"Mr. Leiden, where are we now?" Brian asked me while following me behind. We were now on the ridge, the ground condition in this area was too bad. The floor was so uneven which was beyond imagination, making people cripple when walking.
"I don't know!" I replied. Although we were actually lost from a certain point of view, it was a negligible issue compared to being trapped in the freezing ice cave. Besides, getting lost was not a problem for a magician. After some rest, I can recall spells and can easily use magic to direct us. Even now, I can tell our position with the help of the sun—although the specific road was still unclear, the rough direction could not be wrong! Now the real problem we were facing was neither getting lost nor the damn uneven ground. The traces that evil creatures left behind was the real problem. We were in danger now. There could be something jumping out to attack us any time!
My new apprentice, Brain was behind me. To be frank, I never thought I would intake an apprentice one-day, let alone at a time when I was a homeless magician. In general, magicians on an adventurous journey do not take in any apprentices. Because it could be a real big burden for them! But since I have promised to teach Brian magic, I had to bring him along…Afterwards, I started to regret, how on earth did I accept his request?
"Where are we going?" Brian asked. He seemed to be a little scared. The sky was slowly getting darker and dangers were approaching.
"I don't know!" I replied. My goal now was to get out of this damn place quickly in order not to confront the Necromancer! I really didn't want to have a head-on collision with the Necromancer! If I had a large group of powerful magicians with me, I might consider competing with Lewis. But unfortunately there was only one rookie magician who can't even send out a magic ball!
The sky had slowly turned darker, and there was only half of the sun left in the west. We probably had to hurry in the dark. I decided to stop and camp here after realizing we wouldn’t be able to get out of this hill today.
I chose a cave for sheltering - strictly speaking, it was rather a pit than a cave. I let Brian lie inside, I lay down outside, and then added a defensive magic around it. In this case, even if something came over without notice, I could be alerted in advance. I did not set up a fire, because fire may useful in scaring away beasts. But it had no effect scaring away evil creatures nearby. Fires only attract them over.
Brian leaned against my body. Although it was much better than in the ice hole, the night wind was still cool. Fortunately, our wet clothes had been blown dry on our way here.
"Mr. Leiden, how long will it take for me to achieve your level of magic capability?" Brain asked suddenly, when all things quiet down.
"Maybe ten years, maybe twenty years... maybe much longer!" I replied casually. It depended on the level of talent and efforts of individuals.
I can’t tell the talent of this boy. But I should figure out soon!
"...will it take that long?"
"Of course! Magic is a very profound science. You are rewarded for your efforts…” I casually answered, and began to enter the inevitable stage before sleep, recalling magic. Each magician recalls magic before sleep under normal conditions, so that the combination of spell and memory can be completed in sleep. Memorizing magic like how I did today was not the best option. You would usually fail to remember the magic, no matter how outstanding you were as a magician.
The teenager stopped talking, and I began to concentrate on memorizing magic, re-forming the fragmented spells into a complete spell in my mind.
In the morning, I was awakened by the sound of helmet collision. Although my defense magic did not react, the sound was very close.
I woke up with Brian, and two of us went out to check.
A group of giant goblins were passing by from not far from us. They were fully armed. Every goblin was wearing the same armor with a spear on his shoulder. They looked like a patrol troop—it looks like this was something real. These standard weapons and armor cannot be made by the goblins themselves. These stupid creatures could only produce some rough weapons. These must be their spoils.
I guess they must the subordinates of Lewis. These weapons and armor must have been obtained from the bodies of the defeated human crusades. There was only one reason coming across a patrol here—it was very close to Lewis’ base! Damn it, this was totally different from what I expected!
The goblins moved on, with the last one of them ahead of us. I could destroy them with a fireball if I wanted to. But if their bodies were found – which was almost certain - we both would be chased after. It couldn’t get worse if Lewis himself came after us. I didn’t have the confidence to protect Brain from the Necromancer.
I touched the staff in my arms. Lewis would come after me in person if I lost it. I could never afford to lose such a precious thing.
The goblins were moving away. We didn’t hear the sound of helmet collision anymore. I suddenly came up with an idea—maybe it was the right chance!
"Follow me!" I said to Brian and then jumped out of our hiding spot to run after the group of giant goblins. I tried to keep silence as much as possible. But when I was approaching, the creatures still found me out.
"Who are you?" The goblins turned around and pointed at me with a spear clumsily. A seemingly goblin captain asked the question in a vague voice.
"I am nobody..." I immediately started the spell I prepared, and when the goblins reacted to attack me, I had completed my magic.
