A Nightly Encounter !

Lu Yan hurried along the narrow cobbled path that led to the moor . Although it was the middle of winter as it was daytime some light still filtered down from the massive host of clouds that covered the sky . The intensity of the radiance however was diminishing rapidly . If he didn't hurry along he would be unable to enter the moor before dusk and then he would be in deep trouble.

Although he possessed a talisman handed down to him by the Master of the Tower it's only function was to direct him towards the lone safe path in the entire moor that would lead him straight to the tower . Apart from providing a little glow it had no other capability and thus if he entered the moor after the sun set below the horizon he would be a goner .

The denizens of the moor were creatures of the darkness that were at their strongest during the solemn hours of night . Creatures such as Wraiths would hardly venture out in the day even if the moor was covered by a perennial blanket of fog and would in particular stay away from the path that led to the tower . As for the Demonic Beasts such as the Direwolf Packs that roamed the moor wide and far in search of prey although they were capable of movement during daytime they were still a bit sluggish and would stay clear of the path thus making it safe to use the path during the daytime.

Night however was a radically different period .

Not only were the beings that had made the moor their abode more aggressive they would also in fact actively lay in wait close to the path in the hope of being treated to a tasty snack in the form of a foolhardy apprentice who had to have known better than to risk his life roaming around on the moor at night .

Even if Lu Yan perished today the Spiritualist would hardly care , after all while the monsters knew how to enjoy an apprentice course thoroughly they knew better than to misappropriate the Spiritualist's goods . Thus , the sack he carried would be delivered promptly at the tower's doorstep and life would carry on as usual except for the fact that his bones would be slowly being dissolved in either stomach acid or perhaps wraith ectoplasm .

As for an investigation into his fate and the prospect of justice ? Perish that thought, the Spiritualist had better things to do with his time and in any case only a measly apprentice had died there was no need to be concerned about that anyways they were many more where that lot came from .

Thankfully Lu Yan managed to make it to the boundary of the moor before the onset of dusk . He reached for a thin leaf of paper that he had fastened tightly to his cloak .

With a gentle twist he unrolled the paper until the figure inscribed within was perfectly clear . To Lu Yan's eyes the figure made of arbitrarily arranged thin squiggly lines that began from nowhere and ended up anywhere seemed to possess a deep feeling of mystery . As if what lay in front of him was a fog that guarded the entrance to an entirely new world .

He contorted his face into a frown and placed his index finger at the center of the inscription as he concentrated hard .

Soon beads of sweat formed at his forehead and began to drip down his neck and slowly drench his woolen robes . He ignored the feeling of discomfort that assaulted him and continued to focus with all his ability . At least he could feel something loosen somewhere deep inside of him and a trickle of electricity passed along his arm turning it numb in the process .

His finger which had appeared to be stuck to the paper suddenly shook rapidly and a sudden spark sprang forth from the tip which fell into the center of the inscription . The hitherto lifeless inscription suddenly released a bright radiance before abiding to a dull glow that pointed forward into the moor.

Lu Yan 's face formed a rueful smile in response .

Seriously , even a beginner level spell took so much out of him . Lu Yan was well aware that he didn't have much talent in the ways of a Spiritualist and if it weren't for his diligence he would have been eliminated long ago . Even so , he was well aware that diligence could only take him so far and if he didn't find some other means to make up for his lack of talent his fate was sealed .

Unfortunately though it wasn't that easy to improve one's talent . To be a Spiritualist one had to improve one's own innate ability till the point that they could truly be capable of the supernatural and the only way to do so was by constant refinement ! Although there were indeed mystical objects that could improve one's qualification but such treasures were often rare and when found would be sought after by countless Spiritualists. A treasure that was highly regarded by Spiritualists would in no way be allowed to be wasted by a humble Apprentice .

It was thus apart from the few senior Apprentices who possessed innately superior qualifications and had managed to slowly accumulate till they had reached a position where they at least some freedom all the others who had entered the tower with them had slowly succumbed to their fate whether it was being dismembered at the experimentation table or at the claws of a monster or even at the hands of their fellow apprentices ; all traces of their existence had dissipated and all that remained were rumors spoken in hushed voices among their juniors .

Lu Yan was well aware that unless he experienced a drastic change his fate might be very similar as well after all unlike some of the other poorly talented Apprentices he neither had money nor the talent for flattery and was thus practically all alone .

With great difficulty he had managed to finish a couple of unpleasant tasks that hardly anyone in the tower touched and had managed to earn the right to use the library and learn a few elementary spells . Unfortunately he never managed to master them thoroughly and still couldn't use any without significant consumption on his part .

The basis of Spells was a mystical form of energy that pervaded throughout the world . This energy was featureless and had no effect whatsoever on material objects unless through some special means an interface could be created .

Once an interface was created this energy could be slowly introduced to a material object and then channeled through the object into a form that could affect the external world .

