895 - 903

895 Decisions in Hull

The Hull Manor was at the edge of a forest. It was a resort where the Hoffenberg family had their summer hunting. Since it was only the beginning of spring, there were few guests and servants. It was quiet and peaceful.

The study in the manor was the place where King Hoffenberg handled state affairs during his holiday. It was protected by powerful divine power circles. However, it was three sorcerers who were under the protection of the divine power circles now.

Douglas lived in the place secretly as a guest of the royal family. He had to change his magic robe into the most popular high-collared coat nowadays, which made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Did you arrange for Douglas to hide here?" After they entered the study, Fernando asked Hathaway casually, trying to figure out whether it was her intention or the Sword of Truth's.

He had no time to pay attention to the sky during the battle, but since the Liege of Death and the Witch of Iceland perished while the Sword of Truth and the Heart of Time were as alive as ever, it was not hard for him to infer what happened. The two noble knights must have betrayed them!

The losses were heavier than what Fernando could bear. He found it even less possible to trust the nobles and the knights right now.

Hathaway nodded her head. "Yes."

She was a noble, but she had become a sorcerer. Plus their years of friendship, Fernando actually trusted her more.

Sharp chuckled. "Do you think that His Majesty does not know what Hathaway did? He's only pretending that he doesn't. We only did what we had to do. There's not a single noble who wants the Church to completely destroy the sorcerers. It's like what Douglas said. Our conflicts with the Church will be more and more intense from now on."

He was uncertain about the future.

Seated on the high chair at ease, Douglas said peacefully, "With the Mother God of the Earth, the heretical churches, Dracula, the Silver Moon, the Dark Mountain Range, and the Boundless Ocean, there's still a long way to go before the Church abandons the nobles. However, now that the coalition army has been crushed, it's barely possible for them to stall most forces of the Church. The Church's control over its territory will reach its peak. You have to be prepared to endure it."

His speed was neither too fast nor too slow, and his voices carried the unique magnetism of a middle-aged gentleman. Although he was describing an ominous situation, Fernando and Sharp were eased and less panicked.

Is it the vibe of a legend, or has Douglas grown into such a charismatic leader? Such a question suddenly popped up in Fernando's heart.

"I fear that endurance won't help." After calming himself down, he confessed his concerns. They were also the concerns of the Sword of Truth, as well as most nobles, because there was no hope of winning at all.

Douglas drank a mouthful of water before he continued with his soothing tone, "From the previous cases, it is not hard to see that the pope has to recover after every usage of God's Arrival. In the jargon of the sorcerers, the cooldown of this divine power is very long, and the former pope has shown us the outcome of using it too often. So, we don't need to be so scared of God's Arrival.

"'Silver Moon' Alterna escaped in heavy wounds after taking a blow of God's Arrival, which means that it is possible to resist God's Arrival. After she recovers, we can find a way to summon the Lord of Hell or the Will of Abyss. It is not entirely impossible to surround the pope."

The analysis was obvious, but it was difficult for anyone to calm down and think when they were in a panic. Clever minds could not see beyond themselves when they were covered in fog.

Hearing Douglas' analysis, Sharp was calmer and calmer, finding confidence again.

"However, summoning the Lord of Hell or the Will of Abyss requires complicated rituals and enormous prices. It's likely that the Church will discover and sabotage it in advance. Also, the Will of Abyss is crazy and bloodthirsty. He may turn out to be an enemy after being summoned."

Sharp expressed his own thoughts.

"Hehe. What a coward." Fernando looked at Sharp in disdain. "Although the Will of Abyss is crazy, we can make preparations in advance to guide him in the direction we like."

As a sorcerer born in the Magic Empire, Fernando did not reject summoning demons and devils even though he never liked those stupid evil guys.

Douglas smiled. "Perhaps I need to go to hell and talk to the Lord of Hell. He's a demigod who is sensible and capable of analysis. Perhaps we can find a way to allow him to arrive more easily. To be honest, I'm never a fan of blood sacrifice."

After he became a legend, he was capable of traveling in alternate dimensions even without the help of oriented Portals to Alternate Realm.

"You can wait for a moment. Considering the value of 'Mathematical Principles of Magical Philosophy', you will probably make another breakthrough soon." Fernando felt that it would be better if Douglas waited until he was stronger, in case the Lord of Hell despised such a "weak" partner.

"Improving myself is not contradictory to going to hell." Douglas nodded. "By my estimation, I will probably reach level three in thirty years, with reasonable combat ability."

He looked at Sharp. "This path is dangerous and difficult, but it will be absolutely hopeless if we don't do anything. Only if we walk one step at a time can we leave a path of hope in darkness and desperation."

"Actually, the situation today is not too bad, that is, for the sorcerers. Ever since the fall of Aalto and the demise of the Liege of Death, the leaders of the Church have paid less attention to sorcerers but focused on the heretical churches and the dark creatures. It means that you will suffer less hunting in the future." Sharp told them the important changes he sensed recently.

Douglas smiled in self-mockery. "There are merits to being weak."

Fernando interjected in despise, "I thought that Ivan would burst into conflicts with Gregory after failing to become the pope, but he turns out to be as docile as a sheep."

"The power of the clerics is from the God of Truth. Revolting against the pope chosen by the God of Truth equals to revolting against their god. No cleric has the courage to do that, which means that they will have no partners or supporters. Also, it's said that the pope has a method known as 'Excommunication'. It can block the connection between the clerics and the God of Truth so that their hearts of faith cannot be refilled. So, how can Ivan dare to challenge Gregory?" Douglas shook his head.

Hathaway suddenly said coldly, "There is Excommunication."

"There really is…" Douglas nodded solemnly. "However, we need not be disappointed. Ivan probably won't challenge Gregory directly, but it doesn't mean that he's unwilling to cause trouble or create enemies for Gregory. Perhaps his attitude toward sorcerers has changed. We can try to get in touch with him."

The four of them discussed for a long time and settled many plans. Fernando felt the passion he had when he just joined the Union of Sorcerers again.

Douglas patted his clothes and stood up. "Fernando, your wounds are still not recovered. Take a rest now. We can talk about magic sometime later."

"Alright. I'll discuss 'Mathematical Principles of Magical Philosophy' with you later. It's definitely the most brilliant masterpiece in the history of magic." Fernando did not hold back his compliment.

Douglas smiled. "I'm glad that you think so highly of it, and I'm proud of my work too. However, the more I study, the more confused I am. Hehe. The unknowns are always so fascinating. What is gravity? What is the nature of gravity?"

Well… The depths of his questions stunned both Fernando and Hathaway, who did not know how to respond at all. Sharp, not knowing any arcana, shrugged and walked to the window, pulling the drapes.

The pure and warm sunlight sprayed in from outside the room, covering everything in gold. Before anyone knew it, it was already dawn!

"Fernando, I need your help to contact the other sorcerers. Let's try to establish another union."

"Don't call it a union. It reminds me of the old fox. Let's call it the Congress of Sorcerers."

"Fine by me."

"It does not sound good…" Hathaway remarked in a low voice.

…

Erica's heart was particularly heavy when she looked at the sorcerers around her who were desperate and helpless. The little organization she was in could barely deal with such a great tsunami.

She moved back to her room and sat on her bed while holding her knees. Thinking for a moment, she took out a black-covered book from the magic pouch. It was from Mr. Douglas from their last correspondence. Because of the escalation of the situation, she never had the time to read it.

Opening the book, Erica read it carefully, with subconscious admiration.

As she read on, her hands trembled so violently that she could barely hold the book steadily. Although she hadn't picked up calculus that Douglas mentioned in his letters, it did not stop her from getting a rough idea of what the third article said.

"Gravity…

"Is it the string on the piano of the Goddess of Magic?

"Is this the reality of this world?

"Magic is so much more marvelous than I thought!"

So astounded, she didn't even know that Atlant, the Eye of Curse, had come to reorganize her group.

…

After a squeak, a girl in a court dress opened the door of the room. The candle in her hand illuminated the dark room.

Where the light was gathered, a tall and slim young man looked back at her in fear, with a heart in his hands and a broken body in front of him.

Crack.

The candle fell onto the ground, and the beautiful girl covered her mouth, asking in disbelief, "You… are a sorcerer?"

"No, no…" His face livid, the young man shook his head in a panic, but he was unable to answer the question.

…

Blowing a melodic whistle, a black-haired and black-eyed young man trotted joyfully on the street. His handsome face and his unique scholarly vibe were particularly attractive for ladies.

"This play stinks. It's not even as good as the one in my head!" He clicked his tongue and criticized it. In the meantime, he couldn't help but remark, "Mrs. Audrey was too hot and passionate…"

Suddenly, a man, probably in his thirties, ran close from a corner and shouted in a panic, "Run! Run out of the city! The viscount knows that you slept with Mrs. Audrey!"

"What?" The young man's face immediately turned pale. His easiness was gone. He took his luggage and ran off immediately.

By the time he got out of the city, it was already sunset.

"How beautiful!" He gradually recovered his calmness and chuckled. "This is a good opportunity for me to go to Rentato. I've always wanted to visit it anyway. I'm the man who is destined to become the greatest playwright!"

Against the sunset, the black-haired young man blew a cheerful whistle again.

Chapter 896 Still In Mundaneness

In the study in the Hull Manor, the thick curtains were pulled to the two sides. Covered in gauze, the window let in the sunlight and created splendid golden light in the room.

Hathaway was calculating something behind the desk with the quill in her hand. Now and then, she raised her head and talked with Douglas and Fernando in simple words. If what she wanted to express was too complicated, she would choose an oral-and-written approach.

