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Chapter 308: The Musician's Funeral

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and it started to rain. Everything in Aalto was shaded with a thin layer of a veil, as if nature was also crying for the young musician.

The black hearse pulled by the four bulls kept moving forward slowly and steadily. More and more people gathered along both sides of the street in the rain, watching the hearse leaving.

The splendid concert that made the whole city crazy was held just a few days ago, and the melodies played were still lingering in the air. People felt that this was like a dream, a more than painful dream.

For the spirit of perseverance that Lucien Evans brought to them, and for the precious and pure joy Lucien Evans presented, people voluntarily stood along both sides of the street to see off the young and talented musician.

The fine rain drops fell on their faces, mixing with their tears.

If it had been a week later, or if it had not been in Aalto, it was almost impossible for one to see this grand and solemn scene. It seemed that people of the whole city were out to send Lucien Evans off.

When the hearse was about to leave Aderon, some more people who admired Lucien Evans a lot rushed down the street and joined the funeral procession.

Wearing black suits, those heartbroken people made the funeral procession grow bigger and bigger.

So, when the hearse arrived in the noble district, the nobles who were invited to attend the funeral were shocked. They saw a huge crowd behind the hearse, like black tides safeguarding the last part of the journey of the beloved young musician.

Except for the municipal square during the music festival, they had never seen so many people gathering together for the same purpose. The nobles had this feeling that these people, when uniting together, were unstoppable with their overwhelming power.

Some nobles were so impressed by the fact that Lucien Evans was loved by this many people that they thought to themselves, "If I could have these many people sending me off when I die, it would be such a glory… I wouldn't have any regrets if that was the case."

When the hearse passed by, the nobles also joined the procession, although they were not quite willing to stand this close to the common people, this was part of the funeral manner of the Saint Truth.

When seeing the massive crowd, the look on Gossett's face slightly changed. Standing in front of the Golden Cathedral, he unconsciously crossed and said in low voice, "Only truth lives forever!"

After the hearse was sent into the Golden Cathedral, the common people who were not invited to the funeral refused to leave. In the fine rain, they stood surrounding the cathedral and prayed for the musician.

The scene made the pastors and cardinals feel that they were going to bury a saint.

…

In the cathedral, the coffin was placed below the cross, showing that the musician was a loyal follower.

The funeral music stopped. Holding a white cross in his hand, Gossett said in a solemn way, "Merciful God, here we shall pray for our brother, Lucien Evans, who has finished his path in this world and is now heading for the path toward Mountain Paradise. We firmly hold true that all of us who believe, who accept, who follow, and who respect will finally be saved by you, Father, and we will rest in peace forever in Mountain Paradise."

The nobles, musicians, and instrumentalists sitting in the cathedral all started to pray with their eyes closed.

"He was a pure and devout nobleman. His music has your power and has brought people faith and joy. Wish he will continue to play the paean in your kingdom…"

Finishing praying, Gossett looked at Natasha, Joel, Alisa, John, Victor and Lucien's other friends in a merciful and loving way, "Lord teaches us that death is like the dark night, but when the dark night is over, light shall return. One shall not fear death, as all of his followers will eventually reunite at Mountain Paradise. We shall be together, we shall always be connected, and we can always pray for each other."

Then, Lucien's relatives and friends started to speak one by one on the stage, recounting Lucien Evans' life story. Some could not stop weeping; some hid the profound pain in their heart; some followed the Lord's instruction and comforted the rest of the people to stand strong for a better future.

At the end of the funeral, Natasha walked onto the stage and stood beside the cardinal.

Wearing the long black dress, with the black veil covering her tied-up long hair, the princess recounted the happy moments she spent with the young musician. Then, she calmed herself down and said formally, "He once told me that if he had passed away without leaving the will, he wanted me to donate his manor, Brons, to the Musicians' Association."

Hearing that, Othello slightly nodded. Lucien Evans was for sure born for music, and his love toward music was precious and pure. He had decided to donate most of his asset to the association.

Natasha continued, "Lucien hoped to use the profit of the manor to set up an award and a piano competition. The award is for the most outstanding music piece across the continent selected every three years by the members of the Musicians' Association of Aalto. The competition is also going to be held every three years in order to promote the development of this new musical instrument and encourage more young pianists to devote their passion to this career."

Lucien's manor, Brons, was selected by Natasha. When the princess gave Lucien the manor as a present, it was worth a few thousand Thales, and its annual profit was also quite good, which was around a hundred Thales, equal to a famous musician's a whole year's income. Therefore, three hundred Thales was a lot to a young musician who just got started.

"Mr. Evans had a kind heart made of gold. He cared about the development of music all the time as well as the growth of other young musicians." Othello stood up and showed the appreciation on behalf of the association, "Here I suggest that we name the award as 'Evans Music Award' and the competition as 'Continental Evans Piano Competition'. Also, the association has decided to build stone figures for each music master who made a great contribution to the development of music. The stone figures will be built on the top of Mountain Kaseya beside Belem River, so everyone who comes to Aalto and every child who plays beside the river shall see the figures and remember the brilliant names."

Christopher, Victor, and other association members all nodded.

People applauded in a serious but warm manner to show their respect toward this lofty and gracious musician and his love and passion for music.

At this time, Natasha added, "I'll add the profit of one of my personal manors on top of the prize, so the prize of both Evans Music Award and Continental Evans Piano Competition shall be three hundred Thales."

"It's very generous of you, Your Highness." Othello slightly bowed.

Lucien's relatives were also fine with the decision.

Only the red-robed cardinal, Gossett, frowned slightly. In his eyes, Evans Music Award sounded very much alike Holm Crown Prize or Immortal Throne Award. Maybe Lucien Evans was inspired by the princess or Professor.

But in such an occasion, Gossett could not oppose the proposal. And there was also no serious reasons other than that for him to say no.

After setting up the award and the competition, the memorial part of the funeral was completed. The funeral guests started to sing hymns led by the choir. The funeral was sacred and solemn.

In the end, Gossett sprinkled holy water on the coffin to wash off all the sins from this world.

The coffin was lifted up again toward the cemetery beside the Golden Cathedral. Lucien's relatives and close friends followed while other nobles and musicians were ready to leave.

As soon as they walked out of the cathedral, the nobles were shocked. They did not expect that the crowd was still waiting.

Seeing that the nobles were leaving, people started to flow to the noble cemetery nearby. On the other side of the iron fence, they saw the black coffin slowly sinking down into the ground.

The rain had stopped for a while, and a few rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds. But when mud started being thrown on top of the coffin, the grief became unstoppable again.

The mud slowly buried the coffin, as if it was cutting off the last piece of string connecting the dead and the mourning. Alisa, Felicia, and Elena could not stop crying, while Joel, John, Victor, and Natasha closed their eyes.

People on the other side of the iron fence also started weeping.

At this time, a girl started singing in her slightly hoarse voice:

"Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium…"

Although the theme of Ode to Joy did not fit the atmosphere of the funeral, its spirit matched the impression that Lucien Evans left to people.

When facing darkness and pain, do not give up.

When facing darkness and pain, one shall still head for the destination where there are brightness and joy.

More and more people joined the singing.

"Fire-inspired we tread… Within thy sanctuary…"

The singing became louder and louder. Felicia and Elena cried even harder, while Natasha also joined the singing.

"All creatures drink of joy,

"At nature's breast.

"Just and unjust,

"Alike taste of her gift…"

Goodbye, Lucien Evans, the young musician who once brought people the pure joy, the ultimate beauty of music.

"Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium…"

In the singing, the tombstone was erected, on which there was a short line of the epitaph.

"Here was buried an angel of music."

…

In the late night, in a noble villa.

John and his relatives were sitting on a couch. They could not fall asleep.

Chapter 309: Choice

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The night of the Month of Passion, the sixth of the year, was still relatively cool. The gentle breeze was refreshing.

However, in the hall of John's house, the atmosphere was freezing cold because of the deep grief.

Sitting on the couch, the family members were all very silent. None of them talked, as they were lost in their memories.

Alisa wiped off her tears with the handkerchief from time to time; Iven's young face was written with sorrow, and his hands were clenching tight; Although Joel had a bottle of spirit in his right hand, right now his biggest habit other than music could not help him with relieving the pain; John, however, was justing sitting there like a statue with a glass of wine in his hand.

"…I'm getting old, and it's becoming harder for me." Joel released a sigh. "When I was in Aderon, when Evans' father passed away… I was sad, but I recovered a few days later. But now…"

Aderon was a very poor area, where the poor people living there struggled every day to make a living. Therefore, it was common for one from Aderon to see that a sudden disease took away a person's life overnight. Thus, Aderon was the area with the highest mortality rate in Aalto, and Joel and his relatives were relatively more ready for the loss.

Alisa stared at Joel and said in a sobbing voice, "This is different! Our little Evans… He was… not even twenty-one! He was so talented, so hard-working, and he was the best musician ever! He… He's got no wife, no children… The Evans family has ended here!"

After a few years living as a noble, the way of her talking became more polite.

"If this didn't happen, we would be able to attend Evans' wedding in about six months." Joel sighed again. From what happened at the concert and the funeral, Joel was quite sure that as long as the grand duke agreed, the two young people in love would get married very soon. And, of course, the grand duke would not oppose the marriage. After all, Lucien was a man!

