wished to try and see if he could extract the blood essence from this girl and purify the bloodline. So that he could obtain another ancient creature's bloodline.
The other party's destination was also the Great Canyon Margaret, which coincided with Leylin's plans, so he naturally dispelled the thought of travelling alone.
As for the white bearded old geezer beside the little girl, he often saw Leylin sneaking glances at his granddaughter, even having a smile that seemed to harbour malicious intentions. So naturally his expression was not too pleasant.
However, he did not discover Leylin's identity, only treating him as a mere human.
After the advancement previously, Leylin spent much time and effort to have the A.I. Chip optimise his shapeshifting ability again. The effect was greater than before, although he did not have the information from an official Magus, Leylin knew that this old geezer could not discern of his shapeshifting ability after activating it.
Right now, he had not yet completely know how to make use of this little girl.
Should he abduct her directly and obtain the blood? Or conduct some experiments while observing her at the side?
After all, he did not know if the backing of this little girl was a Warlock family or not. Although this possibility wasn't great, Leylin still did not wish to take the risk.
However, it seemed like he could unravel the mysteries very soon!
The corner of Leylin's lips curled up.
After so many days of observation, he realised that the old geezer was mostly frowning as if he was riddled with a great load on his mind.
Moreover, with the passing of each day, he was evidently becoming more impatient, as he hurriedly requested for the horse carriage to move faster.
After being rejected, he even had the plan to leave the party. However, it seemed that he recalled of something, so he could only put up with it and continue on the horse carriage.
"It seems like this journey would not be too boring!"
Leylin was only an acolyte previously, so naturally he did not wish for trouble. If he had not yet advanced into a Warlock, he would definitely be the first to leave the horse carriage if he met this acolyte who seemed to be running away from something.
However, everything was different now. In the south coast, rank 1 Magi were great powers, much less to mention himself who was a little stronger than newly advanced Magi.
-x-X-x-
Previously, Leylin held himself back from taking action, not because he was afraid of doing something, but because he didn't want to be inconvenienced.
However, this girl in front of him had something that interested him. Furthermore, once his research was a success, he would greatly benefit from it.
It was only natural, that he now intended to take action.
However, for prudence's sake, he still chose to lay low on the sidelines and observe the strength of his enemies first.
If their might was average, he would definitely not be modest. He would immediately abduct or coerce the girl to follow him and not be afraid of the pursuers.
If they were too strong, he could only give up. In any case, the world was so big, and she was not the only one with a Warlock's bloodline. There might be very few of them on the south coast, but there were definitely many in the Central Continent.
Several days later, the horse carriage entered the district of York City.
This was already along the borders of the Inlan Dukedom. As for the old man, his anxiety had already intensified to the maximum. Most of the time he would stay on the horse carriage, seldom leaving it. He even closely guarded the little girl by his side, as if being afraid of something.
The hazy night had dyed the sky an overcast grey. Only somewhere far away in the horizon was there a little light.
The horse carriage stopped by the roadside, and the weary passengers began to alight, and then sat in a circle around a bonfire for refreshments and rest.
After so many days of travel, the people in the horse carriage also got close with each other. Especially that little merchant, who took out a flute and played an upbeat tune and the beautiful woman beside him followed suit by performing a gorgeous dance.
There were several middle-aged men who took out wine flasks from their sacks and walked forward to the beautiful woman to ingratiate themselves. As for that woman, she chuckled, seemingly not rejecting these suitors.
After the atmosphere reached a climax, the people began to sing and dance. Even the horse keeper gulped down several mouthfuls of strong wine and had a tinge of red at the end of his nose.
Leylin reclined against the trunk of a tree, his hand holding a wine flask from which he drank occasionally. He shot a glance inside the horse carriage and grinned.
Although the sky had already dimmed tonight, the old geezer still urged the carriage driver to move on.
However, travelling in the middle of the night was extremely dangerous. Hence, this suggestion was rejected by carriage driver and all of the passengers.
That old geezer's expression then was really a sight to be seen.
Furthermore, tonight the old geezer had decided to stay within the horse carriage, not even letting his granddaughter leave half a step away from the horse carriage. Ugly rumours had already begun to have gossiped amongst the travellers.
However, Leylin knew that this pair who pretended to be a grandfather with his granddaughter was afraid of pursuers, that's why they hid in the horse carriage. Looking on at the situation, the pursuers were almost arriving too.