Douglas, standing before the window, looked solemn, as if he was deep in thought. He paced back and forth in the golden realm of sunlight. Occasionally, he came to a sudden stop and pointed out the critical immaturities in Fernando and Hathaway's thoughts. By the time they offered their rebuttals, he would start pacing again as a thinker.

The scene where they discussed arcana and magic was like a vivid painting. It was a pity that nobody was there to record the brilliant tableau in the history of magic.

Such discussions had lasted many days. All the confusion that Fernando and Hathaway had on gravity, the motion system of celestial bodies, and the three laws of motion had been perfectly answered, giving them copious returns.

"When I applied calculus to the ninth-circle spells, I realized that the difficulties of construction were significantly lowered…" Fernando waved the paper in his hands.

On the paper that had been processed with magic, light and shadow coexisted, giving a strange cubic feeling to the magic model.

"Not just the ninth-circle spells, all the spells above the third circle have been mostly simplified. If the difficulty to construct and learn spells was 100 in the past, it's only 60 now," Douglas replied as he paced.

Staring at the paper in his hands, Fernando suddenly said with mixed feelings, "If calculus were established twenty years sooner, we would have plenty more archmages and senior-rank sorcerers today. The combat abilities of the sorcerers of the same rank would be doubled too."

Douglas paused and turned around to look at Fernando. "How is your recovery? Have you grasped calculus and gravity?"

"There isn't a problem for now," Fernando said affirmatively.

Douglas nodded his head. "Then, please contact the other organizations and express our willingness for cooperation. Also, remind them that they must lie low even if they do not have any materials in the next couple of years. We cannot try anything until the conflicts between the Church and the nobles reach the crest."

"In any case, those cowards dare not do anything!" Fernando said in disdain. Then, he put his quill and his paper back, as if he were ready to leave.

Nobody could deny that Fernando was a man of action.

Douglas turned around and looked at Hathaway. "Hathaway, you should return to Rentato. The Church and the other nobles will suspect you if you stay here for long."

"Okay," Hathaway replied, but her quill did not stop at all.

Douglas took a deep breath. "The Lord of Frigidity and the Eye of Curse have concealed their demiplanes. So, I need to pay a visit to hell first."

After a brief union, the three of them embarked on different roads for the future of the sorcerers.

...

Crack.

The candlestick fell to the ground into pieces, and the broken candle died out after flickering for a while. The whole room was caught in absolute darkness, with nothing but the beastly moans.

"Shirley, don't be scared, listen to me!" When the noises were gone, the sound of an agitated young man echoed. He had the pupils of a cat.

The girl breathed heavily but did not respond.

"Shirley, calm down, I'm not a sorcerer. Trust me, I'm not a sorcerer!" The young man was also breathing heavily, like the bellows that were being pulled hard.

The girl named Shirley gradually suppressed her panting. Out of the young man's expectation, she said calmly, "Vicente, you calm down too. Whether or not you are a sorcerer, I love you all the same."

Her words were like a marvelous spell that drove away the depressing and suffocating air in the room.

Vicente's eyes seemed unusual and allowed him to see things in the dark. So, he agilely lit the candle on the desk, which had been slapped off by him just now.

The room was filled with dim light again. Vicente had already put down the heart in his hands and wiped off the blood. He rushed to the girl and asked excitedly, "Really?"

Shirley bit her teeth and nodded solemnly. "I don't care who you are. I'm only worried about losing you. The Church won't let go of a sorcerer."

Vicente laughed like an innocent child. He even spun for a few circles before he hugged Shirley and kissed her temple. "Rest assured. I'm really not a sorcerer, and for you, I will never become one."

"But the body over there…" Shirley pointed at the broken body on the long table in fear.

Vicente held back his delight and cleared his throat. "I discovered the possessions of some sorcerers at the edge of the swamps, including magic knowledge and mysteries about the human body.

"At first, I was indeed fascinated by the marvelous magic, but then I thought of you. We've known each other since childhood. You secretly taught me the common tongue and the Sylvanas language even though you were a noble. You declined so many distinguished nobles just to marry me, which made your father and your mother very angry. How can I abandon you and walk on the path that only means hiding?"

Vicente added sweet words to his explanation. Shirley's lips curled, and she tried not to show her smile.

The nobles in this period still learned the language of the Magic Empire in private.

"So, I buried the books on magic at the edge of the swamps again and only brought back those about body mysteries." Vicente pointed at a few books on the table.

Shirley asked in confusion, "Body mysteries?"

Vicente suddenly became solemn. He said with mixed feelings, "I've met too many helpless patients in the charity. They have no money to ask the reverends to treat them with divine power, and they can only count on the herbs and potions from the doctors like us.

"Other people may be unaware of it, but as a doctor of the charity, I know very well that the herbs and potions can only cure minor diseases. As for the patients who are in slightly more serious conditions, I can do nothing but watch them moan and scream as they approach the end of their lives. It pains me and makes me feel helpless. The doctors of the charity always become either cold or insane."

Leaning into Vicente's chest, Shirley touched his back. "I understand. You know that I often help out at the charity. I've seen a lot of deaths too. Many patients were only little kids, and they just died in front of me. At that time, I only hated that I was not pious enough to be a nun to have the divine power."

"So, I've always wanted to find better recipes for drugs, but I realized that the human body is full of mysteries. I don't know the structure of the heart or if there is anything else in our body. I don't know how our body functions as a whole. Then, how can I find better recipes?" Vicente's eyes were full of hope, which made him glow. "I want to understand the mysteries of the human body. I want to figure out what our body is made of!"

Shirley felt that Vicente today was more charming than ever. She nodded. "It's a good thing, but you must not disturb the rest of the deceased in the cemeteries, which will be noticed by the Church."

"I'll look for bodies in the forest and the swamps. If I can't, I'll study animals first." Vicente announced confidently, "After I become a famous doctor, I don't think your mother and your father will prevent you from marrying me anymore."

Shirley suddenly blushed. "As a matter of fact, I came here today because they… they already said yes."

"Really?" Vicente almost jumped to his feet in excitement.

...

The city gate of Rentato was unusually crowded and lively.

"How prosperous! As expected of Rentato!" The black-haired and black-eyed young man complimented, "I should thank the viscount for catching me. Without him, I wouldn't have made up my mind to come to Rentato!"

Squeezing into the gate, he suddenly shouted, "Rentato, I'm here!"

"What a lunatic." The citizens around all looked at him.

The black-haired young man, however, was not bothered. He encouraged himself, "Oliver, you are going to be a celebrity of this city!"

He looked around, searching for a fancy hotel. The fact that he was literate and could write plays suggested that his family conditions were not bad, except that his parents died too young and did not discipline him much.

"Haha. This is the place…" While talking, he groped for his wallet, but his smile was frozen all of a sudden.

"My wallet! Where is my wallet!?" Oliver shouted and looked around in a panic, but his wallet was nowhere to be found.

As the cold breeze of spring blew by, young Oliver felt the cruelty of Rentato for the first time.

897 Les Misérables

All the pedestrians were coming and going fast on the street, but Oliver stood at the center like a statue.

As a young man, although he was brilliant in plays and quite experienced in certain aspects, and it was not his first trip outdoors, such a situation was still too much for him to bear. That was his living expense for the next couple of months!

What should he do? What was he going to eat? Where was he going to sleep?

Countless questions flooded into his head with frustration and anger, making him feel that the sunny afternoon was dark and that the crowd around him was indifferent and distant as if they were in different worlds.

"Bloody thieves!"

After a long time, Oliver burst out a howl that almost tripped over the passersby.

When he howled, he grabbed his suitcase tightly, fearing that another thief would emerge and steal his last possessions.

Not bothering the other people who were eying him as if he were a psycho, Oliver unleashed his feelings. After a while, he finally calmed down and began to consider how to survive.

"Calm down, calm down. Oliver, you have the talents, the appearance, and the physical strength to live through the difficulties." Oliver encouraged himself and thought quickly, trying to find a solution from his experience, but most of his experience came from plays.

"That's right. At such a moment, all I need is someone who appreciates me. My new life will begin there." Finding a solution from his plays, he clenched his fists. "Oliver, your most precious belonging is not your lost wallet, but your mind and the scripts in your suitcase. As long as you show them to the gentlemen with good tastes, you will immediately get a decent reward."

Having found a solution, Oliver regained the spirits of a young man. He took out a few thick piles of papers from his suitcase. Clutching them tightly, he asked the way while he fantasized what he would buy after he became rich; an extravagant house, several obedient and beautiful maids, delicate and delicious food, famous wines, hot lovers, and most importantly of all, a few goons to kill the bloody thief!

The Society of Plays, located in Alanmu Street, was not far away from the gate. Oliver saw the unique building that was supported by gray stone pillars very soon.

He paused when he saw the guards at the door. He remembered a commonly used cliche in plays, which was that the hero was refused by the proud guards because of his ragged clothes, and therefore had to achieve his purpose through other indirect approaches.

"I cannot make such a mistake." Oliver felt that he was really smart to take that into consideration. So, he walked to a square nearby and combed his hair, which had turned messy during his earlier catharsis, in front of the pool that was as smooth as a mirror. He then took out a new black coat from his suitcase, replacing the dirty one on his body. In the end, he folded a handkerchief into a flower and put it in the pocket on his chest.

"An elegant gentleman." Oliver nodded in satisfaction and walked to the gate of the Society of Plays again.

He did not bother to look at the guards when he approached the gate. He merely snorted condescendingly when they came to stop him.

The two guards, deceived by his easiness and his appearance, thought that he was a noble sir and moved back, daring not to stop him.