Silence seized the moment again, and then John stood up and said to them, "Let's get some rest. Lucien wouldn't want us to be like this."

"Alright…" Joel stood up and patted on John's shoulder.

As the backbone of the family, John's words counted. Alisa slowly stopped crying and said, "John, try to get some rest as well. You are going back to the fortification soon. It's tough there. Be careful with the evil sorcerers…"

Although she had heard things about the evil creatures and monsters in the Dark Mountain Range from other noble ladies, Alisa did not worry too much. However, what happened to Lucien Evans made her worry about John a lot. After all, the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range was way more dangerous than Aalto.

John's hands slightly twitched when hearing the word "sorcerer". He gently hugged Alisa and said, "Mom, don't worry. I'll be careful. I need to work harder to become a grand knight in ten years, so I can better fight against the evil… the bastard sorcerers…"

At this time, the breeze suddenly turned into a wind blow, making the noise sounding like ghosts crying. Moonlight disappeared, and the light of the candles also started flickering, as if they were going to go out at any time.

"Who is it?" John sensed a bit of a magic wave in the wind, and he knew that someone was slowly walking downstairs. Taking a big step forward, John fearlessly protected his family standing behind him and, at the same time, pulled out the extraordinary sword.

He could feel it that the person was not intended to do any harm. However, John was also concerned that if he took the initiative to attack, his parents and brother would be left unprotected. Therefore, he chose to stay where he was.

Compared to his experienced elder brother, Iven, who had just started his knight training a few years ago, looked very nervous and confused. It took him a long time to find his sword.

It was very late and the dead silence reigned in the big living room. The person did not answer. The loud footsteps were stimulating their nerves.

Alisa was very nervous and fearful, while Joel was looking at his two sons worriedly. He and his wife were both over forty and they had enjoyed the noble life for a few years. Even if they were going to die there, they did not have much to regret. But his two sons were still young, and they should still have a future.

"Who is it? Who is there!" John did not give up. Slowly, he calmed down, as he knew that there were many knights and even some radiant knights living in the area. The longer the fight took, the better chance they had to win.

When the dim candlelight appeared in the corner of the stairs, John was totally shocked and the name burst out of his mouth:

"Lucien?!"

Wearing the black suit and bow tie, Lucien Evans, the musician who just passed away, slowly walked downstairs!

"E… Evans?!"

"Lucien…?!"

Joel, Alisa, and Iven also saw the person's face. Under the candlelight, the familiar, good-looking face looked rather healthy.

"It's me, uncle Joel, aunt Alisa. Hi… John, Iven…" Lucien tried to smile, but he failed.

Alisa cried out, "Little Evans… You've got the permission of God to come back to visit us for the last time?"

Alisa could not understand what was going on right now. She tended to use the divine will to explain everything she could not understand. She was very excited, ready to jump out and hug Lucien.

"Mom, be careful! He's not Lucien! This is an evil sorcerer turning himself into Lucien to fool us!" John directly stopped Alisa.

Under the great spiritual pressure from Lucien, John was only able to stay on the defensive.

"John, I must say that you're half right and half wrong. I am Lucien Evans, but I'm also a sorcerer. I never died. I was just using it as my way to get rid of the identity as a musician." Lucien stopped at the bottom of the stairs, as Joel, Alisa, and Iven, where hearing what John said, all took a few steps back, trying to keep some distance away from him. John's sword was ready to attack at any time.

Therefore, at this moment, Lucien knew that the distance was good for both sides, despite the fact that he felt quite sad in his mind.

"Lucien… a sorcerer?" John repeated the words and became furious. "You bastard! You damned sorcerers! You killed Lucien, and you're now ruining his reputation! Even the Inquisition has proved that Lucien was a pure and noble man!"

Joel and the rest of them were influenced by John's words. Although they were confused for a second, now they were all staring at Lucien in an extremely hostile manner.

John continued, "I'm a knight, and I know sorcerers can change their look! Why are you here? Why are you slandering him?"

"John… Do you still remember our talk about the knight spirit and the creed before we beat the gangsters? Do you still remember what we said after we beat the gangsters? We were hoping to travel across the continent, and we were even discussing whether a Cynocephalus was edible?" What was going on right now was within Lucien's expectation, so he was prepared.

John looked surprised, but soon he became calm again, "So what? There're tons of ways for you to get the information from Lucien."

Although Lucien was always very impressed with a knight's strong willpower, now John's willpower brought him quite headache. Lucien tried to avoid involving more details because he had no idea what happened between Lucien and John before, when they were kids. So he said, "John, you can ask me more questions about this. You'll see."

The look on John's face was very serious and disagreeable.

Seeing that John was not going to ask him any questions, Lucien started to talk on his own, "I did not start studying magic right after I knew the witch, therefore, I was able to pass the interrogation from the Inquisition. But later when the pastor, Benjamin, sent me and several knights down into the sewers to find the witch's lab, I found a set of notes and books left by her, and so I started studying magic…

"Uncle Joel, aunt Alisa… John! Do you still remember why all of a sudden I wanted to learn how to read? Because I wanted to read the magic books and notes!

"John, you want to know why I could find the conspiracy of the Argent Horn? That was because I was practicing magic down in the sewers!"

…

Lucien's words slowly shook their faith. His strict logical thinking made them speechless.

After a while, John growled in a deep voice, "Lucien! Why do you have to make me believe?! Why do you have to let me know that my best friend is a sorcerer! A sorcerer who fooled the whole city and deceived all the people who admired and loved him?!"

In his mind, the image of his friend had been completely destroyed.

Alisa shook her head. She could not believe the fact that her child was an evil sorcerer. And if Lucien Evans never died, the solemn funeral now looked like a vicious trick.

Joel saw the pain in Lucien's eyes, and the sick look on Joel's face was slightly relieved, "Little Evans… I understand that you probably didn't have other choices to make your life better when you just started studying magic. But why are you still chasing after magic after showing your talent in music? Are you that obsessive with power that you have decided to betray God?"

"Uncle Joel, that's not true. I pursue magic because I love it. I want to see the truth of the world. I want to know how our lives came into being; how this world was born and in what form does this world exist? I want to know the secret of stars above us… This world with so many things unknown is very charming to me…" answered Lucien sincerely.

Then, Lucien turned to John. "I made people believe I was dead because, sooner or later, people would know that I'm a sorcerer. So it's better letting the great musician live in people's mind forever. I'm very sorry… for making them feel this sad. I swear… after becoming a sorcerer, I've never purposefully hurt anyone innocent unless to protect myself or save other people. I know you might not able to accept my identity, but I want you to know that I'm not that kind of evil sorcerer, and neither are the most sorcerers in the Congress."

John softened his tone a bit and asked, "So… Your plan has worked out. Why are you here? You don't worry that we might tell this to the Church?"

Seeing that they were now less nervous, Lucien took a step forward. But Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven all took a step backward. They were still afraid of Lucien.

Lucien slightly shook his head with a bitter smile, "I'm here… to ask if you all are willing to go to the Kingdom of Holm with me. Although there are many sorcerers, the Church is still influential there, and there are still nobles. We live in peace right now. And I'm confident that the nobles in the Kingdom of Holm will accept you all."

"Holm? The Congress? … Her Highness…?" Some ideas came to John.

Lucien shook his head again, "This has nothing to do with Natasha. I planned this together with my mentor, Professor. Later I'll be visiting her to tell her the truth as well and apologize."

Lucien lied about it.

Then, Lucien asked again, "Do you want to come with me? You'll still have the same life there."

What was waiting for Lucien was silence. Long-time silence.

After a while, when Lucien was about to ask again, John shook his head alertly, "Lucien, I'm a knight of the Duchy of Violet and Violet Knights. I have the land to protect. I can't."

The rejection was firm. The way John looked at Lucien was strange.

Joel tried to put on a smile and said, "Little Evans, we're happy that you're still thinking about us. But Aalto is our home… I just can't…"

"Me, too, little Evans…" Alisa also rejected. "It's hard for me to imagine the life living with the sorcerers. I'm a devoted follower of God."

Iven shook his head as well.

Seeing their attitude, Lucien slightly closed his eyes and released a sigh, "Alright, I see… So, after I leave, please go to the Church and tell them I'm a sorcerer."

"What? What are you talking about?" They were shocked.

Lucien's smile was a bit sad, "The Church will sooner or later know that I'm a sorcerer, and that'll bring you all trouble. So if you take the initiative, the Church would not give you all a hard time."

If the family reported this to the Church, they would not become the tool for the Church to threaten Lucien.

John, Alisa, Joel, and Iven were so shocked that they could not say anything. Although they were very afraid of Lucien and felt betrayed just now, they had never thought of reporting this to the Church!

Lucien put his left hand on his chest and bowed deeply, "Cruelty can also be a kind of mercy. I have to leave now. Hope we can see each other in the future."

Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven were silent. This was a cruel truth that was very hard for them to accept.

Lucien felt heartbroken. However, he turned around and walked to the door. Maybe they would never be able to see each other again.

