Warlock of the Magus World – Redux

After Old Welker left, only Leylin and Fayern remained in the room.

Taking a seat on his tall padded chair, Leylin's eyes squinted as he lightly tapped the desk with his index finger.

"So, what is the update on the withering woods?"

"Respected Master, according to your orders, I sent many scouts out to reconnoiter the forest. At the price of 1 dead and 2 seriously injured, I finally uncovered some clues." -Fayern lowered his head to signify his deep respect.

'Dead and injured? We're off to a good start.' -Leylin smirked, but Fayern mistook the reason why he did.

[This means the rumors are true, Doctor.] -Noted Aralis.

'Perhaps. We can't be sure of anything until I see this creature myself.'

Recent events at the withering woods had led to a direct decrease in herb harvesting. As of this moment, several huge factions had also sent scouts with the same intent as Leylin: to find out the cause. But even after having sent many squads of explorers, they were all ambushed and only their mangled corpses were found.

According to a few traumatized eyewitnesses, they had been attacked by a black entity within the woods. So far, it was only known that this entity was an extremely swift monster. Apart from a vague description, nothing else was known.

"Go on." -Leylin's voice was extremely calm.

"One of our men was able to see clearly what that monster looked like during one of its ambushes. This is the sketch he drew for us." -The mercenary captain handed over a parchment with dribblings all over it to Leylin.

He took the sketch and gave it an analyzing scan. On the paper, something was resembling a four-legged, snake-like creature. Its body was littered with scales, it had a forked tongue, and on its crown was a small horn.

[Whoever drew this is nothing short of talented.]

'Hmm. A peasant with the drawing skills of a professional artist? I don't buy it. This is either fabricated or was given to Fayern's informant so he could then pass it on to us...'

"What else did your subordinate say?" -Leylin asked.

"Just that the monster was about two meters in length. Its whole body was a yellowish-brown and, as the local eyewitnesses had alleged, it was extremely fast." -Fayern added.

In that instant, Leylin hurriedly remembered an illustrated handbook of unusual creatures he had Aralis scan back at the academy.

'It is rather similar to the Blue Lizard, but the color is not right. It also appears to be akin to a snake-type creature... Something's not right with this whole picture...' -Leylin scowled. His instincts were firing off the alarms in his mind.

[Don't neglect the fact that a small group of untrained scouts were able to escape it. That shows how this creature is not at all as dangerous as one would initially think. A level 2 acolyte should be able to deal with it.] -The A.I. assistant meant to calm her Master.

'I smell the dirty hands of a Magus in this affair. That monster is likely bait for me or any other acolytes trying to get the reward back at Abyssal Bone Forest. Granted, it's not even that significant, but crystals are crystals, and whoever laid the trap knows this. If nothing else, gathering the materials from that beast might be enough incentive for the more naive adventurers...' -Suddenly, Leylin's bearing changed drastically. A wicked smile appeared on his face.

Fayern had to blink a few times when he saw Leylin's mask drop for a second to reveal a darkness that threatened to consume his soul if he got too close. He took a step back in spontaneous fear.

It only lasted a breath, and then Leylin went back to his accustomed stoic manner. Fayern imagined that he was overworked and that it had been his tired brain playing tricks on him.

"Focus, Captain." -Leylin tapped his desk again, bringing Fayern out of his thoughts. "Put up another quest notice in town. No matter who, as long as they can capture or slay this creature, I will reward them with 2,000 gold coins. Proof of their deed must be the head of the beast, or the beast itself. Moreover, any additional materials from the creature; be it scales, blood, skin, or horn... I will give an additional 200 gold coins apiece for them." -Leylin said with determination.

"Now go." -Leylin waved his hand dismissively.

'I've had enough of you ruining my clean floors with your shit-ridden soles.' -He finished inwardly.

"Yes, my Lord." -Fayern kneeled and then took his leave at a brisk pace.

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Three days later, east of Extreme Night City, in a small canyon.

A Transfigurated Leylin wearing black robes traversed the mountainous path along the canyon.

To a person like him with all of the physical stats above 3, these obstructions were not an issue at all. He trotted on as if he were taking a leisurely walk in his backyard.

Behind him followed his Knight bodyguards Greem and Fraser, who wore closed helmets to conceal their appearance.

"We're here. Brey Canyon Market." -Leylin said unconcernedly as he felt the energy waves fluctuating in the vicinity.

This market was on the map that Bicky had given to Leylin when he asked for her help regarding the Poolfield Kingdom. The market in question was situated close to Extreme Night City and served as a resource exchange point. Previously when Leylin studied the mission's destination, one of his objectives was to visit this place.

"Halt!" -A girl's voice rang. Leylin turned towards the direction of the sound. He discovered a little girl riding a mountain goat moving towards them.