"The magic of Charm!" A blue energy emerged from my hand and shot at the goblins. The magic started to be effective. Their alerted eyes immediately turned into obedience. Now in their hearts, I was their master, the closest person to them—except for two giant goblins on the very left. They raised their spears and rushed over to me without realizing the changes in their companions.
The battle was over very quickly. The goblins were good at attacking from behind. The unlucky goblins were killed by my spear without getting close to me!
I came over to the goblin captain, and Brian was nervously behind me. It seemed it was his first time watching these evil creatures. Although he knew they were under the control of my magic, he was still a little nervous.
"Under your instructions! My master!" The goblin captain put away his bloody spear and said to me. His loyal attitude made me very satisfied.
"I have some questions for you!" I told him.
The goblin captain told me details of almost all my questions—except for those he didn’t know. As I expected, it was indeed only five kilometers away from Lewis’ nest, which only took about half an hour of fast walk. Fortunately, I came across this patrol. Otherwise, I would probably head into Lewis’ nest! It seemed that blessing would follow after great dangers! The goblin also told me one more thing—Lewis had already brought the little girl to his home. At this moment, there were only about ten giants and ogres protecting the nest. The Necromancer had gone out in the early morning!
"He’s gone out? Do you know why?"
“I don’t know!”
"There is only one thing that could make the Necromancer leave the princess behind!” I talked to myself. I reached out and touched the dagger in my inner pocket. I had used some protection magic on it. There was no way for Lewis to detect it with magic.
"Mr. Leiden!" Brian interrupted my thoughts, with an excited yet nervous look. I can tell right away what he wanted to do!
"Brian, you want us to save the princess out of Lewis’ nest, right!” What a young man he was, thinking about the fairy tale of warriors saving the princess, I said in a little sarcastic tone.
"Can't you?" He replied with a bit of fear, after hearing my irony. "If we cold save the princess... it is a big blow to the Necromancer... isn't it?"
"I’m afraid we won’t be able to take care of the princess! We are now unable to save ourselves... The Necromancer is searching for us everywhere with his men!" I replied, moving my hand away from my pocket. But I suddenly touched a thing, a hard thing, I remembered what it was - it was a treasure stone I cheated from the little girl!
Just ignore that innocent girl? Leaving her in the hands of the pedophile! The treasure stone evoked my last sense of justice—if I save the princess, I can probably own the treasure stone without any guilt. By the way, since Lewis was searching for us everywhere, his nest would be the safest place…
"Mr. Leiden, where are we now?" Brian asked me while following me behind. We were now on the ridge, the ground condition in this area was too bad. The floor was so uneven which was beyond imagination, making people cripple when walking.
"I don't know!" I replied. Although we were actually lost from a certain point of view, it was a negligible issue compared to being trapped in the freezing ice cave. Besides, getting lost was not a problem for a magician. After some rest, I can recall spells and can easily use magic to direct us. Even now, I can tell our position with the help of the sun—although the specific road was still unclear, the rough direction could not be wrong! Now the real problem we were facing was neither getting lost nor the damn uneven ground. The traces that evil creatures left behind was the real problem. We were in danger now. There could be something jumping out to attack us any time!
My new apprentice, Brain was behind me. To be frank, I never thought I would intake an apprentice one-day, let alone at a time when I was a homeless magician. In general, magicians on an adventurous journey do not take in any apprentices. Because it could be a real big burden for them! But since I have promised to teach Brian magic, I had to bring him along…Afterwards, I started to regret, how on earth did I accept his request?
"Where are we going?" Brian asked. He seemed to be a little scared. The sky was slowly getting darker and dangers were approaching.
"I don't know!" I replied. My goal now was to get out of this damn place quickly in order not to confront the Necromancer! I really didn't want to have a head-on collision with the Necromancer! If I had a large group of powerful magicians with me, I might consider competing with Lewis. But unfortunately there was only one rookie magician who can't even send out a magic ball!
The sky had slowly turned darker, and there was only half of the sun left in the west. We probably had to hurry in the dark. I decided to stop and camp here after realizing we wouldn’t be able to get out of this hill today.
I chose a cave for sheltering - strictly speaking, it was rather a pit than a cave. I let Brian lie inside, I lay down outside, and then added a defensive magic around it. In this case, even if something came over without notice, I could be alerted in advance. I did not set up a fire, because fire may useful in scaring away beasts. But it had no effect scaring away evil creatures nearby. Fires only attract them over.
Brian leaned against my body. Although it was much better than in the ice hole, the night wind was still cool. Fortunately, our wet clothes had been blown dry on our way here.
"Mr. Leiden, how long will it take for me to achieve your level of magic capability?" Brain asked suddenly, when all things quiet down.
"Maybe ten years, maybe twenty years... maybe much longer!" I replied casually. It depended on the level of talent and efforts of individuals.