When Lucien was going to step out of the living room, Alisa'a trembling voice stopped him, "Little Evans…"

Lucien was surprised. He looked back. He was waiting for the favorable turn.

Alisa bit her lips and then said, "Be careful in that… what is it called… the Congress. It must be dangerous there."

"I will, aunt Alisa." Lucien's eyes welled up.

After the inner struggle, Joel sighed, "I still believe that you have a kind heart. If one day you want to leave the Congress, this place is still your home."

The look on John's face was complicated. The veins of his hands grabbing the sword twitched. Finally, when he saw Lucien was about to leave, the words escaped his lips, "Dare you to do bad things! Don't let me catch you!"

Pausing a bit, John's voice lowered down, "Be careful."

A big smile appeared on Lucien's face. He again bowed to them, and then walked into the darkness.

Chapter 310: Feeling Uneasy

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

When Aalto was still immersed in the sorrow from the funeral earlier, in the suburb area, in the air above the Melzer Black Forest, Lucien was bidding farewell to Natasha.

"Please take care of my family, Natasha. I have this feeling that my mission to take the letter to the Dark Mountain Range will change my life greatly in a short period of time. Maybe I'll become stronger, but this would bring me more attention from the Church, and they probably will know that my death is a lie. So, if my family does not report me to the Church, be careful, so you can be more prepared when the Church finds it out. This is also another reason why I did not let you kill Clown on the spot. Normally, if we had colluded, you would have killed Clown directly," said Lucien gently and sincerely.

Natasha was still wearing the black plain dress, and she was quite impressed, "I feel the pressure of being a sorcerer's friend. You guys always have more than one purpose when doing things. Come on, Lucien, are you still hiding anything from me?"

In fact, yes, there was still a lot, but Lucien put on an embarrassed smile and hurriedly denied it.

Natasha was just joking. And she did not really care if Lucien was telling her everything. So she nodded, "If the family still doesn't report you to the Church in half a year, I'll put more pressure on them and force them to do so. Don't worry. I won't hurt them."

After promising Lucien, Natasha said a little excitedly, "There are many powerful creatures in the Dark Mountain Range, more than several hundred as we know… Dragons, evil elves, trolls, mutated spiders, scarlet trees, lightning eagles… Be careful, Lucien. Also, most sorcerers who follow the ancient magic system are cruel and ruthless. They do forbidden experiments, and they control people's will. Their own desires are more important than anything else. Be very cautious, Lucien, they're not like the arcanists in the Congress. Although you're bringing the letter for some important person, and normally the Congress should be prepared and would not send a promising young arcanist to die there for nothing, you still have to rely on yourself."

Natasha's caring words comforted Lucien who had just bid farewell to his family, so he joked, "I hear you. But why do you look so excited?"

"Of course! It's gonna be a great adventure! Don't you think it's super exciting adventuring in the Dark Mountain Range, fighting against different powerful creatures, and seeing extraordinary powers?" said Natasha full of passion. Then, she sighed. "I wish I could go with you when I first heard about your mission so I could protect you, but I can't. I'm the future grand duchess, so I have to live and fight for the duchy. I can't just leave."

Although she saw it as a great pity, Natasha was not complaining. She knew her job very well, as she was trained to be the leader of the duchy since she was a young girl.

Lucien felt a bit embarrassed when hearing that Natasha once planned to protect him. "It's okay, Natasha. I believe that as long as I'm careful enough and I don't wander around in the mountains, I should be able to handle most of the dark creatures. When I come back, I'll tell you all the stories."

"Of course, I believe in your power. You've got a Holm Crown Ring!" Natasha nodded. But then she took out a pair of earrings in the shape of violet petals, "This is a gift given to me enchanted with the spell called Fernando's Electromagnetic Message. If you are in trouble, you can find me through this. I know you have something similar to this. Although the thunder and lightning in the Storm Strait cut off the connection between you and the Congress, in Aalto, you've still got someone who you can ask for help."

As a knight, and because of her more masculine character, except for every year's New Year Banquet, Natasha usually did not wear any accessories. Therefore, Lucien did not know that the princess also had a magic item, and according to Lucien, the earrings were possibly a gift from Hathaway.

"I'll ask for help for sure if I'm in trouble." Lucien nodded seriously. At the same time, he said to Natasha, "It's a pity that we can't contact each other because of the Storm Strait…"

"That's true… What a pity." Natasha sincerely nodded.

It suddenly came to Lucien that maybe he should work on studying sending some magic satellites to the sky as signal stations, so they could talk to each other very often.

But what if other people somehow knew that the birth of magic satellite and the development of telecommunication was because a sorcerer wanted to contact a girl far away? That was not good… too embarrassing. That was Lucien's thought. Then, more thoughts came to him. He still had to first figure out if there were planets in this world and whether they followed any orbits…

"Lucien, what are you thinking?" asked Natasha, "It's okay. We can still write, you know. I like writing letters."

Natasha's voice dragged Lucien back from his boundless thoughts. Lucien panicked a bit when he realized what he was thinking… They were just good friends! Natasha was not interested in men!

Lucien quickly threw out his many weird thoughts and nodded, "That's right… Writing is good. But…but we should have a new set of code in case the Church notices."

After agreeing on the new writing code, Natasha smiled and said, "I don't know how long it's going to take for you to come back from the Dark Mountain Range, but very possibly, I'll miss your birthday again. Seriously, since we first got to know each other, I was never there for your birthday. So right now, may I have an opening dance with you, and wish you happy birthday in advance?"

She slightly bowed. With right hand on her chest, she reached out her left hand, which was a typical manner of men.

Lucien was a bit amused, "I'm the man, Your Highness. I shall be the one to invite. Seriously, I've never been there for your birthday either. So please allow me to be the one inviting you for the opening dance."

Then Lucien followed the same manner.

Natasha grinned and slightly lifted her eyebrows. Then she stood up straight, reached out her right hand, and put it on Lucien's left hand.

There was no music but only quite strong wind and clouds. But both Lucien and Natasha were good at music. And their dance steps were neat and elegant.

Although Lucien was still a bit shorter than Natasha, he had grown quite taller in the past several years. When they were dancing, they could look directly into each other's eyes, and their breaths were also very close.

Looking into Natasha's silvery-purple eyes and gorgeous face, feeling her sweet breaths and soft body, Lucien suddenly felt very uneasy. Although this was not his first time dancing with the princess, he felt very different this time—his heart was beating very fast.

Seeing that Lucien's eyes somehow started to look away and his face slightly blushed, feeling that his steps were getting slower and his hands stiff, Natasha also sensed the difference. When Lucien's breaths started to get heavier and heavier, Natasha was sure that the atmosphere was not normal—in fact, it was very strange, and she somehow felt nervous.

"Are you alright?" asked Natasha directly. "Are you worrying about something?"

Lucien was very embarrassed. He shook his head and answered, "Not really. Just my first time dancing in the air surrounded by clouds…"

"I see. That's true." Natasha grinned, "The wind is quite strong."

Trying his best, Lucien finally finished the dance with Natasha relatively perfectly.

"Lucien, happy birthday."

"Happy birthday, Natasha."

They said it at the same time when the dance was over. Then they smiled at each other.

…

After saying goodbye to Natasha, Lucien was now flying toward the Dark Mountain Range with his eyebrows slightly frowned. After a while, he murmured to himself, "That wasn't true. I just haven't been that close to a woman for a long time. I can't have these thoughts with Natasha, and she doesn't even like men!"

…

Flying back to Aalto with Camil, Natasha slowly stopped in the air and put on the violet-petal earrings. Feeling a bit strange, she slightly shook her head.

Then, she noticed that Camil was looking at her ears carefully, so she asked, "What? I have to wear them, or I might miss Lucien's signal."

"Nothing. You have beautiful ears," answered Camil casually. "Even better with the earrings."

Chapter 311: The Dark Mountain Range

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Lucien's first impression about the Dark Mountain Range could be defined by the word "huge". The peaks were huge, trees huge, vines huge, as well as the beasts in there.

Tall trees of over a hundred meters were everywhere, and somehow their leaves were black, blocking the sunlight from above, so even if it was daytime when one walked in the mountains, it always felt like nightfall.

Stepping on the squashy soil and layers of rotten leaves, it was hard for one to tell where the solid ground was and where the dangerous gobs were. At the same time, one should be very careful with the vicious snakes and spiders that no one could predict when and where they would pop out from.

Some rotten stuff in the mountains brought forth some toxic miasma. Standing some distance away, the miasma even looked colorful. Even the knights could really use some caution there.

However, in this harsh environment, Lucien walked calmly in the forest wearing a white shirt, black double-breasted suit, and his monocle, as if he was wandering on the streets of Aalto or Rentato.

"Mr. Elvis, how long do we still need to arrive at the magic tower of the Nightmare King?" Lucien asked the liaison beside him.

The liaison, Elvis, looked very ordinary. Most of the time his job was to buy some materials and goods from the adventures and then sell them to the sorcerers living close to the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range. Many adventures knew his connection to the ancient sorcerers, so when they dealt with Elvis, they were quite careful.

However, Lucien knew him better due to the information provided by the Congress. Elvis was not simply a businessman, instead, he might have some connections to the Nightmare King. Lucien found Elvis in a campsite for adventurers, and within his expectation, although he described his mission using quite ambiguous words, Elvis instantly understood what Lucien was there for.

