Chapter 1: The Burning Gallows
				Chapter 1: The Burning Gallows
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Billows of black smoke burned Xiafeng¡¯s throat and lungs while making hissing sounds like old broken bellows.
¡°Anyone¡­ here? I don¡¯t wanna¡­ die...
¡°Xiafeng, wake up¡­ don¡¯t fall asleep...¡±
¡­
The endless flaming red light suddenly dimmed, followed by a deep darkness. Like a drowning man, Xiafeng tried his very best to grab onto anything that could save him from this darkness.
At that moment, like a rising sun, a red light appeared in front of him.
In that light, Xiafeng felt his strength recovering slightly, so he struggled desperately to get closer to the light. After taking a step forward, Xiafeng saw the light becoming brighter and brighter, changing from flaming red to pure white. The darkness was thoroughly entrapped by the light and completely dissipated in a second.
¡°Ah¡­¡± Xiafeng suddenly sat back up and was now panting with great effort. In his dream, the smoke of a terrifying fire had made him lose all means of resistance, leaving him unable to do anything but helplessly lie on the ground and wait for the flames to devour him. Like being constrained by a ghost, he knew that he was in a nightmare, but he just could not wake himself up.
The dream was so real that it took Xiafeng quite a while to recover. After his fast-beating heart calmed down, he finally remembered that he had been working on his essay for the whole night in the school library. ¡°No wonder I dreamed about the fire, I¡¯m practically burning my life here these days,¡± Xiafeng thought to himself in a self-deprecating way.
When he roused himself and was about to collect all the reference books and go back to the dorm, Xiafeng was stunned with the strange and unimaginable scene in front of him. Like being struck in the head, he was shocked and his mind went blank.
All the nice-looking wooden desks were gone. There were no piles of reference books, paper manuscripts, and laptops. The only thing left was an old black blanket with loose threads covering him.
Instead of sitting in the library chair, he was actually sitting on a narrow wooden bed.
¡°Where am I?!¡±
In this situation, even a person like Xiafeng, who was relatively quiet and slow, could feel things were going wrong. Even if he was caught in a fire and sent to a hospital, this place definitely did not resemble a hospital! Not even close!
His heartbeat rose up due to the shock. He looked around and tried to stand up on his feet, but as soon as he put his feet on the ground, a sense of dizziness and weakness spread over him and almost made him hit the ground.
Xiafeng hurriedly reached out and grabbed the handle of the bed to retain his balance. His face was pale and his heart was beating very fast. He was already aware of the surroundings from the quick look just now.
This was a small shack. Including the wooden bed, there was a wooden table, which could possibly fall apart at any moment, two relatively ok-looking stools, and a crate with a hole in it. On the other side of the deteriorated wooden door, there was a crock hanging, a worn old stove was under it. The fire had been put out for quite a while. Just chilly kindling was lying underneath.
Everything seemed strange to him. Xiafeng had no idea where he was. The weak and dizzy feeling was bothering him a lot as well:
¡°Where is this place?! It feels like I just recovered from a serious illness¡­ like pneumonia I had in high school.¡±
¡­
Countless thoughts were going through his mind, but Xiafeng had never been in this extremely weird situation before. Panic was violently stirring up in his mind.
The only thing he felt lucky for was that there was nothing unpleasant or horrible that showed up. So, Xiafeng took several deep breaths and calmed himself down. Then, a loud shout came from afar outside the shack:
¡°Burn the witch! Aderon Cathedral is going to burn a witch!¡±
¡°Everybody!¡±
¡°Burn that damn witch to ashes!¡±
Fear and excitement were mingled together in that strange accent. Xiafeng was distracted from his panic and felt curious, he thought to himself, ¡°Witch? What on earth is this world?¡±
As an adult, Xiafeng could definitely feel that something bad was going to happen there. But his thought was cut off by a sudden crashing sound that came from the door. A twelve or thirteen-year-old boy came rushing in.
¡°Lucien!¡± The brown-haired boy, wearing linen clothes reaching to his knees, was standing beside the bed as he exclaimed in surprise, ¡°You¡¯re awake! Thank god!¡±
Looking at the boy¡¯s completely different-styled clothes, Xiafeng nodded his head unconsciously. A ridiculous thought arose in his messy mind: ¡°Lucien¡­ Witch¡­ Cathedral¡­ Burn¡­ Am I in a different world or even in another dimension? It seems like¡­ I am in ¡®The Middle Ages¡¯ of Europe now, at the time when witch hunting was prevalent¡­¡±
If things had to go wrong, they always would. Murphy's Law was reminding Xiafeng in a cold way. The color of the boy¡¯s hair and his clothes were all proof of his guess. Xiafeng could instinctively understand and speak this unknown language, but he was far from being a linguist, so he could not even tell what kind of language they were speaking.
The small boy, with several dusty black marks on his face, was not surprised at all when he saw Xiafeng¡¯s strange behavior. ¡°Mom didn¡¯t believe me. During mid-night she always cries, and her eyes would swell up with tears, she keeps murmuring, ¡®my poor little Evans¡¯, like you were already buried in the cemetery.¡±
¡°Daddy didn¡¯t know what to do, so he asked that little bastard Simon to bring a message to Lord Venn¡¯s mansion, asking for my brother to somehow come back. Now he is a Knight¡¯s Squire. Of course, the charity doctor would not dare to claim his unreasonable, ridiculous price in front of a knight squire!¡± The boy talked with his chin slightly raised, feeling sincerely proud.
¡°But look, I was right! I knew you were gonna be fine! I knew it!¡±¡ª he was talking, he grabbed Xiafeng¡¯s arm ¡ª ¡°Let¡¯s go! They are gonna burn that vicious witch. It¡¯s the very same witch who made you go to jail and be interrogated for the whole night by the church guards!¡±
Xiafeng wanted to think more about his current situation, so he was not interested in going out at all. Besides, they were going to burn a person to death. That was something completely unacceptable for the kind-hearted Xiafeng, at least, he believed he was. But the last thing the boy mentioned shocked him, ¡°The witch had something to do with me?¡±
Xiafeng, therefore, changed his mind. With his arm in the boy¡¯s hand, he stumbled out of the room and followed the boy towards the cathedral.
Xiafeng looked around the people on the way. It was warm outside. Most men were wearing narrow-sleeved linen clothes, the same color pants and shoes without heels, while women wore monotonous roughly cut long dresses with big pockets. It was simple and old.
Most of them had brown hair and eyes, while some outstanding-outlined faces had red or black hair with green or blue eyes.
¡°This is really Middle Age?¡± Xiafeng found out he himself was wearing the same clothes.
Soon after they came out of the slum filled with low and shabby shacks, they saw a not so large but solemn and grand cathedral with high arched ceilings in front of them. On the biggest ceiling hung a large white cross. The windows under it were very narrow and small.
Lots of people had gathered there already. Following the small boy, Xiafeng squeezed through the crowd and kept pushing forward. This made some people irritated and they stared at them angrily, but they knew that as adults, they could not misbehave on the square of Aderon.
Soon, Xiafeng could see ahead. They were in the very front of the crowd now.
In the center of the square, a twenty-something, pale-faced beautiful woman in a black robe was tied to a wooden cross. People were throwing stones and pieces of wood while shouting, swearing, and spitting at her:
¡°Go to hell! Damned witch!¡±
¡°You wanted everyone in Aderon to die!?¡±
¡°My poor Tracy! She died several months ago¡­ Must be because of you! You evil!¡±
¡­
The woman in the black robe got hit several times, but she just tightly shut her pale and thin lips, without letting out a groan. Standing there like a statue, she looked at the crowd.
In the front of the crowd stood a middle-aged man wearing a baggy white golden embroidered robe, with a white beret on his head and a white cross in his hands. He remained silent all the time, appearing solemn and respectful. Several men and women were standing behind him. All of them were wearing the same neat white robes. Their faces were fresh and rosy, standing in a sharp contrast to the poor and dirty crowd on the square.
Behind the white robes, there was a mighty row of armored guards in chainmail.
The middle-aged man looked at his pocket watch and stepped forward. He raised the round badge in his hand.
Instantly, those indignant and resentful people who were arguing all shut their mouths and quieted down.
Xiafeng could hear the sound of wind passing through people¡¯s clothes.
He was very impressed. Even in contemporary society, people¡¯s absolute obedience and quick response like this would require at least several months¡¯ of training. What kind of authority or power could be able to make all those poor people be so compliant like an army?
The middle-aged man was holding the badge, speaking with a low but penetrating voice which resounded all over the square, ¡°You poor sinner. You are deceived by the devil and become greedy for power. Both your body and soul have been corrupted. Only the Light can purify. It is punishment, but also the mercy of God.¡±
¡°Burn her! Burn her!¡± People¡¯s cries started gathering together and becoming louder and louder.
The scene of the fanatical people crying loudly at the same time made Xiafeng shudder. If they knew he actually came from another world, Lucien, or say, Xiafeng, whose soul had been occupied by the ¡°demon¡±, would be the one on the gallows next time.
¡°Before the Light shades on you,¡± the man asked in a merciful manner, ¡°Confess your sins! Sincere penitence can save your soul. Then your soul would ascend to heaven where God lives.¡±
The women in the black robe suddenly started crazily laughing, her voice was very powerful. ¡°What I pursue is the true form of magic, not the true form of God! Burn me! I will see your heaven being destroyed and your cathedral collapse in the flames!¡±
¡°Insane!¡±
¡°Vicious!¡±
¡°She cursed the bishop! Kill them all! These damned witches following the demons!¡±
¡°Burn her to ashes!¡±
The bishop remained silent, but the poor people were screaming and shouting hysterically with great fever.
It was the first time for Xiafeng to see this kind of terrifying madness. ¡°Too dangerous here.¡± He was deeply shocked.
He really wanted to be caring towards that woman, but he dared not take any action or those insane individuals would execute him with huge amounts of rocks. Xiafeng was also confused to find that there was no wood beneath that woman.
¡°How are they gonna burn her without any firewood?¡±
The bishop started praying, his voice was loud and cold, ¡°You, the sinner. Go to hell under the Light!¡±
The cross in his hand suddenly burst forth with splendid light. The light was so bright that all Xiafeng could see was a white mass.
It was like the bishop was holding a small sun, solemn, pure, and grand looking. Including the small boy, everyone lowered their heads and started praying.
Beams of light gathered and took off capably to the unmistakable blue sky. When it reached the ceiling, the light reflected back and fell straightforwardly on the gallows.
Fierce red flames flared up even higher than a person¡¯s height and devoured the woman.
She laughed and cursed Insanely.
"In the blazes, I will see your shrewd paradise demolished."
"In the blazes, I will see your fabulous house of God crumbling."
"In the blazes, I will see you individuals everlastingly worsened!"
¡­
Her thrilling cries and curses were lingering in everyone's ears until she was burned down to ashes.
However, Xiafeng was completely stunned since earlier when the cross erupted with dazzling light.
¡°This is not medieval Europe¡­¡±
¡°This is a world where magic truly exists!¡±
¡°My name is¡­ Lucien¡­¡±

Chapter 2: The Knowledge that Came with Me
				Chapter 2: The Knowledge that Came with Me
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the center of the square, the beautiful witch in black had been completely burned down to ashes. However, her maniacal laughter and curses were still lingering there. Many people shuddered in fear and looked around, then they followed the bishop into the cathedral where they started to pray and confess their sins.
Lucien felt as if the blazingly bright light was still present in the square. He could still feel the sacred and dominating power the light contained. Xiafeng was so shocked that he had already made up his mind to accept his identity as Lucien. He needed to bury his past in the very bottom of his heart, in fear that people in this world might regard him as evil too.
"The divine power is so amazing¡­" Instead of feeling awed or even terrified by that power like common people, Lucien was wondering if he could have a chance of learning it.
At this time, Lucien got such a heavy slap on his left shoulder that he almost lost his footing.
"Oh, my poor little Evans! Thank God! Thank God, you don't have to suffer like your poor father! A nice young fellow like you deserves God's grace!"
Lucien was dragged back from his thoughts. He found a middle-aged woman, who was twice his size, wiping her tears of joy as she kept patting his shoulder with her bear-paw-liked huge palms.
Lucien managed to move a little bit to evade her palm which almost made him cough out blood. He opened his mouth but could not speak a word. He did not know her name, not even his own full name. Should he be Lucien Evans?
After watching him just standing there, the woman had an even more sorry look on her face. "My little Evans. You're still suffering from your mental illness. Look at you, so skinny¡­"
Xiafeng was embarrassed because he had not acquired any memory from Lucien. He was also afraid of letting people know that he was not the real Lucien. From a certain perspective, yes, Lucien's body now was genuinely being occupied by someone else.
Fortunately, a middle-aged man standing beside the middle-aged woman stopped her. "Alisa, don't talk to little Evans too much. He has just recovered. He must be feeling tired right now. Iven, help your mom and let's go home."
The blonde-haired man was kind of skinny with his back bending forward slightly. But Lucien could still tell he was a good-looking guy in his younger days. For Lucien, the man was like an angel, who saved him from this difficult situation.
"Thanks, auntie Alisa. I'm fine. Just feeling a little bit dizzy." Lucien responded carefully.
The boy, Iven, who dragged Lucien here to see the witch, was holding his mom's arm. He made a funny face and said to his mom, "I knew he was not gonna die. Only you always think that he's still a baby who needs to be taken care of all the time."
Auntie Alisa was still wiping her tears, "Evans, it's so nice to see you're getting better now. She deserved this! That damned vicious witch!"
She kept on nagging while walking, "When she just moved close to your place, she looked so beautiful and nice. I was even thinking of marrying her to my little John. But she, she was a witch! She tried to steal the bodies buried in the cemetery to experiment her evil spells! Thanks to God! The night watchman of the inquisition caught her red-handed while stealing! I can't even imagine if she had succeeded, how many people would die in our area¡­"
Following them, Lucien got a brief overview of what happened from Alisa's words. The woman got caught by the night watchman. As her neighbor, Lucien was also put under the interrogation of the inquisition. They probably used some kind of holy spell on him which affected him mentally. So they did figure out that he was innocent, but at the same time, they seriously hurt the real Lucien. He died after that and, therefore, Xiafeng got the chance to possess his body.
The man noticed that Lucien remained silent all the way. He patted on Lucien's shoulder, comforting him in a low voice, "She's just like this. Just ignore her."
Lucien nodded.
The man looked at Alisa from behind and sighed. "Alisa, she was such a pleasant and beautiful girl in the past, but after she gave birth to John, she was like being controlled by the demon. Barely one year after we married, she became like this¡­"
He emotionally sighed again. He paused a bit and added, "I'm no longer a well-matched opponent for her, though."
Lucien was still suffering from his wide mood swings. He forced out a smile and did not say anything. He did not know the man's name yet.
Somehow, Alisa heard her husband's complaint. She threw back a snort of contempt, "Joel, the bard, you, who was once full of passion and romance, the young guy who came here to pursue his dream of music, are an incorrigible drunkard now."
Joel smiled awkwardly. "Aalto is the City of Psalm. Countless young people are flocking to the city in pursuit of their dreams. But how many of them ever succeed? By the way, Alisa, I've quit drinking since John started working¡­"
Auntie Alisa looked back and stared at him, "Thanks God. You understand that we've put all our hope on John and Iven. John's a good boy. He worked so hard and was selected by Sir Knight Venn as his squire. If John can manage to awaken the ¡®Blessing' in his blood and be knighted by the grand duke, then our son can be a lord! A respectable nobility!"
Joel shuddered slightly under the stern gaze from his wife, that just then thought about Lucien.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, little Evans!¡± Alisa stopped herself and winked at Joel for help, ¡°I didn't mean that! You're talented too¡­ You just needed more training when you were younger¡­"
But the apology did not really help with the situation.
Joel laughed loudly and patted Lucien's shoulder again. "He's fine. Our Lucien is the guy who's gonna carry forward my dream of becoming a musician!"
Lucien was not really paying attention to them. He half-heartedly said with a giggle, "Yeah¡­I wanna be a musician¡­"
Seeing Lucien laughing, Alisa felt relieved and continued her nagging again, which actually helped Lucien know more about the city.
The City of Aalto was a big and prosperous city, located close to the Dark Mountain Range. It enjoyed the reputation as the City of Psalm and was full of opportunities.
This area was named Aderon, which was the place where the poorest of peoples in Aalto gathered. Besides, because of his absence due to illness for the past couple of days, Lucien had already lost his job as a porter in the market.
A moment later, the four of them arrived in front of Lucien's place.
Alisa invited Lucien for dinner but he politely refused her, "Thanks, Aunty Alisa, but I need some more rest."
Before leaving, little Iven moved closer to Lucien, and asked curiously, "Lucien, when did you decide to become a musician? You never told me about it before¡­"
"5 minutes ago," Lucien answered emotionlessly.
"OH¡­ I¡­ SEE¡­" Iven nodded admiringly.
After getting into his shack, Lucien locked the door from inside. He sat there unconsciously and buried his head deep into his elbows.
"No kidding! I'm in a different world!
"A crazy world where magic actually exists!
"In this world, they burn people alive! With gallows!"
Lucien's strong emotions finally burst out. He was surprised and scared. Xiafeng was kind of shy and not really experienced in his own world. Before, he often panicked facing difficult situation, but this time, Xiafeng himself was even surprised seeing how he managed to remain calm until now.
Difficulties forge a person stronger. Time went by and night came. Lucien finally calmed himself down; Since he had decided to live in this time period, now he should not panic, worry or be scared at all. He should plan for his future carefully. If he died again this time, he was pretty sure it would be forever.
He stopped himself from worrying about his parents and friends. When he was about to plan for what to do next, hunger struck him. It felt like there was a fire burning inside his stomach. Lucien swallowed his saliva several times and decided to find something to eat first.
He walked towards the only crate in his place. Inside of the big box, except for some old clothes, there were two loafs of "bread-shaped" black thing and seven copper coins.
Hunger controlled his brain. Lucien hurriedly took a big bite.
"Crack!" This bite almost destroyed Lucien's front teeth. "What the hell? It's like a wooden club?"
It took Lucien quite a while to make sure the thing he was holding was a real bread, which was just hard enough to knock out an adult.
Fighting against his hunger, Lucien found some flints in the crate and started roasting his bread.
"Brown Braised Pork, Spicy Chicken Wings, Roasted Beef, Kung Pao Chicken¡­" he muttered while staring at the bread as it was being roasted. When the bread became a little bit soft, Lucien could not stop himself and took a hurried bite¡­ It was like¡­chewing a piece of wood.
But, that was all Lucien had. He devoured the bread and sighed. "I'd rather die if I'm gonna eat this every day¡­ I must earn more¡­ I don't want to live like this."
Then he thought about the bishop and the pastors. Neatly dressed, they looked so noble with their incredible divine power. Lucien felt excited. "I wonder if I could learn that power and become like one of them¡­" But the next moment he changed his mind, "¡­No¡­a person like me going to church, it's like myself asking them to burn me to ashes. I don't know if there are other ways there, say¡­ that blessing?
"What about all the knowledge I learned in my previous world. Is it still useful here?" Stuffing the bread into his mouth, Lucien started thinking about how to make a living. When he was retrieving the knowledge he learned in the university, he found something astonishing present in his brain.
After taking a close look, Lucien's eyes opened wide in surprise. "These are¡­ these are the books from the library. They also came here¡­ with me?"
All the books collected in the library were present there in his mind. Instead of describing them as memories or, say, Lucien's own knowledge, they were more like projections or visuals placed into different categories, ready to be read by Lucien anytime.
Lucien tried to read them with great curiosity. But, Lucien found that he could not open a majority of them. They were locked.

Chapter 3: Midnight
				Chapter 3: Midnight
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Since Lucien somehow managed to come to this completely different world, he was not that surprised or scared to find that he actually had a whole library in his mind. What confused him more was that most of the books were locked.
He tried to remain calm so that the visuals of the books could be more ¡°solid¡± or ¡°substantial¡± as entities. He went through them one by one and recorded the ones that could be read and the ones that could not.
¡°History¡­ no problem¡­
¡°Economics¡­ yup.
¡°Arts¡­ fine.
¡°Mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology¡­ some of them are locked.
¡°Is it because I¡¯m in a different world, so I cannot read these books? I can still come up with the knowledge I gained at my university, though, it hasn¡¯t been blocked.¡±
Most of the unlocked books were of senior high or high school level, which was a small amount compared to teaching references of a university¡¯s general library. There were numerous other books locked there.
Lucien was too weak to go through each category, and soon he was unable to concentrate anymore.
He dragged his feet back to the bed to get a good sleep so that he could face his second day in this world better. Only one loaf of bread was left there. Survival was always the priority, Lucien too understood this.
When his mind was getting dull and he almost went into his sweet dream, a rat¡¯s piercing squeak and noises of wood biting woke him up.
¡°Rats?¡±
At first, he did not pay much attention to it. He turned over in bed and was ready to fall asleep again. But the noise was getting louder and more disturbing like someone was grinding teeth on a rock.
Lucien could not fall asleep anymore. He tried to cover his ears with the blanket but the attempt was in vain; the noise had a penetrating power, and it felt like it was coming from all directions.
¡°Bloody hell!¡± Feeling frustrated, Lucien cursed out loud. He was almost going insane; food tasted like wood; roughly-cut clothes irritated his skin; the old blanket was full of holes¡­ Now he could not even have a good sleep! Squeak¡­squeak¡­he heard squeaking noises like thousands of mice were scratching a wall.
Lucien gnashed his teeth in anger. He decided to kill one or two of the rats to scare the rest of them away. He got out of his bed and tried to listen carefully.
¡°I gotta get rid of this life. Soon.¡±
*sob¡­ sob* *cry*¡­ Now it was like someone was crying.
Lucien tried to focus, but he found there was only ghastly bitter crying lingering there.
Someone was crying¡­ at midnight. Lucien¡¯s heart was beating fast, his brain flushed. Every hair on his body stood up. The freezing night wind blew through the broken door. Lucien grabbed the hard bread loaf to defend himself.
The crying voice now sounded like a miserable song. Lucien was even more afraid now. ¡°It¡¯s a world of magic and divinity power. Probably there are ghosts and spirits too!¡±
Taking a deep breath, Lucien tried his very best to calm down and moved towards the door. Someone was crying mournfully. The night was so quiet. It was like all his neighbors were lost in their dreams.
¡°It¡¯s coming from¡­ the right side of the wall.¡± The closer Lucien got to the door, the clearer he could hear the crying voice, ¡°Wait¡­ the witch! The witch used to live there!¡±
He was stunned, ¡°But her place had been burned down completely by the church. Maybe¡­ they missed something, like a secret chamber. She might have stored her vicious experiments there.¡±
Lucien¡¯s mind went away a little bit. A secret chamber¡­ like many novels he read before, he could probably find the witch¡¯s treasure or even notes on magic.
The piercing crying dragged him back to reality. ¡°Yeah¡­ get real. Something must be guarding there. How can I fight against a ghost with a bread loaf in my hands?
¡°Probably I¡¯d be killed and possessed by the evil ghosts!¡±
He got more careful now. Lucien was glad that his mind was not controlled by the greed. But he also did not want to keep waiting here. Nobody knew if the ghost would try to come for him.
Lucien was thinking very fast. At the moment, he gathered all the strength he could muster, and carefully grabbed the handle of the door. The bread in his hand was now soaked with his sweat.
He slowly opened the door. It was very dark outside and he could hear the whistling sound of cold wind.
There was nothing terrifying there, and after he left his shack the crying voice dimmed a bit. He felt a little bit relieved and took a deep breath, then started shouting as loud as he could:
¡°Ghost! There¡¯s a ghost here!¡±
It was so loud that even Lucien himself got surprised.
Then came a series of roaring barks from the wild dogs, and Lucien started madly rushing to the cathedral. These guys were professionals in this kind of stuff!
As the previous neighbor of the witch, he might still be under the church¡¯s watch and there was one more benefit: Lucien¡¯s asking for help on his own could help him gain some of their trust while reducing the suspicion.
Lucien shouted loudly to wake up the other neighbors so that if they attempted to rob the treasure and frame him or even kill him for it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do so in front of the crowd. He tried his best to think of every measure to save his life in such a short time.
Soon, he saw the cathedral in front of him with candlelight casting out of the windows.
Two armored guards were guarding the front gate. Seeing Lucien running towards them in panic, one of the guards pulled half of his sword out to be alert.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± The other guard asked as he reached out his hand to stop Lucien.
Lucien answered with trembling voice. ¡°Ghost. There¡¯s a ghost there! In the witch¡¯s place!¡±
The guard got nervous after hearing that. As a newly recruited guard, he could not tell whether Lucien was telling the truth or not. So, he asked his partner to stay and went back into the cathedral to report to the pastor on duty tonight. The noise from his chainmail gradually faded as he disappeared into the darkness.
A short while later, a blond young pastor in a white robe walked out of the gate with the guard.
The pastor had a thin face. He walked in an elegant rhythm. ¡°I¡¯m Pastor Benjamin. Can you tell me what happened?¡±
The two guards were standing silently, in fear that any noise from them might disturb Pastor Benjamin.
Lucien, politely and sincerely, described in detail how he heard the ghost¡¯s crying voice, how he got out of his place and ran here asking for their help.
After hearing him, Benjamin gave Lucien a gentle smile, ¡°You did well, my child. Your courage shows your devotion to God.¡±
Then he ordered the guards, ¡°Thomson, get Gary, Paul and the two other knights here. The witch was just an apprentice. So, there¡¯s no need to report this to the Bishop.¡±
¡°Yes, my lord,¡± Thomson replied reverently. Although Benjamin was only an Elementary Level Pastor, he was capable of dealing with the traps or spells left by a sorcerer's apprentice. There was a huge gap between a formal pastor and an apprentice.
Benjamin asked Lucien¡¯s name and stopped their conversation when the other four knights arrived; they were also wearing chain mails, but they looked much more imposing compared to the other two guards.
A crowd had already gathered some distance away from the witch¡¯s burned cabin. Candlelight flickered like scattered stars as if accompanying the moon in the sky.
Lucien discovered that the moon in this world was silver colored.
People stopped whispering when Benjamin showed up. The crowd suddenly felt relieved and started getting closer to the witch¡¯s cabin while talking to each other.
¡°I don¡¯t hear anything.¡±
¡°No matter if it¡¯s true or not, it does no harm to have a purification performed here.¡±
But Lucien could still hear the crying voice. He thought to himself, Why can¡¯t these people hear it?
Benjamin, as if knowing what he was thinking, replied to Lucien calmly, ¡°Yes. There are ghosts present here.¡±
Obviously, he heard it, as well as the four guards, who nodded to show their consent.

Chapter 4: Scarlet Eyes
				Chapter 4: Scarlet Eyes
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Pastor Benjamin elegantly moved towards the ruined witch¡¯s cabin. He talked in a low and gentle voice, ¡°Vicious witches, they exploit people's psyche and awareness. Especially like today¡¯s night, when the silver moon is present in the sky. That woman, fortunately, hasn¡¯t gained any real dark power. Her spells can only affect several individuals at most.¡±
He was clarifying why only Lucien could hear the crying voice. Before Lucien could ask, as if he knew what he wanted to ask. Benjamin reached out his hands wearing white gloves and continued, ¡°We are blessed. So only we can hear the wicked crying.¡±
When Benjamin said that, the four guards instantly began drawing crosses on their chests and started yelling at the same time:
¡°Only truth lives forever.¡±
They became more excited as they spoke.
The crowd started praying as well. ¡°Only truth lives forever.¡±
¡°This is the power of divinity¡­ Pastor Benjamin is truly blessed by God.¡±
Benjamin¡¯s face now looked more solemn and serious. He slowly opened his hands and spelled out an odd word:
¡°Paso.¡±
Instantly a sheet of white light covered the ruins like it was coming from the moon.
In the white light, a small scarlet hole emerged on the broken wall connecting it to Lucien¡¯s place.
Like the surrounding people, the mysterious power also shocked Lucien. But, rather than being awed and respectful like the crowd, he yearned for the divinity.
Benjamin put his hands back and ordered, ¡°Gary, that is the door. It doesn¡¯t have any trap. Go and open it.¡±
Gary puffed out his chest, as the sound of his chainmail clashing came, ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±
As Gary walked past them, Lucien heard Benjamin complaining in a low voice. ¡°Those haughty inquisition bastards! Except ¡®Magic Trap Detection¡¯, they never bother double checking with ¡®Secret Door Detection¡¯. They can¡¯t be so irresponsible just because she was an apprentice.¡±
Gary, effortlessly, broke down the wall with his strong muscle. The other guard hauled out his heavy sword and fiercely hacked. A black hole appeared in the corner of the wall.
It was a narrow hole, enough for only one person to pass through. A stinking smell came from it, which made Lucien almost throw up. Lucien took a couple of steps backward, and he noticed that Benjamin was covering his nose and mouth with the right hand, with his eyebrows frowning.
Gary reported, ¡°This tunnel leads to the sewers.¡±
Benjamin was still frowning his eyebrows. His muffled voice came from under his covered mouth, ¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°Yes. We can see the sewer from here.¡± Gary was pretty certain.
As an elegant and noble pastor from the long-established and honored Rafati family, Benjamin was more than reluctant to go down into the smelly, dirty pipes. He had not mastered a ¡°Purifying¡± spell yet, so he must rely on the runes and divinity instruments. But no one knew how long it would take to find the witch¡¯s chamber.
¡°Hmm¡­ Just a Sorcerer Apprentice, a Saint Truth Badge would be enough.¡± Benjamin turned his eyes towards Lucien. His voice became solemn again.
¡°Lucien, you once lived near that vicious witch. Something evil must have contaminated you. But your devotion towards God touched me, and you deserve a chance to purify the evil in there as well as yourself. Go, Lucien, I¡¯m gonna lend you my badge to help you. May God bless you.¡±
Lucien¡¯s brain started buzzing like it had just got hammered. He thought everything was going to be fine after he went to Pastor Benjamin and the guards. But, the pastor told him to go down there! He was just an ordinary guy, who recently recovered from illness, but now he had to go underground to face the devil! Were they kidding?
Seeing Lucien's dumbfounded and hesitant face, Benjamin kindly asked,
¡°You are saying¡­ NO?¡±
Lucien felt terrified hearing Benjamin¡¯s gentle voice. If he refused, he might again get suspected by the church. Besides, Benjamin will lend him the magic badge and his guards were supposed to go with Lucien. Lucien thought this mission would not be that dangerous.
Lucien had no choice though. The crowd was praising Pastor Benjamin¡¯s generosity and the Mercy of God. Lucien squeezed out a bitter smile and answered, ¡°No. That would be my honor.¡±
The pastor just ignored Lucien¡¯s bitterness. He took off the badge on his neck and handed it to Lucien. ¡°This is the Saint Truth Badge. I¡¯ll cast a Blessing spell on you as well, so you can focus better. When you chant the spell and touch the badge, you can call the power of God.¡±
Hearing his words, Lucien calmed down a little bit, then he started getting curious about the badge.
It was a gold badge embedded with a shining white cross, around which were different lines and patterns such as circles, squares, triangles. They were connected with each other, giving it an even more mysterious and solemn look.
When Lucien was holding the badge, he felt a gentle and loving power penetrating all over his body. Even in the cold night, Lucien felt like he was standing under the warm sunshine.
¡°The badge contains two inferior spells: Light and Minor Injury Healing. It additionally contains three level-one spells: Shield of Light, Sword of Light, and Holy Strike. Each can be used once a day. Now, pay attention to the chants.¡±
As an ordinary individual, Lucien understood how important these spells were to him. The spells were not long, but rather their tone was hard to master. It took him a while to barely remember them.
Benjamin reached out his hand again, casting a beam of white light on Lucien. Lucien felt refreshed and much healthier after the light vanished. People¡¯s voices also became more clear to him:
¡°This guy got the badge from Pastor Benjamin.¡±
¡°Oh! Benevolent Lord Benjamin!¡±
¡°We praise god! We praise the pastor!¡±
Lucien waited and watched Benjamin casting Blessing on the guards. There was always an interval of two to three seconds between his castings.
After the preparation, Benjamin said, ¡°Paul, you stay at the entrance here. Gary, Howson, Corella, you go in with Lucien.¡±
His face then became serious as he drew a cross on his chest, ¡°May the lights of God bless you.¡±
¡°Only truth lives forever!¡± Those guards got energized and started shouting. Lucien was a little bit slow, standing there he felt embarrassed.
As they were walking towards the tunnel, the guard, Paul, went near Benjamin and asked in a low voice, ¡°My lord, why him?¡±
With the badge and spells, the guards could bring out the power as well. Despite the fact that they were slower than the pastors, they were still much better than a weak young boy. If Benjamin did not want to go down there on his own, he could still ask the guards to do the job.
The pastor looked at the entrance of the secret passage, and replied slowly, ¡°His soul is stronger than the average person. He can do the work better.¡±
¡°He¡¯s too old to be taught, though,¡± he added.
¡­¡­
The mixed, stinking smell inside the hole made Lucien almost throw up.
¡°You live in Aderon, and you dislike the smell of pipe? It seems like you all are living a better life than I thought. In the City of Chant, Antiffler, poor people with nowhere to hide live in the sewers.¡± Corella, a guy with black hair and big cheekbones, remarked unexpectedly.
Before Lucien opened his mouth, Gary moved and shushed Corella.
The latter shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking. He stepped forward and jumped into the pipes, followed by Lucien.
Lucien stepped on something slippery. After taking a close look, he found that they were weird mosses. They were everywhere and slightly lighted the whole space.
Gary kept his voice low, ¡°I, Howson, and Corella are high-level knight squires. We¡¯ll try our best to protect you. When you are in danger, summon the Sword of Light as soon as possible.¡± He wore blond whiskers. Every movement of his was calm and confident. He seemed like the acknowledged leader of the four guards.
Gary was holding the sword in his right hand and a small shield in the left. He took the lead and moved deeper into the darkness.
The miserable crying was increasing louder and louder. It originated from all around. For ordinary people, it was almost impossible to tell the direction. But, the special-trained guards and ¡®blessed¡¯ Lucien could easily find where the crying was coming from.
No one was living down here as Corella mentioned. The whole space was terrifyingly quiet except for the lingering bitter crying.
They passed several forks and stopped at a normal corner.
Gary stared at the wall which was fully covered by dark green moss, telling Lucien in a cool voice, ¡°Summon the Sword of Light.¡±
Terrified and excited, Lucien calmed himself down under the help of Blessing and began concentrating on the badge hanging on his neck, feeling the warm and soft power in it. He put his left hand on the badge and gently rubbed it, and at the same time, he whispered:
¡°Geesairon.¡±
Lucien¡¯s spirit blended with the white light and began to form into a shining sword.
¡°This is my voice?¡± Lucien was surprised. His voice sounded deep and husky.
Lucien grabbed the sword. He could feel the power. Gary¡¯s order pulled him back to reality, ¡°Slash the wall there.¡±
His body trembled slightly. Lucien didn¡¯t know what he was going to face: Powerful magic? Evil ghost? Fatal trap? He had no idea.
Corella sneered at him.
Lucien knew he had no other choice. He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and screamed loudly in his mind:
Death is not a big deal!
He slashed the disgusting slippery wall with all his might. The stone was like a pile of mud before the sword. Something weird got cut inside as well. Lucien felt something breaking, with dark gas leaking, and disappearing under the sword edge.
The wall collapsed completely.
Behind the wall, there was endless deep darkness.
Suddenly, two weird, cold, hideous spots of red rose in the darkness.
And then more and more scarlet spots started emerging, densely dotted.
They resembled¡­ pairs of eyes!

Chapter 5: The Sudden Turn of Events
				Chapter 5: The Sudden Turn of Events
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Confronting those red eyes, Lucien felt his hands and legs were shaking, his head buzzing. Different thoughts about what he should or should not do overwhelmed him, so he just stood there.
¡°Badge! I still have the badge!¡±
The badge was his greatest support. When Lucien was trying to concentrate and cast the shield spell, a sudden shout from Gary almost terrified him out of his wits.
¡°Cast Light!¡± Gary¡¯s voice was calm and decisive. He shouted loudly to bring them back to the reality from fear.
Right! Lucien realized that their top priority was to be able to see clearly. He rubbed the badge and murmured, ¡°Gaya.¡±
A ball of white light appeared in front of them and pushed the darkness away.
Then Lucien saw them, red-eyed rats of regular size. The floor, walls and even a weird human-shaped plant were all covered with the black rats like a crazy swarm, giving Lucien goose bumps.
The rats also saw their enemies. As soon as the light appeared, they started screaming and flooding towards the humans.
At that moment, they managed to take a glimpse of the chamber: a desk was placed in the corner with three glowing books on it; another flat, broad, weird-looking table was at the center of the room, drawn with different strange patterns, like red, blue or green, similar to the Saint Truth Badge. There were also some small stoves, pots, and glass bottles.
But, they did not get enough time to notice details as those crazy stinking monsters already jumped in front of them.
Howson and Corella held their swords and shields, with their backs against Gary, in a simple formation.
The leading rat threw himself right at Lucien. Its mouth was open wide, showing its two long and sharp fangs.
Lucien raised his Sword of Light and hurriedly swung at the head of the red-eyed rat. However, he was too nervous to predict the rat¡¯s movement, and the blade missed, although the light coming out of the sword still caught it. Lucien could smell the rat¡¯s burning flesh. Its skin turned black and rolled up inwards.
But the rat did not stop and was already in front of Lucien¡¯s face as if it could not feel the pain. He could smell the rotting odor coming from its mouth.
Lucien was too nervous to make the right decision. He tried to lift his sword once again and at the same time reached out his left hand to try to defend. Due to his panic he almost dropped the sword.
Feeling desperate, Lucien couldn¡¯t help but watch the creature about to sink its sharp teeth into his chest.
At this critical point, a shining blade arrived and hacked the rat directly, splitting it in two parts.
¡°Do not panic. Protect your vital parts. You still have the healing spell.¡± Commanded Gary.
Corella also ordered in a sharp voice, ¡°You idiot! Come here with us! You wanna die standing at the front?¡±
They were aware that Lucien was the only guy among them with a badge, which was very important to them. They could probably survive facing these insane rats without any spells, but no one knew what was waiting for them next.
Lucien tried to calm himself down. The guards were well-trained, so when facing dangers they knew what they should do. But, Lucien, a little boy, could not protect himself. No one was born for fighting, or with the ability to remain calm in the face of dangers.
In this first real fight, the guidance from an experienced guard like Gary would be a precious lesson for Lucien in the future.
After a moment Lucien finally calmed down. While hacking with his sword, he gradually stepped back and joined the guards.
Now, instead of one or two, hundreds of rats started insanely attacking them.
Lucien¡¯s sword was sharp and splendid. When he swung it, the sword was surrounded by a halo, and Lucien could see an almost solid afterimage of it through its path. According to Gary¡¯s command, Lucien¡¯s wielded the sword of light to shield them.
Any rat that ran into him was cut down in half by his blade. The smoldering cuts burned rats¡¯ organs and skin charred without dropping a single drop of blood. Some of the strikes missed, but even then the fur and skin charred and they became slower, crashing into the floor right before Lucien.
The three guards were responsible for the remaining ones.
¡°Haha, great job kid!¡± Corella whistled.
Lucien did not feel satisfied, though. He could feel the power of the sword was gradually decreasing.
Gary was still hacking the remaining ones, ¡°Calm down. We have enough power to deal with these monsters.¡±
A new wave of attack came again, like a black swarm.
Lucien was improving rapidly. Although still worried, he decided to trust himself and the three guards.
The hacked bodies of dead rats fell to the ground like rain drops. But some red-eyed rats still managed to pass through the defense and moved towards them quickly.
They cannot handle all of them. Lucien was thinking worriedly. Nobody could wield a sword that fast.
Of course, they were fighting not only with their swords. Two small silver shields were cooperating with the swords. The crazy jumping rats could not stop in time and knocked directly into the metal. Many were twitching on the floor and died soon.
Corella laughed, ¡°You can¡¯t be a good knight without a shield!¡±
After several rounds of attack, the red-eyed rats changed their pattern. Instead of throwing themselves directly towards their faces, some started approaching through the floor, while others climbed on the wall to attack them from above.
The situation again turned serious.
¡°Leave those coming from above to me.¡± The tall Howson, who was silent all the time, said to them.
Lucien nodded with appreciation, wielding his light sword to defend from the rats on the ground. ¡°Shield of Light?¡±
¡°Not yet.¡± Gary shook his head.
They were like a small boat floating in a roaring ocean. They could be easily destroyed.
Suddenly, Howson missed one rat, which fell directly on Corella¡¯s shoulder. The rat gave him a bitter bite in his neck. Corella groaned with pain and twitched his shoulder.
¡°I got bit! It¡¯s numb there. Their teeth must be poisonous.¡± He swore bitterly.
¡°Let me do the healing.¡± Lucien was about to rub the badge but was stopped by Gary.
¡°Corella can still hang in there. There are too many rats. Save it after¡­ Ouch!¡±
Before he finished, Gary got bit under his kneecap.
Soon the guards started focusing on their unprotected parts. But unlike them who were wearing kneecaps, boots and chain mails, Lucien was merely wearing linen short clothes. Suddenly he got bit in his ankle.
Feeling pain and numbness from his ankle. Lucien almost lost his balance. He felt thirsty at the same time. He wanted water.
¡°Protect yourself. Raise your Shield of Light first. Then use Healing.¡± Gary commanded. Half of the rats were dead already.
Lucien quickly became focused and rubbed the badge.
¡°Simen.¡±
A white shield of light appeared and covered him. He would need more time to cast another spell, so he took a step forward, trying to cover his companions under the shield and the sword wall.
After a couple of seconds, Lucien concentrated again. He rubbed the badge.
¡°Gourdi.¡±
A white light radiated from the cross and covered his ankle. The numb feeling disappeared instantly.
Although Corella and Gary were still injured, the situation had been turned around. The number of red-eyed rats decreased, so Lucien seized the chance and healed the wounded as well.
Stabbing through the last rat, Corella sighed slightly, ¡°Finally over.¡±
The ground was covered with layers of dead bodies and dark blood.
Standing there, Lucien could not believe he actually made it. Gary nodded to him, ¡°You did well, Lucien.¡± Then he turned around, ¡°You guys did a good job, too.¡±
Corella¡¯s face looked weird. Then he answered in a confused and fearful voice, ¡°How¡­Howson¡¯s not here¡­¡±
The silent but reliable Howson, who was protecting them from behind, disappeared?!
Lucien started feeling creepy again.

Chapter 6: Accident
				Chapter 6: Accident
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
None of them heard any sound of struggling, screaming, or of anyone leaving. The robust and silent Howson, a high-level knight squire, just¡­ disappeared?
A chilly feeling rose from Lucien¡¯s feet and quickly spread all over his body. He held the hilt of his sword tight, and his breathing became heavier.
He quickly turned his head but saw nothing. The sewer wall on the other side was covered with weird shining green moss.
Suddenly, a bitter scream broke the deadly silence. Lucien quickly turned and saw a terrifying scene: a monstrous rat as big as a man had tripped Corella and sunk its sharp nails into his shoulder. Blood gushed all over Corella¡¯s silver chain mail, dying it red. The monster had scarlet evil eyes that withered.
However, Corella¡¯s blade stopped its row of long and sharp teeth from causing damage.
As a knight squire, Corella saved his own life with the most common movement in their training: he thrust the shield on his left hand with all his strength into the rat¡¯s stomach.
Nothing was scarier than the unknown so, at least for Lucien, a huge rat showing itself was much better than an adult man disappearing all of a sudden for no reason.
Lucien took a deep breath and swung his sword of light at the huge rat, to help Corella.
At that moment, a bestial roar came from behind Lucien.
¡°Gary?¡± When Lucien was about to turn, a knight saber hacked at his back.
The white light of the shield trembled and dimmed a bit. The huge impact pushed Lucien several steps forward, and he almost lost his balance.
However, the attack didn¡¯t stop there. The saber was chasing Lucien and continuously tried to hurt him. Lucien did his best to dodge it, while having no time to fight back or use his badge. He felt confused and surprised. ¡°Why? Gary?!¡±
Lucien could not see clearly in the darkness. If it was not Gary, then there was only one possibility: Gary was already dead!
With good timing, the saber gave Lucien no chance to find his balance, and soon he was pushed into the corner. Lucien was surprised that with the protection of the shield he did not get injured from the attacks at all. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, getting ready for the next attack.
Then, he dodged the saber's assault by throwing himself on the ground. At the same time, his left hand grabbed the badge.
This time, Lucien finally saw who was attacking him. It was the group¡¯s leader, Gary.
Nevertheless, the muscles on his face were contorted, and his eyes were shining with scarlet light. He looked like an insane beast.
The poison from the rats! The poison could deprive human¡¯s consciousness and turn them into bloodthirsty beast! Lucien tried to understand, But why haven¡¯t I been affected?
Without further thinking, Lucien rubbed the badge and started chanting. A round iron shield launched a hard whack on Lucien¡¯s shield of light. Although the shield did not break, the violent impact suffocated Lucien for a second, interrupting his casting.
The continuous whacking prevented Lucien from concentrating. As a promising knight squire, Gary received formal training to interrupt spellcasting.
A layman like Lucien, with no basic training, would be unable to resist the disturbances from a knight squire. Any trainee pastor or sorcerer apprentice, with a level-one Saint Truth Badge and a Shield of Light could have killed Gary.
In the same level, a spellcaster was always superior.
While Lucien was being trapped with Gary, Corella could not hold the rat back much longer. His right hand was trembling from the effort of holding the enemy¡¯s mouth away.
Fortunately, the huge humanoid rat also became weaker.
Unable to cast the spell, Lucien changed his mind and swung his sword of light upwards. He knew that his summoned sword was much stronger than the guard¡¯s saber.
Although the swing did not strike true, the radiance from the sword terrified Gary. He stopped attacking Lucien¡¯s shield and switched to a defensive position hurriedly.
It seemed like he didn¡¯t want to be further apart from Lucien: for a traditional knight, letting his enemy successfully cast a spell would be very dangerous.
Without any sound of impact, the sword cut Gary¡¯s saber as if it was piece of wood. Gary barely managed to raise his shield in time and block with it, but the sword left a deep crack right in the middle of the shield.
When Lucien was about to launch his next attack the sword of light suddenly turned into thousands of shining pieces, indicating the spell used up all its power. Actually, its power started decreasing at the very beginning, when it destroyed the magic wall concealing the chamber.
Lucien was unable to react for a moment, and Gary seized the chance, smashing Lucien¡¯s protection with his shield.
Now, Lucien¡¯s sword and shield were both gone.
Having no time to hesitate, Lucien rubbed the badge desperately to cast his last spell.
¡°S¡­ Ow!¡±
Before Lucien could spell out the rest of the chant, Gary punched his stomach. Like a cooked shrimp, Lucien cowered in great pain. A wave of strong acid, rising from his stomach, burned his throat.
Gary reached out his hand and squeezed Lucien¡¯s neck, choking him.
Lucien struggled fiercely, and used his right hand to try to free his neck. He felt great pain in his neck and lungs, and his eyes were turning black. The badge in his left hand was being held firmly to his chest by Gary¡¯s other hand.
Lucien could hear his own gasp. He could feel the cold metal glove Gary was wearing. It felt like Lucien¡¯s soul had left his body, and was observing from the side.
Suddenly, Lucien¡¯s will to survive erupted. His soul power increased dramatically all of a sudden and broke through a certain limit, spreading like water from an ocean.
At the same time, Gary¡¯s strength started disappearing. Lucien got a precious chance to breathe. Learning from his past mistakes, this time Lucien did not waste any time being hesitant or confused. He tried to focus and grabbed the badge again.
As soon as he touched it, Lucien¡¯s spirit suddenly entered into an illusionary world of light, where many lines, circles and triangles formed a weird-looking cross in the air.
Lucien recognized the cross instantly: It was the cross on Benjamin¡¯s badge! And he could feel that Benjamin¡¯s power was continuously coming out of the cross!
Out of curiosity, Lucien moved closer and tried to touch it. The cross suddenly trembled and started accumulating power. Soon he felt its power became overwhelming!
Feeling the danger, Lucien hurriedly tried to retrieve his spirit back to the real world but it was too late: A white beam of light shot out from the cross and burned his spirit on the side. A strong nauseous feeling hit him. Lucien felt like his head was splitting. And two streams of cool, rusty-metal-smelling liquid came down from his nose.
Suddenly, the light beam somehow materialized and burst out from the badge that Lucien was wearing. Gary did not have a slight of chance to withdraw his hand. Starting from the hand squeezing Lucien's neck, the light beam quickly dissolved his arm and part of his shoulder in seconds like some kind of super-strong corroding acid. There was no blood coming out, and the wounds instantly turned black.
Divine power can be activated without any spell? This surprised Lucien. He quickly dodged to avoid the enemy¡¯s following attack.
However, he felt all his muscles aching and it was hard to move.
Then, what Lucien saw shocked him greatly: Gary was lying on the ground, dying, with his eyes half open, and the scarlet light on them was gone.
The pool of blood left by the dead rats had evaporated, forming a red mist and pervading the chamber and nearby pipes.
The weird, human-shaped plant in the corner was stretching its branches cozily in the blood mist.
On the other side lied Corella and Howson, with their own sabres stabbing each other¡¯s back.

Chapter 7: Gain and Temptation
				Chapter 7: Gain and Temptation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Surrounded by the red mist, Lucien felt his limbs melting, and the nerves in his brain swelling and jerking. In his eyes, Corella and Howson changed from human bodies to giant rats and continued switching back and forth.
¡°It¡¯s¡­ an illusion¡­?!¡± Lucien was quite sure. So, he concentrated and spread his spirit again like waves. Then, everything became stable. No changes or contortion happened.
Lucien saw Corella and Howson lying on the ground, with wounds all over their bodies, dying.
¡°This is a well-designed magic trap¡­ Did the illusion originate from the blood of the rats, or the peculiar plant?¡± Lucien thought to himself. He finally understood that from the very beginning, when they killed the first rat, they were already trapped in the illusion. Lucien was protected by the light shield, and his spiritual power was a little bit stronger than common people, so he was unaffected by the illusion.
The Holy Strike that shot out of the badge not only evaporated Gary¡¯s right hand and shoulder, but also the stone ceiling of the chamber. There was a wide hole there, from which chunks of stone were falling like rain, as if the chamber would cave in at any time.
Dust and small stones dispersed the red mist. Lucien felt his strength gradually recovering.
Having no idea what would happen next, his brain started quickly functioning again: Except for two more Light spells, Lucien got nothing useful left. And his muscles were still weak from the paralyzing red mist.
Then his attention was drawn to the plant in the corner, which was shaking and wobbling due to the falling stones.
¡°The plant cannot protect itself aside from creating an illusion?¡± Lucien wondered. He tried his best to stand up again and then dragged his body towards the plant. He moved very slowly and faltered several times. Sharp stones kept falling on him, leaving painful wounds all over his body.
Lucien took a deep breath and kept moving. After so much experience, he became calm and decisive. Reaching out his right hand, he firmly grabbed the main stem of the plant.
The plant had a pulse like that of a living being! Lucien felt like he was grabbing veins of a creature, beating with blood. He pulled the stem with all his strength.
Suddenly, the plant shrank and burst out an extremely bitter and sharp scream.
Lucien did not succeed on his first try. So, he kept twisting it with all his strength. Like a dying man struggling for survival, the plant screamed, stretched out its branches and entangled them around Lucien¡¯s arm.
The plant was moist, slimy, and cold, and its tentacles had countless tiny burrs which kept burying themselves into Lucien¡¯s skin. Fighting back his fear, Lucien pulled hard again.
¡°Crack!¡±
The plant suddenly stopped screaming. Red liquid spurted out of it and spattered all over Lucien¡¯s chest, leaving a strong bloody smell in the air. Feeling limp, Lucien hurriedly leaned against the wall to maintain his balance.
After the plant was snapped in half, the red mist became much denser and almost turned into liquid. As soon as the blood mist from the plant reached the three books on the desk, they instantly started corroding. It only took a couple of seconds to completely corrode all the books. Lucien didn¡¯t get any time to read anything.
¡°It must be another magic trap¡±, Lucien thought. In case the chamber got discovered, these sorcerer¡¯s notes would destroy themselves automatically when the mist reached a certain density.
¡°Argh!¡± It was such a pity for Lucien. He was hoping to find some mighty magic spells in the notes.
Just then, he noticed something shining in his spirit library.
Out of curiosity, Lucien let his spirit enter the library. Then, his eyes opened wide with great surprise: A new bookshelf appeared! And there was a small tag which read ¡°Magic (Arcana)¡±. Under the tag there were three books. They were the same ones which got destroyed.
¡°The library can collect books as well?!¡­ Wait, what about the content, then? I didn¡¯t have a chance to read them at all.¡± Lucien was trying to understand how the library worked. ¡°As the corrosion happened really fast, the whole books were still destroyed page after page. Probably the library can copy the content¡­ then the projections of the books can be stored here¡­¡±
Lucien was just guessing. He needed more proof.
Staring at the three labels, a strong hesitant feeling rose in Lucien¡¯s mind: Wouldn¡¯t it be too dangerous to learn magic in a world where divine power dominated everything and sorcerers were hated by the public?
Lucien knew he could not waste too much time down here. What was more surprising was that after the mist completely disappeared, both Corella and Howson twitched a little bit. They were still alive! Lucien knew that he really had to hurry up and get all of them out of this terrible place.
¡­¡­
Benjamin suddenly groaned when he felt Lucien activated Holy Strike. At that moment, their spirits were somehow connected. He was more than surprised.
¡°Lord Benjamin?¡± Pawl asked with concern.
Under the silver moon, Benjamin¡¯s face did not look well. He said in a low voice: ¡°Something unexpected happened down there. Damn it! She was just an apprentice. These guys are useless¡­ Paul, you wait here. If I don¡¯t come back in five minutes, ask the bishop for help.¡±
Because there was a spirit imprint on the badge, Benjamin could feel it. Or he would not have lent the badge to a young guy he had just met. He did not expect that his own imprint could be activated by someone else.
Misfortune always comes with arrogance and prejudice.
For Benjamin, knights were just a bunch of vulgar and ignorant guys, who knew nothing more than how to fight with just their physical strength. So, without giving any thought to whether the guards were actually more suitable, Benjamin directly gave the badge to Lucien, a young boy whose spirit was stronger than common people.
Benjamin¡¯s perspective came from his past experiences.
The family he came from, the Rafati family, was one of the most powerful families in the Duchy of Orvarit. Rafati family was known for producing gifted divines. While knights had to learn spells, offsprings of Rafati family were born with Blessing in their blood.
Benjamin was no way close to being the most talented child in his family. But after entering the monastery, he stood out among his peers and soon became a formal pastor and a divine caster.
But now, as a formal pastor, he was having trouble dealing with a trap left behind by a sorcerer¡¯s apprentice. It would definitely affect his reputation and position in the church. So he had no choice but to rush over there and solve the trouble himself.
Paul was surprised as well, ¡°They had the badge¡­ Is there a real sorcerer present there?¡±
¡­¡­
Sounds of footsteps came when Lucien was about to drag himself out the chamber to ask for help. He became anxious, for fear that if it was another witch or wizard who came then he would not be able to safely escape with his life again.
Above all he felt worried, because a chamber was one of the best places to execute somebody and thus keep their mouths shut.
¡°Lapland Bloodvine?¡± Benjamin took a glimpse at the corner and quickly speculated what happened. He looked at Lucien and the three guards, ¡°Fortunately, they¡¯re still alive.¡±
Benjamin was a little bit surprised when he saw Lucien. Benjamin thought, ¡°It seems like when he activated my imprint, his spirit power also increased. He has reached the basic-level of a trainee pastor, quite lucky.¡±
However, everything has changed. The church, now, is not in its absolute dominant status like three hundred years ago. Today, divinity power can¡¯t be acquired with talent alone. Being a real pastor requires systematic learning from a young age.
¡®The Emperor of Magical Arcana¡¯, it was he who started the close to four-hundred-year golden age of the development of divinity power and magic. He changed the rule of how to become a Divine Caster.
As a member of Rafati family, compared with most pastors, Benjamin knew more about the circumstances of the world. What's more, he was not that devoted to his own particular faith. More accurately, being an aristocrat actually conflicted with his identity of belonging to the church.
Even further, after ¡°the Highest Theology Conference¡± more than three hundred years ago, the church was partitioned into two: one south, the other north. They both criticized each other for being a hearsay. But neither of them were ever interrupted or prevented from continuously gaining the divine power, which made many bishops and cardinals doubt whether God really existed, or if all this was a test for God¡¯s followers.
This kind of attitude directly affected the following younger generations, like Benjamin, for hundreds of years.
Besides, to fit into this fast developing era, several popes had introduced part of the knowledge gained through the exploration of the world by great Arcanists, to modify the foundation of theology.
The adjustment guaranteed the fast development of divinity and the emergence of countless great spellcasters. Therefore, the South Church could still preserve its predominant position in general and keep growing while being surrounded by many powerful enemies like heretics, evil sorcerers, dark creatures and so on. But at the same time, this behavior additionally prompted more conflicts within the South Church itself.
Benjamin¡¯s thought came back to reality. He released some white powder from his hand and chanted some weird spell. A strong wind blew the red mist away.
He pointed his finger towards Gary. A white light fell down on his wound. The wound started healing and soon regained its original color.
After curing Corella, Howson, and Lucien one by one, he confirmed with them what happened. Benjamin checked the desk to ensure nothing was left there. ¡°Move all the stuff back to the church, including the bodies of the rats.¡±
He put the badge, which had already been returned by Lucien, back on his neck , and said, ¡°God has forgiven you. Go back and rest. May God bless you.¡±
Initially, Benjamin wanted to reward Lucien with some money or even wait to see whether the kid had the potential to be further trained if things went well. But after all of this, the only thing Benjamin wanted was Lucien to leave as soon as possible. He got another problem to face: Gary¡¯s right hand. He did not master the spell for limb regeneration.
Having the chance to leave, Lucien hurriedly walked towards the exit. By the moment he left the chamber, he heard Corella talking to Howson in a low voice, ¡°Gary lost his right hand. He probably can¡¯t stay in the guards anymore¡­¡±
He walked outside the pipes with complicated, mixed feelings. The crowd mobbed him instantly with great concerns.
¡°Little Evans, is the ghost gone now?¡± Aunty Alisa asked loudly from far-off.
Lucien nodded, ¡°Yes. The place has been purified by the pastor and the guards.¡±
The mood lightened immediately after they got Lucien¡¯s certain answer. They started being more curious about what happened down there.
¡°Lucien, what did the ghost look like? Terrifying?¡±
¡°I knew Lord Benjamin could handle it!¡±
¡°Lucien is blessed by God! He got the chance to use the badge!¡±
¡°What a pity! Lucien is not a child anymore, or he would be able to go to the monastery and become a real pastor. Think about it! A pastor from Aderon!¡±
Lucien was bothered by the comments, ¡°I¡¯m too old to be a pastor already?¡±
Although Lucien himself never thought about being a pastor because of his identity, it was still quite depressing knowing he was completely hopeless after seeing such an amazing power.
¡°My poor little Evans. Look at your face. You must be very exhausted.¡± Aunty Alisa asked.
Lucien really needed some time for himself. He nodded and walked directly towards his small shanty. He closed the door and sat down on the bed. He could hear the crowd gradually dispersing after Benjamin and the guards left.
Lucien missed his parents and friends but could not do anything about it. He started thinking about his own future again.
¡°The real Lucien did not get any training before. So I could neither become a pastor nor a knight.
¡°If I want to get rid of this life and become someone, then I need to learn magic.
¡°¡­But then I would be an enemy of the church and all the people, including Aunty Alisa.
¡°Do I have other choices?¡±
Finally, Lucien decided to first look at the notes in his mental library.
A little while later, Lucien talked to himself in a low voice, awkwardly.
¡°I can¡¯t read¡­?¡±

Chapter 8: Aalto
				Chapter 8: Aalto
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The notes were full of strange characters. And Evans, as a poor child, was uneducated and illiterate.
As a hopeless illiterate, Lucien could only helplessly stare at the notes and yearn for the amazing power. Although he had experienced a lot here, he still felt extremely depressed with the gap: He was a university student in another world, but now he was just a poor guy who couldn¡¯t even read.
Lucien made up his mind: He must learn how to read.
Even if Lucien could not be a pastor, learning how to read and write was not a bad thing in order to get rid of poverty. He had no physical strength. If there was a way out for Lucien, it would be something related to knowledge.
Feeling motivated by his decision, Lucien again picked up the notes, hoping to uncover any other hidden secret.
There were many strange but familiar patterns in the notes, like lines and geometric figures. Lucien guessed they were probably magic seals or circles because he saw them in the badge before. Then, he saw some formulas which might be used to make magic potions.
The characters in the second note were even more complicated. Actually, the two notes were of different characters. Fortunately, the third one looked more interesting and contained the same character as the second one. It was filled with assorted hand-produced figures like plants, minerals, and creatures.
After a new round of searching, he still couldn¡¯t find anything useful. Lucien stopped thinking and tried to fall asleep.
He strongly desired to change his life. So, he could not let his messy concerns and worries disturb himself. From tomorrow onwards, he must fight for his own life.
Lucien fell asleep quickly after the intense fight.
Meanwhile, in the dark sewers, a black rat with scarlet and cold eyes was moving around the ruins and quickly went in another direction. After a while, the rat found a hidden hole and disappeared.
¡­¡­
In the early morning, sounds of people speaking with bucket clapping broke the silence. The street was already livened up.
Lucien, who used to hate getting out of bed in the morning, forced himself to get up as soon as he woke up. He lighted the stove and boiled some hot water. While nibbling his last loaf of brown bread which felt like chewing a piece of wood, Lucien started planning his day.
This world was still unfamiliar to Lucien, thus his plan was difficult to accomplish. He first decided to find a job to feed himself before learning how to read.
¡°I gotta be careful. Cannot let anyone notice.¡± Lucien talked to himself.
Before he left, Lucien grabbed his seven coins to feel a little bit more secure. He locked the door and went directly to auntie Alisa¡¯s place, who was the only one he knew there.
¡°Morning, Lucien.¡± A girl with black hair greeted him on the streets, filled with curiosity.
Lucien did not know her. Hurriedly, he made a smile and replied, ¡°Hey. I¡¯m gonna visit aunty Alisa, sorry but I¡¯m running late.¡± And the he quickly passed her by.
¡°Hi Lucien, did you really face the ghost?¡±
¡°How did you feel when you cast the spell?¡±
¡°I heard a guard lost his right arm. It was very dangerous last night, wasn¡¯t it?¡±
It seemed that Lucien had become famous in the district overnight. Within three minutes¡¯ walking, a few neighbors came and asked about his adventure.
Lucien knew none of them. He could only smile and head towards his destination.
Before Lucien knocked the door, he heard a familiar voice. ¡°Little Evans! Good morning!¡± Joel was walking towards him.
¡°Good morning, uncle Joel!¡± It was such a relief for Lucien.
Dressing neatly, Joel was holding a classic harp. ¡°Did you have breakfast? Don¡¯t be in a rush to find a work until you¡¯re fully recovered. You can always eat here. Don¡¯t worry.¡±
Lucien appreciated his kindness so much. He started feeling he was not alone here. ¡°Thank you, uncle Joel, but, I had my breakfast already. And¡­ I got blessed by pastor Benjamin last night. So, now I¡¯m completely fine.¡±
Joel nodded and walked with Lucien side by side. ¡°Later you could go and find Cohn at Copper Coronet. He still owes me a bottle of Lesse wine. He will introduce a good job for you.¡±
Then he turned his face towards Lucien and said in a serious voice. ¡°Evans, you¡¯re already seventeen. It¡¯s time you started thinking about your future.¡±
¡°Uncle Joel?¡± Lucien knew he was saying the truth.
Joel sighed slightly. ¡°No one can make a living with only doing labor all the time. You know it. I¡¯ve seen a few old labor guys with no saving and no children to rely on in their last days. All of them died in their fifties or even forties.¡±
He paused a little bit and continued. ¡°I know learning will take a long time. But if you¡¯re willing to work hard, you can always support yourself with a skill.¡±
During their conversation, they walked through a gate where two guards were standing on both sides. Lucien¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up: Broad and clean streets, busy stores, and pedestrians wearing colorful and fancy clothes. Music was wafting in the soft wind. It was a different world compared with the poor Aderon district.
Lucien thanked Joel sincerely.
Joel started joking again. ¡°Besides, sometimes a master only has a single daughter. Who knows, maybe, you can be promoted directly from an apprentice to the future owner. You know, a nice-looking promising young fellow is always in demand.¡±
Lucien replied with an awkward smile.
Joel finally stopped around a corner. He placed a hat on the ground and got ready to play his harp.
Lucien was a little bit surprised to find that uncle Joel was a street artist.
Joel pointed to the luxurious and magnificent palace in the distance and smiled. ¡°That is the Hall of Chant. For me, I feel like I¡¯m playing music in the hall.¡±
Before Lucien said anything, Joel continued murmuring as if something inside of his heart was triggered. ¡°Four hundred years ago, guided by the Holy Heilz Empire, the church marched towards the west. Finally, they occupied the last central city of the old Sylvanas Magic Empire, Aalto. The army drove the dark creatures and demons away into the Dark Mountain Range. Since then, Aalto has always been one of the most famous cities across the whole continent.
¡°Three hundred years ago, under the guidance of the Pope Charles I, who was still a cardinal at that time, lots of famous scholars and artists studied and edited together the hymns and poems of past ages. After he became the pope, he promoted the singing style in every church and started regular choirs. Since then, Aalto has been enjoying the reputation of ¡®City of Psalms¡¯.
¡°Because we are close to the Dark Mountain Range, elves, dwarves and dog-headed men, or say, cynocephalus, often came in contact with us and some even became members of our duchy. Different kinds of music were mixed in Aalto and the polyphonic music was born here. Then followed formal symphony, gesu violin, etc.
¡°Countless artists and musicians inscribed their names on the pages of history. Playing inside the Hall of Chant is a great honor for every musician and bard.
¡°Although I cannot get in there, it¡¯s also a pleasure for me to play my harp here.¡±
¡­¡­
After parting from Joel, Lucien took Joel¡¯s suggestion and started heading towards Copper Coronet. While asking the way, he was enjoying the wonderful music in the wind. As soon as he returned back to Aderon, he saw a busy pub with a coronet board hanging there.
Outside of the pub, from time to time, young girls and women could come and glance into it and then leave with disappointment.

Chapter 9: A Tough Start
				Chapter 9: A Tough Start
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was interesting and confusing for Lucien. The morning was obviously not busy hours for a pub.
A slender blonde girl was peeking inside from the pub door. Then, she sighed and was about to leave, but was surprised to notice Lucien standing there, waiting for her to get out of the way.
"Oh! Lucien!" She exclaimed.
Lucien was already used to the situation. He smiled and greeted, "Morning! What¡¯re you doing here?"
The girl¡¯s tanned cheeks suddenly flushed, "I¡­ I am just on my way. I heard there¡¯s a new bard here today in the pub¡­so¡­Anyway, I gotta go, Lucien."
Before Lucien said his goodbye, the young girl rushed away with her cheeks red. Lucien guessed the bard she mentioned should be very attractive.
However, it had nothing to do with Lucien. He was here to work. He gently pushed the door and stepped inside the pub.
Lucien¡¯s first impression towards the pub was not very good: a dusky space, with a strong alcohol smell and messy tables and chairs. It took his eye a while to get accustomed to the dark environment.
Several drunkards were woken by the noise. They emitted a few curses and went back to sleep on the tables. There was an hooked-nosed man in a tight black coat, probably in his thirties, sitting on a bar stool and was sipping his amber-coloured wine. Without saying anything he glimpsed at Lucien.
Lucien looked around. Soon, he found a dwarf snoring loudly behind the counter. He was sitting on a high bar chair with his round head leaning against the wall. His shining saliva was dropping on his blonde beard which was tied into a bow.
Knowing the dwarf would not wake up by himself, Lucien knocked on the counter loudly with his fingers.
The drunkards started swearing in the background. The old dwarf slowly woke up with sleepy eyes, "Oh, my Lucien! Finally, you¡¯re a grown-up now! Finally, you understand the wonderfulness of wine! Cheers! For our new customer¡­"
"It¡¯s already morning, uncle¡­ Cohn." Lucien was hesitant about how to call the pub owner.
Cohn rubbed his eyes and looked around, "I¡¯m not drunk¡­ Don¡¯t lie to me. What a wonderful night!"
After quite a while, Cohn finally sobered up. When Lucien asked about the jobs, Cohn made a slightly pained look and said, "Um¡­ I don¡¯t have really good ones now. All I got are some odd jobs. 9 o¡¯clock tomorrow morning¡­ Let me see. Three Fells for carrying stuff from the grocery to the gate zone. But you know, you have to give one Fell to the gangsters there at the end of the day. Then¡­ all you can get from the work is two Fells, only enough for buying an old brown bread.
"Another thing¡­ yes, here. The Musician Association¡¯s gonna do a cleaning today. You can rent a cart and help them with the garbage. You can get eight Fells after the rent. But also¡­ three Fells to the bastards."
"There is something else too¡­ No, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re qualified for that."
Lucien nodded, he only had seven Fells with himself. He did not really have many choices. Working for the association was the best one.
"Cohn, do you have jobs with better payment?" Lucien asked again with curiosity.
Cohn laughed loudly, "Yes, for sure, my boy. But those are for real men, as they require strength and courage, not for a young boy. You don¡¯t even know how to drink."
Then, he lowered his voice. "I¡¯ve seen so many people setting off towards the Dark Mountain Range from my bar. They were mercenaries and experienced adventurers. But, very, very few of them came back alive." Cohn belched and continued, "Of course they all made a big fortune, though.
"Don¡¯t underestimate them. Many of them were High-Level Knights." A gentle but attractive voice came from behind Lucien. His tone was lifted slightly in the end, sounding elegant and seductive.
Lucien turned around and saw a silver-haired man walking towards them from one of the pub¡¯s rooms. He was wearing slim pants and a red jacket, covered with a black high-collared coat. Those formal clothes looked amazingly casual but elegant on him. He had quite refined features: silver eyes, tall and straight nose, thin lips¡­The man almost looked like a charming elf with his silky silver hair, like a full moon at night.
Holding a harp in his hand, the man picked a bar chair and sat down.
"Hey, Rhine! Want a drink?" Cohn grabbed a glass.
"Thanks, but I only drink at night." He smiled. "Peace has been prevailing on the continent for almost three hundred years. There are more knights than people need. The Duchy of Orvarit, the closest duchy to the Dark Mountain Range, is full of myths and mysterious treasures. Many new and honored knights come here to seek credits, honor, and fortune."
He fiddled with the harp and continued, "Besides, some of them were broken knights, some of them were convicted, some of them were travelers, while some of them were dark knights who were not admitted by the church."
Cohn was a little bit unhappy with Rhine¡¯s rejection. He murmured, "Lucien, this is Rhine Carendia. As a bard, he travelled a lot. And he just got away from the passionate Tria ladies in the Kingdom of Syracuse."
"The Kingdom of Syracuse?" Lucien asked.
Cohn burst out laughing. His long, blond beard swayed with his laughter. With an ambiguous smile on his wrinkled face, he replied. "Yes, The Syracuse. A passionate, romantic nation where love is the top priority."
A drunkard joined them when they started talking about Syracuse. He loudly burped, and asked with eagerness, "Rhine, the la¡­ ladies and madams¡­ there, there in Tria, were they really that beautiful¡­ and... hot?"
Rhine smiled casually and answered with his unique tone, "Yes, they were. Their eyes were like morning stars, hair like silk, lips like roses, and their fair skin like milk. I can still remember the perfumes they wore and their wet, warm breaths. A few ladies and duchess even invited me to their secret manors¡­"
The drunkard cut in with excitement, "Did you go then?"
Lucien knew the most common topic within men was women. While he was listening, he was also thinking about his learning how to read.
Rhine, with the same smile, answered, "I told them I did not like dirty things that had been used by someone else. I love beautiful, clean, and pure lives, no matter men or women. They¡¯re the tastiest things in the world."
"Bullshit, Rhine. There was no way you dared to speak to them like that."
"Right, if you had answered like this, you would be in the famous jail in Tria by now! Come on, Rhine!"
"Those ladies, many of them could compete with the knights. Dare you!"
Rhine shrugged his shoulders slightly facing Cohn and the drunkard¡¯s laughter, "That¡¯s why I¡¯m here now, not in Syracuse."
Pounding the counter, Cohn was laughing so hard that he almost got choked. Drunkards there were all wakened up by his pounding, looking angry but confused, "Such¡­ such a good story from our beloved Rhine!" Cohn¡¯s face turned red, "Cheers! For the wonderful story!"
All the drunkards knew was ale. They pushed their ways to the counter to grab the free drink.
"Cheers! For¡­ Rhine, the blowhard!"
"The blowhard!" They laughed and shouted.
A while later, when the pub finally quieted down again, Cohn was very surprised to find that Lucien was still there.
"What else? My boy?" Cohn asked.
"Um¡­ yes. I¡¯ve got a new idea. I¡­ I¡¯m thinking about¡­learning how to read."
"Ah? Read?" Now Cohn was even more surprised, "You talked with Rhine? You two are dreamers."
Several guys in the bar started heckling.
"Wooo¡­ What a magnificent, glorious dream for our brave little pauper!"
While some showed their support, "Lucien, good for you! Dreams make a real man!"
Cohn laughed with them for a while and then turned to Lucien, "Two years, Lucien. It¡¯ll take you at least two years to learn how to read. You¡¯ll start from scratch. Do you have any idea how much money and effort it will cost you?"
Lucien looked into his eye, nodded firmly, "I understand. So many people tell me I¡¯m too old for this or that. But Cohn, as people said, better late than never. If I don¡¯t make up my mind, there will never be a start."
As a university student in his original world, Lucien was confident that, with the all the knowledge he mastered before, he would be able to understand the language rules and start reading very soon.
Twirling his big beard, Cohn nodded, "I see¡­ You¡¯re too old to enter the church school¡­ that¡¯s for sure. Then¡­ There are two ways: either you become an apprentice for ten years, or you pay for a teacher. But, the first way¡­ you know, it depends on whose apprentice you want to be. I don¡¯t see the necessity for a blacksmith to learn reading. They won¡¯t pay you for that. If you can afford a teacher¡­ it will be five Nars a month. Five silver coins! And the price is same in the whole city."
Lucien did not want to become an apprentice. Ten years was too long, but he also had to make sure no one would possibly find out that he was trying to learn magic. Being an apprentice meant he had to live in his master¡¯s place. That would not be good.
"Five Nars. It¡¯s probably gonna take you half year to save five Nars if you work from day to night and eat the cheapest brown bread."
"And how much can you learn within a month?" Cohn added, "Are you still going?"
Lucien answered firmly, "Yes, I am."
A hundred Fells equaled to one Nar. It was a tough start. But still possible.

Chapter 10: The Musicians¡¯ Association
				Chapter 10: The Musicians¡¯ Association
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien had read many novels about how to make big fortunes from scratch. Sadly, none would be helpful for him. Seven Fells were insufficient to start anything.
While the morning sun was shining on the market, Lucien was already carrying a heavy bag of goods towards the gate. No matter what great dreams a person got, survival always ranked first.
Beads of sweat poured down from his face. His linen clothes were all wet. What¡¯s worse, the fat guy called Gutche kept nagging from the side:
¡°Damn¡­ A child? Watch out! Don¡¯t ruin my stuff!¡± He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
¡°Or you can just pay more to find someone else¡­¡± Lucien fought back in his mind. At the same time, he was also glad that he could earn one more Fell by doing all the work by himself.
Finally, they reached the gate. Lucien laid the goods safely on the cart.
Gutche reluctantly pulled out his purse and gave four Fells to Lucien. He then paused and said, ¡°Young lad, you did a good job. Um¡­ The work will be yours next time as well.¡±
Lucien did all the work alone for a much lower price. No wonder, Gutche now forgot all his complaints.
As soon as Lucien got his pay, two hooligan-looking guys approached them.
¡°We work for Aaron. I¡¯m Andre.¡± The brown-haired man identified himself. He had a scar on his face.
Lucien was already prepared for this. He handed him a Fell.
The other guy just stared at Lucien and said, ¡°Two!¡±
Lucien blurted out, ¡°But it should be one! Everyone gives one!¡± He knew that he was in no position to argue, but he just could not stand being robbed like this.
¡°Um¡­ Usually, Gutche hires two people, so we charge one Fell for each person. We charge you double cos you did all the work alone. I don¡¯t see any problem here.¡± Andre smiled like he was a decent businessman.
A second later, Lucien lowered his head and passed the strong guy another Fell. Lucien did not want to offend these gangsters.
¡°Smart boy. You know the rule. Some young lads¡­ they love challenging us. But you see, we¡¯re still here, while¡­ some of them are at the bottom of the Belem River. All right, Mag. Let¡¯s go.¡± Andre threatened him like it was usual and left.
Of course, Lucien hated this. He was already prepared for this but still, could not control himself. He understood that either high status or strength could help him get rid of all the suffering.
¡°I wish there were some magic potions in the notes that would help to improve my strength, then¡­¡± Lucien tried his best to stop thinking. He knew that it was a dangerous sign. A sign that he was getting tempted to learn magic.
¡­¡­
Almost everyone in the city knew the unique-designed building of the Musicians¡¯ Association. Very quickly Lucien found the place called ¡°Sparkling Flame¡±.
Assembled with lines, small towers, flying buttresses, stained glasses, and flame-shaped window lattices, the whole five-floored building held a particular unsymmetrical and flamboyant beauty.
A skinny middle-aged man with a mustache hurriedly came down from the stairs, ¡°You¡¯re late! I told you one o¡¯clock!¡±
This man was George. Cohn had already introduced him to Lucien. George worked for the association, and it seemed like he knew quite a few guys there.
¡°George, there are still ten minutes before the appointed time.¡± Lucien pointed to the golden bell tower in the wealthy neighborhood, whose minute hand still had some way to go from number twelve.
Waving his hands, George complained to Lucien, ¡°The cleaners finished their job earlier. You gotta remove the rubbish piling up in the back as soon as possible. I don¡¯t wanna piss the musicians off. Some of them still have a performance this afternoon.¡±
Lucien left his rented trolley to the guards and walked into the bright and grand hall.
Covered with soft and thick carpet, the floor made no noise at all. There were just a few people walking across the cold, quiet hall.
Following George, Lucien came to a waist-high counter in the center of the hall, behind which sat a green-eyed and pretty young girl.
¡°Uncle George! Is he your helper?¡± She greeted.
While she was talking, she took out a tinkling purse and handed it to George. According to Lucien¡¯s estimation, approximately forty Fells were in there. However, after paying the trolley rent, he could only get eight Fells.
Holding the purse in his palms, George grinned showing his yellow teeth and his eyes narrowed into two slits, ¡°He is a good worker although a bit young.¡±
Then, he turned to Lucien, ¡°I¡¯ll leave your pay with Andre. Just find him after you finish.¡±
Lucien nodded. He was not worried that George would keep the money himself. Even though the Aaron Gang was overbearing, they too had to follow the rules. Cohn mentioned before that someone tried to keep some money, and later he had to compensate twice the amount.
When Elena was about to find a servant to show Lucien the way to the back yard, a middle-aged man wearing a red, loose coat came in. She hurriedly stood up and bowed slightly.
¡°Good Afternoon, Mr. Victor.¡±
¡°Good Afternoon, Elena.¡± The man replied politely. He had blue eyes as deep as an ocean, ¡°May I have the latest Music Criticism?¡± His voice was deep and rich.
Lucien was surprised. He did not expect to find a newspaper in this world, and even specialized ones. What impressed him more was the polarization here, thinking about the fact that many people in Aderon were still illiterate. Lucien guessed not many people would buy newspapers.
He also wondered how much the newspaper cost.
Victor roughly went through the pages and gave Elena ten Fells. He then went towards the stairs after nodding politely to both of them, with the newspaper under his arm.
After he left, Lucien asked Elena curiously.
¡°The newspaper costs 10 Fells?¡±
Having worked in the association for a whole year, Elena was proud that she could share her knowledge with someone, who was also from the same poor background like she was before.
¡°In the year 426 of Saint Calendar, the Cardinal Adelaide enhanced the method for papermaking. Since then, the paper price continued declining. Now you can buy a dozen newspapers with just a couple of Fells. But only members of our association can buy Music Criticism with 10 Fells. Others, including nobles, have to pay a silver Nar.¡±
¡°Both Music Criticism and Symphony News are the most authoritative music publications across the continent.¡± she then continued, ¡°Every piece of music and article is produced by brilliant musicians and scholars. This month¡¯s Music Criticism published the comments from His Majesty and Princess Natasha on the concert held last week in the Psalm Hall.¡±
Aside from showing off, Lucien¡¯s good looking face was another reason why she kept offering so much information.
¡°A Nar?!¡± For a moment, an exciting plan of robbing newspapers appeared in his mind. Five Nars could easily solve Lucien¡¯s problem! A second later he realized the thought was too ridiculous: No one would buy from him.
¡°Sure!¡± Happy with Lucien¡¯s interaction, Elena kept talking. ¡°You think it¡¯s too expensive? In places like Tria, Antiffler, Ifai, Tilis and Anhadur, these newspapers are very popular. People there honor Aalto¡¯s music very much and would even pay one gold Thale for an old one.¡±
Lucien took a glance at the newspapers under the counter while trying hard to resist his impulse. But, he also got some information from her words: Under the mighty church, currency across the continent should be unified; Secondly, there was no such spell for teleportation. If there was, it must have very strict rules, or the nobles in other cities would not read old newspapers.
More than ten minutes later, it finally occurred to Elena that Lucien still had work to do. She reluctantly stopped herself and asked a servant to lead him to the backyard garden.
¡°Be quiet. Don¡¯t talk loud. Don¡¯t move loud. In three months, Mr. Victor¡¯s gonna hold his first concert in the Psalm Hall. Recently, he¡¯s being pretty¡­ um¡­ sensitive,¡± Elena kindly reminded him.
Lucien nodded to her gratefully and followed the servant towards the garden.

Chapter 11: Findings
				Chapter 11: Findings
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
A big pile of trash was in the backyard garden. It took Lucien a couple of rounds to throw it away.
To keep the city clean, there were people collecting trash every morning. But, the fancy association just could not tolerate the trash piling up in their garden for a whole day.
After finishing the work, Lucien sneaked into the hall and moved around the margins of the round hall towards the gate.
¡°Damn it! Wolf! Can you just leave me alone for one second and let me focus on my music?¡± He heard a deep and rich voice which turned sharp in the end. At the same time, a man wearing a red coat rushed down from the stairs.
Then, he ran right into Lucien.
¡°Bang!¡± Something heavy fell down on the carpet, making a dull sound.
Victor nearly lost his footing.
Taking a deep breath, Victor bent down and picked up a broken lamp which had fallen down from Lucien¡¯s pile of trash.
¡°Sorry.¡± He gave the lamp he picked up from the carpet back to Lucien.
Another brown-haired man wearing dark blue long coat walked down from the stairs. There was an noticeable arch on his chin.
¡°Victor, you¡¯re not the only musician here. I can do whatever I want. If you have a problem with it, then go back home.¡±
The smile on his face became even bigger, ¡°I know, I know. There are only three months left before your concert. And I understand, I¡¯m so looking forward to it. I¡¯ll write an article for you on Music Criticism, especially for you¡­¡±
¡°Bastard! Let¡¯s see when you can have your own concert.¡± Swearing in a low voice, Victor turned around and left the hall quickly.
The moment Victor turned his back, the smile disappeared from Wolf¡¯s face. He walked back while murmuring, ¡°It should be mine¡­ ¡±
After seeing their argument, Lucien continued carrying the trash to the gate. Then, he saw the broken lamp decorated with fancy patterns and the bottom of the lamp was made of metal.
Dumping the trash into the cart, Lucien picked up the lamp. It felt like copper but more flexible. It would probably sell for several Fells at a smith¡¯s shop. For a poor guy like Lucien, everything he saw would be related to money.
¡°Wait¡­ maybe I can find more useful items like paper or quills in this pile.¡±
Now, this pile of trash was a treasure for Lucien. His heart was full of surprise and excitement. Although the rich people would not even bother looking at it, for Lucien this was his first chance of changing his life.
Five silver Nars was sufficient for one month's educational cost. Besides, He got an entire library inside his mind which could be constantly expanded. If he was able to learn how to read, he trusted that he would discover better ways for making a fortune.
Lucien felt energized just thinking about his future. Feeling excited, he pulled his cart out of the city. But, he was also worried: No one liked old things from trash.
¡°I just gotta be careful. If Aaron¡¯s gang caught wind of this, they¡¯re gonna demand more from me.¡± After Lucien¡¯s fight in the sewers, his fear for this world and towards gangsters diminished. He knew more about how to fight than they did.
After leaving the hall, Lucien saw a silver-haired man walking leisurely towards the association.
¡°Rhine? What¡¯s he doing here?¡±
Lucien did not think much about it. It was not strange for a bard visiting such a reputable place.
Andre was at the gate. He recognized Lucien and saw his fully loaded cart. He just waved his hand and let him leave out of the city.
Although excited, Lucien did not easily lower his guard. After a twenty-minute walk from the gate, Lucien finally stopped at a quiet place along the Belem River.
Rummaging through the trash, Lucien got some useful stuff: A broken lamp, several rusty pieces of metal, eight worn out quills, and some bundles of paper, etc.
Finally, Lucien pulled out a nice smelling damaged black lace. It looked like a veil, which might once belong to a female musician.
Without any erotic imagination, all Lucien thought was just about money.
¡°It got a fine craft. Maybe¡­ maybe I can sell it to a tailor, who can probably use this as a decoration.¡±
Wrapping that stuff with some paper, Lucien hid them in the grass. Then, he continued pulling his cart downstream to the place where the trash was piled up.
He was surprised that the dump site was much smaller than he thought. The river beside it was very clean. No one was there except for Lucien. While smelling the awful stench emitted from trash, Lucien started his rummaging again.
¡°In this world, nobody picks up trash for a living?¡± Lucien wondered, ¡°Maybe they¡¯re afraid of catching any disease.¡±
However, Lucien¡¯s empty purse was clearly more of a threat to him than getting sick, which might or might not happen. Wrapping his hand with waste papers, he found something which was probably worth a few Fells.
It was his first time, so Lucien was extremely cautious. He hid some of the stuff and went back for his paper parcel. Hiding his findings under a dirty old bag in his cart, Lucien tried to flatten the bag as much as he could to make it look like the cart¡¯s cover.
Lucien stuffed the small things into his pocket.
It was much easier than he thought. The guards just waved their hands and let him in after shooting a glance at him.
When Lucien was pulling his cart towards Andre and Mag, he realized why the guards just let him pass easily. Covering their noses, Andre and Mag¡¯s eyebrows were twisted together when they saw him.
Lucien was happy to see this. He pulled his smelling cart even closer to them and asked. ¡°I¡¯m Lucien. I come for my pay.¡±
Mag immediately stepped back and took out the money while swearing.
¡°Damn you! Fuck off with your stinking cart.¡±
Andre, with his consistent smile, was standing even further, ¡°Your first time going to the river, isn¡¯t it? If you stay there until dark, you may get lucky. Just watch the ghosts there¡­ haha¡­ ¡±
Without asking about ghosts, Lucien quickly left with his pay to return the cart. He did not want any more trouble.
Lucien made five Fells in total for cleaning up the garbage. However, his findings were more important than them, with them he could easily earn five Nars.
After returning home, Lucien hurriedly hid the rest of the stuff and then rushed to the market.
Lucien took it directly to a tailor without even cleaning the veil. He was rushing with quite a bit of excitement.
However, when Lucien was standing in front of a tailor shop, he became hesitant. He would probably get scolded or turned out of the door before he could open his mouth. Lucien¡¯s face was flushed, like when he tried to do sales at the university.
¡°Don¡¯t be a coward, Lucien. Don¡¯t feel it¡¯s shameful.¡± Lucien started encouraging himself, ¡°What can your dignity do for you now? Can your dignity turn your dark bread into white one? Or can it offer you steak, codfish, and wine? Can dignity teach you reading?¡±
Lucien had experienced quite a bit after coming to this world. He had even wobbled on the borderline of death. He quickly made up his mind and walked into the shop with firm footsteps.
An old man wearing glasses was sitting in the shop. Noticing Lucien entering, he asked with confusion.
¡°Yes?¡±
Lucien¡¯s dressing obviously showed that he was too poor to even visit an expensive tailor.
Smiling with great enthusiasm, Lucien rubbed his hands.
¡°Hello, sir! I got a nice black lace¡­ and I was wondering if you¡¯re interested in it¡­¡±
Before Lucien could finish his words, he was cut in by the old man fiercely.
¡°A fine black lace, from you? Get lost, you damned thief!¡± He walked out of the counter and pushed Lucien out, ¡°I, Old Forau, am a decent tailor! I only buy clothes from the Lautsi!¡±
Being driven out of the first shop, Lucien had no choice but to find the next one. And he would try a different approach this time.

Chapter 12: Lucien¡¯s First Eighty Fells
				Chapter 12: Lucien¡¯s First Eighty Fells
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
¡°Get out. We don¡¯t need anything from you.¡±
It was the third time that Lucien got rejected. These fancy tailors always hated poor guys like Lucien. Even when Lucien showed the lace, they were still not willing to waste a second on him.
It was a big market. More than ten streets that crossed with each other. There were lots of different shops ran by humans, dwarves, and elves.
Soon, Lucien found another neat little tailor¡¯s shop, at the end of a street.
Standing behind the counter was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old shy looking blond boy.
¡°Hi, I¡¯m Buster. Anything I can help you with?¡±
¡°Um¡­ Yes, could you take a look at this lace, please?¡± Lucien placed the veil on the counter.
Buster gently rubbed it with his fingers under the light and got surprised.
¡°Sir, it¡¯s the Black Nightingale from the Kingdom of Holm! Where did you get it?¡±
Like other tailors, Buster knew Lucien could not afford this lace. Sometimes, even rich people might not be able to buy a small piece of Black Nightingale. All noble ladies wanted it.
Lucien lowered his voice, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s clean.¡±
¡°Clean?¡± A thirty something year old man walked out from behind. The thin-faced man was McDowell, the owner of this shop.
Lucien was surprised that they did not immediately drive him away, which was a promising signal.
¡°Yes, yes! I swear in the name of God! You see¡­ there¡¯s a hole in it. It was abandoned by a noble lady and I just happened to find it. Turn it into a decoration on a dress or a band. I think with your hands, you can definitely make it become eye-catching again, sir.¡± Lucien added eagerly.
Taking the lace from Buster¡¯s hands, McDowell had a close look. After a moment's thinking, he asked calmly.
¡°How much do you want, then?¡±
Lucien clenched his fists in excitement but did not dare show it in his face.
¡°Come on, Lucien¡­ you fought with the huge crazy rats before. Stay calm.¡± Lucien secretly consoled himself.
¡°You offer, sir. I believe your price wouldn¡¯t let me down.¡± Lucien smiled and answered.
Looking into Lucien¡¯s eyes, McDowell paused a little bit.
¡°Forty Fells. It's not much use to me with a hole in it.¡±
¡°A Nar. A fancy dress with a Black Nightingale on it, even distinguished ladies and madams will fight for it.¡± Lucien more than doubled the offer.
McDowell shook his head and handed the lace back to Lucien.
¡°Fifty Fells. I cannot go any more than this.¡±
¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but thank you anyway, sir.¡± Lucien calmly turned around and was ready to leave. Actually, he was very nervous. He was worrying that he might lose his only chance for being greedy.
Step by step, Lucien dragged his feet towards the exit. When he was about to leave the shop, McDowell¡¯s voice suddenly came from behind.
¡°Eighty Fells. My last offer. I¡¯m only paying this much because the lace is a perfect match for one of my dresses.¡±
¡°Great!¡± Lucien waved his fist joyfully and then he turned around and smiled.
¡°Deal, sir.¡±
Tinkling coins bulged Lucien¡¯s pocket. For Lucien, nothing was more lovely than getting rich.
¡°I don¡¯t know you. And I don¡¯t care either. But, if in the future you got some good stuff like this, you could bring it here, as long as it¡¯s clean.¡± McDowell added.
¡°Sure, sir. Thank you.¡± Lucien slightly bowed and smiled.
After stepping out of the shop, Lucien found the sunshine was very brilliant under the amazingly blue sky. Breathing the fresher-than-ever air, Lucien found this world was kind of lovely as well.
Eighty Fells was pretty decent for him. For Lucien, he found his idea of collecting money actually worked. This was even more important to him!
¡­¡­
Iven was waiting for Lucien near his home. He waved his hand as soon as he saw Lucien coming, ¡°Lucien! There you are! My mom sent me to invite you for dinner. My brother¡¯s home!¡±
¡°John? Iven¡¯s elder brother?¡± Lucien tried to recall, ¡°John¡¯s a¡­ yes, knight squire in training.¡±
It was not really safe for him to carry so much money everywhere with him.
¡°Just a moment, Iven. I gotta wipe my sweat a bit.¡± Lucien smiled.
¡°Sure, Lucien.¡± Iven looked more excited than usual, ¡°You know what? John brought a piece of beef from Lord Venn! We¡¯re gonna have beef stew tonight!¡±
His little dirty face was full of excitement and expectancy.
¡°I haven¡¯t had any meat stew for quite a while!¡±
Actually, little Iven¡¯s family was not as poor as most people living in Aderon. As a busker, Joel¡¯s income could vary sometimes, but it was still better than labors. Alisa worked as a laundry maid as well. But, they were always saving for John¡¯s training back in the days. Old Evans, Lucien¡¯s father, helped them quite a lot before.
After hiding the money safely, Lucien quickly washed his face and followed Iven towards aunt Alisa¡¯s place.
A bunch of neighbors were gathered in front of the cabin.
¡°Little John¡¯s now the sworn knight squire following Lord Venn, isn¡¯t he?¡±
¡°Yes, Alisa told me herself.¡±
¡°Little John¡¯s not even nineteen yet. One day he might get lucky and awaken the endowed blessing in his blood¡­ then, he¡¯s gonna be a real knight!¡±
¡°Then no more Little John. We shall say, Lord John!¡±
¡°John can also be the commander of the City Guard as a sworn knight squire now.¡±
¡°Joel and Alisa are so lucky¡­ they must be very proud of their son!¡±
Iven was nodding with great pride.
As they entered the living room, a blond young man stood up from the chair. Inheriting his father's look, John was a handsome young lad, tall and straight. His elegant gesture was quite impressive to Lucien.
¡°I was quite worried hearing what happened to you, Lucien.¡± John patted Lucien¡¯s shoulder and smiled, ¡°Glad to see, you¡¯re alright now. I guess it was a test for you from God.¡±
Although he was just one or two years older than Lucien, John appeared much more mature. His gray knight attire also made him quite out of the ordinary.
¡°Thanks, John. It was not a big deal, really. Aunty Alisa always worries about me.¡± Lucien nodded.
When they sat down around the dinner table, John laid his hand on Lucien¡¯s shoulder.
¡°Why do I feel strangeness between us? Come on, we are best friends.¡±
¡°Umm¡­ I guess you changed quite a bit since you left home.¡± Lucien was a little bit nervous.
John nodded seriously.
¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯d say so. Training there changed me a lot, both physically and mentally. It was very hard, but I gained a lot from it as well.¡±
Dinner was not a feast. They only got beef stew and roasted fish on the table. But for Lucien, this dinner was beyond delicious. He devoured his serve and even bit his tongue a few times. The happy reunion was so sweet that Joel even got a rare chance to enjoy his beef with ale.
Alisa talked even more during the dinner. Most of the time, she was the only one who kept talking all the way. A couple of words from Joel, Lucien, or Iven were enough to keep her going. According to the rules of a knight, John did not talk very much.
¡°I¡¯m stuffed¡­ ¡± The happy dinner ended with little Iven¡¯s loud burp.
John smiled and shook his head, ¡°Iven, eating too much is bad for you.¡±
Then, he turned to Lucien.
¡°Have you got any future plan?¡± He asked.
Carefully arranging his words, Lucien nodded.
¡°Yeah¡­ It was still unclear, but, I don¡¯t want to live a life like what I¡¯m doing now.¡±
¡°Good.¡± John looked into his eyes, ¡°Lord Venn told us, ¡®being unsatisfied with your life pushes you to move forward¡¯. The bakery and the cellar in Lord Venn¡¯s manor are now looking for apprentices. It¡¯s a pretty good chance but you gotta work there for ten years. If you¡¯re interested in this job, just tell me by next Monday.¡±
People in this world also believed in the myth that God created everything in seven days. They also attended church every single Sunday.
Being a knight squire was very promising: Now, John was able to help his family and friends. Although the help could not change their lives completely, it was still of great importance.
¡°Thank you, John.¡± Honestly, Lucien was still reluctant to constrain himself in the following ten years, especially when he had just made his first small fortune. But, he still wanted to think for some time before making a decision.
¡°Alright, I gotta go back now.¡± John stood up from his chair and hugged his family. And he gave Lucien a big hug.
¡°I wish you could read, Lucien. Downey is looking for a clerk for the court. It¡¯s a very decent job with nice payment.¡±
¡°I¡¯m planning to start studying.¡± Lucien seized the chance and told John.
John was quite surprised. Soon, he smiled and nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s any chance for you.¡±
Lucien thanked John again, sincerely, but he also did not place all his hope on John. He had to work on his own.
¡­¡­
For the following three days, Lucien did not find anything valuable like the Black Nightingale. But, he still managed to save a Nar and sixty-four Fells. Now, he was walking towards the city gate as usual, with great confidence.
Looking at Lucien¡¯s back, Andre nudged Mag a bit.
¡°Why does he leave the city every morning?¡±
¡°Leave the city?¡± An amiable voice came from behind them.
Andre hurriedly turned around, looking serious.
¡°Morning, Jackson.¡±
Jackson Riodors, one of the leaders of the Aaron gang, had a kind face. But, his craftiness and treacherousness could definitely place him at the top of the group.

Chapter 13: Sudden Attack
				Chapter 13: Sudden Attack
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding his chin, Jackson put on a kind smile, ¡°Morning, Andre. What¡¯s going on here?¡±
¡°Not a big deal, Jackson.¡± Andre responded in a flattering way, ¡°A guy is recently going outside of the city every day. I was just wondering¡­¡±
¡°Interesting. Does he carry anything with him?¡± Somehow Jackson¡¯s smile was kind of frightening, which for a moment gave both Andre and Mag goose bumps.
Mag believed in both the God of Truth and his own fists, and claimed that he carried one sixteenth of the savage blood from Yaran Highland. However, his brain did not work as fast as his fists. Jackson¡¯s question was too demanding for him.
¡°Um¡­ I remember he always carries an old sack. Sometimes, he comes back with something in it. There are many mushrooms near the Belem River¡­ ¡±
¡°No, not mushrooms.¡± Jackson cut in.
¡°Then¡­ what else could a poor guy like him do¡­ ¡± Andre asked nervously. Facing the Belem River and the Melzer Black Forest, the gate that Andre and Mag were watching was the busiest one among the three gates of Aalto. Countless merchants, adventurers, and plain folks came back and forth every day. They never bothered paying extra attention to a poor boy like Lucien.
Jackson came for a reason.
¡°The blacksmith Rego came to me two days ago. A young lad sold him a nice piece of Orichalcum.¡±
¡°Oricha¡­?¡±
¡°Orichalcum, or say, Mountain Copper. Only wealthy nobles can afford it. Although the one he got was of the lowest quality, it was still quite enough to forge a fine dagger. Rego wanted to find more, so he came to me.¡±
¡°Lucien sold that?¡± Mag asked directly.
Jackson slightly nodded, ¡°He was careful. The metal was polished so Rego couldn¡¯t find any clues. It took me a whole day to find him. But, he visited a couple of smith¡¯s. They remembered him.
¡°And you know him as well. Perfect.¡± Jackson added.
¡°Then what should we do?¡± Andre asked eagerly.
¡°Follow him and find where he found the Mountain Copper. If he notices you, beat the shit out of him and then ask. His money is all yours.¡±
¡°Understood!¡± Mag answered before Andre. It had been more than two weeks since he gave someone a good beating. He always got excited when it came to beating someone.
¡­¡­
Carrying his old sack, Lucien was walking in the direction of the Belem River.
¡°I gotta use the other two gates more.¡± Lucien thought, ¡°It¡¯s suspicious always taking the same way¡­ Andre and Mag, they¡¯re always there.¡±
The two gates, one in Purple Lily and the other in Nolan, were both far from his destination. Lucien sometimes would collect some mushrooms on his way back to disguise his real purpose, which took him more time.
A figure flashed from behind him.
¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Lucien suddenly became alert.
It was not the first time he found someone tracking him. Ever since his bitter fight under the sewers, he felt he became more sensitive to the surroundings now. Thanks to his sharp observation, he managed to get rid of those people who wanted to find out his secret.
Pretending everything was fine, Lucien was seeking for a chance. When he arrived in a corner covered with thick grass and high trees, he dashed to a big tree with all his strength. Hiding behind it, Lucien quietly waited for the person.
He was calm. He had to know who was following him to eliminate any future trouble.
A moment later, a sound of heavy footsteps, together with swearing, came from the place Lucien was previously at. The sound came around the corner, very close to where Lucien was standing before.
¡°Damn it! We lost him!¡±
¡°I was right, Andre. We should catch and beat him up. Only that way he will tell us everything!¡±
Lucien was surprised. He did not expect that the Aaron gang would notice him so quickly.
Feeling disappointed, Lucien decided to leave his home and hide somewhere with his money for a few days. He was waiting for Andre and Mag to leave first.
¡°I can still become an apprentice anyway.¡± Lucien comforted himself silently.
Andre and Mag knew what Jackson would do to them if they messed up. They were arguing with each other loudly.
¡°Mag, savages can scent!¡± Andre suddenly smacked Mag¡¯s shoulder.
¡°Hey! Scent what¡­¡±
¡°You said those savages are like hounds, and they can catch any scent in the wind!¡± Andre was excited, ¡°You have savage blood! Try it!¡±
¡°Yes¡­ Sometimes it doesn¡¯t work, though¡­¡± Mag scratched his bald head.
Lucien suddenly became really nervous. He still knew too little about this new world.
Raising his head slightly, Mag took a long deep breath.
Then he shouted excitedly, ¡°I got his scent!¡±
¡°There he is!¡± He started running towards the tree.
Mag found him!
As soon as Mag shouted, Lucien started running. Mag was surprisingly fast with his big muscles and, several times, he almost caught Lucien.
Lucien kept running through the trees to avoid Mag. But after the woods, there was the open riverside. Lucien knew he could not escape anymore.
¡°I gotta beat Mag before the other guy comes.¡± Lucien did not panic. Compared with those crazy red-eyed rats, Mag, although a bit big, was still a human being.
Lucien was prepared. He heard Mag¡¯s excited howling coming close from behind him.
Suddenly Lucien stopped, he lowered his body and pushed his leg against the ground. He butted Mag hard with all his strength.
It was an unexpected attack. Mag swiftly tried to punch Lucien¡¯s head to avoid the attack, but he missed.
Lucien passed right through Mag¡¯s arms. With the help of Mag¡¯s own momentum, Lucien¡¯s hard-clenched fist ran into Mag¡¯s soft belly.
Mag felt a hard rock hit his stomach. As he was yelling in pain, a strong acid rose from his throat.
Lucien knew a single punch could not solve the trouble completely. Thus, two seconds later he viciously attacked Mag¡¯s back with his elbow. Furthermore, almost at the same time, his lifted knee went straight between Mag¡¯s legs.
¡°Ow!!!!!¡±
It was a painful howling in the best savage style, and even Andre, who always made fun of Mag¡¯s blood, would not deny that.
Covering his private part, Mag was rolling back and forth on the ground in great pain, snarling angrily.
Seeing all that, Andre couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for his companion, kind of feeling some of that pain as well, so he ended up slowing down.
Without a second¡¯s delay, Lucien turned around and ran away immediately. He saw a shining dagger in Andre¡¯s hand.
Andre chased for a little bit, but it was too late. Soon, Lucien disappeared in the woods across the river. He finally stopped beside Mag.
¡­¡­
¡°The weaker you are, the poorer you are. Those bastards just wouldn¡¯t let you have any chance!¡± Lucien felt aggrieved.
It was nine in the morning. Sneaking back through the gate in the district of Nolan, Lucien was carefully approaching his shack in Aalto. He needed to take his money before the gangsters found his place.
After hiding behind a nearby cabin for a while, when Lucien was about to get out, a bunch of ferocious guys approached towards his shack.
A common-looking man dressing neatly pointed to Lucien¡¯s place. Then another burly young guy directly gave a hard kick on the broken door.
The door fell on the ground, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Chapter 14: Resolution
				Chapter 14: Resolution
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The guy who burst the door found the shack empty and reported this to the ordinary-looking man, Jackson.
¡°We did waste some time, but we shouldn¡¯t be late.¡± Jackson smiled, ¡°Although Mag and Andre are useless, they still provided us with some good information.¡±
The others knew what happened to the big guy. When Jackson mentioned Mag, they somehow felt a chilly wind pass through their legs. Andre squeezed out an embarrassing giggling. But, he was still glad that he did not have to lie in bed for at least a week.
¡°Andre, you go. See if there¡¯s anything in this pigsty.¡±
Several minutes later, Andre came out with a handful of small things.
¡°Just some rubbish, Jackson.¡±
Sigh¡­ Lucien regretted not hiding this stuff elsewhere. It was very easy to tell where he found them. If the Aaron gang took control of the dump site, then it would be the end of his dream to become a rich man.
¡°Rubbish¡­ ¡± Jackson curled his lips, ¡°A pretty smart young lad. He found the Orichalcum in the dump site. Trash from the palace, nobles areas, Musicians¡¯ Association, Mercenaries Union¡­ all go to the dump site beside the river. They¡¯re useless for rich people, but not for us¡­ ¡±
His guess was right.
¡°Thanks to the boy, we found a new way to make money!¡± Fiddling with a piece of metal, Jackson commanded with his iconic smile, ¡°Smash all of his stuff. Keep the money to yourselves. The one who finds the guy will be rewarded!¡±
Jackson did not bother sending his men searching for Lucien. They also got many things to do. Time was too precious to be wasted on a nobody like Lucien.
Cheering loudly, they squeezed in Lucien¡¯s little shack started smashing his stuff.
Clenching his fists and gnashing his teeth, Lucien could tell from the sound that his table, followed by his clay pot, were shattered to pieces. But he knew that he could do nothing against the gangsters with his current power. They would beat him to death and he did not want to die like that.
Law would not help him, since people above it would not care.
¡°If the witch had not gone to the cemetery, no one would have found her.¡± Lucien¡¯s mind started wondering as the noise in the background faded, ¡°If I become a sorcerer, I can protect myself¡­ I don¡¯t want much. After learning magic, I just need to find a place to live.¡±
¡°I need to¡­ yes, I have no choice. Learning magic is dangerous, but being weak is no better.¡±
His locked up thoughts all started resurfacing, like being summoned by the evil actions around him.
Alisa¡¯s shout cut off his wondering.
¡°You damned bastards! What the hell are you doing!¡±
While doing her housework, Alisa heard the mess coming from Lucien¡¯s place.
Trying to stop them, she yelled and approached the gangsters while waving her long spoon.
¡°Get her away.¡± said Jackson.
Two ferocious men rolled up their sleeves and walked towards Alisa. But, they underestimated the housewife standing in front of them. Aunty Alisa directly hit one of them on the forehead with her wooden spoon.
¡°Ouch!¡± Facing the unexpected attack, the guy screamed in pain.
But soon more guys joined in. Although Alisa was tall and sturdy, she was after all still a woman. A hard punch hit her shoulder and her spoon fell onto the ground. Alisa groaned in pain, but still did not flinch.
¡°You wretches! Stop! The inspectors are coming!¡±
Hiding behind a wall and watching all of this, Lucien¡¯s mind was filled with torment and suffering.
¡°Lucien, are you a man?!¡±
Although he met Aunty Alisa many days ago, he did not have a very strong bond with her and her husband Joel. But now, when he saw Alisa get hurt because of him, he knew it was totally unacceptable for him to be hiding behind a woman and letting her fight for him.
¡°Fuck!¡± Clenching his fist, Lucien took a quick glimpse at his shack and jumped out.
His target was Jackson, who was standing there alone.
Lucien threw himself at Jackson with all his might. Feeling extremely surprised, Jackson was suddenly knocked down by Lucien. They wrestled on the ground, and Lucien tried to hold Jackson¡¯s hands tightly with his left hand, in case the thug was carrying a dagger. Meanwhile, his right hand was trying to reach Jackson¡¯s throat. Lucien needed to capture their leader to control the whole situation.
However, Jackson was not inexperienced at all. He also had his share of fighting. Rolling on the ground, Jackson did not give Lucien any chance to grab his neck. At the same time, he continuously slammed his elbow at Lucien¡¯s rib.
Due to the lack of space, Jackson¡¯s hits were not very strong. But still, for Lucien they were still unbearable. Wincing in pain, he still did not retrieve. He was almost there. He touched Jackson¡¯s throat.
Suddenly, Lucien got a hard punch in his stomach. He was smashed hard on the ground by Jackson¡¯s men.
Before he could stand up, fists and kicks started falling down on Lucien¡¯s body like rain drops. Lucien started rolling on the ground from unbearable pain, like a stray dog. He could barely cover his vital parts.
Lucien¡¯s mind started wandering again. Everything seemed unreal and was fading away like in a movie. Aunty Alisa¡¯s crying voice came from another world, ¡°Stop! Stop¡­¡±
At that moment, Lucien made up his mind.
Whatever it took, he must become strong.
Jackson was standing on the other side, looking at Lucien rolling back and forth on the ground. He trampled him hard and stopped his men.
¡°His friend is a knight squire. Let's not bring ourselves trouble.¡±
Although it was rumored that Rosan Aaron had some connections with a high noble, a gang still had to be relatively ¡°disciplined¡±, or it would be eliminated by the church or nobles in no time.
Lucien was lying on the ground with blood coming out of his nose and mouth. Jackson smiled to him, ¡°Actually I respect your courage and intelligence. I really do. But, my boy, don¡¯t be too greedy. I hope you understand what¡¯s yours and what¡¯s not.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lucien answered simply in a hoarse voice.
Lucien¡¯s answer was a little bit weird for him, but Jackson did not bother too much. Jackson and his men left in triumph, together with Lucien¡¯s collections and forty-five Fells.

Chapter 15: For Justice
				Chapter 15: For Justice
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The morning sunshine was not very strong. Lucien was lying in the sun, covered with wounds and blood. Staring at the clear blue sky, breathing the fresh air gently, Lucien forgot the pain. His mind was waving like a deep ocean.
Lucien realized that everything he had experienced before led him to his final decision: learning magic. Although he knew he had to be even more careful and cautious in the future, at the same time, he felt more relaxed than ever before, after making up his mind.
There was even a smile on Lucien¡¯s bruised face. He felt he had genuinely grown up within the past couple of days, much faster than in his own world. The anger, the feeling of inferiority and the sense of insecurity had blended together and pushed him to that decision. And he was also gifted with the library.
So why not? Lucien asked himself, feeling relieved from his long-time repression.
¡°My poor Evans! Oh my poor Evans! Are you alright?¡± Alisa tried to hold Lucien¡¯s hand.
The slight movement of his arms and legs made Lucien wince in pain.
¡°I¡¯m okay, Aunty Alisa. They didn¡¯t want to kill me, fortunately.¡±
Aunty Alisa held Lucien¡¯s arm and led him back to her place. She kept swearing with great anger, ¡°These bastards would be hanged and tortured in hell by endless flames!¡±
After cleaning the wounds, Alisa was about to ask Lucien what happened today. Before that, it seemed like she suddenly thought of something, and her hands acted a bit awkward.
¡°Lucien...¡±
¡°Yes, Aunty Alisa?¡±
¡°This¡­ this is the thing. John¡¯s coming back today. Can you keep this to yourself without letting him know? You know John¡­ You¡¯re his best friend. If he hears about it¡­ I¡¯m afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to constrain himself from taking revenge. As a knight squire, he would be in big trouble then¡­¡±
Knowing John was Aunty Alisa and Uncle Joel¡¯s great hope, Lucien nodded.
¡°Of¡­ of course. It¡¯s not a big deal, actually.¡± Lucien put a hard smile.
Alisa held Lucien¡¯s hand, with tears in her eyes.
¡°Thank you, my little Evans.¡±
¡°Are you trying to hide anything from me?¡±
It was John¡¯s voice. Wearing the grey knight suit, John was standing by the door. Neither Alisa nor Lucien noticed him.
Alisa answered hurriedly, ¡°Nothing, nothing. You came back earlier?¡±
John walked in and pulled a chair for himself. He sat down beside Lucien.
¡°The Grand Duke summoned Lord Venn, and I followed him back to Aalto. Mom, I¡¯m a knight squire now. I¡¯m not an imprudent young boy anymore.¡±
Then he turned to Lucien. ¡°You look much worse than the last time we got thrashed together. What happened? Don¡¯t try to lie. I bet lots of neighbours were there and saw it.¡± John added.
Lucien looked at Alisa, who had already compromised the secret. Then he told John the story in full detail. During his talking, Lucien could feel the tension in the air due to John¡¯s feelings, which was the same that he felt from the guards he fought together in the sewers.
Of course, John was very angry, but he managed to calm himself down quickly. He patted Lucien¡¯s hand gently and smiled.
¡°You¡¯re really clever, the most clever among us. Find money in trash¡­ really, good for you! I¡¯m sure you will do a good job if you learn to read.¡±
Then, shrugging his shoulders, John went outside of the room and fetched a long wooden club from the kitchen.
¡°Oh no¡­¡± Alisa sighed.
¡°Mom, you know I gotta do this, for my friend.¡±
¡°But John, Lord Venn won¡¯t be happy about this¡­¡±
¡°Yes, John¡­¡± Lucien hurriedly asked, ¡°Don¡¯t go. It¡¯s not a big deal. Look at me. I¡¯m okay.¡±
John turned around and shook his head.
¡°Lord Venn always told us, as a knight, one is supposed to protect the weak and fight against the violent. As a squire, I already regard myself as a knight and try to follow the knight¡¯s belief.¡±
His eyes were intent. His gestures expansive.
¡°Lucien, my friend, was bullied, and his place got ruined. If I remain silent simply to no piss Lord Venn off, my inner guiltiness will never leave me. Yes, maybe I will not be able to awaken the ¡®blessing¡¯ anymore because I broke the rules, but I¡¯ll be faithful to my beliefs. Lord Venn will be on my side, I believe.¡±
¡°I know, John. I know¡­ but¡­¡± Alisa got tears in her eyes.
John hugged his mom and comforted her gently.
¡°It¡¯s okay, mom, I¡¯m not gonna kill anyone. I will not overdo it. Look! I¡¯m holding a club, not a blade. Can you trust me, mom?¡±
Finally Alisa nodded with great effort. ¡°Do be careful, John.¡±
¡°They are the ones who have to be careful, mom.¡± Grabbing the club, John smiled with confidence.
When he was about to leave, Lucien called him from behind.
¡°Wait, John.¡±
¡°Yes?¡± John looked back.
With all his remaining strength, Lucien stood up from the bed. He felt his blood was flowing fast, burning his body.
¡°We are going together.¡±
Lucien¡¯s smile looked kind of funny with his swollen mouth. But John could tell his determination. He laughed, ¡°There¡¯s another club in the kitchen. Let¡¯s go, like when we were kids.¡±
Holding the club, Lucien comforted aunty Alisa in a low voice when he passed by her.
¡°I¡¯ll watch him. Don¡¯t worry.¡±
¡­¡­
It was easy for them to find out where Jackson and his men went by asking around. When they were on their way, John asked Lucien, all of a sudden:
¡°Do you believe in justice, Lucien?¡± He sounded confused.
¡°Yes, I do. Why do you ask?¡±
John lowered his head but did not stop.
¡°I do, too. But Lucien, I am not as noble and brave as I claim to be. I do this only because you¡¯re my friend. If it was someone else, I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t think I would. I¡¯m used to picking my fights well, avoiding doing anything that would be beyond my capability. I¡¯m selfish¡­ I only want to protect my family and friends. I¡¯m a coward, am I not?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so. Every knight, or say, every person, has a priority. Some pursue justice, some loyalty, some mercy¡­ You chose family. Only when a person knows what he really wants to protect does he stick to justice. Or justice would be just like the clouds, nothing substantial.¡±
Lucien just realized that John was still a young lad like himself, no matter how mature he appeared to be. Thanks to the book about the knight¡¯s spirit from his mental library, he was scrabbling up his sentences to comfort John. Now he was much better at looking up information among all the books in the library.
¡°You really think so?¡± John still looked puzzled.
¡°Sure. If you¡¯re capable, will you protect the weak, fight against the wicked and uphold justice?¡±
¡°If I¡¯m capable, of course I will.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re still a knight of justice. If you were not capable, you would fight and die for nothing. You gotta be able to protect yourself first, only then you can protect those who need your help.¡± Lucien felt he was quite suitable for being a mentor.
John seemed relieved, and he started smiling, ¡°Every time I asked Lord Venn about this, he told me I was too inexperienced to understand. But Lucien, you¡¯ve grown up, too. You¡¯re good at comforting and maybe you¡¯re right. But I¡¯m still longing for the genuine justice.
¡°Once, Lord Venn told us a story about a legendary knight sword. The sword had divine power inside, but looked just like the common ones. Its hilt was made purely of wood, without any gems, pearls, or anything out of ordinary. The nobles and the high level knights wouldn¡¯t take a second look at the sword.¡± John¡¯s eyes were on the far distance and he continued.
¡°But actually the sword was far more powerful than they thought. Especially when it was used to fight against evil. What impressed me most was the words engraved on the sword: ¡®Justice is pale, compared with splendour and power. But everyone can be its representative: wealthy or poor, intelligent or illiterate, warrior or farmer. Justice is pale, but it is everywhere¡¯.
¡°Pale Justice, that¡¯s the name of the sword. It disappeared along with a Grand Arcana Knight in the the Dark Mountain Range.¡±
John became excited. His depression was gone.
Lucien laughed, ¡°Then our slogan today is gonna be ¡®For Justice¡¯!¡±
¡°For Justice!¡± John waved his club.
A few minutes later they saw Jackson, who was walking on the broad street of the market. A bunch of guys were still following him.

Chapter 16: On the Streets
				Chapter 16: On the Streets
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
John stopped and turned to Lucien. "You just got injured. And you haven¡¯t received any formal training. Remember, Lucien, don¡¯t panic, and don¡¯t stop moving. We will keep changing positions. Don¡¯t let his men surround you. Use your club to keep them away, so their daggers won¡¯t harm you. You hear me, Lucien?"
John tried to advise Lucien as much as possible. He was worried that Lucien might lose control and launch an imprudent attack. However, Lucien had some decent experience before.
"No worries, John. I¡¯ve survived an invasion into a witch¡¯s chamber before."
Hiding their clubs behind their backs, they approached Jackson in a quick pace.
It was a pretty busy street in the market, only ten minutes away from one of Aaron gang¡¯s hideouts. Merchants, mercenaries and adventurers were gathering there, so no one paid attention to them.
They looked at each other when they were just a few steps away from Jackson, nodded, and dashed towards the gangsters, holding the clubs tightly in their hands.
Lucien recognized the guy who kicked him hard. Without a second thought, he wielded his club right towards the thug¡¯s head. If you¡¯re not trained or not strong enough, wield it hard with all your might. That¡¯s what Lucien learned.
Before the guy could notice, he got bludgeoned bitterly in his lower jaw. Then he passed out and fell onto the ground directly.
John, on the other side, quickly got rid of another guy. As a knight squire, John was really good at it. Although he did not aim at the head, his precise strike directly dislocated the guy¡¯s right arm.
Two guys were down. But the harsh scream from one of them drew the others¡¯ attention. Jackson was surprised, but his eyes became vicious in an instant.
His men pulled out their daggers. The sharp blades reflected the surrounding light.
The pedestrians started scattering away quickly, leaving them more room to keep moving. Lucien and John kept running into different directions. They could not stop. The key to this strategy was not to spend too much time on a single enemy, in order to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be flanked.
The strategy worked quite well: one more of the thugs was rolling on the ground. But it was also very hard to keep moving all the time.
John was constraining himself. He did not want to be in trouble for hurting someone seriously. But his concern became his weakness: some guys on the ground were still in conditions to fight, and seized the chance to pull out their daggers and stab John¡¯s ankles. Busy dodging their low blades, John did not notice the others moved to surround him.
Thanks to John¡¯s refined fighting skills, he barely avoided several strikes. But the circle of daggers was getting tighter and tighter.
Lucien turned back to help John, his club whistling directly towards the back of a thug¡¯s head.
"Jonny! Watch out!" Warned by the other gang members, the man named Jonny dodged by bending forward quickly, and avoided Lucien¡¯s attack.
However, that was enough for John, who seized the chance and broke the formation through the gap left by Jonny. However, the latter jumped up immediately and made the movement to throw his dagger at John¡¯s back.
"Bang!" Before the dagger flew away from his hand, Lucien pounded bitterly into Jonny¡¯s backbone. This time Lucien did not run away. Instead, he waited for a second chance to strike Jonny.
Suddenly, a cold feeling came from Lucien¡¯s own back and immediately turned into agonizing pain. A dagger cut him badly, but Lucien did not panic. He knew John would not hold his hand anymore.
And a determined and angry knight squire would be unstoppable when facing a bunch of gang bastards. Unlike Lucien, John never missed. Wielding his club with anger, he came to support Lucien.
Watching the battle unfold, Jackson took a step back and started escaping.
"You guys stop them!" He shouted while running.
The rest of his men started stabbing crazily. The shining blades came from different directions.
Lucien got another cut on his right hand, and the blood came out immediately. His club almost flew out of his hand.
"Are you alright?" John stood in front of Lucien, sheltering him from the enemies.
"I¡¯m okay." Lucien shook his head, "We gotta stop Jackson from bringing reinforcements."
John nodded, "Remember, use your club to keep the daggers away from you. Follow me!" He struck down once more and started chasing Jackson.
The rest of the guys slowed down and did not pursue any further, because they saw Jackson was already quite a distance away from them.
However, after becoming the overseer, Jackson gained some weight from the lack of proper exercise. Thus, he ran slower and slower.
"Keep moving, keep moving¡­ almost there." Jackson encouraged himself.
Unfortunately, John, a squire in perfect shape, had another plan in mind. He was slowly gaining ground and, when the distance was proper, he swung his club with all his strength right into Jackson¡¯s back.
Jackson felt like all his guts almost gushed out through his throat. With a loud groan, he fell on the ground, twitching in great pain. Then a knight boot stamped hard on his back. Lucien arrived a while later, panting heavily. He was more than tired after all the running and fighting, especially because of the bleeding wounds that covered his body. It was his anger that was keeping him up all the way here.
Before Jackson could make any threat, John turned him over with his boot and pointed downwards, smiling and gasping.
"You first, Lucien."
"Thanks buddy." After taking several deep breaths, Lucien raised his club high and took a mighty swing at Jackson¡¯s face.
"How dare¡­ Ow!!" Several teeth burst forth from Jackson¡¯s mouth, preventing the rest of his words from coming out. He was choking in his own blood. His ears were buzzing, his eyes were seeing stars.
It was a f**king hard one. Those damned little bastards!
"What¡­ what do you want?" Jackson lisped with the mixture of blood and saliva in his mouth. With great dizziness, he noticed his voice was like coming from another world.
"We want nothing more than justice." Kicking away Jackson¡¯s dagger, John answered seriously, "You beat Lucien and my mom, which we¡¯ve paid you back. And you also robbed him and destroyed his place. You gotta compensate."
"John, if I remember correctly, you¡¯re a knight squire, aren¡¯t you? Fighting on the street¡­ breaks your rules. Don¡¯t let Lord Venn down, young lad." Jackson spat out blood from his mouth.
"You¡¯ve come to this extent¡­ you don¡¯t care about your little brother and parents?" He continued his threatening.
"I guess you still want more, don¡¯t you?" Lucien was weighing his club.
Facing violence, Jackson shut his mouth. His anger and shame mixed like a pot of boiling water, burning his guts to ashes.

Chapter 17: Sweet Revenge
				Chapter 17: Sweet Revenge
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing Jackson¡¯s threat, John smiled. ¡°According to the code, a knight shall protect his family and the weak. I don¡¯t see my fault here. Actually most people wouldn¡¯t stand for gangsters, don¡¯t you think so?¡±
¡°You need proof!¡± Jackson yelled. A gang was often very good at keeping a witness silent.
John looked a bit hesitant. What Alisa told him bothered him again.
¡°Proof?¡± Lucien smiled contemptuously, ¡°John¡¯s a knight squire, while you¡¯re a gangster. What else do you need?¡±
From what he learned in the Copper Coronet, Lucien was aware that in the Duchy of Orvarit, knights were the real nobles, and their recognized squires also held status. Lucien believed Jackson definitely wouldn¡¯t dare slander a knight squire. And he had no reason as well: A gangster was also a businessman. Jackson couldn¡¯t gain anything big from Lucien and John from doing so.
Jackson, as Lucien expected, did not retort. Yes, they can put a knight squire into prison, but how much effort and resources they would have to use? Aaron, of course, would not do this for him, Jackson knew. Especially recently, something was going wrong in Aalto. The city was like a whirlpool where different powers were mingling. Aaron was often absent from the meetings, planning something.
Knowing he was no longer in an advantageous position, Jackson tried his best to repress his anger and shame.
¡°How much do you want, then¡­¡± He lowered his head and tried to make an agreement. ¡°I only got two Nars with me.¡±
Lucien turned to John, ¡°The sheriffs are coming. We¡¯d better leave before they arrive.¡±
John nodded. ¡°Well, two Nars.¡±
Lucien was actually quite happy with the result. Knowing his table and chairs basically worth nothing, two Nars were more than two times what he had lost. By the way, he had already moved the rest of his money and hid it under the ruins of the witch¡¯s place. All the gangsters took away were just forty Fells and some useless rubbish.
Pulling out a small bag, Jackson threw it to John. The bag was pretty empty except for two shining silver Nars. ¡°I left the rest to my men.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go, John.¡± Lucien raised his chin towards the coming sheriffs and grabbed his club. He did not want to put John in trouble. Soon, they disappeared at the end of the street.
¡­
¡°All right, all right¡­ stop. We¡¯re safe now.¡± Leaning against the wall, Lucien was panting heavily and felt as if his lungs were about to explode. He let his body fall on the ground, smiling.
¡°Finally, I can¡¯t run anymore.¡±
John sat down beside Lucien, also gasping for air. ¡°Me neither¡­ It was pretty cool, wasn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°What?¡± Lucien¡¯s mind started slowing down and feeling relaxed.
¡°The fight. I can¡¯t remember the last time I had a good fight like this¡­¡±
They were just sitting on the ground, gasping, and looking at the blue sky.
¡°Yeah¡­ it was cool.¡± Lucien smiled. It felt like a heavy rock had been lifted from his mind: All the pain, anger, and confusion Lucien hid at the bottom of his heart was gone like floating clouds. His mind was thinking clear, and he was more relaxed than ever before.
Also, Lucien knew that he still had a real friend in this world who would shield him and fight for him, regardless of the cost. Lucien started laughing, aloud.
¡°What?¡± John wondered.
¡°The future. I¡¯m thinking¡­ after I learn how to read, after I make some money, I¡¯ll go travelling across the continent, to see different sceneries, to know more foreign tales, to taste many cuisines¡­¡±
Lucien stopped and stared at the blue sky. But he continued thinking to himself:
¡°I will learn magic. I will understand how this world works. I will discover the truth of the world¡­ and then, I will find the way back home.¡±
¡°For my parents, for the friends in my world and in this life¡­ for myself.¡±
Lucien had collected three Nars. He knew he had to start his learning as soon as possible. Who knew if the gangsters would take secret revenge on him secretly. The outside pressure from the bullies and his inner motivation mixed together and made learning magic the only way for Lucien to achieve his desires.
¡°Traveling?¡± John laughed, ¡°It¡¯s not safe, Lucien. Although most of the dark creatures in the east of our country have been eliminated by the church, they¡¯re still breeding like rats. Cynocephaluses, vicious goblins, gnolls¡­ Sorry, Lucien¡­ I don¡¯t think your dream will come true. At least you cannot go alone.¡±
¡°Umm¡­ I wonder, are they edible, the things you mentioned?¡± Lucien asked subconsciously. For him, the most effective way for eliminating some overpopulated animals was turning them into food.
¡°Eww!! What the hell are you thinking about?¡± John was baffled.
¡°All right¡­¡± Lucien answered with a bit of disappointment.
¡°If I can turn into a real knight in the future, what will I do?¡± John asked himself with a lot of expectation, ¡°I think I¡¯d be the same as you, Lucien. I also want to travel to see what the world looks like outside of Aalto. I wish it were really beautiful, like the bards described.¡±
¡°By the way, ¡± John said to him, ¡°be careful in the next few days. Don¡¯t stray too far from the city walls, you never know what these bastards will do.¡±
Lucien nodded, ¡°I know. And when you see Lord Venn, remember to tell him what you did right away, and ask for punishment yourself.¡±
John did not expect Lucien could be this considerate. He was also glad that his lifetime friend still cared a lot about him, even though sometimes he felt Lucien had changed quite a bit.
¡°I will. I wish I could teach you how to read, but I cannot read either.¡± John sighed, ¡°Only the high-level knight squires receive classes on how to read¡­¡± He looked a bit upset.
¡°John, you¡¯ve done a lot for me.¡± Lucien laid his hand on John¡¯s shoulder, ¡°I¡¯m grateful for having a friend like you. I really am.¡±
John could see Lucien¡¯s sincere eyes. Soon he smiled.
¡°I know. Who doesn¡¯t want to have such a great friend like me? Let¡¯s go home. Mom¡¯s waiting for us.¡±
¡­¡­
Joel was home when they came back. Alisa was walking back and forth in the living room. It was such a relief for Alisa seeing them come back, better yet, in one piece. Opening his arms, Joel grinned to them.
¡°Welcome back, heroes.¡±
And he gave both of them a big hug.
¡°You guys remind me of my old days.¡± Joel lowered his voice and winked when he turned his back to Alisa.
¡°Dad, you and mom gotta be even more careful for some time.¡± John was kind of worried.
¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. Those bastards only give the weak a hard time. You once beat the shit out of them, you¡¯re no longer on their bullying list. Your mom and I will be fine.¡± Joel left some space so Alisa could treat Lucien¡¯s wounds, and then he turned to John, dead serious.
¡°Actually, John, you should have asked Lord Venn first. You¡¯re his squire, his representative. Your behaviour matters to his decency.¡±
¡°Yes, dad.¡± John was aware of his rashness. ¡°Lucien told me to take the initiative and ask for Lord Venn¡¯s forgiveness, and I will.¡±
Joel nodded, ¡°Lucien¡¯s right.¡±
A while later, Lucien excused himself to find some usurer in Copper Coronet. He needed to start his studies as soon as possible, and thus he was prepared to face the risks in case he for some reason didn¡¯t manage to pay it back.
Before Lucien left, Joel stopped him. When he turned around, he saw Joel was holding an old plain purse.
¡°There are eight Nars in it.¡± Joel put it into Lucien¡¯s hand, ¡°Take it.¡±
¡°Joel¡­¡± Lucien was surprised. He never thought borrowing money from them because Evan was still young. ¡°Auntie Alisa¡­?¡±
She was smiling to him. ¡°That¡¯s all we have for now. Not too much, but enough for you to start studying.¡±
¡°But¡­¡± Lucien¡¯s eyes became filled with tears on the verge of falling. ¡°But this is all your savings¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡±
Joel laughed, ¡°Before your father passed away, he helped us more than we could ever hope for. Now, you are in need. It¡¯s our responsibility to support you. After you learn to read, and then find a good job, you can pay us back easily.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll work hard.¡± Lucien nodded with confidence.
¡°All the money you have now can pay the fees for two months. If we work together, at least you can have a teacher every three or four months. That¡¯s my plan.¡± Joel had regarded Lucien¡¯s study as their shared responsibility.
Lucien grabbed the little purse tight, tears were falling from his eyes, ¡°Thank you. Uncle Joel, Auntie Alisa, and you, John.¡± At the same time, Lucien made up his mind to pay them back with a better life. After learning some magic, Lucien knew he had to leave Aalto as soon as possible. He could not put this family under any kind of risk.
After leaving their place, Lucien still headed towards Copper Coronet. But this time, instead of finding an usurer, he was looking for a teacher.

Chapter 18: Acquaintance
				Chapter 18: Acquaintance
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The afternoon sunlight send some light into the noisy pub. Bards were singing, and mercenaries were talking loudly. Lucien noticed that there were beautiful women sitting beside the bar tables.
Pushing through the crowd, Lucien finally squeezed his way to the counter.
¡°Any drink?¡± Cohn asked without raising his hairy head.
¡°It¡¯s me, Lucien.¡±
Cohn was surprised when he saw Lucien¡¯s face.
¡°What did you do to yourself?¡± His beard was slanted with concern, ¡°Wait¡­ Jackson came and asked about you earlier¡­ Are you in trouble, my boy?¡±
Lucien was not quite willing to repeat what happened one more time. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Cohn. The problem was solved¡­ I¡¯m here to look for a teacher who can teach me how to read.¡±
¡°Oho! You made it?! You didn¡¯t rob the gangsters, did you?¡± Now Cohn was even more surprised.
Lucien had no choice but to explain what happened briefly to Cohn. After hearing that, Cohn was very impressed.
¡°Lucien! You and John are finally real men now! I¡¯m proud of you lads!¡± Gulping his ale, his face turned red, ¡°But be careful, both you and John. Although chances are slim that they dare take revenge on a knight squire, but still, be wary of the bastards¡­ you never know.¡±
Lucien nodded seriously.
Cohn pulled out a paper, on which there was a list of strange patterns and symbols. ¡°I cannot read,¡± He laughed and continued, ¡°but as a pub owner, you gotta put down something to help you remember.¡±
On the list, there were a bunch of scholars who registered here and were willing to teach. While Cohn was speaking the names out loud, Lucien noticed a familiar name, which was written on a note beside the list.
¡°Victor? You just said Mr. Victor?¡± Lucien stopped Cohn.
¡°Yes, you know him?¡±
¡°I met him once in the association.¡± Lucien stared at the name, ¡°But he¡¯s a musician, isn¡¯t he? You put a note beside his name as well.¡±
Twirling his moustache, Cohn took another look at the list and nodded. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the same Victor we¡¯re talking about.¡±
¡°I heard that he¡¯s gonna present a play in the Hall. Last time I saw him¡­ he was quite busy.¡±
Cohn laughed. ¡°That¡¯s why he had to. Having a chance to play in the the Psalm Hall is even harder than you think. I heard this from other guests as well.¡± Cohn climbed on a bar chair, ¡°Six month ago, Mr. Victor got the invitation from the Hall. Since then he turned down all his other presentations, even the one in Syracuse, to focus on his preparation. He was digging into his savings for the past couple of months.¡± Cohn shrugged his shoulders.
¡°But why doesn¡¯t he find another job related to music?¡± Lucien asked.
¡°I have no idea, boy.¡± Cohn took another sip of his ale, ¡°Those musicians¡­ tend to be quite sensitive, or say, even crazy sometimes. I guess probably Mr. Victor also needed something to be his distraction. Who knows, those artists¡­¡±
Mr. Victor made an impression on Lucien last time, when they met in the association. Compared with the others that he did not even know, Lucien felt the musician would be a good choice.
¡°How can I find Mr. Victor, then?¡± he asked.
¡­¡­
The Gesu District was named after the most well-known instrument, the Gesu violin, and was where most musicians in Aalto were gathered.
Big trees stood on both sides of the street, through whose branches the sunshine scattered into slightly trembling golden fragments that formed patterns on the ground. Light mixed with shadow. The street was like a painting.
It took Lucien quite a long time to find the address Cohn offered. After getting lost a few times, finally he was standing in front of Victor¡¯s place, n. 12, Snehva Street.
It was a two-floor small building covered with green vines. Everything was quiet and elegant here. If all went well, Lucien was going to have his reading lessons for the following two months, which could help him change his whole life.
Knocking at the door gently, Lucien got a bit nervous. Soon a servant showed up inside the iron gate. Seeing Lucien, a boy wearing rough and old clothes, he frowned.
¡°Yes?¡± He asked coldly.
After Lucien explained, he was still in doubt, ¡°Five Nars a month. Pay first. Are you sure?¡±
As Lucien expected, he pulled out his money from the bag. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡±
The servant was surprised. He couldn¡¯t believe this poor young boy could afford the price. As a servant of a famous musician, he earned ten Nars a month and could only save one every month, sometimes even less.
¡°Mr. Victor enjoys high reputation. He has some acquaintances in the town hall.¡± Opening the gate, the servant was still eyeing Lucien with suspicion. Who knew where the guy got so much money, he thought.
Lucien just smiled without saying anything. The servant¡¯s attitude was within his expectation. Feel offended? That belonged to the wealthy and powerful.
He followed the servant through the garden and stopped in front of the wooden gate, waiting there. A couple of minutes later, the servant showed up again.
¡°Follow me inside. Later you may give the tuition fee to Mr. Athy, the steward.¡±
It was quite a spacious hall, decorated with a tea table, some brown couches and small desks. On the other side there was a long dining table, made of fine rosewood.
Victor got a few students here as well. His study was too small for all of them. So they just sat in the hall. There were five boys and three girls sitting there, all pretty young, probably between thirteen and twenty.
Quills and papers were lying in front of them on the small round tables. Some of them were transcribing something, while some were humming or reading in a low voice.
According to Lucien¡¯s observation, the students also came from different backgrounds: some were of humble birth, and the others were dressing quite decently. The latter ones were usually from noble families. Most of them were not qualified to inherit their family titles and could not activate the Blessing eeither. For those children, becoming a graceful musician was quite a good choice.
Mr. Victor, wearing his red jacket, was moving around and helping the students one by one.
Looking around, Lucien noticed the steward in his decent black suit. From his black and white mixed hair and his wrinkled face one could tell he was not young anymore. But he was standing there straight and serious.
The steward looked like a gentleman, Lucien thought. He walked towards him and asked, trying to keep his volume down.
¡°Excuse me, are you Mr. Athy?¡±
¡°Yes, I am. May I know your name and your past study?¡±
¡°Yeah, sure¡­ I¡¯m Lucien. Lucien Evans. I never learned how to read before.¡± While he was talking, Lucien took out five Nars.
Taking the money, Athy was impressed. Apparently, the young lad was from the poor district. Most young people in Aderon were quite rude, based on his experience, while Lucien appeared pretty polite and mature.
Then Athy walked to Victor and whispered to him a little bit. Victor turned around and nodded to Lucien kindly, pointing at a spare armchair.
The students just noticed Lucien and were looking at their new classmate at the door curiously. Black hair, eyes, and well-formed features¡­the new guy had a good-looking face. But he was wearing linen clothes and plain shoes. Although they were clean, they could tell from the first sight that Lucien came from a poor background.
¡°A poor wants to learn how to read?¡± That was their first thought.
Soon most of them lowered their heads and went back to study again. Only the ones from ordinary families were still peeking at him carefully.
As soon as Lucien sat down, the boy next to him moved a bit away subconsciously as if Lucien stank.
Lucien did not feel offended. He shook his hand slightly and pulled out his new paper and quill. They were new. Lucien bought them with his left Fells.
Victor came to Lucien a while later, with a black hard-covered book in his hand.
¡°Standard Pronunciation of Lingua Franca and Basic Grammar, very suitable for a beginner. Turn to page 1, chapter 1. We start from the pronunciation of the thirty-two letters.¡± Victor said gently.

Chapter 19: Cramming
				Chapter 19: Cramming
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien¡¯s hands were trembling slightly. Carefully he opened the book like turning to a new page of his future. Within his expectation, the words in the book were the same as the ones in the magic tomes he collected at the witch¡¯s chamber.
He knew how to learn a language well. As long as he learned the pronunciation of the letters and the basic rules of spelling, he could learn more by himself outside of the class by reading intensively.
Victor repeated the pronunciations patiently two to three times on each word. Lucien followed him carefully and wrote down some notes on the paper. ¡°Read them until you becomes more fluent.¡± Victor said, ¡°When it¡¯s good enough, we¡¯ll move to basic spelling and grammar.¡±
What he said was actually more like an encouragement. As a beginner, it would be almost impossible for Lucien to match the sounds and the letters in such a short amount of time.
The notes Lucien jot down were Chinese characters. He tried to relate these letters with his mother tongue, just like he had done when he started learning English. Again, Lucien read through it and he stayed focused, so the knowledge would enter his spirit library.
As expected, a new shelf labeled ¡°Common Tongue¡± appeared, on which there was a black hardcover book full of the strange characters, the same one that was lying in front of him on reality.
Lucien opened the book in the library but found out only the first few pages were there, and the rest of the book was simply blank. He went through the book on the table quickly, and as he imagined, the spiritual version became complete instantly.
¡°Yes!¡± Lucien cheered in his mind.
With the help of the library, Lucien became more confident. It was very hard from the beginning. Several times later he became better and better. After what seemed like the fifteenth time, he got finally satisfied with his ability to remember them.
Of course, Lucien knew this would not last long. If he did not review that in a regular basis, they would be forgotten very soon. At the same time, Lucien also found out that his spiritual power, which helped him with the spellcasting before, could help improve his memory as well.
At this time, Victor came back to teach Lucien again. After a while helping the students, his face looked tired but also more relaxed. Probably Cohn was right: Victor was using teaching as a distraction.
¡°Have you memorized all of them?¡± Victor asked, smiling. ¡°Let me check it.¡±
Like a primary student facing his teacher, Lucien was a bit nervous. He did forget some of them, but mind then drifted into his library and he started reading according to his notes. It wasn¡¯t Lucien¡¯s intention to cheat, but both his money and time were limited. He had plenty of time reviewing them again in the library later.
Victor was surprised, ¡°Have you learned before?¡±
Some of the students raised their heads and looked at Lucien.
¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± answered Lucien.
¡°Impressive.¡± Victor commended, ¡°Then we will start learning how to spell.¡±
While some students were surprised, some of them scorned. In their eyes, Lucien must have learned it before, and was just another scheming guy who wanted to impress Mr. Victor and earn the chance to be his formal music student.
Inside the study room, the three most noble among them had started learning music.
However, that did not distract Lucien at all. There was only one goal in his mind: learn as much as possible. Time is money! A day¡¯s learning cost a lot!
¡°All right, ladies and gentlemen. Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Victor clapped gently and then walked upstairs. At the same time, the servants came with tea and fruits.
The scent of Jasmine and lemon filled the room. Some of the fruits Lucien knew, and some he did not.
A young guy decently dressed smiled at the classmates around him, with a piece of tablature in his hand. ¡°It seems like Mr. Victor got some inspiration. We may call it a day now, if his inspiration keeps flowing.¡± He looked a bit older than Lucien. His eyes were long and narrow and his nose straight. Among them, this guy was pretty outstanding.
A noble girl in a wine-colored dress was sitting right beside him. ¡°If class finishes earlier, we¡¯re gonna have an extra one during the weekend. Don¡¯t get too excited.¡± She responded in a lazy voice, "But I do hope Mr. Victor finishes his new song for the concert as soon as possible. So we will finally be able to start practicing with the orchestra. Sitting in the room, merely reading tablatures and playing flute by myself can never compete with a real rehearsal."
Around seventeen or eighteen, she was pretty good-looking: hair long and bright red, like fire, thick and sexy lip, and her waist was not tightened like most noble girls - otherwise she would not be able to play the flute well.
Looking at her serious face, Lott laughed, ¡°The first violinist, the man who is as handsome as a silver moon¡­ You like Rhine, don¡¯t you? Felicia?¡±
The first violinist, also called concertmaster, played a significant role in a symphony orchestra. When the conductor was absent, the first violinist would take the baton.
¡°I just feel he has excellent skills, much better than the last one.¡± Felicia argued, but her face flushed, ¡°Don¡¯t you think his solo for violin sonata No.1 in G minor was really impressive?¡±
Talking about music, Lott became serious and excited. They started discussing sonatas and suites. Other noble students also joined them, showing their great interest. Even a pretty insightful comment made by a brown-haired girl with ordinary family background won their consent.
In Aalto, music was another common tongue.
However, consciously or subconsciously, the noble students still often ignored the others, while the common ones treated Lucien indifferently and tried to get close to the ones of higher status. For noble students it was likely that the ordinary and the poor did not even deserve their attention. There were no common things between them, as they had come from different worlds.
There were no bitter words, nor scorn. But the cold wall was always there, preventing those of different social statuses from getting along.
But for Lucien, none of these mattered. He was trying to make full use of every minute or even second, absorbing the knowledge like a dry sponge thrown into an ocean.
Some of their humming came into Lucien¡¯s ears. He found music here was very similar to that of Earth. There were just some differences on notes.
After a while, Lucien raised his head. The students were still discussing. Lucien took a sip from his tea cup and dove into his book again.
Unfortunately, Mr. Victor¡¯s inspiration did not last long. Several minutes later, he walked downstairs with a tired and anxious face.
Going back to teaching definitely helped him a lot.
Lucien worked hard. By the end of the class, Lucien remembered most of the spelling rules and stored them in his spirit library.
Their study ended around ten past four in the afternoon. Except for Lott, Felicia and another noble teen named Herodotus, who stayed to practice with instruments, the rest of the students left the hall in a row.
Out of the hall, there were two carriages waiting. The brown horses were tall and strong, snorting. The two noble students were surely envied by the rest.
Most nobles must maintain their decent look no matter if they were actually doing well or not.
The carriages left in a cloud of dust. The other three students, however, headed towards Purple Lily district as a group, chatting and laughing.
And thus Lucien was left behind, reviewing what he learned in his mind like a nerd.
¡­¡­
¡°You¡¯re learning from Mr. Victor? He¡¯s the top musician!¡± After dinner, Joel was quite excited, ¡°Little Evans, are you really going to carry on my music dream?¡±
¡°Every dog has its day, uncle Joel. Probably I can.¡± Lucien replied playfully.
After coming back to his home, lying in his almost-broken, shaky bed, Lucien entered into his library and started reading one of the magic notes, trying to understand the words in it.
Of course, Lucien was not expecting that he could learn how to read within one-day study. He was just trying to read some to reinforce his memory.

Chapter 20: The Witch¡¯s Note
				Chapter 20: The Witch¡¯s Note
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As expected, Lucien did not find anything specially useful in the following four hours before he fell asleep. He read about ten pages, but most of them felt like independent words instead of meaningful sentences, probably because so many words in the notes about magic were really uncommon.
For sure Lucien had his own guesses of the meaning of some of them. But it was magic. He had to be more than careful before actually taking actions. Lucien did not want to die because of a stupid misreading mistake.
Fortunately, the previous owner of the notes treated it also like a diary. Some of her thoughts and experiences were written down as well. For this part, the witch used common words and grammar, from which Lucien managed to know the history of those magic notes, or say, books.
The witch was born in the last sorcerer family of the destroyed ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire. Her family hid into their old castle deep into the mountains to avoid the church¡¯s slaughtering, ever since Aalto was taken over. But after hundreds of years there, the population of the family declined dramatically. In the end there were just three left: the witch and her parents.
The witch¡¯s parents died in an accident when they tried to summon a creature whose name Lucien was not able to read. Then the witch became an orphan and she inherited two magic books: Astrology and Magic Elements; and Common Magic Related Materials Illustration.
Lucien wished the notes were relatively complete so he could understand it, otherwise he would have to learn the dying Sylvana¡¯s language which, so to speak, was impossible.
¡­¡­
Almost all of the jobs Copper Cornet could offer were under the control of the Aaron gang. Lucien lost his job again. He had to dig into his savings recently to support himself.
But it was also nice that Lucien could seize the chance staying focused on his study, as well as avoiding the possible revenge from the gang. Joel was still playing on the busy streets in the administrative district, while Alisa was doing laundries for the association. Both of them were relatively far from the market area, where the Aaron gang tyrannized the most.
They all agreed that Lucien still ranked first among them regarding being in danger. They warned Lucien not to leave the city, not to go to anywhere deserted, and even told him to be alert during bed time in case some bastards tried to burn down his shack.
So, after washing his face and finishing his hard brown bread softened in boiling water, Lucien felt there was nothing for him to do.
But the feeling did not last more than a minute. Soon Lucien went outside and found an open field. He started to practice sword with a wood stick following John¡¯s direction. Lucien longed for strength to protect himself, even though he knew his training was too late. John told Lucien that after sixteen years old, the chance of a person being Blessed was very slim, close to none, unless he received the Holy Light Water from the church.
Lucien also kept Jackson¡¯s dagger handy, in case of any danger.
After practicing, Lucien went back home. It was nine o¡¯clock in the morning. The sun in the sky just started showing its real power. Taking a short rest, Lucien opened his books again and started reviewing. He was much more diligent and self-disciplined than ever before.
¡­¡­
12 Snehva Street, Gesu.
¡°You have never really learned these before?¡± Victor asked with great surprise, ¡°None of them?¡±
Lucien¡¯s progress was more than impressive. He answered all the questions perfectly and fluently. He even asked some questions he found in spelling, which most students could not notice at all until they started having a solid foundation. With just one day study, Lucien had almost caught up with his classmates, Colin and Renee. The two students from common background had been studying here for more than three months.
Was Lucien a genius? Or just a liar. The students were guessing.
¡°I swear I have not, Mr. Victor. We¡¯re already speaking common tongues in our lives, aren¡¯t we? I can¡¯t read, but I know the connections between the letters and sounds are more important. I used my imagination.¡± Lucien explained. He wanted people to believe he was just smart, instead of regarding him as an incomprehensible monster, which would possibly bring him trouble.
For sure Lucien did not tell him about the library.
Victor nodded and smiled approvingly, ¡°Good, very good. You¡¯re gifted in learning language.¡±
Lucien was envied by most students in the class. Hearing Victor¡¯s commendation, Lott and Felicia, who had been learning from Victor for five years, exchanged a look.
¡°It sounds pretty useful.¡± Felicia nodded slightly with her hands crossed over her lap. As a noble girl, she always sat straight.
Lott was about to shrug his shoulders, but was stopped by the thought that the gesture might not look elegant. Facing Felicia, his long time competitor, Lott tended to be more careful.
¡°The poor speak the common tongue as well. They just don¡¯t know how to spell and read. It¡¯s always better than starting from scratch, isn¡¯t it?¡± He also added, ¡°Even if they learn it, it won¡¯t be much useful for learning music.¡±
¡°I have my own idea for learning music, not like you.¡± Felicia responded sharply, ¡°You¡¯re gifted, but gift cannot last long. If I were you, I¡¯d spend more time on practicing instead of fooling around with girls.¡± She then looked at Lucien. ¡°Even the poor guy, if he starts learning music he will probably do a better job than you.¡± She smiled with her bright beautiful teeth.
All the classmates believed that Lucien wanted to become a musician. They did not know the actual simple reason why Lucien chose Victor as his teacher. In the eyes of the common folk, choosing a teacher represented one¡¯s future path. For example, if a person wanted to be an official in the town hall or the court, he or she would definitely choose scholars with law or history background, instead of a musician.
But all careers needed to be recognized by nobles. Only then it would indicate real success.
¡°If he¡¯s better than me, he¡¯s better than you, Felicia.¡± Lott sneered.
Felicia was about to say more, but noticed Victor was looking in this direction. She raised her hand and tidied her red hair, then lowered her head and went back to her studies.
Victor started speeding up Lucien¡¯s learning. Soon they finished the rest of the spelling rules and moved to basic grammar, which was exactly what Lucien was expecting.
¡­¡­
Friday, the last day of Lucien¡¯s study this week.
After a few days¡¯ learning, Lucien had mastered most of the grammar. Were it not for lacking vocabulary, Lucien could even start learning magic now. He had made a big progress with the magic notes as well, in which the witch explained why she came to Aalto:
¡°Along with the increase in my spiritual power, it has become harder for me to immerse myself in meditation¡­ Shall I try the meditating the way only real sorcerers can?¡±
¡­¡­
¡°It was too dangerous. I almost died. Perhaps I should improve the apprentice meditation based on my experience.¡±
¡­¡­
¡°I got lost, completely. No wonder all the great seniors didn¡¯t make any improvement. I¡¯m too shallow, too arrogant.¡±
¡°Even the magic structure of the first level is too complicated. I can¡¯t find a way to build the magic mark model. It¡¯s driving me crazy¡­ I have the potion already, but without the model I can¡¯t move forward to be a real sorceress!¡±
¡­¡­
¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ maybe I should try to make a potion of ¡®Magic Gate¡¯. It contains a level-one magic in it. Perhaps I can make it this way.¡±
¡­¡­
¡°I need Snow Gorse¡­ Maybe I should go to Aalto. It¡¯s the biggest city on the west continent. There¡¯re also many hidden sorcerers and sorceress. It¡¯s dangerous, but I shall still have a chance.¡±
So far, that was all Lucien could read from the notes. He was very curious about her experience in Aalto, but decided to finish the remaining few pages later tonight.
Today Lucien also wanted to borrow a common tongue dictionary and put it into his library. If everything went well, Lucien could start learning magic on the weekend.
His heart was full of hope.

