Shadow Figure 1

As Ivan busied himself with researching a stable way to summon an iron sword, shadow figure 1 had followed him all the way to the base of the mountain. 

Watching the young boy walk up a flight of stairs before disappearing into the curtain of trees from afar, shadow figure 1 was about to follow after him when he sensed something was amidst. 

Following that uneasy feeling, shadow figure 1 tried to dash onto the flight of stairs but was bounced back by an invisible force. 

'What the–? There's a magical barrier here?' Shadow figure 1 was slightly taken aback when he found out that there was an invisible barrier protecting the base of the stairs. 

Despite being located at the outermost edge of the town of Seishi, there was actually a magical barrier protecting this entire mountain range. 'Wasn't the kid I was supposed to investigate a nobody? Why is there a magical barrier here?'

Placing his hand on the barrier, shadow figure 1 mumbled for a bit before a soft light pulsed out of his palm. After 5 pulses, shadow figure 1 took a deep breath before putting all of his strength into his palm. 

"Thud!" When his palm made contact with the surface of the magical barrier, shadow figure 1 was bounced back 100 meters with his arm dislocating away from his shoulder. 

The magical barrier on the other hand, remained firm and solid without the slightest ripple on its surface.

'What the fish?!?! So strong?! No damage?! That was my strongest Light Palm yet it didn't even cause a ripple!' Ignoring the immense pain he felt from his right shoulder, shadow figure 1 now had to think of a new way to complete his mission. 

Just then, shadow figure 2 had finally caught up to shadow figure 1. Of course, shadow figure 2 had casted an invisibility spell on himself so shadow figure 1 was unaware of his presence. 

When Shadow figure 2 arrived at the scene, shadow figure 1 had just attacked the transparent magical barrier before suffering a mighty blow to his right shoulder. 

But unlike shadow figure 1's shock when he found out that there was a transparent magical barrier here in the rural side of the town, shadow figure 2 however, felt gloomy when he saw the magical barrier. 

From the looks of it, shadow figure 2 clearly knew about the magical barrier protecting Ivan's mountain and may even know about the magical barrier's origin. 

10 minutes later…

After bashing and smashing the magical barrier with every magical spell in his arsenal, shadow figure 1 finally lost it. He began cursing and pointing fingers at the impenetrable magical barrier in front of him. 

"Tsk, if the World Council hears of my failure, I doubt I can live to see another day when I get sent back to the training camp. Those sadistic instructors! They really are too ballsy! To have the gall to call a torture chamber a training facility! F*ck them and this shitty magical barrier!" Shadow figure 1 cursed out loud. 

The existence of this magical barrier may or may not just caused him to fail his mission and be demoted to a Shadow Recruit again. 

Shadow figure 1 couldn't help but tear up when he thought back about his painful and torturous time in Shadow Recruit Training Camp. 

"F*ck this shit! Now, I understand why all shadow recruits are required to bring along a barrier buster magical cannon on them." With a swing of his left hand, blue light flashed for a split second before a flintlock decorated with archaic runes and mana lines appeared in the figure's left hand. 

Pointing the flintlock's barrel at the magical barrier, shadow figure 1 began pouring large amounts of mana into the gun before pulling the trigger. "Eat this! Barrier Buster!" 

"Boom" When the large mass of concentrated mana was fired from the flintlock, a large explosion occurred almost instantly. 

Not only did the soil outside of the magical barrier cave in from the pressure of the magic spell, shadow figure 1 was forced to take several steps back due to the large recoil of using the magical cannon. 

'Please tell me it worked!' Despite being forced several meters back with blood trickling down the side of his mouth, shadow figure 1's gaze remained firm as he focused his gaze on the blast area. 

But when the dust cloud created by his magical spell settled, what he saw next made his jaw drop. 

At this point, shadow figure 1 had exhausted most of his mana reserves when he used his magical cannon to fire Barrier Buster. So when shadow figure 1 saw the result of his Barrier Buster, he was shaken to his core. 

Instead of seeing a broken magical barrier after pouring all of his might into the magical cannon, a middle aged man with a golden crown on his white head was casually reading a book while floating in the crater. 

Yes, it was shadow figure 2 who stopped the mass of concentrated mana unscathed. 

When shadow figure 2 saw that the dust had settled, he closed the book he was reading before switching it with his personal magical artifact, the Book of Life & Death. 

Likewise, when shadow figure 1 saw the old, thick book in shadow figure 2's hand, he suddenly thought of an urban legend of Seishi. 

Back when Ishgar was still an active participant of wars 50 years ago, despite everywhere being in chaos, the town of Seishi remained safe and peaceful. 

Even when armies of enemy nations wanted to resupply after defeating their own country's army, the enemies would resupply quietly. Why? Because the town of Seishi had 3 Wizard Kings protecting it! 

According to urban legend, it was the mysterious Wizard Queen and Witch King couple who were the main protectors of the town while the Wizard King of Life & Death were friends of the couple. 

And when Ishgar was finally left alone by the other countries, the Wizard Queen and Witch King couple handed their town over to their friend before deciding to live quietly with one another. 

So, when the town switched protectors, the town that was originally named Maho meaning magic, became Seishi, meaning life and death. 

Now, one of the legends of Seishi was standing before shadow figure 1 right at this moment!