Wearing the black tight suit, Elvis walked fast and swiftly like a cheetah full of strength. Hearing Lucien's question, he responded without looking back, "At least half month, Mr. X. You should know that this isn't a good place for flying unless you're of legendary level, and rushing around can also put you into serious trouble."

Lucien did not tell Elvis his true name. He used X as his pseudonym.

Lucien slightly nodded. It was said that above the Dark Mountain Range in the sky, there were lots of space gaps that connected to other dangerous dimensions. Furthermore, dragons in the forest were also constantly watching their territory as well as the sky above, not to mention those lightning eagles, griffins and carrion birds patrolling around.

Stepping on the soft, squashy leaves, a greenish yellow snake suddenly sprang up and bit Lucien's calf.

However, the bite almost broke the snake's fangs. The snake twitched and then escaped away hurriedly in the rotten leaves and branches.

As soon as they entered the mountains, Lucien had carefully cast Stone Skin and Douglas' Absorbing Wall on himself. He knew that this was a place where he had to be extremely careful.

"How did I fail to sense it?" Lucien murmured. He was asking Elvis, and also himself. It did not make any sense that a fourth-circle sorcerer failed to notice that a snake was going to attack him, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the miasma.

Elvis also slightly frowned, "My sense is also less sharp here. I wonder if there are any senior-rank creatures around…"

The route that he was taking with Lucien was through gaps between the many territories owned by the magical creatures.

After checking around, Elvis slightly deviated from their planned path. Then, they kept moving forward. After all, there was not really a "path" in the Dark Mountain Range.

As soon as they took another few more steps, Lucien heard some strange squeaking noise.

A huge spider unexpectedly dropped from the sky. Its colorful pattern on the back was like a human being's face smiling in a creepy way, and its sharp poison fangs were like threatening daggers. At the bottom, there were two huge human arms covered by the black carapace. Each of the twelve fingers on the hand had a hundred and twenty joints in total.

When the spider landed, its white and thick threads joined together and become a huge web. The web shot out directly toward Lucien and Elvis.

Light flashed on Lucien's wrist, and a big fireball was instantly summoned. Then, the fireball burned down the spider web in a few seconds!

As a sorcerer, Lucien, of course, had some basic knowledge about the common magic creatures.

Although the spider was huge, it moved very swiftly like a level three grand knight. Its joints were making squeaking noises.

At this time, the noise became louder and louder. More huge, colorful spiders had arrived, surrounding Lucien and Elvis in the center.

Transformed spiders lived exclusively in the Dark Mountain Range. They had heads like human beings. After growing mature, its power could match that of a level three knight. They moved very fast, and they often hunted together. Because they could use illusionary magic and they were good at teamwork, those spiders could kill enemies who were even much stronger than them.

Lucien knew the facts about the spiders well. In the next second, he cast Scare, and invisible magic waves extended in all directions.

Elvis was not affected because of the magic item he was wearing.

Most of the spiders panicked and their team formation became dispersed. Making the eerily noise, the rest of the spiders managed to resist the magic power and rushed fiercely toward them.

Some of the spiders used Hypnotism; some spread out thick webs; and some were going to directly attack them in their face with their fangs, pincers, and venom!

Elvis quickly took a glance at Lucien to complain because he did not take him into consideration when casting Scare, and then he lifted a black hammer about the size of a human head to get prepared for the fight.

Although he understood that Mr. X had enough reasons to use the ranged spell, and the influence of Scare was not permanent. He still felt a bit unhappy with the fact.

Every time when he dropped the hammer at the spiders, there was the powerful flame. After a few strikes, a spider was completely squashed by Elvis. The spiders illusionary magic did not work because of the amulet he was wearing.

It seemed that Elvis should be a level-four grand knight. However, Lucien still had no idea what his Blessing was.

Lucien was protected by a wall written with countless magic symbols and patterns, absorbing all the green waves from the spiders' Hypnotism and the black smoke to make people panic. At the same time, using his Amboula Staff to pinpoint the enemies, Lucien quickly killed another spider with a big fireball.

After the buffering time was gone, Lucien pointed at the spiders who were casting spells and shooting spider nets some distance away with his magic staff.

Dark clouds appeared above the spiders and then they were directly struck by the summoned lightning bolts. The spiders were burned black within seconds.

This was the fourth-circle Electromagnetics spell, Thunder Cloud. Lucien built it in his soul after coming back to Aalto. Another spell that he built was a unique spell, Maskelyne's Curse.

After a while, all the spiders were killed by Lucien and Elvis.

"Mr. Elvis, any problems?" asked Lucien when seeing Elvis' serious look. In Lucien's mind, in the Dark Mountain Range, encountering monsters and magic creatures was more than normal. Lucien was even about to collect the spiders' fangs and venom.

Elvis looked around in an insecure manner and said, "Mr. X… there shouldn't be these many spiders, unless…"

There was one horrible possibility.

Before Lucien asked, he suddenly felt very nervous from the power he sensed.

Hurriedly, Lucien saw a huge lizard-like creature flying in the air with its bat-shaped wings, as if it was running away from something.

"Red Dragon?!" burst out Lucien. A red dragon was at the top of the creatures chain!

Lucien was quite regretful that he did not have a cellphone to take a picture of the dragon. After all, it was the first time that he saw a huge dragon with his own eyes.

However, Elvis panicked, "We're in trouble now! We're in the devil's territory!"

Then, he started to run out of panic.

"What do you mean?" Lucien was confused. However, he had no choice but to run after Elvis as fast as possible.

Elvis calmed down a bit, as if he was looking for something. He answered Lucien fretfully, "It is said that there was a legendary peak in the Dark Mountain Range that could move around like a living being. People cannot tell the difference between it and the normal hills. As long as one enters the area, the person can never get out! There was only one way to tell… Creatures close the area would become crazy! No rules could be followed anymore!"

Lucien had never heard anything like this in the Congress. When he was about to ask, Elvis gave out a shrill cry! Countless huge vines burst out of the ground and tightened around him! Then many sharp, dark red thorns penetrated his skin!

Hurriedly, Lucien was about to cast Elemental Order to save Elvis. However, on the trunk of a huge tree beside them, two rows of big, black eyes suddenly opened!

Colorful rays shot out of those eyes, and they hit Lucien's protection wall directly.

The magic symbols and patterns on the wall instantly swelled and exploded, and the wall was gone within seconds!

In this strange area, Lucien totally ignored the fact that this was the horrible Scarlet Tree. He got hit by several magic rays with many negative effects that could paralyze, slow down or freeze people, or make them feel drowsy. Lucien really had no chance to activate his flame shield!

Feeling drowsy and dizzy, he started to lose his eyesight. In the last second, he used all his effort and activated his Holm Crown Ring, Element.

Colorful light spots appeared around Lucien and together formed a few extremely dangerous swirls, preventing other creatures or things from approaching Lucien.

This was not for attacking, but to defend!

Lucien hoped that Elemental Swirl could keep him safe. Then, in the next second, his mind sank into the boundless darkness.

Chapter 312: Shackled

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The darkness was boundless and seemed everlasting.

Lucien was floating in this space. The certain power in his chest was shouting some words that he was not able to hear clearly. But the words were so powerful that the darkness almost started to surge, as if a storm was going to arrive.

Suddenly, dark green vines quickly rose from the ground beside Lucien's feet and tightened their grip around him within a couple of seconds. The dark red thorns on them were covered with dried human blood, and the dangerous sweet smell from it could paralyze people easily.

Lucien tried very hard. He tried to cast spells, but there was no spiritual power left in this strange space.

The thorns fiercely stabbed into Lucien's body and the unbearable pain made him cry out loud like Elvis. And, at the same time, his whole body felt frozen.

However, the great pain woke Lucien up. Rays of light that were too bright to look at came into space and pierced the darkness.

Lucien felt very dizzy. He squinted in the sudden bright sunlight. Very quickly, he recalled that he had been hit by the many magic rays from the scarlet tree. And he did not even have the time to activate his boots—Sidestep.

Subconsciously, Lucien cast Short Distance Teleportation to avoid the following attack from the tree.

It seemed that Elemental Swirl worked, so Lucien, fortunately, had had enough time to recover. But what about the vines in the darkness? Were they from Lucien's subconscious to make him wake up as soon as possible?

However, as soon as Lucien used the spell, he instantly realized that, just like what happened in his dream, his spiritual power had been drained by using Elemental Swirl. Therefore, he pressed his hands against the ground and dodged sideways.

As a level two knight, Lucien's life force became stronger. Thus, unlike what happened before, after using Elemental Swirl, Lucien was now still able to move relatively swiftly.

But after he rolled over, he noticed that there was nothing underneath him. When Lucien's eyes were more used to the light, he was shocked to find out the fact that he was in a small room painted white. There were no vines, no creepy trees, and no eyes!

Bang! Lucien fell onto the floor.

A knight's body was tough. Lucien did not feel much pain. He quickly looked around.

It was a small room. Except for a small wooden bed, there was only an open wood box here. And nothing was in it.

The room was not dirty, but it was so simple that Lucien wondered if he was in a cell. Maybe he did a space-time travel again?