Chapter 21: Harpsichord
				Chapter 21: Harpsichord
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Victor was glad to see that Lucien did not slow down over the several days¡¯ learning. Within fifty minutes he absorbed the rest of the grammar rules. He was smart and gifted in learning language, and had a good memory as well.
Good mood brought him ideas. Victor started humming.
¡°Ladies and gentlemen, let¡¯s have a break. Help yourself to some tea and snack. I gotta jot this down.¡± He was already trotting upstairs when he finished talking.
Picking up the fine white teacup, Lucien took a sip of the weird-tasting tea. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to relax a little bit.
¡°Felicia, when can we go hunting in your family¡¯s manor again? I miss the deers and rabbits there so much, and also the fresh air.¡±
Annie was another noble lady among them. However, except for her beautiful blond hair and gem-like green eyes, her appearance was just around average. Besides, her family was not that distinguished as well. Her father was just one of the many children of a common baron, who failed to inherit anything from the family. No title, no land, no manor. Annie¡¯s family had to struggle to live a seemingly decent life with the income from her father work as a court clerk and the annuity from their title.
In comparison, the Hayne family, as one of the biggest families in the Duchy of Orvarit, still enjoyed a high reputation. Although her father did not inherit the title either, he still got a big manor outside of Aalto with its own woods, orchards, and even a granite quarry. They also possessed a property inside of the city.
Among them, Felicia had the most distinguished family background.
On hot summer days, there was nothing better than escaping from the heat enjoying some hunting and some homemade wine in a manor away from the city. Many young nobles who did not have a manor in their families would of course long for it. Lucien could tell Annie was trying to get close to Felicia.
¡°Is that true, lady Felicia? Are there rabbits and cute deers in your family¡¯s manor?¡± Renee got in the conversation, asking with curiosity.
Since they started studying together, Renee always tried to cotton up to the noble students by talking about music, which worked very well.
She was thus encouraged. Through music, she started joining conversations between noble students more. Somehow she learned a bit on some theories about music. Often she asked Felicia or Annie related questions and became more and more acquainted with the nobles.
Learning from her, Colin and David started doing the same.
Lucien, perhaps because he was too nerdy and reserved, only cared about his own study. And for sure neither the nobles nor the commons would take the initiative to talk to him.
¡°I miss the place as well.¡± Felicia was still sitting straight, answering with her standard smile, ¡°But there are only around three months left before Mr. Victor¡¯s performance. Lott, Herodotus and I have to practice a lot. I really have no time to go there.¡±
For sure, Felicia was happy for being flattered and being the envy of the other students. Who would not?
It would not be true to say that Lucien did not want to have a look at such a fancy manor. But the most urgent thing in his mind was how to borrow the dictionary and finish browsing through it as quickly as possible.
Victor came downstairs with a slight smile hanging on his face. Apparently he was pretty satisfied with his work. The chatting stopped.
Athy, the steward, came in when Victor was about to continue his teaching. He whispered in Victor¡¯s ear, ¡°Your guest is here, my Lord.¡±
¡°Oh! I forgot!¡± Shaking his right hand, he looked a bit annoyed, ¡°Let him in, please.¡±
Then he turned to his students, apologizing politely.
¡°I¡¯m so sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I forgot I would have a guest here today. Can we resume the class tomorrow afternoon at two? I¡¯m really sorry.¡±
The students were happy to have an early end today. When they were preparing to leave, Lucien walked closer to Mr. Victor, ready to ask him to borrow the common tongue dictionary for a few days.
Before Lucien began his request, two guests came in following the steward. One was a silver-haired pretty man in a red shirt and black coat, and the other was a white-haired elderly man with a wooden suitcase in his hands.
¡°Mr. Rhine¡­¡± Lucien and Felicia recognized the guest at the same time.
Felicia¡¯s face turned pink, while Lucien felt even more surprised. He thought Rhine was just a bard living in the tavern. Rhine being Mr. Victor¡¯s important guest was quite unexpected for Lucien.
¡°Hi, Felicia. And¡­ you¡¯re here, Lucien!¡± Rhine greeted them gracefully.
Felicia smiled shyly, and a second later she was very surprised: how did Mr. Rhine know Lucien?
¡°Lucien, you know Mr. Rhine?¡± Victor smiled.
¡°Yes, we¡¯ve met before.¡± Lucien nodded, ¡°I Didn¡¯t expect I¡¯d meet Mr. Rhine again here at your place.¡±
Rhine¡¯s smile was pretty attractive like an elf.
¡°Yes, we met once before and Lucien impressed me. At that time he was telling us that he wanted to learn how to read. And look! Here he is! I always appreciate young people striving for their dreams.¡±
Commended by Rhine, even Lucien felt a bit shy.
¡°Mr. Rhine is the concertmaster I¡¯m currently working with, who has very unique and excellent understanding towards music. Without his help, I don¡¯t think I could be inspired with my piano concerto.¡±
¡°What!? Rhine¡¯s the master now!?¡± That almost made Lucien¡¯s jaw drop. He had met Rhine in Copper Cornet in the slum several days before.
From his classmates¡¯ conversation, Lucien knew that the structure of a symphony orchestra here was similar to the ones on the earth. The first violinist was the concertmaster, who would also be responsible for conducting the orchestra when the conductor was absent. How could Rhine, a stranger who had never cooperated with the team before, get such an important position?
From Lucien¡¯s expression Rhine could tell he was very surprised. He explained easily, ¡°The previous master fell in love with a noble lady, who eloped with her to Syracuse several days ago. Mr. Victor had no one else to find but me.¡± He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
¡°Mr. Rhine should be the first violinist of the orchestra, even if the previous master was still here.¡± Felicia cut in with her flushed face, ¡°Mr. Rhine just needs more practice with the others.¡±
¡°I agree.¡± Victor also thought highly of Rhine, ¡°Mr. Rhine¡¯s one of the best violinists I¡¯ve ever met. I was more than lucky to have him here.¡±
Lucien looked at Rhine, who was smiling politely with his right hand laying on his heart, showing his gratitude. Within a few days, a bard was exiled from Syracuse with his harp, and he happened to become the first violinist of a symphony orchestra in Aalto. It was too strange for Lucien. It could not be a coincidence.
¡°This is Mr. Shavell, the most excellent harpsichord maker in Aalto.¡± Rhine started introducing the elderly man beside him, ¡°Mr. Shavell shall be able to help you with the improvement.¡±
¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Shavell. It¡¯s an honour for me to have you here.¡± Victor shook hands with him enthusiastically and led him upstairs, before Lucien had any chance to talk to him.
Victor was so excited that he forgot to ask Athy to see his students out. Unsure about the relationship between Lucien and Rhine, Athy did not ask him to leave instantly either. Next, Felicia, Annie, Colin and some other students came upstairs quietly, filled with curiosity.
Lucien was not willing to leave without the dictionary, so he also followed upstairs to end up in Mr. Victor¡¯s practice room.
¡°Mr. Shavell, I was hoping the harpsichord could be more sensitive to the pressure of my fingers, so the the control of its volume can be more accurate.¡± Watching Shavell open his harpsichord, Victor made detailed his request, ¡°My music requires a wider range of tones. More resonant and vigorous, but also delicate and clear.¡±
There were lots of different components in it: springs, pivots, plectrums, strings¡­ Since it was invented, many makers and musicians tried to improve the harpsichord, including adding extra pivots, stops, replacing soundboard, etc.
Slightly frowning his eyebrows, Shevell was carefully checking the parts.
¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible, Mr. Victor. Over more than 300 years of upgrades, this kind of instrument has reached its limitation. Even a slight improvement on it would be quite hard.¡±
Both Victor and Rhine lost their words, especially Victor. If the harpsichord could not be improved, his music would definitely not be perfect. In that case, the performance in the Psalm Hall would be a foreseeable failure for him.
Everyone remained silent for a while, until Lucien started asking all of a sudden.
¡°Can we¡­ can we turn it into a kind of percussion instrument¡­? Changing it from plucking to hitting.¡±
Lucien noticed that this world had yet to invent the ¡°king of musical instruments¡±, the piano. Musicians were still working on harpsichords and clavichords. He got his own plan: If he could help Mr. Victor with his improvement, probably there would be no more five Nars every month, and, of course, borrowing a dictionary would be a piece of cake.
As early as they started talking about improving the harpsichord, Lucien opened his Piano: Manufacture and Tones and Mechanism of Modern Piano in his spirit library. He got a rough idea from leafing through the first several pages.
¡°Then what would be the difference between it and a clavichord?¡± Shevell threw a stern look at Lucien, ¡°Yes you can control the volume with percussion, but the sound¡¯s too delicate and the volume too low. It¡¯s only suitable for playing at home, not a hall.¡±
It was in Aalto, the City of Psalm, the City of Music. No one suspected the real reason why Lucien understood the difference between a harpsichord and a clavichord.

Chapter 22: Appreciation
				Chapter 22: Appreciation
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Victor was quite upset. He knew that without an improved harpsichord, those picky nobles, musicians and critics would by no means be satisfied with his performance. What was worse, he would also receive a bitter comment from Wolf on Music Criticism, and then he¡¯d never have a second chance to play in the Psalm Hall again during his life.
He had seen many excellent musicians fail to perform perfectly in the Hall and suffer lots of setbacks afterwards. Every two or three years there would be a desperate musician among those committing suicide because of his failure. Indeed, most musicians could be quite sensitive and vulnerable.
Although he understood Lucien was just trying to help, Victor still felt a bit annoyed by Lucien¡¯s groundless guessing. Controlling himself, he answered with his low voice.
¡°Thank you, Lucien. But it¡¯s more complicated than just combining the two.¡±
¡°Such an arrogant fool from the slum¡­¡± The noble students were angry about Lucien¡¯s interruption. While Lott, Herodotus, and Felicia were glaring at Lucien with distaste, Rhine was standing to the site, with an almost undetectable smile on his face, as if he was looking forward to Lucien¡¯s answer.
Although Lucien hadn¡¯t got a full understanding of the two books, he still had some overall ideas. By observing the inner structure of the harpsichord in front of him, he was ready to share his thoughts.
¡°With the help of a certain¡­ unit, the finger movement might be enlarged through the process of conduction, so the striking from the hammers inside could be louder.¡±
Lucien explained it vaguely on purpose, carefully choosing his words to match those of a common lad living in the slum, to avoid suspicion. Terms like ¡®amplitude¡¯ were definitely not supposed to show up in his vocabulary.
¡°Enlarge? Like what?¡± Shavell¡¯s eyes were still stern and his white eyebrows twisted together. He had heard similar ideas before, but after several attempts failed, they all gave up in the end.
Under their gaze, Lucien took down a flute from the wall. ¡°Once, I saw a farmer who lifted a big rock with a wooden stick and a small rock, like this¡­¡± He grabbed a ink bottle and put it under the flute and started doing levering.
¡°I see¡­¡± Instead of refuting, Shavell started thinking. Soon he noticed the disadvantage. ¡°But like this, the striking speed would be slower.¡±
¡°Impressive, Lucien. You are showing us the Lever Principle.¡± Rhine watched Lucien¡¯s model carefully and took a step closer to him.
Pretending confusion, Lucien was actually very surprised. How come Rhine knew the Lever Principle? People here called it the same way? But the rest of them seemed really confused.
¡°You may all have seen it before in your lives. I heard the principle when I was traveling to Holm. Actually local scholars there already discovered it hundreds of years ago. But here, people worship divine power and the Blessing in the blood, so science doesn¡¯t pervade very fast.¡± Rhine explained.
¡°Have you noticed that the longer the stick is, the easier you can lift something on the other end, Lucien?¡± Rhine asked.
¡°Obviously,¡± Lucien thought, but his face put on a confused look as he said, ¡°Really? Then can we put more than one lever together?¡±
Lucien stopped himself here. He could not go any further talking about stuff like multi-lever transmission.
Rhine¡¯s eyes were lightened immediately. ¡°Connection! Multi levers!¡± He walked close to Shavell and talked to him in a low voice. He was drawing on a paper.
¡°Rhine¡­ He¡¯s more than a bard. I¡¯m almost sure.¡± Lucien thought while Rhine talking. The bard¡¯s hands were waving in the air explaining the principle.
Soon Victor joined their heated discussion.
¡°Lucien, how did you connect them together? I mean, yes, I saw it before several times but I never thought it could be used on this.¡± Surprisingly, Lott started talking to Lucien.
But he was stopped by Felicia, ¡°Be quiet. Go downstairs if you want to chat.¡±
Lott did not want to miss their discussion now. He nodded and remained silent.
The rest of the students were pretty annoyed by the factor that Lucien, the nobody who just recently arrived there, somehow got the spotlight. They were hoping his idea wouldn¡¯t work out.
Understanding that there were still many more differences between a harpsichord and a modern piano, Lucien once again started reading his two books, to see if there was more he could help with.
¡­¡­
An elegant melody came out from the room, resonant and rich at the beginning, gentle and soft in the end.
¡°Awesome!¡± Victor¡¯s face was glowing with excitement, ¡°Thank you, Rhine. Thank you, Mr. Shavell.¡± Although there was still a way to go, the key problem had been solved.
¡°It¡¯s my pleasure.¡± Rhine smiled elegantly.
After hugging both of them, Victor came to Lucien with his open arms. ¡°Thank you, Lucien. You gave us the direction. Thanks God for bringing you to me.¡±
¡°It¡¯s nothing, Mr. Victor.¡± Being hugged by a man, Lucien felt a bit awkward. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect I could actually help.¡±
Victor laughed and thanked Lucien again sincerely. ¡°Anyway, from now on, if you need any help, just ask.¡±
The rest of the students started being envious again. The newcomer earned Mr. Victor¡¯s favour so quickly!
Lucien was very glad as well.
¡°Yes¡­ Yes, Mr. Victor.¡± He asked shyly, ¡°I do need help with something¡­¡±
¡°Yes?¡± Victor was waiting for his request, smiling. In his eyes, Lucien was genuinely a good-hearted and promising young lad.
¡°Can I borrow your common tongue dictionary?¡± Rubbing his hands, Lucien was pretty unsure.
¡°Ah?¡± Rhine couldn¡¯t stop himself from laughing. Lott, Felicia and the rest people there were amused as well.
¡°Sure, no problem. My good boy.¡± Mr. Victor nodded instantly, ¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°Um¡­¡± Lucien was even more nervous now. He felt he was asking for too much.
Noticing Lucien¡¯s hesitation, Victor tried to encourage him. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t be shy. Just ask.¡±
¡°Um¡­ Mr. Victor, can I¡­ can I study here for free¡­?¡±
¡°Hahahaha!¡± Rhine could not hold back anymore.

Chapter 23: More About the Notes
				Chapter 23: More About the Notes
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Victor also started laughing. He was almost laughing to tears. Even a serious elderly man like Shavell was smiling and shaking his head, not to mention Lott, Felicia and Herodotus. The rest of the students who hadn¡¯t had a chance to be Mr. Victor¡¯s music students laughed as well, albeit bitterly to some extent.
Lucien felt a bit awkward. ¡°Mr. Victor?¡± He asked carefully.
Victor stopped himself after several coughs, looking at Lucien seriously. ¡°I mean, Lucien¡­ would you like to study music under me? I know it¡¯s hard to start from scratch at your age, but a smart and hardworking young lad like you could still be a qualified musician in the future. Also, completely for free.¡± Victor added humorously.
Victor had three types of students: the ones learning how to read, which paid five Nars every month; the ones selected among the previous type, who would learn music from him for the price of ten Nars a month; and only a really gifted and outstanding student could perform with him and benefit from his fame and network. Victor, for now, had just one student like that, who was already a well-known musician.
So, what Victor offered meant that Lucien could save ten Nars every month. On the other hand, that much was still not a lot for the musician, even now when he was kind of struggling because of his current income. Victor would only earn about seven gold Thales a year for teaching these students, which of course did not mean much to him. When Victor was performing for the nobles, his income was around 100 gold Thales annually.
Actually, merely seven Thales a year was already pretty good for most of the commoners. Annie¡¯s father, a court clerk, earned no more than fifteen Thales a year.
Although the other students envied Lucien, he was a bit hesitant about the offer. He never thought he would learn music. Different thoughts were flashing through his mind: the witch¡¯s note, John¡¯s family, and his own plan¡­
¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to live in Aalto for a longer time, until I find a better place to learn magic. After all, Aalto¡¯s the biggest and busiest city in the west. Being a respectable musician can be a pretty good cover for me.¡±
Soon Lucien made up his mind, and his face lit up with a smile.
¡°Of course. That would be great honor.Thank you, Mr. Victor. Really.¡±
Victor was nodding with satisfaction, ¡°You¡¯re both smart and diligent, and also have a simple heart. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll achieve something if you keep working like this.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not that simple¡­¡± Lucien thought to himself. At the same time, he felt slightly uncomfortable with the way the other students were looking at him.
Having his dictionary and the returned five Nars with him, Lucien left the house and was ready to go back home.
¡°Good job, Lucien!¡± The girl with brown hair and green eyes caught up with Lucien from behind. ¡°I¡¯m Renee, Renee Weisz. I just want to say that your talent really impressed me¡­¡±
Being eager to read the rest of the witch¡¯s note, Lucien was not in a chatting mood now. ¡°Hi, Renee. I¡¯m running late for an appointment¡­ I¡¯m sorry but... can we talk next time?¡±
¡°Oh¡­ all right..¡± Her expression froze for a second but soon the smile came back.
At this time Annie and another noble student, Maxi, passed by them and Annie¡¯s mouth twisted in a contemptuous sneer. Keeping her elegant paces, Annie directly walked away without having a glimpse of Renee.
From a distance, Colin and David sneered at Renee as well. But they also wished they could be as lucky as Lucien.
¡­¡­
The early summer sunshine still shone over Aderon at around five in the afternoon, when Lucien arrived at his house. He couldn¡¯t wait to read the rest of the notes. The good news could wait until tomorrow to be shared with Alisa and her family.
Devouring the brown bread, Lucien locked the wooden door from the inside. After taking out his quill and paper he was ready to start his exploration again. Then he entered into his spirit library to copy the dictionary.
Finishing the work, Lucien opened the witch¡¯s book again.
By ten o¡¯clock that night, Lucien had finished all of his reading. With a long sigh, he stretched slowly.
It looked like the witch was not very good at reading ancient Sylvanas texts as well, because she took the notes in great detail. Some of the parts came directly from her ancestors. Lucien was pretty confident that he could just follow her notes to learn magic.
The only problem was that the notes explained no further than how to become a primary-level sorcerer. After that point Lucien would have to find other ways to advance. Or maybe he could learn some ancient Sylvanas characters from the note and learn the contents from the book Astrology and Magic Elements.
Anyway, now Lucien was ready to start learning magic.
According to the notes, people in ancient magic empires believed that magic worked as the result of four basic elements - earth, fire, wind, water - releasing power under the guidance of their spirit. Later, light, darkness and necromancy magic joined in. And sorcerers were also able to summon demons from hell, pits or other dimensions.
At the same time, all the magic could be divided into eight schools: Element, Astrology, Necromancy, Illusion, Summoning, Force, Transformation and Alchemy. The book Astrology and Magic Elements was mainly focused on Element and Astrology magic.
Before becoming a real sorcerer, an apprentice could only learn some simple tricks instead of real first circle magic.
In Lucien¡¯s viewpoint, the structure of those apprentice spells was very simple. They were just some geometric patterns combined together, which could be triggered by the spells and corresponding magic reagents.
There were also three levels of the sorcerer apprentices: in training, intermediate, and advanced, graded according to the different levels of spiritual power, which determined how many spells they were able to cast in a row - five, ten and twenty, respectively.
Through meditation an apprentice could improve his or her spiritual power. With the help of certain magic potions, he or she could start mentally building a first circle magic structure. Those who succeeded would become real sorcerers. Having sufficient spiritual power was the key factor during the process, because the casting of magic from the first circle did not require any spelling, magic reagents or gestures.
¡°Today I met another sorcerer here in Aalto. I¡¯m really excited. But he looked a bit weird¡­ very different from the ones hiding.¡± Lucien got really encouraged when he found out that there were still other sorcerers in the city.
...
¡°I found some strange red-eyed rats in the sewers. I detected magic on them, but I cannot trace them, yet.¡±
¡­
¡°My experiment shows that they¡¯re very fast-breeding, and their blood is toxic, which can lead to hallucinatory experience and paralysis. It is a perfect match for my Lapland Bloodvine. I think my magic trap is ready now¡­ But who do those rats belong to?¡±
¡­
Lucien was shocked to know that the rats didn¡¯t belong to the witch. That was to say, there were probably still other dangerous things down there.
And the notes kept going:
¡°I met the sorcerer again. His thoughts about magic were so unique, his knowledge broad and profound. He was¡­ very attractive.
¡°But he said that the ancient magic was outdated, except for those really powerful ones, which could still be valuable. Also, he mentioned those ancient people were ignorant and uncivilized¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ It doesn¡¯t make sense to me.¡±
¡­¡­
¡°He showed me a magic book called Arcana. It was thin. Actually he called it a¡­ journal. He said that Arcana is the nature, the theory of magic. But I never thought magic could actually be explained. I was shocked¡­
¡°The book, or journal, was first released more than three hundred years ago. It started from a script of a great arcanist in a sorcerer conference. Three hundred years ago¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of any of this before¡­ After reading it, I was shocked. I don¡¯t even know how I came back home.¡±
The witch took down some of the script from the journal. Her writing was messy in this part. Lucien could tell her hands were shaking with great excitement.
Here was the script in the note:
¡°Ladies and gentlemen. Many years ago, in order to fight against the magic creatures, our respectable ancestors learned how to exert our spiritual power directly from dragons, elves, giants, and even from demons. They studied them: their bodies, their blood, their inner magic patterns¡­ and thus our ancestors were able to evolve their own human bodies. They left us the meditation to strengthen our spirit; they left us magic structures to empower their offsprings; and they left us a peaceful continent by pushing those evil creatures back into the pits with their great power.
¡°Dragons are hiding. Giants migrated. Elves are gone deep inside their forests¡­ Now we are the owners of the land!
¡°The Great Victory, ladies and gentlemen. The Great Victory had been reminding us for hundreds of years to keep seeking greater power, from the pits to hell, from hell to other dimensions, until the Saint Truth Church gained its power¡­ Within a few hundred years, our empires were conquered, our sorcerers slaughtered and exiled. Our past glory died in the ashes of our castles.
¡°It¡¯s about time we take a step back and ask ourselves: What on earth are we pursuing? What can we do to prevent our magic from dying? Have you ever thought about the following questions:
¡°What¡¯s the nature of magic?
¡°Why are we endowed with spiritual power?
¡°How does that power exist?
¡°Are earth, fire, wind and water, really the most basic elements in the world? If they are, how do they stick together to form everything we know? And if not, which are the real magic elements?
¡°What¡¯s the nature of the soul? Is it different from consciousness?
¡±Do we need any certain ¡®tools¡¯ to help us with the magic structures?
¡°Does God exist? If God exists, who is our God? Why can vampires remain undead forever?
¡°Why is there a sun and a moon in the world? Why do they rise and set every day? What keeps them moving in such a manner?
¡°If we can explore more about the world itself instead of chasing power around blindly, we can find the truth about magic, know who we are and understand where we should go.¡±
The name of the great arcanist was Douglas.

Chapter 24: Sorcerer Apprentice
				Chapter 24: Sorcerer Apprentice
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The notes thrilled Lucien as well. When he first came here he also had many questions about the world. However, he soon forgot all his questions while struggling to survive.
These overwhelming questions pointed directly to the origin of the world. Lucien believed that if he could figure them out, he might be able to learn how he came here and how to go back.
¡°Even if the arcanist named Douglas had not completely understood any of the problems, as long as he was still working on them he should be an extraordinary arcanist nowadays, comparable to the sorcerers and sorceress of legend.¡± Lucien was organizing his thoughts.
¡°There¡¯s a journal called Arcana. The witch did meet other sorcerer in this city. Everything seems to indicate there are still safe places for people to learn magic. But why would it be a journal? It sounds pretty academic¡­¡±
¡°Why call him an arcanist instead of a sorcerer? Does an arcanist rank higher than a sorcerer?¡±
¡­¡­
Lucien got more and more excited with his thoughts. He wished he could meet the sorcerer as soon as possible and move somewhere where he could learn magic safely. He would come back to Aalto and do something for little Iven¡¯s family when he became stronger.
Among all questions, the two Lucien felt most interested in were:
¡°Are earth, fire, wind and water, really the most basic elements in the world? If they are, how do they stick together to form everything we know? And if not, which are the real magic elements?¡±
¡°Why is there a sun and a moon in the world? Why do they rise and set every day? What keeps them moving in such a manner?¡±
According to what Lucien had learned before, earth, fire, wind and water were not basic elements. As for the second question, it drew his attention because they seemed to want to combine the rules of the physical universe with magic, in case Lucien¡¯s knowledge might really come in handy to learn magic faster.
However, Lucien didn¡¯t know how helpful his knowledge would be in this world. It was a world full of incredible creatures, magic, divine power and souls. Nevertheless, Lucien hadn¡¯t met anything that varied from the basic laws of physics. And he did find the same materials, like silver, copper and iron.
¡°I might have been wrong before, regarding why some books in my library were locked.¡± Lucien guessed, agitated with the prospect.
Gradually he calmed down. He was now more mature and understood that no matter how great ambition one had, sitting there and daydreaming would not change anything. After all, every person still had to be practical.
He turned to the last page of the note:
¡°Sometimes, during the break of my meditation and experiments, I think about him. He¡¯s wise, elegant, and attractive.¡±
¡­¡­
¡°He said he came here to Aalto for an important secret mission. If everything goes well, in some months he might take me to the heaven of our sorcerers and sorceress ¡ª ¡®The Continental Congress of Magic¡¯.
¡°We have an appointment in the cemetery. I wonder what he¡¯ll tell me.¡±
The witch¡¯s notes ended here. ¡°She and her sorcerer friend must have been ambushed by the night watchmen. I wonder if the sorcerer managed to escape¡­¡± Lucien thought with some disappointment. The Continental Congress of Magic was his only clue for now. But he had no idea how to find other hiding sorcerers and sorceresses.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien decided to start his first meditation. He eliminated all the distractions in his mind and got ready for it.
Following the note, Lucien kept his breathes long and gentle. Along with the breathing he let his spirit freely spread like water and then drew it back in, similar to waves, again and again until he entered into a blank world. A world where nothing existed.
Talented as the witch was, it took her more than two years to reach this level. Plus another year to augment her spirit until it was strong enough to sense the surrounding magic elements as a junior apprentice¡±.
However, after becoming a junior apprentice, it would still take quite a while before one could move forward and become a real sorcerer or sorceress. An apprentice needed to keep forging his or her spirit by doing meditation, to only then be able to analyze and build different magic structures.
Having started meditating when she was ten, the witch became an apprentice at the age of thirteen. A year later she became an intermediate apprentice and was really satisfied with her progress. But then, since she was not good at analyzing the patterns of magic and building their structures, she could not progress any further. So she tried to use a precious magic potion called ¡°Magic Gate¡± to break through the bottleneck.
Lucien felt both disappointed and excited. From the witch¡¯s note Lucien understood that learning magic did take time, so unfortunately there was no way for him to take revenge on the gangsters within a short period. Actually, as Victor¡¯s music student, Lucien was now in no hurry to protect himself with magic, since a mistake could affect his teacher¡¯s social status. At the same time, it was exciting because Lucien was unexpectedly great at the meditation. After the bitter fight underground, Lucien¡¯s spiritual power was improved by a great extent. It only took him less than thirty seconds to successfully enter into the meditation world! Observant as he was now, Lucien was guessing he could probably shorten the time for becoming a junior apprentice remarkably, doing so probably in months or even weeks!
Actually, it was even faster than he thought.
The meditation world was very different. Lucien could feel all sorts of power here: some of them were steady, some restless, others were dynamic, and there were even gentle ones, among others¡­
¡°They are¡­ earth, fire, wind and water¡­ the four elements? My spiritual power has reached the level of a junior apprentice?!¡± Lucien was so surprised that he almost failed to maintain his meditation. ¡°The badge really helped me a lot!¡±
He became truly happy. Soon he would start learning his first magic!
¡°I wonder¡­ why do the four basic elements feel more like¡­ forces¡­¡± When Lucien was about to follow the basic Element Meditation mentioned in Astrology and Magic Elements, a question came to him. Then he noticed the similarity with the question raised by Douglas. ¡°Maybe¡­ they are actually the four fundamental forces ¡ª gravity, weak nuclear force, electromagnetism and strong nuclear force ¡ª in the universe? ¡±
¡°But then gravity would definitely be related to the earth element, while the other three are in fact different manifestations from the other forces, according to what I learned in my world...¡±
As soon as the idea came up, Lucien noticed that the world around him changed: A starry sky showed up and the stars were shining brightly against the dark background. Every star had an invisible string of force hanging down to the earth. Attracting those countless strings, the earth, gentle and profound, was like a silent giant grabbing mysterious ropes in its hand.
On the other hand, the remaining three elements ¡ª fire, wind and water ¡ª showed no such change, since Lucien could not figure out the corresponding connections between them and the other three forces yet. However, the previous clear boundaries between them were seemingly blurred now.
¡°The world¡­ changes with my cognition?¡± Lucien was guessing that the sky appeared because he happened to understand the connection between gravity and the Earth Element. He suddenly recalled an excerpt from the witch¡¯s notes: ¡°Stars ¡ª It was a way of meditation belonging to another school for advanced apprentices.¡±
As the note mentioned before, there were eight schools in the world of magic, and each of them had its own way of meditation. The witch just had a brief description in the note about the Astrology School because it was the Element School she majored in. However, as the fundamental way of meditation for the Astrology School, the first time an apprentice entered into his or her meditation world it would allow them to see one¡¯s own night sky, from which he or she could choose a ¡°Host Star of Destiny¡± by themselves. The star could be connected with the person, which would provide great help in the person¡¯s future learning. More importantly, without a Host Star, magic belonging to Astrology, like Horoscope, could not be obtained.
That school believed that every soul matched a star in the boundless sky. One¡¯s destiny kept changing along with his or her Host Star. The sorcerer would not be able to see the strings of destiny without a connection, and thus could not cast a Horoscope.
Therefore, even the basic meditation of Astrology School required an advanced apprentice¡¯s spirit level. Before achieving that requirement an apprentice was supposed to refer to other ways of meditation to improve their power until they became qualified.
¡°In this world, gravity has something to do with destiny? Interesting¡­¡± Lucien thought to himself. ¡°It seems like many things happening here do not comply with my previous knowledge¡­ Or maybe I just cannot understand it fully.¡±

Chapter 25: First Magic
				Chapter 25: First Magic
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Staring at the night sky, Lucien sought his own Host Star using the astrology meditation.
Searching in the vast and spectacular sky, soon Lucien located a star in a distance which somehow he felt familiar with. The star was not very bright, seeming like a newborn one.
Extending his spirit, Lucien approached the star. Under the guidance of meditation, little by little, Lucien started connecting his spirit with the star.
Suddenly, like a string being plucked, Lucien¡¯s soul shook and started vibrating fiercely. Knowing it was the hardest but also the most important part in the process, Lucien quickly reached out his spirit again to grab the almost broken string between the star and himself.
Gradually, the thin string started shining bright as the stars, and gradually grew stronger. The vibrating slowly disappeared. With a last sudden vibration in the end, an image of the star showed up in his soul.
Drawing the power from the star greedily, Lucien continued tempering his soul and spirit until his soul felt ¡°swollen¡±. Then he switched to element meditation to improve the interaction and strengthen the bond between his spirit and the elements. The stronger the bond was, the faster one could cast the element-specific spells and shorten the cooldown (CD) in general.
Lucien finally opened his eyes when he started feeling extremely tired deep in his soul. They were full of excitement and ecstasy.
¡°Even when I¡¯m not practicing meditation, I can still feel my Host Star in my soul. And if I focus more, I can even feel that there¡¯s a star shining afar in the sky that is connected with me. I can feel the power of the star¡­¡±
But soon he felt confused, ¡°Wait¡­ I came here by mistake. I don¡¯t belong to this world, so why would I find my Host Star of Destiny here? Theoretically speaking, if someone dies, that person¡¯s star would gradually dim until it finally disappeared. But the star I felt just now¡­ It belongs to me, the real me¡­Xiafeng.¡±
Lucien could not figure it out at the moment.
Also, from the notes, Lucien learned that a sorcerer or sorceress needed to use specific magic to measure other people¡¯s spiritual power. Only those who just broke through to a new level could be detected in a direct way, without using any magic, due to the instability of their power.
Of course, magic that could hide one¡¯s power existed.
After taking a very short break, Lucien opened the notes with great excitement. He couldn¡¯t wait any longer to see what magic spells were waiting for him.
Since he now had the Host Star of Destiny, Lucien could master all three apprentice spells in the School of Astrology, which were relatively powerful among those of similar level from other schools. But for now, Lucien¡¯s power was only enough to cast the spells two to three times before his spirit was exhausted.
Different levels of apprentice were accessed depending on how many spells an apprentice could cast before exhausting his spirit. An apprentice in training could cast up to five spells, while and intermediate doubled that number, and an advanced doubled it again to cast no less than twenty spells before running out of power. That was to say that, for now, Lucien could only use up to five spells of apprentice level consecutively. As for the Astrology magic, probably only three. When feeling exhausted, one needed to rest or take magic potions to help his or her power to fill up again.
The three spells of apprentice level were: Horoscope (basic-level), Eyes of Stars, and Disarming Loop.
Among them, Horoscope was the best-known one. Even the basic level required lots of knowledge to understand the movement of stars and tell the precise moment to tell the fortune. It took the witch several years to barely understand some of them, but her predictions were often inaccurate.
While for Lucien, the most challenging part was to find a crystal ball made of pure and precious Morning-light Crystal. He had no idea where to find one. The witch¡¯s crystal ball came from her family, but it was taken away by the church.
As for the astrology-related basic knowledge, which the witch found very complex, Lucien realized it was basically just celestial mechanics of high-school level, but it was described in a messy way.
However, Lucien could not explain with his current knowledge why a star would have something to do with a person¡¯s fate.
Picturing himself in the future sitting in front of a crystal ball and casting spells, Lucien felt thrilled. If he wore a black sorcerer's robe, Lucien had the impression he would look more like an evil wizard.
¡°Eyes of Stars¡±: An hypnotism magic. The caster needed to have the person staring at his eyes.
¡°Disarming Loop¡±: Lucien¡¯s understanding was that the magic could use the gravity from the stars and build an about twenty-centimetre thick loop, in which the gravity could be controlled. It was a magic mainly used for defence.
Lucien decided to start by protecting himself ? he would learn Disarming Loop.
Besides, the other spells all required other materials. For example, Eyes of Stars needed Night Star (a type of herb) as its reagent. And almost all the Element-specific spells had similar requirements.
Although Lucien could also learn magic from other schools, his meditation technique would make it easier for him to start with Astrology and Element.
Keeping himself focused, Lucien cast the strange spell in a low voice, trying to search for the power in the hanging string connecting the star with his own Host Star. He felt his spirit started vibrating with the casting. It was possible to feel the gravity from the star!
Hurriedly, Lucien tried to shape his spirit according to the simple magic pattern in the notes. However, before the pattern was created the combination of his spirit and the gravity ceased. Lucien had failed.
After five failures, finally his efforts were successful. An almost invisible loop of soft light fell down on the table, surrounding a previously lit candle. Controlled by Lucien, the candle flame was suddenly constrained, and in the next second soared up in the air. After two minutes of practice Lucien stopped.
Crossing his fingers, Lucien bit his lip thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯m not able to create a big difference in gravity. The loop might be barely enough for people to lose control of their weapons to some extent, but not strong enough to disarm them completely. After all, it¡¯s just an apprentice spell.
¡°And it takes me too long to cast it. If I practice more, I should be able to create the loop within three seconds.
¡°Anyway, it is my first magic.¡± Lucien was glad that he could master Disarming Loop in such a short time, while it took the witch more than a month.
¡°The witch explained in the note that the difficulty came from the the fact that she couldn¡¯t understand why would the stars lead to the chaos of the Earth Element, so she had no choice but to practice over and over again without knowing the reason. But I know the reason behind ? gravity. It seems the saying also works here in this world: Knowledge is power.¡±
Recalling the whole process, Lucien tried to reduce the casting time. ¡°I felt the spell just created a certain frequency and then made my spirit start vibrating with it. What if¡­ I just remember and follow the specific frequency and skip the spell?¡±
The answer was yes, but it definitely required a spiritual power control of a higher level. After a long time of practice Lucien was exhausted and he had to call it a day, but by then he had reduced the activating time (no casting since there was no spell needed now) to a bit more than three seconds.
¡°I need more practice tomorrow. And¡­ I¡¯ll try to find some common materials for magic potions¡­¡± Lucien¡¯s brain was not working properly due to his sleepiness.
Even if a sorcerer or sorceress didn¡¯t aim at being an alchemist, the process of learning from creating magic potions was still very significant.

Chapter 26: The Beginning of a New Life
				Chapter 26: The Beginning of a New Life
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
There were over ten different magic potions in the notes. Every one of them was amazing. For example, ¡°Brown Owl¡± was helpful for restoring energy. The most precious among them were three: ¡°Magic Gate¡± provided a great boost for those apprentices who found themselves stuck because of certain magic structures; ¡°Silver Moon¡± was a potion that could help the apprentice during the process of break through; and ¡°Crying Soul¡± could reveal the power hidden in a developed body, or so to speak, an adult.
For now, Crying Soul was the one Lucien was longing for the most.
The materials required for Magic Gate and Silver Moon were precious and hard to find. They also demanded a higher level of spiritual power, close to the one a real sorcerer had. Only Crying Soul could be used on any healthy person, becoming a very famous potion back in the days when the ancient sorcerers were trying to have more low-level squires to face moments of crisis. But there was also a side effect: the potion would overdraw one¡¯s strength, causing problems in the future development. If a person became a knight by using Crying Soul, he wouldn¡¯t be as strong as the normally-trained ones in the future, and his final development would be overall inferior.
But for Lucien, he never really expected being a knight. It was just a good way for him to become stronger quickly.
The problem was that even the materials for Crying Soul were still not that very easy to collect. They were either expensive or very strange. And Lucien was not yet an adult, so the potion might be dangerous for him. The stronger the person was, the greater chance of success for the procedure.
Crying Soul belonged to the Necromancy School. Its simplified magic formula was:
¡°Corpse mushroom + Aquatic Zombie brain tissue + Revenant dust + Moonlight Rose dust = Crying Soul Potion¡±
Corpse Mushrooms grew on dead bodies. Before they were ripe, they were white like milk, but then turned black within a day. They could last for one month when they were ripe. Smelling them could lead the person to suffer from light delusion. If someone ate the mushroom they would be infected with diseases from the corpse. The darker the color was, the better the quality the potion would have.
It was the same for the other materials: stronger aquatic zombies and revenant with stronger hatred would improve the potion¡¯s effect as well.
Moonlight Rose was precious and expensive, costing about a gold Thale per gram (a hundred silver Nars). It shone like the silver moon at night. Also, high-level knight squires would use the Rose to help them awaken the ¡°Blessing¡± in their blood. One dose would need at least ten grams, if everything went well.
The witch once tried to make a Crying Soul potion to become stronger, in order to help on the search for Snow Gorse later. After all, the potion could help a person fight in the same conditions with a level one knight. And there were just about four hundred knights in the whole Duchy.
She could not afford the Rose. But the witch mentioned in her notes that there were aquatic zombies along the Belem River at night. She also recorded that the Revenant Dust could be obtained by summoning a low-level Revenant using the blood of evil creatures, which was also an apprentice-level necromancy spell.
Lucien had no better options available. The only thing he could do now was keep practicing and strengthening his spiritual power, while at the same time trying to find these materials secretly.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Approaching the Month of Fire, the sun rose much earlier than before. The orange-colored clouds were slowly changing as they crossed the sky like blooming flowers.
Lucien succeeded in activating Disarming Loop again. He already knew that the spelling was not necessary if he first made his spirit resonate in the same frequency of the spell. However, that method was more energy-consuming. He was disappointed to see that without the spelling, activating the magic even once could drain his spiritual power completely.
After doing meditation, Lucien felt invigorated. He tidied his messy place a little bit, leaving no proof of the magic practice, and headed to Auntie Alisa¡¯s house.
¡°Morning, Lucien! Come and join us for breakfast!¡± Iven opened the door. Recently he was helping his mom in the Textile Association and thus looked more mature now.
¡°Sure! I planned my arrival time just to be able to have breakfast.¡± Lucien smiled.
¡°You¡¯re playing the funny now, little Evans!¡± Joel was having the veggie soup with dark bread. He was happy to see Lucien¡¯s growth, ¡°You seem more confident now.¡±
Every Sunday morning, those faithful ones among the citizens would go to the Saint Truth Church. Lucien did not want to go with them because was too afraid of being found out, so he always sought different excuses not to join them.
¡°Have some hot soup, little Evans.¡± Auntie Alisa scooped a bowl of hot soup and handed it over to Lucien.
Lucien was starving from his previous meditation and casting. Sipping the hot soup with dark bread, Lucien felt much better.
The dark bread here was still not tasty. Lucien could taste some wheat bran mixed in the bread, and it was much better than what he had at home. His bread tasted like pure wood.
¡°Uncle Joel, I got something else to do tomorrow. Sorry, but I can¡¯t go with you to the church.¡± Despite the risk, Lucien also had no time to waste with that.
¡°Don¡¯t you have to work in the market tomorrow?¡± Auntie Alisa asked.
Lucien pulled out the old purse and gave it back to Joel. He smiled and answered, ¡°I¡¯m Mr.Victor¡¯s admitted student now. I¡¯m going to study music under Mr. Victor.
¡°And¡­¡± Lucien paused a bit, ¡°he will teach me for free.¡±
¡°What!?¡± Joel almost choked on the bread. His face turned red from coughing. ¡°He allowed you to learn music there? You just wanted to learn how to read, like¡­ like a week ago!¡±
Clearly Alisa had a different focus.
¡°For free? Really for free?¡±
Iven gasped in great admiration. ¡°Lucien, what did you do?¡±
Lucien told them the full story. ¡°I¡¯m pretty lucky to have this opportunity. I¡¯m gonna visit Mr. Victor tomorrow morning and borrow some related books.¡±
In fact Lucien was going to study at Victor¡¯s place this afternoon to make up for lesson they had missed. But it was also a very good excuse for him to be absent from the church again. And he was going to visit Mr. Victor tomorrow morning again to collect more books in his spirit library.
Being a musician was a perfect cover for Lucien. He had to take it seriously.
¡°Oh, Mr. Victor! What a generous, nice and talented gentleman!¡± Alisa was touched, again. ¡°Thanks God! God bless you, little Evans! After so many difficulties, your beautiful new life has finally come!¡±
Joel stared at Lucien for a while with complicated emotions. Finally he started patting on Lucien¡¯s shoulder with great joy. His voice was trembling, ¡°You¡¯re lucky, yes. But you¡¯re also smart, diligent and gifted. Mr. Victor is an awesome teacher and I¡¯m sure you can accomplish big achievements in the future. Do your best, little Evans. If you manage to have a chance to play in the Psalm Hall, let me be there to watch you, then I will have no regrets in music in my life.¡±
On the opposite side of the table, Iven was nodding as well. ¡°Then I can tell my friends that I have two elder brothers, one is a knight and the other is a great musician! Cool!¡±
¡°Of course, uncle Joel, I¡¯ll work hard.¡± Lucien nodded seriously but sighed in his heart.
He felt sorry that he wouldn¡¯t be able to put lots of energy and time in music. Last night Lucien had been drawn into the amazing magic world. For him, being a musician was just a camouflage and a way of making money for learning magic. Joel loved music deep within his heart, but Lucien did not.
He did not know much about music here, but from his experience many songs he heard before were very beautiful, and some of them shared the same features with the classical masterpieces on Earth.
Putting the purse back, Joel reminded Lucien. ¡°When you decide what instrument you¡¯d like to start with, don¡¯t be shy and come here to ask for help.¡±
¡°Sure. Thank you so much, uncle Joel, auntie Alisa. I¡¯m planning to find a new job as well, but not in the market. I¡¯m Mr. Victor¡¯s student now, so I hope it¡¯ll be a bit easier.¡± Finished the breakfast, it was time for Lucien to leave.
After reading the magic notes, Lucien knew that learning magic was very expensive. He had to hurry up and make money!

Chapter 27: New Work
				Chapter 27: New Work
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien didn¡¯t go directly to the market after leaving. Instead, he went back home for his wood stick and started practicing basic fighting skills as usual. Since Lucien¡¯s spirit was not strong enough, being physically strong was also very important.
Besides, the stronger the person was, the more likely they would successfully get improved by the Crying Soul Potion.
An hour later, in the market.
It had been five days since Lucien came here last time. The market area was busy as usual. Human and other kinds of humanoid creatures were walking around and bargaining. The assorted shops and stores were like colourful mushrooms in the woods.
Lucien was very careful when he was walking on the streets. The gangsters would probably take revenge on him. But Lucien was pretty sure that with his good perception he would notice if anyone tried to attack him.
However, until he finished buying the materials and was ready to leave, not even a single gangster came to bother him. In fact, the gangsters on the street were in much smaller numbers than usual. They were often in groups of two or three, but today most of them were hanging around alone. Lucien was pretty confused.
No matter what happened, Lucien still had to be careful and try to master all the apprentice spells as soon as possible. Although these spells were not very powerful, Lucien believed that they were already enough for dealing with a bunch of gangsters holding daggers.
It took Lucien more than three hours just to buy three of these materials. Worrying that his shopping might bring any suspiciousness, he was very cautious and decided not to buy anything that was not used for common tasks.
He bought some sulphur, which was very useful for disinfestation in the Month of Fire; nightstar, a type of plant that could promote sleep quality; and icestone, that could be used for keeping stuff fresh.
For the materials that could be found outside of the city, Lucien definitely wouldn¡¯t buy them.
The shopping cost Lucien a Nar and twenty Fells, which represented half of his savings, but what he bought was only enough for about a hundred experiments. Among them, the most expensive one was nightstar, followed by icestone, but sulphur was the cheapest, as expected.
Lucien sighed, ¡°I¡¯d better be careful with these experiments¡­ I really can¡¯t afford to waste any material.¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Spells like Acid Splash and Freezing Rays would definitely mess Lucien¡¯s place. And he was afraid that someone would notice it during daytime. So he decided to find a new place for practicing, the sewers.
At two o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Lucien started his study on time at Victor¡¯s house.
An hour later, the class was over. After Renee, Colin and Annie left, Victor asked in a gentle voice.
¡°Lucien, do you have a job now?¡±
There were only four students left in the living room - Lott, Felicia, Herodotus and Lucien.
Shaking his head, Lucien answered with slight depression.
¡°No, sir¡­ I lost my job for some reason. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m still looking for a new one.¡±
It was kind of embarrassing for Lucien to admit, but he was also a bit excited. Did Mr. Victor have a job offer?
¡°Studying here from two to six in the afternoon everyday can be quite demanding for you. I know you gotta support yourself. Even if you can study here for free, I guess you¡¯re still facing a pretty big challenge with your living expenses.¡± Victor tried to be careful with his words to avoid undermining Lucien¡¯s self-esteem. He asked Colin and Renee before, so he knew that a poor guy like Lucien had to work at least ten hours a day to barely support himself.
¡°I know a relatively easy job. You work four hours every morning and you get ten Nars every month. What do you think?¡±
Lucien felt so touched facing this kind offer. Although he had been through many difficulties and bad things before, Lucien felt he was so lucky to have many kind people helping him like uncle Joel, untie Alisa and Mr. Victor.
¡°Yes¡­ Sure. That¡¯s awesome. It¡¯s very kind of you.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t even know what kind of work it is.¡± Victor smiled, ¡°It¡¯s a job in the association library. They are short of hands now. Another good thing is that when you work there, you can have access to many music or theory-related books. I think it¡¯ll be pretty helpful.¡±
Not being sure of Lucien¡¯s music talent, Victor wanted him to be a basic-level musician first to support himself. Then Lucien could advance forward to the next step if he was really born for this.
That was another surprise for Lucien. He never thought he could have a chance working in a library. He was so excited and happy that the only thing he could do was say ¡°thank you¡± to Victor many times.
Victor was the only reason why Lucien could get this job. People in the association knew that this job was mainly for Mr. Victor¡¯s student. Lucien was working like a dog all day long for just three Nars a month. Now Lucien could work for a salary similar to what a common citizen could earn every month. That was another reason why so many people wanted to be Mr. Victor¡¯s music students.
¡°Great!¡± Victor clapped his hands with joy, ¡°This afternoon, I¡¯m gonna take Lott, Felicia and Herodotus to the association for rehearsal. You can come with us together and sign the contract, then you can start working tomorrow.¡±
When Victor went back upstairs to find some of his music work, Lott came and smiled to Lucien.
¡°Hi, Lucien. I¡¯m Lott, Lott Griffith. We haven¡¯t really talked to each other before. I¡¯m here to say that Mr. Victor is a very, very nice teacher and a very kind man as well. I hope you won¡¯t let him down as his music student.¡±
Lott was pretty unhappy with this newcomer suddenly becoming one of Mr. Victor¡¯s music students. In his eyes, there was definitely no position in the world of musician for a poor, uneducated and ignorant boy like Lucien. As a noble from the Griffith family, he felt ashamed of studying with the poor.
But from Mr. Victor¡¯s words, Lott found out that Victor was expecting Lucien to be a common musician first, not really a music master. Therefore his anger and dissatisfaction turned into noble¡¯s arrogance and pride, looking down upon the poor and miserable guy standing in front of him.
¡°Mr. Victor must be happy so I¡¯m willing to accept him.¡± Lott thought to himself. He always tried to give a good impression to Victor, in order to become his most outstanding student.
Lucien was not very interested in Lott¡¯s intention, because he knew that he had a different path to go - magic. He just replied politely, ¡°I won¡¯t. Thank you, Lott. I¡¯m Lucien Evans.¡±
¡°I¡¯m Felicia Hayne.¡± Politely but also coldly, the red-haired girl nodded to Lucien. She didn¡¯t believe Lucien would achieve something in music. Besides, she couldn¡¯t allow herself to get too close to a poor guy. It was bad for her reputation.
And Herodotus, who always disliked Lucien, also did just a simple self-introduction like Felicia.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
The hall of the Musicians¡¯ Association.
Stepping on the thick and soft carpet, Lucien was following Mr. Victor to the reception counter, while the other students were practicing upstairs.
¡°Good afternoon, Mr. Victor.¡± The cute girl, Elena, slightly bowed and greeted him.
¡°Good afternoon, Elena.¡± Victor was always kind to everyone, ¡°This is Lucien, my new music student. From tomorrow on he will be working in the library. Can you kindly help him sign the contract and hand it to Mr. Hank later?¡±
She nodded and took out the already prepared contract and a quill. When she was passing Lucien the contract, her green eyes were opened with surprise.
¡°Lucien! It¡¯s you! No wonder I just thought it was a familiar name!¡±
She couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes. About more than a week ago, Lucien, the guy from the slum, was rummaging through trash from the association. Today he was standing here as Mr. Victor¡¯s music student! What a crazy world!
¡°Hi, Elena. Nice to see you again.¡± Lucien took the contract and started reading it. Still not very good at reading, it took him quite a while to understand the few lines on the paper, during which Elena finally calmed down and was staring at Lucien with great curiosity.
¡°You can do fingerprint or sign here, either way is fine.¡± She smiled, ¡°You changed so much since last time I saw you.¡±
¡°You know Lucien?¡± Victor asked.
¡°You were there at that time as well, Mr. Victor¡­¡± Elena started explaining to him. Lucien finished reading and wrote down his name slowly.
¡°I see¡­No wonder I feel I¡¯ve seen you before somewhere. You¡¯re always diligent, Lucien. You¡¯ll be successful if you keep working hard in music.¡±
¡°Succeed in music? Victor, are you prepared for the concert?¡± A sharp voice came from behind them.
It was Wolf, the brown-haired musician with a protruding jaw. Lucien still remembered him.

Chapter 28: In the Sewers
				Chapter 28: In the Sewers
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
With his latest progress, Victor was more confident when facing Wolf¡¯s bitter challenge now. After a fierce competition, Victor and Wolf were the last two competitors remaining. In Victor¡¯s opinion, Wolf lost the chance in the end because he spent too much time on criticizing other musician¡¯s work instead of investing more energy in studying music itself.
¡°I do think so, Wolf. Actually I¡¯m pretty happy with my new work. Do you want to give me some suggestion on it?¡± Victor had registered his new piano concerto at the association. There was no chance for Wolf to try to plagiarize it.
Wolf thought Victor was still very frustrated with his work. Now Victor¡¯s confidence was something beyond his expectation. Wolf¡¯s face turned ashen and he murmured,
¡°Not really, Victor. I¡¯d rather keep my curiosity. We¡¯ll see it in three months.¡±
Shrugging his shoulders, Victor smiled, ¡°All right. I was quite looking forward to your opinion.¡±
Wolf just wanted to get rid of this topic, and he saw Lucien was standing aside in his cheap and old linen clothes. Raising his chin, he asked in contempt, ¡°When did you become friends with people from the slum?¡±
That behavior came from a long time ago when Wolf¡¯s family still ranked among nobles. From his great-grandfather on, Wolf¡¯s family lost the title, but it did not prevent him from regarding himself as a noble. He looked down upon the musicians like Victor who came from common families, not to mention poor people like Lucien. His arrogance was mixed with the hatred towards Victor, so in his eyes Lucien was comparable to a disgusting mouse jumping onto his dinner table.
Lucien was a bit angry, but he was already used to this kind of contempt. As long as there was social status and wealth in a world, people would be divided into different levels - the superior and the inferior, the decent and the filthy¡­The only way for a person to change the situation was striving for power and wealth. But once someone succeeded, they would often join the group and become one among the ones who looked down upon the common folk.
¡°Mind your words, Wolf.¡± Frowning his eyebrows, Victor warned him seriously, ¡°Lucien¡¯s my new music student. He¡¯s a¡­ a very talented young lad.¡± Honestly speaking, Victor boasted about Lucien¡¯s ability. He was not sure about Lucien¡¯s music gift yet.
¡°Are you serious, Victor? Really?¡± Wolf started laughing so hard that he almost lost his footing, ¡°You got that nervous with your performance and lost your mind?¡±
Lacking a bit of confidence, Victor tried to fight back.
¡°Aalto is the City of Psalm, the City of Music, everyone here can have a chance at learning music. Many outstanding bards are of poor background. The talent of music is a gift from God, and God doesn¡¯t only bless the wealthy and the noble.¡±
Wolf shook his head while he was still laughing, ¡°Come on, Victor! Both you and I know that a talent can easily awaken the Blessing in their blood. We call people like Princess Natasha and Lord Verdi talents, but your student¡­ Get real!
¡°If he manage to become an outstanding musician in the future, I will do an open apology to you and your student on Music Criticism, and never hold my own concert again.¡±
Wolf made the bet on impulse, but he was pretty cautious as well. He added the word ¡°outstanding¡± on purpose since it was really hard to reach a consensus on what really made an outstanding artist.
Lucien heard that Princess Natasha, also known as the Violet Countess, was the only child of the Grand Duke of Orvarit. And her current title was also one of the prerequisites to become the Grand Duke of the Duchy. She was very gifted in music and had excellent skills in playing violin, flute and harpsichord. Besides, the twenty-five-year-old princess was also an outstanding level five Grand Knight, who was expected to become a Radiant Knight soon.
Lord Verdi, the nephew of the Grand Duke and also a member of the Violet family, just became a level five Grand Knight, and was currently serving as the chief commander of the City Guards in Aalto.
After making the comment, Wolf directly turned and left the hall.
Victor shook his head in repulsion. ¡°Lucien, just ignore him. Everyone knows Wolf is a total bastard. Your work starts from tomorrow. One day off a week. You can arrange your day off with the library administrators. I have to go to the odeon now.¡±
Lucien nodded and watched Mr. Victor leave the hall. Then he turned to Elena and gave the contract back to her. ¡°Thank you, Elena,¡± he said.
There was a sweet little dimple in Elena¡¯s left check. ¡°No worries, it¡¯s my job. Like Mr. Victor said, never let Mr. Wolf bother you. He¡¯s always like that¡­ looking down upon most people in the association, except several directors with titles.¡±
¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing Mr. Wolf¡¯s high-lifted jaw digging a hole into the carpet along with the noble directors.¡± Lucien shrugged a bit and smiled.
Elena started giggling with his words.
When Lucien was about to leave, Elena stopped him. Her right hand clenched into a small fist, and her face looked serious.
¡°I believe in you, Lucien! You can be an outstanding musician! Mr. Wolf would deeply regret his bet!¡±
Honestly speaking, Lucien did not take the bet seriously. But he also raised his fist like Elena and replied, ¡°I certainly will.¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
There was no nightlife in Aderon. At nine o¡¯clock at night most residents in this area were already in bed, except for several drunkards who were still hanging around. Everybody else had to prepare for the hard work in the following morning.
Lucien told Joel and Alisa he got a new job over dinner, and then went back to his shack to meditate and prepare for his magic experiments.
Gently closing the door, Lucien sneaked out of his shack and walked towards one of the entrances to the sewers. It would still take Lucien quite some time to learn how to build a secret passage like the witch did.
After making sure that no one was watching, Lucien stepped into the underground world.
The stinking smell and the slimy wall were still the same, disgusting and gloomy, but none of that would prevent him from exploring magic. Walking in the pipes, Lucien was mapping in his spirit library and trying to find a proper corner to start his experiments.
He also scraped off some of the moss on the wall and put them into his pocket. It was called Light Moss, which was the reagent for the apprentice magic Extinguishment.
The deeper Lucien went, the more gruesome the place became. Down there Lucien never met any homeless guy, like Corella mentioned. The sound of his footsteps was intensified within the sewers. Lucien could even hear his own breath.
Finally Lucien found his ideal place: a fork path. The front way was blocked by a huge rock, while the one turning left went further into the darkness. Lucien could easily notice if anyone was approaching him from this position.
Lucien pinched some sulphur from his pocket while recalling the structure of the magic. Then he started casting a strange spell and the powder slipped through his fingers. His face looked serious and mysterious in the cold light.

Chapter 29: The Dead Body
				Chapter 29: The Dead Body
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After practicing many times, when dawn was drawing near, Lucien finally mastered the five apprentice spells: Eyes of Stars, Freezing Rays, Darkness, Mage¡¯s Hand and Acid Splashing. Furthermore, now Lucien could activate Disarming Loop without a verbal component in about three seconds.
It took the witch much longer to understand all these spells. It was amazing how Lucien could grasp them in such a short period of time. In his eyes these magic structures were related to different mathematical models and the knowledge of planar geometry. After reviewing what he had learned before in high school, Lucien found they were actually pretty easy to be understood.
Here magic could be explained by science. In Acid Splashing, for example, sulphur was transformed into sulfuric acid. However, Lucien had a hard time understanding how Darkness worked. His farfetched guess was that the magic reconstructed the Light Moss and made it absorb the light. As expected, Lucien had to spend more time to master the Darkness spell.
Lucien reflected on his magic experiment: His knowledge from the past, like physics and chemistry, was useful, but it could not be used to explain everything in this magic world. There were some similarities shared between this place and the earth, but there were also many things he couldn¡¯t understand, like those precious metals and magic materials. He knew he should explore the world more by himself.
After a ten-minute break, Lucien started doing some simple cleaning.
¡°These apprentice spells are not powerful enough.¡± Rubbing the floor, Lucien thought to himself, ¡°They can only kill someone when they hit the vital parts, or the most they could do is make the person move slower or suffer a bit.¡± But Lucien was not disappointed. He knew that, if need arose, they could still be more than helpful.
Finishing the cleaning, Lucien carefully hid the materials nearby. He didn¡¯t go back to the surface directly but continued his exploration towards the end of the outlets. He was looking for Corpse Mushroom, which meant he had to find some carcasses first. Searching in a graveyard under the nose of the church was too risky. Lucien heard that many poor people, who had no families or friends, died lonely and miserably down there. Besides, dead animals and rotten flesh were even easier to be found.
The witch did not mention any possible danger in the pipes, but Lucien was still very cautious, staying alert to any sign of trouble.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Within twenty minutes, Lucien had found two dead rats and a jelly-like creature body, but no Corpse Mushroom was there.
Turning around a corner, an open area appeared in front of Lucien. That was where the homeless people lived.
The sewer here was very broad. An underground river was flowing slowly with waste floating in the middle, which went all the way to the Belem River. On both sides of the river old dirty rugs and pots were scattered everywhere. The clothes the beggars were wearing could barely cover their bodies.
¡°Why did you come here, young lad? You don¡¯t belong here.¡± An old man probably in his sixties asked Lucien. His ribs stood out like arching blades. However, when Lucien heard his voice, the old man sounded like he was only forty or something.
Lucien¡¯s old but clean linen clothes were far from decent, but compared to what they were wearing, the youngster looked like a noble.
¡°I have a friend who also lives here.¡± Lucien tried to sound confident and strong. He must hide his feeling of insecurity in front of these guys, or they would think it was easy to prey on the teen standing there.
Several beggars behind the old man stood up. Their eyes were full of greed and ferocity. Lucien was not scared. Instead, he pulled out his dagger and took a step forward.
The beggars did not dare take any further action. On the contrary, they were now standing in a defensive position.
At this time, the old man started grinning. ¡°You don¡¯t look like a guy with a decent job, young lad.¡±
¡°None of your business.¡± Lucien answered coldly.
¡°Anyway, I can tell you¡¯re not doing very well. Even a hard-working young lad like you couldn¡¯t afford proper bread and beef. It¡¯s not your fault.¡±
Lucien was not sure about the old man¡¯s intention.
¡°The Saint Truth Church tells people that all of us are God¡¯s servants. But why can the noble live an extravagant life while the poor have to suffer every day and night. There¡¯s no difference between us, and all human beings are born with sin!¡±
¡°I¡¯m not interested in your nonsense.¡± Although his words were pretty obscure, Lucien knew the old man was trying to preach, but obviously not the Saint Truth. No matter what the old man believed in, other Gods or demons, Lucien had no interest in it. The price for having something to do with a heresy in this world could be his own life.
He did not want to end up being tied to a stake and burned to ashes alive.
Facing such direct rejection, the old man and the other beggars were very angry. Their belief was blasphemed.
Lucien knew it was time to get away from those guys. He started walking towards the outlets slowly and calmly, grabbing his shiny dagger in his hand.
¡°Anyone wanna try me?¡± Lucien stared at them fearlessly.
When he walked by, Lucien noticed that there was a clean black cloth lying on the ground, on which there was a shiny silver-colored horn. He remembered these beggars were sitting around the cloth when he arrived here.
The beggars were hesitant. No one wanted to fall on Lucien. Finally they gave up and sat back on the ground.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
After walking for another ten minutes, the sound of the river flow gradually became louder.
¡°Here should be the end of the sewers. The underground river joins the Belem River here,¡± Lucien thought to himself. There was a iron net covering the water outlet at the confluence and tons of floating trash accumulated in front of the net.
Lucien slowed down his pace. He was hoping that he could find more dead bodies here.
Lucien did not find anything until he walked towards the end of the sewer. When he started feeling disappointed and was about to go back to the surface, Lucien suddenly noticed that the net was missing a part, under the water.
Out of curiosity, Lucien grabbed the net and tried to shake it. As expected, there was a big hole under there on the iron net. What was really unexpected was that, at this time, a black bulk of something gradually surfaced from the water.
Lucien moved closer. It was a dead body, swollen and rotten. Many parts of its skin had fallen off. The clothes on the body were tangled with lots of trash, which increased the buoyancy a lot.
Lucien felt very disgusted and also a bit scared. However, he was still trying to see if there was any Corpse Mushroom on it.
There was a long wound on its chest. Someone cut the poor man open vertically and took away his heart. Checking with the dagger, Lucien¡¯s eyebrows frowned.
¡°Wait¡­This is¡­my purse?!¡± Lucien was shocked. He picked the purse up using the dagger and was certain that it was the purse which was taken away by the gangsters some days ago.
¡°Why is it here¡­¡± Lucien was confused.
Then he looked at the face of the dead body. The corpse was so badly decomposed that it took Lucien quite a while to finally recognize the guy.
¡°An¡­Andre?!¡±

Chapter 30: Ghost in the Shadow
				Chapter 30: Ghost in the Shadow
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
A strong stench of death came out from Andre¡¯s rotten face. A face on which Lucien could still tell his great fear and pain before he died.
¡°The gangsters under Aaron are acting weird recently¡­Does it have anything to do with Andre¡¯s death?¡± Lucien had absolutely no clue.
Wrapping his hand with a piece of cloth, Lucien pressed Andre¡¯s body hard back into the water. This time the body did not hook on the iron net. It was washed away directly into the Belem River and disappeared.
Lucien stood up and set off for the surface, but to avoid the beggars, he did not take the same route. According to the map he drew in his spirit library, he took another direction about twenty meters away from the place where the beggars gathered. If the map was correct, Lucien would pass by the ruins of the witch¡¯s chamber and come back to the ground from the same entrance through which he came down earlier.
Several meters away from the corner, Lucien heard the sound of some heavy footsteps and suddenly stopped. The footsteps echoed in the sewers, loud and clear. It sounded like there were a bunch of people approaching, and some of them must be pretty big.
Lucien looked around calmly. Soon he found there was a hole in the wall, big enough for someone to hide. Lucien hid himself in the hole, with his back against the wall.
A while later, those guys walked directly past him, turning around a corner a few steps ahead. In such a dark place, they would not notice Lucien hiding a in the hole without a careful check.
¡°Throw these bodies into the river. Hurry up.¡± It was a low voice from a man. However, he was speaking indistinctly, as if he missed some front teeth.
Lucien felt he had heard this voice somewhere before, but could not remember where.
¡°Why did it take you guys so long. Remember, don¡¯t screw up the whole plan.¡± It was the old man¡¯s voice.
After a few seconds of silence, the first man answered with slight fear.
¡°Sorry¡­ But within ten days, we promise it will be enough¡­ at any cost, like Aaron said.¡±
Aaron¡­ Rosan Aaron?
Now Lucien finally recognized the first voice. It was Jackson, the guy who smashed Lucien¡¯s shack, and also because of Lucien, Jackson could not even speak clearly now.
From their conversations, Lucien¡¯s guess was that the Aaron gang was by no means a victim of the heresy, but an accomplice, and probably Andre was killed because of his disobedience.
The old man¡¯s voice was very unpleasant. ¡°Please tell Mr. Aaron¡­ and the other guy, that as long as you continuously spare no efforts in helping us grow, you will all receive huge rewards. I know that, in your eyes, I¡¯m only a dying, useless old man, which is true, but we are just tiny worms on the ground. Our priests are already powerful enough to beat their bishop. We wouldn¡¯t need any of your help were it not for maintaining that¡­ thing.¡±
¡°I will.¡± Jackson answered in a low mood.
¡°But¡­ Jackson, I don¡¯t think we can meet their requirement¡­¡± Another voice came, trembling, ¡°We gotta make sure that those are people that no one would care about. Homeless guys are ideal, but we cannot find any of them down here, other than his people¡­¡±
¡°That¡¯s true, Jackson. It¡¯s too difficult to find fifty of them within ten days.¡± Someone else agreed.
The old man laughed, ¡°The rest of them are at the bottom of the Belem River. Eels in the river will clean them up for us.¡±
¡°Skar, Aaron told us to make it at any cost. We don¡¯t necessarily have to focus on homeless guys. If they are just the poor¡­ Aaron will be able to handle this.¡± A cold smile appeared on Jackson¡¯s face.
¡°You have any target already, Jackson?¡± Skar was a bit surprised.
¡°Yes, I do.¡± Jackson¡¯s face turned hideous, ¡°They gotta pay the price¡­ the two little bastards, and their families.¡±
Lucien was shocked. His anger was burning his guts. He knew Jackson hated them, but he never expected that the thug could be so cruel and inhuman to the point of planning to kill the whole family!
But thank God Lucien was here and found out about Jackson¡¯s plan.
¡°I gotta solve the problem here and now.¡± The plan of killing them all in the sewers arose in Lucien¡¯s mind. He couldn¡¯t let them go back onto the ground, or he would not be able to protect John¡¯s family anymore.
Lucien must kill them all. Then Lucien could tell John about the heresy and no one would know what happened down here.
Many thoughts quickly passed through his mind. Lucien¡¯s reached out to his pocket and made sure that all the magic materials were in position. Carefully, he creeped out of the hole and approached the corner.
They had nine people there. But Lucien had no choice. Staying calm was his most important and powerful weapon.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Throwing the last sack into the water, Skar poked the body bag with a long pole in fear. Although they were gangsters, gouging out people¡¯s hearts alive was still too much for them, and they also believed in the God of Truth. So they prayed in their mind, begging for forgiveness.
¡°Jackson, all of the bags are gone.¡± Glancing at the weird old man, Skar carefully asked, ¡°We¡¯d better go now¡­ I heard there are lot of aquatic zombies in the Belem River.¡±
Jackson turned to the old man, ¡°Does it have anything to do with the bodies we threw away? I¡¯ve never heard of zombies in the river before.¡±
The old man shook his head, ¡°We don¡¯t want any trouble while we¡¯re not strong enough. Aalto was the core city of the previous magic empire. Maybe some kind of death power was sealed deep within the river, and now the seal is no longer effective.¡±
¡°All right.¡± When Jackson was about to leave with his men, he saw Scar¡¯s terrified face. At the same time, Jackson heard a weird, low voice murmuring in the back, like a spell¡­
Twenty meters away from them, there was a dark humanoid shadow standing there. Half of his body and face were hidden in the darkness. In the shimmer of the moss, the mysterious shadow was even more strange and terrifying.
¡°Gh¡­ Ghost!¡± Skar screamed at the top of his lungs. Since he was involved in this, his conscience was tortured by the fear that the people they killed would come back and seek revenge. When he closed his eyes, the warm and bloody hearts that they took from those people¡¯s chests when they were still alive were still beating in his mind.
Great fear seized him. Skar now could not even move at all.
The ghost raised his right hand, and some shimmering powder fell through its fingers. Jackson and the old man started running as soon as they saw the ghost, but all of a sudden they were devoured by complete darkness.
The glimmer from the moss disappeared. The darkness spread quickly like a bottle of spilled ink and no light could penetrate it.
They couldn¡¯t see anything. Except for the old man, the rest of them were crazily wielding their daggers, trying to keep the bloody ghost away.
The pipe was narrow. They hurt each other by accident and some of them started screaming in pain. But fear and panic did not help them at all.
Darkness, an apprentice spell. It could block all kinds of natural light in an area no larger than 6 by 6 meters, enveloping everything in complete darkness.. For now, as an apprentice, Lucien could maintain the spell for one minute.
¡°You idiots! Calm down! Stop!¡± Although he could not cast a single spell, the old man heard the priests mentioning about different kinds of magic before.
¡°¡­Ouch!¡± However, before the old man made that command, Jackson¡¯s dagger scratched him.
Within little more than ten seconds, two guys got stabbed by the chaotic attacks of daggers and fell on the ground. The others were also injured to some extent. Driven by the horrible fear, Skar and other three guys started running backwards. In the darkness, two of them fell into the river like the body bags, while the old man, Jackson, another thug started rushing towards the shadow.
At this time, the weird spellcasting voice arose again.

Chapter 31: Zombie in the Sewage
				Chapter 31: Zombie in the Sewage
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After a few more steps the old man finally broke the siege of darkness. However, his eyes were no longer accustomed to the weak light from the moss.
It was just a blink. When he opened his eyes again, some kind of pungent, dark green liquid hit his face directly.
¡°Ow!!¡± The shrill cry from the old man scared the rest of them. Jackson looked back subconsciously, even though he could not see anything.
With both hands covering his eyes, the old man was rolling on the ground in horrible pain. The skin of his face burned and turned black instantly. His scream was so bitter that Jackson and the rest of them shuddered with fear. Several second later, the old man fell into the river and the scream disappeared.
Jackson knew there was no way to escape. They would either kill the shadow, or be killed by it.
Their only hope was to fight it!
¡°Run! Run close to that fucking thing!¡± Jackson yelled and dashed to the shadow.
Then he saw it was Lucien!
Jackson was furious. Hatred replaced his fear and the only thing in his mind was to tear the fucking bastard up into thousands of pieces.
When he was about to throw his dagger towards Lucien, he saw a blue beam of light in Lucien¡¯s hand. Jackson hurriedly dodged to the left and barely avoided it.
Unfortunately for them, the other thug following behind him was not that lucky. The light beam hit directly in his face and a thin layer of ice quickly filmed his eyes, nose and mouth. Freezing cold invaded the guy¡¯s brain and made him lose most of his power before he could smash the ice.
The guy was choked. Then he banged his head fiercely on the ground.
At this time Jackson finally realized that the person standing in front of him was no more that weak poor guy. However, he became a wizard, an evil wizard with terrible power!
Jackson was not an idiot. He understood that by no means Lucien would let him go. Grabbing his dagger, he leaped at Lucien¡¯s throat with all his strength.
Suddenly, Jackson felt a heavy pressure fell on him and then his legs caved. Then his body fell down directly onto the ground.
¡°Fuck!¡± Jackson swore desperately. He did not know what was going on there, but he knew that losing his footing at this point would be fatal.
Longer before Lucien cast Acid Splash, he had already activated his defensive magic ¡ª Disarming Loop, without saying a word.
Lucien walked towards Jackson, looking at him wielding his dagger in vain. Without saying anything, Lucien grabbed Jackson¡¯s hand and slowly pushed the dagger into his neck.
The gravity affected the blood and it didn¡¯t squirt out from his neck too much. It was ideal because Lucien did not want any of Jackson¡¯s dirty blood on his clothes.
Jackson¡¯s great anger and pain were choked in his throat. His eyes were wide open and his eyeballs almost burst out, while his arms and legs were twitching against the wall. Jackson¡¯s nails were scratching on the ground, but soon his resistance was no more.
The other guy did not take Lucien much time as well.
Standing beside the underground sewage river, Lucien saw the old man¡¯s body floating quietly downstream with his face soaking in the water. Lucien felt relieved, because he thought the old man would be the biggest threat among them. Who knew if the old man had some kind of evil power from his heretic belief.
All this happened within just twenty seconds. The darkness was still covering the area some distance away. The two injured beggars were still writhing in agony on the ground. Some beggars and gangsters were still floating on the water. But they were too scared to find the broken steel net to escape.
Lucien did not want to kill them all by himself, and he was also not able to. His power had a limit. So the easiest way was driving the rest of them into the Belem River and leaving them to the ghosts there.
But there was one problem. Lucien also could not see anything in the dark area, so he had to stand there for now, waiting for the magic to expire. At the same time, he was adjusting his respiratory rhythm in order to recover his power.
Casting the four spells was very tiring. Lucien¡¯s remaining power was only enough to use either Darkness or Freezing Rays once.
Suddenly the light returned within the spell area. The light startled Skar and he couldn¡¯t help but close his eyes. The fear of death scared him to his knees. He trembled and prayed, ¡°May God forgive me¡­ May God forgive me¡­¡±
Slowly opening his eyes, Skar was shocked to find how young the wizard was. In the dim light, the wizard had fine features.
Skar had lost his mind and surrendered. He could not tell whether the man standing in front of him was an evil wizard or a hateful ghost.
It was a good chance to cast Eyes of Stars on Skar, when he was suffering a mental breakdown. The apprentice magic could mesmerize the enemy or make the person fall into a trance state.
The two effects were different: The former, mesmerization, required the caster to look into the other person¡¯s eyes for almost ten minutes, while the latter, trancing, only needed some eye contact, which was more helpful in a fight.
If Lucien could take control of Skar, he could use him to kill the rest of them.
When Lucien was about to cast the spell, a sudden short scream pierced the silence and echoed in the whole space. Even Lucien felt very strange.
As suddenly as the scream of agony started, it stopped.
Lucien stopped his spelling and took a step behind his Disarming Loop. His Freezing Rays were ready to go.
At this time, both Lucien and Skar saw the horrific scene: In the river, a strong and pale hand was holding tight at a gangster¡¯s neck, whose skull was half opened. A black tongue was licking the white brain inside with some effort.
The owner of the tongue was a humanoid monster, whose body was so swollen that its skin appeared almost transparent. Parts of its skin were hanging, showing its rotten flesh beneath. Under the cover of the monster¡¯s seaweed-like long hair, there were facial muscles that could fall off at any time. The place where the eyeballs should be was completely hollow, and there were two tiny white flames burning inside the two eye sockets.
Another beggar¡¯s body, whose brain was completely gone already, was floating towards the river through the big hole on the steel net.
¡°The Great Master of Argent, the forever lasting silence, may you bless your servants¡­¡± A beggar sitting next to the wall started praying desperately.
The monster had a frightening power that reeked of doom. Even Lucien was extremely nervous and terrified, although he was quite a distance away from the monster.
Aquatic Zombies! These were the monsters in the Belem River! They were zombies!
Lucien suddenly recalled the witch¡¯s note, which described the features of the undead creature:
¡°Aquatic Zombie: immune to Mind magic; No Morale; Immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, stun, disease effects; No fatigue, exhaustion, breath; Do not feel cold; Strong resistance towards ice and acid; Extremely afraid of Fire and Light magic.¡±
But what frightened Lucien was that the note did not mention anything about the flames in the Zombie¡¯s eyes. Something was definitely not right.

Chapter 32: Aquatic Zombie
				Chapter 32: Aquatic Zombie
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
According to the witch¡¯s notes, an aquatic zombie was no stronger than a male adult. But unlike most of the undead, these zombies were way faster and swift, while they still carried the features belonging to the undead ¡ª strong resistance to physical damage and other immunities. Therefore, common people and even some knight squires usually did not have any chance to survive when facing these zombies, unless they had a significant advantage in numbers.
Since aquatic zombies were extremely afraid of Fire and Light magic, a torch could burn them down if it was used properly. However, this zombie just showed up from the water, which meant its strength and agility would be increased significantly. Fire magic was also not that powerful anymore because of the water. Only Light magic could be helpful under this circumstance.
Lucien was absolutely not prepared. Although he knew that he had to confront aquatic zombies some day, it definitely should not be today. The witch mentioned in the note that there was a kind of material called Flame Jelly which could be used for alchemy. A piece of jelly could even burn in water for a while. However, at the moment Lucien mastered no useful Light magic and also had no such jelly. Even worse was that somehow he felt the zombie he was facing was way stronger than the common ones described by the witch.
Regarding Light magic, sorcerers could never compete with pastors. Aside from Light Rays in the first circle and on, all Light-related spells of apprentice level were not for attack purpose.
Nevertheless, among Element magic Fire magic ranked top mainly because it was hard to be brought under control. The only Fire magic in apprentice magic list was Marius¡¯s Small Fire, which could only be used to kindle firewood when an apprentice forgot his or her flints in the wild.
Escape was the first idea in Lucien¡¯s mind. At the same time, the mutant zombie had finished the gangster¡¯s brain and swiftly jumped on one of the beggars. Then Lucien heard a crisp crack in the beggar¡¯s neck. Pressing its fingernails deeply into the skull, the zombie opened the beggar¡¯s head very easily like opening a walnut.
Its speed and strength made Lucien stop. After seeing that, he understood that escape simply meant death. There was no other way to survive other than fight back, and for that he needed to calm down.
Lucien¡¯s brain quickly started analyzing.
¡°The zombie¡¯s afraid of light. But it¡¯s very early in the morning and it is still dark outside.
¡°The zombie won¡¯t give me enough time to light anything with my flints.
¡°Marius¡¯s Small Fire¡­ No, I don¡¯t know how to cast the spell yet.¡±
Lucien was standing there, watching the zombie finishing the brain and then jumping onto Skar. His mind was being occupied by different thoughts and plans, but each of them was denied by him calmly.
The ability to stay calm was the most important character of an outstanding sorcerer.
Mutant zombies could impose a magical effect called Dread Aura on their targets to freeze them with fear. But Skar¡¯s fear of the zombie was so great that he managed to move his legs and started running for his life.
However, only after few steps, the zombie swiftly overtook him and grabbed his feet. Skar squeaked out shrill cries desperately.
¡°Disarming Loop, Eyes of Stars, Mage Hand, Extinguishment, Acid Splash, Freezing Ray¡­That¡¯s all I know.
¡°Among them, Eyes of Stars and Extinguishment are of no use here.
¡°Disarming Loop is useful, but it¡¯s far from enough to stop the monster.¡±
Lucien was still standing there, his eyes staring at the monster.
The zombie raised Skar with its two claws and directly tore him in half. Lucien could hear that Skar¡¯s heart, liver and guts fell onto the ground with profuse bleeding. Skar¡¯s thrilling scream was still echoing in the pipes.
¡°Mage Hand¡­ also not powerful enough.
¡°¡­ Acid Splash¡­ Wait! Sulphur is required to cast Acid Splash, which is also a component of gunpowder. And during the casting process the sulphur is lit.¡±
Lucien¡¯s brain was striving for survival. He would not let his brain become another feast for the monster.
The zombie opened Skar¡¯s head, in which the white brain tissue was still slightly shaking like a bowl of jelly.
Lucien could feel the effects of its Dread Aura. His heart was racing and he felt breathless.
He knew he couldn¡¯t lose his mind. Thus, he started analyzing the magic structure of Acid Splash, while his right hand reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of sulphur.
¡°I gotta stop the magic reaction halfway when the sulphur is lit.
¡°The notes mentioned that it would backfire. The consequence going from exhausting spiritual power to severe damage in soul, or even worse.¡±
Analyzing the structure of the magic, Lucien tried to break it down into several parts to skip the acid-reaction part during the casting process and only keep the fire from the sulphur.
The process of deconstruction and reconstruction needed to be repeated several times. Even if Acid Splash was only a very simple apprentice-level spell, it was still very challenging for Lucien.
Honestly, he was not sure if he wouldn¡¯t kill himself by doing this. But he had no other choice.
The zombie devoured the brain and threw Skar¡¯s body away. Slowly it turned to Lucien and suddenly started running towards its last target. In Lucien¡¯s eyes all of these was like a slow motion, he could smell the stink of death and feel the overwhelming horror.
No one could tell Lucien¡¯s fear from his face. Lucien didn¡¯t move at all. He was just standing there with the sulphur slowly falling through his fingers.
The zombie was even faster than Lucien thought. In a second, the horrible creature was only a meter away from him.
In the meantime Lucien started casting the spell and then forced himself to stop before it was completely finished. As if he was hammered in the head, dizziness seized him and his nose started to bleed, but instantly a trail of fire showed up in front of Lucien.
The claw of the zombie was just a few inches away from Lucien¡¯s head.
Lucien¡¯s power was completely exhausted and he could not sustain the fire and let it grow anymore. In the last moment he released the fire and fell onto the ground.
He had tried his best.
The zombie¡¯s claw got his clothes and left a long tear on them.
Suddenly a fire wall exploded between Lucien and the zombie. He raised his injured hands instinctively to protect his head, and then rolled away from the blue fire.
The fire wall did not last long. However, after a whoosh the zombie was covered in flames like a human-shaped torch.
Swinging its claws, the zombie stopped attacking Lucien and started stumbling towards the water, but the monster became much slower now.
Of course, Lucien wouldn¡¯t let it go back into the river.
Grabbing the dagger, he stood up and caught up with the zombie. Lucien fiercely kicked the zombie down and stabbed the dagger into the holes where the two white flames were flickering. Lucien felt the burning pain caused by the heat.
Once, twice¡­ Lucien was too afraid to stop himself from stabbing the monster, as if the zombie would seize the chance and tear him in half if he lost the momentum for even a second.
Even though, the zombie was still crawling towards the river with flame on its back. But few meters away from the river, the white flames in its eyes were finally extinguished and its bones collapsed.
Gasping with great effort, Lucien took out the zombie¡¯s brain with his dagger. He still remember that he needed it.
After its brain had been taken away, soon the zombie turned completely into ashes, in which something small was shining there.

Chapter 33: The Ring
				Chapter 33: The Ring
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Grabbing his dagger, Lucien cautiously approached the pile of ash.
The shiny item was actually a carved silver ring, inlaid with a small blue gem on top.
¡°It belonged to the zombie?¡± Lucien was surprised. He picked the ring up and started scrutinizing it carefully.
There was a line of letters on its surface, which was written in the common tongue.
¡°Human nature can be colder than snow.¡±
The ring was just plain-looking, but when Lucien rubbed it gently he felt a mysterious and amazing power coming from the gem. After a few minutes, when Lucien¡¯s power started slowly recovering from the magic backfire, he carefully examined the ring again using his spiritual power.
Lucien¡¯s injured soul was slightly shocked as soon as his spirit entered into the ring. He felt inside the gem what seemed to be the power of blizzard, but its structure was way more complicated than that of the apprentice-level magic.
¡°It¡¯s a magic ring! Maybe that¡¯s why the zombie seemed much stronger than the others.¡± Lucien was excited, ¡°It seems that the ring¡¯s even superior to Benjamin¡¯s Truth Badge. I wonder which power level the ring belongs to¡­¡±
With his remaining spiritual power, Lucien couldn¡¯t even understand the magic structure in the ring, not to mention how to leave his own spiritual imprint on the structure, in order to use the power.
A sorcerer with the first circle spell called Identify could directly understand the magic properties of all level one magic items, without having to analyze their inner structures. One¡¯s ability in using Identify would grow along with their accumulated knowledge, and thus the person could progress and start using the items of higher level.
Sometimes there was extra information in some of them, including their makers, for what purposes they were made, and so on.
According to the witch¡¯s notes, all of the magic items could be divided into different standards: apprentice level, level one to nine, and legend level.
The evaluation criteria was based on the power of the magic item: if the power was equal to a first circle magic or to the ability of a level one knight, it was, correspondingly, a level one magic item. Nevertheless, there were four ranks within each level ¡ª low, medium, high and perfect. Taking a ring enchanted with the third circle spell Lightning for example, if the ring could be used once a day, it was a low-rank level three magic ring; if it could be used three times a day, it would instead be considered a medium-rank level three one; if the ring had some extra benefits like increasing the magic resistance of the user, it would be a high-rank level three item.
If a magic item had some kind of permanent augmentation effect, it would be a level higher than the other common ones. For example, Mind Blank was an eight circle spell, and a magic item with the immunity towards this ring-eight magic would be recognized as a precious level nine magic artifact.
Furthermore, the grading was also applied to magic weapons and armors.
Lucien did not know the ring very well, so he dare not wear it casually in case there was any curse on it. After putting the ring in his pocket he was in a pretty good mood.
However, when he noticed all the bodies and blood around him, he knew that he had more work to do. Most importantly, he needed to learn how to preserve the aquatic zombie¡¯s brain tissue.
Lucien did not know how to use the apprentice spell called Organ Preservation yet, but the zombie¡¯s brain tissue should be able to last from three to five days, which should be enough time for Lucien to master the spell.
According to the notes, Organ Preservation was a spell that could actually be used for keeping many other things fresh, besides organs. Twenty four hours duration each time. No magic reagent required.
After opening the zombie¡¯s skull with the dagger, Lucien saw its black brain, which looked like countless disgusting worms entangling each other. Carefully, Lucien put the brain into a bag together with his icestones.
Knowing lots of money would be needed for learning magic in the future, Lucien plundered all the money from the bodies, including the two hollow-headed ones in the river. He got thirty-three Nars and fifty-two Fells in total.
Looking at his bulging money bag, a smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s face.
However, when Lucien was collecting the money he noticed he couldn¡¯t see things clearly and his head was buzzing sometimes. Finally he realized that these were the sequelae from his spirit damage. There was no magic potion mentioned in the notes that could be used for this kind of injury. Therefore, the recovery might take a while.
Then, Lucien started doing the labor. Holding his breath, he wrapped up the guts scattered on the ground and threw them away into the river, along with the bodies. Gradually he started getting used to the scene and even took a closer look at Skar¡¯s kidney. Lucien believed that soon all of them would become fish food in the Belem River.
After rinsing away the blood on the ground, it was about time he left this place.
¡°It seems like the heresy has nothing to do with the aquatic zombie.¡± Lucien thought to himself while he was walking, ¡°Then what about the red-eyed rats¡­?¡±
Lucien decided that tomorrow morning he would go to Lord Venn¡¯s manor to find John before going to the Musicians¡¯ Association. He had to talk to John about the heresy, but, of course, without telling him what actually happened down here.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Several pastors in training would come down to the sewers once every three days to clean up the trash in the river using spells.
But the person stepping out of a shadow after Lucien left was definitely not a new pastor.
¡°The Lord of Argent, the forever lasting silence¡­¡± The person giggled in a mix of disgust and amusement, continuously talking to himself, ¡°A different name, a different identity? Interesting¡­ That person must have been bewitched by him. I can¡¯t wait to see his shadow coming upon the land. A battle between him and the Cardinal of Aalto will be very interesting¡­
¡°Umm¡­ Probably there is some kind of legacy left by the previous ancient magic empire that he could utilize.
¡°But the church would interrupt his plan, I bet.¡±
The person looked around. A cunning smile appeared upon his face.
¡°The pretty smart young guy just created the new apprentice magic, Sulphuric Fire Wall, by himself. Impressive¡­ He can be very useful to me...¡±
Then his figure split into countless small shadow pieces and he suddenly disappeared.
Only his giggles were left there, echoing in the pipes.

Chapter 34: Ice Revenger
				Chapter 34: Ice Revenger
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Half an hour later, another figure appeared in the pipes, close to the broken iron net.
It was a decently dressed man in his thirties ¡ª black shirt, black suit, black shoes, almost everything black. His moustache was carefully trimmed, and his hair was of Pompadour style.
Graceful as the man might look, he had a dark aura of ferocity and brutality, and he was not a nobleman.
He was Rosan Aaron.
All his men knew that Rosan Aaron was a knight who had already awakened the Blessing in his blood. When he was about to become a grand knight, unfortunately, his power went awry and turned out to be vicious and dark. The power not only destroyed his noble title, but also caused Aaron¡¯s endless hiding from the church.
Aaron hated the God for treating him so cruelly. Losing all of his possessions, for a long time he lived like a rat, hiding all the time. While he was trying to at least dress like a nobleman, bitter hatred was still burning his guts day and night.
The grading of knight and pastor was similar to the different levels of sorcerer.
The ability to use the third circle spell Fly, the sixth circle spell Magic Trigger, or many other ninth circle spells symbolized different levels of sorcerer. When a sorcerer or sorceress could start using one of these spells, it meant he or she had made a new breakthrough. Their spiritual power would grow by a large extent, and their souls would transform into a higher-level form. Even their lives would be extended.
In the ancient magic empire, people regarded the first and second circle sorcerers as junior-rank mages, while third to fifth circle were middle-rank mages, and sixth to eight circle, senior-rank mages. Above them, a ninth circle sorcerer or sorceress would be respected as an Archmage.
Similarly, the levels three, six and nine were the key promoting points for a knight. If a person successfully awakened the Blessing in their blood, they would first become a level one or level two knight. From level three to five, they would be regarded as a grand knight; then six to eight, a radiant knight; in level nine the title was gold knight; and after that was the highest level of all, a legendary knight.
For pastors, it went from junior-rank to middle-rank pastor. Then a middle-rank pastor could be promoted to bishop. For the senior-rank pastors, most of them would become cardinals. There was no special title for a level nine pastor, but if one could successfully join the conclave, he or she would be respected as a grand cardinal.
There were more than four hundred registered official knights in the Duchy of Orvarit. Among them, there were only around fifty grand knights and less than ten radiant knights.
Most of them were members of the Violet Knights, garrisoning different key fortresses.
Back then, Aaron, who was a level two knight, was very close to becoming a grand knight, and thus ranking among the top fifty knights in the Duchy. Now, he has been working for a big man for a long time, doing all the evil and bloody things for him to maintain his fake honor.
Jackson and his men did not come back to the hideout in time. Aaron felt something went wrong, so he came down here himself.
¡°Sulphur, blood¡­ and something else.¡± Sniffing the air, Aaron¡¯s eyebrows frowned together. With the Blessing power, Aaron was more sensitive to environment in general than common people.
Aaron could tell that someone had cleaned this place up before. But there were still slight traces of blood, brain tissue, acid and sulphur on the ground, showing that a fierce struggle just happened here.
¡°Acid¡­ sulphur¡­¡± Aaron was thinking out loud, ¡°Acid Splash? It was a typical apprentice spell. An apprentice sorcerer did all this?!¡± Aaron could not believe his guess, but the reasoning did make sense.
The person who did this had left quite a while before he arrived. It was too late for Aaron to track the responsible. Aaron was also concerned that what they were doing would be reported to the church or nobles.
It was still possible to track him if he turned to the priests of Silver Horn for help, but Aaron would not. He knew their magic could not guarantee finding the person, and more importantly, if the person had already reported what they did to the church, what he should do immediately was escape.
Then Aaron quickly turned around and disappeared in the darkness. Only his footsteps were still echoing there in the sewers.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lying in the bed, Lucien was too nervous to fall asleep. Any little noise could scare Lucien out of the bed. Since there was no chance for him to have a good rest for now, he decided to take a look at the ring again. Doing research could calm Lucien down, and also if his enemies did find him, the ring might help.
Inside the ring there was a solid geometric model, of which the structure was not very complicated. With his high school mathematics and physics knowledge, it only took Lucien an hour to finish the analysis. But when Lucien was trying to imprint his spiritual mark on the magic structure, he almost failed during the process. His soul was damaged and Lucien felt his power totally unstable.
With great effort, the magic structure was finally imprinted with Lucien¡¯s mark. The information of the ring came to his mind:
¡°The original owner of the ring, Ice Revenger, was a sorcerer apprentice who was betrayed by his best friend. In order to take his revenge, the apprentice turned to a great alchemist for help and spent all his money on that. The ring felt ice-cold, so he could bear the bitterness of being betrayed in his mind. A second circle spell, Palmeira¡¯s Frost Blades, was sealed in the ring. The spell could torture people with bitter cold and pain.¡±
The ring could help promoting the spiritual power of its owner to match a level one knight¡¯s strength. Furthermore, its owner could also use Palmeira¡¯s Frost Blades once a day. Therefore, it was a middle-rank level two magic item.
Lucien was not going to wear the ring for now, since it would definitely draw some attention and bring him unnecessary trouble, but he decided to carry the ring in his pocket, just in case.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien woke up early at dawn with a bad headache. He felt dizzy and also had a fever. His physical weakness was caused by his internal injury from the magic backfire.
There was no time for breakfast. Lucien wanted to report the heretics to Lord Venn as soon as possible. After changing to new linen clothes, he pushed the door open and headed towards Lord Venn¡¯s manor.
The cool air outside was refreshing. He took a deep breath and felt his headache lessened. After forty minutes walking, Lucien finally saw the magnificent manor.
Lord Venn was a level two knight who used to pledge his allegiance to the Violet Knights. The grand duke of Orvarit and him became good friends when the grand duke was still the Violet Count and the commander of the Violet Knights. When Lord Venn became older, he left the fortress in the Dark Mountain Range and started having a more peaceful lifestyle here. But from time to time, he was summoned to the palace to be the grand duke¡¯s military consultant.
The manor was surrounded by a high wall and several watchtowers, demonstrating the owner¡¯s military background.
Outside of the manor, a number of farmers had already started working. Two young men in their grey knight squire uniforms were patrolling, followed by some guards.
¡°Who are you? What are you doing here?¡± Noticing Lucien was walking towards them, a dark blond knight asked sternly.

Chapter 35: Report
				Chapter 35: Report
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing the knight squire, Lucien replied politely.
¡°I¡¯m a friend of John¡¯s. I¡¯m looking for John to tell him something important¡±
The dark blonde man, Ian, made a snort in contempt. ¡°Why should I trust you? Just because you claim to be John¡¯s friend? John and other knight squires are in training. I can¡¯t let you in, unless you have proof of your identity.¡±
Quite obviously, Ian did not get along well with John. Lord Venn always had John in high esteem, which made Ian feel more than jealous. In his eyes, John was just a stupid pauper who somehow got a chance to become a knight squire and was always using the knight rules to please Lord Venn, while he was definitely better-educated and more talented.
Another knight squire, Durago, felt the same way. Thus he just stood there, watching while Ian gave the newcomer a hard time.
Ian thought that a poor youngster like the one who was standing in front of him would be frightened by the posture of a knight squire. Were it the case, the youngster might just give up or start begging them on his knees.
After going through so many difficulties and challenges, Lucien understood clearly what he was facing. In his eyes, it was ridiculous to see the two squires trying to pick on him, a nobody.
Lucien answered seriously, ¡°John¡¯s friend is in great danger. If John can¡¯t make it back in time to avoid it, both of you will be responsible for the consequences. I¡¯m pretty sure that Lord Venn would definitely not be happy with what you guys are doing here.¡±
He knew that Lord Venn was a nobleman who strictly sticked to knight rules all the way in his life. If Lord Venn knew his men violated the rules, he would punish them severely and drive them away from his land with no hesitation.
¡°How dare you threaten me, you little bastard!¡± Stepping forward, Ian was so furious that he almost pulled out his knight sword.
Lucien could feel the pressure coming from the high level knight squire. Even the guards standing behind him felt frightened.
What was out of their expectation was that Lucien was still the same, calm and serious. He asked sternly, ¡°Are you gonna kill me, an innocent and unarmed boy, right now?¡±
It seemed like he was not affected by Ian¡¯s posture at all. His willpower was stronger than the threat.
¡°Did you hear what I said?¡± Now it was Lucien¡¯s turn to take a step forward, ¡°Do you still want to be a knight?¡±
Ian¡¯s anger was burning his guts, but he knew if he really killed this bastard, his future title, rank, land and manor would all be gone. He was not stupid.
Durago tried to make the situation easier for Ian. After giving Lucien a distasteful glance, Durago hauled Ian back. ¡°Don¡¯t waste our time on this.¡±
¡°Don't let me see you again,¡± said Ian viciously. Then he turned directly toward the manor.
Durago¡¯s face looked grim. He just stood there, waiting for Ian.
It didn¡¯t bother Lucien at all. As soon as he realized Ian and Durago were trying to cause him trouble, Lucien reached his hand into the pocket carrying the ring. The power of the ring helped increase his willpower to a higher level that could compete with a level one knight. Thus, of course the pressure from Ian, a knight squire, could not affect him.
Less than five minutes later, Lucien saw John running out from the gate in a hurry, followed by Ian, who was walking slowly behind him. John was very surprised when he recognized that it was Lucien.
¡°You¡¯re here, Lucien! I thought you were the one who was in danger.¡±
¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll explain it to you.¡±
Lucien stopped when he was sure that Ian and Durago couldn¡¯t hear their conversation. Then he turned to John, and started telling his well-prepared story.
¡°I met a weird old beggar a few days ago,¡± Lucien put a worried look on his face, ¡°At first, he was just complaining about the nobles and knights, but later, yesterday, when no one was around, he started accusing God. And I realized he was a believer of the devil, who was doing his vicious missionary work in Aalto.
¡°I was about to report to the church, but I saw he was secretly meeting Jackson. I¡¯m afraid that the gangsters are involved with the heretic, and they may seize the chance and take revenge on us, or what¡¯s worse, on your parents. If you can report to Lord Venn directly about what¡¯s going on here, I believe the nobles and the church would pay more attention to it.¡± Lucien looked into John¡¯s eyes.
¡°These damned scum¡­ Now they¡¯re involved with the devil. Yes, you¡¯re right. I should report it to Lord Venn immediately.¡± John took Lucien¡¯s words directly without any doubt.
¡°And John, I¡¯m afraid the situation is even more severe than you thought. I counted¡­ there are just about ten beggars now in Aalto. Many of them¡­ disappeared.¡± Lucien continued warning him. But he could not tell John what happened in the sewers.
Frowning his eyebrows, John could guess what happened to these poor homeless guys, ¡°Blood sacrifice¡­¡± he murmured.
Lucien nodded seriously. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m guessing. But John, remember, don¡¯t tell Lord Venn that I was the one who found this out. I¡¯m afraid some heretics would seek revenge on me. I have no power to protect myself.¡±
¡°But you¡¯ll be awarded for reporting this,¡± said John.
Clapping on John¡¯s shoulder, Lucien¡¯s face softened a bit. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned with my life, John. Remember to ask Lord Venn not to divulge your information as well. You have a family to take care. They don¡¯t know how to fight as well.¡±
¡°I will. You¡¯re always this careful, Lucien.¡± John nodded. There was nothing more important than his family. ¡°But if there¡¯s any award, part of it is still yours.¡± John promised.
Lucien smiled, ¡°Thanks John.¡±
John stayed a bit longer with Lucien. Since Lucien told Ian and Durago that John¡¯s friend was in danger, it would be quite suspicious if John went back to the manor straight away.
After John left, Lucien decided to wait for a few more minutes to make sure that everything was going as expected. A while later, Lucien was relieved when he saw a line of knights galloping across the field. Besides John, there were six squires and a young pastor led by a serious-looking elder knight.
When Lucien went back to Aalto, he felt some vibration under the ground from the sewers. Lord Venn¡¯s men were there already.
To be prudent, Lucien decided he would not go back into the sewers for a while. Recently he was focusing on analyzing magic.
Some time before the clock showed eight thirty, Lucien finally arrived at his workplace, the Musicians¡¯ Association, in time for his shift.

Chapter 36: Pierre
				Chapter 36: Pierre
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Elena was anxiously waiting for Lucien in the hall. Being late on the first day of work would definitely not make a good first impression on the director, Mr. Hank.
Another receptionist, Cathy, smiled to her colleague and joked, ¡°Elena, who are you waiting for? Your sweetheart?¡±
¡°Come on, Cathy. I¡¯m waiting for a friend of mine. Today¡¯s his first day working for the association.¡±
When Elena was talking, Lucien came into the hall.
¡°Thanks God, you are here, Lucien.¡± Elena walked out of the counter and toward Lucien, ¡°Why do you look so tired? Are you sick?¡±
Lucien knew he must look terrible. The headache caused by his soul injury was torturing him all the way. After rushing here, he felt quite dizzy.
¡°Well¡­ I think so. But I¡¯m okay. Thank you for asking, Elena.¡± Lucien smiled to Elena, who was wearing a long white dress today. ¡°I think we¡¯re gonna meet Mr. Hank now, aren¡¯t we?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°Yes, we are.¡± Elena started walking upstairs, and was followed by Lucien, ¡°No worries. Sunday¡¯s never a busy day, or say, the work is not busy in general.¡±
Mr. Hank was a middle-aged serious man, who was always wearing a decent suit. After asking some basic questions, Mr. Hank just nodded and asked Elena to lead Lucien directly to the library.
The library was on the second floor. While they were heading toward it, Elena was trying to describe the other librarian to Lucien, ¡°His name is Pierre Sandor. Both of you work the morning shift in the library. He¡¯s an ok guy. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll give you a hard time, so no worries. But he¡¯s a bit¡­ umm¡­¡± Elena paused for a few seconds, ¡°weird.¡±
The guy called Pierre should also have some connections in the association, or he would have no chance working as a librarian here if he was just a nobody. Lucien just wanted to do his own work and avoid trouble as much as possible.
The Music Library was huge and quiet, and thousands of precious music books, journals, and newspaper were collected here.
There was only a black-haired young guy sitting behind the wood counter, reading the tablature carefully. In Lucien¡¯s eyes, the guy looked like a big fan of music.
¡°Pierre, Pierre¡­¡± Elena tried to draw his attention, ¡°This is the new librarian, Lucien.¡±
Finally, Pierre raised his head from the book. His brown eyes looked a bit confused.
¡°Morning, Elena! What day is it today¡­ Sunday?¡±
¡°Nice to meet you, Pierre. I¡¯m Lucien Evans, the new librarian.¡± Lucien introduced himself with a warm smile.
Just realizing his new colleague was standing in front of him, Pierre walked out of the counter and greeted Lucien, ¡°Nice to meet you, Lucien. I¡¯m Pierre Sandor.¡±
When they were shaking hands, Pierre put on a sly smile, ¡°Lucien, you¡¯d better¡­ refrain yourself a bit¡­¡±
¡°What are you talking about, Pierre?¡± Elena was confused.
¡°Just guys¡¯ conversation,¡± answered Pierre casually.
Shrugging her shoulders, Elena whispered to Lucien, ¡°You see. I told you¡­ And I gotta go now, Lucien. Make good use of the books here, and work hard.¡±
After Elena left, Pierre started showing Lucien around. While he was walking, he talked to Lucien casually, ¡°Umm¡­ I sometimes talk in a weird way. If you don¡¯t understand, don¡¯t let my words disturb you.¡±
¡°So you asking me to ¡®refrain myself¡¯ was also a casual talk?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°Nope, that was serious. Guys in our age can easily drain ourselves from too much¡­ Umm, you know what I¡¯m talking about.¡±
Lucien didn¡¯t know what to say. Now in Lucien¡¯s eyes, Pierre looked like a big fan of music, and kind of nasty.
After introducing the basic stuff that Lucien had to do as a librarian here, Pierre stretched himself a bit and said, ¡°Only the members of the association can have access to this library, so it¡¯s never busy here. Just remember to be polite to the musicians. You can spend more time here, and I¡¯m gonna go back and enjoy The Well-Tempered Clavier now.¡±
His eyes were glowing when he mentioned music.
¡°Sure.¡± Lucien was more than willing to be left alone. With his spirit library, Lucien was always trying to store more books in it, like a squirrel collecting its favourite cones.
Lucien quickly leafed through a book, and a copy of the book instantly appeared in his spirit library. Then Lucien directly turned to another one.
¡°Hey, what are you doing there?¡± Pierre asked in a confused way. He hadn¡¯t gone far yet.
¡°I¡¯m doing a random check here to see if there are any damaged ones. Then I can take note of them and report to the association.¡± Lucien immediately made up an excuse.
¡°You¡¯re as careful as a woman, Lucien.¡± Pierre commented.
In the following four hours, only two musicians visited the library. Lucien thus managed to collect more than a hundred of the books there. His arms felt pretty sore from leafing through them.
The books covered many aspects of the world, not just music. Lucien wanted to have a better understanding of the world as soon as possible.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien finished his work at about half past midday. When he was leaving the library, Pierre was still immersed in music, with a bread in his hand.
Later, Lucien went to Mr. Victor¡¯s place and continued his study.
Life was pretty peaceful in the following couple of days.
One evening, John came back. When no one was around, he started telling Lucien what happened on that day.

Chapter 37: Choosing a Musical Instrument
				Chapter 37: Choosing a Musical Instrument
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Joel was still not at home when John and Lucien were talking, and Auntie Alisa was busy preparing dinner. Their youngest son, Iven, was still playing on the streets with his friends.
¡°You can never imagine what we found down there,¡± John said seriously, ¡°There was a demon hall!¡±
¡°What?!¡± Lucien was more than surprised, ¡°They built a hall down the sewers? Has Lord Venn questioned the heretics yet?¡±
Shaking his head, John sighed with disappointment, ¡°No, Lucien. We didn¡¯t find anyone there. All of them were already gone by the time we arrived.¡±
¡°¡­It¡¯s impossible, John. I didn¡¯t tell anyone else about this except you.¡± Lucien started feeling worried. What if the demon followers somehow found out it was him who exposed and denounced them?
¡°Lord Venn told me that information about our actions might have been leaked by a knight. We don¡¯t know who did this yet, but if it¡¯s true, the knight should be of a relatively high level.¡±
Lucien thought about the possibility that the heretic power had infiltrated into the upper class. However, it was astonishing to imagine that the evil power had corroded some of the noble knights.
¡°What about Aaron¡¯s Gang?¡± Lucien asked.
¡°The leaders escaped, including Rosan Aaron. The rest of the gangsters know nothing about the heresy. They can¡¯t lie in front of the divine power of the inquisition.¡± John¡¯s eyebrows frowned, ¡°Even though they know nothing, all of them will be sentenced to death by the judges.¡±
Facing heresy, the church never showed mercy. And Lucien believed that the way the church treated sorcerers would not be any better than that.
One of the books from the library that Lucien read recently was called Hunting Sorcerer, which was written in the year 392 of the Saint Calendar, or say, 423 years ago. It was an instruction for sorcerer hunters and night watchers telling them how to identify the sorcerers, how to track them and even how to torture them. Lucien remembered some of the paragraphs, which sounded ridiculous and cruel to him:
¡°If a suspect lives in an unsociable or eccentric way, the chance of him or her being a sorcerer or a sorceress is high. However, even if a suspect is always sociable and passionate, the possibility still could not be ruled out, because he or she might just be pretending.¡±
¡°If the person you suspect panics when he or she knows who you are, the person is a sorcerer. But if the person does not, don¡¯t lower our guard, because all the sorcerers are experienced liars.¡±
¡°If your divine spells cannot help you make sure the identity of the suspect, inflicting sacred punishment on the suspect can be useful: If the person rolls eyes when facing the punishment, that means he or she is trying to communicate with demons to seek for power; If the person¡¯s eyes glaze fearlessly, that means he or she has got the protection from devil power and thus you must torture the person in a more severe way; If the person dies, it is because the demons took his or her life in order to keep their secrets safe.¡±
¡°If you have tried them all but still cannot be sure, leave the suspect to our almighty God. Burn the suspect. A sorcerer would burn down to ashes, while God would protect the person safe and sound in the fire if he or she is innocent.¡±
Lucien was grateful for still being alive. If Lucien had lived four hundred years ago when the book was written, he would have been burned to death thousands of times. The church had been dominating the whole continent for so many years; thus they were now paying more attention to the heresy in the north, instead of going all out hunting scattered sorcerers and sorceresses.
¡°Then did you find anything in the demon hall?¡± Lucien asked with curiosity.
Bad memories made John¡¯s eyebrows frown even tighter, ¡°We knight squires didn¡¯t go in there. Knights and pastors led by Lord Venn, Lord Verdi and the cardinal of Salvatore searched the hall. Lord Venn never told me what he saw there, but I saw his face when he walked out¡­ He looked very serious.
¡°I was guarding outside of the gate.¡± John¡¯s eyes looked down at the ground and Lucien could tell the bad memory still disturbed him, ¡°When they opened the gate, I saw the ground was covered with blood. And I saw hearts¡­. living throbbing hearts on the ground. They said that those were hearts extracted from people¡¯s chests when they were alive.
¡°Lucien, I¡¯ve heard many stories, poems and rumours saying how horrible and vicious the heresy is, but today I finally realized how hateful and inhuman it can be.¡± John raised his head and looked at Lucien, speaking with great determination, ¡°I hate them, the heretics. I can never forget what I saw there. I want to grow stronger and eliminate the demons completely.¡±
Looking at his serious face, Lucien smiled, ¡°This is the justice you¡¯re looking for, isn¡¯t it, John?¡±
John nodded, but then shook his head, ¡°I still don¡¯t clearly know what kind of justice I¡¯m looking for, Lucien. All I know is that I not only want to protect my families and friends, but I also want to protect more people and fight against the dark powers.¡±
¡°I know there¡¯s a class among the knights called ¡®Demon Hunter¡¯. They walk in the darkness and are willing to die fighting against the devil power. Is that your dream now?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°I don¡¯t know, Lucien. I still can¡¯t awaken my Blessing power. Not everyone can become a real knight, not to mention becoming a demon hunter.¡± John replied, a bit depressed.
¡°Come on! Of course you can.¡± Lucien gave John a friendly nudge, ¡°Look who am I talking to? The most promising knight squire appreciated by Lord Venn!¡±
Feeling the encouragement from his best friend, John grinned at Lucien.
¡°Talking about Lord Venn¡­¡± Lucien asked, ¡°Did he mention anything about your reward?¡±
¡°Yes, sure!¡± John¡¯s face was lightened by this topic, ¡°Lord Venn promised to give me a good knight sword made of fine steel. Compared with what I¡¯m using now, this one would be much sharper and even have some magic effects on it!¡±
Talking about the new sword, John even giggled a bit with sweet expectation.
Lucien and John stopped their conversation when Joel came back. In the end, John reminded Lucien, ¡°Lord Venn told me that security will be tightened and there will be much more undercover investigations in Aalto recently. You were questioned before because of the witch, so be careful recently. You¡¯re Mr. Victor¡¯s student now, and you never know if there¡¯s anyone who¡¯d frame you for this out of jealousy.¡±
¡°Thank you, John. I¡¯ll be careful,¡± said Lucien gratefully. He knew that, as a knight squire, John was not allowed to leak this kind of information to someone else. Lucien knew he had to be really careful recently and stop practicing most of the spells that could cause a mess. However, Lucien also believed that after this massive search, when the knights and the nobles started letting down their vigilance, it would be even safer than before.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Another Sunday morning, and Lucien was trying to organize everything on his day off. Although he was not practicing much casting during the past couple of days, his analysis work of the other several magic spells went on pretty well. His spiritual power was completely recovered and grew even stronger than ever with his meditation. For now, Lucien could cast up to six spells of the Element School successively.
In his spare time, Lucien also worked hard on his music studies. He spent lots of time with reading different books in his spirit library, but not only music books. From a variety of books, Lucien started to learn more about the continent: those countries believing in the God of Truth in the south, and heretic countries in the north, as well as the evil creatures living in the the Dark Mountain Range.
The brain tissue of the mutant aquatic zombie could be preserved up to three years by exerting the magic once a day, which enabled Lucien to have enough time to collect the rest of the magic matters.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
¡°Your progress impressed me again, Lucien.¡± After testing Lucien¡¯s basic music knowledge learned within the several classes, Mr. Victor commended, ¡°Then we can move forward to actual practice and to learn how to integrate what you¡¯ve learned from the books into it.¡±
When Lucien first helped with improving the harpsichord, Victor thought that Lucien might just happen to have an inspiration there. But now Victor felt that Lucien at least had some talent in music.
¡°Lucien, what musical instrument do you want to learn?¡± asked Victor gently, ¡°I¡¯m relatively good at violin, harpsichord, pipe organ and flute. But if you want to learn something else, I should also be able to help.¡±
Lucien never really put much thought into it. He was a bit hesitant. Lucien was a fan of piano back in the days, but he never had a chance to learn how to play it. But on second thought, one day Lucien would set out to find the headquarter of the Continental Congress of Magic and, of course, he could not carry a piano with him all the way. Probably he should choose something relatively portable, like a violin?
Lott, Felicia and Herodotus were curious to see which one Lucien would choose, but Lucien was still hesitating.
¡°It¡¯s okay, Lucien.¡± Victor smiled, ¡°If you have any concern, just tell me. Maybe I can help you.¡±
So Lucien asked cordially, ¡°Mr. Victor, can I choose both the improved harpsichord and violin?¡±
The rest of the three students were a bit pissed off. They felt Lucien was being really greedy because he could learn for free.
¡°No problem,¡± answered Victor, ¡°but you gotta focus on one thing at a time. What about we start from learning harpsichord? And I can probably get some new ideas while I¡¯m teaching.¡±
¡°Sure, thank you, Mr. Victor.¡± Lucien was grateful.

Chapter 38: Modern Piano Fingering
				Chapter 38: Modern Piano Fingering
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Standing up from the couch, Victor clapped his hands delightfully, ¡°All right. Mr. Rhine and Mr. Shavell have finished the improvement of the harpsichord a couple of days ago. Let¡¯s try the new harpsichord today! All of you can come! I even feel that I shouldn¡¯t call it a harpsichord anymore, since its tone, its range, and its volume are completely different now. For me, it¡¯s a revolution in string instruments!¡±
Seeing the joy on his face, Lucien could tell that Mr.Victor was very satisfied with the improvement.
¡°Mr. Victor, as the initiator of the harpsichord improvement, you may like to give the new invention an official name.¡± When they were walking upstairs, Lott talked to his teacher in a flattering way.
¡°Yes, Rhine, Shavell and I actually talked about the name before. However, none of us could find a proper name for it.¡± Victor looked at Lucien with a mild smile on his face, ¡°Lucien, what¡¯s your idea?¡±
¡°My idea?¡± Lucien was a bit surprised.
¡°Of course, you made no small contribution to this. We¡¯d like to hear your suggestion.¡± said Victor, ¡°Well¡­ Rhine appreciated its mechanical sophistication, so he wanted to name it mechanical harpsichord. I mean¡­Mr. Rhine is a talent in music, but definitely not good at naming a new musical instrument. Mechanical harpsichord doesn¡¯t sound right to me at all.¡±
¡°What¡¯s your idea then, sir?¡± Lucien asked.
¡°Um¡­ I prefer to have a new name. This new musical instrument combines both the features of harpsichord and clavichord, and it has a much wider range of tones compared with its predecessors. So I would suggest the name to be¡­ superchord!¡±
¡°¡­¡­¡± Including Lucien, none of the students present knew what to say toward this name.
¡°Well, what about the name ¡®pianoforte¡¯?¡± Lucien said with uncertainty.
¡°Pianoforte? It¡¯s a pretty new name, but it sounds a bit weird.¡± Victor rubbed his chin with his hand in thoughts.
¡°The sounds produced by the new instrument were an extension of what the harpsichord could do.¡± Lucien was trying to make the weird name make sense. Lucien knew, in his world, the first piano made by the Italian harpsichord maker Cristofori was first called ¡°pianoforte¡±. In Italian, pianoforte meant ¡°soft loud¡±. Lucien wanted to keep the name, because it would be sweet if he could play an instrument in this world which was almost the same as a piano on Earth.
¡°Pianoforte¡­ Pianoforte¡­¡± Victor found the name was pretty interesting, ¡°What about just ¡®piano¡¯?¡±
Lucien was very surprised that Victor would appreciate the name.
¡°I like the name, ¡®piano¡¯.¡± Felicia agreed, which was even more beyond Lucien¡¯s expectation. It was the first time Felicia showed her commendation for any of Lucien¡¯s ideas. A faint blush appeared on her beautiful face, ¡°I don¡¯t know why¡­ I just somehow feel like it¡¯s the proper name.¡±
Mr. Victor nodded with a bit of confusion, ¡°Yes¡­ I feel the same way, Felicia. Piano¡­ It feels like it should be called piano¡­ Weird¡­¡±
¡°Yeah¡­That¡¯s how I feel as well.¡± Lucien was a bit nervous. He did not understand why both Mr. Victor and Felicia had a special feeling toward the name. Hurriedly, he changed the topic, ¡°I can hear someone playing music in the practice room upstairs.¡±
¡°Yes, Mr. Rhine is here today. Didn¡¯t I mention it?¡± Victor answered with joy.
Felicia¡¯s face was now as red as a ripe tomato.
Rhine was sitting in front of the ¡®piano¡¯, his hair silver and his gesture charming. Without moving his shoulders and arms, his fingers were dancing on the piano keyboards, and a beautiful piece of music was flowing out of the musical instrument.
They indulged themselves in the joys of the song. No one made a sound until Rhine finished playing. All the students and Mr. Victor started applauding for the amazing performance.
¡°Mr. Rhine! As an excellent violinist, it¡¯s amazing that your skill in playing clavichord is also great.¡± Felicia¡¯s eyes were glowing, ¡°Your performance was as good as Ms. Silvia¡¯s!¡±
Standing from the bench, Rhine bowed to them elegantly with his right hand on his chest. He was trying to play the same song on both the clavichord and the piano to see the difference. He turned to Felicia and smiled, ¡°I¡¯m flattered, Felicia. But I can never compete with Ms. Silvia. It was she who wrote this song after all.¡±
Ms. Silvia was the best clavichord player in Aalto. Since clavichord was ideal for playing in a relatively small space, like in a living room or even bedroom, Mr. Silvia was often invited by the noble ladies to play in their places. It was said that Ms. Silvia was a close friend of Princess Natasha, and thus she enjoyed a high reputation in the association.
When Rhine was playing, Lucien paid more attention on the movement of his fingers. At the same time, he searched in his spirit library and found some useful books to refer to. According to these books, the modification of a musical instrument was the main cause of the changes in fingerings, as well as the holistic style. The piano standing beside them had eighty-eight keys and different pedals, which was already very close to a modern piano on Earth. Thus Lucien believed the modern piano fingering should be the best way of playing it.
On earth, people used to play clavichord with three fingers of each hand. Then the famous pianist, Bach, started using his thumbs and little fingers. When piano gained its popularity, Chopin made a second revolution in fingerings by also playing the black keys with his thumb and little finger.
When Lucien was reviewing the basic modern fingering books in his mind, Victor told Rhine about the new name of the instrument. It turned out that Rhine loved the name as well.
¡°Come here, Lucien. Sit in front of the piano. I¡¯m gonna show you the basic fingerings.¡± Victor said to him.
Lucien trotted toward Mr. Victor with a bit excitement. However, as soon as he sat on the bench, Lucien felt something was not right. It was a bit too short for the piano.
¡°Mr. Victor, can I have a taller bench?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°Why? You¡¯re not much shorter than Mr. Rhine. The height should be fine.¡± Victor was a bit surprised.
Extending his arms, Lucien tried to show it to Mr. Victor, ¡°But if I sit on a bench of this height, I could only use my fingers and wrists. If I want to use my lower and upper arm, as well as my shoulder, I need a taller bench, otherwise it would be too awkward.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re not supposed to use your arms and shoulders. That¡¯s too rude!¡± Victor was pretty serious, ¡°Forget about what you¡¯ve seen in the pubs. You saw how Mr. Rhine played, didn¡¯t you? Did he ever use his arms and shoulders?¡±
Victor¡¯s reaction was within Lucien¡¯s expectation. Modern piano fingering was quite hard to be accepted by many famous pianists back in the days. In their eyes, pianists using modern fingering like Franz Liszt were rude. The way of swinging arms and shoulders in their mind looked very barbaric and it was like smashing the piano.
¡°Yes, Lucien. Those players in the pubs are not well-educated. I know¡­ umm¡­ you probably grew up in that environment, but now you¡¯re here. It¡¯s time for you to see what is noble music now.¡± Seizing the chance, Herodotus scoffed at Lucien¡¯s words.
¡°Mr. Victor, the piano is a new musical instrument.¡± Lucien explained calmly, ¡°I feel that how a musician plays the instrument should depend on the features of it. As an extension of harpsichord, piano is superior in both volume and range. With the strength of arm and shoulder, I feel its features could be presented in a better way.¡±
Rhine took a step forward and smiled at Victor, ¡°I agree with Lucien. Remember the discussion about fingerings several years ago? Probably we can make a real difference again with it.¡±
Victor thought for a while and finally said, ¡°All right, maybe we can give it a shot. But Lucien, if it later is considered wrong, it would take you a long time to forget the wrong movements and start over again. Are you sure you want to do this?¡±
Lucien nodded at Mr. Victor with a determined look.
In the other students¡¯ eyes, Lucien was no more than an arrogant boy trying to impress Mr. Victor and Mr. Rhine in this stupid way.

Chapter 39: The Tawny Owl
				Chapter 39: The Tawny Owl
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Mr. Victor passed a piece of notation to Lucien, which was written by himself for harpsichord beginners. The song did not require any expert skills, and thus, when it was played on a harpsichord, it was quite plain. However, after the improvement, the tone of the piano would definitely add some splendour to it.
With his diligent practice of meditation, Lucien had an even better memory now. It only took him a while to roughly go through the music several times. Before him, Mr. Victor only saw noble students, like Lott and Felicia, being able to do this, because they grew up under the nurture of music since they were born.
¡°All right, Lucien. I know you still feel you¡¯re not prepared, but it¡¯s time for you to start playing. Don¡¯t be nervous and just pay attention to the keys you should press down. Take it easy.¡± Mr. Victor was quite looking forward to Lucien¡¯s first play.
Putting his hands on the keyboard in a defined arch, Lucien pressed down the first key. It was not difficult for him to remember the song, but, as expected, playing it was a completely different story. Lucien felt his fingers were too clumsy to reach the right keys in time. Slow as he was, Lucien tried his best to focus on the keys to make sure they were the correct ones. Instead of a song, his first-time playing sounded more like a bunch of separated notes climbing out of the piano slowly one by one, or like a dying man exhaling with great effort.
However, no one there ever laughed at him, including the three noble students. Watching Lucien play reminded them of their own past struggle, which was even more terrible.
It was a short piece of melody, that should last around a minute, but it took Lucien more than three minutes to finish playing it. After he pressed down the last key, his forehead was oozing sweat. Lucien felt that even fighting with an aquatic zombie in the pipes could not be more exhausting.
Mr.Victor was the first person who started applauding Lucien, followed by Rhine and the other students.
¡°You did a good job, Lucien.¡± Victor comforted him, smiling, ¡°I know how clumsy a person would feel when he or she first started playing. But you are the only student I¡¯ve seen that managed to press every key correctly. It¡¯s impressive.¡±
Rhine nodded, ¡°Yes, you are very smart, Lucien. I¡¯m sure you will improve quickly with more practice. But the coordination of your hands was for sure not your strong point, and later you will also need to use your feet for the pedals. It¡¯ll be pretty challenging for you.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± said Mr. Victor, ¡°But being more coordinate is just a matter of time. If you¡¯re willing to work hard, you¡¯ll be a qualified musician within ten years.¡±
¡°Ten years?¡± It seemed that even with the direction of a master musician, it still would take a long time for a person to make achieve something in music. However, Lucien was still expecting that, by becoming a qualified musician as soon as possible, his living expenses as well as the cost for his magic experiments could be fully covered.
¡°Is there any way to become a qualified musician faster?¡± Lucien asked.
¡°Yes, sure, if you¡¯re a genius.¡± Felicia interjected, ¡°But you are not, Lucien. Working hard is the only way to become a qualified musician, and of course it takes time. Don¡¯t let Mr. Victor lose his face for having a student who couldn¡¯t even play the piano decently.¡±
In Felicia¡¯s eyes, Lucien¡¯a question fully showed his shallowness.
Rhine responded in a more mild way, ¡°I understand young people¡¯s eagerness, but like Felicia said, my current small achievement in playing violin took me a long time, and it¡¯s the same with other instruments.¡± Then he paused a bit, ¡°Well, actually hard practice is not the only way to become a qualified musician. If you could awaken the Blessing in your blood, your ability of controlling your body would be increased by a large extent. With your smart little brain, you could probably become a piano musician within a few weeks.¡±
¡°But how long it would take you to awaken the Blessing?¡± Rhine shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Maybe ten years, maybe twenty years, or forever¡­ What do you think?¡±
¡°Becoming a genius sounds more practical, Lucien.¡± Lott laughed.
Victor turned to Lucien, ¡°If you just want to master a relatively hard piece of melody, an intensive practice within a short period of time may be helpful, but this can never help you become a really good musician. Do not rush, but always work hard, Lucien.¡± Victor tapped Lucien on his shoulders to encourage him.
Lucien looked at Mr. Victor and nodded.
After the class, Lucien started working on his monthly budget. He needed to give auntie Alisa three Nars every month for the meals because he was now eating with their family more often. Also, more money would be spent on building a secret magic lab in the future, when Aalto calmed down and became safer.
Besides money, Lucien still had lots of concerns: buying too many glasswares for magic experiments could be very suspicious to the church, and Lucien currently had no idea what to do with them; he also needed some black robes, so he could sew some rows of small pockets inside for carrying more different magic reagents in the future.
Burying his head in his arms, Lucien thought to himself, ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll become a tailor sewing clothes for people rather than a sorcerer.¡± The idea amused him a bit.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Several days later, at night, Lucien was reviewing the last magic he analyzed, Homan¡¯s Oscillation, even though it was too risky for him to practice the spell at this moment. Besides, by changing the vibration frequency of his spiritual power, now Lucien could leave an imperceptible magic mark on a target, which made him very happy.
As for music, like Rhine commented, after a certain stage, his good memory could not help much anymore. His poor coordination became his biggest problem, so Lucien was still practicing the same etude.
All of a sudden, Lucien heard someone or something was swiftly approaching his shack.
Lucien hid all his stuff under the bed in a hurry and stood there in a defensive posture.
*Knock, knock, knock*
¡­
The window opened by itself!
Lucien felt a familiar wave of magic power coming inside. He was very nervous, but also kind of excited. Was it another sorcerer apprentice, or even a real sorcerer?
A tawny owl flew in through the window and landed on the table. Somehow Lucien felt it had an arrogant-looking face.
And the owl started speaking in a harsh voice.
¡°You should open the window for me, you little boy.¡±
Lucien was not really scared. In the notes, the witch mentioned some animals that could talk. Some of them were sorcerers or sorceresses transformed into different kind of animals, while some of them were summoned pets. However, Lucien was not sure which one the owl was, yet.
Strolling on the table, the arrogant owl looked at Lucien from top to bottom. Then it started talking again.
¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, boy. As long as you answer my questions honestly, Lord Doro won¡¯t hurt you.¡±
Lucien nodded his head, feeling a bit confused¡­Who was Lord Doro?
The owl took a step forward and looked at Lucien¡¯s eyes, ¡°Listen to my question¡­ After the apprentice died, did any sorcerer or sorceress come here and asked you about her?¡±

Chapter 40: Tracking
				Chapter 40: Tracking
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As long as all the required reagents were ready, an apprentice could start summoning his or her own pet. With different reagents, there were also different summoned animals. Some could be common animals like owls, cats or ravens, while some could be very powerful magic creatures like a Faerie Dragon.
Once they were summoned, mysterious connections would be built between the owners and them. Thus, an owner could gain some special abilities based on the features of his or her summoned pet, and vice versa. As long as the pet was strong enough to handle magic, it could also use some of its owner¡¯s basic spells. For example, if one could summon a cat as his or her companion, the summoner usually would then have good night vision, and there would be also a significant improvement in the person¡¯s agility. Meanwhile, the cat could help its owner to cast some of the apprentice spells like Darkness and Organ Preservation, even some basic Necromantic spells.
However, as to how many spells a companion pet could master, and how many times it could cast the spells depended on its owner¡¯s level. That was to say, the power consumed by a spell would not come from the pet, but still from its owner. If the owner¡¯s remaining spiritual power was not enough, the pet would not be able to use magic.
A summoned companion pet could also grow stronger to higher levels, but the special abilities its owner gained would not be further improved along the process. If the pet died, or somehow the connection was broken, the owner would lose the special abilities deriving from the pet and even be injured.
Lucien had never paid much attention to summoning spells before, because having a magic pet in the city under the nose of the church could easily bring him big trouble.
A few seconds later, Lucien slowly answered the owl¡¯s question, ¡°No¡­ I didn¡¯t see any other sorcerer or sorceress.¡±
The owl flapped its wings in satisfaction, ¡°Very well¡­ You are indeed not lying. Lord Doro has been watching you for some time, and no one came or asked about her.¡±
¡°Sneaky little bird¡­¡± Lucien almost rolled his eyes.
¡°Then, the second question. What happened in the witch¡¯s secret chamber and what did you find there?¡± The owl¡¯s big round eyes blinked.
¡°Well¡­ I went down there with a few guards¡­¡± Lucien told the owl exactly what had happened in the chamber, except, of course, the part about the magic books being copied to his spirit library. No one would believe that there was a whole library in his soul anyway.
¡°What a tragedy for the guard! He lost his arm!¡± The owl sighed, ¡°Good boy, Lord Doro¡¯s job is done now. Good night, little boy!¡± Then it flew directly toward the open window and gradually disappeared in the darkness.
Then Lucien finally realized that Doro was the owl¡¯s name. Without doubt, the owl had a master, and Lucien wanted to figure out who the person was.
So when Lucien was talking, he left an almost undetectable mark on Doro, the owl, with his spiritual power. When he was sure that the owl had flown some distance away from his place, Lucien quickly put on his black robe and ran out of the door.
It was very dark outside at midnight and the streets were quiet. Lucien spread his power out and soon detected the owl.
The owl did not fly very fast. Lucien was a bit hesitant whether he should follow the bird or not. Doro didn¡¯t look like a very strong summoned pet, so Lucien was guessing that its owner probably was also an apprentice. But what if there were other sorcerers at the place?
A few seconds later, Lucien decided to take the risk. After all, sooner or later, he needed to find other apprentices or sorcerers and join them. Such a good opportunity like the one sitting in front of him was definitely worth the risk. Furthermore, if Lucien found himself in a dangerous situation, he still had a level-two magic ring to help him, the Ice Revenger.
Lucien followed the target and ran on the streets. At the same time, he kept some distance between him and Doro to make sure he wouldn¡¯t be noticed.
About ten minutes later, Lucien saw the owl flying into a window on the second floor of a building covered by darkness. Carefully, he approached it, and was a bit surprised when he found out it was actually the Copper Coronet.
Lucien put his Ice Revenger on the finger, and then carefully walked toward the back door of the pub. With some easy apprentice spells, he sneaked into the tavern and went upstairs. Luckily, no one was on the corridor at this time.
Listening carefully with the help of his spiritual power, Lucien could hear a man talking in a low voice inside one of the rooms.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Listening to his owl¡¯s report, Smile was sitting in a rocking chair with a glass of wine in his hand.
Then he closed his eyes and lay back on the chair, ¡°Well¡­ It seems that the guy doesn¡¯t know the witch as well. Oh no¡­ I have no clue now, not at all. How can I find the man from the Continental Congress¡­¡±
¡°Smile, as long as we keep collecting information¡­¡± Doro was trying to comfort him.
While he was feeling depressed, there was a knock on the front door.
Doro jumped to the bed at once and buried himself under the blanket, while Smile bounced out of the rocking chair and asked nervously, ¡°Who is it?!¡±
¡°I¡¯m looking for Doro, the owl, and you, Mr. Smile¡± A man answered in a calm way. His voice sounded harsh and cold.
¡°What?!¡± Doro screamed and its big round eyes opened even wider.
Smile¡¯s spell was ready, but he dare not launch the attack rashly on a stranger who he knew nothing about.
¡°I asked, who are you?!¡± Smile repeated.
¡°I¡¯m a sorcerer, and I know the witch. Like you, I¡¯m also looking for the man from the Congress.¡± The harsh voice paused a bit and continued, ¡°Earlier I heard your owl asking a young boy about the witch, so I followed your pet and came here.¡±
¡°What?! It was Lord Doro¡¯s mistake! What a tragedy!¡± yelled the owl.
Smile relaxed a bit. At least he knew it was not the church, or they would have broken the door at once, without any explanation.
¡°If you¡¯re a sorcerer, you don¡¯t need me to open the door for you.¡± Smile did not lower his guard though. If the man opened the door by himself, he could have a few more seconds to better cast defensive measures. Besides, he could tell from the spell if the guy was really a sorcerer, or a pastor in disguise. The two powers were different.
Then, the door opened. A freezing cold and threatening power came into the place before the sorcerer entered.
Smile took a step back. He knew he was definitely overpowered. None of his apprentice spells would be helpful when facing the other sorcerer¡¯s power. Then he saw a mysterious man wearing a black robe, whose face was hidden in the shadow of a hood.
Lucien, on the other hand, saw the apprentice¡¯s face well enough, and realized that he actually met Smile before. When Lucien first visited Copper Coronet, Smile was the hooked-nosed man sitting beside the pub counter.

Chapter 41: Apprentice Group
				Chapter 41: Apprentice Group
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing the threatening power, Smile subconsciously tried to avoid looking at the face shaded by the hood, as if there was a dreadful and evil pit hidden inside. He even thought it was possible that the sorcerer in front of him was a user of black magic.
After putting on Ice Revenger, it kept infusing a steady cold flow into Lucien¡¯s body, strengthening his willpower. At the same time, Lucien could also sense the tension in the air built by the ring.
With Ice Revenger, Lucien could be immune to all the apprentice-level magics working on his mind. The person who wore the ring could, at the same time, have the Frightful Presence buff forcing people surrounding him or her to feel frightened, which was usually a buff of knight.
Without asking for permission, Lucien entered the room and closed the door behind him. Under the alert gaze of Smile, Lucien casually found a chair and sat down, then he started talking again in the pretended harsh voice,
¡°I knew the apprentice by accident. She made an appointment for me to meet the sorcerer who came from the headquarter of the Continental Congress of Magic. I was looking forward to meeting him to find the land where sorcerers and sorceress can feel free to study magic. But before the meeting, she died, and I never had the chance to meet the sorcerer. I was planning on asking the young lad named Lucien the same question as well, but your owl was a step ahead of me.¡±
Knowing that the sorcerer sitting in front of him was not his enemy, Smile finally relaxed. Rubbing his hands, he started explaining why he was also looking for the mysterious sorcerer,
¡°I met the her several months ago, and I invited her to our secret apprentice group meeting. Later she told us that she met a great sorcerer from the Congress. In her description, on the land where the Congress sits, all the sorcerers and sorceresses don¡¯t have to hide anymore. We were¡­so encouraged¡­¡±
¡°I understand,¡± Lucien nodded, ¡°We are sorcerers, not rats. We deserve much better than this.¡±
Smile raised his head and started feeling close to this unexpected visitor. Sorcerers and sorceresses always understood their shared struggle and fear. Facing the same enemy, most sorcerers and sorceresses united to help each other and to escape from the search of the church.
¡°Yes, sir. You must understand our excitement.¡± Smile lowered his head and looked at his hands again, ¡°We also asked her to invite the great sorcerer to come to our meeting. Although he didn¡¯t show up for the first time, the sorceress brought a journal called Arcana from him to us.¡±
Lucien remembered the journal. It must be the same one the sorceress mentioned in her notebook.
¡°Arcana?¡± Lucien pretended he never heard of the journal before.
¡°Yes, sir. When she first mentioned the Congress, some of us didn¡¯t believe it. After reading it, all of us started yearning for the place. The journal was old, very old¡­ it was published about twenty-five years ago. But the ideas in the journal were amazing, way beyond imagination¡­ It was like a new world.¡± Smile¡¯s face lightened up a bit.
A few seconds later, Smile continued in a depressed voice, ¡°But she was found by the church before our next meeting. I know it was dangerous, but I still don¡¯t want to give up. I moved from Purple Lily into this pub, hoping I could find any clue related to the Congress. Before, I was afraid that the church might still be watching her place, so I waited for almost a month and finally sent Doro there tonight.¡±
Lucien saw Smile¡¯s face was changing with different emotions¡ªexcitement, astonishment, sadness and depression. He was pretty sure Smile was not lying. Hearing Smile¡¯s explanation, Lucien felt kind of disappointed, since he was hoping that Smile might know something more about the Congress.
¡°Her death is our loss.¡± Lucien said slowly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the sorcerer you were talking about might get caught with her at the same time. A sorcerer from the headquarter can easily catch the church¡¯s attention.¡±
¡°I guess so¡­¡± Smile nodded with a sad look.
¡°What a tragedy!¡± yelled the owl Doro.
¡°Smile, can I take a look at the journal?¡± Lucien was trying to see if he could find any information from it.
Smile shook his head and replied, ¡°Sorry, sir. The journal is not here now. We take turns to read it. The journal was very hard for us apprentices to understand, but I guess for a real sorcerer like you, it won¡¯t be a problem.¡±
The power of the ring made Smile think Lucien was at least a sorcerer of the first or second circle, instead of an apprentice like him. Toward Smile¡¯s assumption, Lucien neither admitted nor denied, since Smile¡¯s respect might bring him some benefits.
¡°So¡­If you don¡¯t mind, sir,¡± Smile asked Lucien with a bit hesitation, ¡°you can join us. The journal will be passed on to another apprentice over the next meeting.¡±
Lucien thought about the potential risk, but he also didn¡¯t want to miss the chance to find the apprentice group in Aalto.
¡°What do you usually do during the meeting?¡± Lucien asked.
¡°Aalto is the last city of ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire, and there are still many sorcerers and sorceresses teaching their apprentices secretly. Apprentices gather together to exchange information, magic materials and views. We work together and help each other.¡± Smile explained.
¡°I see¡­ But the church is watching us all the time. How did the founders manage to start the group at the very beginning?¡± Lucien wanted to ask more questions to make sure it was not a trap.
¡°Well¡­ there¡¯re several apprentice groups. Most apprentices here belong to one of them, while some join more than one group. The founders of our group first met each other by accident in the Melzer Black Forest when they were seeking the same magic materials.¡± Smile answered in a patient way, ¡°¡­I know you¡¯re very cautious, sir, and I completely understand. Every one of us all felt the same way when we first joined the meeting group. You¡¯ll see that it¡¯s a very secret group. Except the one who introduces you to the meeting, you can hardly can recognize anyone else there, because we¡¯d all dress like the way you¡¯re dressing now.¡±
¡°If you can join us, sir, it will be our pleasure. And I¡¯m pretty sure you can also find what you need there, at least we can try.¡± Smile added.
Despite the man¡¯s harsh voice, Smile felt the man in the black robe was not a vicious sorcerer, instead, he appeared to be quite calm and understanding. If their apprentice group could have a real sorcerer as a regular member, these apprentices, including Smile himself, could definitely benefit a lot from it. Even if the man was actually not as powerful as he appeared to be, Smile didn¡¯t think he would do any harm to the group.
Lucien was persuaded. He knew sooner or later he had to find a group instead of always working alone, and the magic potions and reagents were also too tempting for Lucien to refuse, ¡°Well¡­ My lab was damaged several days ago, if your group can provide me with a whole set of labware, I¡¯ll be more than willing to go.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think it will be a problem, sir.¡± Smile grinned.
¡°Thank you, Smile. Then where is the group meeting, and when?¡±
¡°This Saturday evening,¡± answered Smile, ¡°It would be held in the sewers, but we haven¡¯t agreed on the specific location. Please tell me how to find you when we decide, sir.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t hold your meeting in the sewers.¡± Lucien warned Smile seriously, ¡°The church is lately keeping a close watching there. Don¡¯t ask me what happened there, and don¡¯t ask why I know this. Just tell all your group members not to go down there recently.¡±
¡°What?!¡± Smile was shocked. Even thinking about what would happen to the apprentice group if he hadn¡¯t met the mysterious sorcerer tonight made his heart beat really fast.
¡°We can develop a set of code first. Then when you decide where and when to hold the meeting, find the eighth house opposite to the ruin of the apprentice¡¯s place and leave the secret code on the corner of the wall. It¡¯s easier and also safer for both of us.¡± said Lucien.
The house sat right beside auntie Alisa¡¯s place. It was very convenient for Lucien to see the code on his way.
After agreeing on the secret code, Lucien stood up from the chair and was about to leave. Simile stopped him and asked,
¡°Sir, can you give me your pseudonym? We don¡¯t use real names during the meeting.¡±
Lucien thought for a few seconds and replied, ¡°Well¡­ call me ¡®Professor¡¯.¡±
Lucien slightly dusted his black robe and walked toward the door. Before he left, he turned towards Smile, ¡°I almost forgot¡­ I¡¯m working on an experiment recently which requires Corpse Mushroom and Revenant Dust. I¡¯m running out of these two materials. If you guys can provide some, I¡¯d really appreciate it.¡±
Then he opened the door and stepped out of the room, ¡°Good night, Owl.¡± Lucien nodded politely. ¡°Owl¡± was Smile¡¯s pseudonym.
Smile watched the mysterious sorcerer closing the door gently and heard his light footsteps downstairs. Like a dream, the room became quiet again, as if the man never had never been there.

Chapter 42: The Secret Meeting
				Chapter 42: The Secret Meeting
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After leaving the room, while Lucien was walking downstairs, he dispelled the spirit mark he left on Doro, as he didn¡¯t want Smile to somehow find out his own unique way of tracking.
Carefully, Lucien approached the back door. Again, with some easy spells, Lucien managed to leave Copper Coronet quietly and no one ever noticed him. Just in case, Lucien took a very roundabout way first, instead of going back to his place directly,
Lying in his bed, Lucien felt kind of encouraged since now he was certain that he was not alone. He was comforted by the fact that there were still other apprentices working hard while carefully hiding from the church. He wondered how many apprentices, sorcerers, and sorceresses were there in Aalto in total.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
In the following few days, Lucien¡¯s life was pretty plain but peaceful. Lucien got up early in the morning to do some work out and then went to work. Sometimes he read music books, and sometimes religion and travel book, sometimes he read in his own spirit library and analyzed the magic structures.
Although Pierre could be kind of weird sometimes, when he was reading his music books, Lucien almost couldn¡¯t feel his existence. And luckily, Wolf had been out of town for a while, and no one else in the association would ever give them a hard time.
Life was almost perfect these days. The only pity was that Lucien didn¡¯t have a chance to see Ms. Silvia, the famous violinist who was still single. According to Pierre, she was a goddess-like lady and was very talented. Since Pierre kept mentioning her for countless times, Lucien also started feeling curious. However, Mr. Silvia didn¡¯t come to the association very often.
While learning music, Lucien was still learning how to read, but the time spent on the latter was much shorter now, since he was learning really fast. Like the rest of the music students, after finishing the class, Lucien would stay at Mr. Victor¡¯s place and start another two-hour piano practicing. Lucien¡¯s quality of being persistent helped him a lot. He never stopped practicing until he had really sore fingers and arms and sweated a lot.
The evening was reserved to the study of magic. Nothing could pull Lucien out of the magic world in this period of time.
On Friday evening, what Lucien was on his way to auntie Alisa¡¯s place, he noticed there were some doodle-like patterns at the very corner of a wall. Lucien quickly understood what they meant.
¡°Ten o¡¯clock. Saturday night. The abandoned house in the easternmost area in Aderon. Owl.¡±
Lucien¡¯s expression did not change at all. He kept calmly walking toward Alisa¡¯s place as if he had seen nothing unusual.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien arrived at the place ten minutes earlier in his black robe, with Ice Revenger on his left hand. Before Lucien left his place, he also checked all the magic reagents in the pockets of the robe.
There was neither moon nor stars that night. Thick clouds covered all the light in the sky.
As soon as Lucien arrived, he heard an owl hoot in the darkness. It was Doro standing on the tall willow, serving as a sentinel. Under the tree stood Smile in a black robe. In order to let Lucien recognize him, Smile didn¡¯t wear his hood.
¡°Welcome, Mr. Professor.¡± Smiled walked toward Lucien and put on the hood, ¡°I told the other members about you, and they were looking forward to your presence. Several apprentices also wanted to ask you for help with some magic problems. Of course, they will pay.¡±
Knowing that Smile was trying to test him, Lucien, however, didn¡¯t feel nervous. He was pretty sure that he was more advanced than most of his peer apprentices, although he couldn¡¯t guarantee that he was able to solve all the problems, ¡°I major in Astrology and Element magic. So if these are questions related to those, I shall be able to help them a bit.¡±
Smile nodded, ¡°Then please follow me, Mr. Professor.¡±
Smile stopped in front of the old wood door of the abandoned place. After knocking on the door in a unique rhythm, Smile mimicked an owl hoot.
A few seconds later, a man wearing the same black robe opened the door slowly. When the man saw Lucien, he slightly nodded towards Lucien, ¡°This must be Mr. Professor, then.¡±
Lucien could tell it was not the man¡¯s real voice as well.
¡°Yes, this is Mr. Professor,¡± Smile¡¯s voice was also lower than the other night, ¡°and Professor, this is Fire Wolf.¡±
¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Lucien lowered his head slightly and greeted him. His left hand stayed in the sleeve, and his Ice Revenger was ready.
After walking through the living room and another door, Fire Wolf led them to the storage room. At the corner of the room, there was a staircase that led underground.
A basement! He wondered why he never thought about building a basement under his shack, instead of taking the risk and going down into the sewers every time. And at the same time, he could build a bigger crypt in Melzer Black Forest for practicing more powerful spells.
This was not a very spacious basement. Eleven low stools were placed surrounding a long table. Flickering candles sparsely illuminated the place. The other eight apprentices were already sitting there. All of them were wearing black robes.
Lucien walked downstairs with great caution, followed by Fire Wolf and Smile. They closed the door of the basement before they sat down.
¡°Everyone, today we¡¯re honoured to have Mr. Professor here to exchange ideas and thoughts with us.¡± Smile stood up and started the introduction, ¡°Mr. Professor is a real sorcerer. I¡¯m sure our apprentice group meeting would benefit a lot from Mr. Professor¡¯s profound knowledge.¡±
Then Smile started introducing the apprentices present one by one, ¡°This is White Honey, Morning Star, Reindeer, White Glove, Oak, Philosopher, Mercury and Hanger.¡±
¡°The honour is all mine.¡± Lucien slightly bowed, ¡°Please forgive me for being so direct. I come here largely because of the journal, Arcana. Can I take a look at it first?¡±
¡°No problem, Professor. Take your time and we can do random discussion first.¡± Philosopher nodded and slowly handed Lucien a black hardback book. His voice sounded pretty old, ¡°Besides, I heard from Owl that you need a whole set of labwares and I brought them here tonight. I¡¯ll be glad to give them to you as a gift if you can solve a problem for me later.¡±
Lucien didn¡¯t open the book instantly, but carefully checked the cover of the book first.
There were a few separate silver lines joining together in the end on the black cover, which formed the word, Arcana, right in the centre. Under the name of the journal, a line of words wrote ¡°Volume 11, the year 392 of Saint Calendar¡±. There were parchment pages inside it.
From the content page, Lucien found there were twenty-four articles in the journal. The first one was Discussion about the Fifth Failure of Finding the New Planets. Lucien felt interested in it and started reading.
¡°The theory of gravitation proposed by Douglas could explain lots of force field spells, even most spells of the Astrology school. Besides, the three laws of planetary motion also derives from that theory, which is of great significance for guiding the field of fortunetelling.
¡°Based on this theory, we have created many new and powerful spells. Thus we can say, if there are two major columns supporting the classical magic system, the theory of gravitation could be valued as the most important foundation for one of the columns ¡ª force field study.¡±
¡­¡­
¡°There is still one question remaining to be demonstrated: The theory of gravitation enables us to figure out many guiding formulas, and thus we know that the continent where we live in also belongs to a planet. The planet keeps rotating and at the same time revolving around the sun, so do the rest of the planets in the sky. Following the formulas mentioned above, we can also locate these planets.
¡°However, no one, not even the greatest sorcerer or sorceress, ever managed to reach the planets using the most advanced space magic, including me. Even we can calculate the coordinates of them, we can find none of them in the presumed places in space.
¡°When I was trying to cast the advanced space magic, although I could not reach the planet, I could feel the gravity of the target planet from my presupposed transit spot. The planets are there, but at the same time, they are not there.¡±
When Lucien found out that the planets in this world could tell destinies, Lucien was already quite surprised. Now he felt surprised again, and very confused.

Chapter 43: A Real Professor
				Chapter 43: A Real Professor
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After he roughly went through some of the formulas in the article, Lucien found that the formulas in this world were basically consistent with what he had learned before, at school. If there was no calculation mistake, the sorcerer should be able to locate and find the planet. However, including the author, no one ever managed to arrive on the target planet.
¡°So weird¡­¡± Lucien thought to himself, feeling confused. Then he saw the author¡¯s introduction:
Oliver Constantine¡ªGrand arcanist; Legendary archmage; Level three in the profession of ¡°the Hand of Annihilation¡±.
¡°It looks like the title of grand arcanist is even superior than legendary archmage, and the two titles are not overlapping. They should belong to different evaluation or ranking systems¡ªthe latter is decided by how powerful the sorcerer or sorceress is, while the former depends on one¡¯s contribution to the study of arcana¡­¡± Lucien was guessing. Then when he looked at the other authors¡¯ titles in the journal, his thought was proved right: All of them had two different titles, for example, ¡°level eight arcanist, 9th circle Astrology mage¡±, ¡°level six arcanist, 8th circle Element mage¡±¡­ Lucien also noticed that, in most cases, the authors¡¯ levels in arcana were lower than their magic power ranks. Therefore, it seemed the achievement in academic study was even harder.
Some of the rest of the articles were:
¡°Study of String Vibration in Some of the Magics¡±
¡°Brief Introduction of Differential Method and Infinite Series¡±
¡°Thoughts about Seven-bridge Problem¡±
¡°The Mutual Transformation Between Electricity and Magnetism in Magic¡±
¡­¡­
¡°A New Element Detected by a New Method¡±
¡°A Forever Debate: Whether Spiritual Power Exists in the Form of Wave or Particle ¡ª A Study of ¡®Spirit Storm¡¯¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
While Lucien was reading the book, other apprentices were observing him in secret.
Half an hour later, Lucien already had a general idea of the journal.
The study of arcana in this world could be understood as science on Earth. The development of mathematics and physics here was close to the one at the middle of the 18th century on Earth. Calculus had been basically built up, while there was a very rapid growth in the development of geometry. Also, the development in Mechanics and electromagnetism had been pushed further in this world. At the same time, some spells here were beyond the comprehension of Earth¡¯s science, for example, Space Jump.
As for Element Magic, it was close to the development level of chemistry in the early nineteenth century on Earth. Researchers, or say, arcanists, had determined what particles made the elements and had realized that earth, fire, wind and water were actually not elements. Besides, they had started measuring atomic weight as well.
But the journal was published twenty years ago, Lucien speculated that the current development level of arcana should be even more advanced.
After he closed the journal, Lucien found that all the apprentices present were looking at him. He smiled and asked, ¡°It¡¯s a very interesting book. Can I keep it for about two weeks?¡±
¡°As long as you can answer my questions, Mr. Professor.¡± The voice of Philosopher sounded very old.
¡°Of course, Philosopher. You may ask now.¡± Knowing that the elder apprentice was trying to test him, Lucien was pretty confident. He believed that his knowledge should be enough to answer some apprentice questions.
Philosopher took out a stack of papers filled with words and numbers, ¡°Professor, since you specialize in Element and Astrology, I have some questions for you related to the first article in the journal¡­ When I first met these formulas which can predict the orbiting of stars, I was so fascinated, but I couldn¡¯t understand how they were derived and why they actually work. Can you explain it for us, sir?¡±
It seemed like a shared question for all the apprentice present. All of them turned around and were waiting for Lucien¡¯s explanation.
Within Lucien¡¯s expectation, what Philosopher asked was related to celestial mechanics. He answered calmly, ¡°Your question is too big to be fully explained at a time, because it involves too many different aspects. Tonight I can explain to you the basic principles of the formula and how to use them, are you okay with it?¡±
¡°Sure, Mr. Professor.¡± Philosopher answered politely.
¡°This symbol represents gravitational constant. Some of you may wonder what is gravity. Well, gravity is the force that makes you fall back to the ground when you jump up without using any magic, the force that makes apples drop. These phenomena never follow the will of God, and they should not be taken for granted¡­¡±
Lucien was trying to make his explanation simple. And when the other apprentices interrupted him to ask why, he just answered in this way, ¡°In order to explain this question, many more concepts and principles will be involved, and they can not be comprehended when you are apprentices. After you become real sorcerers and sorceresses, these questions will be easier to be studied.¡±
That was actually because Lucien himself did not fully understand the underlying principles of the formula as well.
Philosopher sighed with emotion, ¡°One can never learn enough in the world of magic. Before I thought I had made some progress in this field, but now I just realized I¡¯m way far from that.¡±
The rest of the apprentices also nodded. Toward these formulas, although the mysterious ¡°Professor¡± did not explain ¡°why¡±, he indeed clarified ¡°how¡±, from which they were provided with new ideas about how to analyze and construct many new magic structures.
After Lucien finished his ¡°lecture¡±, Philosopher fell silent. After a few seconds, he grabbed his quill and started writing numbers on a piece of paper excitedly. Other apprentices were also lost in thought.
¡°Mr. Professor, I want to apologize for suspecting you were a liar¡­¡± White Honey was a female, who did not speak very much before, ¡°You¡¯re the most elegant and erudite sorcerer I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Although she was trying to make herself sound like an elder woman, she was too excited to hide her original charming voice.
From her comment, Lucien, Smile and Oak immediately drew an important conclusion: White honey was a member of more than one apprentice group.
Lucien answered in his pretended harsh voice, ¡°I accept your apology. But actually, I don¡¯t really care what other people think of me. My knowledge and power is always mine.¡±
¡­¡­
Later, when White Honey, Smile and Oak were exchanging magic materials, Lucien also bought some of them.
Laying the right hand on his forehead, Philosopher made a deep bow towards Lucien. It was the manner of the ancient sorcerers.
¡°I want to extend my sincere thanks to you, sir, my mentor.¡± Philosopher said, excitedly, ¡°Your explanation solved many of my questions. I¡¯m hoping that, with your help, I can figure out how to analyze the key 1st circle Astrology magic, in order to become a real sorcerer. Mr. Professor, to show my appreciation I hope you can accept this set of labware. Besides, you can choose any one of my stuff here.¡±
¡°Mr. Professor, I heard that you need Corpse Mushroom, and I¡¯ve brought them here. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re willing to solve a question of mine¡­¡± Mercury was another female in the group, who sounded quite nervous but also excited.
Other apprentices were looking at Lucien respectfully, hoping to learn more from him.
Lucien started feeling that he was a real ¡°Professor¡± now.

