A Withered Flower

In this world, unexpected and sudden events frequently occurred. While one might attempt to foresee the future, the ultimate outcome often surpassed their expectations!

At the moment when the strong kinetic energy launched a gold coin from Punk's hand toward the Assassin lady's eyebrows, a fleeting black cold light also lased out from the tip of the enemy's lips, even though it was far away, Punk could sense the deadly poison on the sharp steel needle. The poison was so dreadful that even inside his sturdy mage armor, Punk felt a chilling fear.

"But.......the strength of a poison doesn't matter if it can't reach the target."

Punk understood that this was the enemy's final desperate attempt. This unexpected hidden weapon was standard equipment for all Assassins. So, how could Punk, a cautious mage, fail to anticipate it?

Actually, when the enemy had fallen to the ground and appeared unable to counterattack, Punk had already been privately cautious about the potential "last attack." Now, as he spotted the poison-tipped needle, enveloped in black smoke, racing towards him at a speed nearly comparable to a sniper rifle, Punk calmly triggered the "secondary Teleportation" spell on his robe. Simultaneously, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Magic equipment are really useful."

At this moment, as Punk admired the efficiency of his magic equipment, he didn't realize that he would soon experience a sense of déjà vu.

For professionals, death is like the wind, always trying to blow them away, but most of the time, However, most of the time, they possess the strength to withstand its onslaught.

For ordinary people, death is like their shadows, always very close, but they couldn't get away from it.

But for those who have died, death was like a pitfall, sudden and unexpected...

Punk suddenly sensed something was amiss and turned around. In his sight, Princess Nesa's body weakly crumpled to the ground.

Some people say that death is nothing more than a silent farewell. Regardless of a person's responsibilities or the nature of their life's blessings or curses, when their consciousness begins to fade in the eternal darkness, they all experience the same feelings of unwillingness and regret..... according to some, death may be another way of liberation, as from then on, there is no more pressure of responsibility.

Just as the deceased can't sense the decay of their bodies or witness the transformation of a vibrant life into brittle bones, it was also didn't hold any meaning for the dead who cried at the funeral and who was sardonic.The blue heart, that once beaten loudly, now became silent, and the hot blood, which once circulated vigorously throughout the body, now became cold and coagulated.

The princess's scarred but beautiful jade-like skin that lost its warmth begun to be eroded by the eternal darkness. This was death, like the withering of a flower, sad but common.

Princess Nesa's body was lying down on the ground under the shining golden light of the surroundings; the black steel needle was inserted obliquely into her chest. And because of the toxin's terrifying effect, the color of her veins became deep-black, which spread throughout the body from her clavicle in a rose pattern.

Despite the expectation of her mother, despite the blessings of mage McNeesey, despite the sacrifices of countless soldiers, despite the promise of revenge, she died, died in this dark and unknown jungle. All these heavy responsibilities might have given her the courage to survive, but they could not give her the power to fight death...

While looking at the princess's corpse, Punk felt the Trial's eye contract got canceled as the target of this contract was already dead. He became stunned for a moment; it was not only because of the joy at the cancellation of this troublesome contract but also because of a lingering sense of absurdity— —The princess who was burdened by the wishes of so many people just died like this? Accidental death by a stray poisonous needle? 

Punk gently lifted Princess Nesa's body with the aid of the mage hand spell. Since Princess Nesa wasn't a devout follower of any god, her soul didn't qualify for entry into the divine realms of gods. Instead, her soul had been consumed by the boundless river of time...

Punk tried his best to complete this mission, but no one could think of such an accident, so even the harsh Trials' eye could not find any fault.

After a while, Punk placed the princess's lifeless body on the ground, and his heart became a little confused for a moment. Life was so fragile and helpless, even if she had more responsibilities and dreams, and no matter how strong-willed of a character she was, all was destroyed in an instant by a small poisonous needle, reality was really, ridiculously absurd! Reasonable to the point of cruelness!

"Those countless soldiers who died, and the official mage McNeesey, who had a great future ahead, even sacrificed his life, were all their efforts meaningless?"

Punk looked at the princess's cold, lifeless body with a complicated look in his eyes and asked himself this question without any emotional fluctuations!

"The answer is..."

In Punk's eyes, the flash of confusion quickly passed as he whispered to himself:

"...It was not meaningless. Their efforts were meaningful, but this meaning was not with the princess, but in themselves, their actions were the meanings of their death, which meant that they have done, what they could have and should have done in their situation. As for the results of their own efforts...that was the purpose of the princess, rather than the "meaning" of their sacrifices!

The whole quiet jungle was silent as if it was mourning at the withering of the beautiful flower, but nothing would stop functioning because of this. The sad people would continue to grieve, while those filled with joy would carry on dancing...with happiness.

Punk, who was now in a happy mood, was a good example of this...

When he was wondering about these problems, he suddenly felt as if his entire soul became free, because he managed to grasp the genuine significance amidst the complexity.Finally, this sense of enlightenment and accomplishment became the last straw for Punk to break through the bottleneck. At this moment, Punk felt like his soul was free from any bindings, and it became one with the whole world, and he could even feel the fluctuations of space.

Punk has now achieved the status of an official-level mage!

While the deceased continue to decay in their somber resting places, the emerging star began to shine even more brilliantly.

When Punk opened his deep eyes, there was now a faint purple light lingering in his azure blue pupils. It appeared quite profound, as if it held endless mysteries...

Savoring the surging mana and sensing the qualitative improvement in his soul, The corner of Punk's mount curled slightly with joy. Although he had not learned any official-level spells, with his official-level soul, he now could cast multiple trainee-level spells together. And these spells also would have a huge boost in their powers, Spell such as the slingshot, which originally only had the power of a powerful sniper rifle, now would have the strength that should definitely surpass that of the electromagnetic cannon shown in sci-fi movies.

And now, with the soul strength of the official mage and with the outrageously precise mana control, the spells below the official level could be cast instantly, and obviously, they could also be cast at the same time as if he had learned some high-level magic skills, although these were only limited to low-level spells, still, it was enough to know how the power of an official-level powerhouse was beyond the reach of lower-level professionals.

After calming down the joy in his heart, Punk glanced at the princess who was lying on the ground for the one last time. Her body was likely hiding a secret that was worthy of Prince William's endless pursuit, but Punk was not the protagonist of fantasy novels, even if there was indeed some curiosity in his heart, but it has not reached the point where it has to be figured out at all cost.

As for the many people in Camos, who were looking forward to the rescue of the princess, the queen, who was anxiously waiting for news of her daughter, and mage McNeesey's final request that he entrusted to Punk!

Punk simply didn't care.

He was even happy in his heart that he could get a lot of knowledge without taking any risks.

"The princess was dead, the task was not done, but the reward was already in his hand."

Punk was now in a very happy mood. He decided to go to the Dylan Kingdom and find a small fief for himself. If it was possible, He wanted to build a rudimentary mage tower, study carefully for few decades, lay the theoretical foundation of official-level mage, and start planning for the increasingly difficult promotion path.

(After reaching official-level, one stay with their current appearance forever, the lifespan of an official level was about 1000 years, Punk's lifespan would be 1000+ because of his half-ancient elf bloodline)

...After that, Punk would think carefully about what to do next.

Regarding the actions of the Kingdom of Camos, Punk believed that Prince William wouldn't want to stir trouble with an official-level powerhouse from another country if he had already accomplished his objective.

"So, a new adventure is about to begin."

Punk walked into the woods happily with an indifferent expression on his face and started heading towards the Dylan Kingdom. As for the princess's corpse...he didn't have the leisure to care about her!