Lucien lifted his hands and saw that they still looked the same. He touched his neck and felt the summoning mark was still there. Lucien finally believed that he was still Lucien Evans.

But that did not bring much relief to Lucien, because there was a black bracelet on each of his wrist. The black bracelets were shining with a creepy light. Furthermore, when Lucien touched his neck, he felt that there was also a collar on it.

What was even worse was that all his magic items were gone! Sun's Corona, Fire Weaver's Bracelet, Sidestep Boots, Transformation suit, Ogre Gloves… all gone!

There were tiny needles on the bracelets, piercing into Lucien's skin. The look on Lucien's face was very serious. He guessed that the bracelets should be used for confinement and the collar should be used to prevent him from using his spiritual power. No wonder Lucien felt that his spiritual power was drained even more compared to the time when he cast Elemental Swirl still as a junior-rank mage!

Being able to use neither his spiritual power nor his Blessing, Lucien tried to get access to his spirit library. However, it was blocked by some strange power.

Lucien wondered if his spirit library required his spiritual power to be accessed.

Lucien kept trying. He tried to use the mark on his neck to see if he could summon Rhine in his dream. Rhine had the title called the Observer, so he should be the one who could provide Lucien with the most useful information about the Dark Mountain Range!

However, he failed again. For a second, Lucien felt very helpless, just as when he first arrived in this world.

"But I've got a healthy body, a strengthened soul. I think and take actions way better than I used to. Calm down, Lucien. There's hope." Lucien comforted himself, "Try to gather more information about this place. So I can figure out the next step."

Lucien was quite experienced with all kinds of difficulties that he ran into since he arrived in this world. He never gave up easily, and he always tried to stay positive. He believed that his true treasure was not the magic items, instead, it should be his knowledge in his brain that no one could take away from him! For example, he knew well about the bracelet, the collar, and many magic circles!

Lucien tried to pull the iron gate, and, of course, it was locked. So he walked back to the bed and sat down, trying to see what he could do with the bracelets.

At this time, Lucien heard the sound from some tinkling keys.

Someone inserted the key into the keyhole. With a click, the iron door was slowly opened.

A young man whose face looked drunken walked in with a big chain of keys. His back was used to bending forward. But as soon as he saw Lucien in the cell, he stuck out his chest a bit and said to him in a bit arrogant way, "Since you've woken up, follow me to see the master."

He was wearing a black short robe and a long trouser. There was nothing on his wrists or neck.

"Master?" Lucien hurriedly asked? Before he saw the so-called "master", he needed to know what this place was for and why he was here.

"How dare you say the word 'Master'? You were saved by master only because there's a lack of experiment materials! Keep this in mind—you're just the most trashy experiment material in this magic tower!"

Lucien's heart missed a bit. The ending of being the material for some magic experiments was not really better than death.

However, Lucien was still alive. He still had hope!

"I was saved? Where is this place?" Lucien pretended that he did not understand.

The young servant looked a bit pissed, "I was born here! I don't want to waste my time on explaining to you what kind of place this is! What I can tell you is that those people who came here by mistake and never managed to leave called this place the Devil's Territory."

Lucien realized that he was really not a lucky guy. He slightly released a sigh.

After finding Elvis, the liaison, Lucien thought that his mission was almost done, as Elvis was very experienced in commuting between the campsite and the magic tower of the Nightmare King. However, the Devil's Territory got them!

"So… what happened to those people who never managed to leave? … Where's my companion?" Lucien kept asking, following what the young servant said.

It seemed that what Lucien just asked amused the young servant, so he answered, "Your companion? He's already a dried body now! Those people either ended up feeding the beasts or becoming the experiment materials of master. Two… no, three… are still alive… Wait, bastard! Shut your mouth and follow me!"

It was the first time that the young servant saw someone like Lucien, who had endless questions in this horrible situation. When he realized what was going on here, the young servant suddenly looked worried and afraid.

Lucien did not want to push him too much. Wearing the bracelets and the collar, Lucien followed the young servant and walked upstairs in the magic tower.

On their way upstairs, Lucien stared at the back of the young servant, making the evaluation that whether this young man was strong and trained from the way the servant walked, and whether he could break the servant's neck or knock him out.

When they were on the fifth floor, Lucien stopped evaluating and started to recall the material he once read in the library of the Congress— a book called About the Human Body Experiments Conducted by Ancient Sorcerers.

They came in front of a black door drawn with mysterious patterns. The young servant gently knocked at the door and said, "Master, the material that you picked back has woken up. He's here."

"Bring it in," said an old, female voice.

Lucien was not surprised with the fact that the sorcerer was female. Both male and female ancient sorcerers were equally dangerous.

The black door opened automatically. Lucien saw the entire lab. It was similar to the lab left by Maskelyne. Lucien saw the gray liquid called Aether flowing in the tubes, the complicated structure of tubes and pipes covering the whole lab, the many pale human hands hanging up there, as well as the dissecting table, the platform for alchemical experiment usage, and lots of weird-shaped lab devices and containers.

An old woman in a red magic robe whose back was badly crooked forward stopped her dissecting work and turned around to look at Lucien.

Her hair was basically all white. And her skin was sagging like a loose bag. She looked beyond ugly and horrifying.

After staring at Lucien with her cloudy green eyes for a while, she slightly nodded. And her old voice sounded a bit crazy: "Electric shock first."

Chapter 313: Trying

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The old woman's green eyes burst out with weird light, and Lucien instantly lost consciousness.

When he recovered, he realized that he was lying on a silver platform, like a patient waiting for his surgery or a body waiting to be cut open.

With several clicks, Lucien's wrists, ankles and neck were tied tight to the platform by the silver-gray shackles. Fine needles penetrated his skin, bringing him the indescribable prick and the feeling of numbness.

Lucien did not panic. Instead, he calmly told himself that the old ancient sorcerer was at least of senior-rank. Although his spiritual power had been restrained, as a fourth-circle sorcerer, Lucien would not have been mentally controlled so easily unless the old sorcerer's power way surpassed that of his level.

The two thin tubes like two black tentacles reached out and attached to both sides of Lucien's temple, as if they were alive.

From the magic circles and the magic materials used here, Lucien guessed that the old woman would record the change of his soul by striking him with electricity, therefore, Lucien hurriedly said to the ancient sorcerer, "Lady, are you doing the experiment observing one's change of soul under electric shock? I can be way more useful as your assistant rather than lying here."

Hearing that, the old woman giggled in a creepy way like an owl, "In fact, you're way more useful being my experimental subject. Finding a middle-rank sorcerer isn't easy. Your mutant soul can provide me with precious information for improving my rite."

Seeing that Lucien still wanted to say something, the old woman said a weird word, and then Lucien found it that he could not make any sound, although his mouth was open.

"Little thing… Language is the most useless weapon. My decision can't be changed. The only rule here is my rule." The ancient sorcerer became a bit crazy, "I've read the letter you carried. But the two legendary sorcerers have nothing to do with me. They can't find this place! They can't threaten me! I can't even leave this bloody place. I need to finish my experiment as soon as possible to be more powerful, or I would never get out of this place…"

Lucien tried hard, but he could not pronounce a single word except for the harsh noise in his throat.

Knowing that this was not helping the situation, Lucien thought to himself seriously. The old woman's words were confusing, and she seemed crazy. Communication would not work, unless Lucien could find something that she really wanted.

From her words, it seemed that she was also a sorcerer imprisoned in the Devil's Territory. Maybe she was the third survivor mentioned by the young servant. She probably had been here for a very long time… No wonder she was crazy like this.

But what did she want? Lucien knew basically nothing about this place.

The old woman lifted her magic staff that looked like a black snake and pointed it at Lucien. Then, instantly, tiny and fine silver-colored electric snakes showed up on the shackles and swiftly entered into Lucien's body.

Lucien first felt the burning pain in his wrist and ankles, and then the numbness put Lucien through the great pain.

He wished that the old woman could directly push the electricity to the highest limit, so he could directly pass out.

But, of course, the old female sorcerer would not let it happen!

The electric current slowly became more powerful. The fine little snakes joined together into a whip, lashing Lucien's body and soul.

Lucien had zero strength. What he had was was only faith. His soul started to swell under the stimulation of the power, as if all of his potential had been discovered. The pain was becoming more and more intolerable.

In half-dream, Lucien heard the old woman's voice, "A minute and twenty three seconds… His soul started to change."

"Four minute and ten seconds… He's still hanging in there. There's something… supporting his soul and brain."

"Can faith influence one's soul in the opposite way? Most people say that faith can only contribute to the willpower of a knight."

"Willpower's also from human body, so maybe willpower and soul are somehow connected…"

"Maybe… essentially, all the extraordinary powers are the same. Thanos, Sun King, and the many legendary sorcerers have been trying to see the essence of power. The world is complicated, but also simple. Maybe there is one thing in this world that can form everything."

The old woman sort of forgot her original purpose of conducting the experiment. Her observation went sideways.

After a long time, when Lucien thought that he was going to be trapped in the electricity jail forever, he felt less numb, but soon the bad pain and the feeling of weakness seized him.