No, they were already here. Leylin turned his head, and with the A.I. Chip, he saw several acolytes, who did not hold back their energy waves radiation, hiding in a dark corner.
Looking at the strength of the energy waves, there were all level 3 acolytes.
*Bang!*
A red arrow was released and it directly shot through the brains of a muscled, half-naked man who was dancing by the fire.
"Ahhh!" The blood splattered onto a woman nearby. Her expression turned sluggish, only letting off an ear piercing scream several seconds later.
"Bandits!" "Help!" Various cries sounded in the camp.
As for the carriage driver, he very quickly donned a leather armour and crouched, hugging his head and not moving at all.
The horse carriage providers had a promise with the nearby bandits, that they would only rob the passengers. As for the drivers, the bandits would often let them go scot-free — after all, they would not have much money on them.
However, tonight the carriage driver's plans were in vain.
*Xiu!* Another red arrow was shot, directly piercing through the driver's neck! He clutched his neck with both hands, his eyes popping out and frothing blood at the corner of his lips. His mouth gaped open and close for air as if wanting to enjoy the freshness of the air one last time before he died.
"A sharpening spell added on the arrow? Interesting!"
Beside the chaotic campsite, Leylin was still reclining against the tree. He gulped down another mouthful of wine, his expression appearing indifferent.
At this moment, his lax behaviour was vastly different from the current situation, yet nobody was paying him any attention.
The second arrow obviously caused greater chaos within the camp. Be they man or woman, young or old — they were all wildly running away.
Several minutes later, the campsite that had once had a lively and jovial atmosphere, now only had a crackling bonfire and several wine flasks which had been forsaken.
*Crash!* 3 figures wearing black robes appeared from within the forest.
Leylin's outstanding vision allowed him to see clearly the appearance of this trio.
There were two men and a woman, all of them were of middling years. The woman had applied a very thick layer lipstick, which seemed like she had just drank a mouthful of blood.
These 3 were obviously not students of an academy. Their attire were rather casual, however, there was an image of a dodo-bird stitched on their robes, seemingly a family emblem.
These were the acolytes nurtured by a family.
Some of them from Magi families, who had poor aptitudes, could not be accepted into academies, so they could only be nurtured by their families themselves.
Most of them could not even advance to a level 3 acolyte, so the majority of them remained as a level 1 acolyte or level 2 acolyte.
These 3 who were able to advance to level 3 acolytes, either had good aptitudes or were expelled from an academy or had graduated.
"Miles, come out! We know you're inside the horse carriage!"
The three of them took on a triangular formation to surround the horse carriage, and a silver-haired man laughed smugly.
*Boom!*
What replied him was a burning red fireball.
*Pa!* As the middle-aged man dodged the fireball, the horse carriage suddenly shattered and a black figure with a smaller figure wrapped on his lower body rapidly sneaked past the gap that the middle-aged man exposed.
"Thinking of escaping?" The woman smirked and hurriedly chanted an incantation, casting a speed reducing spell.
A layer of murky green shone on the black figure and his speed dropped drastically.
"Xiu!" The eyes of the third person who held a bow flashed, and immediately he fired another red arrow.
*Pu!* The arrow bore into the left chest of the black figure, drawing fresh blood from it. The black figure groaned and fell to the ground, revealing the face of the white-bearded geezer.
"Run! Why don't you keep running?"
The man, who had been the target of that fireball shot previously, was in a miserable state. Seeing the old geezer on the ground, his expression turned malevolent and he drew out a curved blade, hacking at the old geezer Mile's left leg.
*Ka-Cha!* The old geezer's left leg was immediately chopped off.
"Ahhh!" The little girl fainted immediately after having blood spurting on her.
"Such a beautiful little girl, killing her outright is such a pity!" The man who held the bow licked his lips, revealing a lusty grin. "Why don't you let me have some fun first?"
"It's your call, we still have plenty of time!"
It was very obvious that these three acolytes did not have any regard for the old geezer, Miles, at all. They were extremely relaxed and had their guard down.
In fact, this was the reality. Miles was only a level 3 acolyte and the little girl was not even an acolyte. Such a line-up can be easily destroyed by just sending one level 3 acolyte.
It was only for added assurance that 3 such acolytes had been sent.
When the bowman grinned lewdly, a lazy voice sounded.
"I say, you guys seem to have forgotten about me!"