"Haha. Oliver, you are fantastic! You will make it!" Oliver complimented himself and walked faster.

"Hey! Hey! Let me tell you, I will be the greatest playwright in the future! You can't be so impolite!"

Several minutes later, Oliver was picked up by two brawny men and thrown off the stairs.

"Get lost, fraud!"

"What an arrogant lunatic!"

They cursed and tossed Oliver's suitcase and scripts out.

Crack.

The suitcase was opened when it hit the ground, and his clothes and scripts were blown away.

Watching his most cherished scripts fly before him and land in the dust, Oliver was at a loss for a moment before he roared in fury, "You will regret it!"

A young gifted playwright like me will definitely achieve something great!

Packing up his stuff in misery, Oliver wandered on the street aimlessly, not knowing what he could do or where he could go.

"I'll find a shelter tonight and take a look in the city hall tomorrow to see if I can get a job." Seeing that the dark clouds were rising, Oliver recovered from his frustration and gnashed his teeth. "I can create poems. I'm good at words. How will I be starved in Rentato?"

Gradually, he picked up his confidence. He found shelter under the eaves and hid below it.

Hualala.

A torrential rain poured, raising a mist on the ground.

Oliver was dazed by the scene before he suddenly turned happy. "My experiences today will inspire my future creations!"

Pa.

Oliver felt that his head was exploding. He struggled to turn around, only to discover that a homeless guy was glaring at him.

"This place is mine!" The guy pointed under the eaves.

The fury that Oliver had the entire day burst out. As a young man, he roared, "I occupied it first!", while he lunged forward and fought the homeless guy.

Suddenly, his face was frozen, and his eyes lost the focus, because another homeless guy came from behind him and knocked him hard in the head with a wooden stick.

Darkness, blood, pain, and coldness haunted Oliver, making it impossible for him to get away from the unimaginable misery.

After trying his best, Oliver suddenly sat up. The darkness before his eyes faded, revealing the dim candlelight before him.

"Where… Where am I?" he mumbled, looking at the shabby cottage. He felt that his head was in pain.

"My house."

A man's cold voice echoed. The door to the room inside was opened, and a stout, tough-looking baldy walked out. "You've been sold to me."

"What?" Oliver jumped off his bed in disbelief, only to be knocked to the ground by the man with one punch.

"Call me boss, do you understand?" The man showed his muscles. "Shut your mouth and listen to me."

His head felt dizzy after the punch. Oliver touched his swollen lips and looked at the baldy in fear.

The baldy chuckled. "As an outsider who does not have money or strength, you were bold enough to fight local homeless guys. Hehe. After they knocked you out, they stole your clothes and sold you to me. From today onward, you will be my subordinate. You will be freed when you have done enough labor to compensate for the money I paid for you."

This bad*ss does not seem too bad… Covering his lips, Oliver asked, "What do we do?"

"We bury," the baldy replied in disgust.

When it was only dawn, the baldy, who was named George, led Oliver to a morgue.

"The bodies that do not have relatives or money are stored here. It's our job to bury them in the new cemetery. We'll be paid by the Church and the city hall." The moment George opened the gate, the stench of decayed bodies spread out, making Oliver who never smelled such a thing before gag hard.

Many other burial men in ragged clothes were in the morgue. They were all George's subordinates.

"Hey, quite a few new babies are here today," George said in delight. Then, he strode to the newly-delivered bodies and searched them carefully for possessions that might be of any value. If their clothes were relatively intact, he would simply take them off.

Oliver sweated and shivered hard, feeling that he had come to hell.

After he was done looting, George laughed. "Boys, let's get to work!"

Oliver moved the bodies to a special wagon unwillingly. When he touched the cold skin, he almost jumped away. He felt that his hand was so dirty that he was almost stinking himself.

The burial men were together all the way from the morgue to the new cemetery. Oliver did not have any chance to escape. Baldy George also told him that he had connections in the Church and the city hall, and that if Oliver dared to escape, he would be buried in the new cemetery directly.

The stench of rotting bodies was everywhere in the new cemetery, causing the slums nearby to smell the same permanently.

"Only poor people live here. The reverends of the Church never bother to clean it here," George complained and asked Oliver to dig holes.

The new cemetery had been preprocessed by the reverends. So, chances were few that undead creatures would show up. They were rather confident.

Holding the shovel, Oliver dug pits mechanically and numbly. In the middle of his digging, several bones appeared out of nowhere, forcing him to step back in fright.

"Has this place been taken?" George touched his bald head. "It's alright. Just bury on the top of them," he said unconcernedly.

Bodies were thrown down, and mud was sprayed on the top of them. Very soon, the land was even again.

George found a wooden tombstone and put it at the center of the cemetery. There were no sigils or epitaphs, only a shabby cross.

"Is my life going to end like this?" In the stench, Oliver thought numbly and confusedly.

…

In a manor in the suburb, the hall was ablaze with lights, and delicious food could be smelled everywhere.

"What's his name? Well, Vicente, would you like one? This is the best cigarette from the Kingdom of Brianne." A fashionable young noble, black-haired and blue-eyed, grimaced at Vicente while holding a few yellowish cigarettes in his hands.

Both his countenance and his tone were full of condescension.

Blushing, Vicente shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't smoke."

"Yo, what a mama's boy. No wonder Shirley likes you," the young noble said sarcastically.

Shirley, who was not far away from Vicente, moved forward and raised her head. "Yes. I hate men who drink, smoke, and do not have any manners."

Then, she dragged Vicente to a dinner table not far away and said in a low voice, "Vicente, please don't mind. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to join this dinner."

"It's alright. We are going to be married soon. I will have to face this sooner or later." Thinking of his dream, Vicente announced proudly, "I'm very open-minded. It's true that I'm not a noble who has been enjoying those things since childhood, but I'll try to be better than them and make sure that your future life won't be any worse."

Far away, Shirley's parents looked at them with cold expressions.

Chapter 898 Dignity of Nobles

Deep into the night, in the luxurious main bedroom of the manor…

Shirley's father paced back and forth gloomily and complained to her mother, "It's all your good idea! You said that by agreeing to his proposal and allowing the poor boy to get in touch with nobles, he will lose confidence and leave Shirley voluntarily, but what happens in the end? He clutches her even more tightly!"

"I didn't know he was so shameless!" Shirley's mother said grimly.

Shirley's father scorned, "You do not know humans at all. Such poor boys only want to become nobles through marriage. The more we show it to him, the more he would crave for it. How will he leave voluntarily?"

"Why did you agree with me and accept the proposal if you think you know everything?" Shirley's mother roared angrily. "Tell me, what solutions do you possibly have? It's like Shirley's mind has been controlled by magic. It's impossible to talk sense into her! She even threatens me with her life!"

Shirley's father turned cold. He chuckled. "Of course I have solutions."

Shirley's mother was briefly stunned. "You have solutions? What are they? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Her questions revealed her panic and anxiety.

"I sent someone to follow the boy. He's very interested in herbs and potions, and he often goes to the swamps to search for strange plants." Coldly, Shirley's father raised his right hand. "After a while, we'll ask a mercenary to follow him to the swamps. Then, crack…"

He made a throat-cutting gesture.

"What? Are you going to kill him? Are you not scared that Shirley will hate us for the rest of her life? She often threatens us with her life!" Shirley's mother asked nervously.

Shirley's father put on a cruel smile. "How can she possibly suspect us? We are good parents who have been softened by her. If we want to kill him, why would we agree to his proposal?"

"You…" Shirley's mother suddenly realized it. "That's why you agreed to his proposal?"

"Of course. Why else would I have given in?" Shirley's father nodded. "During the dinner, the few young men who are into Shirley seemed quite dissatisfied with that boy. Shirley will definitely consider them as the main suspects. Jealousy is always one of the greatest motivations for crimes."

"Very good. I do not want to see the boy ever again!" Shirley's mother smiled in satisfaction. "Honey, you are so smart. When are you going to do it? I need to watch over Shirley."

Shirley's father shook his head. "Don't be hasty. As I said, jealousy is always one of the greatest motivations for crimes. Those young men are all nobles. There's nothing they dare not do to civilians. So, let's observe for a while. Maybe they'll do it for us. In that case, we wouldn't need to risk looking for a mercenary. That's the reason why I held this dinner party."

"You're always right." Shirley's mother nodded with a smile.

...

In a guest room near the main house of the manor…

The three most provocative nobles in the dinner had been secretly gathered.

"Andrew, I cannot hold back my fury," a noble who had naturally curly hair said angrily.

The young noble named Andrew said gloomily, "Me too! It's true that I like Shirley, but I will not go crazy if I can't have her. If she is married to another noble, I will only be sad but won't do anything outrageous. However, she is going to be married to a civilian who has no hope of activating his blood power! This is an insult to me and the dignity of nobles. How am I going to face other people at parties? 'Hey, aren't you the Andrew who was bested by a civilian boy?'"

"That's right. I only hate that I cannot kill him right now!" Another young man, who had amber-colored eyes, waved his fists hard.

The noble who talked first nodded his head. "I feel the same. However, the boy is Shirley's fiancé right now. If we do anything, I'm afraid that the Brenzells will be infuriated. They are very influential in the neighborhood."

He appeared very frustrated. Brenzell was Shirley's last name.

The room was caught in awkward silence.

Suddenly, Andrew snorted. "In fact, we do not have to do anything in person."

"Huh?" His friends looked at him in confusion.

Andrew smiled. "I know a night watcher. All we need to do is to accuse the boy as a magic apprentice."

"He's a magic apprentice?" the amber-eyed noble asked in shock.