"Very good. You're even better as an experiment material than I thought," commented the old woman, which was definitely not something that Lucien would like to hear.

Then, she stared at Lucien carefully with the creepy smile, "When your soul recovers, we can do the following experiment. As long as you can survive, probably you can learn a lot from this."

Lucien realized that he was able to talk now, so he said to the old sorcerer carefully, "Lady, with regards to the researches on human body and soul, I have some pretty valuable information and many new magic spells. I might be able to help you."

"Hmm… A boy is trying to teach me…" the old woman's voice sounded vicious, and she walked back and forth with her walking stick, "You know senior-rank spells? You know how they work?"

"I don't. But I'm from the Congress, where there are lots of legendary sorcerers, archmages, and senior-rank sorcerers. They have done countless researches on studying human body and soul. I can find all the information in the library." Lucien felt that he was slowly recovering from the pain and numbness.

The old woman grinned, but her teeth were almost all gone. Her eyes looked crazy, "So what? You cannot get the high-level information… Can you bring my youth back? Can you help me get out of this place?"

Her mood had gone a bit crazy, so she let the young servant take Lucien back to the cell.

Lucien knew that he could not talk to her when she was crazy. He hoped that she would change her mind later when she calmed down a bit.

He first tried to make sure that he would not be the old woman's experiment subject next time.

…

When leaving the lab, Lucien was still being disturbed by the sequela of electric shock, so he walked very slow, but the young servant did not care, walking quite ahead of him.

Lucien was surprised to find out that the electric shock seemed to have helped with improving the power of his soul, as if he had been taking potions for a month.

He took a deep breath and carefully felt the power in his soul. He realized that the electric shock had stimulated the potential of his soul, which meant that this method could not be applied to magic apprentices or junior-rank mages who did not have a soul strong enough.

When Lucien came back from analyzing his soul, he saw another young servant bringing a tall man out of the cell next to him. The man had blond hair and blue eyes. He was quite good-looking, and the way he walked was very determined.

Lucien guessed that the man was another survivor being used as the old woman's experiment material. But he was not sure, since there were people born here in the Devil's territory, such as the young servant beside him.

Lucien and the man quickly exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.

…

Click. The iron door was locked from the other side again. Lucien lay in the bed for more than half an hour until he felt a bit better.

Then, he raised his hands and carefully observed the patterns on the shackles, which usually had lots of connections to the magic circles inside.

Lucien knew most of the magic circles for blocking the power of Blessing, and he also had analyzed some. However, when making magic items, almost all the sorcerers would add more magic circles in addition to the core circle for different purposes, such as offering extra support, punishment or sending messages. Therefore, Lucien had to figure out the additional part of the magic circles in order to know the complete inner structure of the shackles, and then open them.

Although the hope was rather dim, especially when Lucien's spiritual power and Blessing had been disabled, he would not give up. He still had his memory, knowledge, as well as his calculation ability.

So, after an hour or so, Lucien had already had some basic ideas with the structure of the shackles. However, for the next step, Lucien had to activate the power of the shackles, so he could be able to see the movement of the magic runes inside!

Lucien was very concerned because he was not sure whether this pair of shackle, when sensing the resistance or the tendency of breaking it from the prisoner, would punish him or directly send the information to the guard.

The second situation was the last thing that Lucien hoped to happen, which might bring Lucien very horrible consequences.

After a second thought, Lucien decided to try. Based on how much the old woman seemed to need her experiment materials, Lucien believed that she would not directly kill or severely injure her prisoners with the shackles.

Making up his mind, Lucien put his right hand on the black shackle around his left hand.

Although Lucien was quite confident with his reasoning, he still had fear in his mind. A crazy sorcerer's behavior was just unpredictable.

Lucien tried to lift the shackle up and pull the fine needles out to awaken his Moonlight Blessing power.

Dark light burst out of the shackle and electric currents went directly into Lucien's body and numbed him again. The pain was hard to describe. At the same time, the weird power from the shackle had dispelled Lucien's Blessing.

When the light disappeared, Lucien closed his eyes out of the torturing pain. Then, he saw the magic runes, patterns and symbols in the darkness in front of his eyes.

Lucien was surprised to find out that the consequence of trying to break the shackles was only physical punishment, and no messages were sent out to the guards. The only problem was that the time given to Lucien was too short and so he only managed to remember a few runes and patterns.

Taking a deep breath, Lucien waited until he felt a bit better. Then, he tried to lift the shackle again…

After many times of trying, Lucien's face had become contorted from the great pain. He bit his lips so hard that they were now bleeding.

Lucien forgot how many times he had tried. Finally, there was a smile on his face—He had got the complete structure of the shackles in his brain!

"Knowledge is power…" Lucien sighed.

At this time, someone knocked at the wall on the left side of Lucien's cell.

Chapter 314: The Adventurers

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Feeling still numb, Lucien looked at the wall on the left side in a confused way. His brain was working way slower than usual from the electric shock. After a few seconds, Lucien finally realized what was going on. He walked to the wall and asked in a low voice:

"Who is it?"

"Your neighbor, Adam. We've just met, buddy," answered a man.

Then, a brick in the wall was removed. The man on the other side pulled the brick out.

Lucien saw a pair of dark blue eyes through the hole in the wall.

"No magic circles on the wall?" Lucien was quite surprised and he lifted his left eyebrow slightly, like Natasha usually did.

In this senior-rank mage's magic tower, Lucien could not believe that the bricks and walls were not protected by any magic circles to prevent them from being easily destroyed!

The blue eyes were smiling, and the man answered, "Because this is the Devil's Territory! Although there are quite a few ore resources and assorted magic creatures, the resources for building up a magic tower are still very hard to obtain. The fact that the old woman has built a magic tower here shows that she's very powerful and wealthy. So, except for the exterior and the core of the tower, nothing is protected by special spells. By the way, buddy, what's your name?"

Adam seemed to be very talkative. Maybe he had not found anyone to talk to for too long.

"Mr. Adam, you can call me Lucien." Lucien was used to being polite, "How did you remove this brick?"

Adam blinked at Lucien through the hole in the wall, "You've really got some good manners, man. Are you a sorcerer or a knight? What is your rank?"

"Sorcerer. Middle-rank."

Adam grinned, "Come on, man. We are both in the same bloody situation, so just call me Adam. I'm a grand knight. Dark Blessing."

He reached out his right hand and his long nails were as sharp as knives, "I used my nails. These shackles can suppress my Blessing power, but it cannot change my physical strength."

Lucien took a glance at his neat nails and joked, "If there were only ordinary guards here, we could use your nails to break out of prison. Adam, do you know anything about this place? And what this old woman is working on? I passed out in the mountains. When I woke up, I was here…"

Adam's voice now sounded more serious, "Buddy, knowing a bit more about this place doesn't really help… at least for me… I know that in the area covered by the magic tower, there are two cities and some villages. People who live in there should be the descendants of the human beings trapped in the Devil's Territory. It was said that once a whole village next to the Dark Mountain Range was devoured by this place."

Then, Adam added, "On the margin of this area, there is a big forest of huge trees. It's a very dangerous area where there are lots of scarlet trees, killing vines, three-arm trolls, feather snakes, stone lizards and many other horrible creatures. I was there when I first stepped into the Devil's Territory. I almost died there. I'm not sure what is outside of the forest. But, according to the law that the further it is from the Devil's Territory, the more powerful the creatures are, I'm afraid there will be chimeras, soul catchers, sphinxes or dragons…"

Adam's voice became deeper and deeper, "There is an ancient remain underneath the magic tower, and it seems to be related to the secret of this place. The old woman has been working on it for a long time to get out of this place. But she kept failing and she believes that it is because she's not powerful enough as a senior-rank mage, so most of her experiments are about improving her power using limited resources. An experiment accident has contaminated her body and soul, so she can't make herself look young anymore, and she's losing her life force very quickly. She's still trying to solve this…"

Lucien asked concernedly, "Has she already found a way out? Maybe we're her solution…"

Adam's voice was full of fear, "Her soul has been damaged. She tried several bodies of the young girls she caught but it never lasted for more than a minute. She believes that the major problem lies in her soul, so what she is trying to do is to see the possibility of cutting her soul into parts and only keeping the parts that are not contaminated. She will then raise the parts that are clean, so they can grow and become her new soul."

Lucien was a bit shocked, "Then, which part will be in charge? Which part will be the old woman?"

As far as what Lucien knew, so far, no one ever succeeded with those experiments trying to divide one's soul. And this was different from how those people save part of their soul or a finger in a life box in a Lich Convert rite since the parts were still connected to the major piece of the soul and body.

No matter how far they were from each other, only when the major part died, the small piece of soul in the life box could come back to life. There was no conflict in philosophy or cognition. If the process of the small piece of one's soul coming back to life was disturbed by some certain power, the revived soul would also be injured.

Adam slightly shook his head, "Who knows. All of her experiment subjects died. And their souls were completely destroyed."

Adam pointed to the wall behind Lucien and said, "The guy in that cell is going to be her experiment subject tonight. If he fails, he would die. If he did it, he probably would also die but hopefully, we could be set free."

"If the experiment works…" Lucien murmured. He knew what it meant—it was a path to being immortal.