Chapter 44: Knowledge is Money
				Chapter 44: Knowledge is Money
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Mercury took out a small box, in which there were three Corpse Mushrooms. One was darker than the other two. She asked politely, ¡°You can take them all if you¡¯re willing to answer my question, sir.¡±
Corpse Mushroom was required in many magic potions. The average price was about ten Nars. And the darker ones were even more expensive. If they were badly in need, the price could be doubled or even more.
Lucien couldn¡¯t resist the offer. He nodded, ¡°All right.¡±
Mercury found the article in the journal titled ¡°A New Element Detected by A New Method¡± and asked, ¡°My question is about the basic elements¡­ The author defines ¡®Tai¡¯ which is extracted from sunstones as an element in this article, but I thought only earth, fire, wind and water were basic elements¡­¡±
Her voice was slightly trembling, as if she knew that the answer to her question would overthrow all of her previous knowledge about Element magic. In fact, the question was related to the important difference between the ancient and the contemporary magic system.
¡°Well¡­¡± After a while, Lucien finally responded, ¡°Honestly speaking, I¡¯m not sure neither. I studied the ancient magic system like all of you. In the past, I often found conflicts between some theories and my own experiment practices, and thus I started putting more thoughts on it. The reason that I¡¯m able to explain those formula is not because I already have a deep understanding of them, but because many of the corresponding questions have been existing in my mind for a long time, and the article just solved them.¡±
It was very suspicious that a sorcerer who claimed himself to have nothing to do with the Continental Congress of Magic could understand all of the formula in the article, but Lucien was too excited to realize the fact when he first read the journal. Now he had to restrain himself a bit.
¡°That¡¯s why I was only explaining the application of the formulas. As for the principles lying behind them, they¡¯re also strange to me.¡± Lucien continued. He did not want to take even a slight risk of being suspected, ¡°This article showed the process and the result of an experiment, with only a few formulas. I can only share some of my thoughts roughly toward the theories mentioned in it, but I can be wrong.¡±
¡°No problem, sir.¡± Mercury answered firmly, and turned to the other apprentices, ¡°And I want to invite all of you here to join our discussion.¡±
This kind of instruction could be very expensive. Without the questioner¡¯s permission, others were usually not allowed to listen to it. Important information sometimes would be protected by a special magic called ¡°secret communication¡± in order to avoid eavesdropping.
¡°I heard that there has been a longtime discussion between sorcerers and sorceresses on whether the belief of four basic elements of the world is just a myth.¡± Lucien started analyzing, ¡°Many believe that the real elements should be more abstract, and should be more than just four kinds.¡±
The other apprentices nodded thoughtfully. Many of them had the same doubt as well when they were conducting magic experiments.
¡°I¡¯m not sure what are the real elements instead. But from this article, it seems like they have redefined element and found many new ones through different experiments.¡±
The experiment in this article was an example. The author showed his way to find the new element ¡ª By using the 9th circle magic Fire Storm to bombard Sunstone in an enclosed magic circle, the author obtained a beautiful and pure crystal called Tai, which was both more flexible and lighter than Mythril.
Lucien speculated that there was no periodic table of the elements in this world yet. But in this magic world, elements here were probably totally unpredictable.
In order to show the conflict between the ancient element theory and real-life practice, Lucien took a few apprentice element magics for example. After hearing his idea, the rest of the apprentices present were very excited.
¡°Mr. Professor¡­ I, I believe you¡¯re right! Being explained in this way, many of my experiment questions can be easily solved!¡± Mercury was very grateful, ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Professor!¡±
Hanger, who was standing in the corner all the time, also could hardly conceal his excitement, ¡°Mr. Professor, what about spirit? Is it also composed of certain elements? I don¡¯t have the materials you need, but you can choose anything you want in my bag.¡±
The other apprentices now held no suspicion of Lucien¡¯s identity. They all firmly believed that Lucien was the most knowledgeable sorcerer they had ever met, and were all eagerly hoping that the great sorcerer could share more of his ideas with them.
Disappointingly, Lucien shook his head, ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t dipped into Necromancy, so I cannot answer your question.¡±
After putting the three Corpse Mushrooms into his pocket and taking Philosopher¡¯s suitcase, Lucien asked, ¡°Do you have extra Corpse Mushroom or Revenant Dust? I want to buy more, or you can ask more questions.¡±
The brain tissue of the aquatic zombie was enough for about seven to eight experiments, and each of them would consume one Corpse Mushroom. Lucien hoped that he could collect the materials as much as possible.
¡°Since the church has been keeping an eye on us for a long time and it¡¯s too risky to cultivate the mushroom by ourselves, Corpse Mushroom is very rare these days. Except Mercury, I don¡¯t think other apprentices here would be able to offer you more, Mr. Professor.¡± Philosopher answered respectfully. He seemed like the leader of the group.
Like White Honey, Philosopher was a member of another two sorcerer groups. But the other sorcerers and sorceresses he had met were all very arrogant. They would only help the other group members who could offer something they really want, or give instructions to their own apprentices. Therefore, he was very grateful for Lucien¡¯s help.
¡°Compared with Corpse Mushroom, Revenant Dust is even harder to find.¡± White Honey added, ¡°The formation of revenant requires strong grievance and resentment gathering in a certain way. Although using the blood of some evil creatures can summon revenants, the blood is even more precious than the dust itself; after all, this is Aalto.¡±
Lucien was kind of disappointed, but he quickly moved on. Later he answered more questions raised by the other group members and got more materials and magic reagents in return. Lucien¡¯s knowledge earned great respect for him among the apprentices.
Besides respect, Lucien also earned a whole set of magic labware, three Corpse Mushroom, many other magic materials and reagents. Just like the saying goes, ¡°Knowledge is Money¡±.

Chapter 45: Lucien¡¯s Magic Lab
				Chapter 45: Lucien¡¯s Magic Lab
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien had found most of the materials that he needed, it was time for him to call it a day. ¡°I gotta go now,¡± said Lucien in his pretended harsh voice, ¡°We can continue over the next meeting.¡± He also had to go back and review his physics and chemistry knowledge in order to explain more questions in better ways for the group members.
To show their thankfulness, all of the apprentices stood up, laying their right hands on their foreheads, and bowed low to Lucien.
¡°Mr. Professor, can we have the honor to keep you staying a bit longer? Each of us is going to share our recent thoughts by presenting them to the others later. It would be our great pleasure to have you here.¡± Philosopher hopefully asked.
The discussion part was open to anyone. All of the apprentices present were hoping Lucien would possible make comments on their ideas. Even some random words from such a knowledgeable sorcerer could benefit them a great deal.
For Lucien, the invitation was an extra surprise tonight. Although Lucien could understand many advanced formula based on his previous knowledge, he, on the contrary, was having a hard time analyzing some of the apprentice spells. Concealing his excitement, Lucien was trying to make himself sound as calm as possible, ¡°All right.¡±
¡°Thank you, Professor.¡± White Honey first showed her appreciation.
It was a productive discussion, from which Lucien also gained a lot from the other group members. Many of his questions related to apprentice magics were solved and his knowledge gap was filled. At the same time, the other apprentices were also every encouraged to see that Mr. Professor was actually paying attention to their discussion.
In the early morning, after exchanging some more information, the meeting was drawing to a close. Lucien was stopped by Philosopher when he was about to leave.
¡°Mr. Professor,¡± asked Philosopher hopefully, ¡°do you mind leaving your contact information to me? So if we can find any Revenant Dust, we can contact you immediately.¡±
However, Lucien shook his head, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯d rather not. Owl knows how to contact me.¡± Cautious as Lucien was, he would never trust anyone easily.
¡°Well¡­¡± Philosopher nodded disappointingly, ¡°Will you attend our next meeting two weeks from now?¡± The other apprentices present were also waiting for Lucien¡¯s answer eagerly.
¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± Lucien¡¯s attitude was ambiguous, since he did not want his attendance to be regular, ¡°I might be in Melzer Black Forest at that time, preparing some experiments. Anyway, I¡¯ll let Owl know in advance.¡± But Lucien¡¯s vague answer was good enough for the members. At least this great sorcerer didn¡¯t refuse them directly.
After Smile made sure that it was safe outside, Lucien and other apprentices left the basement in succession. Having the suitcase in his hand, and some new magic materials in his pockets, Lucien walked home with no companion. On his way home, Lucien spread his spiritual power which covered a certain range to detect if there was anyone following him. And all he found was a raven.
He didn¡¯t feel even slightly relieved until he was finally back in his shack.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
One week later, using the magic which could turn stone into soil and mud, Lucien successfully dug a pit very close to his place. The three meters long, two-and-a-half meters wide pit connected to his shack with a small stone stairway was Lucien¡¯s new and also his first magic lab. Standing on a small stool, Lucien was carving lines on the wall with a silver dagger which came from the labware set. He was creating a magic circle in order to block energy waves caused by spell casting or magic experiments.
In addition to that, Lucien cast some more magic circles to protect the lab. Using ¡°Echo Elimination¡±, no one would notice that there was a basement under there by simply stamping on the floor. Other magic circles were used for placing magic traps which could be triggered when necessary.
After the carving work was done, Lucien pulled out a small bag of black powder. The powder was made from Black Curving Vine and it could quickly stick to almost everything. Carefully picking it out with the dagger, Lucien colored these lines with the black powder, and then he poured mercury on them little by little. Amazingly, the mercury did not drip at all, instead, it was instantly absorbed by the power. Now the outline of the magic circle was very distinct.
Pressing his palm in the centre of the pattern, Lucien spread out his spiritual power and activated the magic circle. The silver lines were lit bit by bit. After a burst of silver light, the magic circle completely disappeared in the wall as if nothing ever existed there at all.
Lucien stepped down from the stool, feeling exhausted. Building a magic circle could be very tiring. The more troublesome part was that, ten days later, it had to be replaced with a new one when the power of the circle was gone. For real sorcerers or sorceresses, they could maintain their magic circle using their own spiritual power, or building much more complicated ones which could recover the power automatically by themselves. Some parts of magic creatures, like their fur, horn or blood, could also do the job.
Then it was the last step. Casting the spell in an opposite way, Lucien built a long stone table from the soil. Placing all the glasswares and small stoves on the table, Lucien was more than happy and satisfied.
The lab was ready. From now on, Lucien finally had his own place to practice spells and conduct experiments. Obviously, this basement, although not very spacious, was much better than the cold, stinky sewers.
Standing on the stairs, Lucien nodded with great satisfaction. Then Lucien went back to his place upstairs and locked the entrance with magic after making sure the magic trap circle was also in position.
It was already in the early morning. As soon as Lucien¡¯s head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. He had to go to work in the library a few hours later.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
¡°Like I said¡­¡± Pierre stared at Lucien with concern, ¡°You gotta control yourself a bit.¡±
¡°I just didn¡¯t sleep well last night.¡± Lucien shook his head slowly.
¡°By the way, what musical instrument are you learning, Lucien?¡± Pierre suddenly switched the topic.

Chapter 46: Silvia
				Chapter 46: Silvia
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
¡°Piano,¡± Lucien answered, ¡°Mr. Victor has improved his harpsichord and renamed it ¡®piano¡¯. Soon he will register the new musical instrument in the association.¡±
While Lucien had made some progress in learning magic, he never slacked off in studying music. After all, he needed a decent job to make a living, and more importantly, to disguise his identity. Being a musician would be ideal enough. After all, no one would easily suspect an elegant and young musician to be an evil and notorious sorcerer.
¡°Harpsichord¡­ Piano¡­¡± Pierre repeated thoughtfully. Suddenly he became excited and dashed into the bookshelves. A moment later, Pierre came back with a book in his hand, ¡°You¡¯re gonna need the book! I gained a lot from it! By the way, did I ever tell you that in four months I¡¯ll take the qualification test of the association? If I can pass it, I¡¯ll finally be a qualified musician!¡±
Like other associations, the Musicians¡¯ Association also practised monopoly. The evaluation of musician was completely controlled by it.
¡°No, you never mentioned it,¡± Lucien took over the book titled The Art of Harpsichord Performance, ¡°but I believe you can do it, Pierre,¡± said Lucien sincerely.
In the next hour, Pierre did not give Lucien any time to study the book. Since he knew that Lucien was also a music student, Pierre tried to seize every chance to share his thought on music with his buddy.
However, today was definitely not a good time for discussion since Lucien was too sleepy to follow Pierre. His eyelids were so heavy that he could barely keep his eyes open. Lucien did try to stop Pierre many times, but Pierre never let him have a chance to cut in.
Fortunately, at this time, a lady wearing a long white dress and a black pillbox hat walked into the library. She was a very elegant lady, her waist was slender and her legs rangy, as if she just walked out of a fine picture.
Lucien also noticed her long white stockings, which made the lady¡¯s legs looked even sexier. However, that was not Lucien¡¯s focus. Instead, he was thinking about where that rayon-like material came from. Probably it was a byproduct of alchemy?
¡°Good morning, Ms. Silvia,¡± suddenly switching his attitude, Pierre greeted the lady politely and slightly nudged Lucien, ¡°Anything I can do for you today?¡±
Lucien then realized she was the Silvia that Pierre was talking about all the time. Her long black hair was like silk, shiny and soft. Under her small lovely nose, there were cherry-like lips. For sure, she was very beautiful and graceful.
¡°Morning Pierre, I need to borrow several books. They are¡­¡± said Silvia with a sweet smile on her face. She had got used to people¡¯s special attention, so Lucien¡¯s long stare didn¡¯t bother her.
Pierre¡¯s face instantly flushed with excitement, since he never expected that Silvia would remember his name. He nodded several times and dashed into the shelves again to get the books for his goddess.
Lucien stayed behind the counter. A sweet and familiar fragrance slipped into his nose. Not until a few seconds later did Lucien realize that the smell was very similar to that of the black veil he found in the dump site, the expensive cloth called Black Nightingale.
But Lucien couldn¡¯t make sure, and there was also no need for him to figure out whether Ms. Silvia was the veil¡¯s owner or not. After all, the smell was still slightly different.
Out of nervousness and excitement, the more Pierre wanted to impress Ms. Silvia, the more clumsy he was. After a few minutes, he started feeling embarrassed.
¡°You need my help there?¡± Lucien turned around and asked. Then Lucien walked directly toward a bookshelf and pulled out one of the books Ms. Silvia was looking for in front of Pierre¡¯s face. Of course, it was not because of Lucien¡¯s good memory, but his amazing spirit library, which could even store the arrangement of the whole library.
¡°Lucien!¡± Pierre's mouth dropped open, ¡°When did you become so familiar with the place?!¡±
With a pile of books in his arms, Lucien came to Silvia and asked politely, ¡°Ma¡¯am, do you want me to take these books to the reading room?¡±
Of course, Lucien couldn¡¯t claim that he had no man¡¯s thoughts when he was looking at such a beautiful woman like Silvia. But Lucien knew that a romantic relationship was too luxury and impractical to be put in his future plans for now. Therefore, Lucien¡¯s indifferent attitude contrasted sharply with Pierre¡¯s nervousness.
¡°Just leave them on the table, please. Someone else will get them later.¡± Silvia¡¯s voice was husky and sexy, ¡°What¡¯s your name? I never saw you before.¡±
¡°My name¡¯s Lucien Evans. I¡¯m new here.¡± answered Lucien slowly. Then he added, ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Victor¡¯s student.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Silvia smiled sweetly, ¡°No wonder¡­ I heard that Mr. Victor had successfully improved harpsichord and named it ¡®piano¡¯. Please tell him that I¡¯m really looking forward to his concert, Lucien.¡±
The quick change of Lucien¡¯s attitude was a bit strange for Silvia. When she just walked in the library, Lucien was staring at her legs like a pervert, while now it seemed that Lucien was not interested in women at all.
After Lucien finished registering the borrowed books, Silvia thanked them and left the library. Lucien noticed that there was a lady wearing a black pillbox hat waiting for Ms. Silvia. Standing there straightly like a spear, the slim lady was taller than Lucien by about half a head. Behind the lady stood a beautiful young maid and an elegant middle-aged woman.
Noticing that someone was looking at them, the poker-faced, middle-aged woman instantly threw Lucien a cold eye. At that moment, Lucien felt he was suddenly thrown off a cliff and all the colors of the world faded. As if the woman had a rough ocean in her eyes, Lucien couldn¡¯t stop trembling in front of the huge waves of the ocean.
Lucien lost his ability of thinking. He didn¡¯t fully recover until he could only see the woman¡¯s back. The woman and the slim lady changed a few words and the latter looked back at Lucien with some amusement in her eyes. But Lucien could also feel the great pressure in it and her authoritative aura.
¡°Who are they¡­?¡± Lucien was astonished. He had never met someone like them before in this world, especially the middle-aged woman. It felt like her gaze could easily disarm Lucien completely.
Pierre came close to Lucien and made a long sigh, ¡°Silvia, she¡¯s my goddess. I know¡­ I was not very impressive though.¡± Then he nudged Lucien, ¡°But buddy, you can¡¯t just stare at Ms. Silvia¡¯s legs like that. That¡¯s¡­ too much.¡±
But Lucien paid no attention to what Pierre just said.
¡°¡­Wait, why do you look even paler now, Lucien?¡± Pierre asked, surprised.

Chapter 47: Victor¡¯s Trouble
				Chapter 47: Victor¡¯s Trouble
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Weakly, Lucien asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Pi¡­ Pierre¡­ Do you know who the other three madams are?¡± Lucien found himself only being able to recall the eyes of the last young lady, of her dangerous, blue eyes.
¡°Nop, but I could imagine what happened.¡± Pierre shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Ms. Silvia has many noble lady friends, and some of them are knights who have awakened the Blessing. Well¡­ you were staring at her legs so impolitely, so one of her friends probably just gave you a lesson using her knight power.¡±
¡°I see¡­ I wonder if the younger lady was Princess Natasha. Her power was so overwhelming. Except Princess Natasha, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s another female knight in Aalto who has such power. And the middle-aged woman standing beside her might be her guard¡­¡± Lucien said to Pierre thoughtfully.
¡°No matter who they are, my friend, the noble ladies have nothing to do with you, and never will.¡± Pierre patted Lucien on his shoulder, ¡°Noble ladies would never waste a second on common folks like us.¡±
Although everyone was endowed with the Blessing, offsprings of nobles always had a better chance of awakening the power. Therefore, nobles would never marry common people but only nobles in order to keep their blood pure.
¡°Ms. Silvia is my goddess but is too far away from me. All we can rely on is music, buddy,¡± said Pierre earnestly, although he was the one who flushed his face just now.
In the following several hours, Lucien was being tortured by his sleepiness. At noon, Lucien refused Pierre¡¯s invitation of having lunch together and was going back home to get some rest.
When Lucien was walking downstairs, he saw Elena was talking joyfully with a tall and young man who had shining blonde hair and a very well-featured, pretty face. From his fancy clothes, Lucien could tell the man was a noble.
Soon the man bid farewell to Elena and walked upstairs, passing by Lucien. He was really a very good-looking man.
Lucien came downstairs and talked to Elena half jokingly, ¡°You have feelings for him?¡±
¡°Come on, Lucien¡­ You¡¯re my friend, and you can¡¯t tell that was fake smile on my face?¡± Gently rubbing her face, Elena answered in a low voice, ¡°He¡¯s Mekanzi Griffith, the second-in-line of the Griffith Family, Director Othello¡¯s student, and also, the no.1 playboy in our association.¡±
¡°The Griffith Family?¡± Lucien heard the name before.
¡°Yes, Griffith.¡± Elena nodded, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you know Lott, right? Mekanzi is his elder cousin. He¡¯s very good at playing harpsichord and violin.¡±
¡°I see¡­ but why you don¡¯t like him? And why were you still pretending?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°Well¡­ I know I shouldn¡¯t talk like this about a noble, but he¡¯s a bastard. As a notorious playboy, Mekanzi is known for his misbehavior. He especially enjoys conquering women who do not have interest in him, who treat him coldly. It is said that once there was a girl from a common family who refused Mekanzi a few times, in the end he, he¡­¡± Elena pursed her lips with strong disgust.
¡°Be careful, Elena.¡± He said with concern, ¡°But in a couple of years, you¡¯ll be married, I guess.¡±
¡°Get married¡­¡± Elena slightly sighed and her eyes looked sad, ¡°After seeing so many elegant musicians and gentlemen in the association, now it¡¯s impossible for me to marry an ordinary guy.¡±
What Elena said was true. Once a person had enjoyed many delicacies, plain bread and water became hard to swallow.
¡°Then what¡¯s your plan, Elena?¡± As a friend, Lucien did care about her.
¡°Well¡­ probably to be a mistress of a noble or famous musician¡­¡± Elena laughed when she saw Lucien¡¯s astonished face, ¡°I¡¯m just joking! I¡¯ve saved some money and I¡¯m gonna learn music like you, Lucien!¡±
¡°Wow, that¡¯s really cool, Elena.¡± Lucien was impressed. An independent and hard-working girl was always impressive.
¡°I know! Ms. Silvia is my idol. I wish someday I could also be an elegant and beautiful female music master like her. For such a music goddess, nobody would say that staying single in her age is a big deal, because she doesn¡¯t need a man at all ¡ª she has the world of music! Although I know many musicians in our association have a crush on her¡­ well, Mr. Victor is not included.¡±
Mr. Victor¡¯s wife had passed away almost ten years ago. Since then Victor remained single and put all his passion into music. Everyone in the association knew that, including Lucien.
¡°So are you gonna be Ms. Silvia¡¯s student?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°I¡¯ll try, but Ms. Silvia rarely looks for new students.¡± Elena nodded. Her green eyes were filled with happiness and excitement, ¡°Or I can be your student, Lucien, when you become a good musician!¡± she smiled.
¡°It will be my pleasure.¡± Lucien also laughed.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
With plenty of magic materials, Lucien didn¡¯t attend the apprentice meeting for the following several times. He had copied the journal Arcana in his spirit library before he buried it at the foot of the wall to let Smile take it back.
From the marks left by Smile, Lucien could tell they were pretty disappointed and were still looking forward to his presence. But Lucien did not want to rush ¡ª he still needed a few more weeks to fully absorb the knowledge that he gained from both the journal and the last meeting.
¡­¡­
Time went by. When Lucien was able to cast nine apprentice-level spells consecutively at a time and was very close to moving to the next level, intermediate apprentice, there was only one month left before Mr. Victor¡¯s concert was held in the Psalm Hall.
Being uninspired, this musician again became anxious and fretful. The tune of the fourth and also the last symphony just wouldn¡¯t come in Victor¡¯s mind. Soon he got too stressed to teach so many students, so he had no choice but to suspend the class for those non-music students for a whole month.
But his unusual testiness was still very obvious in the music students¡¯ eyes.
¡°Bang!¡±
Something that sounded like an ink bottle fell on the floor and all of the students downstairs raised their heads. It was not the first time that day.
¡°Well¡­ we gotta do something. Breaking stuff definitely can¡¯t help with getting inspiration.¡± Lott shrugged his shoulders.

Chapter 48: In the Hall
				Chapter 48: In the Hall
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Since the success and reputation of a teacher was also directly related to the students, Lott and Felicia were also quite worried.
¡°Do something?¡± Felicia rolled her eyes, ¡°Do what?¡±
Frowning his eyebrows, Lott answered thoughtfully, ¡°A symphony is a quite long piece of music and usually consists of four parts. For a concert, four symphonies are enough. I don¡¯t understand why Mr. Victor insists on creating new symphonies, after all, he got so many good ones he wrote before to choose from.¡±
¡°Mr. Victor did pick out the best one, and it will be one of the four symphonies.¡± Standing beside, Athy joined their conversation, ¡°But it is also the only ready-made one from the four symphonies. Mr. Victor felt all the others are nowhere close to the best one. In order to present an excellent concert, Mr. Victor has to make sure all the pieces of music are equally impressive.¡±
Rubbing his eyes, Herodotus sighed, ¡°Mr. Victor always want to be perfect. His previous works were actually very popular among many musicians and nobles, or he would never be qualified to give a concert in the Psalm Hall. If we try, probably we can persuade him.¡± He looked at Lott and Felicia, while Lucien, a poor student who could only play the simplest music for now, was subconsciously ignored by him.
¡°What do you think, Mr. Athy?¡± asked Felicia. She knew that, among all the people in the sitting room, Athy was the one who knew Mr. Victor the best. After all, Athy had been taking care of Victor for almost thirty years.
¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think so.¡± Slowly, Athy shook his head, ¡°The concert is of great significance for Victor. He wants to fulfill the wish of his late wife, which is to have a perfect performance in the Psalm Hall, thus he won¡¯t make any compromise.¡±
¡°Probably¡­ we can look for some potions that are helpful for him to relax.¡± As an apprentice, Lucien¡¯s first idea was seeking the help of potions and drugs.
¡°No we can¡¯t. Those drugs will slow down one¡¯s mind and cause the inhibition of inspiration.¡± Athy denied Lucien¡¯s proposal seriously.
¡°But we can¡¯t just let Mr. Victor torture himself like this,¡± said Lucien with concern.
¡°Then what can you do, Lucien? Come up with a new masterpiece for Mr. Victor?¡± said Herodotus with clear sarcasm. He never liked Lucien, ¡°If you cannot, please shut up.¡±
Lucien didn¡¯t feel really offended, instead, what Herodotus just said gave him some new thoughts. Mr. Victor needed his help, Lucien knew.
When they were talking, Victor opened the door and walked downstairs, looking very tired. The students stopped their conversation instantly and looked at him.
Victor¡¯s hair was messy, and his eyes red. ¡°I¡¯m going to the association to practice the first three symphonies. All of you come with me to see how the different parts of the orchestra cooperates. ¡±
Although all of them were a bit relieved to see that Victor¡¯s mood had returned to normal, they knew the trouble still remained unsolved.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
On the fifth floor of the association, the orchestra was playing a magnificent symphony. The four parts of the symphony were integrated perfectly and together provided the audiences with a grand acoustic feast.
As soon as the orchestra finished playing the last part, a cold applause came from behind. All the students looked backwards.
It was Wolf.
¡°Good, very good. It looks like you¡¯re ready for the concert, Victor.¡± Holding his chin high, Wolf still looked the same, arrogant and mean. Victor enjoyed a period of peaceful time when Wolf was out of town, and now apparently the happy time was over.
Victor¡¯s face instantly darkened since he knew Wolf must have heard something. Before Victor said anything, Wolf asked with a fake smile on his face, ¡°I remember you asked for my advice before I left. Now I¡¯m back, so let me see your work.¡±
¡°You just heard it.¡± Victor just wanted to cut the conversation short as much as he could.
¡°No, I mean¡­ all the four symphonies.¡± Wolf lifted his eyebrows.
¡°Wolf, you¡­!¡± Victor was very pissed off. Before his rage took over, two men walked into the hall. One of them was a white-haired old man, wearing a decent black suit and with a black cane in his hand; The other was the good-looking blond that Lucien met a few weeks ago, Mekanzi, who was Lott¡¯s elder cousin.
¡°Director.¡± Putting their argument aside temporarily, both Victor and Wolf slightly bowed to the old man.
Victor¡¯s students also bowed following their teacher. It was Lucien¡¯s first time meeting Baron Othello, director of the association, who was also Mekanzi¡¯s mentor.
In the law among nobles which was constructed over a long time, those noble offsprings who managed to awaken their Blessing in their blood and thus became royal knights were more qualified to inherit their titles, but it was not to say that the rest of them who failed to awaken the blood power could not be the next head of their houses. As a gifted musician, Othello was also the only son of his house, thus he rightly inherited the title of his family and became the Baron.
¡°Victor, I heard that you¡¯re having a hard time with the fourth symphony?¡± Othello walked to Victor and asked him seriously.
Victor nodded his head, his eyes lowered, ¡°Yes, sir¡­¡±
Othello slightly raised the cane in his hand along with his voice, ¡°You must know how important this concert is. You¡¯re representing our association to play in front of Grand Duke and the princess, and you gotta make sure nothing will go wrong. Do you understand?¡±
¡°I do, sir. I will make sure every piece of work will be really impressive...¡± answered Victor in a low voice, ¡°¡­at least I¡¯m trying my best.¡±
Wolf gave Victor a loud snort on the side.
¡°No, I¡¯m not asking for everything to be that impressive, Victor,¡± nodded Othello, ¡°I¡¯m asking for a safe and smooth performance. I understand your pressure, but you cannot keep delaying like this. You have to hand in all of your music as soon as possible to give the orchestra enough time to practice.¡± Then Othello paused a bit, ¡°Well¡­ let me give you a deadline. By the last week before the concert, I want to see all of your work laying on my office desk. Any problem, Victor?¡±
Victor shook his head with great effort, ¡°No¡­ sir.¡± He knew that if he still could not come up with the last symphony, someone else in the association would replace him very soon.
¡°I hope you understand why I¡¯m pushing you.¡± Othello looked less serious now, ¡°I believe you can do it, Victor.¡± The director nodded to show his encouragement and then walked out of the hall.
At this time, Mekanzi approached Lott with a smile on face, ¡°My dear little cousin, I hope you won¡¯t have any trouble with the musician qualification test like your teacher is having here. Although I¡¯ll be one of the examiners in the next three years and I¡¯m very looking forward to your violin performance, my integrity will never allow me to lower my standard.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t need you to lower your standard.¡± answered Lott, clenching his teeth.
Then Mekanzi turned to Lucien, ¡°You know what? As a pauper, how lucky you are that you may have the chance to be a musician. It¡¯s not really wise wasting your time on fooling around with girls instead of practicing your skills.¡±
Lucien was very confused when he just heard Mekanzi¡¯s comment, but soon he realized he was talking about Elena. Recently, Elena spent some time with Lucien in order to learn more about music.
Then Mekanzi left and caught up with Othello with a lovely smile on his face. In the family of Griffith, as the second-in-line to inherit the title, Mekanzi always spared no effort to please the house master.
¡°Oh my¡­ Victor, you¡¯re still racking your wits about your last masterpiece?¡± Pretending that he didn¡¯t know the fact before, there was a smile of triumph on Wolf¡¯s face, ¡°Enjoy, Victor. Enjoy your first play in the Psalm Hall, cause it may as well be the last.¡±
Before Wolf left, he glanced at Lucien, ¡°Is this your talented pauper student, Victor? Well¡­ wish him good luck with his qualification test in the future. After all, your reputation is directly related to his. What a poor young lad!¡±
Wolf was amused by his own words. Laughing, he went out of the hall. While Lucien noticed that Victor¡¯s face was flushed and the blue veins on his hands stood out.

Chapter 49: Symphony of Destiny
				Chapter 49: Symphony of Destiny
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Victor didn¡¯t loosen his fist until the gate of the hall slowly closed. With a long sigh, he turned around and said to Rhine and the rest of the orchestra, ¡°I¡¯m going back to my office to finish my work. Everyone, keep practicing please.¡±
¡°Mr. Victor, please don¡¯t push yourself too much.¡± Rhine put down his violin and walked to Victor. His face looked serious, ¡°I don¡¯t think you can come up with a good melody with your current mood.¡±
Victor¡¯s mind was being bothered by fatigue, depression and anger at the same time. He nodded, ¡°Thank you, Rhine. I just¡­ need some rest.¡±
¡°Lucien, Lott, you two accompany Mr. Victor to his office. Felicia and Herodotus, you two keep practicing.¡± Rhine said to the students.
On the way to the third floor, Victor didn¡¯t say anything. Neither Lucien nor Lott knew what to do, so they just followed him silently.
Before leaving the office, Lucien noticed that Victor was looking at a lifelike portrait hanging on the wall. On the portrait there was a beautiful young woman with a smile on her face. She had black hair and black eyes.
When Lucien closed the door, Victor was still staring at the portrait like a statue.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
When Lucien and Lott came back to the practice room on the fourth floor, they saw Felicia and Herodotus were lost in thought.
¡°Well¡­¡± Lott tried to break the silence, ¡°All director Othello asked was to give a smooth concert, Mr. Victor might feel less stressed now.¡± Apparently, his words didn¡¯t help.
¡°Come on¡­ I care about Mr. Victor¡¯s performance very much, okay?¡± Lott hurriedly added, ¡°You all saw my cousin Mekanzi. If Mr. Victor¡¯s concert can be a huge success, I can call myself the student of a top musician, which will help me with my qualification test.¡±
Felicia puckered her mouth a bit, ¡°Yes, we are all linked to Mr. Victor. I¡¯m worried about him. If the concert goes wrong, I can¡¯t imagine what is waiting for him.¡±
On the other side, Herodotus leaned his forehead against his violin, murmuring.
Lucien got ignored again, but he didn¡¯t care at all. He was also busy with thinking. In order to repay Victor¡¯s kindness, Lucien was looking for a musical masterpiece from his world as a plan B. Before that, he had gone through all the songs in his spirit library to make sure there was nothing similar to what he was going to choose. The work was actually easier than Lucien thought, since all the songs were stored in Lucien¡¯s spirit library and he could easily search them in his storage. Then Lucien had to find a proper way to give the music to Mr. Victor.
Fortunately, Lucien had finished the difficult part šC translation. When Lucien was practicing reading music here, he marked many masterpieces from his world with the notes he had learned here.
During this period of time, Lucien had a better understanding toward the music trend in this world. Being affected by the church, music in Aalto featured traditional structure and religious style. Lucien wanted to choose one that fitted the trend. Therefore, Bach came first to his mind since his music also had some religious taste.
However, after comparing Bach¡¯s work with many musical masterpieces in this world, Lucien found they were somehow too similar to each other! He was glad that he was cautious enough.
Then Lucien turned to Beethoven. Fortunately, none of Beethoven¡¯s work overlapped the music from this world. Lucien didn¡¯t want to waste much time on selecting, and thus he soon decided to use one of Beethoven¡¯s most well known masterpieces¡ªSymphony No. 5. Lucien still remembered when he first heard it, he was shocked by the great momentum of the symphony.
The most difficult part that Lucien had to think about was how to ¡°give¡± it to Victor. Lucien couldn¡¯t just directly hand Victor a piece of paper with such an excellent music masterpiece on it, telling Victor that he found it in a book in the library. On the other hand, it would be even more suspicious if he claimed that he came up with the melody by himself, since a beginner like him writing a piece of symphony like this would obviously make no sense.
Lucien wished he knew how to do hypnosis, but his current spiritual power was not enough to infuse a whole piece of symphony into Victor¡¯s mind.
Finally, he decided to rewrite Symphony No. 5, but instead of revitalizing it, Lucien was going to ¡°degrade¡± it. Lucien needed to destroy the whole structure of the masterpiece but leave some fragments for Victor. Lucien was hoping that his teacher could get inspired from these fragments.
After writing a small piece of melody down on the paper, Lucien sat down in front of the piano and heavily pressed the keyboard with his hands.
¡°Dang dang dang dang!¡±
It was so loud that Herodotus almost fell off his chair. Following the magnificent beginning, the rest part of the melody was like a disaster.
¡°What the heck are you doing?¡± Lott asked while frowning his eyebrows.
¡°I want to help Mr. Victor. What I saw today made me feel depressed but also angry, and this combined emotion just gave me some inspiration. I¡¯m going to write it down.¡± Lucien explained.
¡°What?¡± Lott almost laughed, ¡°Are you saying you are writing a symphony?¡±
¡°How long have you been learning music? You don¡¯t really understand how to play piano yet!¡± Felicia¡¯s voice became higher.
Spreading his hands, Lott replied directly. ¡°No, you¡¯re not able to help Mr. Victor, Lucien. I understand your will but you are just a beginner.¡±
¡°You think everyone can write a symphony just because they have so-called ¡®inspiration¡¯?!¡± Herodotus sneered, ¡°What you just played was rubbish. Stop showing off in front of Mr. Victor to please him, you jester!¡±
¡°Lucien, please stop.¡± Felicia shook her head with depression, ¡°Can you just stop? Don¡¯t make the situation harder.¡±
But Lucien also shook his head firmly, ¡°No. I¡¯m inspired. I can write a good one.¡±
Lott, Felicia and Herodotus were staring at Lucien as if he was a madman.

Chapter 50: Composing
				Chapter 50: Composing
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien kept playing. He could only press the keys one by one since the skills required in this symphony were far beyond his beginner level. Lott, Felicia and Herodotus felt there was a heavy hammer knocking on their heads. Their anxiety and anger were accumulating.
¡°Enough!¡± Herodotus and Lott cried out at the same time.
¡°What?¡± Lucien turned his head and looked at them innocently, ¡°Mr. Victor asked us to practice. And I am practicing. Then what are you two doing here?¡±
¡°Lucien!¡± Gripping his fists, Herodotus¡¯s face flushed with anger. However, he was too short and thin for a fight. Lucien had been practicing fighting for a while and was half a head taller than him. A few seconds later, Herodotus shook his fist in the air, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be punished by Mr. Victor for beating you up.¡± Then he turned around and burst out of the practice room.
¡°Sorry about the noise.¡± Lucien shrugged his shoulder but had no plan to stop. He grabbed his quill again and wrote more music notes down. The melody now only contained small pieces of the masterpiece but most of it were Lucien¡¯s stupid creation.
¡°Are you serious, Lucien?¡± Lott was looking at the ceiling of the room, rubbing his forehead.
¡°You wanna have a look?¡± Lucien was about to shove his piece of paper into Lott¡¯s hand but the latter directly rejected.
Lott looked at Felicia, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Staying here for one more second will drive me crazy.¡±
She nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right. I need some fresh air¡­¡±
Finally, as he wished, Lucien was left alone in the practice room. After locking the door, Lucien went back to work. He started adding more pieces from Symphony No. 5 into the melody, hoping that he could come up with a degraded version of Symphony No. 5 with lots of imperfection, and thus Victor could improve it to restore it to a real symphony masterpiece.
In order to show the progress, Lucien had to provide many drafts. Also, Lucien needed to practice lots of times to make sure his poor playing wouldn¡¯t completely ruined the music, at least he had to show some of the value of the music in front of his teacher.
In the following several hours, the drafts of many versions piled up on the desk and the pile was growing taller and taller. Playing many parts of the music over and over again, Lucien was sweating all over.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
When the sky became darker, Lucien stretched himself a bit and then left the practice room with a thick stack of paper in his hand.
Lott, Felicia and Herodotus were sitting in the hall, watching Mr. Victor conducting the orchestra. When Lucien came in, they rolled their eyes simultaneously with antipathy. However, Lucien in turn gave them a big smile. Felicia shook her head with a long sigh.
Sitting in the soft audience seat, Lucien closed his eyes and continued thinking about his work. Half an hour later, the rehearsal finished. Victor and Rhine came down from the stage and walked in front of them. Mr. Victor now looked much better.
¡°How was the practice this afternoon, everyone? Any problems?¡± asked Victor.
¡°Lucien is the biggest problem, Mr. Victor!¡± Herodotus answered instantly, ¡°He¡­ he was writing a symphony! A beginner! The noise was so horrible that all of us left the practice room in the end!¡±
Rejoicing in secret, Lucien almost couldn¡¯t hold his smile back anymore. He had to thank Herodotus for letting Mr. Victor know what he was doing.
¡°Is that true, Lucien?¡± Victor looked at Lucien with great surprise, ¡°You¡¯re composing a symphony?¡±
Slightly raising one of his silver eyebrows, Rhine was looking at Lucien with great interest.
Lucien nodded seriously, ¡°What I saw today and what I¡¯ve experienced before brought me some inspiration, so I wanted to write it down.¡±
Gentle and kind as Victor, he didn¡¯t immediately scold Lucien for being to arrogant. Instead, he asked his student, ¡°Can I have a look at it?¡±
¡°Me, too.¡± Rhine cut in with great curiosity, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Lucien.¡±
¡°No problem.¡± Lucien handed Victor the whole stack of paper.
When Rhine was reading Lucien¡¯s work, his thin lips closed tightly as if he was going to burst into laughter at any time. While Victor looked pretty serious.
¡°Lucien,¡± Victor gave the drafts back to him, ¡°I know you¡¯re doing this for me and I appreciate your effort. But Lucien, writing a symphony requires much more solid knowledge foundation than you thought. As a beginner, I suggest you start from the most basic theories for at least a few years before you actually write anything.¡±
Victor was gratified to see his student was trying to help him, at least the intention was good. Furthermore, the rest of the students just realized why Lucien did all of these. They suddenly felt Lucien was even more crafty and sophisticated than they thought.
¡°Well¡­ although your work is still very¡­ say, immature, there are a few highlights in it.¡± Rhine was trying to comfort Lucien, ¡°For example, this part.¡± The exactly few bars that Rhine was pointing at came from Symphony No. 5.
¡°Thank you, Mr. Rhine.¡± Lucien nodded to him with appreciation, then he turned to Victor, ¡°Mr. Victor, I know you do not agree with what I¡¯m doing, but I still want to finish it. No matter if it turns out to be good or bad, or even horrible, it is the first piece of music work in my life.¡±
Similar situations had happened more than once before. Victor knew how stubborn Lucien could be, and at the same time, Victor was very tired with his own concert stuff. Finally, he made a compromise, ¡°Don¡¯t let it affect your daily practice.¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
After having Victor¡¯s permission, Lucien started working on his composing task almost every day. Adding more and more parts of Symphony No. 5 into his work, Lucien¡¯s gradual progress was hidden in the disturbing noise.
In these days, Lott, Felicia and Herodotus were avoiding him as much as possible, while Mr. Victor was trapped in his office working on his last symphony. No one paid attention to Lucien.
By the last week before the concert, after countless times of practice, Lucien was able to completely play his version of Symphony No. 5, although it was not exactly the same as and was much easier than the original masterpiece.

Chapter 51: The New Message
				Chapter 51: The New Message
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After pressing the last key, Lucien slowly removed his hands from the keyboard. A feeling of accomplishment rose in his mind. Through the three weeks of diligent practice, now Lucien could play the masterpiece relatively fluently with some simple skills. Of course, it was not perfect, but Lucien believed that Mr. Victor could easily tell its value.
¡°Lucien¡­ you¡­¡± Felicia was standing beside the door with her hand on the doorknob, looking very confused but also surprised.
¡°Felicia, sorry, I didn¡¯t notice you were here.¡± Lucien stood up and pushed the piano stool under the keyboard, ¡°What did you say?¡±
¡°The song you played¡­ was quite impressive. You¡¯ve¡­ made great progress.¡± Felicia looked away. She was not used to making compliments, especially to Lucien.
¡°Thank you, Felicia.¡± Grabbing his music sheets, Lucien walked to Felicia, ¡°I gotta go now. It looks like a storm is coming.¡±
In the Month of Harvest (September), there was always a downpour every few days. The weather today was very muggy, and the sky was much darker than usual.
¡°Yes¡­ Sure. See you tomorrow, Lucien.¡± Felicia was kind of distracted.
When Lucien came downstairs, he saw Athy asking the servants to do cleaning there. Lucien walked toward him asked, ¡°Mr. Athy, did you see Mr. Victor? I have something to tell him.¡±
¡°Mr. Victor just left for the cemetery. I¡¯m afraid he might not be able to come back until late.¡± Athy was always polite and serious, ¡°Would you like to leave a message?¡±
¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m not in a hurry. Thank you, Athy.¡± Lucien waved his hands. He could talk to Victor in person the next day. Tonight he had some magic experiments to carry out, which were his priority.
In the last few weeks, Lucien managed to read the journal, Arcana, many times. With the help of the literature stored in his spirit library, his basic knowledge foundation grew more solid. Combining that with what he had learned about vibrational frequency, Lucien improved the spell ¡°Homan Oscillation¡± and created two new apprentice-level spells.
For most apprentices, the development of their spiritual power often was much faster than the accumulation of their knowledge. Lucien, on the other hand, was facing a totally opposite situation due to his background. His spiritual power was still insufficient for casting ten apprentice spells consecutively at a time.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
In the early evening, on his way to auntie Alisa¡¯s place, Lucien noticed that there was a new secret message on the wall.
¡°We have news about the evil creatures. Tonight. Ten o¡¯clock. The same place,¡± said the secret message.
Lucien kept walking as though he saw nothing. In his mind, he was guessing the intention of this message. He never attended the meeting after his first appearance, so it seemed they were using the information to lure him.
Another reason that Lucien was this cautious was the raven he saw last time on his way back home from the apprentice meeting. When Lucien first encountered the raven, he didn¡¯t put any thought into it, since there were countless ravens in Aalto. However, afterwards he recalled what he had read in the notes šC raven was the most common summoned pet. The more he thought about it, the more concerned he felt. Now Lucien couldn¡¯t help worrying that the message might be a trap, in case it would probably have been set by the raven¡¯s master.
However, the attraction exerted by the information was irresistible. Lucien always yearned for the Crying Soul potion, which could reveal the power hidden in a developed body. He had been looking for the ingredients for quite a long time. Now, he already had the Corpse Mushroom and the brain tissue of the Aquatic Zombie, so Lucien wanted to get Revenant Dust and Moonlight Rose as soon as possible. Except for using the blood of a revenant to summon another, Lucien couldn¡¯t come up with a second way to get any revenant dust in Aalto, especially under the watch of the church.
Chewing his bread, Lucien was thinking carefully, struggling between his feeling of insecurity and his desire. Finally, Lucien decided to accept the invitation. However, before going there, he needed to be prepared.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Nighttime, in Lucien¡¯s lab.
On the magic circle carved on the stone table, a cup-sized black container was being heated over the blue fire, in which a certain kind of thick red liquid was boiling.
Lucien¡¯s face looked very serious. He was stirring the liquid in the container with a long ceramic stick. In his right hand, there was a test tube with some black liquid in it. Pouring it into the container, Lucien slowly mixed them up.
Every drop of the black liquid brought a gauze of white mist. As if it was alive, the red liquid kept shrinking fiercely and became thicker and thicker, like gel. Lucien knew that a tiny mistake would cause a devastating explosion. He must keep concentrating.
Mixing all the black liquid with the red one, Lucien pressed his right hand on the circle and use his spiritual power to change the way the circle worked. Many red thin lines emerged and covered the container. Meanwhile, Lucien started casting. A white beam of cold light showed up between his fingers and flashed into the container.
Heat met cold, but the magic red lines prevented the gel from exploding, and it slowly became more stable.
When the white mist around it slowly disappeared, only a small amount of flame-colored gel was left in the black container. Lucien carefully put the very thick gel into a glass tube and sealed it, which was the last step required to make the Flame Gel.
Lucien found the making process in the witch¡¯s notes. According to her description, he guessed the Flame Gel should be as powerful as napalm.
In order to improve its power, Lucien was about to add some nitroglycerin into the formula, but in the end he decided not to, because he didn¡¯t want to turn his new lab into a heap of ruins for being too hasty.
In a box in the corner of his lab, there were seven tubes, each of them containing different potions. Two of them were Flame Gel, two other were Storm, which was used for fast healing and boosting energy, and the last three were Brown Owl, which could accelerate the speed of spiritual power recovery.
Lucien put all seven glass tubes, along with the Flame Gel he had just made, into the small pockets of his black robe. They were made specially for safely carrying different potions and magic reagents.
Then, he opened his own notes lying on the table, in which he wrote down the structures and the principles of the two new apprentice spells that he had created. Based on his knowledge of vibration and frequency and after hundreds of tests, Lucien improved the spell Homan Oscillation, and thus he had his own new spells: one called Bat Screaming and the other The Professor¡¯s Oscillating Hand.
After closing the notebook, Lucien climbed back to the room and lay down on his bed to have a bit of rest.
Lucien left his shack that night at nine forty.

Chapter 52: Baron Laurent
				Chapter 52: Baron Laurent
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The night was hot and suffocating. A storm was coming.
Lucien purposely chose a different way, approaching the abandoned house from beside the tall willow, which took him more than ten minutes. Standing in the shadow, he did not approach the building immediately. Instead, he stayed there for a while and noticed there were three people dressed in black robes standing in front of the abandoned house.
From their figures, Lucien could tell one was Smile and another one was Philosopher. However, Lucien could not recognize the third person. Thus, he did not lower his guard. Grabbing a black, weird-shaped magic reagent in his hand, he silently cast a spell.
The thing in his hand started trembling faster and faster, and ultrasonic waves began to expand outwards in all directions.
That was Bat Screaming, the first spell created by Lucien on his own.
Lucien was inspired by bats using ultrasonic waves to detect objects, like a radar. By reading the witch¡¯s notes Lucien became aware that many sorcerers and sorceresses would hide their magic aura, which was brought by their spiritual power, on purpose to avoid being found by their enemies. When Lucien was learning the apprentice spell called Magic Aura Detection, he realized that the apprentice-level detection spell would be ineffective when facing corresponding defensive spells of higher levels.
Thus, Lucien combined Magic Aura Detection with his knowledge of ultrasonic wave and created Bat Screaming, which could even detect objects with no spiritual power or that released no magic Aura.
Of course, Bat Screaming could also fail if a sorcerer or sorceress knew the spell in advance. They would still have other ways to avoid being found. Therefore, choosing proper spells was of great significance in a magic battle.
The ultrasonic waves were like invisible water waves spreading around Lucien. When the waves hit something, they would reflect back to the black reagent in his hand. Lucien kept focusing on the spell and gradually pictured the surroundings, as if he was observing all around him carefully in broad daylight.
¡°The detection range has a radius of about 100 meters. And it is a three-dimensional detection.¡± Lucien thought to himself, ¡°There¡¯s an owl on the tree¡­ yes, it¡¯s Doro. Well¡­ there¡¯s a raven¡­ the raven.¡±
Lucien recognized the raven that he encountered the other night. This time, Lucien felt the magic power in this pet, but he could tell the raven¡¯s master was very cautious as nothing weird happened since he met it the first time. Its master was only watching and waiting for something.
¡°I should come up with an infrared spell, then I would be able to see the inside of the buildings.¡± A new idea hit Lucien¡¯s mind. The black thing Lucien was grabbing was a dried bat pituitary, and after some time it turned into a small pile of ashes and slipped through his fingers. For now, his spiritual power was not enough to cast the spell without using the additional component.
Lucien was still hesitant since he could not make sure who the third person was. At this time, the person started talking in a relatively loud voice, ¡°Mr. Professor, I think you¡¯re here but you¡¯re still watching. I¡¯m White Honey, Mr. Professor. It was my mentor who found the trace of the evil creature. He respects your profound knowledge and he hopes to meet you.¡±
A moment later, Lucien walked out of the shadow and approached the willow slowly. ¡°Nice to see you again, White Honey, ¡± Lucien nodded to her, ¡°It¡¯s my honor winning your mentor¡¯s respect, but at the same time, it seems like your mentor doesn¡¯t trust me very much.¡±
¡°Mr. Professor¡­?¡± White Honey looked very surprised.
¡°The raven. You know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Lucien looked into the darkness.
¡°You¡­ you found Ashley?!¡± White Honey looked in the same direction.
¡°It¡¯s impossible¡­¡± White Honey wondered, ¡°It¡¯s nighttime, and the magic light of the raven has been hidden on purpose. How did he notice Ashley?¡±
She now felt that the mysterious Mr. Professor was even stranger.
When Lucien looked in that direction, the raven on the branch started to fall to the ground as if it was suddenly struck by lightning. Fortunately, the raven spread its wings in time and swiftly flew away, disappearing in the dark sky.
¡°You¡¯d better explain this, White Honey.¡± Smile and Philosopher asked in great anger.
White Honey lowered her head and apologized sincerely, ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t tell you about this. And I also brought some gifts to show my sincerity. My mentor¡­ he just wanted to see Mr. Professor. If anything unexpected happened when Mr. Professor was hunting the evil creature, my mentor might be able to help as well through the raven, Ashley. Now Ashley just left.¡±
Smile and Philosopher were aware that in fact there was nothing they could do about what White Honey had done, since they did not know how powerful her mentor was.
¡°Well¡­ hopefully it will be a lesson to you, White Honey.¡± Smile cleared his throat a bit, ¡°In Aalto, what your mentor just did can easily put him in trouble. Many of us will take your mentor as a spy from the church. I hope he isn¡¯t, though.¡±
¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry, but I assure you he is not, Owl.¡± White Honey apologized again.
Lucien walked in front of them and asked in his pretended harsh voice, ¡°White Honey, now, can I know where the evil creature is?¡±
¡°In the old house of Baron Laurent, in the Noble District.¡± White Honey replied, ¡°No one in the last three generations of the house has successfully awaken the Blessing, and thus the status of the house has been declining. Furthermore, there are just few servants still serving the family. The other day, when my mentor¡¯s raven flew over the old house, Ashley found it was a bit noisy down there. Out of curiosity, it flew down and found the people in the house were having¡­ a sex party.¡±
¡°What?¡± Owl sounded very surprised.
¡°In fact it was more than just a sex party. My mentor believed that it was an evil ritual. When the people were crazily having sex in the chamber, Baron Laurent was standing in an altar at the center of the place and seemed to be gathering some kind of unknown power. At that time, Ashley noticed the demon¡¯s smell in him.¡±
Philosopher was more sophisticated than Smile. He nodded with thoughts, ¡°I¡¯m quite sure Baron Laurent is not the only one. Many nobles who failed to awake the Blessing or to get the Holy Water from the church turned to demons and other evil beings to seek power. Their titles are worth the risk.¡±
Unless a noble house violated one of the first ten articles of the Holy Law, the hereditary land and title of the house could forever be passed on to the next generations. However, if no one of the house could awaken the Blessing in a few generations, the house would start to decline. Other houses would gradually devour its land and leave the house with only an useless noble title. In the end, the house would disappear on its own and the nobles would become common folks. No one would remember the family¡¯s past glory.
Lucien had his own guess about the party. He believed it was the heretical ritual of Argent Horn. After two months, Lucien believed that they started taking action again.
¡°Do you know how powerful the creature is? How can I get to the Noble District?¡± Lucien asked.
The area the nobles lived was enclosed by the inner city wall. At this time, the city gates were already closed. City guards would only open the gates for the nobles who lived there.
¡°From the scale of the altar, my mentor speculated that it should be a low-rank demon of an ordinary knight level. But before the ritual is finished, the cast shadow of the demon should be only of a high-rank knight squire level.¡± White Honey explained. She did not think a powerful sorcerer with such profound knowledge like Mr. Professor would be in any danger when facing a cast shadow of a low rank demon.
¡°White Honey didn¡¯t know how to find Owl, so she found me first. I happened to know a secret passage to the Noble District, and so I came with them here tonight, hoping that I could be of some help. After all, Mr. Professor, your explanation and guidance helped me a lot.¡± Philosopher lowered his head to show his respect, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Mr. Professor, I am more than willing to kill it for you. It¡¯s just a low rank demon. There¡¯s no need for you to do this personally.¡±
Lucien was feeling concerned that the heresy might bring some unexpected trouble into the action, and having more helpers on his side was definitely a good thing. After thinking for a moment, Lucien nodded, ¡°Thank you, Philosopher. After this, you may ask me a question.¡±
¡°Can I go with you, Professor?¡± White Honey wanted to join them as well. Ashley was gone, and so she had to watch the mysterious sorcerer for her mentor instead.
At the same time, Lucien viewed her as a hostage. Thus, he instantly said ¡°yes¡±.
Smile also asked to join. He had his own thoughts as wellšDhe wanted to stay as close as possible to Professor. Then, he was also accepted.
Guided by Philosopher, Lucien, White Honey and Smile headed toward the Nobel District.

Chapter 53: The Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand
				Chapter 53: The Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was very late in the hot and suffocating night, but even then there were several people wearing black robes quietly walking on the streets. Aside from them, only a few drunkards were loafing around aimlessly. However, Lucien and his companions did not lower their guard at all. They had to be very careful to avoid the night watchers of the church. Those church watchers were like hounds wandering at night, chasing after the scent of evil. The black gloves those watchers always wore were the shared nightmare of every sorcerer in Aalto.
After ten minutes, Philosopher stopped and said to Lucien in a low voice, ¡°Mr. Professor, we¡¯re here. The passage is in the house.¡± The house was sitting on the boundary of the Noble and Aderon Districts, looking pretty plain, even old, and was enclosed by a few dilapidated buildings.
Each of them examined the house separately to make sure there was no magic trap in the building, while Lucien used Bat Screaming and secured the surroundings. Then they followed Philosopher and entered the house.
From the thick spider web hanging down from the girder and brushing his forehead, Lucien could tell this place had been abandoned for a long time. ¡°Some beggars used to stay here overnight. But recently, all the beggars in Aalto went missing.¡± Philosopher said casually when he was walking.
Neither Lucien nor White Honey replied. Only Smile asked out of surprise, ¡°All missing? What¡¯s possible for the beggars to do? Where could they have gone?¡±
¡°I have no idea as well, Owl,¡± answered Philosopher, ¡°Some said this had something to do with the evil creature.¡± While Lucien and White Honey remained silent.
When they came to one of the bedrooms, Philosopher started removing some old crates which were hiding a secret entrance behind them. Cold wind came from the passage, but the air smelled fresh. That meant it was being used pretty frequently.
¡°How does Philosopher know the secret passage? Is he one of the nobles?¡± Lucien felt a bit confused. However, obviously, he could not ask that directly.
When they all came into the secret passage, Philosopher prudently closed the entrance behind them. Lucien noticed many magic circles on the ceiling.
¡°Philosopher,¡± Smile noticed them as well, ¡°What are these for?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. In case of emergency, the magic traps will be activated to destroy the passage.¡± Philosopher answered with a smile.
¡°I like your prudence.¡± Lucien commended in his pretended harsh voice.
¡°I agree. I¡¯m feeling more assured now.¡± White Honey smiled.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Another ten minutes later, Philosopher, Lucien, Owl and White Honey climbed out of the secret passage from a dark corner. Under the cover of the shadow of the tall trees, soon they came in front of Baron Laurent¡¯s old three-floor house.
Beside the iron gate of the house stood a guard wearing a set of plain leather armor. Compared with the many guards on the other nobles¡¯ properties who were wearing silver chainmail, the single guard here was clearly showing the family¡¯s decline.
¡°Only one guard is here. We can go in there directly.¡± Smile proposed.
¡°Leave this to me.¡± Philosopher took a step forward, ¡°Leave this to an apprentice from the School of Astrology.¡±
¡°I agree. Philosopher can handle this.¡± Lucien nodded under his hood.
¡°Then let me help you, Philosopher.¡± Smile came closer to Philosopher.
¡­¡­
Luke was yawning in front of the big iron gate, complaining about the Baron in his mind.
¡°Party, party and party. Baron Laurent doesn¡¯t even have enough money to pay us guards. Ten Nars every month for standing here the whole night? Come on¡­ The old Baron was paying my grandpa and dad twenty Nars a month!¡±
A sudden owl hoot interrupted Luke¡¯s thought, since it sounded a bit weird. ¡°Go and catch your mice! You nasty thing!¡± Luke swore.
Luke couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness. However, when he turned around, he suddenly saw a ghost in a black robe standing a few steps away from him.
Before Luke opened his mouth to scream, he saw the ghost¡¯s face under the hood: except for the two eye holes, its nose, mouth and ears were blurred together.
The ghost slowly raised its head. It was looking at Luke through the two dark holes, in which there were countless stars. The stars were shining like a dream.
¡°Stars¡­¡± Luke murmured. All of a sudden, he felt completely relaxed, as if he was facing the person who he trusted the most in the world.
Philosopher clearly knew that Luke had been hypnotized. Walking closer to Luke, Philosopher whispered in his ear, ¡°We are Baron Laurent¡¯s guests. Open the gate and let us in. Be quiet. Don¡¯t let other people know.¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡± Luke slightly opened the gate following Philosopher¡¯s command, ¡°Please, sir.¡±
Carefully, Philosopher, Lucien, Smile and White Honey went through the gate and headed toward the house.
After they went in there, Luke did not close the gate. Instead, he turned around and started guarding the gate with great passion as if his chest was on fire! He did not know why, but he wanted to do more for the mister.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
The house¡¯s wooden door of the house was tightly locked, and the heavy curtains were also tightly drawn. In the big hall, a number of naked or half-naked men and women were having intercourse. Men¡¯s gasps, women¡¯s groans, a sweet aroma and the smell of certain fluids were mixing together. The hall was warm, even hot.
On the couches, carpets, and even on the long table, pairs of man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, were moaning during coitus. They were having sex as if they were totally crazy. Some women¡¯s dresses were rolled up around their waists, while some other women were completely naked, and men were humping them like beasts.
Only one person in the licentious sex party was totally different. It was a middle-aged man in a silver robe. He did not join these people. Instead, he raised his hands up and closed his eyes, as if he was enjoying the moans and was listening to someone talking to him. His face looked extremely excited, lightened with ecstasy.
Black mist gradually rose up from the crazy people and slowly gathered behind the middle-aged man. The man was standing in the center of the pattern of an argent horn drawn on the altar, from which many silver lines stretched out and enclosed the shadow. Then the shadow became darker and darker, mixing with the colors of pink and black. Gradually, it turned into a tall and big shadow with two horns on its head.
¡°Are you ready for my power?¡± The shadow suddenly spoke.
The middle-aged man, Baron Laurent, answered in his lunatic tone, ¡°The Great Master of Argent, the forever lasting silence, I¡¯ve given my soul to you. Please, please endow me with your power!¡±
Slowly the shadow approached him and started entering his body, bit by bit.
Laurent¡¯s face contorted. Obviously, merging was not a very pleasant process. However, the pain was suppressed by the ecstasy shining in his eyes.
¡°No one can stop me now. No one can stop me from regaining the glory of my family anymore.¡± Apart from the ecstasy, there were also tears in his eyes.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Outside the house, Lucien and the other three apprentices did not intrude obtrusively. They first had to make sure there were no magic circles or traps around.
¡°Mr. Professor, it will take at least half an hour to eliminate all the magic traps here.¡± Philosopher said to Lucien.
¡°No, we can¡¯t.¡± White Honey sounded nervous, ¡°We¡¯re relatively late, and I can feel the demon already. We only have up to ten minutes. Ten minutes later, the demon will arrive in its complete form. Then we will be too late.¡±
¡°Going into the hall directly will also cost us lots of spiritual power as well to deal with the traps.¡± Smile turned to Lucien, ¡°Professor, you must have some more powerful spells that can eliminate all the magic traps at once.¡±
All the three apprentices were looking at the mysterious sorcerer. Similar thoughts came in their mind. Although they all knew that the sorcerer was very profound, none of them ever saw in person how powerful the mysterious Professor was.
¡°Is Mr. Professor a real powerful sorcerer?¡±
¡°How powerful can he be?¡±
¡°Is he even stronger than White Honey¡¯s mentor?¡±
Lucien knew clearly what they were thinking. He was prepared. Under their gaze, he answered with confidence, ¡°No problem, Smile. I¡¯ll handle this.¡±
Lucien came close to the wall of the house and pressed both of his hands on it. Moving his lips silently, Lucien started casting the spell.
Invisible waves spread out of Lucien¡¯s hand. The waves hit the wall instantly and were reflected back. The following waves thus became different.
In Philosopher, Owl and White Honey¡¯s eyes, nothing happened. They exchanged worried glances with confusion but did not say anything.
Suddenly, White Honey felt the earth was shaking.
¡°Are you trembling?¡± Philosopher asked her at the same time.
¡°Not me.¡± She answered with surprise.
¡°Look!¡± Smile was pointing at the building, ¡°Look! The whole house¡¯s shaking!¡±
White Honey and Philosopher immediately looked in the direction of the house. The old three-story house was shaking forward and backward, and the movement was becoming fiercer and fiercer. They could hear the glasses were shattering.
¡°Earthquake?!¡± White Honey wondered.
¡°No, it¡¯s the house itself!¡± answered Owl.
¡°Mr. Professor?¡± Philosopher looked at Lucien and was shocked.
Lucien¡¯s hands were still pressed against the house¡¯s wall. His whole body was shaking along with the building. His lips were still moving.
¡°The house¡¯s gonna collapse!¡± White Honey took a step back.
Philosopher could not believe his eyes, ¡°Even a third circle spell Fireball could not completely destroy a whole building at once! What is this spell?!¡±
¡°What¡­ is¡­ this¡­!¡± Doro, the owl, was standing on Smile¡¯s shoulder, yelling.
No one noticed when the raven caught up with them again. It almost fell down from the tree once more, because of the sudden shaking.
¡°What¡¯s the circle of this spell!¡± The raven cried as well.
Only Lucien knew it was just an apprentice spell, the Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand. The spell could detect the frequency of vibration of a building and created a resonance to destroy the construction. It worked the best with bridges!

Chapter 54: Calm Hunters
				Chapter 54: Calm Hunters
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Inside of the hall, Laurent, wearing a silver robe, was standing in the center of the altar. His distorted face was full of excitement and ecstasy.
He could feel it. He could feel the shadow entering his body. His blood was running and crying, gradually changing his body.
Forty years, forty years of waiting and dreaming. Today he could finally start regaining the glory of his family.
The mixed moans in his ears changed into the applauses and cheers on his knight title conferring ceremony. However, at this time, the whole house started shaking all of a sudden.
"Earthquake?! It this a punishment?!" Although Laurent had changed his belief in order to chase the dark power, in his mind, he still respected and feared the God of Truth. However, now he was just one step away from the great success. He could not give up at this point.
The ceiling of the hall started falling. Chunks of stone and wood fell on the ground, and some of them fell on Laurent¡¯s head. Of course, he was afraid. The only hope he had was the dark power he was going to be endowed with soon.
"Do not panic, Laurent." The shadow spoke to him as if it could read his mind, "It will take another six to seven minutes for you to fully merge with me. If the house collapses, you will die. Stop the ritual at once. You¡¯ve got a small part of my power, which already rivals the top senior-rank knight squire. We can complete it next time."
The shadow spoke very fast. Within ten seconds, the shadow¡¯s thought had all passed to Laurent.
Laurent was very angry. He could not stand watching his great plan being interrupted in the final stage. "No, I¡¯m not leaving!" Laurent shouted, "The house won¡¯t collapse! The earthquake won¡¯t last!"
The windows broke in the violate shake. The strong wind of the upcoming storm blew in the hall and instantly drove the sweet and dreamy fragrance away. The people who were crazy with their desire suddenly sobered up.
"My god, earthquake!"
"Run, run!"
People were yelling. Some were wearing clothes in a hurry, some were running towards the gate naked, while some were even trying to escape through the windows.
The evil ritual took away their strength. They stumbled in panic and fear. One of the women slumped to the ground and was crawling towards the gate. The man who was having a pleasant time with her ran directly past the woman without a glance.
Watching these people leaving, Laurent knew his ritual had ended. The silver lines on the pattern disappeared with the shadow. With an angry shout, he stepped out of the altar and joined the panicky crowd. On his way running towards the exit, he hurriedly destroyed the magic traps one by one.
Behind Laurent, a man in black suit who was seemingly enjoying the sex party just now looked out of the window, with his face looking serious.
...
In the shadow of the house, Philosopher, White Honey and Smile were standing there, looking at Professor with their mouths and eyes widely open. Taking back his hands, the mysterious Professor said to the apprentices in a very calm tone, "They¡¯re leaving the house. Be prepared. Hunt the evil creature."
"Why not just make the house collapse, Professor?" White Honey asked.
"I prefer not to," Lucien stretched his hands a bit, "If the creature dies in the ruins, it¡¯ll be quite inconvenient for me to collect the blood. On the other hand, the sound of collapsing will alert the church. We don¡¯t want this big trouble."
However, it was not the most important reason. Actually, Lucien did not have enough power to make the house collapse completely. Compared with a bridge of simpler structure, the structure of a house was more complicated, and its vibration frequency also varied. Lucien could only follow one of them. Therefore, destroying a bridge might be within Lucien¡¯s ability, but definitely not a house.
The power stunned Philosopher, Smile and White Honey. They never saw a sorcerer who could cast such a powerful spell without using any reagent. Now they had no doubt toward the mysterious and profound sorcerer, Mr. Professor.
White Honey was the first one who calmed down among the three. With the help of a magic item, she started tracking the crowd,
"Evil light detected. Fifteen meters away from the nearest window. We move one meter to the left to better release the spells," she calmly said.
Philosopher quickly moved to the left and said to Smile, "Owl, cast Homan¡¯s Oscillation."
Homan Oscillation was also a sonic attack magic, which used high decibel to hurt people. In the most serious case, it could even take a person¡¯s life. Other people nearby would get hurt in their eardrums and might black out.
"Then you use Silence Wall, Philosopher," Smile also answered calmly, "To prevent the night watchers from noticing us."
"Merged with a low-rank demon shadow. Senior-rank knight squire level. Five meters away. " White Honey reported, "No acid and fire magic. I¡¯ll use Arrow."
"One meter. Get ready." she said.
Within just a few seconds, the first round of the attack plan had been made. That was the first time Lucien saw how the well-trained apprentices fought.
In order to get out of the house as soon as possible, Laurent roughly pushed the guests in front of him away. In just a few seconds, Laurent came to the window, hit the glass with his body and jumped out of the house.
At this time, a loud blast struck his head, as if he was hit by a thunder. All of a sudden, his head started buzzing and he felt bad nausea and dizziness. Losing his balance, he almost fell on the ground with his head.
Before Laurent could see anything in the darkness clearly, a metal arrow directly shot in his right eye. His blood was darker than common people, with a special smell of sulphur. The great pain made him break out in a frightful yell but his voice was blocked by Silence Wall. Laurent finally realized the fact that he got attacked.
However, it was too late. The second metal arrow flew directly into his throat. Laurent struggled a bit and soon his body stopped moving.
Lucien couldn¡¯t believe that killing this evil baron who had just merged with a demon was this easy. He was also very glad, since casting a spell silently cost him more power than usual, and his remaining spiritual power was only enough for using about two apprentice spells.
Beside the Baron Laurent lied several naked and half-naked women and men, all unconscious. The panicked crowd running toward other directions paid no attention to what just happened here.
Using Mage Hand, Lucien and the other three apprentices started collecting the baron¡¯s blood. After putting three glass tubes of blood into his pockets, Lucien stood up and said to them,
"Time to go."
"Yes, sir." Philosopher, White Honey and Smile answered.
When they were about to leave, all of a sudden a man jumped out of the house from the nearest window like a ghost and dashed toward Lucien with a sharp dagger in his hand, aiming at Lucien¡¯s heart!
He was waiting in the house. Now he knew it was the best chance to kill this powerful sorcerer! And he only got this single chance!

Chapter 55: Midnight Bang
				Chapter 55: Midnight Bang
Translator: winniethepooh, Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The black shadow was even faster than Baron Laurent, faster than what most people could see. If the men and women who were screaming and escaping had stopped at this time, the only thing they would see was a blurry shadow.
Only a person who had awakened Blessing in their blood could be this fast. The person was a genuine knight!
Within two seconds, the dagger already came close to Lucien¡¯s back.
None of them realized what was going on behind them but Lucien. He suddenly sensed the great danger when the dagger was only a few centimeters away from him.
However, Lucien knew he was no rival to the attacker. Also, it was too late for him to cast any protection spell, thus the only choice Lucien had was to fiercely leap forward as fast as he could.
Although Lucien was smart enough to create his own spells, he was still of apprentice level, and a magic apprentice was not able to construct a spell structure using his or her spiritual power in one¡¯s soul, which was the premise of casting a spell instantly.
Lucien was clearly aware that very likely he would still be badly injured, but as long as the attacker could not kill him in a single strike, Lucien would seize the chance to fight back with his Ice Revenger Ring.
Suddenly, when the dagger was almost at him, with a loud caw from above a light appeared and instantly covered Lucien¡¯s whole body, protecting him like a chain mail.
It was the 1st circle spell, Mage Armor.
The spell was cast by the raven, Ashley, which was standing on the branch. Ashley was the pet of the genuine sorcerer. It could not only see clearly during night time but also borrow its owner¡¯s power and cast some of the spells.
The armor was totally beyond the black shadow¡¯s expectation. But the momentum of the dagger was so fierce that even the magic armor cannot fully stop it. In the blink of an eye, the transparent armor broke into many pieces, shinning in the darkness. However, the shadow did hesitate for several seconds.
It was already enough time for Lucien, and he knew it was his only chance. Lucien swiftly turned around and activated his ring. Three rays of cold light were shining in his left hand.
Lucien activated the 2nd circle spell in the ring, Palmeira's Frost Blades!
At this key moment, Lucien knew that the attack was the best form of defense.
The ring also strengthened Lucien¡¯s willpower, or he would be totally stunned and lose the ability to fight back by the knight power of the attacker.
The three rays of white light were shining, and they targeted directly the attacker¡¯s throat, chest and the lower part of the body.
Facing the frost blades, the attacker quickly covered his body with dark flames, which were full of the evil power of tyranny and destruction. Although he could have used the protecting power ¡°shadow¡± coming from Blessing, he decided to be more careful. The guy in front of him just ruined his whole plan. Of course he wanted to kill him right on the spot, but he had to guarantee his own safety first.
Wielding the dagger, he precisely shattered the two blades targeting his throat and chest. At the same time, he brought up his right leg and melt the blade with the dark fire. The pieces of the blades scattered and were shining like falling snow.
After solving all the troubles, the knight turned the dagger in his hand around and continued chasing Lucien. He also noticed two black balls shooting out of the raven¡¯s beak. It was another 1st circle spell, Magic Missile.
This time the 1st circle spell would not be a problem for him, since his whole body was still covered by the sinister fire. Now the only thing he wanted to do was to kill this sorcerer in front of him who just destroyed his plan.
All of a sudden, the tiny pieces of ice from the frost blades turned the air around the knight freezing cold. For a couple of seconds, he was frozen still and the two magic bullets shot him directly in the body.
That was the power of Palmeira's Frost Blades ¡ª not only blades, but also the coldness of ice and snow.
¡°A level two knight!¡± Ashley screamed.
Philosopher, White Honey and Smile finally found out something was going on behind them, and then they saw the attacker.
Without too much thought, both Philosopher and White Honey activated their magic items immediately.
Waves of light spread out around Philosopher. Within the radius of ten meters, all the ordinary people quickly collapsed and fell asleep.
1st circle spell, Sleep.
A strong onset of tiredness hit the attacker¡¯s brain, but as a level two knight, the 1st circle spell was still not powerful enough to drag him into his dreamland. He shook his head and drove the drowsiness away with his willpower.
But a powerful air blast followed and hit the knight right into his chest. With a big bang, the power threw him directly back into the house through the window behind him, with lots of broken glass scattering on the ground.
1st circle spell, Force Wave, carried by White Honey¡¯s magic robe.
¡°He¡¯s a level two knight. He won¡¯t die this easily.¡± Ashley flew closer to Lucien, ¡°Mr. Professor, keep attacking please.¡±
When Lucien was about to take out his Flame Gel, the old house suddenly started shaking fiercely. The ceiling was dropping and walls collapsing. Within only a few seconds, the whole house finally came down and buried the knight under the ruins.
Lucien¡¯s spell already damaged the structure of the old house before, and with the heavy hit of the knight, now the place was totally destroyed.
Boom¡­Boom! The collapse of the house was extremely loud like an earthquake. And it was too late for Philosopher to block the huge noise.
Instantly, all of them realized that they were in trouble ¡ª the Night Watchers would come soon.
Now they did not have time to find and kill the knight attacker. Without any hesitation, Ashley, the crow, turned into a cloud of shadow and enveloped White Honey.
¡°See you next time, Mr. Professor.¡± said the crow.
And then it flew away quickly and disappeared in the sky.
¡°We gotta go now as well, Mr. Professor.¡± Philosopher and Smile made a slight bow and also ran into the darkness.
In their mind, Mr. Professor was so powerful that there was no need for them to give him a hand in this case. It was taken for granted that Mr. Professor would have assorted ways to get out of here easily.
However, actually, Lucien did not.
There was no time for being hesitant now, Lucien knew. He quickly turned around to find the entrance of the secret passage through which they just came here.
A burst of thunder just arrived. Rain drops fell from the sky in a crazy way. The long-awaited storm finally started.
Under the ruins, small clusters of dark flame were raised one by one. Quickly they burned down the pieces of the broken ceiling and stones, then a black figure scrambled to his feet in the rain.
In the lightning, the man¡¯s face was revealed.
He was Rosan Aaron, the head of Aaron¡¯s Gang.
Aaron stared at the direction where Lucien disappeared and thought to himself, ¡°He could not cast a spell instantly, which means currently he¡¯s still an apprentice¡­ He is much weaker than I thought¡­¡±
For a few second, Aaron¡¯s mind was dominated by his anger, which almost made him try to catch up with Lucien and kill the guy.
But soon Aaron calmed down. For now his priority was escaping from the coming night watchers. He needed to leave now as well.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien was running in the cold rain, feeling pain from the falling rain drops. Luckily the glass tubes and waterproof cloth worked pretty well. His magic reagents and potions were still fine in his robe.
Lucien did not have any companion nor support. He was alone, running towards the secret passage.
Luckily, Lucien saw the entrance was just over there, hidden by the trees, bushes and grass.
However, what Lucien saw was not only the secret passage, but also a man in white suit, his wet red hair sticking to his forehead.
And he was wearing a pair of black gloves.
The man was a night watcher.
In the lightning, they saw each other.

Chapter 56: The Night Watcher
				Chapter 56: The Night Watcher
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The moment when Lucien saw the night watcher, he threw the tube of Flame Gel in his hand toward the guy without hesitation, then continued running toward the entrance of the secret passage.
He had cast the spell in the Ice Revenger Ring, so the Flame Gel was now his most powerful weapon. He was aware that Bat Screaming couldn¡¯t work well in such a stormy night. The only thing Lucien could blame now was his bad luck.
The night watcher, wearing a pair of black gloves, was also very experienced in fighting with magic apprentices, sorcerers, as well as evil creatures at night. And the gloves he was wearing were also a decent magic item, enchanted with different demon-constraining spells. That was why there were not many night watchers from the church. Besides, every night watcher was by no means being unskilled. Some of them were high level squires, some of them pastors, and some were even knights.
The night watcher firmly caught the first tube of Flame Gel flying towards his face. Being controlled by the maker¡¯s spiritual power, the gel was supposed to explode instantly, however, grabbed by his hand in the black glove, the momentum of explosion was suddenly stopped, like a fuse on fire suddenly being extinguished by a bucket of water.
In few seconds, the second tube of Flame Gel followed. Unexpectedly, this time, the tube did not target the night watcher directly, but hit the ground and exploded fiercely before the night watcher could react. The fire of the explosion also set fire to the tube of gel he was grabbing. Immediately, the night watcher¡¯s body was covered with raging flame. Since the comburent was gel, even the pouring rain couldn¡¯t put out the fire easily.
Lucien had no time to check if his enemy was down. He quickly ran to the entrance.
Before he entered the passage, a great pressure suddenly struck his mind. He couldn't help shaking. Thanks to the ring he was wearing, at least he could still stand.
Lucien subconsciously looked back and instantly realized what was going on there.
In the bright lightning, the night watcher was still chasing him, with the upper part of his body covered with fire, but it seemed the pain was not bothering him at all. However, his skin had turned into pieces of scarlet scales, protecting him from further burning.
The night watcher was a dark knight with an awakened Blessing, and his Blessing was called "red dragon"!
With the help of Ice Revenger, Lucien did not panic under the pressure from the night watcher. He was calculating the distance between them.
"Twenty meters¡­ten¡­"
Then he threw his last tube of Flame Gel at the night watcher, who was only around five meters away from him. The great power of the blast spread fiercely and the wave separated them apart.
While the night watcher took a step back, Lucien was directly thrown into the secret passage. Since there was a slope near the entrance, he kept rolling for quite a few meters in there.
Lucien felt like he was struck by a huge hammer in his stomach and great dizziness took over his mind. A mouthful of blood just burst out.
Lucien had to hurry, knowing that the night watcher would catch up with him in few seconds. However, he was also very confident, since he had a plan.
When the night watcher was about to enter the passage, Lucien activated the magic traps set by Philosopher, which could instantly turn stones into piles of mud.
In only a second, the entrance was blocked by the mix of stones and mud. The night watcher couldn¡¯t stop himself in time and ran directly into them. The last thing he saw was the sorcerer slightly making a bow, mocking him.
"We¡¯ll wait and see, you wretch." The night watcher punched the mound of dirt with all the strength.
...
While he was running, Lucien took out a tube of Storm and unplugged it. He needed the potion for fast healing and energy boosting. At the same time, he triggered the magic traps one by one to destroy the tunnel. However, he did not trigger all of the traps to prevent the night watcher from tracking him by following the sound.
With the potion¡¯s help, Lucien managed to get out of the passage way faster. Then he removed all the remaining potions and reagents from the pocket of his linen shirt, and burnt down his robe, since his robe had a special herbal scent which was used for hiding Lucien¡¯s own smell. Lucien did not want to leave the night watcher any chance to somehow find him.
When he finished doing all of these, Lucien went back to his shack and stored safely all the tubes and reagents. After drying his shirt and pants, he finally collapsed into bed, exhausted at the end of the day.
He did not realize how weak he was until his head hit the pillow. Storm boosted the energy for some time but also drained him completely. He was not very worried about the church, partly because of the bad weather, and more importantly, Lucien was pretty sure that the church would focus on investigating the dead baron, Laurent, since obviously, he was more related to the heresy, Argent Horn.
Soon Lucien fell into sleep.
The rain was still pelting down outside.
...
In the early morning, the rain did not stop.
Lucien was awakened by the different sounds coming from the people¡¯s work in the neighborhood.
He felt sick, and his body was very heavy, so Lucien decided to skip his shift this morning. The library was never busy, and Pierre was there all the time.
Later, Iven was sent by his mom to see why Lucien did not show up for breakfast. Lucien made Iven go to the library to ask for a sick leave.
Then Lucien went back to sleep and did not wake up again until noon. He felt much better, but still a bit sick. He had lunch with auntie Alisa¡¯s family and left for Victor¡¯s place.
There were just three days left before the due time for Victor to submit his last piece of work for the concert.
...
Ten in the morning. Victor¡¯s practice room.
Victor was very distressed, feeling desperate with the new melody. Then he heard a knock at the door. It was Lott, Felicia and Herodotus, who were supposed to come in the afternoon.
"Why so early?" Victor was surprised.
"Well¡­ Mr. Victor¡­" Lott was a bit hesitant, "Mekanzi asked me to tell you that¡­ um¡­ Baron Othello wants you to go to the association as soon as possible. The princess is there today. Her Highness wants to see your work, Mr. Victor."
"¡­?!" Victor¡¯s face suddenly turned pale, but he could not speak a word.
Then with a long sigh, he nodded, "I will be there in half an hour."
...
When Lucien arrived, Victor had already left his place.
"Mr. Athy, where did Mr. Victor go?" Lucien asked.
"Mr. Victors was summoned by the Princess in the morning," answered Athy, looking rather worried, "Her Highness wants to know about Mr. Victor¡¯s three pieces of work for the concert today."
"What?!" Lucien felt very regretful for being absent from work today.
"Mr. Victor left around ten forty. If you want to wait, Mr. Victor should be back soon." said Athy.
Now it was twelve thirty-five in the afternoon.
"No, I need to find him now. Thank you, Mr. Athy." Lucien grabbed his umbrella and dashed into the rain toward the association.

Chapter 57: Take Fate by the Throat
				Chapter 57: Take Fate by the Throat
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Eleven twenty in the morning, inside the director¡¯s office in the Musicians¡¯ Association.
¡°You gotta pick one out now. These are all your good works from the past,¡± said Othello with his eyebrows frowning, ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you for about twenty minutes.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Othello¡­Can¡­ can I have some more time?¡± Victor¡¯s face had a deadly paleness. His dim eyes had been losing focus for a while, and the musical notes were not making sense at all to him.
Wolf was there as well, sitting right across the desk with Director Othello. A contemptuous smile appeared on his face, ¡°Stop struggling, my friend. Just randomly pick one out, after all, they look pretty much the same to me. Mr. Othello still needs to have lunch with Her Highness later.¡±
¡°Well¡­¡± Othello took out his pocket watch, ¡°The lunch will be at one o¡¯clock. I will give you¡­ another ten minutes. If you still can¡¯t make a decision by then, I¡¯m afraid the association might need to have someone else for the concert. Wolf just came back from Ratacia Palace. He should be able to handle this.¡±
Ratacia Palace was the royal concert hall of the Duchy of Orvarit.
Wolf couldn¡¯t hold his excitement back, ¡°Victor, I¡¯m sorry to see you struggling. But we, as the musicians in our association, we should regard the interest of our association as the top priority. What do you think?¡±
Victor did not say anything. After another two minutes, Victor fell back into the chair and pointed at a piece of paper, ¡°That one then.¡±
The three words took away all his strength, but he also felt a bit relaxed. Victor did not want to spend more time and effort pursuing the piece of work which he had been working on for nine years.
¡°Maybe it¡¯s a good thing.¡± Victor thought to himself.
¡°Good,¡± Othello clapped his hands, ¡°I¡¯m glad you finally made the decision. I have some medicines that may be helpful your to mental state, but they can have some side effects. Anyway, I gotta take a little nap, you guys can leave now.¡±
After they left the office, Wolf threw a bitter glance at Victor, ¡°Enjoy your last chance playing in the Psalm Hall. Don¡¯t let your wife down in heaven.¡±
¡°You¡­¡± Victor¡¯s face was a bit distorted with anger.
¡°Me?¡± Wolf snorted, ¡°It is you who will disappoint your wife, not me.¡±
Then he quickly walked downstairs.
Victor felt very sick and his head became dizzy. Lott, Felicia and Herodotus, who were waiting outside, quickly came close to their teacher.
¡°Are you all right?¡± Felicia asked worriedly.
¡°I¡¯m okay. Just need some rest. We¡¯ll start practicing this afternoon.¡± Victor answered in a weak voice.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien was running in the heavy rain.
He had not fully recovered from his injury. Holding the umbrella, the wind was preventing him from running faster, but he had to. The earlier he could get to the association, the better his chances would be to give Mr. Victor the new piece of work before the princess saw the song list.
Finally, he folded his umbrella under his arm, so he could run faster.
He just wanted to try his best, he didn¡¯t want any regrets.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
It only took Lucien six minutes to get to the association from Victor¡¯s place, a quarter of the usual time.
Twelve forty-one in the afternoon. Lucien pushed open the gate, soaked wet, with water drops falling down from his face on the floor.
¡°Lucien!¡± Elena approached him in a hurry from the counter, ¡°are you all right?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, Elena. Where¡¯s Mr. Victor?¡± Lucien asked without delay.
¡°Should be in his own office. I saw Felicia brought him lunch,¡± answered Elena.
¡°Thanks!¡± Leaving his umbrella at the gate, Lucien rushed upstairs.
¡°What is going on there?¡± Elena wondered.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
It was Lott who opened the door, whose face looked pretty gloomy. Lott did not ask Lucien why he was there. He just nodded to Lucien.
Lucien entered Victor¡¯s office. He saw Victor was sitting behind his desk, looking very absent-minded. The lunch tray was sitting in front of him, remaining untouched. Lucien saw Rhine was also there.
¡°Did Mr. Victor hand in the music list for the concert?¡± asked Lucien.
Lott, Felicia and Herodotus just ignored him. Only Rhine nodded, ¡°Yes, the third one was from Mr. Victor¡¯s past work.¡±
Taking a deep breath, Lucien went directly to Victor and said to him aloud, ¡°Mr. Victor. I wrote a great piece of music! I hope you can give me a chance to listen to it! I¡¯m sure my work can give you some inspiration! Can we change the list afterwards?¡±
Lucien was too urgent and nervous to select his words. He sounded too direct, almost stupid.
¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± Herodotus was shocked.
Lott walked to Lucien and was about to pull Lucien away from Victor¡¯s desk.
Hiding his face in his palms, Victor answered weakly, ¡°No, we can¡¯t. Director Othello went for lunch with Her Highness ten minutes ago. The list has been sent already. We cannot change it now.¡±
¡°Mr. Victor, it¡¯s raining heavily outside! Mr. Othello can still be on the way. We still got a chance!¡±
¡°No, we don¡¯t.¡± Victor murmured like being in a dream. He was not listening.
Being pulled back by Lott, Lucien did not know what to say.
The rest of the students had given up as well.
¡°Stop, Lucien. We tried, and that¡¯s it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s too late. Mr. Othello must be in Ratacia Palace now.¡±
¡°Even if he¡¯s not there yet, it is too late to write a new piece of symphony. We¡¯d better just practice what we have now¡­ it can still be a success.¡±
¡°¡­¡­¡± Lucien took a few steps back, feeling rather tired. Maybe it was the arrangement of God. Maybe it was God who prevented him from going to work in the association today.
¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not my concert, not my business.¡± Lucien thought to himself, and became gloomy as well, like the rest of the people in the office.
However, when Lucien was sitting in the couch, images of Mr. Victor teaching him, taking care of him, and encouraging him for the past several months suddenly hit Lucien¡¯s mind. He was reminded of the hard work Mr. Victor, the other students and he had to practice for the concert, and of his effortful running in the pouring rain.
However, looking at these people in the room now, why their efforts couldn¡¯t bear fruits?
Lucien did not want to end up like this.
As long as there was still a slight of chance, he couldn¡¯t just give up like this and accept the result. As long as they were still there, there had to be something else they could do instead of just complaining. As long as he still had hope and faith, he should keep fighting until the last second.
And this was not the last second yet.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien looked around the office and walked to the piano.
¡°What are you doing, Lucien?¡± Lott yelled at him.
Lucien did not answer him. Sitting in front of the piano, Lucien laid both of his hands on the keyboard.
Even Rhine was very surprised. He had no idea what kind of music Lucien, as a new music learner, would present.
However, the first several notes shocked all the people in the office.
The notes were more powerful than ever. Victor raised his head up and turned to look at the piano, looking confused.
The following several bars of the symphony came like an overwhelming storm, fast, intense and fierce. They were like the misfortunes in life, one after another, like huge raging waves in the ocean, like the continuous call to the battlefield, and like countless enemies coming for you.
There were some bars of relief, but they were followed by even more intense and desperate struggles.
However, the fight of the warriors never stopped. No one ever gave up. They kept fighting: Sailors were fighting against the monster-like waves on top of their ships; Soldiers were fighting against their enemies in the battlefield. People died in waves and arrows, in tears and blood, but there were more newcomers following.
The students were shocked. Rhine stood up from the couch.
Lucien kept playing with all his effort.
Why give up? Why?
They still had time. They could catch up with Baron Othello. If it failed, they could still persuade Princess Natasha with the charm of the symphony.
Why give up?
There was still a glimmer of hope. They couldn¡¯t just give up!
The first chapter of the symphony grew more and more vehement. Lott and Felicia were shaking with both fear and excitement.
Was it fate that made you give up, or was it yourself?
Was it fate that beat you, or was it the difficulties and obstacles?
The music was asking. The player was asking.
Victor stood up straight. He felt the questioning. The question was addressed to him as well.
Lucien¡¯s soul had just been entirely devoted to the music. More thoughts rose in everyone¡¯s mind:
¡°I want to have a peaceful life. I miss my family. But I somehow came to this world and lost everything.
¡°I saw people here burning a woman to death.
¡°I went through the sewers.
¡°I wanted to learn how to read and wanted a better life, but I was beaten by gangsters.
¡°I wanted to learn magic to protect myself, but being a sorcerer here in Aalto meant I had to risk my life everyday, wandering between light and darkness.
¡°Did I give up? Do I want to give up?
¡°No!
¡°I¡¯ll keep fighting against the so-called fate until the last second of my life!
¡°I can change the fate. I can change my life!¡±
Lucien almost had a heart attack. He just let all his emotion out. He wanted to speak out loud:
¡°Was it fate that made you lose hope, or was it yourself?
¡°Was it fate that made you lower your head, or was it yourself?
¡°Is it fate that decides your life, or do you choose your own destiny?
¡°Me, Lucien, Xiafeng, will never give in to fate.
¡°I¡¯ll take fate by the throat and beat all the difficulties. I¡¯ll never stop moving forward!¡±
Victor stood up from his chair, both of his fists clenching tightly.
P.S.
The author: Thank you to my friend, Cheese Cat. It was he who wrote the many questions towards fate in this chapter. He did a better work than I did. Many thanks.

Chapter 58: This Is Fate
				Chapter 58: This Is Fate
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was the first time Lucien, a shy and rather introverted guy, expressed his emotions completely through music. Lucien¡¯s persistence and faith were on full display in his playing.
Although Lucien was still a bit unskilled, it did not affect the audiences in the room. Felicia, Lott, Herodotus, Rhine and, of course, Victor, all felt what Lucien wanted to tell them, while they had different understandings.
Felicia, as the only girl present, was holding her hands and twisting her fingers together. Her father did not inherit the family¡¯s title, so she almost gave up her music dream and married a random noble. She often doubted herself, asking herself if she could really make her dream come true, if her choice was right.
Hearing Lucien¡¯s fully dedicated playing, all her worries came to her mind:
"Can I overcome all the difficulties and become a female musician?
"Will I be respected because of my own achievements and be able to choose my own love?"
She did not know. The music thrilled her.
Lott and Herodotus also had their own pressure in the family, and their fates were doomed as well šD they would not be able to inherit the titles. They could indulge themselves hopelessly in wine and women, or they could do something greater, such as becoming great musicians.
Lott¡¯s hands were shaking. The music reminded him of his cousin, Mekanzi.
Herodotus took a few steps back. He had always been weak among his family.
Even Rhine was feeling something. His face, which was always serene, was now lightened with excitement. He was beating time with the music, feeling the long-lost intense emotion.
Victor was the most excited one among them all. His hands were clenching, his face was slightly distorted, and his whole body was shaking. The music reminded him of so many things in the past: his first failed concert; the encouragement from his wife; his hard work and his successful second performance. He thought of the great grief when his wife passed away, and of all his effort and the hard time Wolf and Othello gave him¡­
The music notes were like sharp arrows, going directly to his heart.
Victor could tell the sense of insistence and stiffness in it.
"I failed so many times, and I recovered the same amount of times.
"Then, why give up this time?
"Winnie, is that you encouraging me?"
Lucien started feeling tired. He knew it was because of the injury he got, but he couldn¡¯t stop playing. As a musician, or just a music student for now, it was his responsibility to finish the whole work.
"I¡¯ll let Mr. Victor feel it!" He thought to himself.
His listeners could tell he was exhausted, feeling rather worried. Lucien¡¯s playing was like walking on a tightrope, but it did not stop.
Lucien seized the chance to have a bit of rest through the relatively softer and slow rhythm in the end of the first movement. And then the intense part came back again, which was just like a long battle.
The second movement was more soothing, like sunlight driving away dark clouds and the raging waves in the ocean calming down, like the soldiers going back to their campsite for a short rest during the break.
The following third and fourth movements were interwoven with each other, and the tune became pressing and overwhelming again.
The sunlight disappeared and the dark clouds came back again; the seemingly quiet ocean was secretly building even bigger waves; The soldiers picked up their weapons and headed toward the battlefield.
The greatest and final battle was about to come.
The feeling of anxiety, worry and fear gradually accumulated with the development of the music.
Eventually the storm came, throwing a fishing boat up above the raging waves and, in the next second, fiercely dropping it down. Faced with the power of nature, the little boat seemed so helpless and weak; In the battlefield, the final round was about to decide the fate of the soldiers, who were fighting, killing or being killed, but they were still brave.
The fishing boat did not give in to the roaring waves; The soldiers were beating back their enemies.
In the last movement, the music became gentle again, which sounded a bit grieved, as if the soldiers were lamenting their dead comrades in the battlefield, as if the sailors were missing their families in the waves.
There came the darkest hour before the dawn. The listeners felt nervous again.
What was waiting for them in the end? Failure or victory?
Did they overcome the difficulties, or get completely defeated by the difficulties?
Did they finally take fate by the throat?
Or did they give in to fate?
Suddenly, the exciting and splendid chapter arrived and directly struck the listeners¡¯ hearts. That was a chapter of great victory!
Feeling excited and encouraged, Victor could not stop himself from raising his arm. He wanted to cheer, cheer for the sunlight driving away the dark clouds, for the sailors surviving on the fishing ship, for the soldiers successfully protecting their land!
The rest of the listeners were feeling gratified and excited as well, as if they got the faith and power for themselves to fight against their own sufferings.
Rhine, who always looked calmer than others, was also smiling.
Lucien moved his hands from the keyboard and wanted to stand up, but found himself so weak. The playing consumed all his strength and energy.
"This is¡­" murmured Victor, as if he was asking Lucien, or asking himself.
Rhine, Lott, Felicia and Herodotus all looked at Lucien, waiting for his answer.
"This is fate." Lucien tried hard to stand up, and replied him.
Rhine was the first one applauding, then followed by the rest of the students. Victor also joined them, applauding hard.
"This is music, genuine music!" Victor walked close to Lucien and commented.
Lucien smiled, and he said sincerely, "Thank you, Mr. Victor. Since you like my composition, I wonder if I could have the honor of having you revise it for me. We can tell Mr. Othello and Her Highness that we want to alter the list. I¡¯m sure they would agree and you will find it a good piece of work for your concert, Mr. Victor."
Lucien¡¯s intention was clear to everyone in the room šD he wanted to give his work to Victor and he was willing to give up the honor and fame he deserved. They turned their eyes on Victor, waiting excitedly for his response.
A mixture of emotions spread over Victor¡¯s face: ecstasy, relief, excitement, greed, hesitation¡­ An inner struggle was going on in his mind.
"You can put my name on the second position, if you want. I cannot refine it, and your work will be really important, Mr. Victor." Lucien tried to make his teacher feel less guilty for taking his student¡¯s work.
After a while, with a long sigh, a smile appeared on Victor¡¯s face and he turned to Lucien.
"No, I won¡¯t. It is yours. This is your great work. I already can see your name being registered in the history of music. Apart from God and Winnie, who are supporting me, I still have my moral creed. That¡¯s what Winnie appreciated most."
This was Mr. Victor, his music teacher. Lucien could feel the tears in his own eyes.

Chapter 59: Confirmation
				Chapter 59: Confirmation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Mr. Victor!" Lott and Herodotus couldn¡¯t believe that their teacher refused to accept this precious gift.
Although there were still some problems with Lucien¡¯s playing, this was still a great piece of work. If Victor was willing to revise it and recompose it into a symphony, it could possibly become one of the greatest works in the music history, the most brilliant gem on the crown of symphony! Even Felicia felt that what Mr. Victor just said was unbelievable.
Waving his right hand, Victor stopped them and turned to Lucien again.
"Mr. Victor¡­" Lucien realized that he couldn¡¯t persuade his teacher unless he cast a spell on him. He did not know what to say.
"Thank you, Lucien. Thanks God." Holding his hand over his heart, Victor smiled, "It is the most touching music I¡¯ve ever heard. Thank you. Now I have a new understanding toward music. And¡­ can I have the honor to present this great piece of work on the concert as conductor?"
"Thank you for your comment, Mr. Victor¡­ Wait, conductor?" Lucien was very surprised, "I don¡¯t get it¡­ It¡¯s your concert."
"Did anyone say that I cannot be a conductor on my own concert?" Victor grinned.
"Idiot¡­" Felicia commented in a very low voice, "Mr. Victor is going to introduce your work to all the distinguished audiences on his concert." She envied Lucien for having such a great chance of gaining much fame within a short period of time. However, she also admitted that Lucien¡¯s talent did deserve this chance.
After hearing Felicia¡¯s words, Lucien hurriedly said to Victor, "It is my great pleasure."
"I have a question for you, Lucien." Herodotus asked him from a distance, with his hands holding tightly, "Does the work really come from you? Yes, or no?"
The rest of the people in the room just now realize that Lucien was only a very inexperienced music student. How did he manage to compose such an exciting, brilliant solo?
Was he really a genius, a hidden gem?
Everyone was looking at Lucien.
Lucien did not know how to explain to them, and he also couldn¡¯t. With regard to being righteous and honest, he was no way close to his music teacher.
Now, there was only one thing Lucien could do šD stick to his plan.
"Yes," answered Lucien, "The inspiration of the solo came to my mind a long time ago. At that time, I had not received any formal music education before I met Mr. Victor. I had no idea how to write down the pieces of tunes in my head."
Victor looked at Lucien and nodded.
"The inspiration came from my daily life, from poverty, desperation and struggle. Every time I saw other people dressing decently, or having fancy dishes, I wonder why that was not my life. I want to fight for my own future."
"That¡¯s why you came to look for Mr. Victor?" asked Rhine.
"That¡¯s right. But becoming Mr. Victor¡¯s music student was something out of my expectation. I never thought I could be so lucky. After all, I started from learning how to read, not music." Lucien answered, "Although I met lots of difficulties in the past several months, I¡¯m really grateful for all the support and encouragement you gave me, Mr. Victor."
Lucien¡¯s real experiences and lies mixed together, which made his words sound more persuasive, "I¡¯ve been working on this for more than three weeks, and I was trying to make lots of improvement during these days. Lott, Felicia and Herodotus are my witnesses."
Rhine and Victor turned to look at the rest of the students, wondering why they never found the value of Lucien¡¯s work.
"Well¡­" Felicia looked at Lucien with a mixed feeling, "Probably it was our prejudice that made us deaf. Actually, I can recall some of the pieces that I heard while Lucien was composing and practicing. At that time, Lucien was still working on it, and his playing was pretty¡­ awful. So we did not really pay attention to it."
Only Lucien himself knew that his awful playing was made on purpose.
"As Felicia said, our prejudice deafened us." Lott admitted, "Lucien, you are a genius. A great song like this usually takes months or even years of hard work."
Lott was very impressed with Lucien¡¯s playing. If his work had not been this good, maybe he would still feel a bit jealousy and angry, but now he saw the huge gap between himself and Lucien. He was well aware of the fact that being mean and hostile towards a possible great musician in the future couldn¡¯t bring him any benefit.
"Thank you, Lott. But I am not a genius¡­ It also took me many years¡­" Lucien tried to explain.
"It¡¯s okay to just accept praise from others, Lucien." Victor smiled, "I¡¯ve never heard anything similar to this before. I believe it¡¯s your own work."
Rhine also nodded, "I¡¯ve been traveling in many countries. It¡¯s also my first time hearing it. I believe it is your tough life which gives you the inspiration. Suffering made you a genius. Thank you for bringing this to us, Lucien."
Lucien¡¯s face blushed. While other people thought he was just being shy, Lucien knew that he was feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
"I agree with Rhine. Sometimes, without the many boundaries and limits in mind, a new learner might be able to better release his or her feelings and inspiration and create great works, flying free in the world of music." Victor took over the words from Rhine, "I¡¯ve been working on my fourth symphony for nine years in memory of my wife, Winnie, but I was having a hard time since I was constrained by my past experience and what I learned from my teachers. I thought a symphony was not suitable for expressing personal emotions, but serious religious theme instead. Thank you, Lucien, You provided me with a new insight of my work."
Then Victor turned around and clapped his hands with satisfaction, "All right, Lucien. Carefully write your work down and I will revamp it for you and turn it into a symphony. I will also talk to Mr. Othello to change the list. Then we need to do a lot of practice for the coming concert."

Chapter 60: Lucien in Suit
				Chapter 60: Lucien in Suit
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although this was not his original plan, Lucien nodded, "No problem, Mr. Victor."
As long as no one would suspect him of being involved with sorcery or heresy stuff, Lucien did not really care if some people would accuse him of plagiarizing.
In many of the religious books in the library, music was compared to a treasure that God gave to people, the most powerful weapon that people had in fighting against all the difficulties. Thus, music was always regarded as a symbol of light and hope, having nothing to do with darkness and evil.
Besides, from the books he read and the conversations among Lott, Felicia and Herodotus, Lucien noticed the barrier between the church and the nobles. Although the nobles still revered God, the idea that religion and government should work separately started emerging in Aalto, the city where the church dominated almost everything..
Therefore, Lucien was pretty sure that the church would not easily suspect a new musician from the association, which had a close relationship with both the nobles and the church.
Lucien¡¯s only concern was that he might need to go through security inspection in the future, when being invited to attend concerts or evening parties. However, Lucien believed that if he could be relatively famous, there would be rare or even no security inspection toward him.
Rhine took up a pile of paper and a quill from the desk and handed them to Lucien.
Lucien grabbed the quill. Before he had the chance to write anything down, he suddenly sneezed. His hair was still wet, and several drops of water fell onto the paper.
Victor just noticed that Lucien¡¯s clothes were still wet, "You didn¡¯t bring an umbrella?"
Felicia¡¯s face slightly blushed, since she could see Lucien¡¯s fit body underneath his wet shirt.
"I did. But the rain was too heavy. I ran all the way," answered Lucien.
Victor was moved, "Let¡¯s find you some dry clothes first, Lucien. I got several suits here. Some of them should fit you well."
"I can do part of the work for you first, " urged Rhine. He took away the quill in Lucien¡¯s hand, "Go and change your clothes."
At that moment, Rhine¡¯s fingers touched Lucien¡¯s hand. Lucien surprisedly noticed that Rhine¡¯s hand was even colder than his.
...
In the changing room, Lucian dried his hair and put on Victor¡¯s white shirt, black coat, pants and leather shoes. By then he looked brand newšDblack hair, black eyes. In the mirror stood a good-looking young man.
"Look at you, Lucien! You look really good in this suit!" Victor nodded with satisfaction.
Seeing Lucien in this decent suit, Felicia, Lott and Herodotus felt somehow Lucien looked more reliable now.
Judging a person by one¡¯s appearance did not only happen on Earth.
"Lucien, come and check if this part Mr. Rhine just wrote down is correct," asked Victor.
When Lucien passed Lott, the latter said to him in a low voice with his standard, polite smile, "Hope we can exchange our ideas more often in the future."
"Sure," replied Lucien politely as well.
Hearing their conversation, Felicia bit her lips with her white teeth a bit and made a tough decision, "Lucien, you have my apology. I am sorry that I was being really mean to you because of my prejudice. I hope we can get along well and help each other in the future."
Her face blushed again.
Only Herodotus was still standing on the other side, his head lowered and his eyes staring at the feet, without saying anything.
"Not a problem, Felicia." Lucien nodded and then walked toward Rhine and Victor.
...
Three o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Felicia saw that Baron Othello¡¯s coach stopped in front of the association building.
Victor looked very pleasant, "Great work, everyone! We are such an efficient group, aren¡¯t we? The excitement I felt from the music is still lingering upon my mind. Although the rewriting hasn¡¯t been finished yet, the rest of the work is pretty detailed. I feel like it¡¯s ready to be registered with the association now. And I don¡¯t think changing the list will be a problem either."
Lucien knew that his playing just now was still not very skilled, and thus he believed that it was his emotions infused in his playing that moved his listeners.
Following Victor, Lucien came to one of the rooms on the third floor, where an elder gentleman wearing glasses was sitting there.
"You got your work done, Victor?" asked the elder man.
"Joseph, not me, it¡¯s my student, Lucien. We want to get his great work registered," Victor answered and then introduced him to Lucien, "This is Mr. Joseph, a very experienced senior music critic. Mr. Joseph knows most of the music works in the world, including those of other nonhuman species like elf¡¯s music. At the same time, Mr. Joseph is also a pastor in training. He can tell if you are plagiarizing or it¡¯s really you own work. After that, Mr. Joseph will register you work with a time mark using his pastor power. Any work that comes afterwards which is similar to your work will be regarded as plagiarism."
"How long have you been learning music after Victor?" adjusting his glasses, Joseph asked, "A pretty promising young lad, uh¡­"
"Well¡­ about¡­ three months." Lucien felt a bit embarrassed.
"You must be kidding me." Joseph¡¯s eyes were full of surprise, "Three months?"
"Take a look at it first, please." Victor did not say anything else, but stood there with a smile on his face.
"All right. Let¡¯s see what are we looking at here." Joseph felt like it was somewhat a joke.
Soon the smile on Joseph¡¯s face was replaced by a serious look. His left hand was beating time when he was humming the music notes, as if he entered into a whole new world, or a fascinating story.
About ten minutes later, with a long sigh, Joseph told Victor with excitement, "What a great work! It reminds me of the years when I was helping the knights fighting against the evil creatures in the Dark Mountain Range. Oh those years, with courage, with faith and with hope¡­"
"I told you, Joseph." Victor looked proud.
"I¡­ I still cannot believe it. You said it¡¯s your student¡¯s work¡­ from this young lad?" Joseph¡¯s glasses were slanted on his nose.
"Lucien¡¯s a young lad who knows about tough life," said Victor. Then he shared some of Lucien¡¯s stories with Joseph.
"Well¡­ I guess our association¡¯s gonna have another gifted musician then." Joseph was very impressed, but still found it unbelievable. He turned around and said to Lucien, "If you want to further prove yoursef, keep working on new music themes. About every two years, you gotta have something new to prove yourself."
"In two years¡­ I would have left Aalto already." Lucien thought to himself, while watching Joseph leaving a time mark with his pastor power on the music sheets.
"Does your work have a name? It¡¯s sort of a trend now." Joseph raised his head.
"Fate."
...
After Victor and Lucien finished the registration, they came to the Director¡¯s office.
Before entering the office, Victor suddenly smiled.
"I can¡¯t wait to see Mr. Othello¡¯s reaction to this."
Lucien realized that it had been a couple of months since he last saw this bright smile on Victor¡¯s face.

Chapter 61: Questioning
				Chapter 61: Questioning
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
There was a knock at the door. Othello raised his head and asked, "Who is that?"
"It¡¯s me, Victor." Victor¡¯s voice sounded softer now.
"Well, come in then, Victor." Othello seemed to be in quite a good mood.
Othello had failed to awaken the Blessing. In order to secure his title and fortune, he worked hard to please the Grand Duke and also Princess Natasha, who had already inherited the title of Violet Countess.
It seemed like Othello had a pretty good conversation with Her Highness.
Victor slowly opened the door and entered the room, along with Lucien.
Othello raised his head with a bit of a smile on his face, which was very rarely to see. His black suit was still clean and tidy, without any stain from the heavy rain.
"Victor!" Sitting behind the red desk, Othello talked to Victor with excitement, "Her Highness is looking forward to your new concertos this year and the new music instrument, the piano! Do work hard, Victor. You don¡¯t want to let Her Highness down. Well, and this is¡­" Othello noticed the finely dressed young man following Victor, but he already forgot that he had actually met Lucien once before.
"I don¡¯t, and I won¡¯t, Mr. Othello," answered Victor. Then he slightly pushed Lucien forward and introduced him to Othello, "This is my student, Lucien¡­ Lucien Evans. He just wrote his first piece of music and I am hoping that you can have a look at it. After all, it is known to all that you are such an authority in serious-style music."
Victor wanted Othello to take a careful look at Lucien¡¯s work without any prejudice, so he did not tell Othello his actual intention directly.
"When did you have this new student? I never heard that before." Othello was still in his pretty good mood.
When Othello took over the paper file and started reading the sheet music, very soon a serious look appeared on his face.
Othello was very impressed by the beginning part. He could surely say that, in the past couple of decades, he never met a music work like this. After reading the first several bars, Othello could already tell that the following movements were going to be very intense and passionate.
He was clearly aware of the fact that he was old. And he devoted pretty much all his life to religious music. Facing the new music trend in Aalto where many young musicians were trying to express their own feelings through music, he felt quite reluctant and disagreeable since he believed that music should be much more sacred than this.
However, his heart was beating so fiercely when he was reading the sheets of music. After reading the first movement, Othello found the palms of his hands covered in a film of sweat as if he just had a fierce fight.
He did not like this kind of music. He wanted to tear these sheets up to prevent this work from influencing more people. In his mind, authentic music should be way more calm, sacred and serious.
At the same time, he couldn¡¯t deny the value of this young man¡¯s work. He knew that Music Criticism and Symphony News were holding an open attitude towards the new music style, and so was Princess Natasha.
He also did not want to lose his manner in front of the younger generations, as a renowned, experienced noble musician.
When the silence in the office started becoming more and more torturing, Othello finally dropped the sheets and talked to them, "You¡¯re very gifted, Lucien. I¡¯m glad to see that we¡¯re having a promising young musician. However, Lucien, what I want to remind you is that music is a sacred tool for us to praise the Lord. Music is something powerful and serious and we¡¯re supposed to serve the Lord with music. I hope you can put more thoughts and work into the authentic theme of music."
"I see. Thank you, Director Othello." Lucien was not really paying attention to his comment. In his mind, picturing a magic apprentice like him praising the Lord was a pretty funny joke.
Victor was already satisfied with Othello¡¯s reaction. At least Othello did not say Lucien¡¯s work was not good. So he decided to take his plan a step forward.
"Sir, I really appreciate Lucien¡¯s work, and I believe you can also see the value of it. Therefore, I want to present Lucien¡¯s work to everyone in my concert."
"No!" Without even thinking, Othello rejected Victor¡¯s proposal directly.
"Why? Mr. Othello?" Victor took a tough stance.
Although Othello was a bit surprised with Victor¡¯s attitude, soon enough he believed that he understood Victor¡¯s intention. Othello thought that Victor wanted to use his student¡¯s work to increase his own fame and reputation.
"I showed Princess Natasha the list already. If we just change the list casually, Her Highness would think the association is not serious, not reliable. You want to do harm to the reputation of our association for your own benefit, Victor?"
"I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s just the reverse, Mr. Othello." Victor was very motivated, "If we have a better option, but choose not to present the best work to the Grand Duke and Princess Natasha, that will definitely harm the reputation of our association. And, Mr. Othello, if you insist¡­" Victor paused a bit, "if you insist, I will bring the music sheets to Ms. Silvia and ask her to take them to Princess Natasha. I will not give up."
"Victor!" Feeling challenged, Othello stood up from his armchair and stared at Victor angrily.
"Mr. Othello," Victor tried to be a bit more gentle, "Grand Duke and Princess Natasha hold no prejudice toward this kind of music style¡­ Actually, they prefer this style. Sir, please think about what their reaction would be after hearing Lucien¡¯s work. I believe it¡¯s beneficial for you as well."
Othello clearly knew that without the support from many nobles, this new music trend would not have gained its momentum so quickly.
He was old, and none of his offspring had awaken the Blessing. Othello knew that he must prepare a good future for them to make sure the glory of his family could last. Besides, Victor rarely looked so serious and firm before. Even if he insisted on not allowing them to replace that part of the list, Othello believed that they would find another way out.
Taking many factors into consideration, finally, Othello made his compromise, "All right. Two days before the concert, I¡¯ll be watching the rehearsal to make sure everything¡¯s going on well."
"Of course, Mr. Othello." Victor slightly shook his right fist excitedly.
"Well¡­ I have to say that you have a very talented student." Othello glanced at Lucien, "I wonder why I never heard his name before¡­"
"He just became my music student three months ago," answered Victor honestly.
"Three months? What do you mean?" Othello was confused.
"Yes. He first started learning music three months ago." Victor was kind of expecting Othello¡¯s reaction.
"¡­" With his mouth half open, Othello was shocked.
After a while, he suddenly stood up again and started yelling at Victor, "Are you kidding?! Are you sure this is his work?!"
"Yes, I¡¯m sure, sir," Victor nodded and said, "My other students witnessed his gradual improvement and Lucien had a dozen of the manuscripts from his past work. Joseph has proved his work as well."
Othello sat back down, panting and murmuring weakly, as if he lost all his strength.
Maybe he was mourning for his past glory in his music achievement.
It took him a while to calm down. Othello waved his hand and motioned them to leave.
When Victor and Lucien left the office, Lucien noticed a very familiar person. When he got closer, Lucien recognized that it was Corella, the high-rank knight squire who fought against the red-eyed mice together with him in the sewers.
Corella was still wearing the silver chain mail and his face looked serious. Following Elena, Corella came straight to Lucien.
Before Lucien said anything to him, Corella asked Lucien directly, "Lucien, tell me why you didn¡¯t come to the library this morning."
Both Victor and Elena were surprised. They never thought that the church would care about some random guy being absent from work for a single morning.

Chapter 62: Trouble Solved
				Chapter 62: Trouble Solved
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien did not panic. Instead, a series of thoughts came to his mind:
¡°Did the church find out it was me?
¡°¡­No, it can¡¯t be. If the church had found this out, they wouldn¡¯t have waited until now. I was involved in the witch¡¯s trouble before¡­ I must be on their list of suspects, but not on the top.¡±
Lucien paused a bit and answered, ¡°I stood up late to complete the last part of my music work, then I felt very sick in the morning, so I asked for a leave. Now I¡¯m feeling much better. That¡¯s it.¡±
¡°Did you see a doctor? What was wrong with you? Can anyone prove it?¡± Corella questioned closely.
¡°No one. I was not sick¡­ I was just really tired,¡± Lucien answered calmly.
¡°I can prove for him, sir.¡± Victor took a step forward, ¡°Every time when I finished composing, I felt the same tiredness.¡±
¡°You are¡­?¡± Corella glanced at him.
¡°Mr. Victor is Lucien¡¯s music teacher, a musician.¡± Elena introduced, feeling very surprised that Lucien could somehow compose a piece of music so quickly.
Corella took out his quill and quickly wrote something down on his notebook, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Victor. You¡¯re Lucien¡¯s teacher, so your testimony cannot be fully trusted. I wonder if there is anyone else who can prove for him, or I have to take him back to the church to do a physical examination, just in case.¡±
Lucien¡¯s face did not show any different, but his mind was being busy with finding possible excuses. For a few seconds, he did not say anything.
¡°I can also prove for this young man. I¡¯m the director of the association, Baron, Othello.¡± Hearing the noise, Othello came out of his office, ¡°Lucien just finished his first music work. It was great. He must have devoted all his soul and strength to it.¡±
Although Othello disliked this young man¡¯s music style, he still admitted Lucien¡¯s talent and effort. Besides, the upcoming concert, and also the association, needed Lucien.
Corella nodded, and wrote a line of words on the notebook again.
¡°With your words, Mr. Baron, I believe it¡¯s time for me to leave now.¡±
Actually, Corella himself did not believe that Lucien would be the the one under the wanted-notice either. According to the information from the inquisition, they were looking for a sorcerer at least of the third circle. There was no way that an ordinary young man who was a nobody three months before could turn into an evil and powerful sorcerer so quickly.
The cardinals of the inquisition did not put Lucien¡¯s name on the list in the first round either.
Now there was a Baron speaking for Lucien. Pissing off a noble was the last thing he wanted to do before he became a real knight.
Watching Corella leaving, Lucien breathed a sigh of relief.
¡°Don¡¯t let this bother you two. I¡¯m gonna be very demanding.¡± Othello nodded to them and went back in his office.
¡°Oh my god, Lucien, Mr. Othello said you composed your own musical work? Holy¡­¡± Elena looked Lucien up and down as if he suddenly became a stranger.
Lucien just nodded with a smile.
¡°What is going on here? Why are you here, Victor?¡± It was Wolf, who was walking downstairs.
¡°Nothing.¡± Victor shook his head, ¡°I just talked to Mr. Othello about a change in one of the pieces of symphony on the list.¡±
Victor knew that Wolf would know this sooner or later anyway, so he did not really care.
Wolf¡¯s face suddenly darkened, ¡°You got a new piece of work? It¡¯s impossible. You were that desperate several hours before¡­Wait, how could Mr. Othello allow you to change the list? Did he allow you to?¡±
With a series of questions, Wolf couldn¡¯t wait to figure out what was going on there.
¡°Since we met Mr. Othello¡¯s expectation.¡± Victor shrugged his shoulder pleasantly.
¡°What requirement? Within several hours, you suddenly can meet Mr. Othello¡¯s requirement? It¡¯s ridiculous¡­!¡±
¡°Well¡­¡± Victor blinked, ¡°If the fact pisses you off, that¡¯s too bad. By the way, it was not my work, but my student¡¯s work. You said a pauper cannot become a musician. Lucien proved that you¡¯re wrong.¡±
Pointing at Lucien, who was standing aside, Wolf laughed as if he heard a rather funny joke, ¡°Are you kidding me, Victor? This poor guy just started to learn music three months ago, and now you¡¯re saying that he composed a piece of music work that is qualified to be played in the Psalm Hall? If it¡¯s true, I¡¯ll fulfill my promise¡­ I will never compose again but only do music criticism. But if it¡¯s not, you really have to apologize to me for lying.¡±
¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t say this too soon, Wolf.¡± Victor looked very serious, ¡°You can laugh. But you will see on the concert. And then you will see Lucien¡¯s work in the library.¡±
Wolf stopped laughing. He took a glance at Lucien and cursed, ¡°You guys are just lunatic. I¡¯ll wait and see how you¡¯re going to shame yourself. We¡¯ll see if you can make my words come true.¡± Before he left, Wolf glared at Lucien and added fiercely.
Watching Wolf leaving, Victor commented, ¡°Arrogance brings prejudice, and prejudice makes a person an idiot. Lucien, take a rest today and let¡¯s get started tomorrow. I¡¯ll talk to Mr. Hank and tell him I have to borrow you from him for a while.¡± Victor smiled.
Still feeling tired, Lucien nodded and said his farewell to Mr. Victor.
After grabbing his umbrella, Lucien walked toward the gate together with Elena.
¡°Why are you looking at me like that, Elena?¡± Lucien was feeling a bit bothered with Elena¡¯s continuous gaze.
¡°Honestly, I feel like you¡¯re not the Lucien I knew before¡­ I always knew that you¡¯re talented, but I still can¡¯t believe you can compose such a great music work on your own which is appreciated by both Mr. Victor and Mr. Othello.¡±
Lucien slightly waved his hands, ¡°I guess I just got inspired somehow. Maybe my inspiration came from my past experiences.¡±
Elena had no idea of how long it often took a musician to compose a piece of music. She slightly tilted her head and smiled, ¡°Maybe you¡¯re really a genius. I always trusted you, Lucien. Don¡¯t forget me as a friend when you become a really great musician.¡±
¡°Of course I won¡¯t.¡± Lucien also smiled to her and then left the association.
Watching Lucien leave, Elena stood there for a long time and murmured to herself, ¡°Why he¡¯s so talented¡­?¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Seeing Lucien¡¯s nice suit, Joel joked with Lucien a bit over dinner for suddenly turning into a gentleman. Then, Lucien went back to his place and fell asleep directly. He did not wake up until nine in the night.
When Lucien woke up, he felt much better. Although he really wanted to start making Revenant Dust right now, Lucien knew he should not act too hastily, or it would be too risky.
Taking another tube of Storm, Lucien felt more energized. Tonight he decided to refine his spiritual power using the power of the star. Hopefully he could become a real magic apprentice tonight.
After becoming a junior apprentice, Lucien would be able to cast one more apprentice spell. The recovery speed of Lucien¡¯s spiritual power would be increased by a bit, and the ability to withstand Mind Magic would also be improved.

Chapter 63: The Psalm Hall
				Chapter 63: The Psalm Hall
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The starry sky was deep and dark. Again, Lucien was using the power of the star to refine his spiritual power in the meditation world.
Among all the stars, Lucien¡¯s Host Star was the brightest one, and also the easiest one for him to control.
The light of the star slowly covered Lucien¡¯s soul. Lucien could feel his soul was being nurtured by the star and his spiritual power was improving.
With the help of Storm, Lucien was more energetic than ever, so his progress was rapid. Soon, he felt his soul was filled with power. It seemed like the power was outstretching his soul to reach the stars. For the first time, Lucien realized that his soul could be solidified with power.
Finishing the meditation, the illusion of the starry sky also disappeared. Lucien¡¯s mind was more sober and clearer than ever, and he knew he had become a junior apprentice. Although the change in his soul was too tiny to be observed by other people, Lucien¡¯s soul could now better withstand Mind Magic, recover from common injuries twice faster than before, and be more alert to the surroundings.
However, the damage to his body from taking Storm and achieving the breakthrough was also obvious. Soon Lucien felt exhausted again. Lucien knew that he had to become a real sorcerer to employ certain spells prolonging his lifespan, or he would probably die in his early sixties.
...
In the following several days, with Lucien¡¯s help, Victor successfully refined Fate and rewrote it into a piece of symphony work. After countless times of practicing, and also with the support of Rhine, finally their playing impressed Mr. Othello.
Mr. Othello¡¯s applause lasted for a while in the music hall, "It¡¯s an awesome piece of work. It¡¯s gonna make a stir in the audience. Victor, you really have a good student."
"And you, Lucien," Othello turned around, "you¡¯re indeed talented. But remember, becoming famous at such young age can be risky."
Othello slightly shook his head, still feeling disappointed that Lucien would not devote himself to religious music, and then he left.
"I think what Othello said was right, Lucien." Victor seemed to be a bit concerned, "You¡¯ll be facing lots of pressure, mostly because of me."
"Please do not worry, Mr. Victor." Lucien comforted him, "I¡¯ll be driven by pressure and you know I can handle it pretty well."
Lucien had his own plan: If he could really become famous, he would be able to meet more people from higher status. It would be very beneficial for him to get some precious magic materials such as Moonlight Rose Dust and to earn more Thales to support himself.
"I do believe in you," Victor nodded, "and after the concert, your top priority will be practicing piano, which will definitely be your most important skill as a good musician. I¡¯ll try my best to help you stay focused."
Then Victor switched the topic, "If you want, Lucien, you can invite some of your families or friends to the concert."
"Really?! But I heard that one ticket for a Psalm Hall Concert is worth at least a Thale¡­ it¡¯s like a whole-year saving for a common family." Lucien felt it was too good to be true.
"Yes, it is, but you¡¯ve made a great contribution to the concert, so you deserve this." Victor smiled, "The leading musician, the conductor and the chief instrumentalist of a Psalm Hall Concert always have some extra tickets for their families and friends. It¡¯s pretty nice, isn¡¯t it?"
"It¡¯s awesome, Mr. Victor! Thanks a lot!" Lucien was very excited, as he still remembered uncle Joel¡¯s music dream. "Can I bring five people there?" Lucien was thinking about uncle Joel, auntie Alisa, John, Iven and Elena.
"Well¡­ It seems like you relate pretty well to people, Lucien." Victor grinned, "I got this covered. No worries."
...
"Seriously, the Psalm Hall? The one in Aalto?" Alisa could not believe her ears.
"Yes, it is. Will you go there?" Lucien asked the family again with a smile on his face.
"For sure we will, Lucien." Joel was feeling very excited but also confused, "But we are¡­ we are not qualified for going there, are we? I thought only families and friends of the musicians of the concert were invited."
"Come on, dad! Lucien is Mr. Victor¡¯s student!" Iven¡¯s eyes were gleaming with excitement, "Oh my god¡­ I¡¯m gonna be the envy of all the kids in Aderon!"
"Actually¡­ I helped Mr. Victor with a piece of music work for the concert, so I can invite some of my families and friends." Lucien was a bit shy to admit.
"What?" Joel¡¯s fork dropped on the table, "You did?" As a bard, he seriously understood how hard composing was.
Lucien did not explain directly, "I know it¡¯s pretty unexpected, uncle Joel, but you will see."
"Now our little Evans got his own secret!" Joel laughed, "All right, we¡¯ll wait and see. And before that, we need to rent some decent clothes."
"Sure. We¡¯ll tell John as well." Alisa¡¯s face was glowing with pride, "I really hope he¡¯ll be able to come."
...
Saturday. Eight o¡¯clock in the evening. The Psalm Hall.
Decent coaches with assorted family insignias gathered in front of the hall. Some of them were luxury and some of them were simple but tasteful, but all were pulled by the strong and fine horses called Dragon Scale.
Finely dressed ladies and gentlemen came out of the coaches, took over the music list for tonight and started greeting each other.
"It¡¯s such a pleasure to see you here, sir. I wish you had a pleasant trip coming back to Aalto from your manor." A middle-aged man slight bowed to the earl with red hair. The other nobles around him were also being very respectful, since the earl was the head of one of the most dominant families in Aalto, the Hayne family, and was also Felicia¡¯s uncle.
"Mr. Victor is my niece¡¯s music teacher. For sure I should attend the concert." Earl Hayne smiled, "Besides, there are many different issues going on in Aalto recently. It is my duty to come back and serve the Grand Duke."
Earl Hayne was in his fifties, but as a level three grand knight with the Blessing of Fire, no one could really tell his age based on his appearance. And his son, Harrington, was an outstanding young man, who just became a level six radiant knight in his early thirties and consolidated the family status.
Other nobles around were all nodding with compliments.
Taking over the music list and quickly glancing over it, Hayne noticed the name on the list, "Lucien Evans? Since when did Victor have such a student who can already compose?"
"Although I haven¡¯t seen Felicia for a while," a noble lady named Yvette wondered, "she never mentioned a student whose name¡¯s Lucien several months ago when we were on vacation."
"Well, let¡¯s wait and see then." Lord Hayne started walking to the hallway. He unbuckled his sword and handed it to the guard, letting them check his other personal belongings.
Since the Grand Duke would be here tonight as well, the security check must be strict.
At the same time, the church laid a very large magic-blocking circle covering the whole Psalm Hall, in which almost all the supernatural magic spells, except legendary spells, were completely blocked. The blocking circle has been the church¡¯s greatest work in more than a hundred years.
After Earl Hayne entered the hallway, two fine, dark purple coaches came, followed by two lines of guards in red uniforms with golden stripes.

Chapter 64: The Nobles
				Chapter 64: The Nobles
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The shade of purple on the coaches was elegant and gentle. Both coaches were emblazoned with the same coat of armsšDa strong armored arm grabbing a silver shield, surrounded by many bright purple violets together with fortress-like patterns.
It was the coat of arms of Orvarit Family, which was called the Family of Violet and also the Shield of Truth.
The two coaches stopped in front of the long red carpet. Nobles who had already entered the hall left their seats and came outside again, following Count Hayne and Count Rafati, to welcome the grand duke, while the musicians were standing in the distance to show their respect.
A tall young lady with bright purple hair got off the coach first in her elegant black evening dress.
Her deep eyes were purple like a dream, her eyebrows were heavier and longer than common ladies, and her nose was high and straight, which matched perfectly with her pink, bloom-like lips. The young lady was gorgeous, and her beauty was unique: her beauty was of vitality, confidence, and heroic spirit. If it was appropriate to compare Ms. Silvia to the lily, who was gentle and elegant, the young lady would be a flourishing violet, lively and passionate.
This young lady was the well-known Violet Countess, Natasha.
And the middle-aged woman that Lucien saw last time was standing by Natasha¡¯s side.
As a level five grand knight, Natasha was half-head taller than most men. She quickly walked to the other coach and supported her father, the grand duke, with his hand, to get off.
Orvarit also had purple hair, but much lighter than his daughter¡¯s. In his early sixties, the grand duke looked weaker than his peers. When he was younger, Orvarit was not as gifted as Natasha, therefore, he had to rely on the many secret potions provided by the church and the family in order to awaken his Blessing, and then he became a level two knight. His health had been damaged by the potions in the early years, and the loss of his wife and the eldest son in the following years were also devastating to him.
Even with all the sufferings, Orvarit was still very handsome and attractive. His love towards his late wife was well-known and touching. Many years before, Orvarit fell in love with the only princess of the Kingdom of Holm across Storm Strait when he was staying there as an ambassador. They overcame countless difficulties together and finally got married. In the following years, he gave all his love to his wife and never had any affair. The love story was still being sung by many bards until today.
Supported by Natasha, the grand duke got off the coach and walked towards the red carpet. In his eyes, the sacred Psalm Hall never changed in his memory, and then he started thinking about his whole life. After so many years, Natasha was now his only concern. Indeed, he was very proud of his daughter, but also felt worried, since Natasha had an even stronger personality than many men.
In front of the splendid and magnificent hall, the nobles were saluting the grand duke and the princess, showing their great respect. Orvarit was smiling to the nobles in his grave and dignified bearing, while Natasha was slightly nodding to them. Even Lucien could tell from a distance that although the princess was more than used to all of these noble manners, she was not much interested in them. However, when she later found Silvia standing among the nobles, a big and lovely smile appeared on her face.
Lucien saw Natasha was slightly bowing to Silvia with her right hand on her chest, which was a typical male greeting.
"That¡¯s weird¡­ Um¡­ If I'm not mistaken, there is definitely something between Princess Natasha and Ms. Silvia¡­" Lucien did not want to gossip about it, but still felt a bit sorry for the noble gentlemen present. After all, both Silvia and Natasha were both very attractive and charming.
"I suggest we go inside and get seated first, your majesty." Count Hayne grinned after saluting the grand duke respectfully, "Let¡¯s leave some free space to the young people."
His son Viscount Harrington was talking to Princess Natasha. Harrington was a nice-looking and enthusiastic young man. The concert for tonight was important, and so was the socializing part.
Orvarit only took a quick glance at the young man without too much hope, "We should wait a bit. I believe Cardinal Sard will be here tonight as well."
Hearing the name, many nobles standing close by stopped talking, looking rather surprised.
Sard, the Saint Cardinal, the presider of the church in the Duchy of Orvarit, member of the Episcopal Conference, was known for almost living in seclusion. It was very unexpected that he was attending the concert tonight, which reminded many of the nobles present of the evil ritual previously conducted in Baron Laurent¡¯s house.
At this time, a simple coach with the Saint Truth Badge on it stopped in front of the hall. Everyone there could guess it was Sard¡¯s coach.
Being helped by a young knight, an old man in his white robe got off the coach. He looked very kind with his totally white hair, just like a loving grandpa. Walking with firm and steady steps, Sard was still in pretty good health. No one could really tell he was actually already over two-hundred years old.
As the old cardinal walked closer, Lucien suddenly felt a warm air gently breezing in his spirit, like his soul was basking in the holy light.
Lucien was very surprised with how powerful the old man¡¯s spiritual power was. When his spiritual power got totally blocked by the magic circle laid by the church, the power of the old man¡¯s soul was still this influential. He had actually heard Sard¡¯s name before, since he was like a legend in this world. In that moment, Lucien finally saw the legend with his own eyes.
It was said that, among all the cardinals in the Saint Truth Church, only about ten of them were Saint Cardinals. According to Lucien¡¯s knowledge, taking those people, including the greatest knight commanders, leaders of the inquisition and the monks into consideration, there could be no more than thirty people in this world who had this kind of power like Sard did.
Standing close to Lucien, Rhine narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his brows in concentration as if something was too burning bright for him.
Lucien noticed Rhine¡¯s difference and turned to look at him, and his eyes just met Rhine¡¯s in that moment. The corner of Rhine¡¯s mouth quirked up, putting a casual smile on his face.
It was not the first time that Lucien noticed Rhine was behaving in a weird way. However, Lucien knew that tonight was not a proper time for solving the many questions about Rhine in his mind.
When Cardinal Sard entered the hallway, following the knight manner, Orvarit kissed Sard¡¯s right hand respectfully with his knees slightly bent.
"Only truth lives forever," said the grand duke.
It looked like religious authority was still above imperial power in Aalto.
"It¡¯s very nice to see you, Your Majesty. I¡¯m glad to see that you¡¯re still doing this great, and I¡¯m glad to see our lovely little Natasha is an outstanding knight now." Sard held Orvarit¡¯s arm and smiled lovingly.
The grand duke and the cardinal walked into the concert hall hand in hand, with Natasha holding Sard¡¯s arm on the other side slightly behind them. They were followed by the nobles walking in the strict rank rules.
"Well¡­ It¡¯s time to get prepared in the backstage." Victor smiled, "Lucien, you may want to wait here for your friends and lead them to their seats later."
Lucien nodded and watched Victor and Rhine leaving. Soon Felicia, Lott and Herodotus went into the hall as well, and they would be sitting in the good seats assigned for their families.
Close to the hallway, only Athy and Lucien were still waiting there. Athy was waiting for Victor¡¯s relatives and Lucien was waiting for his friends.
A moment later, a plain and fully-loaded coach came. Iven was the first one getting off the coach, followed by his elder brother, John. Iven looked very adorable in his little suit, while John was the same, tall and handsome, whose blonde hair was shining in the light.
Joel and Alisa got off the coach as well. Lucien felt auntie Alisa¡¯s dress was pretty tight for her, but her happy smile made her look much younger than usual. Seeing the whole family, Lucien smiled without knowing.
"I thought you wouldn¡¯t come." Lucien playfully hit John on his shoulder. The two buddies had not seen each other for a while.
"Come on¡­!" John also hit Lucien back cheerily, "Your first music work will be played in the Psalm Hall. As your best friend, how can I miss it! By the way, Lucien, I have a good news too." John hugged Lucien and patted him on the back, "I¡¯m a high-rank knight squire now!"
"Wow! That¡¯s awesome, John! Good for you!" Lucien grinned.
At this time, Elena also arrived. In her long, light yellow dress, Elena looked like a lovely angel tonight.
"Good for you too, Lucien." Joel took a glance at Elena and nudged Lucien slightly, "She¡¯s adorable."
"No¡­ no¡­ we¡¯re just friends." Lucien was a bit shy and embarrassed.
Then Lucien led them to the west stand. It was much smaller than the other stands, and could only seat twenty people.
...
The best seats belonged to the distinguished counts and above. After taking his seat, Orvarit slightly leaned forward and asked the cardinal, "Your Eminence, is there any progress in investigating Baron Laurent¡¯s case?"
Although the city guards and the intelligence division of the Duchy were also looking into this thing, they could never compete with the great pastors from the inquisition who claimed that they could hear from the God of Truth.
"Well¡­ some." Cardinal Sard was watching the orchestra being prepared on the stage in the front, with a casual smile on his face, "We believe that it has something to do with the duke in the hell. His predecessor was sealed somewhere under the Dark Mountain Range by the ancient magic empire, and he¡¯s always been trying to find his predecessor and absorb the power."
"I thought he could have been more careful," Natasha joined their conversation, "and we heard that some sorcerers were involved in it as well."
"That¡¯s true." Sard nodded, "God revealed to me that they do have other plans, so we¡¯re still gathering more information, especially looking up the ancient documents from Sylvanas Magic Empire. As for the sorcerers, they are just several apprentices with a sorcerer coming from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic. He calls himself ¡®professor¡¯ but he¡¯s only a third or fourth circle sorcerer, so we don¡¯t have to worry too much about them."
"The headquarter of the Congress of Magic?" the grand duke and the princess asked at the same time with wonder.

Chapter 65: The Concert (1)
				Chapter 65: The Concert (1)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sard seemed to be a bit slow and his eyes were dull, however, his smile was still very gentle and nice. He did not respond to Orvarit and Natasha¡¯s question immediately, but followed his own pace to tell the story.
¡°Several months ago, some of our night watchers successfully targeted a sorcerer from the congress, which is very rare, since most of them who came to Aalto before never stayed here long, not to mention trying to contact the many hiding sorcerers in Aalto. After all, their shared goal was to find the remains of the ancient magic empire in the Dark Mountain Range.¡±
¡°Well¡­¡± Orvarit rubbed his chin thoughtfully, ¡°maybe they were also trying to have more sorcerers and sorceresses in Aalto to know and join their congress in order to grow and expand. As far as I know, that¡¯s something that the congress has been working on for more than two hundred years.¡± As a pious believer, the grand duke definitely knew much more about sorcerers than most other people did.
Several nobles sitting behind were paying close attention to what Sard, the grand duke and the princess were talking about. Their faces looked odd, as if there was something on their mind, but all of them decided to remain silent.
¡°You¡¯re right, Your Highness.¡± Sard adjusted his sitting position a bit and continued, ¡°Unfortunately, the night watchers failed to catch him alive, and the sorcerer destroyed himself.¡± Then he took a glance at the tall and strong saint knight standing beside him, letting the knight continue with the rest of the explanation.
Only the church knights can be called saint knights.
The knight¡¯s face was fully covered by his protection mask, through which his dull voice came, ¡°We think the sorcerer who called himself ¡®professor¡¯ came here for the same reason, and maybe also to investigate what happened to the last sorcerer.¡±
Sitting in and leaning against her seat, Natasha looked pretty relaxed. Now she was looking in another direction with a hint of a smile on her face, ¡°It seems like you know a lot about what the sorcerers are doing in Aalto, don¡¯t you?¡±
She was not being disrespectful, actually, her piousness was acknowledged before by Sard himself, and her teacher was the chief commander of Sword Brothers serving the church. However, except when she was praying in front of the God of Truth, Natasha was always quite casual about almost everything.
¡°Your Highness, the church has been tracking them for years, and the sorcerers never hid themselves in front of the church perfectly,¡± the knight lowered his head, ¡°so did the so-called ¡®Professor¡¯. Some clues are showing that he follows the contemporary magic system, and that¡¯s why we speculate that Professor is from the congress. It seems like he does not really trust the sorcerers in Aalto. He was being very careful, so although we have two people spying on them, what we know about Professor is still relatively limited. The church decided to be more cautious.¡±
In the hundreds of years in Aalto, a few sorcerers betraying their belief and turning to work for the church was not something new. Knowing that the sorcerer groups in Aalto were too small to cause them much trouble, instead of destroying them all at once, the church decided to leave them in Aalto in order to play a long game with the Congress of Magic.
¡°Well¡­ at this point, the mysterious Professor is not a big deal yet, as far as I¡¯m concerned. What makes me feel worried is Argent Horn. I wonder what they are planning in Aalto.¡± Orvarit cupped his chin in his hand.
¡°As you wish, your majesty, ¡± the knight slightly bowed, ¡°We will leave the junior night watchers to trace the case of Professor, and the main force of the church keeps investigating the heresy.¡±
¡°Still haven¡¯t found Rosan Aaron?¡± Twirling her long purple hair with her finger breezily, Natasha asked.
¡°Not yet. We¡¯re trying our best,¡± answered the saint knight.
The orchestra was ready.
At this time, a young, purple-haired man entered the balcony. His facial features were a bit similar to that of Natasha, but he was even taller than her. His suit was emblazoned with the coat of arms of the Violet family.
The young man nodded to the nobles in the balcony, smiling. Then he walked toward the first row of seats in the front, saluting the grand duke and the cardinal respectfully in the knight manner.
¡°My dear cousin, you¡¯re late.¡± Natasha waved to him.
This young man was the nephew of the grand duke, the chief commander of Aalto¡¯s city guard, Count Verdi.
¡°Sorry.¡± He sat down relatively close to Natasha, ¡°Just got some news about Argent Horn, but it turned out to be quite useless¡­ Lucien Evans¡­ the composer of Fate? I never heard this name before.¡±
Count Verdi, at the same time, was also quite famous in the music field.
¡°Interesting¡­ I don¡¯t know this name either,¡± said the grand duke. Hearing Verdi¡¯s comment, both Orvarit and Sard picked up the lists.
¡°The name of the symphony is ¡®Fate¡¯. I bet this Lucien is a pretty brave and creative composer,¡± Sard responded kindly, ¡°I don¡¯t really have a preference between the two music trends.¡±
Natasha grinned. ¡°I happen to know something about this Lucien. Yesterday, Baron Othello came to me and asked for the permission to replace the third piece of music on the list with a new symphony. And here it is, from this Victor¡¯s new student, Lucien Evans, who just started to learn music three months ago.¡±
¡°Three months ago? That¡¯s insane.¡± Verdi slightly frowned. Pursuing to be perfect, Verdi was strict with himself and knowing the fact that there was someone even more talented than him was definitely not pleasant.
¡°Well¡­ Unfortunately, it looks like this guy is pretty talented, even more than you are, although you started to learn music at eight and at nine you were already able to compose. But seriously, don¡¯t worry Verdi. He cannot compete with you. I met the guy the other day, and he looked like a woman! I¡¯m quite curious to see what he can do.¡±
¡°Well, some people are just geniuses, which is not fair per se, but it is the intention of God.¡± Sard commented.
And that reminded Natasha of the story of Sard.
Sard was not a genius, ever. Since the first day he entered Aalto Monastery, he was never able to compete with his smart peers. However, in the end, it was Sard who became the Saint Cardinal, although it took him more than a hundred years.
So he often told the followers, ¡°The faith in God has nothing to do with talent.¡±
¡°Well, we¡¯ll wait and see.¡± Orvarit laughed, ¡°What Natasha said makes me feel curious now, too.¡±
At this time, Victor walked on the stage with a baton in his hand.
Firstly, he bowed in the direction of the grand duke¡¯s balcony in a solemn manner, then he bowed to the other nobles and musicians. Finally, he turned around and lowered his head, staring at the baton in his hand.
The playing started. Orvarit closed his eyes and smiled, ¡°This is the best one among Victor¡¯s previous work. It¡¯s just beautiful.¡±
Everyone stopped talking and immersed themselves in the music.
Looking into each other¡¯s eyes, Lucien, Lott and Felicia smiled together behind the backstage. They could tell Victor was in a very good form. Now they had become real classmates, if not yet friends.
The first symphony lasted for about forty minutes, and it went very well. During the break, some of the audiences expressed their concern that if the first symphony was already the best one among Victor¡¯s previous work, the rest of them might not be that good.
But Victor proved that they were wrong. The second piece of symphony was actually even better. It was lively, vivid and full of life, like a cool summer breeze, like an autumn field. At the end of it, Orvarit applauded for a long time with satisfaction.
¡°Victor never stops making progress. He¡¯s awesome,¡± commented the grand duke.
¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s soothing and beautiful,¡± echoed Verdi, although in his mind, he did not really appreciate this kind of country style symphony.
¡°Well, it¡¯s good, but I think Victor is capable of doing an even better job. I didn¡¯t feel his passion in it. There¡¯s still space for improvement,¡± said Natasha.

Chapter 66: The Concert (2)
				Chapter 66: The Concert (2)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
¡°My little niece mentioned before that the composition of the second symphony took Victor around two to three years. After knowing that he would be holding a concert in the Psalm Hall, he spent another three months in my younger brother¡¯s manor for improvement. And it indeed reminded me of the boundless ripe wheat field in my hometown.¡± Smiling, Earl Hayne introduced the story behind the symphony to the grand duke and the princess, feeling slightly grateful to his niece, Felicia, who he never had fondness for in the past.
Since the eldest son of the previous earl died in a fight against the heretics, a contest started between the second and the youngest son of the Hayne family. At that time, because the second son, who is also the current Earl Hayne, had not awakened his Blessing yet, and Felicia¡¯s father was much better-favored by their father, the present earl was in a great anxiety almost all the time.
Then a favorable turn came to the second son, who awoke his Blessing. Furthermore, his son Harrington grew into a very talented young man who wasn¡¯t even inferior to Princess Natasha and Earl Verdi. The second son successfully inherited the title and all the land the Hayne family had.
¡°I feel the same way.¡± Orvarit nodded, ¡°This piece of symphony reminded me of the beautiful country life. Maybe you¡¯re right, Natasha, but the concert is already very impressive. Let¡¯s wait and see the following two pieces of work.¡±
¡°The last symphony is from his student, though. I can¡¯t believe a new learner who just started learning music three months ago can compose a symphony, and I don¡¯t have much expectation on the young lad¡¯s so-called talent.¡± Earl Rafati also joined their conversation, a very handsome man seemingly to be in his early thirties.
¡°Uncle Hart, I believe you¡¯re the last person who should claim that talent doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡± Natasha laughed in a very non-noble-lady way, ¡°You awoke the Blessing of Sun when you were ten, and became an 8th circle senior-rank holy magus in your sixties. No one is more promising than you are for finally becoming a legendary holy magus.¡±
The seemingly young Earl Rafati was actually way elder than he looked like, and he was a very powerful holy magus. Holy magi were people who awoke their Blessing and therefore were granted with magic power. To differentiate the blessed spellcasters from the notorious sorcerers, people called them magi.
There was also a reason for the great power of the Rafati family. While other noble families were relating to each other by intermarriage, the Rafati family insisted on royal incest to make sure the great family power and the purest blood could be inherited by their younger generations. Although many deformed babies were thus born, the family also had many genius members such as the present earl.
Verdi commented seriously, ¡°Uncle Hart¡¯s talent is a gift from God. It¡¯s different.¡±
¡°So is musical talent, I heard.¡± Natasha smiled, ¡°Seriously, I¡¯m quite looking forward to Lucien¡¯s work. No matter if it¡¯s good or bad, it¡¯s gonna be interesting.¡±
¡°The fourth piece of symphony should be the most impressive and outstanding one for tonight¡¯s concert. I hope Victor knows what he¡¯s doing.¡± Rafati slightly shook his head.
¡°Aside Lucien¡¯s work, I¡¯m also quite excited about the new musical instrument, the piano.¡± Natasha switched the topic to the following piano concerto.
¡°I wonder how piano performs compared with harpsichord.¡± Sitting on the chair, Verdi¡¯s back was straightened in a serious manner.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Now Victor was more relaxed, knowing that his first two pieces of symphonies were acknowledged by the grand duke. During the break, he was chatting with his students casually, while Rhine appeared to be more silent than usual.
Soon it was time for Victor to go back to the stage. This time Rhine would be his designated conductor to direct the orchestra, and Victor would be the one who played the new musical instrument, the piano.
The sound of the piano was rich and resounding. The first note of the piano concerto instantly caught the whole audience¡¯s attention. This was a piece of concerto with religious profundity.
¡°Impressive,¡± Verdi commented with satisfaction and then closed his eyes to listen carefully.
The high sound quality of piano fitted perfectly well with the solemnity and sacredness of the religious music. Several higher pitches were also handled very well by the piano. The whole Psalm Hall was immersed in the majestic melody.
When the concerto came to its end, Cardinal Sard crossed himself and said, ¡°This is an eulogy for God. The success of this concerto is accomplished by this brand new musical instrument.¡±
¡°It is awesome. It is the best keyboard instrument ever!¡± Natasha gasped with admiration, ¡°Compared with piano, harpsichord and clavichord are just like toys for girls!¡±
¡°You are a girl as well, Natasha.¡± Orvarit¡¯s brows were slightly frowned. The grand duke was about to applause when he heard his daughter¡¯s improper comment.
Regarding her father with reverence, Natasha mumbled, ¡°Even so, I¡¯m still the most special girl among them all, no inferior to any man.¡±
Hearing Natasha¡¯s murmuring, a meaningful smile appeared on Verdi¡¯s face, but he did not say anything.
¡°I saw you, Verdi!¡± Natasha straightened her back instantly and stared at him seriously, ¡°You don¡¯t think so, do you? Or you want a fight outside?¡±
¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t want any trouble.¡± Verdi was still smiling.
¡°All right, Natasha. Symphony of Fate is coming.¡± The grand duke was trying to change the topic between the two.
Taking a glance at the stage, Natasha squinted at Verdi, ¡°My dear cousin, I believe Lucien¡¯s work will be better than all of yours.¡±
¡°Well, at least I have my music works to be compared. While you, my dear Natasha, you¡¯re not good at composing at all. With regard to the talent of composing, I believe I¡¯m way more gifted than you are.¡± Verdi instantly fought back.
¡°That¡¯s really true, isn¡¯t it? Well¡­ well¡­ then how strange it is that none of your brilliant work has ever been played in the Psalm Hall, while a random guy who just started learning music three months ago somehow managed to do it?¡± Natasha put on a rather surprised look.
¡°I just don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Verdi gnashed his teeth, feeling sort of speechless, ¡°The guy named Lucien¡­ his work can never be better than mine.¡±
¡°Aha! I heard what you said!¡± Natasha laughed, ¡°Let¡¯s see what will happen if his work indeed is better than yours.¡±
The grand duke also nodded, feeling very expectant like the other nobles, except Wolf. Wolf¡¯s face was almost twisted together. Although the success of Victor¡¯s concert would not do any harm to him, in Wolf¡¯s mind, it was Victor who took away the success he deserved. So Wolf was going to pay very close attention to every single note of the following symphony, finding the tiniest flaws and putting all of them on Music Criticism.
On the small west balcony, Alisa and Joel¡¯s hands were grabbing together tightly. Even John was feeling sort of nervous. All of them were waiting for Symphony of Fate, the last piece of work tonight.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Standing in front of the orchestra, with the baton in his hand again, Victor¡¯s mind churned. He thought back to the failure of his first concert, the great success of the second concert, the many memorable moments between Winnie and him, Winnie¡¯s affectionate gaze toward the end of her life, as well as the encouragement from Lucien, Rhine and the rest of his students¡­
¡°Winnie, can you hear me?¡± Victor knew he was ready, and he slowly lifted the baton.
The moment when Victor waved his baton, the beginning of the symphony shocked every audience present. The first few bars of the symphony were like the loud knocks at the door that instantly woke everyone up. Orvarit, Natasha and Verdi opened their eyes at the same time with great surprise.
It was fate that was knocking the door, in an irresistible and fierce manner.