The mountain goat's four hooves skipped and hopped along the cliff. It actually moved very quickly, reaching Leylin's side in a few moments.

'You gotta be kidding me.'

"Are you a magician?" -The little girl sized up Leylin and asked indifferently.

"Yes, I am a wandering magician. These are my servants. I wish to enter the market." -Leylin pointed to the hulky warriors behind him.

"Your servants are Knights? You must be quite strong, big brother! The entry fee is 1 magic crystal per -"

Not willing to go through this for the nth time, Leylin wordlessly took out 3 magic crystals and gave them to the girl. She blushed for some reason.

'Those stupid attempts at looking cute make me want to push her and her goat off the precipice.' -Leylin wanted to rub his temples in annoyance, but his outer mask held firmly.

"I wish to know where I can obtain the latest information." -Leylin stated casually.

"You're new here, aren't you? I have the most updated news around these parts!" -The little girl smugly tilted her head up and her face had an expression that said 'you may beg me for it'.

Leylin was rather speechless. From Aralis' scan, this little girl was a level 3 acolyte. Her strength was actually higher than Murphy's. She was definitely no longer a youth, and had used a type of Transfiguration to assume her present form. It was a mystery to Leylin why she chose to maintain the aspect of a child since no acolyte would be fooled given the mana radiation she emitted.

[She rubs me the wrong way... What with her fake little girl act.] -The A.I. told.

'That makes two of us. Remind me to destroy her if I get the chance.'

[Of course.]

"Then let's do business. How much for your best intel?" -Leylin was not going to beat around the bush.

"You are rather pleasing to my eyes, so 1 news item in return for 1 magic crystal." -The little girl put on an expression that looked as if she thought highly of Leylin.

Yet again, Leylin remained stone-faced as he handed over a magic crystal to the supposed child.

"What is the progress of the war at Abyssal Bone Forest Academy?"

"Recently, magicians who bought news from me have also enquired about this." -The little girl scratched her head.

'Not a surprise, considering it is a conflict involving two prominent magic academies.'

"According to the latest updates from yesterday, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy still persists due to their reliance on their magic spell formation. Regretfully, acolyte fatalities have not been low for either side."

Leylin meant to smirk, but instead, he seemed distraught over the news.

Upon observing his reaction, the little girl murmured: "Calm down! Calm down! The war's conflagration will not extend to here. There aren't even that many reliable resource points in this place, so how can it attract the greed of the academies? Only acolytes might come here occasionally."

"I see... What do you know of the reason for this war?" -Leylin handed yet another magic crystal.

The little girl hurriedly took it. "If my memory serves me, it was said to be for a scepter or some jewel…"

Leylin nodded his head, indicating he had nothing more to ask.

"Young man, I hope you find what you need in this canyon without any problems." -The little girl waved her hands and patted the goat she rode. It resumed its hopping, and very soon they disappeared from his sight and into the canyon.

'Good, she's gone.'

Staying true to his quiet attitude, Leylin motioned with his hand for his bodyguards to follow him through into the market.

Coming to the canyon at this time, Leylin was on an extremely tight schedule. A number of his experiments had entered a crucial stage. The modified Azure Potion formula was also nearing full completion.

Unfortunately, a number of the magic ingredients he stockpiled before had been depleted in his search for the right substitute. Thus, he had no choice but to venture away from his home.

'Now I only need to buy the supplementary ingredients and then I can start brewing the modified Azure Potion. By that point, my Spiritual Force -which has been slowly increasing- will receive a huge boost. My breakthrough to a level 3 acolyte is closer than ever...' -Leylin eyes seemed to flash with excitement.

Following the narrow route along the precipice, Leylin carefully entered the depths of the ravine. In this resource exchange center, the stores were all set up within the holes that dotted the cliff, a little like the caves of primitive men.

Leylin walked into a potions shop called 'Langford's Potions'. The cave was extremely dark, only a few rocks radiating green light illuminated it.

These rocks seemingly made every item inside the cave emanate a green glow making the scene look extremely gloomy.

"Hehehe! What do you want?" -A corrupt and sorrowful laughter could be heard inside.

From behind the counter, an old balding dwarf walked out. His face was full of wrinkles and most of his teeth were a thing of the past.

"Tendril Leaves, Water Crystal Fruits, and Dragon-Eyed Grapeseed. I require 20 standard servings of each." -Leylin enunciated accurately, as he studied the structure of the cave.

"Oh!" -The old dwarf was rooted to the ground, unmoving. "These are all rare potion ingredients and their prices will not be ordinary. Are you a Potioneering Master?"

"That does not seem to concern you in any way. Perhaps, I have to look elsewhere for a supplier." -Leylin's brows furrowed, this old geezer's curious nature made him rather displeased.

