Chapter 27 Notes (Please follow)
In the dense forest, Old John crouched low, carefully observing the broken traces of the plants on the ground, as well as the bloodstains.
"Let's go this way."
Old John made a judgment and pointed in a direction as he spoke softly.
Loken's escape traces were obvious; even though flames had destroyed many of them, Old John still effortlessly found his tracks.
Following these traces, Richard arrived at a valley.
The vegetation in the valley was sparse. Richard, lying in a high place, easily spotted Loken, who had lit a campfire.
"That fat man seems to be looking at something," Ali whispered softly.
Richard also noticed the object in Loken's hands—it was a notebook.
"I'll approach from the front later, Ali, you stay on the side and use a spell to prevent him from escaping. Old John, you hide first."
After arranging the plan, Richard reactivated his bloodline. When Black Scale covered his entire torso, he cast a Silence Technique on himself.
Everything ready, Richard suddenly burst out of the woods, swinging his great sword like a black bolt of lightning toward Loken.
Under the effect of the Silence Technique, Richard's movements were almost soundless, while Loken, captivated by the notebook in his hands, failed to notice the abnormality around him.
Spurt.
Blood splattered.
Loken, finally perceiving the danger at the last moment, rolled aside very clumsily. Behind him, a terrible wound across his back continuously oozed fresh blood.
"You're still alive!" Loken exclaimed in shock.
"Not only am I alive, but now I am also going to take your dog's life."
Richard's face was cold as he slashed his great sword again horizontally.
This time, Loken was prepared, and two invisible barriers appeared instantly in front of the blade.
Two Force Field Barriers!
Loken looked at Richard somewhat mockingly.
"Idiot, lucky to be alive, becoming a Wizard Apprentice but still only knowing how to use a sword!"
But what met him was Richard's scornful gaze.
If Saban could break through the Force Field Barrier, how could Richard not break through?
The gleaming sword tip whistled, and the barrier before Loken was instantaneously shattered. This was Duke Heisen's famed technique, Wind Crow Slash. In front of the high-speed blade, even Plate Armor could be split in two; often shattering both man and horse on the battlefield.
The sword blade swept across, and a head flew up.
Loken's eyes were wide open, baffled even in death.
How could his sword break through two layers of Force Field Barriers?
Seeing Richard's action succeeding, Ali and Old John also followed up.
Looking at Loken's headless corpse, words of an incantation flowed from Ali's mouth as Magic Power surged within her. A stream of dark energy flowed from her fingertips into Loken's corpse.
Moments later, like a deflated balloon, Loken's corpse quickly withered away, its entire body instantly turning into a skin and bones appearance.
"It's done." Ali looked nervously at the body.
This was her first use of Curse Magic, unsure about the effects.
Suddenly, a large bump formed on the shrunken corpse. Within a moment, a white worm about the size of a fist emerged from the bump, breaking out of its cocoon.
"I did it!" Ali exclaimed excitedly.
"What is this?" Richard asked curiously.
"This is a Curse Worm, a material used in many Curse Spells," Ali held the worm in her hand, which unlike ordinary worms, stayed motionless without any struggle.
"This one is so big, could probably sell for five Magic Stones."
"It can be sold?"
"Of course, it can be sold." Ali rolled her eyes at Richard, carefully placing the worm into a pouch at her waist. "This thing not only serves as a material for casting curses on others but can also be used as a protective material against curses."
"That does sound like a good thing."
After experimenting with the spell, Richard picked up the notebook Loken had been perusing from the ground.
The pages of the notebook were somewhat yellowed, the edges creased due to humidity. It looked as though they had been thrown outside for years.
The text inside the notebook was in Wizard Language. Some parts were vague, but most of it was clear and legible. This also saved Richard some spirit power meant for extraction.
"Speaking of which, Richard wasn't sure if he could extract anything from the smudged entries.
After casually flipping through a few pages, Richard had understood why that group was after Loken.
"Advanced Apprentice's notes, how could such a thing appear in the Black Stone Mountain Range?"
Holding his doubts, Richard started to review the notes by the fire.
"July 10th, Heavy Rain
The weather today is bad, it has been raining incessantly since the day before yesterday, and if this continues, mushrooms might grow in the room.
July 15th, Clear Weather
The rain finally stopped. The black tower next door opened a massage parlor today, it's said it can relieve mental fatigue, but I'm not sure if it's true.
I'll check it out tomorrow.
July 16th, Clear Weather
The massage parlor was effective, they say the special services are even better.
I'll give it a try tomorrow.
July 17th, Clear Weather
Went to the massage parlor.
July 18th, Cloudy
Went to the massage parlor.
July 19th, Clear Weather
Damn it, those bitches actually used aphrodisiac incense as meditation incense!
July 20th, Clear Weather
Went to the massage parlor."
Richard quickly flipped through a few pages and found that they mostly contained evaluations of the massage parlor.
"Damn, even a mere commoner shouldn't frequent that much."
Skipping the part about the massage parlor, Richard finally saw something substantive.
The owner of the notebook specialized in the Shape-shifting School, and the notes recorded his thoughts on modifying the magic model of the One Ring Spell "Flame Hand" and the experimental results after modification.
"Power increased by one energy level, consumption reduced by one-tenth, solely based on this modification idea, I didn't waste my night," said Richard, somewhat excited.
Energy level is the basic unit used by the Shape-shifting School to evaluate the power of spells, one energy level is equivalent to the power of a Magic Missile. However, since many spells' direct power can't be evaluated, this unit is generally only used by the Shape-shifting School.
He continued to review the notes.
"May 12th, Clear Weather
Only one Magic Stone left, I wonder how many Magic Stones that massage parlor swindled from me.
May 13th, Cloudy
So many people in the task hall, these new students aren't focusing on their classes, what are they even doing taking on tasks!
May 15th, Clear Weather
Finally, a decent task developed—collect herbs in the Black Stone Mountain Range for twenty Magic Stones, travel expenses also reimbursed. Wizards of the Alchemy School sure are wealthy.
May 19th, Light Rain
It's raining again, been in the Black Stone Mountain Range for a day now, haven't found a single thing. High payment isn't without reason."
The diary ended there, and suddenly there was a blank space in the notes.
Richard flipped a few pages backward and discovered a few scribbled lines, the last of which was written in blood.
"What is that! What the hell did the mudslide release!"
"Living Iron Net, how could such a thing appear in the Black Stone Mountain Range."
"Guardian Magic Statue! I got it, I've broken into a wizard's laboratory! Those strange things are all protective measures set up by a wizard!"
A wizard's laboratory!
Richard felt his heart skip a beat.
A wizard's laboratory could be too profitable; various specimens, experimental materials collected by wizards, and even experimental equipment were invaluable treasures to an apprentice.
Richard continued to review, and after a long blank, a line written with a finger in blood appeared at the end of the notes in front of him.
"The wizard is dead!"