The wizard's journey

Chapter 7: The Dark Well

"Using mental power as a guide to stimulate one's own magic power?" Grim murmured to himself.

"Magic power is a type of energy without any attributes, directed and controlled by the wizard. It is a special energy mastered by wizards... So, does that mean magic power itself has no combat power?"

This was Grim and his group's fifth day at Zerlato Harbor. Just this morning, Grim had successfully stimulated his own magic power following the Meditation Guide. This had excited Grim for the entire day. However, soon Grim encountered another problem: without the knowledge of witchcraft, even if one possesses magic power, it's essentially useless.

Wizard's magic power is a miraculous energy with infinite malleability, capable of guiding any known energy. Yet, by nature, magic power is a gentle and harmless energy, its gentleness making it difficult to apply directly in combat or to cause destruction.

"How can I acquire knowledge?" Grim was troubled by this question, leaning on the desk with a headache, tugging at his hair.

After Lafi displayed a magical witchcraft that day, Grim and his fellow wizard apprentices were indeed stimulated, filled with longing for the wonderful witchcraft. What is a wizard apprentice without the control of witchcraft?

"Grim, Grim!" A loud and boisterous voice came from the courtyard of the small manor. Without looking, Grim knew it was Binhamson. A bit annoyed by his talkativeness, Grim had never encountered someone who talked so much before, causing him a headache just by hearing him speak.

However, since he was currently bothered by the issue of witchcraft knowledge, he decided to see what the fuss was about this late.

"I'm coming." Grim stored the Magic Power Guide away, extinguished the candle, and opened the door to go out.

"What's up?" Grim straightened his clothes and asked in surprise.

These days, Grim had passed through cities and had gained some benefits, now affording himself two sets of luxurious and well-fitted clothes. Clothes make the man. His golden curls casually draped over his back, a look of profound seriousness between his brows, plus a hint of wildness from growing up among beggars, added a unique flavor to his appearance, at least no longer making Lafi and Wade avoid him.

"Heh heh, have you heard of the Zerlato Dark Well?" Binhamson said mysteriously.

"Hmm? The Dark Well? What is it for?" Grim had hardly left his small manor these days, dedicating himself to studying the Meditation Guide, which is why he had successfully stimulated his magic power.

"The less you know, the better. Let's go, you'll see when we get there, and I guarantee it'll be unforgettable." Binhamson pulled Grim and ran outside, as if afraid Grim would escape.

Grim's assigned estate was located in a relatively quiet area of Zerlato Harbor, with a dozen or so estates scattered around. Having an estate here meant one was either a wealthy merchant or a noble family, making it a quiet place at this time.

Grim found it odd. Binhamson's father was a noble baron, so Binhamson had seen some of the world. What could make him so mysterious?

Passing through a bustling market, it was undeniable that Zerlato Harbor's prosperity far exceeded that of Biser City. The calls of vendors rose and fell, the lights shone brightly, and even at night, the streets were bustling with people and overseas merchants trading goods. The attire of the girls was also much more open than in Biser City, where the streets were deserted after dark except for large banquets held among the nobility.

Panting, Binhamson led Grim to a large estate surrounded by dense trees, much larger than the one assigned to Grim. From time to time, groups of young people laughed and walked out of the estate, looking thrilled.

Binhamson took Grim to a small hut filled with a mysterious aura. The moonlight cast shadows through the giant trees onto the windows, and the atmosphere inside the hut was somewhat oppressive.

After Binhamson handed over twenty gold coins, an old woman with a wrinkled face shakily handed him two transparent stones. After a glance at the two of them, her uneven yellow teeth were exposed.

"Have fun." she said.

Grim, still puzzled, received a stone from Binhamson, who said with a wicked smile, "See those wells over there? Those are the Dark Wells. If you throw this Dark Stone into the well, you can have a 'date' with a life form from another world. Of course, some unlucky ones have encountered some bizarre creatures, but overall, it's thrilling."

A date with an otherworldly creature?

Grim, intrigued by the novelty, perked up. There were about seventy to eighty Dark Wells in the yard, half of which were already occupied. Some people were whispering into the wells, occasionally letting out low laughs.