Chapter 67: The Innovator
				Chapter 67: The Innovator
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The rhythm, the tone and the accents falling on the beats gripped everyone¡¯s heart. No one could hide from the trials of life. The theme of the symphony was revealed directly, without any foreshadowing or implication.
The horns took place before a second theme was introduced, symbolizing the fierce struggling between fate and will. As the first and the second theme interweaved with each other, the audience experienced great tension and pressure, as if they were personally on the battlefield, although they were only sitting in their seats.
The reactions of the audience varied. Grabbing the armrests, the nobles such as the grand duke and Wolf who had never experienced the cruelty of war in person almost couldn¡¯t stand the fear in their hearts, while Knight Venn became very engulfed by the memories of the deep fear and horror that he suffered back in the days when he was fighting against the evil creatures and the heretics.
Sard remained relatively calm, but his eyes were open. This time his eyes were no longer dull, instead, they were bright and sharp. He was associating the music work with his own stories back in the day.
Facing the tension and the great pressure coming from the symphony, younger nobles, such as Verdi and Natasha, showed their rising fighting will. Clenching his right fist, Verdi tightened every muscle in his body to be ready for fronting the blows of fate, showing the spirit of the Violet family as the Shield of Truth. Natasha¡¯s body was leaning forward, and her face looked serious but also excited. She wanted a good fight to beat the darkness and the so-called fate.
Victor devoted his heart and soul to the conducting. Compared with Lucien¡¯s original work, now the symphony was much better developed and even more thrilling. The combination of viola, cello and woodwind in the second movement gave the audience a short break from the intensity, and soon the third movement again threw them back to the front, encountering the overwhelming fear of darkness.
Pain, hope, fear, anger and so many other feelings mixed together. When the light finally beat the darkness, when the final movement of great victory was played in the Psalm Hall, many of the audience spontaneously stood up and cheered with thunderous applause.
The grand duke gave a long sigh of relief and raised his hand to wave, as if he was cheering for his brave knights and soldiers returning home in triumph. With great excitement as well as satisfaction, Natasha left her seat and walked close to the handrail, staring at the orchestra as if she was still immersed in her own world of music.
Leaning comfortably against the back of the seat, Silvia and the other musicians spontaneously exchanged a look. They could tell the great surprise and admiration in each other¡¯s eyes.
"This young man¡­ He¡¯s probably another genius after Gesu and Twal," Silvia murmured to herself.
Joel¡¯s family and Elena were cheering and applauding. Although they did not know a lot about music, they felt from the bottom of their hearts that Lucien¡¯s work was truly shocking and touching. They had tears in their eyes.
Joel was tingling with excitement, feeling that his dream was accomplished by Lucien. He was more than proud, regarding Lucien¡¯s success and honor as his own.
Grabbing his father¡¯s shoulder, John¡¯s face flushed with gratification, "Dad, Lucien is such a genius, isn¡¯t he?!"
"From now on, we can call him ¡®Mr. Lucien¡¯¡­" Elena couldn¡¯t believe what just happened in the hall. After all, when she first met Lucien several months ago, this young man was carrying bags of garbage.
Wolf¡¯s face turned deathly pale, knowing that he could never deny the greatness of this symphony. And now he finally realized why Victor was willing to have such a pauper as his music student¡ªthis poor guy was indeed a genius.
Turning his head restlessly in the tumultuous applause, Wolf relied his last bit of hope on the picky nobles and musicians, wishing that at least a couple of them who always preferred religious music would show their dislike toward the theme of the symphony.
The grand duke joined his daughter, walking toward the front of the balcony to applaud warmly. Being led by the grand duke and the princess, the second round of wild applause with the tumultuous ovation burst out, reverberating through the Psalm Hall.
Without any doubt, the concert was a great success!
After saluting the grand duke and the rest of the audience, Victor trotted back and pulled Lucien out from the backstage. Lucien was prepared, so he calmly followed Victor and came to stand in front of all the audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please let me introduce you my student, Lucien Evans. It is Lucien Evans who composed this great piece of symphony," said Victor loudly to all of the balconies.
"What a talent!" The applause from the nobles and the musicians became even louder, showing their great recognition toward this young musician.
"Great music. Great young man." Earl Hayne nodded, "Even a person who knows nothing about music can feel the greatness of his work."
The grand duke commented in a loud voice, "Unparalleled! This young man will grow into a great musician!"
Natasha¡¯s mind was full of emotional thoughts, "I was almost speechless. I felt something¡­ very unique. I know it¡¯s something that I¡¯ve been always looking for. Lucien, you¡¯re the innovator in the history of music!"
Even Verdi couldn¡¯t say anything to refute her at this point.
"You got the soul that never yields. God bless you, young man." Slowly, Sard stood up. He looked at Lucien with a loving smile on his face.
Among all the people, Wolf was the only one who remained slouching in his seat. He felt too weak to even talk.
"Thanks God. This is the gift of God." Lucien saluted the balconies in a gentleman manner, playing his role as a believer with great piety. The great success of the concert would bring him lots of benefits, and one of them would be a higher social status which was very helpful for him to hide his identity. The guards from the church and the sheriffs of the city would not dare to casually arrest or investigate a musician who had received the recognition from the grand duke, the cardinal and the princess.
The cardinal nodded and said to the grand duke, "I¡¯m very glad that I attended the concert tonight. All of the music works tonight are great, and Symphony of Fate is especially the most impressive one. Light conquers darkness. The God of Truth empowers us to fight against difficulties. God bless us all."
"God bless us all." Orvarit lowered his head, putting his palm on his chest.
On the stage, Victor¡¯s eyes were wet with tears. How he wished that Winnie could see all of this in heaven.
"How do you feel now, my cousin?" Natasha looked at Verdi and asked pleasantly.
"This piece of work belongs to Lucien, not you, Natasha. And unfortunately, his talent can never be yours as well." Verdi did not answer directly.
"Well¡­ actually the unique theme of his work inspired me a lot. Maybe I should have him to be my music consultant to produce my own music work," said Natasha, tilting her head on one side.
"His success comes from both of his talent and his life experience. And the accumulation of inspiration and good ideas takes time. I don¡¯t think it will work, Natasha." Verdi shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly.
"Still worth a shot." Lifting her brows, Natasha chuckled.
...
When the nobles were leaving the Psalm Hall in order, Victor and Lucien came to the backstage. The orchestra members there were still feeling excited.
"Mr. Victor, Mr. Evans, this is the best concert we¡¯ve ever attended!"

Chapter 68: The Celebration
				Chapter 68: The Celebration
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Some of the members in the orchestra were also relatively well-known musicians in Aalto. Although when practicing, they already had a pretty high expectation on this concert, especially on Symphony of Fate, the heated response from the noble audiences and the many famous musicians tonight was still a great surprise for them.
Victor was also very excited. He walked toward Rhine, his most intimate comrade in these days, and gave him a big hug, ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Rhine. You helped me with improving the harpsichord. You supported me all the time during the countless times of rehearsal. Without you, this concert could never be this perfect.¡±
Although Rhine remained quite silent all the evening, he was also very gratified by the success of the concert, ¡°Thank you, Victor. It is my honor to work with you, Mr. Victor, and with Lucien as well.¡± He smiled.
¡°Mr. Evans!¡± Thomas, the cellist of the orchestra, hugged Lucien with great enthusiasm, ¡°You¡¯ll become the most well-known musician in Aalto, no¡­ on the whole continent!¡±
Lucien felt a bit awkward when people, especially the orchestra members, called his surname with respect.
Lucien¡¯s promising future in music was already widely expected by many of the orchestra members when they first started to rehearse the fourth piece of symphony composed by the young music student of Mr. Victor. Now Lucien¡¯s talent was acknowledged by the distinguished nobles in the public. Since the grand duke used the word ¡°unparalleled¡± to comment on Lucien¡¯s music work, and the princess Natasha directly called Lucien ¡°the innovator of the music history¡±, Lucien would definitely become the brightest new star in the field of music very soon.
Everyone in the orchestra knew that as long as Lucien could compose another piece of symphony of the same high quality within the following two years, his status in the field of music would be completely fastened. If this new trend of music could be popularized in the future, then Lucien would undoubtedly be a high authority. Thus, the orchestra members showed great respect toward Lucien.
Lucien hugged the members one by one. Although the status and the income of a musician was way higher than the common players in an orchestra, Lucien was clearly aware of the fact that the full cooperation of the players was also one of the key factors in determining the outcome of a concert.
¡°Lucien,¡± Rhine also gave Lucien a big hug, ¡°I can imagine that, in the near future, more and more pieces of music work will be composed to express human being¡¯s feelings and emotions, instead of merely praising God. I shall call you Mr. Evans as well, since you are absolutely the pioneer of the new trend.¡±
Although Lucien was not used to that intimate way of celebrating, he also did not mind it. Lucien also hugged Rhine, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Rhine. Unfortunately, I¡¯m still far away from being a pioneer, after all, even playing piano is still challenging for me. And by the way, your violin playing was awesome, Mr. Rhine, but just lacked some passion.¡±
In Lucien¡¯s eyes, Rhine was sometimes a bit weird. Taking this chance, Lucien was trying to test Rhine.
¡°You¡¯re right. Maybe I am too calm most of the time.¡± Rhine released his arms and explained casually. Although Rhine looked pretty lean, Lucien could feel the strength in his arms and his body from the short hug.
Lucien was also supposed to hug his classmates.
¡°Great work, Lucien.¡± When hugging Lucien, Felicia¡¯s face flushed. Lucien¡¯s success would bring her lots of benefits as well. She could already picture the scene of she being surrounded by many noble ladies and madams, asking about her talented classmate.
¡°I¡¯m proud of having you as my classmate, Lucien.¡± Lott offered Lucien a big hug and congratulated him, while Herodotus remained silent when he was hugging Lucien. A while later, Herodotus said to Lucien in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re something.¡±
Victor saved his warmest and biggest hug for Lucien, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to express to you my thankfulness, Lucien. You¡¯re a gift for me from God. Having you as my student is my great blessing.¡±
¡°Being your student is my greatest honor, Mr. Victor,¡± said Lucien sincerely.
¡°Oh, there¡¯s one thing¡­¡± Victor said to Lucien, ¡°You¡¯ll get half of the money tonight. Don¡¯t say no, Lucien. With the money, you don¡¯t have to live in Aderon anymore. Aderon is not safe.¡±
As far as Lucien knew, ticket for the concerts held in the Psalm Hall was always in high demand. The ticket revenue tonight was three hundred and sixty-five Thales, which was quite a lot. Three hundred and sixty-five Thales was four times the number of Victor¡¯s annual income, while the annual income of a noble knight was only about three to five hundred Thale.
According to the regulation of the association, forty percent of the ticket income would be contributed to the church, and thirty percent would be used for the maintenance of the association and the Psalm Hall, as well as paying the whole orchestra. For the remaining thirty percent, about a hundred and ten Thales would be Victor¡¯s. In other words, Lucien would earn around thirty to thirty-five Thales.
Thirty to thirty-five Thales equalled several decades of saving for a common person, even a life long effort. With the money, Lucien could move to a decent three-storey house in Purple Lily district, or a relatively old two-storey house with a small garden in Gesu district.
¡°I can¡¯t say no. Thank you very much, Mr. Victor,¡± Lucien answered sincerely, as if he could already see the gold coins shining in front of his eyes. With the money, the dust of Moonlight Rose would not be a dream for Lucien anymore. The only problem was that it was not easy to find Moonlight Rose dust.
A decent place in a decent area was also what Lucien needed, not only because he wanted a better living condition, but also because of the need to stay away from Aderon where he got involved with the other sorcerers using the identity ¡°Professor¡±. With a bigger house, Lucien could also build a bigger and safer magic lab underground.
After the celebration, when Felicia was about to invite everyone present to visit her family¡¯s manor tomorrow, the middle-aged lady who always stood by Princess Natasha¡¯s side came to the backstage.
¡°Lady Camil.¡± Felicia, Lott and Herodotus heard her story before. They hurriedly saluted her.
Victor, Lucien and the other people present also followed the manner.
¡°Mr. Evans,¡± said Lady Camil seriously, ¡°Princess Natasha wants you to be her personal music consultant. About an hour each time, twice a week, in Ratacia Palace. The pay is very decent, two Thale a month.¡±
Her words instantly turned Lucien into the envy of the people present, even including Victor. Only Rhine¡¯s eyes dimmed for a moment.
¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Lucien turned down the offer subconsciously, ¡°I just started learning music three months ago. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not qualified for this position, and the success this time might just be a random explosion of my accumulated inspiration.¡±
Lucien had another reason that he could not speak out. He was afraid that entering the palace would be too risky and his sorcerer identity might be revealed by the princess, who was a level five grand knight herself, or this lady Camil, a radiant knight.
However, the job was also very alluring. From another perspective, serving Princess Natasha could be his perfect disguise as well.
¡°The princess doesn¡¯t mind. What Her Royal Highness values is the unique skills you employed in your composition and your understanding toward the new theme of music.¡± said Camil emotionlessly, ¡°Would you like to accept the job, Mr. Evans?¡±
The other people in the room were looking at Lucien with expectation. Finally, Lucien nodded his head.
¡°It would be my pleasure to serve the princess.¡±
¡°Thank you, Mr. Evans.¡± Lady Camil said and then left the backstage.
The pay was truly very good. At least before becoming a 1st circle sorcerer, Lucien wouldn¡¯t have to worry with the expenses of buying most of the materials.
Also, the job offered Lucien a high social status.
¡°We really envy you, Lucien.¡± Felicia and Lott congratulated him in a very direct way.
Victor also cast his eyes to Lucien with delight and satisfaction.

Chapter 69: Revenant Dust
				Chapter 69: Revenant Dust
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was already eleven in the late night when Lucien left the Psalm Hall. Only few lights were still twinkling along the dark and empty street.
Although the daytime in the Month of Harvest was hot, the rain-swept night was very cool and pleasant. Lucien¡¯s mind was refreshed by the cool air. He gradually woke up from the ecstasy and started to plan his next step. If everything went well, Lucien would be leaving Aderon very soon, thus he had to clean the underground lab up as soon as possible in case some random tramps would inadvertently enter the shack when there was no one there. Before that, Lucien decided to collect some Revenant Dust tonight when the lab was still fully equipped, and then he could turn his attention to the search of Moonlight Rose tomorrow.
Moonlight Rose was always in high demand and very expensive, since it was the main ingredient of the magic potion which could help a knight squire awaken Blessing, and thus become a real knight. As most squires couldn¡¯t afford the Moonlight Rose, some knights would occasionally select their best squires and award them with the dust of the rose.
In addition to that, the market of Moonlight Rose was controlled by the church, the Violet family and a few other big families, which was also one of the strategies how the big families consolidated their status in the Duchy of Orvarit.
Lucien was hoping that probably Felicia could help him, since she was a member of the Hayne family. Felicia was qualified enough to buy some Moonlight Roses within her family.
What Lucien did not know was that, actually, Felicia had already bought the roses three times before, hoping that she could awaken her Blessing. However, her hope finally failed, and since then she started to pay her full attention to learning music.
Lucien currently had no idea how to ask Felicia to do him a favor without being suspected, which sort of bothered him. If Felicia was not willing to help, then Lucien would have no other choice but to find the black market in Aalto or join another secret sorcerer meeting again, which was the last thing Lucien wanted to do for now.
Two simple wagons were waiting in front of the Psalm Hall in the corner. Uncle Joel and his family as well as Elena were waiting for Lucien beside the wagons.
Seeing Lucien coming in their direction, Joel waved to him with both of his hands. He came toward Lucien and gave Lucien a big warm hug.
¡°Tonight¡¯s like a dream.¡± Joel patted Lucien¡¯s back with great joy, ¡°You invited me to the concert and fulfilled my dream. We¡­ and your dad¡­ we are all so proud of you, Lucien.¡±
Following Joel, John also hugged Lucien. His arms were shaking a bit, and his voice was trembling, ¡°I knew it! I knew you¡¯re something! But your growth is still way beyond my expectation, after all, I thought at least I would become a knight first, haha. Now I gotta work even harder or I¡¯ll fall behind.¡±
Lucien was inspired¡ªmaybe he could use John as an excuse for buying Moonlight Rose. After all, Lucien could now afford to buy Moonlight Rose for his close friend John, who was a knight squire, which definitely made sense.
And it was part of Lucien¡¯s original plan as well. Some of his roses would be a gift for John. Lucien already regarded Joel¡¯s family as his own family and John as his most important friend. The support Joel¡¯s family offered Lucien meant a lot to him.
Now the only problem was how Lucien could persuade Felicia to do him the favor.
¡°My career in music has just started. There¡¯s still a long way to go.¡± Lucien smiled, ¡°I¡¯m sure soon you will awake your Blessing and become a real knight.¡±
¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not sure about that yet, Lucien.¡± John shook his head and released his arms, ¡°The first try to awake the Blessing is the most likely to succeed. I have to be more prepared for that.¡±
¡°Congratulations, Mr. Evans!¡± Elena hugged Lucien. Her big eyes were blinking with joy.
¡°I¡¯m really flattered, Elena.¡± Lucien grinned, ¡°We are friends. Please, don¡¯t call me a mister.¡±
¡­¡­
After sending Elena and Joel¡¯s family home, Lucien went back to his shack and lay in bed.
About one o¡¯clock in the early morning, suddenly Lucien got up. Making sure that it was safe around, Lucien quietly entered his magic lab.
It took Lucien an hour to set up some magic traps just in case. Then Lucien took out a tube of blood from a box. At the same time, the magic notebook was open in his spirit library, ready for taking notes at any time. Lucien was hoping that during the process of collecting the revenant dust, he could also gain a better understanding toward the undead creatures.
As soon as Lucien opened the tube inscribed with runes, a strong smell of sulphur came into his nose. As if it was alive, the dark blood kept bubbling like lava.
Murmuring the awkward-sounding and obscure spell, Lucien connected his spirit with another space dimension. Suddenly, he grabbed the tube and spilled the blood forward.
Weirdly, instead of dropping on the ground, the blood suspended in the air and divided into many small drops.
The drops of blood moved quickly, and a magic circle took shape in front of Lucien. The whole space of the lab was instantly filled with the stinky smell of blood.
Blood fog diffused around the lab. Suddenly, a transparent human figure appeared in the air, of which its face and limbs remained very blurry, but its resentment was so strong that it almost became visible.
Although Lucien still did not understand how different space dimensions were connected by spiritual power, the structure of this apprentice summoning spell itself was not complicated.
A hole, probably its mouth, appeared on the figure¡¯s face, and the vicious revenant started screaming and suddenly leaped at Lucien¡¯s throat.
Lucien stayed very calm and activated the magic traps around him. The air flows restricted the revenant like ropes and shackled it in the air.
Wraith Shackle, an apprentice level spell.
At the same time, transparent walls appeared in the air and surrounded the revenant inside. The surface of the walls was rippling like water as the sound waves of the scream kept hitting the walls.
Silence Wall, also an apprentice spell.
Although the scream of the revenant was blocked, Lucien still felt a sudden surge of nausea and he heard someone was screaming in his brain.
Quickly Lucien took down the notes in his spirit library.
¡°The scream of revenant transmits in the form of infrasonic waves. High penetrating power. Causes illusion.¡±
Lucien hoped that he could know the rough vibration frequency of the waves, but with limited lab equipment, Lucien¡¯s note couldn¡¯t be more detailed and accurate.
Being trapped, the revenant¡¯s scream became even crazier, but the scream couldn¡¯t bother Lucien anymore. Calmly, Lucien activated the magic circle drawn on the table, from which many golden rays of light immediately scattered.
¡°Weight, 21.26g. Heavier than expected. Power¡­ remain unknown.¡± The information was stored.
Then Lucien started to cast different spells on the revenant to see the effects.
¡°Immune to Mage Hand.¡±
¡°Immune to Acid Splash.¡±
¡°Immune to Freezing Rays.¡±
¡°Small damage caused by Homan¡¯s Oscillation. Might be because of the intervention of waves, or magnetic interference.¡±
¡°Minor damaged caused by Marius¡¯ Small Flame. Reason unknown.¡±
¡­¡­
As the experiment went on, the revenant in the air became weaker and weaker, and even more transparent. As if it was afraid of Lucien, the revenant huddled in the corner of the surrounding magic walls.
¡°Some instinct remained.¡± Lucien kept recording.
Then Lucien cast the spell Illumination. In the light, the revenant became irritated again, but had nowhere to escape. Its resentment gradually disappeared in the light, but rather slowly.
¡°Afraid of strong light.¡± Another line of words appeared on the notebook.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
The experiment finally came to the end. Looking at the very weak revenant huddling in the corner, Lucien shook his head.
The summoned revenant was now badly damaged and soon it disappeared completely. Shiny fine dust slowly fell into the magic circle.
¡°21.25g. The reason of the weight difference remains unknown. Maybe the consciousness of the revenant also has weight.¡±
Lucien collected the dust of the revenant in a glass tube, and then slowly tidied up the lab, since it should also be the last time he used it before Lucien moved out.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
In the morning, Lucien got up early and headed for the Association for two reasons. Firstly, Lucien had become Princess Natasha¡¯s personal music consultant, so he should quit the librarian job and leave it to someone who really needed it. Secondly, Lucien was too excited to wait another day to get his lovely and shiny Thales.

Chapter 70: The Newspapers
				Chapter 70: The Newspapers
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien arrived at the Musicians¡¯ Association, only two guards were standing in front of the five-storey building, since most of the believers following the God of Truth usually spent their Sunday morning in the church.
¡°Good morning, Mr. Evans.¡± The two guards smiled and greeted Lucien.
¡°Morning.¡± Lucien nodded, feeling a bit surprised. Since the concert finished late last night, it was quite surprising that the guards were already showing respect to him in this following Sunday morning. Lucien wondered if maybe it was Elena who told the guards, because she was the only one among all the concert audience who needed to work on Sunday.
Before Lucien entered the building, he heard they were whispering, ¡°Three months ago, Mr. Evans was still carrying garbage for our association. He asked me to do him a favor looking after his trolley. Now look at him, a musician!¡±
¡°I know¡­ The last time I saw him he was still a music student. Never expected he was such a genius!¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Elena and Cathy were tidying up the documents behind the counter when Lucien came into the lobby. Both of them greeted Lucien with respect, ¡°Good morning, Mr. Evans.¡±
Elena winked at Lucien with a sweet smile on her face, and Cathy seemed to be a bit nervous.
¡°Good morning, Elena. Morning, Cathy.¡± Lucien asked with curiosity, ¡°What keeps you girls this busy this morning?¡±
¡°I¡¯m glad you asked.¡± Elena answered in excitement, ¡°Lucien, you know what? Your name is on both the latest Music Criticism and Symphony News.¡±
¡°What? I thought the next issue for both of them would be released at the end of the month¡­¡± Now Lucien was really surprised.
¡°That¡¯s because your music work is so amazing!¡± Elena was very proud of Lucien, ¡°Many musicians were deeply touched by your Symphony of Fate, and they worked overnight on their reviews! The association thus decided to issue both of the newspapers in advance this month. Now we have the first copies!¡±
¡°Mr. Evans, do you want one?¡± asked Cathy with respect and curiosity.
¡°Well¡­ I think I should.¡± Lucien smiled and poured out twenty Fells from his moneybag. From hard saving, Lucien¡¯s small moneybag finally bulged a bit.
¡°What did they say, Lucien?¡± Elena still couldn¡¯t read very well, ¡°Cathy and I are really curious.¡±
Picking up the latest Music Criticism, Lucien saw a painting of the Psalm Hall and two lines of black bold words,
¡°Ladies and gentlemen, hats off to the real genius!
¡ª Othello¡±
Lucien read Mr. Othello¡¯s comment to Elena and Cathy, and the girls¡¯ eyes were filled with reverence.
Turning the page, the first review article titled Music with Soul¡ªSalute to Symphony of Fate:
¡°As a gift from God, music encourages us to continuously progress toward a better future. However, in the past three hundred years, the main role that the solemn and sacred religious music was playing was never challenged on the stage of music, since other music themes were always hiding behind the scenes and paled in comparison with it.
¡­¡­
¡°Until we met Symphony of Fate, a great piece of music composed by Lucien Evans and first played on Mr. Victor¡¯s concert held in the Psalm Hall last night, I finally realized what is the most indispensable quality of a masterpiece!
¡°Music is emotion. Music is feelings. Without emotion and feelings, without soul, music can never be deeply moving to people. And the young musician Lucien Evans knows clearly about this: The four movements of Symphony of Fate are connected by a consistent faith all along¡ªhope and persistence can conquer any difficulty. It is the most exciting, encouraging and touching symphony I have ever appreciated.
¡­¡­
¡°Lucien Evans, without any doubt, is a genius. His music talent shocked Aalto, and I believe he will shock the whole continent in the future.
¡­¡­
¡°As soul is to life, so is emotion to music!¡±
The review article was pretty long, which was more about expressing feelings instead of professional analyzing. The reason this article ranked the first was that it was written by the grand duke, Orvarit.
¡°Wow¡­ The grand duke really likes your symphony!¡± exclaimed Elena in surprise and joy.
¡°I heard Princess Natasha also contributed,¡± said Cathy politely, ¡°Mr. Evans, can you please read her article to us? I know the princess¡¯s very good at reviewing music works.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± answered Lucien, feeling a bit nervous to read the princess¡¯s comment.
Natasha¡¯s article ranked second place in Music Criticism following her father¡¯s work, which titled A Future Trend¡ªThe Music Revolution Led by Symphony of Fate:
¡°A great piece of symphony with magnificent theme and touching emotion running through.
¡°The talented musician, Lucien Evans, creatively used the four stress accents to form the first bar as the beginning of Symphony of Fate. Each of the four movements of the symphony was relatively independent but yet connected to each other, highlighting the shared theme: Light would conquer darkness and courage would overcome difficulty. The flexible and skilled utilization of assorted music instruments enriched the symphony¡¯s emotion world and grabbed every audience¡¯s heart last night.
¡­¡­
¡°Call it heroism. Call it persistence. Call it knight spirit. I was deeply touched by the great work. The short bar which is composed of the four stress accents is still striking my heart, as if it synchronizes with my heart beat.
¡°This young, unfettered music genius, Mr. Evans, revealed a brand new music world in front of us, where new music skills should be explored, and new music themes should be developed.
¡°Great innovator! Great pioneer!¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien¡¯s face blushed when he was reading the article. Flipping through this Music Criticism, Lucien found that twenty-nine out of the forty articles here were music reviews about Symphony of Fate. Some of them analyzed its theme and some of them skills. The other several articles were about Victor¡¯s piano concerto and the concert in general.
Urged by Elena and Cathy, Lucien briefly glanced through the latest Symphony News and found the same situation¡ªall of the articles were about either Victor or himself.
¡°Wait¡­I know this name.¡± Elena pointed her finger at a name under the first review article on Symphony News, ¡°Christopher¡­ Gionis.¡±
Christopher Gionis was the president of the Musicians¡¯ Association, and also the most well-known musician in Aalto who composed more than a hundred great music works. Gionis was respected as a ¡°living music legend¡±.
Here was Gionis¡¯s comment:
¡°If you haven¡¯t heard Symphony of Fate, you heard no music in your life.¡±
¡°Wow¡­¡± Except exclaiming, Elena and Cathy had no idea how to express their admiration to Lucien.
A while later, Elena said to Lucien, ¡°I¡¯m sure few months later, you¡¯ll become one of the most renowned young musicians throughout the continent.¡±
Without saying anything, Lucien smiled and slightly shook his head. Then he left for Mr. Hank¡¯s office on the third floor.
¡°Congratulations, Evans.¡± Hank rose from his seat behind the desk, walked toward Lucien and gave him a hug.
¡°Thank you, Mr. Hank.¡± Lucien smiled, ¡°I¡¯m here to quit my librarian¡¯s job.¡±
¡°Of course, I expected so.¡± Hank agreed without hesitation, and then he took out a money bag, ¡°According to Mr. Victor, this is yours.¡±
The money bag was not big but quite heavy, in which thirty-three gold coins were fascinatingly shining.

Chapter 71: The White Letter
				Chapter 71: The White Letter
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Weighing the moneybag, although most of the time Lucien was able to stay quite calm, now he was a bit thrilled.
"Well¡­ I can be quite a moneygrubber sometimes." Lucien mocked himself a bit in mind. Lucien was aware that there was supposed to be thirty-four gold coins in the bag, but he did not say anything about it, and of course Hank would not mention anything as well. It was an unspoken rule, Lucien knew that.
After leaving Hank¡¯s office, Lucien decided to visit Pierre in the library. After all, they worked together for more than two months. Lucien should a least say goodbye to him as friends.
...
Staring blankly, Pierre was sitting behind the counter, which was blanketed by two outspread newspapers.
"Good morning, Pierre." Lucien greeted.
As if he was suddenly awakened from a dream, Pierre gazed at the person standing in front of him for a moment in puzzlement, then he slowly answered, "Lucien¡­" As soon as he called the name, his face darkened, "My fault¡­ I shall call you Mr. Evans now."
Pierre¡¯s attitude surprised Lucien quite a bit. Lucien thought he knew Pierre¡¯s personality relatively well from working together with him in the past two months. In his mind, Pierre was never a silly or an arrogant jerk.
"Pierre¡­ Why¡­?" Lucien was confused.
"You guys ruined harpsichord! You guys know nothing about harpsichord!" Pierre¡¯s dark brown eyes were filled with anger.
Lowering his head, Lucien saw the newspapers on the counter, of which the two articles on the current pages were both about Victor¡¯s piano concerto.
Lucien remembered the details of the two articles, since the content was already stored in his spirit library just now when he was flipping through the newspapers.
One of the article praised the improvement that Victor made with traditional harpsichord and applauded for the impressive features of the new music instrumentšDthe piano, while the other criticized the playing skills Victor used during his playing, accusing Victor¡¯s new fingering with piano a betrayal of classical fingerings and the great tradition of music.
"You may hold different opinions, and I understand, Pierre." Lucien tried to mediate, "But we don¡¯t have to argue over this. Just leave the discussion to the musicians and critics."
"Answer me. Do you think you really understand harpsichord?" Pierre directly ignored Lucien¡¯s words and questioned him again.
Lucien came up with the book that Pierre once recommended him to read, which was titled The Art of Harpsichord Performance. Locating it in his spirit library, Lucien noticed the name of the author was Antonio Sandor.
"Your father is¡­ Antonio Sandor, the author of The Art of Harpsichord Performance?" asked Lucien.
Pierre paused a moment. Then he squared his shoulders and answered proudly, "Yes, I am the son of Antonio Sandor, a great harpsichord musician."
"That¡¯s why you¡¯re so angry?" Lucien stared up at Pierre and asked calmly.
"The great achievement made by my father can never been ruined by you guys!" answered Pierre with excitement.
"What is talking to me now is your prejudice, Pierre, not you." Lucien did not want to argue with him, "Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye to you. From today on I won¡¯t be working in this library anymore."
"I was wrong about you, Lucien," said Pierre with strong dislike, "I thought you honored music a lot, but in fact you¡¯re too arrogant to show your respect. You¡¯ll definitely regret in the future if you don¡¯t stick to traditional fingerings. Watch out, you genius!"
Lucien opened his mouth and tried to say something, but finally gave up. He directly turned around and left the library.
He thought Pierre and he would become friends. Lucien sighed in his mind. After all, a friend was easier lost than found.
...
Since the concert was a great success, everyone was taking a weekend off for the first time in a long while. Lucien did not find Felicia in their practicing room on the fourth floor.
"Maybe Felicia will be at home in the afternoon," wondered Lucien. He still had no idea how to persuade Felicia to help him.
Thinking about this, Lucien went back to the lobby and asked Elena if she knew about any house for rent in Gesu area. Since most of the musicians and players in Aalto lived in Gesu, the Musicians¡¯ Association was also responsible for providing house information and helping its musicians to find ideal places to live close to each other.
Among the many choices, Lucien liked the two-storey house located at no. 116 in Gesu the most. The house was owned by a not very famous musician, who was now far away in the Kingdom of Syracuse serving a viscount as his music consultant. The location of the house was a bit remote in the area, but the rent was also cheaper¡ªone Thale per year.
It was almost ten in the morning. Lucien planned to take a look at the house this afternoon, after visiting Felicia. He wanted to move out as soon as possible. Now Lucien had to go back home and clean some of his stuff.
"Take care, Mr. Evans." Elena smiled to Lucien, and Cathy slightly bowed to him respectfully.
...
When Lucien came back to Aderon, he saw many of the neighbors were standing in front of auntie Alisa¡¯s place like the last time when John became a knight squire.
Every week, these poor people in Aderon could luckily take a short break on Sunday, since they also went to the church in the morning.
With the improvement of his spiritual power, Lucien¡¯s hearing was also now better than that of common people. He captured some of the words from the neighbors¡¯ conversation and an ominous feeling came over him.
"Hi, Roy. Why there¡¯re so many people gathering here?" asked Lucien.
"Hey, Lucien! It¡¯s been a while since the last time I saw you!" With too much labor work, Roy, in his early thirties, looked much older than his age, and he did not know that Lucien had become the princess¡¯s music consultant yet, "You know what? Every dog has its day! And Joel¡¯s lucky day finally comes! A noble lord invited Joel to be his family musician this morning."
"What? Where is uncle Joel now?" Lucien was surprised.
"Joel left in a hurry, and he took Alisa and his son together as well. I bet the pay must be very good." Roy grinned.
"Lucien, you did not know about it?" asked a middle-aged woman named Lizz with curiosity, "People say you¡¯re a famous musician now and it is because of your reputation that Joel has been invited. Is it true, Lucien? Are you famous now?"
"Something¡¯s wrong¡­" Lucien murmured, and he hurriedly asked them, "Who invited Joel?"
Uncle Joel would never leave in such a hurry without even telling him first. Besides, even if there was a noble who admired Lucien¡¯s music and thus wanted uncle Joel to be his musician, Lucien should be informed first.
"How dare we ask a lord¡¯s name!" Lizz and some other neighbors shook their heads, "We saw the lord dressed very decently. And he had many squires and servants."
It was not right¡­ Lucien¡¯s heart was torn with anxiety, but Lucien knew that he must stay calm.
"Auntie Lizz, do you remember what the lord looked like?" Lucien frowned his brows, "Did uncle Joel leave me any message?"
"How dare we look at a lord¡¯s face!" answered Roy, "I only remember the lord was a very decent gentleman. His hair was all white. Black suit¡­ and a walking stick. The squires were so strong¡­ all in their early twenties¡­"
Although Roy tried his best to recall it, the information he provided was not really helpful.
"Joel did leave a message to you," said Lizz, "but nothing really special¡­ He asked me to tell you that do not worry about him, and he will ask someone to send you a message when he reaches there."
"That¡¯s it?" asked Lucien, putting up with the great anxiety in his mind.
"That¡¯s it." The neighbors knew nothing else.
"Anything wrong, Lucien?" some of the neighbors asked.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien calmed himself a bit.
"Not really," Lucien answered. He decided to look for clues first and then inform John. There must be a purpose that they took uncle Joel¡¯s family.
Lucien had a spare key for the door. As soon as he entered the place, Lucien¡¯s spiritual power and his soul told him something was indeed not right. Lucien sensed a smell of a stranger in the room, and fortunately, this person did not erase the invisible smell and trail he or she left.
And there was a white letter on the table.

Chapter 72: Conversation Over the Letter
				Chapter 72: Conversation Over the Letter
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In order to stay calm, Lucien firstly closed the door. Then he reached his left hand into the pocket and grabbed Ice Revenger. Carefully, he controlled the aura of the ring surrounding his own body, since Lucien speculated that the person leaving the letter should not know that he was a sorcerer, instead of a common young man.
The ice coldness from the ring cooled Lucien down. With great caution, Lucien opened the letter using his right hand.
This piece of paper was of no special material. It looked like the letter was printed instead of written, since every single letter on the paper was almost too neat.
"Dear Mr. Evans,
It is our great honor to have Mr. Joel and his family with us. As long as you are willing to do us a little favor, we will take good care of them here. When we get what we want, Mr. Joel and his family will be back safe and sound, and with a decent amount of money. It is a fair trade."
"Kidnap, I knew it!" Lucien lowered his voice and said to himself, "But what do they want from me?"
Soon after Lucien asked this question, the lines on the paper quickly faded and new black words appeared.
"Mr. Evans, as a music genius, your calmness is also impressive. Please let me repeat what I said just now¡ªit is a fair deal, not a kidnap. Of course, when we talk about being fair, that means if you betray our agreement, you will never be able to see Joel and his family again."
"It is a supernatural power¡­" Lucien¡¯s brain was working very fast. In order to have a bigger chance to save uncle Joel and his family, Lucien couldn¡¯t let these people know the fact that he was a sorcerer as well. This was definitely not a trade, and kidnappers¡¯ promises were never trustworthy. Therefore, Lucien made an immediate decision: instead of passively following the kidnappers¡¯ orders, he should have a careful plan and save uncle Joel and his family himself.
At the same time, buying time for planning was also very important. Taking a deep breath, Lucien talked to the piece of paper in a low voice, "What do you want me to do? How can I know they¡¯re still alive?"
Several new lines appeared on the paper again:
"What we are asking is very simple, Mr. Evans. Use your talent and write more great music works to become Princess Natasha¡¯s long-term music consultant. And we believe that this is also your goal, Mr. Evans. Aren¡¯t we being really considerate? As for Joel and his family, as long as you are willing to work with us, we have no reason to kill them."
Many thoughts quickly passed through Lucien¡¯s mind:
"Were they targeting Princess Natasha, or other secrets in Ratacia Palace? I was just invited to be the princess¡¯ temporary music consultant last night, and today these people kidnapped uncle Joel and his family, which was almost impossible, unless¡­ unless one of them, or even all of them, were among the audience in the concert last night!"
"If I cannot make sure uncle Joel and his family are safe, I will not work with you. You can kill me," said Lucien decisively.
"Mr. Evans, I just want to clarify one thing. You are one of our plans, but not the only one. Unfortunately, you are not as important as you think."
Lucien sneered, "Then kill them, and kill me."
It looked like Lucien¡¯s reaction surprised the kidnappers. After the last message disappeared from the paper, nothing new appeared for quite a while.
Lucien was extremely nervous. He was not sure if his answer would put uncle Joel and his family to death, but he had no other choice. Lucien must make sure they were still alive. Now it was time to be patient.
Finally, several lines emerged on the paper again:
"Every once in a while, we will send you a picture of Joel and his family. Starting from tomorrow. However, since you pissed us off, we decided to send you one of Joel¡¯s fingers tomorrow as well, to relieve your concern, Mr. Evans."
"Bastards!" Grinding his teeth with hatred, Lucien said to the kidnappers, "Every time, the picture you send must contain completely date and time information, or I won¡¯t be able to know if these are fake pictures that you make with your evil power." Lucien was hoping that he might be able to find some clues from the pictures.
"It won¡¯t be a problem. Deal?" replied the kidnappers.
"Not until I see the picture tomorrow. " Lucien was pretending that he knew nothing about magic power, "But when I see uncle Joel and his family, I¡¯ll keep my word. I swear."
"Your word means nothing." The lines showed up again, "We can see. And if you dare report to the princess, we will send Joel and his family to hell in a second."
Lucien had no idea how the kidnappers could observe him secretly in the palace. He wanted to know more, since purpose often revealed motive, and motive was the key clue to find the enemies hiding behind this.
"What specifically do you want me to do? It can¡¯t be just staying close to the princess," asked Lucien.
The writing became a bit hasty, "We¡¯re more than happy to know the schedule of the princess and the grand duke, as well as other interesting things going on in Ratacia Palace. You just need to write what you know down on this piece of paper with a quill."
The kidnappers were very crafty, and their real motives remained blurry.
"I see," answered Lucien slowly.
"If you have any need, you¡¯re welcome to ask us for help, Mr. Lucien. Hope we have a nice cooperation." The new lines were more illegible compared with the previous ones.
All the lines disappeared, and the letter returned to a piece of white paper.
Lucien removed his left hand from Ice Revenger and instantly felt the supernatural power disappear. Staring at the closed window with an expressionless face, Lucien slowly folded the piece of paper back and put it into the envelope. His heart was full of anger and hatred, and he already figured out who did this.
They were the heretics of Argent Horn.
With the help of Ice Revenger, when Lucien was opening the envelope, he sensed a tiny amount of supernatural power remained on the paper. When he was communicating with the kidnappers, Lucien was also doing his analysis of the power by comparing it with the different kinds of power he met before. Every time the letters appeared and disappeared, Lucien got one step closer to his conclusion: Firstly, the power was not magic; Secondly, the supernatural power was very similar to the power that Lucien felt from Cardinal Sard and pastor Benjamin. Although Lucien could not tell the specific differences between the magic power he followed and the powers empowered by either God or demons, he was quite sure that what he was facing now was the latter.
If Lucien¡¯s observation and speculation were correct, Argent Horn was the most likely, or say, the only possible answer for now.
"It looks like there¡¯s a bond between me and these bastards¡­" Lucien needed to control himself hard from tearing the paper to shreds with anger.
"The piece of white paper should be a magic item of apprentice level. Someone¡¯s eavesdropping on me right now and the person needs to stay relatively close to me¡­ probably, within a radius of a hundred meters¡­ Still hard to find, though." Lucien thought to himself, "According to the time it took the kidnapper to reply, the person should be a bit above senior apprentice level."
Lucien was a bit encouraged, carrying the hope that he could save Joel and his family. He did not really trust the church, the princess, and the grand duke, since they would only focus on exterminating the heresy, instead of making sure the hostages were safe first. At the same time, Lucien never even considered for a second obeying the heretics¡¯ order. He would never surrender to those untrustworthy bastards.
He knew what he was doing here.
Walking out of the door, Lucien headed for the noble district.

Chapter 73: Unexpected Information
				Chapter 73: Unexpected Information
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Footsteps hasty, eyebrows frowning, Lucien was acting like an ordinary person who encountered kidnapping for the first time. Meanwhile, he was also much calmer than most of the ordinary people. He knew where to go and what to do right now.
Lucien tried to stay focused when he was walking on the street, separating his spiritual power from his body and making the power float in the air, as if his soul was overlooking his body. Lucien wanted to test if there was anyone among the crowd who was following him.
However, since Sunday noon was often the busiest time in Aderon, and the kidnapper was currently more powerful than Lucien, he did not find anything special.
The gate between Aderon district and the noble district was open, however, this area was not busy at all. Only a few poor people from Aderon who were doing the most menial work in the nobles¡¯ places were going through the gate after going to the church.
Two guards were standing there, lazily leaning against the wall and looking at the poor people walking in hurry with some feeling of superiority. The guards were hopeless for becoming real knights, and since they joined the city guard and got spoiled by the prosperity of Aalto, they soon forgot the many fighting skills that they learned from their previous training.
All of a sudden, the guards noticed a young good-looking man in decent white shirt and black suite coming toward the gate, which was quite unusual. They stopped Lucien instantly and asked,
¡°Sir, what is your purpose entering the noble district?¡±
Lucien¡¯s heart was being burned by the great anxiety, thus his attitude was not very nice.
¡°Are you questioning me here? Since when do I have to be questioned first to pass through the gate?¡±
Rander, one of the guards, immediately regretted as soon as he stopped the young man in front of him. Without knowing a visitor¡¯s background, stopping the person randomly may put them in trouble since they never knew whether the person was actually a noble or someone important.
Lucien¡¯s tough attitude made him even more nervous. He hurriedly apologized, ¡°Sorry, sir. We¡¯re having a hard time searching for the demon followers and tend to overreact sometimes. I¡¯m sorry, sir.¡±
Lucien slightly nodded and was about to pass through the gate when he changed his mind. He turned to the guard and asked in a low voice, ¡°May I ask where does the chief clerk of the town hall, Mr. Urbain Hayne, live? I¡¯m his daughter Felicia Hayne¡¯s classmate.¡±
Happening to know where the chief clerk lived, Rander answered, ¡°Mr. Hayne lives at no.158 Noble Street, one of the Hayne family¡¯s houses.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± Lucien replied shortly and walked through the gate.
In the noble district, where many knights and even grand knights lived, Lucien expected that the kidnapper from Argent Horn would not be able to follow too close. Therefore, by asking the guard, Lucien purposefully let the kidnapper know where he was going. If the kidnapper still could not follow up, that meant he or she was not at all capable of tailing Lucien for a long time, and then Lucien could find a proper chance to get rid of the kidnapper and conduct his own plan.
Staring at Lucien from behind, Rander complained to the other guard, ¡°Although the guy dressed like a gentleman, he even didn¡¯t know where the chief clerk lives. Probably there¡¯s something between this effeminate guy and lady Hayne¡­ who knows¡­¡±
¡­¡­¡­¡­
It was the second time Lucien came to the noble district. Compared with the stormy night when Baron Laurent died, the noble district looked much more appealing today. Green trees lined up on both sides and flowers flourished. Among the trees stood the big and luxury houses. Many of them were of different architectural styles¡ªsome were similar to baroque style, others of religious style, while some were emulating the gloomy and extravagant architectural design of the ancient magic empire. And often there was only one house on each fork of the road.
Lucien appeared to be rather weird on the street since he dressed decent but was walking on foot. A few noble ladies and gentlemen passing by in their coaches threw Lucien a surprised glance, certain that Lucien was by no chance a noble.
All of a sudden, a coach stopped beside Lucien. The window on the coach opened and inside of the coach sat an elegant young lady of full figure and fine presence, with a black crape bonnet veiling half of her face. She laughed and asked, ¡°Is this Mr. Evans? The concert last night was awesome.¡±
Despite being anxious, Lucien maintained his gentleman manner, ¡°Thank you, my lady. Can I have the honor of knowing your name?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Yvette Hill, Felicia¡¯s friend.¡± Yvette glanced at Lucien with great interest, ¡°Are you looking for Felicia, Mr. Evans?¡±
Excluding the family of Violet, the Hill family, together with the Hayne and the Rafati family, were the three most influential noble families in the Duchy of Orvarit. Each of the three families had a whole shire as their domain.
Lucien just recognized the coat of arms on the coach consisting of spears and grizzly. He answered with respect, ¡°Yes, my lady.¡±
¡°Well¡­ then you might have to wait a bit, Mr. Evans.¡± Yvette¡¯s smile was very charming, ¡°Since the concert was a great success, Felicia is still praying in Golden Cathedral to thank the blessing of God. And, by the way, just call me Yvette. I¡¯m a fan of your music, Mr. Evans.¡±
¡°Then miss Yvette, you just call me Lucien.¡± Lucien worked at a smile, ¡°I can just wait for Felicia to come back outside of her house.¡±
¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Lucien, I can give you a lift.¡± Yvette took off her crape bonnet and her beautiful face was completely revealed, ¡°You¡¯re two years younger than me. What a genius you are.¡±
Her maid opened the coach door and invited Lucien to come in. It seemed like Yvette did not worry at all that this might damage her reputation as a noble lady.
Lucien did not refuse. As a member of the Hill family, Yvette was also able to get Moonlight Rose. If Felicia rejected Lucien¡¯s request, becoming a friend with lady Yvette would be Lucien¡¯s second possible chance.
Entering the carriage, a sweet, alluring scent snuck into Lucien¡¯s nose.
¡°Very nice¡­ A genius is indeed different,¡± said Yvette with satisfaction, ¡°Most of the men that I invited before were just hypocritical. They wanted to come in, but they didn¡¯t dare.¡±
Leaning forward, her plump and fair chest was half revealed in front of Lucien.
However, Lucien was really not in the mood. Slightly turning his eyes away, Lucien forced a smile, ¡°Stick to your own path, and let the irrelevant people say whatever they want to say. It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±
¡°Interesting. I like it.¡± Yvette¡¯s eyes lit up for a moment, ¡°You¡¯re more interesting than I thought, Lucien.¡±
The coach went slowly. Inside of the coach, Yvette was casually talking to Lucien about music, and purposefully made tiny physical contact with Lucien. Unfortunately Lucien¡¯s mind was completely occupied by the kidnapping, and he completely ignored this noble lady¡¯s elaborate seducing. Yvette was quite disappointed.
Half an hour later, Yvette¡¯s coach finally stopped in front of a luxurious three-storey house. At the same time, Felicia¡¯s carriage arrived as well.
¡°Lucien? Why you¡¯re with Yvette?¡± Felicia looked at her classmate quizzically.
Getting off the coach, Lucien answered, ¡°I was looking for you when I met lady Yvette. She kindly offered me a ride.¡±
¡°What did you do, Yvette?¡± Felicia looked a bit angry.
¡°What can I do?¡± Yvette grinned in her coach, ¡°No worries, Felicia. I prefer mysterious sorcerers compared with musicians.¡±
¡°What do you mean? Since when you changed your preference?¡± asked Felicia with surprise.
¡°Since last night,¡± replied Yvette full of yearning, ¡°Last night during the concert, I heard Cardinal Sard and the grand duke were talking about a mysterious sorcerer called ¡®Professor¡¯. I¡¯m very curious¡­ after all I haven¡¯t tried any sorcerer yet. I wonder¡­ these gloomy guys who always hide their faces in their hoods¡­ what do they look like when they are naked in bed, and how they react when they see a beautiful woman...¡±
As the youngest daughter of Earl Hill, she was qualified to sit in the same balcony with the grand duke.
¡°Yvette¡­¡± Felicia was speechless. Although Yvette and Felicia were pretty good friends, Felicia never understood Yvette¡¯s openness with men. As a very maverick noble lady in Aalto, Yvette was even much more open than the noble madams and ladies in the palace of Tria.
Lucien was very surprised, not because of Yvette¡¯s openness, but the fact that the church and the grand duke had already found out his pseudonym, ¡°Professor¡±.
Was anyone caught that night? Or were there moles among the sorcerers¡­ Lucien wondered, with his back being covered by a thin layer of cold sweat. Lucien was just about to buy some magic potions that increased his power from the other sorcerers to save Joel and his family. Luckily, he heard the conversation between the noble ladies. What a valuable piece of information!
¡°I have to go now. Bye.¡± Yvette was happy to see the surprised look on both Felicia and Lucien¡¯s faces. Turning around, Yvette¡¯s coach left.
Noticing that Lucien was still staring at the coach in a trance, Felicia sneered at him,
¡°You want to be part of Yvette¡¯s collection, don¡¯t you?¡±
And then she paused a bit and asked, ¡°Why you came to me today, Lucien?¡±

Chapter 74: Felicia¡¯s Request
				Chapter 74: Felicia¡¯s Request
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Looking around, Lucien made sure there was no one near them. Then Felicia and Lucien walked through the garden in front of the house.
¡°Can I ask you to do me a favor, Felicia?¡± Lucien looked serious.
¡°A favor?¡± Felicia slightly frowned her beautiful eyebrows, ¡°My father¡¯s just a chief clerk, and my uncle never liked us. I¡¯m not sure if I can help.¡±
If Lucien asked before the concert, Felicia would directly reject him. However, now that Felicia had seen Lucien¡¯s talent, she knew that having a good relationship with Lucien would definitely benefit her a lot. What the noble life taught Felicia in the past years was not only how to enjoy the luxury lifestyle, but also how to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Lucien spoke to Felicia with a bit hesitation, ¡°I have a good friend, John. He¡¯s currently Lord Venn¡¯s high level knight squire. John¡¯s family offered me lots of help when I was sick and poor. Since last night the concert was a great success, I believe it¡¯s time for me to pay them back. And the best way is to help John become a real knight.¡±
¡°I think I know what you want now.¡± Felicia guessed, ¡°You want to buy Moonlight Rose from me to help your friend awaken his Blessing?¡±
¡°Yes, I believe it¡¯s the best I can do.¡± Lucien was sort of relieved that Felicia did not doubt his motive.
¡°You¡¯re a good person, Lucien.¡± Felicia appreciated his character, ¡°It¡¯s pleasant to have a friend like you. But Lucien, Moonlight Rose is expensive, and it¡¯s never a guarantee for awakening Blessing. Many nobles tried and failed¡­¡±
Felicia¡¯s heart slightly sank when she was speaking, since she was one of the nobles she just mentioned.
¡°I did some research about it.¡± Lucien was trying to make his request as reasonable as possible, ¡°John¡¯s a promising young man. Lord Venn might soon award John with some of the dust of the rose, but it probably won¡¯t be enough. The more dust of Moonlight Rose John has, the better the chance he would have to successfully awaken his Blessing. I want to help John with it.¡±
A beautiful smile appeared on Felicia¡¯s face. She slightly nodded, ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯re really something, Lucien. How much do you want, then?¡±
¡°Fifty grams.¡± Lucien needed to make sure that he would have enough of the ingredients to make the potion named Crying Soul, including the possible failures during the process.
¡°What? That¡¯s too much!¡± Felicia was very surprised, ¡°Based on my status in the family, I can only buy up to ten grams.¡±
Although Felicia¡¯s father and the current Earl Hayne were brothers, they had a poor relationship with each other due to the many years of contending for power. Thanks to the generous legacy left by the previous Earl, Felicia¡¯s grandfather, Felicia¡¯s family could still maintain a decent noble lifestyle.
¡°Felicia, can you figure out a way to get more? As much as possible¡­¡± Lucien came up with another reason, ¡°I heard people say that the dust of Moonlight Rose can also improve one¡¯s coordination. I might need some as well to improve my piano playing skill. I¡¯ll never forget your help, Felicia.¡±
Crossing her hands together, many thoughts flashed through Felicia¡¯s mind. As friends, she could help Lucien with ten grams of the rose. However, now Lucien was asking way more than that, then Felicia needed to see how she could benefit from it.
Lucien did not urge Felicia, leaving her some time to consider. A while later Felicia said to Lucien seriously, ¡°Ten grams from my father. Yvette and Melissa, ten grams each. Lucien, forty grams is my limit, and I won¡¯t do this for free.¡±
Although Felicia did not have any title, and her family status was not very superordinate, as a noble, Felicia¡¯s social circle was still of great value.
¡°Forty grams¡­ Well, let¡¯s do forty grams. Thank you so much, Felicia, and what you want me to do?¡± asked Lucien.
¡°My request is simple and easy.¡± Felicia smiled, ¡°Firstly, you gotta pay me in advance. Secondly, my birthday party will be held next month, and I want you to be there on my birthday and play several songs in front of the guests. And thirdly, I want you to teach me how to play piano, how to compose, and offer me your help as much as possible in music field, such as introducing my future music work to the princess.¡±
Felicia heard that Princess Natasha appreciated piano very much. Among her three requests, without doubt, the most important one was the last. Every time a new piece of musical instrument was invented, many musicians were thus inspired and became famous with their new music works. Felicia did not want to miss this precious chance.
Since she held little hope in becoming Mr. Victor¡¯s honor student, learning from her talented classmate who was now the personal music consultant of the princess was not bad.
¡°You have my word, Felicia.¡± Lucien agreed, and he said silently in his mind, ¡°¡­as long as I¡¯m still in Aalto at that time. Even if I were to leave, I¡¯d do something else to compensate for it.¡±
Felicia trusted Lucien¡¯s good character. She nodded and said, ¡°Forty Thales. Give me two days.¡±
¡°Two days is fine. But Felicia¡­¡± said Lucien with embarrassment, ¡°I only have thirty Thales for now. The rest of it, ten Thales¡­ Can I pay you back in five months? You know I¡¯m currently working for the princess. The salary should not be a problem.¡±
¡°Well¡­ all right,¡± agreed Felicia. ¡°Pay me back as soon as possible. The ten Thales will come from my savings. Don¡¯t let me go broke, Lucien.¡±
¡°Thank you so much, Felicia!¡± Lucien was excited, although his bellying moneybag instantly shriveled.
After all, buying Moonlight Rose was Lucien¡¯s top priority for now. Lucien was very grateful that he had the chance to enter the music circle in Aalto and thus got to know the nobles like Felicia, or he would have no choice but to go to the black market or join another sorcerer group to find the rose, which would be way more risky.
Leaving Felicia¡¯s place, Lucien bought some good-quality bread and beef on his way home.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
By cooking and eating, Lucien calmed himself down. Closing the door and the windows, he took out the envelope from the crate and opened the letter again.
Within his expectations, there were a few lines on the paper, ¡°Why did you go to the noble district and met your classmate? You stayed in the garden with her for more than twenty minutes, and we saw it. Don¡¯t act like an idiot, Mr. Evans.¡±
Lucien sneered in his mind. It looked like the bastards used other ways to trail Lucien instead of marking him with their fiend power, in case Lucien would be detected by the many divine power circles placed in Ratacia Palace.
Since Lucien also understood about supernatural power, he was quite sure about it.
Lucien answered honestly, ¡°I went to buy Moonlight Rose from Felicia to help John. You kidnapped Joel and his families, and I¡¯m not sure if they can come back safe and sound. John is the only one in the family I can take care of for now.¡±
A few sentences appeared, ¡°Taking care of John? We know what you want to do. Please stop daydreaming, Mr. Evans. It¡¯s not easy at all to awaken the Blessing, or there would be way more knights in the world. Since your stupidness and recklessness is very impressive, we decided to give you a bonus¡ªa finger from Alisa.¡±
¡°God damn it!¡± Lucien swore in his mind, which was filled with hatred.
At the same time, Lucien took out a quill and started transcribing the sentences on the back of a piece of used paper. The great hatred was burning Lucien¡¯s guts like fire, while his brain was as cool as a piece of ice. The strange mixture of fire and ice shaped Lucien¡¯s character.
Lucien was transcribing the sentences to figure out if the kidnappers could see what he was doing now!
He would not start making Crying Soul until he knew more about these bastards.

Chapter 75: The Mosquito
				Chapter 75: The Mosquito
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien was transcribing the sentences, a scarlet line of words suddenly emerged on the white paper, as if blood was leaking out.
¡°Stop what you¡¯re doing now! Or you¡¯ll receive a body!¡±
The quill dropped on the ground. Lucien pretended that he was scared, ¡°I was just¡­ just trying to make some notes¡­ in case I might forget some of your requests¡­¡±
¡°We don¡¯t see any necessity to take this ridiculous notes. This is your last chance, Mr. Evans. Keep taking similar actions if you¡¯re looking forward to a dead body. Let me remind you¡­ Thanks to what you did, one more finger for you tomorrow.¡± replied the kidnappers.
Of course, the fact that uncle Joel and auntie Alisa were hurt was very painful to Lucien, however, he couldn¡¯t let the feeling of guiltiness and pain affect his judgement too much. From the moment Lucien decided not to cooperate with the kidnappers, he knew that there must be a cost. What he could do was minimise the cost as much as possible.
¡°I¡¯ll behave.¡± Lucien tore the used paper up.
¡°The kidnappers can see me. That¡¯s for sure.¡± Lucien silently thought in his mind, ¡°But how? Are they observing me through the letter, or with something else? I shall figure this out next, but not in a hurry, in case they will find out what I¡¯m trying to do.¡±
Putting the letter back in the crate, Lucien lay in his bed, pretending he was totally out, while trying to cover the whole shack with his spiritual power to sense if there was any supernatural power around. At this time, using spells to help with the detection might put him in big trouble, since Lucien knew that his current biggest advantage was that the heretics did not know he was actually a sorcerer.
Except for the letter in the crate, nothing supernatural was detected in the shack.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
In the afternoon, Lucien came to Gesu district and found the house at no. 116, that Elena introduced to him.
The location was even better than Lucien thought. Located beside the city wall, the house was far away from the gate, and thus the place was very quiet and isolated. Only a few two-storey small houses were sitting a distance away from no. 116, almost fully shaded by the many tall trees named Rava.
Earlier, Lucien had made an appointment with the agent. Knocking at the gate, he waited in front of the iron fence.
Soon a middle-aged man walked out from no. 116 and opened the gate. His beard was well-trimmed and his brown suit was neatly ironed. The agent looked pretty shrewd.
¡°You must be Mr. Evans,¡± The man greeted Lucien, ¡°I¡¯m Brian. It¡¯s very nice to meet you. Everyone in the Association is talking about you.¡±
Lucien nodded and extended his right hand to shook hands with Brian. Brian took a step forward and held Lucien¡¯s right hand with his both hands, to show his respect. Facing such a promising young musician whose talent was already recognized by the grand duke and the princess, Brian, of course, would show his greatest esteem for Lucien.
¡°Please let me lead you into the house and take a look around, Mr. Evans.¡± Brian slightly bowed.
Under Brian¡¯s guidance, Lucien walked throughout the house and found that although the size of the garden and the lawn were not big, inside the house the decoration style was very elegant and unique. Compared with the present luxurious ¡°Tria Palace¡± trend in decoration, this house looked neat in a very tasteful way.
The only disadvantage of the house was that the tall trees and the city wall shaded most of the sunlight, and thus the place looked a bit gloomy especially with the vines covering the outside of the house.
¡°It¡¯s a very, very quiet place, with no bright sunlight disturbing your music creation work.¡± Brian tried to persuade Lucien to see this as an advantage instead of something not ideal, although poor lighting was the only reason that they were having a hard time renting the house out.
Lucien did not mind the poor lighting at all, since this could provide him with a safer environment to conduct his magic experiments. So he nodded, ¡°Do you have the lease agreement with you?¡±
Brian was very happy, trying hard to prevent his crafty smile from showing on his face. He took out a pile of papers and handed them to Lucien.
Taking a rough look at the lease agreement, Lucien signed his name on it and took out a Thale from his moneybag. Luckily, as a rather promising musician, Lucien did not have to pay any security deposit.
Brian quickly wrote the receipt and took care of the agreement, and then handed a copy back to Lucien.
¡°This is a house with a decent size, Mr. Evans. You¡¯ll need at least¡­ a steward, four servants, a cook, a gardener, a coach and a coachman. I can find these people for you from other associations,¡± offered Brian fawningly.
¡°I¡¯m pretty busy recently, and I won¡¯t be moving in very soon. You can bring them here next Monday and let me have a look.¡± Lucien agreed but postponed it for a week, since he did not want anything to disturb him from saving Joel and his family. This week would be the key time for him to save the hostages.
Brian handed the keys to Lucien and left briskly. Lucien was by himself standing in the living room, staring at the stairs to the second floor.
There were four bedrooms, a study, a music practicing room and a decent-sized patio on the second floor. On the ground floor, there was a living room, a dining room, four servant rooms, a storage room, and there was also a basement. The kitchen was isolated, connected with the house by a door on the left. And the sewers were well-built, linked to the whole sewer system of Aalto.
If the kidnapping had not happened, Lucien would feel very excited and proud that he finally moved into such a nice place. However, now the only thing Lucien felt was anger and anxiety.
After a while, Lucien went back to his shack. He brought some clothes with him and took them back to the new house.
He left his clothes in the master bedroom and walked into the practicing room, which was built with a special kind of stone to prevent the sound from disturbing other people, and at the same time, to create a nice reverberation effect.
He closed the door and the curtain. The whole room was very quiet. Except for his own footsteps, Lucien could hear nothing else.
Sitting in the rocking chair, Lucien rocked himself back and forth in the darkness. Spreading his spiritual power within the room, he was carefully sensing the surroundings.
He wondered how the heretics would observe him without the letter.
For quite a while, Lucien found nothing. His awareness gradually reached out to every corner of the room.
At that moment, Lucien finally sensed what he was looking for¡ªa tiny disturbance wave caused by a supernatural power, and he heard something buzzing lightly.
He didn¡¯t open his eyes and pretended to be asleep while thinking to himself, ¡°Aalto Tigorid Mosquito? Did they mark the mosquito with their fiend power or was it directly Transfiguration?¡±
Lucien¡¯s purpose was already achieved. Now he was sure that the heretics were using the letter for both communicating and monitoring. However, when Lucien was away from the letter, they needed to use other ways to trail him.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
The letter did not mention anything special in the evening, but only reminded Lucien to bring the letter with him if he was moving out.
Staring at the the shades of the night, Lucien kept repeating the process of making Crying Soul in his mind, to get familiar with it. However, it was not the proper time to make the potion yet. Lucien still had to take care of several things first.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
In the morning of the second day, when Lucien was about to go outside, he noticed that there was a ball of paper beneath the door.
His heart suddenly sank. Lucien knew what was in it.
Slowly opening the paper ball, Lucien saw three fingers¡ªtwo were long but with heavy callus, and one was stubby. The fractured white bones were slightly reflecting the sunlight.
Lucien closed his eyes to hold back his tears and to hide the anger and hatred. When he opened his eyes again, he also noticed a small black ball wrapped in the paper, with a scarlet line of words beside.
¡°That¡¯s what you wanted, Mr. Evans.¡±

Chapter 76: Revelation
				Chapter 76: Revelation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Leaving the paper ball on the table, Lucien took out the letter from the crate. Within his expectations, a few lines of words just emerged.
"It seems like you received our gift already. The three fingers are just a warning for you. Don¡¯t do stupid things, or we¡¯ll have no choice but to kill Joel and his family. We can see you, and we¡¯re way more powerful than you think. The ball is called Scene. Crumble the ball, and you¡¯ll see what you want."
Lucien already sensed the magnetism of the small ball, which should be able to function like a camera. Thus, without hesitation, Lucien destroyed the ball with his hand.
Dark smoke came out from the ball, and the smoke gradually took the shape of a black and white screen, showing Lucien a short moving scene.
In the video, Joel, Alisa and Iven were sitting around a wooden table. Iven¡¯s eyes were half closed, looking rather sleepy, while Joel and Alisa looked very worried, with their hands swathed in bandages. From the window of the log cabin, Lucien could tell it was late at night. Few dim stars were hanging in the sky, and the silver moon was shaded by the clouds.
The moving scene lasted for a minute.
On the letter, new sentences emerged, "Mr. Evans, now you see they are still alive. We¡¯ll send you more scenes when the weather changes. We believe that the weather, the stars and the silver moon can provide you with enough information to tell the different dates. You see, we always value our words."
"That is a good relief to me," wrote Lucien, "What shall I say if John comes back?"
While Lucien was asking, he was picturing in his mind the sky that he just saw from the ball. What he was trying to do was to tell what stars they were based on the stellar map drawn by the witch in her notes. Combining the season, the arrangement and the brightness of the stars, as well as the angle that Lucien was observing the sky through the window, Lucien was confident he could find some valuable information from this one-minute moving scene. After all, Astrology was his speciality. From the several apprentice meetings that he attended before, Lucien already had a solid understanding in apprentice level Astrology, and as a college student crossing over, his knowledge in Astrology was relatively more advanced compared with the ancient system.
The letter replied, "Just tell him honestly. We don¡¯t care about a knight squire, and we bet he wouldn¡¯t dare to risk his family¡¯s lives. And you, Mr. Evans, be careful when you go to Ratacia Palace tomorrow."
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Lucien was scheduled to go to Ratacia Palace to meet the princess and discuss music with her. If the princess had extra need, she would summon Lucien at any time, and there would also be an extra pay for him.
The words on the letter gradually disappeared one by one. Finally, the paper returned to normal blank. Folding the letter and wrapping up the three fingers, Lucien put them back into the crate.
...
On his way to the Musicians¡¯ Association, Lucien¡¯s mind was fully occupied with the stars.
"I made my request yesterday, then the ball and the fingers arrived today. So first of all, uncle Joel and his family should still be somewhere close to Aalto. A village, small town, or even a forest¡­ all possible."
Lucien¡¯s brain was working hard. By comparing the stellar maps in his spiritual library and through lots of calculations of the coordinates of the stars, Lucien identified the few stars that he saw from the scene. Looking up the star list in the spiritual library, Lucien targeted one of the stars and found out its detailed record.
"The log cabin should be¡­ about 20 kilometers west of Aalto. That is to say¡­" Lucien was looking up a simple map of Aalto and its surroundings stored in his own library, "the cabin is deep within Melzer Black Forest!"
Drawing a circle on the map, Lucien was very excited. Although he still couldn¡¯t accurately locate where uncle Joel and his family were, and he was also not sure about how powerful the heretics were, knowing that Joel, Alisa and Iven were not far away from him provided him with a bit comfort.
Lucien hoped that the next time he saw the scene the log cabin would still be there. Then he would be able to narrow down the range further.
Trying to calm himself down, Lucien sighed silently, "Every step is so tough." He knew that, currently, he was still not prepared to save Joel and his family.
...
The two ladies who were on duty today in the association¡¯s lobby weren¡¯t familiar to Lucien. One of them stood up and bowed slightly, "Good morning, Mr. Evans. Your personal office has been assigned by Mr. Hank. Please go to Mr. Hank¡¯s office when you have time."
Lucien was about to find a quiet practicing room. Now it was a surprise for him to have his own office, which was great for his plan.
A while later, being led by Mr. Hank, Lucien entered his own office on the third floor.
"Evans, this is your office now. Unless you join other countries¡¯ music associations, until the last day of your life, the office will still be yours."
The building of the Musician¡¯s Association was magnificent. A courtyard was surrounded by seventy to eighty different rooms on the third floor, but almost half of them were currently vacant, since many of the famous musicians in Aalto had been invited to other countries.
The office was decorated with a brown carpet, fine statues, paintings and lights. The dark blue couch looked very comfy, beside which stood a decent red wood desk. A milk-white piano was in the corner of the office. And there was also a den in the office, where the musician could rest a bit in the bed without being disturbed.
"It¡¯s a great room." Lucien smiled politely, "Thank you, Mr. Hank."
"You¡¯re more than welcome, Evans. And just call me Hank." Hank nodded.
After Hank left, Lucien closed the office door and walked back and forth in his office with great anger and anxiety.
He was holding back his emotion when he saw the fingers. Now he was by himself, Lucien could not take it anymore.
All of a sudden Lucien sat in front of the piano and pressed the keys with both of his hands. It was Symphony of Fate that Lucien was playing.
When the sound of the piano became louder and louder, Lucien started swearing in a low voice:
"Bastards! Jerks! You f**king evil kidnappers!"
...
The swearing was not only for venting, Lucien was testing to what extent the kidnappers could monitor him.
When he Finished playing, Lucien stood up and gave out a long sigh. Even if the heretics did hear his swearing just now, he could still explain to them that he was doing this was to prepare himself for the meeting with the princess tomorrow.
However, when Lucien came back to his home in Aderon, he only found a simple sentence on the letter.
"Music is an ideal way to release emotions, Mr. Evans."
Although the kidnappers just wanted to remind Lucien that he was under their surveillance all the time, the message offered Lucien another piece of valuable information¡ªthe method the kidnappers were using couldn¡¯t let them hear Lucien very well!
...
At two o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Lucien arrived at Victor¡¯s place on time.
Although without saying anything, the way Athy looked at Lucien was filled with gratefulness. Athy had been accompanying Victor for many years, and he was sincerely glad that the concert was a great success.
Renee, Colin and David were also there. They stood up and greeted, "Good afternoon, Mr. Evans."
Although Lucien¡¯s success was not yet well-known among the common residents in Aalto, Renee, Colin and David had heard about it from Felicia and Annie¡¯s conversation. All of a sudden they felt Lucien became strange in their eyes, and they subconsciously treated Lucien the same way they greeted their teacher Mr. Victor.
"I still feel it¡¯s sort of unreal until now." Lott stood up from the couch and gave Lucien a hug, smiling.
Felicia also walked close to Lucien, and whispered in his ear, "Tomorrow afternoon, I shall be able to give you the roses."
"Thank you. Thanks a lot, Felicia," said Lucien sincerely.
Standing beside them, Lott almost could not believe his eyes.
"Since when they became this close to each other?" Lott wondered.

Chapter 77: Ratacia Palace
				Chapter 77: Ratacia Palace
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Turning around, Felicia noticed that Annie, Colin and some other students were all standing around and trying to talk to Lucien. She slightly smiled and took a step forward.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in order to celebrate the great success of the concert and the achievement Lucien made with his Symphony of Fate, I want to invite everyone to the ball on Friday evening in my family¡¯s house. Mr. Victor agreed, and now I want to see how many of us want to attend the ball."
Although Felicia was not willing to let other of her classmates have a close relationship with Lucien like she already did, she understood that purposefully excluding the other classmates was not a good way to leave a favorable impression on Lucien.
"Really? I¡¯d love to!" Renee put a big smile on her face, "It¡¯s my great pleasure!"
All of the other students promised to go as well.
"What about you, Lucien?" Felicia smiled.
An idea suddenly flashed through Lucien¡¯s mind. He nodded and answered, "Of course, Felicia."
The other students looked even more excited hearing that Lucien would attend the ball as well.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let¡¯s save the excitement for the Friday." Mr. Victor walked downstairs with books under his arm, looking rather energized, "Now we have to start studying."
Lucien was about to find a seat to sit down when Lott stopped him. Lott whispered in Lucien¡¯s ear, "I heard that Mekanzi doesn¡¯t like you at all. Be careful when you¡¯re in the palace."
"Thank you, Lott. I will," replied Lucien politely. However, his mind was fully focused on how to save Joel and his family. Lucien knew clearly that the longer he waited, the less chances he would have to save them. He was really not in the mood to consider how to deal with Mekanzi.
Meanwhile, Lucien was also aware of the fact that he also had to be very patient. Unwisely rushing would put Joel and his family in great danger.
At that moment, Lucien felt like he was tightrope walking over a cliff. He had to find his balance between being patient and being ready to seize the chance. Leaning too much toward either side would instantly throw him off the wire.
With the outstanding memory and proper ways of studying, now Lucien could read most of the materials with ease. Immersing himself in the world of music, for a moment Lucien was distracted from his anxiety.
And a bold plan was gradually taking shape in his mind.
Finishing today¡¯s study, Lucien went back to his shack, wrapped some stuff up and brought them to his rented house.
Everything seemed to be quite normal. Thus, when Lucien took out the letter at night, there were only a few simple sentences on it:
"Be careful tomorrow. Don¡¯t do stupid things. We¡¯re watching."
......
Lucien had a sound sleep last night, and he felt rather revitalized when he woke up.
"Today is very important. I can¡¯t make any mistake." Lucien thought to himself.
Nothing new was on the letter. After having breakfast, Lucien came to the association and found a practicing room. He started playing the piano to reduce his anxiety.
Lucien was still not skilled enough to perfectly play Symphony of Fate. After reviewing the basic fingering, Lucien started to play Beethoven¡¯s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, commonly known as Sonata PathšŠtique.
He did not know why he found special affection in Beethoven¡¯s music works. Maybe it was because he could understand the sufferings and the pain Beethoven went through, and he appreciated the music master¡¯s perseverance and heroic spirit.
Since Lucien never practiced Sonata PathšŠtique before, his playing was pretty horrible. However, playing this piece of music over and over again became a good way for Lucien to exhaust himself and thus to release the pressure.
Later Lucien took a break in his office.
Someone knocked at the door of Lucien¡¯s office at ten thirty. It was Elena.
"Lucien. The princess¡¯s coach is waiting for you in the front."
"I¡¯ll be right there. Thanks, Elena," replied Lucien.
He slowly stood up from the couch and walked toward the mirror. Staring at himself in the mirror for thirty seconds, Lucien took a deep breath and walked out of his office.
......
Sitting straight inside of the dark purple coach decorated with the coat of arms of the Violet family, Lucien felt the movement of the coach was rather smooth. The dark yellow carpet made in Tria was thick and comfy, and the wine on the small table had a nice deep ruby red color. However, Lucien did not feel like having a drink at all, since he had to make sure he would stay sober and calm in the palace.
A bit more than ten minutes later, the coach arrived at Ratacia Palace on time. The magnificent front gate of the palace was made of stone and was engraved with relief sculptures of many famous heroes in history. A dozen of guards led by a mighty and muscular knight were standing in front of the gate.
After a security check of Lucien¡¯s personal belongings, the knight waved his hand and let the coach pass.
As soon as Lucien entered the huge gate, he sensed the solemn and mighty divine power enveloping the whole palace.
This light golden-colored palace was the most spectacular and magnificent structure in Aalto. Besides its great momentum, the details of Ratacia Palace were also created with exquisite handcraft. The symmetrical architecture showed the majesty of the grand duke house. The two castle-like palaces in both western and eastern wings were connected by a grand palace complex in the center.
In front of the main palace there was a large square with fine spray fountains, covered with rare and beautiful trees and flowers.
A broad artificial river ran through the square, in which a few boats were floating by the river bank.
The coach which Lucien was sitting in followed the avenue going through the garden and crossed the long bridge over the artificial river, and it finally stopped right in front of the main palace. Two beautiful maids were already waiting there.
"Mr. Evans, please follow us to the princess¡¯ music practicing room." The two blond-haired girls looked like twins. They greeted Lucien with respect.
"Thank you." Lucien nodded politely.
Following the two maids, he saw more details of the palace on his way to the practicing room. The designers and the architects used the finest colorful stone as the main building material of the palaces, and all the different kinds of stones were shining brightly in the sunlight. Inside of the palaces, the stairs and the handrails were carefully gilded, and according to the different themes of the palaces, dazzling decorations such as huge crystals, fine white laces and gorgeous dome paintings could be seen everywhere.
Being very familiar with the path, neither of the maids talked to Lucien on the way but just walked in front of him. They were trained to be respectful and remain silent. Soon Lucien came to a very charming corridor.
Facing the direction of the garden, there were twenty-four arched windows on one side of the corridor, while on the other side, twenty-four mirrors were reflecting the beauty of the sight in the garden, as if the corridor was also fully planted with the fine trees and flowers, which added radiance and beauty to the magnificent huge dome painting above.
This was the best-known part of Ratacia Palace¡ªthe Paradise Corridor. Lucien had read about it before, when he was working in the Association¡¯s library.
Passing Paradise Corridor, which featured the great style of divinity, Lucien finally arrived at the palace where princess Natasha lived. The palace had a unique name¡ªWar Gallery. Here Lucien saw many fine oil paintings showing the theme of war on the walls.
"This is the princess¡¯s practicing room, Mr. Evans." The two maids led Lucien to a quiet room in the corner, and asked him to wait for a moment outside, since they had to report to lady Camil first.
A moment later, Lucien was invited to enter the room.
......
The practicing room was way bigger than any one in the association. The warm and sweet orange color of the room was peaceful and soothing. The carpet was very fancy, on which different kinds of musical instruments were carefully placed, and in the center of the room stood a light golden piano.
Natasha was sitting in front of the piano, playing a piece of music called March of War. Her playing was very skilled, even better than many professional instrumentalists. However, it seemed like she was mimicking Victor¡¯s fingering intentionally, and thus her playing sounded a bit rigid.
In her black dress, Camil was sitting in the couch at the far end of the room.
Natasha stopped playing when Lucien came into the room. She turned around and smiled to him, "I¡¯m having a hard time here following Victor¡¯s new fingering. Can you help me, Lucien?"
She talked to Lucien in a nice way, as if he was her old friend.
"Of course. It¡¯s my great pleasure." Lucien sat on the other bench and started to explain.
Lucien knew that the princess was very interested in piano and thus he was relatively well-prepared for the possible questions the princess might have. Although he could not make a perfect explanation, Lucien was very honest and sincere, which made Natasha feel that when Lucien was providing her with the proper guidance she needed, at the same time they were also learning and exploring piano together.
Time passed quickly. When Lucien was still introducing the new fingering, all of a sudden Natasha looked at him and asked, "Lucien, is your mind being bothered by something? I can feel your anxiety."
As a level five grand knight, Natasha¡¯s intuition told her that something was wrong with Lucien. With the outspokenness in her personality, the princess asked directly.

Chapter 78: Taking the Risk
				Chapter 78: Taking the Risk
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien forced himself to put a smile on his face, "Maybe I¡¯m too nervous, in the palace, in front of the princess. Please forgive me, Your Grace."
At the same time, Lucien had a good relief in his mind, "Finally¡­ the princess asked."
The anxiety, the restlessness and the nervousness that Natasha noticed were all conveyed by Lucien purposefully.
Lifting her beautiful eyebrows, Natasha said to Lucien, "Don¡¯t be afraid of me because I¡¯m a princess or a knight, Lucien. A man can respect or even worship someone else, but not be intimidated. That¡¯s the spirit of men, the spirit of knights."
"I¡¯ll work on it. Although I have a rather poor background, I¡¯ll get better." Lucien was a bit surprised by Natasha¡¯s comment, but he still answered properly.
A gorgeous smile appeared on Natasha¡¯s face, "You know what? You¡¯re already much braver than most people. Many of them couldn¡¯t even speak properly the first time they saw me, while you¡¯re brave enough to stare at Silvia¡¯s legs the first time you saw her. Impressive."
Natasha was talking about it pretty casually, as if it was just a joke.
"I¡­ I¡¯m terribly sorry. It was the first time I saw silk stocking¡­ I sort of forgot myself¡­" explained Lucien awkwardly, "I¡¯m not a pervert¡­"
The left corner of Natasha¡¯s lips curled up, "I totally understand, Lucien. Both ladies and gentlemen like the interesting byproduct of alchemy, and you¡¯re not excluded, of course. Silk stockings is precious since the magic empire was destroyed and the ancient alchemy was lost many years ago."
"I appreciate your understanding, Your Grace." Lucien nodded.
"But you looked at Silvia for a pretty long time, which was not common. Are you really not a pervert?" Natasha asked Lucien with great interest. She was making fun of him.
"I¡¯m not. In fact, I haven¡¯t touched a girl¡¯s hand yet, in my whole life," admitted Lucien to justify his innocence.
"Oh¡­ I¡­ see¡­" Natasha drawled purposefully, "Too bad for a seventeen-year-old boy. But now it won¡¯t be a problem anymore, after the concert. There will be lots of girls having interest in you. Do you want me to introduce you to some ladies? Although all of them will end up marrying nobles, it¡¯s not bad to have some sweet memories before getting married."
"Your¡­ Your Grace, thank you for your good will but I want to devote myself to music in the next few years. You don¡¯t have to introduce me to any lady," refused Lucien, seriously.
"I don¡¯t have to?" The princess did not have enough fun yet, "So you want to pursue them on your own? I can teach you some secrets to win the heart of a young lady. I¡¯m good at it. Silvia, that little wild cat, she likes me¡­"
Camil all of a sudden started coughing and cut off Natasha.
"Your Grace, I feel this topic¡¯s a bit weird." said Lucien. He felt the princess was very approachable, but the conversations they had always tended to go somewhere else.
Natasha glanced at Camil sitting on the other side and asked with surprise, "What¡¯s wrong with it? It¡¯s no more than a common conversation between guys."
Finally, Lucien realized the problem, "Yes, between guys, but you¡¯re a noble lady, Your Grace."
"It doesn¡¯t matter, Lucien." Natasha shrugged, "Actually I can teach you more about how to pursue a girl than many guys."
Lucien did not know what to say.
"All right, all right¡­" She waved her hand and smiled, "Look at your nervous face, Lucien. Let¡¯s switch back to music."
She was glad that Lucien was not like the many other nobles. Most of them directly refused to talk about this and viewed it as an improper topic for chatting.
"As for the playing skills we just mentioned¡­" Lucien was a bit relieved.
"I got a question." Natasha was behaving like a good student.
"Yes, please?" Lucien was waiting for the question.
"You sure you don¡¯t need any of my suggestion about pursuing girls?" Natasha laughed loudly.
"¡­" Lucien was speechless.
An hour flew by. Natasha was inspired and kept working on her composing. Camil stood up and walked Lucien out.
In front of the gate, Camil said to Lucien in a low voice, "About the princess¡­ don¡¯t be a gossiper."
Lucien nodded seriously.
...
After having lunch, Lucien came to Victor¡¯s place and waited for Felicia patiently.
"Mr. Athy, please sprinkle some sulphur in the living room. In the Month of Harvest, there are many mosquitos around."
"I will." Athy nodded.
Felicia arrived half an hour earlier that day, knowing that Lucien must be waiting for the roses. In the corner of the living room, she took out a unique black bag with embroidered flame patterns on it and handed it to Lucien.
"Forty grams of dried Moonlight Rose. The roses were ground into dust already. This special bag can make the dust of Moonlight Rose last much longer. You can return the bag to me when you finish using it."
"Thanks a lot, Felicia." With great excitement, Lucien opened the small black bag, in which the fine white powder was shining like a beautiful dream.
After roughly weighing the bag, Lucien put it in his pocket, "I¡¯ll pay the money back to you as soon as possible, Felicia."
"I hope so. That was my personal savings." Felicia smiled, and then she sniffed a bit, "Why I smell sulphur here?"
"To drive the mosquitos and bugs away," answered Lucien casually.
...
Lucien made more mistakes than usual this afternoon, although he was trying hard to stay focused. Luckily, Mr. Victor did not say anything about it, thinking Lucien might need some more time to adjust to the big changes that the great success of the concert brought into his life.
Finally, the class ended at six in the evening. Lucien came back to his shack in Aderon, wrapped up some of his stuff in a small box and cooked himself dinner. After all that, he opened the letter again.
"Mr. Evans, you did a good job in front of the princess today. We hope you can be calmer, since your nervousness made you a bit suspicious. Talented as you are, we believe that it is not too hard."
The heretics did not ask anything about the conversations Lucien had with the princess and what he saw in the palace. Lucien could tell they were trying to make him believe they had everything under their control.
Putting on a worried look, Lucien folded the letter and put it into the small box. Then he carried the box with him and left for his rented house in Gesu district.
In the house, Lucien put down the box in the master bedroom and took out a music book. It seemed like he would stay there for the night.
When it was getting late, Lucien lay down in the bed and soon stood up again, looking a bit irritated, "The sheet is so soggy! Brian should find someone to dry the sheet first before asking me to move in!"
Then he stepped out of his bedroom and left the house, leaving the small box in his new place.
...
After closing the window and locking the door, now Lucien was lying in his small bed in his shabby shack.
Ten minutes later, Lucien jumped out of the bed again and swore, "These bloody mosquitos!"
In the crate Lucien found some sulphur and he sprinkled the sulphur in the every corner of his place. He wanted all the annoying mosquitos and bugs to leave right now.
Then he went back to bed and closed his eyes with satisfaction.
In the night, Lucien faintly sensed the existence of a supernatural power in his shack, like a pair of eyes staring at him in the air.
Without the help of Aalto Tigorid Mosquito, the heretics finally started to monitor him directly using their fiend power.
Pretending to be sleeping, Lucien waited patiently. An hour later, the magic eyes disappeared, but soon came back again.
"The duration is about an hour." Lucien thought to himself.
Within his expectation, an hour later, the eyes disappeared again. Maybe the kidnappers believed that Lucien was just sleeping, or maybe they were changing shifts. Ten minutes later, Lucien sensed the eyes again.
Thirty minutes later, the eyes, all of a sudden, disappeared for the third time.
And Lucien knew that now it was time for him to take action!
He jumped out of the bed swiftly and messed up his blanket and sheet to give the kidnappers a false impression that someone was still sleeping in the bed.
Recently in Aderon, there were night watchers patrolling at night, and they could easily target the existence of the fiend power. Lucien knew that the heretics would not take the risk of being found by the church.
Seizing the chance, Lucien sneaked into his underground magic lab.
Lucien was aware that his whole plan was very risky, however, in the current situation, he did not have a second choice.

Chapter 79: Crying Soul
				Chapter 79: Crying Soul
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Everything in the lab remained the same after the last time Lucien left. There was no scent of any strangers, but only the slight smell of sulphur coming from the secret air vent.
In the first half an hour, Lucien was doing meditation to stay focused, and more importantly, to wait until the night watchers left and the heretics started to monitor his room again.
After making sure nothing on the ground went wrong, Lucien started to activate the magic circles engraved on the table with his spiritual power. Then he took out a tube of Revenant dust, three Corpse Mushrooms, some brain tissue of the aquatic zombie and some other reagents.
Wearing the gloves, Lucien picked up a Corpse Mushroom with a silver dagger and moved it into a magic circle for weighing.
¡°6.72 grams.¡± In his spirit library, Lucien recorded the weight of the mushroom, as well as the amount of usage of other materials and reagents. He put the mushroom into a glass container with magic runes on it, and then weighed a dry glass beaker.
Lucien watched carefully when he was putting Revenant dust into the dry breaker and stopped when there were 3 grams of the dust in it. Using the same method, Lucien weighed out 10 grams of Moonlight Rose dust.
Then he turned to the brain tissue. Lucien grabbed the dagger and carefully cut it.
As if the aquatic zombie¡¯s brain tissue was still alive, the moment Lucien¡¯s dagger touched it, the brain tissue suddenly shrank, as if many worms were living inside of it.
Cold and sticky as the brain was, Lucien almost threw up when he was cutting it. All of a sudden the phantom of countless ferocious aquatic zombies and revenants appeared in front of Lucien¡¯s eyes. Their skin and flesh were rotten, teeth were bleeding, and the smell of corpses was more than disgusting.
Lucien frowned his eyebrows to stay focused. Following the structure of the cortex, he took out the inner part of the brain.
And the phantom instantly disappeared. The rest of the brain tissue gradually calmed down.
After weighing the brain tissue, Lucien put a black thick pot on the magic flame circle and adjusted the flame bit by bit until the color of the flame became a mix of gold and white.
Lucien threw the Corpse Mushroom into the pot and added a small amount of water. Then he carefully stirred the mixture inside the container.
The mushroom slowly melted in the pot in a weird way. The stink was constrained within the magic circle.
When the black thick liquid in the pot started to bubble, Lucien calmly added the Revenant dust and the dust of the rose.
As soon as the three materials met each other, a thick black and silver smoke came out. There seemed to be lots of revenants fighting with each other. A sharp scream came into Lucien¡¯s ears and the sharpness made him feel a bit nauseous.
Lucien knew that he could not slack at the crucial moment. Being controlled by his spiritual power, the flame turned white.
The black and silver smoke began to merge with each other and became pale, like the skin of a dead body.
As time passed by, the smoke turned into water drops and stayed within the pot. Seizing the moment, Lucien added the brain tissue into the liquid.
The water drops in the container quickly soaked the black brain tissue, and within one second, the brain disappeared.
The whole magic lab suddenly became cold and dark. Even the flame in the magic circle looked a bit green.
Suddenly being attacked by the infrasonic waves, Lucien retreated several steps and almost passed out. His guts were stirring inside of his body and his head was buzzing.
Lucien never expected this. Nothing like this was mentioned in the witch¡¯s notes.
He started to cast the spell Silence Wall. Transparent walls showed up around Lucien to protect him from the attack of the sound waves.
Several seconds later, Lucien cast Illumination.
A bright light ball appeared in the air. In the light, Lucien saw lots of pale human faces in the container!
These transparent faces were rather blurry, but their viciousness and perniciousness was overwhelming. They were struggling in the magic circle, trying to get into Lucien¡¯s body.
In the strong light, the faces gradually disappeared. When everything returned to normal, Lucien saw a small amount of black liquid remaining in the pot with a strong burnt smell.
¡°The recipe should be correct. But the witch might have left out some annotations that she did not translate. Possibly it was because the brain tissue was from a mutant aquatic zombie. That almost killed me.¡± Taking off the gloves, Lucien wiped the sweat on his forehead, ¡°I gotta find a chance to learn the language of the ancient magic empire.¡±
Crying Soul was one of the greatest achievements of the ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire. According to the witch¡¯s notes, only a few sorcerers had the recipe, and the making of the potion required an accurate amount of different materials and reagents. Even a tiny mistake would lead to failure.
Luckily, this mutant aquatic zombie¡¯s brain had only a little more soul power than common ones. This time Lucien decided to use the best Corpse Mushroom he had. Following the same procedures, Lucien came to the last step smoothly.
When Lucien threw another piece of aquatic zombie¡¯s brain into the pot, the sharp and bitter scream came out again. However, this time the noise was totally blocked by the transparent walls. Then he calmly added a small amount of other reagents.
The white flame suddenly soared and fully covered the whole pot. Then, the now big flame quickly disappeared in the next second.
Some black, bubbling liquid remained in the pot. Inside each of the bubbles, there was a horrifying and vicious face, crying and screaming.
That was why the potion was called Crying Soul.
Using Mage Hand, Lucien poured the black liquid into a glass tube.
Observing carefully, Lucien was sure that the potion was made correctly. Lucien bit his lips for a moment and directly drank all the dark liquid in one draught.
He did not have enough time to test the features of the potion. He needed to take the risk.
The taste of the potion was actually not that horrible, but the texture was pretty weird.
Soon Lucien felt a great pain in his body, as if the potion was tearing up his body into pieces.
Lucien heard lots of crying, but he did not know if they were real.
He crouched in great pain and then lay down, rolling back and forth on the ground. Lucien grabbed a piece of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth, in case he felt the need to scream.
Although Lucien thought he was stronger than common people because of his exercising routine, now, when facing the pain, he became very uncertain whether he could really awaken the potential in his body.
His blood was burning and his veins were swelling. Lucien felt his body was about to explode. His skin was covered by thick blue and green veins, which looked very horrible.
Blood came out of Lucien¡¯s body like red vapor, and then it went back into his body. In his blurry awareness, Lucien felt a cold and dark power was gradually taking over him. At that time, a bright light suddenly burst out of the projection of Lucien¡¯s Host Star in his soul, and quickly linked to the real Host Star in the starry sky, which unrolled in front of Lucien¡¯s eyes. The star power started to infuse into Lucien¡¯s veins, fighting against the pain and trying hard to drive away the power of darkness.
Lucien was hoping that the power of star could win inside his body. He did not want to be dominated by a more vicious power, which might also bring him trouble and danger in the future.
Unfortunately, the power of death from the crying souls was still stronger. When Lucien was almost dead from the conflict of the two powers, his blood flow started to slow down.
After all, Lucien¡¯s Blessing was awakened by the mysterious potion, not on his own.

Chapter 80: Moonlight and Marks
				Chapter 80: Moonlight and Marks
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien had no choice but to accept the dark power, although he had no idea what the evil power would do to his body.
At the same time, outside of Lucien¡¯s shack a foot stepped out of the darkness.
The silver moon in the sky suddenly lit up a bit, and the moonlight that entered Lucien¡¯s shack through the window became even brighter, as if there was a thin layer of frost around the place.
In his blurry consciousness, Lucien saw a beautiful silver moon in his meditative starry sky and felt his body was covered with the gentle moonlight.
The light became brighter and brighter.
In the moonlight, a weak power which was hiding in Lucien¡¯s body woke up and was rapidly developing. Within only a few seconds, the new power overthrew the dark power and dominated the body.
Lucien¡¯s Blessing had finally awakened, and his power was related to the silver moon.
His heartbeat gradually slowed down, calm as usual, although his body still felt limp and numb.
Nothing like this was ever mentioned in the witch¡¯s notes or in the books that Lucien read before. He had no idea why the environment could affect his way of awakening the Blessing.
Outside of the shack, the other foot also took a step forward, leaving the shadows. On the feet there was a pair of black leather shoes. Then the leather shoes went back into the darkness and disappeared. The silver moon dimmed.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
Lucien stood up from the ground, feeling the power in his body.
His hands became way stronger, and now could easily break a person¡¯s neck. However, compared with the obvious increase of strength, Lucien could tell that the major benefit of his Blessing was the great improvement to his agility, speed and coordination.
Lifting one foot, Lucien started to ran in the lab. Although he was fast like a shadow, Lucien did not run down anything in that small place.
¡°My speed and my agility can almost compete with the level two knight with the ¡®Shadow¡¯ Blessing that I met before, even though my power was awakened by the potion. Thus, if a level one knight has the same Blessing I have, I¡¯m sure that he would be even more capable in terms of agility when compared with a level two knight whose Blessing is different.¡± Lucien stopped to evaluate his power, ¡°However, regarding constitution and strength, a common level one knight can easily defeat me.¡±
Lucien calmed himself down to carefully feel the power, and started to try the different aspects.
¡°Dark Vision. I can see about two hundred meters away at night.¡± A silver light appeared in his black eyes.
¡°My body can be dematerialized into moonlight to protect myself, but right now I cannot do this completely, so the protection is relatively limited, for now.¡± Lucien¡¯s hands gradually became transparent, ¡°Only level seven radiant knights can do this dematerialization completely.¡±
However, for now Lucien was already immune to the attack of common weapons such as swords and arrows, and could better stand the damage caused by magic weapons, divine power weapons and shockwaves, elemental damage caused by fire and acid, as well as necromantic power. Although currently the protection of Moonlight seemed to be inferior than the night watcher¡¯s Dragon Scale from the Blessing of the Red Dragon, Lucien was still pretty satisfied with his own Blessing.
Then Lucien cut himself with the silver dagger on his hand. The wound bled a bit and quickly recovered.
¡°To some extent¡­ self-healing¡± Lucien recorded.
Unfortunately, Lucien¡¯s Blessing couldn¡¯t be really used for launching attacks. Moonlight was not a dark Blessing.
The church had compiled a book about the knowledge of the most common Blessings in order to help the new knights to improve themselves faster and also for other uses. Lucien read the book in the association¡¯s library before, and he also heard John mentioning to him about his most yearning Blessings, which helped him a lot to know about his Moonlight Blessing.
According to The Handbook of Blessing, the power of Moonlight could be further improved in general when the silver moon was present. However, at the same time, it would be weakened under the midday sun, but not as badly as the dark Blessings, such as Darkness, Silver Moon, Vampire, etc.
Lucien finally smiled for the first time in the last days. In general, Moonlight was an ideal Blessing for him.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
When Lucien was casting the spell to preserve the experiment materials, he surprisedly found that his spiritual power had been improved a lot as well.
Now Lucien was only one step away from becoming a senior apprentice, and he could cast nineteen apprentice spells successively before his spiritual power was drained.
The improvement was such a bonus for Lucien, but soon he calmed down. Putting all the stuff into boxes, Lucien was planning to secretly move them away to the house when there was a chance.
The corner of the lab was piled with many grey stones, which were previously dirt from when Lucien was digging the basement. Some of the stones had been thrown away, but Lucien purposefully left many stones there as well. When he was digging, with an easy spell Lucien turned the dirt into stones and now it was time for the stones to come in handy again.
Lucien arranged the stones to make sure that they were in the correct position. When the chance was appropriate. Lucien would come back and easily fill the basement with dirt again adversely using the same spell. Although more dirt was definitely needed to fully fill the place and make it even with the ground level, it would not be too difficult for Lucien since now he was almost as powerful as a knight.
After Lucien finished doing all of these, he walked to the wall and activated a small magic circle on it. Part of the stone wall gradually turned into dirt and then he started to dig.
Ten minutes later, the passage he was digging directly connected to an old one¡ªthe passage which was built by the witch to the sewers!
As early as when Lucien was building his magic lab, he knew that a second secret exit was definitely necessary. And the easiest way of doing this was to link his secret passage to the one of the witch, since the deeper part of the witch¡¯s secret passage was still intact.
Briefly concealing the new passage that he just dug, Lucien ran into the sewer as fast as he could with his Moonlight Blessing. His figure disappeared in the darkness like a shadow.
Within Lucien¡¯s expectation, the church¡¯s security already decreased, as two to three months had passed since the last time the heresy was performed down here. Therefore, it did not take Lucien long to come back to the ground through the sewers, safe and sound.
Lucien could see very well in the night with his Dark Vision.
Instead of finding the kidnappers who were monitoring him in the area, Lucien first came to the old wall close to auntie Alisa¡¯s place, and wrote down a series of simple patterns, which meant:
¡°I read about a magic relic named Emden in an ancient literature, which sat in the southeast of Melzer Black Forest. Owl, please find me a guide who knows the place among the apprentices in Aalto.
¡°Make sure that Philosopher, White Honey and yourself are safe.
¡°Professor¡±

Chapter 81: Confirmation
				Chapter 81: Confirmation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The marks on the wall were messy and complicated. Lucien even directly wrote down the word "Emden", since he had no idea how to express it in the secret code.
Then, using the Moonlight Blessing, Lucien left the area and carefully approached his shack. Hiding in the darkness, he intently sensed the supernatural power inside his house.
The night watchers had left. In the moonlight, Lucien could directly see the "eyes" which were monitoring him the whole night. The pair of eyes floating in the air were almost transparent, staring at the pile of messy blankets in the bed. However, the eyes did not have pupils!
While common people would be really scared by the horrible scene, Lucien felt quite lucky. Fortunately, this pair of eyes could not sense the heat, or he would have been found out already.
In the darkness, Lucien waited patiently. Half an hour later, the transparent eyes gradually disappeared. A new cycle should start soon.
Lucien stayed highly focused. Within his expectations, a moment later, a sudden wave of supernatural power was detected coming from a certain direction. That was where the heretic was hiding!
Lucien grabbed a small stone in his hand and quickly threw it against the wall in the opposite direction. The sound of the stone hitting the wall and falling on the ground was especially clear in the late night. As if the kidnapper was startled, the pair of eyes being formed suddenly rippled and soon disappeared.
Seizing the chance, Lucien started to move as fast as he could with the help of Moonlight. He was fast like a shadow. His movement was so agile that his blurry figure instantly integrated into the silver moonlight. No one could notice him unless they observed carefully.
Lucien pushed one of the windows open, quickly jumped into his shack, closed the window and tucked himself in his bed. Lucien clearly knew that it would take the heretic some time to recover from the power backfire of the failed casting he or she just did, thus he unhurriedly covered himself with the blanket and made sure the shape of the blanket was not of a big difference.
More than a minute later, the eyes rose in the air again with caution.
In the next ten minutes, pretending that he was still sleeping, Lucien purposefully turned his face towards the eyes and kicked away the blanket to let the eyes see him directly.
Luckily, Lucien successfully awoke his Blessing tonight, or his night would be way tougher than this.
Everything went on smoothly. After all, anything could have caused the little noise from the stone, such as a wild cat, or a crow.
Slowly, Lucien felt asleep, knowing that he had more work to do tomorrow.
......
After having breakfast, Lucien arrived at the Musicians¡¯ Association.
Knocking the door of the office which was in charge of musicians¡¯ accommodation, Lucien was putting on a play in front of the heretics who were still monitoring somewhere.
A middle-aged woman opened the door and asked, "Mr. Evans? What can I do for you?"
"Yes¡­ I¡¯m looking for Brian," answered Lucien, and he saw Brian was coming over.
"Anything wrong with the house?" asked Brian a bit nervously.
"The place is fine. Just the sheet and the blanket in the bedroom are too soggy. Can you find someone to dry them for me and make sure the cleaning of the whole house will be done by next Monday?"
"For sure, Mr. Evans." Brian was relieved, and a smile appeared on his face, "By next Monday, everything will be ready for you to move in."
Later Lucien came back to his own office. Today he was definitely in a better mood, knowing that he was finally capable of saving uncle Joel and his families when time was proper.
In order to hide his excitement, Lucien started to practice. With the awakened Blessing, his coordination had improved a lot. Along with his great memory, Lucien could master a piece of music way faster than ever, and of course, faster than many other people.
After several rounds of practicing, Lucien had mastered Symphony of Fate and other several pieces of etude pretty well like a well-qualified instrumentalist.
"No wonder Rhine said that the combination of Blessing and good memory can easily produce a qualified pianist. That does make sense." Lucien wondered to himself.
Actually, it was not too hard for a knight to learn how to use a musical instrument. However, mastering a musical instrument and becoming a great musician was a totally different story.
After giving the Moonlight Rose to Lucien, Felicia started to ask Lucien many questions about music all the time. This morning she visited his office and asked for Lucien¡¯s suggestion about her composition. Since she regarded this as an agreement between them, Felicia did not want to waste any time.
In fact, Lucien¡¯s understanding in music was no better than Felicia¡¯s. He had no choice but to search for the masterpieces from his original world in his spirit library in order to provide feedback by adding pieces of those great music works to Felicia¡¯s composition. However, that already impressed Felicia a lot. She was very inspired by Lucien¡¯s feedback.
"Your talent is astonishing." Felicia¡¯s red eyes were shining like rubies, "Your playing skills progressed a lot as well."
Lucien just smiled politely.
......
After lunch, Lucien brought some of his stuff from the shack to Gesu district.
The blankets and sheets were hanging up in the backyard, bathing in the sunlight. Lucien felt a bit nervous, having no idea what the kidnappers would say about he leaving the letter here last night.
Opening the letter slowly, Lucien held his breath. A new sentence was on the letter.
"Bring the letter with you, Mr. Evans."
Lucien pretended he was confused, behaving like an ordinary person who had no idea how useful the letter actually was.
"I accidentally left the letter here last night. I¡¯ll be living in Aderon this week since the house is not ready yet." Lucien said to the letter.
A while later, the letter replied:
"Then bring the letter back with you. So we can communicate easier."
"I will, but I want another Scene ball," requested Lucien.
"Sure," replied the letter immediately.
......
On his way back home, with his sharper vision, Lucien saw that the marks that he left on the wall last night had been replaced by new marks:
"Professor, we are fine. Fire Wolf volunteered to be your guide for Emden Relic. Where should he meet you?
"Owl"
Lucien kept walking without stopping his footsteps.
There was no magic relic named Emden. Lucien made it up.
During midnight, the heretics started to be less alert. With Moonlight, Lucien avoided their monitoring again and came to the mark wall.
He left a new line of marks on it.
"Eleven, Friday night. East entrance of Larnaca Canyon, Melzer Black Forest. Professor."
......
On thursday morning, Lucien found the second Scene ball in front of his shack before leaving for the association.
The same wood cabin, the same wood table. Joel¡¯s face was emotionless, while Elisa was wiping tears silently, and Iven looked scared. Silver moon could be seen through the window, and several stars were shining in the background.
Lucien saw fresh dirt on their shoes. Suddenly he realized something.
Maybe the wood cabin was just the place for making Scene balls. The real place that they were taken captive should be somewhere else. According to the freshness of the dirt, the actual place should not be too far away from that cabin.
......
In the princess¡¯s practicing room, when Lucien was playing the piano loudly, he suddenly said to Natasha:
"Your Grace, I need to confess."

Chapter 82: Lucien¡¯s Confession
				Chapter 82: Lucien¡¯s Confession
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Natasha was wearing a simple training suit, after having practiced swordsmanship. Her legs were long and straight.
"Confess?" She looked a bit confused but soon became serious, "Confess what, Lucien?"
Natasha was very different than usual. Now she was like a leopard ready to launch an attack.
Lucien did not answer the princess instantly, instead, he turned around and looked at lady Camil silently.
Natasha was very smart. She understood what Lucien was worrying, especially seeing that Lucien was still playing the piano, "I trust lady Camil with my life, Lucien, so there¡¯s no need to ask her to leave. And in Ratacia, no one can spy on us."
"Your Grace, we can never be too careful." Camil stood up and her blue eyes started to shine brightly. Her whole body gradually became transparent and turned into a statue made of seawater.
Then the seawater from the statue overflowed onto the floor, and soon reached to Lucien¡¯s ankles. A moment later, the whole practicing room was half filled with seawater, and the water level already reached to Lucien¡¯s chest. Seeing Lucien¡¯s confused eyes, Natasha nodded to him.
Soon the room was fully filled with the water. Lucien came to the bottom of the sea.
However, the practicing room was like a big water cube, and the water was not leaking anywhere else at all. Besides, Lucien could breathe easily as usual. The only difference was that Lucien¡¯s skin was covered with a thin layer of silver light.
"Blessing?" Natasha lifted her eyebrows, and soon apologized sincerely, "Sorry¡­ I did not know Lady Camil would examine you."
"I totally understand. That¡¯s what lady Camil should do. You don¡¯t need to apologize at all." Lucien was ready for the examination, and that was one of the many reasons that Lucien did not tell the princess what happened to him the first time he came to Ratacia Palace. Now his Blessing had been awakened, and his spiritual power from practicing magic could thus be hidden.
Lucien understood that, if he faced the heretics by himself, he would absolutely not be enough. Currently, the best choice was to report to the princess and refer to the noble power. And the key point was that he needed to figure out a proper chance to make sure his plan would not threaten the hostages and his own safety.
Now it was the proper chance.
Looking at the silver light covering Lucien¡¯s skin, Natasha rested her chin in the left hand and said, "Moonlight Blessing, but weaker than a knight¡¯s Blessing¡­ Well, Lucien, now you can tell me what happened. The whole room has been isolated by Camil¡¯s power."
"As you can see, Your Grace, my Blessing is weaker. That¡¯s because my Blessing was awakened by a bottle of magic potion given by someone else." Lucien was well-prepared for what he was going to say, "Since the night when I got invited to be your consultant, I was involved in a conspiracy aiming at you and the grand duke."
"I see. That¡¯s what you get from working with them, a potion to awaken Blessing," The corner of Natasha¡¯s lips curled up.
"That is not true, Your Grace." Lucien mixed the truth and his lie together, "They kidnapped uncle Joel and his family. They offered me a lot of help in the past when I was struggling. The kidnappers wanted me to report your schedule to them, as well as things that I hear in the palace. They want me to have my Blessing awakened in order to work better for them."
"Camil?" Natasha was a bit surprised, "All the people who work for me¡­ they got carefully investigated first, right?"
"Yes, Your Grace. Mr. Evans¡¯s music talent is beyond doubt. Although he got involved with a witch¡¯s case, there is no evidence showing that Mr. Evans, or any of his friends, was suspicious." Camil stopped examining Lucien and said to the princess. Her voice came from different directions under the water.
As the future grand duke, the security measures around Natasha were very strict.
Natasha nodded, "Do you know anything about Mr. Joel and his family?"
"Our intelligence department reported that Mr. Joel and his family were invited by a noble lord." Camil sounded a bit angry.
"Although the security measures in the palace are very strict," said Lucien, "when I was acting nervous in front of you the last time, the kidnappers warned me about it in the evening of that day. So I suspect that there might be spies around you, Your Grace."
"So you were doing that on purpose. Lucien, I really did underestimate you." Natasha looked quite serious but then smiled, slightly shaking her head.
Then Natasha stood up from the bench and walked around in the room filled with water, "The intelligence department is untrustworthy right now. Auntie Camil, please go to the church and tell this to the two cardinals, Amelton and Gossett."
Enjoying his isolated life, now Cardinal Sard was not actively involved with the church. Two younger cardinals, Amelton and Gossett, were currently in charge.
Then Lucien told Natasha more details, such as how he bought Moonlight Rose from Felicia. And of course, he mentioned nothing about how he figured out those people were from Argent Horn and how he investigated them.
"Someone must be trailing you all the time recently," Natasha said to Lucien, "Auntie Camil, catch the guy and put the guy to torture."
Lucien hurriedly stopped her, "Your Grace, we don¡¯t need to hurry. Instead, we should be patient. We shall start from secretly investigating the intelligence department and the kidnappers, following the clues and finally figuring out the big man who is hiding behind."
Lucien must make sure uncle Joel and his family were safe. And he also wanted to solve the issue of the heresy once and for all, or he would be facing lots of trouble in the future.
"It¡¯s not that complicated." Natasha frowned her eyebrows, "We catch the person who¡¯s trailing you, beat the person until he or she tells the truth, and then we quickly take action to take the bastards down. Come on! You¡¯re a man, Lucien!"
"Your Grace, I think Mr. Evans is right. If our intelligence department is involved, this whole thing would be much more complicated. We should be more careful," commented Camil.
"All right¡­ I think you and Lucien are right. I won¡¯t tell this to anyone else." Natasha curled her lips, "I never like complicated things. How dare the bastards come to my palace!"
"Every once in a while, the kidnappers send me a small magic ball. I can see uncle Joel and his family through the ball. If I find any clue from the balls, how can I tell you?" Lucien kept pushing forward, but started to feel quite nervous. Princess Natasha was much more straightforward than he thought.
"I¡¯ll give you several drops of my blood, which contain the elemental power of water," said Camil, "so keep them with you. When you need to contact us, put a drop of blood into water and you can temporarily talk to me. Unless they have someone who¡¯s as powerful as a level seven knight, and unless it is that person who¡¯s trailing you, the blood will be impossible for them to spot."
Three small sapphires appeared in front of Lucien, floating in the water.
After agreeing on the secret code for communication, Lucien put the sapphires into his pocket. While Natasha sat down in a couch and asked Lucien with interest,
"These people are using lives to threaten you, power and possible fortune to lure you, then why you decided to tell us, Lucien?"
"I did feel hesitant," Lucien paused a bit, "but I never trust that kidnappers would keep their word. Only referring to your help, Your Grace, I could save uncle Joel and his family. I never make a concession to my enemy, and that is my creed."
"Never make a concession to the enemy? Interesting." Natasha¡¯s purple eyes lit up, "No wonder you can compose Symphony of Fate, such a great work. I apologize for what I just said. You¡¯re a real man, Lucien."
"Thank you, Your Grace." Lucien slightly bowed.
"Well, well¡­ real man Lucien. You really don¡¯t need me to teach you how to pursue girls?" Natasha laughed, "Our personalities are quite similar. You can be pretty attractive to girls, just like me."
"...Sorry Your Grace. I¡¯m really not in the mood." answered Lucien seriously, "And by the way, please don¡¯t tell the church that my Blessing has been awakened, after all, the way I did it was not proper in the church¡¯s eyes."
Natasha nodded, "I understand, Lucien, and I won¡¯t. Luckily, Moonlight is not a dark Blessing. After we solve this problem, I¡¯ll tell the church that the potion you had was given by me, as your reward."
That was really a surprise for Lucien.
Then Natasha shrugged her shoulders, "Relax, Lucien. So you can better fight against your enemy."
The level of the seawater was gradually falling and finally disappeared. Lady Camil showed up again in the practicing room, and Natasha and Lucien were sitting in front of the piano, talking about music as if nothing special ever happened.
Later, when Lucien came back home, the letter urgently asked him what he saw today in the palace and what the princess told him. The kidnappers had no idea about Lucien¡¯s earlier confession.
Telling the kidnappers that John would be back this Saturday morning, Lucien used this as an excuse to request another Scene ball on Friday evening.
The heretics agreed.
......
On the second day, Friday.
After class, Felicia¡¯s coach was waiting in front of the place. To prepare the ball, Felicia asked for a leave of the class today.
Of course, Lucien was asked to bring the letter with him.

Chapter 83: The Ball
				Chapter 83: The Ball
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
While Victor, Rhine and Lott were talking about Felicia¡¯s family¡¯s manor, Lucien was looking at the scenery outside the coach¡¯s side window.
¡°Are you okay, Lucien? You¡¯re not interested in Berne, the wine exclusively produced by Hayne family¡¯s chateau?¡± Noticing Lucien¡¯s silence, Rhine smiled to him and asked.
The wine named Berne was very famous in Aalto. The especial grapes produced in the manor¡¯s field were of great quality. Only guests who were invited to the manor could have a chance to taste it.
¡°I¡¯m fine, Mr. Rhine. Actually¡­ I¡¯m feeling a bit concerned, since I know nothing about dancing. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s quite embarrassing.¡± Lucien found an excuse to disguise the load on his mind.
¡°I can teach you, although you¡¯re not a lady,¡± Rhine joked, ¡°You can take me as your beautiful lady.¡±
Lucien put an awkward smile on his face.
¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, Lucien,¡± Victor comforted him. ¡°We all know about your background. No one will purposefully invite you to dance to humiliate you. But if you want to learn how to dance, I¡¯m sure many of the beautiful ladies there will be willing to teach you.¡±
Lucien gradually relaxed in this happy atmosphere, knowing that nervousness could not help his plan tonight at all.
The coach soon ran out of town and passed Belem River, heading for the manor sitting in the north of Melzer Black Forest.
Hayne¡¯s family¡¯s manor was magnificent. Built with fine granite, everything in the manor looked luxury.
Wearing a flame-red evening dress, Felicia was already waiting in front of the lobby, followed by two rows of servants standing behind her. The yellow flame of the six bronze torch holders lit up the evening at seven o¡¯clock.
¡°Good Evening, Mr. Victor and Mr. Rhine. Good evening, Lucien and Lott,¡± Felicia welcomed them. Tonight she was the host, and her parents did not come.
Every noble lady must be able to host a ball or a party on her own.
¡°You look gorgeous tonight, Felicia.¡± Victor hugged Felicia a bit and smiled.
Dressing in red, Felicia¡¯s red eyes and fair skin looked even more beautiful.
Felicia thanked her teacher in a noble lady manner, and then she turned to welcome the other many guests. Not only Felicia¡¯s classmates were present, but also many of her noble friends.
Following Victor and Rhine, Lucien entered the lobby, which could accommodate more than a hundred people.
The long dining table was sitting in the corner of the lobby. There were wine, assorted salads and pies, sausages, beef, chicken, duck, fine bread, fruits and many good-looking desserts that Lucien could not even name.
The invited band was playing a nice song, making this evening rather tasteful.
Lucien picked up a plate on the dining table and loaded it with lots of food. Eating quietly in the corner, he was waiting for Felicia to announce the beginning of the ball.
¡°Thank you all for coming tonight. That¡¯s my great pleasure and the great pleasure of our Hayne family!¡± Felicia said to all the guests in a decent manner, ¡°Now, let¡¯s dance and enjoy the night!¡±
As she was talking, the lobby dimmed a bit and the band changed the song.
The gentlemen walked towards the young ladies and they started to dance in a manner called Whirling from the palace of Tria. While Whirling was very popular among young nobles, the conservative elder nobles were denouncing it as ¡°very improper¡±and ¡°immoral¡± because of the intimacy in Whirling.
¡°Lucien, are you still eating? This is a ball!¡± After her opening dance with Mr. Victor, Felicia finally found Lucien in the corner beside the dining table.
Putting down the plate, Lucien shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to whirl, Felicia.¡±
Lucien always felt rather hungry after awakening the Blessing. In addition to that, a tough task was waiting for him tonight.
¡°I can teach you, Lucien,¡± Felicia said to him sincerely, ¡°Dancing, along with appreciating music and hunting, is very important in social life. If you want to get along with the nobles, you have to know how to dance.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯m not made for this.¡± Lucien was a bit nervous, and he did not want to act weirdly at the ball. He awkwardly reached out his hand to invite Felicia for a dance.
¡°You¡¯re doing good.¡± Felicia put her hand in Lucien¡¯s, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. First time can never be perfect.¡±
Slightly putting one of his hands on Felicia¡¯s waist and the other on her shoulder, Lucien started to dance following her instruction, and he was mindfully keeping a distance from Felicia¡¯s body.
Several minutes later, Felicia looked at Lucien with surprise, ¡°You can dance very well¡­ except you¡¯re a bit stiff. Is this your first time practicing Whirling?¡±
¡°No¡­ not really.¡± Lucien couldn¡¯t tell her about his Blessing and quickly found an excuse, ¡°The princess taught me a bit before.¡±
¡°No wonder. After all, the princess is a grand knight, and she must be a good dance teacher, too.¡± Felicia nodded, and then she suddenly giggled, ¡°Her Grace is half-head taller than you, and she is a great knight. When you were dancing with her, you probably look more like a lady.¡±
Felicia definitely heard some gossip about the princess. After all, Natasha never hid herself in front of people.
Lucien was a bit speechless. Then an idea flashed into his mind.
Suddenly Lucien lost his balance and slipped on the floor. He gasped in pain.
¡°Are you all right?¡± asked Felicia with concern, ¡°You need a doctor?¡±
¡°My ankle hurts. Can you just have someone to lead me to a guest room? I just need a rest.¡± Lucien shook his head.
Felicia nodded and asked a servant to walk Lucien to the guest room on the third floor.
¡­¡­¡­¡­
The guest room was clean and nice, and the blanket on the bed was light and soft.
Sitting on the bed on his own, Lucien took out the letter and wrote several words down on it:
¡°I need the ball.¡±
It was close to eight at night, and it was dark outside.
More than ten minutes later, the heretics replied, ¡°Open the window.¡±
As Lucien opened the window, the lively music playing downstairs immediately drifted up to him. Together with the music, a small black ball was thrown into the room.
Lucien agilely caught the ball.
This time, instead of crumbling the ball, Lucien took a peek at the inside of the ball. Through the heavy smoke in it, he saw the same cabin.
Luckily, the kidnappers did not move.
Putting the ball back into his pocket, Lucien responded through the letter, ¡°I¡¯ll calm John down tomorrow morning when I meet him.¡±
¡°Your cooperation is appreciated,¡± answered the letter coldly.
Lucien folded the letter, put it back into the pocket of his black suit, and hung his suit on the rack.
In the following hour, a few people came to visit Lucien, including Victor, Rhine, and even some young nobles that Lucien did not know. Yvette looked a bit disappointed when she visited Lucien since obviously the injured young man could not do anything that night.
After nine thirty, the guest room finally quieted down. Lucien locked the door from inside, blew out the candles and lied in the darkness.
A while later, he finally stood up and poured himself a cup of water. At the same time, he secretly dropped one sapphire given by Camil into the water.
¡°You found anything, Lucien?¡± Camil¡¯s voice directly sounded in his mind.
Lucien answered to Camil silently in his mind, ¡°Southeast of Melzer Black Forest, close to Lubeck Mountain.¡± Then, pretending that it was an accident, he dropped the cup on the ground.
The direction was very inaccurate, and it was far away from where the cabin was located. Even if Camil was going to search the whole area, she would not be able to find the cabin.
Lucien swore a bit and went back to the bed. He stuffed the other two sapphires under the pillow and covered himself with the big and soft blanket.
The ball was still going on, and the noise of the party made the night feel even quieter.
Some random dogs were barking afar.
The silver moon was up, and the moonlight sneaked into the room. In the moonlight, the blanket covering Lucien slightly twisted a bit.
Lucien escaped again from the window that was left open by him purposefully.
With his sharp vision, Lucien saw a black figure hiding behind a big tree not far away from the manor. Taking the opposite direction, Lucien climbed over the wall of the manor and ran into the forest behind it.
In the forest, he put on the black sorcerer robe that he prepared in advance and then ran toward Larnaca Canyon.

Chapter 84: Chaos
				Chapter 84: Chaos
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
With Moonlight, Lucien moved quickly through the woods like a shadow. Although the manor was quite far from Larnaca Canyon, twenty minutes later, he could already see the shining Massol River, which was very close to the canyon, reflecting the moonlight in front of him.
Lucien slowed down a bit to be more cautious. He saw several campfires blazing in the distance, which were probably lit by adventurers.
...
The river bed was covered with countless pebbles. The river named Massol kept running eastwards and in the end joined Belem River.
Wearing a black hood, Fire Wolf stepped out of the trees¡¯ shadow very cautiously. There was an unfeathered, bright red-skinned bird standing on his shoulder. Tonight, the night watchers were making an ambush in a distance and the leader of the night watchers, Clown, was waiting for his signal.
Fire Wolf betrayed the apprentices group for a reason: a magic potion called Magic Gate would be given to him from the Church after successfully arresting Professor. The potion could help him become a real sorcerer and then he would be allowed to join the Night Watch. At that time, there would be no need for him to hide as a spy and a betrayer anymore.
Grabbing the bracelet in his pocket nervously, Fire Wolf was trying his best to stay focused, in order to sense if anyone was approaching. The bracelet called Fire Weaver was a level three magic item given by the Church to help protect himself when facing Professor.
Although Clown promised to him that they would arrive within thirty seconds after they saw his signal, Fire Wolf¡¯s heart was still beating very fast. No one knew what was going to happen within the thirty seconds.
It was already ten forty. Fire Wolf heard wolves howling deep in the woods. He
arrived at the the entrance to the canyon but did not see Professor.
Turning around, he saw something shining on a big rock. It was a message left by Professor.
"Meet you in the Black Forest, close to the south entrance to the canyon."
Fire Wolf was not really surprised that Professor changed the meeting place all of a sudden. After all, it was a quite common way to avoid being tailed after.
After the weird-looking bird, Fire Feather, made several chirps as a signal for the night watchers, Fire Wolf headed into the deeper woods.
This time it took him more than ten minutes to arrive at the designated place. It was very dark around since the moonlight was completely shaded by the tall and thick cedars.
Fire Wolf heard several savage howls in a distance, sounding rather thrilling. However, it was a relief for him since the howls were made by the night watchers.
They had followed Fire Wolf here and then the team scattered to check the surroundings.
Half an hour later, Professor still did not show up. Fire Wolf started to feel irritated, pacing back and forth and wondering if Professor had somehow found out that it was s trap.
The night watchers also lost their patience. Clown sent the message to the other night watchers using a secret method:
"Search this area, in a five-hundred-meter radius around the south entrance."
The night watchers around started to move instantly.
Soon Minsk, one of the night watchers, found a wood cabin in the forest.
...
In the forest on the other side of the cabin, one of the night watchers had become a dead body with the fear still lingering on his face, and part of his brains were visible.
A slender man wearing a long black jacket was standing beside the dead body. The silver horn pattern on his jacket was rather noticeable. His right hand was covered with the night watcher¡¯s white brain tissue, and the man was sucking his fingers to enjoy the taste, as if he was tasting the sweetest candy.
A crystal ball on the man¡¯s left hand suddenly emitted a rather old voice, "Kill them all, Dragan. The temple knights will help you. Do not let them find our relic."
"Yes, my lord." The man finished licking his fingers, "Although I¡¯m quite sure these poor guys¡¯ target is not us, I enjoy killing¡­ and brains."
His black jacket billowed out in the wind and within a second he disappeared in the darkness.
...
Tonight, the two Night Watcher teams were composed of a total of thirty members. Among them there were pastors, knights and even four grand knights as the team leaders. Close to half of the night watchers of the inquisition were sent in order to capture the mysterious Professor alive.
However, the dark forest unexpectedly turned into a hell to them tonight. They forfeited their lives here without even knowing who was their real enemy.
The smell of blood spread through the forest.
Clown was trying to contact the other night watchers. Suddenly, he sensed the threat from behind and immediately rolled forward.
A black ball fiercely struck the place where Clown was just standing. After that moment, the stones, grass and trees in the area disappeared completely, like water completely vaporized within a second.
Clown remained calm. His fingers started to move in a weird way like he was playing piano. Translucent lines grew out from his fingers and quickly shot out into the woods, pulling someone out.
It was Gragan.
"Puppet Blessing. Interesting." Dragan¡¯s body gradually melted within the darkness and escaped from the fine lines, "Is it how you utilize your dark Blessing? Ummm¡­ I see¡­ you became the hound of the inquisition." Dragan¡¯s voice was rather cold.
"Puppet is no dark Blessing. It¡¯s a special gift from the God of Truth, not like your filthy dark power, Dragan!" Clown recognized him and called his name.
Clown lifted his arms again and this time the fine lines became much stronger. When the lines captured Dragan again, at the same time, Clown shot off the magic firework as a signal asking for help from the church.
However, before the firework was fully spread in the sky, a sudden strong black wave directly struck it. The firework signal was instantly devoured by the wave and disappeared in the sky.
Dark Devourer, a level six fiend spell, which was how the Church called the power that did not come from the God of Truth. The person who just cast this spell was of cardinal level!
...
In the underground relic, five high priests wearing silver robes were looking up at the two great priests standing on the altar respectfully.
"It¡¯s time to show your loyalty to our true God. Lead the other priests to devastate our enemies outside, the hounds of the so-called God of Truth." The bald old man on the altar commanded.
"Be quick." The other great priest added, coldly, "Although I stopped the signal, we shall still finish them as soon as possible before the heretics outside can ask for help again."
"Your will is God¡¯s will, great priests," answered the five high priests at the same time.
...
The night watchers were very experienced fighters, and they did not earn their name undeservedly. When they realized that their enemies tonight were actually the heretics, they started to fight back.
A night watcher was holding a thick canon of scripture in his hand. This man was called Canon Holder, and he was the leader of the other Night Watcher team tonight.
Canon Holder¡¯s steps were firm and steady. As he flipped the pages of the canon, a huge flame ball came right down from the sky and instantly vaporized a dark knight in front of him.
Level four divine spell, Flame Strike.
Without any interval, this night watcher flipped the pages again and summoned a flame wall and protected his team members, who were facing another dark knight.
Canon Holder was a level five bishop, who voluntarily gave up his life under the sunlight and joined the Night Watch to fight for his true God.
Lucien was sitting on a big tree quite a distance away, looking at the explosions on the ground expressionlessly as if he was appreciating nice fireworks.
He saw that the rest of the night watchers were approaching the wood cabin; he saw that the night watcher Minsk survived for now with his defense called Dragon Scale from his Red Dragon Blessing; and he saw that there were only eighteen night watchers left out of thirty.
However, Lucien was still waiting.

Chapter 85: Sneak into the Cave
				Chapter 85: Sneak into the Cave
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Around one kilometer away from the wood cabin, there was a huge cedar. Lucien was sitting on the cedar waiting for the end of the fight between the Church and Argent Horn.
When he saw the black wave which devoured the night watcher¡¯s signal, Lucien calculated the angle and the distance and thus located where Argent Horn was actually hiding.
"About ninety meters northwest of the wood cabin," Lucien murmured in a low voice.
At the same time, Lucien looked at another direction and wondered in his mind, "She should have noticed the chaos already."
As the heretics and the night watchers started to gather together, Lucien felt it was finally time for him to take action.
...
Flame Strike, Angel Summoning, Healing¡­ Canon Holder kept casting spells without interval. As a level five bishop, he was able to both devastate his enemies and save his comrades. His spells destroyed many magic circles and traps placed by Argent Horn, and thus the two great priests in the underground palace lost their control on the ground.
As six out of the eighteen night watchers were pastors, they were able to heal their injured comrades over and over again. Under the command of the two team leaders, the gathered night watchers kept moving forward and the situation started to turn around and became more favorable to the Church.
However, at this time, a dark cloud arrived, and the cloud was somehow squeaking.
"Bugs!" cried Minsk to alert the other night watchers.
These bugs were just too many to be immediately eliminated. They moved very fast and soon encircled the night watchers. Countless bugs fully covered the shields of light that were protecting the night watchers. As the several pastors were trying to strengthen their Light Shields, they suddenly felt too weak to cast any spell. Their faces were burning like they were having a fever.
As soon as the shields expired, the bugs launched their attack onto the night watchers.
Using his Red Dragon Blessing, Minsk blocked some of the bugs away from them with Dragon Scale, but he knew that he was also reaching his limit.
It was a level five fiend spell, Plague, co-cast by the five high priests.
More dark knights and heretic priests arrived. The situation the night watchers were facing became tough again.
Canon Holder stopped attacking and turned to focus on driving away the bugs and curing the night watchers, especially the pastors. Several night watchers wearing silver armor stood in front of the pastors to protect them.
As the bugs were dying, the pastors were gradually recovering. Then they started to cast many divine spells such as "Blessing", "Morale" and "Pray" on the four fully armored night watchers to improve their strength, agility and persistence. Clown and Minsk were protecting them from the fierce attack of the dark knights and the priests.
The four warriors, blessed by the divine power, shouted and hacked their huge swords toward their enemies at the same time. The black gloves they were wearing covered their swords with a layer of black light, making the swords sharper and more powerful.
Although the several dark knights up front had different powers such as Black Dragon, Rock Titan, and Gray Elf, they were not able to resist the furious four warriors with such combined divine power.
For some reason, when facing the huge swords, Shield of Darkness became useless, and so did Flame Wall. Four dark priests and a high priest suddenly became totally unprotected and got hacked into half.
"This Blessing is¡­ Elimination!" The elder great priest in the underground palace was quite surprised, "Four knights with Elimination Blessing¡­ and one of them is a level five grand knight!"
The Blessing called Elimination could make any supernatural power that did not belong to the real God become invalid. And, of course, the effectiveness of this Blessing depended on the individual power, and the real God it referred to could be chosen.
Elimination was the most precious and purest Blessing among the traditional demon hunters.
"Angola, you gotta help them," the other great priest said to the bald priest, "We should not waste our power here, for such an accident."
"This accident is a test from God." Angola smiled, looking rather old, "Interesting. Their original target was a sorcerer, and now we¡¯re fighting."
"I¡¯ll stay here to protect the temple," said the great priest in silver robe.
...
When the night watchers finally found a chance to send the signals, blurs of shadows rushed at them from different directions with great momentum. A knight among the night watchers got struck by the black shadow right in his face and he gave out shrill cries.
Level seven fiend spell, Hungry Shadow.
Soon the knight¡¯s eyes became red. He slowly lifted his huge sword up and hacked toward the other night watchers.
His soul was eaten by the shadow, and his body would be controlled by the spell caster for a short time.
...
The moment Lucien sensed the evil aura from the great priest, he suddenly sat up and became translucent to some extent in the moonlight. He quickly landed on the ground and started to run toward the underground temple as fast as he could from the other side of the forest, in order to avoid the battlefield.
Standing in front of the entrance to the underground temple of Argent Horn, although he was almost invisible in the moonlight, Lucien was still very nervous that he might be found by the heretics. However, he knew that uncle Joel and his family were in great danger, so he had no choice but to take the risk.
Then, a piece of moonlight secretly sneaked into the cave.

Chapter 86: The Reinforcements
				Chapter 86: The Reinforcements
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Inside the cave, there was a long and slanted paved path heading toward the underground palace. Around every ten meters, there was a candlestick on the stone wall. The yellow candlelight was rather dim and made the pathway even more thrilling.
Quick as a shadow, Lucien quietly followed the pathway and went into the deeper darkness.
...
The silver-robed great priest was checking the other pathways through which the hounds of the Church might sneak into the relic. However, he left the main entrance for last since Angola was fighting in the front, and that gave Lucien precious time to find the dungeon.
...
Instead of spreading his spiritual power, Lucien was using his acute hearing to sense his surroundings. It seemed most of the guards were currently out to fight against the night watchers, since Lucien heard no one talking or walking. In the nest of the heresy, he needed to be very cautious with the use of any supernatural power.
The underground relic was huge. Although he did have a few rough guesses from observing the surroundings in the Scene balls, Lucien never expected that there was indeed such a magnificent relic here.
As the ground became smoother, Lucien saw that there were many iron doors on both sides of the pathway. Feeling rather hesitant, he was not sure if he should open the closest door in front of him.
His right hand grabbed the handle, slightly shaking. Lucien had no idea what was waiting for him in the room.
Just when he was about to turn the handle, Lucien heard someone talking. The voice came from another room, but not far from where Lucien was standing now.
"What¡¯s going on outside? All the priests are out?" a man asked. His voice sounded nervous.
"I have no idea what is happening. The explosion sounded horrible." answered the second person.
After roughly estimating the strength of the two heretics, Lucien decisively opened the door and fiercely rushed at them. The heretics were totally unprepared for this sudden attack and in the next second they were knocked out and fell on the ground.
Closing the door behind him, Lucien awoke one of the young heretics.
After feeling rather confused for a second, the heretic recalled what just happened and was about to scream for help. However, the only thing he managed to do was opening his mouth. As soon as he made eye contact with Lucien, his mind got lost.
There were countless stars in Lucien¡¯s eyes, and his eyes were as deep as two black holes.
"Do you know where they are, the poor family that they just caught several days ago?" asked Lucien in a soft and low voice.
"Yes¡­ yes my lord." The young heretic looked rather respectful since he had been hypnotized by Lucien¡¯s Eyes of Stars. And as Eyes of Stars was more of a kind of hypnotism, very little magic wave could be detected.
From that hypnotized heretic, Lucien collected some important information: the palace was located in the west side of the huge relic, where the main force of Argent Horn usually patrolled, while the dungeon was in the northwest, guarded by an average dark knight and several of his squires.
Besides, the relic actually had more than one level. However, the several levels beneath were completely destroyed and could not be utilized anymore. On this level, there was a total of five pathways connected to the Black Forest.
Knowing that the main force could come back at any moment, Lucien needed to be hurry. Breaking the two heretics¡¯ necks, he left the room, bypassed the palace in the west and headed toward the dungeon fast and quietly.
...
With a better knowledge of this relic, Lucien calmed down a bit. Soon he arrived at the dungeon.
The dungeon was quite big, and it was divided into half by the iron bars. There were around seven or eight cells on one side, while on the other side four knight squires were pacing back and forth, talking about what was going on outside. Behind them, assorted instruments of torture were hanging on the wall.
The old man wearing black leather armor had a twisted face. At this moment, he was sitting on a bench, listening to the sound of fighting outside and looking at the cells on the other side with an irritated expression. Lucien thought that he must be the dark knight.
Then the old knight stood up and said with anger, "Bring them here¡­ the two who lost their fingers. I need to have something to do."
Lucien¡¯s heart suddenly sank.
"Lord Janson, they can¡¯t be killed right now!" A knight squire dissuaded him.
"I don¡¯t need you to remind me!" shouted Janson irritably, "They¡¯re the most f***king troublesome prisoners in the whole bloody dungeon. I gotta take them to that shitty cabin every couple of days! So what am I in the priests¡¯ eyes? A f***king dog walker?!"
Janson¡¯s irritability and anger came from his Blessing. The squires exchanged a look and one of them took the keys and opened a cell.
"You two, get out of here." Tim kicked Joel and Alisa who were lying on the ground.
Joel and Alisa were very scared. Iven¡¯s eyes were filled with tears and he bit his lips silently, since there was nothing he could do as a young boy.
"Move!" Tim kicked Joel on his back. Out of the iron bars, Joel staggered forward and fell over in front of Janson.
Taking the leather whip down from the wall, Jason fiercely flipped the whip on Joel and Alisa with great anger, "Rubbish! Damned idiots! And I need to f***king walk you EVERY¡­ F***KING¡­ DAY!"
Every time he burst out a word, Janson lashed at them with a bitter whip.
Although Janson was still constraining himself to avoid killing Joel and Alisa, his whips still made Joel and Alisa scream at the top of their lungs in great pain and roll on the ground back and forth.
While Janson was enjoying the screams, Lucien was clenching his fists with great anger. The muscles of his body were all tensed up. He wanted to kill all the bastards and tear them up to pieces, right now.
However, he still had to bide his time. Acting in a rush and impulsively could easily kill him here, not to mention rescuing uncle Joel and his family.
Hiding in the darkness, Lucien was waiting.
...
"Ilia, these night watchers are tough." Angola was floating high in the air, sending his voice to the other great priest using his fiend power, "They have lots of powerful magic items. Luckily, we took the initiative and all of their magic items are destroyed."
Only five night watchers were still standing. They were Clown, SalvadoršDthe Canon Holder, a grand knight, MinskšDthe Red Dragon, and a pastor. The other twenty five night watchers were all dead, and some of the bodies were even destroyed.
"Don¡¯t waste our time anymore, Angola. Finish them all, and we have to destroy this entrance."
Ilia¡¯s voice came and urged him.
"All right." Angola raised his arms again, covered by dark shadows.
At this time, the night sky suddenly turned blue in a weird way, as if the ocean and the sky exchanged their positions. The ocean was hanging up above them and a huge water column shot downward and overwhelmed Angola!
Ilia sensed the power, and he stood up instantly.
Camil, the Blue Tide.
The level seven radiant knight arrived!
Flying high in the sky, the two great cardinals, Gossett and Amelton, also arrived following lady Camil.
"Kill all the prisoners! Destroy all the evidence! Everyone leave through the other pathways!" Ilia commanded immediately.
At the same time, he started to cast the spells to destroy the altar. Although he was a level seven priest himself as well, the reinforcements of the Church consisting of the two great cardinals and a radiant knight were irresistible.
Besides, Sard, the horrible monster, also could show up there at any moment.
...
Receiving the order, Janson lifted his whip high with a savage look on his face.
When Lucien heard the deafening splash coming from outside, he knew it was time for him to take action. Like a white shadow, Lucien jumped out of the darkness and rushed at the dark knight with great momentum.

Chapter 87: Killing
				Chapter 87: Killing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Janson¡¯s Blessing gave him not only the irritated personality, but also a sharp instinct. The moment he sensed the danger, Janson turned his wrist and fiercely flipped the leather whip backwards.
Lucien was prepared and he was also faster than Janson. Tapping the ground with one foot, Lucien quickly changed the direction of his movement and, at the same time, he easily cut off the leather whip with the dagger in his hand.
Without any hesitation, Janson threw the whip away and grabbed his triple-headed flail from the table. The big chunks of muscle under his leather armor almost burst out and his eyes became red, like those of a furious bull.
Facing Janson¡¯s huge weapon, Lucien suddenly stopped and dropped a handful of fine powder on the ground.
A deafening thunder burst out.
The loud thunder almost knocked Janson unconscious for a second, not to mention his four squires. When they were about to pick up their weapons, they were attacked by the strong sound waves and then fell on the ground.
Uncle Joel and Alisa also passed out.
Homan¡¯s Oscillation, a spell of apprentice level which utilized high-decibel sound waves as the weapon. Being used properly, a low level spell could also be quite effective.
Facing the great thunder, Lucien himself also felt a bit sick. By the time when he was able to take a firm stand again, Janson had also recovered and started to wield his huge flail.
That was a triple-headed flail, looking rather heavy, and the three heads were also different: one was covered with lightning, one with fire and the last one with a green and sticky slime.
The big chunks of muscle in Janson¡¯s arms were like rocks, and the whole dungeon was slightly trembling from his angry howling. He wielded his flail in a crazy manner, and it seemed like the word "defense" never existed in his dictionary.
Lucien was a bit surprised. After all, most knights, no matter if they were from the Church or the dark knights, were well trained with different fighting skills, however, Janson was not one of them. Probably it was because his physical strength was so overwhelming that there was no need for him to carry out the strategies in his mind.
The idea of a direct head-on resistance was obviously too stupid, and Lucien was way smarter than that. Employing delaying tactics together with his Moonlight Blessing, Lucien kept moving around swiftly in the dungeon to avoid the three huge iron balls of the flail, waiting for the dark knight to get tired.
However, Lucien soon noticed that something was not right: It seemed that the one who would be exhausted first was himself. The buzzing lightning on one of the iron balls was somehow slowly paralyzing his body, even if the flail never actually hit Lucien.
Lucien could not waste time anymore. He took a few large steps back, to gain some distance from Janson who was fighting like a furious beast, and within few seconds Janson was once again in front of Lucien, wielding his terrifying black flail with great momentum.
Throwing another handful of shining power to the ground, Lucien activated the spell without casting. Although that would cost him more spiritual power, it was definitely worth it.
A dazzling light ball suddenly appeared in the dungeon, and it instantly lit up the whole place like the midday sun.
Janson subconsciously closed his eyes to protect them from the bright light and his movement paused for a second. That second was more than enough for Lucien.
Curling his body a bit, Lucien shot himself out toward Janson, as fast as an arrow. The dagger was shining with a cool radiance in his hand.
Janson quickly turned his wrist inwards to attack Lucien with his flail, but it was too late. Although the three iron balls were still chasing Lucien¡¯s back, he was already very close to Janson!
However, Lucien¡¯s silver dagger almost cracked when he stabbed Janson in the chest. Because of his Furious Savage Blessing, Janson¡¯s chest muscles were like big pieces of rock, which were also covered by his fine leather armor.
Janson¡¯s relentless attack was supported by his great defensive capability!
The flail was just a few centimeters away from Lucien¡¯s back.
Janson looked at Lucien with a cruel smile on his face, but surprisingly, this skinny little bastard smiled back at him.
The dark knight immediately realized the great danger. Fiercely leaning back his body, Janson tried to avoid the second round attack.
Palmeira¡¯s Frost Blades. Three sharp ice blades targeted Janson¡¯s throat, heart and waist.
Since they were too close to each other, by the time Janson started to tilt backward, the blades had already arrived.
While the one targeting his heart was stopped by the tough muscle in his left chest, the other two blades cut his throat and his abdomen wide open. His blood spurted out but froze instantly.
At the same time, Lucien quickly covered his body with a layer of moonlight to take the attack of the flail. While the flame and acid were blocked by Lucien¡¯s Moonlight Armor, the lightning went directly through and struck him.
Janson and Lucien fell onto the ground at the same time. Lucien was paralyzed by the lightning and he felt both pain and itch in his body.
Bang! The flail fell to the ground from Janson¡¯s hand as well.
Rough and muffled groans came from Janson¡¯s throat. Lucien could see that the fresh blood was still running out of the big man¡¯s body.
A few seconds later, the groans stopped. Jason¡¯s eyes were still wide open, filled with anger and astonishment.
Lucien stood up with great effort and finally stabilized his legs. Slowly, he approached Janson¡¯s body and broke the savage¡¯s neck, just in case.
Luckily, his tactics worked. By hiding his Blessing and the magic item Ice Revenger, Lucien pretended he was nothing other than an ordinary sorcerer apprentice. If Janson had not underestimated his enemy, Lucien would be in big trouble.
Then, without any hesitation, Lucien came to the squires who were trying to stand up from the ground with dizziness and decisively wrenched their necks.
He purposefully saved Tim for last.
"I beg¡­ I beg your mercy... Please!" cried Tim, crawling on the ground.
"Mercy?" Lucien sneered, "When the innocent people were begging, where was your mercy?"
A pair of cold hands reached Tim¡¯s throat, and the fingers slowly tightened. Finally, there was a crack in Tim¡¯s neck.
Now Lucien held no more fear and hesitation toward killing, since in this world, people like him had to either kill or be killed.
...
Picking up the heavy flail, Lucien started to attack the five bodies to destroy the evidence.

Chapter 88: The End of the Betrayer
				Chapter 88: The End of the Betrayer
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The flail was so heavy that even Lucien, who was already stronger than common people, was having a hard time lifting it over and over again. Powerful as it was, the flail soon tore the bodies into pieces and the flame and acid quickly destroyed the body parts completely.
Lucien was now feeling a bit concerned because during the fight he had absolutely no idea how dangerous this weapon was. If he really got hit by this flail without his Moonlight Armor, he would be seriously injured.
Within only thirty seconds, the bodies turned into a small puddle of unknown green liquid and some ashes floating in the air.
Lucien kicked over the water bucket in the corner and quickly cleaned up the mess on the floor. As for the floating ashes, he summoned a gust of wind by heating up some of the air inside that room and cooling down the air outside of it, to blow the ashes away to the aisle.
Then, with great caution, Lucien carried Joel and Alisa back to the cell with Iven, who were still unconscious from the oscillation spell. Although Lucien was very excited to see Joel, Alisa and Iven again, he could not leave with them right now, or he would definitely be suspected by the Church. After all, in people¡¯s eyes, he was no more than a physically weak musician.
After all the work, he pulled out a tube of Brown Owl and drank it, as his natural recovery was slower underground due to the lack of moonlight.
A moment later, Lucien was rushing through the most remote pathway to leave the underground palace, carrying the flail with him. The pathway was very far from the palace and the other core places in the complex, therefore, it should be relatively safe. However, the weird thing was that Lucien did not see any heretics on his way.
...
Down on their knees, these ordinary heretics in the stone room sounded rather panicked, "Lord Jerome, what shall we do right now! We¡­!"
Before they could finish their words, their faces suddenly twisted with great pain. Pieces of black cloud came out of their bodies and instantly took their souls away.
As the masses of black cloud were absorbed into Jerome¡¯s body, he shrugged a bit, "Well¡­ what you guys should do is to die."
It would be impossible for those ordinary heretics to escape from the Church, so they must die, or more information about Argent Horn would be revealed.
...
Lucien was getting close to his destination. He could see dim rays of moonlight cast from the outside of the cave. Suddenly, he stopped running and hid himself in a dark corner because he sensed the strong smell of blood.
There were several dead bodies scattered on the ground on the way out of the complex. According to their special robes, Lucien could tell they were the heretics from Argent Horn.
Realizing that the heretics were killing their ordinary followers, Lucien decided to wait there a bit more, just in case.
Someone was screaming with great fear in the darkness. As the squeal was getting closer and closer, Lucien clenched his fists.
Suddenly, the squeal stopped. The person was killed.
"This should be the last one," sounded a cold voice. "Ilia asked us to leave as soon as possible after cleaning up."
"I don¡¯t see Janson¡­" the other young but hoarse voice answered.
"We¡¯re not gonna wait for the savage. We can¡¯t," urged the cold voice.
"All right¡­ We leave now," agreed the second person.
Then Lucien heard their steps leaving the cave.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien made his body partially translucent into the moonlight and rushed to the exit. Under the cover of the silver moon, he successfully jumped into a bush.
Breathing the air mixed with the smell of dirt, Lucien released a long sigh of relief.
It was very quiet around him. For a moment, he felt that what happened in the underground palace was almost like a dream. However, the many scattered dead bodies of the heretics around the bush were reminding him how cruel the night was.
Looking up at the moon and the few stars in the sky, Lucien roughly figured out his current location and started to run toward Massol River, to get back to Family Hayne¡¯s manor.
...
The heavy flail was quite cumbersome, but luckily the silver moon was out tonight, and Lucien¡¯s speed and strength were both improved in the moonlight.
Several minutes later, he approached the wood cabin with great caution. Almost everything was destroyed in this area from the many powerful divine and fiend spells.
Dead bodies were everywhere, and many of them were burned beyond recognition.
Among the bodies, Lucien saw one wearing a sorcerer robe, which draw his attention the most.
So Lucien flipped the body over, and he saw the young man¡¯s face. The great fear the man experienced before he died was still there.
"Fire Wolf¡­" Lucien murmured the name.
An idea came to Lucien¡¯s mind.
Using Mage Hand, Lucien left a line of words on Fire Wolf¡¯s body with his half-clotted blood.
"THE END OF THE BETRAYER. PROFESSOR."

Chapter 89: The Anger of the Night Watchers
				Chapter 89: The Anger of the Night Watchers
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After leaving the line of words, Lucien checked the body carefully and found two magic items, which luckily remained intact from the fierce battle.
One was a dark red bracelet, woven by some sort of fine red plant fiber. Although it looked rather plain, the bracelet possessed a great power of illusory flame that surprised Lucien quite a bit when he was examining it with his spiritual power. He believed that this bracelet was even more powerful than his Ice Revenger, and the bracelet was at least a level two high-ranked magic item.
The other thing Lucien found was an iron black dagger, that felt very cold and sharp.
Lucien put the bracelet and the dagger into the pockets of his robe. Standing up and looking around, he was quite sure that he could still find more magic items from these dead bodies scattered everywhere. In the next second, however, Lucien quickly dispelled this idea, warning himself not to be greedy.
After crossing the river, Lucien found a place for a short rest in the Black Forest to recover his spiritual and physical power. During the break, he registered the inner magic structures of the flail, the bracelet and the iron black dagger in his spirit library for a detailed analysis later.
Then, Lucien buried the flail under a weird-shaped big cedar, and hid the bracelet and the dagger underneath a big rock.
Without a deeper analysis, Lucien could not make sure that the magic items were clean and safe. If there were any trailing or locating marks on them and if Lucien just took them back home carelessly, these things would become his catastrophe.
...
Larnaca Canyon.
In a dark corner in the canyon, Angola was grabbed by the neck and lifted up by a long and fair hand. The seemingly delicate hand was doing the job easily, as if it was picking up a little mouse, instead of a level seven great priest.
"You can¡¯t kill me! You don¡¯t have to¡­!" Angola¡¯s voice squeezed out from his throat, filled with great fear and surprise.
"Well¡­ Unfortunately, I¡¯m afraid I have to." The voice was was soft and sweet, "It¡¯s very impressive that you could escape from Amelton, one of the top three experts in tracking in the duchy. However, you still represent a great danger to us. If she finds you, all of us will be in deep trouble."
"No, that¡¯s just your excuse!" cried Angola, "We share the same goal¡­ and we shall find the¡­!"
"That¡¯s enough, Angola. I¡¯m fed up with the awful sulphur smell in the evil blood you all have." The soft voice cut him off, "You think we are allies? Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯ve changed my mind and I don¡¯t want to be a part of it anymore."
"Are you insane?! You can¡¯t!" Angola¡¯s voice came out from his throat with great difficulty, "You¡¯ll be punished!"
"None of your business." The beautiful long hand tightened a bit, and Angola¡¯s body started to get dehydrated very fast. In the next second, the body exploded silently into fine, light yellow powder that spread through the air.
"I can share a piece of news with you, for free, Angola¡­ since you¡¯re dead already," said the soft voice, "Hathaway will soon be back from the secret dimension."
Then, the beautiful pale hand disappeared in the darkness.
Two minutes later, a woman in cardinal clothes arrived. Floating in the air and looking around, her eyes were cold in contrast with her bright red rob.
"Angola disappeared¡­ completely?" She murmured in a low voice.
...
Running at full speed in the Black Forest, Lucien was like a white shadow.
Twenty minutes later, he saw the manor of House Hayne. Lights were still on, and music was still playing. The big party was still going on around the midnight.
And like what he was expecting, the heretic who had been trailing him all the time was still there observing the manor, but now it was Lucien that was watching him from behind.
If this heretic was caught by the Church, Lucien would be in trouble for lying about how he awoke his Blessing.
As he was very close to the manor, Lucien needed to finish the heretic as quietly as possible. After estimating the heretic¡¯s level, he slowly approached him and silently activated Darkness silently.
The heretic looked very confused for a second, as all the light suddenly disappeared and the pure darkness pressed on his head. Then he sensed the magic wave coming from behind him. He was under attack!
Because of Lucien¡¯s Dark Vision, the spell did not affect him at all.
Before the heretic could see anything, Lucien¡¯s hands had already reached his neck.
"Crack."
And that was the last thing the heretic heard in this world.
...
Clown, Canon Holder, Lend, Juliana and Minsk gathered in front of the cabin. After the bitter fight, the great depression and tiredness on their faces were impossible to hide. When the night watchers were searching the underground complex and chasing the heretics, they were silently immersed in their mourning.
Only five night watchers survived the battle, out of thirty, who were all excellent and brave warriors in fighting against the darkness and evil. The five night watchers¡¯ guts were burning with anger and grief.
"Clown¡­ Can you come and have a look?" Juliana noticed something on Fire Wolf¡¯s body.
"THE END OF THE BETRAYER. PROFESSOR."
The scarlet words were like sharp knives stabbing in the five night watchers¡¯ hearts. Their anger almost burst out from their chests.
It was this bloody Professor who did all of this. It was him who set this horrible trap!