"Maybe, maybe not, but he will be one," Andrew said coldly.

Oh! The other two nobles, being no stranger to such tricks, immediately understood what Andrew meant.

The noble with the naturally curly hair asked another question, "But what if Baron Brenzell goes to save him?"

Andrew chuckled. "Since the Church occupied Aalto, those sorcerers have been hiding more stealthily. Many night watchers haven't killed any evils for a long time. It's said that the leaders of the Inquisition are not satisfied, fearing that the night watchers would lose their value. So, those night watchers definitely wouldn't let go of leads on sorcerers. As long as we find 'proof' before Baron Brenzell rescues him and force the boy to confess, will the baron dare to resist the Inquisition and the Church?"

"If there isn't any proof, we will let him 'die' due to excessive interrogation before the baron saves him. After all, he's just a civilian. Nobody really cares about it." The young noble with amber eyes complemented the plan.

The noble with the curly hair said in concern, "However, will the night watchers be used to 'creating sorcerers'? Will we suffer from it in the future?"

"Idiot, we are nobles!" Andrew scorned. "Alright, let's gather some Thales so that it would be easier to convince the night watcher I know."

When the three of them were in the middle of the heated discussion, a maid was standing outside their door. She was holding a tray with her right hand, and her left hand was frozen before the door, as if she were about to knock it.

Her face pale, she heard everything they said inside.

She was a human being with special blood powers. Although she never activated this bloodline and became a knight, she had excellent hearing, and she was sent to cater to the guests in this room by the Brenzells for that reason.

Holding her breath, the maid slowly left the door and walked to the main bedroom in a hurry.

"Very good, you've done a great job. I'll take care of it. Don't tell anything to my daughter in case she worries," Baron Brenzell said in "fury".

Hehe. This is a great plan. After tomorrow, there's nothing I can do to save Vicente Miranda. Shirley, don't blame me. I wish I could do something… He rehearsed how he would comfort Shirley. Well, after Vicente is captured, this maid should be buried in the garden.

No flaws should be left behind.

The next day in the morning, the maid, who had nightmares all night, woke up early and delivered breakfast for the guests, only to discover that the young nobles, including Andrew, were gone.

They've taken action? the maid thought worriedly. Miss Shirley had been treating the servants kindly and never abused them. She would be very sad if her fiancé died. Would there be enough time for the baron to stop it?

Concerned, she reached Shirley's bedroom without her knowing it. She then heard a happy melody sung by a gentle female voice.

The miss is very happy…

She thought subconsciously and wondered if she should let Shirley inform Mr. Vicente to hide until the baron took care of everything.

In her impression, the Andrews were much more notable than her master, so she was worried that Baron Brenzell could not stop it in time.

She lingered before the door and couldn't make up her mind. On one side, it was the miss who had been treating her well, and on the other side, it was the baron's order.

Suddenly, the door was opened, and Shirley looked at her in confusion, not knowing why she was at her door.

After a brief hesitation, Shirley asked gently, "Neece, do you have any trouble? Is there anything I can do for you?" She thought that Neece had come to ask for her help.

Neece shivered and made up her mind. She looked around and said in a low voice, "Let's talk in the room."

After the door was shut, Shirley heard the whole story from Neece.

Her face immediately turned pale, and worries surged out of her heart. If it were an ungrounded indictment, she believed that everything would be alright as long as she begged her father. However, there were a few bodies in Vicente's basement that he had dissected!

If it was discovered by a night watcher, who would believe that he was not a sorcerer except for herself?

Her parents were not satisfied with Vicente in the first place. They might help him under normal circumstances, but they would certainly not vouch for Vicente under such circumstances.

No, I have to inform Vicente and ask him to destroy the bodies or throw them back into the swamps! Shirley paced anxiously and decided to go to Vicente's house.

She considered asking servants or guards who were faster to send the message, but she couldn't tell anyone about the bodies!

...

In the new public cemetery…

Oliver and another burial man were left by Baldy George, because the tomb watcher had just been buried in the cemetery today, and no substitutes were found yet. George was asked to supervise it for a couple of days and set off fireworks when there were signs of undead creatures so that the night watchers could come in time.

George certainly wouldn't stay in the creepy cemetery himself, so he left Oliver here. Now that you are bold enough to seduce my daughter, I'll let you know that I am the master of your fate!

If he weren't concerned that Oliver might escape, he wouldn't have left another burial man with him at all.

Oliver suffered unprecedented sufferings and pain recently. The pride and confidence on his young face were replaced by numbness and endurance. His heart matured.

"Love is the only candle in this miserable world…" he remarked in a low voice. Although George's daughter was not pretty and not exactly his type, she warmed his desperate mind.

Looking at his companion who always seemed ready for a fight, Oliver decided to take a walk.

"If you dare to escape, I'll capture you and bury you alive!" the other burial man threatened him.

Oliver was in a bad mood again. He had enjoyed quite some beating recently. After he left the cottage of the tomb watcher, he roamed in the cemetery. The intense stench had little influence on him right now.

"The moon is so beautiful, but I am so miserable…" Oliver raised his head and looked at the bright moon. He was immediately in the mood for poems, but when he was about to write a sonnet, he suddenly stepped onto nothingness and screamed, "Ahhh!"

Pa, crack, crack.

A huge part of the cemetery collapsed, and countless bones and rotten flesh were revealed. The slackness of the burial men had left the earth unsteady

899 Even A Rabbit Bites if Pushed to the Corner

Late at night, the air in the new public cemetery was rather cold. The loud noise created by the collapse was sent by the wind and was thus already heard by the burial man from a distance. The burial man rushed over.

The burial man yelled and woke Oliver up, who was now feeling rather dizzy from being thrown to the ground.

"You bloody idiot! Look at what you've done! If you don't fill the pit tonight, I'll throw you in it! Damn!"

His words were nasty, and the fact that Oliver was still at a loss made him even more furious. He spat on Oliver and then walked away back to the cabin.

The viscous mucus hit the center of Oliver's forehead, and he then started fiercely throwing up. He was throwing up so badly that his entire stomach had been emptied, and then the bitter bile came up.

It was not only because of the mucus. It was also because he found himself covered in sticky dead body fluid and rotten flesh. His left hand was still grabbing the set of half-rotten guts, and in his right hand, there was a thick femur.

The scene was worse than any nightmares he had never had. It was beyond disgusting!

Oliver hurriedly threw the guts and bone away and held his breath. He felt that the horrible odor could kill him anytime.

At this time, some blue light blinked and flashed past, which caught his attention.

Oliver's eyes were sharp. Following the direction, to his surprise, he saw that the femur had cracked, and from within, the blue light was shining through the fine cracks.

The great curiosity and hope made him forget the killing odor and how dirty he was. His movement had become very gentle.

He carefully moved to the femur and picked it up with great caution.

There was indeed blue light coming out!

Oliver didn't check it immediately as he had learned his lesson. Instead, he climbed to the edge of the pit by grabbing a few bodies. After looking around and making sure there was no one else around, he cracked open the bone carefully.

He did it rather carefully, and the blue light was revealed bit by bit as the small pieces of bones on the outside were falling. Finally, Oliver got a light blue short stick in his hand, and the stick looked rather delicate and transparent.

Oliver was shocked, having no idea what it was.

Then he quickly hid the short stick in case George and the rest of the burial men would see.

Anything found from the bodies had to be submitted to George, who would make a selection and give the valuable ones to the city hall officials in charge of the cemetery and the priests. It had happened several times that George and his men immediately took Oliver's findings away when Oliver spotted something valuable. Not only that, George would not even pay him on time but just give him two bad meals a day.

Oliver wanted to bury the stick somewhere close and dig it out when he got a chance to leave this place. He would then get himself some money by selling the stick. However, at this time, he noticed the many small characters engraved on the beautiful stick, which was as blue as ocean water.

As a young man who loved opera, Oliver had spent lots of time studying characters and learning different cultures. Therefore, he immediately recognized the characters. It was Sylvanasian, one of the three most common tongues in the ancient Magic Empire!

Ms. Audrey's material was a great help to Oliver for understanding the characters. Oliver had lots of thoughts in his mind. He figured out the correct reading order and found that it was a piece about meditation! In the end, the owner even wrote down where he buried his treasures on the short stick!

Earth, fire, wind, water… Is this a sorcerer's meditation method? Oliver had heard many stories from bards and some operas, and they were about how an evil sorcerer did bad things to nobles and ordinary people, but in the end, the sorcerer was defeated by the clerics and nobles together. He had some thoughts on where this came from. He believed that it was from a sorcerer who did this before he or she died. Maybe the sorcerer hoped that this could be left to someone, but the person never came…

Oliver was a romantic person, and thus, he naturally longed for the mysterious life of a sorcerer who was always under the Church's chasing. As a devout follower, his conscience had plagued him multiple times for this, so he never did anything evil or tried to be a sorcerer himself.

However, what he had experienced in Rentato had made his belief less solid.

Why his Lord never saved him when he was suffering so badly? Why would the priests allow George and his men to do whatever they wanted and even protected them? Why could those clerics, nobles, and wealthy people enjoy luxurious coffins and tombs after they died, while a poor man, no matter how devout he was, could only be thrown into such a pit?

Did the Lord call this justice?

If so, he should save himself using a sorcerer's method first.

No one would know. In the future, he would be rich, and he could still be the same devout follower of the lord.

The conflicting feelings and thoughts appeared within Oliver's mind. Finally, he decided to bury the short stick first to save it for the future. After all, once becoming a sorcerer, he could possibly be spending his whole life living in fear and hiding. He did not want that.