Leylin flung the flask away and announced himself in a crisp voice.
"You… You actually didn't run away?" The other male acolyte was somewhat shocked. Normally, wasn't the reaction of people, after seeing someone get killed, to run away? Much less to mention encountering magicians of the sorts.
"Just right, I wish to loosen my muscles after pursuing this old geezer. Leave him to me!"
The only female acolyte among them looked at the handsome Leylin and her eyes flashed. Her mouth gaped open and close with the heavy lipstick as if wanting to swallow Leylin immediately.
Right now, Leylin's charm factor had increased significantly after advancing to a Warlock. Along the way, he met many girls who cast flirtatious glances at him. However, meeting this kind of elderly woman, he felt rather disgusted.
"My apologies, but I don't have any interest towards aunties!"
Leylin spoke very 'sincerely', turning the face of this female acolyte red.
"Brat! I will let you feel the most unbearable pain on earth. An hour later, if you don't prostate yourself like a dog in front of me, you will have my admiration!"
The female acolyte looked at Leylin as if she wanted to bite a piece of meat off him that very instant.
"No need for that, if you don't prostate yourself like a dog right now in front of me, you will have my admiration!"
Leylin's eyes flashed icily as he dispelled the concealment spell. An immense force field immediately surrounded the area of the horse carriage.
"Of… Official Magus!" The eyes of the male leader of the trio popped out as he collapsed feebly onto the ground.
"Lo... Lord! Please pardon our accidental intrusion!"
The bowman acolyte, too, no longer had any interest in defiling the little girl. He immediately knelt in front of Leylin, cursing the damned bitch thousands and tens of thousands of times.
"How is it?"
Leylin looked at that female acolyte with a toying expression.
"Lo… Lo… Lo..." The female acolyte also fell to the ground, her jaws trembling, not being able to speak a single word.
"Lord, we are from the Yale family… Our family head is also an official Magus!"
The leader noticed that Leylin's gaze was hostile, immediately bringing up the backing of his group.
"Yale family?" Leylin shook his head, indicating that he did not recognise this name.
Leylin had already scrutinised the large families around the Poolfield Kingdom before and did not recall any Yale family of the sorts.
"A.I. Chip, scan database!"
[Beep! Yale family: Situated in the Denisque Province of the Inlan Dukedom. The family head's name is Sam Yale. Originally an acolyte from the Sage Gotham Hut, he advanced to an official Magus at thirty years of age. Information source: History of Magi families, page 1928!]
An extremely simple introduction. From the information recorded on the A.I. Chip, it seemed like a newly founded Magus family which was completely reliant on a Magus who had shockingly advanced as an acolyte.
It was far from being comparable with the Lilytell family and only slightly stronger than Bicky's family. There was not much backing and easily classified by the Magus World as the nouveau rich.
"Wait! Wait! I have the secret imprint of our family's head!"
Seeing that Leylin was about to take action, the leader immediately shouted and ripped his clothes apart.
-x-X-x-
"The secret imprint?"
Leylin nodded his head and stopped in his motions.
This so-called technique for the secret imprint was a tool that official Magi use for communication.
Every newly advanced official Magus would be able to design a special sign to represent themselves. In future, they could leave their secret imprint behind for communication.
As for some Magi, they would even brand it on their family members or slaves to represent the authority given.
Leylin had crafted an imprint for himself. It was an inverted triangle enclosed in a circle. On the triangle was a black serpent that snaked to the top
As for the leader's chest, an image of blue dodo bird's head was flashing with light.
It seemed that initiating the communication to the head required a tremendous amount of spiritual force and magic power. Just a few minutes later, the leader's face at once became deathly pale.
Fortunately, right before the leader was unable to endure any longer, the blue light shone brightly and a blue dodo bird flew out from his chest, and perched on his shoulder.
"Sulley, is there something you want to see me about?"
The dodo bird seemed not to have noticed Leylin and immediately questioned the leader.
"He… Head, it's like this…" That leader hurriedly whispered to the dodo bird and briefly updated him on the happenings.
The secret imprint had its limitations and could only project the voices without images. Moreover, without the aid of the communications tower, once the distance was too great, even the voices could not be sent across.
"Hello, young expert!" The dodo bird greeted Leylin.
"It's an honour to meet the head of the Yale family, Sam Yale!" Leylin opened his mouth, his voice gruff and hoarse. It was obviously altered with the help the A.I. Chip.