Chapter 90: Everyone Loved the Moon
				Chapter 90: Everyone Loved the Moon
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The five night watchers were standing around the body like statues. Deep silence enwrapped everyone with tremendous pressure.
In the darkness, Clown clenched his fists with rage and slowly squeezed out a word through his teeth:
"Professor¡­!"
Taking off the black gloves, Salvador, the Canon Holder, put his bare hands on the chest and started to pray for the twenty-five deceased night watchers. His voice sounded very solemn, "You gain when you give. You live forever after you die. Paradise is open to you."
Then Salvador pulled out his white handkerchief and tied it on his wrist, "The day that I burn Professor to death will be the day I take this off."
Following Salvador¡¯s suit, the grand knight Lend also tied on a white handkerchief and lowered his head, "I¡¯ll never forget this battle, my fellows. This so-called Professor will pay in blood."
"Professor is on the top of my target list," joined Juliana. Recalling the bitter battle, Juliana¡¯s heart was still filled with fear. She suffered the pain of watching her teammates dying one by one right in front of her eyes. She remembered the desperation she experienced when her healing spells became useless when facing the dark power. Although Juliana did hate Professor to the guts, she was also subconsciously afraid of him.
"Bastard¡­ You bloody bastard!" Clown could not hold himself back anymore, "I¡¯ll find you and torture you. Wherever you go, whoever you are, I¡¯ll turn your body into my puppet and I¡¯ll have your soul gnawed by the demons, suffering in hell!" Clown never experienced such failure since he joined the Night Watch. As a level five grand knight, his confidence was ruined tonight.
The forever-smiling clown mask on his face looked rather strange and horrible in the darkness.
"It was my fault. I was so close to Professor¡­" Minsk put on a white handkerchief as well.
Clown slowly calmed down, then turned around to the other four night watchers, "Professor must be leaving Aalto soon. We should add Professor to our Cleansing List and search him all over the continent."
"I¡¯m afraid that the bastard is not qualified for this," said Lend with a bit of hesitation, "After all, the names on the list were all extremely powerful. Some of them are even capable of changing the situation of the whole world. Professor¡­ he is only a level three or four sorcerer."
The Cleansing List was shared by all the inquisitions on the continent. Every name was regarded as a great trouble to the Church and was continuously hunted by the most powerful pastors and night watchers from different inquisitions. However, the list had not changed for many years, since hunting them down was extremely difficult.
"Twenty-five night watchers died because of him," said Canon Holder seriously. "Although he¡¯s not even of a senior rank, his cruelty and slyness should not be underestimated."
"I see." Lend nodded. "We shall make a proposal to Cardinal Amelton, then. "
"Let¡¯s find our teammates¡­ at least part of them," said Salvador solemnly.
...
It took Lucien a while to wipe out all the evidence, including the heretic¡¯s body and his own torn robe, and he also cleaned himself a bit. Then he came to the other side of the manor through the woods and climbed over the tall wall of the manor.
Quietly and carefully, Lucien landed in the shadow of the three-storey house, covered by the tall, lush grass and bushes.
When Lucien stood up and was patting away the dust on his hands, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Good evening, Lucien." It was Rhine. He was only wearing a loose, dark red shirt, of which the top part was unbuttoned. His skin looked even paler than that of a noble lady in the moonlight.
"Go-good evening, Mr. Rhine." Seeing that it was Rhine, Lucien was a bit relieved, but he still remained cautious, "You¡¯re still up?"
"So are you." Rhine¡¯s put on a meaningful smile.
Lucien forced a smile on his face, "If I told you that I¡¯m wandering here to enjoy the beautiful silver moon tonight, would you believe my words?"
When he was talking, Lucien lowered his head and looked at himself. Parts of his lower arms were stained by muddy water, and his shirt was crumpled out of shape. Most importantly, as he looked up, Lucien found that the silver moon was hidden by the tall stone wall.
What an excellent excuse it was!
"Yes, I believe your words, because¡­" Rhine shrugged his shoulders, "I¡¯m here for the moon as well."
"Ah¡­?" Lucien was suddenly at a loss.
"For sure¡­ Did you see how charming, how bright the silver moon is tonight!" Rhine raised his head and praised the stone wall standing in front of him with affection, "We are here for the same reason, aren¡¯t we?"
"Well¡­" Lucien took a longer breath and became serious, "Can you tell me who you are, Mr. Rhine?" As he could not pretend he was an innocent young man anymore, Lucien decided to ask Rhine directly, and he had the feeling that Rhine held no hostility toward him.
"I¡¯m just a bard." Rhine shook his head, "A bard who has nothing to do with the place you are longing for. And even if I tell you where it is, you are still not capable of going there."
"You can tell me now! At least I can have a more specific goal!" asked Lucien eagerly.
"My suggestion is that you should work hard and become a real musician, then you can travel to the many countries around the continent. That¡¯ll be a great benefit to your goal." Then Rhine turned around and left.
Lucien was confused. Eager as he was, he knew that he must leave now, in case someone else showed up.
After climbing into the guest room, Lucien put the two sapphires back into his pocket and lay down.
What happened tonight already seemed like a dream to Lucien. Shutting down the brain and feeling the cozy blanket, he slowly fell into sleep.
Lucien did not know how long his sleep lasted when he was awakened by a gentle knock at the door.
"Who is that?" asked Lucien in a low voice.
"It¡¯s me, Yvette. Do you want to take a walk with me to enjoy the fantastic silver moon tonight?" invited the noble lady in an alluring way.
Lucien was a bit choked with what Yvette just said. He was already very impressed with the moon, and it seemed like everyone wanted to take a walk in the moonlight that night.
"Well¡­ I¡¯m terribly sorry, Yvette. I twisted my ankle and I¡¯m feeling sleepy." Lucien refused her directly, "Maybe next time. Thank you for asking."
Yvette slightly stamped her foot with disappointment and anger outside of Lucien¡¯s room, "Such an idiot! I bet you¡¯ll come to me and beg me on your own someday, Lucien!"
...
After hearing Yvette¡¯s steps leaving, Lucien lay down again to go back to sleep.
"Lucien, look what you¡¯ve just done! No wonder you have no girlfriend!" A female voice came from the window, "You should learn from me! I always knocked the door of Silvia¡¯s room at midnight."
It was Princess Natasha, who was standing on the windowsill, followed by lady Camil floating in the air. With a longsword in one hand and her visor in the other hand, Natasha¡¯s purple hair was fluttering in the wind. The central part of her white armor was dark red, which was from the blood of a dragon.
Noticing that Lucien was looking at her armor, Natasha smiled, "You like this armor, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s called Dragon Blood, I¡¯m wearing it because I just came back from the battle with Argent Horn."
Pausing a bit, Natasha continued, "By the way, Lucien, would you like to take a walk in the beautiful moonlight? Hahaha¡­"

Chapter 91: Relief
				Chapter 91: Relief
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Did you see Joel, Alisa and Iven? Are they safe now? Where are they now?" Recovering from the surprise of suddenly seeing the princess on his windowsill, Lucien asked so eagerly that he forgot to use the proper salutation.
Anyone who cared about his or her family would definitely react like this. And Lucien regarded them as his closest relatives in this world.
Although he had killed Janson and the squires in the dungeon, Lucien was still looking forward to the confirmation from the princess. After all, the battle tonight was so cruel that ordinary people like Joel, Alisa and Iven could easily become the innocent victims of the many powerful magic spells.
"Well¡­ I was fighting on the frontline, Lucien," said Natasha a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I should¡¯ve paid more attention to your family¡­ But don¡¯t worry, Lucien. I did confirm with the knight who was responsible for saving the hostages, and they are safe."
"Thank you very much, Your Grace." A sincere smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s face. As his whole plan was like walking a tightrope, any tiny mistake could kill the people that he cared the most in this world. "Then where are they now? When I can see them?" Lucien asked again.
"They are in the main cathedral right now, since they were tortured badly, both physically and mentally," Camil answered. "The pastors in the church will take care of them, and they need to be questioned later."
"But they are innocent! They¡¯re just ordinary people¡­" Lucien shuddered to think of the questioning that he received, or say, the one this body once received, from the Church.
"I know what you¡¯re worrying about, Lucien," Natasha comforted him, "Last time you were wronged as a suspect, but this time it¡¯s different. The Church just wants to ask them some questions about the dungeon guards of Argent Horn, nothing else."
Then Natasha said to lady Camil, "The power of a radiant knight is surely impressive. That sudden attack you launched toward the great priest was so powerful that the poor people in the dungeon were even knocked out. I wonder when I will become a radiant knight."
"May¡­ may I ask what is Argent Horn?" asked Lucien purposefully.
"It was Argent Horn that kidnapped your uncle and his family. They are followers of demon, and they call themselves Argent Horn," explained Natasha. "Their souls are completely corrupted by darkness. When we were trying to catch the heretics alive, they shouted ¡®Return to the eternal silence¡¯ and blew themselves up."
Speaking of this, Natasha¡¯s heart was still beating fast. Although she was only one step away from becoming a radiant knight and was quite experienced in fighting, the horrible scene of the heretics exploding themselves in front of her was still bothering the princess¡¯s mind.
"All of the heretics¡­ they killed themselves?" Lucien of course hoped that they were all dead so the Church and the princess would never know how he actually awoke his Blessing.
"Most of the heretics died, and some of their leaders escaped." Then Natasha slightly raised her head and said with pride, "But I caught a priest alive. And we learned that the right hand of a powerful demon was sealed in the relic, but it was taken away by the heretics who escaped."
Hearing that a heretic got caught, Lucien¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He quickly calmed down and asked, "Any other information? I¡¯m afraid they¡¯re plotting something toward you and the grand duke."
"Yes, they are planning on something big." Natasha touched her chin thoughtfully, "But only the great priests know the plan."
"We¡¯ll investigate the personnel of our intelligence department. I¡¯m sure we can find more later," added Camil seriously.
"I see¡­ so I¡¯m safe now, right?" asked Lucien although he already knew the answer. He felt he could be a pretty good actor.
"Although we did not find the person who was always watching you, I¡¯m quite sure that you¡¯re safe now. After all, the heretics suffered a great loss tonight, and they are currently busy with running for their lives."
Lucien nodded, putting on a relieved look.
"Thank you, Lucien. Your information helped us a lot this time," said Natasha sincerely.
"That¡¯s my pleasure," Lucien lowered his head and answered politely.
At that moment, Camil¡¯s face darkened and her eyebrows frowned together, which made her look even more serious than usual.
"What happened, auntie?"
"Viscount Stuart killed himself before our people arrived, Your Grace," answered Camil in a low voice.
Viscount Stuart was in charge of the intelligence department of the duchy, who was also a grand knight.
Natasha waved her right hand and her vambrace made a crisp clack, "Someone¡¯s behind Stuart¡­ But why did Stuart betray us? Why he wanted to become the enemy of the Church?"
"We should go now, Your Grace," Camil reminded her.
"Oh¡­ I just realized that I¡¯m still standing on the window. I gotta go now, Lucien." Natasha nodded to him, "The whole thing is even more complicated than I thought. And I¡¯ll tell the Church that you¡¯ve awakened your Blessing under my help."
Then she paused a bit and said to Lucien, "I¡¯m sorry that I cannot make you a knight and give you a title, since according to the law, you¡¯re not as powerful as a knight yet. Besides, making you a knight at this time might put you at great risk. I hope you understand."
"I totally understand, Your Grace," answered Lucien. "Your trust is the most important thing to me, and my family is safe. I cannot ask for more."
"I¡¯ll reward you with a manor several months later. You have my word," said Natasha.
"A manor? Your Grace, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s too much." Lucien refused subconsciously, knowing that he would be leaving Aalto sooner or later. Money was better than a manor to him.
Natasha waved her hands and insisted, "House Violet always pays. It¡¯s our royal tradition. By the way, how did you find out the approximate location, Lucien?"
"I saw a special kind of long-tailed tit in the ball." Lucien was prepared for this question and thus lied without any hesitation, "When I was too poor to feed myself, I often went to the Black Forest for the wild mushrooms and I saw them a few times. Around Aalto, these birds only live around Melzer Black Forest and Lubeck Mountain."
"Interesting. Never heard it before." Natasha nodded, "Besides the manor, you should have a knight sword. I¡¯ll find you one, Lucien."
"Thank you so much, Your Grace." Lucien bowed to the princess.
Natasha took a step backward and floated in the air. Although she was not a radiant knight, her Dragon Blood Armor could help her fly.
"Remember to take a walk in the moonlight, Lucien." Natasha laughed and then flew away with Camil.
After watching them leave, Lucien released a long sigh of relief. Suddenly, he felt very exhausted.

Chapter 92: The Prophecy
				Chapter 92: The Prophecy
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Close to the Dark Mountain Range, the silver-robed great priest Ilia was standing on a rock, looking down at the few heretics kneeling on the ground.
The rage of the great priest was horrible. The huge rock started to crack from his dark power.
"Who can tell me¡­ what the hell happened?!" Ilia was shouting like a wounded beast.
They suffered a great loss tonight. The power of Argent Horn in the duchy was almost annihilated. The number of the members who survived was less than ten, including a level five dark knight, Dragan, two high priests, three ordinary priests and an ordinary dark knight.
Years of Ilia¡¯s hard work were ruined overnight. Now his body was covered by a layer of black fire with a strong smell of sulphur. As the silver hood slipped down, Ilia¡¯s face was revealed.
There were two goat horns on his head, and his eyes were bloody red. The knights and the priests kneeling in front of him didn¡¯t dare to look up.
After a while, Ilia calmed himself down and put the hood on again. Then, he asked, "Who can tell me¡­ why the Church and House Violet were there tonight?"
"The so-called Professor¡­ he was escaping from the Church tonight and somehow he found the underground palace. That¡¯s what I know," answered Dragan carefully.
After a moment of silence, Ilia shouted again, "Then who¡¯s that bloody Professor?!"
"The night watcher said that this Professor might come from the Continental Congress of Magic," answered Dragan, "Actually, we got the news that Professor was gonna meet a sorcerer apprentice somewhere in the Black Forest. Since it was very far from us¡­"
"You f***king idiots!" Ilia almost wanted to tear Dragan into pieces.
Knowing that he said something stupid, Dragan lowered his head and dared not contradict the great priest. In Dragan¡¯s mind, it was just impossible for them to block the whole Black Forest and drive all the people in the forest away.
"Professor¡­ he did this on purpose." Gnashing his teeth, Ilia said slowly, "Killing two birds with one stone, even without getting any blood on his own hands. But why he did this..."
"But I thought the Congress of Magic was on our side¡­" asked a level five priest with confusion.
"Internal conflict is everywhere," sneered Ilia.
Then Ilia turned around and started to pray to the Great Master of Argent, seeking for the revelation from his God.
All the followers started to pray as well.
A black shadow came out from Ilia¡¯s silver robe and gradually covered all of them.
In the darkness, all the followers present heard a deep voice in their mind, but only Ilia could understand the message.
Soon the shadow disappeared and Ilia stood up. He raised his right hand high and said to all the followers, "The Great Master of Argent assured me that despite the setback we suffered tonight, we¡¯ll still be able to accomplish the task, and build the great realm for our true God on the ground."
"May you walk on the ground, as you walk in your realm," responded the other followers in an encouraged way.
"The Great Master also showed me a prophecy: ¡®A falling star has brought the chaos. The throne of fate has lost its master. The nonbeliever who walks in light and darkness will make his debut¡¯."
"What does it mean?" asked Dragan, "It¡¯s like a poem¡­"
"The devil sullied Aalto. We cannot see it clearly." Ilia shook his head.
Fate and time were the hardest to understand. Even the greatest prophet was like an ordinary person when facing a huge mountain, and all he or she could see was only a very small part of it.
...
Lucien slept very well last night. He woke up with the pleasant twitter of birds around eight in the morning.
The ball ended very late. Many people were still in their beds. Thus, no one urged Lucien to go for breakfast.
It was the first time Lucien enjoyed such nice and soft blankets since he crossed over to this world, thus it took Lucien more than half an hour to actually get up and get dressed.
When Lucien was walking downstairs, a maid came to him and smiled, "Good morning, Mr. Evans, what do you want to have for breakfast?"
"Bread, cheese sausage¡­ with milk, please," answered Lucien. He ordered a rich breakfast since he had a pretty good work out last night.
"Sure." The maid nodded, "You¡¯d like to have the breakfast in the dining room or your own room, sir?"
Lucien glanced at the dining room downstairs and saw Rhine was sitting there.
"Dining room, thank you."
When Lucien entered the dining room, Rhine was sending a piece of rare-cooked steak into his mouth.
"Morning, Lucien!" greeted Rhine, "You really should try the steak, very juicy."
Lucien took an opposite seat and said to the maid, "A steak for me, please. Medium."
Then Lucien turned to Rhine and smiled, "Good breakfast starts a good day."
"Also a perfect supplement for a good work out," said Rhine meaningfully.
"Evans, Yvette is like a beast." A young noble man was sitting beside them. He laughed a bit, but had clearly misunderstood their conversation.
"Come on, Albay. I didn¡¯t do anything last night." Lucien was introduced to this young man last night by Felicia, "I hurt my ankle."
"I see. No wonder¡­" Albay laughed even harder, "No wonder Yvette went for hunting very early this morning and she looked angry. Good for you, Lucien."
The breakfast was pleasant. Seeing that Rhine almost finished his food, Lucien asked hurriedly, "Can you tell me where it is¡­ the dream like place that you mentioned to me last night?"
"Since it¡¯s as beautiful as paradise, I¡¯ll tell you the location after you can hold your own concert, as an award." Rhine smiled in a cunning way. To him, it was very interesting to see Lucien¡¯s growth.
After Rhine left, Albay asked Lucien curiously, "Where is that place you were talking about?"
"I don¡¯t know. He won¡¯t tell me right now," answered Lucien, shrugging his shoulders.
What he knew was that his life had better go back to normal, at least for a period of time, to meet Rhine¡¯s requirement as soon as possible. Firstly, Lucien had to abandon the pseudonym Professor.
Finishing his breakfast, Lucien saw a sleepy Felicia coming downstairs. He greeted, "Good morning, Felicia."
"Morning, Lucien. How¡¯s your ankle?" asked her.
"It¡¯s fine now," answered Lucien. "I¡¯m sorry, Felicia. I¡¯m afraid I cannot go hunting today. I have to go now to deal with some of my personal stuff."
"What happened?" Felicia asked with concern.
"Sorry, but I have to keep it a secret, Felicia," Lucien put on a slightly awkward look, "since it has something to do with the princess."
"Sure, Lucien." Felicia was a bit surprised for a moment, "I¡¯ll send a coach for you."
Getting on the coach, Lucien asked the coachman to go to Lord Venn¡¯s manor first.¡¡

Chapter 93: Recomposing
				Chapter 93: Recomposing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The coachman was so experienced that Lucien did not feel the road bumpy at all.
Having lots issues troubling his mind, by the time Lucien stopped thinking, the coach was already in front of Lord Venn¡¯s manor.
"Mr. Evans, we¡¯ve arrived. Do you need me to tell the guards?" The coachman turned around and asked Lucien politely. An elegant gentleman usually did not talk to ordinary guards.
"No, thanks." Lucien smiled, "My friend is a squire here. We¡¯re equal."
With his awakened Blessing, Lucien was only a step away from becoming a knight. However, in his mind, he and John were simply good friends, and there was no level or class difference between them.
It was Ian and Durago who were guarding the gate today. Immediately they puffed out their chests when they saw the fine coach with the coat of arms of Fire Bull, ready to welcome the guest.
They were very surprised when they saw Lucien again. They still remembered him: in their memory, Lucien was only a pauper who did not show much respect to them, and now in the white shirt and black suit, the young man looked like a decent noble.
They did not come to themselves until Lucien was standing in front of them, "So¡­ sorry, are you looking for John?"
"Yes, please." Lucien did not recognize them.
When Ian was about to go into the manor, Durago asked with a bit hesitation, "Excuse me, sir. Are you¡­ are you Mr. Evans?"
After the great success of the concert, even John, as a very moderate young man, could not help himself sharing what he knew about Lucien and all the praises his good friend received from the grand duke, the grand cardinal and princess.
"Yes, I¡¯m John¡¯s friend," answered Lucien.
"Your work, Fate, was played on Lord Venn's banquet several days ago. It was fantastic!" Durago said to Lucien with great excitement, "I¡¯m so sorry that I was being really rude to you."
This big tough guy was very sincere and excited. Lucien sort of recalled the conflict that happened between them before and was quite surprised that Durago was this enthusiastic about music.
Soon Lucien realized Aalto was indeed the City of Psalm.
"It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m glad you like my work," answered Lucien politely.
Standing beside Durago, Ian put on an embarrassed smile.
After the concert, Lucien experienced a big change in the way many people treated him. Durago¡¯s sincere apology and all the flattering words triggered Lucien¡¯s thought. The sudden upgrade in his social status turned what happened several months ago into a distant dream.
"Mr. Evans, can I invite you to my place?" asked Durago, rubbing his hands nervously with excitement.
Finding a random excuse, Lucien refused him politely, but he felt quite awkward.
Soon John came following Ian, looking a bit confused, "Lucien! I¡¯m going back home later this afternoon. Has anything happened?"
"Yes, but it has been solved. No worries." Lucien pulled John¡¯s arm, "Let¡¯s get on the coach first."
The old coachman was smart enough to know that he should not be listening to the conversation. So he tied the horses firmly to the hitching post, walked away from the coach, and took out his tobacco under a big tree.
When John was listening to Lucien, his face darkened and his brows knotted. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his hands so tightly that his whole body was shaking. When he heard that his parents¡¯ fingers were cut, his teeth were gnashing. However, John did not say even a single word. He remained silent and listened carefully.
"I¡¯m terribly sorry, John," said Lucien, whose heart was full of guilt.
Lowering his head, John did not answer immediately.
Lucien knew that his friend needed some time to recover from his pain and great anger. So he remained silent with John.
After a while, John finally started to talk,
"Lucien, it¡¯s not your fault. I don¡¯t blame you."
That was the first thing John said to Lucien. Instead of venting his frustration, John chose to comfort his best friend to free him of his horrible guilt.
Lucien was quite surprised, and he was touched, "Thank you so much, John. What you just said means a lot to me."
When John was about to go back to ask for a longer leave from his duty, Lucien stopped him.
"Wait, John. Here¡¯s twenty grams of Moonlight Rose dust." Lucien pulled out the small black bag and handed it over to his friend.
John had heard just now where did the Moonlight Rose come from. After more than ten seconds, he firmly took the small bag from Lucien¡¯s hand.
"Thank you, Lucien. I¡¯ll awake my Blessing. Only this way I can protect my family and friends," said John seriously.
"No rush. Follow Lord Venn¡¯s instruction and take your time." Lucien nodded, "Also, can you keep this a secret? After all, I lied to the princess about how I got these roses."
"You know me, Lucien. I¡¯m more reliable than a dead man." John patted his friend on the shoulder and promised seriously.
...
The arrival of the House Hayne¡¯s coach caused a stir in Aderon, the poorest district in the whole city. Although most of them could not name all the coat of arms of the big families in Aalto, they still registered in mind those of the few most powerful noble families.
Joel, Alisa and Iven had been sent back home by the Church. The pastors did not find much valuable information with them.
Seeing John and Lucien getting off the coach, Iven suddenly burst out crying, as if the little boy was trying to wash away all the horrible memories with his tears.
John gently patted Iven¡¯s head and gave him a firm hug, "It¡¯s okay, now, Iven. You¡¯re already a grown-up man and you did a great job. God bless us."
Lucien hugged Joel and Alisa. His apology, worry and joy were all in this big hug.
"It¡¯s not your fault, Lucien." Joel and Alisa comforted him, "And you see¡­ we¡¯re fine now."
As the hostages of the vicious heretics, they did not expect that they could survive in the end. When they were saved, they were so grateful to the God of Truth that now they became even more understanding and tolerant. After all, nothing else really mattered when facing death.
Then Alisa and Joel told Lucien what the Church and the intelligence department of the duchy questioned them. The thing that concerned the pastors and the intelligence the most was why Alisa and Joel passed out outside of the cell, but were found by the knight inside of the cell later.
As the great thunder caused by lady Camil¡¯s power knocked them out instantly, no hostages present could provide any valuable information. In the end, the people from the Church and the intelligence department were guessing that it was probably because the heretics first locked the hostages back in case they would escape, and later on they did not have enough time to come back and kill them all.
"We got really lucky there. Thank God!" Drying her eyes, Alisa was telling Lucien the story.
At this time, there came a knock on the door.
It was Corella and a church guard that Lucien did not know.
Lucien was a bit more relieved seeing that the Church only sent a knight squire there, which meant he was not really suspicious to the Church.
After a short and regular investigation, Corella stood up and thanked Lucien on behalf of the Church, "The bishop appreciated what you did. Without your information, we would have suffered a greater loss."
Lucien¡¯s musician identity made it almost impossible for the Church to draw a link between Professor and the princess¡¯ personal consultant. However, there were still some coincidences which involved Lucien that they were unable to explain right now.
...
Lucien finally came back to his normal life, busy with studying music and magic. He also asked Joel and his family to move into his new house temporarily, since Gesu was way safer than Aderon.
In these days, Lucien did not take even a single glance at the broken wall where he usually left secret messages to communicate with the apprentices. To be prudent, he also left aside his plan of destroying his magic lab for the time being.
This day Victor started to teach them "canon", a contrapuntal compositional technique that employed a melody with imitations of it played after a given duration.
With just a few rules, even beginners could achieve much with canon.
"Actually, you¡¯ve subconsciously employed cannon in your Symphony of Fate, Lucien," commented Victor. "It looks like you learned a lot in the library of the association."
"Um¡­ yes, I guess. Thank you, Mr. Victor," answered Lucien, a bit absent-minded.
His mind was occupied by the thought that he needed to come up with enough music works for holding a concert to meet Rhine¡¯s requirement. Eighty years ago, someone produced a piece of music work which was very similar to the well-known Pachelbel's Canon, or Canon and Gigue in D, in his original world. However, he could still rewrite Pachelbel¡¯s Canon into a piece of piano concerto.
Although he still needed some more "original" pieces of music for a personal concert, recomposing was definitely the best time-saving way for Lucien to have his repertoire as soon as possible.

Chapter 94: The Sword
				Chapter 94: The Sword
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
At the end of the class, Victor said to his students, "I know many of you are hard-working and some of you have been studying canon on your own for a while. I¡¯d like to see every one of you try to write a piece of canon to facilitate your understanding toward this compositional technique."
While the other students were pretty excited about it, Lucien remained silent with his own thoughts. Seeing that, Victor said to Lucien, "Lucien, although you¡¯re indeed very talented, don¡¯t underestimate canon. Simple as it seems to be, an outstanding piece of cannon can still become a masterpiece that lasts for generations, just like Mr. Hersey¡¯s Canon in D. And practicing cannon is very beneficial to a student like you who don¡¯t have a very solid music foundation."
Victor was often mindful of giving Lucien, the young genius, some proper "warning" to avoid his possible arrogance, which was very common among musicians who became famous at an early age, and unfortunately most of them ended up wasting their talent and lost their reputation very quickly.
Not until Victor started to talk to him did Lucien come to himself. He nodded and explained, "Thank you, Mr. Victor. I understand how important a solid foundation is and I¡¯ll definitely go all out to work on my canon."
"Good. Then what were you thinking about?" asked Victor.
"When you were introducing Mr. Hersey¡¯s Canon in D, I was thinking that I could probably recompose this classic piece of work and turn it into a piano concerto. Maybe a piano concerto version of Canon in D will be quite unique."
"Interesting idea, Lucien." Victor touched his chin a bit when he was thinking, "The challenging part is that Mr. Hersey¡¯s Canon is composed of very short music bars, thus it¡¯s hard to make considerable changes within it."
"Do you think it¡¯s doable, Mr, Victor?" asked Lucien with expectation.
"Well¡­ Canon in D was recomposed into a few different versions before, so I¡¯d say a piano concerto version is definitely something to look forward to." Victor confirmed Lucien¡¯s idea and smiled.
After the class, when the students were heading toward the practicing rooms, Felicia caught up with Lucien and asked him in a low voice with expectation, "Are you gonna play the piano concerto version of Canon in D on my birthday party next month?"
Canon was not a very demanding nor complicated technique. She did not think it would take Lucien too long to do it.
Lucien was suddenly inspired, then he smiled, "Felicia, I won¡¯t forget the help you offered me. I¡¯ll play the piano on your birthday party, but not a canon. I¡¯ll compose a piece of serenade for you."
"Really!" That was a big surprise for Felicia.The fact that the personal music consultant of the princess would write a piece of serenade specially for her was totally beyond her expectation.
"Yes, but it won¡¯t be a very complete one since the time is quite limited. It¡¯s probably only an opusculum."
"You¡¯re so great, Lucien!" Felicia was excited but also feeling a bit concerned, "But you only have a month¡­ If the work is not good enough, that might damage your reputation."
Although composing a piece of opusculum within a month was not rare, Felicia still worried about Lucien. Since Lucien was drawing so much attention right now after the concert, many people who envied his talent were watching him like vicious beasts at night, waiting for any possible chance to launch their attack and to give this young musician a hard time.
"A piece of serenade shouldn¡¯t be a problem." Lucien seemed to be quite confident. And Lucien¡¯s confidence came from the fact that he already found a very classic piece of serenade in his spirit library which resembled no music work in this world.
In order to avoid being too suspicious, Lucien decided only to do an opusculum on the birthday party.
"Alright¡­ I¡¯m looking forward to your serenade," said Felicia with both expectation and concern.
...
In the following month, except for analyzing magic spells and reading the book named Astrology and Magic Elements written in the ancient Sylvanas language with the help of the witch¡¯s note at night, Lucien spent all his time on studying music and composing his canon and the serenade. After all, music now could provide him with the chance to find the headquarter of the Congress of Magic.
With his hard work and great memory, Lucien now finally felt he was qualified enough as a music student. Within this month, he also successfully recomposed Canon in D and finished the serenade for Felicia¡¯s birthday.
Meanwhile, John was still working on his knight training. Although he wanted to awaken his Blessing as soon as possible, he was warned by Lord Venn that, without a solid foundation, the awakening would be very likely to fail. Even if he succeed this time, his future growth would be very limited.
Thus, John was being very patient, even though that meant he needed to do the same training over and over again everyday. In John¡¯s spare time, he would go into the Black Forest to fight with goblins and cynocephaluses to gather more experience. At the same time, Lord Venn gave John a sum of money and asked him to rent a unit in the administrative district, in order to protect his family.
Although Joel and his family had a pretty good time in Lucien¡¯s house, they were definitely even happier with their own place, especially since it was a place that was earned by their son. Therefore, they soon moved out of Lucien¡¯s house, and Lucien respected their choice. After all, they were family, and that would never change, no matter if they lived together or not.
...
The last Thursday of the Month of Gold (October). War Gallery.
"I¡¯m finally satisfied with this part." Natasha just finished her discussion with Lucien about a movement, "Now this part is exciting enough to meet the theme."
"The last version was pretty good already." Lucien smiled, "You indeed have very high expectations on yourself, Your Grace."
Natasha¡¯s music knowledge was actually way more profound than Lucien¡¯s. By working together, Lucien also learned a lot from the princess.
"Well¡­ if you do something, then you do your best," said Natasha in a good mood.
"Yes, Your Grace," Lucien agreed.
When Lucien was about to leave, Natasha asked him with curiosity, "I heard that you wrote a new serenade for your classmate¡¯s birthday party tonight?"
"Yes." Lucien nodded.
Pointing at the piano standing in the center of the room, Natasha asked, "Can I listen to it first?"
"I¡¯m sorry, Your Grace. It¡¯s a gift for Felicia¡¯s birthday," Lucien refused the princess politely.
"Well, I guess¡­" Natasha took a few steps back and forth, "Although I¡¯m very curious, I think you¡¯re right. I feel like writing a love serenade for Silvia¡¯s birthday, too."
"That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s very considerate." Lucien was almost used to it now.
At this time, Natasha turned around and said something to lady Camil. Camil left the room and, a moment later, came back with a fine sword in her hand.
"This is the knight sword that I promised you," said Natasha. "Its name is ¡®Alert¡¯, and it¡¯s a level one high rank sword with an extraordinary quality. With Alert, your instincts will be way sharper, making you more aware of any approaching danger."

Chapter 95: Felicia¡¯s Birthday Party
				Chapter 95: Felicia¡¯s Birthday Party
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Felicia¡¯s Birthday Party
Since it was not an investiture, the manners were not of great complexity. Lucien saluted the princess with a knight¡¯s etiquette and the princess leaned the sword against Lucien¡¯s shoulder.
"May your sword guard your will," said Natasha seriously.
Then Lucien took the sword from Natasha¡¯s hands, and followed her instruction to leave a willpower mark on Alert.
Alert was of an ordinary level one knight¡¯s attack force, and it could help its owner to be as sensitive to the surroundings as a level two knight.
While sorcerers called them magic weapons, the nobles and pastors called them extraordinary weapons, which did not require registration in their owner¡¯s spirit. The owner of an extraordinary weapon or item just needed to leave a mark of his or her will power to activate it. However, according to some makers¡¯ will, some of these weapons or items rejected certain kinds of users and their power could not be activated.
Carrying the sword, Lucien saluted the princess again and left the room. Watching Lucien leave, Natasha said to Camil gently, "You have any plans for this evening, auntie?"
...
In preparation for the birthday party that night, Felicia did not attend the class today.
During the break, Lott and Lucien were chatting casually. Lott told Lucien that this was Felicia¡¯s eighteenth birthday and this was her coming-of-age ceremony, thus many nobles and all the musicians of the association would be present.
"Are you feeling nervous? After all, this is your first performance after the concert," asked Lott.
In order to make sure Lucien could focus on studying music after his success, Victor was "protecting" Lucien with great caution. On behalf of his student, Victor turned down many invitations and offers for Lucien, and that made many people feel even more curious about this young talented musician.
"Not really," answered Lucien in a relaxed way, "I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be that many guests tonight though."
"At least some of them will be there just because of your birthday gift for Felicia, the new serenade," Herodotus, who was usually very quiet, joined their conversation, and commented in a calm voice, "They¡¯re hoping to see what you can present a whole month after the concert."
"I agree with Herodotus," said Lott. "As the current host of House Hayne, Felicia¡¯s uncle should be there tonight, too. Hopefully he won¡¯t find an excuse to give Felicia and her parents a hard time."
"Well¡­ we¡¯ll see, then," said Lucien thoughtfully.
...
In the early evening, Lucien got on the coach and headed toward the house where Felicia lived. This time he hired his own coach and felt a bit proud of it.
By the time Lucien arrived, it was already very busy in front of the luxury three-storey house. Lots of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen were getting off their coaches, chatting and laughing.
The house was originally built by the old count to host parties.
Through the gate, Lucien walked on the path and went through the garden. Then he saw Felicia was standing in front of the hallway.
She was welcoming the guests accompanied by her mother, wearing another bright red dress tonight. Red was House Hayne¡¯s color and the color always suited her very well.
"Thank you for coming, Lucien," said Felicia sincerely. "Lots of famous musicians came here tonight because of you, including Christopher, the president of the association."
"I¡¯m quite sure they came because of you." Lucien smiled and kissed Felicia¡¯s hand without his lips actually touching the hand to show his politeness.
"Welcome, Lucien. We¡¯re all talking about you recently. You¡¯re such a genius." Felicia¡¯s mother greeted him. Felicia really looked like her mother, except for the hair, since her mother¡¯s was brown.
Lucien nodded to them and entered the hall. Lots of guests were holding their cups and talking to each other. It was a perfect chance for socializing.
"Hi, Evans." Many people greeted Lucien when he was walking. Their facial expressions varied. Some of them looked excited and curious, while some were throwing Lucien meaningful and unfriendly looks.
What would the so-called most gifted and creative genius ever present tonight? Everyone was waiting for Lucien¡¯s new serenade.
Among those serenades made for parties good ones seldom appeared, since their themes and styles were rather limited. Many musicians commented that these serenades were "not even close to being elegant". Thus, many of them tonight were actually expecting Lucien¡¯s failure tonight, and then they could teach this young genius a lesson.
Christopher, who was surrounded by many musicians, said to the many musicians who did not have much hope in Lucien, "He¡¯s still young, and we shouldn¡¯t be too critical with those younger musicians. We shall applaud for their success, and also be more tolerant of their failure. Just leave them some space."
When Lucien came over, the musicians ended the topic and started to talk about music creation. Lucien took a cup of water from a waiter and listened to their conversation quietly and politely, a few steps away.
Several elder musicians noticed that and significantly changed their attitude toward Lucien, since clearly he was not one of those young musicians who instantly become very arrogant after making some achievement.
Then Victor, Rhine, Lott and some other of Lucien¡¯s classmates arrived too.
...
It was already seven thirty in the evening, but Count Hayne was still not there. The atmosphere started to become a bit awkward.
Felicia¡¯s father, Urbain, looked every embarrassed. He was also very angry with Scott, his brother. Despite all the conflict they had in the past, Felicia is Scott¡¯s niece, and today was her eighteenth birthday. It was the current Count Hayne¡¯s responsibility to show up and send his best wishes to Felicia. Urbain was really angry with his brother.
Wringing her hands, Felicia looked embarrassed to the point of almost bursting into tears. On this occasion, Count Hayne¡¯s absence definitely would do damage to her reputation among the nobles.
Ten minutes later, the steward of Count Hayne finally arrived and said to Urbain in a polite but also cold manner, "Lord Hayne will not be able to come tonight, since he¡¯s sick."
Urbain¡¯s face looked very gloomy, and he was so choked that he could not even say a single word.
A few high-status nobles who were close to Count Hayne were waiting in their houses, since they were not sure if they should attend the party or not. After confirming that Count Hayne would not be there tonight, several servants who were waiting outside of the party house secretly left to report this to their masters.
Fortunately, some other nobles were still coming, since Urbain was still the clerk of the town hall.
Taking a deep breath, Urbain asked his daughter to stay calm and continue to welcome the guests.
"Too bad. If a family member is held in detestation by the host of the family, unless the member could awaken his or her Blessing and become a knight, the family member would always have a hard time in whatever they want to do." A musician named Comotz said to Lucien in a meaningful way.
Lucien pretended that he did not get it, "I believe no matter what a person wants to do, as long as he or she is persistent enough and works really hard, the person can be successful."
His voice was a bit loud, and it could be clearly heard since the hall was relatively quiet from the weird atmosphere.
Felicia heard what Lucien just said, and the fact that Lucien made such an achievement from scratch cheered her up. As a noble lady from one of the most important families in the Duchy of Orvarit, Felicia was way more privileged than her classmate and there was no reason for her to easily give up her dream.
After a while, Othello, the director of the association, came to Lucien, followed by Mekanzi Griffith and three young men.
Mekanzi greeted the other musicians present and introduced the three young men to Lucien, "Mr. Clemen, Mr. Baret and Mr. Julian are from Tria. They¡¯ve read all the reviews of Symphony of Fate on Music Criticism and Symphony News, and they come here especially for you, Lucien."
"I¡¯m glad to meet you. Thank you so much for coming." Lucien shook hands with them one by one. The three young musicians from Tria were all in their early twenties. Dressing tastefully, they were all very decent young men.
"Your teacher, Francois, had already introduced all of you to me through a letter he wrote." Christopher recalled their names, "I¡¯ve listened to your music works before. All of you are very talented."
Francois was born in the Kingdom of Syracuse. When he was a teenager, Francois came to Aalto to study music and then achieved great success in music in his late twenties. A few years ago, Francois went back to Syracuse and became the prime music consultant for the royal family.
The three young musicians hurriedly saluted Christopher, who was known as the "living music legend", with great respect.
Mekanzi said to Lucien with malicious intention, "I hope your serenade surprises everyone here tonight, genius!"
"A serenade? I have a piece of serenade for miss Hayne tonight, too!" The black-haired Julian was the most talented and also the most arrogant one among the three, "We can present our serenades together."
Mekanzi seemed to be relatively acquainted with Julian.
When Lucien was about to answer, the whole hall suddenly quieted down. The sword "Alert" Lucien was wearing reminded him that someone he knew was coming.
Lucien turned around and saw a luxury coach stopping in front of the steps on the other end.
A tall, purple-haired beauty in her white uniform and black long boots was walking toward Felicia, with a pretty young lady walking with her arm in arm, while Camil was quietly following behind.
"Your Grace?!" Felicia exclaimed with great surprise.

Chapter 96: The Serenade
				Chapter 96: The Serenade
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Hi, Felicia. Happy birthday!" Standing in front of Felicia, Natasha smiled, "Sorry that I came without being invited."
"No, no¡­ It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s my great pleasure, Your Grace." Felicia was almost too excited to speak properly, "I really wanted to invite you, Your Grace. But I¡¯m not qualified¡­ I¡¯m just¡­"
"I know, I know¡­" Natasha gently touched Felicia¡¯s hair and comforted her, "Don¡¯t call me ¡®Your Grace¡¯. Just call me Natasha like many years ago when we were playing together in the manor. I remember that back in the days when the old count was still alive, we always went hunting with uncle Samuel, Alfred and Harrington."
"I was so short and always fell over." All those memories came back to Felicia, "I cried a lot."
"Yes, you did. And ten years later, you¡¯re turning eighteen." Natasha¡¯s heart was also softened by those memories, "Alfred and uncle Samuel must be very happy in heaven seeing you become such a gorgeous noble lady."
Alfred was the eldest son of the grand duke, Natasha¡¯s elder brother, who was also a level five grand knight in his early twenties. Samuel was the elder brother of the current Count Hayne and Urbain Hayne, who was the first heir of House Hayne¡¯s title. Both of them died in the battle with the heretic knights almost ten years ago.
Ten years changed a lot. Felicia¡¯s father did not manage to inherit the title and Natasha turned from a little girl into a real warrior after her elder brother died. All the friends back in the old days gradually drifted away from each other, and those beautiful days would never come back again.
Before the princess arrived, Felicia was forcing herself to smile in order to welcome the guests and keep the party going, although she was facing great disappointment and anger. Now, different emotions mixed together in her mind and she could not hold her tears back anymore, "I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re here tonight, Natasha."
"Don¡¯t cry, Felicia." Natasha gave Felicia a big warm hug, "You¡¯re my younger sister. As Count Hayne is sick tonight, I¡¯ll host your coming-of-age ceremony tonight."
"Yes, Your Grace." Felicia sniffed and put on a smile, "I¡¯m so honored that the princess is going to host my ceremony."
Natasha also had tears in her eyes but she was trying to cheer Felicia up, "And my personal music consultant is gonna present you with a beautiful piece of serenade."
In her mind, Natasha was blaming Lucien for tempting her to attend the party tonight with his new serenade. As a grand knight, she did not expect that she would cry when she saw Felicia and that made her feel very shy.
Natasha and Lucien were getting more and more like friends after what happened with the heresy.
Mentioned by the princess, Lucien suddenly captured a lot of attention from the nobles and musicians present. Now all of the guests were expecting Lucien¡¯s serenade tonight.
"Welcome, Your Grace. Welcome, lady Camil, lady Silvia." Urbain was also excited and led the princess into the hall.
All the nobles and musicians were saluting the princess. Natasha was fed up with all the noble manners but was still smiling and nodding politely toward them. Silvia, while holding the princess¡¯s arm, was very nervous and her face flushed, since it was her first time showing up in public with Natasha like this, facing lots of musicians she knew.
"Mr. Christopher, good evening," Silvia greeted her teacher.
Looking at his student coming together with the princess, Christopher paused a bit as if he wanted to say something but he stopped himself. He just simply said, "Good evening, Silvia. There¡¯re several musicians here tonight, and I know you¡¯re very interested in this new music instrument."
Natasha had previously told Lucien that Silvia was interested in his new fingerings, but also that she might be too shy to talk to him, so Lucien took the initiative to talk to her. Silvia was encouraged and started to share her understanding of piano with Lucien.
The three musicians coming from Tria were completely ignored. They were a bit pissed off but there was not much they could do. After all, no one really knew them in Aalto.
However, their angry faces amused Mekanzi, standing on the other side.
...
When they heard that the princess went to the party tonight, many nobles rushed to come. Thus, the ceremony was put off for half an hour.
The coming-of-age ceremony was not complicated. Taking a flame-like flower and the badge of House Hayne from Felicia¡¯s mother, Natasha put them on the left side of Felicia¡¯s chest and delivered a short speech.
Then Natasha invited Felicia for an opening dance, which was the last part of the ceremony.
The dance was just gorgeous. As a level five grand knight, Natasha was excellent in strength, agility and coordination. Led by the princess, Felicia presented the best dance in her life so far.
Then it should be Lucien¡¯s turn to present his new serenade for Felicia. However, at this time, Julian came to the center of the hall.
"Your Grace, Distinguished guests, I¡¯m Julian from the palace of Tria. I¡¯m sorry that I just came here tonight with Mr. Griffith without lady Felicia¡¯s invitation. Here I want to present lady Felicia with a piece of my newly-written serenade, in order to bring all my best wishes."
"It seems like our talented young musician is having an unexpected challenger here." Natasha lifted her eyebrows and said to Lucien in a low voice.
Lucien shrugged his shoulders a bit. He did not really care.
Natasha nodded, "Well. Then let¡¯s welcome Julian from Tria."
Handing his sheets of music to the band, Julian was waiting for them to get prepared. Julian was quite excited since the music genre of serenade was Tria¡¯s forte.

Chapter 97: G Major
				Chapter 97: G Major
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In this world, serenade was originally a music genre performed for expressing love or affection, which was considered a suitable kind of music piece for the evening. As there were many nobles who were fond of chasing different music trends, the style of serenade also changed over time, and was played more and more often over evening parties.
In Aalto, the City of Psalm, serenade was never really mainstream, instead, symphony and concerto were more popular as they were always regarded as "more solemn and elegant".
When they were talking about piano fingerings, Silvia smiled to her teacher and said, "I¡¯ve seen Mr. Julian¡¯s serenade in your office before, and indeed it¡¯s very suitable for playing on evening parties."
Christopher immediately understood the intention of her words. He shook his head and smiled.
Several of the famous musicians present like Othello and Victor smiled with the president as well. What Silvia was actually saying was that Julian¡¯s work was to some extent too shallow to be presented on formal occasions.
On the other hand, Baret and Clemen, the two musicians who were visiting Aalto for the first time, were not quite sure about the connotation of Silvia¡¯s words.
Lucien did not realize the meaning of Silvia¡¯s comment until he saw the other musicians¡¯ meaningful smile. Maybe it was Lucien¡¯s friendly attitude that won Silvia¡¯s preference for him over Julian.
At that time, Julian picked up his violin and his playing started.
The beginning of his serenade surprised many of the traditional musicians present, including Christopher, Othello and Victor. Julian recomposed his music work and made it relatively solemn and serious.
An interested smile emerged on Natasha¡¯s face. She has always loved surprises. Silvia, standing beside her, looked more confused than surprised.
Julian was indeed a genius. The combination of the pleasant features of serenade and the solemnity of orchestra in his music work impressed every musician present at the party.
During the second movement of Julian¡¯s serenade, even the president Christopher smiled and praised, "This part is challenging but Julian handled it very well."
Clemen and Baret gave Julian an admiring glance, since a good comment from the president of the musicians¡¯ association of Aalto meant a lot for a young musician.
The gentle and elegant lento was followed by a more cheerful allegro, designed for the evening party. The playing ended in a pleasant and high-spirited atmosphere.
Warm applause came to Julian. Felicia, as the host of the coming-of-age ceremony and the evening party, thanked Julian, "I appreciate your gift a lot, Mr. Julian. It¡¯s very impressive as a piece of serenade."
"It¡¯s my great pleasure playing for you, Miss Hayne." Julian kissed Felicia¡¯s hand and bowed to her, "May your beauty and happiness always be with you."
Then he left the dancing floor and rejoined the musicians with a big smile on his face, knowing that the piece of serenade which took him more than five months to accomplish was acknowledged by the many musicians in Aalto.
Although the playing was not perfect because of the lack of practicing of the band, Julian still achieved success.
"Awesome, elegant, passionate! No one can compete with you in the field of serenade." While Mekanzi was complimenting Julian, his eyes were peeking at Lucien.
However, Lucien did not care. Lucien never regarded himself as a real musician.
Othello, as the director of the association, also extended his congratulation.
After Othello, Silvia expressed her different opinion with a gentle smile, "Impressive as it is, the pace of the serenade in general is a bit sluggish and the structure is not well-designed."
"Well¡­" Julian felt a bit embarrassed, "What you just said¡­ The problems you just mentioned are relatively inevitable for a serenade, aren¡¯t they?"
Christopher was a bit surprised that his student, who was always nice and gentle, was this aggressive and sharp tonight. Thus, he took a step forward and took over the conversation, "Anyway, this is a piece of serenade with outstanding quality."
"Thank you!" Julian¡¯s big smile came back again. He could already see the prosperous future that awaited him as a very famous musician in Aalto.
Then suddenly he turned around and said to Lucien in an arrogant intonation, "Now, it¡¯s your turn, Mr. Evans."
At this time, Felicia¡¯s mother said to all the guests, "Thank you, Mr. Julian. Thank you for your passionate playing. In this beautiful evening, Mr. Lucien Evans, as my daughter¡¯s music classmate, will also present us a piece of bagatelle as well!"
Lucien¡¯s name caused a stir in the crowd.
"Yes, ¡®the¡¯ Mr. Lucien Evans. The young talented musician who composed Symphony of Fate!" Felicia¡¯s mother introduced with pride.
Lucien tidied his clothes a bit and was about to walk to the center of the hall, when Mekanzi said to him in an ill-intentioned way, "Hope you don¡¯t press the wrong key, Lucien."
Natasha took a glance at Mekanzi and lifted her eyebrows, and then looked at Lucien. She had confidence in Lucien since she had seen Lucien playing piano several times after he awoke his Blessing, and his playing skill had improved a lot.
"Don¡¯t let Natasha down," Silvia said to Lucien in a low voice, "You're Natasha¡¯s musician consultant."
Lucien was not bothered by Mekanzi. He nodded to Natasha, Silvia and his teacher Mr. Victor, and then walked toward the center of the hall where a piano was placed. Victor raised his glass toward his student as his encouragement.
Felicia was a bit nervous, since she was not sure whether playing a piece of bagatelle tonight was a good idea. Now in comparison to Julian¡¯s serenade, any flaw in Lucien¡¯s playing might be exaggerated.
The applause to welcome Lucien gradually stopped. Many musicians and nobles were waiting.
The first movement was an Allegro, pleasant, graceful and brief. And it captured everyone¡¯s attention immediately with a very cheerful sonata-allegro form.
Julian¡¯s smile froze on his face. As a musician, he instantly realized the gap existing between his serenade and Lucien¡¯s work. Excellent as his work was, this young Aalto musician¡¯s serenade could be called classical.
What Lucien was playing was Amadeus Mozart¡¯s Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major.

Chapter 98: The Charm of Piano
				Chapter 98: The Charm of Piano
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Natasha¡¯s purple eyes were lit up by the allegro. After listening to the first two bars, she instantly knew that this piece of bagatelle would not let her down.
Subconsciously relaxing her hands, all of Felicia¡¯s concerns disappeared and her eyes started to shine with excitement. That was the most fabulous serenade she had even heard, even though it was just part of the whole work.
Pleasant and cheerful, gentle and elegant, a few guests at the party nodded slightly following the rhythm while beating time to the music. They wanted to dance. Smiles appeared on their faces.
Lucien¡¯s long and beautiful hands were moving on the keyboard in a smooth and free manner. His fingers, wrists, arms and even his body were working cooperatively to present this perfect piece of piano bagatelle.
Besides the melody itself, Lucien¡¯s manner of playing was also a feast for the guests¡¯ eyes.
Many young nobles, while enjoying the music, were longing for learning piano and Lucien¡¯s new fingerings. Many noble ladies were staring at Lucien in great admiration.
"What a decent, elegant and talented gentleman!" The girls were wondering about how much a piano playing could show one¡¯s artistic elegance.
Several minutes later, Lucien pressed down the last key of the piano bagatelle. His right hand was raised in a dšŠgagšŠ way to show the end of his playing.
Then he stood up, bowed to Natasha, then Felicia and the guests present.
Lucien¡¯s listeners paused a bit, as if they needed some time to recover from the great surprise and excitement. A couple of seconds later, Lucien was surrounded by the thunder of applause from the guests.
"Beautiful, graceful and balanced. I¡¯m proud of you, Lucien!" commented Natasha, "Finish the following movements and turn this amazing piece of bagatelle into a serenade masterpiece."
Felicia¡¯s face flushed with excitement, "Lucien, thank you so much for the gift. I think my coming-of-age ceremony will be recorded in the history of music because of your serenade."
Lucien gently hugged Felicia, giving her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
Then he went back and rejoined the musicians.
"Lucien, you¡¯re indeed a genius. This piano bagatelle is the most beautiful serenade I¡¯ve ever heard." Christopher smiled and his eyes were shining with praise.
"No one can doubt your talent anymore, Lucien." Silvia nodded. She was very impressed with the movement of Lucien¡¯s fingers, wrists and arms when he was playing, and with the elegance of this new musical instrument, piano. In her mind, the piano was no inferior to the violin, the queen of all the musical instruments.
As Lucien¡¯s teacher, Victor was very proud, "I believe that this piece of serenade will become the most popular music work for parties and feasts, even more popular than Symphony of Fate." Then, Victor paused a bit before continuing, "What I appreciate the most is that you employed many challenging playing skills in the bagatelle. After all, beautiful as a serenade is, it cannot be the mainstream of music in Aalto."
Lucien nodded with mixed feelings. He always appreciated all the help that Victor provided him, but he also knew that his future might not have anything to do with music, since the path that he chose was magic. After he got to know where the Continental Congress of Magic was from Rhine, he would leave Aalto very soon. Lucien did not want to let Victor down.
While most of the musicians present were marveling at Lucien¡¯s extraordinary talent, Mekanzi looked very resentful. He took a glance at the very disappointed Julian and then he stepped forward as if something hit him all of a sudden.
Mekanzi pointed at Lucian and said in a loud voice in front of the guests, "There¡¯s no way that a beginner can compose something like this! You, so despicable, you made a pact with the devil!"
All of the guests were shocked. They turned around and looked at Mekanzi as if he was insane. It was a very, very serious accusation against Lucien. In other words, Mekanzi wanted Lucien to die.
"Mind your words, Mekanzi!" Victor looked angry and serious, "Talented as Lucien is, he still works very hard." He was the first person speaking out for Lucien, while Lott and Herodotus remained silent. Facing an accusation involving a deal with the devil, even nobles didn¡¯t easily dare to defend their classmate.
"You¡¯re Lucien¡¯s teacher. Of course you speak for him." Mekanzi looked around at the guests, "Ladies and gentlemen, do you really believe that a pauper who just started to learn music several months ago can achieve such a level?"
The guests started to whisper to each other. Indeed, the fact that, within only a few months¡¯ learning of music, a poor, young man was already capable of holding his own concert was definitely very surprising.
"You betrayed the God of truth," said Mekanzi in a vicious way.
Everyone was looking at Lucien now. When he was about to say something, Natasha said to Mekanzi in a slow but authoritative way,
"I know you want to put Lucien onto burning gallows very much, Mekanzi." There was a slight of smile on Natasha¡¯s beautiful face, "However, Mekanzi, Lucien¡¯s my personal music consultant. You think I¡¯m that stupid to have someone who made a deal with the devil to serve me?"
"I¡­ No, I¡¯m not saying that, Your Grace." Mekanzi was flustered by the princess¡¯s words.
"Then what do you mean?" asked Natasha sternly.
"I¡­ I mean¡­ It¡¯s not normal for¡­" stammered Mekanzi.
Natasha cut him off right away, "That¡¯s why we call him a genius. Lucien received rewards from my family, and that¡¯s also why he made such a progress. You have anything to say about that?"
Mekanzi¡¯s face was as red as a tomato. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally he released a long sigh like a deflated ball, "Of course you¡¯re right, Your Grace. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m overreacting."
Then, Mekanzi found an excuse and left the party, followed by the frustrated Baret and Clemen, while Julian cheered himself up and said to Christopher sincerely, "I¡¯m sorry I was being so arrogant. I want to stay in Aalto for several years to learn from the great musicians¡­ Aalto is the paradise for musicians."
"Welcome, Julian." Christopher nodded to him, "We need fresh blood for our association, and we learn from each other."
Julian picked up a glass of wine and turned around to face Lucien, "I gotta admit that your serenade is better than mine. I¡¯ll learn from you, and one day I¡¯ll catch up with you."
"Then I wish you success." Lucien slightly raised his glass of water.
The music for the party started again. Instantly, Lucien was surrounded by a bunch of noble ladies.
"Mr. Evans, can I have a dance with you?"
"Mr. Evans, you were so charming when you were playing the piano!"
"Can you take a look at my hands to see if I¡¯m suitable for playing piano?"
The mix of sweet perfumes dizzied Lucien. Luckily, at that moment Felicia came over and saved Lucian by having a minuet with him, after which he went to the patio to stay away from the ladies.

Chapter 99: Natasha¡¯s Request
				Chapter 99: Natasha¡¯s Request
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The breeze was gentle and cool. Standing on the patio and bathing the bright moonlight, Lucien felt revitalized.
However, at that time, Lucien realized that he was being rude since he saw that two beautiful ladies were on the patio as well, snuggling and kissing. The arousing scene of the two beauties showing their love toward each other in the moonlight was like a fabulous painting.
Lucien¡¯s face twitched a bit and then blushed. When he was about to leave the patio, one of them stopped him and asked, "Lucien, what¡¯s that look on your face?" It was Natasha.
With a slight redness on her cheeks, Silvia was hiding behind Natasha, slightly gasping from the intense kissing.
"I¡¯m fine¡­ fine." Lucien smiled in an embarrassed way.
"What¡¯s going on in your mind?" Natasha slightly lifted her eyebrows and questioned Lucien closely.
"Well¡­ I¡¯m thinking that¡­ what I just saw was not good for my eyes," said Lucien in a playful way.
"Umm¡­" Natasha pointed at herself and then at Silvia, "Aren¡¯t we beautiful?"
"Sure, both of you are real beauties." Having never been with any girl before, Lucien made fun of himself, "Let me put it this way. What I just saw hurt my heart."
Natasha laughed and stretched herself a bit, "I like your personality, Lucien. You¡¯re interesting enough to be my friend."
Then she said something to Silvia in a low voice, which made Silvia giggle.
"Excuse me, I need to have some water." Silvia then said to Lucien and left the patio.
After Silvia left, Natasha asked Lucien to follow her back to the party. When they were on the dance floor, Natasha turned around, bowed to Lucien and reached out her right hand, "May I have a dance with you?"
Lucien looked at her hand and paused a bit, "Your Grace, I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s not a proper invitation."
"What?" Natasha looked surprised. When she realized what was wrong, she took back her right hand and stood straight, waiting for Lucien¡¯s invitation, "Sorry, my bad. I forgot you¡¯re the gentleman and I¡¯m the lady. I¡¯m used to¡­ you know what I mean."
Lucien nodded and smiled, "Yes, I know."
Recalling the dancing manner, Lucien reached out his right hand to the princess, "Your Grace, may I have the honor to dance with you?"
"Sure, you¡¯re my music consultant." Natasha laid her hand on Lucien¡¯s palm and followed Lucien to the center of the dance floor.
The dance between a decent gentleman and a beautiful young lady should be very pleasant. Unfortunately, their dance wasn¡¯t exactly like that.
"You stepped on my foot, Lucien!" said Natasha.
"I¡¯m sorry, Your Grace," Lucien apologized. "But have you figured why? You¡¯re dancing in the manner of man."
"Am I? Um¡­"
"Your Grace, you just stepped on my foot."
"Sorry Lucien. Why don¡¯t you dance in the lady¡¯s way, then? That would solve all the problems," Natasha suggested.
"I¡¯d rather keep letting you step on me." Lucien shook his head.
It took them a while to become cooperative. Natasha asked, "Lucien? Can I ask you to do me a favor?"
"What is it?" asked Lucien.
"Well¡­" A rare shy look appeared on Natasha¡¯s face, "Silvia likes your serenade a lot, and she wants me to play a piece of love-themed serenade for her birthday before the new year."
"That¡¯s sweet." Lucien did not understand how he would be useful to Natasha yet.
"But you know I¡¯m not really a serenade person¡­" said Natasha, "I like music which is intense and passionate, not soft and gentle. I just can¡¯t do it."
"So, Your Grace, you want me to compose the serenade for you?" Lucien asked.
"Umm¡­ sort of¡­" Natasha looked a bit embarrassed but soon made up her mind, "Yes, can you do me that favor?"
"Well¡­ I don¡¯t think a decent knight like Your Grace would find a ghostwriter for herself." Lucien blinked in a funny way.
"You¡¯re not my ghostwriter! I just don¡¯t want to present Silvia with a piece of mediocre work on her birthday." Natasha was trying to justify it, "I¡¯ll tell Silvia that it¡¯s your work¡­"
"Don¡¯t worry, Your Grace." Lucien grinned, "I was just joking. I would be honored if I could help you solve that problem, Your Grace."
Natasha nodded, "Awesome. Thank you, Lucien. I¡¯ll at least try to work on it as well, and your work will be my second plan."
"The name of the serenade will be ¡®For Silvia¡¯, then." Lucien paused a few seconds and looked a bit worried, "Since I haven¡¯t gone through any love experience yet, I may need some extra help."
"Such as¡­?" Natasha leaned forward a bit.
"I noticed that you have lots of books in your study, Your Grace." Lucien had been coveting the great number of books in Natasha¡¯s study for a long time, and he would not let this precious chance slip away, "I wonder if I can have the chance to read some of them, say, those love stories books and some books that introduce histories, cultures and traditions of other countries, in order to be inspired. The library of the association has only music books."
"Of course." Natasha smiled, "It¡¯s not a big deal at all. As many of the old books are actually written in the language used by the ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire, I can ask the scholars to translate them for you."
"That would be great." Although Lucien looked pretty calm, his heart was full of excitement. He did not expect that one of his biggest problems could just be solved like that. By copying the many books from the ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire, Lucien could not only better plan his future trip on the continent, but also learn how to read ancient Sylvanas characters.
Although many books of college level were still sealed in Lucien¡¯s spirit library, he was already way more knowledgable than a common sorcerer. Had it not been for the insufficiency of his spiritual power, Lucien should had already become a first circle sorcerer, which was exactly the opposite situation for the other sorcerer apprentices. Most of them were having a hard time moving forward because they did not have enough knowledge to analyze more complicated spells.
"Lucien, you stepped on me again!" complained Natasha.
When the dance ended, Natasha asked Lucien, "Do you have any other plans recently, aside from composing the canon and finishing the bagatelle? I don¡¯t want to interrupt your schedule."
"Um¡­ Not really. Composing serenade can help me relax. Actually, I¡¯m considering composing a piece of sonata to record the perseverance and the great faith that supported me all along when uncle Joel and his family were held as hostages," answered Lucien. All he wanted to do now was to come up with new music works and hold his own concert.
"I¡¯m looking forward to that." Natasha looked at him seriously, "I know you¡¯re good at this theme. And I¡¯ll have the scholars translate the books for you starting from tomorrow."
After the dance, Lucien was about to get some water when he met Rhine, who was holding a glass of wine in a very elegant way.
"Good work!" Then Rhine whispered to Lucien, "I almost forgot to tell you that I already helped you get rid of your basement. No worries anymore."
"You¡­" Lucien was very surprised. He never expected that Rhine knew this much about him. He was also glad that he did not have to worry about his underground lab anymore, which had been a burden on his heart for a long time since he just could not find a proper chance to destroy it.
"I know you want to thank me, and you¡¯re welcome," Rhine said to Lucien, smiling, "I mean no harm toward you. I hope you can trust me."
"But why¡­ Mr. Rhine?" asked Lucien. After all, the whole thing had nothing to do with Rhine at all.
"There¡¯s no why." Rhine shrugged casually, "Maybe I just want to see a great musician making progress without being distracted by something trivial."
Then, Rhine raised his glass toward Lucien with a meaningful smile and left.
The party tonight was perfect because of Lucien¡¯s serenade. Thus, Felicia exempted the debt that Lucien owned her to show her family¡¯s appreciation.
At a cost of ten Thales, Felicia made a great deal with Lucien!

Chapter 100: The History
				Chapter 100: The History
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the following morning, on his way to the musicians¡¯ association in the administrative district, Lucien was very surprised to find that the bagatelle he played at the party last night was being played everywhere in Aalto.
Just like Victor said, it was way easier for a piece of serenade to become popular than for a symphony.
As soon as Elena saw Lucien coming into the lobby, she waved to him with a big smile on her face.
"Morning, Elena!" greeted Lucien, "Why are you so happy today?"
"I¡¯m happy for you!" Covering her mouth, Elena giggled in a low voice, "Before you arrived, a few noble ladies came to the association to look for you. They were hoping that they could become your piano students. Miss Felicia¡¯s friend, Yvette, was here as well."
Then, she handed a pile of letters to Lucien, "These are all feedbacks from musicians who live nearby."
Lucien took the letters and was about to walk upstairs, but paused a bit and turned to Elena instead, "Can you tell the ladies that this year I won¡¯t accept any students? Apart from being the princess¡¯ music consultant, I still have to work on producing more music."
"Mr. Lucien, how come you¡¯re always that inspired?" Cathy¡¯s eyes were wide open and she asked with great curiosity, "I heard that, aside from the serenade, you also finished recomposing Mr. Hersey¡¯s Canon in D."
Lucien nodded, "I¡¯m just hoping that I can hold my own concert as soon as possible."
"Wow¡­" exclaimed Elena and Cathy at the same time.
Then, Elena asked Lucien with expectancy, "I understand that you don¡¯t want to have any student right now¡­ but can I ask you some questions related to music once in a while?"
"Of course, we can exchange our ideas," said Lucien. The true reason that Lucien refused to have any student was that, as a sorcerer, he might be found out by the church someday and his students would be in great trouble.
After giving Joseph the music sheet of his serenade for registration, from the window Lucien saw that a purple coach was arriving, which was sent by Natasha.
...
In the study of War Gallery.
Natasha, wearing a long black dress, was introducing the books to Lucien, "Some of them are written in common tongue. I take it that you want to start to read them as soon as possible."
That was Natasha, passionate, decisive and motivated. As soon as she decided to do something, she wanted to get it done as fast as she could.
From her introduction, Lucien had a rough idea about the different book sections in the princess¡¯ study. At that moment, a middle-aged man came in and bowed to Natasha, "Your Grace."
Turning around, Natasha nodded to the man and then said to Lucien, "Mr. Bake, from House Hill, is a very reputable scholar and linguist. He is your designated consultant and translator for these books."
Bake was already bald in his forties. A thick pair of glasses was sitting on his round face.
"Thank you, Mr. Bake," said Lucien.
"It¡¯s my great pleasure to serve the princess and to be your consultant, Mr. Evans," Bake bowed slightly to Lucien.
"You¡¯re working on translating the books already, Mr. Bake?" Lucien noticed that there was a thick book under Bake¡¯s arm with many small colorful tags among the pages.
"Yes¡­ as you may see, Mr. Evans, translating these books takes time, and the princess told me about your hunger for knowledge. I¡¯m hoping that I can cover as many books as possible in this study for you, Mr. Evans," answered Bake slowly.
"That¡¯s very nice of you, Mr. Bake." Lucien was grateful, "And thank you, Your Grace." Lucien smiled to Natasha.
"It¡¯s very sweet to see that, young as you are, Mr. Evans, you¡¯re this interested in the ancient language and culture of Sylvanas Magic Empire. You¡¯ll see that their culture was fascinating." Bake walked toward the desk and opened the black book in front of Lucien, "The book that I¡¯m working on right now is Heroes¡¯ Epic, very beautiful poems¡­" Bake became a bit excited.
"What is this book about?" asked Lucien, "Sorry, I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not really well-educated with in history."
"Oh, that¡¯s totally fine." Bake smiled. "The beauty of poem does not require its reader to have much educational background. Instead, it¡¯s something you can feel. Get closer and take a look, Mr. Evans."
Lucien¡¯s long fingers gently ran down the spine of the thick, black book, feeling its antiquity.
When Lucien was flipping through the pages, Bake said to him, "The poems in the book were written in memory of those great heroes who followed the lead of the God of truth and together overthrew the rule of the vicious mages."
"Fascinating." Lucien quickly went through all the pages, and then in his spirit library the copy of the book emerged on one of the bookshelves in the "Ancient Literature" entry.
Then, Lucien turned to Natasha, "Have you read these books before, Your Grace? Do you have any book that has already been translated?"
"I¡¯ve learned Sylvanas in the noble abbey before. I don¡¯t need translation," answered Natasha casually. "I¡¯m going to the practicing room now. If I have any question I¡¯ll come back for you. Enjoy your reading, Lucien."
After Natasha left, Lucien directly jumped onto the books and started to read them assiduously.
...
In the following month, Lucien gradually gained a new perspective toward the continent and even this whole world from the effort he put on reading.
In order to gain great power and break the limit of the human body, lots of sorcerers and sorceresses in the past operated countless cruel experiments on human beings by infusing them with the different powers extracted from magic creatures. Most of the subjects died, but the ones who made it gained tremendous power.
Surprisingly, yet undoubtedly reasonable, following the lead of those surviving experiment subjects, people from different parts of the continent who were fed up with being bullied launched uprisings against the empire.
At the same time, the Saint Truth, with its many years of secret development, quickly gained its momentum and became the shared belief for those people. That was when the great powers derived from the magic creatures started to be called "Blessings" and the Saint Calendar started to count, followed by the epic war called "the War of Dawn", which lasted for over four hundred years.
Because Lucien was reading the translated versions of the books, all the texts were shedding glory light on the people fighting against the empire while depicting the sorcerers and sorceresses as terrifying representatives of the darkness and the devil.
At that time, Natasha¡¯s family, House Violet, was guarding the remote west territory of Holy Heilz Empire with the great power of the Violet Knights. In the end of the War of Dawn, House Violet provided the Church with great help and became the biggest contributor to the success of taking down Aalto. The host of House Violet was thus granted the title of the grand duke of Aalto and became independent from Holy Heilz Empire.
In the year 425 of Saint Calendar, the church held one of the most significant synods in history, discussing the topics related to the final stage of the war and the further attack toward the fiend empires across the Dark Mountain Range in the west. However, during that meeting, a great, carefully premeditated divergence over the reading of the doctrine bursted out between some of the grand cardinals and the pope.
Since then the Church was divided into two. Supported by Schachran Empire and the other duchies, the grand cardinals betrayed the pope and set up a separatist regime in the north. The westward march of the Church¡¯s army was thus stopped.
Lucien realized that the topic of heresy in this world was way more complicated than he thought.
Knowing that the Sword Brothers were stationed on the border between the Duchy of Orvarit and Schachran Empire, Lucien asked Natasha why the Church never started to march westward again. Her answer was very obscure but meaningful, "In most believers¡¯ eyes, the enemy within concerns us more than external threats. Today, no one except the pope knows why those cardinals betrayed us."
Lucien also read from the books that the the frontline against the heresy was formed by the north provinces of the Duchy of Orvarit, the Kingdom of Syracuse and Holy Heilz Empire. Among the total of 60 kingdoms, duchies, empires and territories on the continent, most of them retained their glory through the years. However, in some, like the Gusta Empire to the far south, the royal family had lost their control over the empire, since the several preeminent noble families in Gusta seized a major part of the political and economical power.
Besides, there was a continental sea in the center of the continent, which was called Storm Sea. Natasha¡¯s mom was the princess from the kingdom across the Storm Strait, although very little reference could be found about that kingdom.
...
Two weeks before the new year, sitting in front of the fireplace, Lucien was reading Astrology and Magic Elements.
After the great amount of reading, now Lucien could already understand the most commonly used characters in Sylvanas.

Chapter 101: Legendary Class
				Chapter 101: Legendary Class
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
By comparing the translations and the original books, Lucien learned more about how to read Sylvanas and could now understand a big part of Astrology and Magic Elements, although still with some difficulties.
Several higher-level methods to meditate were provided in Astrology and Magic Elements. Learning a lesson from what happened to the witch, Lucien decided to stick to his current meditation for now, before he could thoroughly understand how the other methods worked.
One thing in the book captured Lucien¡¯s attention. For a long time, Lucien was bothered by a question: If the principle of silent casting could be explained by the change in vibration frequency of spiritual power, then why, according to the book, one could cast a spell without using any magic reagent after successfully constructing the corresponding magic structure in one¡¯s soul with the four fundamental elements, Earth, Fire, Wind and Water?
Taking Acid Splash for example, where did the acid come from if no sulphur was used during casting?
Inspired by the book, Lucien made a bold hypotheses that the four fundamental elements in this world could be understood as the four fundamental forces on Earth. There was a reason why Earth, Fire, Wind and Water were being respected as the most important elements, since it seemed they could be able to construct all the magic structures by working together. All of the physical and chemical properties in this world were the external manifestations of the fundamental elements or of the interactions between them. And thus, spellcasting without any material or reagent could make sense.
If the hypotheses was correct, the world might be very similar to Earth on a micro level. In that case, the "magic fairies" that existed in this world that Lucien read about before were probably actually "magic particles".
However, all of these were Lucien¡¯s hypotheses right now. He knew that he needed to carry out more experiments to prove whether they were true or not.
Astrology and Magic Elements introduced most of the spells in the school of Astrology and Elements, and some basic spells of other schools, from circles one to five.
In the ancient magic empire, all the magic spells could be divided into two categories: most of them were basic spells, of which the magic structures were recognized by the empire and they could be mastered by all the people; the rest of them were unique spells, which were created by the many great sorcerers and sorceresses in history, on their own.
Luckily, some of the unique spells were introduced in the book.
Turning the page, Lucien saw a chapter titled "Two Legendary Classes", and he suddenly got excited.
However, as he read further, Lucien found that the chapter was way beyond his comprehension. Many words used there were not even Sylvanas, and the two extremely complicated magic structures messed up his brain.
Nevertheless, Lucien still had a rough idea about what the two legendary classes were: one was Elements Dominator and the other was the Prophet, and ascending to either of the two classes required a lots of extremely precious magic materials and an enormous magic circle. Besides, each magic school had more than one legendary class.
The last chapter of the book provided the formulas for many different potions.
After taking a look at them, Lucien pulled out his spiritual power from the book in his spirit library to take a rest.
After browsing through Astrology and Magic Elements, Lucien chose to analyze the spell Star Shield in order to move forward toward becoming a first circle sorcerer.
...
In contrast to all the apprentice level spells, whose inner structures were two-dimensional, first circle spells were way more complicated since they were three-dimensional. Lucien progressed in a very slow way, trying to understand the constitution based on his own hypotheses.
Reading and thinking too much exhausted Lucien¡¯s brain. In the late evening, he lay awake in his nice bed, unable to sleep at all.
So he got up and walked into his practicing room. Sitting in front of his piano, Lucien put his hands on the keyboard.
He had been learning music for more than four months now, and became used to relaxing with the aid of music. In the world of music, Lucien had nothing to worry about. In the world of music, he felt safe.
Lucien¡¯s hands were moving freely on the keyboard. After he pressed down the last key, a sudden applause arrived from the window.
Quickly, Lucien turned around in an alert way. It was Natasha, standing on the patio in a black suit.
"Your Grace," Lucien said, "for your information, that¡¯s not a front door."
Natasha waved her hand in a casual way and laughed, "Come on, my historian. Don¡¯t you remember that almost all the knights in the books you read went to see their beloved girls by sneaking through their windows? Mr. Bake told me that you have a really good memory."
"They¡¯re only romantic novels¡­" Lucien let Natasha come in. "So, why you come here so late, Your Grace?"
"Well¡­just dropping by. I visited Silvia earlier and she lives in this district as well." Natasha walked into Lucien¡¯s practicing room, "Good playing, Lucien. Was that an impromptu? It felt sad."
"Yes, it was an improvisation," answered Lucien. "I was just¡­ thinking of my past."
"I see. I know you suffered a lot before, Lucien." Natasha nodded seriously, "What you just played is very beautiful, beautiful as moonlight. I think you should note it down, so you can develop it into a full sonata in the future."
Lucien was a bit embarrassed, since part of the playing he just did came from the famous Moonlight Sonata written by Ludwig van Beethoven. He was also impressed by Natasha¡¯s keen insight into music.
"How¡¯s your work going, Your Grace? The serenade for Miss Silvia?" Lucien changed the subject.
"Um¡­ You know what¡­" Natasha rolled her eyes in a cute way, trying to hide her embarrassment, "I think I just can¡¯t make it. I tried¡­ I swear."
Lucien lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head, waiting for Natasha¡¯s real intention for coming to his place so late tonight.
"I dropped by to see if you were still up," Natasha continued, "because I want to know how¡¯s your serenade going. The one which you already named it, For Silvia."
"Now I see your point, Your Grace." Lucien grinned, "It¡¯s almost ready."
...
The melody of the serenade was gentle and lively like a brook gurgling. This was definitely a piece of serenade praising a young and beautiful lady. Although the playing did not require any sophisticated fingerings, the serenade seized Natasha¡¯s heart instantly.
"Rondo¡­ I see." Natasha nodded slightly and enjoyed the beauty of the song.
Then the serenade entered a lighter section in the submediant. After that part, the piece smoothly ended in the same melody as the beginning, with an authentic cadence.
After removing his hands from the keyboard, Lucien noticed that Natasha was resting her chin in her right hand.
"How do you feel about this serenade, Your Grace?" asked Lucien.
"Very beautiful¡­ very elegant. Actually what I¡¯m thinking is¡­" Natasha drawled.
"Um?" Lucien looked at her.
"How come you have such a deep understanding in serenade, Lucien?" asked Natasha thoughtfully, "I mean¡­ you never had a girlfriend. Do you rely on your imagination?"
Lucien choked.

Chapter 102: Silvia¡¯s Father
				Chapter 102: Silvia¡¯s Father
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although Lucien had completed the serenade called For Silvia and had given the music sheet to the princess, he was still allowed to go to Natasha¡¯s study to read the books under her permission. She was hoping that the classic literature works might inspire him to produce more excellent music pieces.
Thus, every Tuesday and Thursday Lucien arrived two hours earlier than before, to read some books and then meet the princess.
......
"What are you doing here?" Bake was walking around in the study after translating for a long time, and he asked Lucien with curiosity.
"I¡¯m taking notes," answered Lucien briefly, "for future reference."
Actually, there was no need for Lucien to take any notes at all, but Lucien¡¯s super outstanding memory surprised Bake a few times in the past two months. Lucien was a bit concerned that Bake might report this to the princess or someone else. In order to attract less suspicions, Lucien needed to do something to justify his great memory.
"Can I take a look at your notes?" Bake asked.
"Sure." Lucien pushed a pile of notes toward the scholar.
Bake picked up a few pages and glanced at them, "Interesting. I¡¯ve never seen anyone taking notes like this. It looks like you¡¯re following a time order, from the Dark Era to the Saint Calendar, but you also wrote down the many stories in a biographic way."
"Yes, to serve my purpose." Lucien nodded, "For me, the stories are more valuable as resources providing me with inspiration than a mere historical timeline, although time¡¯s still important."
"I see," Bake said to Lucien. "No wonder you have such good memory. I was very surprised with how fast you can remember all the things. Actually, this method can be a brand new way of recording history."
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Bake." Lucien put on a smile on his face, knowing that it was not his credit. He just borrowed this method from somewhere else in his original world.
"It seems like you¡¯re becoming a historian now, Lucien." When they were talking, Natasha entered the study.
"Your Grace," Lucien and Bake saluted together.
Natasha pulled Lucien out of the study with a big smile on her face.
"It seems Silvia likes the serenade, doesn't she?" Lucien also grinned.
"Oh my! She likes it? She loves it!" Natasha was excited, "Silvia did not have a party for her birthday last night, but she said the serenade was the best gift."
"I¡¯m very glad that you ladies like it," said Lucien.
"And I did not lie to Silvia. I told her that For Silvia was your work." Natasha¡¯s eyes were shining with joy, "Silvia appreciates your effort very much, and she wants to invite you for dinner tonight, at her place."
"I appreciate Silvia¡¯s kindness, but it¡¯s not necessary¡­" Lucien was a bit hesitant.
"Come on, Lucien." Natasha insisted, "I don¡¯t want to let Silvia down. And it will be a small, personal, family dinner. Only Silvia, her father, lady Camil and I will be there."
"Well, the thing is¡­" Lucien scratched his head a bit, "I thought Silvia would be mad at me. You know, after all, I was being your ghostwriter."
"No worries. Silvia¡¯s always sweet and considerate. That¡¯s why I love her so much." Natasha did not give up, "She knows that I¡¯m not good at love-themed music, and she still appreciates my effort of practicing the serenade and playing it for her on her birthday."
"All right." Finally, Lucien nodded.
......
At seven in the evening. No. 78, Gesu District.
Silvia lived in a two-storey, light yellow house. There were a few kinds of cold-resistant flowers still blooming in the garden.
"Welcome, Lucien." Silvia and her father were waiting for him.
"The princess and lady Camil are in the living room," said Silvia, who was wearing a long white dress, with her beautiful long hair hanging down her shoulders. Silvia would be like the dream girl for most men.
Lucien handed a small gift to Silvia and said "Happy Birthday" to her, then greeted Silvia¡¯s father, Mr. Deroni.
Mr. Deroni was wearing a black suit. Although his black moustache made him look a bit old and gloomy, Lucien still could tell that Mr. Deroni should be pretty good-looking when he was young. However, Lucien felt a bit weird when he saw Silvia¡¯s father for the first time, and he did not know why.
"Good evening, Lucien." Deroni greeted him slightly lowering his head. "Although we both live in Gesu, we¡¯ve never seen each other before. You¡¯re even younger than I thought," said Deroni as he led Lucien to the living room.
Before having dinner, the five of them chatted casually. Mr. Deroni started to ask Lucien about the serenade in D. "We¡¯re really looking forward to the complete version of it", said Deroni.
"Actually, I already finished it," answered Lucien. "It¡¯s a piece of string quartet."
"Awesome." Natasha winked to Lucien, "I hope you can play both the quartet and For Silvia on the new year ball. So I can¡­ you know, that."
Lucien knew what she was talking about. Natasha was still waiting for a chance to reward him with a manor. Unfortunately, Lucien preferred the knight sword than a manor.
"Since For Silvia is a piece of personal music work, I don¡¯t think I should play it on the new year ball, though," Lucien stated.
"Why not?" said Silvia in a gentle voice, "It¡¯s your music work anyway, and it¡¯s very beautiful. People should have a chance to appreciate it. The only thing that you may want to change is the name of the serenade, or people would think that you¡¯re pursuing me."
"I don¡¯t mind." Natasha shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "After all, most of the musicians in the association who are still single are pursuing you. By the way, Lucien, before you came we were talking about poems and tales from different places in the duchy. I know you¡¯re an expert, and maybe you can help us here."
"Expert?" Mr. Deroni looked surprised.
"The princess¡¯s just joking." Lucien waved his hands, "I¡¯ve indeed read a few related books recently, but I¡¯m nowhere close to being an expert."
"Don¡¯t be too humble, Lucien." Natasha laughed, "Mr. Deroni¡¯s a very successful businessman and also the director of the Association of Accessories. He¡¯s been traveling a lot on the continent, and we were discussing about one of the folk poems that he heard before."
"What¡¯s this one about?" asked Lucien with a bit of curiosity.
"Well¡­ not many people know this poem." Deroni rested his chin on his hand, "But the scene the poem described was very unique. I wonder where and when the poem originated and what happened at that time."
Then Deroni started to slowly recite the poem:
"When the sun entered Thanos¡¯s Palace,
Huge fire balls fell down from the sky.
The earth was crumbling,
And in no time, the city, as well as the magnificent tower, turned into ashes.
...
The ashes covered everything,
From the earth to the sky.
In the dark pit lived the devil.
...
Look, look! The red water was now up to the lips.
......"
"As you can see, Lucien," Natasha commented, "the poem¡¯s not rhetorical, but what it described is very weird. As far as I know, Thanos¡¯ Palace is the name of a specific position of the sun, where it shows a unique scene."
Besides Natasha¡¯s interpretation, Lucien remembered that, according to the literature he read, Thanos was also the name of a previous chief magistrate of the magic empire, who was known as "the King of the Sun".

Chapter 103: Lucien, The Historian
				Chapter 103: Lucien, The Historian
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Well¡­ although Astrology is totally strange to me," Lucien was pretending that he knew nothing about astrology, while, in fact, astrology was his speciality and he clearly knew that there was a constellation named Thanos in memory of the King of the Sun, "I read some similar poems before in the princess¡¯ study. So, I¡¯m guessing it might be a prophecy poem."
"I don¡¯t think so. The folks told me that what the poem described really happened many, many years ago." Deroni denied Lucien¡¯s first guessing.
"I see." Lucien nodded, "Dramatic as the poem seems to be, if it¡¯s not a prophecy, then I think it is a poem describing a catastrophe or something similar to that."
"Umm¡­ that makes more sense." Mr. Deroni nodded.
"The War of Dawn lasted for more than four hundred years, and before that, there were also countless horrible disasters and many great wars happened on this continent. Huge meteorites, earthquakes, landslides and even battles could lead to the same scene. I read about them before in Heroes¡¯ Epic, The War of Syracuse, Saint City, Confession, Saint Continent Chronicles, and many more."
"Interesting. I think Lucien makes a good point here." Natasha nodded, "War or natural disaster, that¡¯s our direction. What I can contribute here is that a good fight between two legendary masters could easily cause this damage to the whole continent."
"That¡¯s why I¡¯m this curious. I want to know what eventually caused this catastrophe," Deroni said to them.
"¡®The red water was now up to the lips¡­¡¯, this part is kind of unique." Lucien was still thinking, "Has any of you ever heard about the significant topographical change that happened several hundred years ago in the northwest of Aalto?"
Silvia and her father slightly shook their heads and were waiting for Lucien¡¯s further explanation. At this time, Natasha said to Lucien with a bit hesitance, "Are you talking about how Elsinore Lake was formed, the lake that lies in the northwest of Aalto?"
"That¡¯s right, Your Grace. A book from your study named Marius¡¯ Manuscript described a similar scene." Lucien nodded, "A hundred and fifteen years before the implement of the Saint Calendar, one day Aalto¡¯s sky suddenly turned dark, although it was still day time, and huge stones fell down from the sky. These meteorites destroyed the city called Elsinore and even part of the mountain range in the northwest. The lake was named after the destroyed city."
"Oh my¡­" exclaimed Silvia. "Was it a natural disaster?"
"The book didn¡¯t mention." Lucien slightly shrugged, "However, the book did mention that, at that time, the ground cracked all over, and a weird red liquid surged up through the cracks."
"Lava?" asked Deroni.
"No. It was mentioned that the liquid was not hot, and it inundated the whole area. But the blood-like liquid ebbed very fast as well."
"Then what about this Thanos¡¯ Palace?" asked Deroni eagerly, "How do you explain this?"
"It is said that when Thanos, King of the Sun, reached the legendary level, the capital of the magic empire was covered by pure darkness for three entire days." Natasha expressed her own understanding.
"I see¡­" Deroni slightly nodded, "Anything else can be found in this poem, Your Grace? Lucien?"
They both shook their heads. That was as far as they could go.
Looking rather disappointed for a second, Deroni then smiled, "I think that¡¯s enough information for my curiosity. Thank you, Your Grace. Thank you, Lucien. It is amazing that you know this much about the remote history. Actually, even Mr. Bake doesn¡¯t know it."
"I told you, Mr. Deroni," said Natasha with pride. "Lucien¡¯s not only a musician, but also a historian."
While Lucien was trying to explain, "I¡¯m nowhere close to being a historian. I just happened to read a few books. That¡¯s all."
Then, dinner was served.
"You have to try all the dishes tonight, Lucien," Natasha said to him. "One of the cooks here comes from Tria, who makes awesome Syracuse dishes. Way better than our food in Aalto¡­ Ours is all about beef and potato, potato and beef¡­" As a big fan of different cuisines, Natasha complained.
All of a sudden, Lucien felt very hungry. The princess felt the food here in Aalto was no good, and of course, he felt the same way. The cook Lucien had now was not very impressive. Like what Natasha just said, the cook always provided the same food.
"You know what? Food in Holm and Rentate is even worse. I went there before when I was a kid, and I¡¯ve never wanted to go back." Natasha got a bit excited.
Lucien never heard the name of these countries before, and thus he wondered if they might be two of the countries across the strait.
The dinner was indeed impressive. Following the appetizer, foie gras, and the soup made of a special kind of Tria fish, the main courses were roasted lamb and white wine stewed tripe, accompanied by vegetable salad. There was also Syracuse special pudding cake for dessert.
Both Natasha and Lucien ate a lot.
...
The freezing wind was whistling on the street in the Month of Ice(December). Natasha, Lucien and Camil were taking a walk after dinner. Silvia wanted to walk with them, but it was too cold outside for a gentle lady like her.
"If it were in the north, it should be snowing now." Reaching out her beautiful hand, Natasha somehow looked a bit sad.
"It doesn¡¯t snow much in Aalto." Lucien looked up at the silver moon.
"If you¡¯re ready, Lucien, I want to recommend you to hold a concert in the Psalm Hall during Aalto Music Festival." Natasha turned to Lucien, "During that period, lots of musicians from all over the continent will come to Aalto and celebrate the festival with us."
Aalto Music Festival was the most important music festival across the continent. During the festival, the Psalm Hall would hold a concert every day.
"My concerto is almost ready." Lucien considered a bit and answered seriously. Facing the fact that he was leaving soon, all of a sudden, Lucien felt a bit sad.
"I trust you, Lucien. I¡¯ll talk to Mr. Christopher about it." Natasha smiled, then she switched the topic, "You know what, after I played the serenade you wrote for Silvia last night, I did not know what to say to her. I was nervous and a bit embarrassed."
"Um¡­?" Lucien¡¯s mind was still occupied by the slight sadness. He would be leaving Aalto soon after the concert, if everything went well.
"I¡¯m thinking¡­ what I could have said to Silvia to touch her heart the most," said Natasha with a smile.
"Well, you know I¡¯m not experienced," answered Lucien.
"I know¡­ but you¡¯re still a man, Lucien." Natasha slanted her head and looked at him.
"Then, I guess¡­ Marry me." Lucien was thinking.
"Umm¡­That¡¯s still a problem between Silvia and me, but I¡¯ll work on it." Natasha paused a bit, "You gotta work on finding someone you like as well, Lucien. Music is not all you need."
...
On the first Sunday of the Month of Beginning(January), a piece of news on Music Criticism caused quite a stir in Aalto:
"A Bagatelle Worth a Manor.
At the New Year Ball, the princess played a piece of bagatelle named For Silvia, which was composed by the young talented musician Lucien Evans. This elegant, pure, gentle and also joyful music piece won Her Grace¡¯s great affection. Thus, Princess Natasha awarded this young musician, who just recently gained popularity in Aalto, with a beautiful manor in the suburbs.
People are saying that For Silvia might be the most expensive piece of bagatelle ever in the history of music."
Another thing about Lucien is that somehow many musicians from the association started to call Lucien a "historian". They started to ask Lucien questions about history and poetry, and Lucien always tried his best to answer the questions for them.

Chapter 104: The Young Visitors
				Chapter 104: The Young Visitors
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The last week of the Month of Life, the third month of the year.
As the weather was getting warmer, Aalto, the city of Psalm, quickly recovered from the bitter winter and burst out great vigor, welcoming all the guests coming from different places all over the continent to join the Aalto Music Festival, which was held every three years.
Musicians, instrumentalists, bards and nobles from other countries flocked to the biggest city close to the Dark Mountain Range.
Even in the afternoon, there was still huge traffic in front of the city gate in Nolan District.
Lilith, a pink-haired girl, was pulling her elder brother¡¯s arm to make him walk faster,
"Stop looking around like that, Sala!"
Saying that in a low voice, the girl seemed to be a bit pissed off with her elder brother, but clearly she did not want to draw attention from anyone.
This sixteen-year-old girl was very lively and beautiful. A slight feeling of melancholy even added more charm to her. Lilith was very popular in her hometown. A young noble almost gave up his title in order to pursue her.
Sala looked way more excited than his sister, "Look, Lilith! They are Moon Elves! Oh my¡­ they¡¯re so beautiful! Like the tales said, their ears are slightly waggling¡­ how adorable!"
Out of curiosity, Lilith stood on tiptoe and looked at the elves. Indeed, the several elf maidens who were walking together were absolute beauties. Their skin was as fair as the full silver moon; their faces were well-defined; and their pointy ears were cute.
Falling back on her heels, Lilith murmured, "Just a bit better-looking than me¡­"
Then she pinched Sala¡¯s arm and complained, "Mind your behavior, Sala! This is Aalto. God is watching you!"
When she mentioned "God", she lowered her voice even more.
"Relax, Lilith." Sala looked a bit similar to his sister, who his pink hair. "Being too nervous is even more suspicious."
Entering the city, the brother and sister changed their direction and came to a quiet corner where there was no one.
"But we¡¯re¡­ apprentices." Lilith looked around and finally said the word.
"So what? You know how many sorcerer apprentices are there in Aalto?" Sala shrugged. "After finding the scholar who can answer our questions, we shall leave."
"No music festival?" Lilith looked a bit disappointed.
"No." Sala looked serious, "Aalto Music Festival is held every three years, but we probably only have one chance to become a real sorcerer. You know which is more important."
Lilith nodded. She understood how horrible it would be if they got caught by the Church. The brother and sister had been living in fear for a long time, since they were kids.
...
Copper Coronet.
This was, for sure, not a decent place. Adventurers, mercenaries and hookers were drinking and laughing aloud.
Pushing through the people, Sala carefully protected his younger sister from the many nasty hands in the bar, and finally they jostled through the crowd to the counter.
"Drink?" As usual, Cohn, the dwarf, was drunk.
"Two ales," answered Lilith shortly.
Emitting a sound like a bubbling spring, Cohn let out a big hiccup, "Interesting girl! One free ale on me!"
Grabbing the mug on the bar, Sala took a sip of the ale and nodded, "Pretty good."
"For sure!" Cohn answered with pride, "I drink them all the time. I would not drink shitty ale!"
"As the owner of such a busy bar, you must know a lot of people in the city." Lilith asked with a bit hesitation, "Can you tell us who is the most profound scholar in Aalto? We got an ancient script by accident, but we can¡¯t understand it."
"Common tongue?" After another hiccup, Cohn asked, "Or elven, dwarven, draconic¡­"
"Common tongue. It has been translated by someone." Sala directly cut Cohn off, in case he would keep listing all the languages existing on the continent.
"Well¡­ if the script is about a big treasure," Cohn put on a mysterious smile, "you pupils will be in trouble. Sometimes, it can bring misfortune."
"We have no idea what it is about. We come from a small town." Lilith looked innocent.
"Anyway, the only reason I¡¯m still alive is because I never ask too much." Cohn gulped his ale, "Historians should be helpful¡­ Bake, Alfonso¡­"
"Which one would you recommend?" asked Lilith with caution.
"None of them," Cohn answered directly. "All those people who know about ancient history¡­ they¡¯re all nobles and pastors. You think you guys can just visit their places and ask them questions?"
Both Lilith and Sala looked a bit disappointed. They knew that they could not take the risk of seeing a noble, not to mention a pastor.
"Wait¡­ I know a person who might help," said Cohn. "He was a pauper."
"Really? A pauper turning into a historian? Who is it!?" exclaimed Lilith.
"Lucien Evans," said Cohn with pride. "A genius musician, and also a historian!"
"The composer of For Silvia and Symphony of Fate?" Lilith looked very surprised, "How come he¡¯s a historian? That¡¯s impossible!"
Sala looked very skeptical.
"I knew you guys wouldn¡¯t believe it." Cohn laughed and waved his big palms, "I know Lucien! I¡¯ve watched him grow up¡­ a very talented young guy. Genius! I heard that he got the access to the princess¡¯ study since he¡¯s her personal music consultant."
"That¡¯s it?" Sala still could not believe, "A bunch of books make a historian?"
"Great talent! Great memory! That¡¯s Lucien¡¯s blessing!" Cohn seemed to be a bit unhappy with Sala¡¯s comment, "Believe it or not!"
Lilith pulled her elder brother¡¯s elbow a bit and said to Cohn politely, "Do you know where Mr. Evans lives? Can you tell us?"
"Everyone in Aalto knows that the princess has just awarded him a manor in the suburb. He might be living there to prepare for his upcoming concert," said Cohn proudly. "But you guys gotta wait until tomorrow, or the gate will be closed by the time you come back."
"You mentioned that you¡¯ve watched Mr. Evans grow up¡­ Is he¡­ elegant and good-looking?" Lilith asked a bit shyly.
"For sure." Cohn laughed aloud.
Lilith grabbed Sala¡¯s arm and said to him, "We are visiting Mr. Evans right now."
"What? But the dwarf just said we should go there tomorrow! What if the city gate is closed later?" asked Sala.
"Then we hope Mr. Evans is kind enough to let us stay in his manor for the night." Lilith looked very resolute.
"¡­"
...¡­
By the time they reached Lucien¡¯s manor, whose name was Brons, the dark night had already fallen upon them.
Sitting in front of a forest, the manor looked a bit creepy.
After negotiating with the manor guards, Lilith and Sala got to see the steward of the manor, Mr. Lopez.
Lopez was in his fifties, and he was also the previous steward of the manor, so Lucien kept him. The brother and sister were invited to come into the hall and waited in the couch.
They waited patiently for several minutes. Then, Lilith and Sala saw a young man wearing a black suit and a white shirt walking downstairs. He looked rather mysterious and elegant.

Chapter 105: Magic Lock
				Chapter 105: Magic Lock
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Staring at the young musician walking out of the darkness of the second floor, for a moment, an idea flashed through both Lilith¡¯s and Sala¡¯s mind: Mr. Evans was a sorcerer.
However, a second later, they felt a bit amused for having such silly thoughts. How could this young, talented musician who gained such vast popularity in Aalto be a mysterious sorcerer? That was ridiculous.
At this time, Lopez came into the living room followed by a bunch of servants who were holding candles. The whole space was immediately lit up.
"I¡¯m Lucien Evans." Lucien walked downstairs and smiled in a polite way, "I was told that you two came here because of an ancient manuscript?"
"Mr.¡­ Mr. Evans! I¡¯m Lilith. I¡­ I like your music very much!" Due to her nervousness, Lilith failed to answer Lucien¡¯s question properly, "For Silvia is my favorite! I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m very glad to meet you."
Facing this talented and good-looking young musician, the young girl¡¯s face flushed.
"Me too, Mr. Evans. I¡¯m Sala." Sala was calmer than his sister, "Symphony of Fate gives me a lot of encouragement, sir."
Lucien smiled and nodded, "Thank you for your support. But can we talk about the manuscript first?"
Hoping that he could find more information about the Continental Congress of Magic, Lucien read lots of literatures and ancient manuscripts. He would not let any possible chance slip from his hands.
"Yes¡­ Sorry, Mr. Evans." Sala sniffed a bit and took out a pile of paper, "Here it is, sir."
Lucien took the manuscript over and said to them, "Not a problem. Please sit down, so we can discuss together."
Lilith sat back on the couch, still blushing. From time to time, she peeked at Lucien, who was absorbed in reading. Her heart was beating fast.
As usual, Lucien read very fast in order to have a complete copy in his spiritual library. However, a familiar sentence in the manuscript immediately seized his attention!
"When the sun entered Thanos¡¯ Palace¡­"
Lucien was astonished.
Why did he see the same weird sentence twice within just a couple of months? What did the manuscript have to do with the poem that Mr. Deroni mentioned?
Thus, Lucien slowed himself down and started to reread the whole manuscript. The further he read it, the more shocked he was. Combining what he read before, in the princess¡¯ study, Lucien gradually realized what that manuscript was about.
It was about the ruins of a magic site!
Calm as Lucien looked, there was a great turmoil in his mind:
"Floating mountains", "grand cross"¡­ Lucien remembered these words. He saw them when he was reading Astrology and Magic Elements. Opening that book in his spiritual library, Lucien turned the page to the last chapter, magic circles.
Just as he expected, Lucien found out that the manuscript described a wide and powerful magic veil called "Magic Lock", which was mainly constituted by a series of Astrology spells.
Compared with the folk poem, the manuscript offered a more detailed description about how the city was destroyed by the falling meteors and how the weird, red liquid surged up from under the ground. Unfortunately, the manuscript was not complete. No explanation could be found on it regarding why there was a magic site built underground, or why a Magic Lock was placed around it.
The witch¡¯s ancestors lived in Aalto many years ago. According to the witch¡¯s notes, one of her ancestors was the student of a very powerful legendary sorcerer who was the lord of the city. Therefore, Lucien guessed that the magic site might have something to do with this legendary sorcerer, but he had no real evidence about it.
It had been more than half an hour since Lucien started to read the manuscript. During this time, Lucien did not say even a single word. Both Lilith and Sala felt a bit nervous.
Shocked as Lucien was, he pretended to be quite calm, "It¡¯s not complete. Do you have the rest?"
"No." Lilith shook her head, "This is not the original manuscript. As you can see, Mr. Evans, it has been translated into the common tongue."
"I see." Lucien put the manuscript on the table, then he said to Lilith and Sala, "I have a rough idea¡­ This manuscript is about some underground magic ruins, and I can do a rough calculation to locate where the ruins were, based on the geographic and constellation features the manuscript provides."
"Awesome!" Sala and Lilith exclaimed at the same time with great surprise.
After Lucien finished his explanation, Lilith was even more excited, "Thank you so much, Mr. Evans! This will help¡­"
"Li¡­ Lilith," Sala directly cut his sister off with a couple of fake coughs. Then, he stood up and said to Lucien with respect, "Mr. Evans, thank you for telling us the story behind the manuscript. How much we shall pay you for this?"
"One Thale." Lucien smiled. Since he was about to leave Aalto after the music festival, he wanted to save more right now, although he already had saved thirty Thales from working for the princess and all the rewards he received. That was already more than what a commoner could earn for their whole life.
"For sure." Sala slightly bowed to Lucien. Then, he pulled out the money bag and handed Lucien a Thale with great respect.
"As the city gate has been closed, " Lucien smiled to them and invited, "if you don¡¯t mind, Lilith and Sala, you are welcome to stay in my manor tonight."
...¡­...
After having dinner, Lucien asked Mr. Lopez to take Lilith and Sala to their guest rooms.
Standing in the center of the living room, Lucien watched the two young visitors leave. His shadow was shivering on the floor because of the candlelight.
Lucien was very concerned with this great coincidence. He just heard the folk poem from Mr. Deroni a couple of months ago, and now he had guests finding him on their own and bringing that precious manuscript. That was too big a coincidence in his eyes.
Lucien thought it might be a trap from the night watchers. However, he had to admit that he was also greedy.
Lucien¡¯s spiritual power had reached a peak within the level of senior apprentice. Up to a couple of weeks later, Lucien should be able to make a breakthrough to become a first circle sorcerer. Right now, all he needed was several kinds of magic materials for his advancement.
Lucien once read from another book that, around most of the magic veils, there would often be magic gardens, since the plants and other materials there would be exposed to magic power all the time. Many of them should be on Lucien¡¯s list.
Also, he didn¡¯t need to step into this Magic Lock. The magic garden should be just outside of the veil.
According to the sentence "when the sun entered Thanos¡¯ Palace¡­", the best time to approach the Lock should be on the tenth day of the following month, the equivalent to April on his original world. Actually, one should approach the magic veil at midnight of April ninth, when the silver moon swung to the summit of her travels. At that time, the sun should be close enough to the constellation called Thanos¡¯ Palace. Obviously, though, people would not be able to see the sun from the magic ruins, since it would be night time.
After a long time of struggling, Lucien finally restrained himself from being impulsive and greedy. After all, exploring the ruins of the magic site would require a lot of preparation from him. At the very least, he would need to collect more related books and notes to get a better understanding of this "Magic Lock".
Obviously, right now Lucien was not prepared for it. He decided to be more cautious and to wait for a future chance.
...
Lilith and Sala did not sleep well last night, half because of the excitement, and half because of the manor, which made them feel a bit creepy.
As the revelation of the secret of their manuscript took way less time than they thought, when Lilith and Sala went back to Aalto, they decided to stay in the city for the music festival and then head for the small town named Bonn, which was close to Elsinore Lake.
Although Sala still felt a bit concerned about the fact that staying in Aalto any longer might bring them unnecessary trouble, facing his younger sister¡¯s eager request, Sala yielded. After all, he did not want to miss the great musical festival himself as well.
After Lilith and Sala left, Lucien also left his manor and went back to the Musicians¡¯ Association to rehearse with the symphony orchestra.

Chapter 106: The Dream City of Music
				Chapter 106: The Dream City of Music
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sitting in the coach, which moved rather smoothly, Lucien looked out the window and found that Aalto became way busier than usual, because of the music festival.
Lots of coaches with strange coats of arms all of a sudden appeared on the streets, but they were familiar to Lucien, since he once read several books in Natasha¡¯s study introducing the stories behind the coats of arms of different families on the continent.
Also, there were way more street artists and bards out there today. Among those people, Lucien noticed a familiar figure. It was uncle Joel.
Joel was playing lyre. It seemed the loss of two fingers of his left hand did not bother him too much. Surrounded by a bunch of people, Joel looked rather cheerful and excited.
Lucien asked the coachman to stop. Then, he left the coach and walked close to Joel. Standing behind the crowd, Lucien listened to his playing, smiling.
The crowd burst out a warm applause when Joel finished his playing and bowed to them. A few of the listeners took out their moneybags and put some coins in Joel¡¯s hat to show their appreciation.
When Joel straightened up his body, he saw Lucien. Joel¡¯s eyes were lit up with surprise.
"How come you¡¯re here, Lucien!" When the crowd dispersed, Joel walked with Lucien to a quieter corner, "I thought you were still in the manor."
"I was." Lucien smiled. "I¡¯m going to the association. How¡¯re you doing, uncle Joel?"
"I¡¯m doing great!" Joel¡¯s eyes were shining with pride, "You saw it. They love my music!"
Lucien nodded and said to Joel, "For sure." Then he pointed at Joel¡¯s hat, which was filled with small change.
"I don¡¯t need this money. You¡¯ve been taking care of my family all the time, and because of you and John, we¡¯re now living a decent life." Joel weighed the hat a bit with his hand, "As long as they like my playing, that¡¯s enough."
"I know," Lucien agreed. "Music itself is beautiful enough."
"I just play because of my dream now, not for a living." Joel nodded, "It feels like those days when I just came to Aalto are back again. I¡¯m passionate and motivated. Aalto Music Festival makes turns me into a spring chicken again¡­ hahaha¡­"
Later, Lucien wandered around on the street to enjoy the different styles of playing. Street music had its unique charm, which also inspired Lucien quite a bit. Staying in his manor in the suburbs for too long, Lucien missed the bustling atmosphere.
As he was walking, Lucien was trying to construct a rough idea about how to recompose the third movement of Violin Sonata in G Minor, which was a very challenging piece of music in this world. Lucien wanted to present the beauty of this piece of sonata with piano, and he also wanted to show the audience his skills.
Lucien decided to recompose it on his own, rather than referring to the masterpieces in his original world like what he always did before. This concert would be the first and also might be the last music concert in Lucien¡¯s life. He wanted to leave something that really belonged to him.
Watching people¡¯s smiling and cheerful faces on the street, listening to the melodious music, Lucien sighed and murmured, "I wish there was no Church here."
"Sir, come and join our free concert!" Suddenly, a young man popped out in front of Lucien. "Free!" His green eyes were full of hope.
"Ah?" Lucien was a bit confused.
"We rented a house for hosting our concert, sir!" explained the young man. "By the way, I¡¯m Piola, the first violin in our orchestra!"
It was still early. Lucien was not in a rush, so he nodded with a smile, "Where is it then?"
"Over there!" Piola cheered, "The thirtieth!"
Then he led Lucien to a two-storey house on the other side of the street.
The center of the living room was their simple and temporary stage, on which there were two violins, one viola and one cello. A black-haired girl of ample proportions was sitting in front of a harpsichord.
"Sorry, sir. We need to have more friends here before we start." Piola apologized, "Grace will play harpsichord for our guests during the waiting time."
Lucien realized what was going on here. They should be a band coming from another country. They came here for Aalto Music Festival to pursue their music dream, but renting a formal music hall here in Aalto was unaffordable to them. Therefore, they were hoping that more people here would get to know them by providing their audience with free performances.
What the girl played for the audience after Piola left happened to be For Silvia.
Although Grace played it pretty well, some shortcomings of harpsichord compared with piano could not be hidden from Lucien¡¯s eyes.
After a while, more people entered the house. The spacious living room now became quite crowded.
"Dear ladies and gentlemen, " Piola jumped on the stage and picked up his violin, "We come from Sturk, the Bright Pearl of the Sea. It¡¯s our great honor to play for you today. Welcome!"
Then he turned around and introduced the band members to the audience, "I¡¯m the first violin, Piola, this is the second violin, Sharon. And our violist, Green. This is our cellist, Leslie. And our beautiful Grace who was playing harpsichord for us."
The small concert took about an hour. Lucien could tell that they were quite experienced from their repertoire, their infectious enthusiasm and their playing skills. Even in Aalto, they could be regarded as qualified instrumentalists.
At the end of the concert, they received warm applause from the audience. The band members were very excited and started to talk to the guests.
"How do you feel about our Fantasia in C Minor, sir?" Piola smiled to Lucien.
"Pretty good," answered Lucien sincerely. "At the same time, you guys can probably pay more attention to how to unfold your music and the technique that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements¡­ as we call it serialism."
"Wow¡­" Piola was very impressed. He did not expect that he would receive such a professional comment from this young listener. Then Piola started to exchange his ideas with Lucien with great passion.
Their heated discussion drew the attention of the other band members. Gradually, they joined Piola and Lucien¡¯s conversation after most of the audience left the house.
...
"Thank you very much, sir. We learned a lot from your suggestions." Grace nodded to Lucien.
"Have a lovely stay in Aalto." Lucien smiled and was about to leave.
"I¡¯m sure we will," answered Piola. "Sir, you know that the schedule of the many concerts that will be held in the Psalm Hall has been released."
"Already?" Lucien was a bit surprised.
"Yes!" Piola looked rather excited, "You know which ones I¡¯m most looking forward to?"
"We all know." smiled Sharon, "Mr. Christopher¡¯s and Mr. Evans¡¯."
"Exactly!" Piola clapped his hands, "Seven months traveling! We came all the way here from the shore, just for Mr. Christopher¡¯s and Mr. Evans¡¯ concerts!"
During Aalto Music Festival, even commoners, who could not afford the tickets, could listen to all the concerts held in the Psalm Hall indirectly by means of a divine power circle, which functioned like a broadcaster on the central square.
Seven months¡­ The shore¡­ Something flashed through Lucien¡¯s mind. Then, he started to chat with them about their trip for about another ten minutes.
After Lucien left, Grace said to the other band members, "I still can¡¯t believe that a random sir in Aalto can have such profound knowledge of music. This city¡¯s amazing."
"Oh my!" exclaimed Piola, "We didn¡¯t ask his name!" He patted on his forehead in a regretful way.
...
As soon as Lucien arrived his own office in the association, he heard a knock at the door behind him.
Surprisingly, it was Natasha and Camil.
After Camil closed the door, Natasha said to Lucien in a serious manner, "Argent Horn was detected in some remote towns again. You have to be careful, Lucien. Don¡¯t go out at night."

Chapter 107: Lucien¡¯s Repertoire
				Chapter 107: Lucien¡¯s Repertoire
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Are they back?" Lucien was very surprised. He never expected that Argent Horn, after such a great loss, would bounce back so quickly.
"Yes. The Church has sent a Night Watch team out, as well as a bunch of pastors, even some bishops." Natasha nodded, "I wish I could go, too. Those heretics are just crazy¡­"
Lucien did not answer. He felt that some enthusiastic followers of the God of Truth were crazy as well.
Natasha sat down on the couch, "Aalto is super busy right now. Our security check can¡¯t be perfect, especially when we are actually short-handed. Please be careful, Lucien. I¡¯m still eager to attend your concert."
"I will. Thank you for reminding me, Your Grace," answered Lucien. "Also, I have Alert. Unless they send someone who¡¯s of a grand knight level or above, they cannot get the jump on me that easily. Still, I¡¯m just a nobody."
"Come on, you¡¯re not a nobody." Natasha waved her hand, "Your concert draws a lot of attention. We¡¯re all looking forward to it."
"I¡¯m flattered, Your Grace." Lucien paused a bit, "I think I¡¯ll be fine. But uncle Joel and his family¡­"
"No worries. I can take care of them." Natasha immediately understood.
"Thank you so much, Your Grace," said Lucien gratefully.
"How¡¯s your preparation for the concert going, Lucien?" Natasha changed the subject and asked Lucien casually, as if they were close friends, "I¡¯m curious."
"Well¡­ not bad," answered Lucien honestly. "I Just need more time to practice with the orchestra. After all, it will be my first time as a conductor. I¡¯m feeling a bit concerned about that, but that¡¯s my only concern."
"You have a really good understanding of music, and your Blessing has been awakened. I don¡¯t think that will be a problem." Natasha looked at Lucien with her beautiful purple eyes, "What about the repertoire of the concert?"
Lucien happened to be going to meet Mr. Othello later to have his concert repertoire registered, so he answered directly, "Symphony of Fate. Serenade for strings in G major. Piano Canon in D major. A piano solo recomposed from Violin Sonata in G minor. A piano sonata in C minor named Pathetique, which is a piece of theme music."
"Quite different than I thought," said Natasha with a bit hesitation, "The whole concert is dominated by piano and piano only. I¡¯m afraid that the lack of symphony might make your concert less solemn and grand."
However, before Lucien made any explanation, Natasha smiled and said to Lucien, "But anyway, it¡¯s your own concert. You know what you¡¯re doing, Lucien. I trust you."
Lucien was encouraged. With the support of the princess, he believed that even Mr. Othello would not be able to say too much about his repertoire.
"By the way, Your Grace," somehow Lucien¡¯s mind was dragged back to the previous topic, "Argent Horn happened to be detected around the time of Aalto Music Festival¡­ It seems to be too big a coincidence."
"I know your concern, Lucien." Natasha did not seem to be worried, "We¡¯ll handle it."
Lucien simply nodded without making any further comment on that. He clearly knew that he was not the only smart guy in Aalto.
...
After Natasha and Camil left, Lucien ran into Othello, the director of the association, on the stairs.
This time Othello¡¯s student, Mekanzi, was not with him. He had been receiving lots of negative comments since last time, when he accused Lucien of being a demon follower and failed. Thus, Mekanzi has not showed up in the association that often recently.
"Lucien, are you ready for the concert?" Othello looked a bit tired, "Is your repertoire ready?"
"Oh Yes, Mr. Othello. Actually, I was about to hand in the repertoire list to you later," said Lucien. Then, he took out the list and handed it to Othello.
Othello read the list with his brows wrinkling, "Too many piano solo. They are not enough for a grand concert, I would say. I know a genius always has a lot of novel ideas, but Lucien, are you sure about it?"
Lucien nodded, "I¡¯m confident, and Her Grace agreed on the repertoire as well."
"Well, I see¡­ I hope you don¡¯t feel too stressed." Othello was still a bit worried. In his heart, Natasha¡¯s decision to directly assign the last and most important concert to Lucien was not really wise. Othello believed that the final concert for the music festival required a musician who was way more authoritative and experienced than Lucien.
Later, when Lucien was walking upstairs to the practicing room, he met a few of his colleagues, who greeted him in a concerned manner. They were also worrying that Lucien might be under too much pressure for hosting the final concert.
As soon as Lucien stepped on the fourth floor, he saw a lady rushing toward him. Luckily, he was agile enough and made a sudden dodge to the side.
"Silvia? Why are you in such a hurry?" Lucien was a bit surprised.
"Oh hi, Lucien! Nothing really important, actually." Wearing a light yellow dress, Silvia¡¯s cheeks slightly flushed from rushing, "I heard that your concert is on the last day. Good for you and¡­ don¡¯t stress yourself out."
"I¡¯m fine. Thank you, Silvia." nodded Lucien, "You¡¯re not the first one today telling me I should not feel stressed. I appreciate it, though."
"I bet." Silvia smiled, "You handle pressure pretty well. And Natasha trusts you very much."
...
Rhine and the orchestra were already waiting there when Lucien arrived.
Picking up the baton, he said to them, "Ladies and gentlemen, let¡¯s start."
After the first round rehearsal, Lucien felt pretty good. When he was about to continue, Othello and another two young men entered the practicing room.
Lucien knew one of them, Count Verdi, having seen him twice in Ratacia Palace. The other, a grey-haired young man wearing a fine bright red jacket, was totally strange to Lucien.
"This is the prince of the Kingdom of Syracuse, Prince Michelle. The prince¡¯s very interested in our association." Othello introduced politely.
After Lucien and the other musicians saluted, Prince Michelle said to them a bit shyly, "Am I disturbing you? Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just looking around." When he was introduced to Lucien, Michelle looked quite excited, "Mr. Lucien Evans! It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you." Then, the prince reached out both of his hands and gripped Lucien¡¯s hands regardless of the royal etiquette.
Lucien could feel the young prince¡¯s strength when he was shaking hands with him. Obviously, Michelle had awakened his Blessing. Lucien bowed slightly to him and said politely, "It¡¯s my great pleasure, Your Grace."
...
On Lucien¡¯s way home, he came across Silvia¡¯s father, Mr. Deroni, who was talking to a middle-aged man that Lucien had never seen before.
The man was in his forties. He had tall nose, brown hair and dark blue eyes. Wearing a decent suit, the man was well-mannered.
Deroni nodded to Lucien and introduced, "This is Rogerio, my relative and also my business partner. And this is Mr. Lucien Evans."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Rogerio," greeted Lucien politely while reaching out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Evans." Rogerio sook Lucien¡¯s hand, "You¡¯re famous even in Sturk. I¡¯ve been hearing your name all the time."
"I happened to meet a band from Sturk earlier today." Lucien smiled and shared with them some of the interesting stories that he heard from the band.
...
Several days later, the most exciting music event on the continent, Aalto Music Festival, finally kicked off.

Chapter 108: Warm Up for the Festival
				Chapter 108: Warm Up for the Festival
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
April third, Aalto Music Festival.
Music was everywhere on the streets. Today, Lucien was dressing less formally, with a simple brown coat, white shirt and black trousers. Wandering on the streets, he was accompanied by Iven, who also dressed like a little gentleman, since Joel and Alisa decided to go out on a date to revive the passion and love that they had when they were young.
Victor was busy with meeting different musicians and nobles from other cities and countries, and so were Felicia, Lott and Herodotus. Natasha was feeling overwhelmed by the royal guests coming from all over the continent, and she spent all her spare time supporting Silvia¡¯s upcoming concert. Rhine was invited to be the first violin for several concerts, and Lucien heard that he didn¡¯t even have time to eat.
Even John could not find any time to hang out with Lucien. He needed to maintain the order on the festival.
"Hey, John!" Lucien waved to his buddy, who was patrolling on the streets.
"Hey, Lucien!" John grinned, "How¡¯s everything going?"
"Well¡­ Can¡¯t be any better." Lucien shrugged his shoulders, "Is there anything better in the world than being a babysitter during the music festival?" Lucien pointed at Iven, who was focused on chewing the huge hotdog in his hand.
John laughed so loud that several pedestrians on the street turned to look at them.
"Come on! I¡¯m taking care of your younger brother!" Lucien complained in a joking way.
"Well¡­ I heard that several noble ladies invited you to their manors during the festival." John patted on Lucien¡¯s shoulder, "Say¡­ Miss Yvette Hill."
"I prefer to take care of your brother," answered Lucien honestly.
After talking to John, Lucien continued to stroll around the streets. Since he might be leaving soon after the music festival, Lucien wanted to feel Aalto more and cherish the time when he was still here.
While Lucien was quite interested in listening to the street artists playing, Iven paid more attention to the assorted food trucks which were selling grilled cheese, fruit pie, fried potatoes, desserts and so on.
Finishing his hotdog, Iven started to stare at the candy store on the other side of the street.
Lucien and Iven easily spent the whole morning walking around to enjoy the festival atmosphere, and walking into some random small music halls to appreciate the music that the bands played.
During the music festival, except for the Psalm Hall, tickets for any music performance were very cheap, and some of them were even free. Thus, Aalto Music Festival was genuinely a music feast for everyone.
It was close to lunch time. Lucien took Iven to a restaurant.
"Look!" Iven was pointing at the sign standing in front of the restaurant, "Play music and earn your free meal!"
Iven could already read some words under Lucien and John¡¯s teaching.
"This restaurant seems to be quite awesome." Lucien smiled.
The restaurant was super busy. When Lucien and Iven were waiting to be seated, they saw an old gentleman who was playing piano in the front. The old gentleman was not playing really well, and every of his key-pressing movement seemed to be a big challenging for him.
But he played in a very devoted way, as if he was having his own concert.
When the old gentleman finished playing, the whole restaurant bursted out a warm applause for him. The guests were applauding for his courage and passion.
"Free lunch for this gentleman!" cheered the owner of the restaurant, "Who wants to be the next!?"
Lucien and Iven were led to a small table for two, close to the window. They ordered two steaks for lunch.
A few more guests performed. The atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice. Everyone here was enjoying their time.
More and more people came into the restaurant. Some of them could not find any seat, so they just stood beside the bar section, holding their food, and that included Piola, Sharon and the other band members.
After playing for the whole morning, they were starving. A free lunch was definitely great.
Piola¡¯s playing seized everyone¡¯s attention. The festive atmosphere in the restaurant climaxed.
"Free lunch for this young lad!" the owner of the restaurant announced, "And for his friends!"
Lilith and Sala were attracted by the restaurant as well.
...
Putting down his knife and fork, Lucien smiled at Iven, who was too full to sit up straight on his seat, "Told you. Don¡¯t eat too much."
"I can¡¯t control myself¡­" Iven was still staring at the rest of the steak on the plate and then he ask the waiter to take it to go. Then he turned to Lucien, "If you¡¯re willing to play, Lucien, for sure we don¡¯t need to pay!"
Being touched by the friendly, warm atmosphere, Lucien wanted to give it a shot as well. Lucien wanted to see whether his own music, the one he didn¡¯t copy from any masterpieces, could receive some appreciation among the people.
So he nodded to Iven and walked toward the piano.
"Another young lad!" said the restaurant owner.
"Mr. Evans!?" Lilith could not believe her eyes.
"Yes, it is Mr. Evans." Sala looked a bit confused but also excited, "I thought he was preparing for his concert."
"We¡¯re so lucky!" Lilith¡¯s face flushed, "We can listen to Mr. Evans¡¯ playing here, in a random restaurant!"
Piola recognized Lucien as well, and he turned to his friends, "That¡¯s the gentleman we talked to the other day. I wonder how well he can play!"
Placing his hands on the keyboard, Lucien quickly went through the small piece of serenade he wrote before in his mind, without referring to any music books in his spirit library.
Lucien¡¯s playing was like a cool breeze coming in through the window, gentling touching every listener¡¯s heart. The busy restaurant slowly calmed down. Everyone stopped talking and listened to the music carefully.
Moving his hands smoothly on the keyboard, Lucien closed his eyes and started to enjoy.
In sharp contrast to the bustling atmosphere just now, the beautiful melody refreshed people¡¯s mind like a limpid brook.
The piece of melody was very short. When Lucien left the small stage and came back to Iven, the whole restaurant remained very quiet, since the guests were still immersed in the beauty of the melody.
Lucien was satisfied. Leaving a Nar on the table, Lucien and Iven quickly left.
As soon as Lucien stepped out of the restaurant, he heard a great mix of people cheering and applauding.
...
"He left!" Piola looked disappointed, "We didn¡¯t ask his name! Again!"
"I wonder why we never heard the melody before. Full of music surprises, Aalto is such an amazing place!" said Sharon. She did not know that it was that gentleman himself who composed the melody.
...
"Mr. Evans!" Lucien heard someone calling him from behind.
Turning around, he saw that it was the brother and sister who visited him the other day.

Chapter 109: Marcus
				Chapter 109: Marcus
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing Lucien, Lilith was both excited and shy, "Your performance in that restaurant was awesome!"
Lucien somehow asked subconsciously, "Why are you two still in Aalto?"
"We still have time until¡­" Before Lilith finished her phrase, Sala cut her off directly, since he realized that his younger sister might spill the beans inadvertently.
"Mr. Evans, why did you think we wouldn¡¯t stay here for the music festival?" As soon as he asked, Sala regretted that he asked the question in such a harsh defensive way, which could make he and Lilith even more suspicious.
Lucien got a bit nervous too. He did not want Lilith and Sala to realize that he actually knew more about the ruins of a magic site than they thought.
"You two were in quite a hurry when you visited me," Lucien¡¯s mind was working fast, "and I thought you had something urgent. That¡¯s why."
"Oh¡­ I see." Sala relaxed a bit and switched to a safer topic, "Like Lilith said, your playing was very impressive."
After chatting a bit more, Sala left with his younger sister, although the latter was a bit reluctant to stop the conversation with Lucien.
Watching Sara and Lilith leaving, Lucien slightly frowned his brows, feeling a bit concerned. He was not sure whether today¡¯s meeting with the brother and sister was just a coincidence or something else.
However, Lucien would not let his concern ruin his beautiful day. He still spent a very pleasant afternoon with Iven hanging around and enjoying the festive atmosphere.
...
In the evening, Lucien took Iven to Joel and Alisa and had dinner with them. Then, they walked toward the central square. Tonight, the square was way busier than usual, and the whole place was literally packed. People gathered here to enjoy tonight¡¯s concert in the Psalm Hall through the divine power circle.
The divine power circle was actually visible, which seemed to be more like a transparent crystal dome floating in the air than a commonly-imaged mysterious magic circle. Through this huge dome screen, people on the square could watch the spectacular performance and enjoy the wonderful music simultaneously.
"Wow¡­" Iven drawled with surprise.
"It looks like we cannot go anywhere closer," said Joel. "Let¡¯s just stay here."
"We¡¯re not staying here!" refused Alisa, "What can we see from here?"
As she was talking, Alisa was about to take advantage of her weight to open a path for them.
"Auntie Alisa," Lucien smiled and stopped her, "I actually know a better place than the square."
...
The town hall of Aalto was a five-storey building, sitting on the other side of the central square.
"Felicia¡¯s father, Mr. Urbain, is the chief clerk here," Lucien explained. "He invited us to enjoy the concert on the top floor."
When they got closer, Lucien saw that Felicia was already waiting there at the back gate of the town hall.
Due to the limited amount of seat that the Psalm Hall could provide and the large number of distinguished guests coming from other countries, even Mr. Urbain was not invited for tonight¡¯s concert. As for the musicians¡¯ association, only the most well-known musicians would be invited, like Mr. Victor, whose concert just achieved a great success in the Psalm Hall.
Actually, Lucien, as the princess¡¯s personal music consultant, got invited as well, but he didn¡¯t dare to go, since a great number of grand cardinals and bishops would be there that night. Lucien did not want to take any unnecessary risk.
...
The concert started at eight o¡¯clock sharp.
Sacred light appeared above the central square, covering everyone present.
All of the people present lowered their heads, praying and praising. This was the love of God, the power of God.
Lucien also lowered his head, but he was thinking about something else. As the power of magic originated from nature, Lucien wondered where did divine power come from.
The light became brighter and brighter, then it gradually covered the crystal dome. The spectacular main stage of the Psalm Hall slowly appeared in the sky.
The Golden Cathedral Choir was ready.
"Pious followers¡­"
The hymn was so wonderful, as if it was being sung by angels.
All the choristers were men, and all of them got castrated before they entered their adolescence. Thus, their voices were even purer and beautiful than that of women.
"Lucien¡­ are you all right?" Felicia asked him with concern.
"Yes? I¡¯m fine, Felicia," Lucien said to her. "Why do you ask?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking that the first concert¡¯s grand beginning might have put lots of pressure on you." Felicia slightly shook her head, "It looks like I¡¯m even more nervous than you are."
Lucien grinned, "Thanks, Felicia. I¡¯m fine."
...
At the adamant demand of Mr. Victor, Lucien attended the second concert in the Psalm Hall, held by Christopher, the president of the association.
"You can¡¯t miss it," Victor said to Lucien. "It might be Mr. Christopher¡¯s last concert. You have to cherish this opportunity."
"Oh yeah¡­ can¡¯t miss the opportunity to attend a music master¡¯s concert in order to make myself anxious." Lucien joked.
"If you were really that stressed, you wouldn¡¯t say something like that." Victor knew Lucien¡¯s personality pretty well, "And I trust you, Lucien. I read the music sheet of Pathetique. Challenging as it is, I believe this piece of sonata can lead to a revolution in the history of music."
"Thank you, Mr. Victor." Lucien smiled. "Your support means a lot to me."
At this time, a young man in his early twenties with black hair and brown eyes approached them.
"Mr. Victor, good evening," greeted the young man. "Is this Lucien Evans?"
Victor stood up and introduced with a big smile on his face, "This is my previous student, Marcus. He is now the music consultant of the Kingdom of Shaq. He came back several days ago, just because of the music festival."

Chapter 110: The Last and the First
				Chapter 110: The Last and the First
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien reached out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Marcus."
Holding Lucien¡¯s hand, Marcus put on a sort of arrogant smile, "Likewise, Lucien. I heard your name when I was in Shaq. When I had just arrived in Aalto, a couple of days ago, I was about to visit you, but Mr. Victor asked me not to distract you from the preparation of your first concert."
Marcus put some extra emphasis on the word "first". In his mind, Lucien should not be respected as a musician until his first concert achieved great success.
"Mr. Victor often mentioned your name, saying that you¡¯re one of his most outstanding students." Lucien remained polite, "In terms of concert experience, I¡¯m not even close to you."
"Well¡­ It¡¯s my great pleasure to be invited by the many countries." Marcus put on a big smile when they came to the topic that he felt the most proud of. He sat down beside Lucien and started to spout his concert experience in different countries: the passion of the Kingdom of Syracuse, the rigidity and conservatism of the Holy Heilz Empire, the boldness of the Kingdom of Shaq¡­
Lucien did not mind knowing more about these countries. So he nodded and asked a couple of questions from time to time when Marcus was talking.
Marcus did not stop himself until the concert was about to start. In his mind, Marcus felt that Lucien was pretty easy-going, rather than arrogant as he assumed.
Marcus¡¯ hostility did not come from nowhere. At first he felt truly happy that his teacher, Mr. Victor, noticed this talented young man, and he was proud that his peer could make achievements like him, until more and more news about Lucien Evans came to Shaq like snowflakes. Even the nobles in Shaq were talking about the young man and making comparison between them. All of a sudden, Marcus felt that his achievement was worth nothing compared with Lucien¡¯s success, but Lucien hadn¡¯t even had his own concert yet!
The audience gave Christopher a very warm applause as soon as he appeared on the stage. Dressing in black, Christopher looked rather hale and solemn tonight.
That would probably be Christopher¡¯s last concert for his music career, the last concert of the president of Aalto Musicians¡¯ Association, the most authoritative and the greatest musician across the continent, the "living music legend".
"Ladies and gentlemen," Christopher turned to the audience, "thank you for coming."
Straightening his back, Lucien listened carefully.
"I¡¯ve been devoted to music for fifty-nine years, and now I¡¯m seventy," said Christopher with deep emotion. "I¡¯m still standing here because of all your support, and because of the stimulus I received from a young lad. We, as human beings, we age and die, but music never!"
Then Christopher turned around and raised the button.
The first three symphonies were Christopher¡¯s most well-known music pieces. One was elaborate and ebullient, one was elegant and sublime, and the third one was passionate and graceful. The intoxicating and familiar melodies seized every listener¡¯s mind, no matter if they were inside or outside of the Psalm Hall.
Christopher¡¯s achievement in music was the milestone in the history of music. Together with the music, the listeners¡¯ remote memories were brought back.
During every interval, the audience applauded like never before, as if the whole continent was applauding the respectable, senior musician.
After the third piece of symphony, Christopher looked a bit tired, "Now, please enjoy my student Silvia¡¯s piano sonata, while I¡¯m going to prepare for the next symphony."
In his last concert, Christopher wanted to support his student, and he knew that he must take a rest before the upcoming symphony.
"This is the ¡®living music legend¡¯! His concert is strikingly awesome!" said Piola with great excitement on the square.
"I know¡­" Sharon nodded earnestly, "It¡¯s my greatest pleasure to be here right now and listen to Mr. Christopher¡¯s concert."
Dressing in white, Silvia walked onto the stage like an angel.
Lucien closed his eyes and listened to Silvia¡¯s playing carefully. Generally speaking, her playing was pretty good, and Silvia¡¯s progress was already very impressive to Lucien, but he knew she could still make some improvement on her piano fingerings and her understanding of the many features of the new instrument.
The ten-minute long sonata also received a warm applause. Silvia slightly lifted her dress and bent her knees to thank the audience, feeling quite excited.
When Lucien was applauding Silvia, he felt someone was looking at him. It was Natasha. Her beautiful purple eyes were shining as she smiled.
She nodded to Lucien, and Lucien knew that she was thanking him for providing Silvia with some tips for playing piano and recomposing the sonata.
Then Christopher¡¯s returning immediately seized everyone¡¯s attention again. They were all looking forward to the last symphony.
As Christopher lifted the baton and waved, the first two music notes struck every listener¡¯s mind.
Christopher took them to a great battlefield.
Horns blowing, flags waving, and the brave soldiers howled and charged like lions against the enemy, with their blood burning out of the great determination and the will of fighting. Under the guidance of the many heroes, pastors and knights fought side by side and devoured their enemies like an overwhelming flood. They beheaded the titans and smashed the tall towers of the evil sorcerers. To protect their homeland, they killed all the demons who were trying to destroy the world.
The following movement had a more restrained style, as if the army was mourning the heroes, but hope came with sadness, and even greater determination followed grief. Then, an exciting and passionate movement changed the music tone. In the name of justice and light, the soldiers wiped off their tears and marched again with irresistible momentum.
The whole Psalm Hall remained silent for a moment after the symphony finished, then the audience burst into thunderous applause.
This was not only an applause for the symphony, but also for Christopher¡¯s great spirit of innovation and perseverance in his seventies! Apparently, this piece of symphony was influenced by Lucien¡¯s Symphony of Fate. It was astonishing that the greatest musician ever would learn from the younger generation and always seek to reach new levels even in his late years!
"Master. Mr. Christopher, master!" Piola was too excited to form a complete sentence.
"Yes¡­ Yes!" answered Piola¡¯s friends. Their voice was trembling.
The grand duke, the princess, the prince from the Kingdom of Syracuse, Count Verdi and all the people in the Psalm Hall stood up while they were applauding to show their great respect toward that great musician.
"Ladies and gentleman, my last concert has ended tonight." Christopher bowed to the audience and said with emotion, "Tomorrow, our young, talented musician, Lucien Evans, will bring us his first concert ever here in the Psalm Hall. The last concert and the first concert¡­ What God is telling us here is that¡­ music never ends!"
"Music never ends!" The audience followed Christopher and repeated his words. And them many of them turned to look at Lucien.
Lucien bowed deeply to this great musician, with great respect.

Chapter 111: Pressure
				Chapter 111: Pressure
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The crystal dome in the air created by divine power had disappeared, but people still remained on the square, lingering over the last piece of symphony named The War of Dawn.
Following the trend of theme music created by Symphony of Fate, Mr. Christopher¡¯s latest music piece was definitely great.
"Comparatively speaking¡­" Sala was a bit hesitant, "magnificent as The War of Dawn is, Symphony of Fate, to me, is still move impressive."
Lilith nodded, "Yes, I feel that the determination that Symphony of Fate carries is still stronger." Then she frowned her brows and looked worried, "But Mr. Christopher¡¯s concert is still a great success. The concert tonight must have put even more pressure on Mr. Evans."
"Mr. Evans will be fine¡­" Sala did not really know what to say, "He won¡¯t let us down."
"Then what if he does?" Lilith raised her head, "After all, Mr. Evans is competing with the president of the Musicians¡¯ Association."
Sala looked at his sister and sighed.
At the same time, on the top floor of the town hall Felicia released a long sigh, as if she was trying to drive away the worry and nervousness in her mind.
However, not everyone was feeling concerned about Lucien¡¯s concert. Mekanzi was one of the exceptions, who was very excited after tonight¡¯s concert, not really because of the great breakthrough that Mr. Christopher made in his late years, but because Mekanzi believed that the president¡¯s awesome concert would absolutely pale Lucien¡¯s performance on the following day by comparison.
...
The grand duke, the princess and other high-ranked nobles stayed in the Psalm Hall after the concert and right now they were talking to Mr. Christopher in a separate box, congratulating him for his great music achievement and regretting that he would hold no more concerts in the future.
The other nobles and musicians remained in their seats, exchanging their ideas about the concert.
"You¡¯re now almost an expert in the field of theme music, Lucien." Victor was impressed by Lucien¡¯s interpretation of the first movement of The War of Dawn, "I can tell you are shaping your own music style and ideas."
"Thank you, Mr. Victor. Unfortunately, I¡¯m afraid that I still have a long way to go before achieving that level," answered Lucien humbly. "What I was talking about was basically from Music Criticism and Symphony News. They produced a few quite insightful music reviews in the field of theme music in the past couple of months."
In fact, all the music knowledge that Lucien was exchanging with Victor and Marcus was from his spirit library.
"Oh¡­ I read those articles as well. Yes, they¡¯re great as means of instruction," agreed Marcus, but then he changed the subject, "Do you feel stressed that your concert tomorrow will be compared with this perfect concert, Lucien?"
When Lucien was about to answer, Victor patted Marcus¡¯ arm to stop him. Then, Victor said to Lucien, "Never compare yourself with others. Do what you want to do."
In fact, Victor himself was pretty worried that the piano solos tomorrow might not be able to provide enough music appeal to the audience, but he chose to trust his student.
Lucien was not as stressed as other people thought. Although he knew that his arrangement and repertoire of the concert was quite ahead of the mainstream, and the several pieces of piano solos might be a great risk, Lucien believed that only himself knew what he wanted.
"I¡¯ll just try my best." He nodded.
Then minutes later, the nobles started to leave the concert hall, followed by the musicians. Some nobles and musicians greeted Lucien in a sort of weird manner. Clearly, they were trying to avoid mentioning his concert tomorrow.
...
It was April fifth, the last day of Aalto Music Festival.
At seven thirty in the evening, almost all the people in Aalto were gathering around the central square and on the streets nearby, waiting for the last concert.
Piola, Sharon and other band members arrived at the square in the early afternoon to secure a relatively good spot. Now they were surrounded by more and more people and more and more heated discussion.
Staring at the crystal dome, Piola murmured as if he was dreaming, "I wish I could hold a concert here. I¡¯d be willing to die for that."
"Not really possible, unfortunately." Green, the violist, shook his head and sighed, although he had the same dream in his mind.
"We¡¯re only in our twenties. We¡¯re still young. Don¡¯t be this pessimistic, Green," said Sharon, "Mr. Christopher is still seeking for music breakthroughs in his seventies, and we shall carry our dreams all the way until we accomplish them."
"Speaking of being young¡­" Grace said to them, "Mr. Evans¡¯ coming-of-age ceremony is still a couple of months away from now."
Sharon, who was born in a music family, replied, "The youngest musician held his concert in the Psalm Hall when he was fifteen, but by the time he performed here, he had already hosted several concerts in different places. Mr. Evans is now having his first concert here during Aalto Music Festival, that¡¯s something that will definitely be recorded in the history of music."
Christopher held his first concert in the Psalm Hall during a previous Aalto Music Festival when he was twenty-six. The eldest musician who held his concert at the age of a hundred and twelve in the Psalm Hall was also a grand knight, which is considered an almost unbreakable record.
"Everyone is looking forward to Mr. Evans¡¯ performance tonight," said Grace. "I feel that¡­ as long as his concert is half as impressive as Mr. Christopher¡¯s, we shall call it a success."
"I agree¡­" Piola nodded, "After all, Mr. Evans has been learning music for less than a year. He¡¯s already a genius for going this far, and he¡¯s still very young."
"I don¡¯t think that other people will agree with us, unfortunately." Sharon sighed, "There must be people who¡¯re hoping for Mr. Evans¡¯ failure."
...
Outside of the Psalm Hall, Lucien, dressing a black tailcoat, was welcoming the distinguished guests together with Rhine and some other orchestra members.
Many nobles and musicians trickled in the hall. Among them were Count Hayne, Count Rafati, Count Hill, Mr. Othello, and other foreign nobles and musicians that Lucien did not know.
Then, Christopher showed up with his student Silvia. He nodded to Lucien with a kind smile and asked him to relax. Silvia smiled to Lucien to show her encouragement.
Lucien also specially invited his "family" in Aalto to come. John, Joel, Alisa, Iven and Elena were all invited. They arrived with Victor and Felicia, and some of them looked even more nervous than Lucien. He grinned to them, telling them he was feeling great.
Finally, the coach of the grand duke arrived. The grand duke and Princess Natasha were surrounded by many nobles, and so was Michelle, the Prince of the Kingdom of Syracuse, and Sard, the Saint Cardinal of the Church.
Natasha lifted her purple eyebrows a bit to Lucien and smiled, "I trust you, my music consultant."
...
In the box, the Grand Duke Orvarit said to his daughter, "Natasha, I think that you were quite inconsiderate when you arranged Lucien¡¯s first concert to be held after Mr. Christopher¡¯s and as the closing concert of Aalto Music Festival. You don¡¯t want him to mess it up, do you?"
"Of course I don¡¯t, father." Natasha laughed. "I just have faith in him. I know he can do it."
"Well¡­ your faith doesn¡¯t make him a qualified musician for this occasion." Verdi said to Natasha, "All he had was Symphony of Fate, and¡­ probably For Silvia."
"I think this is a proper occasion for a young and talented musician to grow." Christopher agreed with Natasha, "The most valuable concert for a musician is one that can help him break through his limits."
Sard also nodded, "I can tell from that symphony that this young man is very persistent. He has a heart that won¡¯t yield to difficulties. God will bless him."
Having the support of Christopher and Sard, Natasha smiled to Verdi, "Now, what do you think?"
"Well¡­ we¡¯ll see." Verdi did not bicker too much with Natasha tonight. His mind seemed to be a bit pre-occupied right now.
...
When Lucien appeared on the stage, Piola¡¯s pointed at the crystal dome and exclaimed, "He¡­ he¡¯s Mr. Evans?!"
Piola¡¯s mouth opened wide. He could not believe his eyes.
It took Sharon a few seconds to organize what to say, "Yes, I think so. The young man we talked to before¡­ is Lucien Evans."
"No wonder¡­" Grace murmured to herself.
Standing in front of the orchestra, Lucien smiled to Rhine and nodded.
Then, Lucien waved his baton.

Chapter 112: The Art of Conducting
				Chapter 112: The Art of Conducting
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
What was out of expectation was that the music did not start as soon as Lucien waved his baton. Standing in the front of the stage, he raised both of his arms up high. His whole body was shaking slightly, as if there was a great momentum of power coming out of his body.
Before the audience realized what happened, Lucien quickly swung his arms backwards and lifted the baton again. Here came Serenade for strings in G major.
Short and direct, the music notes impacted every listener¡¯s mind. The confusion and nervousness of the audience suddenly disappeared, and they were now immersed in the joy brought by the serenade.
Lucien was smiling. His whole body was rocking in a pleasant way together with the music. The happiness that was being delivered to the audience was so infectious that many of them started to nod and shake their bodies, synchronizing with the development of the music.
Christopher and Natasha never watched Lucien¡¯s rehearsal before. Now, they were both very surprised by Lucien¡¯s new way of conducting, which was totally different from the traditional style.
Usually the simple function of conducting in the past, due to the conservative style of music, was only to direct a musical performance to ensure correct entries by various members of the ensemble, thus, neither the emotion of the composer of a music piece nor that of the conductor was conveyed. For example, although both Victor¡¯s and Christopher¡¯s range of movement when they were conducting was wide, they never really tried to show their own feelings to relate to the orchestra members, or to provoke the audience¡¯s emotion.
Following the development of theme music, Lucien also changed his way of conducting to fit in the trend of moving from classicism to romanticism. Lucien spent a lot of time on learning from the great conductors in his original world, such as Arturo Toscanini and Herbert von Karajan, in order to form his own style of conducting.
Under Lucien¡¯s direction, the orchestra perfectly captured the joyful, lively spirit of the first movement of the serenade.
Then, Lucien¡¯s waving of the baton became more gentle when the serenade entered the second movement. The melody was like a piece of veil-like, rosy dream, floating in the air and then slowly falling on everyone¡¯s mind.
The dream was about love and romance, about beautiful girls and handsome boys, about the endless wild flower field and the cool breeze in summer, about one¡¯s youth, the most sweet years in one¡¯s life.
Transiting smoothly, the rondo form of the third movement made many of the listeners feel like dancing. They even wished it was an evening party, instead of a formal concert.
In its ending part, the music returned to the lively, youthful and pleasant style again. When Lucien finished his conducting and turned around, the audience pause a bit and broke into a sudden, warm applause during the short break, as they just realized that the serenade was over.
"A serenade in the Psalm Hall!" Piola exclaimed to his friends, greatly surprised.
In the past, serenade, as an informal music genre, was usually not qualified to be played on an elegant and decent music stage. Very rarely was serenade put on this kind of occasion in the past, and people never really liked it. Today, Lucien broke the stereotype and made a piece of serenade as impressive as a symphony.
"Graceful and gorgeous, exquisite and balanced," Sharon commented. Even the aftertaste of the serenade was fascinating.
In the box, Christopher smiled and said to the grand duke and the Saint Cardinal, "Again, a surprise from Lucien."
The grand duke nodded, "His conducting¡¯s definitely a bonus for the serenade."
Before the concert started, although Natasha looked very confident, she was still a bit worried about Lucien. Now, she was totally relaxed, leaning against the back of the seat and listening to her father and the Saint Cardinal talking about Lucien¡¯s new style of conducting. She was curious about what would be the next surprise from Lucien, and so were all of the other listeners.
...
After the short break, when Lucien came back to the stage and passed by the concert members, Rhine smiled and said to him in a low voice, "It seems that your conducting received a pretty good feedback, and I believe Symphony of Fate will just shock them."
Lucien smiled and nodded to Rhine, looking rather confident. Then, he stood in front of the orchestra and closed his eyes.
The entire Psalm Hall and the whole square quieted down.
Slightly lowering his head, Lucien raised up his arms again, but he did not immediately wave his hands.
The audience held their breath, waiting.
Standing there still like a statue and with his eyes closed, Lucien thought about his parents¡¯ faces, so familiar but also very far away from him. The plain days in his original world came back to him, but, unfortunately, Lucien did not realize how valuable these days were and thus he never cherished them.
Now, he was here, in this strange world, all by himself. He had to live in great risk almost everyday. He could die easily because of his dream of learning magic. The faces of gangsters, the night watchers and the heretics showed up in Lucien¡¯s mind, mocking him, threatening him, telling him that everything was the arrangement of fate.
Was he supposed to accept his fate?
Was he supposed to give up fighting?
Was he supposed to abandon his goals and yield to all the difficulties?
No! Never!
He would fight against the so-called fate with his last breath!
Lucien¡¯s face was twisted with his great determination. Gnashing his teeth, he fiercely dropped both of his arms downward.
The familiar opening of Symphony of Fate again seized every listener¡¯s heart.
It looked like Lucien¡¯s body almost lost balance from his wild waving. Every piece of muscle in Lucien¡¯s body was shivering from his great excitement!
As if their hearts were gripped by a powerful, big hand, many of the listeners felt out of breath.
Even Sard opened his eyes. He was looking at Lucien, who was conducting the orchestra in an almost crazy manner.
With the baton in his right hand, Lucien¡¯s left hand sometimes clenched into a fist, and sometimes tightened like the claw of eagle. His arms sometimes stretched wide out and sometimes stayed tightly close to his body.
Lucien¡¯s face was twisted with hatred and anger, as if he was biting off a piece of flesh from his enemy alive. Occasionally, the muscles in his face relaxed a bit, but soon his face looked even crazier, as if he would be struck by a heart attack at any moment.
Compared with Victor¡¯s conducting of Symphony of Fate, Lucien¡¯s version was even more striking and intensive. Every member in the orchestra was influenced and motivated by Lucien, and the whole orchestra seemed to be crazier and crazier!
The power and the momentum of the symphony was unprecedented!
Grabbing the arms of her seat, Natasha¡¯s back was tightly straightened up, while some of the other elder nobles seemed to be about to pass out at any moment due to the great intensity of the playing.
Finally, with all his power, both physical and mental, Lucien brought out the last movement of Symphony of Fate. The great joy of victory and triumphant return suddenly bursted out and immediately inspired everyone!
When the symphony ended, even with his Blessing power, Lucien still felt quite tired.
The whole Psalm Hall was very quiet.
Then Lucien turned around and bowed to the audience. By the time he straightened up his back, Lucien heard the warmest applause ever in his life.
The whole city was applauding him for Symphony of Fate, for Lucien¡¯s art of conducting!

Chapter 113: Piano Solo
				Chapter 113: Piano Solo
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The whole city was applauding Lucien¡¯s performance. In this world, people were not used to this kind of strong sensory stimulus. They were shocked.
"I almost can¡¯t breathe," said Lilith. "Mr. Evans¡¯ conducting gives the symphony a new life."
"No one knows a music piece better than its composer!" Sala was still applauding, his eyes were shining with excitement.
Compared with those traditional conductors¡¯ conservative style, people who did not have too much knowledge about music absolutely preferred Lucien¡¯s way of presenting the music.
...
"He¡¯s crazy." Verdi was first impressed, but soon he felt that it was too much for him, "Lucien simply has no idea about what is elegance!"
Verdi was not alone there. Many other conservative musicians who adhered to past practices nodded as Verdi was commenting.
It could be foreseen that a bunch of critic reviews of Lucien¡¯s conducting would be found on tomorrow¡¯s Music Criticism and Symphony News.
"I don¡¯t think so, Verdi." Natasha shook her head, looking quite excited, "This way of conducting was born for Symphony of Fate! Don¡¯t you think?"
"I agree with Her Grace." Christopher, the authority, was on Natasha¡¯s side, "Lucien¡¯s conducting style lit the great passion of the whole orchestra, and together they presented us with an even more exciting version of Symphony of Fate. This conducting style, I would say, suits theme music very well."
"But Mr. Christopher¡­" Verdi looked at him.
"I know what you want to say, Count Verdi." Christopher smiled, "Indeed, Lucien was pushing a bit too hard. He was being too direct when he was presenting Symphony of Fate, and that left the audience less space for further imagination."
Even Natasha had to admit that what Christopher said was true.
"However, I think we should not be too tough with a young musician and his first concert ever." Fingers crossing, Christopher looked at the grand duke, "We need a creative younger generation, and being tolerant and open-minded is the first step."
The grand duke smiled and nodded. What Christopher said was exactly what he was thinking.
Both what Natasha and Verdi wanted to say was pretty much all covered by Christopher. Verdi turned his face to the other side.
"I¡¯m wondering, please forgive my interruption, Your Grace, why Lucien chose to put Symphony of Fate in the second place of tonight¡¯s concert." Michelle, the prince of the Kingdom of Syracuse, asked in confusion, "I mean¡­ the remaining part of the concert is pretty much composed of piano solos only. That seems quite imbalanced to me."
"Um?" The grand duke picked up the repertoire card beside him and took a quick look, "That¡¯s right¡­ Michelle, you made a good point here. What do you think, Christopher?"
"Well¡­ Lucien¡¯s best-know music work is Symphony of Fate. Using Symphony of Fate as the ending piece of the concert might be the most ideal arrangement." Christopher gently rubbed his chin a bit, "For now, like prince Michelle said, the repertoire card does look quite imbalanced to me, and I didn¡¯t notice this earlier."
Taking a short rest, Sard¡¯s eyes were half closed. He smiled and said to them, "I believe that Lucien¡¯s not an idiot. Maybe he¡¯s very confident in his piano solo, or maybe he prepared something new. It¡¯s interesting to wait and see, isn¡¯t it?"
By the time they got to that conclusion, the whole orchestra had left. Now, there was only a piano on the stage.
Instead of facing toward the audience, the piano was facing a different angle.
...
Seeing Lucien appear on the stage through the crystal dome again, Piola asked his friends, "Why isn¡¯t the piano in the right position?"
That was what many people were wondering right now as well.
On the stage, Lucien bowed to his audience and sat down in front of the piano.
Pressing the keys, Lucien¡¯s hands started moving smoothly on the keyboard.
"It was Canon in D major, played in the piano!" Sharon recognized the familiar, beautiful melody immediately.
Simple as it was, Canon in D major might be the most classic music piece in this world. By playing one or more imitations of the music notes after a given duration, the repetition of the soft and gentle melody soothed every listener¡¯s mind like a cool breeze. The audience gradually recovered from the impact brought by Symphony of Fate, and now many of them stretched their bodies in their seats a bit and enjoyed the music in a very relaxed way.
Sitting in front of the piano and playing with his heart and soul, Lucien¡¯s handsome profile and his long, nimble fingers left the audience with a deep impression as well.
About seven minutes later, warm applause burst out again. This time the applause was less furious and crazy, but more gentle.
This time, the audience felt the beauty and the joy of peace from Lucien¡¯s playing.
"Small changes made a bit difference." The melody of Canon was still lingering in Piola¡¯s mind, "It¡¯s very different from the versions played by violin or harp."
"That¡¯s the sound feature of piano, pure and crispy." There was a sweet smile on Grace¡¯s face, "Mr. Evans looked so charming when he was playing¡­ His face¡­ His hands¡­"
"Now I know why you wanted to place the piano in a certain angle, Lucien!" On the other side in the box of the Psalm Hall, Natasha smiled and thought to herself, looking quite amused, "You want the audience to directly see your movement. But why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier when I was about to play piano in front of Silvia?" Natasha also blamed Lucien a bit.
"He definitely put a lot of thought in his concert. We can tell that from the way he placed the piano," said Christopher, "Simple but fascinating. This piece of Canon will become quite popular."
Lucien did not move after playing. He was still sitting on the piano bench, as if he was preparing and waiting for something.
There was only a very short interval between the two compositions. A while later, Lucien¡¯s hands started to move again. Here came the piano solo recomposed from Violin Sonata in G minor.
After the heading part of playing which gave priority to terseness and fluency, Lucien started to play the very short notes in a fast way. His fingers were like two dancers spinning on the piano keyboard.
"Violin Sonata in G minor?" Some listeners whispered to each other, "It¡¯s for violin. It¡¯s impossible for piano¡­"
As the solo consisted mainly of semi-quaver runs, Lucien¡¯s hands were moving faster and faster. Double-stops, ostinato, scales and arpeggios, big crossovers¡­ Lucien combined almost all the playing techniques together and that dazzled the audience¡¯s eyes.
They almost could not believe that it was a human-being that was playing.
Lucien¡¯s extremely fancy fingerings fully showed the potential of piano. This piece of music was more than just showing off the player¡¯s remarkable playing skills, but also a praise for the great potential of piano as a new musical instrument in this world.
As the pitch got higher and higher, the melody became more and more exciting.
The audience was trying hard to hold back their exclamation. The playing was not finished yet.
As Lucien ended his playing with a very challenging finger technique and a pitch accent, the listeners on the square erupted with cheers and shouts, while the nobles and musicians in the music hall also applauded vigorously.
Lucien¡¯s playing renewed everyone¡¯s idea of how much potential the piano had!

