Chapter Sixty-One: Bulei Canyon Once old Walker left the room, only Leilin and Fuleisa remained.
The Knight knew of Leilin's identity as a
Reclining half-lounging in his chair, Leilin narrowed his eyes slightly. "What progress has there been on the investigation into the Withered Forest?"
Fuleisa lowered his head in a show of respect. "Honored Young Master! Per your orders, I dispatched multiple scouting parties to probe the Withered Forest. At the cost of one dead and two seriously wounded, we finally obtained some leads!"
The Withered Forest incident had directly caused a decline in medicinal herb yields from the Dark Night Forest. Prior to this, all the major factions had also sent people to investigate, but many of the scouts they'd dispatched were attacked within the forest.
According to the witnesses, they had been assaulted by some mysterious black shadow inside the forest — all they knew was that it was a creature, extremely fast, and beyond that they had nothing.
"Speak!" Leilin's expression remained perfectly calm.
"One thief finally caught a clear glimpse of the creature when it attacked! This is a sketch drawn based on his description!"
The Knight handed a piece of rough parchment to Leilin.
Leilin took it and looked. Depicted on the parchment was a massive creature resembling a four-legged lizard, its entire body covered in scales, with a forked tongue and a small horn on the top of its head.
"Did the thief say anything else?" Leilin asked.
"The creature was over two meters long, entirely earth-yellow in color, and extraordinarily fast!" Fuleisa added from the side.
"That appearance?" Leilin quickly searched his memory for the contents of the anomalous creature compendium he had seen at the Academy. "It's somewhat similar to the Azure Lizard, but the coloring is wrong, and it also bears some resemblance to snakes!"
"However, the fact that several human scouts managed to escape tells me this creature's danger level isn't particularly high — at the very least, a Second-rank Apprentice should be able to handle it." Leilin felt reassured.
Even so, he still had no intention of going in person. Setting aside the fact that his potion experiments had reached a critical stage, even the Withered Forest hadn't been fully investigated yet, and without a compelling reason, Leilin saw no need to put himself at risk.
"Pass the word: whoever can capture or kill that creature, I'll pay two thousand gold coins! And for any bodily materials from the creature — whether scales, blood, or skin keratin — I'll pay two hundred gold coins apiece!"
Leilin spoke in a flat, casual tone.
"Understood! I'll go post the task right away!" Fuleisa bowed.
"Go!" Leilin waved his hand. Fuleisa bowed once more, then strode out.
……
Three days later. A small canyon on the eastern side of Polar Night City.
Leilin walked along the rugged mountain path, dressed in a black robe. These obstacles were no problem whatsoever for someone whose every stat was above three — it was as easy as strolling through his own backyard.
Behind him, Gelin marched in full armor, a helmet with a mask covering his face, concealing his features entirely.
"We're here! Bulei Canyon Market!" Leilin murmured softly, sensing the faint fluctuations of magical energy in the surroundings.
This market was the small resource exchange point near Polar Night City that Biji had marked on the map she gave Leilin. Half of his reason for choosing this task was for the sake of this very market.
"Halt!" A girl's voice rang out. Leilin looked toward the source and saw a little girl riding a goat, driving it toward them.
The goat's hooves bounced nimbly across the steep cliff faces, moving surprisingly fast. In no time it had arrived right in front of Leilin.
"Are you a Wizard?" The little girl looked Leilin up and down and asked in an offhand tone.
"Yes. I'm a wandering Wizard. I'd like to enter the market, and this is my servant!" Leilin pointed back toward Gelin.
"This servant of yours has reached Knight-level strength? Impressive!" The little girl gave a thumbs-up. "The fee is one Magic Stone — your servant counts as a person too! If you think it's too expensive, you can have him wait outside!"
"That won't be necessary!" Leilin produced two Magic Stones and handed them to the girl.
"I was wondering — where inside the canyon can I get the latest information?" Leilin asked casually.
"You must be new around here! Nobody has sharper news than me!" The little girl tossed her head proudly, striking a pose that practically dared him to ask for a favor.
Leilin was somewhat speechless. According to the Chip's scan, this little girl was a Third-rank Apprentice, actually stronger than Meierfeile. She was certainly no child in age — he just had no idea why she maintained the appearance of a young girl.
"Please, Guard Captain, tell me — what's the price for information?" Leilin gave a slight bow.
"I like you. One Magic Stone per piece of intel!" The little girl looked at him with an air of doing him a favor.
"Very well!" Leilin smiled wryly and handed over a Magic Stone.
"How is the war at Black Bone Forest Academy going?"
"Nine out of ten Wizards who come here for information ask about this!" The little girl scratched her head. "According to yesterday's news, Black Bone Forest is still holding on thanks to their magic formations, but they've lost quite a few Apprentices!"
After speaking, the little girl muttered again, "Don't worry! Don't worry! The war won't spread this far. There aren't even any decent resource points here — how could it attract the Academy's attention? Only Apprentices come through once in a while!"