"According to those family members that were dumb enough to offend you, I apologise on their behalf…" The blue dodo bird already flew back into the leader's chest, turning into a tattoo that seemed to be alive.
"They actually dared to offend me, an official Magus. Hence, they must pay the price!" Murderous intent was contained in Leylin's voice.
"They?" The dodo bird paused, before speaking again, "I can act on their behalf and compensate you…"
"Compensation? Leylin hooted with laughter. "Are you mocking me?"
"Not good, run!" The leader did not think that Leylin did not give the head any face in the slightest, as he hurriedly retreated.
"After offending me you still want to leave?"
Leylin's eyes turned bloodshot and several red fireballs were cast, turning the three who could not dodge in time into a pile of ashes.
The might of acolytes, in front of official Magi, were as brittle as paper.
As for the secret imprint which was a communication device, naturally it was unable to transmit any attacks.
By abusing the limitations of the secret imprint, Leylin chose to kill them.
Anyway, his voice was concealed by the alteration of the A.I. Chip, so Sam would never be able to find him.
Keeping these acolytes alive, instead, would easily bring him trouble.
Moreover, he did not wish to remain in the Inlan Dukedom. Once he leaves the place, the other party would not be able to do anything about it either.
Walking towards the grandparent and grandchild pair, the little girl was still unconscious, having several tears on her face.
"Lord...Lord Magus!"
A shocked expression filled the old geezer's face. Obviously, he never thought that this person who rode the same horse carriage was actually an official Magus.
Leylin squatted down and examined the old geezer's wounds
The injury was serious. A commoner would definitely die from this wound. Even if this old geezer was a level 2 acolyte, he could survive for an additional 10 hours maximum.
Of course, Leylin could cure the old geezer but he would lose some of his precious herbs and medicines in the process. Moreover, the old geezer didn't have a Warlock's bloodline so Leylin was very hesitant to treat him.
However, what has to be done has to be done.
"Drink this! It will make you feel better!" Leylin handed a vial of vitality potion to the old geezer. After which, he headed over to wake the little girl up.
"Grandpa Miles!" As soon as she woke up, the little girl shouted, and threw herself at Miles and began to weep in sorrow.
After drinking the potion, the old geezer's face revealed a flash of life. Momentarily, his spirits were up as well. This potion was merely a stimulant. It was much cheaper than the actual cure, so Leylin was willing to expend such a cheap potion.
"Good child!"
Mile stretched out his wrinkled and quivering hands to gently stroke the child's head.
"This… This Lord Magus, could you send her to the Great Canyon Margaret, to where Marian is...."
The old geezer begged Leylin earnestly.
"I can!" Leylin pondered in silence for a moment before nodding his head to agree.
"Many thanks! You will forever be the friend of the Langster family!"
The old geezer grabbed the little girl's hands and instructed, "From today onwards, listen to this Lord Leylin. Remember, you must obey every word, do you understand?"
As if expending all of his energy remaining, blackish red blood flowed from the old man's lips the moment he finished talking.
"I...I understand…" The little girl sobbed silently.
The old geezer smiled, gratified at seeing the girl agree, before closing his eyes for eternity.
"Grandpa Miles! Grandpa Miles!"
The little girl cried in sorrow.
Leylin stood by a side and waited for a dozen minutes. When the girl stopped sobbing, he then asked, "We had better bury your Grandpa Miles! Also, what is your name?"
"Ivy! Sir!" The little girl's voice was hoarse, yet it brimmed with respect.
Although Ivy was not an acolyte, but she, who grew up in a Magus family from childhood, naturally knew what being a Magus entailed.
An hour later, Leylin brought the little girl Ivy and looked at a newly constructed gravestone, making their final tribute in silence.
After the old geezer's disclosure and the little girl's own narration, Leylin finally understood the Langster family's backing.
This Langster family was very small. Rumours have it that they held the inheritance to an incomplete meditation technique.
However, the thinning of the Warlock bloodline and the lack of an official Magus has made the family a lowly rated one in the Magus World.
Two hundred years ago, the incomplete meditation technique was lost in an unfortunate accident.
The limitations of Warlocks were in their bloodline, as they could only cultivate in meditation techniques suitable for themselves. Normal mind runes constructions of acolytes had no use for them.
Therefore, it was unavoidable that this family, which had produced no Magus, had deteriorated over the years.