Chapter 114: Pathetique
				Chapter 114: Pathetique
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Looking at Lucien bowing to the audience, Christopher seemed to be a bit emotional, "When Victor and Rhine first introduced piano to me, although I could sort of see the potential of this new musical instrument, I never tried to compose anything specially for piano, not to mention to adapt any harpsichord or violin piece for it. The skills Lucian applied just now during his playing were very challenging. What he was trying to do was to learn from the playing skills for string instruments, which is remarkable."
"Practice makes perfect." Although Verdi was very impressed as well, he did not want to make a too favorable comment about Lucien, "Especially after awakening his Blessing, the practice can¡¯t take long for him."
"Fingering is not everything." Natasha took a glance at Verdi, "For other musicians, what is hard is to really get to know piano¡­ I mean¡­ like Lucien, who has this profound understanding of the unique features of this musical instrument. Without the knowledge, there¡¯s no way that one can produce such a fabulous piano piece."
"Well, maybe I¡¯m too old¡­ Although Lucien¡¯s playing is very impressive, I did not get as excited as you young people with his fancy fingerings." The grand duke smiled, "I¡¯m more looking forward to Pathetique."
On the other side, Lucien¡¯s friends were a bit more relieved now seeing that Lucien¡¯s concert was going great so far. That made the last piece of the concert, a sonata, even more significant.
...
Pierre was also on the square. Gawking at the crystal dome, hearing the thunder-like applause, he felt shame of himself because, when Lucien was playing, his heart was completely seized by Lucien¡¯s bold and unrestrained fingerings, which he once condemned as a horrible betrayal of legitimate playing skills founded by his father.
"No¡­ It¡¯s not right." Pierre murmured to himself, "His playing was merely fancy fingerings piling up! That¡¯s unacceptable! That¡¯s¡­ not right."
Pierre got too distracted to notice that Lucien had come back to the stage again.
Everyone was waiting for the last piece of piano solo of the night, Pathetique.
...
Sitting in front of the piano, Lucien did not start playing immediately. He knew that although the playing skills required for this solo were not challenging for him at all, if he could not devote all he had to the playing, Pathetique could never show its breathtaking charm.
Lucien closed his eyes. All those painful moments came back to him:
The great nostalgia that tortured him in those sleepless nights when he was missing the smile of his parents;
The fear he suffered when he was forced to go into the sewers by the pastor, Benjamin;
The feeling of helplessness when he was beaten by the gangsters;
The horrible feeling of guilt he bore when Joel and his family got kidnapped;
The great anger that was burning his guts when he saw the three fingers sent by the heretics¡­
All those emotions gathered together and infused Lucien¡¯s heart.
What made Lucien feel the most depressive was the fact that he was trapped in this city, the City of Psalm!
He was hiding like a filthy rat in the sewers to do his magic experiments;
He was like a spy who could not fully trust anyone;
He was worried all the time that he might bring doom to uncle Joel and his family;
Every time he saw gallows, he couldn¡¯t stop imagining that he would be burnt to death one day.
Fear, grief, helplessness, anger, cowardliness¡­Lucien did not even realized that to what extent the negative emotion was piling up deep in his mind.
Stamping down on the piano pedal, Lucien pounded the keyboard with both of his arms using the great strength coming from his strong mixed feelings.
Even the heavy piano trembled from the pounding!
Then deep and gloomy melody came out, with a strong sense of grief and loss.
Orvarit, the grand duke, immediately felt the tragic atmosphere brought by the music. The melody was like the dark clouds threatening to develop into a big storm, pressuring heavily on his mind.
The grand duke was not the only one with that impression. All the listeners, no matter old or young, male of female, rich or poor, as long as they had experienced the bitter side of life, felt the deep emotion conveyed by the song.
Natasha¡¯s mind went back to that winter, when the sky of Aalto was shaded with heavy dark clouds, as if something horrible was about to come¡­
Christopher was missing his deceased wife who accompanied him for almost fifty years, and his son who would rather spend all his life on the road as a businessman than as a musician because of the great pressure brought by the reputation of his father.
Victor closed his eyes and murmured, "Life is tough, Winnie, but I still remember your smile."
Everyone¡¯s heart was seized by their own sorrow.
Among them all, Lilith and Sala¡¯s feeling might be the closest to that of Lucien, since they were also tasting the great bitter frustration of having to hide, of knowing that everyday was a struggle between life and death.
The introduction part ended with a smooth run of notes, then Lucien¡¯s playing became quicker and with much vigor. The music style became exciting, as if the music was encouraging people to bravely face all the difficulties and sufferings in life and to believe that life would always turn better.
However, with the repetition of the introductory part, the solemnity lingered on the listeners¡¯ mind. The mixed feelings of hope and desperation almost drove them nuts.
The grand duke was almost out of breath. The great pain came back to him, reminding him of when he heard his eldest son died on the battlefield in the far north, and when he was looking into his wife¡¯s beautiful eyes in her final days.
Natasha¡¯s eyes were darker than usual. She remembered what she promised her mother in front of her bed, "I¡¯ll become a knight, mom, to protect House Violet." She remembered how soft and weak her mom¡¯s hand was.
Verdi¡¯s face looked rather gloomy. Obviously, he had his own suffering.
On the square, the shock of the music numbed Pierre, and after a while, he burst into crying. He finally realized that Lucien¡¯s piano fingering would replace the playing skill created by his father. He blamed himself for being so useless that he was not able to carry on his father¡¯s achievement.
Marcus, Silvia, Felicia¡­ their hearts were all occupied with their own thoughts.
By the end of the first movement, the audience noticed that the tone of the music became a bit more rousing, as if the young man who was playing piano right now was trying to show them his great faith in life, to encourage them to face the pain and move on.
Because light was in front of them, victory was in front of them, as long as they could hang on one more second.
The Continental Congress of Magic, the wonderland for sorcerers and sorceresses¡­ that was what Lucien was thinking about. He believed that after tonight, after he found where the congress was, there would be no need for him to hide anymore!
The higher pitch was very uplifting. Many of the listeners took a deep breath and then released a long sigh as if they were driving all the negative emotion away.
The second movement was of a singing style. The gentle melody was like warm sunlight lighting up people¡¯s mind. Then the chorus joined in, curing people¡¯s hearts.
Then, there came the finishing rondo. Lucien quickly pressed down a run of keys in a stunning speed, as if rain drops were falling down onto the ground. The speed showed Lucien¡¯s renewed spirit and lit up people¡¯s great passion.
Lucien¡¯s movement was so fast that the audience¡¯s eyes even could not follow. Everyone got excited again, people started to applaud amidst Lucien¡¯s playing.
They were enjoying the music, and they were enjoying more than just music. The audience¡¯s mood was completely led by Lucien, the young man who was showing his astonishing skills on the stage. At this moment, it did not matter whether they were nobles or commoners. They were cheering for this young music genius, cheering for Lucien¡¯s never-ending fight against fate, cheering for their shared emotions as human beings.
Lucien¡¯s playing reached the perfection with the cut time movement in C minor. After another full run of notes, he heavily pressed down the last key and finished the sonata in great enthusiasm.
All of the audience in the Psalm Hall, including the grand duke, stood up from their seats and applauded for Lucien. The crowd on the square just went wild, and they were shouting and cheering.
The whole city was conquered by Lucien¡¯s concert!

Chapter 115: Let the Curtain Fall
				Chapter 115: Let the Curtain Fall
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien bowed to the audience over and over again. And the thunder-like applause was still going on. And the people on the square were still shouting at the top of their lungs.
Those nobles and famous musicians in the hall were touched, and they, especially the nobles, had not been touched so deeply for a long time. They tended to forget their own feelings, joy, sorrow, love, anger, just to be less vulnerable.
However, no one could resist the power of music. Nobles were still human beings. Even though many of them had awakened their Blessings, being physically strong could not turn their hearts into rocks.
The beauty of music was shared by all, regardless of social status, gender or age.
Only a few religious zealots remained relatively calm.
Lucien had no idea how many times he bowed to the audience. After a long time, they slowly calmed down, feeling both tired and peaceful.
"The best piano sonata I¡¯ve ever heard!" Staring at the crystal dome, Piola exclaimed, "Similar to Symphony of Fate, but also different. The emotion is deeper¡­ more conservative."
Sharon nodded and smiled, "I can image that Pathetique will become the classic sonata in terms of musical expressiveness."
"Aalto Music Festival was definitely worthy of our seven-month traveling." Grace looked serious, "After seeing Mr. Evans¡¯s playing, I want to stay in Aalto to learn piano."
"Get real, Grace." Green said to her, "Mr. Evans already gave us some suggestions for our fantasia. Come back with us and let¡¯s focus on our own music work. We will become famous in Sturk pretty soon, I believe."
"I agree. If you stay, Grace," Sharon added, "you won¡¯t be able to afford a music instructor here in Aalto. And since Aalto is filled with great musicians, how long do you think it will take you to stand out here?"
Finally Grace nodded and sighed, "I guess you guys are right. Don¡¯t forget to buy the latest Music Criticism and Symphony News. They will be very helpful for the future of our music."
The other band members nodded. They would definitely buy a lot of them in Aalto so they could take the newspapers back and make some money from the big price difference.
After standing on the square silently for a while, Lilith and Sala exchanged a look and turned around to head for the city gate.
"After we become real¡­" Sala paused a bit and gently patted on his younger sister¡¯s shoulder, "we will travel across the continent and find a safe place where we don¡¯t have to live in fear anymore."
Lilith nodded seriously, "Yes, then we¡¯ll be hiding no more."
...
In the backstage of the Psalm Hall, Lucien unbuttoned his suit jacket and then hugged Rhine, "Thank you, Mr. Rhine. The concert wouldn¡¯t be this successful without your help."
Then Lucien asked Rhine in a low voice, "And can you tell me where¡¯s it now?"
Rhine smiled and whispered, "You¡¯re so impatient, Lucien. I¡¯ll visit you tomorrow night."
Then Rhine raised up his voice, "Congratulations, Lucien!"
After meeting the orchestra members, Lucien saw a knight squire waiting there to invite him to the theater box in the front.
Lucien was a bit nervous of getting too close to Sard. After all, he had no idea how sensitive a Saint Cardinal would be about sorcerers around him.
"No worries. Your Blessing will conceal your identity." Pretending that he was wrapping up stuff, Rhine said to Lucien in a very low voice from behind, "Unless he already feels you¡¯re suspicious."
Lucien calmed down a bit from Rhine¡¯s words and left the backstage following the squire.
...
Although Lucien was still a couple of steps away from Sard, Lucien could feel the warm saint light that was surrounding the elder.
Since Lucien had awakened his Blessing, he could better sense the great power Sard owned. Fortunately, Lucien¡¯s Blessing was not a dark one, and he did not specialize in Necromantic spells, or his soul might be seriously injured just from standing close to the Saint Cardinal.
After saluting the nobles, Lucien walked in front of the grand duke. Orvarit nodded to Lucien approvingly, "You¡¯re young and talented, Lucien. I like your soul-touching music and I appreciate your never-ending spirit fighting against the sufferings in life. Keep working hard, Lucien, and you¡¯ll become the next music master in Aalto."
Natasha directly gave Lucien a hug like a friend and said to him in a joking way, "What else are you hiding from me, Lucien? Friends are about to share, but you did not tell me that a small adjustment in positioning piano could make a big difference!"
"Nothing else, really¡­" Lucien put on an awkward smile. Actually, he had way more secrets than that.
"What I want to say is that¡­ thank you for your playing, Lucien." Natasha¡¯s smile was slightly sad, "Your music reminds me of the past. The past is painful, but also valuable."
Christopher also hugged Lucien, "My era¡¯s over, but your era¡¯s just arrived, Lucien."
"Thank you, Mr. President. I hope I can get a new start, too," answered Lucien in a meaningful way, since his life was about to set off a new journey soon.
Then Lucien finally came in front of Sard, and he tried his best to stay calm.
"I¡¯ve heard your story before." Sard looked at Lucien with his turbid eyes, "I understand your pain, and I also see your strong heart. All the difficulties are tests from God. If you pass them, you become stronger."
Following Verdi, Michelle hugged Lucien a bit shyly, "Congratulations, Mr. Evans. On behalf of Syracuse, I want to invite you to Tria. Any time you come to my country, you¡¯ll receive the warmest welcome."
"Thank you, Your Grace." Lucien nodded.
Then Lucien received many other invitations offered by the rest of the guests coming from different countries across the continent.
Lucien knew that these invitations would become his excuse to leave Aalto when he got to know where the Continental Congress of Magic was.
When Lucien left the box, he saw that the last few people were leaving the Psalm Hall.
People on the square were also leaving.
Soon, the whole city became very quiet.
Lucien stepped out of the Psalm Hall and said to himself, "It¡¯s time to let the curtain fall, Lucien."

Chapter 116: Moonlight Sonata
				Chapter 116: Moonlight Sonata
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After changing his clothes, Lucien left the Psalm Hall through the side door.
Not far away from it, he saw a couple of coaches, in front of which stood Victor, Joel and his family.
All of a sudden, Lucien felt quite emotional. Taking a deep breath, he walked toward them.
"Congratulations, Lucien. I¡¯m so proud of you." Victor walked to Lucien and gave him a big hug, "Are you a bit depressed, Lucien?" Victor was very sensitive.
"Thank you, Mr. Victor." Lucien forced a smile on his face, "I¡¯m fine¡­ just a bit exhausted."
"I see." Victor showed his understanding, "Playing three piano solos at a time is exhausting for any pianist."
Then, Victor gently patted Lucien¡¯s back, "Have a good rest tonight. Tomorrow night we¡¯ll celebrate your success."
"Tomorrow?" To Lucien, the celebration party seemed to be quite in a hurry.
"Yes," answered Victor, "since a couple of days later, I¡¯ll be leaving Aalto."
"Where are you going, Mr. Victor?" Lucien did not expect that it was Victor who first bid them farewell.
"After last year¡¯s concert, " Victor smiled, "I¡¯ve been receiving lots of invitations from other countries. I stayed in Aalto because, at that time, you were during your critical period of music learning. Since now you¡¯re a well-qualified musician and you just held your first concert, it¡¯s time for me to start my music tour and gather some new ideas about music."
"And Lott and I are leaving with Mr. Victor." Felicia nodded, "We are all Mr. Victor¡¯s students, but now you¡¯re a great musician, and, of course, we can¡¯t fall too far behind." Felicia put on a sweet smile.
Lucien felt that it was a good chance to announce his leaving as well.
"A music tour¡­ That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been thinking about, too." Lucien said to them seriously, "Honestly, this concert exhausted all my ideas about music, and I feel that I need to travel out of Aalto to see more, to experience more."
"I¡¯m very proud of you." Victor looked at Lucien¡¯s eyes approvingly, "Your serious attitude toward music will make you one of the greatest musicians, if you stick to it. I wish you all the best, my student."
"Me, too." Lucien hugged Victor again with deep emotion, "Wish you a wonderful tour, my teacher."
Then Lucien turned around and hugged Joel and Alisa, "I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t have my coming-of-age ceremony in Aalto now."
Lucien¡¯s birthday was on July, 26th.
"Don¡¯t say sorry, Lucien. We understand, although we¡¯ll miss you a lot." Joel laughed and patted Lucien¡¯s shoulder, "Alisa and I¡­" his voice trembled a bit.
"We¡¯re very proud of you, all the time." Alisa finished Joel¡¯s words, "Come on¡­ don¡¯t be this dramatic, Joel. Little Evans will come back again soon."
Alisa looked at Lucien with hope in her eyes, "You will, right?"
Lucien opened his mouth a bit but did not know how to answer Alisa¡¯s question. He hurriedly nodded and turned to Felicia to hug her, in order to hide his awkwardness and sadness.
"Your playing and your understanding of music is awesome, Lucien!" Felicia was very excited, "Piano is the king of all the musical instruments!"
Lucien still remembered his promise to Felicia and Elena, "I¡¯ll organize and write down my knowledge about piano before I leave."
"Thank you, our great musician." Elena¡¯s face shone with excitement.
Then Lucien hugged his buddy, John, "I hope you will already be a knight when I see you again."
John answered decisively, "I will. Good luck, my friend."
The conversation between best friends was always simple, but the emotion was always deep.
Then, Lucien slightly bowed to all of them with his left hand on his chest and said to them sincerely, "Wish you all the best in my absence."
...
On the next day, Lucien spent most of day meeting his many visitors and at night he celebrated the success of his concert with all the guests.
When it was close to the early morning, all the guests started to leave Lucien¡¯s place. The great silence was in sharp contrast to the faded jollification. Lucien went back to his bedroom and waited for Rhine, who had promised Lucien that he would come after the party.
After a long time waiting, Lucien almost lost his patience. At this time, he heard a knock at the bedroom window.
Lucien hurriedly stood up from his bed and turned to look at the the window.
However, it was Natasha and Camil who were standing on the patio. Being a bit amused by himself, Lucien opened the window.
Wearing a long dress, Natasha looked a bit shy until she started to talk, "Haha, were you waiting for me, Lucien? You looked in such a hurry."
"Yes, I was," he joked. "After all, you did not show up on my party tonight."
"I¡¯m sorry, Lucien." Natasha apologized sincerely, "I wanted to, but I had to host the party in Ratacia for sending off the nobles from other countries. Now I¡¯m here, you see, to congratulate the great success achieved by my music consultant."
"I appreciate it very much, Your Grace." Lucien grinned.
"Well¡­ Besides saying congratulations to you tonight," Natasha smiled, "I also want to invite you to visit Cartier Palace with me. I¡¯m leaving tomorrow. Silvia and her father will go as well."
Cartier Palace belonged to House Violet, sitting on the broad land owned by the family in the suburb of Aalto.
"Sorry, Your Grace. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t make it," replied Lucien. Then, he told Natasha his plan of leaving.
Natasha looked quite excited, "What an enviable trip! I wish I could travel around as well!"
After a brief exchange with Lucien about the unique features of different countries on the continent, Natasha switched the topic and asked Lucien, looking a bit embarrassed, "Lucien¡­ did you complete the melody that you were playing the other night¡­ the melody that you were playing in the moonlight? I want to play it for Silvia¡­"
"I only finished the first movement¡­" Lucien was a bit hesitant, "I¡¯m thinking about naming it Moonlight Sonata."
"Can I listen to it?" requested Natasha eagerly.
"Sure." Lucien sat down in front of his piano, Lucien placed his hands on the keyboard again.
The introduction was slow and peaceful, picturing a glittering lake at a moonlit night. The soft breeze rippled the water like a pair of young lady¡¯s hands.
A mixed feelings of joy and sorrow rose in Natasha¡¯s heart. Everything under the moonlight depicted in the sonata was as beautiful as a dream.
The first movement was rather short, only about a few minutes. Natasha¡¯s nodded and looked at Lucien with approval, "Adagio as the first movement, impressive! I¡¯m sure Silvia would love it!"
Then she slightly leaned forward, "What do you think I should say to Silvia after playing the first movement of Moonlight Sonata for her?"
"Remember me whenever you see the moon*." Somehow Lucien blurted out.
"Wow¡­" Natasha looked very impressed. "That¡¯s really something."
Then, the princess stood up and said to him, "I¡¯m glad to have you as my music consultant and friend, Lucien. I¡¯m not sure when you¡¯re coming back, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see each other again sooner or later."
Lucien sighed in his heart but did not say anything special, "It¡¯s my great pleasure to be your friend. Please take care, Your Grace."
After Natasha and Camil left, Lucien continued to wait for Rhine.
About ten minutes later, Rhine finally showed up at the front gate of Lucien¡¯s house. Lucien went downstairs to open the door for him.
"Wanna go out and take a walk under the moonlight, Lucien?"
Rhine still dressed in black and red tonight.

Chapter 117: The Congress of Magic
				Chapter 117: The Congress of Magic
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Under the moonlight, the many beautiful flowers in the garden looked a bit hazy.
Lucien and Rhine were walking through the flowers side by side, both of them remaining silent.
A while later, Lucien could not hold himself back anymore, "Can you tell me where the headquarter of the Congress of Magic is now, Mr. Rhine?"
Rhine looked at Lucien and smiled, "What do you think? Take a guess."
"I thought about it." Lucien nodded, "I thought it was on the other side of the Dark Mountain Range, or at least deep in the mountains. After all, the Church failed to march further westward across the range. Does it make sense?"
"A good guess," Rhine grinned, "but if you go there, what you can find deep in the mountains will be a bunch of crazy and gloomy sorcerers and sorceresses who survived the violent suppression, or say, slaughter, done by the Church. People call them ¡®ancient sorcerers¡¯."
"Really? How come they live that long?" Lucien was a bit surprised.
"They are survivors." Rhine explained, "They managed to survive because they are powerful. Many of them are archmages and even legendary archmages. They¡¯re cruel and crazy. You can easily become their subject for experiment if you piss them off and die from their brutal torture."
"Then¡­ is the headquarter in a certain country? I mean¡­ in one of the countries which doesn¡¯t follow the God of Truth?" Lucien made another guess.
"Nope¡­" Rhine shook his head again and again, "Have you ever heard of the Kingdom of Holm?"
"Yes, I did¡­" Lucien did not quite get it.
"The headquarter of the Congress of Magic is in the Kingdom of Holm," said Rhine, "or, to be more specific, in the floating city called Allyn, close to the kingdom¡¯s capital, Rentato."
"Allyn¡­ in Sylvanas it means sky." Lucien murmured. Then his eyes suddenly opened wide, and he said, "Wait¡­ it¡¯s impossible! The princess¡¯ mom came from Holm, and this is a country that follows the God of Truth! The grand duke even visited it many years ago! How come¡­"
"I knew the answer would shock you, Lucien." Rhine slowly explained, as if he was telling a rather interesting story, "Among all these poems and stories and music works that praised the romantic love between the grand duke and the princess¡¯ mom, neither of them specified why and who was trying to separate them. Don¡¯t you feel strange?"
"I never thought about it¡­" Lucien was confused, "Was it the congress? But why?"
"If you had ever learned about the philosophy of ruling," the corner of Rhine¡¯s lips curled up, "you¡¯d understand that it¡¯s all about the balance between nobles."
"Can you explain it a bit more, Mr. Rhine?" Lucien had some thoughts but was not quite sure.
Rhine walked slowly, "In the last two hundred years of the War of Dawn, the power of the Church reached its peak. Even the emperor needed to kneel down in front of the pope and kiss the pope¡¯s shoes. At that time, the Church could easily dethrone an emperor, not to mention deposing those dukes, counts and viscounts."
"So, those nobles¡­" Lucien rubbed his chin a bit with his fingers, "they decided to support the cardinals who wanted to separate from the Church?"
"Good point." Rhine turned his face toward Lucien, "Although we still don¡¯t know why those cardinals back in the days decided to betray the pope, what we know is that some local nobles in the north were more than willing to support them. However, these nobles were clearly aware of the fact that, if these cardinals that they supported gained the core power and overthrew the pope, a new pope would come out among the cardinals on their side and the whole situation of the nobles would not be changed at all."
"So the nobles leaked the secret plan on purpose to let the pope be relatively prepared!" Lucien¡¯s brows frowned slightly, "Thus, the north and the south became two sides on a balanced scale. And the balanced situation made the nobles¡¯ power rather important. The side that gained the support of more nobles would obviously have the advantage."
"You¡¯re really smart, Lucien. The first half part of your reasoning is correct, but the second half was not really what happened." Rhine smiled, "The fact was that, after the division of the Church, the southern Church was still way stronger than the northern. However, the north Church gained the support from the elves, dwarves, many magic creatures and even the ancient sorcerers in the northwest of the Dark Mountain Range. Like the old saying goes, ¡®my enemy's enemy is my friend¡¯. When they were involved, the northern Church finally managed to withstand the violent attack launched by the south."
"Then, the situation on the whole continent looked more balanced. The south was not in such a dominant position anymore." Lucien contemplated, "Something else must have happened afterwards in the south¡­ say, another division."
"Impressive, Lucien." Rhine looked a bit surprised with Lucien¡¯s insight, "Yes, there was another division in the south later. Since the nobles in the south saw the great improvement of the status of the nobles in the north, while most of them decided to negotiate with the Church, a small part of them chose to secretly support the mages, in order to turn the sorcerers and sorceresses into a new trouble for the Church, while they stood in the middle and benefited from their confrontation."
"Who were the ¡®small part¡¯ of the nobles? What they were doing was very risky." Lucien murmured.
"Yes, it was." Rhine shrugged, "They were the nobles from the four kingdoms across Storm Strait. And what they did not expect was that a great mage named Douglas evolved the ancient magic system and initiated a huge revolution in studying the laws of the universe. Hence, the power of the magic congress started to soar, and countless great archmages came out. About a hundred years ago, the congress integrated several scattered major magic organizations and became the second most powerful institution in the world."
"Douglas¡­" he still remembered the name. Lucien was pretty sure that Douglas was still alive, since such a great sorcerer like him must have many ways to prolong his lifespan. For example, there was a magic ritual mentioned in Astrology and Magic Elements that could prolong one¡¯s lifespan to a thousand and five hundred years.
"Mr. Douglas, one of the most powerful men in the world, the greatest arcanist ever in history, the chairman of the Continental Congress of Magic, and the founder of the journal called Arcana." Mentioning his name, even Rhine looked a bit awed, "So now, in the Kingdom of Holm, the existence of the magic congress is almost a half-revealed secret, and the power of the congress is way stronger than that of the southern Church. Without the support of the local nobles, the Church might have been rooted out long time ago."
"That¡¯s why the Church here made the grand duke visit Holm many years ago. The purpose of the grand duke¡¯s trip was to rebuild a solid relationship with the nobles there to fight against the congress¡¯ power," Lucien nodded. "So, the grand duke married the princess in Holm, good for him."
"Well¡­ I bet that was out of the grand duke¡¯s expectation." Rhine smiled. "The marriage caused a stir across the continent. Many nobles opposed it and tried to obstruct the marriage in every possible way, since the union of the two young people might easily change the tripartite power relations among nobles, the Church and the congress. The congress, obviously, would not easily allow the marriage to happen as well."
Seeing Lucien¡¯s eyebrows frowned tightly, Rhine paused a bit and waved his hand casually, "Anyway¡­ you don¡¯t have to understand all the complicated stories in history. What you should think about is how to get to Holm. Storm Strait has been blocked by the Church for a long time, and only the nobles and businessmen with a special permit can pass. Or you can pass the confrontation border of the northern and the southern branches of the Church, traverse Schachran Empire and reach the lands to the far north, after which you can enter Holm from its northern border."
"I don¡¯t think I can even make the first step, passing the confrontation border¡­" Lucien shook his head, "I wonder if the congress has its own special path. After all, I know there was a sorcerer from the congress who came to Aalto before."
Rhine nodded, "Yes, I was just about to mention this. It is said that the congress has a liaison in Sturk, the Bright Pearl of the Sea, but I don¡¯t know who is it, and you would still have to sneak through the confrontation border, which is very dangerous. So what I suggest is that you first become a real sorcerer and then set off for your destination, to have a better chance at protecting yourself."
"A real sorcerer¡­" Lucien¡¯s brain was working fast. He could not take the risk to use the Professor identity again right now to go back to the apprentice meeting, and the only way that he could become a first circle sorcerer as soon as possible would be to visit the magic lock, "But isn¡¯t it a trap set by the Church?" Lucien murmured.
"If you become a middle-rank mage and learn how to fly, you basically won¡¯t have to worry about all this stuff." Rhine continued, "The Church can block the water and the border, but it can never completely control the sky. Smart as you are, with the help of the potion called Silver Moon, I believe you can soon make a breakthrough, Lucien. By the way, the Church has been pretty busy recently and they¡¯re less likely to pick on you, I think."
"You seem to know everything, Mr. Rhine." Lucien was surprised, "Who are you? Why did you want to help me?"
"I¡¯m only an observer, an outsider." Rhine¡¯s smile was mysterious, "You¡¯re an interesting person, Lucien. Getting you involved makes the whole thing even more interesting. Of course, when the game becomes attractive enough for me, I¡¯ll join it as well."
Then Rhine directly turned around and left the garden through the small gate, leaving Lucien standing alone in the darkness.
Unexpectedly, Lucien now felt more relaxed than excited, as if Rhine just removed the heavy rock that had been sitting for so long on his heart.
At this time, Lucien suddenly felt his soul swelled a bit and started to approach his power limit.

Chapter 118: The End and the Beginning
				Chapter 118: The End and the Beginning
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The light fragrance of the flowers and the unique smell of earth were intoxicating, and the cool breeze was nice and gentle. When Lucien was standing in the garden alone, all of a sudden, the surroundings disappeared, and instead, a broad starry sky with a beautiful silver moon enveloped him.
Lucien once again entered the world inside his soul.
The shining string connecting Lucien¡¯s actual host star of destiny far away in the universe and the star¡¯s inverted reflection in his soul appeared in the air, and the string, as a channel, was eagerly absorbing the power of the host star in order to nurture Lucien¡¯s soul.
Gradually, certain changes happened in the soul, and Lucien felt that his soul was slowly "substantialized".
A while later, when Lucien reopened his eyes, there were countless stars in his dark pupils.
He blinked again, and then his eyes went back to normal.
Feeling super refreshed, Lucien sensed that his soul was stronger than ever. The most amazing difference he noticed was that some crystal powder was solidified and produced from his soul, just like the fine dust of the revenant.
"How a person¡¯s soul is constituted? Is it constituted of certain special elements, or soul itself is nothing else but a special wave field? Why meditation can improve one¡¯s power?" Lucien murmured, having too many questions in his mind that interested him a lot. He was guessing that the substantiation, or say, the solidification of the soul was the premise to construct a magic model.
Right now, becoming a first circle sorcerer was Lucien¡¯s main goal. For a senior apprentice, this breakthrough to become a real sorcerer was of great significance, since there was a huge difference in power between the two levels, just like moving from being a knight squire to being a real knight.
...
It only took Lucien half a day to finish all the procedures to collect the documents required to travel through the continent, both because of the princess¡¯ special order in advance and his own social status as a well-known musician. For common people, however, it would take at least seven days.
Although many adventurers were also traveling across the continent without any paperwork, it was illegal, technically speaking, and it could put them in big trouble, such as being suspected of being heretics or spies.
Then, Lucien stayed in Aalto for a few more days to plan his trip and also to wait for the upcoming April tenth.
In the morning of April ninth, Lucien¡¯s coach set out for Tiran, a province in northwest of the duchy. Since the coach was hired by the association, Lucien told the coachman to go to the north first and then head toward the Kingdom of Syracuse in the east to hide his real destination.
...
The magnificent city gradually disappeared behind the coach. Lucien stopped looking back from the window and started to casually leaf through some paper works. Then, he noticed that there was a pile of newspapers in the corner of the coach.
Taking a closer look, it was the latest Music Criticism and Symphony News.
The front page of the latest Music Criticism was divided in two. The black and white painting on the left side depicted the scene where Christopher was acknowledging the applause at the end of his concert, while on the right side, there was a colored picture of Lucien playing piano.
On the top of the front page, there was a line of bold letters, "The end of the old era, the beginning of a new era."
The full passage was on the second page:
"Mr. Christopher bid his farewell to the stages with his magnificent concert. His symphony the War of Dawn shocked every listener and showed us a great musician¡¯s never-ending spirit for further exploration in the world of music.
"In the past seventy years, we have witnessed a tremendous growth of symphony, and the contribution made by Mr. Christopher to the art of composing is more than remarkable. He is a real music master, the representative of the last seventy years. Let us salute Mr. Christopher with our greatest respect."
...
"Following Mr. Christopher, the great master of music, Mr. Lucien Evans showed us a brand-new direction for the further development of music in his concert. Young and inexperienced as he is, Mr. Evans already launched a few revolutions with his fingerings, composing and conducting. The next era of music has arrived.
"Although not everyone likes revolution, the momentum of innovation can not be stopped. Thanks to Mr. Evans, the colorful future of music has been partly revealed.
"Let us send this young music genius our best wishes! Let us wish that Mr. Evans would follow Mr. Christopher¡¯s footstep and lead us further in this new music era!"
...
"The end of Mr. Christopher¡¯s playing was followed by the beginning of Mr. Evans¡¯ performance, and we shall cheer with heart and soul, ¡®music lives forever¡¯!"
The passage was co-written by a couple of musicians from the association in Aalto.
Some of the other passages in the newspaper gave high comments on piano, and some of them analyzed the formats of Christopher¡¯s symphony and Lucien¡¯s sonata. Only a few short articles were criticizing Lucien¡¯s fingerings and his style of conducting as "lunatic and totally not decent", and one of them was contributed by Wolf.
Lucien sneered a bit and folded the newspapers.
Staring at the bold title on the front page, "The end of the old era, the beginning of a new era", Lucien sat in the coach and lost himself in thoughts.
...
Around six in the evening, Lucien arrived at the small town called Massawa.
The town was located at an intersection, one heading toward the province named Tiran, which belonged to House Violet, and the other that led to Bonn, the small town sitting beside Elsinore Lake, which was very close to Massawa.
"It¡¯s pretty late now, Mr. Evans." The leader of Lucien¡¯s guards, Joyce, said to him, "I suggest we stay here for the night and set off tomorrow morning."
Although nowadays vicious monsters and creatures were rarely seen around big cities, towns and villages, from time to time people could still encounter robbers and small beasts. Therefore, if the common people needed to travel through the continent, they had to pay mercenaries to protect themselves.
Lucien¡¯s mercenary team had six people in total. The team leader and the vice leader were high level knight squires and the other team members were low level ones. Every month Lucien needed to pay them three hundred Nars, excluding meal and accommodation.
Although it was totally unaffordable for common people, money was not a big problem for Lucien anymore. The income of his concert was very decent, and now he had a hundred and five Thales in total with him.
"Sure. You know more about this place than I do, Joyce." Lucien nodded, "Can you find us a hotel? I want a very quiet room."
Joyce was tall and strong. At the age of thirty-two, he was still saving money to awaken his Blessing. Joyce was sort of grateful that such a celebrity would show respect to him, since many other wealthy guys who he safeguarded before were pretty much bastards.
Very soon Joyce booked a decent hotel sitting beside a small lake in the town. Lucien selected the leftmost room on the second floor, which was very quiet.
A bunch of tourists were in Massawa at that time. They had just left Aalto after the music festival.
Lucien entered his room from the side door and avoided them. He ordered dinner and ate it inside his room, after which he told Joyce that he did not want anyone to disturb him. Then, he quietly waited for the darkness of the night to come.

Chapter 119: Unlock
				Chapter 119: Unlock
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The silver moon was not there tonight. Only a couple of starts could be seen.
Standing in front of the window, Lucien looked out of the curtain and felt a bit disappointed, since his Blessing couldn¡¯t be fully activated without the silver moon. Tonight only his speed and agility could reach a knight level, but his physical strength would not be as good as when the moon was out.
"At least I can still see some stars, or I wouldn¡¯t even be able to calculate the coordinate of the entrance of the magic lock." Lucien comforted himself, "And it¡¯s safer to hide in the dark without the moonlight."
According to the ancient script he had read before, the entrance of the magic lock called Grand Cross kept changing its location every ten minutes together with the continuously moving stars, until the sun rose up.
Around eleven at night, Lucien put on his hooded black robe.
Pulling up the hood, when he was about to sneak out of the room through the window, he suddenly felt a bit hesitant: the poem, the script and the two visitors all came to him together, almost at the same time, which was such a coincidence that made him suppose this might actually be a trap.
At first Lucien thought that the brother and sister were sent by the Church to test him, however, after knowing from Rhine that the Church was too busy recently to deal with matters such as those, and after seeing the dozen mysterious visitors in this small town, he felt the story about the magic ruins was quite suspicious.
"Should I take the risk?" Lucien asked himself silently in his mind. After all, it would take him six to seven months to get to Sturk, therefore, he still had enough time to find another way to get the Silver Moon potion and, obviously, the magic ruins was not Lucien¡¯s only chance to collect the materials he needed.
However, very soon Lucien made up his mind. He had a foreboding through his host star when Rhine was talking to him the other night. He had a feeling that something significant was going to happen, and if he could not be powerful enough to protect himself before that happened, he would probably die.
Also, Lucien had so many questions in his mind: who was the author of the poem? Who was the original owner of the script? Was it possible that the legendary archmage known as "the Prophet" who wrote Astrology and Magic Elements left anything special in the lock because he forecast something important?
Lucien¡¯s curiosity became dominant over his concerns. He gently jumped out of the window and landed agilely outside.
...
In order to save his strength, Lucien moved a bit slower. It took him an hour to get to the small town close to Massawa, called Bonn.
Bonn was a remote town sitting beside the Dark Mountain Range. Occasionally, a few musicians and painters would visit it, but most of the time it had no visitors.
Lucien was quite surprised to find that, when he secretly arrived at the small town, the only tavern there was still busy. He could hear that lots of people were still chatting in many different accents.
...
In one of the rooms on the second floor of the tavern, Sala and Lilith were looking at each other with their eyebrows frowned.
"What shall we do now?" Lilith asked, "I thought only Mr. Evans figured out the secret of the manuscript, but why are there so many visitors here in Bonn?"
"I¡¯m guessing¡­" Sala sighed, "the manuscript we have is not complete, and it might not be the only one. They might have the complete version."
"That makes sense, after all, we got the manuscript from¡­" Lilith nodded and switched the topic, "What if there¡¯re sorcerers and knights among them?"
"I¡¯m not sure." Sala looked downwards, as if he was trying to see the people downstairs through the floor, "At least I know these macular guys bragging just now are no more than a bunch of adventurers."
"Then, are we still going tomorrow?" Lilith looked hesitant.
Sala did not answer her question immediately. After a while he sighed, "We¡¯ll wait and see. I mean, we don¡¯t have to, and we also can¡¯t compete with them. I feel there¡¯s something wrong going on here." Although Sala sensed something wrong, his desire forced him to stay.
"All right." Lilith nodded. "The entrance of the ruins will exist for twelve hours anyway."
...
At the same time, Lucien was standing under the window of Sala and Lilith¡¯s room, leaning against the wall and calculating the coordinates of the entrance.
Because that was a magic lock of legendary level, lots of parameters were required. It took Lucien more than half an hour to figure out the numbers.
The calculation consumed Lucien so much energy that made him dizzy. Luckily, there was still a while before the magic lock started to be activated, so Lucien just sat on the ground quietly in the dark to recover.
...
By around three in the morning, Lucien had been fully revitalized. With great caution, he moved toward a plain-looking bungalow.
In the darkness, his black robe made him almost invisible.
Opening the door with a simple spell, he sneaked into the place and then locked the door again from inside.
In the bedroom, a couple was sleeping soundly, completely unaware that someone had just entered their place.
Lucien sat down on a wooden chair in the living room, looking rather relaxed and calm. However, he was counting the time silently in his mind.
Around ten minutes later, Lucien suddenly stood up and threw himself on the dark vortex in the corner of the living room, which was definitely not there a second before.
As if Lucien was sucked in the swirl, his figure completely disappeared from the place.
Ten seconds later, the dark vortex disappeared as well.
...
Lucien felt a great dizziness when he jumped in the swirl, as if his head hit a heavy, thick curtain.
However, when he opened his eyes, he was still standing in the same living room.
Lucien was confused and thought that maybe he had missed the chance. However, soon he noticed the difference: This place had no colors, made purely with black, white and gray, as if he entered the world of a black-and-white movie.
Taking a glance at the bedroom, Lucien saw that the couple who was sleeping in the bed disappeared as well.
Carefully, he pushed the door open and came to the street - It was the same town, but it was empty, and black and white.
"That¡¯s creepy," Lucien said to himself, but he could not hear his voice.
Thus, he finally noticed another difference: this whole world was completely silent, as if the world was dead.
This was the lock. Lucien was in the magic lock now.
Looking up at the grey sky, he saw no stars, no silver moon or sun.
Luckily, he could still sense his connection with his host star, which meant he could still use magic, and he was still connected to the real world, so he wouldn¡¯t get completely lost inside the lock.
No people, no cats and dogs, no birds, bugs, breeze, color or even sound¡­ Lucien was sweating while he walked through the gray streets.
According to the manuscript he read, Lucien located a few magic gardens. Keeping the locations in mind, he headed toward Elsinore Lake on the other side of this gray town.
Grabbing his sword named Alert, all of a sudden, Lucien¡¯s arms were covered with goose bumps. Something was coming!
Quickly turning his head around, Lucien saw the door of a small house on the street slowly open.
A little girl around seven or eight was standing behind the door. She had no color either, and her big eyes stared at nothing.
Then she started to smile, with her big eyes without any focus.
...
"My lord," kneeling on the ground, a person in black robe reported to the man standing on the altar, "following your order, we found out a guy with the Moonlight Blessing arrived in Bonn, but we lost track of him all of a sudden. He disappeared."
In his silver robe, Ilia sneered, "There he is."
Then, he turned around and commanded, "Do not rush. Our plan is always our priority. But we¡¯ll give this Moonlight guy a warm welcome as well."

Chapter 120: Silence
				Chapter 120: Silence
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Staring at the street outside of the window, Lilith and Sala couldn¡¯t and dared not sleep.
"I heard that, from time to time, there were people missing in this small town, and it has been happening more and more often in recent years." Lilith asked her elder brother, "Do you think it¡¯s because of the magic lock?"
Sala shook his head, "I¡¯m not sure. After all, I don¡¯t even know what kind of magic lock this is. I know the Church once sent several pastors here before, but they found nothing suspicious. In the end, they guessed that some monsters or creatures in the mountain took them."
Then, Sala pointed at the small house on the other side of the street, "That house once belonged to one of the few literate country gentlemen here in Bonn. Ten years ago, on April tenth, his seven-year-old daughter was missing, and he never found her. Finally, he moved eastwards with his wife, away from Bonn, because they were too sad to keep living here."
"April tenth¡­" Lilith murmured thoughtfully.
...
The girl, who seemed to be a figure coming out of a black-and-white photo, smiled to Lucien. Slowly, she raised up her arms and then started to run toward Lucien, as if an innocent and lively daughter was running toward her dad.
However, the scenario was very creepy in Lucien¡¯s eyes: The little girl¡¯s body was floating in the air, and her eyes were hollow.
Lucien started to cast a spell, but he couldn¡¯t even hear his own voice. The air surrounding the little girl began to stir and turned into several invisible robes trying to constrain her.
Apprentice spell, Wraith Shackle.
As soon as the little girl realized what was going on around her, her face contorted with hatred and viciousness. She opened her mouth and started to scream.
Lucien was prepared, since he had some experience with the revenants before during his experiments. Right after he cast Wraith Shackle, Lucien activated Silence Wall to protect himself from the attack of sound waves.
In a real fight, knowledge still mattered a lot.
Lucien could see the ripples crashing against the invisible wall surrounding him. Even before he had a second to be proud of his foresight, the wall suddenly collapsed into small transparent pieces!
The rest of the sound waves, although they had been weakened to some extent by the invisible wall, hit Lucien right in his chest.
Feeling the sky and earth were spinning, he fell on the ground and almost threw up right away. Lucien¡¯s guts were trembling inside of his body.
Fortunately, a layer of gray light instantly covered Lucien¡¯s skin when he was attacked. His Moonlight Blessing was activated on its own in order to protect him. Without the ability of dematerializing into moonlight, Lucien might be dead already.
Lucien realized that this was a revenant as powerful as a real knight!
Quickly analyzing what kind of revenant and how powerful the little girl was, Lucien swiftly shifted to the other side of the revenant, then his lips moved.
Lucien cast Illumination.
Even the weakest revenant was immune to most of the Element spells. Only light, fire and sound waves could hurt them.
However, Illumination did not work very well in this world. The grayish light ball in the sky looked rather dim and faint.
The little girl paused a bit and then directly jumped onto Lucien.
With his Moonlight Blessing, Lucien barely dodged away, like a gray shadow. At the same time, he grabbed his sword and hacked toward the little girl, after which he started running.
Lucien knew the attack was in vain, but he did not have another choice, since he was still during the buffering time for casting.
Seeing the sword did not hurt her, the little girl tipped her head a little bit and smiled.
Then, she suddenly disappeared, and several seconds later, she showed up right in front of Lucien, with her arms wide open.
Lucien reacted fast. Pressing his foot against the ground, he changed his direction and started to cast Homan¡¯s Oscillation.
This time, the little girl was injured. Lucien saw her etherious body ripplling like disturbed water.
The great anger appeared on her face again, and it became more and more vicious. She raised her head, screamed silently, and then directly rushed at him.
Once again, although Lucien avoided the frontal attack of the sound waves with Moonlight, his ankles suddenly felt weak and his movement paused for a second.
The revenant had reached him. For a second, Lucien¡¯s consciousness faded, and then he felt extremely tired and flimsy. The heat in his body was escaping. He felt cold.
The little girl went directly through Lucien¡¯s body and stopped on the other side. Raising her hands, she looked shocked and confused.
The ring Lucien was wearing, Ice Revenger, helped him to stay focused. Without any hesitance, Lucien cast a spell again.
A blast of cold wind blew around them. A revenant was summoned by Lucien.
He decided to use a revenant to fight against the other revenant, since he noticed that, in the weird dimension, while light magic was largely weakened, the undead creatures were strengthened by a lot.
Being controlled by Lucien, the summoned revenant launched its attack toward the little girl.
Wrestling together, their arms pierced each other¡¯s "body". However, it seemed like the revenant Lucien just summoned was weaker than the little girl, since within a couple of seconds, it already started to get less and less visible.
It would not even take the little girl ten seconds to completely wipe it out.
Hoever, it was enough time for Lucien to turn the tables.
Lucien took a few steps backward, reached his hand into his pocket and threw out a handful of reagents toward the two revenants who were wrestling, and a white fire wall enveloped them as Lucien finished casting the spell.
This was Lucien¡¯s invented spell, Sulphur-fire Wall, which was just an inspirational flash when he was facing the aquatic zombie, and within the past couple of months, Lucien turned it into one of his regular spells.
The only problem with Sulphur-fire Wall now was that the structure of its magic model was not simplified enough, so it took Lucien more time and spiritual power to activate it.
Being burned by the sulphur fire, the revenant Lucien summoned immediately disappeared, and a couple of seconds later, the little girl started to show signs of being in pain.
However, the apprentice spell could not cause a great damage to her, but only contain her within the fire wall. It seemed she was very afraid of fire, and instead of trying to force her way through the fire, she stayed in the center.
Lucien was a bit relieved and was about to run away from the little girl. Facing a revenant as powerful as a knight, the top priority for Lucien was to stay away from her, instead of attempting to eliminate it.
As soon as he turned around, Lucien took a glance at the place where the little girl showed up. Through the open door Lucien saw a small skeleton with thin bones bending over a wooden table.
The scene reminded him of what he had read about revenants. All of a sudden, Lucien changed his direction and ran toward the house as fast as a shadow.
Watching him approach the house, the little girl suddenly panicked. Without any hesitance, she rushed toward Lucien through the fire wall.
By the time the little girl broke through the fire wall, Lucien was already standing in front of the small skeleton. Sprinkling a handful of sulphur powder on it, Lucien lit the skeleton on fire.
The white fire immediately covered the bones.
In the fire, Lucien saw a drawing on the wooden table, carved by something sharp, like nails. It was an awkward drawing of a family of three, but then, like an illusion, it shifted into a little girl waiting beside a door.
Under the drawing, there were a few crooked letters: Daddy¡­ Mommy¡­ Home¡­
The little girl slowly stopped when she saw the skeleton on fire. She was a bit surprised at first, but then lowered her eyes, looking rather sad.
Then, her body became more and more transparent. She started to gradually disappear.
From the pictures, the letters and the ever-changing entrance of the magic lock, Lucien had a rough idea of why the little girl was here in this world. His sympathy instantly took over his fear.
"Daddy¡­ Mommy¡­ Home," Lucien silently murmured.
His heart was softened. Lucien turned to the little girl, who was almost gone, and said to her, "I¡¯ll take you home."
In this world of black and white, the world of silence, the little girl had tears falling down her face, but she smiled sweetly, as if she read the movement of Lucien¡¯s lips and understood what he said.
In the last second before she disappeared completely, the little girl nodded to Lucien gratefully.
When the skeleton was burned into ashes by the magic fire, the little girl also disappeared. The wooden table was gone together with the burning skeleton.
Lucien carefully collected the ashes and put it into his pocket.
Now he was even more confused with this world, since it seemed less and less likely to be the Grand Cross he was looking for. The whole place was just too creepy.
Lucien started to feel very uncomfortable with the great silence in this world. He felt himself dumb and deaf. Grabbing his sword tight, he started to walk toward Elsinore Lake.
When he was about to leave the small town, he noticed that the cemetery that he saw when he arrived in Bonn disappeared, and instead, a piece of wasteland was in front of him.
"The magic lock world is actually not a copy of the original world?" Lucien asked himself in his mind with great surprise.
Picking up the pace, Lucien turned around the corner with overgrown weeds. Then, what he saw instantly shocked him.
The scarlet Elsinore Lake in this world was like a huge pool of blood, and it reflected the inverted image of a grand cross consisting of nine bright stars shining in the sky, whose light lit up the whole lake.
That was the first time Lucien saw another color except black, white and gray since he came into this world.

Chapter 121: The Magic Garden
				Chapter 121: The Magic Garden
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
There was no wind and no rain. The sky was gray and the stars were absent. Lucien felt that the magic lock world was dead.
However, there were waves on the surface of the red-colored lake under the Grand Cross, as if the lake was alive. The creepy and sharp color contrast also made Lucien very nervous, even though he was a senior apprentice who stayed relatively calm and focused all the time.
Carefully observing the bright and shining Grand Cross in the sky again, and comparing it with the stellar map of Astrology and Magic Elements in his spirit library, Lucien found that the arrangement of the magic lock was quite unique. Unlike most magic locks, that aimed to protecting something, this one was more like a lock gathering power in order to keep something sealed.
If Lucien¡¯s feeling was correct, he did not want to stay here any longer. Lucien looked up in the sky and quickly recalculated the coordination of the closest magic garden according to the Grand Cross. Then, without any hesitation, he turned around and ran toward the edge of the black forest in the west along the lakeside path.
Curious as Lucien was, he was clearly aware that it would be too stupid for him to approach this legendary-level magic lock. He knew that he needed to stick to his original purpose for coming here.
Lucien¡¯s body recovered quickly thanks to his Moonlight Blessing. By the time he entered the black forest, the pain in his chest caused by the revenant had already disappeared.
The black forest was immersed in the same silence. Even the leaves on the branches were not moving at all. Everything stayed still. No life could be seen.
Lucien tried to keep calm as much as possible when he was walking through the huge trees. A bit more than ten minutes later, he saw a tall and big building covered with shadow sitting in front of him, some distance away. From time to time, there were strange lights coming out of the building and flying towards Elsinore Lake.
He slowed down his pace when he approached the building and grabbing his sword tight. Lucien was slightly sweating.
Reaching into his pocket, Lucien pulled out a small black stone. It was a bat pituitary gland.
Holding it in his left hand, his lips moved silently and then invisible waves started to spread out like ripples. Standing in the center of them, he was waiting for the back echo reflection after the waves hit certain obstacles.
The tall and big firs appeared one by one in Lucien¡¯s mind. Different things sitting within a radius of several hundreds of meters became more and more clear. However, some of the objects that made the waves ricochet remained rather blurry, and Lucien could only use their shapes to guess what they were.
Still, no life was detected. Lucien was not sure whether he should feel relieved or even more nervous.
As he was searching for possible magic traps, he kept slowly moving closer to his destination. All of the obstacles that he could not identify turned out to be just big stones.
When Lucien forced his way through the thick bushes, he saw a gray gravestone, behind which there was a small coffin chamber.
Approaching the gravestone a bit, he saw the white letters carved on it, "Here lies the previous mayor of Bonn, Mr. David Terrian, whose greatest exploit was killing the hundreds of people who did not follow the God of Truth.
And this man died because he fell in love with another man, who was very powerful."
Lucien¡¯s face twitched a bit when facing the inscription, not because of its absurdity, but because he saw the gravestone before, when he first sneaked into Bonn. He remembered clearly that this gravestone was in the town¡¯s cemetery, not in a forest.
"The cemetery moved into the black forest in this magic lock world?" Lucien thought to himself.
He looked around and found more graves. In the world of black and white, they looked even more horrific.
Obviously, a cemetery was not a very pleasant place to stay. So, Lucien decided to leave here and take another way around this place to get to the magic garden, even thought that would take a bit more time.
However, by the time he turned around, Lucien¡¯s scalp tingled from the same feeling of coldness that he sensed when he encountered the little girl.
Without any hesitance, Lucien launched a backhand hack with his sword.
Although it felt like he just chopped a random piece of rotten wood, a certain strange power shook Lucien¡¯s arm along with the sword in his hand. Turning into a grey shadow, Lucien quickly dodged to the side and knelt down on one knee with his back against a gravestone.
In the corner of his eye, there was a short line of words on the gravestone,
"I was fat, but now I¡¯m skinny."
Lucien was a bit amused for a second. However, just within that second, a rotten arm stretched out of the barrow beside him.
The body in the barrow came back to life!
Most of the skin of the body was rotten, although some small skin pieces were still hanging onto the white bones. The stench of a dead body was horrible.
Turning around, Lucien saw another zombie standing behind him, and the lid of David Terrian¡¯s coffin chamber was open!
Lucien turned himself into a shadow again to keep a distance away from the two filthy undead creatures. From their sharp teeth and the way they were moving, Lucien realized that they were not common zombies or skeletons, instead, they were ghouls.
And in this strange magic lock world, their power was strengthened. Lucien could tell that they were almost as agile and fast as him, and probably a bit stronger.
With the characteristics of the undead, ghouls were covered with plagues and a depressing aura. A person who got hurt by a ghoul would feel extremely weak and numb, and would go down with the plague.
If a person was killed by a ghoul, he would later turn into a new ghoul.
Recognizing what they were, Lucien changed his strategy. He tried to avoid any face-to-face confrontation with the ghouls and to launch his attack from behind.
Luckily, the ghouls were not intelligent at all, and the second ghoul seemed to be weaker than the other one. Gradually, Lucien gained the upper hand of the fight and his sword hacked at the ghouls several times. However, the bones of the ghouls were harder than he thought. The two ghouls were still moving, and they got even crazier when their rotten skin and flesh started coming off because of Lucien¡¯s attack.
When Lucien was preparing the Sulphur-fire Wall, he saw more ghouls coming out of the barrows. Their rotten arms were like the dark branches of a dead tree.
Without any hesitance, Lucien cast the spell. As soon as the fire wall appeared in front of him, he turned around and started to escape as fast as he could.
The strong smell of sulphur burning came into Lucien¡¯s nose from behind. Knowing that this might be his only chance to get away, he did not even take a look back.
Another ghoul got in Lucien¡¯s way from the other side of the fire wall. Lucien just wielded his sword and directly hacked toward it.
The horrible smell of rotten flesh became stronger and stronger, and Lucien saw more ghouls were crawling out of the barrows.
Holding the sword in his right hand, Lucien shot three frost blades shining with cold light out of his left hand. He just cast Palmeira¡¯s Frost Blades.
The blades cut the the ghoul¡¯s throat deep, that is, if the combination of rotten flesh and spine bones could still be called as "throat". Lucien did not expect the blades would end the filthy creature, but only to freeze it temporarily.
Within his expectations, the cold air coming out of the blades quickly covered the ghoul with a thin layer of ice, and the ghoul was frozen still instantly.
At the same time, Lucien activated Disarming Loop and changed the gravity within the small area where the ghoul was. The iced ghoul lost its balance and fell on the ground.
Then, he quickly passed by it like a faint shadow and noticed that the ice was already cracking.
Lucien was running for his life with all his strength, and a herd of stinky ghouls was chasing after him. However, he still knew clearly which direction he should go.
When Lucien distanced himself a bit from the ghouls, he changed his direction and ran toward the magic garden.
Some of the ghouls were stronger and some were weaker. By the time Lucien saw the black gate of the magic garden, only two were still following him.
The whole garden was covered with gray shadows, and only the black gate could be seen clearly. Behind the gate there was a low, pointed building, looking rather creepy.
When Lucien got closer, he noticed that the magic circle carved on the gate was very familiar to him, but the pattern missed a small piece.
The thought that this magic garden was actually left by an archmage on purpose for his inheritor quickly flashed across Lucien¡¯s mind, since he remembered the pattern when he was reading Astrology and Magic Elements.
Lucien pulled out a tube of mercury from his robe and grabbed it in his hand. As soon as he arrived in front of the magic circle and opened the tube, drops of mercury flew from the tube to the gate on their own.
He took a deep breath to stay focused. Using his spiritual power, Lucien controlled the fine stream of mercury to complete the magic circle pattern.
He knew that he really got lucky here. Although it was out of his expectation that the magic garden actually used a puzzle as a lock, thankfully he carefully read the book left by the archmage who created this dimension.
When the pattern of the magic circle was completed, the two ghouls also arrived. The horrible smell made Lucien feel weak and dizzy.
The magic circle on the gate suddenly glowed brightly. With all of his strength, Lucien decisively threw himself toward the magic portal with a whirling storm of light in it.
The moment when he entered the portal, Lucien could feel the cold air from the ghouls trying to scratch his back with their sharp claws behind him.

Chapter 122: Sun's Corona
				Chapter 122: Sun's Corona
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As if he just passed through a heavy curtain, Lucien felt a bit cold, and then his body hit something hard.
He heard himself let out a moan and then joy seized his heart for a second: it had been quite a while since he last heard any sound. Then, in the next second, he took a few quick steps back and held up his sword again.
Lucien was now standing in a spacious corridor. His feet felt the soft and thick carpet on the ground. Although everything was still black and white, this place felt more gentle and kind to Lucien.
Then, within Lucien¡¯s expectations, the two filthy ghouls followed him through the portal and also spoiled the beauty of the place. However, they were struggling to stand up from the ground, making it seem they were not used to the environment at all.
"Maybe they¡¯re not that strong here." The thought flashed across Lucien¡¯s mind, and then he immediately wielded Alert toward one of the ghouls, targeting the deep wound on its neck which was caused by Lucien¡¯s frost blade.
The second hack almost took the ghoul¡¯s head off. Its head slanted to one side, hanging on through just a small piece of skin.
Throwing a handful of sulphur powder toward the second ghoul, Lucien made a fire wall to stop its attack. Then, he turned around, firmly held his sword again and directly chopped the first ghoul¡¯s head off.
Black sticky liquid spilled out of the filthy creature¡¯s head. The horrible smell made Lucien feel very nauseous and he almost threw up.
A few seconds later, Lucien ended the other ghoul.
Leaning against his sword, he let out a long sigh. He felt lucky that the ghouls were not intelligent at all, or he would now be the one lying on the ground with his brain spread everywhere.
Walking a bit away from the bodies and slowly sitting down, Lucien gave himself some time to recover. Then, he came back to the bodies and disgustedly removed the skin of their palms, or say, claws, with his sword, putting it into a special small bag.
The skin could be used as the reagent for a second circle spell, Ghoul Touch. Lucien definitely would not waste it.
After burning down the remains of the ghouls with his sulphur fire, Lucien cautiously walked along the corridor with his sword at the ready in his hand.
The corridor with the white carpet and dark gray walls seemed to be endlessly long. Lucien felt he was walking in a tomb. The only good thing was that he sensed nothing dangerous.
Finally, in the end of the corridor, he saw a black gate, on which there was another special dodecagon magic circle, that Lucien had already seen before in Astrology and Magic Elements, and the pattern also missed a piece.
He got a bit excited. Taking out another small tube of mercury, he completed the magic circle using the same method.
Then, the magic circle started to shine brightly and the gate slowly opened on its own. Behind the gate there was a luxuriously-decorated lobby.
Lucien first saw the fireplace in the lobby. The flame jumping and wavering in the fireplace was also white, but it felt quite warm.
Beside the fireplace, there was a gray desk, on which a black book lay. Out of the window behind the desk, Lucien saw many bizarrely-looking magic plants: some of them had baby faces, some of them had big mouths, and some were shining like precious gem. The door to the magic garden was right beside the desk.
Surprisingly, no magic trap was detected when Lucien was approaching the desk. He did not directly touch the book with his hand, but used the sword to turn the pages.
On the first page of the book, Lucien saw an inventory written in Sylvanas:
"Moonlight Rose: Room 1, Shelf No. 25;
Jade Green Mycin: Room 1, Shelf No. 72;
The root of Thorn Tree: Room 1, No. 99; Its sap in Room 2, No. 3;
Vampire blood: Room 3, No. 21;
Enchantress teeth: Room 3, No. 46;
...
Ghost-faced leaves: Room 7, No. 17;
The feather of Stone Snake: Room 7, No. 92;
Goatherd¡¯s Moon Flower: Room 8, No. 8;
Murloc¡¯s lymph: Room 9, No. 1."
...
The following pages were all inventories. Lucien first thought that it was simply a book for registering the assorted materials stored here, but soon he realized that he actually needed all the materials that he just read, as if the book was specially written for him!
Lucien turned the pages back and forth several times and made sure his guessing was correct. Some of the materials were for Silver Moon, some for Magic Gate, and some for Crying Soul¡­
He was thrilled, but also felt creepy. When he removed his eyes from the book and looked up, he saw that a white-haired old man was sitting on the chair beside the desk, writing something on the book.
Lucien was stunned for a second, but then he realized that this was just an eidolon, or say, a piece of memory left by someone. Looking at the date that the old man wrote down on his paper, Lucien realized that this image was left almost a thousand years ago.
Soon, the image disappeared. Then Lucien turned the book to its final pages. The long diary-like notes left by the owner shocked him, "When I was doing the experiment, I found this world by accident. It is like a copy of the real world, or say, a projection of the main world, but some parts of it are in quite a chaos. Furthermore, no life in the real world is projected. Interesting.
...
"Now, I¡¯m certain that this world is very suitable for the undead creatures like revenants and ghosts, but the black-and-white world is just too boring for a living person.
"Compared to the Skeleton Land located on the 123rd layer of the Pit, a land consisting of fire and ice, this place is almost too silent to be called as ¡®hell¡¯. This is a world for the dead to enjoy their eternal sleep. Let me name it ¡®the World of Souls¡¯
"It seems like I¡¯m not the only one who knows about this place now¡­
...
"Deep in this world, I found a very dangerous but interesting place, which has an astonishing connection with our experiment. I shall invite my buddies to explore there again with me to see if we can find out what the secret is.
...
"We¡¯re about to leave now¡­ In fact, I made a prophecy a couple of days ago, at a great cost, and thus I know what I will face, but I¡¯m still going. And you, the one who is reading my notes now, may I call you ¡®the nonbeliever who walks in light and darkness¡¯. You must have my book, Astrology and Magic Elements, and you have come here because of the poem and the manuscript.
"I might be still trapped there when someday you enter the legendary dimension. I do not expect that you¡¯ll come specially for me, but if you find me, please free me. Don¡¯t go there when you¡¯re not prepared. The legendary dimension is dangerous even for senior-rank mages and archmages."
Lucien¡¯s body was covered with goose bumps. He felt the author of Astrology and Magic Elements was communicating with him across time and space through the notes.
Lucien quickly turned the pages and wanted to know more about this world. The fragmented description and explanation was more than confusing to him.
"There is a crystal ball called Morning Light in the left drawer of the desk, and in the right drawer I left my self-made magic item for you. Its name¡¯s Sun's Corona. It can help you sense the gaps existing between the World of Souls and the main world late at night. Gaps exist throughout the whole continent.
"The seal on Sun¡¯s Corona is made of five layers. Each time when you reach a new level, say, junior-rank mage, middle-rank mage, senior-rank mage, archmage and legendary archmage, one layer of the seal will be unlocked, and you will be able to use the magic of that level. When the last layer of the seal is unlocked, you¡¯ll be able to find the dangerous but interesting place I mentioned before.
"All right, my friend, from the moment when you first saw my notes, you¡¯d have an hour to explore this place safely. An hour later, the lock will be collapsing and at that moment you can leave this place through the small door of the magic garden.
"Remember, walk forward and do not look back. And my prophecy showed that you¡¯d be facing a great danger soon, so seize your chance to improve your power here before you leave. Room No. 10 is the alchemy room.
Your friend,
The Prophet
Waldo ¡€ K ¡€ Maskelyne."
That was a lot of information for Lucien, and the notes left by Waldo confused him quite a bit. However, Lucien was very impressed by how accurate his prophecy was.
Following the Prophet¡¯s guidance, Lucien found a fist-sized fine crystal ball in the left drawer, which was definitely a necessity for sorcerers specializing in the school of Astrology.
As he opened the drawer on the right side, Lucien saw a round amulet the size of a regular badge. It was the Sun¡¯s Corona that Waldo had mentioned. The light golden amulet was carved with rays of light, as if it were a crown, and at the center of the amulet, there was a cross which was very familiar to Lucien.
Beside Sun¡¯s Corona, there was a roll of parchment, which showed the inner magic structure of this magic item and explained how Lucien was supposed to leave his individual spirit imprint on the structure, to become its owner.
"Sun¡¯s Corona. Level nine medium rank. Five layers of seal to be unlocked.
Spells that can be used once a day are the following:
1st circle, Holy Strike (sealed); 2nd circle, Death Resistance (sealed); 3rd circle, Burning Radiance (sealed); 4th circle, Death Ward (sealed); 5th circle, Flame Strike (sealed); 6th circle, Exorcist Halo (sealed); 7th circle, Ashes (sealed); 8th circle, Sunburst (sealed); 9th circle, Undeath's Eternal Foe (sealed).
Depending on to what extent the seals have been unlocked, the person who wears Sun¡¯s Corona is capable of praying for the undead and freeing them, and the person can also sense the gaps connecting the main world and the World of Souls.
Sun¡¯s Corona is the eternal foe of the undead.
Waldo ¡€ K ¡€ Maskelyne."
Staring at the piece of parchment, Lucien was totally shocked.
The cross pattern at the center of Sun¡¯s Corona, the Grand Cross in the sky and the spells¡­
Different ideas flashed across his mind like films. That night when Lucien went down into the sewers came back to him.
The Saint Truth Badge owned by Benjamin¡­
The spells Benjamin used¡­
Lucien¡¯s brows frowned, and his eyes opened wide.
All that magic belonged to the category of divine spells!
Furthermore, the pattern at the center of Sun¡¯s Corona was a cross, the symbol of the Saint Truth!
How would all that make sense?!

Chapter 123: The Experiment of An Hour
				Chapter 123: The Experiment of An Hour
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien felt that what he had just found out was ridiculous and even funny. Obviously, Maskelyne had no reason to lie to him about Sun¡¯s Corona, and the cross at the center of Sun¡¯s Corona looked identical to the one he once saw on Benjamin¡¯s Saint Truth Badge.
Everything was getting more and more mysterious. Lucien wondered how the Saint Truth started to develop and grow at the very beginning.
Putting aside his many concerns, Lucien first followed the instruction left by Maskelyne and built a strange-shaped model with his spiritual power, then carefully sent the model into the magic item.
As soon as Lucien¡¯s spiritual power connected to Sun¡¯s Corona, he felt himself bathed in the sacred and pure light. This magic item was filled with the purest light.
Without any difficulty, Lucien left his spirit imprint on Sun¡¯s Corona and became its owner. He also took a look at the seals inside the magic item, which were very complex.
Now, Lucien was a hundred percent certain that the power of Sun¡¯s Corona came from divine power, which felt totally different from his magic power. He hung the amulet around his neck underneath his clothes and felt the warmness of it. The power could also be spread out by Lucien using his spiritual power to pray for the undead and free them.
Lucien lit the parchment and the notes on fire and burned them down completely, since they had already been stored in his spirit library. Staring at the fire, he was really worried because he might be unconsciously approaching the biggest secret ever in this world, which involved the Church, the Congress of Magic, and even Argent Horn.
He believed that Argent Horn was involved as well because he remembered that the so-called "the Great Master of Argent" used "the forever lasting silence" as the title. Lucien already had the feeling before that the strange title did not come from nowhere, and now he came to this world of forever lasting silence himself.
Maybe the great danger foreseen by the Prophet was related to Argent Horn¡­ maybe the revelation of the manuscripts was the heresy¡¯s carefully planned conspiracy¡­
Lucien had no idea what he was going to face, but he knew that all the could do right now was to make the best use of the one hour he had, and that was to gather the ingredients to increase his power.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien left the lobby and walked toward Room No. 1.
There were lots of shelving units and waist-high glass cabinets in that room. All of them looked black and white.
Lucien saw some weird-looking eyeballs soaked with black liquid, flowers that looked like spiders under glass covers, gray stones floating in the air, and dried bodies wrapped by shrouds¡­There were different magic circles carved on the shelves and cabinets for different means of storage.
Lucien did not have time to go through them one by one. He followed his memory and directly found the No. 72 shelf for Jade Green Mycin.
Although the powder was supposed to be jade green, in this world, it looked plain gray. Lucien held his breath when he was scooping the powder from the jar, because breathing it in could corrode human being¡¯s organs.
Then, Lucien went to the other rooms and collected the feather of Stone Snake, which actually looked like scales, Goatherd¡¯s Moon Flower and some Ghost-faced Leaves. Lucien felt quite disgusted when he touched the leaves, since each of the leaves had a face on it: some were laughing, and some looked vicious.
Goatherd¡¯s Moon Flower + Ghost-faced Leave + the feather of Stone Snake + Jade Green Mycin = Silver Moon.
Lucien was not going to work on the Magic Gate potion right now. Although he tried to analyze Magic Gate before, the process was still too challenging, especially when he was in a rush.
...
In the spacious alchemy room, lots of professional equipment were totally strange to Lucien. There was a metal hand hanging on the top, some mysterious gray liquid running in transparent tubes, an operation table, tall stoves, and dazzling three-dimensional magic circles almost everywhere.
Lucien walked directly to the operation table and activated the magic circles on it. He put a tube of Jade Green Mycin into a container and, half minute later, the gray powder within had been turned into a turbid liquid by the magic circle.
Following the same steps, Lucien processed the Moon Flower and the feather of Snake Stone. When he put the creepy leaves on one of the magic circles, the faces on the leaves started to cry and shout like babies who were crying for their toys, but the scream was completely blocked.
Lucien was very impressed. Compared with his previous underground lab, this place was like heaven for him, after all, this lab had belonged to a legendary archmage.
When all the ingredients were ready, Lucien started to mix them together. Here, the temperature of the fire was the key point, and the most challenging steps for Lucien were to build a model with his spiritual power and to integrate the model into the liquid.
Five minutes later, Lucien¡¯s semi-finished potion started to smoke.
"Too early¡­ I integrated the model into the liquid too early." Lucien calmly drew a conclusion from his first failure.
...
Another five minutes later, Lucien stared at the gray gel in the container with his eyebrows frowned, "I dropped the Jade Green liquid too slow¡­"
...
Looking at the small ball bouncing everywhere in the container, Lucien felt a bit frustrated. This was his sixth failure.
After wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, he started his seventh experiment.
This time everything finally seemed to be fine. Lucien half closed his eyes and tried to keep his spiritual power stable while he was building the model.
When the gray liquid slowly turned white, Lucien quickly sent out the model and integrated the model into the liquid.
Gathering power from the model, the liquid in the container instantly condensed into small drops like beads, and within each drop there was a small moon.
Lucien put Silver Moon into a glass tube and returned to the lobby. Sitting down on the ground, Lucien had to recover his power, even though there was only twenty minutes left before the magic lock collapsed.
...
Six minutes later, Lucien felt he was ready.
Looking at the "beads" in the tube, he thought for a second whether he should chew them well. He was a bit amused by this funny idea.
Then, he decisively raised his head and swallowed the whole tube of potion, and the next second Lucien entered his meditative dimension.
The lobby and the black-and-white world were gone. All Lucien could see now was a starry sky, and he could feel the furiousness of the Fire element, the lightness of Wind, and the softness of Water.
For the first time, Lucien saw his own soul from an outsider's perspective. Lucien noticed his own soul was glowing brightly like the silver moon, and within his soul there was also an inverted image of the countless stars in the sky.
This outsider¡¯s perspective was indispensable for constructing more complicated models. Unfortunately, Lucien¡¯s spiritual power level was not enough to provide him with this perspective yet, and the reason that Lucien could experience it now was because of the potion.
He started to calmly build a magic model inside his own soul. His spiritual power started to be substantialized into fine shining lines floating in the sky, and, being controlled by Lucien, they slowly started to gather together.
The construction of a magic model required accurate length of every line and angle. Only a person who was capable of understanding mathematical and geometry knowledge could manage to build it. Countless magic apprentices were stuck at that point for their whole lives and never had a chance to become a real sorcerer.

Chapter 124: Lucien, the Sorcerer
				Chapter 124: Lucien, the Sorcerer
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The magic model that Lucien needed to build was called Star Shield. Thankfully, Lucien already practiced constructing the model multiple times in the past, so he remembered clearly how the model was divided, how long the lines were, and how the lines were connected to each other. All he needed to do now was stay calm.
When he was concentrating on the magic model, Lucien noticed that his spiritual power was being consumed very fast. By the time he finished one-third of the work, he found that there was only half of his spiritual power remaining.
"You gotta make the best use of your spiritual power." Lucien talked to himself in his mind. Building a magic model was like drawing a complicated pattern on a piece of paper using a pen, but with a very limited amount of ink. To save the resource, the person drawing the picture needed to stay very calm, to prevent the hand holding the pen from trembling too much.
Thanks to Lucien¡¯s throughout knowledge of Star Shield, he could allow himself to be partly distracted and absorb the power of the four Elements surrounding him, in order to slowly recover his own spiritual power.
For most sorcerer apprentices, since they did not have such a profound knowledge of their magic models, they would often turn to the potion called Magic Gate as their short-term supplement for boosting spiritual power, in order to make this great breakthrough.
Time passed, and Lucien started to feel weaker and weaker, and his spiritual power was very close to running dry. Fortunately, the magic model of Star Shield was almost ready. Now, it looked like a transparent small pyramid floating in the air, made up of many sophisticated lines inside.
Just one more line to go.
Although Lucien¡¯s whole body was slightly shaking from his weakness, there was no chance that he would give up in the last second. Clenching his teeth, Lucien summoned his last reserves of spiritual power like squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste from the tube and finished the last touch.
The moment the last line was finally linked to the small "pyramid", the whole model suddenly collapsed inwards and at the same time started to frantically suck in the power of the stars.
Lucien¡¯s soul was racked by a sudden great pain, caused by the enormous power of stars impacting his awareness. Even from the outsider¡¯s perspective, he almost passed out because of the mystic energy.
At this time, a gentle and pure ray of light came out of Lucien¡¯s soul, and the great pain was gone. Lucien¡¯s outsider¡¯s perspective also became more stable.
When the light disappeared, Lucien saw something like a crystal, the size of a thumbnail, shining and revolving around the inverted reflection of his Host Star of Destiny. Taking a closer look, it was the very magic model that he built just now, the Star Shield.
At the same time, Lucien noticed that his own soul had become more stable and denser, as if the power of stars magically changed the soul¡¯s texture.
Opening his eyes, he felt more refreshed than ever, and his soul was overflowing with spiritual power. Lucien knew that whenever there was any danger, he could instantly activate the Star Shield.
A smile appeared on his face, and he said to himself with pride, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lucien, the sorcerer."
His smile came out from his heart, since he believed that, compared with the great success that he had with his concert, this breakthrough was accomplished all because of his own efforts, and nothing could satisfy him more than that.
Lucien looked at the magic hourglass on the table and found that there was only three more minutes left, so he gave up the plan of building one more magic model in his soul.
With his brimming spiritual power, he was confident that he could cast apprentice spells two to three hundred times and almost twenty spells of first circle as well, without pause. That was the sweet gain from becoming a real sorcerer. What was even better was that, as long as one¡¯s soul was strong enough to handle it, the person could build more magic models every few minutes.
However, Lucien did not have enough time right now. He must leave soon.
"Remember, keep walking forward and do not look back¡­"
According to the message left by Maskelyne, it seemed the trip leaving the lobby through the small door of the magic garden would not be a peaceful and sweet one.
Lucien walked toward the door and tried to open it, but he failed. He could not leave this place until the magic lock started to collapse.
Then, following Maskelyne¡¯s instruction, Lucien spent only a minute unlocking the first layer of the seal. Now, he could cast the two divine spells, Holy Strike and Death Resistance.
Unwilling to waste any time, Lucien ran into the rooms like a shadow to collect some more magic materials for future use.
"Not the too dangerous ones¡­ nor materials that I don¡¯t know about¡­" Lucien reminded himself not to be greedy. After all, he only had less than two minutes now.
By the end, he had picked a tube of Vampire¡¯s blood, two tubes of aether, two handful of goblin¡¯s hair, three tubes of Snownia¡¯s Burning Power and a box of magic oil. Some of them were magic materials and some were catalysts.
When there were only fifteen seconds left, Lucien came back to the lobby. Standing in front of the small door, he was waiting for the moment that the world started to collapse.
Ten seconds, nine seconds¡­ three¡­ two¡­ one.
The whole lobby started to shake slightly, and the small door opened by itself as if it sensed the change in this world. Behind the door there was a long, long corridor, and along both sides there were all kinds of weird-shaped magic plants.
All of a sudden there were cracks on everything Lucien could see, the desk, the chair, and even the white and gray fire in the fireplace.
Without any hesitance, Lucien rushed through the corridor.
He heard babies crying, but he did not look back.
Lucien walked faster and faster, and then he started to run. The magic plants along both sides started to wield their branches crazily and some of them almost hit Lucien¡¯s face.
Some other magic plants were floating in the air; some were jumping forward like frogs; some wrung their own necks and threw their heads away¡­ Everything in the world started to get crazy.
The plants were laughing, moaning and crying. Their voices were very loud, but they seemed to disappear after Lucien passed them, as if a monster with a huge mouth was devouring them while following Lucien.
He forced himself to stay focused on his own footsteps and kept running forward. He swiftly avoided the black vines that seemed to attack him like snakes.
Then, he heard a sharp screaming, which was miserable and vicious. In front of Lucien, a lot of revenants appeared in his way. Countless maggots covered the whole floor, and each of them had a baby crying face.
Lucien did not slow down at all. He directly activated Star Shield.
Before becoming a real sorcerer, Lucien could not cast any spell when he activated the Moonlight, the status in which his body was partially dematerialized into moonlight, but now it was not a problem anymore.
This shield was like a round glass cover that seamlessly protected Lucien from all directions. Being badly burned by the shield, the revenants were screaming even bitterer, but they were still trying to grab Lucien¡¯s body with their arms until they turned into smoke and ashes. There so many white maggots covering Lucien¡¯s shield that he almost could not see the road in front of him.
Finally, Lucien saw a narrow gap at the end of the corridor, and through it he could see a touch of green.
"It¡¯s dangerous! Come back, Xiafeng! Don¡¯t go there!"
Lucien heard his parents calling his name.
"Lucien, stop! You¡¯ll die!"
That was the mixed voices of Joel, John, Victor and all the people Lucien cared about in this world.
They sounded so real that Lucien¡¯s heart missed a beat for a second.
"Do not look back!" Lucien yelled to himself.
In the last second, he jumped right into the gap.
...
The soul maggots all turned into ashes. The night wind felt cool and gentle.
This was a world full of life.
"Lucien?" It was a familiar voice, and the person sounded very surprised.
Raising up his head with surprise, Lucien saw Natasha, who was wearing her Dragon Blood Armor and riding on a black Dragon Scale horse. However, the armor she was wearing was severely damaged, and there were only a few knights, squires and guards following her. All of them looked tired, and some of them were even injured.
Furthermore, Lady Camil was not with the princess, neither were Silvia and her father.
A thin layer of haze settled over the small town named Bonn.

Chapter 125: Ambuscade
				Chapter 125: Ambuscade
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The people downstairs gradually quieted down, which finally gave the brother and sister a break.
"Bragging and bragging¡­ useless adventurers¡­" sneered Lilith. "All they have is muscles, but unfortunately no brain."
"Don¡¯t underestimate them." Sala shook his head, "Many of them have been dealing with the many horrific monsters in the black forest and the Dark Mountain Range for a long time. They can¡¯t be taken lightly."
When he was talking, his eyes suddenly opened wide. The color of the candle was fading, and so was the color of the wall. Little by little, everything started to lose color. A thin layer of haze slowly descended.
Sala¡¯s hand touched the table in the room when he took a step back, and he felt the moist of the wood, as if the table had been sitting there for over a thousand years.
"Run!" Sala took his sister¡¯s hand and shouted, "Something¡¯s wrong!"
However, his voice sounded so far away, as if it came from another world. Lilith looked very afraid and also confused. Grabbing Sala¡¯s hand, she followed him and they started to run downstairs.
When the two magic apprentices were running, they took out some of their magic reagents and held the materials tightly in their hands in order to cast the spells for self-defense, if needed.
By the time they got to the ground floor, the tavern was already in a great mess. All those people, including the adventurers who had bragged about their strength for the whole night, were pushing each other fiercely in order to leave that place as soon as possible.
Seeing that there was no chance for them to get access to the door immediately, Sala pulled his sister¡¯s arm and they ran together toward the tavern¡¯s back door.
Directly kicking the back door open, Sala and Lilith found that the whole town was being affected and was turning gray. However, most people living there had already fallen asleep in their houses, so they did not notice anything unusual, and the town was actually very quiet.
Sala and Lilith started to run toward the exit to Massawa, the city close to Bonn. They had no idea what was going on there.
When they were about to leave the town, Sala and Lilith bumped into a few adventurers who were running toward the same direction.
"Something¡¯s wrong with Elsinore Lake!" an adventurer talked aloud to the other people, "It must be the magic lock¡­ The magic lock is... it¡¯s collapsing!"
Before the other people responded, Lilith cried out and pointed at the adventures with her shaking hand, "You¡­"
Their skin started to turn gray as well, and some parts looked rotten already. However, the adventurers themselves looked very confused, as if they had no idea what was happening to their bodies.
Seeing that their eyes slowly lost focus, Sala pulled his sister¡¯s arm and shouted, "Run! Don¡¯t look back!"
Sala and Lilith were running so fast that they almost couldn¡¯t breathe. A slight taste of blood rose from their throats.
The town behind them had turned into hell.
Finally, Sala and Lilith felt a bit warmer after the weird feeling of running through a thick curtain. However, they didn¡¯t dare to take a rest. They kept running toward Massawa to stay away from that horrific town named Bonn.
...
"The magic lock¡­?!" Ilia, the silver-robed great priest, immediately noticed the unusual change when the color of everything started to fade away. "This is not what the Great Master told us!"
Then, he decisively commanded the high and common priests and the dark knights, "There is no more time for the blood sacrifice! The magic lock is changing. Cancel the sacrifice and gather all the people! We shall activate the summoning circle immediately to greet our true God!"
Receiving the order, six high priests flew up in the sky surrounding Bonn and Elsinore Lake, and twelve priests and dark knights were standing on the ground in a corresponding way. These people was all Argent Horn had now in the Duchy of Orvarit, and some of them, following the will of God, came all the way from other countries or even the Dark Mountain Range to support them.
Ilia also flew above Elsinore Lake and what he saw stunned him:
The surface of the lake turned solid within a few seconds and suddenly broke into small pieces, like a mirror being shattered by some great power. The Grand Cross was shining brightly at the bottom of the lake, surrounded by some kind of blood-red liquid which was wriggling as if it was alive.
Lots of ghosts, revenants and black shadows were howling and screaming while they were swiftly flying back and forth above the lake. As they were shouting toward the same direction, the sound waves joined together and gave shape to a translucent, huge ghost, who was wearing a long, black robe with a huge scythe in its hand, standing above the blood-red liquid. Underneath its hood, two black holes could be seen on its skull-like face.
Although being protected by his many spells, Ilia still shivered a bit from the scene, as if the warmth of his life was leaving his body.
The Grand Cross was slowly collapsing. The main world and the black-and-white world were overlapping.
Ilia took out a huge pale hand, and every knuckle of it had sharp bony spurs, shining with some faint light.
Raising up the hand high in the air, Ilia started to chant a long mantra which could drive people crazy. Many silver lines came out of the priests and dark knights, were they in the air or on the ground, and joined together around Ilia to shape a complicated magic circle.
When Ilia finished casting, he directly threw the huge hand into the center of the magic circle. Countless silver lines jumped up and devoured the hand like a monster¡¯s huge mouth.
As a silver gate slowly appeared in the sky, the Grand Cross underneath was almost completely gone.
All of a sudden, a bright, burning light beam shot the silver gate right in the center, from a higher position in the sky.
The colors of black and gray suddenly disappeared, and the whole area was filled with sacred light.
As soon as the ghosts, revenants and shadows touched the light, they disappeared like vapor, and even the undead creatures in the town all turned into ashes instantly.
This was the eighth circle divine spell, Sunburst!
"Amelton¡­ Gossett!?" Ilia was shocked, "How come¡­"
Floating high in the air, Vila Amelton was holding a cross-shaped badge carved with a pattern of a sun in the center, and Gossett was right beside her.
Count Hart Rafati, Count Hayward, who was the deputy commander of Violet Knights and also a gold knight, and another two radiant knights were also there.
On the other side, Salvador and Clown were leading the other night watchers to block the whole area.
Half of the most powerful people of the duchy were there tonight.
"How come?" Putting back the level eight divine badge, Vila said to Ilia coldly, "We¡¯ve been waiting for you here for a long time."
Although Ilia knew that the Church would definitely send some people here to investigate the usual changes happening around the lake recently, he never expected that the ambush would be this powerful.
"Who betrayed us!?" Ilia¡¯s fists clenched tightly, but a moment later an evil smile appeared on his face. "If the true God cannot come, all of us will die here tonight by the hands of what¡¯s sealed, or even worse, all of us will become its slaves."
...
In the wilderness at the junction of Melzer Black Forest and the Dark Mountain Range.
"Lucien, why are you here?" Natasha asked Lucien with confusion. Her voice was slightly trembling.
Lucien looked down at the black robe he was wearing and realized that he needed to tell Natasha at least part of the truth, "I found the secret of the magic lock from the poem provided by Mr. Deroni and a roll of manuscript brought to me by two strangers who visited me the other day." Lucien paused a bit and continued, "You know me, Your Grace. I always want to be stronger and more powerful to protect my friends and family, so I decided to take a risk to see if I could find any useful potion in this magic lock."
Natasha¡¯s eyebrows frowned a bit.
"As soon as I arrived in Bonn, I was sucked into a creepy hole. The world inside of the hole was all black and white and I almost died there. When I was being chased by a bunch of horrific undead creatures and plants, I found a gap and I jumped in it. Now I¡¯m here¡­ it¡¯s very weird."
"I see¡­ some benefits from being a historian, uh?" Natasha put on an exhausted smile. Although she did not really trust Lucien¡¯s words, her mind told her that asking too much right now would benefit no one in such a situation.
"What happened to you, Your Grace? And where¡¯s Lady Camil?" asked Lucien.
Natasha¡¯s eyes dimmed and she looked down, "I got some information about the magic lock the day before yesterday. Out of curiosity, I decided to go to Elsinore Lake to take a look. But we were ambushed. My curiosity led my team into a horrible trap¡­"
"What?!" Lucien was shocked.
"In order to make time for me to leave, Camil stayed to cover me. She was confronting a radiant knight and a senior-rank mage¡­"
Natasha¡¯s voice became lower and lower.
"Who attacked you?" Lucien¡¯s eyes opened wide.
Natasha looked very depressed, and by the time she could answer Lucien, an army arrived and surrounded Natasha¡¯s people and Lucien.
Lucien looked up and saw Verdi sitting on a weird-looking horse with two goat horns. Silvia was right beside Verdi, looking rather sad. However, Silvia¡¯s father was not there.
"My dear cousin, please give up." Verdi was covered with a suit of dark-purple armor, "It¡¯s too late for the Church or the Violet Knights to come and save you."

Chapter 126: The Mutiny
				Chapter 126: The Mutiny
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Natasha ignored Verdi¡¯s words and just stared at Silvia. The princess¡¯ eyes were slightly squinted, and with a trembling voice Natasha asked the girl she loved, "Was it you, Silvia?"
Verdi did not act rashly, since Natasha still had a level four grand knight, two level two knights, two level one knights and more than twenty knight squires and around eighty soldiers to protect her.
Silvia took a few deep breaths and she gradually calmed down. "I appreciate your love toward me, Natasha, but unfortunately, I care more about my father. My father spent so many years trying to find a chance to go to the Magic Congress in order to live a peaceful life, and his wish is my wish."
"So?" Natasha asked gently, "That¡¯s why you wanted me to die?"
"I didn¡¯t expect this!" Silvia suddenly lost control and her voice became sharp, "I didn¡¯t know that their real purpose in gathering information about you was to actually kill you! But¡­ but my father was killed by you, Natasha, and the only thing I care for now is my revenge."
Lucien was shocked to learn that both Deroni and Silvia were sorcerers. When he thought about it, and after taking a careful look at Silvia¡¯s height and figure, Lucien suddenly linked White Honey to Silvia.
"Silvia¡­ White Honey¡­ and Deroni¡­ the master of the raven named Ashley¡­" Lucien murmured to himself in a very low voice.
"So you¡¯ve been lying to me all this time? I don¡¯t believe it." Natasha¡¯s voice became cold, "I killed your father because he wanted to kill all of us!"
"You think I¡¯m really that happy with fine clothes, spacious houses, endless cuisine and the bright future of being a musician, Natasha? No! None of them can compete with the great satisfaction that I felt from learning a new spell, from a successful magic experiment, and from seeing the hope in my father¡¯s eyes." Silvia tried her best to stay calm, "You think I only want to be your nightingale in a gold cage?"
"Did I ever treat you like my pet?" Natasha questioned Silvia desperately.
Before Silvia managed to say anything, Verdi suddenly reached out his hand and wrapped Silvia¡¯s waist with his arm. "Although I admit that you¡¯re very outstanding as a woman, my dear cousin, do you think you can give Silvia the same love as that of a man?"
Natasha closed her eyes and a sad smile appeared on her face. "Silvia, I never knew before that you could be this persistent and firm. I thought that I should be always protecting you, and I was wrong. Maybe I was never¡­ never in your heart."
"You were, Natasha." Silvia lowered her head, "But we¡¯re like two intersecting lines. We were very close to each other, and now we are heading for totally different directions."
"So you¡¯re heading toward him? Is that what you¡¯re doing?" asked Natasha. Then, she turned to Verdi and sneered, "You¡¯re much more stupid than I thought, my cousin. You think Sard, the Saint Cardinal, would just crown you as the next grand duke after my death? Do you think he would just let you live a happy life after you colluded with Argent Horn and the Congress of Magic? That¡¯s not going to happen¡­ you¡¯ll end up being tied to the gallows!"
Natasha decided to put her personal feeling aside first, in order to deal with this situation more wisely, which was a basic quality of a grand knight.
Since Verdi already showed his true intention, every confusion within Natasha¡¯s mind was solved. The connection between the intelligence department and Argent Horn, the reason that Rosan Aaron could always escape the careful search of the Church¡­ All those things were related to her cousin, Count Verdi.
Lucien also realized that it was Verdi who betrayed the grand duke family and the Church. Taking a closer look at the high-rank knights following Verdi, it did not take Lucien too much time to recognize Rosan Aaron, who was in a suit of knight armor. After all, Lucien was familiar with Rosan Aaron¡¯s picture as a criminal wanted by the Church.
"How stern and just your words are, Natasha!" Verdi laughed, "I knew you¡¯d think I was tempted by the demon, but do you think your father is really that honest and straightforward? It was because of my father¡¯s death that he became the grand duke, and I¡¯m not that stupid to believe my father¡¯s death was just an accident! I should be the next grand duke, not you, Natasha."
"Then wish your dream come true when you¡¯re being burned to ashes." Natasha held her head high.
"If you die tonight, Natasha, no one here will tell the grand duke and Sard what I did." Verdi shrugged easily, "I¡¯d be the biggest hero who provided the important information to Sard and Count Hayward and helped them stop Argent Horn¡¯s horrible conspiracy. Unfortunately, while they are busy dealing with the heretics, they don¡¯t know that the princess is facing this great trouble, ha!"
"Yeah¡­ smart." The corner of Natasha¡¯s lips was slightly lifted. "Somehow the princess would just die here out of no reason. And no one would care afterwards."
"No worries, my dear cousin." Verdi waved his hand causally, "After you die, Mr. Rogerio, from the Congress of Magic, will come to wrap up everything. He will leave the clues which will all lead to the sorcerers, and the Congress of Magic will claim responsibility as well."
"I see. You¡¯re neither on the side of Argent Horn, nor that of the Congress. You just betrayed Argent Horn to please the Church." Natasha¡¯s eyes looked rather cold, "Impressive."
"My plan went wrong several times, though." Verdi lifted his right hand and pointed at Lucien. "This guy, Lucien Evans¡­ he betrayed Argent Horn, or you¡¯d be dead a long time ago."
Lucien finally realized what was his big trouble predicted by Maskelyne. Because of Silvia¡¯s betrayal, his Blessing and what he did to Argent Horn was no more a secret since long ago. The only reason that Lucien and Joel¡¯s family stayed safe until now was because the enemies needed to focus on their bigger plan. However, it seemed that Argent Horn still did not know that Lucien was actually the "Professor".
"Lucien, thank you for coming here tonight," Verdi said to him with an evil smile. "So I don¡¯t have to bother killing you later, after our plan is done. But don¡¯t think you have bad luck, since your death would come to you sooner or later. "
"I bet you¡¯re very happy that you can kill two birds with one stone tonight." Lucien put on a calm smile while facing that serious situation. "The poem and the manuscript¡­ they were really good traps to get me, a person who desires power so much."
Although Lucien was acting like he already gave up, he was trying to sense the gaps connecting the world of soul and the main world, which would be the best way to save them. Unfortunately, the gap through which he came back had disappeared completely with the collapse of the magic lock, and he sensed no more around the area.
"Your calmness is impressive. Unfortunately, your loyalty will not bring you anything but death." Verdi lifted his chin a bit and looked at Lucien. Then, he turned to the knights on Natasha¡¯s side, "What about you guys? The Hayne and Hill families, as well as the two gold knights in the fortress, they¡¯re all taking a neutral standpoint right now. As long as I can kill the princess, I¡¯ll be the next grand duke."
All the knights, squires and soldiers standing behind Natasha were shocked, and not even the princess could believe her ears. She never expected that Verdi had actually gained acquiescence from the big families and the most powerful people in the duchy.
"Why would you guys still want to follow her? Why would you guys want to sacrifice your lives for a woman who likes women?" Verdi got more and more vicious. "Shame on her, because she betrayed our honored tradition and she can¡¯t even continue her family¡¯s bloodline! Do you really think she could bring you guys glory?"
Some people who were on Natasha¡¯s side started to murmur at each other.
Natasha forced herself to raise her head. As a knight of pride, she could not flinch even a bit from this situation.
"I have two level five grand knights, one level four knight, three level three knights¡­ and also a couple of hundred of knight squires," Verdi threatened them. "You bend your knees toward me, or you die."
After a short period of time, many soldiers and squires started to run toward Verdi¡¯s side, and among them there was even a knight.
Tightly grabbing her lance, Natasha looked at them with an expressionless face. Sitting on the horse, her back was as straight as a longsword.
After a while, when she looked around, there were only less than ten people who were still with her, and a couple of horses without their riders.
There was a sad smile on Natasha¡¯s face.
"Knight Wyon, why you¡¯re still with me?" she asked.
Wyon was the level four knight, who had blond hair and blue eyes. He answered the princess solemnly, "I made my vow to serve you, Your Grace, and I¡¯ll serve you until the last second of my life."
Natasha nodded with great resolve, and then turned to Lucien.
"What about you, Lucien?"
"I¡¯m on your side, Your Grace." Lucien answered shortly but firmly.

Chapter 127: Natasha¡¯s Fighting Will
				Chapter 127: Natasha¡¯s Fighting Will
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Hearing Lucien¡¯s words, somehow Natasha felt like making a joke, "I¡¯m sorry that you have to face this dangerous fighting because of me. After all, you have never even touched a girl¡¯s hand! If we can survive tonight, I¡¯ll introduce you to a decent young lady."
Lucien released a sigh, "Your Grace¡­" At the same time, Lucien was glad to see that Natasha was still in a joking mood. Since she was the only level five grand knight on their side, the princess herself was the key factor determining whether they would have at least a bit of hope to survive tonight.
"Then, Knight Cacharel, Daniel, and Borscht, why?" Natasha turned to the three knights who decided to stay.
"My heart is beating firmly right now." Cacharel pointed at his chest, "This is the heart of a knight, not a coward."
Daniel was a middle-aged knight, who looked intimidating and cold. "I was a pauper, and now I¡¯m a knight. I did many bad things, but my will to fight against the forces of evil never changes." Then he crossed himself, "Maybe I¡¯ll die tonight, and before that I want to show my repentance for the horrible things I did before."
Borscht had recently become a knight, and he still looked pretty young. Scratching his head a bit, his green eyes were shining with the light of determination, "This is my first fight as a knight, and I don¡¯t want to be a deserter in my first fight, or Vivian would be laughing at me."
Mentioning his Vivian, Borscht looked affectionate and shy.
Natasha nodded to them and then turned to the two knight squires, "Bright, Tiana¡­ The other squires and soldiers are all gone. Why did you choose to stay?"
"Your Grace¡­ You, you remember my name!" Bright was very excited. "That¡¯s enough reason for me to fight for you, Your Grace!"
In contrast, Tiana, a half-elf and half-human girl, looked a bit hesitant, "Your Grace¡­ my, my reason is not that lofty. I¡­ I just feel that he would kill the people who surrendered anyway."
The reason that Verdi did not launch his attack right away was that he was waiting for the radiant knight and the senior-rank mage to come and join him after they killed Camil. After all, as a level five grand knight, Natasha¡¯s power could not be underestimated.
Hearing what Tiana just said, Verdi retorted, "If I want to kill the people who know about all my plan, I would have to kill all the knights, squires and soldiers following me right now. That¡¯s impossible, and more importantly, there is absolutely no reason for me to kill them. There won¡¯t be any hard evidence proving that I had ever colluded with Argent Horn and the sorcerers, and what I am doing now is under the acquiescence of most of the big families in the duchy. As for the Church, they¡¯re even happy to see that we nobles can have some civil wars from time to time in order to counterbalance our power. And when I become the next grand duke, all people following me will be rewarded."
Natasha listened to Verdi quietly. After he listed all those reasons trying to justify his behavior and assure his people that Tiana¡¯s words would never be true, Natasha slightly shook her head and smiled, "My dear cousin, have you ever wondered why the Congress of Magic wanted me dead so desperately that they even took the risk to seek your help? If you never thought about it, you wouldn¡¯t understand how much special attention the Church paid to me. And, by the way, even if you killed me, you wouldn¡¯t be the only legitimate heir to the grand duke title within the Violet family."
When Verdi remained silent within his confusion, Natasha turned around and said lowly to her people with great determination, "My knights, my warriors, although they outnumber us, they have to disperse their people to encircle us. And that means the number of the enemies in front of us is actually only a bit more than us."
"So we still have a chance?!" The knights¡¯ and squires¡¯ eyes lit up.
"As long as we can defeat the enemies in front of us before more of them start to attack us from behind." Natasha nodded with great determination.
This would be a quick attack. The speed would determine their life or death.
Sitting on her Dragon Scale horse named Agatha, Natasha turned around and stared at Verdi, who had two level five grand knights and four other knights behind him.
Then, curling the corner of her lips, Natasha smiled, as if something she had been dreaming for was finally realized tonight. Her eyes were shining with great excitement, shining because of her heroic dream.
Although Verdi did not hear what Natasha told her people, from Natasha¡¯s posture sitting on her horse, Verdi could tell that she was ready for the fight. There was no time for him to wait any longer.
Securing her long lance named "Slayer" under her armpit, Natasha¡¯s pulled out her knight sword named "Natasha¡¯s Thunder".
"March forward! Forward forever! In the name of Violet!" shouted the princess.
"Violet! Violet!" The knights and squires following Natasha got excited as well.
Lucien was very surprised and impressed, since he never expected that Natasha would choose this attitude to face the extreme danger. What he was watching was the true spirit of a knight.
"For the glory of Violet! Charge!" Natasha shouted aloud again and shot forward like an arrow to lead the charge.
"For the glory of Violet!" Cacharel, Lucien and Wyon, as well as Daniel, Tiana, Bright and Borscht all followed Natasha close and charged toward their enemies with their proud war cry.
Among them all, Lucien was the only one who remained relatively calm. After all, he was a sorcerer, not a knight. Holding his sword Alert, Lucien was ready to activate Sun¡¯s Corona at any time.
The tall mare named Agatha snorted loudly as it was running with great speed. There was black smoke coming out of her nostrils, and her dragon-like scales bulged greatly. As its hooves hit the floor there was loud and thunderous noises and the earth trembled slightly, as if a real dragon was coming for its enemies.
Lucien was riding on a dark red horse left by the knight who surrendered to follow the princess. Cacharel was on his left, and Wyon was on his right. Although there were only eight people on their side, they were charging toward their enemies as if they were a great army!
As they were charging faster and faster, the sharp tip of Slayer changed the air flow and created a big shield covering Natasha and all her knights and knight squires.
Verdi was well prepared. Raising up his left hand, he frowned his eyebrows and then made a gesture. Instantly, hundreds of arrows were shot out targeting the princess and the seven people following her.
However, the shield created by Natasha¡¯s lance perfectly protected them from being hurt by the arrows. All of the arrows were broken and fell down to the ground as soon as they touched the air flow.
Verdi was not very surprised. As he waved his hand again, the knight squires who were waiting for his command instantly started to approach the people following Natasha. At the same time, Verdi rushed at Natasha with a huge black iron shield in his left hand, and a fire sword in his right hand.
Another level five grand knight on Verdi¡¯s side named Tod also charged toward them. With his Blessing "Iron Blood", Tod was very confident that they could crush them within ten seconds.
Natasha¡¯s purple eyes turned into a completely silver color. Staring at Verdi and Tod, her eyes became colder and colder.
Tod¡¯s silver lance grazed Natasha¡¯s Slayer. Being protected by Verdi¡¯s huge shield, Tod focused all his strength on attacking. The shield Verdi was using was called "The Shield of Truth".
Natasha did not try to defend at all, instead, she made a direct thrust at Verdi¡¯s shield. As her speed increased, her long lance was surrounded by some visible black lines, coming straight from Natasha¡¯s own Blessing, whose name was "Cleaving", or more commonly known as "The Sword of Truth".
This was a fight between the Sword and the Shield.
The whole world seemed to pause for a bit, as everything happened very fast. Verdi heard a tiny sound of crack from his shield a moment after the impact.
When Verdi fully activated his Blessing in order to repair the Shield of Truth, Tod¡¯s lance directly pierced through Natasha¡¯s abdomen!
Even Tod himself was very surprised. He was expecting was that, facing his attack, Natasha would use her knight sword to defend herself and at the same time change her direction of charging. After all, the purpose of his attack was to disturb Natasha¡¯s fighting pace.
At the same time, a bunch of silver arrows pierced her body. Since the armor called Dragon Blood that Natasha was wearing was badly damaged already, it could not protect Natasha properly.
Although Natasha¡¯s facial expression showed that she was in pain, her gray pupils were still cold and calm. She used neither her lance nor her sword, but with her bare left hand she grabbed Tod¡¯s lance and pushed him backward forcefully with great strength.
She did not stop. Grabbing the lance, Natasha was still charging forward.
Her face looked over-excited, almost crazy.
Then, with a crispy "crack", Natasha¡¯s Slayer directly pierced through Verdi¡¯s Shield of Truth this time, with her even greater momentum! The shield rapidly broke into pieces.
Verdi could not believe what he just saw. Suddenly, he realized that Natasha actually had a kind of mutant power based on her Blessing, since the Blessing called the Sword of Truth was a combination of the power of the two greatest families over the continent, the Violet and the Holm families. Her mutant power worked simply: the more serious she was injured, the more powerful she would be!
Verdi was not a rookie on the battlefield. Facing the lance coming directly toward him, he activated his magic item without any hesitance. Suddenly, he disappeared from where he was, and in the next second he showed up again, around twenty meters away.
"Is she really gonna make it?" A ridiculous idea flashed across Verdi¡¯s mind for a second.
Natasha did not stop. Carrying her Slayer under her armpit, and tightly grabbing Tod¡¯s lance which pierced through her abdomen with her hand, Natasha pushed Tod back and they were rushing at Verdi at the same time.
While Natasha was fighting with great momentum, the people following her were not in a very good condition because of the attack from both sides.
Although those knights and squires were nothing for Wyon, who was a level four grand knight, Cacharel was facing a knight of the same level as him. As Cacharel was using all his power to fight against the knight, he was badly injured by the the spears of the knight squires.
After hearing two short and sharp screams from Bright and Tiana, Lucien never heard them again. He could hear Borscht¡¯s heavy breaths behind him, and Daniel¡¯s few muffled groans.
When Lucien was helping Cacharel with his Alert, he saw countless silver arrows coming toward them like rain drops.
Without any hesitance, Lucien activated Star Shield. If they survived, Lucien might still have a chance to find some excuses to explain, but if they died there, every effort he made would be pointless.
Covering Lucien and the other people, the Star Shield was shining brightly at night. Multiple arrows hit the cover and fell down on the ground without doing any damage to it.
On the other side, Tod discarded his lance and an iron shield appeared in his left hand, conjured by his Blessing. Wielding his longsword in his right hand, Tod started to fight back. The other grand knights on Verdi¡¯s side who were encircling Natasha and her people were now only half the original distance away from them!

Chapter 128: Piercing
				Chapter 128: Piercing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Tod¡¯s sword was covered with a thin layer of red light. From an angle, Tod started an attack with his sword aiming straight at Natasha¡¯s neck. No matter how powerful Natasha¡¯s Blessing was, losing her head would still mean the end of her life. Also, Tod¡¯s sword had a special kind of power. When the sword cut a target, the wound would bleed continuously, regardless of how great the person¡¯s self-healing ability was.
At the same time, Tod¡¯s skin turned into a silver color and his body was covered with a layer of metal, as if he were a real Steel Golem. That blessing power could at the same time enhance his defense capabilities and his strength.
Natasha finished pulling out Tod¡¯s lance from her abdomen with one hand, throwing it away. In the other hand, her sword, covered with small flashes of lightning, parried the incoming attack, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to continue after Verdi if she had to deal with Tod.
"Wyon!" shouted Natasha, "Cover me!"
As Natasha called his name, Wyon immediately activated his Blessing. His body started emitting a bright white light and four pairs of big white wings appeared on his back. His sizer grew to almost twice that of common people.
This was Wyon¡¯s Blessing, the Angel of Strength!
Catching up with Tod, Wyon wielded his huge sword with both hands and directly hacked at Tod¡¯s red sword. Riding on his horse, Tod swiftly changed his direction and blocked Wyon¡¯s attack. Both of them were using their full strength, trying to defeat each other¡¯s sword. The power of collision of the swords summoned forth gusts of wind. Both of their gauntlets started to crack from the great power of the impacts.
While many of the white and shining feathers of Wyon¡¯s wings were falling, Tod remained relatively calm. Obviously, Tod was in a more favorable position in that confrontation.
Facing those terrible odds, Wyon knew that he could not yield. As the princess¡¯ main knight in that battle, it was his duty to fight for Natasha until the last second of his life. Spurring his horse with his boots, Wyon followed right behind her and prevented the princess from being attacked by Tod.
Not far behind them, Borscht couldn¡¯t stand his wounds anymore and fell from his horse, moaning in his last breath, "Vivian¡­"
After knocking Borscht over, the other knights and squires switched their target to Lucien, who looked relatively weak among the other warriors on his team.
Thanks to his Ice Revenger, Lucien had stayed relatively calm so far, although his arm was already numb from hacking and blocking the attacks. After all, strength was not his forte.
When another smite struck Lucien¡¯s back, his Star Shield finally reached its limit and shattered into small shining pieces.
Lucien was gathering his spiritual power in order to recast Star Shield, but a second smite came at him. Luckily, he was still charging forward, or he would be dead already. He was certain that the one attacking him was a level two knight, since his Star Shield was capable of handling three or four attacks of a level one knight, and unless his spiritual power was drained, his shield would always be there protecting him.
That was why a sorcerer was, to some extent, stronger than a knight of the same level.
However, facing a level two knight, Lucien, a first circle sorcerer, was being pushed.
At that moment, Natasha was again only a few meters away from Verdi. To the side, there were only several knight squires who were protecting Silvia. Behind Verdi there was a broad open field and Melzer Black Forest further ahead.
If Natasha could break out their siege and make it to the black forest, Verdi would lose his precious chance to kill the princess tonight, which he would probably not have again in this life.
If Natasha made it through the night, Verdi himself would be the one who was going to be sentenced to death, and all efforts he made would become useless.
Even without his shield, Verdi lowered his head and looked rather determined. Although he was a narrow-minded man, as a knight, Verdi still had strong willpower and a bold heart.
Being clearly aware of the fact that, in terms of experience in fighting, he might be slightly inferior to his cousin, Verdi knew that what he needed at that moment was a perfect defense, to stop Natasha.
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he roared and activated his Blessing again. The roaring was so powerful that even his horse was stunned a bit. The ground started to shake vigorously, and then multiple thick walls suddenly rose up from the black soil, blocking the path between Verdi and Natasha.
A few stars in the night sky suddenly started to shine brightly. Their light seemed to cover Verdi¡¯s armor, and a translucent force shield showed up in front of him.
The Shield of Truth was actually a Blessing that combined the Blessings called Earth and another one called Stars.
That demanded all the power Verdi had. His Blessing had showed its true power.
Natasha¡¯s eyebrows frowned a bit, but then she started to charge forward with an even greater speed. Soon, her black lance directly pierced through the first few walls. Although the rest of the walls were destroyed by Slayer as well, they made her charging speed decrease considerably.
When the tip of Natasha¡¯s lance hit Verdi¡¯s force shield, the transparent shield shook with ever-widening ripples on the surface surrounding the lance tip. Verdi took a step back, but in the next second he successfully withstood the powerful momentum of Natasha¡¯s blow and stabilized the shield.
One second, two seconds¡­ Natasha¡¯s was pushing her Slayer forward with all her might, but it only penetrated a few centimeters into the shield.
A cold smile appeared on Verdi¡¯s face as he saw that the other grand knights were finally about to catch up with Natasha, readying their swords to strike at her.
However, at that moment, a white light beam came down from the sky and hit his shield with a tremendous power.
The light was burning hot, as if it was the righteous flames of God.
It was the Holy Strike!
Although the level one divine spell did not actually do any damage to the Shield of Truth, Verdi was badly distracted.
"The Church!" Verdi blurted out. Knowing that all of Natasha¡¯s and her knights¡¯ divine and magic items had been used up and reached their limit, this divine spell was totally out of Verdi¡¯s expectation and only one possibility crossed his mind. If the Church found out what he was doing there right now, that would be the end of him!
As the Blessings were affected by the owner¡¯s willpower, Verdi¡¯s Shield of Truth trembled a bit when he got distracted for that second.
However, that one single second was already enough for Natasha, a grand knight, to completely turn the tables.
Using all her strength and power, Natasha grabbed her black lance and pierced Verdi¡¯s force field like a drill. The translucent shield instantly cracked and broke into thousands of shining pieces. Slayer continued moving forward and pierced through Verdi¡¯s left shoulder, near the joint, directly knocking him off his horse.
Being nailed by Natasha¡¯s lance, Verdi got crazy. To prevent the lance from completely drained his strength and life, he pulled out his sword with his right hand and directly chopped off his left arm together with his left shoulder. Then, free from Natasha¡¯s lance, he rolled to the other side. His purple blood burst out and sprinkled everywhere on the ground.
It was Lucien who cast the spell Holy Strike just now. He activated Sun¡¯s Corona at the very crucial moment.
In order to become a powerful sorcerer, staying calm and focused was of great significance to adjust the tactics for fighting based on the different situations.
Facing the several enemies who just arrived and were trying to stop Natasha, Cacharel suddenly swooped down on one of them with his body weight. Then, his whole body stretched like a piece of rubber, tightly tying the grand knight and his sword like a rubber rope, but at the same time, several horrible wounds appeared on Cacharel¡¯s body.
This was Cacharel¡¯s Blessing. He could stretch his body and strongly constrict the enemies!
On the other side, Daniel, who had already been seriously injured, jumped from his horse and over some enemies, knocking down a couple of the knights.
They were willing to use suicide tactics so that their princess could stand a chance!
Natasha followed Verdi¡¯s roll and used the lightning power on her sword, Thunder, to paralyze him. Her next attack was seeking Verdi¡¯s throat, but a strong air wave hit her hand mid-swing, pushing her hand and the sword slightly to the side. Thus, Natasha¡¯s sword missed Verdi¡¯s neck by an inch.
It was Silvia who cast the spell with her magic item.
Natasha¡¯s turned her horse around to try again and quickly adjusted her wrist to strike down at Verdi once again.
However, at that time, Silvia suddenly jumped out, standing between her and Verdi. She was staring at Natasha with her beautiful black eyes.
Silvia was protecting Verdi with her own body, hoping her former lover would not dare to hurt her!
Great pain could be found in Natasha¡¯s gray eyes as she hacked at her lover without any hesitance. She clearly knew that, at this point, any hesitance could get her killed, along with the knights who were loyal to her, the friends that had supported her in that dire moment.
Until she felt the coldness of the sword and the great pain, Silvia could not believe her eyes. With unwavering determination, Natasha¡¯s sword split Silvia¡¯s body in two.
The princess did not stop, though, and rode her horse forward to do the same to Verdi.
At that very moment, all of Verdi¡¯s knights immediately turned around to try to stop Natasha, regardless of the great risk they would face when they showed Lucien and Wyon their backs.

Chapter 129: Breakout
				Chapter 129: Breakout
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Bang!" A loud and crispy sound of metals colliding with each other was heard. It was from Wyon¡¯s heavy sword fiercely hacking Tod¡¯s metalized face when the latter stopped attacking him and turned around in order to help his lord Verdi.
A deep, horrible wound appeared in the center of Tod¡¯s face, starting from his forehead all the way to his chin, and even his nose was split into two. However, instead of blood, it was liquid metal that was slowly coming out of the wound. At the same time, the liquid metal was trying to heal the scary wound.
Although Tod was seriously injured, the sword in his hand did not stop, and it went directly to the princess, whose blade was a few centimeters away from Verdi. Although Natasha swiftly leaned to the side, Tod¡¯s sword left a terrible cut on Natasha¡¯s back, from which her spine and internal organs were almost visible.
The already badly damaged armor could not protect her very well anymore. With a muffled moan, Natasha bit her lips to bear the great pain and, without pause, wielded her Thunder toward Verdi again!
She knew that she could not lose her momentum at this time, or it would be the end of all of them, and her knights and squires would die for nothing.
Beside Silvia¡¯s hacked body, Verdi thought he got a chance to use his magic item again and thus escape away from Natasha. However, a powerful lightning struck him directly from the sky.
As an extraordinary magic sword, Natasha¡¯s Thunder had a certain chance to summon real lightning.
Verdi¡¯s broken, dark purple armor was instantly burned black. Although luckily part of the remaining power of his Blessing saved his life from the lightning, the powerful strike fully paralyzed his body again.
He was angry and desperate. Verdi could not understand why everything turned out to be so bitter, when he thought a great success was definitely upon his hands. However, he would not easily reconcile himself to the situation!
At that moment, Natasha¡¯s sharp blade was coming directly toward Verdi¡¯s neck, but he sommoned forth all his remaining willpower to overcome the paralyzing feeling in his right arm. With it, he suddenly tried to block Thunder with his bare right hand. Lots of small rays of lightning instantly covered his hand and his forearm, snapping part of his right arm right off. However, the sacrifice of his right arm also reduced Thunder¡¯s speed and, by the time the blade reached his neck, a piece of the Shield of Truth was formed around it. At the same time, his feet pushed against the ground and his body rolled backwards.
Natasha hacked her sword at Verdi¡¯s neck with all her anger, pain and hatred. Although the small piece of shield did not fully stop her attack, when the shield broke into pieces, her momentum had been weakened enough. Thunder cut a deep wound in Verdi¡¯s neck, but the blade did not really touch his carotid arteries. Verdi passed out, but he was not dead, yet.
When Natasha was about to lift her sword again to end her cousin¡¯s sinful life, a few of Verdi¡¯s grand knights arrived and blocked her path to their lord, who had completely lost his consciousness.
Natasha quickly made an estimation of their power and instantly decided to leave. She was already seriously injured, and the extra power her Blessing created due to her injuries would not last much longer. She knew that this was not the right time for her to be a hero.
"Let¡¯s go!" shouted Natasha to her people, and then she spurred Agatha and rushed out of the encirclement.
Verdi¡¯s knights were occupied with saving their lord, and more importantly, they also felt intimidated when they saw their lord lying on the ground like a torn sack.
Therefore, it was not hard for Lucien, Cacharel and Wyon to break the siege and follow Natasha. Unfortunately, facing too many knights on his own, Daniel did not make it.
"You f**king idiots! What are you f**king waiting for?!" When Tod approached Verdi, he yelled at the rest of the knights with great anger, "Go and get them, or we will all die!"
Leaving some knight squires to take care of Verdi, Tod spurred his horse and led the rest of the knights to chase the princess.
The four Dragon Scale horses were very fast, and soon they were close to the edge of the black forest. At that time, Natasha suddenly turned around and threw her black lance, Slayer, toward Tod, with all her strength and power.
Flying with great speed in the air, the lance stirred the air flow and created a loud and unique noise.
As Tod subconsciously rolled down from his horse and fell on the ground, Slayer pierced right through another level four knight¡¯s chest, who was behind Tod and did not even have time to raise his shield to defend. When Slayer flew right through the knight¡¯s chest, it immediately turned the body into something brittle, that shattered into thousands of shining pieces in the next second.
When Tod stood up again, the princess and her people had already disappeared in the forest.
Natasha¡¯s final burst of power shocked everyone present.
After a short period of time, Tod said to the rest of the knights in a cold voice, "We have to find and kill them tonight, and we have no second choice. If the princess survives, we will all die, and our families will die with us."
The other knights nodded and followed Tod into the deep woods.
...
As the big and tall trees grew in the number the deeper they went into the woods, the horses were not suitable for moving forward anymore. Thus, Wyon suggested that they should leave the horses and go on foot.
When Natasha was about to get off from her horse, she fell to the ground.
Both Lucien and Wyon rushed toward her, and found that the princess was already in a coma. Her face was abnormally flushed, and her body was covered with gashes, especially the terrible hole on her abdomen and the deep cut in her back.
"The princess has reached her limit," Wyon was trying to stop some of the wounds from bleeding, "but Her Grace should be fine. After all, the self-healing power of a grand knight should be able to let her recover relatively fast."
Lucien carefully touched Natasha¡¯s forehead and the tip of her nose. He found that there were small particles swelling underneath her burning hot skin, and, thankfully, she was still breathing relatively smoothly.
As the least injured among them all, Lucien carried Natasha on his back and took her sword with him. At the same time, Wyon put Cacharel on his back, since he was already too weak to stand still.
Then, they resumed their escape through the forest.
"Baron Wyon," Lucien paused a bit and said to him seriously, "you¡¯re the strongest and the most powerful one among us all. I think you should take the princess back to Aalto, and I can cover you."
"Impressive, Lucien. I heard your name before and I never expected that a musician could be brave and powerful like you are." A bitter smile appeared on Wyon¡¯s face, "I appreciate your suggestion, but I don¡¯t think I should be the one to take the princess out of here, since Tod knows me pretty well, and honestly speaking, I don¡¯t think I can get rid of them that easily¡­ I¡¯m badly injured already. Right now, even the running is pretty much a stretch for me¡­"
"Baron Wyon¡­" Lucien did not know what to say.
"Listen to me, Lucien." Wyon nodded, "As you said, I¡¯m the strongest among us all, and I bet Tod would believe that I would be the one with the princess. So you should be the one sending the princess back to Aalto, and Cacharel and I will cover you."
"I agree¡­" Cacharel nodded and said to Lucien in a weak voice.
"Even if you meet them on your way, they won¡¯t be Verdi¡¯s main force. And besides, you have the princess¡¯ sword," Wyon added.
"I see." Lucien nodded. There was no time for him to try to act like a great hero.
"Take off the princess¡¯s armor and give it to us." Wyon stopped running and said to Lucien. "The grand knights can smell the scent blood in the air."
After Lucien handed Natasha¡¯s damaged Dragon Blood to them, both Wyon and Cacharel tied some pieces to their own armors.
"All our hope is on you now, Lucien." Cacharel smiled peacefully, "If we die, remember to bring some flowers to our graves."
Lucien nodded, and then Wyon and Cacharel left toward the other side of the forest.
...
Lucien was still running. He had no idea how long he had been fleeing. He was gasping loudly, and his own gasping was the only thing that he could hear in the deep forest.
Honestly speaking, the idea of just leaving Natasha somewhere in the forest and running for his own life did cross Lucien¡¯s mind. After all, he still had his dreams that hadn¡¯t been fulfilled yet.
However, Lucien just couldn¡¯t do that. Leaving a friend here just like that, in great danger, would destroy the rest of his life.
After recovering a bit, Lucien activated his Star Shield again, covering both Natasha and himself, just in case.
"Lucien¡­ you really got some good stuff in the magic lock¡­" At this time, Natasha¡¯s voice came from behind him. Lucien had no idea when she came back to consciousness.
"Am I that heavy?" Natasha was still joking, and after a few seconds, she murmured, "You¡¯re my only friend now, Lucien."
Lucien was not sure if she was sobbing.
...
Deep in the sewers in Aalto, countless rats surged forward out of nowhere, like a black tide, and all of them had terrifying red eyes.

Chapter 130: Tiphotidis
				Chapter 130: Tiphotidis
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Elsinore Lake got rid of the restriction of the Grand Cross in the black and white world, the space inverted and the magic lock was shattered, and its remaining pieces were still floating deeper into the World of Souls.
As the remains of the magic lock floated throughout that world, countless magic circles started to silently collapse, until a magnificent city appeared in the front, devoid of colors.
The shadow city was like the inverted reflection of Aalto, while the arrangement of the city was a total mess. Above this shadow city, there was a Grand Cross consisting of nine mysterious stars that were shining brightly.
Being influenced by the collapse of the magic lock around Elsinore Lake, this Grand Cross started to break down as well. Some kind of silver-colored fog slowly rose from beneath the shadow city, which was cold and quiet, as if it was turning this shadow Aalto into a hell where coldness and death dominated everything.
Suddenly, a pale and huge palm reached out of the ground, and each knuckle of the hand had horrifying, sharp bone spurs. Somehow, the terrifying hand broke the boundary existing between the World of Souls and the main material world and directly showed up deep in the sewers in the real Aalto.
The hand was shining with silver light. Any creature in the sewers affected by the light went crazy, like the red-eyed rats. The silver light was turning all the creatures there into filthy monsters. The ground was shaking fiercely. Lots of residents above the ground escaped from their places, screaming and crying. They thought it was a horrible earthquake.
However, it was way more terrible than an earthquake. In the sewers, when the huge, pale palm pressed itself against the ceiling, countless deep and wide gaps appeared on the ground above. Then, a humanoid monster with pale skin, red eyes, and silver goat horns on its head jumped out of the ground and landed heavily above the surface. The whole city fiercely shook again because of this horrible monster, which was tens of meters tall.
The monster¡¯s whole body was covered with silver light, and the light was spreading like waves. Everything covered by the light turned cold.
"Stupid¡­" This manlike monster sneered and murmured in Infernal, the language of demons. "What was sealed was never the previous duke. No one should trust a demon."
...
Leading two level three grand knights, four level two knights, and four level one knights, Tod entered Melzer Black Forest. Following the smell of blood, they went all the way deep into the woods.
At the place where Lucien and Wyon went separate ways, Tod stopped, "They took different ways. The smell of the princess¡¯ blood is in both directions."
"Wyon went this way." Worns, a level three knight, could detect the smell of Wyon¡¯s blood.
"Wyon is a level four grand knight. Anatole and I will go after him." Tod was very resolute, "Worns, you take the other way. If you find the princess, send us a signal."
"Please wait," Rosan Aaron stopped Tod.
Although Tod disliked dark knights a lot, he never underestimated their special abilities. "What do you want to say?"
Pointing at the direction where Lucien went, Aaron answered seriously, "They can confuse us with the smell of blood, but they cannot lie to the shadow. The dark shadow told me Natasha went this way."
"Very well." Tod nodded, "Then, Anatole and Worns, you to go after Wyon, and Aaron and I will follow this path."
...
Hearing Natasha¡¯s words, Lucien did not know what to say. He sighed in his heart. If Natasha knew that he was a sorcerer, she would no longer have that impression.
After a moment, Lucien comforted her, "Your Grace, besides me, you still have the grand duke, Lady Camil, Felicia¡­ You still have many friends who will always support you and care for you."
As soon as he mentioned Camil, Lucien knew he said something stupid.
"Auntie¡­" Natasha sounded even more depressed now, "I was so stupid¡­ All of these¡­ all of it¡­ is because of me."
"That was an oversight¡­ Your Grace." Lucien tried to sound more objective, "But it¡¯s not all your fault."
"It is," Natasha answered in a low voice. "I found out Silvia was a sorcerer apprentice a long time ago."
"What?!" Carrying Natasha, Lucien was still running as fast as he could. Hearing what the princess just said, Lucien almost ran into a tree.
"My love¡­ no, my greed blinded me." Natasha released a long sigh, "Since it is said that the origin of Blessing has something to do with the ancient sorcerers, I was hoping that she could figure out a way which would enable two girls together to have babies that are born with the power of Blessing, then no one could disturb our love anymore using this as an excuse."
"Your Grace, you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re¡­" Lucien was trying to find a proper word, "ambitious."
"Ambitious¡­" Natasha was a bit confused at first and then she cheered herself up, "Anyway, since now we¡¯re running for our lives, well¡­ now you¡¯re running for our lives, it is not really a good time to feel regretful and sad. It will take me about two to three hours to recover to a certain extent, and during this period of time, my life will be on your hands."
Then, she paused a bit and said to him, "Actually¡­ You didn¡¯t have to do this for me. Thank you, Lucien. I¡¯ll always keep this in mind."
"I witnessed the whole thing." Lucien tried to make the princess feel less guilty, "Verdi would try to kill me either way. I¡¯d rather help my friend."
"You just don¡¯t want to show how nice you are, Lucien." Natasha slightly shook her head, "I¡¯ll temporarily free Thunder from my control and let you leave your spiritual power on it. Thunder is a level five perfect rank sword. With the sword, you will have a chance against anyone who¡¯s under the rank of grand knight."
Lucien left his spiritual power mark on Thunder following Natasha¡¯s directions, and during the process, he got more information on that sword.
"Natasha¡¯s Thunder. Level five perfect rank sword. Made from precious aerolite and the blood of a Storm Titan. Can cause damage close to the power of a radiant knight. The owner¡¯s strength can be improved to the level of a common Storm Titan, which equals to the peak of a grand knight¡¯s strength.
"Besides, Thunder comes with the enchantment of small lightnings, which can paralyze its target and make it lose the hearing for a while. There is a five percent chance that Thunder can summon real lightning from the sky, which equals to a fifth circle sorcerer casting the magic spell Thunder. There is about 0.1% chance that the summoned lightning will be super powerful. In stormy weather, the chances will be increased, but also the owner should be more careful as well.
"This is a coming-of-age gift for my little Natasha. This is the Scepter of Thunder.
"By: Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg."
Grabbing Thunder, Lucien felt the power of lightning nurturing his body. Although his hand felt a bit numb, he could tell that his strength was being greatly improved. A thick piece of tree root cracked as Lucien stepped on it purposefully.
"Try to get used to it, Lucien," Natasha said to him. "This is a weapon, not a magic item. Using any weapon or armor that is too powerful for the user can bring some side effects. And it takes longer for someone to get used to it. Comparatively speaking, magic items are much better at this point."
"Are you saying that a normal person can actually use some powerful magic items, Your Grace?" asked Lucien. He wondered if he could beat a senior-rank mage if he had a dozen of magic rings enchanted with ninth circle spells.
"Well¡­" Natasha nodded, but then shook her head, "It really depends. High level magic items are precious. And most of the magic items above level five usually have strict requirement for their owners, such as the level of spiritual power, strength, knowledge, willpower and so on. But before that level, if your enemy who¡¯s more powerful than you is not prepared, yes, you might have some chance to win. In contrast, extraordinary weapons and armors usually don¡¯t work in this way."
Lucien did not have much knowledge of extraordinary weapons and armors. After hearing Natasha¡¯s words, Lucien started to have a rough idea with regard to this topic and sort of understood why Sun¡¯s Corona would have five layers¡¯ of seals.
Gently wielding the sword, Lucien felt that his speed was slightly improved as well.
"Ummm¡­ You know what, " Natasha looked around and said to him easily, "you left a lot of clues for those bad people to trace us."
"Did I?!" Lucien was surprised, "I thought I had been very careful already. Well¡­ after all, I¡¯m just a musician, Your Grace."
"I bet you were, Lucien, but I don¡¯t feel you¡¯re just a musician¡­" Natasha laughed and quickly switched the topic, "When I received my knight training, I learned a lot about these matters, and I can teach you."
Under Natasha¡¯s instruction, Lucien learned a couple of ways to hide his trails by using different plants, minerals and even small creatures.
"Smart. You learned very fast, Lucien." Natasha nodded, "By the way, I¡¯m pretty sure there are Ghost Aloes around this area¡­ maybe close to the water. If you can find some, the aloes can remove the blood smell on us."
...
As soon as the gigantic, manlike monster started to move, beams of holy light appeared in the city, one after another, and layers of divine power circles rose and connected to each other.
"Welcome to Aalto, the Great Master of Argent," the person who was speaking to the monster sounded rather old, "or should I call you, Mr. Tiphotidis, the Ice duke."
It was Sard, the Saint Cardinal, who was floating in the air. Wearing a plain, white robe, Sard was holding a magic staff embedded with shining gems and a big cross. His eyes were bright and sharp.
"Why are you here, Sard?!" The Great Master of Argent shouted with anger, "You should be at Elsinore Lake right now! You don¡¯t care about the princess?!"

Chapter 131: The Joint Effort
				Chapter 131: The Joint Effort
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding the Sun Scepter in his hand, Sard expanded the divine power circles and let them fully cover the city. By doing this, Sard actually brought the battle field into another dimension, in order to avoid the horrible destruction of the city that could be expected from such a battle.
Then, Sard answered in a slow pace, "Someone¡¯s handling the troubles there for me. No worries."
"There¡¯s only one person who can deal with it." Tiphotidis surrounded itself with a fiend circle and blocked the divine power circles from affecting it without much effort, "You worked with the grand arcanist, Yaroran Hathaway?! How dare you! You helped her come back from the secret dimension?!"
"Well¡­ There is no everlasting friend, and no everlasting enemy." Sard smiled.
Looking around, Tiphotidis saw no other cardinals present, not to mention the pope.
"As you might notice, I¡¯m the only grand cardinal here," Sard was still talking in a very calm tone, "because I¡¯m very interested in the legendary archmage called Maskelyne, and the secret of the dimension called the World of Souls. You and Apsis must know about that."
"Risk¡­ That¡¯s a big risk." Tiphotidis burst into a raucous laughter, "You greedy human beings. You think you can stop me on your own with a bunch of stupid shining magic circles? Tell me¡­ would you dare tell Yaroran the complete truth?"
Sard was definitely well prepared. He shrugged easily, "Oh, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m not really on my own."
Rhine, in his black shirt and red long jacket, showed up behind the Great Master of Argent.
Without even looking back, Tiphotidis sneered, "Little filthy vampire."
Two pairs of huge, black bat wings bulged out of Rhine¡¯s back. And the aura of Rhine¡¯s darkness and evilness somehow matched the holy light surrounding Sard perfectly well. His eyes, instead of being the usual scarlet eyes a vampire had, were still silver.
"Long time no see, Tiphotidis. For your information, there are different kinds of vampires, but it seems that you¡¯ve already forgotten me," greeted Rhine casually.
"Count Silver Eye, the Observer. It¡¯s you." Tiphotidis got serious.
...
Above Elsinore lake, the cardinals, gold knights, and night watchers floating in the sky besieged their enemies.
Within the circle, there was a male and a female.
The man in the black robe with brown hair and dark blue eyes was Rogerio, Mr. Deroni¡¯s business partner that Lucien actually met once before. According to Verdi¡¯s words, Rogerio and a radiant knight were supposed to be fighting against Camil at that moment.
The woman was very beautiful, and her silver gray eyes were very impressive. Wearing a dark purple robe, she looked rather cold. Slowly lifting up her hand, she pointed her finger at Ilia, his priests and the dark knights, who were very confused right now, and slightly moved her lips,
"Elements Resolve."
Immediately, Ilia, the level seven grand priest, was turned into a variety of different substances: black particles, smoke, small clusters of green wildfire, pungent sulphur powder, and even his great fiend power was being swiftly disintegrated.
Very soon, the level seven grand priest, plus his six great priests, twelve priests and all the dark knights were completely turned into colorful small particles floating the air. Soon afterwards, nothing was left of them.
Although the horrifying wraith wearing black robe was resolving as well, the colorful particles in the air did not disappear. A moment later, the particles reunited together and the monster appeared again.
"Apsis, go back to your Skeleton Land," the woman said shortly.
A shining gate suddenly emerged in front of the monster. After silently staring at the woman for a moment, the black-robed monster obediently stepped into the gate.
Then, the lake became peaceful again. Thanks to the timely arrival of the Church, the residents of the small town were saved.
"Now, you can go." The lady was still very cold. She commanded the powerful cardinals and knights to leave as if she was giving an order to her minions.
Amelton, Hayward and Rafati turned around silently and left submissively. Although they had no idea why she was there, they were more than grateful that she did not bother killing them.
After all, the lady was an arcanist. She was one of the greatest arcanists ever in history, Yaroran Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, who ranked the sixteenth place on the Church¡¯s Cleansing List.
After the Church and the people of the duchy left, Rogerio came in front of Hathaway and questioned her with a slight bit of anger, "Your Excellency, how can you violate the decision made by the lords of the congress?"
Taking a glance at Rogerio, Hathaway¡¯s silver gray eyes remained cold. "Did I agree to it? Without my consent, no decision is valid."
"But¡­" Rogerio tried to insist.
However, Hathaway cut him off directly, "Every grand arcanist has the power of veto, and you¡¯d better keep this in mind. By the way, I don¡¯t want that there¡¯s anyone trying to poke their nose into the internal affairs of the Holm family."
After finishing her phrase, she disappeared in the air.
When Hathaway was gone, Rogerio¡¯s face suddenly became more relaxed, as if the anger he showed earlier was just something fake. Facing an internal power struggle among the grand arcanists, even an archmage needed to be very careful.
...
On the wildlands outside of Melzer Black Forest, bodies were overlapping each other.
Grabbing Verdi¡¯s neck with her right hand, Camil directly lifted him up, "Where¡¯s the princess?"
Verdi knew that he was totally hopeless now, and he sneered, "In the black forest. Maybe my knights have already found and killed her."
Camil grabbed his neck even tighter.
"Tell¡­ tell me, Camil¡­" Verdi could not breathe and the words were squeezed out of his throat, "Did the grand duke¡­ ask you¡­ to kill my father?"
"Go to hell." Camil directly exploded Verdi¡¯s body into pieces with extremely powerful water spouts.
Until the last second of Verdi¡¯s life, he felt no regret.
Entering the black forest, Camil started to trace the smell of Natasha¡¯s blood. At some point ahead, she was a bit hesitant, since both directions had the smell.
...
Ghost Aloe looked completely different from common aloes. It had five long white leaves, as if its color had faded a long time ago. With transparent, long thorns growing on their tips, the leaves were very wrinkly, looking just like the skinny, wizened fingers of an old witch with long and sharp nails.
Natasha was feeling much better. She plucked the aloes and crumpled the leaves up. Some aloe sap came out.
"Lucien, you help me put them on my wounds, and I help you with the blood on your back." Natasha did not feel shy at all.
Lucien knew that this was not a proper time to talk about proper manners between a man and a woman. He nodded and followed Natasha¡¯s request. When he was rubbing the small aloe balls on Natasha¡¯s wounds, he witnessed the great self-healing power of a grand knight: the wounds on her body were healing in a visible way.
"How do you feel?" Natasha joked, "First time seeing a girl¡¯s lower abdomen?"
Lucien thought silently in his mind that girls wearing bikini in his own world were a very common sight, and he should have seen way more girls¡¯ lower abdomen than Natasha, but he still answered seriously, "Horrible¡­ many parts of your inner organs are damaged. I feel I¡¯ll have a nightmare."
"You should be grateful if we manage to survive the night and you can still have a chance to sleep in a bed while having a nightmare." Natasha laughed, "As long as my inner organs are not destroyed completely, for a grand knight such as me, whose power is close to that of a radiant knight and with a special Blessing, the situation is not too bad."
"We¡¯ll see¡­" Lucien frowned his eyebrows while he was still rubbing the aloe balls on Natasha¡¯s wounds.
"You don¡¯t believe me?" Natasha giggled, "I¡¯ll be alright, Lucien. Seriously, if we got lost in the forest and we needed to eat, you could cut piece of my heart, livers or kidneys off and roast them for food. Isn¡¯t that great?"
"Not really¡­ Your Grace." Lucien released a long sigh. Sometimes he really had no idea how to deal with Natasha¡¯s sense of humor.
"Well¡­" Natasha added, "If I didn¡¯t get enough food, my body would stop recovering, and I would die, too, just like common people."
"I won¡¯t let it happen," answered Lucien calmly. "In ten minutes, we should be close to Massol River."
...
Aalto.
Tiphotidis, the Great Master of Argent, was tightly constrained by the many divine power circles controlled by Sard with all of his power.
In front of Tiphotidis, Rhine lifted up his right hand, and the huge bat wings were fully stretched open. Suddenly, the night sky lit up due to a full moon that appeared with its bright silver radiance.
The moon was becoming bigger and bigger, and also brighter and brighter.
Tiphotidis saw a blurry figure with blond hair inside the silver moon, and only the figure¡¯s scarlet eyes could be seen clearly. Slowly, the figure lifted up a sword.
The Great Master of Argent was shocked, "You can borrow the power?!"
With an evil smile, Rhine tilted his head slightly to one side, and he suddenly dropped his right hand with great speed. Simultaneously, the blond-haired figure hacked the sword downwards.
The silver moonlight blinded Tiphotidis¡¯s eyes when it heard Rhine¡¯s words, "Remember me whenever you see the moon."

Chapter 132: The Place
				Chapter 132: The Place
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Leading the night watchers, the several cardinals of the Church came back to Aalto. The city was still sleeping peacefully in the darkness, as tranquil as they left it earlier.
At this time, the red-robed cardinal, Vila Amelton, who was also one of the actual leaders of the Inquisition, suddenly stopped flying. A moment later, she turned to the Canon Holder, "Salvador, go back and find Lady Camil right now. She¡¯s searching for the princess in Melzer Black Forest."
Before Salvador responded to the command, Count Hayward, the vice commander of Violet Knights, burst out, "What happened to the princess?"
"In collusion with the Congress of Magic, Verdi ambushed the princess and tried to kill her. Natasha broke out of their siege and is now hiding in the black forest."
"What?! Verdi!" Rafati and Hayward looked shocked. They could not believe their ears.
The several other noble knights present also looked very shocked. However, the reason that they were astounded was because of the fact Verdi failed.
"Yes. Sard just informed me," Amelton answered shortly.
"I¡¯ll go with them." Hayward¡¯s brows knitted together tightly. Although he looked just like a twenty-something young man, he was actually more than a hundred and sixty years old. Hayward had witnessed countless conspiracies in his life, and now he had a sense of suspicion crawling into his mind. Hayward¡¯s intuition was telling him that the reason that they were sent to Elsinore Lake earlier tonight was much more sophisticated than he thought.
Salvador crossed himself, "Yes, my lord."
"Only truth lives forever." Amelton also crossed on her chest.
......
Following Aaron¡¯s special ability of communicating with the shadows, Tod soon noticed a cluster of Ghost Aloe missing a few leaves.
"I knew they were going to use Ghost Aloe¡­ We arrived just a bit too late." Tod was a bit pissed off, but then he turned to Aaron, "Any idea which direction they went?"
"The shadow told me¡­" Aaron scrutinized the surroundings carefully, "they¡¯re still around."
"That doesn¡¯t make any sense." Tod fiercely hacked the plant with his sword.
"There¡¯s only one explanation for this." Aaron said to Tod, "They jumped into the river."
Ghost Aloe often grew very close to water, and this cluster was not an exception. Not far away from the Ghost Aloe, there was a running creek connecting to Massol River.
"Then we just have to follow the water." Tod nodded, "They were injured way more seriously than us. We can catch them."
"What if they left the river and went back into the forest again?" asked Aaron, "I¡¯m not a grand knight. I cannot get information from the shadows in the water."
"Well¡­ then just pay close attention to the possible wet plants on both sides of the river. If they left the river, there must be a trail." Tod looked very confident, and the horrible, long wound on his face had almost recovered.
"All right." Although Aaron thought this strategy was relatively time-consuming, he could not think of a better solution.
Then they started to search along both sides of the river.
......
After floating in the river for a short period of time, Lucien and Natasha left the water and went deep into the woods again.
When Lucien carried Natasha on his back again and was about to run away, Natasha reminded him, "Remember to hide our trail."
Natasha¡¯s wet hair was dripping water, and so was his black robe.
"Yes, you¡¯re right." Lucien nodded. He carefully put Natasha behind a tall and thick tree and then started to collect a kind of weird-looking bush that looked like hay to dry them out a bit.
"I¡¯m afraid they can still trace us." Grabbing the plant, Lucien was worried, "This is not enough." Lucien was quite regretful that he never really paid attention to some of the first circle spells which were used for cleaning all kinds of trails when he was doing his magic structure analysis. At that time, he never thought they might be very useful one day.
"They¡¯re powerful knights. I wouldn¡¯t expect that we could completely get rid of them with a bunch of plants." Natasha was analyzing with her clear mind, "I know all the knights who were on Verdi¡¯s side and I know all their Blessings. Neither of them is really good at tracing, however, I can feel they¡¯re getting closer and closer."
"You can feel it?" Lucien got nervous, "I thought I did a good job¡­"
"You did, Lucien." Natasha slightly patted his shoulders, "I guess that, very possibly, there¡¯s a dark knight tracing us. And I¡¯m thinking¡­ when I recover a bit more, maybe we can try to fight back in order to kill this dark knight."
"I don¡¯t agree." Lucien shook his head, "What if it is Tod who¡¯s chasing us, instead of some random knights? Or what if the dark knight is also very powerful? What if they¡¯re using some magic items to trace us?"
Lucien knew very well that Natasha was a great risk taker, but he was not.
"Well¡­ I hear your many ¡®what if¡¯, Lucien." Natasha slightly lifted her purple eyebrows, "I know that any of your ¡®what if¡¯ can easily kill us, but do we have another choice? Sooner or later, they¡¯ll find us."
Lucien lowered his head. He knew that what Natasha just said was correct.
"All right¡­ we still have to be more prepared." Lucien looked up at the several faint stars in the sky and roughly estimated their location, "At least we¡¯ll wait until your power reaches the level of an ordinary knight."
"I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have this much time." Natasha carefully checked herself and said to Lucien, "Although the worst impact on my body caused by my Blessing is gone, I still need a couple of hours to recover to the level that you just said."
Lucien¡¯s eyes slightly opened bigger as he suddenly remembered something important. Reaching his hand into his wet robe, Lucien took out a bunch of magic ingredients for making potions that he got from the archmage¡¯s storeroom and put them on the ground.
"Can any of these help you?" Lucien was a bit hesitant, "I¡­ I got these from the archmage¡¯s place, to¡­ to sell them for some money."
Lucien was a bit nervous.
Natasha did not really notice Lucien¡¯s awkwardness, and when she lowered her head, a surprised smile appeared on her face, "Aether¡­ and vampire¡¯s blood! Awesome!"
Both Aether and vampire blood were ingredients for a very effective healing potion named Water Song. However, they were just raw materials, so Lucien felt quite worried. "Any side effect?" he asked.
Natasha already grabbed the tube of vampire¡¯s blood in her hand.
"Vampire¡¯s blood¡­ After taking it, I might be bit afraid of sunlight for up to six months, and my blood might feel burning," answered Natasha casually. Then she pulled out the cork of the tube and smelled the blood, "Wow¡­ It¡¯s a high grade vampire¡¯s blood! Good for the archmage!"
"Can you recover completely by taking it then?" asked Lucien.
"Well¡­" Natasha took a deep breath, "Not really¡­ but if I push myself a bit harder and activated my Blessing again, I might get¡­ probably up to three minutes with the power of a level five knight. After that¡­ I¡¯m done."
"Done!?" Lucien was shocked.
"No no no¡­" Natasha laughed, "I¡¯m not going to die. I mean I won¡¯t be able to walk at all afterwards, and you will need to carry me all the way home."
"You¡¯d better explain things a bit clearer in situations like that, you know." Lucien almost rolled his eyes.
"Lucien," Natasha became serious, "If Tod was not among them, three minutes would be enough for me to kill the rest of the knights."
"Then, what if Tod is the one coming after us¡­" Lucien needed to have a backup plan.
"Then I¡¯d cover you by distracting Tod and the other grand knights, if there was any." Natasha said to Lucien, "Meanwhile, you handle the rest of them."
Natasha leaned her head against Lucien¡¯s shoulder to take a rest. Her purple eyes were bright, and her lips were pressing together in a thin line.
"You want to sacrifice yourself to let me survive?" Lucien asked her.
"Of course not!" Natasha suddenly straightened up her back as if she got scared, "I cherish my life a lot. Without Thunder, you wouldn¡¯t be able to face the knights on your own. Besides, I¡¯m not gonna really fight against Tod. My duty will be to distract him. That¡¯s all. And you gotta lend me your sword, Alert."
"That¡¯s too dangerous for you. I don¡¯t agree." Lucien refused Natasha¡¯s suggestion, "You keep Thunder. I have a plan which can possibly kill them all, as long as they have no more than five knights chasing after us, and we can get to the place before they find us."
"What plan? What place?" Natasha was very surprised.
"You¡¯ll see when we get there." Lucien looked at Natasha¡¯s eyes seriously, "I cherish my life a lot as well. Trust me, Natasha."
Natasha confounded a moment, then she smiled, "I trust you, Lucien."

Chapter 133: Lucien¡¯s Identity
				Chapter 133: Lucien¡¯s Identity
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"My Lord, the shadows say they¡¯re close." Rosan Aaron reported to Tod in a very low voice.
Grabbing his sword tight, Tod looked around with great caution.
He saw tall firs, assorted kinds of bushes¡­ and there was a unique smell of earth in Tod¡¯s nose. Everything here looked identical to the rest of the black forest, except for a strange-shaped huge stone.
"There¡¯s no river here¡­ and the shadow doesn¡¯t lie¡­ Where are they?" Aaron murmured.
"Watch out!" In the next second, Tod fiercely pushed Aaron away, knocking him down, and at the same time he lifted up his left hand and produced a square-shaped iron shield with his Blessing.
When Aaron was slammed to the ground, Natasha had already jumped down from a big tall fir and attacked with her Thunder with all her strength.
Tod¡¯s shield cracked instantly, and he could not believe his eyes.
However, Natasha¡¯s sword, whose momentum was greatly reduced by the iron shield, also did not go as far as she intended. A big dent appeared in Tod¡¯s armor, but he was not hurt.
"Damn it! My power¡¯s not full yet!" Natasha swore a bit in her mind. She was very confident that she could kill the dark knight Aaron with that one strike, but she failed.
Although he felt rather confused, Tod immediately produced a new iron shield out of the pieces of the previous broken one.
Knowing that she had lost her chance, Natasha turned around and ran away at her full speed toward the other side of the black forest.
Tod soon realized that it must be a potion that was boosting Natasha¡¯s remaining strength. He knew that this kind of boosting would not last long. Pulling out his sword, he started to chase after her.
He did not care about Aaron. As soon as Natasha showed up, Aaron¡¯s job was done.
With one running in the front and the other chasing after, soon they both disappeared among the tall trees.
Using the momentum of the movement that knocked him down, Aaron quickly rolled backwards to get on his feet. He was also very surprised that Natasha could burst out that kind of power after being injured so seriously. When Aaron was about to follow Tod, a second black figure fiercely jumped down from the tree, and the sword lifted by him was shining with a terrifying light.
...
After a bit more than ten seconds, the distance between Tod and Natasha became smaller and smaller. Tod could tell that Natasha¡¯s power hadn¡¯t recovered to level five, since Natasha was definitely faster than him in the past, but right now he would be able to catch her!
When Tod was only a few steps away from Natasha, the princess turned around and started to fight back.
Easily blocking her strike with his sword named Blood, Tod sneered, "This is not going to be enough, Your Grace."
Natasha¡¯s eyes turned into light gray again as she kept hacking, thrusting, blocking and dodging.
The loud bangs from the metals colliding with each other slightly shook the ground, and the strong airflow caused by that overthrew the nearby bushes, stones and some rotten branches of the firs.
"I thought the more seriously injured you were, the more powerful you would be." Tod was good at disturbing his enemy¡¯s mental state, "It looks like your potion doesn¡¯t really help you that much, uh?"
"Are you a knight? Or you¡¯re just a talker, Tod?" Natasha¡¯s Thunder never stopped attacking. Her eyes were full of determination.
After blocking all of the princess¡¯s fierce attacks, Tod started to fight back following the formal knight training he received, "There¡¯s nothing wrong with talking while fighting, Your Grace. After all, it is good that I can still spare the effort to talk, isn¡¯t it?"
Natasha could not deny that. She felt that her boosted power had started to fade slowly.
"Were it not for the annoying sword you¡¯re using, you¡¯d be dead already!" Tod continued talking to distract Natasha.
Thunder was a perfect counter to his Iron Blood since Tod¡¯s iron skin was an ideal conductor.
"However, your power is not gonna last long, Your Grace. I¡¯m not in a hurry," said Tod sarcastically.
Natasha did not bother bickering back, instead, she stayed even more focused on her movement, attack and defense. She was a very well-trained knight, and she was also one of the most talented knights ever of the Church. She believed that her hard training was worth a lot, even without her Blessing.
Her powerful Blessing enabled her to manage almost every one of her breakthroughs relatively easily, and in her previous fights she had was always been in a more advantageous position. However, the battle she experienced earlier tonight and the one she was facing right now gave Natasha the first chance to learn more about her own power.
The power of her Blessing and her physical strength started to blend together in perfect harmony. If it could be commented that she usually fought using the power given by God, now Natasha was fighting as a human being, relying on her own willpower and the lessons that she learned before in her tough training.
Tod noticed the difference in the way that Natasha positioned herself in this fight. Although she did not burst out any astonishing power, and neither her strength or speed were improved, Tod knew that he needed to be more cautious.
...
Grabbing Alert with both of his hands, Lucien jumped down toward Aaron from above, hacking with his sword.
Aaron¡¯s reaction was fast. He raises the black dagger in his right hand to block the fierce attack, summoned his black fire on his left fist and aimed a punch at Lucien¡¯s abdomen.
"Clang!"
When the weapons touched, Lucien¡¯s sword left a small gap on the edge of Aaron¡¯s weapon. In the next moment, Lucien pulled back his sword and dematerialized his body into moonlight to avoid Aaron¡¯s fist.
"Not even of a real knight¡¯s power!" Aaron sneered. When he recognized Lucien, he became more confident.
As a dark knight, Aaron was even faster than Lucien, not to mention his reaction speed and strength.
Lucien kept a distance away from Aaron by using his sword, which was longer than the enemy¡¯s weapon. However, Lucien noticed that the black fire covering the dagger could slowly corrode the Alert¡¯s blade.
Aaron chose not to launch his attack in the front, instead, he tried to approach Lucien from different angles, and his movements were not meant to actually damage, but more to probe.
It was not a waste of time for Aaron, and he was actually very smart. Since Aaron was much more powerful, there must be a reason why Lucien would be confident enough to ambush him like that. The only possible explanation, based on what just happened to Verdi, was that Lucien had some magic items.
Aaron needed to keep moving around, in case any of Lucien¡¯s magic item could lock him as the target.
Lucien was not as fast as Aaron, and soon his body was covered by wounds left by Aaron¡¯s dagger. Although these wounds were small and not deep, they were covered with small clusters of black fire. As if they were alive, the clusters of fire were trying to enter into Lucien¡¯s body through the small wounds to suck his strength.
With another quick attack, Aaron¡¯s dagger tore down a piece of cloth in front of Lucien¡¯s chest, revealing the amulet Sun¡¯s Corona, that Lucien was wearing on his neck.
"Look at you." As he was swiftly moving around, it sounded like Aaron¡¯s voice was coming from all directions, "You¡¯re nobody, but you have a fine sword, a nice magic ring, and even a badge from the Church. I wonder if you are Natasha¡¯s secret lover, haha."
Lucien was still wielding his sword to block Aaron¡¯s attack as much as possible.
"But that¡¯s okay," said Aaron. "Soon, they will all be mine."
As Aaron was talking, he was trying to recall and calculate how many times Lucien had activated his magic items. Then, Aaron¡¯s attack became fiercer and fiercer, since he wanted to force Lucien into using the two items in case there was still any power left in them.
Lucien seemed to be pretty weak, and all he could do was stand there and wield his sword. For a couple of times, he could not even stand on his feet since the black fire was eating up his strength.
After testing Lucien by pushing him into his limit countless times, Aaron believed that the young man had already used all the power in his magic items for that night.
Before Aaron launched his new round of attacks, Lucien¡¯s legs were already too weak to support his weight. With a twist in his ankles, Lucien fell over in front of the strange-shaped stone.
Aaron almost felt amused by this scene, "Are you kidding me? Jumping toward me from the tree was all that you had prepared? Very touching¡­ you want to die for your beloved princess?"
Lifting his dagger again, this time Aaron targeted Lucien¡¯s back neck!
Suddenly, a thin, arc-shaped shield appeared above Lucien and stopped Aaron¡¯s dagger.
Neither of his magic items was shining. It was Lucien¡¯s own power.
"A sorcerer?!"
Lots of memories and thoughts flashed across Aaron¡¯s mind, his eyes suddenly opened wide,
"You¡¯re¡­ Professor?!"
"Am I?" Lucien turned around and a mysterious smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s face. At the same time, Lucien pulled out his right hand from the dirt, in which there was a dark red bracelet.
Before Aaron managed to turn himself into a shadow and back away from Lucien, a powerful fire ball suddenly burst out from the bracelet and pushed Aaron backward fiercely.
"Farewell, Mr. Aaron." Lucien nodded, smiling.
Level three high rank magic item, Fire Weaver Bracelet, previously owned by Fire Wolf, which was enchanted with two magic spells: Flame Shield, a second circle spell, twice a day; and Fireball, third circle spell, twice a day.
The fireball covering Aaron¡¯s upper body blazed. When Aaron¡¯s body hit the ground a second later, only the lower part was left.
When Lucien stood up holding the bracelet, he heard Natasha¡¯s familiar voice, "Professor¡­?!"
Turning around, Lucien saw Natasha standing on the other side with Thunder in her hand, looking rather shocked.