"Got it! Do you know why the war started?" Leilin handed over another Magic Stone.
The little girl snatched it up quickly. "Who knows? Apparently it's over some kind of scepter, or a gemstone, or something like that..."
"I see!" Leilin nodded, indicating he had no more questions.
"Young man, may your journey through the canyon go smoothly!" The little girl waved, slapped the goat beneath her, and the goat broke into a gallop, quickly vanishing into the depths of the canyon.
"Let's head in!" Leilin said to Gelin behind him.
He was pressed for time on this trip to the canyon. Several experiments had reached critical stages, and the new
Unfortunately, some of the Wizard materials he'd purchased earlier had run out, forcing him to make another trip outside.
"Soon! Once I've bought the auxiliary materials, I can start attempting to refine the Azure Potion, and my Spiritual Power — which has been growing painfully slow — can get a significant boost!" Flames seemed to burn in Leilin's eyes.
Following the narrow path along the cliff's edge, Leilin gradually ventured deeper into the canyon. The shops at this trading post were all set inside stone caves carved into the surrounding cliffs, looking much like primitive dwellings.
Leilin walked into an Apothecary shop called "Lang Erfu's Test Tubes." The cave was pitch dark, with only a few green-glowing stones providing illumination.
The green stones cast a phosphorescent glow over everything inside, making the whole place look dreary and pale.
"Heh heh heh! What do you want?" A sinister laugh rang out.
From behind a counter emerged a wizened old dwarf in a gray robe, his face covered in wrinkles, completely bald, with almost all his teeth missing.
"I need tendril leaves, crystal fruits, and dragon-eye grape seeds — twenty standard portions of each to start!"
Leilin said slowly.
"Oh!" The old dwarf didn't move from his spot. "These are all Apothecary materials, and they don't come cheap! Are you an Apothecary?"
"That doesn't seem to be any of your concern!" Leilin furrowed his brow, somewhat irritated by the old man's attitude.
"Young man! Hasn't anyone ever taught you to show respect to your elders?" The old dwarf smiled faintly, and within his eyes, a vortex seemed to swirl, spinning endlessly.
"Warning! Warning! Magical Field fluctuation detected on the target!" The Chip's alert tone sounded.
Gelin, who had been standing behind Lei Lin, collapsed silently without a word.
"Damn it!" Lei Lin cursed inwardly. Some Wizard Apprentices, and even full Wizards, could become mentally unstable from failed advancements or experimental contamination leaks, frequently exhibiting manic behavior. Clearly, he had stumbled upon one.
According to the Chip's scan, the dwarf in front of him was a Second-rank Apprentice, but his Spiritual Power was far greater than Lei Lin's.
A surge of magical energy within Lei Lin allowed him to break free from the old man's spell. "A charm spell? Not quite! It must be some kind of passive spell! If that's the case!"
Lei Lin flicked his sleeve, bringing a fiery red potion vial into his hand. A dangerous aura emanated from his entire body.
"Hahaha... Just like this! Just like this! The beauty of death descends!" The dwarf cackled manically, waving his arms and dancing around.
"This man is completely insane!" Lei Lin readied the Explosive Potion to throw at any moment while searching for an escape route.
He had no desire to fight a lunatic for no reason, and especially not with no benefit even if he won.
"Enough! Lang Erfu!" Just as the dwarf was preparing his spell, a voice rang out—it was the guardian, the girl who rode the mountain goat.
"Marissua! I've had enough of you!" Lang Erfu roared loudly, chanting an incantation. Black smoke gathered in his hand, coalescing into a massive black sphere.
The surrounding potion racks trembled under the energy fluctuations emanating from the sphere.
"Damn it! Lang Erfu's time is up! Someone, help me!" the girl's voice came again, sounding exasperated.
"Fus!" "
Two very short spell incantations reached Lei Lin's ears, making him pause slightly. "Both are Third-rank Apprentices! I've heard that Third-rank Apprentices not only possess enough Spiritual Power to support several Zero-level Spells, but they've also mastered the technique of phrase-breaking spellcasting. This allows them to condense a spell's incantation into just a few syllables, producing an effect similar to instantaneous casting!"
After the two syllables were uttered, many green vines suddenly appeared within the cave. The massive vines bound Lang Erfu's hands and feet completely.
Lang Erfu roared ceaselessly, attempting to hurl the black smoke sphere in his hand.
At that very moment, a red arrow, as if tearing through space itself, shot inward and struck directly into the center of the smoke sphere.
*Pfft!* A soft sound erupted in the air. The black smoke and the red arrow canceled each other out continuously before both vanished entirely.
"A Positive Energy Neutralization Arrow!" Lei Lin's pupils contracted slightly. "The Third-rank Apprentice attacking from outside, whether in terms of battle judgment or understanding of magic, is far above me!"