Oliver buried the short stick beside a gravestone and left a secret sign for himself. He then hobbled back to the pit as he still had to fill it; otherwise, George and his men would definitely beat him up again.

Oliver knew that there would be no sleep for him tonight.

At this time, someone kicked him in his back and then punched him to the ground. Oliver felt pain all over his body, especially in his back.

"Damned lazybones! You did nothing! You wanna die?!"

It was Goldson, another burial man. He started beating Oliver up using all his strength.

Oliver could do nothing but to cover his head with his arms. Like a shrimp, he curled his body to protect his most vulnerable parts against the punches and kicks that were falling like raindrops.

After a while, Goldson started feeling a bit tired. "Get up and get the work done! Or I'll throw you in it!"

Before Oliver responded, Goldson had turned around and walked back to the cabin. He did not know how Oliver was staring at a gravestone with a special sign behind him. There was blood in Oliver's eyes.

Oliver knew that he would die sooner or later if he did nothing. But if he was going to die, they would die with him!

He slowly climbed up and walked to the gravestone. After digging out the short stick, he hid in the pit and carefully read it. After remembering the characters, he hid the short stick in front of his chest.

He then climbed out of the pit and picked up the iron spade left by Goldson.

He shoveled dirt into the pit to fill it, and the work only lasted for half an hour. With the spade in his hand, Oliver walked to the cabin with his face slightly flushed. His movement was quiet, for he didn't want to wake Goldson up.

Entering the cabin, Oliver heard Goldson asking while half-dreaming, "All done?"

That was way too fast.

"This one is blunt. I am taking a new one," said Oliver, who sounded like a sheer coward.

"Bloody slug," cursed Goldson. "Sharpen both the spades after the work's done."

The iron spades were given by the city hall. They could not afford iron items.

"Ok," said Oliver.

At this time, Oliver had come to Goldson and was now standing behind his back. The silver moonlight went through the window and covered him in silver-white. Under the witness of the moonlight, Oliver's shadow on the opposite wall raised the spade high in the air!

And then it fiercely dropped.

"Ahh!!!"

Goldson's bitter crying only lasted for a second and was cut off by his last breath. He had never expected that the useless, young coward from a rich family who only knew how to please girls would have the guts to murder him!

Goldson was dazed. He was never on alert when facing such a coward!

Fear had frozen on Goldson's face, and his unfocused eyes opened widely.

Blood dripped onto the floor from Oliver's spade. He spat on Goldson's head.

"You're good, uh? You've got something? You said you were gonna bury me, uh? Come! Come show me!" Oliver yelled at the body crazily.

After a few minutes, he slowly calmed down. After finding dozens of Fells from Goldson's pocket, Oliver put on Goldson's clothes.

After that, Oliver walked out of the cabin. The spade was still in his hand, and his left hand grabbed the short stick tight under his shirt. He then walked silently into the darkness.

The wind started roaring, and the night now looked even darker. There were now only dead bodies in the new public cemetery.

…

Shirley hurriedly came back to the village. Before she could walk to Vicente's place, she was stopped by a local peasant woman.

"Miss Shirley, don't go. Vicente, Vicente is a sorcerer!" said the woman in fear. "Fortunately, you two are not married!"

Shirley's head buzzed like she just got struck by a flash of lightning. She pulled the woman's arm and asked, "Vicente… How is it possible?!"

Were night watchers here already?

"Miss Shirley, you have no idea how terrible it was! They found lots of dead bodies in his basement! He's indeed a sorcerer! The clerics found it out…" the woman explained quite clearly to Shirley, but Shirley felt that she was going to faint anytime.

"Where is Vicente then? Did they catch him?" Shirley tried her best to stay calm.

The peasant woman looked very concerned. "No. They said he went to the marsh in the early morning!"

Shirley released a sigh of relief. As long as Vicente was still alive, there was still a chance!

She believed that Vicente had gone to the marsh to find the special herb because of what happened last night. He got lucky!

Shirley thanked the woman and hurriedly went back to the manor. She hoped that she could find Vicente in the marsh herself and tell him to hide for a while until her father solved the problem. He was not a sorcerer, so he only had to take out the magic book. However, she knew it clearly that as a noble lady, there was no way that she could go across the marsh and find Vicente there. She would probably end up getting lost there.

Therefore, she was about to send her servants there before her servants found out that the clerics were chasing Vicente. She was going to tell the servants that Vicente was the target of a few nobles' revenge plan.

As soon as she walked into the garden in her family's manor, a figure jumped out.

"Shirley, you like flowers? I found them in the marsh!" Vicente looked rather excited while waiting for Shirley's praise. In his hand, there were a bunch of scarlet flowers.

900 They Were Only Dogs

Shirley was startled and almost burst out screaming. She hurriedly looked around and then took a step forward. She grabbed Vicente's hand.

Her reaction confused Vicente.

Shirley tried to keep her voice low by overcoming her fear and nervousness. "Vicente, you have to run. The night watchers found the bodies in your basement."

"What?!" Vicente could not believe his ears even though it was Shirley who told him this, and Shirley was the person he loved and trusted the most in the world. "Impossible… This is impossible. How did they find it? How did they know?"

There was no way that night watchers could search every single house in an area for their number was too small for this.

Seeing that Vicente was panicking, Shirley told him what happened as briefly as she could. "Andrew felt humiliated, so they found the night watchers to kill you in the interrogation room. My servant heard them plotting."

"I see, I see… I am not a sorcerer. I never want to… Why are they pushing me…" Vicente felt both angry and nervous. He was at the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Shirley tried to make it short. "Don't worry. I'll ask my father to help you. You'll only have to accept an inspection and the Lord will know you're not a sorcerer. But you have to hide in the marsh for a few days so that my father can deal with it."

Her clear explanation and calm tone comforted Vicente.

"Okay. I'll listen to you, Shirley," said Vicente.

At this time, he had to count on Baron Brenzell. It happened before that a noble stood out to protect a sorcerer suspect. However, the suspect still went through the strict investigation and made the church believe it was a mistake.

"There's not enough time for me to prepare clothes and food for you. Be careful in the next few days. If everything goes well on my father's side, I'll ask a guard to carve the trees along the edge of the marsh with the symbol we previously agreed on," said Shirley.

At first, the baron did not agree on Shirley and Vicente being with each other and even cut off the letters between them. So the young lovers had previously decided on some simple symbols to inform each other how they were doing. Now, the symbols had become useful again.

At this time, Vicente suddenly looked very nervous. "I see people coming…"

He had a pair of eyes as sharp as that of cats, and he could see way better than common people. They were now hiding in the garden and being surrounded by lots of plants and bushes, so it was hard for people coming from outside to spot them.

"The night watchers are coming…" murmured Shirley. As Vicente's fiancée, she had expected that the night watchers would come to investigate, but she didn't know they would be this fast.

Vicente was very nervous. Once the night watchers walked in, the two of them would be seen!

He couldn't hide in a room in this manor because the night watchers would for sure search the rooms one by one!

Maybe he should hide here and wait for a chance?

At this time, Shirley suddenly looked up. "Vicente, you stay here. I'll distract them. Five minutes later, you go to the marsh through the side gate of the manor."

"It's dangerous!" said Vicente. In common people's minds, those night watchers were as horrifying as sorcerers, demons, and evils.

Shirley shook her head decisively and said, "I'm a noble. They won't do anything to me. Go and hide, now!"

…

Outside of the manor, the leader of the night watchers whose codename was Crazy Hound said to the rest of the night watchers, "You go to different directions and guard all the exits. I'll go into the manor with Tamer."

Under this circumstance, the night watcher called Tamer was much more useful than the rest of them because of the many magic creatures he trained.

"Sir, they all say that Vicente has gone to the marsh, and we are here only for figuring out the areas in the marsh that Vicente visits most often. Do we have to make this so big?" A night watcher believed that they should go to the marsh as soon as possible instead of spending too much time in the manor.

Although called Crazy Hound, he was rather cautious. "No matter when, we block off a place and then enter. This is our principle. Can you say for sure that there's only Vicente in this manor? How do you know his fiancée hasn't been lured? How do you know whether the baron is secretly supporting sorcerers or not?"

The night watcher who asked the question kept apologizing.

No wonder their leader had taken out the entire team. Crazy Hound was worried that there were nobles involved in this.

"According to the previous investigation, Vicente and Miss Brenzell are very close. If we keep a close eye on her, we probably don't have to search into the marsh," Tamer added.

At this time, Crazy Hound sniffed something and suddenly commanded, "Hide!"

The team followed his order immediately and hid in the fields and trees.

Half a minute later, a lady showed up beside the manor gate. She was dressed like a maid, but she wore a black gauze hat. The hanging veil covered her face.

She looked around and made sure no one was around. Then she hurriedly set off for the marsh.

"It's Shirley. She can't hide from my nose." Crazy Hound grinned to Tamer.

Tamer also put on a creepy smile. "She must be informing Vicente. She can't ask her maids or guards to do it."

Very likely her maids and guards would sell her out if she decided to do so.

"You're right. It seems that the task will be pretty easy." Crazy Hound had the brutal smile on his face, for they would win the reward from the Inquisition as well as from Andrew. If they could make this even bigger and involve more people, they would earn even more!

When Shirley had walked some distance away, Crazy Hound whistled and gathered the team again.

"We follow her. Tamer, you stay here and watch the manor, just in case," commanded Crazy Hound.

"Yes, leader," said Tamer politely. He had many "pets". Although he could not monitor the entire manor, guarding the main gate and watching the baron should not be a problem.

Crazy Hound decided to lead the entire team for fear that Vicente had got his helpers. They secretly followed Shirley through the green field, thin trees, and finally arrived at the marsh filled with miasma.