Chapter 134: The Ring
				Chapter 134: The Ring
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
This idea occurred to Lucien when the surroundings in the black forest became more and more familiar to him. He remembered that, after he found Fire Wolf dead, he buried his two magic items there.
During the past couple of months, Lucien had gained a better understanding of the inner structures of the two magic items, Fire Weaver Bracelet, and the black iron dagger, called Grimsteel Dagger, and had also become capable of properly using them.
That was why Lucien was being that confident when he was talking to the princess. What was out of his expectation was that, although Aaron was only a level two knight, he was surprisingly cautious, and his carefulness forced Lucien to spend more time on killing him. Also, Lucien did not expect that Natasha would come back within such a short period of time.
Although Lucien was not sure whether Natasha witnessed everything or just a part, he clearly heard Natasha repeat the word "Professor".
...
A little while before Lucien pull out the bracelet.
Natasha gradually started to get an upper hand in this fighting. Although Tod¡¯s body was fully materialized into iron, he felt the great power in each of Natasha¡¯s attacks, and he could tell that the aura surrounding her had changed.
The princess¡¯ movement was becoming more and more aggressive, and her whole will was dedicated to this fight. Her attacks were as fast as raindrops hitting the ground. Even Natasha herself had no idea how many times she wielded her sword.
She did not feel tired anymore. She could not feel it.
The color of her eyes switched back and forth from silver gray to purple, and finally the two colors blended. At the same time, Natasha¡¯s soul and body integrated.
With a sudden shout, the princess burst out great power. Her legs were bent slightly and then fiercely pushed off the ground with her maximum force.
She bounced up high and, at the same time, lifted up her sword with both of her hands.
Tod looked up and decided to fight back, since it seemed his tactic of attrition was not going to work anyway.
He lifted the square shield in front of him and adjusted the angle of his wrist a bit, so his sword would target Natasha¡¯s waist.
However, by the time Tod lifted his sword, Natasha¡¯s figure suddenly became transparent, and the great power of her sword was like from another world, which directly hacked his shield into two halves.
As a matter of fact, what was hacked into halves was more than Tod¡¯s iron shield, but also his own body. The iron shield did not manage to reduce the great momentum of the sword at all.
The astonished look on his face suddenly froze when he was split into halves.
"Bang!"
Tod¡¯s iron skin was still covered by metal when his body fell on the ground, colliding with his sword and making a loud metallic sound.
Natasha landed heavily and quickly rolled over to the side. After gasping a few times for air, she stood up and started to rush back for Lucien.
When she arrived, Natasha ran into the scene where Lucien was kneeling on the ground, looking rather weak, and the dark knight was about to stab his dagger toward Lucien¡¯s back.
At that moment when Natasha was about to jump out to rescue Lucien, she saw that Lucien activated his magic shield again, and then, Lucien pulled out a scarlet bracelet from the dirt.
She heard the dark knight calling Lucien¡­ Professor.
Natasha¡¯s mind suddenly buzzed.
She recalled that the Church did mention a dark red bracelet missing in the case related to Professor.
The potion that helped Lucien with activating his Blessing¡­ the missing heretic who was following Lucien from Argent Horn¡­ Lucien¡¯s great interest in the ancient books¡­ and his great memory¡­ and the fact that Lucien suddenly showed up tonight from the magic lock.
"Professor¡­?!"
Natasha could not find any excuse to lie to herself.
...
Lucien could tell the mixed emotions in Natasha¡¯s beautiful eyes, in which there was astonishment, pain, sadness and anger.
Grabbing the bracelet tightly in his hand, Lucien was ready to activate it at any time, although he clearly knew that, facing a level five grand knight, these spells would not really work.
At the same time, there was a voice in Lucien¡¯s mind telling him that he might still be able to lie to the princess again, to make another garbled story.
When Lucien was about to talk, Natasha said to him first, in a deep and low voice, "Go to Holm, then."
"...?" Lucien did not really get it. And he noticed that the color of Natasha¡¯s eyes had changed. Instead of dream-like purple or silver gray, now her eyes looked purplish gray, which was a mysterious but also pure color.
"You should go to Holm. The headquarter of the Congress of Magic is there. If you want to become a great sorcerer like Silvia, you should go there, Lucien." Natasha repeated, then she squinted her eyes a bit and slightly lifted her chin, "Or should I call you Professor¡­ No one is a better actor than you, do you know that?"
"I never meant to hurt you." Lucien relaxed a bit seeing that Natasha was not planning on killing him, "I admit that I lied to you many times, but I had no other choice."
"You¡¯re not the only one who was lying to me all the time, and I¡¯m used to it already." The corner of Natasha¡¯s lips slightly curled up in a sad way, "But I could tell, when you were playing Pathetique¡­ I could tell the pain and stress that you were suffering. After all, Aalto is not a good place to study magic."
"You don¡¯t hate me¡­ as a sorcerer?" asked Lucien. Although he knew that in the past, Natasha¡¯s attitude toward sorcerers was actually relatively mild compared with the Church and other nobles, after Silvia¡¯s betrayal, Lucien was not sure about the princess¡¯s standpoint now.
Looking at Lucien, Natasha answered seriously, "My mom was a very talented sorceress, and she was the most beautiful and nice lady in the world. To me, one being a sorcerer does not mean they must be a vicious person. I don¡¯t judge a person based on his or her identity, but on the person¡¯s behavior."
Then, she smiled gently, "Of course, I¡¯m very angry and sad knowing that you were lying to me all the time, but like you said, you never tried to take advantage of me, or hurt me, instead, you¡¯ve been helping me all the time, and you saved my life tonight, carrying me on your back all the way here."
"I regarded you as my friend all this time, although you¡¯re the honorable princess, and although there were lies between us," said Lucien sincerely.
"I know," said Natasha, and then she slightly shook her head, "Honestly, the moment when I heard that you were the notorious Professor, lots of details flashed across my mind¡­ those details about you that I felt suspicious, but refused to dig into them. Even when I met you earlier, when we were besieged, I was almost certain that you were a sorcerer, and I still believed that you¡¯d be on my side and fight for me. I would never link you to Professor, though, who killed so many night watchers. I think I trusted you even more than I knew."
"I killed them because they wanted to kill me," Lucien confessed sincerely. "I never wished to kill, never, but, again, like I said, I did not have another choice."
Then both of them fell silent.
After a long time, Natasha released a long sigh.
"You know what?" said Natasha, "Although your hands are covered with blood, I still want to be your friend."
Lucien suddenly became speechless.
"Thankfully, you never hurt my royal knights, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to have you as my friend anymore." Natasha started to walk toward Lucien, "But you never, and you never tried to hurt me, so why shall I care?"
A sweet smile appeared on Natasha¡¯s face, as if she had got rid of the negative emotions from the shock. As she stopped in front of Lucien, the princess asked, "Dear Mr. Professor, except your identity, did you ever lie to me about something else¡­? Say¡­ your love experience? I¡¯ve always felt you¡¯re pretty experienced."
"No¡­ I¡¯m totally not experienced¡­" Lucien¡¯s face flushed.
Then, Natasha took a small step backward and started to look at Lucien up and down, "Actually your face is quite good-looking. You would be a very beautiful girl if you were a girl."
"Uh?" Lucien was confused. He could not really follow the way Natasha changed the topic.
"I mean¡­ magic is sure wonderful and powerful. Although it¡¯s hard, it¡¯s not impossible to change your gender. I heard that a grand arcanist once made a girdle that could help people do that, and maybe you want to give it a shot?"
Lucien rolled his eyes and said seriously, "That¡¯s not gonna happen. I¡¯m a man."
Noticing that Lucien did not like this kind of joke, Natasha¡¯s sense of propriety made her stop. Then, she said to Lucien seriously, "I have something to give you."
She took off an old ring from her right hand and handed it to Lucien.
"This is¡­" Lucien took it over.
"You don¡¯t know anything about Holm Crown prize?" said Natasha, "It looks like you never received any formal sorcerer training following a mentor from the congress. If you did, you would certainly recognize this ring."
"I¡¯m pretty much on my own¡­ when it comes to studying magic, unfortunately," Lucien answered.
"Well¡­ I told you that my mom was a very talented sorcerer, and this ring was the award she received for winning the Holm Crown prize in her early twenties¡­ should be twenty three." Natasha explained.
Honestly speaking, Lucien felt this ring was very ordinary, which looked just like a common iron ring people wore for practicing archery.
"I know¡­ it doesn¡¯t look any different, right?" Looking at the ring, Natasha¡¯s voice became softer, and there was a gentle smile on her face, "The ring was a very powerful level seven magic item back in the days, but now it is damaged and is beyond repair. It was once called the finest ring across this continent."
Lucien turned the ring around, and he noticed that there was a small word "Mo" on the surface of the ring, and a small line of letters carved on its inner side, "Year 781. Holm Crown. To Ms. Meredith Hoffenberg."
"Holm Crown prize is the award co-established by Holm Royal Magic Academy and the organization named the Will of Element from the Congress of Magic. The purpose of setting up Holm Crown prize is to acknowledge the great contribution made by the great sorcerers and sorceresses in the Element School."
"So, your mom won the prize at the age of twenty three? That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s brilliant." Lucien gently rubbed the ring with respect.
"She was really a genius!" said Natasha with great pride, "She was awarded the prize for her finding of a metallic element which is lighter than water by introducing electromagnetics to the field of element study. She named the metallic element ¡®Mo¡¯, and so the ring was also named ¡®Mo¡¯."
"I never realized that you had this profound knowledge of the world of magic," said Lucien, "You never mentioned."
"We are in Aalto, and I¡¯m the princess. I can¡¯t mention anything about it. Besides, what I just introduced was not profound at all. When you get to Holm, you¡¯ll see a completely different world," said Natasha. "Since the prize was set up, within the past two hundred and seventy years or so, only twenty four sorcerers and sorceresses were qualified for this prize. Now I¡¯m giving this unique ring to you as a keepsake, and also a proof of your identity when you get to the congress."

Chapter 135: Life is More than Just Magic (The End of the First Volume)
				Chapter 135: Life is More than Just Magic (The End of the First Volume)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding the ring in his hand, Lucien said to Natasha sincerely, "Thank you, Natasha. Your mother was a real genius. I hope one day I will be able to make such a contribution as well."
"Yes, she was, and I believe you will as well." Looking at the distance, Natasha was immersed in the memory of her mother, "When my mom won the award, she was only a junior-rank mage, but later she left the best place for studying magic and came to the city, a city which was notorious for its way of treating sorcerers and sorceresses, all for her love."
"For the grand duke... Your parents' love story is probably the most romantic story across this continent." Lucien smiled.
"My mom was clearly aware of what she wanted." Natasha nodded, "After she tried many times to use different potions to awaken her Blessing, but failed because of her fragile health, she found her own path in the world of magic, which matched her perfectly well."
"Each person has his or her own value." Admiring the grand duchess very much, Lucien asked out of curiosity, "May I know what happened later to your mom?"
"I've mentioned my mother's health was fragile, and it was not getting any better after my mother and father got married. Her body and soul had been corroded by many magic elements over the years, and when my elder brother died in battle, her health condition took a sudden downwards turn and since then she never really managed to recover from it."
"I'm very sorry, Natasha. I believe she must be very proud seeing her daughter becoming such an outstanding knight in heaven," said Lucien sincerely.
Natasha slightly shook her head and grinned, "You're a sorcerer. Do you really believe in heaven?"
"¡­ I'm not sure." Lucien was speechless for a while before replying, since this question never occurred to him.
"I wonder if my mom believed in heaven, as a sorceress." Natasha looked up in the sky, "But I know that after she got married with my father, she was still secretly studying magic."
"Really?" Lucien was very surprised, "What about the Church?"
"She missed Holm so much, the wonderland for learning magic, and my father loved her too much to forbid my mom from doing her magic experiments. Besides, her health condition didn't really allow her to do something else too much. And the Church¡­"
She put on an ambiguous smile.
"This ring must mean a lot to you, Natasha." Knowing that Natasha somehow could not explain the reason for him, Lucien switched the topic, "I don't know if I should accept it."
"It's okay, Lucien." Natasha also lowered her head and looked at the ring, "The object is not important. What's really important is my love for my mom. Whether the ring is with me or not, my love for her is life-long."
Lucien nodded and put the ring back into one of the pockets of his robe.
"By the way," Natasha reminded him, "don't casually just show this ring around. Sometimes an extra help can also bring you trouble, you know."
"I understand," said Lucien seriously, "Is the vampire's blood affecting you right now? Let me carry you back to Aalto."
"I appreciate it, but look at me¡­ I'm fine now." Natasha waved her hands, "You'd better leave as soon as possible. People from the Church might be on their way here right now."
"Then¡­ Natasha, you take care." Lucien suddenly had no idea how to say farewell, especially he was not sure if they would see each other again.
In contrast, Natasha remained relatively calm, and something just occurred to her, "Lucien, you want to keep using your current identity, Lucien Evans, the musician, after you leave?"
"Can I?" Lucien was very surprised. He was planning on changing to another brand new identity when he arrived at Holm, in case the people he knew would get into any trouble because of him.
"I believe it's fine. After all, your name's not unique at all, even in Aalto. Just don't tell people in Holm that you are a musician." Natasha shrugged, "I suggest that you continue to publish some new music pieces, if you can send any to me, which will be a pretty good disguise for you."
"I'll try my best." Lucien also did not want to just give up his music completely after leaving Aalto.
After agreeing on how to send letters, Lucien took the Fire Weaver Bracelet, Aaron's Asthenia Dagger, Grimsteel Dagger and Alert with him, and left the triple-headed flail to Natasha, since it was too clumsy for him to carry.
"I'll take care of your friends. No worries, Lucien." Natasha smiled.
"Thank you. I'm so lucky to have you as my friend, Natasha." Lucien expressed his heartfelt thanks, then he turned around.
"Lucien¡­" Natasha called his name from behind.
"Yes?" Lucien looked back.
"Remember, life is more than just magic. You have music, and you have friends." Natasha waved her hand.
"I'll keep that in mind." Lucien grinned.
...
After a while, when Lucien had completely disappeared in the woods, the smile on Natasha's face faded, and she commanded seriously,
"Show yourself. You've been listening for quite a while."
"As you wish, Your Grace." Salvador, the leader of the night watchers, slowly appeared in the sky and landed in front of Natasha. His hand was tied with a piece of white handkerchief.
"Why didn't you take any action right away?" asked Natasha directly.
"Apparently, you care for this guy a lot, Your Grace. I wouldn't have any chance of killing him in front of you, although, yes, I wanted it very much¡­ This damned Professor."
"I see," said Natasha coldly. "Then why did you choose to stay? You want to talk to me?"
"Yes, Your Grace." Salvador answered, "I want a deal for keeping this secret for you, Your Grace."
"Ah?" Natasha was almost amused, "You don't want to take revenge for the dead night watchers anymore? I thought you were pretty determined."
"I was and I still am," said Salvador calmly. "But I cannot miss this chance¡­ the chance of climbing up towards a higher status in the Church, and cooperating with the princess. I already gave up so many things and now I'm walking in the darkness¡­ all because¡­"
"Not interested." Natasha cut him off directly.
"All right¡­" Salvador paused a bit, "Let's get to the main point. To be more specific, I want¡­!!!"
Before the next word jumped out from Salvador's mouth, Natasha rushed and hacked her sword directly toward him, without any hesitation.
In the next second, Salvador was split into two halves by the sword.
"No one dare threaten me," said Natasha coldly.
There was no blood coming out of Salvador's body, and his body was dissolving into small shining pieces in the air. Before his body completely disappeared, his last remaining awareness turned into his voice, "Radiant¡­ knight?"
After another ten minutes, Camil showed up from the other side of the forest, carrying Wyon and Cacharel under her arms, who were both unconscious.
"Natasha, you're a radiant knight now." Camil recognized Natasha's change right away, "It seems like this bitter fight turned out to be your great chance to make this breakthrough. Congratulations, Natasha. I'm very proud of you."
Natasha smiled, but in a sad way.
...
When Natasha and Camil came back to Aalto, the sun was rising above the horizon. After comforting the grand duke who had been tortured by his worry and anger for the whole night, Natasha went directly to the Golden Cathedral.
In a confessional, Natasha found Sard, who was praying silently there.
"Grand cardinal, I need to confess," said Natasha in a low voice.
"God's here." Slowly, Sard opened his eyes.
"I killed a night watcher¡­ I killed Mr. Salvador." Natasha crossed herself.
"I don't see your penitence." Hearing that the leader of the night watchers was killed, Sard showed no emotion.
"I feel no regret. This was my choice, and I'm willing to accept the punishment for the choice I made," answered Natasha seriously.
"Why did you kill him?" Sard asked.
Natasha did not answer.
Sard slowly stood up. Compared with yesterday, he looked much older, "I'll report to the pope. He will be deciding the punishment to your sin. You stay here, Natasha."
After Sard left, veins in Natasha's face and her hands started to swell and burn. Her beautiful face contorted out of the great pain. However, she kept kneeling on the ground in front of the big cross without giving out a single groan.
...
In a bright, simple study, there was a white-haired elder sitting in front of the desk.
He said to the cardinal gently, "Natasha confessed her sin, and God forgives anyone who's willing to confess. Natasha's honest, and now she's a radiant knight. The punishment shall not be too harsh. Send her to the lowest abbey in Aalto for three years."
"Yes, my pope." The cardinal slowly left the room.
The pope picked up a small pile of paper in front of him, on which there were a bunch of fractions of words which did not really make sense,
"He seemed to be okay with my speech¡­"
"He often looked confused¡­"
"Maybe he started to vacillate now¡­"
...
Following the instruction for anti-tracking given by Natasha, Lucien came back to Massawa around nine in the morning. The sun was already shining brightly in the air.
Before entering the small town, Lucien took out all the stuff from the pockets and burned down his black sorcerer robe.
Lucien did not see Joyce and his coachman around. After talking to the owner of the hotel, Lucien got to know that they all fled away because of the chaos happened in Bonn last night.
Putting on a worried look, Lucien was actually cheering in his mind. He said to the hotel owner, "That's too bad then. I gotta hire another coach and some guards on my own. Can you please send word to the association that it was me who terminated the contract with them on my own? This way, the association won't trouble them. After all, I understand their fear."
"What a kind gentleman you are!" The owner of the hotel took out a pen and paper and praised Lucien, "And it won't be too difficult for you to hire some new people, sir, since lots of adventurers and residents from Bonn are right now staying in our town."
After signing his name on the letter written by the hotel owner, Lucien went back to his room and started to prepare for his new journey.
(The End of the First Volume)

Chapter 136: Dragon Tooth Tavern
				Chapter 136: Dragon Tooth Tavern
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The Second Volume: The Feast of Death
"Bang!" The heavy door of the tavern named Dragon Tooth hit the wall as it was suddenly opened by someone with brute force. The grumbling drunkards, bragging adventures and shouting mercenaries who were enjoying the well-known roasted beef of the tavern suddenly quieted down.
A black-haired young man walked in, dressing in light blue, with a fancy sword at his side. The midday sunlight came in behind him and outlined the young man¡¯s silhouette.
"Wow¡­ wow! A young lord! Is your fancy sword able to kill a wild dog?" A drunkard shouted and whistled.
"Another young man got deceived by those bestselling knight novels," an adventurer whispered in the ear of his buddy, "¡­seeking those exciting stories with a ritual sword."
However, he dared not speak too loud. What if this young man was someone important? After all, he dressed very decently.
Lucien did not care. With a stable pace, he walked directly to the tavern counter.
After two-months of traveling, Lucien arrived at this small border town named Dragon Tooth in the duchy of Djibouti, located in the middle south of the continent.
"Look at his arm! No big muscles!" A robust adventurer lifted and bent his right arm. Under the skin there were lean and big chunks of muscles, "Look at his build! I bet he¡¯s not even a of a knight squire level! Young and stupid lad!"
"You think everyone can awaken the Blessing? You have to be kidding me¡­" A stout man, probably with the blood of dwarf, said in an arrogant way, "I¡¯ve been traveling across the continent for more than ten years, and I¡¯m still only about¡­ high-level knight squire level. But, but¡­ if this young guy can have a chance to receive my instruction, maybe he can still awaken his Blessing. After all, it was because of my training that lord Newville in Eero finally awakened his Blessing¡­"
Some guys sitting around him gave him an admiring look, although Chris had boasted about that many times in the past, which made him even happier.
Lucien just ignored them, came to the counter and sat down on a stool.
The owner of the tavern did not look young. Seeing this decently dressed young man in this small tavern, the owner did not behave any different.
"My friend, what do you want today? Wine or meat? Or both?" friendly asked the owner.
"Water, roast beef, and a salad." Lucien slightly nodded to greet him back. "And I want to ask some questions."
The middle south of the continent was surrounded by mountains and canyons. The isolated land produced no resource except wood, and it was the poorest and the least developed area across the continent. Often, there wouldn¡¯t be even a single person who was literate in a village.
For the people who were striving to awaken their Blessings there, the effort they had to make was way higher than people in Aalto. It had been a lot of years since the last war broke out here, and therefore, even if one manage to awaken his or her Blessing, the person still couldn¡¯t obtain a title and would not be given land and field, unless they could save enough money to buy the land on their own.
"Hahaha! Water¡­ You heard that? Water!" A drunkard nearby laughed aloud, "Innocent, naive young boy!"
And all the people in the tavern started to laugh.
Lucien remained very calm as if nothing was going on there. He was just looking at the owner.
"No problem, my friend. Information is not free, though." The owner poured a cup of water for Lucien, and asked the kitchen to prepare the food.
"I know. It¡¯s fine." Lucien took a sip of the water.
Before he entered here, Lucien had found out that the town¡¯s Adventurers¡¯ Association was just in this very tavern, and the owner was also the person in charge of it.
"Then, go ahead." The owner nodded.
"I want to know where is Mr. Taylor Hunt living right now. He was an official in Bonn from the Duchy of Orvarit, and nine years ago, he was invited by Baron Eric to come to Djibouti to be the civil servant here."
Taylor Hunt was the father of the little revenant girl that Lucien encountered in the World of Souls. Lucien rerouted his trip in order to fulfill his words, and also, since he was not in a rush, he also appreciated the unique and exotic cities he visited on his new route.
"We don¡¯t charge for something like this. It¡¯s not called intelligence¡­" The owner waved his hand a bit, "I¡¯ll just tell you for free. The civil servant on Baron Eric¡¯s land is not Mr. Hunt. I¡¯m guessing the person you¡¯re looking for might have accepted another offer. If you want, you can go to the nearby city, Korsor, to see if there is any record in the town hall, since Korsor belongs to Baron Eric¡¯s lord, Viscount Stanley. And if you can¡¯t find it there, you might need to go to Baron Eric¡¯s land and ask for local information."
"Thanks. Any news across the continent recently?" It took Lucien ten days sitting in a coach and going through mountains and hills to arrive here, and he felt he was as isolated as this place right now, maybe even more.
"One news for one Nar. Is it okay?" The owner smiled.
"Ten, please." Lucien directly took out a Thale and placed it on the counter.
The adventurers and mercenaries were very surprised, and their eyes were staring at the shining coin. After all, they had to spend two to three months to make one single Thale, and this young noble man was just using it for buying some random news!
A few of them were even considering if they should just rob this young man.
The beef was ready. Lucien picked up the fork and took a bite. The meat was juicy and tender, which was surprisingly as good as the dishes produced in those fancy restaurants in Aalto.
The tavern owner pulled out a piece of crumpled paper and read it slowly to Lucien, "Two months ago, Aalto¡­" The owner paused a bit and looked at Lucien, "a small town in Aalto, Bonn, was attacked by a necromancer. The famous musician, known as the Most Beautiful Musician, Silvia, as well as her father, died in the battle in which the princess of the duchy, Natasha, finally beat the evil necromancer with all her effort. Unfortunately, the princess was severely injured from the fight and now she is recuperating in an abbey. It is said that Natasha also made a breakthrough in this fight and has become a radiant knight."
Lucien did not show any difference after hearing the news, although his heart was cheering for Natasha¡¯s achievement. No wonder the side effect of the vampire¡¯s blood did not affect her immediately in the forest.
If moving from a squire level to a level one knight was challenging, upgrading from a grand knight to a radiant knight was even more difficult. The great power of a grand knight came from the person¡¯s physical strength, in other words, a grand knight would need to boost or overly stimulate his or her body to get the power, and that was why some of the grand knights lived even shorter than the knights of lower ranks. Even with the help of some precious herbs and potions, most of them could only make it to around a hundred years old, while becoming a radiant knight meant that the person already broke the limit of human body, and he or she could at least live for more than two hundred years.
The rest of the intelligence was of nothing really special. Generally speaking, the north and the heresy again had some new conflicts; several major lords in Gusta down in the south were raising mercenaries for the possible coming civil war; and some adventurers found some ruins in the southern margin of the Dark Mountain Range, where they obtained a great amount of fortune¡­
After hearing the news and finishing his meal, Lucien wiped his mouth with a white handkerchief and said to the owner, "Sir, can you find me some guards and a coach? I need to go to Korsor."
Although Lucien was already strong enough to travel along the east side of the continent, he did not want to bother dealing with those minions, goblins, and other beasts, which were not even of knight squire level. Lucien would rather spend his time in his coach studying the first circle magic spells.
Within his two-month traveling, Lucien constructed another five first circle spells in his soul, and right now his soul had reached the current limit for that level. For the rest of the first circle spells, if Lucien wished to use them, he needed to rely on some magic reagents and materials, or their special runes.
The five first circle spells were: Magic Missile, Sleep, Grease, Feather Fall and Color Spray.
Because most of the adventurers and mercenaries were not willing to leave their own base of operations for too long, they would only escort their client within a certain range, what also applied to the coachmen. Thus, Lucien had to hire new people every now and again.
"Smart choice. We have lots of dark tales about vampires and black sorcerers." The owner put several glass cups back onto the counter, "I can take care of your coach and coachman, my friend. It will take you 11 days to get to Korsor. As for your guards, I recommend those three adventurers sitting on the other side. Two of them are warriors of the same level as high level knight squires, and the archer is also around knight squire level. All of them have a pretty good reputation. You can talk to them."
Following the direction of the tavern owner, Lucien looked toward the other side. There were two women and one man sitting over there. The short-haired man¡¯s arms were masculine. And the two females looked a bit alike, although one was mature and glamorous, and the other was young and pretty. From their appearance, especially their pointy long ears, Lucien guessed that they might be sisters from the half-elf race.
All of the three adventurers were listening carefully to the bard playing in the corner, and from time to time, they were beating out the tune.
Translator's Thoughts
Kris_Liu Kris_Liu
Hello guys! This is WMX, the editor of Throne of Magical Arcana! I'd like to thank you for supporting us up to this point, and that we love the theories you've been coming up with! We're doing our best so you can enjoy this masterpiece, but if there is any suggestion you'd like to make, feel free to talk to me in the Discord. Now, let's start volume two, and may it be as astonishing as the first one!

Chapter 137: Strangers as Companions
				Chapter 137: Strangers as Companions
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"The nightingale is singing. In the air, her voice was floating¡­"
The bard¡¯s singing, although in that small border town, was actually pretty beautiful and alluring. Thus, when Lucien came to sit down on the other side of their table, the half-elf girl with light brown hair was a bit surprised and her back straightened up immediately.
When Lucien explained his intention, the elder elf-looking lady was amused, "You want to hire us?"
Her fair hand was gently knocking on the wooden table in a fixed rhythm.
Looking at Lucien sitting in front of her, the sophisticated lady also took him as a young noble lord who had read too many adventure novels and was acting on the impulse to explore the continent.
"Yes," Lucien nodded calmly, "I want to go to Korsor. I wonder if you three are willing to be my guards."
The lady did not answer Lucien directly, instead, she started her introduction, "I¡¯m Joanna, Greatsword Warrior. This is my husband Simon, Sword and shield Warrior. Both of us have the same power of a high level knight squire. This is my younger sister Betty, a well-trained archer. Her rank¡¯s a bit lower than ours, but not by much. So, as you can see, my distinguished client, we¡¯re a bit pricy, but our reputation is pretty good."
"I heard that from the owner already," said Lucien. "That¡¯s why I came to you directly."
"Haha, Hansen really promotes us very well." Joanna laughed aloud.
Lucien could tell that a bunch of the adventurers and mercenaries sitting nearby looked a bit irritated when Joanna was talking. However, they could not deny that they were very good guards and the arrangement of their team was very reasonable ¡ª two for the melee, and one for the ranged attacks.
"Joanna¡­ Let¡¯s take the job! I¡¯m planning on going to Korsor myself anyway." Betty looked pretty excited, "I heard that the talented musician named Burt from the duchy is gonna host a concert in Korsor these days!"
Joanna rolled her eyes toward her younger sister. Betty simply could never tell when she was supposed to talk, and when she must not. Betty stuck out her tongue toward Joanna for a second and then shut her mouth up tightly. However, her eyes were looking at Lucien, and her pointy ears slightly trembled.
"How much do you want, Joanna?" asked Lucien directly. He did not really care about the price since he still had eight-five Thales with him after the two-month travel.
"Umm¡­" Joanna squinted her eyes a bit when she was considering the price.
"One Nar for each of us a day." Smiling, Simon represented his wife and stated the price to Lucien.
Staring at her husband, Joanna was a bit choked.
"Simon!" she complained. This price was way lower than what she had thought.
"We shouldn¡¯t charge our client more just because the client¡¯s wealthy." Simon grinned to Joanna, "It¡¯s about our reputation."
"Also, my client," Simon turned to Lucien, "I have a couple of requests."
"Yes?" Lucien nodded.
"You need to pay us on a daily basis." Simon paused a bit, glanced at Betty, and continued, "And give Betty¡¯s pay to me. She has no idea how to save, and we¡¯re saving for her future knight training in her name."
In some of the countries in the south-central part of the continent, knight training was not free, as it was in Aalto. Many nobles struggling with their financial problems actually were making money out of it, giving knight training, which was not necessarily a bad thing altogether, since more commoners could get a chance at being a knight squire or even reaching a higher social status.
Betty pouted out of dissatisfaction, but she could not deny what Simon just said.
"No problem," agreed Lucien., "Let¡¯s get the contract done then."
All the adventurers and mercenaries registered with the Adventurers¡¯ Association needed to sign a contract with their clients.
Handing Hansen his own identification and documents, Lucien took a glance at the content and then signed the contract provided by the tavern owner.
"Thank you, sir." Lucien politely nodded toward Hansen.
The moment Hansen looked at Lucien¡¯s identification, he became very surprised, but he instantly hid the different look on his face.
"My pleasure, Mr. Evans." Hansen then carefully checked Lucien¡¯s documents. The fact that he had a great musician here visiting his tavern was definitely something he could brag in the future in front of his guests and offsprings.
Joanna accepted the three Nar paid in advance and then left her fingerprint on the paper.
"You¡¯re very generous, sir." Joanna smiled sweetly, "Can I call you Mr. Evans?"
In contrast, Lucien¡¯s three guards weren¡¯t really hyped up due to Lucien¡¯s identity, since all of them were illiterate.
"Sure." Lucien nodded slightly.
"Another Mr. Evans!" Betty grinned, "You know there¡¯s a talented, young and handsome musician in Aalto whose surname is Evans as well! I heard that he¡¯s traveling across the continent for his music right now. I wonder if he would come here to Djibouti!"
"Dream on! A great musician visiting this remote and poor country?" Joanna said directly to her, "Just get your feet on the ground and awaken your Blessing. When you join the Violet Knights, we can all move to Aalto."
Lucien laughed, "How do you know this Mr. Evans is good looking, Miss Betty?"
"All the bards say that!" answered Betty cheerfully.
...
Outside the tavern, when Lucien was about to get on the coach, a young man quickly walked toward him.
"Wait! Please wait!" The young man was waving his hand.
The man in a white robe was in his twenties. He had blond hair, and on his angular face there was a pair of blue eyes.
"Hi, Mr. Evans! Can I join you folks?" He grinned, "I¡¯m also heading for Korsor, and I¡¯m willing to afford one third of the guards¡¯ pay."
It was not the first time someone else wanted to join Lucien, and he was always very cautious about this.
"You don¡¯t look short of money. Why you want to join me?" asked Lucien directly.
Joanna, Simon and Betty did not care. They would not make any extra either way.
"Hansen told me that you just got the best guards in the tavern." The young man shrugged, "As for the rest of the adventurers and mercenaries¡­ They looked more like robbers to me."
"That¡¯s really true." Betty laughed.
The young man took out his identification and documents and handed them to Lucien.
"The Musicians¡¯ Association¡­ Burt Wise¡­" reading the document silently, Lucien learned that the young man was also a musician, and thus he lowered his guard a bit.
"Why are you heading for Korsor, then?" Lucien, however, knew that one could never be too cautious on this continent.
"I¡¯m visiting the Musicians¡¯ Association there," Burt answered, "to, um, to study."
"All right." Lucien gave the documents back to him, "Mr. Wise. Welcome. We¡¯re companions now. One thing I need to remind you is that I¡¯m sort of bothered by psychasthenia, so please be as quiet as possible. I need sleep."
"For sure." Wise nodded.
"Are you a musician, Mr. Wise?" Betty, on the other side, got excited.
"I¡¯m still learning." Wise remained rather polite.
"That¡¯s great! Do you know For Silvia? How do you feel about it?" Betty¡¯s eyes were shining with excitement. She kept talking and talking until the coach started to leave.
Wise got on the coach and smiled to Lucien, "Very passionate girl. I actually don¡¯t really know much about music, though."
"Me neither." Lucien also smiled, and then he closed his eyes, ready to start to analyze his magic structures.
However, at this time, another traveler asked to join them. This was an ordinary lady holding a baby in her arms.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Evans. My name¡¯s Lena, and I¡¯m heading for the town named Fog, located between Dragon Tooth and Korsor," the lady said to Lucien gently. "Can I join you? I can afford my own expense."
Seeing that the lady was with a baby, Lucien agreed. The coach was quite spacious anyway.
Then, the coach finally started moving. Simon was in the front, and the coach was followed by Joanna and Betty on each side.
As soon as they left the town, a short but stout man caught up with them.
"Chris, why are you here?" asked Joanna, completely alert.
"I¡¯m also going back to Korsor! That¡¯s it!" answered Chris aloud, "When you guys save enough money, you can send Betty to me for knight training. You know, I¡¯ve trained a knight before!"
As Chris was bragging, his eyes were peeking at the coach. However, the people in the coach remained very silent.
In the hot sunlight, the coach was smoothly heading for Korsor, raising a trail of dust after it.

Chapter 138: A Farce at Night
				Chapter 138: A Farce at Night
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The weather in the second half of the Month of Passion (June) was already very hot. Beads of sweat kept rolling down Joanna¡¯s and Betty¡¯s faces while they were safeguarding each side of the coach. Not to mention Simon, whose shirt inside the armor was completely wet.
Nevertheless, no one ever made a single complaint. Simon, walking ahead of the coach, had already driven away several beasts rushing down from the mountains. This was obviously his responsibility as a guard, but the fact that he beat off the vicious beasts without startling the horses definitely impressed Lucien.
In contrast, Chris, who was bragging about being a "real man" all the time, was now dragging his feet on the ground with his body slouching from the heat.
Inside of the coach, since Lucien kept his eyes closed all the time, and Lena was not talkative at all, so Mr. Wise had no one to talk to. Finally, he took out a pile of music sheets from his suitcase to kill his time.
The only sounds were made by the baby, who cried from time to time, and then Lena would apologize and try to pacify the baby.
At around seven in the evening, it was getting darker. After talking to Lucien, Simon started to look for a camping site where they could spend the night. Experienced as Simon was, he soon settled on a spot on the lee side of a small hill.
Surrounding the coach, Lucien¡¯s three guards quickly build up three tents. One for the three ladies, one for Simon and the coachman, and one for Mr. Wise. The coach, of course, was saved for Lucien.
Watching the busy guards walking around and carrying things, Lucien deeply felt the importance of money. If, in the future, he planned to travel on his own, Lucien had better become a middle-rank mage and learn the third circle spell Sorcerer¡¯s Cabin first.
The campfire was lit up, and the smell of food was wafting in the air. While Joanna and Betty were heading for the nearby brook to take a bath, Simon and Mr. Wise sat down around the campfire and started to chat casually.
"It is said that, early in the Dark Era, the land here once belonged to a black sorcerer." After hearing the talk between Simon and Wise about the tale of vampire and black sorcerer in this country, Lucien joined them to listen, "And then he was killed by the Church."
Lucien still remembered what he read in Natasha¡¯s study.
Simon, surprisingly, was actually pretty talkative, "People just love exchanging mysterious and scary things. You know, they¡¯re always ear-catching and they can be used for frightening kids who¡¯re not willing to go to bed at night."
Mr. Wise did not really believe the rumors, "Every town and village has a chapel, but people just like the feeling of thrilling."
While they were talking, Joanna and Betty were coming back. Their wet hair still dripped a little and was a bit messy. The two ladies, while walking back to the campsite, immediately caught the eyes of the two bards who were camping nearby, and Chris was with them as well.
The guys started to heckle Joanna and Betty with loud whistles, and one of them even took out his lap harp and started to play a romantic and flirting folk song, as they were eyeing the two ladies up and down.
It was definitely not the first time that something like that happened to Joanna, and she remained quite calm. However, in contrast, Betty was pissed off.
"Betty, just ignore them. Come here." Joanna sat down beside Simon and lightly stirred the soup in the pot hanging over the campfire.
"But they¡¯re not stopping!" Betty¡¯s face flushed, and she glared at the bards with anger, which led to another round of guffaw.
"I¡¯ll go." Simon stood up and walked toward the other campsite.
When Simon came in front of the two bards, Chris said to him, "Simon, what¡¯s wrong with my friends singing and playing music here?" Casting a side glance at Simon, Chris said to him, "They¡¯re my friends. You¡¯d better leave us alone."
As he was talking, Chris was wiping his great sword in a pretended casual way.
Simon was a good guard. Knowing that he was still with a commission, Simon knew he should avoid extra trouble at that moment.
"Chris, you¡¯d better watch out next time," Simon said to him in his low voice.
On the other side, Joanna was trying to comfort her younger sister, "Betty, they¡¯re just the same as the bastards we met in the tavern before."
Betty, however, rose her pitch high and shouted at the bards, "Awful music! They call themselves a bard, but I don¡¯t know how they can make a living with this awful playing!" Betty¡¯s voice was crispy.
Then she paused a bit, as if she was trying to figure out a way to make her point more persuasive, "Mr. Wise, the gentleman with us¡­ He can play way better than them!"
When she realized that she was not supposed to involve her employer in it, Betty looked at Wise with an apologetic face.
Mr. Wise, however, did not really mind. He nodded gently to show his understanding.
"Oh, really? A random guy can play music better than me?" The two bards stood up and walked closer to them.
One of them said, "If what you said is true, I¡¯ll apologize to you. But if it¡¯s not, you have to give me some of your personal... goods... for example¡­" He looked straight at her body and laughed.
Betty¡¯s face flushed again. She looked at Wise again for help. However, he was still sitting there, showing no intention to "fight" for her at all.
Betty felt rather regretful for her own words. Wise might have no idea how to actually play. After all, he mentioned that he was just heading for Korsor to study music.
Then, Betty almost burst into tears.
Lucien looked at Simon on the other side and nodded, giving him a hint with his eyes. Then, Simon¡¯s right hand slowly reached to his sword at his hips.
At this time, Wise stood up and smiled, "Although I¡¯m still learning music and learning how to play, I would like to do Miss Betty this favor."
"I¡¯m not gonna lend you my musical instrument," one of the bards said to him coldly.
Wise walked directly back to his tent and took out his own lap-harp from this suitcase.
When he started to play, the beautiful melody instantly caught everyone¡¯s ear and heart. Wise¡¯s song was full of feelings and every single detail was handled very well.
When his playing ended, Betty was the first one who started to applause. As she was clapping her hands joyfully, her eyes first worshipped Mr. Wise and then shifted to the two bards.
The face of the bard who made the bet with Betty turned grim. He wished he had picked on the black-haired young man who remained silent over the other side, instead of the one known as Wise.
"I apologize, then." After a short while, the bard kept his words and returned to his own campsite with his companion, where Chris was still sitting, looking rather upset.
After seeing Mr. Wise¡¯s talent, both Joanna and Simon became more enthusiastic about talking to the young man, not to mention Betty.
"Mr. Wise, can you play Mr. Evans¡¯s Canon in D major with your harp?" Betty¡¯s face was glowing with anticipation.
Wise gently nodded and started to play the music piece recomposed by Lucien, which reminded Lucien of his friends in Aalto. He decided to send them a letter through the Musicians¡¯ Association when he arrived in Korsor.
In those two months, Lucien only sent them one letter.
When Wise¡¯s playing ended, dinner was ready. Betty said to Wise directly, "Mr. Wise, if I had not fallen in love with Lucien Evans¡¯ music, I would become your music follower!"
"I think you¡¯re even better than some of the musicians in Korsor," Joanna agreed.
There was an even bigger smile on Wise¡¯s face. After all, Wise regarded the comparison between him and that talented and famous musician as a great honor.
When Wise went past Lucien, he still showed a humble smile.
"You were being really modest, Mr. Wise," Lucien said to him, also with a smile, "You played very well."
...
Deep into the night, almost all of them were sound asleep, except for two people.
The campfire stretched the shadow of a short sneaky figure that approached, making the cast darkness tremble on the background, in the rhythm of the flickering flame in the middle of the camp. Suddenly, the shadow stopped, as if it was waiting for something.
The very moment Betty yawned, the shadowy figure immediately jumped to the back side of the coach. It secretly opened the window and swiftly sneaked into it.
It was Chris, who always bragged about being a real man.
He carefully closed the coach window and stood up. A complacent smile appeared on his face. Everyone thought he was a Greatsword Warrior, whereas in fact Chris was an experienced thief, and his short figure helped him a lot at that matter.
"¡­Simon, Joanna, and Betty, what will happen if your employer¡¯s fancy sword is missing?" thought Chris silently in his mind. "I bet he¡¯s gonna be really, really upset."
As he turned around and looked for Lucien¡¯s sword, Chris was also excited. He knew that the fancy sword was definitely worth a lot. After selling it, he maybe would have enough money to buy a lord title.
That was what people called ¡®kill two birds with one stone¡¯.
However, within the next second, Chris found out that both Lucien and his sword were missing.
"What happened?!" He had no idea.
When Chris was about to leave the coach, the fancy sword that he was looking for was pressed against his throat.
Chris shuddered and immediately kneeled down.
"My lord! Please forgive me!" Chris realized that Lucien actually had the level of a real knight, or he would not be able to discover his plot.
"Right or left?" asked Lucien calmly.
"Wh¡­ what?" Chris was sweating.
"Right hand or left hand? Which one do you want me to chop off?" Lucien repeated.
"My¡­ my lord, please forgive me!" Chris burst out a cry, "I have information¡­ information to tell you!!"

Chapter 139: The Invitation
				Chapter 139: The Invitation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"What do you have that could interest me?" said Lucien gently with a smile.
"My lord¡­ If you¡¯re interested in my information, I beg you pardon me, please." Chris almost burst into tears.
"That depends on how valuable your information is." Lucien held his sword firmly.
"I¡­ I got an invitation the other day," stammered Chris.
"You got?" Lucien tilted his head a bit.
"I stole¡­ I stole the invitation," Chris corrected himself awkwardly, but he then explained hurriedly, "It looks like an invitation for a gathering of black sorcerers."
"..." Lucien did not respond, although his heart suddenly missed a beat.
"My lord¡­ It is a gathering of black sorcerers of low rank, and it¡¯s a great chance for any knight to establish a great, heroic feat."
"Show me the invitation." Lucien hid his excitement and commanded sternly.
Under Lucien¡¯s watch, Chris took out a small piece of neatly folded paper from his pocket.
"Here it is, my lord. Several days ago, a mysterious traveler came to the town and the way he spent money was pretty indulgent. So I followed him when he left the town and I witnessed that he killed a bunch of beats which were trying to attack him, using vicious, frightful black magic!"
Lucien took the piece of paper and unfolded it with his left hand. Only with a short glance, he registered the invitation in his spiritual library:
"The second Friday in the Month of Fire, when the silver moon is in the sky, we invite you, sorcerers and sorcerer apprentices, to come to the land previously owned by Wilfred, to attend a feast of death that will be held in Carendia Castle to welcome a mister from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic."
No salutation, no signature. It was a strange invitation. However, it sparked off Lucien¡¯s great interest as a sorcerer himself.
Seeing that Lucien did not cut him off immediately, Chris resumed talking to provide more information to please him, "When I was following him, I didn¡¯t realize that he was also the target of another group of adventurers. After several rounds of fighting against the beasts, they attacked the traveler. The traveler was not at a disadvantage at the beginning, since his black magic was even more powerful than they thought, until all of them got besieged by a group of robbers when they were exhausted, and both the traveler and the adventures were killed."
Listening to Chris¡¯s words, Lucien was quite certain that the traveler was a sorcerer apprentice.
"So you took an advantage of it and got this invitation?" asked Lucien.
"Yes¡­ that¡¯s right, my lord," answered Chris obediently.
"Why you did not report to the Church, then?" The name, Wilfred, was not strange to Lucien. Wilfred was one of the several legendary-level necromancers in history, however, he was killed in the siege of the Church performed by the major cardinals, and even his Magic Tower built in a demiplane was destroyed. "And do you know anything about Carendia Castle?"
"I¡¯m a rogue walking in darkness and shadow. If the Church found out, I would be sentenced to death on the gallows," Chris honestly answered. "And I know nothing about this castle. In fact, I mentioned the name of the castle to people a couple of times in Korsor in the Adventurers¡¯ Association and the Rogue Guild, but no one ever heard of this place before. I guess¡­ My guess is that it¡¯s a code among the black sorcerers. Well¡­ that¡¯s how we rogues do it."
Lucien was a bit disappointed, since there was just too few clues for him to locate a place in a country which was totally strange to him.
"I see. Did you ever tell this to anyone else?" A gentle smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s face.
"Never. I was still looking for a buyer." Chris gave a sigh of relief. It seemed his hands were safe now. "Serving you is my pleasure, my lord."
Lucien nodded, "Good job."
Then, Lucien directly stabbed the sword at Chris¡¯s throat without any hesitance. Chris¡¯s eyes opened wide, but he could not make a sound. His blood bubbled from his mouth and throat. Lucien calmly pulled the sword back, "You know too much."
Although Lucien did not think he would be able to find the so-called Carendia Castle, he did not want to leave any risk here for himself, just in case, especially because he did not trust Chris at all. Who knew whether this rogue would sell this information to someone else afterwards.
Although in the beginning he felt bad, Lucien had to admit that now he felt way less guilty about killing someone who could be a great danger to himself, as long as the person was not his friend or not innocent.
Chris¡¯s body hit the wood floor of the coach and made a thud.
A small cluster of flame appeared on Lucien¡¯s finger tip and quickly burned the piece of paper completely down. Then, without hesitation, Lucien opened the window of the coach and called Betty¡¯s name gently, "Betty, can you come over here?"
Although his voice was low, Betty was still taken aback.
"Mr. Evans! You scared me a bit!" Although she was complaining, there was a sweet smile on her face.
Then Betty stood up and walked toward the coach, and at this time, what was mentioned once by Joanna and Simon suddenly occurred to her: it was not uncommon to have some clients who would ask for some "extra" services if his female guard was good-looking or had a nice figure. If the client was generous enough and was not annoying to the guard, some of them, who were quite open-minded about sex, would be willing to have an intimate relationship with their clients. After all, they also had physiological needs, and there would be a decent amount of money for them.
However, Betty regarded herself as quite conservative, and although Mr. Evans was quite handsome and generous, she was still not going to agree.
When Betty was considering how to refuse Mr. Evans, the young lord said to her calmly, "A thief sneaked into the coach."
"What?!" Betty raised her tone and immediately covered her mouth. Luckily, none of the others were woken up because of her shout. She quickly got on the coach and saw a body lying on the floor. "Chris¡­?! He¡¯s a rogue?" Betty¡¯s eyes opened wide, "Is he¡­ dead?"
"I think so," Lucien answered in a plain tone.
"Mr. Evans¡­" Betty turned around and looked at him, "You killed him?"
"Yes." Lucien smiled, "He was trying to steal my sword, and he failed. I woke up during the process and killed him."
Since Betty had always regarded Lucien as just a young noble who wouldn¡¯t even dare to kill a chicken, Lucien¡¯s reaction after killing a person and the smile on his face sort of scared her, but soon she calmed down.
"Mr. Evans, you¡¯re stronger than I thought," said Betty. She now believed that this young noble man sitting in front of her should be about the level of a high level knight squire.
"Can you deal with the body, Betty?" Lucien did not respond to Betty¡¯s comment but pointed at the body on the floor.
"Of course, this is my fault¡­ I should apologize for letting a thief sneak into your coach." Betty lowered her head, and then looked at Lucien again with her big eyes, "¡­Mr. Evans, can you keep this as a secret from my sister and Simon? She would be quite disappointed and mad if she got to know that I was not doing a good job at protecting our client."
Lucien titled his head and smiled, "I won¡¯t tell your sister. Just be careful. Don¡¯t wake her up when you¡¯re dealing with the body."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Evans!" Betty was very grateful, since this kind of fault could be very bad for their safeguarding record in the Adventurers¡¯ Association if the client decided to complain to the organization.
"I promise it won¡¯t happen again!" Betty started to pull the body out of the coach. She had disliked Chris for a long time, and no guard would hold sympathy to a thief who was trying to attack his or her client.
"Wait a second, Betty." Lucien asked, "Did you ever hear about a castle named Carendia?"
"Umm¡­" Betty frowned her eyebrows a bit as she was thinking, but then shook her head, "No, never."
"I see." Lucien nodded with a bit disappointment.
Although Betty was still a young girl, she was relatively experienced as an adventurer in her age. With great caution, she did a great job with the task given by Lucien.
In the following morning, although the other people, including the two bards, were quite surprised that Chris left the campsite without telling anyone, no one really cared. On the other hand, Betty, who felt rather grateful to Lucien for keeping her secret, was now showing more respect and enthusiasm toward him.
In the evening of the third day, the coach came arrived at a fork on the road, whose northward road led deep into the woods to Fogtown, known by people in this area for its lumbering, and the northeastward one to a mining town named Neese.
Both roads could lead them to Korsor, although the northward one was way less busy, but also more bumpy.
Because Lena needed to go to Fogtown, they chose the northward road.

Chapter 140: Fogtown
				Chapter 140: Fogtown
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although Fogtown was not very far away from that fork in the road, the bumpiness of the road made Lucien feel very nauseous. When he was just about to get off the coach to walk on his own, they could see the small town in the distance, where there were only two main streets intersecting with each other.
The guards sensed a bit of creepiness when they went deep into the woods heading for Fogtown, not to mention the people in the coach. Even Lucien, a sorcerer who was used to dealing with so many kinds of creepy experiments, could easily notice the changes happening around them. The common oaks and birches were gradually replaced by dark gray cedars, and the cedars were so tall and thick that Lucien almost felt that he was now back in Melzer Black Forest.
Even though they were not far away from the town now, the guards didn¡¯t dare to lower their alertness, especially because the trees around them were thick and tall, which were perfect for an ambush.
The roots and the knots of the big trees looked almost like ghost faces. Betty subconsciously grabbed her bow and arrow tighter, and stayed a bit closer to Lucien¡¯s coach.
"Wilfred tree¡­"
Through the window of the coach, Lucien recognized this tree. In fact, nothing else was really special about it except its shape, which was often creepy. It was not named Wilfred at the very beginning, but since the famous necromancer with that name had a special affection for them and planted the trees widely in the Demiplane where his Magic Tower existed, the tree was later directly named Wilfred, after the necromancer, and turned into a symbol of viciousness.
Furthermore, it was precisely because of these dark gray trees that the town looked as if it was covered with a layer of fog, and that was how the small town gained its name.
When the coach entered the town, Lucien saw a bunch of lumbermen heading home after work. Their faces were expressionless and their eyes were dim and glazed, as if all of their passion was erased by their repeated labor day after day.
"I¡¯d rather die if my future was like that." Betty looked back at the lumbermen and murmured to herself in an alert way.
As soon as the coach stopped in front of the only inn of Fogtown, Wise, who had been silent for quite a while, hurriedly jumped out of the coach and started to vomit.
"Are you alright, Mr. Wise?" asked Betty concernedly, "Maybe you can walk with us tomorrow. The coach must be very bumpy."
"I¡¯m okay." Wise straightened his back a bit, "Thanks for asking, Betty."
On the other side, Joanna was helping Lena and her baby get off the coach. She turned to Lucien and said, "You look fine, Mr. Evans." Joanna smiled, "You¡¯re actually stronger than I thought."
"I was trying to sleep." Lucien was not feeling really good as well. He was trying to analyze some magic structures to distract himself.
And when Joanna went past Lucien, she said to him in a low voice sweetly, "I¡¯m not only talking about the trip. Thank you, Mr. Evans, for forgiving Betty¡¯s negligence."
Lucien was quite surprised, but then he nodded, "I know Betty tried her best."
Simon, who was standing on the other side, also came over and said to Lucien in a low voice, "We wouldn¡¯t even be able to know that you killed Chris if Betty did not cry out."
Lucien shrugged casually and thought that Betty would definitely learn her lesson after they fulfilled the commission.
Lena, carrying the sleeping baby, walked to Lucien and handed him a Nar, "Thank you, Mr. Evans, for sharing the coach with me."
"You¡¯re welcome." Lucien took the coin.
Lena smiled, "I¡¯ll remember your kindness, Mr. Evans. I¡¯m leaving to visit my cousin Kaelyn now."
"May god be with you." Lucien was now used to the phrases used in that world.
Lena slightly bent her knees and turned around. Lucien did not see that, when she turned her back to him, her face suddenly became a bit gloomy.
The direction which Lena was heading for with the baby led to a stone bridge, and behind the bridge there was a tall and big black castle. Its cross vault, pinnacle, and its solemn architectural style instantly revealed itself as a castle built in the later period of the War of Dawn.
"That is the castle of Baron Habearo. He¡¯s the lord of Fogtown and the other villages and towns in this area." Simon pointed at the castle and explained to Lucien, having no idea that Lucien might know more than him about the background of the place, "He was an outstanding knight when he was young, and he was known for his heroic deeds of wiping out some notorious robbers and joining the civil war among the lords in Gusta Empire. Lots of stories narrated by bards are based on his true stories, stories of a true hero.
"Unfortunately, Baron Habearo failed to make the breakthrough to become a grand knight, and his health condition declined in his early sixties. After his son left the town to travel, Baron Habearo now rarely leaves his castle. Sometimes he invites some musicians to visit the castle since I heard that he has quite an affection for music."
"Well, heroes also get old." Wise released a sigh, "Except for God, nothing can last forever in this world."
"Maybe music can last long as well," Lucien commented. In his mind, while Betty was a bit upset with Wise¡¯s words, Lucien was not affected by the true fact much, after all, if he could become a senior rank mage, Lucien could live way longer than common people.
"Well¡­ does anyone else knows that Mrs. Kaelyn, Lena¡¯s cousin, is actually the wife of Baron Habearo¡¯s steward? Wow¡­" Joanna switched the topic.
In Joanna and the other adventurers¡¯ eyes, even the steward of a baron was still someone important.
...
Entering the inn, the woman standing behind the counter looked rather cold, and her eyes were also glazed, "Please register your name and date of birth if you want to stay here for the night."
"Mrs. Branka, what happened? We¡¯ve stayed here before, a couple of months ago. You don¡¯t remember us?" asked Joanna, "You don¡¯t look good."
The last time when Joanna and Simon were here, Betty was not present, since she hid herself and squandered her commission in Korsor.
"Roy¡¯s dead, because of illness," Branka murmured. "He was only ten. He was summoned by God."
"It¡¯s just been few months since we saw Roy last time¡­" Joanna lowered her head, and then explained to Lucien in a low voice, "Roy is Mrs. Branka¡¯s youngest son."
Wise crossed himself on the chest, "May he live an eternal life in heaven."
After mourning the deceased boy, Joanna asked the woman carefully, "Mrs. Branka, I don¡¯t remember being asked to register our date of birth last time we were here."
Lucien had never heard of such a requirement in any of the countries and cities he had been to.
"This is the command of the baron. I don¡¯t know the reason¡­" Branka answered slowly.
While Lucien felt that this was pretty suspicious, the adventurers and Wise did not really care. All they wanted now was to have a good rest.
"You¡¯re only twenty-nine, Simon," Lucien joked. "I thought you were thirty-four or thirty-five¡­"
Simon indeed looked elder than his age. He scratched his head and looked at Joanna, "I know¡­ When I got married with Joanna when I was twenty, some guests thought I was her father¡­"
Joanna was twenty-seven, Betty sixteen, and Wise was twenty-two.
Lucien was amused. Then, following Wise, he only left his surname on the booklet, "Evans¡­ June 26th, 798 of the Saint Calendar." For a moment Lucien paused a bit. He was not sure if he should leave his true birthday, the one in his original world.
"Oh my¡­! Mr. Evans, you¡¯re not even eighteen!" Betty was very surprised.
Both Simon and Joanna felt the same way as well.
"I¡¯m almost there, two days to go," Lucien answered casually.
"You¡¯re my idol, Mr. Evans! I hope I can become as powerful as a high level knight squire like you before I turn eighteen!" Betty¡¯s eyes were shining with excitement.
She just revealed Lucien¡¯s strength carelessly in front of other people.
"So, you shall receive formal knight training." Seizing the chance, Joanna educated Betty. Since their parents died, Joanna played a role both as elder sister and mom to Betty.
...
When it was dinner time, a blond lady entered the inn with two guards following behind her. She looked around, and soon noticed Lucien and other people in the not very busy lobby.
"Excuse me, may I ask if you are Mr. Evans?" She walked to Lucien and asked with a polite smile.
"Yes, I am. What can I do for you, madam?" Lucien could sort of guess who was this lady.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Evans." The lady nodded, "I¡¯m Lena¡¯s cousin, Kaelyn. I¡¯m here to thank you for taking Lena back."
"You¡¯re welcome, madam. It wasn¡¯t a big deal," Lucien answered politely, although he felt suspicious againšCshouldn¡¯t Lena be there as well? Lena¡¯s cousin coming here on her own with her guards to thank him was sort of weird to Lucien.
Kaelyn looked at Lucien, then Betty, and then took a step closer to Wise, "Baron Habearo asked Lena about her trip, and my cousin mentioned to the lord that there was a very talented young man who could play harp very well. I think it¡¯s you, right? Mr. Wise?"
"I¡¯m more than flattered, madam." Wise slightly bowed to Kaelyn.
"Baron Habearo loves music very much, thus, he wanted to invite Mr. Wise to his castle to exchange ideas regarding music. And, of course, Lord Habearo is very interested in your traveling experience as well, Mr. Evans. I wonder if you two would like to visit the castle and be Baron Habearo¡¯s guests?"
Before Lucien said anything, Wise smiled, "Yes, for sure. Lord Habearo is my idol¡­ He¡¯s a hero."
Kaelyn nodded and turned to Lucien, "What about you, sir?"
"I just worry about my guards¡­" Lucien pointed at his three guards.
Since it seemed the baron was more interested in Wise¡¯s music, Lucien felt he should be fine if he decided to go, and another important reason was that he might be able to get some information from the baron about the castle named Carendia.
"They can come with you. It¡¯s not a problem at all." Kaelyn¡¯s smile was polite and sweet, "The baron was an adventurer before, and he would like to listen to some amazing adventure stories from you."
"We can go as well?" Both Betty and Joanna were very excited, and even Simon showed some emotion.
...
"Mrs. Kaelyn, will Lena be here tonight as well?" Betty asked when they were approaching the castle passing the stone bridge.
"She won¡¯t. She needs rest," answered Kaelyn shortly.
Betty was a bit disappointed, "I¡¯m kind of missing Lena¡¯s cute baby."
Kaelyn did not respond, leading Lucien and other people into the castle after crossing the suspension bridge.

Chapter 141: Baron Habearo
				Chapter 141: Baron Habearo
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The baron¡¯s castle was a typical representative of the architectural style in the later period of the War of Dawn. The lobby on the first floor was spacious and magnificent, and in contrast, the windows high above were narrow. In general, Lucien felt this place was dark and mysterious.
"Lord Habearo¡¯s waiting in the dining room on the second floor." Kaelyn raised her right hand and pointed at the stairs to the upper floor, "The first floor is mostly for parties and sometimes used for court."
While Lucien and Wise were behaving themselves decently, Joanna and Simon were looking around out of curiosity, not to mention Betty. They had never entered a castle before, and this one was even bigger than what castles looked like in their imagination.
After the set of stairs, they came into a long and narrow corridor. Along either side of the corridor, a line of candles partially lit up the space, and beside the candles, there were several portrayals of Lord Habearo.
"This is Lord Habearo I," explained Kaelyn. "Habearo family was first granted fief for the contribution on the War of Dawn. I heard that the Blessing of the family is powerful¡­ something like turning themselves and their enemies into stone. I never witnessed the lord¡¯s power, though."
"Is this Blessing for close or ranged combat?" Lucien murmured subconsciously.
Hearing Mr. Evans¡¯s question, Simon became more certain that Lucien was a noble young man who received formal knight training before.
"Sorry, I¡¯m not sure, Mr. Evans." Kaelyn smiled, "I don¡¯t know how to fight."
Lucien nodded and kept walking toward the dining room following Kaelyn.
Although no one ever mentioned, all of them, including Lucien, felt that those vivid portrayals were staring at them from both sides of the wall.
Kaelyn pushed the door of the dining room open. The door was made of redwood, behind which the dining room was decorated in a very luxury way.
At the center of the dining room, there was a long dining table, on which lay several sets of fine porcelain tablewares. Several servants were lined up beside the table, waiting for order. On the other side of the dining room, a chamber band was playing decent music.
They were asked to hand their weapons to the guards standing beside the door. Lucien untied his sword and left Alert outside of the dining room. He did not feel concerned, since he still had a dagger with him.
The elder noble man sitting at the far end of the table stood up from the chair to welcome them. Although there were some wrinkles on his ruddy face, his hair was still black. If Lucien had not known that baron Habearo was already in his seventies, he would definitely be unable to tell this man¡¯s true age.
"Welcome, welcome!" Lord Habearo was wearing a brown robe of old style. "My guests! Your arrival has brought me, an old man, a lot of new energy!" His voice was resonant and his eyes were bright. The big, green jade ring on his right hand was quite eye-catching.
"Baron Habearo." Lucien took the lead and bowed to him.
"You must be Mr. Evans." Habearo¡¯s eyes scanned Lucien, "Um¡­ young and elegant. Arms and legs look pretty strong." As he was talking to Lucien, Habearo was glancing at Lucien¡¯s face, chest, arms and legs.
"..." Lucien felt very uncomfortable with Habearo¡¯s comment, and he wondered if this old lord actually liked men.
Lucien was just about to directly tell the baron to stop looking at him, but Habearo turned around and started to greet other people.
When he was greeting Betty, he started to stare at her in a lascivious manner. Betty almost rolled her eyes. As if he had realized his gaffe, Habearo apologized with an awkward smile, "Sorry for my misbehavior. I¡¯m an old man, weak both physically and mentally. Every time I see young people, I often appreciate their youthfulness. I miss my early years very much, and I wish I could regain the fine skin, strong hands and legs again. We shall toast for youthfulness later."
"You still look very young in your age." Lucien responded, although he still had the impression the baron was very suspicious. After sitting down beside the table, Lucien laid the napkin on his legs and asked, "Lord Habearo, is your steward not around tonight?"
Lucien could not help but ask the question, since he had felt that there was something wrong there, and he was trying to figure out what it was. Without a doubt, if the master was entertaining the guests, the absence of the steward was not normal.
"Yes, Mr. Cork is out for some other business tonight." Habearo¡¯s face was partly hidden by the shadows, "If you¡¯d like to stay here tonight, Mr. Evans, you should be able to see him tomorrow morning."
Then the baron introduced the elder man who was playing piano on the other side, "This is my music consultant, Mr. Mars, a famous musician in Korsor."
Although Mars was just in his early sixties, he looked obviously much elder than the baron.
After getting each other, Mars complained to the baron, "My lord, the musical instrument that you just bought¡­ piano, yes, piano¡­ is not even close to harpsichord. The sound quality is not very good."
After being invented about a year ago, now piano was gaining more popularity. Even the baron, a noble in this remote place, started to pursue the trend as well.
"It¡¯s the pedals¡­ you did not use the pedals properly." Betty murmured.
She disliked the fact that someone was criticizing the music instrument which her favorite musician, Lucien Evans, was best at.
"Such a young lady, I think you¡¯re simply not a professional." Mars frowned, "I did use the pedals."
"I¡¯m not professional, but Mr. Wise is!" Betty disputed, "He¡¯s a musician!"
Wise looked rather embarrassed when Mars turned to look at him.
"Well¡­ actually, I don¡¯t understand music completely. It just so happens that I¡¯ve been studying piano recently." Wise waved his hands a bit, then he started to introduce some really professional theories about this new music instrument, which confused all the people present, except Mars and Lucien.
Holding a glass of water, Lucien listened to Wise¡¯s thoughts with interest. Some of his concerns were raised by some musicians and critics over the newspapers before, but finally these concerns were all proved unnecessary by Lucien¡¯s successful playing.
"Now, the era of traditional symphony has ended. The splendid era has ended." Habearo sighed, "I still remember the thunder-like applause over that Aalto music festival many years ago, when traditional symphony established its supreme status. Mr. Christopher, Mr. Leandrinho, Ms. Rania, Mr. Ionescu and all those other great musicians created a great era, and now, that era has ended, sharing the fate of every human being, who will eventually die."
"I don¡¯t think that the passing of this era is something that we shall feel regretful. Now we have brand new music styles, themes, ways of presenting, and countless possibilities lying in the potential of music. Right now music is bursting out more of its energy than ever before! What is passed is passed. We shall look to the future!" As Betty was expressing her idea about music, she totally forgot that the person sitting in front of her was a baron.
Later, all of them joined the music discussion, except Lucien. Finally, someone turned to Lucien and asked, "What¡¯s your opinion, Mr. Evans?"
He considered for a bit and said carefully, "I understand both sides. Lord Habearo missed the passing era because he was part of it, and he experienced the glory himself. Likewise, it is also reasonable that Mr. Wise and Betty, as the younger generation, would like to pursue the new trend of music."
Both Habearo and Wise nodded.
"So, I think that, although revolution and change is always unavoidable in any era, as people witnessing the changes right now in the trend, we can hardly comment whether the changes are good or not. Maybe¡­ maybe people who live a few hundreds of years later can have a better perspective talking about the features of different music eras."
Lucien¡¯s comment summarized their discussion well. The baron sighed, "Mr. Evans¡¯ point of view is really persuasive."
However, Mars still did not want to let the topic go.
"Mr. Wise, can you play the piano for us to show me how am I supposed to utilize the pedals?"
"Yes, please, Mr. Wise!" Betty agreed with excitement.
"I also want to have a chance to appreciate Mr. Wise¡¯s playing." Habearo also nodded.
Wise had no choice but to nod, "All right. I¡¯ll try."
Lucien recognized the melody immediatly when Wise started to play. It was Pathetique. Wise¡¯s performance was unexpectedly good, and everyone present was listening to it very carefully.
Lucien took a glance at the baron when Wise was playing, and he noticed that the baron¡¯s face was twitching a bit, as if he was suffering from some painful emotion, which made Lucien feel suspicious again.
As if the baron had noticed Lucien¡¯s gaze, he forced a smiled on his face and leaned forward to talk to him, "Mr. Evans, do you know Mr. Wise¡¯s full name?"
"Burt Wise." Lucien disguised his suspicion.
"No wonder¡­ Burt Wise! The talented musician who¡¯s gonna hold the concert in Korsor!"
Mars, who was standing beside them, was very surprised as well, "I thought he was just a common young man who was a music fan. It turned out that he¡¯s the most professional one among us all!"
"Really!? I¡­ I never thought about asking Mr. Wise¡¯s full name!" Betty¡¯s eyes were shining with great excitement, "He always said that he did not really understand music, and thus I never expected that he was the famous musician, Burt Wise!"
Lucien was surprised as well.
Wise came back to his seat under warm applause. He shrugged a bit when he sat down beside Lucien.
"I mean, really, I don¡¯t really understand music." Wise smiled a little awkwardly.
Lucien was amused. He raised his glass of water to Wise, "Me neither."
...
When the dinner was about to start, the uneasy sense of foreboding in Lucien¡¯s mind started to become more and more torturing to him. Thus, Lucien found the excuse to use the bathroom and left the dining room following a servant.

Chapter 142: Lucien¡¯s Decisiveness
				Chapter 142: Lucien¡¯s Decisiveness
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The finely decorated bathroom was in the corner of the dining room. Locking the wooden door from inside, Lucien did a careful check around and then took out his Morning Light crystal ball and the Grimsteel Dagger.
Lucien cut his finger with the dagger, making a drop of his blood splash onto the surface of the wash basin.
Dipping the blood with his right index finger, Lucien started to write in the air, leaving scarlet symbols floating in front of him in the shape of a relatively simple magic structure. This structure was meant to hide the magic waves that the crystal ball would cause.
The crystal ball named Morning Light slowly rose, and the strange symbols soon covered it. Lucien reached his hands out close to the crystal ball and started to murmur a mantra.
The center of the crystal ball became darker, and stars showed up all over it, as if there was a starry sky within.
This was one of the most unique spells in the school of Astrology, Horoscope.
After finding the crystal ball, based on the astrology knowledge he had as an apprentice, and also due to his previous understanding of astrophysics, Lucien soon learned Primary Horoscope. That made Lucien feel even more curious about destiny.
Staring at a shooting star in the crystal ball, Lucien frowned, "My Host Star of Destiny is¡­ dimmer than before, which means that I¡¯m still in potential danger. And¡­ and the great danger is coming¡­ it¡¯s threatening my star."
That was all the information that Lucien could collect from the crystal ball with his horoscope level. For more specific information Lucien needed a higher level of knowledge, as well as the power to cast it.
Even with a higher level of horoscope, the result wouldn¡¯t always be accurate and could still be changed.
Putting the crystal ball back, Lucien took out Fire Weaver¡¯s Bracelet and wore it on his wrist, as well as his Ice Revenger. Lucien took them off earlier before he met the baron, just in case Habearo could tell his identity.
The uneasy sense of foreboding was becoming more and more intense, which was burning Lucien¡¯s guts.
Although he was still not sure if the danger was actually from the baron, Lucien decided to take the initiative and to be decisive. He could not just wait for the danger to come at him. By then, any action would be too late to be taken.
Opening the wooden door, Lucien walked out of the bathroom as if everything was just fine.
When he came back to the dining table, both Habearo and Kaelyn were not there.
"Where did the baron and Mrs. Kaelyn go?" Lucien tried to ask in a casual tone.
"The baron was not feeling very good, and Mrs. Kaelyn just accompanied him to go back to his bedroom to take some medicine. They¡¯ll be back soon," Betty answered.
"Then I shall take a look at the baron to make sure he¡¯s fine," Lucien nodded and said coldly.
"But Mr. Evans¡­ the baron will be back soon." Betty and the other guests were a bit surprised.
Without any further explanation, Lucien turned around and walked toward the door of the dining room.
"Mr. Evans¡­ the baron wants us to stay here," Joanna said behind him.
"You shall stay in the dining room, like the lady said." The two guards beside the door crossed their spears in front of Lucien and said in a polite but cold manner.
Lucien slightly nodded and smiled.
However, in the next second, Lucien suddenly pushed one of the guards away, drew his dagger and stabbed it right into the other guard¡¯s arm.
"Mr. Evans!!" Betty screamed, "What¡¯re you doing!?"
As soon as the dagger was stabbed into the guard¡¯s arm, a putrid liquid burst out instead of the expected blood, spreading a horrible smell through the room.
Lucien¡¯s movement was very swift. He pulled the dagger out and cut the guard¡¯s throat open while he rolled forward on the floor to avoid the spear of the other guard.
Evans¡­ Mr. Evans¡­ killed the baron¡¯s guard.
All of the guests were startled.
But soon they found that Mr.Evans was covered with a layer of white light. After Lucien managed to kill the other guard, the two bodies started to rot in a visible speed as if they were dead since long ago.
"This is¡­" Simon murmured subconsciously.
Lucien took back his Alert and answered calmly, "This is a husk."
And then he turned to Mars, "Mr. Mars, do you know where the baron¡¯s bedroom is?"
Mars was already shaking all over from what he just witnessed. He was not able to respond to Lucien properly until Joanna suddenly patted him on his back.
As soon as Mars uttered where the baron¡¯s bedroom was, Lucien quickly made the arrangement, "Simon, you deal with the guards from the upper floor. Make sure you take care of Mr. Wise and Mr. Mars. Betty and Joanna, you watch the stair on the other side."
After seeing that they nodded subconsciously, Lucien quickly rushed out of the door and disappeared into the shadows.
"Mr. Evans¡­ He has the power of a knight?" Betty cried out.
"Betty, get your bow and come here!" Simon commanded.
...
Lucien was running at full speed in the dark corridor. After killing several husks, Lucien stopped a few steps away from the baron¡¯s bedroom.
Staring at the door, Lucien activated Sun¡¯s Corona and released the magic waves which were extremely detrimental to undead creatures. The four husks guarding the bedroom were instantly purified and fell to the ground.
At the same time, Lucien banged the door open with all his strength, tightly holding Alert and the Grimsteel Dagger.
A couple of black magic circles showed up in front of the door but immediately broke into shining pieces.
When the door was knocked open, Lucien quickly stopped the momentum to prevent himself from running into anything by accident, and simultaneously activated a magic structure in his soul and summoned two black magic missiles.
In the bedroom, Baron Harbearo, whose face was covered with deep and horrible wrinkles, was sitting in the center of a black magic triangle. His appearance indicated his condition was worsening and he was about to die at any moment.
On the tips of the triangle, three figures were tied up by black, half-transparent tentacles. A baby, a seven or eight-years-old kid, and a teenager of thirteen or fourteen.
There was white light coming out of their bodies, as if the tentacles were sucking up their vital energy. The light was being infused into a white eyeball that had no pupil. Kaelyn stood beside the baron, enchanting some kind of weird spell. Being driven by her spell, there were two lines of tears of blood coming out of the eyeball and falling into the silver cup in Habearo¡¯s hand.
However, to the baron¡¯s great surprise, the two magic missiles flew right toward his silver cup.

Chapter 143: The Hunts
				Chapter 143: The Hunts
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Completely out of the baron's expectation, the silver cup in his hand was shattered by the magic missiles, and the broken pieces fell onto the thick carpet.
The baron and Kaelyn were totally startled. They did not understand what was going on there.
Seizing the chance, Lucien cast Palmeira's Frost Blades, and three icy blades were shot straight at the baron.
When the blades were about to hit the baron, Habearo released an angry roar and fiercely reached out his fossilized right fist to punch one of the blades, while at the same time he put his left hand on his neck to protect himself, since it had turned into stone as well.
One of the blades was smashed by the baron's stone fist, but by then the other two blades hit him ¡ª one in his left arm and one in his leg. Although they did not cause much damage, the ice temporarily froze him on the spot.
When Lucien was about to cast another spell, a black magic ray directly hit the invisible Star Shield covering him. As soon as the shield was hit, the previously invisible shield radiated star light and protected the person within it.
Lucien did not expect that Kaelyn was actually a sorcerer apprentice!
Although Kaelyn's spell was not powerful enough to hurt Lucien, a real sorcerer, it bought time for the baron to get rid of the ice.
In the next moment, the layer of ice covering Habearo collapsed, and then the stone-man rushed straight at Lucien. Although Habearo wanted to get his sword on the desk to the side, he decided to launch the attack immediately, in order to leave the sorcerer no time to cast any spell.
Habearo's dusty and fossilized fist hit Lucien's Star Shield bitterly, and the shield cracked. Being experienced in fighting with sorcerers, Habearo changed the angle of his attack.
Lucien did not panic. Making the best use of the time the shield granted him before shattering to pieces, Lucien cast the first circle spell, Sleep.
Surrounding Lucien, green light waves expanded outward in circles.
As soon as the light waves touched Kaelyn, her eyes became languid, and then, right in the middle of the fighting, she yawned and fell on the floor to start sleeping.
Even strong as Habearo's stone body was, he was heavily struck by a sense of tiredness, as if he was experiencing a sudden process of aging, and his movement also paused a bit.
Within this pause, a bright light showed up above Lucien's left hand, and he threw a head-sized fireball at the baron.
Although Habearo's instinctive reaction freed him from the tiredness instantly, it was still too late for him to fully avoid the fire ball.
Together with the explosion of the fire ball, Habearo's right arm was devoured by the fire. The blast fiercely threw the three dead bodies, the baby, the young boy and the teenager, away to the other side of the room.
Some kind of mix of festered and stinky blood came out of the baron's stone body, and what was even more shocking was that Habearo's face started to age very fast.
Completely mad, Habearo screamed and rushed at Lucien again, with his remaining limbs.
Using Alert to block the baron's attack, Lucien could see that even his sword was surrounded by stone dust as if the sword would turn into stone soon.
Before Habearo's power did any real damage to the sword, Lucien activated Sun's Corona.
A beam of holy light was summoned and directly struck the baron.
"Holy light?!" Habearo cried out.
The light was burning the baron's skin and finally peeled off the stone covering his body. Seeing that his own body was rotting in a visible speed, the baron looked very scared, but then, became calm and relieved.
Bathing in the holy light, aging and dying in the holy light, he murmured as if he was dreaming, "My skin was losing its glory, like dried fruit¡­
"My face was fully covered with wrinkles, and so did my body¡­
"My strength and agility were fast declining and could never come back again¡­
"I couldn't see beautiful sceneries, couldn't taste cuisines¡­
"My passion was fading¡­ even having a young beautiful woman in my arms was¡­"
Hearing his words, Lucien frowned, but the baron continued, "Why people age?
"Why when people age, all the happiness is gone?
"Where's God's heaven?"
Although Lucien couldn't really understand the pain of aging, he was still sort of shocked. And he was sort of grateful that he chose the sorcerer path, so he could still have a chance to live longer than common people.
After someone became a senior-rank mage, he or she could make it over two hundred years old, and a sorcerer or sorceress could still turn to magic rituals and potions to further prolong their lifespan, such as Lich Conversion, although many of them died during the process.
Even middle or junior mage could also find assorted ways to live longer.
The baron's eyes slowly closed. His sinful life finally ended.
Lucien felt rather lucky that he decisively made up his mind and took action in time, since if the baron had completed his ritual and recovered his power of a level two knight, that would probably be the end of Lucien.
However, after killing the baron, the uneasy sense of foreboding was still lingering above Lucien's mind. What he felt mostly suspicious was the reason why, even toward the end of the fight, Habearo never cast any necromantic spell.
Lucien's brows frowned, since he knew that there was only one possible explanation for this: The baron himself was not a necromancer, and it was someone else who was instigating and enticing Habearo to use young lives to keep his own youthfulness using black magic.
So, after binding Kaelyn's arms, Lucien woke her up.
As soon as Kaelyn opened her eyes, she saw a pair of black pupils in which there was a starry sky. Lucien used his hypnosis on her.
"Mr. Evans, what do you want me to do?" asked Kaelyn, like a little girl speaking to someone she admired. She just completely ignored the loud fighting sound on the other side of the castle.
To be more specific, what Lucien was using right now was the first circle spell called Charm Person, which could control a person's mind whose spiritual power was less strong than the spellcaster's. Unless the given order conflicted greatly with the will of the person being controlled, in most cases, the person who got controlled would just follow the spell caster's orders.
"Tell me, who taught you magic, and who taught the baron the black ritual?" asked Lucien directly.
"My husband, Hunt, or say, the baron's steward, Mr. Cork." Kaelyn smiled, as if she was very glad that she could provide any useful information to Lucien, "Several years ago, when he was invited to be the baron's civil official, Hunt started to teach Habearo to use the power of the death of young lives to extend his own life, and at the same time, he could use the dead bodies for his experiments afterwards. In order to better disguise what they were doing, Hunt became the baron's steward."
"Cork¡­ Hunt¡­ Kaelyn Hunt¡­?!" Lucien was quite shocked, "Are you the Hunts from Bonn?"
Kaelyn Cork was actually Mrs. Hunt, who Lucien was looking for to fulfill his promise to the revenant girl.
What happened to them, Lucien wondered.
As soon as Lucien mentioned Bonn, Kaelyn's mood started to become very unstable, and her great emotional pain freed her from Lucien's spell, "How do you know we were from Bonn?! Who are you!"
"People in Bonn told me that Mrs. Hunt was a nice and beautiful lady, who was always willing to offer help, especially taking care of kids. Why have you become like this? Why are you helping your husband to kill other kids?" Lucien did not answer her questions directly.
Kaelyn was shocked, as if Lucien's words stabbed her in the heart, and a few seconds later she started to laugh like she was crazy, "I¡­ I was nice and beautiful? I was willing to help people? Hahahaha¡­ You see what I got from my kindness? My daughter got kidnapped and she's been missing for ten years, and my husband turned into a monster. Now, when I see how heartbroken these parents become when they lose their kids, I feel I have companions who can understand my pain!"
"Where is Hunt, then¡­" Lucien remained calm.
"He's doing an experiment in the cemetery," Kaelyn sneered. "Hunt was too busy, and your sword made the baron decide to be more careful with you, or we'd just have killed you, instead of preparing some stupid dinner."
"Experiment¡­" Hearing that, Lucien had a really bad feeling about it.
"Hunt's a monster now. He is still as mysterious and powerful as he was, but he's no longer a considerate man, as he once was in Bonn." Kaelyn murmured, as if she was talking to herself.
"Mysterious and powerful¡­" Lucien suddenly realized that he made a wrong assumption before. He had thought that Hunt turned into a necromancer when he arrived in this land, which was known for the past prevalence of necromancers, however, it seemed like Hunt was already a necromancer when he was in Bonn!
"Knock, knock, knock¡­" Something was gently knocking at the window.
When Lucien looked back, what he saw shocked him. There was a gray owl standing outside of the bedroom window, or, to be more specific, it was a dead owl, since its whole body was basically rotten and its white bones were exposed to the air.
As Lucien was staring at it, the owl also looked at Lucien and Kaelyn with its cold eyes, but kept knocking at the window with its beak.

Chapter 144: The Burning Cemetery
				Chapter 144: The Burning Cemetery
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Two magic missiles broke the window and flew directly toward that creepy-looking owl.
The gray owl did not move, but some kind of black gas instantly covered it. The magic missiles strongly disturbed the gas surrounding it.
As if the owl just realized that the person who was talking to Kaelyn was an enemy instead of a friend, the owl opened its beak and started to scream, although no sound was produced.
All of a sudden, lots of black tentacles crawled out from the carpet. As soon as they touched Lucien's body, Lucien felt a mix of numbness, weakness and pain.
Lucien had never experienced that before. Among all the apprentice spells and first circle spells, he never found anything that had this mixed effects. Even the second circle spell, Ghoul Touch, could only numb and hurt people at the same time to some extent.
So Lucien guessed that it was a special necromantic magic.
Remaining calm, Lucien activated the bracelet and easily got rid of the tentacles with the spell enchanted within, Flame Shield.
Being surrounded by the flame to defend himself from the countless black tentacles, Lucien saw that they were accumulating by the door, making it impossible for him to escape. Changing his mind, he turned himself into a streak of moonlight and rushed at the gray owl with his sword.
The owl flew up as Lucien directly broke through the window and started to rapidly fall from that floor. However, instead of heavily hitting the ground, Lucien's fall slowed down, like that of a feather.
First circle magic, Feather Fall.
When Lucien was close to land, he heard a crazy laughter coming from the cemetery close by, "Hahaha! I'm almost there! Just one more step! Kaelyn, Kaelyn¡­ where are you?!"
As the laughter was getting closer and closer, Lucien saw the creepiest thing that he had ever encountered: Lucien could barely tell from the creature's face that it had been a human in the past, however, the other parts of its body were just rotten flesh, from which disgusting eyeballs, lips and pale arms were growing out of its body. Furthermore the thing was surrounded by some kind of gray gas that was blighting and killing the plants that it passed by.
As soon as the monster noticed Lucien, it released a bitter scream. Those black tentacles grew out again on the ground and crazily reached toward Lucien.
Seeing this monster, Lucien almost threw up. He immediately activated Death Resistance, a level two divine spell within Sun's Corona, and was quickly surrounded by a layer of white light, which could protect him greatly from necromantic power.
The black tentacles were frightened, as if they were facing their biggest bane, which bought Lucien some time to safely land and adjust his position to hack at the monster. Lucien was pretty much certain that it was Hunt.
What Lucien did not expect was that, as Hunt pointed at his sword Alert, the sword hacked backwards at Lucien and left a deep wound on his shoulder.
It was the first circle necromantic spell, Back Bite.
Taking a deep breath from the pain, Lucien grabbed the sword again and activated the magic structure in his soul. Instantly, a layer of oil covered Hunt and extended to the ground.
First circle spell, Oil.
Taking a step ahead, Hunt almost fell over. So he stopped and started to use some ranged spells to attack Lucien.
Negative Energy Ray, Shriveling, Chill Touch, Enfeeblement Ray¡­ All these spells were attacking Lucien crazily as if there was no buffering time at all. However, Lucien had learned quite a lot from the tactics that Aaron and Habearo used to fight against a sorcerer. He kept moving around, leaving no chance for Hunt to target him. Although a few times he failed to fully avoid them, the level two spell Death Resistance could still protect him to some degree.
Hunt had completely turned into a monster, a monster that did not reason much during a fight. As he was casting the spells one by one without much interval, the eyeballs, lips and arms started to fall from his rotten flesh.
The monster got furious. As Hunt released a deafening scream, black waves burst out surrounding him. Third circle necromantic spell, and also an area spell, Negative Energy Explosion.
Lucien had nowhere to hide from the black waves. So he had no choice but to use the last chance of activating Flame Shield in Fire Weaver's Bracelet to resist.
Although the flame was as bright as the sun, it was soon eliminated by the black waves. Thanks to Lucien's another layer of protection, Death Resistance, inside of the shield of flame, Lucien barely survived that ranged attack.
After casting this powerful spell, Hunt was temporarily still from the overconsumption of his power. He needed some time to recover.
At this time, Lucien cast Oil again, covering Hunt and the place he stood with a second layer of oil.
However, when Lucien was about to attack Hunt again, three magic missiles flew directly at him.
It was the gray owl. While its owner could not cast any spell, Hunt's summoned familiar distracted Lucien.
Dodging aside swiftly, Lucien avoided the missiles, however, he didn't dare to stop moving. Lucien had no idea what spell was useful right now to kill this filthy thing up in the sky except Magic Missile, but as the owl was flying around, it was also not easy for Lucien to target it. Besides, the owl was protected by Death Shield, and Lucien would have to hit it several times with his missiles to break it down.
"I should've learned how to summon a flying familiar as well¡­" Lucien thought to himself when he was moving around, trying to break the owl's magic shield with magic missiles.
When Lucien was about to throw his dagger toward this filthy evil bird when its shield was almost gone, Hunt started to move again.
"Damn it!" Lucien burst out a swear when he saw that, as the rotten chunks of flesh started to fall from Hunt's body again, on the other side, there were bodies climbing out of the graves. Some of them were skeletons, while others were partially rotten¡­ All of them were waking up and dragging themselves out of the black soil. Furthermore, there were even several revenants floating in the air.
Lucien was their target. Like a tsunami, they were coming at him.
Lucien's heart was beating fiercely. He did not know what to do for a second ¡ª should he kill the owl first, or deal with the army of bodies and revenants?
Suddenly, an arrow shining green light shot fiercely out of the castle and directly punched a hole through the owl's eye.
It was Betty, followed by Joanna and Simon. After beating all the husks, they found two precious standard bows in the castle. When they rushed to come to help Lucien, they saw the big crowd of walking corpses surrounding Lucien, and a creepy dead owl flying around and attacking him.
The owl started to scream, and it switched its target to Betty. At the same time, Joanna shot another arrow that went directly through the owl's other eye.
With the owl no longer interrupting him, Lucien cast Oil for the third time and activated Sun's Corona to face the approaching corpses.
White holy light burst out from Lucien's body and extended in all directions. The light was so bright that half of the night sky was lit up.
Like mighty surging waves, the holy light overwhelmed the skeletons, the rotten bodies, and the revenants. Being washed out by the white light, they started to collapse, turning into piles of bones and flesh. The scene was literally shocking.
"Mr. Evans¡­ Mr. Evans is a Saint Knight!" Betty cried out, "That's his power!"
There were only a few zombies and skeletons still struggling and screaming on the ground, but Hunt had already recovered some of his power. The monster opened his mouth again and was ready to cast another Negative Energy Explosion. However, that was too late for Hunt.
"Hunt!!" It was Kaelyn's voice. She was screaming at the top of her lungs.
Simon got her, pretending that he was about to throw her out of the window.
Hearing the familiar voice, Hunt slightly turned his head to the side and stared at Kaelyn, although most of his consciousness was already gone.
Seizing the chance, Lucien threw the big fireball summoned directly toward the monster.
"Bang!!!" The sound of explosion was deafening. Being covered with oil, Hunt instantly blew apart and his rotten flesh, eyeballs, and arms fell all over, making disgusting, sticky, jelly-like sound.
The remaining major part of Hunt was still writhing on the ground like a moving torch. The burning parts that flew out of his body ignited the other bodies and bones on the ground. The whole cemetery ended up in a horrible fire.
Betty, Simon and Joanna were totally shocked.
Turning around, Lucien directly threw his dagger at the owl and the weapon pierced through its head.
The owl fell to the ground and could not move anymore.
"Hunt!!!" Kaelyn screamed her husband's name and struggled to free herself from Simon's control. She jumped right through the window and fell hard on the ground.
Dragging her legs, Kaelyn slowly crawled toward the fire with all her effort.

Chapter 145: Hunt¡¯s experiment
				Chapter 145: Hunt¡¯s experiment
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the chunks of rotten flesh and limbs covering Hunt on the outside were burned down to ashes, the original look of the man was revealed. Both of his legs and one arm were missing, but his eyes once again looked like that of a human being.
Moaning, Hunt was crawling toward Kaelyn, dragging his remaining body with parts of it still being burned by the fire.
Lucien took out a glass tube filled with white ashes and handed it to Kaelyn, and then he carried Kaelyn closer to her husband.
"This is¡­" Kaelyn¡¯s heart missed a beat. Surprisingly, the ashes in the small glass tube felt familiar to her, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Is that¡­ Mary?" Hunt¡¯s voice trembled from both pain and shock, "Kaelyn¡­ It¡¯s Mary¡­ our daughter¡­"
"Mary was trapped in a magic lock. Before she died, she asked me to take her home." Lucien explained shortly. He did not mention how Mary spent the last days of her life in the World of Souls, where there was no food, no color and no life at all. That was too much for the parents.
Hunt¡¯s lips moved a bit, but made no sound. Then, he burst into tears.
"The magic¡­ lock¡­" Hunt cried with pain, not from his body, but his heart, "I knew it was the magic lock¡­it consumed more than twenty years of my life, and also took Mary away from me."
Lucien remained silent. He had the feeling that Hunt knew something about Mary¡¯s disappearance, and his guess turned out to be correct.
Kaelyn choked with sobs. Pulling the cork out of the tube, she scattered Mary¡¯s ashes on her chest and pulled the rest of it in her mouth. Then she hugged her husband tightly. The fire on Hunt¡¯s body was now burning her as well.
"Mr. Evans, thank you. At least we can reunite before we die," said Kaelyn. Then she hugged Hunt¡¯s head in her arms and kissed his forehead with her lips covered with Mary¡¯s ashes.
Looking at the couple in the fire, Lucien¡¯s mood was heavy. He did not know what to say.
"We¡­ we should¡¯ve taken Mary with us¡­ we shouldn¡¯t have stayed in Bonn¡­ We should¡­ should have come back to Djibouti¡­ my hometown." Hunt hugged Kaelyn, clearly dying.
"I¡¯ve always loved you, all the time," Kaelyn said to him. "I love you and our daughter, no matter where we are," she added in a low voice.
"Me¡­ too." Hunt¡¯s consciousness was fading, "I wish¡­ I¡¯ve never¡­ learned¡­ ma¡­"
He did not manage to finish his sentence expressing his regret. Kaelyn closed her eyes and hugged him tight, and then ended her own life with a small dagger in her dress.
...
When the two bodies were almost burned into ashes by the fire, a cold wind blew away the smoke. Gleams of white light appeared in the sky, and the light joined together.
The figure of the little girl, Mary, appeared in the night sky, and she was still sweet and cute. Hunt and Kaelyn were standing behind her, although their figures were quite blurry.
Mary¡¯s lips were moving silently, and only Lucien could hear her voice, "Thank you. Thank you for taking me home. Finally, I found my mom and dad."
Then, their figures turned into gleams of light again and disappeared in the wind. At the same time, some light lingered around Lucien¡¯s left hand and a white tear-shaped mark on it was left on his skin.
Lucien still had the protection from Death Resistance, but he was still surrounded by the rotten gas left by the countless bodies in the area that were affecting him. However, when the mark appeared on Lucien¡¯s hand, he immediately felt refreshed.
It was a gift from the family, a constant protection for Lucien to stay away from the detrimental effects brought by the undead, to some extent.
In order to find some more information about necromantic spells, Lucien decided to find Hunt¡¯s necromantic lab, which, according to Kaelyn¡¯s words, should be right in the cemetery.
"You deal with the rest of the husks in the castle!" Lucien turned around and said to Betty, Joanna and Simon upstairs loudly, "I need to make sure there¡¯s nothing evil left in the necromancer¡¯s lab!"
"Yes, Mr. Evans!" The three of them answered together, as they all regarded Lucien as a powerful Saint Knight who was responsible for eliminating evil sorcerers across the continent.
Although Lucien was quite sure that none of them could tell the difference between sorcerer spells and divine power, he decided to make sure of it by checking his three guards¡¯ mind later using Charm Person.
He could never be too careful when hiding his identity.
...
In the burning cemetery, the door of the lab was open. It seemed that, when his experiment succeeded, Hunt immediately ran outside of the lab to inform Kaelyn of this good news.
Although Lucien was relatively prepared to what he may see inside, when he actually entered the lab, he was still on the verge of throwing up, since the whole lab was like a small slaughterhouse: many human bodies lay around the place, while most of them were babies, young kids and teenagers. The bodies were cut into chunks and the organs were placed in categories on the lab operation table.
Hunt¡¯s desk was beside the operation table, on which an upside down tree was carved, and that was one of the most well-known symbols of the school of Necromancy¡ªReversed Tree of Life. There were ten circles on the top of the ten branches of the tree, but there was nothing in the circles.
Something that Lucien thought was a rectangular box at his first glance turned out to be a small coffin.
After a careful check, Lucien opened the coffin. To his great surprise, it was Mary who was in it. The Mary inside of the coffin looked around seven or eight years old, and her checks slightly flushed as if she was just sleeping. Lucien gently touched her face, it was soft and supple.
Being certain that Mary¡¯s real body had been burned to ashes by him, Lucien realized what Hunt¡¯s experiment was. The purpose of Hunt collecting the bodies of babies and young kids was for making a human body, but clearly he failed.
Rummaging around, Lucien found two books in the corner. One looked like a notes, and the other was pretty thick, on which there were words: Book of Necromancy.
Quickly leafing through both the book and the notes, Lucien first made a copy of them in his spiritual library, and then started to read Hunt¡¯s notes carefully,
"According to the info on the magic tower, Bonn, this small town in Orvarit, is part of a mysterious magic ruin which is protected by a magic lock, and it is possibly related to the whereabouts of the several legendary archmages. One of them was the well-known necromancer Wilfred¡¯s close friend¡ªthe Prophet, Waldo ¡€ K ¡€ Maskelyne. And I bet there¡¯re lots of magic items and treasures!"
¡­
"Bonn is even more beautiful than I thought. Residents here are friendly and traditional. And the girl named Kaelyn¡­ she is gorgeous."
¡­
"Why I just can¡¯t find the magic lock? What kind of magic lock is it? I wonder if it is one that was designed by Maskelyne in person."
¡­
"I can¡¯t find any clue, even from the background of the missing town residents. Maybe it¡¯s time for me to give up, but I also don¡¯t want to tear her away from Bonn. Maybe¡­ maybe I shall tell her my true identity."
¡­
"I have a baby girl now, and I¡¯m a dad now! Kaelyn and I want to name her Mary. I don¡¯t really care about necromantic spells, the experiment jointly conducted by Maskelyne and Wilfred, or the magic lock and all those kinds of things anymore. Nothing¡¯s more important than my wife and my little girl!"
¡­
"Mary¡¯s been missing for three days. I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ve killed all the wild beasts in this area. I have no idea where my girl could have gone¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ whether it was because of the magic lock? Impossible¡­ After so many years¡­ That¡¯s ridiculous!"
¡­
"My dear Mary, where are you? We miss you so much. Please¡­ please come back, dad is begging you¡­"
¡­
"Kaelyn is crying everyday. I think we need a new environment to live. And I need a better environment for studying necromantic power again to see if we can find Mary. If anything bad really happened to her¡­ I shall try to bring her back to life."
¡­
"The baron in Fogtown finally killed his own son to prolong his own life! Now both of us get what we want. He can keep his youthfulness for another several years, and I can start my experiment now!"
¡­
"Why my body start to smell like a corpse? Is this the revenge from the dead? I can hear that bitter crying all the time¡­ I need to hurry¡­ When I become a middle-rank necromancer, the pain in the body will never bother me anymore!"
¡­
"I can¡¯t make it¡­ Third circle necromancer is a target that I can never reach. I can¡¯t let my body rot away like this. Maybe I shall try the ritual written in the book named ¡®Body Sewing¡¯, and I shall start to make Mary¡¯s body as well."
¡­
"Making Mary¡¯s body is really costly, and I¡¯ve spent all my money. Although I don¡¯t want to, I have to pledge my only magic item to continue the experiment. Anyway¡­ if I can successfully turn myself into a ¡®Sewed Body¡¯, I will be able to use the third circle magic spells directly. I won¡¯t need the item anymore."
¡­
"He sent me an invitation, talking about some Feast of Death¡­ the Congress of Magic. Maybe I should go if my ritual turns out to be successful. But where¡¯s Carendia Castle? I need to write a letter to ask."
¡­
"The baron is getting greedier and greedier. Now he¡¯s not only targeting at the kids on his territory, but also seeking for a fresh body of an underage knight to replace his own body. What he¡¯s thinking? He thinks it¡¯s that easy to find an underage knight? Nonsense¡­ When my experiment is complete, I¡¯ll take Kaelyn and Mary away from Fogtown, before what the baron¡¯s doing attracts the attention of the Church."
...
"Carendia Castle¡­ I never expected it would be there. Deep in the mountain named Aronne next to Korsor. Interesting. I wonder why they picked such a place."
This information really surprised Lucien. He never expected that he would find the location of the castle in Hunt¡¯s notes, and the invitation was also in between the two pages.
The rest of the note was mostly about the Body Sewing ritual and the record of the process of making Mary¡¯s body. The statistics and the records were precious to Lucien.
Picking up the other book, Book of Necromancy, Lucien roughly browsed through it. The book was left by one of Wilfred¡¯s students, the legendary necromancer, and it recorded most of the necromantic spells and rituals taught by Wilfred, but there was nothing related to how Wilfred made the breakthrough and became the legendary archmage, being respected as the Great Master of Paleness, which was quite unfortunate for Lucien.
Finding no other valuable items in the lab, Lucien took the invitation with him and left the place, and then set the lab on fire, burn it to the ground.
Staring at the great flame burning all the dead bodies, including the Mary¡¯s, into ashes, Lucien slowly turned around, and different thoughts filled his mind, "Ancient necromancers believed that the body of a human being who died before coming of age is the best and the purest material for conducting necromantic rituals and spells, that¡¯s why the baron was so obsessed with young human bodies.
"But why Maskelyne, the great legendary Astrology sorcerer, would conduct an experiment with Wilfred, the Great Master of Paleness, from the school of Necromancy? And it seems to be a mysterious and significant one¡­"

Chapter 146: After the Fight
				Chapter 146: After the Fight
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As soon as Lucien went back to the baron¡¯s castle, in a corridor he saw Joanna walking toward him with a greatsword in her hands.
"Lord Evans," Joanna showed her deep respect to him, "All the husks here have been eliminated."
In fact, she was to some extent upset with Lucien for involving them in this dangerous fighting without even telling them what they should expect. Actually, even Lucien himself did not expect a bitter fight like this.
Lucien nodded to Joanna and asked her calmly, "Anyone else still alive in the castle except Mars? Is everyone all right?"
Joanna would not easily reveal her dissatisfaction toward Lucien, but she answered seriously, "Except Mr. Mars, there¡¯s no one alive in the castle. They¡¯re all husks. Simon is dealing with some chaos happening in Fogtown right now¡­ It might have been caused by some escaping husks. Mr. Mars and Wise are still hiding in the storage room. Betty is vomiting in the bathroom."
"Is what?" Lucien¡¯s left hand grabbed a handful of casting reagent.
Joanna put a look of disgust on her face, "We found something in the kitchen, looking like the dinner we were about to ¡®enjoy¡¯¡­ There were rotten flesh, eyeballs, tongues, fingers¡­ all covered with maggots."
As she was speaking, she almost threw up as well.
Lucien nodded. It seemed that the baron was about to serve them food with ptomaine to make them sick first before revealing his real intention. Under the disguise of magic, common people could not tell what that food really was, but when the spell casters died, the camouflage was gone as well.
"I see. Thank you, Joanna." Lucien took a step forward to Joanna and said to her in a low voice, "Please don¡¯t call me lord. I do not have any title."
Joanna looked up subconsciously and directly caught Lucien¡¯s charming eyes. Instantly, Joanna fell into a dream where there were countless shining stars.
"Yes, Mr. Evans," Joanna answered obediently.
Lucien checked her memory about the fight they just had and found nothing that could potentially reveal his identity, but he still made some tiny adjustments with Joanna¡¯s memory.
"I¡¯m fine here. Go to find Simon and help him, Joanna¡­ can you?" Lucien dismissed the spell affecting her.
Joanna was suddenly startled and her checks immediately flushed. She could not believe that she was just standing there, staring blankly at Mr. Evans¡¯ face, and felt that he was so charming that she could not move her eyes away.
"Sure¡­ yes, sure¡­ I¡¯m going right now." Joanna quickly touched her face with her hands and turned around, heading for the gate of the castle.
After Joanna left, Lucien adjusted the memory of the rest of people one by one and erased any evidence of magic in the fight in the baron¡¯s room.
...
Under the dim light provided by the candles placed around the living room of the castle, Lucien said to Simon, Betty and Joanna, "Thank you for helping Fogtown, and, of course, thank you for helping me. As a convention, you take one tenth of the baron¡¯s wealth, and I shall take one third. The rest of his belongings should be handed to Viscount Stanley and the Church."
Lucien still wanted to maintain his identity in their mind as a knight, and that was why he did not take all the baron¡¯s stuff on his own. Besides, he also felt a bit sorry that he involved his guards in far more danger than what they would commonly encounter.
The baron¡¯s place was actually not that full of jewelry and gold as most people would think. Except for the castle, the manor and the land that Habearo owned, there was only sixty Thales left in the baron¡¯s place and a level two greatsword of extraordinary quality named Rock, since Habearo needed to handle the expenses generated by Hunt¡¯s experiments, buy babies and kids, maintain his luxury lifestyle, and pay for different things to hide his sinful behavior.
"That¡¯s about¡­ six Thales!" Simon¡¯s eyes were full of excitement.
"No, it should be twenty Thales," Lucien corrected him.
"What?! That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s two much, Mr. Evans. How does that work?" Simon¡¯s pitch rose.
"According to the convention, the value of the greatsword, Rock, should be calculated into the whole value as well. I¡¯ll say the sword is about a hundred and forty Thales based on its level." Lucien explained. Although he did consider keeping the sword to himself, it turned out that the sword was too heavy for Lucien.
"Thank you so much! That¡¯s so generous of you, my lord!" Joanna cut in with a big smile on her face, "Although I know that we did not really help much, we all need money to receive formal knight training, especially Betty."
Twenty Thales was for sure a lot of money for them. For Joanna, Simon and Betty, their whole year income was not even close to ten Thales.
Lucien smiled and nodded. After they put the money in their own pockets, Lucien said to them, "I can teach Betty some knight training skills before we get to Korsor. You two can watch as well."
On one hand, Lucien appreciated their help, and on the other hand, when the Church questioned them, which was very likely to happen after he killed the baron, the idea that he at least know something about formal knight training could possibly hide his real identity.
"Really!?" Betty was so excited that she almost burst out a scream, "Thank you so much, Mr. Evans!"
Joanna and Simon were very surprised with Lucien¡¯s generosity. Except for saying ¡®thank you¡¯ to Lucien over and over again, they did not know how to express their gratefulness.
Lucien waved his hand, "I¡¯m actually not a Saint Knight, and not even a noble. I once served a princess, and my power mostly comes from my divine items and magic items granted by the princess, which is not really my power. I hope you three can keep my power as a secret to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"For sure, Mr. Evans," they answered.
"Very well." Lucien nodded and said to them, "The fight was intense and I need to get some rest now. Do not let anyone disturb me tonight, please, even including you three. I¡¯ll try to recover by tomorrow morning, and tomorrow we¡¯re heading for Wolftown to report to the Church."
All of the priests here in Fogtown had been turned into husks by Hunt¡¯s necromantic power, so they needed to visit the nearby town to find the priests there.
"Yes, Mr. Evans!" The three guards answered cheerfully.
...
The night was getting darker. Lying in the bed in one of the guest rooms in this evil castle, Lucien remained rather calm and thoughtful.
Switching the invitation which Hunt received between his hands back and forth, Lucien was planning something important tonight.
By comparing the invitation in his hand with the one that he saved in his spiritual library provided by Chris, Lucien noticed that the only difference between the two was that there was a small symbol of Reversed Tree of Life on the former invitation, while a black hexagram on the latter one. His guess was that the symbols were corresponding to the identities of the invitees for security concern.
"Black hexagram represents¡­ sorcerer apprentice, and the reversed tree represents a necromancer¡­ Then how can I get in there?" Lucien murmured to himself silently.
In fact, Lucien had a plan in his mind, but the plan was so risky that he could not make up his mind right now.
Also, Lucien was almost certain that the time and location of this gathering would be changed after Hunt¡¯s death, after all, he was a level two necromancer who received formal invitation. And this meant that Lucien needed to find the clues as soon as possible, or he would definitely miss the gathering.
Making another divination with his crystal ball, the result was very blurry and of no help at all.
Lucien¡¯s brows frowned. He knew that he had to take another risk again.
Although it would take the coach more than seven days to get to Korsor from Fogtown if it followed the rugged mountain road, cutting corners through woods and cliffs using a knight¡¯s speed could save a lot of time, and Lucien was confident that he could get to Carendia castle within three hours on his own.
Opening his suitcase, Lucien put on his black robe and then sneaked out of the castle through the window.

Chapter 147: The Castle
				Chapter 147: The Castle
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Close to the lake, there was an old castle covered with thick vines standing beside a precipitous cliff, and the high towers of the grand castle were so tall that they almost looked like aged, big cedars in the darkness.
Staring at the castle from afar, Lucien took a deep breath and put both Ice Revenger and Mo, the ring that had once belonged to Natasha¡¯s mother, on his left hand. He carefully turned the word, Mo, carved on the ring toward the inside of his hand.
Facing unknown dangers, the powerful and mysterious sorcerers and necromancers, Lucien needed to utilize everything he had to protect himself.
Trying to stay focused, Lucien was ready to cast spells at any time. So, he slowly walked out from behind a big rock where he was hiding and headed for the gloomy castle.
The cool night wind in June drove away the heat in the day, and the surroundings were quiet, except for the crickets¡¯ chirping.
Lucien safely came in front of the thick wooden gate of the castle. Raising his arm calmly, Lucien knocked at the gate.
After a while, the great gate slowly opened. Lucien heard the coarse sound from the friction between the wood and the ground. Although the gate appeared to be too heavy for even two to three male adults to open, a senior man wearing a white shirt and black suit easily pulled out the door and said to Lucien in standard continental common tongue, "Who¡¯re you, sir? Why are you here?"
Seeing that the person opening the gate did not directly try to kill him, Lucien¡¯s nervousness was half relieved. So, he lowered his head and said to the senior man politely, "You must be the steward of the castle, sir. Nice to meet you. I¡¯m a sorcerer traveling through Djibouti right now."
Lucien paused a bit and quickly took a glance at the facial expression of the old steward, and then continued seriously, "A bunch of robbers tried to rob me outside Dragon Tooth town, and I killed all of them. What surprised me was that I found a letter from one of the robbers, inviting all the sorcerers, necromancers and apprentices to gather to join the Feast of Death and to meet a sorcerer from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic."
"..." The old steward¡¯s eyebrow rose slightly but did not say anything to respond, as if he was still waiting for Lucien¡¯s further explanation.
"I know it¡¯s not proper of me to come to visit the castle directly, but I was very lucky because the apprentice who was unfortunately attacked by the robbers actually left the location of Carendia Castle on the invitation, or I would never be able to find my way here. Please forgive my impertinence," Lucien continued politely.
"May I know what¡¯s the symbol on the invitation?" The old steward remained polite, as if he was just talking to some random traveler instead of an evil sorcerer.
Although Lucien knew that the old steward might not be able to see his face under the hood, he maintained his smile, "A black hexagram."
The old steward nodded slightly, "I shall report to my lord, guest."
Holding a white candlestick, the old man turned around and disappeared gradually in the darkness.
Lucien kept politely waiting at where he was, without moving a single step. After a while, when the old steward came back, he nodded to Lucien, "Very well. You¡¯re very polite, guest. You know what is respect."
Lucien laid his left hand on his chest and bowed slightly, "Thank you for forgiving my precipitance, sir."
"Viscount Carendia wants to meet you in the study. Follow me, please." The steward reminded Lucien, "Follow me close, guest. Do not get lost in the darkness. It¡¯s dangerous."
Then, he turned around again to show Lucien the way.
Following the old steward, Lucien was sweating from nervousness. His Host Star of Destiny, his own intuition and also Alert were warning him silently that there were lots of dangerous and mysterious ¡®things¡¯ hiding in the darkness, especially when Lucien just stepped in the castle and when the gate closed behind him.
Lucien felt that the darkness in the castle was somehow ¡®alive¡¯, which gave him goose bump. However, Lucien decided to remain silent and ask no question but just follow the old steward.
When Lucien started to get a bit irritated from walking in the darkness for a relatively long time, the old steward stopped and reached his head into the darkness. He pushed his hand forward and opened a door.
As soon as the door opened, bright yellow light came out and drove the darkness in this area away.
"Please, guest." The old steward bowed slight and politely let Lucien get into the room first.
"Thank you very much, sir." Lucien nodded, and then entered the room without any hesitation.
The dark yellow carpet in the study was thick and luxury. Even the hatstand was gilt. The table, the bookshelf and the armchairs were made from precious rosewood. Based on many details of the decoration of the room, Lucien could tell the pursuit of extravagance of the owner of this place.
In a red couch in front of a coffee table sat a young man wearing a black shirt and red coat. He had blond hair and deep eyes, matched with an attractive smile. The line of his chin was defined, looking handsome and also manly.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Sorcerer." The blond young man greeted without standing up from the couch.
"My lord, please adhere to your noble manner." The manner-oriented old steward walked to the young noble in a fast pace and whispered in his ear to remind him.
"Nice to meet you, Viscount Carendia. Thank you for seeing me." Lucien bowed slightly.
"You see¡­ the guest doesn¡¯t mind me sitting." The viscount turned his head to the steward and smiled, "Take it easy, Nied."
"If the count was here, he would be your model of being elegant and noble," The old steward murmured in a low voice and then stood behind the viscount.
"Come on¡­ I don¡¯t even really remember my grandpa. How am I supposed to learn from his manner?" The viscount rubbed his forehead a bit. Then he pointed at the couch beside him and said to Lucien, "Please have a seat. Nied told me your intention of coming here, but I have to make sure that you¡¯re not a spy from the Church. The Church has a bunch of sorcerers who surrendered to them."
Even while he was talking about Lucien¡¯s possible identity as a spy from the Church, the viscount still looked rather relaxed.
"The Church would never have me as their spy." Lucien gave the viscount his answer which was already prepared earlier, "I have a pseudonym, Professor."
"Professor? You¡¯re the Professor ranking No. 359 on the Cleansing List?" Carendia stood straight and asked him seriously. The viscount knew clearly that all the names on the list represented powerful beings. Grand arcanists, legendary archmages, the grand cardinals in the north, ancient dragons, the ancestors of vampire, the Prince of Werewolf, Royal family of Kuo-toa, and the leaders of heresies were all included. The reason that he noticed Professor on the list was that this mysterious sorcerer was the only one whose power was below that of a radiant knight.
Lucien gave a sigh of relief in his mind, feeling lucky that the viscount actually knew his alias, which also made sense because, as a noble, he should have access to this list.
"Yes, I¡¯m the Professor." Lucien nodded, "I¡¯m back now, from Aalto."
"How do you prove it?" Carendia had a cunning smile on his face, "Even I am not on the list. Your power must be very impressive."
"How do you want me to prove my power? Breaking one or two of your vases in this room?" Sitting in the couch, Lucien asked in a joking way.
"Ha¡­ I¡¯d rather not." The viscount laughed, "I heard that you created an unique magic that can directly destroy a house. And I know that, even in the headquarter of the Congress of Magic, there was no similar spell registered."
"I can show it to you." Lucien shrugged and pointed at the castle¡¯s floor, "But here?"
"Up to you." The viscount sat back in the couch with his eyes slightly squinting.
Lucien walked to the wall and laid both of his hands on it. After spending a bit time on calculating the possible range of vibration frequency of the castle, Lucien sent some magic waves to the wall and felt the feedback of the waves to get the more accurate information about the frequency of vibration of this whole place to adjust the speed of the waves he sent.
Soon, the old castle started to shake. Although the shaking was obviously easy to notice, it was far from destroying the whole place.
Lucien was guessing that this old castle was protected by many powerful magic circles, so The Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand could not really do damage to it.
Before Lucien felt really embarrassed, the viscount clapped his hands behind him, "Enough, enough, Professor. Right now I cannot really afford a new castle like this."
Seizing the chance, Lucien removed his hands from the wall and turned around, "So I¡¯ll take it as a pass?"
"Of course." Carendia let Lucien go back to sit, "You already know the time and the location of our gathering, Professor. I can ask Nied to make another invitation for you."
"That¡¯ll be great." Lucien nodded, "What if there¡¯s any change with regard to the time or location, how can I be informed?"
While Nied, who was standing behind the viscount, walked toward the desk to make a new invitation, Viscount Carendia said to Lucien, "We have two secret sites in Korsor for sorcerers to leave coded marks and messages to exchange information. Any information regarding the changes of this gathering will be available there."
After introducing the location of the two sites and the meaning of the codes to Lucien, Viscount Carendia smiled to him, "I¡¯m looking forward to your presence, Professor. And if you could come one day earlier, although I know you must be very busy, you can have more time to exchange ideas and thoughts with Mr. Felipe, from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic. After all, both of you are young folks. Young people should be given more time to gather and to make joint progress."
"We young folks?" Looking at the viscount, Lucien was confused.

Chapter 148: The Inquiry of the Church
				Chapter 148: The Inquiry of the Church
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Yes¡­ of course. I can feel the energy of youth in your body, Mr. Professor." The corner of the viscount¡¯s lips curled up, "The power of life¡­ I never get it wrong. Since Mr. Douglas defined Arcana, the Congress of Magic was revitalized like a young person, full of hope and vitality. Lots of outstanding young sorcerers and arcanists are giving new life to the congress¡­ It¡¯s beautiful."
Lucien wondered why the viscount was speaking in the tone of a senior and elder person, after all, Carendia was still very good-looking and energetic, but by the fact that the viscount could sense the young power of life made Lucien guess that the noble might be a powerful vampire, since the sensitivity toward life power was especially known as an unique advantage of this bloodthirsty race.
"I wish. Although I never heard the name of Mr. Felipe, I¡¯m looking forward to meeting him." Lucien did not show his suspicion toward the viscount¡¯s identity, but remained rather conservative and careful, "Unfortunately, I have some of my own business to deal with on the day before the gathering, so I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to meet Mr. Felipe in advance." Lucien was not sure about Felipe¡¯s attitude toward him as Professor, so he would rather get some more practical information from the gathering such as getting to know who was the liaison of the Congress of Magic in Sturk.
"Well, that¡¯s too bad, but I¡¯m sure that you will definitely enjoy the gathering." The viscount handed him the invitation, "Here¡¯s yours, Mr. Professor."
Lucien took a quick glance at the invitation and noticed that his own symbol on it was a black top hat.
"I appreciate it." Lucien stood up and bowed slightly, "I think it¡¯s time for me to leave now. It¡¯s pretty late. Forgive me for coming over at such a late hour."
"No worries. My day has actually just started." The viscount waved his hand casually.
After Lucien left, the old steward, Nied, asked his lord with a confused look, "My lord, why you allowed him to join the gathering? Forgive me¡­ I mean¡­ can we really be certain that he¡¯s the Professor just based on that one single strange spell?"
"The spell was just part of it." Viscount Carendia stood beside the window and stared at the shining lake under the moonlight, "What made me certain about his identity was the ring he was wearing."
"The ring?" asked Nied.
"The plain-looking one¡­ on his left hand." The viscount had a faint smile on his face, "Although the ring already lost its power and no one could tell its original look, I know the material of the ring. It was made by the alloy consisting of the seven elements. Only Holm Royal Magic Academy and the Will of Elements can produce that alloy. So, this Mr. Professor should be on their side, according to my guess."
"Then it¡¯s even more confusing to me that you, my lord, allowed him to attend the gathering." The old steward looked surprised, "The Will of Elements and the Hand of Paleness are¡­"
"Just for fun. And somehow he smelled a bit familiar to me." The viscount frowned his brows a bit and then turned to another direction.
"What do you feel about the spell Professor just showed, Amores?"
A low and hollow voice with echo responded from nowhere in particular, "Something like sound waves¡­ not sure. He kept adjusting the frequency of vibration, and the vibration was quite unique¡­ It made me feel a bit itchy."
...
Using the methods evading possible pursuers taught by Natasha, Lucien spent thirty minutes more to get back to the castle and sneaked into it successfully using the first circle spell, Light of Darkness.
It was a spell which could create a special zone of darkness. People inside the dark zone could see the outside very well, while people outside could not tell what was in the darkness.
In the guest room, Lucien took off the ring given by Natasha and hid it safely. Then, he burned down Hunt¡¯s invitation before going to bed.
...
In the morning of the following day, they left the castle, heading for Korsor.
Sitting beside the window of the coach, Lucien was introducing some of the methods of formal knight training, which mostly came from John¡¯s sharing and Natasha¡¯s teaching.
Unlike what Betty imaged with knight training, the procedures were actually quite boring and painstaking, and even Joanna and Simon who were also listening to Lucien¡¯s instruction felt hard to handle it. However, out of their admiration for Mr. Evan¡¯s great power, they knew that they should stick to the training.
In the early evening, they were already very close to Wolftown.
"When we report to the Church¡­ " Simon said to Lucien a bit emotionally, "the legend of Baron Habearo will fall."
"I know it must be very disappointing for those people who view the baron as an idol, but those young lives who died because of him deserve justice," said Lucien.
...
Three hours later.
In the confessionary of the local church, after checking all of Lucien¡¯s documents, Arnold, a level three bishop from Korsor, smiled to Lucien, "It¡¯s hard to imagine that the talented musician, Lucien Evans, is also a powerful knight¡­ very surprising¡­"
Before that, he even asked Lucien to play Pathetique to prove himself. Now, the bishop had no suspicion toward Lucien at all.
"My Blessing came from the potion that the princess rewarded me, but I don¡¯t have any noble title." Lucien slightly shook his head, "And I don¡¯t think I could even have survived this time against the baron and the necromancer if I did not have the sword and the powerful items given by the princess, not to mention killing them."
"The princess¡¯s generosity makes all people feel jealous," Arnold said in a meaningful way. Two magic items, one divine item, two extraordinary-quality weapons¡­ Those things could almost compete with the collection of Viscount Stanley. The bishop was almost certain that the rumor was true: Lucien Evans, the young talented musician, was the secret lover of the princess of the Duchy of Orvarit.
As soon as the pastors in Wolftown heard Lucien and his guards¡¯ report on what happened in Baron Habearo¡¯s castle, they were completely shocked and immediately sent their message birds to inform the cathedral in Korsor. Then, by using some kind of divine portal, the level three bishop, Arnold, together with his two pastors and four night watchers came to Wolftown to meet, or, in other words, to inquire about the baron¡¯s case.
The inquiry went separately, and Arnold was the one responsible for questioning Lucien. Lucien¡¯s words, after his careful design, were not suspicious to the bishop, and what Lucien said was also verified by his safeguards.
Now, the last part of the bishop¡¯s work was to write a report on how Lucien killed the baron and the necromancer to the cardinal of the Duchy of Djibouti.
"Mr. Evans, can I take a look at your magic and divine items that helped you kill the baron and the necromancer?" asked Arnold.
"Sure," answered Lucien. He reached out his left hand and introduced to the bishop, "This is the ring that can shoot frost blades. And this is the bracelet¡­ it is where the fire balls and the fire shield came from."
Before that, Lucien dyed his bracelet and the ring with some kind of special plant, just in case that the Church would recognize them.
Seeing that Lucien was not going to take off the ring and the bracelet, the bishop also did not bother asking. Arnold just checked the two items from a distance with his waves of faith, which was basically the same thing as spiritual power, to see if the power inside was according to Lucien¡¯s words.
Then Lucien took out the amulet hiding beneath his shirt.
"Umm¡­ Early stage of the War of Dawn¡­ should be the style from that period of time." Arnold¡¯s eyes lit up a bit instantly when he saw the amulet, "I guess only families with long history like the Violet family are able to possess them."
Lucien¡¯s eyes squinted a bit from his confusion about the relationship between Maskelyne and the Church, but he knew that this was definitely not a proper time for investigating it. He put on a casual smile and put Alert and Asthenia Dagger on the table, "Alert, rewarded by the princess. And the dagger was from a level two dark knight killed by the princess."
"I see the coat of arms on the sword, yes." Arnold nodded. He checked them again and then said to Lucien, "Well¡­ I think we¡¯re all set here. I sense that the night watchers are back, and after our verification, you¡¯ll be good to go, Mr. Evans."
Lucien waited patiently in the room for the bishop.
Ten minutes later, the bishop came back with smile, "No problem. Everything¡¯s clear now, Mr. Evans, although it¡¯s quite a pity that the necromancer¡¯s lab had been burned down by your fire balls during the fight, or we could find more information."
Lucien nodded to be polite, but did not say anything.
"And this is a reward from the Church. If it had not been for your brave fight, Mr. Evans, more innocent lives in Fogtown would suffer. You¡¯re a great contributor to the purity of the Church. And you¡¯re good to go now, Mr. Evans." The bishop handed Lucien a cross-shaped brooch, which was not a real divine item, but just a common gift for acknowledging Lucien¡¯s merit.
Lucien was almost amused: the Church was giving a reward to a sorcerer, a sorcerer who was on their Cleansing List¡­ How ironic was that?
...
In the basement of the abbey in Aalto, there was no light and no sound.
Camil opened the door of the basement slowly without making any noise and entered the room. When she saw the princess, who was dressing pure black, kneeling on the floor and praying silently, Camil almost burst out tears.
The princess looked emaciated. Her practice here was to immerse herself in extreme darkness and silence in order to strengthen her will.
"What can I do for you, Your Grace?" Camil took a deep breath and walked to Natasha.
Slowly raising her head, Natasha smiled, "Did you bring paper and quill, auntie Camil?"
"Yes, as you wish." Camil handed the materials to the princess.
Writing something on the paper with effort, it took Natasha quite a bit of time to finish the letter. Then, she carefully folded the paper and gave it back to Camil, "Please, bring it to Mr. Othello."
...
In the afternoon, seven days later, in Korsor.
"We need to head for the Musicians¡¯ Association now." Wise and Mars said to Lucien and his guards, "You¡¯re welcome to visit us any time you want, Mr. Evans."
"Can I go with you?" Lucien smiled, "I have some personal things to deal with in the association as well. It would be lovely if you two could show me the way."
"Not a problem." Wise and Mars grinned.
Lucien was planning on sending letters to John and Natasha from there.

Chapter 149: The Newspaper
				Chapter 149: The Newspaper
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Can I get a ticket to your concert?" Betty also asked Wise with excitement.
"Sure. Not a problem, Betty. Thanks to the protection from all of you, I can still hold the concert." Wise smiled, "Even if you had not asked, I would still invite all of you."
Then, Wise turned to Lucien politely, "May I ask why you¡¯re going to the association, Mr. Evans? I mean¡­ If there¡¯s anything I can help you with, please feel free to ask."
"Yes, please." Mars also nodded to Lucien out of gratitude. Thinking of the fact that he spent quite a long time with those filthy husks and the evil baron in the castle, sweat would still run from his forehead. Thus, he was very grateful to Lucien, who saved his life.
Betty, Simon and Joanna, while being quite excited about Wise¡¯s invitation, also felt a bit surprised that this resourceful Mr. Evans even had some connection in the Musicians¡¯ Association.
"Thank you, Mr. Wise, and thank you, Mr. Mars." Lucien slightly shook his head politely, "I¡¯m not heading for the association for anything special, but just sending some letters to my friends. After all, the branches of the Musicians¡¯ Association across the continent have the most frequent communication between different countries, and sending letters through them always takes way less time than through a common messenger."
Although there were messengers in that world, no convenient postal system could be found there, especially between different countries. Ordinary people could only rely on caravans and travelers to send letters.
Mars smiled and nodded, "That¡¯s really true. Although the association definitely will not refuse the request from a knight serving the princess in the Duchy of Orvarit, they will still charge you a lot. More importantly, they will not send a Hearthmeer to deliver your letters, Mr. Evans."
"Hearthmeer? What is it?" asked Lucien. He had never heard the name before.
"Hearthmeer is a special kind of eagle originated in Djibouti. Those huge, powerful creatures, after training, are the best delivery birds, known for their great sense of direction. It only takes them ten days to do a round trip between Korsor and Aalto. And that¡¯s why the Musicians¡¯ Association in Djibouti can always receive the latest Music Criticism and Symphony News every month, around the fifth to the seventh day," explained Mars, the old musician. "If you don¡¯t mind, I can ask someone I know to help you get your letters sent by the eagles, Mr. Evans."
"Thanks a lot and sure, I¡¯d love to, Mr. Mars. I¡¯m just sending my letters to Aalto." Lucien nodded. He felt sorry that he would miss the latest newspapers to possibly gather some information of Natasha and Victor since he would not stay in Korsor until the newspapers arrived.
"The honor is mine, Mr. Evans." Mars smiled.
When Lucien was about to pay Simon, Joanna and Betty the last day¡¯s salary, Betty said to Lucien cheerfully, "I think it¡¯s not the time to part ways yet, Mr. Evans."
Then she turned to the two musicians, "Mr. Wise, Mr. Mars, can I have the chance to visit the association as well?"
Although both of Wise and Mars were a bit surprised, they soon smiled and nodded, "Sure, welcome."
"Mr. Simon, Mrs. Joanna¡­ Would you like to come as well?" asked Wise.
"Well¡­ yes, sure." Although Joanna was a bit pissed off with Betty, she was curious about the association as well.
...
Although Korsor was a major city in central-southern part of the continent, it was only about one fifth of the size of Aalto. The architectural style of the four-storey building of the Musicians¡¯ Association was older and simpler than the one in Aalto.
Furthermore, the guards there were also more strict than that of the association in Aalto. Standing in front of the iron railings, they would not let any stranger go in unless the visitor was some well-known musicians such as Mars. One of the guards was sent by Mr. Mars to report to the director of the association because Mr. Wise, the invited musician, also came.
A variety of beautiful crystal ornaments, huge pictures of different famous musicians, soft dark-red carpets, and a bright and wide space together constituted the hall of the Musicians¡¯ Association in Korsor.
While Betty, Joanna and Simon were looking around out of curiosity, a middle-aged man dressing in black showed up, followed by a couple of his colleagues, to welcome them.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wise. Thank you so much for having your concert here in Korsor and welcome! I¡¯m the director of the association, and my name¡¯s Caspar. These are my colleagues and some of our musicians. Welcome!" Caspar shook hand with Wise with great passion. After all, Wise was known as one of the most talented young musicians in the duchy.
Wise, in contrast, remained quite calm, "Thank you, Mr. Caspar. You already make me feel the passion of the city."
The musicians following Caspar also surrounded him, with the same passion and eagerness to welcome Wise. They even started to exchange their ideas about music directly in the hall and discuss the repertoire that Wise prepared for the concert. Lucien, Mars, Betty and the rest of them were just ignored.
"Wow¡­ It¡¯s so great!" Although being ignored, Betty did not mind that at all. Her eyes were shining, "It feels really good seeing them talking about music like this!"
"When we awaken the Blessing," Joanna murmured to her husband, "we will go back to our hometown. We¡¯ll receive this warm welcome as well."
Everyone loved the feeling of being respected, and Simon was not an exception. He nodded seriously, "I¡¯ll follow Mr. Evans¡¯ words and stick to my practicing."
Lucie exchanged a smile with Mars. "Mr. Mars, I¡¯m going to the counter to write my letters. Can you help me there?"
"I¡¯ll go with you to talk to Christie," said Mars, pointing to the seventeen-year-old black-haired girl, who was standing on tiptoes with her neck stretched, trying to see the young and talented musician, Wise, who was surrounded by a bunch of people right now.
"Christie." Mars called the girl¡¯s name when they got to the counter.
The girl did not turn around but waved her hands, "Wait. I¡¯m busy here."
"Christie. It¡¯s me, Mars." He coughed a couple of times, feeling a bit amused.
"Ah¡­ Sorry, Mr. Mars. Good to see you! Anything I can do for you?" Noticing that it was the well-known musician standing behind her, she quickly stood straight and asked nervously.
Mars had just survived in the fight against the husks and now was in a pretty good mood, so the girl¡¯s impoliteness did not bother him. Mar pointed at Lucian, "Provide Mr. Evans with some paper, pen and envelopes. When he finish his letters, send an eagle messenger as soon as possible to the Musicians¡¯ Association in Aalto."
"An eagle eats a lot of meat. Sending an eagle is expensive." Christie handed a pen, some paper and envelopes to Lucien, whispering.
"Not your business." Mars¡¯ face looked serious.
Christie quickly stuck out her tongue for a second but did not say anything. And then she took out a stack of newspapers, "Mr. Mars, would you like to get the latest issue of Music Criticism and Symphony News?"
"The latest issue?" Lucien, who was just about to write his letters, raised his head and asked together with Mars.
Christie nodded, "This month¡¯s issue was published earlier, and they just arrived at Korsor yesterday."
"Can I get one for each as well?" Lucien took out a Thale.
On the other side, Wise also noticed their conversation and walked to them with the the local musicians, "Beautiful lady, can I get the newspapers as well? And I¡¯ll buy the newspapers for Mr. Mars and Evans."
Although Betty, Joanna and Simon were not literate, hearing the name of the two most famous newspapers, they also came close to the counter out of curiosity.
"No problem, Mr. Wise," said Christie. She handed the newspapers to Wise, flushing, and then to Mars and Lucien.
Wise took a quick glance at the newspaper and amazedly said, "Mr. Lucien Evans composed another piece of piano sonata!"
"Yes, I read about it yesterday." Caspar nodded and praised, "Although only the first movement was published, it was as beautiful as a sweet dream."
Lucien was very confused. When did he just produce a new piece of piano sonata? Why he himself had no idea about that?
Turning the latest Music Criticism to the second page, Wise started to read the music score and hum the melody in his soft and gentle voice.
Immediately when he heard the familiar melody, Lucien recognized the first movement of Moonlight Sonata, and realized who published the sonata for him.
A smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s face.
"This piano sonata was from the famous musician, Mr. Lucien Evans, during his trip. Although only the first movement was published, the combination of wonderful melody, the tranquil atmosphere created by the fingerings and the innovation made in the genre of piano sonata still catches everyone¡¯s mind instantly without difficulty. Mr. Lucien Evans¡¯s new music piece breaks the fast¡ªslow¡ªfast arrangements of the music genre, and brings us to the peaceful night, where the dream-like moonlight shines on a sparkling lake¡­"
Below the review article, Lucien saw the familiar name, "Natasha Orvarit."
Although Lucien was glad to have some of his friend¡¯s information from the newspaper, he was confused why, all of a sudden, Natasha published the first movement of Moonlight Sonata for him.
"Beautiful¡­ but a bit sad." Listening to Wise¡¯s humming, Betty praised sincerely, "Mr. Lucien Evans¡¯ music is amazing. No wonder the major newspapers would publish earlier than usual."
"Earlier than usual¡­" Something occurred to Lucien and he hurriedly turned the newspaper to the front page, and he saw that the publish date of the newspaper at the top was printed red words, that were a bit bigger as well: June 26th, 816.
Lucien grinned. It was the princess¡¯s way of saying "Happy Birthday" and "Happy Coming-of-age."

Chapter 150: The Letters
				Chapter 150: The Letters
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien's chuckle did not attract anyone¡¯s attention, because they had begun to eagerly discuss the famous musician Lucien Evans¡¯ new sonata.
"Mr. Wise, it looks like you are very fond of the first movement of Moonlight, and I suggest that we go to the piano room to try to play it. After all, we¡¯ve been standing in the hall for quite a long time." Caspar invited Wise to go upstairs.
Wise nodded and laughed, "That¡¯s very considerate."
Following Wise and Caspar, the musicians and instrumentalists immediately left for the piano room on the second floor.
Betty said to Lucien, "This is a rare opportunity! Mr. Evans, let¡¯s go upstairs together!"
"Yes, Mr. Evans, let¡¯s go." Holding hands, both Joanna and Simon were quite excited.
Lucien shook his head and smiled, "For me, writing my letters is more important."
"All right then¡­" said Betty with a bit disappointment, but soon she cheered up and said to Joanna and Simon, "Hurry up!"
They were guessing that Mr. Evans, as a princess¡¯ knight, must have met too many good musicians in Aalto, to the point he wouldn¡¯t get easily excited like them.
Seeing Betty, Simon and Joanna going upstairs hurriedly, Mars also apologized to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, excuse me, I don¡¯t want to miss this precious opportunity as well. Please just feel yourself at home in the association. When you finish your letters, just give them to Christie, and I¡¯ll take care of the rest of the procedure."
"Thank you, Mr. Mars. I will." Lucien slightly nodded and watched Mars leaving. As the hall did not have tables, Lucien just stood next to the counter and began to write.
Looking at the second floor, Christie sighed, "Why do I have to stay here¡­ I¡¯m gonna miss Mr. Wise's playing." Then, she started to walk restlessly behind the counter.
Lucien just ignored Christie and wrote down his two-month traveling experience in detail, mainly about the beautiful scenery along the way, the unique national customs, and the monsters and robbers he had met. Lucien did not stop until he realized that his words had already filled up more than seven pages.
Putting the first letter in the envelop, Lucien carefully wrote down Joel¡¯s address on it, and then started to write his second letter.
The second one was for Natasha. On the basis of the first letter, Lucien added lots of knowledge of folk music in different nations that he encounter during his trip. The second letter had more than twenty pages.
Christie slightly frowned her brows and thought to herself, "What a wordy man¡­"
At the end of the letter, Lucien wrote down the last paragraph with a big smile on his face, "Your birthday is coming, Your Grace. May I send my Happy Birthday to you in advance from afar?"
After the second envelop was loaded, Lucien got himself some more papers to work on the third letter for Christopher, the previous president of the Musicians¡¯ Association in Aalto.
Seeing that Lucien was still writing, Christie, who was feeling very bored, started to get curious. She wondered how many more letters this young man was still going to write and where would the letters be sent to.
Taking a glance at the envelops beside him, Christie noticed an eye-catching name:
"Natasha Orvarit."
"Wait¡­ Is this THE Natasha Orvarit? The princess in Aalto?" thinking about it, Christie almost burst out an exclamation.
Natasha's name often appeared on Music Criticism and Symphony News, so this name was actually very familiar to people from other countries. And, also, Orvarit was a very unique surname, unlike Evans, and that was why Christie directly linked the name to the princess in Aalto.
"What is the relationship between this guy and the princess in Aalto, the countess from the Violet family?" Christie wondered with great curiosity and surprise, "Hold on¡­ just now Mr. Mars called him Mr. Evans¡­ Is he THE Evans? The famous and talented musician, Lucien Evans?!"
Evans, even in Korsor, was not a rare surname. Actually, Christie also had a friend whose surname was Evans. However, there was only one Mr. Evans who she could link to the princess in the Duchy of Orvarit.
She almost released a scream out of excitement!
Christie¡¯s careful tiny movements were all caught by Lucien¡¯s eyes. He was a bit amused but did not say anything.
At this time, Caspar¡¯s voice came from upstairs as they were walking out of the piano room.
"Very impressive!" Caspar praised, "Mr. Wise, you¡¯re genuinely a music talent. It only took you a couple of times of practicing to present the complete first movement of Moonlight Sonata to us."
"Moonlight Sonata is definitely beautiful." Wise smiled, "I feel the emotional connection in the movement. Honestly speaking, I did not put too much skills in the playing. The music itself is gorgeous enough, isn¡¯t it?"
"What about you trying to compose the following two movements of Moonlight Sonata, Mr. Wise? I bet many big men in Korsor would love to read your work," Caspar suggested. Caspar¡¯s family declined many years ago, and with his relatively limited talent in music, regaining the name of his family on his own was a hopeless dream. So, Caspar was working on seizing every opportunity to build connections with major noble families to possibly get his title back, and music was definitely a good way.
"Thank you for your encouragement, Mr. Caspar." Wise smiled and shook his head gently, "But I¡¯m not even close to Mr. Lucien Evans. I would rather not ruin the masterpiece."
"I see. You¡¯re just being too humble," said Caspar, and the other people agreed. When they walked downstairs and came to the hall, Caspar said to Wise, "I¡¯ve found a nice villa for you to take a rest and prepare for the concert."
"Thanks a lot, Mr. Caspar." Wise and the rest of the people walked toward the gate together.
"Lucien Evans! You¡¯re Mr. Lucien Evans!" At this time, Christie¡¯s high-pitched voice came into their ears.
Christie knew for sure that the young man standing in front of her was the top musician, Lucien Evans, when she saw that he was actually writing a music score in his third letter.
In the quiet hall, Christie¡¯s voice was penetrating.
The people walking toward the gate stopped out of surprise. Among them, Mars looked back and asked, "What are you talking about, Christie?"
Christie almost jumped up from the floor. She pointed at the young man standing beside the counter and said to Mars carefully, "He¡­ he is THE Lucien Evans, from Aalto."
She was trying to keep her voice down but her words still sounded very clear.
"What? The Lucien Evans¡­?" Betty was confused.
"Lucien Evans, the great musician. He¡¯s writing a piece of music score right now." Christie tried hard to explain.
"Ahhh¡­!" Betty first released a scream out of great surprise and then ran toward Lucien. When she saw what Lucien was writing, Betty almost could not speak properly, "Evans¡­ You¡¯re Lucien?"
"Yes, I am. And I told you before that I serve the princess." Lucien just smiled while his right hand continued writing.
Hearing Lucien¡¯s answer, the two young girls, Betty and Christie, almost passed out due to their great excitement, while Joanna and Simon felt like in a dream¡ªthey just could not imagine that the powerful knight and the great musician were actually the same person.
Wise¡¯s face flushed. He felt embarrassed that he even played Mr. Evans¡¯ music in front of him.
Walking past Wise, Caspar hurriedly rushed to Lucien, "Mr. Evans! If you need any help here in Korsor, just tell me!"
"Well¡­" Lucien nodded to Caspar for greeting and said to him, "Can I register this in the association before I send it?" He handed the third letter to Caspar.
"Sure! Hold on¡­ this is¡­" A big smile appeared on Caspar¡¯s face, "Is this the second and the third movement of Moonlight Sonata?" Caspar recognized the music style immediately.
"Yes." Lucien added another piece of paper there in the third letter and said to Caspar, "After the registration, I need to send the letter to Mr. Christopher as soon as possible."
The final piece of paper was a note from Lucien to Mr. Christopher:
"Please make sure that the rest of the sonata will be published on the seventh issue of Music Criticism on July 30th. Many thanks, sir."
"We¡¯ll take care of the registration immediately." Caspar tried his very best to please Lucien, "Mr. Evans, is it possible that we can invite you to hold a concert in Korsor?"
"Sorry, I got another appointment already, and I¡¯m leaving tomorrow," answered Lucien.
Only Lucien himself knew what the appointment was¡ªthe Feast of Death.

Chapter 151: The Prelude to the Feast
				Chapter 151: The Prelude to the Feast
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the main street of Korsor, Lucien, together with Joanna, Betty and Simon, walked slowly toward the city gate. In the sky, an eagle flew high above them with a parcel on its back and a large basket of fresh meat hanging in front of its chest.
"Mr. Evans, are you really going to leave Korsor today?" Betty looked quite sad. When she listened to the musicians of the association trying to play the two movements composed by Mr. Evans after the music had been registered, she was completely convinced that this handsome and elegant young man was her favorite musician, Lucien Evans, who she had been dating with in her dreams.
The great variety of complex piano playing skills, the unpredictably wonderful melody, the thrilling passion, as well as the high-spirited will were all major representatives of Mr. Lucien Evans' unique style. Moonlight Sonata was undoubtedly another outstanding and impressive masterpiece from Lucien Evans.
Earlier, when Lucien was wandering the streets in Korsor, he paid great attention to the possible secret messages left by the organizer of the gathering, and within Lucien's expectation, the gathering was delayed: due to Hunt's death, the gathering was postponed to three days later but still at the same place. However, Lucien still did not plan to stay in Korsor any longer, in order to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
So, he smiled to Betty and said, "Sorry, I still have some other important things to do. If you stick to your knight training, maybe we'll meet again in Aalto when you become a real knight. If that happens, I will compose a song and play it especially for you."
"Really?" Betty was very surprised that her idol actually promised her that. Full of motivation, Betty nodded with great determination, "I will become a real knight."
"Thank you, Mr. Evans, for encouraging Betty. That's very important to her." Joanna and Simon really appreciated Lucien's kindness.
"It's just a little gift." Lucien turned around, "And also because our journey is memorable. Well¡­ I have to go now."
"Wait¡­ Mr. Evans. You don't need guards anymore? It's already late afternoon now¡­" Betty still did not want to let him go.
Lucien titled his head slightly and smiled, "You really think I need bodyguards, Betty?"
"Humm¡­ Then why did you hire us, may I ask?" asked Joanna curiously.
"It's nice having my guards to take care of all the trifles for me during the trip. But now, because of what happened to the baron, I got some emergent stuff here and need to hurry to deal with them. I'm way faster cutting corners by myself than sitting in a coach." Lucien's answer was blurry but also reasonable, which did not make his guards feel suspicious at all.
"I see¡­" Betty muttered, "Then you take care, Mr. Evans."
"I will." Lucien waved his hand, "You three, too. Hope we can see each other again."
Watching Lucien's figure gradually disappear under the afternoon sunshine, Betty, Joanna and Simon almost felt that the journey was like a dream.
After checking their purses again, which were full of Thales, they knew that the great experience was not a dream. What they should do now was to pay a noble to receive formal knight training.
...
The Musicians' Association, Korsor.
Standing beside the counter in the hall, Caspar stared at the place where Lucien had been writing his letter, "Christie, how about we build an iron and steel statue of Mr. Lucien Evans, you know¡­ a statue like he was writing down his music here. And we tell other people that the young genius musician Lucien Evans once produced one of his famous piano sonatas here. I mean, right here!" Caspar pointed at the counter, "I bet lots of big nobles would like to visit the association because of the statue."
After Lucien refused his proposal for hosting a concert, Caspar was now working on some new ideas.
"Yes¡­ I guess¡­" Christie murmured as if she was still in a dream. She actually did not pay any attention to Caspar's words.
Caspar touched his chin thoughtfully, frowning and talking to Christie randomly. Both of them were right now immersed in their own world related to the famous musician, Lucien Evans.
At this time, an employee of the association returned, "Mr. Caspar, I have led Mr. Wise to the villa to have a rest first. Any other orders?"
"Nothing, but just do not bother me." Caspar waved his hand impatiently, "What do you think of putting Mr. Evans' portrayal in the hall?"
...
IN the third week of July, there was a shining silver moon hanging high in the night sky, pouring its bright and clear light from above.
Bathed in the moonlight, Lucien swiftly cross the mountains and forests. Soon, he was already able to see the beautiful, mirror-like lake close to the castle.
The castle was still the same as what Lucien saw the last time. The pointy, tall and thin towers surrounding the main building looked like horrible demon paws in the night sky, stretching and scratching the sky. However, this time, there were already many in black hooded robes waiting outside the castle. Lucien took a quick glance and found that there were at least three or four hundred of them.
Among the crowd, there were a few people, some male and some female, who looked very special. Their robes were of different colors and there was no hood covering their faces, as if they were not afraid of being recognized at all. These people shaped a loose small circle with some other ones wearing hoods and were chatting casually together, while the rest of the invitees stayed away from them as if they were afraid of those who were not wearing a hood.
Lucien quickly thought to himself that those people should be real sorcerers instead of apprentices and their true appearances were changed by the first circle magic, Disguise Self. Because the spell would not work when someone was facing another person whose spiritual power or willpower was more than two levels higher than himself or herself, Lucien's guessing was that those people who were not wearing hoods should be middle-ranked mages.
After a quick counting, Lucien surprisingly found out that there were only twenty three real sorcerers in Djibouti, and he wondered if there were only twenty three across the whole territory. After all, this piece of land, which originally belonged to the great necromancer, Wilfred, consisted of two duchies and one independent county, and the area it covered was way broader than the Duchy of Orvarit.
Lucien slowly walked out from the shadow and headed toward the gate. Some of the black-robed people turned around and took a glance at him, but after that, no one took the initiative to talk to him. So, he stopped beside the four sorcerer apprentices and quietly listened to their conversation which was full of words such as "body", "eyeball", "hatred" and "revenant".
"H¡­ Hey¡­ I'm from the south mountain range of Djibouti. Where are you from?" A round-figured apprentice greeted Lucien. His black robe bulged from his obvious beer belly.
"I'm from Kazan. Nice to meet you. And you can call me by my pseudonym, Professor." Lucien answered politely.
Kazan was a small independent county close beside Dragon Tooth town.
"I see¡­ Kazan. Welcome to Djibouti. Just call me Fatty." Apparently, Fatty had never heard of the name Professor before. "This are Garrupa, Bread and Wine."
Lucien took a glance at Fatty's belly, feeling a bit suspicious whether his big belly was real, "It's my first time joining a gathering like this. Never expected that there would be so many people here. Are there more coming?"
"Almost all of the sorcerers and apprentices from the nearby three nations are here, except those people who only work on their own." Bread, a stout apprentice answered in a low voice, "I heard that from the distinguished sorcerer who led us here."
"Distinguished sorcerer¡­" Lucien murmured.
"There they are." Fatty carefully pointed at the twenty three sorcerers gathering on the other side and introduced with a mixed feeling of respect, fear and admiration.
Even in today's Aalto, a sorcerer apprentice hardly received any recognition, not to mention respect within the circle of magic. Although there they were called as "sorcerer apprentice", there was a huge gap between an apprentice and a real sorcerer, and often the gap was insurmountable for many people, even though they spent their whole life working on it. Furthermore, for some lunatic ancient sorcerers, apprentices often stood for experimental materials.
In this gathering, there was only one sorcerer for each twenty apprentices.
At that time, all of a sudden, Fatty got scared and his voice trembled, "What¡­ what's going on here?"
The sorcerers just secretly surrounded Lucien and the other four apprentices.
"Who're you?" The leading old man, who was almost as skinny as a mummy, asked Lucien harshly, "You'd better confess. None of us know you."
The questioning was totally out of Lucien's expectation. How did the sorcerers differentiate him from the other people?
However, soon Lucien realized that it was because of the organization form of the Feast of Death: After the viscount found the several sorcerers who he felt were trustworthy, these sorcerers produced their own lists for inviting the other sorcerers and the apprentices. Therefore, since there was nobody knowing Lucien here, he became rather suspicious in the eyes of the sorcerers.

Chapter 152: The Dangerous Felipe
				Chapter 152: The Dangerous Felipe
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Everyone present remained quiet, staring at the stranger with great alertness, and some of them even started to check their surroundings, worrying that they might had been ambushed by the church.
In the cold stare of the sorcerers and apprentices, under the gaze of some bloodthirsty eyes, with the sound of Fatty¡¯s teeth rattling out of fear, Lucien calmly took out his invitation and explained, "I am a guest invited by Viscount Carendia".
Seeing that Lucien stayed rather calm, the mummy-like old man¡¯s face eased a little bit. Another apprentice took Lucien¡¯s invitation and unfolded it for him.
The symbol of a tall black hat on the invitation was a bit tilted with some sense of humor. The old man who took the leading role glanced at the other sorcerers around, "This invitation was not sent by me."
The other sorcerers looked at the invitation held by the apprentice and also denied.
The muscles of the old man¡¯s face pulled when he was speaking, "Although your invitation is not from somebody else, but we still can not make sure that it was sent by the viscount. To ensure the safety of everyone here, I think we should wait until Viscount Carendia and his steward, Nied, show up. You agree?"
"Sounds fair enough." Lucien remained polite.
"You can call me Cessy, by the way. I¡¯m 4th circle sorcerer," said the old man. He did not want to offend this mysterious attendee imprudently before figuring out his true identity, just in case that he was even more powerful than him.
"Mr. Cessy. I understand your concern and I don¡¯t mind waiting here at all." Lucien nodded, "You can call me Professor."
"Good." The old man, a necromancer, asked, "Then, Mr. Professor, are you a sorcerer¡­ or an apprentice?"
Through their conversation and Lucien's attitude, Cessy started to become a little bit convinced that Lucien was really a guest of the viscount.
"A sorcerer," Lucien answered shortly.
The apprentices whom Lucien was talking to were pretty surprised to know that Professor was actually a real sorcerer, since his attitude was way nicer than most of the other arrogant and cold sorcerers who were gathering together on their own on the other side.
"Hope we can exchange some ideas over the meeting." Cessy¡¯s attitude toward Lucien eased a little further.
"In fact, I¡¯m not a necromancer," said Lucien honestly.
Although Lucien indeed had roughly read the Book of Necromancy, and had some ideas about the structure of human body, he knew that he could not rely on his own understanding and his previous knowledge of this branch of magic.
And by the way, according to the Book of Necromancy, regardless of practicing meditation or studying necromancer spells, long-time staying with rotten corpses was often required, and it was easy for the person practicing it to be infected with some terrible toxins or something filthy. Apart from making breakthroughs to move to higher circles in order to resist to the possible infection, only a few kinds of potions could be used to tackle the problem. So, with Astrology and Elements in his hand, Lucien right now did not want to take the risk to focus on necromantic spells but just copied the structures of a couple of the not-that-disgusting ones, intending to analyze them.
Cessy¡¯s mummy-like face looked surprised, "Then why are you here? The Feast of Death¡­ is for necromancers."
The other attendees also found it strange.
Before Lucien answered Cessy¡¯s question, the heavy gate of the old castle slowly opened, and the steward of the castle, Nied, showed up, still dressing decently and behaving in an elegant manner.
"Mr. Professor¡¯s indeed a special guest invited by the lord," explained Nied seriously.
"Then we¡¯re assured now." Representing the other sorcerers and apprentices, Cessy responded.
Nied slightly nodded and continued, "Mr. Professor also came from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic, and he¡¯s a powerful sorcerer."
"The congress¡­ powerful¡­" Often being dull and cold, although the steward¡¯s words were pretty surprising, the necromancers and apprentices were only whispering to each other, peeking at Lucien carefully.
"Why there¡¯s another sorcerer here from the headquarter of the Congress of Magic tonight?" Cessy immediately noticed the word Nied used¡ª"also".
"Mr. Professor¡¯s attendance was out of expectation, and he¡¯s just dropping by." Although the steward¡¯s words were quite hard to believe, what Nied was saying was true, "And Mr. Professor¡¯s power is widely recognized. He ranks no. 359 on the Church¡¯s Cleansing List."
"What? Cleansing List?!" Even the gloomy necromancers could not stay calm anymore. Even though not all of them knew who were all the people on the list, everyone present was aware of the fact that anyone who was on the list, without exception, had the same power as a senior-rank and was capable of affecting or even destroying a whole nation.
With regards to tracking the powerful sorcerers, the Church had been enjoying quite a good reputation all throughout history.
The necromancers and apprentices started to be awed by Lucien, and some of the necromancers felt concerned that they just surrounded the powerful sorcerer in a rude manner. They were guessing that, as a sorcerer on the list, Professor should at least be a senior-rank mage.
Cessy paused a bit and took Nied¡¯s words, "Mr. Professor, please forgive us for being rude to you earlier. We have been yearning for the headquarter of the Congress of Magic."
Cessy believe that Professor and Felipe, the one who initiated the Feast of Death, didn¡¯t get along very well, and their conflict was very likely to involve the internal struggle between different factions of the congress. So, he mindfully mentioned the congress as a whole instead of taking a standpoint supporting either side.
"Don¡¯t worry about it. In fact, if you couldn¡¯t identify a stranger among the attendees, I¡¯d be very disappointed." Seeing that all the people present started to respect him a lot since they misunderstood that he was a powerful, senior-rank sorcerer, Lucien instantly took the opportunity and started to pretend that he was really someone important by maintaining the big man's tone.
"Mr. Professor, my lord wants to meet you in the study first, and Mr. Felipe¡¯s there as well." said Nied. Then he turned to Cessy and the other sorcerers, "Soon there¡¯ll be waiters guiding you into the hall, Mr. Cessy."
Although Lucien really did not want to have a close talk with Mr. Felipe, he had no way to refuse the offer. So, he had no choice but to follow Nied through the terrifying darkness of the castle all the way to the study.
Watching Professor¡¯s figure gradually disappearing in the darkness, Fatty burst out an exclamation, "Wow¡­ Cool! Cleansing List."
"I wish one day I¡¯d be on the list, too," said Wine out of great admiration.
Somehow, being on the Church¡¯s Cleansing List, in many necromancers¡¯ and even apprentices¡¯ eyes, was a great goal to brag their achievement and power.
...
In the study, the viscount in red shirt and black coat and another man witnessed everything that happened on the lawn downstairs from the window.
"Not very aggressive¡­ Mr. Professor." Seeing that Lucien was not aggravated by the necromancers, the viscount commented with a glass of wine in his hand, looking rather relaxed.
The man standing beside the viscount had black hair and pupils. His nose was straight and high and his lips were thin. He was definitely handsome, but his face looked rather pale, as if he was sick. Wearing a black shirt with gigot sleeves, the man was covered with a long, black coat, which was not common to see in inland countries. The man responded to the viscount¡¯s comment in a gloomy and serious tone, "The church¡¯s comment on Professor is ¡®extremely cunning and very dangerous¡¯, you cannot easily judge him based on his one single reaction."
"I know. The fact that the Will of Elements or Holm Royal Magic Academy sent Professor here obviously means that they¡¯re confident that Professor is capable enough of confronting you, Mr. Felipe." Viscount Carendia took an outsider¡¯s standpoint and said casually, "I suggest you be careful first before you want to take any action, or you¡¯ll be in great risk. It¡¯s not easy, for sure."
Felipe looked back at his entourage, and then sipped his red wine, "the Will of Elements is certainly not clear about my current power, but I also have no idea how powerful the mysterious Professor is. I wonder who¡¯s this Professor? Larry, Timothy or Ulysses? "
These names were of people he knew and were of the same level as him, but belonged to the Will of Elements or Holm Royal Magic Academy. However, none of them conformed to the identity information they had on Professor. So, he shook his head slightly and continued, "Professor¡­ Professor¡­ It seems he was pretty proud of his arcana level¡­ So his magic level is possibly not much higher than that of his arcana¡­ might even be the same."
Felipe stopped here, but two shivering clusters of pale flame appeared in his eyes.
Sipping his wine, the viscount changed the topic, "I heard that the musician, Lucien Evans, is in Djibouti right now. Ha¡­ the princess must be very concerned about her sweet little lover traveling along this far, or she would not send Professor to Djibouti to secretly protect her toy boy. And your Feast of Death happens to be held during the same time. What a coincidence!"
"It¡¯s not a surprise, and I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not a coincidence. Firstly, based on the relationship that Natasha has with that one, asking Professor to do her a favor is not difficult. Professor must have somehow directed Lucien Evans to take this way toward Djibouti, so he could take care of both his tasks at the same time. Otherwise, how would the great musician want to visit this remote and poor place? Kidding¡­"
...
Lucien had no idea which floor the study was on. The darkness of the castle devoured everything.
There were three people in the familiar study. Apart from the viscount, there was a pale-looking young man, and a tall and strong middle-aged man.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Professor. I¡¯m Felipe." Felipe¡¯s smile was gloomy and sophisticated. His eyes had pale flames inside and stared straight at Lucien.
All of a sudden, Lucien was terrified by Felipe¡¯s aggressive aura. He felt cold and greatly threatened. The last time he had the same feeling was when Camil was looking at him after activating her Blessing.
Lucien quickly concluded that, even if Felipe was not of senior rank yet, he was definitely very close to that level. However, Lucien was not sure why Felipe would be this hostile toward him.
The only possible answer was that the Will of Elements or Holm Royal Magic Academy did not get along well with the faction that he represented in the congress.
At that point Lucien finally realized that the ring given by Natasha, the one he was wearing when he first met the viscount, did him a great favor, but and also dragged him into a very difficult situation.
Lucien tried his best to stay calm. After all, it was not the first time that he pretended to be someone important and powerful. He was also aware that the only possible reason that Felipe did not directly attack him was that he was also hesitant and felt uncertain about his power because of the rumors about Professor!
With his brain remaining cool and after catching this key point, Lucien smiled politely, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Felipe. I have long heard of your name."