I can’t tell the talent of this boy. But I should figure out soon!
"...will it take that long?"
"Of course! Magic is a very profound science. You are rewarded for your efforts…” I casually answered, and began to enter the inevitable stage before sleep, recalling magic. Each magician recalls magic before sleep under normal conditions, so that the combination of spell and memory can be completed in sleep. Memorizing magic like how I did today was not the best option. You would usually fail to remember the magic, no matter how outstanding you were as a magician.
The teenager stopped talking, and I began to concentrate on memorizing magic, re-forming the fragmented spells into a complete spell in my mind.
In the morning, I was awakened by the sound of helmet collision. Although my defense magic did not react, the sound was very close.
I woke up with Brian, and two of us went out to check.
A group of giant goblins were passing by from not far from us. They were fully armed. Every goblin was wearing the same armor with a spear on his shoulder. They looked like a patrol troop—it looks like this was something real. These standard weapons and armor cannot be made by the goblins themselves. These stupid creatures could only produce some rough weapons. These must be their spoils.
I guess they must the subordinates of Lewis. These weapons and armor must have been obtained from the bodies of the defeated human crusades. There was only one reason coming across a patrol here—it was very close to Lewis’ base! Damn it, this was totally different from what I expected!
The goblins moved on, with the last one of them ahead of us. I could destroy them with a fireball if I wanted to. But if their bodies were found – which was almost certain - we both would be chased after. It couldn’t get worse if Lewis himself came after us. I didn’t have the confidence to protect Brain from the Necromancer.
I touched the staff in my arms. Lewis would come after me in person if I lost it. I could never afford to lose such a precious thing.
The goblins were moving away. We didn’t hear the sound of helmet collision anymore. I suddenly came up with an idea—maybe it was the right chance!
"Follow me!" I said to Brian and then jumped out of our hiding spot to run after the group of giant goblins. I tried to keep silence as much as possible. But when I was approaching, the creatures still found me out.
"Who are you?" The goblins turned around and pointed at me with a spear clumsily. A seemingly goblin captain asked the question in a vague voice.
"I am nobody..." I immediately started the spell I prepared, and when the goblins reacted to attack me, I had completed my magic.
"The magic of Charm!" A blue energy emerged from my hand and shot at the goblins. The magic started to be effective. Their alerted eyes immediately turned into obedience. Now in their hearts, I was their master, the closest person to them—except for two giant goblins on the very left. They raised their spears and rushed over to me without realizing the changes in their companions.
The battle was over very quickly. The goblins were good at attacking from behind. The unlucky goblins were killed by my spear without getting close to me!
I came over to the goblin captain, and Brian was nervously behind me. It seemed it was his first time watching these evil creatures. Although he knew they were under the control of my magic, he was still a little nervous.
"Under your instructions! My master!" The goblin captain put away his bloody spear and said to me. His loyal attitude made me very satisfied.
"I have some questions for you!" I told him.
The goblin captain told me details of almost all my questions—except for those he didn’t know. As I expected, it was indeed only five kilometers away from Lewis’ nest, which only took about half an hour of fast walk. Fortunately, I came across this patrol. Otherwise, I would probably head into Lewis’ nest! It seemed that blessing would follow after great dangers! The goblin also told me one more thing—Lewis had already brought the little girl to his home. At this moment, there were only about ten giants and ogres protecting the nest. The Necromancer had gone out in the early morning!
"He’s gone out? Do you know why?"
“I don’t know!”
"There is only one thing that could make the Necromancer leave the princess behind!” I talked to myself. I reached out and touched the dagger in my inner pocket. I had used some protection magic on it. There was no way for Lewis to detect it with magic.
"Mr. Leiden!" Brian interrupted my thoughts, with an excited yet nervous look. I can tell right away what he wanted to do!
"Brian, you want us to save the princess out of Lewis’ nest, right!” What a young man he was, thinking about the fairy tale of warriors saving the princess, I said in a little sarcastic tone.
"Can't you?" He replied with a bit of fear, after hearing my irony. "If we cold save the princess... it is a big blow to the Necromancer... isn't it?"
"I’m afraid we won’t be able to take care of the princess! We are now unable to save ourselves... The Necromancer is searching for us everywhere with his men!" I replied, moving my hand away from my pocket. But I suddenly touched a thing, a hard thing, I remembered what it was - it was a treasure stone I cheated from the little girl!
Just ignore that innocent girl? Leaving her in the hands of the pedophile! The treasure stone evoked my last sense of justice—if I save the princess, I can probably own the treasure stone without any guilt. By the way, since Lewis was searching for us everywhere, his nest would be the safest place…