At this time, Crazy Hound's eyes suddenly opened big, for he saw that Shirley had started walking back!

What did she do? How did she inform him?

No! They were fooled by her!

Crazy Hound was furious, but he knew that it would have been too late if he led the entire team back. So he and his team directly jumped out and closed in on Shirley.

"Who are you! What do you want!" Shirley shouted.

Crazy Hound said gloomily, "Miss Shirley, where's Vicente?"

"I don't know. How do I know? He hasn't come back from the marsh yet," said Shirley as calmly as she could.

"Then why are you here?" Crazy Hound was about to lose control.

Shirley responded coldly, "Come to find him. But when I see the marsh, I know there's no way that I can find him in this place. I'm a noble lady! So I've decided to go back. He should just die in there."

"If you don't change your mind, I'd have to take you back to the inquisition." Crazy Hound's eyes started looking red.

"Dare you! I'm a noble!" said Shirley aloud.

Crazy Hound sneered, "So what? As long as a noble has anything to do with a sorcerer, he will also be put on the gallows."

"Take her!" commanded Crazy Hound. "She'll know what an interrogation is like in the inquisition!"

"You crazy dogs! My father will protest to the Church. You will be severely punished!" Shirley screamed for she could not believe her ears.

"Go ahead!" Crazy Hound was not going to change his mind.

…

"The night watchers took Shirley to the inquisition?!" asked Baron Brenzell in great shock and anger.

After confirming the information, he had gone outraged. "Those lunatics! They don't even obey the laws! I'm going to see the viscount!"

He then rushed out furiously.

After half a day, the baron came back with an extremely shocked look on his face. Facing his wife, who kept asking what was going on, the baron finally said, "I don't know. I never expected this. The Church didn't care about nobles' opinions at all. They… They even threatened me. They said they'd take me in as well if they find anything against me."

"Are they out of their minds?! The nobles will protest together!" The baron's wife could not believe it.

Brenzell shook his head dispiritedly. "Protest? How? We can't defeat the Church."

…

In the interrogation chamber, the screams of a young lady lingered.

"She still hasn't said anything?" asked Crazy Hound.

The interrogator replied gloomily, "Not yet. She's more staunch than anyone I've seen. We've pretty much done the most severe damage to her body, but she still won't say a word."

"Use divine spells then," said Crazy Hound in despair.

The interrogator was shocked. "She'll die. She's a noble."

"It's okay. She's just a noble," said Crazy Hound. The attitude that the Church showed today had further supported Crazy Hound and made him even crazier. In his mind, a noble lady who was willing to marry a sorcerer was by no means innocent, and neither was her family. He believed that the Lord would also be on his side.

The interrogator finally put on an evil and cunning smile. "Alright. It's time for the nobles to understand who they are. They're only dogs raised by us."

He walked into the interrogation chamber in long strides. The screams slowly turned into bloodcurdling cries like a nightmare. Eventually, even the cries had disappeared.

"Dead. What a pity. She had a pretty beautiful face." The interrogator walked out with the look of excitement still on his face. Obviously, he enjoyed the process.

It was all quiet now in the interrogation chamber, as if the girl named Shirley had never even been sent into this place.

901 I"ll Be Back One Day

Plants were strange and messy in the marsh. Some trees, besides their huge crowns on the top blocking the entire sky, had "legs" like human beings but wrapped with red vines going deep into the soil and mud. The plants made the marsh look rather creepy and dangerous.

Vicente was hiding behind a big rock, about half his height. While the ground under his feet was quite solid and dry, which was rare in the marsh, the horrible smell pouring in his nose made him feel dizzy.

At this time, Vicente was sitting on the ground, staring at something in front of him in fear. On the black mud, there was a python as thick as a bucket crawling to him. Its eyes were giving out the unusual green light just like two candles. And the terrifying air the python possessed had driven away all the other creatures in the marsh.

Vicente was not a coward. He dealt with dead bodies all the time, which forged his bravery. However, facing the python, he had lost his ability to move because of the overwhelming fear. He was neither a knight squire nor a magic apprentice. He could do nothing to protect himself.

His legs soft, his body trembling, his teeth chattering, Vicente tried to stand up but could use no strength. He could do nothing but watch the python slowly approaching him.

He had never spent this long in the depths of the marsh. In the past, he only followed the paths he was familiar with, and once he found the special plants he needed, he would go back immediately. But this time, he had spent five days here, and most of the fruits he picked on his way had already been consumed. Now, he had encountered one of the most dangerous creatures in the marsh.

The python took its time. It was not in any hurry to enjoy its lunch. As it was becoming closer and closer to Vicente, Vicente could smell the stink from its mouth and see the strange scales forming weird patterns.

When Vicente had given up all his hope, the black python suddenly raised its upper body off the ground and stared at the muddy ground behind the rock with its big eyes. Sticking out, its dark-red, forked tongue was also covered in a layer of green light.

After a while, the black python suddenly turned around and left in a hurry!

Vicente had no idea what happened. He did nothing!

Finally, Vicente had a possible explanation for this. He buried the magic book and the pale palm behind the rock. Did they scare the monster away?

But they had been buried in the ground!

Gradually, he had a further guess. The black python probably sensed something that he could not. The black python probably sensed the air of death!

Maybe in the python's eyes, there was a hell in the rock!

After recovering a bit, Vicente forced himself to leave the magic book and the palm buried where they were and carefully set off for the edge of the marsh.

Half a day later, he approached the edge of the marsh in great caution. But he saw no signs or marks there.

Vicente was quite upset. He assumed that the trouble was pretty big and the baron was even having a difficult time dealing with it. After all, before he had some accomplishments, mistreating bodies was regarded as a very evil action. Even an ordinary man who did it would be put on the gallows.

He released a sigh and decided to wait for another five days. On his way back, he tried to gather more food.

...

"Shirley's dead?!" Baron Brenzell's eyes opened wide. He felt that he was in an unreal nightmare.

This night watcher had two big eyes and wide forehead, as well as sharp teeth. When he did not talk, he looked quite honest; however, once he grinned or talked, his sharp teeth were revealed, which made him look rather terrifying. In the baron's eyes, he looked identical to a demon.

Crazy Hound said, "Yes, to keep the secret of the evil sorcerer, she died under the divine power."

"You're out of your mind! All of you! How dare you torture her!" screamed the baron's wife.

The Baron grasped the last clue of his reason and stared at the night watcher. "So, so you are saying… Shirley didn't say anything! Before her death, she was still an innocent follower! You've got no evidence at all!"

The fire of anger and pain was roasting his guts in his chest. If necessary, he would collide his head against the gate of Cocus to death to tell the grand duke and the rest of the nobles that those night watchers had gone totally crazy, and they had to be removed!

Crazy Hound said, "The Lord told us that only the evil power could make her endure such severe punishment and confess nothing, and it was also the evil power that made her die before she almost confessed. Therefore, obviously, your daughter was lured by evil and had an affair with a sorcerer."

"Insane… All of you… insane…" Hearing the ridiculous words, the baron felt that the entire world had become so unreal. He just kept murmuring.

Crazy Hound grinned. "So, based on this, it's reasonable for us to suspect that your family also has something to do with the sorcerer because you two have agreed to marry your daughter to a vicious sorcerer. Please follow us back to the inquisition. This is the Lord's will, and command from the cardinals."

The baron and his wife's world had collapsed. Their only daughter had just died, and they were still struggling with digesting the pain. However, the crazy night watchers had put their claws on them.

The night watchers rushed up in a crowd and caught the baron and his wife.

"Let go of us! We're nobles!"

"We're nobles!"

...

In a house in the city, Andrew and his two friends were totally shocked to hear the result.

"How is this possible? Shirley… She died?"

"They've caught the baron and his wife with no evidence?"

"They can treat us the same way in the future…"

Their faces now looked very pale, and they couldn't stop shaking. Their false accusation had led out a monster even more horrifying than a devil, whose name was "night watcher"!

...

"They are no way close to their daughter." The interrogator walked out of the chamber with a cold smile on his face.

"Got anything?" asked Crazy Hound.

The interrogator nodded. "A few years ago, when the war in Aalto was locked in a stalemate, they once secretly contacted a sorcerer. They cut it off later though when His Holiness killed the Liege of Death."

"Good. This has proved that our way surely works. They were hiding deep, but we still found them," said Crazy Hound proudly. He reckoned that, with their purest belief, night watchers could identify the corrupted people using their instinct even without direct evidence, which was also a better way for them to claim their accomplishment.

The interrogator grinned. "I never like those nobles who keep swaying back and forth."

"Put their daughter's body on the gallows for a week and see if Vicente will come out." The expression on Crazy Hound's face had turned savage as he said, "As for the noble couple, I believe the executioner has been waiting long enough…"

...

Andrew walked back and forth anxiously in the hall, waiting for information to come back from Cocus. His two friends had collapsed in the coach. What happened was totally beyond their expectation.

"Young master, Cocus told the nobles to stay calm…" The butler walked in, gasping.

Andrew felt that all his strength had been pulled out instantly. "I knew it, I knew…"

To their great shock, even if all the nobles were willing to unite together, they were just an idle threat to the Church!

Someone was knocking on the door at this time.

"Who is it?" asked the butler nervously.

"I'm here for my reward," said Crazy Hound, who just walked in.

Andrew and his friends were so startled that they jumped up. "You?!"

"So you won't keep your words?" Crazy Hound had a nice smile on his face.

"No, no… This is the rest of the payment." Andrew took out a bag full of Thales.

Crazy Hound weighed it and grinned. "Good. You're a good partner."

