After leaving Master Mosido's laboratory, Sain headed straight through the vast buildings of the Black Magic Academy toward his little nest.
The Black Magic Academy in Mossobla City was enormous, and the lofty black mages and black magic apprentices did not live in the same areas.
Passing through the towering teaching buildings, Sain encountered quite a few black magic apprentices on his way back to his dormitory.
But these black magic apprentices, like Sain, all appeared hurried and rushed, with few stopping to chat.
The rules of the Black Magic Academy were icy cold. Among the magic apprentices, aside from vassal relationships, there was only enmity—rarely any so-called "friends."
A patch of ink-green White Crow Forest was the final stretch of Sain's journey back to his dormitory.
It was here that Sain encountered an obstacle.
"Humph humph humph, Sain, Scarface Jock was right—you're really badly injured."
"Rather than dying in agony from your wounds, why don't I help you end it now!" A sharp, cold laugh rang out.
A black-robed magic apprentice wearing a white mask suddenly leaped out from the White Crow Forest on both sides of the path.
This apprentice's height was similar to Sain's, but unlike Sain's enviable short golden hair, this one's hair was a mottled gray-white.
Conflicts existed among magic apprentices.
The feud between Sain and this apprentice named Ilk stemmed from ten years ago, when Sain first arrived in the Dark Region. To avoid starving to death over a mouthful of food, he had punched and knocked down a peer who had also been abducted to the underground world.
Unfortunately, that guy happened to be the younger brother of Ilk, right in front of him.
Ten years had passed, and the human children who once arrived in the Dark Region powerless had now grown into low-level black magic apprentices.
Because of the insufficient food back then, combined with being knocked down by Sain's punch, Ilk's brother ultimately didn't survive until the Black Magic Academy sent people to test initial mental strength.
Though even if that kid hadn't starved to death, he might not have met the academy's apprenticeship standards.
But clearly, Ilk blamed this grudge entirely on Sain.
As for why Ilk hadn't sought revenge on Sain back then, perhaps Sain's strength and performance, exceeding that of ordinary children, had intimidated him.
Over these ten years, Sain and Ilk had clashed more than a dozen times in Mossobla City's Black Magic Academy.
Among them, twice they had nearly taken each other's lives.
It was this accumulation of enmity that had brought them to a point of irreconcilable hatred.
Such conflicts between apprentices like Sain and Ilk were common in Mossobla City.
And strangely, those lofty black mages didn't stop such infighting; instead, they watched these little ones fight to the death with great interest.
Perhaps for the black mages, this was an amusing sideshow during their experiments.
Dragging it out too long might attract the academy's overseers or other black magic apprentices' interference.
So after coldly mocking Sain a few times, Ilk immediately made his move.
Unlike Sain, who studied and mastered some fire-based magic, Ilk specialized in plant-based magic.
He had even received a low-level magic item from the academy as a reward for his outstanding performance in the Black Magic Academy's plantation—the Pale Mask, which Ilk was wearing on his face right now.
From this, it was evident that without sufficient strength, one wouldn't even qualify to be Sain's opponent.
Three green edge arrows were launched from in front of Ilk amid his low chanting.
A normal Green Edge Arrow spell only produced two arrows; Ilk's ability to release three showed that, like Sain, he was very close to the mid-level apprentice stage!
Facing Ilk's aggressive assault, Sain remained unmoved from start to finish.
The three green edge arrows targeted Sain's head, heart, and groin, clearly intending to kill him in one strike.
Having just returned from his mission, with depleted mental strength and dried-up magic power, it was hard for Sain to use his ultimate move, the Minor Fireball Technique, again.
His severely injured body also prevented him from dodging these three menacing green arrows in time.
As the three green edge arrows shot out, a smile appeared beneath Ilk's pale mask.
Magic apprentices, limited by their mental strength and magic power, had strict constraints on the spells they could master and the number of times they could use them.
For Sain and Ilk, as low-level apprentices at their peak, they could at most cast the Green Edge Arrow or Minor Fireball Technique twice.
But three green edge arrows were enough to take Sain's life—even one might explode his head.
The smile beneath Ilk's mask gradually stiffened as Sain pulled out the magic short staff from his bosom.
Before Ilk could make any remedial action, with Sain's last strand of mental strength activating it, the corrosive acid liquid solidified and inscribed in the magic short staff was instantly released!
Worthy of being the apprenticeship gift from the formal black mage, Lord Mosido.
Even if this was just a little trinket refined casually by Master Mosido during his alchemy experiments, it was enough to let Sain, holding this magic short staff, single-handedly challenge any mid-level apprentice or above.
Besides a dose of advanced magic corrosive acid liquid, this magic short staff also had the effect of slowly restoring magic power and mental strength.
After leaving Master Mosido's laboratory earlier, Sain had been clutching this short staff in his bosom.
Though his magic power and mental strength hadn't recovered much, it was sufficient to handle any sudden situations that might occur in the Black Magic Academy.
Advanced magic corrosive acid liquid and low-level magic green edge arrows weren't even on the same level.
Whether in terms of power, release speed, or striking accuracy.
The three originally aggressive green edge arrows turned into wisps of green smoke in the yellow glow of the corrosive acid liquid.
And this advanced spell's momentum didn't wane as it struck Ilk's body. During this time, Ilk didn't even manage to cast a second spell or dodge away.
"Ah!!" A painful howl immediately rang out.
The "hiss hiss" corrosion sounds made one's skin crawl.
Soon, Ilk's voice gradually weakened.
When Sain approached, aside from Ilk's head being relatively intact, his lower body had turned into a charred mess.
The air was filled with a foul stench.
The scene of killing before him didn't change Sain's expression much.
Sounds were already coming from the surroundings; it seemed other black magic apprentices or academy overseers had noticed the situation here.
At this moment, Sain unhurriedly began to collect his spoils.
The low-level magic item, the Pale Mask, was the first to be removed by Sain from the ugly head at his feet.
As a low-level magic item, the Pale Mask had only one low-tier spell inscribed inside—Clarity Technique, which allowed one to see more clearly in the darkness.
Though its value was far less than the short staff Sain now held in his hand, for Sain, this was still a harvest worth noting.