Death!

Darkbane Academy, Demonic Creatures Garden. 

Heavy fog drifted amid the skies, creating eerie ghostly figures that shrieked and wailed silently. 

Even the harshest sunlight was unable to penetrate the low clouds and gloomy fog, so anyone walking through this area could feel a constant chill on their skin.

The garden exuded a sickening foul smell, making the entire atmosphere a stench of gray fog. 

In the garden, the hundreds of pens were inhabited by a myriad of strange creatures. If an ignorant fellow were to come near the pens without necessary protection, this desolate and silent land would become a paradise for those creatures, many of whom fed on the flesh and blood of humans! 

This particular garden was home to over hundreds of Mutated beasts. 

These Mutated Beasts are failed abominations created by the Mages of Darkbane Magical Academy, making them totally different from true Magical beasts 

However, these creatures are not completely failed experiments, they possess a certain level of intelligence. 

Moreover, they could be used as controlled mount and their mutated flesh, bones, and blood are valuable materials for experimental purposes. 

Mutated beasts are extremely volatile creatures as the mutation made their cells very unstable. 

Hence, they cannot eat anything not mixed with human flesh, blood, or bones.

A young servant nervously gripped at a glowing lamp in one hand and a bucket made of flesh and blood of animals and humans. 

It was obvious the lamp wasn't ordinary as the beasts in the shed recoiled in fear the moment the light from the lamp touched them.

The young servant hurriedly threw a bowl of flesh into the hole of the closed pens one by one.

Suddenly, the lamp started to turn dim. The young male servant panicked, hurriedly shaking the lamp.

A soft shriek rang out from the lamp as the sleeping creatures trapped in it woke up from fear, their bodies lightning up once more. 

The young servant sighed in relief as he continued his job. Just as the young servant had fed his quota of the beast and was about to exit the garden, a group of individuals immediately stood before him. 

Compared to the servants' skinny physique they were young and healthy. 

Furthermore, they had been tempered within the vicinity of the Academy for many years and possessed incredible vitality and knowledge.

If these individuals were placed on earth, one would think they were from top-notch families.

"Hm? The genius Tron, brought to the servant's manor by the Prime Mage himself." spoke with a sneer on his face. 

"Prime Mage? Haha. Don't jest." The group of servants began to laugh.

 The one who seemed to be leading the group then stepped forward.

 "Since he was someone brought back by the Prime Mage, then by now he must definitely be an unparalleled genius. By now, you should have awoken your Arcana Cortex. Why don't I test you."

His name was Kane, and he was the head of the 100-odd servants. He was 30 years old this year, in his prime. It was said that his Arcana Cortex had reached 40% activation level, possessing the ability to use level 0 arcane spells!

"Kane, wait!" Sethra used her frail and skinny body to shelter Tron before shouting, "H-his magical cortex has long been destroyed, he won't even last against an ordinary chicken. Please don't trouble him."

Tron was surprised Sethra sought to protect him, against this group of servants. 

Tron was touched. If not for Sethra, he would likely have received another heavy beating, especially since the others were always envious of him.

"Oh, turns out it's a piece of trash. Let's get the unpleasant things out first. Regardless of whether you're trash or not, you still won't be exempted from work. If you make even one mistake, you will pay with your life. I, am not someone who will sympathize with trash." Kane said without any restraint.

"He has been working here for the past three months without any problems. Don't worry Kane, if anything happens, I will pay with my life." Sethra replied softly.

"You will, you old bag of bones? Are you even able to?" Kane gave a cold smile before giving out a cold hmph!

Even if Sethra was the oldest among the servants, she was not respected the least. 

As there was something important that had to be done, Kane could not be bothered to continue troubling that pair any longer.

Not long after, the sounds of several beasts could be heard amidst the mist in the skies. Several huge mutated beasts descended into the garden and then several youths unmounted them.

All of them were not very old and looked about Tron's age. They all wore exquisite robes that looked elegant! The males had an impressive air of nobility and boundless vitality. The females were extremely graceful and possessed flawless snow-white skin. They were cheerful and lightheartedly talking. They inspired envy.

"If my magical cortex hadn't been destroyed, I might have been able to become one of them." Tron stood by the side, respectfully lowering his head, not even daring to look at them directly. If he dared to do so, it was likely that this group of Acolytes would discipline him.

"Haha, the mission was a success today thanks to you, Xavier."

"Stop it, Gillard, everyone knows it was due to your talent I was able to kill the Arachnid Queen Mother."

Several of the Acolytes were smiling, exiting the Servant's manor, and started walking towards the academy. The surrounding servants were not deserving of their attention.

Kane quickly whispered his commands. "Take care of the beasts properly!"

Sethra did not speak much and helped Tron guide a beast to the pen. Tron was particularly scared of beasts that didn't seem natural. 