Then he said with a faint smile on his face, "Many thanks to you, Mr. Andrew. You've made us understand how powerful we are."

Then Crazy Hound turned around and left. Andrew was standing where he was like a stone statue. The wind coming in through the gate made him feel cold from deep inside.

...

A few days later, Vicente came to the edge of the marsh again but still found nothing.

He was very worried and decided to take the risk to go back secretly.

In the darkness, he sneaked back to his village. When he was about to "kidnap" a kid to get some information, he suddenly heard two peasant women talking.

"Poor Miss Shirley. I don't believe she was corrupted and lured by devils…"

Under the Church's propaganda, even a peasant woman knew how to use some big words.

"You're right. Miss Shirley is such a nice young lady, like an angel. Goddamn Vicente! He lied to Miss Shirley! If it weren't because of him, Miss Shirley wouldn't die in the inquisition and even be put on the gallows!" The other woman agreed.

Shirley… died?

The women's conversation was like a huge hammer that just gave Vicente's brain a fierce strike. His vision suddenly turned blurry, and he almost lost his balance.

The two women kept talking, and he had understood what had happened when he was hiding in the marsh.

His soul had been pulled away by the agony, and his mind had blanked out. He walked back to the marsh like a zombie.

Maybe he was blessed by the Goddess of Luck. On his way back, no one saw him, and he didn't encounter any monsters.

"NO!!!"

After a while, an extremely painful cry burst out somewhere from the marsh, and it was even bitter than a lonely wolf crying to the moon.

Vicente's face was covered in tears, and his eyes were ablaze with a ferocious flame of anger. He kneeled down on the ground, and his hands kept digging into the soil as if he felt no pain. His nails were completely broken from the digging, and his blood dyed the ground.

A few minutes later, two black books and a pale palm were dug out.

He picked them up, and hatred was the only thing left on his face.

...

"He never came?" asked Crazy Hound, who was hiding around the corner and staring at the body on the gallows.

Tamer smiled. "It's too obvious. Those sorcerers know."

"Poor girl. She died for him." Crazy Hound shrugged.

Gallows were only for "purifying" living people, so they didn't burn her.

Quite a lot of people stopped and reproached the evil woman colluding with devils and sorcerers. Only very few people knew Shirley in person and knew it wasn't true, but they dared not to say anything.

Among the crowd, a dark-skinned man stared at Shirley's body but remained silent. The way he looked at her was full of agony for he could not imagine the suffering that his lover once experienced, and he could not stop blaming himself for this. However, he eventually turned around and headed off for the city gate. He never looked back again.

Walking out of the gate, he suddenly took off the cross he was wearing. Gripping the cross in his hand, he made his vows. The tip of the cross pierced the skin of his palm, and his blood dyed it.

He put the cross in the wall beside the city gate silently and then slowly walked into the darkness.

"I will be back!

"I will be back to bring you back to life!

"I will be back, and I'll bring destruction and death!"

902 The Treasure

On the wasteland overgrown with bushes, there were bones and skeletons everywhere.

A small group of traveling salesmen was going through this dangerous area under the protection of a dozen mercenaries. Their destination was the Kingdom of Brianne.

The wasteland was on the border between Holm and Brianne and was embraced by the big mountains where all sorts of magic creatures were living. Also, there had been rumors that this area was once the domain ruled by Viken, the King of Calamities and the governor-general of Great Holm. He was different from all the previous and following governors-general. Instead of only focusing on guarding Rentato, Viken had also conducted many experiments here close to the border. Therefore, on the wasteland, there were many strange creatures, and they were believed to be the shoddy products of Viken's experiments.

After Viken went missing, no one ever found the entrance of his demiplane, which was located here on this wasteland. No one knew why he went missing, and no one ever found the magic items Viken left behind.

Many sorcerers saw this as a great pity. A sorcerer close to top legendary level and the master of studying bloodlines must have lots of treasure and great knowledge in his demiplane, but they had all gotten lost in the long river of time.

"Similar stories are endless. Even now, some people are still trying to find Viken's treasure on this wasteland," said Hassan, the deputy leader of the mercenaries, with mixed feelings. "They should think using their butts. Even if they are blessed by the Goddess of Luck and find the entrance, are they able to get the treasures in the demiplane?"

"Viken was called King of Calamities, and he was a master of studying bloodlines and transforming bodies. I bet you a bag of liquor, that in his demiplane and magic tower, there are transformed monsters close to the legendary level. Umm, maybe people already found his demiplane, but all of them became the food for the monsters," Hassan continued.

One of his subordinates was a teenage boy who looked quiet and scholarly. Hearing the deputy leader's words, the look on his face slightly changed. He then forced a smile on his face as he said, "They became blind because of their greed; the treasure devoured their wisdom."

"Oliver, you are surely a bard. You always say something interesting." Hassan patted the teenage boy's shoulder.

Hassan had known this young man for three to four months. Except for the fact that Oliver liked fooling around with women, Hassan felt that he was quite a good subordinate for he knew how to talk properly and how to do things in the correct way.

All men who chose to be mercenaries loved fooling around with women, so this was not a big deal.

At this time, the leader, Grigra said coldly, "Don't talk like this next to a business team anymore. Night watchers will probably hear you."

"We're just telling tales!" Hassan said unhappily. What did this have to do with those night watchers?!

Grigra snorted, "I heard it from the nobles in the team that those night watchers have been acting crazy recently. They have burned a few mercenaries for discussing these sorcerer legends. The night watchers believe they are evil."

"Really?!" Hassan was quite shocked. And so was Oliver, who was just immersed in his own thoughts earlier. They knew that those night watchers were lunatics, but he never thought that they would go this far.

"You can try if you want," said Grigra casually. He then took a meaningful glance at Oliver. He was still on full alert toward the new member of the team. Grigra's instinct told him that this young man was hiding something from them. Maybe he was an escaped criminal. If it wasn't because he sensed no spiritual power waves at all on the young man, Grigra would have sent him to the inquisition already.

Oliver knew that the leader believed that he was suspicious. He lowered his head and had decided to leave the team before the journey ended.

Since he escaped from Rentato, his life had been in constant danger, and he was constantly nervous. Although he killed a man, he was not a sorcerer. Therefore, night watchers would not be chasing after him. But the mercenaries, adventurers, and sheriffs had still made his life full of risks, and he had to fight for himself.

Fortunately, he was very experienced, and he had learned some fighting skills. His smartness and the strange powder he carried had helped him come all the way to the border of the Kingdom of Holm, where he had decided to start all over again. The death of Goldson was not a really big deal, and thus, he would not be put on the wanted list all over the country. When he got to a remote area, he would be safe.

What he learned from his experience was that one could only wait for death if he got no power. Therefore, he started to meditate after abandoning his belief in the God of Truth!

However, up until today, he still had not entered the meditation environment.

Oliver was not disappointed. According to the blue, short staff, even a gifted person would need to spend six months to two years to master his spirit and then enter the blank state. He just started four months ago.

But why were earth, fire, wind, and water regarded as the four most basic elements? How did they form so many different things? Oliver, a young man who was always interested in opera, could not control his imagination as he thought to himself.

After marching forward for a while, Grigra looked around and asked them to pitch the tents. Oliver was among those who were responsible for keeping watch tonight.

It was during mid-summer, but it was still cold on the wasteland.

Sitting beside the fire, Oliver looked pensive. He watched the stars in the sky and thought to himself that he was already very close to the treasure!

He had seen the strange, red rock, looking like a demon staying low on the ground.

He came all the way here for a reason!

What Hassan said earlier scared him, for he thought that the place he was looking was in fact the entrance to Viken's demiplane. But he knew the difference between legends and reality, and he believed that he was looking for the treasure left by another sorcerer, who probably settled down here to seek for Viken's demiplane.

It was getting late, and the wind had become even colder. The two mercenaries who went out earlier to patrol the area had come back.

"It's your turn now." They kicked Oliver.

They then reached their hands to the fire and started enjoying the warmth.

Oliver gripped the short sword in his hand and grinned to the man who was going to patrol with him. "I'll take this side, okay?"

"What's the difference…" murmured the man. He walked to the other side.

After walking to a remote corner, the smile on Oliver's face disappeared. Gripping the short sword in his hand, he left the camp and walked to the strange rock.

He got ten minutes to patrol this area. He had to find the place where the treasure was hidden within ten minutes. Oliver was on full alert, and his mind was clearer than ever.

Three minutes later, he had safely approached the strange rock without catching anyone's attention and was now trying to find something in the gap between the rock and the ground.

A minute later, Oliver still didn't find anything. Another minute passed, and there was still nothing. There was fine sweat on Oliver's forehead, but he remained calm.

Suddenly, a surprised expression appeared on his face. He dug quicker and inserted the blue stick in.

With a crisp sound, the blue stick had gone into some metal gear. After that, a blue light lit up from the gap and dyed the grass nearby blue.

Silently, a cave was exposed in the ground of the wasteland behind the strange rock. The path going deep into the cave was paved with dark gray stone bricks.

Oliver took out the stick and then hurriedly walked in. He walked faster and faster, and in the end, he started running as fast as he could. According to the characters on the stick, there was a gear inside for shutting down the entrance. To be safe, he had to find it and close the entrance before the mercenaries found him.

The sound of his footsteps resounded in the corridor. Finally, Oliver saw the round hall in front of him.

The round hall was divided into a few stone chambers, and all the gates were wide open. What was in each of the chambers was very obvious—bookshelves and all sorts of dazzling gems.

Oliver was dazed for a second because of such great treasures!

