Chapter 26: Luring Trouble Eastward (Please Follow)

"What the hell!"

Richard drew his great sword, his breathing starting to change rhythm. Behind him, Ali also took a magic wand from her luggage, the flash of magic power shimmering faintly.

"Don't make a move, it's me! Loken!"

The blood-colored figure wiped his cheek, revealing a simple and honest chubby face.

"Loken? Weren't you teaming up with others? How did you end up like this?"

As he spoke, Richard stealthily gave Ali a look, and she, with perfect understanding, moved beside Richard's luggage and took the Fireball Magic Wand into her hands.

Loken's situation was not right; it seemed as if something was chasing him.

Several more noises came from the dense forest, and by the sounds of it, they were likely the noise of Magic Missiles.

Loken's face changed, and a glint of light flashed from his boots.

"It's a long story; we'll talk about it later."

Then, the chubby man's feet moved like the wind, and he quickly disappeared into the woods. In the end, he still shouted to Richard:

"I got the stuff, let's split up and run!"

Right then, even a fool like Richard knew he'd been played.

"Friend, I have nothing to do with that guy!"

Richard shouted into the forest, while his heart started pumping hot blood through his veins. His magic power was rapidly depleting, replaced by the growing scales on his body. In just one or two breaths, his body was covered with black scales.

Several voices came from the forest, not in the Wizard Language, but then Richard heard a sound.

Buzz!

A buzzing noise reached Richard's ears, and without thinking, he swung his sword, hitting a blue streak head-on. Behind the streak, several Magic Missiles tore through the protective force field of his wizard robe, hitting Richard's body squarely. If this had been before his Bloodline Alchemy, the missiles would have been enough to take Richard's life, but now, he just grunted and turned to shout at Ali.

"Do it now!"

Ali waved her magic wand, magic power passing through the wand and concentrating at the tip, instantly turning into a deadly spell.

Orange-red fireballs, like shooting stars, crashed into the dense forest, exploding into skies of flames.

Boom!

The surging blast, carrying dirt and rocks, rushed towards Richard, but protected by the black scales, these aftereffects meant nothing to him.

"Are they all dead?" asked Ali, her voice trembling.

This was Ali's first time witnessing the Fireball Technique, the scarlet glow, the thunderous noise; it all seemed like divine punishment out of legend.

The gods punished the sinners with thunder and fire.

Flames began to rise in the forest, an inevitable consequence of using the Fireball Technique.

Richard's eyes were fixed on the fire, sensing that someone was still alive.

Woo!

A figure stood up from the fire, bringing with it a gale summoned by magic.

The wind fed the fire, and what was once a small blaze expanded rapidly under the strong wind.

With one step, Richard charged into the flames.

The scorching air traveled through his lungs, as if molten coals were burning his trachea.

But Richard paid no attention, his eyes only on the figure summoning the wind.

Finally, Richard reached the figure, but what he saw was a charred body, unrecognizable in gender. Intense hatred allowed this person to stand from the fire and release one last spell.

"I'll send that bastard down to join you."

Richard swung his sword, decapitating him.

The wind from the spell suddenly stopped, but the wildfire had already become uncontrollable.

"Loken..." gritted Richard.

The entire ordeal was caused by Loken's malicious act of diversion before his departure.

Back at the camp, Ali was currently covering her mouth and nose, trying to escape the blaze.

"Hold on to me," said Richard as he embraced Ali, his voice deep.

"Uh-huh."

Richard carried Ali and charged straight into the flames. With his incredible physique and the protection of the scales, he forcibly made a path through the fire.

"Mr. Wizard, come this way!"

Just as he emerged from the fire, Richard saw Old John waving at him from a distance.

The old guide seemed not to have abandoned his client.

Coming to Old John's side, Richard saw a small river.

"Wizard sir, let's hide in this river, and the fire will go out soon," Old John called out.

"Go out? How can this fire go out?"

Richard looked at the fire that kept spreading, thinking to himself that in his previous life, such a scene would probably require digging firebreaks and deploying helicopters to solve.

"Heh, seems like the wizard sir is not aware of the Black Stone Mountain Range's rules," Old John said while looking at the spreading fire, then with a splash, he jumped into the water.

