Ashen Lord

Chapter three：Counterattack

After leaving Master Mosido' laboratory, Sain walked straight through the sprawling buildings of the Black Magic Academy in Mothra, heading towards his own abode. The Black Magic Academy was a vast complex, with the black magic masters and apprentices living in separate areas. Passing through the towering lecture halls, Sain encountered many other black magic apprentices on his way back to his dormitory. However, these apprentices, like Sain, seemed to be in a hurry, and there were very few opportunities for conversation or friendship among them, as the rules of the academy were cold and rigid. The journey ended in a dark, emerald green forest of white ravens, where Sain was suddenly confronted by an obstacle.

"Heh heh heh, Sain, Scarface Jock was right - you really did suffer some serious injuries."

"Instead of dying in agony from your wounds, why don't I just put you out of your misery now!" came a sharp, mocking laugh.

Suddenly, a black-robed, white-masked magic apprentice leapt out from the white raven forest on either side of the road. This apprentice was nearly as tall as Sain, but unlike Sain's envy-inspiring golden short hair, this apprentice's hair was a mix of gray and white.

Even among magic apprentices, there were conflicts.

The dispute between Sain and his apprentice, a young man named Irk, originated ten years ago when Sain first arrived in the dark realm. In order to fight for a bite of food and avoid starvation, he punched a same-aged boy who was also abducted to the underground world. Unfortunately, that boy happened to be Irk's younger brother. Ten years have passed, and the once helpless human child who just arrived in the dark realm has grown into a low-level black magic apprentice.

Because of the food shortage and being punched by Sain, Irk's younger brother eventually did not survive until the black magic academy sent someone to test his initial spiritual power. Although it was uncertain whether that little guy could have met the admission standards of the academy even if he had not starved to death, Irk clearly blamed Sain for this. As for why Irk did not seek revenge on Sain back then, it may have been because Sain's strength and performance were beyond that of ordinary children, which frightened him. In the past ten years, Sain and Irk have fought against each other in the black magic academy of Mosobra City for more than a dozen times. Among them, there were even two times when they almost killed each other. It is the accumulation of such hatred that has brought them to the point of fighting to the death.

Similar conflicts between apprentices like Sain and Irk are very common in Mosobra City. Strangely, those high and mighty black magic masters do not stop these internal fights from happening. Instead, they watch these little guys fight each other to the death with great interest.

Perhaps for the black magic masters, this is just a fun show to entertain themselves during their experiments. If the time drags on too long, it may attract the interference of academy supervisors and other black magic apprentices. Therefore, after coldly mocking Sain for a few words, Irk immediately took action.

Unlike Sain, who practiced and mastered partial fire magic, Irk was good at plant magic. Because of his excellent performance in the black magic academy's plantation, this guy even received a low-level magic tool reward from the academy, the Pale Mask, which is the one he is wearing on his face now. From this, it can also be seen that without enough strength, he is not even qualified to be Sain's opponent. Three green-tipped arrows were launched from Irk's chanting.

The normal Green Blade Arrow spell has only two arrows, but Ilk is now able to release three, indicating that he, like Seine, is close to the level of an intermediate apprentice! Faced with Ilk's strong attack, Seine remained unmoved from beginning to end.

The three Green Blade Arrows were aimed directly at Seine's head, heart, and lower body, seemingly intending to strike him down in one blow. Just back from completing a mission, Seine's depleted spiritual power and dry magic made it difficult for him to use his ultimate move, the Secondary Fireball Spell. Additionally, his severely injured body made it impossible for him to evade these three powerful green arrows in time.

Ilk, who shot the three Green Blade Arrows, now had a slight smile beneath his pale mask. Due to limited spiritual power and magic, apprentices must be extremely strict in the spells they master and the number of times they use them. For example, Seine and Ilk, as low-level apprentices, could only release two Green Blade Arrows or Secondary Fireball Spells at their peak. However, three Green Blade Arrows were enough to kill Seine, and perhaps even just one could have blown his head off. Ilk's smile beneath his mask gradually stiffened as Seine drew a magic wand from his pocket, but before Ilk could make any remedial move, Seine's last bit of spiritual power triggered the corrosion acid, which was fixed in the magic wand.

Indeed, this was the "face teacher gift" from the formal black magician Mosido. Even though it was just a little gadget Moses Du casually made during alchemical experiments, it was enough to make Seine, who held the wand, fight any intermediate or higher-level apprentice.

Apart from a high-level magic Corrosion Acid, this magic wand also had the function of slow magic recovery and spiritual power restoration. Seine had been holding onto this wand since leaving Moses Du's laboratory. Although his magic and spiritual power had not fully recovered, it was enough to deal with any sudden situation that might arise at the Black Magic Academy. High-level magic Corrosion Acid and low-level magic Green Blade Arrow were not even in the same league, whether it was in terms of power, release speed, or precision.

The three originally powerful Green Blade Arrows turned into a wisp of blue smoke in the yellow light of the Corrosion Acid. And during this time, the high-level magic still hit Ilk's body with full force, preventing him from releasing a second spell or dodging.

"Ah!!" A painful scream sounded, followed by a hissing corrosion noise that made one's skin tighten. Soon, Ilk's voice gradually weakened. As Sein approached, apart from Ilk's head being relatively intact, his lower body had turned into a charred black puddle. The air was filled with a strong unpleasant smell. The sight of the murder scene did not cause much change in Sein's expression. There was already movement around, indicating that other dark magic apprentices or academy inspectors had discovered the situation here. At this point, Sein calmly began to collect his spoils.

The first to be taken by Sein from under the ugly head was the pale mask, a low-level magical item. The inside of the pale mask only depicted a low-level magic - clarity spell, which could make people see more clearly in the dark. Although its value was far less than the short wand Sein was holding at the moment, for Sein, it was still a harvest worthy of his attention.