Obviously, this place was a treasure vault. Oliver didn't even know where to look. Wave stone, Sun stone, the Ice Crystals…

Oliver had seen those gems on noble ladies. He understood how precious they were.

"Haha, I'm rich now!" A hoarse voice laughed behind Oliver.

Oliver was shocked. He turned around and saw his team leader, Grigra, who was walking to him looking rather greedy and excited.

There was a longsword in his hand.

Oliver didn't know what to do.

Grigra laughed. "I knew you were hiding something. I wanted to kick you out once the mission is completed. But I didn't know you were hiding something this awesome! Thank you for bringing so many gems to me!"

He crossed his sword in front of his chest and said, "Thank God for bringing you to me and leading me to the treasure. To express my gratitude, I'll allow you to die here!"

Gripping the short sword and the magic stick, he was so scared that he took a few steps back. Facing the team leader, who had almost reached the level of knight, Oliver had no confidence in himself.

Grigra did not want to waste any time. Without hesitation, he jumped at Oliver and lifted his sword.

Chapter 903 Passed

Oliver, as a "warrior" who had been through life-threatening dangers many times, was not too panicked to move at the critical moment. He backed off sideways subconsciously and waved his short sword, trying to find a way to escape.

However, he was far weaker than Captain Grigra, who took advantage of the length of his sword and slashed nonstop, making it impossible for Oliver to draw near. He could not make the best use of the short sword and could not resist the attacks by raising his sword.

Clang, clang, clang.

After a few crisp sounds, the short sword fell to the ground, and Oliver's right hand was bleeding.

Grinning hideously, Grigra stepped forward and cut horizontally, further reducing Oliver's range of activity.

After only a while, Oliver realized that he had been cornered. He would have to face the flashing longsword whichever direction he went to.

Am I going to die?

When the longsword reached him, Oliver's head was dizzy, and something seemed to be bursting out from within his body, turning his eyes bloodshot. He subconsciously grabbed the only thing in his hands and raised it against the longsword.

Pa.

After a dull noise, Oliver stepped back again. He was stuck to the cold wall. More blood flowed out of his fingers, dying the blue staff red.

"Hehe!" Grigra was not concerned. Oliver could not defeat him when he had a short sword, and it was even unlikely now that he was merely holding an uncanny staff.

The only thing that made him waver was that the short staff seemed rather precious, and his heart would be pained if it was broken.

However, he thought of the room full of gems and possible magic items, and his vacillations were immediately gone. There were so many valuable items after all. He could afford the loss of the staff, as long as he killed Oliver in time and closed the entrance in case other people competed with him for the treasures!

Making up his mind, he slowed down his longsword, blew away the staff, and pierced at Oliver's chest.

Looking at the glittering tip of the sword, Oliver felt that the whole world was slowed down and that the sword was reaching his chest like a snail. However, only his mind was this fast. His body was as "slow" as Grigra's longsword. He could only watch the longsword penetrate him without being able to do anything.

Am I going to die?

I don't want to die!

After only a short while, Oliver was caught in a strange hollow state. Then, a string seemed to have been broken in his head. He felt that something flooded out of his soul overwhelmingly into the blue staff in his hands.

Crack.

With a weird "crack" coming from the staff, Oliver felt that he had opened a gate, and his whole body was enshrouded in an ocean of tiny silver electric arcs.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The silver electric arcs that emerged from the staff hit Grigra's critical parts without meeting any obstacle.

Grigra's face and chest were immediately blackened. His longsword hit Oliver's body, but it led to nothing more than a shallow wound.

How can I die… Shocked and confused, he looked at the short staff before him that was still sparkling before he collapsed without any strength.

He had long confirmed that Oliver was not a magic apprentice, so he could not use the short staff even if it was an extraordinary item!

How did it happen? Grigra died with his eyes wide open in regrets.

Holding the staff with both hands, Oliver breathed hard. His back was as hunched as a shrimp. He had such a headache that he almost bumped into the wall.

After a long time, he was finally back to himself. He slowly raised his head. There was vague blood in his eyes, his nostrils, and the corners of his mouth.

Did the blast of spiritual power when I became an apprentice activate the staff? He thought in confusion, But shouldn't the staff have a central mark? Has it been erased?

He shook his head and looked at Grigra, holding the staff tightly. The fearsome captain that always terrified him was lying there lifelessly; his face dark and his eyes wide open. He was obviously as dead as anyone could be.

Not entirely reassured, Oliver squatted and examined Grigra's body carefully. After the confirmation, he looked at the staff in both confusion and ecstasy.

"Is this the power of magic?"

He quickly calmed down. He shut the entrance and found another secret exit. Then, he put the books, the items, and the gems into the magic pouch left by sorcerers and retreated.

It was not because he did not want to stay here and improve his strength first, but because there was no food here. He would be starved in a couple of days. As for the animals in the wilderness, 90% of them were stronger than him, except that they preferred brutalizing each other.

…

Two days later, Fernando came to this place and searched for "Hysterical Dance", an organization that had evacuated here. As far as he knew, although the Eye of Curse had been hiding recently, he hadn't admitted failure yet but merged a lot of smaller organizations to make up for the losses in the previous incident.

If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have known where he should go at all.

Naturally, he was unaware of the specific location of "Hysterical Dance". Only by reaching the area and passing the test of the sorcerers could he be allowed in.

"Huh, some magic traps are activated here." Fernando moved carefully on the ground instead of flying in the sky due to the night watchers' recent madness. With his spiritual power, he suddenly discovered an obvious trap with little disguise, suggesting that it was set up by a rookie.

"Is this the relic of a certain sorcerer?" Fernando was immediately in a better mood. It was not because he was greedy, but because the "Congress of Magic", having just been established, lacked both materials and money. The Union of Sorcerers suffered the heaviest losses in the incident of Cocus. The two deputy presidents who were not killed carved up the property of the organization and escaped, leaving nothing but a City in the Sky that was still in debris to Douglas and Fernando. Had it not been for the sponsorship from Hathaway, Fernando's visit to other organizations would have been very embarrassing.

So, he paused and cast spells to investigate the environment. After confirming his safety, he began to try to crack the magic trap.

About half an hour later, after a crack, the hill collapsed, and a gate was revealed.

After a thorough examination, Fernando flew in as enthusiastically as fire, only to discover that most gems, materials, and items were already gone.

"I'm one step late. If I ran into that rookie, I could've totally fooled… well, introduced him into the Congress," Fernando remarked in obvious regrets.

Based on the magic books that had been taken away and the remaining battle traces, he concluded that it was the apprentice-level rookie who took away the treasure through divinity.

…

Grasses and woods proliferated in the valley that was covered in vague, erratic mist.

Holding the black-covered thick book, Erica read it in fascination and calculated now and then.

"So, we are on a planet…"

"Is gravity the essence of the power of earth?"

"Is Earth Element the source of gravity?"

"The planet operates in such a way…"

"No wonder we will land again after we jump…"

Whispers of remarks and discussions echoed around Erica. The sorcerers were talking about "Mathematical Principles of Magical Philosophy" in excitement or contemplation.

The book disrupted their understanding of the world, making them feel that they had never really recognized it.

If it weren't for the fact that the book was unprecedentedly creative, the cognitive worlds of many of them would've collapsed or consolidated, but even so, they still thought that their mindsets had been refreshed.

Is the world like this?

The world is like this!

Raising their heads and looking at the stars over the mist, they seemed to see the trajectories of the mysterious stars. Everything was now under control!

Erica read for a while before she put down the book and rubbed her head as if she had been exhausted. Reading the book was too painful, particularly when one did not have enough knowledge!

Douglas had once taught her calculus before, but it was only meant to lay a foundation, and a lot of details were still obscured to her. So, it was terribly difficult for her to learn the Mathematical Principles of Magical Philosophy. She meant to write to Douglas, only to find that he was out of reach.

Seeing that Erica was rubbing her head, the sorcerers around rushed to her like rabbits and begged her.

"Erica, it's time to teach us calculus!"

"How do you think this question should be solved?"

"Should this magic model be processed with calculus?"

Their questions harassed Erica's ears like dancing flies, making her even more upset.

However, when she looked at the earnestness on their faces, her heart was softened again. She could learn the book by herself with her basic knowledge of calculus, but they did not know anything about it and could only read the gravity-related content.

In the meantime, she couldn't help but feel extremely proud. Many of them were senior-rank sorcerers who were much stronger than herself, but they had to ask for her guidance. Even Mr. Atlant asked her about calculus a while ago. Calculus was truly a paradigm-shifting breakthrough in mathematics!

Erica looked around and suddenly had an intense, uncontrollable delight. After the fall of Aalto, her companions had been as numb and desperate as undead creatures, but "Mathematical Principles of Magical Philosophy" was like a lighthouse in the night that drove the darkness and despair away, filling them with hope again. It was not because magic was not powerful, but because we hadn't done enough! Our understanding of this world was too shabby!

When there was hope, the succession of magic would never stop.

Erica's lips curled, and both happy and worried, she began to teach her companions calculus.

At this moment, a sorcerer flew in and asked an archmage who was in the crowd asking questions. "Mr. Deputy President, a senior-rank sorcerer named Fernando is requesting to meet you in the cabin. He has already passed the test. Do you want to let him in?"

Before the deputy president replied, Erica suddenly stood up. "Mr. Fernando? He's very good at calculus!"

That was Mr. Douglas' words!

Most sorcerers did not know that Douglas had already become a legend.

"What? He's very good at calculus?" Hardly had she finished her sentence when the sorcerers of the valley rushed out and disappeared, leaving only the sorcerer who came to send the message and Erica staring at each other.