If not for the few generations of heads standing their ground and accepting a few orphans to undergo acolyte training, it was very likely that they did not even have an acolyte in the family now.
As for Miles, he was one of these orphan acolytes, tasked as a housekeeper of the Langster family.
Just a month ago, the Yale family who was coveting the Langster family, declared war on it.
Apart from Ivy, all of the family members were killed in that war. As for Miles, he fought his way out to bring Ivy away, preparing to seek asylum with a friend of Ivy's parents in the Great Canyon Margaret.
Hence, Ivy who was in Leylin's hands was the final bloodline of the Langster family.
Of course, after knowing this news, there was an indescribable feeling stemming within Leylin's heart.
However, after seeing the Langster family who had Warlock origins deteriorate into such a state, he felt like a fox grieving [1] when the rabbit dies.
Of course, he would not let these emotions fuel his desire for revenge to the Langster family. However, if the despicable leader of the Yale family happened to be in his way, that would be a different story.
"Let's go!" Leylin grabbed Ivy's little hand and set out towards his new destination
He prepared to bring the little girl to the Great Canyon Margaret. It wasn't that he suddenly had a change of heart, but he was planning something else.
First of all, some experiments required Ivy to coordinate with him of her own accord in order to achieve the best results.
After that, the Great Canyon Margaret was one of the areas that Leylin had to go, so it was not troublesome. Furthermore, if Leylin discovered that Ivy had some other uses along the way, he would not hand Ivy over to Marian, for sure.
Leylin did not eliminate any possibilities of doing good within his means to increase his reputation. However, it had to be under the conditions that it would not come across his personal benefits in any way.
Even if someone were to beat him to death, Leylin would not commit such a foolish thing like altruism.
However, if he could accomplish some things effortlessly and obtain a positive reputation, he would be very willing to do it.
From Leylin's perspective, reputation was also a form of resource, a type of benefit.
However, in the hearts of different people, the gravity that people had towards fame versus their personal benefits were different. And in their eyes, the importance of fame was ranked low on their list.
"One more point, I have some interest in your family's bloodline. I require you to coordinate with me on some experiments, do you understand?"
As the sky turned darker, an emerald green field of view appeared in Leylin's eyes. It allowed him to see even better than daytime.
When he spoke, Leylin felt Ivy's hands quiver noticeably,
"As you wish! Lord! "
Ivy replied a good while later with a shaky voice.
"I adore intelligent and obedient children!" Ivy's obedience and maturity left Leylin pleasantly surprised as he originally thought he had to spend some effort to handle her.,
He gently stroked Ivy on the head and carried her in his arms.
"Mas… Master…" Ivy gently called out in a voice as small as the buzz of a mosquito.
"If you cannot see the road clearly in this dark night, I can help!"
Feeling the trembling of the little body in his bosom, Leylin smiled and patted Ivy on the back. With an increase in his pace, the pair quickly disappeared into the darkness.
"This kind of vision… is it that of a serpent?"
Leylin's vision was affected by an emerald green tint.
Even though it was dark at night, Leylin could see everything.
Somewhere tens of meters away, there was a dog-like creature with red heat emitting from its body.
It somewhat resembled heat imaging.
"Turns out that the so-called path of Warlocks is to continuously tap into the origin of the bloodline and the process of remodeling of one's body...
Leylin was somewhat enlightened "Looks like I have to spend more time on my transfiguration..."
[1] [TL Note: (兔死狐悲) If the rabbit dies, the fox grieves. It means to have sympathy with a like-minded person in distress.]
-x-X-x-
In a somewhat dilapidated campsite.
Erected in the middle of the campsite was a tent made from cowhide, and it had a sturdy look to it.
Beside the tent was a small fire, where bright yellow flames continuously lapped against a metal pot hanging above it.
A broth that contained some pieces of mushroom and beef-jerky was boiling in this metal pot.
Around the fire, there were many pieces of forked branches, which was used to grill several small fishes. There was also some barbecued meat, which frothed with tiny bubbles as the golden-yellow grease continuously dripped down, while the aroma of sizzling meat permeated the air.
The little blonde girl sat by the side, looking at the piping hot food, involuntarily gulping down her saliva.
Thereafter, she turned her head to look to the side.
There, on a patch of grass, a handsome, black-haired man sat cross-legged on a white sackcloth as he practiced meditation.
This person was, naturally, Leylin.
