Ashen Lord

Chapter six：Lena

Lena had a bad temper, which was one of the reasons why many apprentice wizards referred to her as the "crazy woman." During the years that Sain lived in the Dark Magic Academy in Mosobra City, he was able to reach his current position not only because of his cautious approach and steadfast character, but also because of Lena's protection. Lena was a powerful intermediate apprentice wizard, and eight years ago when Sain first met her, she had already reached this level.

If a low-level apprentice in the Dark Magic Academy can barely avoid being bullied, only intermediate and above apprentices can truly be called strong by other apprentices. As for senior apprentices, they are rarely seen by ordinary apprentices. For example, the Lilyanya who spoke with Sain yesterday, Sain had only heard of her reputation before, and it was his first time talking to a senior apprentice. The bloodstains on Sain's chest made the temperature around Lena drop by a few degrees.

However, Sain later heard from Lena that the Irk who tried to kill him had already been killed by Sain. The real reason for Sain's injury was the bite and impact of the intermediate magic beast, the Saltwater Crocodile, and Lena's angry emotions were clearly eased.

"Why did you go looking for trouble with the Saltwater Crocodile? Even I wouldn't want to face a magic beast of this size in the past," Lena asked with a slight frown.

In the previous few years, Lena did not care about Sain so much. In her eyes, Sain was just a sensible experimental assistant. But as she and Sain developed a super-friendship relationship two years ago, this woman gradually accepted Sain and showed warmth different from her cold exterior. So Sain told Lena about his search for Starlight Grass in the Saltwater Crocodile territory and how he was subsequently accepted as a disciple by the official Dark Mage Moses. After learning that Sain had become an official Dark Mage's disciple, Lena's icy face finally showed a hint of surprise and a faint sense of comfort.

"It's certainly a good thing to become an official apprentice of a dark wizard," Lena said, "but you should wait for me to come back. The Saltwater Crocodile is not something you can handle on your own right now."

"Master Moses' mission has a limited duration, and I'm very concerned that those Starlight Grasses will be eaten by the Saltwater Crocodile or something else might happen."

"And if I were to obtain the Starlight Grass through your help, Master Moses might not even accept me as an apprentice."

"To make achievements in surviving in a place like the Dark Territory, one must inevitably face various dangers. I cannot always rely on your protection," Sain added.

Sain's response surprised Lena, and a hint of surprise appeared on her cold face. However, Sain did not notice Lena's change of expression and asked about her, "Where have you been for the past half month? I've been worried about you."

Faced with Sain's caring and concern, Lena's icy face melted into a smile. This was the first time Sain had seen Lena smile in the past two years, and the smile was not only because of Sain's concern but also because of other reasons.

"I have been promoted to a senior apprentice. In the past half month, I have been meditating in the academy's training room."

"We can now move to a different room. The two dormitory buildings behind us have bigger rooms and more complete experimental tables than this one," Lena said. The real reason for Lena's smile was her promotion to a senior apprentice. She also wanted Sain to share in her joy.

Leaving their home of eight years was a difficult thing for Sain to adapt to in a short time. However, it was ultimately for their better living environment and development space, and with Sain officially accepted as an apprentice by the dark wizard Moses, it was a double stroke of good luck for the two of them.

"Hehe, I'm going to the black market to buy a fish. Let's celebrate today," said Sain with a smile.

Even a wizard is a human and cannot live without food. Since returning to the dormitory yesterday until now, Sain has only had half a bottle of intermediate detoxification potion and has not eaten anything. Lena doesn't know how to cook, and it has always been Sain's job. In the early years of living together with Lena, Sain gradually gained her acceptance, not only because he was handsome and performed well in assisting in the experimental process, but also because of many small things in life.

The black market is a special commercial street located within the Black Magic Academy. This is a place where Black Magic Academy apprentices often visit, offering everything from spell materials, alchemical potions, magic props, to daily necessities and other trinkets! It is said that behind every shop in the black market, there are shadows of high-level apprentices or even formal black magic masters. Indeed, only such existence has the ability and resources to create corresponding magic equipment or alchemical potions. When Sain arrived at the black market, Lena was also with him.

Perhaps the half-month of closed-door meditation had made Lena feel bored, or perhaps she was worried that Sain's injury had not fully healed. Lena, who was usually reticent and rarely went out, actually went with him to buy groceries today. The "Black Scale Fish," a special product of an underground dark river, was Sain's main target on this trip. This thing is not an ordinary fish, but a magical creature with a certain elemental power, equivalent in quality to those entry-level magic apprentices in the academy.

The huge fish lips, sharp teeth, and sharp spikes on the body indicate that this thing is not a gentle animal. And in the "Kodak Magic Material Store" in the center of the black market, this black-scaled fish is also a rare magical creature worth eight pieces of black gold. Having just spent a fortune on Irk, Sain doesn't care about the eight black gold. In fact, if you want to eat a whole black-scaled fish in the academy cafeteria, you can't get it for less than twenty black gold. As the universal currency of Mosobra City, the value of black gold has always been very strong.

Sain didn't know how much private money Lena had, but after so many years of experience, he had only accumulated a total of more than twenty pieces of black gold. In general, without low or intermediate apprentices, they wouldn't indulge in tasting magical creatures. Although eating these magical creatures could indeed improve their physical fitness, the vast majority of apprentices would still use their limited money to purchase some spell materials or magic books. After buying the black scale fish, Sain and Lena encountered some troublemakers while leaving. The leader was the scar-faced apprentice on the city wall yesterday.

There were few conflicts erupting in the black market because almost no apprentice could afford to offend the shopkeepers here. Scar-faced Joq and his men didn't intend to make things difficult for Sain and Lena, but it seemed that they saw the black scale fish Sain was carrying. Scar-faced Joq smirked, "You've made progress, Sain. I heard you actually killed Irk yesterday."

"Tsk tsk, this black scale fish, isn't it Irk's black gold if you don't know how to use it?" Scar-faced Joq sneered.

Scar-faced Joq and his companions were numerous, and Sain didn't want to have a conflict with them at this critical moment. Moreover, this guy obviously wasn't well-informed and didn't know that Sain had already been formally accepted as a disciple by the Black Mage Moses. Besides Lilyana and Lena, Sain hadn't told any other magic apprentices about this matter. And given Lilyana's high position, she clearly wouldn't be interested in mingling with a group of intermediate or lower-level apprentices. Scar-faced Joq's ridicule caused a group of his companions to burst into laughter. These apprentices were not all Joq's lackeys, for example, there were three intermediate-level apprentices among them who were equal in status and strength to Joq. If Sain were alone, he would have put up with Joq's sarcasm. After all, the other party had more people and Sain had already become a disciple of the great master Moses. He would have plenty of opportunities to deal with them in the future. But the difference was that Sain was not alone at this moment.

"Whoosh!" A basketball-sized fireball suddenly appeared at Lena's fingertips. It's unclear when this woman silently completed her spell chant and directly took action in the black market. The huge fireball was a whole circle larger than the secondary fireball spell Sain himself launched. And the color of this fireball was not crimson, but a dark blue that made people feel eerie and uneasy!

"High-level apprentice!" In Joq's group of companions, someone who recognized the situation couldn't help but shout out."