The process of utilizing a spell for a Spiritualist was to create this interface between his body and the energy and then slowly introduce the energy into his body and then direct it in a particular manner .

How this interface could be created was a problem that had befuddled many Spiritualists for many years the reason being that all beings did not seem to create an interface in the same way in fact each individual had a particular way of interacting with this energy . Naturally , some would be able to interface more faster and efficiently as compared to others and thus came the importance of innate qualifications .

When Lu Yan realized that his aptitude was quite poor for learning Elemental Spells that the Master of the Tower had the most materials in he had decided to try another path . As the number of ways of directing the mystical energy was limited only to imagination different people had come up with different ways that played to their strengths . Unlike Elemental Spells which focused heavily on mental strength which was basically an agglomeration of will and intelligence some means such as Sword Spells and Martial Spells focused on using external weapons or the body of the Spiritualist itself as the medium which lowered the requirements for mental strength on the part of the Spiritualist .

Unfortunately Lu Yan wasn't able to obtain much success in these attempts as well which had left him confused and depressed .

As he walked along the desolate path pointed out by the dull light of the talisman he couldn't stop himself from thinking such depressing thoughts . The path lined with a sort of stone that resembled a hybrid of gravel and limestone meandered through the gloomy fog which in this world of shadow resembled his own state of mind .

As he slowly walked forward the sudden sound of heavy breathing woke him up abruptly from his reverie . A brief glance was enough for him to confirm that the night had risen for the darkness that had slowly been rising around the path was now total .

The dangerous hours of darkness had set in and he was still some distance from the tower !

Although he hadn't encountered any unholy creature so far all that could change in an instant !

The sound of frantic breathing and of closely approaching footsteps was a sign that some being was already nearby .

He calmed himself down and stood still on the path without the flicker of a muscle .

Any movement on his part could alert the creature to his existence if it wasn't aware already . If it notices his presence he was pretty much dead as with his current capability there was no way that he could confront a veritable monster head-on in fact there were some monsters that would have no trouble in devouring all of the apprentices even if it encountered all of them head on the only person who could have any effect on such fearsome creatures was the Spiritualist himself ! Everybody else would just be offering themselves as food !

Thankfully the footsteps of the beast receded into the distance causing him to breathe a sigh of relief . Holding aloft the talisman as if it were a ward from evil he slowly trudged forward along the path doing his best to make as less as possible .

He was well aware that the only way left to him was to move forward till he eventually reached the tower staying for too long in one place on the contrary would just make him more liable to be found.

Apparently the path was a place that the monsters did not like to venture into even during nightmare as for a while he didn't encounter any beast except for a weak Will O' Wisp which he managed to chase away by waving the talisman at it .

As he walked on further the distant roars and screams of the denizens of the moor running amok rapidly faded away as he entered a domain of eerie silence .

In this heavy silence that pressed down on him like an actual weight he could feel the pace of his breath quickening and his heart pounding fast on the walls of his chest as if wished to tear away from the shackles of his body and fly unrestrained into the skies.

Lu Yan placed a hand on his chest and did his best to quieten down his racing heart . He gingerly stepped forward into the darkness with the talisman still shining with a dull light held in front .

Unfortunately the meager light shined by the talisman didn't have any effect as it was consumed by the all encompassing darkness that lay ahead. A frown crossed across his face in response .

Although the density of the fog could be quite thick in the moor this amount of darkness wasn't normal at all .

As if on cue to his realization a pair of red lights abruptly sprang forth into existence in the darkness and a mighty pressure descended from the heavens nearly pressing him to the ground .

Lu Yan's face discolored in response . Although it wasn't clear what being it was just this means alone was enough to nearly finish him off cleanly .

Clearly he was no match for this adversary !

"Good , good !" a harsh voice emerged from the darkness . Each syllable was enunciated with great care as if the speaker had great difficulty in pronouncing the words, combined with how the voice closely resembled the sound of a knife grating across stone Lu Yan felt a perceptible chill crawling up his spine .

"Fresh apprentice meat ! It has been a long while since I have tasted it ! Even now , I can feel keenly the delicious texture of the meat , the relish of the supple skin and the juicy feel of the marrow of the one that I had last ! To think that I would have the opportunity to taste one once more ! "

"Hur-Hur" the voice burst into raucous laughter that seemed to reverberate all around .

"Really you foolish children never learn do you ? If you have the guts to walk all alone in the moor at night you should already be prepared to be devoured as well !"

The voice gave out a malevolent chuckle at this point that was no doubt designed to frighten its prey and lower their will to resist.

Lu Yan although outwardly showed a frightened expression inwardly the gears of his mind were turning furiously .

If what he had encountered had been a mindless beast he would have been done for as he would have been devoured already no questions asked . Although he had been cornered by something far more frightening than any beast that lived on instinct alone the fact that it possessed intelligence also gave him the possibility of seeking a way out !

As long as he figured out the right strategy before the creature got tired of playing with him he might still have an opportunity to escape successfully from this tribulation !