In the dense forest, Old John crouched low, carefully examining snapped plants and specks of blood under the moonlight.
"This way."
Old John pointed in a direction and whispered his judgment.
Loken's trail was clear. Even though much of it had been burned by fire, Old John had no trouble tracking him down.
Following the trail, Edwyn soon arrived at a narrow valley.
There, amidst sparse vegetation, Edwyn lay prone atop a high ridge and easily spotted Loken, warming himself beside a small campfire.
"That fat guy looks like he's reading something," Elia whispered.
Edwyn saw it too, a notebook in Loken's hands.
"I'll go straight in. Elia, use your spells to cut off his escape. Old John, go hide," Edwyn instructed.
After giving orders, Edwyn activated his bloodline. As the black scales spread across his body, he also cast a silencing spell on himself.
Once preparations were complete, Edwyn burst from the forest like a black bolt of lightning, greatsword in hand.
Thanks to the silencing spell, his approach made almost no sound. Loken, seemingly engrossed in the notebook, didn't sense anything wrong.
Squelch.
Blood splattered.
At the last moment, Loken finally realized something was wrong and clumsily rolled to the side, but not fast enough, a massive gash tore across his back, bleeding heavily.
"You're alive?!" Loken shouted in shock.
"Not only am I alive, now I'm here to take your damn life."
Edwyn's expression was cold as he raised his greatsword and slashed again.
This time, Loken was ready. Two layers of invisible force fields instantly appeared between them.
Two defensive barriers.
Loken smirked.
"Fool. Still swinging a sword after becoming a Mage Apprentice?"
But Edwyn only replied with a mocking stare.
If Saban could break a force field, how could he not?
The sword glinted, shrieking through the air. The barriers shattered instantly, this was the Wind Crow Slash, the signature move of the First Baron of Black Forest. Its speed could slice through even plate armor. On the battlefield, one swing often meant death for both man and mount.
The blade cleaved down,
Loken's head flew off.
His eyes remained wide open in disbelief even in death.
"How did that sword break through two force fields?!"
With the job done, Elia and Old John joined Edwyn.
Staring at Loken's headless corpse, Elia began chanting softly. Magic surged through her, and a stream of black energy flowed from her fingertip into the body.
Moments later, Loken's corpse deflated like a balloon, shriveling into skin and bone.
"It's done." Elia said nervously, watching the results.
This was her first time using a curse spell. She wasn't sure what to expect.
Suddenly, the shriveled body bulged. A lump rose, and from it emerged a pale, worm-like creature, curled up to the size of a fist.
"I did it!" Elia cheered.
"What is that?" Edwyn asked, curious.
"That's a curse worm, it's a common material for casting curse spells," Elia explained, carefully picking up the worm.
Unlike normal insects, it lay perfectly still in her hand, showing no signs of resistance.
"This one's pretty big. If I sold it, it'd go for about five Mana Stones."
"It's worth money?"
"Of course," Elia rolled her eyes. She gently placed it into a pouch at her waist. "It can be used both to cast curses and to ward against them."
"Well then, I'd say that's a good find."
With the spell tested, Edwyn bent down and picked up the notebook Loken had been reading.
The pages were yellowed, the edges wrinkled from dampness. It looked like it had been tossed out in the wilderness for years.
The text was written in Mage script. Some pages were smudged, but most were still legible, saving Edwyn the mental effort of deciphering it through spell extraction.
Then again, he wasn't sure whether such degraded text could even be extracted in the first place.
Flipping through a few pages, he soon understood why Loken had been hunted down.
"A High Apprentice's notebook... what's it doing in the Blackstone Mountains?"
Intrigued, Edwyn sat by the fire and began reading more closely.
July 10 – Heavy rain
It's been raining for days. If this keeps up, I swear mushrooms will start growing inside my room.
July 15 – Sunny
Finally, the rain stopped. The Black Tower across the way just opened a massage parlor. Supposed to relieve mental fatigue. Gonna check it out.
July 16 – Sunny
Massage parlor's not bad. They say the special service is even better.
July 17 – Sunny
Went again.
July 18 – Overcast
Went again.
July 19 – Sunny
Damn it. Those wenches used aphrodisiac incense instead of meditation incense!
July 20 – Sunny
Went again.
Edwyn flipped faster.
"All this guy ever talks about is that massage place…"
Skipping the massage entries, Edwyn finally reached something useful.
The notebook's author specialized in the Evocation School, and had documented ideas for modifying the Flaming Hand, a First-Circle spell, along with the experimental results.
"Power increased by one energy level. Mana cost reduced by one-tenth. Just this breakthrough alone makes tonight's trouble worth it," Edwyn muttered excitedly.
"Energy level" was the Evocation School's way of measuring spell strength. One level equaled the impact of a single magic missile. Though this measure didn't apply to all magic, it worked well for direct-damage spells.
He kept reading.
May 12 – Sunny
Only one Mana Stone left. Those massage witches bled me dry.
May 13 – Overcast
Task hall's packed. These fresh students are doing tasks instead of studying. What a waste.
May 15 – Sunny
Finally found a decent job, gathering herbs in the Blackstone Mountains. Twenty stones plus travel expenses. Alchemy Faction really is rich.
May 19 – Light rain
It's raining again. Spent a day in the mountains and found jack. No wonder the pay's so high.
At that point, the diary entries stopped. Several pages went blank.
Edwyn flipped ahead and saw a few lines written in a messy scrawl, with the final line written in blood.
"What is that thing?! What the hell did that landslide unleash?!"
"Living Iron Webs, how the hell are they in the Blackstone Mountains?!"
"Guardian Golems, I get it now! I've stumbled into a Mage's lab! Those bizarre things are part of the defenses!"
A Mage's lab!
Edwyn's heart skipped a beat.
A Mage's laboratory was a goldmine. Specimens, rare materials, even magical instruments, any one of them could be priceless to an apprentice.
He flipped further. After a long blank section, one final message appeared, written in blood, by finger: "The Mage is dead!"