After bringing Ivy along for quite some distance, he initiated a break to rest awhile.
Although Leylin, with his current vitality, would not be tired even after journeying for 7 days and nights, the little girl would definitely not be able to keep up.
Moreover, he had to take out some time every day to cultivate with his high-grade meditation technique.
The meditation technique that he had gotten was the Kemoyin's Pupil meditation technique that was compatible with his bloodline. Adding on to the A.I. Chip's purification of the blood essence, his progress in meditation was extremely fast.
"Eyes are the windows of the soul, by concentrating your sight with the Kemoyin's Pupil, you will rediscover yourself - Norco Curadu Sfar!"
This was what Leylin saw repeatedly at the start of the Kemoyin's Pupil meditation technique.
And now, Leylin shut both his eyes and felt that he was staring right into a pair of vertical pupils that were amber-like.
Darkness with burning flames seemed to engulf his body.
As for Ivy who had been watching Leylin, she realised that a black and red mist emerged from Leylin's body. This mist revolved around Leylin, not dissipating.
The strands of mist began to converge, forming the shape of a small snake, coiling around Leylin, at the same time spitting out its scarlet tongue.
The small snake continuously roved around Leylin, finally coiling on Leylin's face, turning into a strange mask. A wave of darkness energy particles was continuously absorbed by the mask.
A dozen minutes later, the mask shattered, turning into black gases and threaded into Leylin through the seven orifices.
"A.I. Chip! Scan my current data!" Leylin opened his eyes wide and commanded in silence.
[Beep! Leylin Farlier. Rank 1 Warlock, Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 7.1, Agility: 6.7, Vitality: 8.5, Spiritual force: 28.2, Magic power: 28 (magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force). Status: Healthy]
[Host completed a level of high-grade meditation technique. spiritual force increased by 0.005. Elemental essence conversion: Darkness. Progress: 1%]
"Every time I meditate there will be a definite increase in the spiritual force, it's not bad already!"
Leylin nodded his head in satisfaction.
Increasing the spiritual force of magicians would only get more difficult in the long run. Especially for official Magi, the meditation techniques they used as acolytes were completely irrelevant now. If they did not have high-grade meditation techniques, they could only rely on external resources to increase their spiritual force.
Resources which were able to create an effect on official Magi were extremely rare even on the south coast. Hence, after advancing into a rank 1 Magus, many of the Magi found it extremely difficult to advance again.
Only those who had cultivated with the high-grade meditation techniques would be able to maintain their progress.
However, every level of high-grade meditation techniques was extremely challenging. The first level was still alright. However, after that, every level required tens of hundreds of years.
As for the special characteristics of high-grade meditation technique, they would only get more difficult the further one is. According to Leylin's guess, after the third level, a Magus required thousands of years to advance to the next level!
Hence, many Magi could not advance in time before their lifespan was up, and died from old age just like that.
"A.I. Chip, calculate how long more I need to reach the criteria to advance and become a rank 2 Warlock, given my current progress!"
[Beep! Mission establishing, gather Host's data, simulating conjecture...]
[With the Host's current stats, estimated to reach the requirements of advancement into a rank 2 Warlock in 14 years and 7 months!] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
"That's quite long! However, compared to those regular Magi who cannot advance in tens of hundreds of years, it seems like my current situation is pretty good!" Leylin's brows furrowed but quickly relaxed.
From the graphical analysis made by the A.I. Chip, the increase in spiritual force that the high-grade meditation technique gives will also begin to slow down after reaching a certain extent. Moreover, the elemental essence conversion progress will only get slower as he progresses. This was the reason stopping Leylin from advancing quickly.
According to the A.I. Chip's estimates and the Book of Giant Serpent implicit divulging, rank 2 Magus advancement criteria was to have a spiritual force of at least 80, and the elemental essence conversion to be over 80%.
These two conditions alone have stumped many genius acolytes before.
The spiritual force requirement was still alright. Whether it was about cultivating in high-grade meditation techniques or finding large amounts of resources which could stimulate the spiritual force, it could still be solved over time.
However, elemental essence conversion was a different story altogether. First of all, if the Magus chose the wrong energy particles, then he would find it extremely difficult to exceed an elemental essence conversion of 50%. To be specific, one has to first choose the energy particle with the highest elemental affinity to get the elemental essence conversion to over 80%.