"Young man. Could it be that no one taught you to respect the elderly?" -The dwarf geezer smiled and the pupils of his eyes seemed to swirl continuously in purple light.

[Warning, Doctor! The dwarf's body is radiating heavy Mana Energy waves!] -Aralis' worried alert sounded.

'I can already see that. I want to know what I'm up against.' -Leylin ordered as he got into a battle stance.

[According to my preliminary scan, the dwarf is a level 2 acolyte, but his Spiritual Force is much higher than yours. Take the necessary precautions and you can beat him!]

The dwarf's mouth opened and a blue mist came out of it. It immediately lunged at Leylin as if it had a life of its own.

Leylin quickly evaded the blue arcane mist, but it ultimately got to him. He began feeling dizzy but he shrugged off the effect once he increased his Mana circulation.

Out of nowhere, Fraser and Greem who were previously flanking Leylin fell unconscious with a thud.

The fortified mental barrier in Leylin's mind had activated along with his circulation of Mana Energy, allowing him to escape the influence of the old geezer's magic. The same could not be said for the mortal slaves he had bought not long ago.

'Useless. Why do I even bother taking Knight bodyguards to a Magi gathering point...' -Leylin complained angrily.

'And was that he used against me? An Illusionary spell?' -Leylin asked inwardly to his assistant, as he kept moving with his great speed trying to find an opening for a counterattack.

[Doesn't seem like it. It should be some passive spell if my guess is correct.]

"Hahaha… Yes! Yes! Death is beautiful, and is descending upon us soon!" -The dwarf geezer laughed manically and danced in joy.

[So it's like this. A few acolytes and even official Magi, because of getting injured while advancing or due to being contaminated by mana radiation from experimenting, end up becoming mentally unstable. I think you just found one of those specimens, Doctor.] -Aralis informed.

Leylin's robes shook, and a fire-red potion was now in his hands. His whole body let off a very dangerous aura.

'I don't even care why he attacked me. I just want to see him explode into a million bits! Time to put down this rabid stump!' -Leylin got ready to throw the explosive flask in his hands.

[Before you ask, I've already marked the best escape route in your holo map. Also, there's that level 3 acolyte pretending to be a little girl. She's here.]

'What?! She's probably gonna take his side, and I can't deal with both of them and at a field disadvantage. Retreat it is then. Fuck, I really wanted this idiot dead.' -Leylin felt denied of his kill.

"That's enough, Langford!" -Just when the dwarf geezer was preparing another spell, a voice traveled over. It was the guardian, the voice of the little girl who rode the mountain goat.

"Marissa. I've had enough of YOU!" -The dwarf geezer howled loudly, and he made an incantation.

Black-colored smoke congealed in his hands forming a massive black ball. The surrounding shelves that held various ingredients were on the verge of collapse under the energy waves emitted by the black ball.

"Damn it, Langford's out of it! Which one of you can help me?" -The little girl's voice traveled over, this time sounding rather exasperated.

'Interesting. So she isn't here to neutralize me, but the dwarf. That obviously changes things!' -Leylin was once again ready to throw the potion, but at that instant...

[Better watch it! Reinforcements incoming, and they're all level 3 acolytes!]

"Foos!"

"Ocker!"

Two extremely short incantations could be heard originating from the outside.

Not thinking about it twice, Leylin pocketed the explosive potion for good this time. He also restrained his aura completely so as to not appear a threat to the arriving acolytes.

After the few syllables were cast by the reinforcements, many green vines appeared within the cave. The huge vines held Langford's hands and feet together. He couldn't move a muscle now.

'What a learning experience this has turned out to be. I heard that not only can the Spiritual Force of level 3 acolytes support a few rank 1 spells. They have also grasped the technique of Phrase Casting, which shortens incantations to a few syllables achieving near-instantaneous casting. Quite handy when it comes to the more complicated spell models of the higher ranks.'

Langford roared continuously. He prepared to toss the black condensed sphere out despite being unable to move.

At that moment, a glowing red arrow ripped through the air and flew directly at the heart of the mystical sphere.

The surroundings let off a light ring as the black smoke and the red arrow continued to counteract each other.

The dark sphere finally lost the struggle and disappeared into nothingness. The arrow shortly vanished too.

Leylin's pupils contracted. 'Ah, a positive energy arrow. The level 3 acolytes who struck from the outside, no matter their combat abilities or spell comprehension, they have far surpassed me... I assume you recorded everything, Aralis?'

[You know me, Doctor. Near everything's in process of being analyzed by yours truly. I must say, however, that the Phrase Casting technique is almost impossible for me to decode at the moment.]

'That much was to be expected. Now, I may not have my yearned-for kill, but what I got in return was even greater. A free Rank 0 Dark element spell, and valuable combat data on a basic Rank 1 Light element spell.'