"We of the Black Stone Mountain Range have a Guardian God."

No sooner had Old John finished his sentence than Richard heard a roar that echoed through the forest.

A gigantic figure flew out from deep within the Black Stone Mountain Range, bearing three snake-like heads and broad bat-like wings on its back, with scales covering its entire body.

"Is that... a Giant Dragon!?" said Richard, his voice trembling.

The creature flew over the fire, and with its three heads opening their massive jaws wide, it took a fierce inhale; instantly, the flames of the entire fire turned into three torrents continuously streaming into the creature's mouth.

"What... what is it doing?"

Old John stroked his beard: "What else could it be doing but putting out the fire? According to what wizards like you might say, the Guardian God is currently absorbing the Fire Element from the fire."

"Fire Element?" murmured Richard, his eyes glazed over in wonder.

In the worldview of wizards, the most primitive state of matter is not atoms, electrons, or quarks, but the Four Elements: earth, wind, water, fire.

All matter is composed of the Four Elements.

In the worldview of wizards, flames are the concrete representation of the Fire Element, and burning is the release of the Fire Element contained within the material.

It took the Giant Beast about fifteen minutes to extinguish all the flames, after which it flapped its wings and returned to the depths of the mountain range.

"Alright, wizard sir, let's go back. If we're lucky, maybe my roasting could still be edible."

Old John walked out from the water, wringing the water from his clothes.

"Old John, can you track?" Richard put down Ali, eyes burning with flames of vengeance.

"Track? Of course, I can," Old John said with some pride, "No one can disappear under Old John's watch in these woods."

"That's good," nodded Richard, then turned to look at Ali. Although Richard protected most of her body when they escaped, some minor burns were unavoidable.

"How do you feel?"

"A bit thirsty," Ali rubbed her head, "Are you going to kill that fat man?"

"Mhm," Richard nodded, "Are you going to stop me?"

"How could I?" Ali rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not crazy. That fat man hurt us so badly, even killing him with one strike would let him off too easily."

"That's good."

Richard internally sighed with relief; if Ali had developed a syndrome of excessive compassion, he might lose a friend in the future.

A hint of hatred flashed across Ali's face as the great fire seemed to have stirred up dark memories from her entrance examination.

"Take me with you when you kill him. I just learned a Curse Magic, and it'll be just right to practice on that fat man."

"Curse Magic?" Richard was surprised.

"Don't misunderstand! I'm not planning to curse others!" Ali hurriedly explained, "You don't go out much, so you wouldn't know, but there have been several curse killings among the new students recently."

"I'm learning it for self-defense."

Richard remained silent, and Ali became increasingly anxious.

"Believe me! I really am learning it for self-defense."

"Mhm, I know you don't want to kill," Richard nodded, then gazed at Ali with a look of amazement.

"Ali, do you know, Curse Magic is not chosen by people, but the magic chooses the person. Without what the Curse School calls 'Spirituality,' even if you acquire the model of the magic, you won't be able to use it."

"Ah?" Ali panicked, "Then my Magic Stones would be wasted!"

That was fifteen Magic Stones, her entire savings.

"I read it in a book," pondered Richard.

The Curse School has always been the most mysterious and least populous of the Five Major Schools. Their magic appears absurd and unfettered but can kill without a trace. It is said that the Truth Wizard of the Curse School once cursed an entire world to death with a single spell.

"The talent for being a Curse Wizard is rare; I hope you haven't wasted your Magic Stones," Richard smiled, then called out to Old John.

"Old John, let's go, today I must slaughter that fat man!"

...

Not far from the fire, at the edge of a valley.

"Looking at this commotion, those people should all be dead, right?" Loken murmured to himself as he watched the Guardian God fly back into the depths of the mountain range, "Those two were quite powerful; two people causing such a stir made even the Guardian God take action."

But then he laughed smugly, rubbed his hands together, and pulled out a notebook with a cover still bearing some dirt from his bosom.

"But no matter how powerful, they still ended up as my scapegoats.

The notebook of an Advanced Apprentice, written in the Wizard Language. Such a good thing, if I didn't steal it, it would be against all reason."