The lamp prevented the beasts from eating them as lunch as they cautiously guided it to an empty pen. 

Over the past few months, Tron had gotten a grasp of the rules around the place and hence began to diligently learn and execute his tasks, all to ensure that Sethra would not get into any further trouble.

All of a sudden, a panicked sound could be heard. 

Tron and Sethra immediately rushed over. There was a Mutated beast on the verge of collapse, blood spraying everywhere from its mouth as its body began to disintegrate into puddles of blood, looking extremely brutal!

"That is the mutated beasts of one of the Acolyte Mages!"

Upon seeing this sight, everyone began to panic. Even Kane was trembling with fear.

At this time, the group of Acolytes hadn't gone far.

"My beast!" A handsome youth ran out from within the group. He was garbed in a black and white robe with a jade ornament clasped onto his waist. On his palm was a pure white glove, embedded with jewels and runes. 

"Who was the one that fed my beast!?" That handsome youth bellowed out loud, looking furious. 

His voice reverberated through everyone's ears. Sethra was almost frightened to the point that her body shook.

"Tron! It was you!"

At this point in time, a pale-faced Kane shouted out.

"Who is Tron!?" The handsome youth's tone turned icy.

Everyone's gazes shifted and landed squarely on Tron.

Tron was also dumbfounded. He had only guided the beast to the pen while others fed them. Moreover, he wasn't even near the beast and had no idea what had even happened.

"You deserve death!"

Xavier, the owner of the mutated beast, immediately raised his gloved hand and spread his palm. 

"Az'thorath, kree'lahn, va'teek!"

"Bzzzt!"

As the incantation reached its peak, Xavier's gloved hand hummed and glowed and a shimmering circle of light materialized before him. 

Intricate runes, glowing with ethereal energy, crackled within its circumference, pulsing with energy as the spell being formulated. 

 A blue lightning the width of a finger, rushed forwards as the air crackled and fried as it struck Tron before anyone could determine what was happening..

Tron himself had yet to see anything happen, but he instinctively raised his hands. His sleeves suddenly disintegrated as the blue lightning snaked through his arms and towards his chest.

"BOOM!"

His arms, lacerated, and chest opened up like a bloody flower. A terrifying, bloody gash appeared on him! 

〘 Zero Mage:■□□□□□□□□□ 10%〙

In that instant, he was struck flying backward by an enormous force and smashed against a nearby stone wall, practically half-dead.

"I fed the mutated beast," Sethra said as she stood up, her eyes trembling slightly.

Just as Tron's willpower was about to fade away and he was about to faint, he heard those words spoken by Sethra. He couldn't help but wonder why Sethra would do such a thing, even in such a moment of crisis! 

Whenever something had to do with him, he would not implicate others for his own actions. 

This Kane had seen him as trash and had wanted to use Tron to solve his problems. However, this was Kane and Xavier's problem. This had nothing to do with Sethra.

"It has nothing to do with her!" Tron struggled to stand. He did not know where this strength came from, but he pushed Sethra away. Perhaps it could be due to the ten years of pain and suffering he had endured, this much pain only made his mind blank. 

From the time he knew that Magi had experimented on him and destroyed his Arcana Cortex, he knew he would sooner or later die in this harsh world, he just hadn't expected it to be soon.

"He actually managed to stand up after you strike, Xavier. It seems your attack has gotten a tad weaker." Gillard chuckled as his blond hair floated in mid-air, making the other Mages laugh also.

"What I hate most is some pitiful attempt at bravado! He clearly cannot take another strike, yet still act like a courageous fool," Xavier coldly sneered. 

His gloved hand lit up once more as he cast another spell. 

The lightning whip arched backward and lashed down onto Tron's body like a poisonous snake, lacerating his flesh and leaving it in a blackened, bloody mess.

〘 Zero Mage:[■■□□□□□□□□] 20%〙

Tron let out a simple groan as he was forced to tumble backward onto his knees. His chest, arms, and back felt as though it was on fire, a burning, lancing pain. However, what kind of pain had he not endured over the past ten years? 

"Forget it. This Tron is a cripple. Even if he dies, it won't change anything. We, on the other hand, cannot die, we are still in the prime of our lives. We still have hope of becoming a Magi" This was what most of the servants were thinking to console themselves.

"This is truly scary. Good thing it wasn't my beast. Otherwise, I would die of sadness. It looks like Xavier's anger is warranted. These servants truly deserve to die. If we don't kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, they truly won't be obedient." A female mage spoke out.

"Kacha!" "Boom!"

Xavier was out to kill someone. The lightning then struck down right onto Tron's head, cracking it apart. Right at this moment, Tron lost all sense of consciousness. 

〘 Zero Mage:■■■□□□□□□□] 30% 〙

... 

"There is no right or wrong in this world, there's only the strong and the weak. You are weak."