Watching Binhamson excitedly run towards a well, Grim casually weighed the Dark Stone in his hand and walked towards an unoccupied Dark Well.

The water level was high, about seventy centimeters from the ground, calm like a mirror, with the dim moonlight adding a touch of mystery.

With a mix of excitement and nervousness, Grim threw the Dark Stone into the water. With a "plop" the stone created ripples before sinking, and the water gradually calmed down.

To Grim's astonishment, a somewhat blurry figure appeared on the water surface, curiously looking at Grim from "the other side."

This was a humanoid creature with a silver-gray long horn on its head. Judging by human gender characteristics, it seemed to be a female creature, likely possessing its own civilization. Her eyes examined Grim with a considerable evaluative attitude, not the mindless ferocity of a savage race.

"A human from the wizard world?"

A somewhat unfamiliar voice reached Grim's ears. Although Grim could hear the creature's question, he was sure it wasn't through his ears but through some special means that allowed him to directly sense the creature's thoughts.

"Who are you?" Grim asked.

The creature on the water surface saw Grim speak and frowned slightly, then Grim heard the creature's words again in his ears.

"Human, don't you know that communication with life from other worlds is through the soul? The civilization of human wizards may be powerful, but it hasn't reached me here."

Grim frowned, the soul?

As a wizard apprentice who had not even received basic wizard knowledge system education, Grim was clueless about deep knowledge like soul usage.

The language of humans in the wizard world was incomprehensible to some otherworldly creatures, and some bizarre beings didn't even have hearing, making language an ineffective means of communication across different life forms from other worlds.

Seeing Grim's embarrassment, the creature spoke again.

"Alright, human, I'll ask, and you nod or shake your head, okay?"

Grim nodded.

"Are you a human from the wizarding world? Nod for yes. If you're a human from the wizard world who has conquered other worlds, shake your head."

Grim was shocked. The wizarding world conquering other worlds?

Although Grim was unaware of these matters, he was certain that he was indeed a legitimate human from the wizarding world—a basic fact he understood well—so he nodded in response.

"Then, are you a wizard? If so, what level wizard are you?"

At this, Grim shook his head emphatically. The idea was laughable; he couldn't even cast a spell, let alone claim the title of a wizard as someone who wasn't even officially a wizard apprentice.

He could sense the creature's disappointment.

"Ah, just an ordinary human? To think I finally managed to trade for coordinates to the wizarding world, only to encounter such a weak human."

The star spirit shook its head.

"Alright, according to the principles of equal exchange between worlds, you may ask me two questions. However, since you're incapable of soul communication, I'll treat it as though you've asked me the same question. I come from the Star World, belonging to the Star Child Clan, and am a fourth-order star spirit. My energy level is equivalent to between a second and third-level wizard in your world."

After this, the otherworldly being no longer paid any attention to Grim's reactions and completely disappeared from the water.

It seems this powerful being wasn't interested in wasting time on a human as weak as Grim.

Grim touched his nose awkwardly and stealthily glanced over at Binhamson, who was excitedly leaning over the well, his head nearly plunging into it.

Shortly thereafter, Grim and Binhamson joined the ranks of the whispering youths departing the area. Binhamson excitedly claimed, "That snow spirit was so surprised to see a human! And she even asked if I was a wizard, haha, I told her straight up that I was an official wizard!"

"Could she understand you?" Grim asked, surprised, overlooking Binhamson's deceitful act towards the otherworldly being.

"Eh... What do you mean? Didn't the being from your well understand you?" Binhamson looked back at Grim, equally astonished.

Back at the estate, Grim kept recalling the otherworldly being from the other side of the Dark Well. Though he had come to understand that aside from his own wizarding world, countless otherworldly beings existed, the encounters were rarely friendly if they happened to meet in reality. Yet, this exchange felt incredibly unique and significant to Grim.

He wondered, during the wizard apprentice qualification test, were those strange beings also from other worlds?

What sort of talent did this signify?

Grim was filled with questions.