The currently available rites could extend one's lifespan, but one's soul would still age. Even if one could successfully separate the part of his or her soul that had not aged from the whole, the influence could not be removed. Therefore, the sorcerer who lived the longest recorded by the Congress was a legendary archmage at the age of six thousand four hundred and forty-nine. Other either died before this age or somehow went missing.

Adam lowered his voice, "Man, I gotta remind you. Be prepared."

"What?" Lucien looked at Adam's blue eyes.

"The old woman has been seeking for a powerful soul like yours. You're gonna be her main experiment subject for sure. But before she conducts the experiment on you, she's gonna improve the power of your soul as much as possible. This is dangerous, but this is also a chance."

Lucien took a deep breath and slightly nodded, "I will. Adam, can you tell me how much you know about the inner structure of this tower? Say… where's the energy core?"

"Sure. Anytime." Adam was very straightforward.

After their conversation was over, Adam put the brick back in the wall.

Lucien walked back to the bed and sat down. He knew what Adam was planning: Adam wanted Lucien to find the way to escape, so he could follow him. On the other hand, Lucien was totally fine with it. Also, he got some pretty useful information from him.

The servant sent him dinner. Lucien grabbed something to eat and went to sleep. He had to recover his physical strength as much as possible. And the next step would be getting rid of the shackles.

…

At midnight, the iron door suddenly opened. The young servant said to Lucien coldly, "Master asked me to bring you to the moonlight outside. Good for the recovery of your soul and body."

Lucien now felt that he was totally a prisoner. However, for sure, he would not reject a chance to go outside. So, he followed the young servant to the patio on this floor.

The silver moon was up in the sky, covering everything with a thin layer of white light.

Every single cell in Lucien's body was craving for the moonlight. The moonlight greatly cured Lucien's injuries.

"Hey, buddy." It was Adam's voice.

Lucien turned around, "Also here for the moonlight?"

"Yup. I was part of the experiment earlier this afternoon as well." Adam grinned. Then, he lowered his voice and said, "He didn't make it."

"What a pity…" nodded Lucien.

The patio was not very high above the ground, but the old woman was confident that they could never escape with their power restrained. Lucien and Adam decided to take a break here and chatted randomly.

At this time, the small hill in front of them suddenly burst out bright light, making the area look like it did during daytime.

Lucien saw that two males and two females ran out of the hill. Quickly, they came rushing to the magic tower. It seemed that they just stepped on some magic traps.

"Wow, cool. Two level two knights, a level one knight, and a second circle sorcerer." Adam was a little excited when looking at the people down there working hard on killing the skeleton guards.

Lucien was very confused, "What is going on here?"

"The old woman, except for studying and doing magic experiments, is very lazy. In order to have endless experiment materials, she's been leaving magic books and ways of awakening Blessing power in the nearby villages and hid the magic tower to let them grow. At the same time, she spreads the words that anyone who could find the hidden magic tower and kill the vicious witch here could gain everything, including great power and wealth. So, those experiment materials just come to her automatically."

Chapter 315: The Date of the Experiments

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The light of spells being cast and the sound of metal colliding slowly disappeared. The four brave adventurers had finished all the skeleton guards and unlocked the seal on the gate. Now, they had made it inside the magic tower.

In the darkness, the magic tower was like a monster waiting for its prey. The gate was its mouth, opening wide. After devouring the adventurers, everything went back to normal and quieted down.

On the patio, as the seal was removed, Lucien sensed the rotten leaves and soil smell in the air. He said out of sympathy, "They must have worked hard to become knights or sorcerers, especially in this kind of remote place. Unfortunately, they have been all lured by the power and wealth in the tower. When they stepped on the trap, they did not choose to retreat, but to force their way into the tower. This isn't usually how we sorcerers do things. When the magic tower is sealed and one cannot detect what is in there, a sorcerer would use familiars or other ways to make sure they know well enough about the target place."

Therefore, Lucien had no plan for helping the adventurers and then escaping this place with them. Under the monitoring of a senior-rank mage, it was better for Lucien to do nothing. Trying hard did not mean trying in a stupid way.

"Desire gives people drive and power, but it also blinds people's eyes and heart…" said Adam like a philosopher. Then he smiled, "So, as a sorcerer, Lucien, take a guess as to what floor they could make it to?"

Lucien looked back and took a glance at the two young servants who seemed to be quite relaxed, "I think we'll meet them pretty soon."

And then Lucien turned around and said, "I wish they could make it to this floor. So we could probably be free."

Lucien did not mind the fact that the two young servants could hear him. The servants stared at him angrily, but they did not do anything to Lucien. After all, it was super normal as a prisoner's wish.

"Having more experiment materials is a good thing for us. We're middle-rank materials, so we'll be used in a more cautious and safer way. Although this place's quite resourceful, most people do not have the power to get the resources. And also the witch did not provide the villagers with all the necessary knowledge, so all the adventurers coming here are only of junior-rank." Adam grinned as if he just made a joke.

As their conversation went further, the young servant scolded them, "Shut up. The time's over. Get back to the cell!"

Lucien and Adam exchanged a look with a smile on their faces, and then they did as the young servant asked.

…

When they were in front of the cell, Lucien was a bit surprised to see that the four adventurers had been captured and sent here under guard.

Only within a few minutes, the adventurers all failed. Lucien threw Adam a quick wink telling Adam that he was right.

The four adventurers were all pretty good-looking. Both of the two blond men were wearing silvery-white armors. One was of middle-age, and the other was younger. They armors made clashing sounds while they were walking. The two ladies were also blond. One was wearing a tight amor made of black scales and the other was wearing a loose, red magic robe.

Carina was walking with great fear in her heart. She could not stay focused anymore as a caster. She thought that her team could at least manage to escape even if they failed to kill the vicious witch under the guidance of the notes left by other adventurers. However, they did not even have the chance to see the witch. They were caught by the flesh-golem knights in the tower right away.

Now she saw the power difference between the witch and themselves. She doubted herself and this whole team. At the same time, she felt rather desperate with finding other ways to get out of this place.

With all these thoughts, Carina was sent to the cell under guard.

At this time, she heard someone laughed and then sighed, "Man, you do know sorcerers way better than I do."

Carina wondered who was it. Then she saw four men walking in this direction. Two of them were obviously servants in the tower, while the other two were wearing simple linen clothes.

The man who was talking was tall and had blond hair. At a glance, he looked even more like a knight than Alva and Bullard. And the black-haired young man who was listening to him was very elegant, although he was wearing the simple linen clothes.

Carina wondered if the black-haired young man was the witch's toy-boy. The vicious legend of the witch had been added by people with all kinds of weird, creepy or raunchy stories. Carina hated the witch but also had to admit that the witch's life was sort of nice.

Then, she suddenly realized that the black-haired young man was wearing the shackles and even a collar. Carina then wondered if they were other adventurers who had been caught and imprisoned here. Carina's partners, Ophelia, Alva, and Bullard all looked a bit confused.

However, the fact that they were not yet the witch's prisoners made them very nervous and feeling lost. Under the watch of the servants and the flesh-golems, they didn't dare to talk directly to Lucien and Adam. Just like how Lucien and Adam first met each other, they just exchanged a look and then they were sent to their separated cells.

Carina's cell was right beside Lucien's, on the right.

When Lucien walked past the cell, he saw the flesh-golem knight take out the shackles and collars to make the new prisoners wear them. So he walked a bit slower and carefully watched how the shackles and collars worked, in order to have a better understanding of the collar and to make sure his analysis of the shackles was correct.

As soon as she put on the collar, Carina felt that her spiritual power was suddenly drained.

She realized that the collar was for preventing one from casting spells. So, that being said… The black-haired young man was probably also a sorcerer.

She looked out the door and happened to meet Lucien's gaze.

As if he understood what she was thinking, the black-haired young sorcerer slightly nodded toward her. And then he walked faster, following the servant.

Carina wondered who he was. She tried to recall all the sorcerers who went missing, but she could not connect with this young, good-looking man to any sorcerers that she once heard about.

In this remote place, knights and sorcerers were powerful people standing high above the average people. They were important members of the Adventurers' Union. However, most of them went missing in the end somehow. Therefore, to get rid of this destiny was also another reason why Carina and her partners came here.

When she was thinking, Carina realized that the flesh-golem was pulling her magic robe. She was very scared, but failed to cast any spells. Carina hurriedly punched at the golem, but the golem did not care at all. It took off Carina's robe very easily.

Carina had never thought of this before. She screamed and retreated into the corner.

However, the golem did not do anything else to her. It threw her a set of linen clothes, and then took away her magic staff, robe, and necklace.

The golem left the cell and locked the door from outside.

Carina felt lucky that the golem did not have its own will, and the owner of the tower was a witch.

…

In the following period of time, Carina, Alva and the rest of the team were all sent to the lab one by one. When they came back, they had great fear on their pale faces. Obviously, they had realized what an experiment subject had to go through.

Lucien experienced another set of electric shock. According to the witch's words, she was working on awakening the potential of Lucien's soul power.

That night, all the prisoners were sent to the patio to bath in the moonlight. For the first time, they finally met each other.

The four adventurers stood in a circle, talking about their horrible experiences in low voices. The servants were just guarding beside the door. They did not care what the adventurers were talking about.