Moreover, this was only the most basic criteria. To some heirs of large families and true geniuses, they would waste their potential if they advanced with an 80% elemental essence conversion. Only by getting a 90% elemental essence conversion and above, would they face fewer bottlenecks while advancing to become a rank 2 Magus.
These were all mentioned in the Kemoyin's Pupil.
In addition, some regular Magi had to solve the problem of obtaining a rank 2 spell model. If they were unable to find one which complements their rank 1 innate spell, mishaps will occur during the inscribing of their rank 2 spell model, such as having their brains exploding.
Hence, those magicians who used Grine Water with spell models to advance, their path in future would become extremely narrow.
Although his progress was extremely fast already, Leylin still felt somewhat pressured deep down.
He had utterly offended the Lilytell family. This was a large-scale family with the family head existence that could rival the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's chairman.
That was a rank 2 Magus or an expert close to that level!
As for Leylin right now, once he was to meet someone like that, his only outcome would be death!
Advancing into a rank 1 Warlock only let him have the simplest form of self-preservation. To be able to live free in the future in broad daylight, he had to at least be a rank 2 Warlock to be able to handle the pursuers from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
After having access to the high-grade meditation technique, Leylin realised that magicians who cultivated with the high-grade meditation techniques also required some resources.
This was because some precious resources could increase the progress of meditation.
There were several ingredients that could complement his meditation — that was mentioned in the Kemoyin's Pupil meditation technique.
Hence, he was somewhat impatient to hurry and reach the Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, situated within the domain of Light Magi.
It had the largest, free trade market and collection centre. Leylin could definitely rely on it to get his resources and improve his progress quickly.
"Lo… Lord… The broth is ready…"
Seeing that Leylin had finished with his meditation today, Ivy hurriedly scooped a bowl of broth and brought it to Leylin.
"You have worked hard!"
Leylin smiled at Ivy and took the bowl.
Ivy looked at Leylin's unfathomable eyes that had endless depths and stared at them blankly, her eyes lifeless.
"This is…" Leylin had a slight shock and immediately reached out a hand glowing in white light as he tapped Ivy's forehead.
"Lord! Just now…" Very soon Ivy recovering, yet she did not dare to look into Leylin's eyes again.
"This is a circumstance of mine which I did not restrain properly earlier. In the future do not be this careless again…" Leylin understood what had just transpired.
It was the result that the A.I. Chip indicated earlier, elemental essence conversion progress: 1%.
When Magi continued to improve their progress of elemental essence conversion, the spiritual force radiated will bring about a strong power which was attributed to the elements.
Ivy losing her bearings earlier was considered as a mild effect.
If Leylin had had an elemental essence conversion of 50% and above, and by not restraining himself, in that situation Ivy would most likely have been attacked by the Darkness energy particles and thus would have become a shrivelled corpse
As for different elemental energy particles, the final elemental conversion would also be reflected differently.
For example: if a Magus chose the Ice energy particles as the attribute to cultivate with, he would be able to freeze the spiritual force of anyone who stares into the said Magus's eyes.
As for those who cultivated in Fire energy particles, enemies who probed their spiritual force would be burnt, even suffering from a backlash.
Leylin cultivated in the Darkness energy particles, which was emphasized more towards the aspect of a person's spiritual force and soul. In later stages, if regular humans were to come into contact with his high-density elemental essence conversion, their soul would immediately perish, their physical bodies decomposing into a shrivelled corpse.
"Sorr...sorry!" Ivy lifted her skirt and bowed, hurriedly moving out of the way.
Seeing that the girl was unharmed, Leylin nodded his head and poured the meat broth into his mouth.
The warm savoury meat broth laced with bites of fresh mushroom excited Leylin's palette.
"This tastes pretty good! I guess you have not eaten yet too?"
Leylin looked at Ivy, now with his eyes back to normal there was no chance of causing unintended harm anymore.
"Yes!"
Ivy softly replied. She helped herself to some dry rations and a bowl of broth. Together with Leylin, they feasted.
Leylin looked at Ivy and let out the slightest sigh of relief.
If this was the past, Ivy would surely be treated like a princess by her own family.
However, this present way of living by roughing it out in the open would surely help her to mature quickly.
"After you are done eating, come find me in my tent. I need a sample of your blood!"
Leylin gobbled his food quickly and said to Ivy.
The underlying reason he saved Ivy was not due to kindness but to use her Warlock's bloodline for his research.