On the other side, Lucien and Adam were also talking to exchange some information.

"Adam, have you ever noticed that the witch didn't conduct any experiments at the end of last month and the beginning of this month? Or say, she never conducted any researches that require a living person…" asked Lucien thoughtfully.

Adam grinned, "That's right, man. Good for you. I've been kept here for a very long time. Even when she had enough experiment materials, for the first two days and the last three days of each month, the old woman never brought anyone to her lab. So my guess is…"

Adam stopped here but pointed downwards at the ground.

Lucien slightly nodded. He understood what Adam was saying. When the silver moon was dim, the witch was probably trying to break the seal of the underground remains, which would be the greatest chance for them to escape from the place.

At this time, Carina and her team walked toward Lucien and Adam, hoping to get some information from them.

"Hi, I'm Carina, a sorcerer," greeted Carina in a low voice. She was still feeling a bit scared with the servants.

Adam would love to meet some more helpers, so he smiled and nodded, "Adam."

"Adam?! The Dark Lord?" Ophelia, Alva, Carina, and Bullard were all very surprised when hearing the name.

Adam rubbed his hair a bit and put on an a slightly sad smile, "I didn't expect people from outside would still remember me."

None of them expected that this humorous and easygoing knight was the man in the legend. He was the only level-five grand knight that this area ever produced!

Seeing that Lucien was a bit confused, Adam shrugged, "After I left the bloody forest, I had some pretty good time outside, until I was caught by the witch."

Carina's eyes opened wide. Adam, the level-five grand knight, was imprisoned by the witch for so many years! The power of the witch was beyond their imagination.

They suddenly felt that their adventure was just a joke.

Trying hard to calm down, Carina looked at Lucien. Compared to the grand knight, she was more curious about the young sorcerer.

Chapter 316: Building the Image

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Carina tried hard to put a smile on her face and then asked, "What about you, sir?"

She was born in a relatively big family, so Carina was often very confident and proud. However, in front of Adam, the most well-known knight in this area, Carina felt nervous. In her eyes, the young sorcerer who stood beside Adam was probably also a very powerful person.

Lucien slightly shook his head and smiled, "I'm a nobody. I was caught only a day earlier than you guys. You can call me Lucien."

"A day earlier? Are you from somewhere else?" asked Ophelia surprisedly. The rest of the team also looked quite surprised.

The way they looked at Lucien made him feel that he was a rare animal in the zoo, being watched and observed by human beings outside of the cage. He grinned and said, "Haven't you ever seen an outsider? I think most people here are the descendants of the outsiders."

Carina realized that they were directly staring at this young sorcerer. Her face flushed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lucien, we have never seen any outsiders. Although like you just said, we're descendants of the outsiders, we are trapped in this isolated area and we rarely see people from outside."

Adam grinned, "In fact, there are outsiders coming to this place all the time. But some of them chose to directly integrate into the local people, while most of them soon lose their lives in the forests. Some were like Lucien. As soon as he stepped into this area, he directly became the old woman's target."

"The old woman…" the four of them all gasped at the same time. They wondered how dare Adam directly call the owner of this place as old woman.

Adam saw their reaction and shrugged, "It's okay. She doesn't care. She only cares about her experiments and her face. Not even those servants care."

Noticing that Adam just took a glance at them, the red-faced servant stared at Adam, "One more word about this… I'll lash you with my thickest whip!"

The servants dared not to report this to the witch. Many years ago, a servant tried to show his loyalty to the witch, so he told the witch that all the experiment materials were calling her "the old witch" behind her back. In the end, the witch killed all the people who said the three words, including that servant.

Carina saw the servants' reaction, so she felt a bit more relaxed, "I see… So, Mr. Adam, you were an outsider. No wonder when you first showed up, you were already a grand knight. I guess you're not alone here… Those people should also come from the outside world…"

Out of curiosity, the young knight, Bullard, asked, "Mr. Adam, Mr. Lucien, what is the outside world like? Are those poetries and stories true? They say that the outside world is a great place, and there are many powerful sorcerers and knights."

Adam pointed at Lucien, who looked a bit lost in his own thoughts, "I've been imprisoned here for too many years. Lucien shall be the one answering your questions."

The servants also stopped talking and looked at Lucien, as they were just as curious about the outside world.

Lucien found something worthy of attention from Carina's words. Realizing that they were all looking at him, he answered, "The outside world… is much, much bigger. It has horrible dark forests, jade-like lakes, lofty mountains, boundless plains, busy and prosperous cities, as well as a city in the sky…"

Although Lucien's description was very rough, his words still seized all of his listeners' heart, especially when Lucien was talking about the city in the sky and the magic train. They longed for the place that Lucien was describing.

"The world's so wonderful… I've never heard of something like this… a city in the sky." Carina murmured as she looked at the silver moon. Then she asked out of great passion, "Mr. Lucien, how big is the Congress?"

Lucien looked up at the rest of the floors of the magic tower above and said calmly, "A magic tower like this is everywhere in the Congress…"

Hearing that, even Adam was shocked. He could never imagine that there was a place in this world where senior-rank mages like the old witch could be seen anywhere.

"I'm only talking about the truth. At least, it's the truth for me." Lucien grinned. "But to live a really good life there, you have to win the Holm Crown Ring and the recognition from an organization or group, say, the Will of Elements. In the Congress, only powerful people have the right to talk. And there are lots of sorcerers who are a hundred, or even a thousand times more powerful than the old witch."

There was more respect in Carina's eyes when she looked at Lucien, the same as everyone else.

Lucien's purpose had been achieved. He was not an arrogant guy, but right now he decided to talk in this bragging manner to make the prisoners believe that he was the leader that they could follow. He continued, "I'm on my mission to send a letter to an important person. Before long, the Congress will send someone here to save me, a legendary sorcerer. In front of a legendary sorcerer, the old witch would only be like an ant…"

Hearing that, the servants all looked a bit concerned. The crazy old witch did not care, because she was insane. However, they did.

Lucien stopped at this point, leaving them with their own imagination. He believed that the image of himself that he wished to build in their mind was already there.

"Legendary sorcerer…? How powerful is a legendary sorcerer?" Carina could not help but ask.

Adam answered this question for Lucien, "A legendary sorcerer can easily destroy this magic tower, the nearby cities and villages, and even this whole Black Forest."

This was just Adam's guess, but his answer still shocked the adventurers and the servants.

After a while of silence, Carina looked at Lucien with great passion, "So… Mr. Lucien? What level are you of, as a sorcerer? What about the old witch? What do you do in the Congress?"

Lucien released a sigh and replied, "You don't have to call me a mister. We're all prisoners here. In the Congress, I'm one of the many middle-rank mages, and I still have a long way to go to reach the higher level. The old witch… should be about the seventh or eighth circle."

Telling them that he was a middle-rank sorcerer was enough. Lucien did not mean to reveal more of his information to them.

"I knew it! You're a middle-rank mage!" Carina was very surprised. In this remote place, middle-rank sorcerers were very rare. Becoming a middle-rank sorcerer was even harder than becoming a grand knight. Carina, as a sorcerer, admired Lucien a lot just like how Alva, Bullard, and Ophelia admired Adam, the grand knight.

However, the other adventurers looked very concerned, "The old witch is of… the seventh or eighth circle?"

In their eyes, Carina, a second-circle sorcerer, was already quite powerful. They could not imagine what a senior-rank sorcerer could do. They wondered why she stayed in the magic tower instead of choosing to rule the whole territory?

Adam knew what they were thinking, so he said, "Ruling isn't the old woman's thing. She's only crazy about magic and her experiments. All the rumors and stories about this magic tower were all spread by her."

Hearing that, the adventurers all felt very desperate, including Carina, who was still feeling very excited a second ago.

"So we are… her lambs now," murmured Ophelia hopelessly.

Lucien directly asked, "Since when did the stories about the magic tower start to emerge? Since when did those sorcerers and knights start to go missing?"

"About five hundred years ago." Carina was not very confident.

Lucien nodded and thought to himself. It seemed that the old witch was trapped in the Devil's territory before the Congress of Magic was established, so she probably knew nothing about arcana. If Lucien could somehow become her assistant, and seize a chance to show her some "wonderful" experiments, maybe her brain would directly explode. However, since the old witch was quite insane, Lucien did not think that she would allow him to be her assistant. Therefore, he still had to find other ways around.

The most important thing for Lucien to do now was to get rid of the collar and the shackles. In order to do so, and without the help of his spiritual power and Blessing, Lucien had to find the place in the magic tower where the anti-magic circle was in, to make the collar and the shackles lose effect. However, so far, Lucien had no idea where this place in the tower was.

A while later, through talking, the adventurers slowly calmed down a little. In their eyes, Lucien could be their hope.

…

Two days later, when Lucien was still digging in the wall using his nails, the old witch unusually sent her servant to bring Lucien back to the lab.

On his way to the lab, Lucien carefully remembered the locations of the flesh-golems who were guarding the important parts of the tower with sharp axes and swords in their hands.

The lab's door opened. Lucien saw that Ophelia was tied to the operation table. And the old witch was casting some weird spells with a black mirror in her hand, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"

Lucien was very confused.