Chapter 153: The Hand of Paleness
				Chapter 153: The Hand of Paleness
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien¡¯s attitude was not out of Felipe¡¯s expectation, so he put on an elegant smile, "It¡¯s my great pleasure that Professor actually heard my name before."
However, although he was saying that, in Felipe¡¯s mind, as a talent who had already published his first article on the influential journal Magic, he felt that of course Professor should have heard his name.
Then, Felipe changed his tone, "But it seems that you don¡¯t really value this gathering, Professor. We are all from the congress, and you¡¯re still wearing that ugly black hood? That doesn¡¯t match your status."
Lucien knew that now every word he said might put him at great risk, but remaining silent all the time would definitely make him more suspicious. So, he carefully kept his answer short and answered with a husky tone, "Honestly, I don¡¯t want you, Mr. Felipe, to stir any trouble for me when we get back to Allyn."
At first, when Lucien was trying to use the identity Professor to pretend that he was a member from the Will of Elements, Lucien did not expect to have such a big trouble, and even his crystal ball did not suggest anything specific. After all, it was totally unexpected that even within the congress there was such great conflict between different factions. Although Lucien¡¯s only intentionšDas well as his major goalšDwas to find out who was the liaison in Sturk, this Mr. Felipe would definitely give him a hard time, and Lucien was almost regretful that he decided to use the identity of Professor without a second thought.
Lucien knew that he was in a dilemma. It was impossible for him to just admit everything right now in front of this guy.
"Well¡­ You¡¯re pretty straightforward, Professor," said Felipe. Then he pointed at the long couch on the other side of the study, "We still got some time before the gathering. I¡¯d like to have a conversation with you¡­ you know, to exchange some ideas."
Then Felipe turned to the viscount, "Do you mind?"
"Of course not. Go ahead." The viscount did not care. He raised his glass of wine a bit and nodded casually.
Although Lucien didn¡¯t want to talk to him at all, he forced himself to stay calm and sat down on the couch, "What do you want to talk about, Mr. Felipe?"
Inside Lucien¡¯s mind, he was praying that Felipe would not mention anything about the congress or the Kingdom of Holm. He knew nothing about them!
"No¡­ No¡­ No¡­" Lucien said to himself in his mind, and his heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his throat.
The pale flame in Felipe¡¯s eyes disappeared and his dark pupils came back.With a gloomy smile on his face, Felipe pointed at the man standing close by, "This is my student, Cleveland, and he¡¯s also a second circle sorcerer studying necromantic magic after me."
Lucien simply nodded to the middle-aged man.
Then Felipe continued, "Besides that, Cleveland¡¯s also interested in Element magic. After Mr. Donald won the twenty-fifth ring from Holm Crown prize recently with his groundbreaking research analyzing new elements by introducing the knowledge of spectral analysis, Cleveland is planning to write an arcana essay on spectral analysis as well. However, he definitely needs some help there and that¡¯s why I started to gain some interest in the field of Element as well. If you don¡¯t mind, Mr. Professor, maybe we can exchange some ideas over this topic." When he was talking with great confidence, Felipe crossed his fingers and Lucien noticed that his left hand was missing the little finger.
Although Lucien could tell that Felipe must be very confident when talking about the Element school, he felt very lucky that Felipe did not go to the directions where he knew nothing about.
Feeling a bit more relaxed, Lucien quickly started to analyze Felipe¡¯s intention. Now that Felipe did not ask him anything about the congress and the Kingdom of Holm, Lucien was certain that Felipe was not doubting his identity right now. Instead, he was talking about arcana, and that meant this topic was more important than anything else.
However, what Lucien wanted to figure out was that why a necromancer wanted to talk about elements and arcana? What could this do for him?
Lucien was guessing that Felipe was probably trying to test his knowledge or his arcana level.
Based on Lucien¡¯s past experience in the small circle of magic in Aalto, it was not difficult for Lucien to link knowledge to power in this world, which was also true in his original world. He was not almost certain that Felipe was trying to test his arcana level to figure out how powerful he actually was and then, based on that, to decide whether he should directly attack him, since the best way to figure out one¡¯s arcana level was to talk about the cutting-edged knowledge in the person¡¯s professional field.
Thinking of that, Lucien really learned his lesson this time. He knew that he was becoming more and more careless from many times of being lucky and getting abundant rewards. Fortunately, Felipe was only talking about the fundamental principles of Element arcana, and Lucien, being the opposite of the most common cases, had more profound knowledge of the scientific facts, which was understood as arcana knowledge here, behind the magic phenomena. In other words, Lucien¡¯s arcana level should be higher than that of his magic power.
"Mr. Professor?" Seeing that Lucien remaining silent, Felipe pushed him in a threatening tone, and the pale flame appeared in Felipe¡¯s eyes again. He was waiting for the mysterious Professor to reveal his knowledge and power.
Lucien smiled, "I happen to have some understanding in spectral analysis. However, I prefer that we do not dig into this field too much, since there¡¯s nothing else more valuable than knowledge, right? I can¡¯t just say everything to you straightforwardly without getting any compensation."
Spectrum was a topic that was relatively familiar to Lucien since he had read a couple of related books in his spirit library, and he also to some degree understood the principle of the atomic knowledge involved. Furthermore, according to Lucien, the researches in the field of Element, which was actually Chemistry in his original world, still remained at the macro level. In other words, sorcerers here acknowledged a bunch of chemical phenomena but without knowing why, and that was the key point limiting them from finding more new elements.
Speaking about this, after Lucien became a real sorcerer, some of the books in his spirit library were unlocked, and the knowledge in those unlocked books was all relatively basic.
Lucien did not realize the change in his spirit library until he first tried to do his astrology meditation during his trip. This also confirmed Lucien¡¯s guess that the seals of the books should come from the suppression of the power of the world's origin. Lucien could only contend with and unlock the seals by strengthening his soul and spiritual power.
"Fair enough. Although, to be honest, as a sorcerer from the Hand of Paleness, I quite dislike people from the Will of Element. I think we can be straightforward with this, ha. I do respect others¡¯ research results and I won¡¯t steal them," said Felipe. Seeing that Professor still remained quite calm, Felipe had a bad feeling that Professor might really have an insight into this field, which meant he was a sorcerer of high arcana level. And, in most cases, one¡¯s magic level should still be lower than the person¡¯s magic level.
Leaning against the couch, Lucien started his speech, "The theoretical basis of spectral analysis is that the combustion of different elements produces different flame colors and lights. While the flame colors can be overlapped and covered by each other, the spectrum cannot. Through the analysis called spectrocolorimetry, the ranges and colors of bright spectral lines are independent and they do not affect each other. And that¡¯s why spectral analysis can be used to identify different elements and discover new elements."
During Lucien¡¯s short speech, he also used a couple of elements for example, whose principles worked basically the same with some elements in his original world.
Felipe listened to Lucien¡¯s explanation carefully and raised a few questions from time to time. When Lucien finished his words, Felipe applauded gently and commented, "Impressive explanation. Even clearer and easier to understand than Mr. Donald¡¯s arcana paper."
Although he was saying so, Felipe started to keep an even stricter vigilance over the man sitting across him on the couch.
Seizing the chance, Lucien continued, "In fact, spectral analysis is more on the application side. In order to find new elements, we don¡¯t need to go too far more than just mechanically doing experiments. However, what we need to think about is why the spectrum of each element is different? Why don¡¯t they overlap? Why there are bright and dark spectral lines? As far as I¡¯m concerned, these are the directions that we shall pursue in order to deepen our arcana knowledge, and I believe that is Mr. Douglas¡¯ true intention of defining Arcana."
Felipe was very surprised with Professor¡¯s insight into the field, and even the viscount who was listening to their conversation casually on the other side of the study was touched by Professor¡¯s questions. When the arcanists in the Congress of Magic were still wild with joy with finding new elements, the man sitting on the couch was seeking for the nature of these findings.
"If we can explore more about the world itself¡­" Felipe murmured. He could not help but think of the shocking comment that master Douglas, the Emperor of Arcana, once addressed, and the young man sitting in front of him at that moment shocked him again.
"Professor¡¯s arcana level might be even higher than mine!" Felipe thought to himself.
...
It was almost the time for the Feast of Death.
All of a sudden, the huge castle started to move in the darkness of the night. The tall towers became its strong stone arms. When the arms pressed against the ground, the lower part of the castle was pulled out from the ground.
Keeping the balance, the castle secretly "walked" toward the mountains and gradually became invisible.
No wonder the location of the Feast of Death never changed¡­

Chapter 154: The Feast of Death
				Chapter 154: The Feast of Death
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Then there was a sophisticated smile on Felipe¡¯s pale face, "Professor, surely in the field of Element you really have an extraordinary insight and unique perspective. Someone like you should definitely enjoy great reputation and high status in the academic community. So, forgive my curiosity, I really wonder whether you¡¯re one of the people I know?"
Hearing Felipe¡¯s comment, Lucien knew that he got lucky again and barely passed Felipe¡¯s test this time. So Lucien laughed in a fake voice, "Maybe when I become a high-rank mage, and if we meet in Allyn again, I¡¯ll tell you, Felipe."
Facing Lucien¡¯s attitude of being confident and straightforward, Felipe was a bit pissed off. Lucien also sensed the change of Felipe¡¯s aura. Hearing many times that necromancers were even crazier than sorcerers from other schools, Lucien¡¯s heart was beating very fast, although no one could tell his great nervousness from the way he looked.
Even the viscount slowly put down his wine glass and became alert. Although he did not want to be involved in the conflict within the congress, Carendia of course would not want to see his castle being ruined.
At this very moment, Lucien calmly picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip, "Felipe, if you have no other questions regarding my research field, I would like to exchange some ideas with you about some unique ancient necromantic spells."
As a guest that hadn¡¯t been invited by Felipe himself, the major host of the Feast of Death, Lucien felt that he should take his revenge and retaliate after being tested, and also, a question like this should be proper to distract Felipe for a moment.
Although Felipe felt challenged, exactly as Lucien expected, for a second he forgot about the fact that he was going to lose his temper. Apparently, this cunning and mysterious Professor wanted to see how powerful and profound Felipe was.
Felipe¡¯s eyes gradually narrowed.
Seizing the chance, the viscount interposed between them, "I think we¡¯re running out of time now, Mr. Felipe and Mr. Professor. The Feast of Death is about to start. What about exchanging more ideas afterwards?"
"Sure," Lucien responded instantly.
Felipe also felt relieved that his conversation with Professor was ended by the viscount. So he stood up and apologized, "Sorry, I forgot about the time."
"No worries." Carendia waved his hand casually, and then he said to his steward, "Nied, can you lead Mr. Professor to the hall first? I still need to borrow a couple of minutes from Mr. Felipe."
Waiting until Lucien and Nied left the study, the viscount said to him, "Mr. Felipe, maybe you do not care, but this castle was left by my grandfather, and I cherish it a lot. So, if you really want a fight, please pick somewhere else."
Felipe lowered his head and smiled, "Although I often feel out of control, I still know how to respect the owner of a place. My viscount, you can rest assured. The only possibility that I would choose to have a fight with Professor is either if I could kill him within thirty seconds, or if he stepped on my toes."
In this crazy necromancer¡¯s dictionary, the premise of "respect the owner of a place" was that the owner should be powerful enough to be respected. Felipe remained respectful to the viscount since the latter¡¯s power was no inferior his, even though Carendia was not a senior-rank vampire yet.
"That¡¯ll be great." The viscount raised his glass again, "And I¡¯ll inform Mr. Professor as well."
Then, Carendia left the study for the gathering, and Felipe and Cleveland slowly followed him.
"Master, why didn¡¯t you attack Professor directly to test him? Anyone could tell that he¡¯s afraid of you from his way of dressing." Although Cleveland, the middle-aged man, was twice Felipe¡¯s size, he respected his master a lot, "He¡¯ll definitely bring trouble to us later during the feast."
Felipe slowly shook his head and answered, "I¡¯m glad that I tested him in a different way. I think his power has increased a lot since the time when he was first registered on the Church¡¯s Cleansing List."
Pausing his steps, Felipe took a glance at his student, Cleveland, and was about to tell his student something. After opening his mouth, Felipe changed his mind and said nothing but followed the viscount in silence.
...
Following the steward, Lucien felt that he was exhausted. Facing this crazy Felipe was a great test to Lucien¡¯s will and soul.
At the same time, Lucien also gained some information from their conversation. He could sort of figure it out that the faction which held hostility toward the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy seemed to be an organization called the Hand of Paleness. From its name, Lucien guessed that it was a necromancer group, and based on that, Lucien suspected that the intention of Felipe hosting this feast was to enroll more necromancers to expand the faction that he belonged to.
It was impossible for Lucien to directly ask Felipe who was the liaison in Sturk, since a middle-rank mage should be capable of just flying over Storm Strait. The last thing that Lucien could let Felipe know was that he was actually only a first circle sorcerer.
There were many thoughts flashing across Lucien¡¯s mind, but he remained silent all the way to the hall.
When Lucien stepped into the hall, he noticed the smell of death.
Although the hall was bright and grand, and the long tables were loaded with delicious cuisines and wine, Lucien had no appetite at all. While some of those gloomy necromancers and apprentices were holding glasses of wine and food dishes, others were eagerly exchanging brain tissues, eyeballs, skulls, rotten hearts and infant bodies for other materials and reagents that they needed or for money, all of that right beside the tables.
Despite the fact that Lucien was not afraid of a corpse and he was not completely unfamiliar with the organs, he still felt very nauseous. However, many of the necromancers and apprentices were still casually enjoying their drink and wine.
"No wonder the whole continent regards sorcerer as a symbol of evilness¡­" Lucien thought to himself, "It must be because of those necromancers, at least to a large degree."
"Good evening, Mr. Professor."
"Mr. Professor."
Seeing Lucien walking by, many apprentices lowered their heads and greeted him out of the admiration for his great power.
Lucien nodded to them and took over a glass of water from the waiter. As he was walking around the hall, Lucien was thinking how to deal with Felipe later.
"Mr. Professor¡­" someone greeted Lucien in a voice which sounded a bit familiar.
It was Fatty. Fatty and another couple of apprentices were squatting in a circle in a corner of the hall, exchanging some ideas.
"What¡¯s going on here?" Lucien asked casually with a bit of curiosity.
"Mr. Professor¡­ We¡¯re studying the human body." The other apprentices hurriedly stood up and answered Lucien¡¯s question.
The fourth-circle necromancer, Cessy, was also there.
"Mr. Professor, the apprentices are not only studying the organs of human body, but also trying to identify the changes of organs and bones brought by different diseases using magic," explained Cessy.
"Interesting. Are they your students?" asked Lucien.
"No." Cessy shook his head, "I just led them here. Mr. Professor, is there any similar study in the congress?"
"¡­" Lucien did not know what to say. After a few seconds, he answered in an ambiguous way, "¡­ at a higher level."
The other apprentices tried to get a bit closer to Professor, hoping that he could share more information from the congress.
"As what Professor just mentioned, the Congress of Magic is working on very in-depth study in human body, and the Hand of Paleness, which is the organization that I belong to, specializes in this area. And we¡¯ve also developed many new spells based on our knowledge, such as Pneumonia Curse." Felipe¡¯s voice came from behind.
"Mr. Felipe." The necromancers and the apprentices greeted.
Felipe looked at Lucien with a sophisticated glance and then turned to the rest of them, "I have something to declare."
Stepping onto the stage in the front of the hall, Felipe cleared his throat a bit,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯m Felipe from the Hand of Paleness, the Congress of Magic. We¡¯re gathering here tonight because of one thing," announced Felipe.

Chapter 155: Recruiting
				Chapter 155: Recruiting
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As Felipe was talking on the stage, the necromancers and apprentices began to pay attention to him and started to whisper to each other.
Viscount Carendia also showed holding his glass of wine, and he stood behind Lucien, "Mr. Professor, I can probably guess your intention of coming to the Feast of Death, but let me remind you that, if you want a fight, finish it as soon as possible, or I¡¯d have to ask you two to leave. Although I would like to see a fight between two top fifth circle sorcerers, the last thing I want to see is my castle being destroyed."
Lucien took a quick glance at the viscount. Inside his mind, he responded to the viscount¡¯s words in a sarcastic way, "You know my intention? Come on¡­ Even I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m here and what I¡¯m doing right now!"
The whole thing was now totally out of Lucien¡¯s expectation, and now he was tasting the bitterness caused by his boldness.
"What if I¡¯m only here to take a look around?" Lucien¡¯s face was covered by his hood, and he answered politely, "Sometimes, fighting is the most useless thing."
"Interesting." The viscount shortly commented and then turned to look at the people standing on the stage.
Besides Felipe, now there were another four necromancers who were the chosen representatives of the crowd: the old necromancer, Cessy; a plain-looking female necromancer, Tess; a young necromancer named Quentin; and and a horrible-looking necromancer named Sidney whose face and hands were covered with big scares sewed by threads. They were also the only four middle-rank sorcerers from the land which originally belonged to Wilfred, who inherited the tradition of the ancient magic empire. Two of them were of fourth circle, and two of them were of third circle.
"You don¡¯t want to get on the stage?" asked the viscount in a joking way.
Lucien rolled his eyes under his hood and answered ironically again in his mind, "Sure I¡¯ll get on the stage and find a perfect way to get myself killed¡­ Why not?"
Of course, Lucien could not say something like that to the viscount. Therefore, pretending that he was profound and mysterious, Lucien said to Carendia, "Sometimes standing away from the stage can make you see more."
The viscount clinked his glass with that of Lucien and commented, "No wonder your pseudonym is Professor."
On the wood stage, Cessy kept his usual expressionless face when he asked, "Mr. Felipe, thank you for inviting us here and offering us a chance to gather together and exchange our knowledge and magic materials. The gathering is already a feast for us who were hiding all the time in the darkness like mice living in caves. I wonder what else do you want to discuss with us?"
Felipe¡¯s eyes were staring at Lucien. Seeing that Professor was not planning to disturb his speech for now, he turned to all the sorcerers and apprentices present and started to talk again in his deep but loud voice, "I¡¯m sure that all of you have suffered and are still suffering lots of difficulties here, the land which once belonged to the greatest necromancer, Wilfred. You folks are worrying that one day the Church might come for you. You folks are worried every single day, even during your meditation, that one day you¡¯d be killed by some random adventurers, knights, priests. And you folks are so disturbed that you cannot fall asleep at night¡­"
In the nations controlled by the church, every sorcerer and apprentice shared more or less similar experiences. After hearing the Felipe¡¯s words, they could not help but nod, even including Lucien.
"Wow¡­ Mr. Professor, are you agreeing with Mr. Felipe?" Viscount Carendia was a bit surprised to see that Lucien was nodding as well.
"Of course. What he just said is true," said Lucien in a tolerant manner.
"You cannot tell your relatives and friends who you are," Felipe continued. "You have no one to share the outcome of your research and experiment. You have no one to share your happiness and sadness. And you know that you can never achieve what you want in your life, even though you deserve it!"
The crowd was oppressed by the silence. They all had their bitterness that they could only handle on their own because of their status.
"So, tell me, do you want to continue to live in this miserable life?" Felipe asked aloud.
An apprentice was touched, and he burst out a cry, "No! Not at all!"
And his answer called upon more responses. More and more of the necromancers and apprentices present started to cry out, "No!"
"We can¡¯t take it anymore!"
"We don¡¯t!"
The crowd in the hall became irritated and the people were shouting out of their long-repressed anger.
Lucien did not say anything but stared at Felipe quietly. He was waiting to see if there would be any useful information for him in Felipe¡¯s speech.
Until the crowd slowly calmed down, the four representatives exchanged a look between each other and then Cessy took the initiative, "We never wanted a life like this, Mr. Felipe. We¡¯re living this life because we¡¯ve got no choice. Can we get rid of all that? Can the Continental Congress of Magic help us?"
Finally, a relatively gentle smile appeared on Felipe¡¯s pale face. He nodded and answered determinedly, "Yes. And I¡¯m here to help you all."
There was a stir in the crowd again.
"In the a few countries where magic study is protected by the Continental Congress of Magic, we don¡¯t have to hide at all. We can feel totally safe when we meditate at home, conduct experiments in a lab without having to worry about the Church. Not only that, these kingdoms also allow sorcerers to become their city councilors, which is the equivalent of the status of a noble. And if you have enough power and prestige to become a member of a Royal Magic Academy, you¡¯d be a councilor from the House of Lords¡­"
Felipe¡¯s words totally shocked the necromancers and apprentices. Although some of them did actually hear the name of the congress before, they never thought that the kingdoms that were protected by the congress could be such a paradise for them.
"Please let me finish, ladies and gentlemen." Felipe pressed his hand down in order to let the crowd quiet down, "More importantly, in the Continental Congress of Magic, as long as you¡¯re capable enough, you can learn different levels of meditation, get all kinds of magic materials and items, and even have the access to learn arcana and the most cutting-edge researches in your field. Ladies and gentlemen, do you want to join us?"
"Of course!" Some of the apprentices answered directly out of great excitement, while some felt that what Felipe just described was almost to good to be true.
Some of them started to feel suspicious. After all, nothing is truly free in this world.
"Mr. Felipe," Cessy coughed a bit and said to him, "I¡¯m sure that many of us are willing to join the congress for sure. However, what I want you to be clear here is¡­ what do you need us to do?"
Seeing that they were heading toward the right direction, Felipe nodded with satisfaction, "Since the church has blocked the path toward the headquarter of the Congress of Magic, it is not easy for us to lead all of you to break the blockade."
Then Felipe stopped himself and shifted to another topic, "Back in the days when the ancient magic empire still existed, the conflict among the eight major factions was already there. And it is the same with the Congress of Magic today as well. Facing the competition and conflict, the best solution for individuals to survive is unity."
Then Felipe cleared his throat and addressed the crowd in an even louder voice, "I¡¯m a member of the Hand of Paleness, which is jointly established by the grand arcanist, Vicente Miranda, known as ¡®Thanatos¡¯, and the legendary archmage, Congus, known as Demigod-lich. The Hand of Paleness is an influential organization that is still fast growing for the sake of the unity of necromancers, and that¡¯s why it is also the most ideal choice for all of you to join."
Lucien was listening to Felipe¡¯s speech with interest. Now he felt what Felipe was conveying was almost like multi-level marketing.
Although many of them had no idea what did the title of grand arcanist stood for, they knew how powerful a legendary archmage should be. At this time, Tess took a step forward and asked, "If the Hand of Paleness is really like what you just described, I personally would like to join you without doubt. But what I want to ask you is what do we have to do after we join the organization."
Tess still remained relatively calm. She knew that there was always a price to pay for everything.
"Good question." Felipe nodded, "Let¡¯s tap about what benefit you can have after joining us first. First of all, you can get a magic item according to your current power level. Secondly, you¡¯ll have powerful and profound sorcerers to be your supervisors to introduce you to the contemporary magic system. Thirdly, we¡¯ll never take away your own research outcome and your own property. That is to say, what is yours will always be yours."
"However," Felipe paused a bit, "we do have one requirement for our members. When you receive a task from the organization, you cannot turn it down. If the task was completed, you¡¯d be awarded, but if you fail, you¡¯d be punished as well."
"More and more like multi-level marketing¡­" Lucien thought to himself. He was still waiting for the possible information from Felipe about the liaison in Sturk.
Alluring as Felipe¡¯s description was, the requirement woke the necromancers and apprentices up immediately.
For sure, there was nothing truly free in the world.
"What if someone turns down the task?" asked Cessy carefully.
"Two situations. For senior-rank mages, penalty or alternative task. Below that level, penalty, physical punishment, mental punishment, or death¡­ depends on the given task," answered Felipe directly. "According to the latest finding of arcana, energy is conserved. You pay for what you get. Everyone should make their own choice. And due to the restrictions, we can only bring sorcerers to the headquarter of the Congress of Magic. For apprentices, as long as you sign the magic contract, I will leave you some books and materials to help you grow to become a sorcerer as soon as possible. Every year there will be a liaison bringing new sorcerers to the congress." Felipe further explained.
Due to his words, some of the senior apprentices present started to feel excited again since they had been struggling with their next-level breakthrough for a long time. Now they finally found a possible way out. Besides, some tasks from the organization might now be that dangerous, they thought.
After Felipe finished his speech, he stared at Lucien with his cold eyes, because that moment was the perfect time for Professor to ruin his recruiting.

Chapter 156: Felipe¡¯s Tyranny
				Chapter 156: Felipe¡¯s Tyranny
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien was under Felipe¡¯s gaze, all of a sudden, he thought of something.
Since both the viscount and Felipe thought that the reason why Professor was here was to disturb the gathering, if Lucien decided to just wait there and watch until the end of the feast, that would be very suspicious of him.
Lucien felt that he had to bring some trouble to the feast in order to make his presence reasonable. However, he needed to be very careful about keeping the balance and the degree to which he would piss Felipe off. Ideally, the problem caused by Professor should be troublesome but still within Felipe¡¯s capability to be solved.
Lucien had to carefully think about how to do it.
While Lucien was occupied by his own thoughts, on the stage, Cessy, the most powerful necromancer on the territory once belonging to Wilfred, asked, "Mr. Felipe, since the rules of the organization you represent are very strict, I don¡¯t think that the four of us can make the decision for everyone present. It is really an individual thing."
As he was speaking, Tess, Sidney and Quentin were also nodding. Seeing that there was a cold smile on Felipe¡¯s face, Cessy hurriedly added, "Of course, I personally would like to follow you to the congress and join the Hand of Paleness, but before that, what I want to ask is whether I can collect bodies in the nations controlled by the congress without needing to hide all the time?"
Felipe smiled to Cessy, who was the first one willing to join the organization, "Mr. Cessy, according to the agreement reached by the congress and the several kingdoms, you can¡¯t destroy cemeteries or kill ordinary people to get the bodies you want, you need to have an agreement with a person who¡¯s willing to let you dispose of his or her body after the person¡¯s death. But, of course, if you kill your enemy, any magic creature or beasts, they¡¯re all yours."
"Well¡­ I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be enough," Cessy frowned, "unless your organization can provide us with enough bodies for our research." 
The rest of the necromancers and apprentices felt the same way. For these sorcerers who were the inheritors of the ancient magic system, without bodies, they could not see any possible progress in their magic researches.
Seeing that all the necromancers and apprentices present were hesitating, and Professor still remained mysterious and calm, Felipe became irritated, and he started to rise his tone, "You guys can never imagine the great progress made by arcana and magic within the past hundreds of years, just as you can never imagine, without your filthy bodies, how you can grow stronger and more powerful!"
The people present in the hall got a bit confused with Felipe¡¯s emotional thing all of a sudden.
However, Felipe continued furiously and regardlessly, "What¡¯s more, through the collision of the two theories ¡ª¡®Waves of Spiritual Power' and ¡®Particles of Spiritual Power¡¯, a series of highly efficient, high-level meditation have been broadly applied with lower requirements. Most of the meditating methods on your books are out of date!"
Lucien was listening to Felipe¡¯s speech carefully, while other people were now shocked.
Felipe was almost yelling now, "Can you believe that the meditation which was only available for senior-rank mages is now accessible to any sorcerer?
"Can you believe that there are new spells coming out every month?
"Can you imagine a middle-rank mage who¡¯s only twenty years old?
"Can you imagine a senior-rank mage who¡¯s only thirty years old?
"Can you imagine an archmage who¡¯s fifty years old, or a legendary archmage who¡¯s eighty?
"Only in the headquarter of the Congress of Magic you can know how advanced arcana and magic are right now!"
Lucien did not know what other people were thinking right now, but he was certain that he would go to the congress one day. Although he was very profound with his spirit library, the biggest challenge facing him was the channel to turn his knowledge into real power. In this new era of magic, Lucien knew that he needed to make progress all the time in order to be strong!
Then, after taking a glance at Lucien in contempt, Felipe said to them, "There¡¯s no worry that you might be discriminated by other sorcerers in the congress, my necromancers. The School of Necromancy is right now one of the most popular fields following Force and Electromagnetics, since it specializes in studying the secret of life and prolonging people¡¯s life-span. And as for the School of Element, it is not even close to us. Although a human body is composed of all different kinds of elements, without the power of life, the elements cannot turn themselves into any part of a human body, neither blood, or muscle, or organs¡­ anything! The attempts trying to prolong people¡¯s life-span based on the theories of the School of Element all failed!
"The secret of the origin of life and the key of prolonging life-span can only be revealed and showed by the School of Necromancy. No other schools can compete with us!" declared Felipe.
All the necromancers and apprentices were nodding out of pride and yearning feelings for the congress.
Meanwhile, Felipe¡¯s words reminded Lucien that, in this world, it seemed that the School of Element was still not advanced enough to synthesize organic materials.
Because of the School of Necromancy, the theory of Life Force was more dominant than the other theories in Element. Based on Lucien¡¯s current knowledge, human body, soul and life force were not the same thing, but these three were integrated together in a way that Lucien could not figure it out right now. Despite all of that, Lucien believed that it was still possible to synthesize different parts of a human body.
"Maybe I can start from here¡­" Lucien thought to himself.
When Lucien¡¯s brain was working fast, Felipe raised his hands up and said loudly, "In the new era of magic, joining the Hand of Paleness can bring you the great fortune of knowledge that you can¡¯t even imagine, and the Hand of Paleness can thrive because of all of you joining! So, I propose here: sign the magic contract with me, all of you."
Felipe took a step forward and started to act crazily, "That¡¯s my proposal. Who agrees? Who opposes?"
After a while of silence, Quentin, the young necromancer, said to Felipe politely, "Mr. Felipe, thank you. But I think I still prefer my free life, instead of being constrained by an organization."
After all, there was still another gentleman from the congress, there might be other ways with lower cost to get to the congress.
Felipe turned around and stared at Quentin with his cold eyes, "You sure, Mr. Quentin?"
"¡­Yes," answered Quentin with some kind of alertness.
"All right." Felipe nodded. Then, the pale fire appeared in his eyes and he pointed at Quentin with his right hand. Immediately, the black smoke surrounding Quentin, which should protect him from the great danger, was driven away, and Quentin¡¯s body was totally drained, as if all the water in his body had evaporated.
Felipe killed him within a second. Felipe killed a third circle sorcerer within a second!
Countless faces of revenants appeared surrounding Felipe and built up a transparent wall around him. Then, he asked again, "My proposal. Who agrees? Who opposes?"
The protection Felipe was wearing was a standard fifth circle spell, Revenant Wall. And the spell he had just used to kill Quentin looked like the single target, lower-level version of the eighth circle spell, Wilting, which should be something new that was developed by the congress.
People were afraid of him. They were afraid of that crazy man, and they would rather die later, instead of right now.
"One more time. I will ask again. My proposal. Who agrees? Who opposes?"
No one dared look at Felipe¡¯s eyes.
"I oppose," said a calm voice from among the crowd.
This was not a surprise to Felipe. Professor walked onto the stage in his black hood.

Chapter 157: Theory of Life Force
				Chapter 157: Theory of Life Force 
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Professor?!" exclaimed some of the apprentices.
Step by step, Lucien walked to the stage, under the gaze of several hundreds of people.
The necromancers and apprentices who did not want to join the Hand of Paleness were encouraged, but soon they started to feel concerned, since they did not know if Professor was powerful enough to face this crazy man, even though his name was on the Cleansing List.
"Is Mr. Professor gonna be okay?" Fatty asked one of his companions carefully in a low voice, with his teeth clattering.
"Of course¡­" answered the stout apprentice, Bread. He was trying to comfort Fatty and also himself, "You think anyone can be on the church¡¯s list?"
"How do you know Mr. Felipe is not on the list as well?" interjected Wine. Both Wine and Garrupa were still feeling very unsure.
Interesting enough, when Lucien was walking toward the stage, his mind was divided in two opposite thoughts: part of him felt extremely nervous and afraid, however, the other part of him somehow felt the whole thing a bit funny, out of the great pressure.
Felipe¡¯s eyes were freezing cold, "Mr. Professor, what do you want to say? I already did what I didn¡¯t want to do, and it¡¯s impossible for me to back away. If you can¡¯t give me a reasonable explanation, I think either you or me will die on this stage."
The corner of Lucien¡¯s lips twitched a bit. He really wanted to suggest Felipe to sit down and have a cup of tea first to calm down a little bit before their conversation.
Despite all these thoughts, Lucien answered calmly, "I¡¯m from the Will of Elements, and I don¡¯t really mind the fact that the Hand of Paleness is trying to grow by recruiting more people." The last thing Lucien wanted to do was piss off Felipe right away.
Felipe was confused, "What do you mean? Why are you here, then?"
The rest of the necromancers and apprentices were surprised to know that Professor also belonged to an organization from the congress.
"I¡¯m here because I don¡¯t like your way of recruiting people." Then Lucien changed his tone, "No one should be forced to join anything, and correspondingly, no one should blame anyone else for the following consequence."
"Very good." Felipe applauded, "But, what if forcing people is exactly my style?"
Felipe was pushing Professor to his limit, and he was ready for a bitter fight.
At this time, Lucien switched the topic without directly answering Felipe¡¯s question, "Also, I don¡¯t agree with you on what you just commented on the School of Element. I¡¯d like to further discuss it with you."
"What comment?" Felipe felt even more confused now.
What did Professor want to do?
"According to what you just said, you think that the foundation of the human body is life force, and without the integration of life force, only the elements can¡¯t be synthesized to build any part of the human body, such as blood, muscle, or all kinds of impurities, right?" asked Lucien with patience.
Felipe did not expect that Professor actually wanted to argue with him about this topic right now on the stage, and he laughed, "That¡¯s the case. And the secret of human body is not what you, a bunch of people who play with elements all the time, can understand."
"What your statement is based on?" asked Lucien.
"Mr. Professor, from all the researches conducted back in the time of the ancient magic empire until today¡¯s mainstream belief in the congress, I can¡¯t find anything that made me doubt the theory of Life Force. Even the church admits that life force is the essence of human body. When there is no life force, a lost limb can¡¯t grow back. The only difference between the Church and us in understanding life force is that while they believe that life force is given by God, we¡¯re still seeking for the answer from the origin of the world." Felipe confidently elaborated his belief, "A couple of decades ago, several senior-rank mages attempted to synthesize human muscle only with elements but failed, and at that time, even you Element sorcerers admitted that this was not going to work. Now you want to totally overthrow the research foundation built by all the previous arcanists and sorcerers? Are you kidding me?"
For sure, Felipe¡¯s words were both aggressive and persuasive. In his world, since the theory of Life Force was the foundation of the School of Necromancy, it could not be shaken and would not be shaken for eternity.
The rest of the necromancers and apprentices felt the same way as Felipe. Since they never experienced the time in which arcana knowledge exploded, they still respected and highly praise the Book of Necromancy just like pious followers worshipped Canons. Although they knew that Professor was helping them, the necromancers and apprentices still felt that what Professor was trying to say was ridiculous.
Even the viscount, who was only watching everything going on the stage with his glass of wine, started to get a bit more excited, since basically Professor was trying to challenge the foundation of arcana.
That was exactly what Lucien wanted to do to distract Felipe.
Lucien looked around the hall and noticed that Sidney was the only one who still looked serious.
"It looks like only Mr. Sidney is on my side?" asked Professor, "Mr. Sidney¡¯s the only one who is not laughing at me right now."
"I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Professor. My face, because of the transformation ritual, cannot make any facial expression," answered Sidney with the same face.
A bunch of people chuckled.
"What if I say, Mr. Felipe," Lucien turned around regardlessly and said to him calmly, "that I can synthesize parts of human body only with elements or non-life force materials, do you believe that?"
On Earth, the field studying organic matter had also been dominated by the theory of Life Force for a long time in history. However, in the 19th century, when acetic acid, carbamide and other organic matters were artificially synthesized successively, this secret of the theory was completely revealed.
Everyone quieted down in the hall.
"It¡¯s impossible. Who do you think you are¡­ a Holm Crown prize winner?" Felipe laughed, "Stop saying nonsense! Speak your true intention!"
"I think Mr. Professor¡¯s just trying¡­ trying to play a joke," mediated Cessy.
"Only a real experiment can speak for me." Professor continued, "If you don¡¯t believe my words, do you want to make a bet with me?"
"What the hell do you want?" Felipe asked furiously.
"If I can synthesize something contained in the human body without using anything that carries life force, you will tell everyone here who is the liaison from the Congress of Magic in Sturk, and let them decide on their own whether they should join the Hand of Paleness or not. If I fail, I will apologize to you, and then leave the feast immediately. What do you think?" asked Lucien.

Chapter 158: Synthesizing
				Chapter 158: Synthesizing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Felipe put his hands back into the pockets of his black coat. Although he still looked calm, there were countless thoughts in his heart. Either Professor was a real madman, or he must be very confident that his experiment would be successful.
Felipe started to feel hesitant. He was not sure whether he should make the bet with Professor, or just fight with him. After all, the Church commented Professor as "extremely cunning and dangerous".
In the end, Felipe could not resist his curiosity and, at the same time, his confidence in the theory of Life Force pushed him to make the decision. He had to admit that he also wanted to see if the fundamental theory of Necromancy would be overthrown just like the previous ancient theories.
Felipe was also an arcanist, and Lucien was exactly betting on his desire toward more advanced knowledge and also his curiosity.
"Except for apologizing¡­ if you lost the bet, you would lose nothing, Professor." Felipe responded slowly.
The rest of the necromancers and apprentices were very surprised. It seemed that Felipe was really going to make the bet with Professor.
Although Lucien was very excited in his mind, he answered shortly and calmly, "My mission would fail, at least."
Felipe took out his left hand and clenched it into a fist. His tone became firm, "All right, Mr. Professor. I¡¯ll make this bet with you. Let¡¯s make the devil pact."
According to Astrology and Elements, magic pact is something seeking notarization from different great powers in this world. According to the levels of the covenanters, the notarization powers varied: from common magic power to the devil or even to the original power of the world. For middle-ranked mages, the devil pact was the most suitable. If a covenanter did not keep his or her promise, the person would be punished by the power of the pact.
"I trust Mr. Felipe, and I also trust myself. We don¡¯t need a pact," answered Lucien calmly. In fact, he was not capable of summoning the devil, and even if the devil was summoned by Felipe, his true level of power would be recognized by the devil immediately, "If I was not reliable, I don¡¯t think the viscount would even invite me to the gathering." Lucien looked at Viscount Carendia.
The viscount was a bit surprised that, all of a sudden, his name was mentioned. His guess was that Professor did not want to leave his real name on the pact, so he nodded and said, "I can be the witness, and all the people here are the witnesses as well."
Felipe nodded, "I agree. Then, start your experiment, Mr. Professor."
Lucien waved his hands, "In order to be fair. I tell you what to do, and Mr. Felipe, you conduct the experiment."
"Fair enough." Felipe nodded, "Give me a second to build the lab."
The reason that Lucien asked Felipe to do the experiment was because he was not capable of doing it himself.
Felipe took out a fist-sized golden cabin from his pocket and took out a bunch of mini-sized alchemy equipment.
As soon as this pieces of equipment left the cabin, under Felipe¡¯s control, they grew back to their original size. Soon, a small but fully equipped lab was built.
Lucien hoped that he would have something like this as well in the future, but he had no idea how to get it.
When Felipe was building the lab, the necromancers and apprentices facing the stage started to whisper to each other again.
"Do you think Professor can really synthesize any ingredient for life?" asked Fatty with a mixed feeling.
"No way." Wine shook his head immediately, "The theory of Life Force is the eternal truth, which is built by many legendary archmages in the past."
"Yes. It is the eternal truth for us." A necromancer looked back at them and nodded seriously, "Or how could we successfully synthesize human body parts in the past?"
"But if Professor failed¡­" Fatty said in a low voice, "If he failed, we must join the Hand of Paleness. Honestly, I¡¯d rather find the Church and be a night watcher if that¡¯s the case."
"Maybe Mr. Professor is planning to attack Felipe when he¡¯s conducting the experiment¡­ to strike him when Felipe is unprepared." Bread also lowered his voice. He hated Felipe a lot.
"Contemptible¡­" Garrupa took a glance at Bread, "but I like it!"
"Naive¡­" The necromancer put on a cold smile, "You think Felipe would be that stupid? You think the viscount would be just an onlooker?"
On the stage, Sidney also whispered, "What does Mr. Professor want to do?" He was confused since he never thought the experiment would be successful.
"No idea. I¡¯d rather put more thoughts into how to survive in the Hand of Paleness," Tess answered.
Cessy also shook his head, "I¡¯ve made up my mind. I¡¯m going to join the Hand of Paleness, no matter if his experiment works or not."
Sidney remained silent for a while and then nodded, "You guys are right. Joining the Hand of Paleness seems to be the best choice for us right now."
"Mr. Professor, let¡¯s start." Felipe¡¯s eyes looked a bit crazy.
Lucien quickly browsed through the journal Arcana that he once read and copied in his spirit library to make sure that the chemical elements he remembered were right, and then he said to Felipe, "Gather nitrogen and hydrogen and store them separately."
Lucien was trying to use the industrial way to synthesize carbamide, which was the first artificial synthesis of organic matter on Earth. The reason why Lucien did not go for the laboratory method was that some of the chemical symbols involved in this process were not familiar to him, and he did not want to give Felipe any reason to doubt his true power.
Also, at the same time, the industrial way was simple, and the several experimental substances were very common. Their chemical symbols were familiar to Lucien because he once read about them in the journal. As for the required environment of high temperature and pressure, in this magic world, it was not something hard to achieve.
Gas Separation was just a common magic for sorcerers. Felipe thought that the beginning of the experiment would be different.
"A piece of magnet¡­" Lucien made Felipe put the catalyst into the reactor, "Mix the gas according to the proper percentage, and then heat it to about five hundred degrees, and the pressure is¡­"
Following Lucien¡¯s instruction, Felipe tried his best to turn on all the alchemy magic circles and meet the requirement of temperature and pressure.
After the reaction finished, Felipe sensed the container, "Nothing, Mr. Professor."
"Not yet," Lucien answered with patience. "Separate nitrogen and hydrogen, and keep the remaining gas."
"Ah¡­ ammonia gas." Felipe shrugged, "You could¡¯ve told me earlier. I have some previously made ammonia gas in my lab."
Lucien, in fact, did not know how to say ammonia in this world. He did not respond, but continued his instruction, "Cool it down and let it liquefy. Then, separate it to get carbon dioxide."
Felipe could already tell what Professor wanted to do here. He did not believe that this simple experiment could produce carbamide.
Following Lucien¡¯s requirement, Felipe put the liquid ammonia and carbon dioxide into reactor again.
Again, high temperature and high pressure. But this time, the temperature was only about two hundred or so, and the pressure was lower than the last time.
"Keep the temperature and pressure, and let¡¯s wait for a while." Lucien nodded.
Felipe, the viscount, the necromancers and apprentices were all waiting. They believed that this was still one step of the experiment. The theory of Life Force would not be overthrown by a simple experiment.
They were waiting.

Chapter 159: The Product from the Experiment
				Chapter 159: The Product from the Experiment
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The whole hall was silent. No one spoke a word, since they were all waiting for the outcome of the experiment.
A while later, when people started to whisper to each other again, Lucien said, "Mr. Felipe, you can open the reactor now."
Strictly following the procedures of doing a magic experiment, Felipe turned on a series of magic circles for safety protection one by one.
When the reactor was opened, and when the temperature was back to normal, Felipe collected the small amount of white particles lying at the bottom of the container and then turned to Lucien, "What¡¯s the next step, Professor?"
"You don¡¯t want to check these particles, Mr. Felipe?" Lucien answered with a mysterious smile underneath his hood.
"What do you mean¡­ These particles are¡­?" Felipe was confused for a second, and so were the rest of the people.
"Yes, Mr. Felipe." Lucien nodded calmly, "This is the end of the experiment. These particles are things contained within a human body."
"What?!" The crowd was shocked, "These white particles are¡­ an ingredient for life?!"
A great stir started to gather its momentum in the hall. The necromancers and apprentices could not believe what they saw.
Felipe stared at Professor with his great, mixed feelings. He could not accept the fact that an experiment synthesizing an ingredient for life would be this simple.
"You¡¯d better not be kidding me, Professor." After quite a while, Felipe finally responded.
Lucien was also nervous. He knew that Felipe might lose his temper at anytime. However, he still answered in a calm tone, "You can check it yourself, Mr. Felipe. Those particles is carbamide¡­ the organic matter you were talking about."
As soon as Lucien uttered the word, people in the hall stopped whispering and talking and went back to silence.
"Mr¡­ Mr. Felipe, please check the particles," asked the necromancers on the stage. They were afraid, excited and thrilled. They were staring at the particles with great concern, as if it was not something ordinary that could be simply produced by human body, but something so powerful like a taboo that could destroy their world.
Felipe looked rather gloomy and serious. Slowly, he walked back to the reactor again and opened it. Then, he used the first circle magic, Identification, to check the particles.
As the white light flashed past, Felipe stood there, staring at these particles without saying anything, like a statue.
After more than a minute, Cessy could not wait anymore. Carefully, he asked, "Mr. Felipe, is it¡­ carbamide?"
The rest of the necromancers and apprentices were also looking at Felipe, waiting for his confirmation.
As if Felipe was in a different world, he did not answer Cessy¡¯s question. After another minute again, finally, he slowly answered, "Yes, it is carbamide."
No one made a sound after Felipe responded. All of a sudden, they felt that all the experiments that they had done and all the theories that they had learned were just like a dream. The experiment showed that their effort was worth nothing.
Felipe suddenly turned around and said to Lucien in a higher pitch, "Mr. Professor, Identification is not accurate from time to time. I need to use other experiments to make sure what is these particles."
Felipe was not finding excuses. Indeed, Identification was a spell built on the caster¡¯s own knowledge level. So if the caster did not have a profound knowledge in the corresponding field, the magic would go wrong sometimes.
Hearing Felipe¡¯s words, Cessy and the other necromancers and apprentices regained their hope again. They could not admit that their belief was wrong, and no one would easily admit that something he or she had been pursuing for the whole life was fundamentally not correct.
People often tended to make all kinds of excuses to deceive themselves.
"Go ahead." Lucien did not care how many times Felipe needed to verify the outcome of the experiment.
The bottles, glass tubes and weights were making low sounds on the stage when Felipe was doing the verification experiment with his trembling hands.
One experiment after another, Felipe looked more and more frustrated.
"Bang!" A metal container was thrown into the sink. Felipe lowered his head, with his back toward Lucien, and said with depression, "Yes, it is carbamide."
"It¡¯s not possible!"
Some necromancers burst out bitter cries.
Their world collapsed.
Sidney slowly raised up his hands, which were covered with stitches and scars. He could not believe what he just witnessed: if the theory of Life Force was not correct, how came he could use this body?
Comparatively speaking, the apprentices felt the outcome less shocking, and some of them were right now blaming the origin of necromancy for making them fail at becoming a real sorcerer, instead of their own lack of intelligence.
When Lucien was about to lead the topic into another direction, in case Felipe would completely lose his temper on him, Felipe turned around. "Mr. Professor, this is not your victory," said Felipe stubbornly. "I don¡¯t think carbamide is an ingredient for life, instead, carbamide is just some filthy excreta from the human body. It exists between life ingredients and non-life ingredients. In fact, your experiment cannot explain anything."
Like a beast guarding its territory, Felipe sought for any possible reason to dispute. If it were not for the fact that he had no idea how powerful Professor was, he might have already resolved this academic dispute with violence.
"Yes, carbamide is not an ingredient for life!" A couple of necromancers started to follow Felipe¡¯s viewpoint.
Although Lucien was quite happy to see what was going on here right now, he still pretended that he was angry, "Mr. Felipe, you¡¯re not playing fair!"
There was a reason why Lucien chose carbamide to be the organic compound produced by this experiment. Although Lucien wanted to win, he needed to make sure that, after the experiment, Felipe would have some space to do his sophistry. Because, again, Lucien could not destroy Felipe¡¯s belief completely, otherwise, he would probably go completely mad.
There was a cunning smile on Felipe¡¯s face, and he said to the viscount, "We don¡¯t regard carbamide as an ingredient for life, but something existing in human body. I believe that the viscount and the rest of the necromancers and apprentices would definitely agree with me."
Viscount Carendia nodded, "Mr. Professor, your experiment is so simple that it is out of the expectation of all of us. And I admit that no one ever did this¡ªproducing carbamide by using non-life ingredients only. Your experiment is surely a milestone, and I believe that the experiment is meaningful enough to put your name on the candidate list for Holm Crown prize and to win you lots of arcana points. However, I also agree with Mr. Felipe that carbamide can¡¯t be regarded as a life ingredient. After all, it¡¯s very hard to imagine that something filthy like human body excreta could contain any life ingredient. If you want to win, you gotta show us more."
"Yes, a life ingredient from urine? That¡¯s a humiliation to life!" someone in the crowd cried.
And more and more people joined the voice of opposition, with their joy from the fact that the theory of Life Force had not been completely overthrown.
"Exactly, Mr. Professor." Felipe shrugged his shoulders with a smile, "Most of us don¡¯t see carbamide as a life ingredient. You gotta show us more if you want to persuade us¡­"
"I said an ingredient contained in the human body," answered Lucien in a sounded angry voice, "And I¡¯m still working on other further experiments. They¡¯re not ready yet."
"I remember what you said¡­" Felipe was about to say something aggressive, but he stopped himself.
Felipe also did not want to piss off Professor completely. The way he viewed Professor was exactly the same as the way Lucien viewed him.
"Your sophistry made you lose your manner, and their ignorance made them miss the greatest chance to witness the revolution in both the school of element and necromancy." Lucien still pretended that he was angry, "I don¡¯t have anything more solid than this to prove that you people are wrong right now, but I will in the future."
"Then how do you want to end our bet, Mr. Professor?" asked Felipe.
"It¡¯s a draw. I¡¯m leaving right now. I¡¯ll not interfere you with what you¡¯re doing here. And I¡¯ll not affect the choices made by the necromancers and apprentices." Lucien turned to Felipe, "And you, Mr. Felipe, you need to tell them who¡¯s the liaison from the congress in Sturk. At least you should give some hope to the apprentices who cannot go to the congress right now, before they can really become sorcerers."

Chapter 160: Get Rid of the Danger
				Chapter 160: Get Rid of the Danger
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In Felipe¡¯s eyes, Professor was still struggling to save his last dignity. After all, his request could not really do harm to him. Felipe could just add one article in the pact that the necromancers and apprentices present were not allowed to inform their students or friend of the liaison¡¯s identity in Sturk.
As Felipe had already obtained his victory, he would rather keep the current balance between Professor and him, instead of initiating an unnecessary fight.
"All right." Felipe nodded, "Upon your request, Professor."
Then, he turned around and said to all the necromancers and apprentices present, "In sturk, known as the Bright Pearl of the Sea, there is a bank called ShinyGold. Its owner, Mr. Granneuve, is one of the responsible for maintaining the secret order of the city, and also the liaison of the Congress of Magic. He¡¯s the person responsible for sending sorcerers and some of the lucky apprentices to Allyn through the Church's blockade line."
After that, Felipe looked at Professor and shrugged, "I kept my words. It¡¯s your turn now, Mr. Professor."
Lucien was still pretending that he was pissed off by the necromancers and apprentices in the hall, "You all will eventually taste the bitterness of your own ignorance. Your misery comes from your own incapability of telling who is your enemy and who is your friend. Your misery will last forever."
Those people who were feeling excited about the fact that Professor¡¯s experiment did not overthrow the theory of Life Force suddenly got discouraged. They realized that it was seemingly impossible from them to get rid of the Hand of Paleness right now.
Although many of the necromancers and apprentices started to feel extremely concerned about what they were going to face later, ecstasy seized Lucien¡¯s mind for he would be soon out of this dangerous place and then he could stay far away from this crazy necromancer, Felipe.
With his fake anger, Lucien strode to come down from the stage without giving the necromancers and apprentices any extra look when he was walking through the crowd.
"Mr. Viscount Carendia, please allow me to make an early leave." Lucien slightly bowed to the owner of the place.
Carendia slightly raised his glass, "Thank you, Mr. Professor, for showing me the cutting-edge research outcome in the School of Element. I¡¯m sure that, with your talent, you¡¯ll become one of the greatest arcanists sooner of later."
Lucien nodded in his hood but did not say anything.
"Nied, please show Mr. Professor the way," said the viscount.
When Lucien was about to leave, the viscount called him again.
"Mr. Professor, I have a question for you," said the viscount.
Lucien¡¯s heart missed a beat ¡ª did the viscount sense anything wrong there?
"Yes?" answered Lucien as calm as possible.
"I noticed that there¡¯s a faint but familiar smell on you, Mr. Professor," asked Carendia in a hopeful tone, "I wonder if you know a man whose surname is also Carendia?"
"Carendia is not a rare surname," answered Lucien in confusion. "I know about a duke in Gusta whose surname is Carendia, but I never met him. Talking about a Mr. Carendia that I personally know¡­ Yes, there is one. His name is Rhine Carendia."
Since Carendia was a very common surname, Lucien never thought about connecting the viscount to the musician he knew.
"Silver hair and silver eyes?" asked Nied, who usually remained quite silent.
Lucien nodded, "You know Mr. Rhine?" He wondered if Rhine was not a human being and was a relative to the viscount.
"Yes, of course." The viscount sighed with his hand touching his forehand, "He¡¯s¡­ if using human beings way to say¡­ He¡¯s my grandfather. As you can see¡­ he¡¯s pretty irresponsible, isn¡¯t he?"
"..." Lucien¡¯s guess was right. Suddenly, he felt that the viscount standing in front of him was like his grandson. After all, Lucien and Rhine were friends.
Seeing that Professor knew the viscount¡¯s grandfather, Felipe was even more certain about Professor¡¯s high power and arcana level. According to the power level of the viscount, his grandfather, Mr. Rhine, should be at least a high grade vampire. Thus, to be a high grade vampire¡¯s friend, one should be basically of the same level.
"Can you tell me where my grandfather is right now?" asked the viscount.
"Last time I saw him, he was in Aalto." Lucien paused a bit, "And right now¡­ no idea."
"Many thanks, Mr. Professor. As you know my grandfather, it¡¯d be my great honour having you as my guest to stay in the castle for a couple of days more," invited the viscount enthusiastically.
For sure the last thing that Lucien wanted to do was to stay here. After knowing who was the liaison in Sturk, Lucien really could not ask for more.
"Thank you, Mr. Carendia, but I don¡¯t really feel like staying. Also, I have other matters to attend to."
"All right, then." Carendia smiled, "I hope we can see each other again. May the silver moon be with you, Mr. Professor."
Lucien nodded, and then followed the steward out of the hall. All the muscles in his back were super intense from his great nervousness. Lucien felt extremely exhausted, and he could not handle any more than this.
Watching Professor leaving, Fatty sighed, "If we had pretended to support Mr. Professor¡¯s experiment, we probably would not have to be forced to join the Hand of Paleness now¡­"
"I think this¡¯s the best result." The necromancer in front of him said, "If Mr. Professor had insisted, what we would be facing now might be a bitter magic fight, and this gathering would be a true Feast of Death."
The necromancers on the stage quickly exchanged looks and nodded. They were planning to negotiate with Felipe about some of the articles in the magic pact to better protect their own interest while Felipe was still in his good mood from beating Professor.
With a winning smile on his face, Felipe watched Professor leaving the castle.
However, when Professor completely disappeared in the darkness of the castle, Felipe¡¯s facial expression became extremely gloomy and bitter. Both of his hands in the pockets of his jacket clenched into fists.
Although he, as well as all the necromancers and apprentices present, were not willing to admit that carbamide was a life ingredient, Professor¡¯s research was undoubtedly cutting-edge. It was not hard to imagine the reputation Professor would gain soon from his experiments, and even a trend of synthesizing life matter or life ingredient with pure elements would be initiated very soon.
Felipe felt that a great storm was going to strike the theory of Life Force.
And in this great competition, compared to Professor who was also a young sorcerer, he was now falling behind.
He must keep up with Professor, and then crash him.
...
After leaving the castle, Lucien found himself in a totally strange mountain. He could see no silver moon or lake, but only big and tall trees around.
"The castle is alive and its name¡¯s Amores, Mr. Professor," explained Nied with respect because Lucien knew the count he served before. "Amores¡¯ life came from alchemy."
"I see." Lucien nodded, "When I was using Oscillating Hand, I definitely bothered Amores."
An alchemy life was made from some specific souls, revenants and other materials, and it was introduced in Book of Necromancy. Although Lucien had the concept, it was still pretty surprising to him that the whole castle was actually alive.
"No worries, Mr. Professor," said a muffled voice from the castle. "A bit itchy. That¡¯s all."
Lucien did not know how to properly respond to Amores¡¯ words, but just twisted the corner of his lips to make an awkward smile under his hood.
And then he nodded to the steward and walked into the woods in calm big steps.
When Lucien felt that he was far enough away from the castle, and after he used a couple of spells from Astrology and Magic Elements to check the surroundings, Lucien turned himself into a streak of moonlight and started to run as fast as he could.
He kept running and running. He had no idea how far he had ran and how many turns he had taken.
Until the sun was going to rise, Lucien finally came back to the place where he hid his other belongings before attending the gathering.
Putting on his suit and burning down his robe, Lucien suddenly became limp and fell over under the tree. His hands and feet felt weak and his heart was still racing. He knew that he just survived from one of the most dangerous situations he had ever experienced.
Lucien was grateful to his own calmness and knowledge, also he blamed himself for being too careless and impertinent.
After getting Sun¡¯s Corona from the magic lock and becoming a real sorcerer, after getting lucky with destroying Habearo¡¯s plot, Lucien knew that he became more and more like an impetuous adventure, which was very dangerous in this world.
He really learned his lesson this time.
However, he also had his more important gain: now he knew who was the liaison in Sturk.
After getting a short rest, Lucien stood up and headed eastward.
This time his destination was Sturk, the Bright Pearl of the Sea!

Chapter 161: The Bright Pearl of the Sea
				Chapter 161: The Bright Pearl of the Sea
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Natasha was sitting in the complete darkness of an underground room in an abbey in Aalto, reading a long letter from her friend with her Dark Vision.
It seemed that she was already used to the dark environment, and the blue veins on her hands and face were already hard to see.
From time to time, she gently hummed the melody written in the letter with joy.
When she came to the last page of the letter, Natasha grinned, "Lucien, you¡¯re exactly copying what I did. I¡¯m looking forward to the next issue of Music Criticism to see how you will wish me a happy birthday."
Then she sighed a bit and talked to herself, "It ¡¯s really nice to have a friend, or I would definitely go crazy at this place."
...
The ocean-smelling breeze blew away the sultry feeling in October. The waves were, from time to time, flapping the embankment and splashed the white foam everywhere. The ocean was boundless and the sky was clear. The birds were flying free in the sky and shifting to different formations all the time, and below there were boats moving through under arched bridges.
Sturk, the bright pearl of the sea, was similar to the city, Venice, that Lucien knew from a movie that he watched in his original world. Sturk consisted of more than 100 small islands which were connected to each other by numerous canals just like a complicated spider web, around which there was a long embankment protecting the city.
Sitting in an unique, point-headed boat, Lucien saw the buildings along both sides of the canal slowly moving back. He felt very peaceful, just like a real traveler.
"In Sturk, every canal is just like a street in other cities," introduced the boatman enthusiastically. "This is St. Mayo Church¡­ That building¡­ That building belongs to Monastery of the Holy Spirit, and that one¡­ We call the bell tower Truth Tower, and that one Pray Spire¡­"
"I see¡­" Lucien listened to the boatman¡¯s introduction with interest, "So this area is Sturk¡¯s Religion District, I take it?"
No matter if it was a city, a town, or a village, there was always a church. The area where the religious buildings gathered together was called Religion District, for example, the eastern area in Aalto close to Golden Cathedral.
"Yes, that¡¯s why this area is not crowded." The boatman grinned while paddling. "When we get into the Commerce District, you¡¯ll see the real Sturk."
Lucien¡¯s boat went across several bridges and then entered Sturk¡¯s Commerce District. All of a sudden, the surrounding environment became very busy. Lucien saw many pointy-headed boats tied to the wood stakes along the canal, and many were moving through the bottom of the buildings through the bridge openings.
Lots of different accents speaking common tongue could be heard in the air. Words like "Fell", "Nar", "Bank", "Mortgage", "ten grams", "Sturgeon", "Sea Bream", "Orange", "Iron", "Wood", "Slaves", "Trade" and others immediately brought Lucien from the world of necromancy to a world full of common people¡¯s daily life.
The whole Commerce District here was even busier than that of Aalto.
The whole city was full of vitality. And even the ocean wind smelled like money for trading.
"The market is even more prosperous than I thought¡­" Lucien praised what he saw sincerely. He really enjoyed the atmosphere here in Sturk.
"For sure," said the boatman in pride. "Sturk is located right beside Storm Strait and owns a natural deepwater port. The city connects the south and north, the east and west, and here¡¯s the best transit place for seaborne trade. Because of this, we people from Sturk are born with the talent of doing business. The first Goldsmiths¡¯ Association and the first bank were all founded here."
"Connecting the east and the west?" murmured Lucien. When someone talked about the country to the east of Sturk, obviously, it was Holm and the rest of the countries across the strait that the person was referring to. However, Lucien did not know that Sturk could connect directly to the eastern countries.
"Yes, of course. That¡¯s why you can see lots of precious goods being traded here in Sturk." answered the boatman with fervour, "The fine fabric named Black Nightingale from Holm, the porcelain from Colette, the spices from Calais, the best tobacco from Brianne¡­"
"Only nobles can have access to them," agreed Lucien.
The boatman got even more excited, "These four countries are right across the strait. However, due to the great profit, the Church owns the monopoly in those trades. Only the noble businessmen from the nine big families here can send their boats there for trading. Umm¡­ Can¡¯t believe how wealthy the nine families are¡­"
"Which nine families?" asked Lucien with curiosity. He guessed that maybe Granneuve was one of them.
"The family of Viscount Wright, Baron Kap, Baron Moncache¡­" listed the boatman. However, Lucien did not hear the name that he was seeking for.
"What about switching our topic to the buildings again?" said Lucien as his interest in listening to the names of the families faded.
"Sure." The boatman nodded, pointing at the several buildings on the right side, "Over there¡­ That¡¯s the bank owned by Viscount Wright, and that¡¯s Moncache Hawthorne Bank¡­"
"I see. What about that one¡­ the shining building?" asked Lucien.
"Oh, that¡¯s Epic Gallery. Next to it is Michelle Sculpture Gallery¡­ And that one, the ShinyGold Bank," explained the boatman.
Although Lucien was already this close to his destination, ShinyGold Bank, he did not ask anything more about this place.
After all, since he already knew who was the liaison in Sturk, there was no need for him to take the risk of asking about Granneuve¡¯s information around. Lucien decided to trace Granneuve¡¯s daily route and what was going on right now in his bank first to make sure that Granneuve was still serving the Congress of Magic, not the Church.
Betrayers were not rare to see nowadays.
In addition, Lucien¡¯s power further progressed within the past three months. With the help of sorcerer meditation, Lucien felt that his soul and the spiritual power had been obviously strengthened. Inside his soul, Lucien built a series of new spells: Cause Fear, Silent Image, Burning Hands, Mage Armor, Iron Organ, Element Endurance and Chaos Circle. And right now he was working on structuring the spell for escaping called Expeditious Retreat. Therefore, Lucien was pretty confident in himself, and there was nothing to hurry.
However, during his practicing, Lucien found that, even with his advantage in the talent of his spiritual power, he needed at least a whole year to move forward to the 2nd circle, even if he could already analyze a 2nd circle spell. And if that was the case, it would cost him at least ten years to become a middle-rank mage, which made the Congress of Magic even more desirable to Lucien.
The boat was still paddling forward, and it slowly left Commerce District.
...
Half month later. In a very famous seafood restaurant in Sturk named "Shark".
Under the guidance of a waiter, Lucien sat down beside a table covered with white tablecloth. While Lucien was ordering, he peeked at the fat man who was protected by a few safeguards and was slowly walking up the stairs to the second floor, reserved for the restaurant¡¯s important guests.
This fat man was exactly Lucien¡¯s target, Granneuve.
After this half-month secret observation, Lucien was basically certain that his identity was not founded by the Church, and Granneuve was still serving the congress. And right now the only question was how to get into contact with him.
There were always safeguards surrounding Granneuve, and Lucien guessed that some of them might even be dark knights. Lucien was almost certain that Granneuve himself was also not just kind of random guy, instead, he must be very powerful himself as well. Obviously, important as Granneuve was, he must be very careful with those possible night watchers from the Church who tried to approach and test him pretending that they were sorcerers who needed help. And for sure, Lucien was full of secret, and he could not use his identity of being Professor here anymore. That was too risky.
When Lucien knew by accident that Granneuve was about to meet his guest in Shark tonight, he sensed something a bit suspicious. In most cases, people who were as important as Granneuve would not often show up in person in a public restaurant. If they wanted the food there to treat their guests, they would just ask the chefs to go to their places to cook for them right there.
Listening to the cracking noise made by the ceiling above from Granneuve¡¯s weight, Lucien saw the same waiter coming back to him again.
"My guest, this is today¡¯s Sturk News and the recent several issues of Music Criticism. And tonight, our pianist will play Moonlight Sonata and Canon in D major from the famous musician Lucien Evans. Wish you a great dinner tonight," said the waiter with respect.
Lucien nodded with a polite smile. After all, Shark was one of the best restaurants in Sturk, the service here was definitely great, and even the newspapers they provided here was relatively hard to buy.
In the beautiful melody, Lucien started to read Music Criticism. He missed the days when he was a music student studying after Mr. Victor in Aalto.
As expected, he found a couple of familiar names in the newspaper. Victor was having his world tour concert right now in Holy Heilz Empire, and Felicia also produced her first piano bagatelle.
However, Lucien did not see Natasha¡¯s name again since she commented on Moonlight at the beginning of August, which made him feel a bit concerned.
"Her sequelae from taking the vampire blood should be gone already now¡­" Lucien thought to himself. He needed to send Natasha a letter to see if she was doing all right as soon as he arrived in Allyn.
After reading all the Music Criticism, the dinner was still not ready, and Granneuve¡¯s guests had not arrived yet either.
So, Lucien started to read Sturk News casually. Most of what he found there was just some local news, anecdotes, and random news like "Wood from Djibouti for sale."
At this time, Lucien saw his own name again, and this piece of news caught his attention immediately.
The title of the news was: "Our new music star, Ms. Grace, the student of Lucien Evans, is having a concert in Sturk¡¯s Crystal Hall with her friends!"
"My student?" Lucien was confused. And then he realized that they were promoting this concert using his name. To some degree, Lucien did discuss with them about his understanding in music and gave them some suggestions for one of their fantasy music works.
Lucien could imagine how quickly they gained their popularity among the nobles and business tycoons when they came back from Aalto to Sturk with their music work directed by him.
Although Lucien felt a bit amused by the fact that the band members took advantage of his name, he was not planning to expose what they were doing.
However, at this time, Lucien saw a voluptuous young lady in a fine black dress coming into the restaurant.
"Grace¡­ What a small world¡­" murmured Lucien. Immediately, he held up the newspaper to hide his face.
As Grace walked upstairs, Lucien realized that she might just be the Granneuve¡¯s guest.

Chapter 162: Grace¡¯s Nightmare
				Chapter 162: Grace¡¯s Nightmare
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the second floor of Shark.
On both ends of a long dining table, there was a fancy candelabrum, of which the swaying candlelight made the whole place feel romantic in an ambiguous way, together with the gentle melody played by a small band.
Elegantly scooping a small amount of stew, Grace wished that the man sitting across the table tonight was not Granneuve, who, in Grace¡¯s eyes, was ugly and rude. She raised her head and took a glance at Granneuve, and his swollen face and bald head made her feel gross.
Pinching the fine goblet, Granneuve, in contrast, was quite confident in his own charm, "Grace, I have to say that your artistic temperament is even more impressive than your beauty, especially when you¡¯re playing piano¡­ It¡¯s really gorgeous."
Although Grace did not like him very much, she had to admitted that she enjoyed the feeling of being flattered. In his forties, Granneuve was among the top twenty super-rich people in Sturk, and he was very close to the most important nobles in the city such as Viscount Wright. Despite the fact that she did not like Granneuve at all, being pursued by a man like him was definitely something to feel proud of.
Ever since Grace started to promote herself as Mr. Evans¡¯ student and thus started to be respected as a musician, lots of man who had had no interest in her at all were now pursuing her. In her eyes, all men liked conquering.
"Thank you, Mr. Granneuve," responded Grace with a polite smile.
Then, she picked the white napkin and gently tapped her mouth, "Excuse me, I need to use the washroom."
When she stood up, one of Granneuve¡¯s guards took a step forward and said, "I¡¯m sorry, Miss Grace, the washroom on the second floor is not in use right now. You might want to go to the one on the first floor."
"What the heck are they doing in this restaurant?!" asked Granneuve with a big anger. In fact, he owned this restaurant.
"It¡¯s all right, Mr. Granneuve. It¡¯s just an accident," said Grace in an artist manner. "I can just go downstairs."
Granneuve nodded with satisfaction, "I¡¯ think you¡¯re even more charming now, Grace."
Grace forced a smile on her face and nodded. Following the guidance of the waiter, she walked into the lavatory on the first floor.
Outside of the ladies and men washroom, there was a big mirror, in front of which there were two nice and clean basins.
Getting out of the ladies washroom, Grace checker her make up in front of the mirror. Staring at her beautiful face, she could not help humming a piece of cheerful melody.
The melody was just like her cheerful mood right now. After the long, bitter traveling from Sturk to Aalto, her life was totally changed. Money, reputation, and praise were, all of a sudden, coming to her like a dream.
"Last year you were still an ordinary, poor girl, who needed to rely on your parents¡¯ and your elder brother¡¯s saving to get to Aalto to fulfill your dream." Looking at the mirror, Grace murmured to herself, "Now look at you¡­ You¡¯re the Tulip of Sturk. You¡¯re one of the most famous musicians in Sturk. You bought a three-storey house for your family. You¡¯re being pursued by so many nobles and wealthy businessmen. You¡¯re living in a luxury life that you even dare not dream before.
"You have to remember, Grace." She continued, "All of these is because you¡¯re the only pianist in your band, not Piola, not Sharon, not Green and Leslie. You gotta remember how you came all the way through the hardship to where you are right now. Never forget your music and your piano.
"And also¡­" Grace¡¯s voice was even lower, almost impossible to hear, "Don¡¯t forget the fact that your reputation comes from that talented musician in Aalto." Although she did not really think that Lucien Evans would come from Aalto all the way to Sturk for visiting, she often felt very concerned. She felt very insecure, as if her dream-like life was going to crash at any time.
She took a deep breath and was ready to leave the washroom. However, when she looked up, Grace saw a black-haired and black-eyed young man walking in.
Although the young man was pretty good-looking, Grace looked very scared, and her purse dropped on the ground.
"Mr¡­ Mr. Evans¡­" Grace¡¯s voice trembled.
Lucien politely picked her purse up from the floor and handed it to her. He smiled, "Hi Grace, nice to see you again. When you just walked into the restaurant, I almost could not recognize you. You look great."
"Mr. Evans¡­ why¡­ why are you here in Sturk?" Grace put on a nervous smile, "I mean¡­ If you were coming, the newspaper should¡­"
"Should tell everyone in Sturk?" Lucien looked at her, "Speaking of newspaper¡­ I just read the latest issue of Sturk News, your band is going to hold the¡­."
Grace was praying to God that Lucien Evans did not know anything about what they were doing right now. As soon as she heard that Lucien was talking about her band, she felt a sudden dizziness and almost fell onto the ground.
A strong hand held her arm and helped her stand still.
Looking up, Grace started at Lucien Evans and burst out crying, "Mr. Evans, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry that I¡¯m stealing your name and reputation and claiming that I¡¯m your student. Please forgive me¡­ I will tell everyone the truth tomorrow."
After saying this, Grace felt that she was too weak to barely stand, as her hand was supporting her body on the basin. Grace knew that, as soon as she issued this apology on Sturk News, all of her money, reputation and her status would be totally gone, or even worse. She would suffer the great contempt from people. She would be called a liar.
However, she also understood that only sincere apology could help her avoid even more bitter consequence, such as being thrown into the city prison for the crime of fraud.
Lucien listened to her words, and then smiled, "Grace, you have been claiming yourself as my piano student and so far no one ever doubted you, which means you¡¯re a pretty talented pianist. I just wonder why you don¡¯t rely on yourself but want to lie to people? You know lies never last long."
Hearing Lucien¡¯s gentle words, Grace burst into tears again, "I come from an ordinary family. In order to support me to learn music, in order to send me to Aalto, my family ran out of all our savings.
"When we came back from Aalto, our original plan was to use the piece of fantasy directed by you to promote us. However, ever since we had our first great success, we got greedy. At that time, my family¡¯s small business got into trouble, and I needed money, or my parents would be thrown into the jail. In the end, I pretended to be your student, Mr. Evans, since I¡¯m the only pianist in the band. And even since then, I sink deeper and deeper." Grace continued sobbing.
"I see¡­" Lucien¡¯s attitude remained unclear.
"Mr. Evans¡­" Grace paused a bit and said with great determination, "I¡¯m willing to do whatever you want as long as you forgive me! Even¡­ even¡­"
Grace did not want her dream life to turn into bubbles just like this. She did not want to go back again!
Seeing that his plan was going well, Lucien felt his effort of damaging the sink of the washroom on the second floor was worthwhile. He nodded, "I understand the hardship you suffered, but telling lies is never a good thing."
When Grace felt desperate, Lucien switched the topic, "Grace, you know Mr. Granneuve?"
"Yes, it is Mr. Granneuve who is inviting me for dinner tonight," answered Grace with confusion. However, she wanted to be as cooperative as possible right now to make the very effort to win Mr. Evans¡¯ pardon, so she explained, "Mr. Granneuve is pursuing me."
"I have a friend who wants me to send a message to Mr. Granneuve, Grace." Lucien smiled, "It¡¯s written on this small piece of paper. Can you do me the favor?"
"Sure." Grace hurriedly nodded.
"But you cannot tell Mr. Granneuve that it is me who gave you the paper. Just tell him you encountered someone in the washroom that you don¡¯t know," added Lucien.
Although Grace wanted to ask why, she decided to just take whatever Mr. Evans asked.
"Don¡¯t open it. Don¡¯t read it." Lucien handed her a tightly folded piece of paper, "If the result turns out to be good, I may consider sharing some of my piano playing skills with you."
"Really?!" Grace was very surprised. She hurriedly nodded her head in a serious manner.
When Grace left the washroom after she calmed down, Lucien payed his bill and left the restaurant in a good mood.

Chapter 163: The Requirement of Ferryman
				Chapter 163: The Requirement of Ferryman
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the separate dining room on the second floor, Granneuve was smoking a thick, black cigar, and he commented in a rude way, "A lady musician is surely way better than those chicks who wanted to directly jump on my lap after receiving a couple of gifts from me."
"But¡­ my lord, I don¡¯t think Miss Grace really likes you very much." His closest safeguard whispered to him.
Granneuve was not pissed off, instead, he laughed, "What do you know? This is all about a sense of achievement! You see¡­ conquering a reserved-mannered lady with my own charm, haha!"
"Charm¡­" The safeguard was speechless. However, as Granneuve¡¯s closest safeguard, he knew that all of Granneuve¡¯s rude behaviors were just his disguise. If he was really good at nothing, how came he became one of the maintainers of the secret order in Sturk.
At that time, Grace came in.
Granneuve hurriedly stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray and asked, "Grace, why do your eyes look a bit red? What happened?"
"Nothing serious. Just feel quite dry in my eyes." Grace easily found a random excuse.
"I¡¯ll let my family doctor send you some potions tonight, then, for your eyes." Granneuve looked quite concerned.
"Thank you, Mr. Granneuve." Grace nodded. Then, she handed him the tightly-folded small piece of paper and at the same time she picked up a glass of wine with her left hand.
Granneuve thought that his effort paid off. As this beauty was just too shy to express her affection toward him directly, he thought that what Grace just gave him was a short love message.
Grace took a sip of the wine, and when Granneuve was opening the folded paper, she slowly explained, "Mr. Granneuve, this is a message to you from a gentleman that I met downstairs."
"Humm¡­" Granneuve was a bit surprised. And when he actually saw what was written on the small piece of paper, his brows frowned a bit but soon his facial expression returned back to normal, "Ha¡­ one of my previous acquaintances¡­ always thinking about things in the past." Granneuve casually waved his hand and burned down the piece of paper with a match, then he asked with a smile, "Grace, what does that gentleman look like?"
"Black hair¡­ black eyes, decent looks. Sorry, I didn¡¯t know that the message would bother you, Mr. Granneuve. I thought I was just doing that man a favor, since he looked quite polite," apologized Grace.
Her description about Lucien was very blurry. Black hair, black eyes, decent looking¡­ That was all Granneuve could get from her words.
"No worries, no worries, Miss Grace! Nothing really important." Granneuve waved his hand again, "Don¡¯t let him disturb our romantic dinner."
Grace nodded. Inside of her mind, she was a bit relieved, since she fulfilled the task given by Mr. Evans, and maybe she could still maintain her dream life hopefully.
...
In a dark corner beside Shark, Lucien, who had changed part of his look by using the first circle spell, Disguise, was watching as Granneuve sent Grace back home with a fancy pointy-headed boat.
"Get out, my friend. I know you¡¯re there," said Lucien to the darkness all of a sudden.
A black figure showed up in the wall and walked out, "It was you who was tracing all the time."
The person who said this was a middle-aged man. His face was thin, and he had light brown hair hanging down to his shoulders. His brown eyes were sharp and clod. And Lucien knew that he was not one of Granneuve¡¯s safeguards.
"Are you a sorcerer?" asked the middle-aged man, staring at this black-haired and black-eyed young man.
"Of course. If I was not a sorcerer, why would I bother trying to get into contact with Mr. Granneuve to get to Allyn?"
At the same time, when he was speaking, Lucien did not disguise his power waves preparing for casting spells.
"I see, but¡­" The middle-aged man smiled, "but you might get something wrong here, my friend. Granneuve¡¯s not the liaison from the congress, but I am. Please call me Ferryman."
Because of the magic, Lucien¡¯s facial expression looked a bit stiff. Although he was a bit surprised, there was not much showing on his face.
"You¡¯re not the only one who got the wrong information. Actually, lots of people thought Granneuve was the liaison." Ferryman added, "That makes sense since he is very influential in maintaining the secret underground order of Sturk. So we also keep tracing and monitoring him all the time as well, in order to find you folks."
Lucien was not really nervous toward the fact that he might have sent the message to the wrong person, since the message he left on the paper was of nothing special but just a common sorcerer seeking for help from the liaison of the Congress of Magic. Lucien directly called Granneuve the liaison of the Congress of Magic in the letter, instead of using his name, and left the place and time for their meeting.
However, Lucien never really expected that Granneuve would actually send someone to meet him according to the message left by him, after all, it was obviously too risky for him. His real purpose was that he wanted to inform Granneuve that someone was tracing him, so he would secretly send his people to find out who was this person.
And then Lucien would let them find himself on purpose to get into contact with Granneuve¡¯s people in a less risky way.
Facing this middle-aged man, Lucien did not really believe his words. After all, Lucien did not really think that Felipe would lie to the apprentices and necromancers right in front of Professor, who also came from the Congress of Magic.
"How do you prove your words?" asked Lucien calmly.
"Well¡­ I don¡¯t need to prove myself." Ferryman grinned, "If you don¡¯t trust me, I can leave right now. But think about it, if I was really a night watcher, when you¡¯re already exposed, why I¡¯d bother talking to you, a first circle sorcerer? I would just show up with other pastors and cardinals in Sturk and kill you in a second."
From Lucien¡¯s power waves, he could roughly tell Lucien¡¯s strength.
"All right¡­ That¡¯s true." Lucien shrugged.
"But shall I trust you?" Ferryman shook his head, "There are a few night watchers who were sorcerers themselves before, but they betrayed us. Also, two months ago, when Mr. Felipe was leading the other twenty-two sorcerers to cross the blockage of the Church, they got exposed. However, he broke the blockage by force and made the leaders of the Church more than furious. The Church did a throughout check and we suffered a great loss because of the betrayers, and they also ranked Felipe no. 359 on the Cleansing list."
Lucien first thought when he heard Ferryman¡¯s words was that his ranking now fell to no. 360, after Felipe, which for sure did not make him feel good.
"Then how do you want me to prove myself?" asked Lucien. He still did not trust the man who just showed up tonight in front of him.
"Our traditional practice¡­ you find someone from the congress to prove your identity, for example, the person who told you where the congress is and who is the liaison in Sturk."
"He left already. I don¡¯t even know his name." Of course Lucien would not say that it was Felipe.
"Well¡­ that¡¯s common, too." Ferryman nodded, "Then you have to do something to prove yourself."
"Like what?" wondered Lucien.
"Last month, a man betrayed us. Although his Blessing was awakened by the potion given by the congress, this man deserted to the Church and offered them lots of our secret information. Many of our people died, including more than thirty very promising apprentices. They died in Storm Strait," said Ferryman. The muscles in his face looked more conspicuous as he was speaking.
Lucien did not respond but waited for Ferryman¡¯s further explanation.
"Now this traitor is living a wonderful life and was rewarded a Knight's Cross by the city council. If you can kill him, you can definitely prove that you have nothing to do with the Church."

Chapter 164: Testing
				Chapter 164: Testing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien never thought that Sturk had been in such a chaos for the past two months. Obviously, there was another unexpected obstacle sitting right in front of him, preventing him from moving forward and heading for his dream world. However, Lucien had never been one to give up easily. Now, he was only a strait away from the congress, and nothing could stop him.
"How did you know that he was the one who betrayed you people?" asked Lucien calmly, "What¡¯s his name?"
If he had no choice but to be used as a tool by the liaison, he needed to get everything clear first.
"Harrison Brown. That¡¯s his name," said the Ferryman very seriously. "He has already awakened his Blessing as I said, and he¡¯s a knight. Two weeks ago, he was rewarded with a Knight Cross for the reason that ¡®he defended the glory of God in darkness by cleansing close to fifty lambs astray¡¯¡­ That was how the newspaper commented. You can find the report on Sturk News if you don¡¯t trust me."
Then, the Ferryman paused a bit, as if what he was going to say was very hard for him, "In his speech on the ceremony, he felt no guilt. Those apprentices who died because of him¡­ they were still kids¡­ Most of them were just twelve or thirteen, and they were just exposed to the wonderful world of arcana. They died together with their hope and faith in magic."
Seeing Ferryman¡¯s facial expression, Lucien nodded, "Surely I¡¯ll check whether you just said is true, but I still have one more question."
"Go ahead." Ferryman stared at Lucien¡¯s slightly stiff face.
"According to my experience, in order to protect the traitors, the Church would only reward them secretly, or directly let them join Night Watch. I never heard that a traitor would be rewarded on an open ceremony by the city council¡­ Maybe¡­ this is a trap?" guessed Lucien.
"Very good." Ferryman slightly clapped, "But did I ever tell you this was not a trap?"
"¡­" Lucien was speechless.
"We need to kill him, and we have to kill him." Ferryman¡¯s tone became bitter, "For deterrence. If you weren¡¯t here, we¡¯d still try to kill him anyway," continued Ferryman. "It is better to have someone who¡¯s not from our organization to get this job done."
"So, if i failed, you guys would not be affected." Lucien pointed it out directly.
"That¡¯s true, or however you want to take it." Ferryman shrugged, "You can turn down the task, for sure. If that¡¯s the case, you leave me a way to contact you, and when anyone who can prove that you¡¯re clean comes to Sturk, you just tell me. But if you want to go to Allyn as soon as possible, I¡¯d say that accepting the task is your best choice."
"What support can I get from you?" asked Lucien, "You know how dangerous the task is."
"When it¡¯s necessary, we have our own way to distract the night watchers to let you focus on killing Harrison Brown," responded Ferryman, and then he added, "As long as you can kill him, we¡¯ll welcome you, our new friend, to join us with our greatest enthusiasm."
"What is Harrison¡¯s Blessing? Does he have any extraordinary weapon or magic item? What¡¯s his daily routine?" asked Lucien, "I¡¯m sure you have a lot of information on him already."
Commonly speaking, a sorcerer should be able to kill a knight who was of the same level without much difficulty, so Lucien was pretty confident that he could handle the task. In this case, an enemy¡¯s equipment such as weapon and any extra item would be the biggest uncontrollable factor in a fight.
"Very good," commented Ferryman, as he liked talking to a smart sorcerer. "Regeneration, that¡¯s the power of Brown¡¯s Blessing, originating from power existing in the blood of trolls. Strong, fast¡­ and as long as he is not beheaded, his body can keep regenerating until his body energy is exhausted. Weakness should be acid and fire. They can prevent his organs from growing back."
Lucien nodded as he was listening very carefully.
"In terms of his weapon, yes, he has a level one short spear of extraordinary quality called Wither, with collateral poison damage, given by the city council. Then he was rewarded by the Church with a level two, extraordinary quality shield called Demon Hunter, which improves his power of defence to match that of a level two knight. The shield can also absorb a certain amount of element damage. As for other magic or divine item, we have no idea. And his daily routine is¡­" elaborated Ferryman.
From his words, Lucien analyzed all the information he got and tried to identify his possible chances of killing this guy: Brown rarely let anyone visit him unless the visitor was from the Church or was an important noble; he rarely went out; he liked arts like painting and wax statue; he was going to move to Lance, the Holy City, five months later¡­
When Ferryman told him all the information, Lucien asked, "So let me confirm here¡­ Brown is going to attend the opening ceremony of Saugus Wax Museum the day after tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, in the morning. He¡¯s going because his own statue will be displayed there as well." Ferryman nodded, "If you need us to distract the night watchers when you take action, please inform us in advance."
"I will," said Lucien with his stiff facial expression.
After agreeing on how they would secretly get into contact with each other, Lucien got on a boat and used both the methods of sorcerer and knight to get rid of any possible tracers.
...
On the second day, at midnight, Lucien, who showed up beside a stone arched bridge wearing a long black robe. That bridge was one of the two bridges that needed to be crossed to go from Brown¡¯s place to the Saugus Wax Museum. Comparatively speaking, that one was way better than the other one, because the path that used the other one was way longer.
In addition, according to Lucien¡¯s information, the wax museum opening tomorrow was very popular in Sturk, so lots of nobles and wealthy businessmen were attending the ceremony as well. At that time, all the nearby waters would be occupied by their boats. Therefore, even if Brown also decided to come there by boat, he needed to get off the boat close to the bridge and cross it to get to the museum.
The sky was starry. The glistening light reflecting on the waves looked like a dream.
Lucien pressed his hands against the bridge, then opened his mouth and screamed silently.
Waves were produced from Lucien¡¯s hands toward the stone bridge, and then the waves came back to him. According to the vibration frequency, Lucien adjusted the pace of the waves bit by bit, and soon, the stone bridge started to shake fiercely.
The Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand.
When the bridge was almost about to crash, Lucien suddenly stopped. After the bridge gradually calmed down, it looked exactly the same as what it looked like before.
In fact, the inner structure of this stone bridge was already severely damaged. Although it was not going to crash right now, when there was a certain amount of weight on it, Lucien expected that something different would definitely happen.
...
Harrison Brown¡¯s black pointy-headed boat slowed down and was tied to the stake on the street along the canal, and then, Harrison Brown stepped out of the boat while being protected by his bodyguards. Taking a peek at another luxury boat docked on the other side of the street, he could not help feeling jealous. He wished that he could have the same social status as the owner of that boat.
Then, he started to head for the stone bridge around a hundred meters away from him.
Everything was normal as usual.
However, Brown was still extremely alert. Although he knew that there were a few night watchers secretly protecting him in this area, he was still very sensitive and cautious.
He hated the fact that the Church required him to show up in public from time to time, but he had no other choice but to obey. He only wished that he could make it for the following several months, and then he would be moving to Lance and enjoying his life there.
As Brown was thinking, he and his guards stepped onto the bridge.
Near the bridge, Lucien, dressing in a black suit, nodded to the man sitting on a coach, "Please send these irons to the trading house, and this is your pay."
The young coachman¡¯s smile was simple and honest, "No problem, sir."
As the coach slowly moved, Lucien quickly entered a boat beside him.
When the coachman drove the heavy, iron-loaded coach through the stone bridge, Brow was still halfway from the other end of the bridge.
Harrison was thinking about his trip to Lance five months later. He was worrying that the people from the congress might try to kill him at that time.
Suddenly, the stone below them started to shake fiercely.
"Ambush!" That was Brown¡¯s first thought.
White light burst out of his body as Brown instantly covered himself with many white feathers.
Angel Feather, a level three divine spell.
At the same time, a green short spear appeared in his right hand, and in his left hand there was a solid shield.
All of this was done within a couple of seconds. Obviously, Harrison Brown was very experienced with fighting.
However, the quake of the stone bridge gradually disappeared, and nothing happened.
"Is the bridge too old?" Brown thought to himself.
As he looked around, the stone bridge still looked normal as usual, as if the shake never occurred. Under the bridge, there were several boats rowing past through the archway.
Among these boats, there was a good-looking young man standing on one of them who was looking at him.
Harrison was a bit embarrassed. Only he knew that how much he actually suffered from the fear and worry since he betrayed the Congress of Magic. Right now, he felt that he must look like an idiot in the young guy¡¯s eyes.
...
Lucien¡¯s boat rowed through the bridge.
Staring at the water, Lucien thought to himself with his calm and cool mind, "When the bridge started to shake, there were close to ten people who reacted totally different from ordinary people. Excluding some of the knights who were protecting their lords, there should be¡­ five night watchers around to protect Brown: The adventurer walking beside him on the bridge, the businessman on the street, the couple, and the boatman who was right behind me."
Lucien never planned to completely destroy the bridge. He needed more information about Brown and the night watchers secretly protecting him before seriously taking action.
"Brow has the short spear, the shield¡­ and a level three divine item." Lucien slightly rubbed his chin.
All of that was just a test.

Chapter 165: Support for Lucien
				Chapter 165: Support for Lucien
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Harrison Brown calmed down, he felt amused by his own sensitivity, as if he was an extremely frightened bird.
The night watcher who pretended to be an adventurer approached Harrison a little and said to him in a low voice, "Just an accident. Keep going to the museum."
"All right. Someone has to fix this bridge." Brown nodded, walking with the adventurer in the same pace but keeping a short distance from him.
On the other end of the bridge, there was the city¡¯s Art District. Brown could already see a couple of fancy buildings over the other side.
"I¡¯ll report to the Church, in case someone damaged the bridge on purpose." The night watcher¡¯s eyes looked to the right, but said to Brown on his left side, "We can never be too careful."
Although the night watcher did not detect any magic wave, he was still very cautious.
In fact, the power of the Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand came from a consistent frequency of vibration, so nothing related to magic could be found even if the night watcher sent someone to check the bridge.
The only way the Church might find something suspicious here was referring to the annual check record of the bridge to possibly notice that this damage was caused overnight. However, in fact, this city did not have any regular annual checks.
"You¡¯re certainly very cautious." Brown nodded out of satisfaction, "I feel safe with you guys."
After getting off the bridge and walking for about seven or eight minute, Brown and his guards came in front of the museum. The museum was a two-storey black building designed in ancient style, looking rather grand.
"Nice to see you, Viscount Wright. Nice to see you, Baron Cape¡­" Hurriedly, Brown bowed to the important nobles and greeted. Although he was going to move to Lance soon, Brown still wished to have a good relationship with them, since they controlled the economy of the west and the east coast, as well as the south and north continent.
Viscount Wright was a middle-aged man. His hair was dark green, which was quite rare to see. He nodded with a slight sense of self-pride, "Welcome, our heroic knight."
Brown hurriedly bowed again and responded, "I¡¯m not even close to you, my lord."
There was always a gap between someone who relied on a magic potion to awaken their Blessing and a well-trained knight who gained the power on their own. Viscount Wright was a real level four grand knight.
The viscount did not say anything else, but turned away to talk to Granneuve, who was also present and was one of the viscount¡¯s business partners. Brown also started to talk to his acquaintances around.
At ten o¡¯clock in the morning, the owner of the museum, Saugus, who was standing with the nobles and the important businessmen, announced the opening of the wax museum to all the guests present.
The band started to play a cheerful melody.
However, at this time, there was a stir in the crowd, seeming like something strange happened a distance away from the museum. The night watchers in the crowd quickly exchanged a glance, looking serious. Then, several of them left to check what was going on there, on the other side.
Lucien, who already changed his outfit, was now wearing a tall black hat and a piece of monocle on his left eye while standing among the people. He did not use the spell, Disguise, since his magic would be revealed easily by the grand knights present, and he only needed to make sure that Brown would not be able to immediately recognize him as the young man on the boat. He saw the night watchers pretending to be a couple and the one that looked like a businessman leaving the crowd, and only the adventurer and the boatman were still around.
It was the support from Ferryman. They were distracting the night watchers.
"It seems Ferryman and his people also know well about these night watchers to some degree¡­" Lucien thought to himself.
Last night, Lucien carefully analyzed whether Ferryman was worthy of his trust, and he realized the secret relationship between Ferryman and Granneuve. Based on the fact that it was almost impossible that Felipe was lying right in front of Professor, there was only one reasonable explanation, according to Lucien¡¯s understanding.
Lucien believed that Granneuve was indeed the liaison of the congress in Sturk, and so was Ferryman. However, while Granneuve¡¯s identity was known by most sorcerers as the liaison in Sturk, there was another liaison working with Granneuve, Ferryman. Every time when a sorcerer or an apprentice asked for Granneuve¡¯s help, Ferryman would go and check the person¡¯s reliability. In this case, even the person seeking for help was actually a sneaky night watcher, Ferryman could relatively escape easily, and there would be no direct evidence against Granneuve as well.
As long as Lucien could make sure that Ferryman was also from the congress, he was willing to complete the task for the organization to get to Allyn as soon as possible.
Lucien could definitely tell that Ferryman and his people were quite well-trained from the fact that half of the night watchers were drawn away now.
"Everything all right?" asked Brown nervously. The adventurer-looking night watcher just secretly moved close to him and looked like his guard.
"No worries. Some of us just left to check," answered the night watcher calmly. "We got around three or four grand knights here, and more than ten other knights here." As the night watcher said, even though some of Brown¡¯s guards were gone, the security was still reliable.
Brown took a glance at Viscount Wright and the other knights, feeling a bit relieved.
However, at this time, an arrow covered with blue light flew directly toward Brown fiercely.
Without doubt, the power of the arrow was at least from a knight-level archer!
Within a blink, the arrow was already right in front of Brown.
Viscount Wright waved his left hand and summoned a strong gust of wind. Although the wind slowed down the arrow a bit, it did not really deter the momentum.
The archer was at least of a grand knight level, or maybe the bow this archer used was a level three weapon!
However, with the viscount¡¯s help, Brown got enough time to activate his divine item again. The white feathers covered him again, and at the same time, the night watcher quickly grabbed Brown¡¯s shield and swiftly held it right in front of Brown.
The arrow with great power instantly pierced through the shield and stabbed the feather cover.
As the feathers fell and turned into dust, there were more growing back quickly. Finally, the arrow dropped to the ground. Brown escaped this elaborately planned attack!
The person shooting the arrow from the tower already retreated immediately, followed by the night watcher who was in the disguise of a boatman, who was good at tracking.
Viscount Wright looked quite pissed off. Slightly raising his right hand, Wright sent a couple of his knights to assist the night watchers.
Casually, Lucien lifted his monocle a bit in the crowd. There went another night watcher and quite a few knights.
Lucien was confident that, after this attack, Brown would be less on the alert to a certain degree. After all, in Brown¡¯s mind, the attack was already over.
When Lucien got closer to Brown, he could see the amulet hanging on his neck now looked quite dim. Brown supposedly only had one more chance to activate it.
The tactic was put forward by Lucien. No matter what method the people from the congress would use, Lucien asked for two rounds of diversions.
"The shield is damaged, and the Angel Feather can only be activated one more time. Shall we leave right now?" asked Brown nervously.
"Calm down, Mr. Brown," responded the night watcher. "Their attack did not get you, and our people are everywhere right now. No one would dare come at you. Besides, if there was only me protecting you to go back home, it would be even more dangerous. Perhaps that cunning sorcerers are just waiting for you to go back home. Stay here, and you¡¯re with a lot of knights present. It¡¯s safer."
Brown took a glance at Viscount Wright. If it were not because of his help, he might be dead already. So, he nodded, "All right."
Although many of the nobles were frightened by the arrow, the fact that many knights and even grand knights were around today soon set them at ease. Besides, they also did not want to offend Saugus, the owner of the museum.
Although many wax art enthusiasts were also gathering in front of the museum, most of the common people here could not afford the entry fee¡ªtwenty Nars.
Carrying a black leather suitcase, Lucien walked toward the gate in a decent manner.
Seeing Lucien¡¯s elegant bearing and his fine suit, the two guards standing there said to him politely, "Twenty Nars, please, sir. And we needed to check your suitcase."
"Sure," answered Lucien in a Djibouti accent, "I¡¯ve just arrived here to attend the opening ceremony. And this is my luggage."
As he opened his suitcase, a couple dozens of shining Thales mixed with some decent clothes immediately caught the guards¡¯ eyes.
After receiving fifty Nars from Lucien, the two guards bowed to him and let him in very politely.
Together with his black suitcase, Lucien walked into the museum.
It was a special suitcase. At the bottom of it, there was a very secret layer underneath.

Chapter 166: The Darkness underneath the Explosion
				Chapter 166: The Darkness underneath the Explosion
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was dark inside the museum. As the wax statues standing along both sides of the aisles were very vivid in the glass covers, many of the visitors were both impressed and a bit scared.
"Great work! The only difference is that the statue has a skil slightly darker than mine!" Viscount Wright laughed. "Great art skill, Mr. Saugus! If I stand together with him here at night, I bet no one could tell who is real."
Because of the attack earlier, Saugus' face looked quite gloomy. Hearing the viscount's praise, Saugus cheered up a bit, "My lord, the statue was customized for you when you just came back from Holm. At that time, your skin did look a bit darker."
"Haha¡­ Saugus, you just won't give me any chance to say that your work is not perfect, will you?" Viscount Wright laughed again, even louder, "You reminded me, and that's true. When I came back in July, my skin was quite tanned."
"Yes, yes¡­ I almost could not recognize you at that time." Granneuve followed the words of the viscount in a flattering smile. Then, he took a glance at Harrison Brown and said to Wright, "My lord, it was Harrison Brown who was the target of these attackers. I wonder if I should stay away from him. After all, I'm not a knight."
Wright tidied his clothes a bit and answered, "No worries. Although those sorcerers want to kill Brown, they cannot afford losing more of their people, especially their important members, or they would just directly send a middle-rank sorcerer here and easily kill Brown. However, if that was the case, the sorcerer would be caught later for sure. So, even if there are still more attacks, they would not get close to us."
"I see¡­ That definitely makes sense, my lord," answered Granneuve, although still feeling concerned.
"Just appreciate Mr. Saugus's artworks. If anything really happens, you'll have my protection." Viscount Wright added.
"Thank you¡­ thank you, my lord!" Granneuve, who always claimed to be the most loyal servant of the viscount, hurriedly showed his gratitude.
Hearing the viscount's words, the rest of the nobles also felt a bit more relieved.
On the other side of the museum, with the black suitcase in his hand, Lucien calmly walked toward the end of the corridor.
After a couple of turns, Lucien found a corner where there was no one, except only a few empty glass covers that were waiting for the upcoming wax statues.
Quickly calculating the distance between Brown and himself, Lucien carefully hid the suitcase after taking away the Thales inside and opening the secret layer.
Underneath the layer, there were ten tubes of Flame Gel and a pack of gunpowder, as well as a very long rope piling in circles.
Furthermore, these tubes of Flame Gel were way more powerful with regards to the explosive compared with their original version. Lucien had got sulphur, nitric acid and some other equipment and made nitroglycerin out of them. Then he added it into the pre-made Flame Gel.
The reason why Lucien did not directly use nitroglycerin only was that he would need the power waves produced by the Flame Gel later on.
On the previous night, Lucien had calculated the speed of the rope being burned. After placing the rope and the extra pack of gunpowder properly, Lucien lit the rope on fire with a flintstone.
Even the rope was specially treated by Lucien. He soaked the rope in a chemical liquid in advance to make sure the burning was steady and stable.
After finishing all the work, Lucien lowered his black top hat and walked back to the crowd in a swift but calm pace.
The tiny sound of a rope burning in a secret corner was almost impossible to hear.
The process was slow, but it was steadily going on.
Two minutes later, Lucien came back to the crowd. He saw the nobles were still chatting, walking around and appreciating the artworks.
"One minute to go," Lucien thought to himself.
...
Brown was hoping that one day his own wax statue could be made by the city museum.
Close to him, Mr. Saugus was busy with talking to a couple of nobles, discussing the issue of making more new wax statues for them.
Brown also wanted to talk to Saugus. When Brown was walking to him, he saw a black-haired and black-eyed young man who was observing a wax statue very carefully. The young man was wearing a black top hat and an elegant-looking monocle, which was a typical popular dressing style from Holm.
"The fashion of Holm is now influencing Sturk," thought Brown to himself, "Indeed, many young nobles in Sturk are following this trend."
Brown felt that probably he should try this style some day as well.
As he was thinking, Brown was already beside Saugus.
The adventurer-looking night watcher closely followed Brown on his left side to protect him from any sudden attack.
Fifteen seconds, fourteen seconds ¡­
Lucien left the showcase and walked toward Brown.
Six, five¡­
Lucien brushed past Brown.
As Lucien was walking, he counted silently in his mind, "Four, three¡­"
"Mr. Saugus, I wonder if¡­" Brown talked to the owner of the museum.
"Two, one¡­"
Bang! There came a thunderous sound of explosion!
The great explosion brought a fierce blast, and the whole museum was shaken by it!
The horrible sound actually consisted of a few waves of explosion, and together with it, the power of magic waves were also very powerful.
The explosion happened one second later than Lucien's expectation, probably because the change of wind or something else, but since Lucien was on high alert, as soon as the explosion happened, he quickly took action.
The first circle spell: Charm Person.
The target of the spell was Brown.
After obtaining the Book of Necromancy and analyzing the necromantic way of meditating, Lucien found that the shared principle of most necromantic spells was to affect human being's hormone secretion and sensorial judgement by using some kind of special brain waves.
Based on this, Lucien developed two new versions of Charm Person. One put more emphasis on the influence of the magic on the individual's soul, which in exchange would reduce the power from the intervention of brain waves. Thus, it worked better on sorcerers, but would also produce stronger magic waves and was hence easier to be noticed or identified. Meanwhile, the other one was the opposite version, which was more for common people.
As the latter was very hard to be noticed, it worked perfectly right now. And also because Brown's power was awakened by the potion, his willpower was not as strong as those knights who made this achievement on their own.
At that moment, the tiny magic waves produced by Lucien's spell were impossible to be noticed, specially because the explosion blast was totally overwhelming!
No one present noticed Lucien's casting.
The white light burst out again from Brown's amulet for the third time, only one second slower than Lucien's movement. However, Brown suddenly looked very confused for a second before he was covered by the feathers.
The great explosion made the whole museum shake fiercely, and the strong magic waves indicated that it was likely that a middle-rank mage was launching that attack. At the same time, the night watcher, Viscount Wright and other knights immediately took action: some of them took a defensive stance, while others rushed to the place where the explosion originally happened.
Noble ladies were screaming. Most people present terribly panicked. Everything here was a great chaos.
And they started to flood out of the museum, pushing and shoving.
Seeing that Brown protected himself well with the feathers, the night watcher alertly looked around when most of the grand knights were away to check the place which got exploded.
Anyone dare set a step close to Brown would be killed by the night watcher right on the spot.
As the night watcher was checking around, he saw the young man wearing the black top hat was also pushing other people to hurriedly get closer to the gate to escape. His elegant monocle was now hanging on his ear awkwardly.
"Useless¡­" thought the night watcher out of contempt.
And then the young man got out of the museum hall together with the crowd.

Chapter 167: The End of Brown
				Chapter 167: The End of Brown
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although the sound of the explosion faded and the museum stopped shaking, the ears of many were still tingling badly, as if thousands of flies were buzzing around, and they could hear nothing clear.
"One wall and several pillars are completely destroyed¡­ One fourth of the museum is severely affected," reported a knight to the night watcher. "Fortunately, no one is hurt. And the viscount sent me to tell you to not lower your guard. According to lord Wright, the attacker might be a fourth circle sorcerer who could use Fire Ball or something of equivalent explosive power."
Although the level of a magic spell was fixed according to the different levels of power of the casters, the effects varied greatly, even if the difference was only one level.
"I won¡¯t." The night watcher nodded. "I¡¯ll call up more night watchers to come here to assist the viscount as well, and to protect Mr. Brown."
The night watcher also felt quite pissed off by the fact that the attacker hasn¡¯t been found yet.
"Good. The viscount is furious right now." The knight nodded and walked toward Saugus to send him the comforting words from the viscount.
"Haulies, I want to leave this place, right now." Brown¡¯s voice trembled.
"I¡¯ll send you back home when more night watchers arrive." Haulies, the adventurer-looking night watcher nodded. He of course understood Brown¡¯s nervousness.
After all, nothing was more horrible than this kind of unknown danger, when the attacker could actually still be anywhere in this place.
"Why? How long do I still have to wait here?" Brown urged the night watcher out of anger and fear, "Just let the pastors and cardinals nearby come here!"
Haulies shrugged, "These holy pastors and cardinals won¡¯t show up right now, and they will only arrive when we actually besiege the attackers."
"I don¡¯t want to stay here anymore. Haulies! Let me go!" cried Brown, "I don¡¯t want to be the bait anymore! I¡¯m leaving Sturk as soon as possible!"
"Calm down, Mr. Brown¡­ Please calm down." Haulies tried to comfort him, "More night watchers are on their way."
"Please hurry!" Brown started to walk back and forth within a small area, and his great fear was torturing him.
"You gotta leave¡­ You gotta leave right now¡­ You gotta go¡­" Brown murmured to himself. He was going crazy.
As he was moving around, most of the feathers fell on the ground and disappeared.
"You gotta go¡­ Leave here¡­ Leave forever¡­" The voice in Brown¡¯s mind grew louder and louder. The voice was like Brown¡¯s own voice, but also like someone else¡¯s.
Finally, brown broke down mentally. He suddenly turned around and rushed to the gate as fast as he could. He was fast, and his speed came from his great fear.
As soon as Haulies noticed that Brown ran away, his heart sank. He had a bad foreboding.
"Wait! Don¡¯t go!" shouted Haulies.
When Brown was almost at the gate, he suddenly sensed great danger, and he quickly woke up from this fear and panic.
However, it was too late. A fireball with the size of a head directly hit the upper part of Brown¡¯s body!
In the last second of Brown¡¯s life, in the corner of his eye, Brown saw a young man wearing a black top hat hidden beside the gate. The young man pushed up his monocle with his left hand while, at the same time, the light of fire was still lingering on his left wrist.
Bang!
Together with another explosion from the fireball, the upper part of Brown¡¯s body exploded, and the fierce fire stopped his body from regenerating.
Brown was killed.
...
"!!" Haulies was shocked when he heard the other explosion.
That was the end of Brown, Haulies realized desperately, although he could not believe the fact that Brown was still killed despite the close protection from the night watchers and knights.
When he rushed to the gate of the museum, what Haulies saw were only pieces of Brown¡¯s body, and only the lower parts of the body could still be recognized.
Haulies¡¯ heart suddenly sank, and in the next second he yelled at the other knights and guards out of great anger, "The attacker is there! That way!"
He could tell the direction where the attacker launched his attack based on the position of Brown¡¯s remains. Haulies¡¯ eyes were bloodshot.
A bunch of people rushed to the corner of the museum.
However, there was no one there.
Even the whole street was empty since all the passersby were frightened away by the explosions.
The attacker, the bastard, also erased all his traces using magic, which showed that he was not even in too much of a hurry.
"Go get him!" shouted Haulies. He would not give up. He must catch this guy!
However, as the canals and the streets on the island waved together like a complicated spider web, it was very hard for them to trace based on the slight trace of magic wave left by the attacker.
After a while, when Haulies led the rest of the people to the other side of the island, even that slight trace of magic wave disappeared.
Countless pointy-headed boats were moving on the water. Haulies lost the attacker.
"F**k!!" swore Haulies.
Although he was only of level two, because of Haulies¡¯s special Blessing, he could shortly burst out the power equivalent to a level three grand knight. However, despite that, the attacker still managed to escape.
Haulies would not let the attacker just flee away like this. He started to contact the leader of the group of the night watchers as well as the cardinals, and also was ready for a thorough searching.
...
Alongside the canal behind Haulies, there was a fancy restaurant, and Lucien was in one of the booths of the restaurant¡¯s washroom.
A small cluster of fire appeared above Lucien¡¯s fingertips, and then he burnt down the clothes and hat that he was just wearing.
Now he was wearing a dark-red shirt, black trousers and leather shoes.
This was how Lucien dressed when he first went out from his hotel room in the morning. Last night, he hid all his outfit in this washroom.
After the burning smell was gone, Lucien quickly threw the broken monocular and the shoes that he was wearing into the canal through the washroom window.
Then, he tidied himself up a little bit, walked out of the washroom and entered a balcony of the restaurant.
In the balcony, Grace was walking back and forth nervously. Seeing that Lucien finally came back, she hurriedly asked, "Mr. Evans, did you hear the explosion?"
Grace was too nervous to notice that it took Lucien more than fifteen minutes to come back from the washroom. And, of course, it was not a big deal either that one spent fifteen minutes in washroom.
"I heard it as well. It was horrible." Lucien closed the balcony door from behind, "I tried to look out from the washroom window but did not see anything. We can ask the waiter later what happened over there. Don¡¯t be nervous. We¡¯re fine, Grace."
Grace nodded and took a couple of deep breaths, "You¡¯re right, Mr. Evans. Let¡¯s continue. You just mentioned that my fingerings were¡­"
Lucien already switched himself back into his music mood, after he did all these things to fulfill his mission within fifteen minutes.
"Yes, that¡¯s right¡­ You¡¯re still sticking to your previous practice to some degree," explained Lucien, "But this is not necessarily a bad thing. As a pianist, you gotta find your own style¡­"
Lucien was definitely an authority in piano playing, and he had a very profound understanding of it. Grace frequently nodded as she was listening to him very carefully.
About more than half an hour later, a waiter knocked at the door gently.
"Yes?" Grace was not happy that her lesson was interrupted.
"Ms. Grace, two knight squires from the Church need to search the place," answered the waiter politely.
The balcony was booked under Grace¡¯s name.
"Well¡­ let them in, then," said Grace. Although she was already quite well-known in Sturk, she still needed to respect the Church.

Chapter 168: Mission Complete
				Chapter 168: Mission Complete
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the two squires from the Church walked into the balcony, they did not feel suspicious at all. After all, this restaurant was a place only for people of high social status in the city, and searching this place was just a routine part of their work.
"When did you arrive at this restaurant, and did you temporarily leave this place just now?" asked the two squires.
Although a boatman passing by reported to the Church that he witnessed a young man wearing a black top hat and monocular summoning a big fireball, the boatman could not describe the attacker¡¯s physical appearance in detail.
As soon as the witness mentioned the black top hat, Haulies realized who was the attacker. However, the information these squires had was still too limited for them to realize that the noble young man standing right in front of them was the very attacker wanted.
"Nine forty. I arrived this restaurant at nine forty," Lucien answered calmly, "I have an appointment with Ms. Grace today, and I never left this restaurant."
Lucien said the word "restaurant", instead of "balcony", in order to mislead Grace.
"Mr. E¡­ Emm¡­ This gentleman is my friend, and we were discussing piano playing just now." Grace was for sure on Lucien¡¯s side, and she also had no idea that Lucien actually did so many things within the fifteen minutes during which he was away in the washroom.
"Your words is for sure trustworthy." One of the squires nodded. "I really like your piano playing, Miss Grace."
And after a casual searching in the balcony, the two squires left.
When the balcony door was gently closed from outside, Lucien smiled, "Shall we continue now?"
In fact, killing Brown was never a super challenging task. However, how to kill Brown but also manage to escape from the besiege of the night watchers and knights was the toughest part of the whole mission.
And letting Brown himself run out of his own protection was the best way!
"Of course," answered Grace eagerly. She never imagined that she could have a precious chance like this to be taught by Lucien Evans in person.
Lucien taught Grace very patiently until it was about noon. When they were waiting for the lunch, he said to Grace, "Any plans for your future?"
Grace lowered her head but did not answer immediately. Although Grace kept telling herself that it was the difficult situation that forced her to steal Lucien Evans¡¯ name and live in a big lie, she knew that, despite all these reasons, what she was doing was because of her own greed.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do, Mr. Evans," Grace opened her mouth with great effort.
"You did me a favor. You helped me solve the problem between my friend and Mr. Granneuve, and I really appreciate it," said Lucien sincerely. "If you really want to be a good musician, go to Aalto, together with your family. I can write a letter for you to the president of the Musicians¡¯ Association there, as your instructor."
"Oh¡­ Really?" Grace was very surprised.
Lucien nodded and continued, "Or, if you want to keep stealing my name and stay in Sturk to enjoy your reputation, I will not admit neither deny it. Up to you."
Grace stared at the clean white tablecloth and remained silent. She had lots of thoughts going on at the same time in her mind. She knew that, without a real solid foundation in music knowledge and hard practice, her fake reputation of being Lucien Evans¡¯ student would turn into a heavy burden for her sooner or later.
However, thinking of the luxury lifestyle she was living right now in Sturk, it was very hard for her to say goodbye to it.
Lucien did not urge Grace. No matter what option she chose, her choice did not really have anything to do with him anyway.
A couple of gentle knocks at the door dragged Grace¡¯s thoughts back.
She sat a bit more straight, and when the waiter left the balcony, she said to Lucien with determination, "I¡¯ll go to Aalto, Mr. Evans."
Lucien spread the napkin on his lap and started to cut his steak, "I¡¯ll write letters for you to Mr. Victor and Mr. Christopher."
When Lucien and Grace were chatting about the Musicians¡¯ Association in Aalto, someone knocked at the door again.
"Yes?" asked Grace in a cheerful tone. After making this hard decision, Grace felt way more relaxed now.
"It¡¯s us, Grace." It was Green, the violist of the band.
"Why are you guys here?" asked Grace again, confused.
"We need to practice this afternoon together, don't you remember? Let¡¯s go together!" It was Piola.
Grace did not respond immediately.
"Grace, open the door," said Green. "You agreed with us. You agreed on doing this. And we gotta do it."
"Yes, we have no choice," agreed the other band members.
Hearing their words, Grace forced a smile on her face and whispered to Lucien, "After the night when I met you in the restaurant, I was very nervous and anxious, so I did not attend our regular practice. They thought that I wanted to quit."
Lucien did not really care. He put a piece of meat in his mouth and then said, "Deal with it however you want."
Grace nodded and then walked toward the door, partially opening it.
"No worries. I won¡¯t give this concert up," Grace said to the other band members. "But after that, I¡¯m going to Aalto to learn music."
"Are you kidding?" Green looked a bit pissed off, "Now you got money and reputation, and you want to keep away from us."
Although the other band members were quite famous in the city as well, they were not even close to Grace, because she was the only one in the band who played piano. Of course, they did not feel that it was fair.
Therefore, gradually, these young people who got together because of the same music dream started to lose their focus and even themselves.
"Grace," said Sharon, who was not looking at her but staring at the floor, "You know we can tell the newspaper what you are doing right now."
Although Grace was still feeling guilty, after hearing Sharon¡¯s words, she released a long sigh and responded, "Go ahead, Sharon. No one will believe you."
"Does this one-month-role-playing really make you feel you¡¯re a student of Mr. Lucien Evans?" said Green sarcastically.
Grace opened the door completely, "I got someone who supports me here."
"Mr. Evans?!" The band members were all shocked.
They had no idea when Lucien Evans arrived in Sturk or when did Grace developed such a good relationship with him.
Lucien put down the knife and fork, wiped his mouth slowly, and walked to Grace, "I¡¯ll send the letters to you later. When you¡¯re in Aalto, bring the letters to Mr. Christopher."
"Thank you, Mr. Evans¡­ No, thank you¡­ my teacher," said Grace excitedly.
Lucien nodded, and when he walked past the other group members, he said to them, "Hope you folks never forget your music dream. You cannot rely on someone else¡¯s fame for the rest of your life."
That was also what Lucien wanted to say to himself.
When Lucien¡¯s figure disappeared in the corridor, some of the band members lowered their heads out of shame.
...
It was sunny and hot the second day.
Lucien and Ferryman were standing side by side in the back of a small boat, moving along the canal.
Lucien puzzedly looked at Ferryman. He could not believe that Ferryman would just show up in public like this in the city.
"No worries, my friend. My blood power came from a special creature, and I¡¯m very good at disguising myself, That¡¯s why I¡¯m here." Ferryman grinned. "Thank you, Mr. Evans. You¡¯re fantastic. Did you make the explosive yourself? Out of the materials I gave you?"
Ferryman did not link the stone bridge thing to Lucien. He thought it was only an accident, after all, Lucien was on the boat at that time.
Lucien realized that the current physical appearance of Ferryman might not be real, but he did not want to bother himself with this topic too much right now.
"Yes, I made it. It¡¯s a unique, ancient formula," answered Lucien casually.
"I see." Ferryman looked ahead. "Given that you successively fulfilled the mission, now it is my turn to fulfill my promise. I¡¯ll take you to the place of a scholar later. And before you leave Sturk, I suggest you do not go outside."
"Scholar?" Lucien was a bit confused.

Chapter 169: Astar
				Chapter 169: Astar
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Ferryman grinned. "Xelloss Astar, the famous playwright who have already produced six popular operas in Sturk."
He did not avoid the boatman paddling in the front, since the boatman was also one of the core members of the Congress of Magic in Sturk.
"He¡¯s a sorcerer as well?" asked Lucien. Astar¡¯s identity for disguise was basically the same as his own.
"Yes, he is." Ferryman nodded and said in respect, "He is a Shadow Mentor."
"Mentor?" Lucien was surprised.
In the ancient magic empire, anyone who could be respected as a mentor would be at least a senior-rank mage.
"Of course. Although I¡¯m not sure about Mr. Astar¡¯s specific level, without doubt, he¡¯s of senior rank. Actually, we have a couple of senior-rank mages in Sturk, but some of them are out of town right now, and they would rarely carry out tasks themselves," explained Ferryman.
"The more powerful the congress is, the more secure I feel," answered Lucien honestly. Ferryman¡¯s words also verified Rhine¡¯s comment on the Congress of Magic that it was growing strong very fast.
Moving along the canal, the pointy-headed boat turned at the corner and came to a beautiful and quiet residential area in the city.
...
The boat stopped in front of a big, luxury three-storey house with a spacious garden. Lucien and Ferryman stepped on the stone stairs in front of the property after getting off the boat and came to the gate of the house.
"Tom." The guard standing behind simply greeted Ferryman and opened the iron gate. Obviously, they were acquaintances.
Lucien was somehow expecting a different name for Ferryman, at least more unique than "Tom".
As Tom and Lucien slowly walked through the garden and the lawn, Tom said to Lucien casually, "Tom is a very common name, I know, but my job also does not draw much attention anyway."
"That¡¯s right, but sometimes people take the opposite way, for example, Mr. Astar." Lucien nodded and looked around this place curiously. He saw nothing special yet with this place.
"Mew!" An orange tabby cat suddenly appeared in front of them and spoke to them in a husky voice, "Astar wants you guys to go to the second floor. He¡¯s studying arcana right now and got no time to welcome our new friend."
"Yes¡­ Ms. Mercedes," responded Tom with awe.
Then he introduced the cat to Lucien, "This is Mr. Astar¡¯s familiar¡­ no, partner, Ms. Mercedes."
"Very nice to meet you, Ms. Mercedes," greeted Lucien to the cat politely.
The cat made a short "hum" from her throat to respond, and then elegantly walked into the garden nearby.
Before Tom and Lucien walked into the hall, Lucien looked back and saw that the arrogant cat was jumping around to catch a butterfly. Obviously, she was having fun by herself over there.
"Sometimes animals know better how to enjoy life," said Tom gently and opened the wooden gate.
Lucien turned around and smiled, "But happiness is not everything that a person can enjoy in one¡¯s life."
...
The sunlight made the second floor pretty bright. However, when Lucien was following Tom walking through the corridor, he always somehow felt that this place was covered by shadows, and he had a feeling that this was because of Sun¡¯s Corona he was wearing.
"It¡¯s us, Mr. Astar," said Tom in a low voice as he gently knocked at a black wooden door.
"Come in. The door is unlocked." A husky voice came from behind the door. 
Tom pushed the door open carefully and asked Lucien to go in with him.
The first thing that jumped into Lucien¡¯s eyes was the messy wads of paper on the thick gray carpet. And, amazingly, there was a quill writing fast on a piece of white paper on its own, without anyone holding it, and, from time to time, the quill was dipping itself in the ink bottle cheerfully.
But Lucien did not see Mr. Astar.
Seeing that Tom was bending to the ground and picking up the paper wads from the floor to throw them at a trash bin, Lucien hurriedly joined him.
Out of curiosity, Lucien took a quick glance at a paper wad as he picked it up and saw messy formulas and numbers on it.
In order to show his respect, Lucien did not carefully read the paper neither tried to steal it, and, of course, he dare not as well, but he could be certain about was the foundational role of math in arcana study.
"Give me a moment," said the same husky voice coming from every dark corner of the room. Taking a closer look, Lucien saw a silhouette between the curtain and the desk, and, gradually, an elegant black-haired man appeared. At first glance, Lucien thought that the man was only in his early twenties, but later, he thought that the man might be over forty.
The black-haired man was sitting in his armchair and reading a black hard-covered book very carefully. Around him, in the shadow, it seemed like there were countless quills writing and calculating busily. Lucien could not see them clearly. 
About ten minutes later, when Tom and Lucien still remained silent, the quill on the desk finished its work and jumped into the quill pot itself, and the shadow quills in the darkness also disappeared completely.
Closing the book, the black-haired man turned to look at them and greeted, "Welcome, our new friend. I¡¯m Astar."
"Great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Astar." Lucien slightly bowed to him. As he was bowing, he saw the name of the book, which was printed in silver ink, Arcana.
Lucien saw the font before, and he got excited and murmured, "Arcana¡­"
Astar lifted the book a bit and asked, "Have you ever read this before?"
"Yes¡­ but a very old one." Lucien was very curious, "Mr. Astar, is this the latest issue of Arcana? Can I take a look?"
Astar stood up from his armchair and smiled, "What you¡¯ve been studying is the ancient magic system, and hence this might be a bit too much for you. And if you can¡¯t read Arcana, you cannot understand all kinds of new magic structures published in the journal called Magic." Astar pointed at another book on his desk with a Hexagram on it, "However, you¡¯re the only sorcerer in the past ten years who wanted to borrow Arcana from me, and I¡¯m impressed by your thirst for knowledge. So feel free to read it, but don¡¯t feel depressed when you cannot get it."
As he was saying, Astar handed Lucien the book.
And then he turned to Ferryman, "How shall I call our new friend, Tom?"
"Evans¡­ Mr. Evans. A first circle sorcerer," answered Tom, feeling a bit nervous still.
Lucien opened Arcana and glanced at the content page. Immediately, he was shocked, since the title of the first article in this journal was:
"A Special Complex Function that Describes and Calculates Spiritual Power Field".
Lucien never expected that the congress¡¯s study of Complex Functions was this advanced. Although some of the books unlocked in Lucien¡¯s spirit library were about the knowledge of Complex Function, it was too complicated for Lucien to understand since he came from neither math nor physics academic background. Also, Lucien thought that the study progress of the congress might still remain close to that of Earth in the late 18th century or the early 19th century, which mainly focused on calculus, hence he never put too much thought into this field. Lucien realized that he was falling behind and he needed to catch up with the congress as soon as possible.
A complex function was one in which the independent variable and the dependent variable were both complex numbers. Based on the theory of Complex Analysis, many study achievements were made, for example, the measurement of planar field and Riemann Surface. And then, Riemann¡¯s looking into the space curved surface based on Non-Euclidean geometry Theory provided the tool of developing the General Theory of Relativity from Einstein.
Seeing that Lucien was totally shocked, Astar grinned, "Aren¡¯t these articles edge-cutting? Since Mr. Brook, the grand arcanist, found the relation between electricity and magnetism and put forward the concept, Electromagnetic Field, the studies looking into all kinds of ¡®fields¡¯ are thriving. And thus many complex functions came out as a tool for us to calculate the intensity of a specific spot in a spiritual power field. And my research interest, Shadow Field, requires a thorough understanding of it."
Lucien nodded. In this world, the need in arcana research accelerated the birth of complex functions, which was different from that of Earth.
"Anyway, talking about those theories to you right now does nothing but greatly confuses you. When you get to Allyn, Evans, the congress will provide you with lots of basic books and materials for learning arcana. And if you have an open mind, you can switch yourself into a sorcerer who believes in the contemporary magic system in about two to three years¡­ It depends on your own effort," continued Astar.
"They just¡­ give the books and materials¡­ for free?" Lucien was concerned that the congress would have extra demanding requests for him just like the Hand of Paleness.
"Just some little requirements¡­ not anything dangerous." Astar assured Lucien, "We hope that sorcerers under middle rank can focus on their own study and grow stronger, and that¡¯s the best pay from you folks to the congress."
Then Astar turned to Ferryman, "Tom, could you show Evans his room on the third floor?"
"Sure." Tom nodded.
"On the third floor, there are a few apprentices with quite good potential living here and learning after me right now. And they¡¯ll be sent to Holm together with you. If you feel not ashamed to learn from apprentices, you can start studying arcana learning from them," said Astar.
Leaving Astar¡¯s study, Lucien and Tom walked to the third floor.

Chapter 170: The Apprentices
				Chapter 170: The Apprentices
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The arrangement of the third floor was very different from that of the second. Lucien saw a spacious blue and white living room. On eash side of the living room, there was a row of big windows, through which the sunlight came in and brightly lit up the whole place.
Although the living room was still quite smaller than the hall on the first floor, everything there looked rather lively and energetic - couches that could move around; small-sized tea tables everywhere; small black writing boards hanging on the wall; green plants, etc.
There were some teenagers in that place. The oldest might be around fourteen or fifteen, and the youngest might be only twelve. Some of them were sitting in the couches, calculating and writing something down in a very dedicated way, while others were standing in front of the small blackboards, discussing something seriously. In a second, Lucien thought that he was visiting a study hall or something.
Because of the unique design of the place and the thick carpet on the floor, Lucien and Tom's arriving did not attract the teenagers' attention at all.
"Annick, I found this book, Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic, very interesting. Although the three fundamental laws of force field look quite simple, when you think about it, all of them are very close to our daily life when we cast a spell," said a young girl in a low voice to her friend sitting in the couch beside her.
Another teenager boy with blond curly hair looked up and said, "Layria, I agree with you. You know once Mr. Astar mentioned that Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic is one of the two major theories supporting the contemporary magic system, and if you can have a thoroughout understanding of it, probably you can become a real sorcerer soon!"
The girl with linen-colored hair sitting beside them joined the conversation, "Annick, Layria, are you two still reading the first chapter? The other day I took a quick glance at the book and found the third chapter was beyond imagination. The third chapter tries to explain all kinds of movements happening in this world, including stars and tides, by introducing the concept of gravity, a force that exists between the stars and the land. And that is why star trails can actually be predicted. I believe that it's very important to our further study in Astrology."
Layria's lovely ponytail slightly jumped up and down as she was nodding, "Yes, yes¡­ but I cannot understand the derivation here, and I also don't understand the mathematical method called¡­calculus. What about you two, Heidi and Annick?"
"No idea¡­ I cannot get it at all," answered Heidi casually. "But just like what Mr. Astar told us, before we become real sorcerers, we only need to remember a few principles and formulas, instead of understanding why."
"Still¡­ We need to read a lot of books according to Mr. Astar¡­" Layria sighed. "Basic Geometry of Magic, The Mapping of Magic Principles and Model Building and¡­ and¡­"
"And The Significance of Modelling, Element Equation behind Magic Formula, Basic Element, Common Algebra, Classification of Low-rank Meditations, Simple Analysis of the Essence of the Cold and the Heat, Motion and Force in Magic." Heidi took over the words and listed all the books they needed to read.
"You see, I cannot even remember the books." Layria shrugged. "Although Mr. Astar said that if we could fully understand Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic and then spend a year on studying calculus, when we got enough spiritual power, we could work on becoming a middle-rank sorcerer, I don't know how long this whole process would take me without a teacher¡­ maybe fifteen years¡­"
As Astar said, all these apprentices in this living room were more talented than the average, and for sure, they had their own targets.
Annick scratched his hair a bit and said, "We're not gonna be on our own for long, right? Mr. Astar said that we would have mentors teaching us in Allyn. Maybe four or five years later, we can become real sorcerers, and at that time¡­"
"At that time, we'll be councillors of the city council. We'll have servants," said Heidi full of hope.
"At that time, we can meet our families as well," added Layria.
The three apprentices remained silent for a bit and then sighed at the same time.
There was a rare smile on Ferryman's face while he looked at the three teenagers, "Those three, together with Sprint, Oimos and Katrina, they were the most gifted kids in the last test. Especially Sprint and Katrina, they both have quite potential spiritual power and talent in arcana."
As Tom was saying, he pointed at the the teenager boy with dark red hair, the other teenager who was sitting in the couch calculating, and the blonde girl who was discussing seriously with her peers.
"All promising young people," responded Lucien in a real sorcerer's tone. 
Their conversation seized the apprentices' attention. They turned around and bowed politely, "Mr. Tom."
Tom apparently looked way less gloomy than usual when he was in front of the teenagers. He nodded and smiled, "I'm very glad to see that all of you're working so hard, but at the same time, I want you ladies and gentlemen to understand that the author of Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic, and also the inventor of calculus, Mr. Douglas, is the president of the congress, and the greatest arcanist ever, hence there is still a long way for you folks to go. Work hard and be patient."
"Thank you, Mr. Tom. We will." Sprint took a step forward and said with pride, "Becoming an arcanist has always been my target, and I finally became a junior apprentice yesterday."
Some of the teenagers were very surprised. It did not take Sprint long to make this breakthrough.
"You're gifted, Sprint." Tom nodded, feeling quite surprised as well, "And I saw you were helping your peers as well."
"Of course, we're all friends," answered Sprint cheerfully like a kid. Then, he took a glance at Lucien, "Is this our new friend, Mr. Tom? He looks a bit older than us."
Then Sprint turned to Lucien, "Do you know anything about arcana? I can provide you with some help if you want."
"Yes, you can ask me as well," said Katrina. This fourteen-year-old girl was wearing a white dress and already looked like a beautiful young lady. "And I'll also become an apprentice very soon."
Both Sprint and Katrina arrived here recently, and when they were chosen, neither of them was an apprentice but just talented kids. Now Sprint already made his breakthrough, and it seemed that Katrina was on her way as well. Without doubt, Sprint and Katrina were the most potential two among all the apprentices and the other young kids who were working on becoming one.
And just like all the smart people, Sprint and Katrina were competing with each other all the time.
In Katrina's mind, this young man, who was probably only twenty or something, should be no more than a senior apprentice who knew nothing about arcana.
Tom was a bit amused, "This is Mr. Evans. He is a real sorcerer."
"A real sorcerer?!"
"But he looks so young?!"
The teenagers were very surprised.
Although they heard that from time to time there were very talented teenagers who could become real sorcerers after turning eighteen when their souls became more stable, they never met a sorcerer who was this young as Lucien. They suspected that probably this Mr. Evans was using some kind of magic to maintain his young appearance.
"When you arrive at the congress, you'll see sorcerers who're only fifteen or even fourteen." Tom slightly shook his head and smiled, "In my eyes, Mr. Evans is rather smart, and I'm actually not surprised with his achievement."
"Mr. Evans." All the apprentices bowed politely with their right hands on their foreheads.
This was the tradition that an apprentice should show great respect to a sorcerer.
Lucien smiled, "We're peers now."
"You want to study arcana with them?" whispered Tom to Lucien.
"I want to start from reading the books they just mentioned," answered Lucien, "We can discuss if it's necessary." Lucien believed that his arcana knowledge was no inferior than most middle-rank mages.
"Then you have to fulfil a task from the congress in advance," Tom grinned, "since the books are only for the apprentices. Sorcerers can only get them when they arrive the congress."
"What task?" asked Lucien.
"You gotta be the teacher of an apprentice," explained Tom patiently. "In order to get the books and all kinds of support from the congress, a sorcerer needs to help an apprentice to reach his or her senior level. Due to the limit of the environment here, the hope that they can leap forward to reach this level is slim to none, but you can try helping an apprentice in training to become a junior one. How does this sound? Fulfilling half of the congress's task in advance right here?" 
"Then what will happen after we arrive in Allyn?" asked Lucien, "Will I still be the teacher?"
"No worries." Tom waved his hands, "All the apprentices will be sent to the secret schools to study at that time. They won't bother you."
"I see. Sounds very reasonable." Lucien nodded. He agreed on the emphasis that the congress put on training apprentices.
Tom clapped his hands to draw the teenagers' attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, I've got an opportunity for you. Because Mr. Evans needs to study arcana, he wants to work with some of you. Who wants to volunteer? You folks gotta know that the chance of working together with a real sorcerer is precious!"
The reaction of the apprentices varied. Some got quite excited and started to whisper to each other, while others remained quite doubtful toward a sorcerer who knew nothing about arcana.
No one knew how much this young sorcerer could help them with their arcana study.
Besides, according to the tradition of the ancient magic empire, some sorcerers were quite strict with training new apprentices. Those apprentices who had other teachers before would not be taken into their consideration at all, hence they might miss the chance of becoming the students of some more powerful sorcerers. And that was the thing that concerned them the most.
"Who volunteers?" asked Tom again.
Sprint responded first, "I'm afraid that Mr. Evans cannot provide me with enough guidance with regard to arcana. I'm sorry."
"Me neither. Sorry, Mr. Evans." Katrina lowered her head, "I want to stick to my own study schedule."
The other six or seven apprentices who were close to Sprint and Katrina were also very hesitant.

Chapter 171: Instruction
				Chapter 171: Instruction
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing the apprentices¡¯ attitude, Tom realized how rebellious these young teenagers could be in this age, so he hurriedly clarified, "I want you folks to understand that the Congress of Magic is not like the past ancient magic empire, and most of the sorcerers in the congress will still be willing to accept you as his or her apprentice even after you have studied under Mr. Evans, as long as you¡¯re not Mr. Evans registered apprentice."
Hearing Tom¡¯s words, a few apprentices raised their heads.
"I know many of you once heard from Mr. Astar that lots and lots of sorcerers, because they could not keep an open mind toward arcana, failed to make the breakthrough upward to middle or high-rank mage level. However, as you folks can see, Mr. Evans is a real sorcerer already before his twenties, and this talent is quite precious even in the congress. Compared with those old-school sorcerers, Mr. Evans might be able to provide you folks with great new insights, and maybe one day Mr. Evans will become a mentor!"
The title, mentor, was especially used to respect those high-rank mages. Across the continent, high-rank mages were very rare, even in the Duchy of Violet.
Tom¡¯s words clearly showed that he saw the great potential in Lucien, especially because of the task had Lucien perfectly fulfilled before.
As many of them were quite shy, some young apprentices started to whisper to each other again.
At this time, Sprint, who clearly viewed himself as the leader of the apprentices, responded in a quite firm attitude, "I still prefer to study arcana on my own."
"I agree. We¡¯ve all got our own schedules." Katrina nodded.
Tom¡¯s face looked a bit gloomy now. He rather felt awkward for Lucien.
When Tom was about to say something else, Lucien finally started to talk to the apprentices, "Everyone needs to make their own choices, and I understand. What about the others? Anyone wants to study arcana with me?"
The six or seven teenagers standing close to Sprint and Katrina exchanged a look among each other and lowered their heads again, and the rest of the apprentices went back to silence as well.
Even the teenagers who wanted to give it a shot felt quite hesitant again.
At this time, finally, one teenager boy took a step forward and said in respect, "Mr. Evans, can you be my teacher?"
"Annick?!" The rest of the apprentices were very surprised.
"You sure, Annick?" Lucien smiled.
Annick was a plain-looking teenager boy, however, at this time, his blue eyes were shining with hope.
"Yes, Mr. Evans," answered Annick sincerely. "I come from a family of magic, and I¡¯ve been infused with all kinds of exciting legends of the great sorcerers since when I was a kid. However, it has been a hundred years since our family produced the last real sorcerer. I believe in your talent in magic, Mr. Evans¡­ You becoming a real sorcerer at such a young age makes me believe in your wisdom. I hope that I could have the pleasure to become your student, even for only a short period of time."
Annick¡¯s family had been falling in the past years. Annick¡¯s spiritual power potential was greater than his family peers, and hence he was burdened with the great hope from his parents and relatives. However, Annick¡¯s arcana talent was not as impressive as that of his spiritual power, so he understood that he needed to seize every possible opportunity that he encountered.
"Well¡­ Welcome, Annick." Lucien nodded, "Let¡¯s work together."
Then, following Annick, another two teenager apprentices volunteered.
"Mr. Evans, I want to learn from you as well." Layria¡¯s voice was crisp, and her big eyes looked very sincere.
"Me, too. Mr. Evans." Heidi joined them as well with his slightly chubby face with few freckles on it.
As they were speaking, both of them slightly pulled Annick¡¯s shirt from behind, as if they were showing their support to him.
Lucien was a bit touched by their pure friendship. He smiled and said to Annick, Layria and Heidi, "No problem. Three students is enough. I cannot handle teaching more."
Subconsciously, Lucien used the word "teaching", since he never felt that his understanding toward arcana was inferior to most of his peers.
Hearing that, a few more apprentices who did not seize the chance fast enough started to feel a bit regretful.
"Congratulations to you three." Tom gently applauded, "The rest of you folks should keep working hard."
"We will, Mr. Tom." Sprint took a glance at the three Lucien¡¯s students, turned around and continued to do his study again, and so did Katrina.
Tom shrugged to Lucien, "Young kids¡­ Anyway, Mr. Evans, please just pick a room on the third floor, whichever you like, to stay for the week. In seven days, we¡¯ll leave for Allyn. During the seven days, avoid going out as much as possible."
Lucien nodded, "I¡¯m looking forward to the trip in seven days."
After Tom left, Lucien asked his three students to sit down in a half circle-shaped couch and started to do his own introduction, "I¡¯m Evans, from the west side of the continent. I¡¯m more into the School of Element and Astrology, but no mastery yet. Feel free to discuss any questions you have with me, please."
"Mr. Evans, nice to meet you," said the chubby-faced girl, "I¡¯m Heidi, and I come from Syracuse. I was recommended by a sorcerer in my country to Mr. Astar and then arrived at Sturk. Within a couple of weeks¡¯ study, I¡¯m already an apprentice in training. I¡¯m currently with Element Meditation, but also studying the rest of the schools as well."
Heidi was the most outgoing one among the three apprentices, so she introduced herself first. As a young teenager, she could not help showing off a bit of her talent.
Following Heidi, Layria said to Lucien in respect, "Mr. Evans, I¡¯m Layria from a common family in Gusta. Since my referrer is a gentleman from the congress, I¡¯m currently practicing Magnetic Resonance Meditation. Mr. Astar told us that, no matter which school we choose to specialize in, basic arcana knowledge is always indispensable, so I¡¯m very looking forward to your instruction."
"I¡¯m from a small town in the Duchy of Violet, Mr. Evans," said Annick. "I study Astrology and Element, too."
Then, before Lucien asked for the arcana books, Heidi already carried all her books to him, "Mr. Evans, can you understand all of them? In most cases, I have no clue at all."
"Me neither," agreed both Layria and Annick.
Taking over the books from Heidi, Lucien started to leaf through them.
The first book was The Significance of Modelling, and its preface wrote:
"In the ancient magic empire time, the belief that prevailed is that understanding the different meanings of the corresponding parts of a magic model is unnecessary and inappropriate, instead, copying the models existing inside of the magic creatures is enough. However, as long as there is myth, there should be an answer; as long as there is an answer, there should be a way to discover it. And if we cannot find the way, it is because we are not on the correct path."
Lucien strongly agreed with the author of the book. He believed that the basic principles of science should be shared by both Earth and this world. Although there must be differences, there should always be ways to identify the differences, as long as one was willing to bravely make hypothesis and carefully verify them.
Lucien turned the book to the front page again, and he was very surprised to find the familiar name on there: the author of the book was Yaroran Hathaway, the maker of Natasha¡¯s Thunder. 
Since his three students were still waiting, Lucien did not spend any extra time on exploring who was Yaroran Hathaway. In a reasonable speed, Lucien browsed through all the books and copied them in his spirit library.
"Mr. Evans, how do you think?" Seeing that Lucien put down the last book, both Heidi and Layria asked at the same time.
Lucien found that, despite the fact that all the content was about the magic world, the basic science principles and knowledge lying underneath was about junior high school or high school level, so he nodded slightly and explained, "The reason why you three could not understand is the lack of the corresponding basic knowledge, since the knowledge in these books is built upon other more basic books. And among these basic books, you three should work on Basic Geometry of Magic and Common Algebra first."
"Are these two books also hard to understand?" Layria asked a bit concernedly.
"I¡¯ll read them with you." Lucien tried to encourage them, "The two books should not be too difficult if we¡¯re willing to spend lots of time on the exercises."
"Lots of time on¡­ the exercises¡­?" murmured Layria confusedly. Clearly, she did not really get the idea "exercise", and neither did Annick and Heidi.
As a university student who had experienced the nightmarish college entrance examination in the country in his original world, Lucien started to pray for the three teenagers out of sympathy.
Obviously, they still had no idea of how much work they would be asked to do soon.

Chapter 172: Study Helps One Progress
				Chapter 172: Study Helps One Progress
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing that Mr. Evans was being pretty serious, Annick, Layria and Heidi all nodded, although unsure of what exactly they were going to do. However, they definitely sensed something not that good.
"Mr. Evans, since this is the first time you are reading those arcana books, we will just leave you alone right now to let you stay focused. When you have a better understanding of them, please provide us with some direction." Annick stood up and said to Lucien politely, "We can practice meditating right now."
Although Lucien was actually capable of teaching them something about science, or, using this world¡¯s expression, arcana, right now, he decided to make the whole thing more reasonable, since it would be very queer if his instruction started immediately after he just leafed through the pages.
"Good suggestion." Lucien smiled and nodded, "Probably tomorrow around this time, I should be able to start teaching."
"Tomorrow? Wow¡­ That¡¯s so fast." Layria was very surprised.
"I will teach you folks tomorrow what I will have figured out by then," Lucien answered. "That¡¯s my way of teaching. I study and then I teach the knowledge to you three, which¡¯s also a good way of giving myself some pressure."
"That¡¯s so nice of you, Mr. Evans," answered Heidi cheerfully.
When the three apprentices went back to their own rooms to practice meditating, Lucien picked a quiet corner to focus on his own learning.
The book Lucien was reading now was Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic, which read quite similar to one of the most well-known works of Newton. According to its content page, the book also focused on discussing all kinds of forces in this world by using calculus, while the major different feature of the book was that, within expectation, the researches mentioned all served for the purpose of developing magic, such as solving some questions in the school of Astrology.
Then, Lucien turned the book to the preface page and started to read the words left by the author:
"¡­ We make all the effort of conducting all kinds of researches in order to seek the ultimate answers for some abstract questions, such as: What is ¡®I¡¯? What is the essence of the world? Where does the world come from? How all the things in this world developed and integrated themselves into a beautiful system? What do ¡®I¡¯ have anything to do with the world? And that is why I decided to use the word ¡®philosophy¡¯ to name the book.
We explore the word, trying to summarize and conclude laws from common phenomena, and based on the laws, we explain, construct, and create magic.
Your friend,
Douglas"
Lucien was not at all surprised that calculus was invented in this world, since all the complicated magic structures required accurate ways of calculation.
When Lucien started to read the book carefully, a quill on the desk jumped up on its own and started writing down something on a piece of paper automatically following Lucien¡¯s thoughts.
Lucien found that, compared with those similar books written in his original world, this book was even more systematic and clearer, and hence it was easier for Lucien to understand.
Time flew past, and when the sunlight started getting dimmer and dimmer, Lucien realized that he already skipped his lunch. He found the book very fascinating since what this masterpiece was attempting to do was connecting magic and the laws of the world together.
If it had not been because of the inadequacy of the strength of Lucien¡¯s soul, Lucien would have been able to start analyzing some second or even third circle spells already after reading a few more of these books. Lucien really wished that he could learn the better meditation way mentioned by Felipe that was only accessible to high-rank mages sooner rather than later.
As he stretched his body a bit in the couch, Lucien stood up and looked around.
"Good evening, Mr. Evans," greeted some of the apprentices in awe. After all, Mr. Evans was a real sorcerer who they were supposed to show respect toward.
Lucien casually burned down the draft of his calculation and nodded, "Where I can have dinner please?"
"The dining hall, on the first floor," answered Katrina respectfully. She already saw how hard Mr. Evans worked, and she always respected people who worked hard. She wished herself would become a sorcerer soon, so she could help her parents who had been in trouble for quite a long time.
...
The dining hall on the first floor.
"Evans, I¡¯ve heard your diligence. No wonder you are a real sorcerer already before twenty," commented Astar. "After you become a middle-rank mage, and if you have a quite good understanding in shadow and light, I will definitely consider you to become one of my research assistants."
Although Astar was saying this, he was not very serious, since even throughout the whole congress, only very few arcanists could meet his requirements right now.
Beside Astar, Mercedes was working hard on her pan-fried fish in the plate with a piece of white napkin surrounding her fluffy neck. From time to time, Mercedes would mew and brushed Astar¡¯s arm with her tail.
Lucien smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Astar. Arcana is still very new to me, and all I can do right now is work hard."
"Although your attitude is surely great," Astar changed his tone, "hard work doesn¡¯t solve all the problems. You gotta make progress gradually, Evans. What I mean is¡­ Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic and calculus might be too much for you right now. I¡¯d suggest you to start with some basic arcana books, plus The Encyclopedia of Magic Creatures."
"Actually¡­ I¡¯ve finished reading most of the content in Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic, and, of course, like what you just mentioned, I will start reading Basic Geometry of Magic and Common Algebra to better direct my three apprentices tomorrow," answered Lucien in a polite tone.
In Lucien¡¯s mind, he still had lots of questions unsolved, but he also had this feeling that these questions actually involved the ultimate secrets of the world.
When Lucien compared the two books, Basic Geometry of Magic and Common Algebra, in his spirit library earlier today, he was certain that both of them were books introducing Euclidean geometry, analytic geometry and equations, and the principles of the concepts were basically the same with that of the knowledge on Earth, except the fact that Euclidean geometry was called Tower geometry in this world.
However, at the same time, Lucien still found many unexplainable things if he tried to understand this world based on his knowledge, for example, soul, spiritual power, those missing stars, and the unique element named Tai. Lucien was guessing that something micro or macro in this world was quite different from his understanding.
The latest issue of Arcana, of course, had been copied and saved in Lucien¡¯s spirit library. The thirty articles in this issue were mostly about the assorted application of complex function in different "fields", for example, how to divide the sphere of spiritual power into multiple plane fields, while a small percentage of them were about finding new elements by spectrum analysis. Obviously, these topics had been gaining great interest of arcanists.
Lucien was well aware of the fact that the ultimate secrets of the world were still very far from them, so he asked Astar one of his most practical questions, "Mr. Astar, I wonder if I can learn the meditation promoted by the congress in advance?"
Lucien wanted to upgrade himself, for sure.
"I think I have the right to do so, yes, as a high-rank mage." Astar smiled, "But you gotta show me your potential, so I know it¡¯s worth breaking the rules for you."
"What do you want to see specifically, Mr. Astar?" Lucien was not surprised. He was already used to trading and bargaining.
"I know you have pretty good spiritual power potential." Astar put down his knife and fork elegantly, "If you can do a good job on directing the apprentices, or make good progress on studying arcana yourself, I can consider teaching you Brook Meditation in advance before you arrive at the congress."
"I¡¯m quite sure I can do it." Lucien smiled confidently.
"Show me, then." Astar nodded.
...
Ten o¡¯clock in the morning, the second day.
In his own room, Lucien said to the three apprentices with a smile on his face,
"Are you three all following me?"
Annick nodded out of excitement, "Yes! Yes, Mr. Evans! It¡¯s much better now!"
"I feel the same way, too, Mr. Evans!" said Layria in an admiring tone, "You¡¯re a genius, Mr. Evans!"
"It¡¯s hard to believe that you just started studying arcana yesterday!" agreed Heidi aloud.
"Okay¡­ Okay, I¡¯m flattered, and thank you all." Lucien nodded with his gentle smile, "These are some exercises for enhancing understanding."
As he was saying, Lucien took out a stack test sheet and handed them to the apprentices.
Then Lucien took out Math Principles in the Philosophy of Magic and continued to read the rest of it.
As time went, Annick, Layria and Heidi looked more and more serious as they were working hard on their exercises.
When it was close to noon, Annick first stood up and said to Lucien with a relieved face, "Mr. Evans, I finished all of the questions."
"How do you feel, Annick?" asked Lucien.
"These questions are surely tough, but now I feel like my understanding of the knowledge that I learned earlier has been enhanced like you said," answered Annick, quite excitedly.
Then, both Layria and Heidi put down their quills almost at the same time and handed their works to Lucien.
And they both agreed with Annick¡¯s feedback.
Lucien put down the book he was reading and checked the apprentices¡¯ work. He pointed out some details that they should have put more thoughts into.
After that, the three apprentices exchanged a look between each other and then asked together, "Mr. Evans, lunch time?"
"Sure. Time to eat." Lucien smiled.
Hearing that, the three apprentices released a long sigh at the same time.
"And I got more for you three after lunch." Lucien took out another stack of work sheet, "Study helps one progress."
The three apprentices, for a second, thought that they saw an evil smile on Mr. Evans¡¯ face.

Chapter 173: The Grand Arcanists
				Chapter 173: The Grand Arcanists
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seven days later, in the evening.
When Astar was listening to Lucien¡¯s explanation of his understanding of the books that he read in the past week, Astar casually patted the cat, Mercedes, who looked rather relaxed and was making a low gentle grunt in her throat.
After Lucien finished his words, Astar elegantly applauded and nodded, "Good, very good, Evans. Within only seven days, you can already apply the principles to real life and draw the connections between the laws and some magic models. That¡¯s impressive. I¡¯ll give Brook Meditation to you, as I promised."
After dinner, since Lucien and the rest of the apprentices were about to leave later tonight, Astar asked Lucien a couple of arcana questions, and Lucien¡¯s perfect answers really impressed him.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Astar." Lucien smiled.
He never tried to hide his talent, since once he arrived in Allyn he knew he would try his very best to improve.
A piece of paper and a quill jumped out in front of Astar and the quill started writing on its own. Astar was just sitting there with his fingers crossed. Very soon, the piece of paper was fully written and it moved on its own toward Lucien.
While Lucien was reading the paper, Astar explained, "Brook Meditation is developed based on the Theory of Psychic Wave, by the grand arcanist Mr. Brook, and is widely applied. Brook Meditation fits into the two meditation environments that you¡¯re familiar with¡ªStarry Sky of Destiny, which belongs to the school of Astrology, and the Four Elements, belonging to the school of Element. Currently, Brook Meditation can help you a lot with strengthening your soul and improving your spiritual power during your junior-rank period, but after that, you will have to switch again."
The core idea of Brook Meditation was closely related to the concept of Psychic Wave. If it worked for Lucien, as how Astar and Felipe promoted it, he should be able to improve to a higher level within one or two months by starting to analyze and construct some second circle spells.
Lucien burned down the piece of paper and asked Astar sincerely, "Mr. Astar, since we¡¯re leaving for Allyn tonight, I have some questions for you."
"You want to know more about the congress, Evans?" Astar smiled.
"Yes, Mr. Astar. The unknown is always terrifying. As a sorcerer who¡¯s going to become a new member of the congress, I¡¯d like to know what¡¯s the difference between an arcanist and a sorcerer, how many organizations are there in the congress, how many legendary sorcerers and grand arcanists are there in the congress?" asked Lucien eagerly.
He had been thinking about these questions for a long time.
Astar looked a bit surprised, "The sorcerer who introduced you here didn¡¯t tell you anything?"
"Not really¡­" Lucien wondering whether Felipe could be viewed as his referrer.
"All right, since the president of the congress put forward the concept of arcana, the levels of arcana gradually took shape¡­ from level one to nine. In order to move to a higher level, one needs to publish researches and get cited, create or improve spells, or create new potions to gain arcana credits."
Lucien nodded to show that he was following.
"The congress is very strict about giving out the credits, and doing research is definitely not easy. Therefore, in most cases, a sorcerer¡¯s magic level is often higher than his or her arcana level. Although it seems like arcana level doesn¡¯t mean much, in the long run, a sorcerer¡¯s arcana level determines how far he or she can go. For example, my current arcana level is five, which means my knowledge is not enough for me to move on to the archmage level, so I¡¯m still a senior-rank mage."
"I see." Lucien listened carefully.
"Therefore, in the congress, one¡¯s arcana level is more respected than his or her magic level." Astar leaned backward on his chair, "But also, no one would respect those sorcerers who have high magic level but low arcana level there."
"So¡­ If one¡¯s arcana level is over nine, he or she is respected as a grand arcanist?" asked Lucien out of great curiosity, "How many grand arcanists are there in the congress then?"
"Grand arcanist is a title of honor, and only those who make great contribution to magic research could be dubbed as grand arcanists. Most of the grand arcanists, before they got the title, were already legendary archmages, or at least very close to becoming legendary archmages, especially with the full support of the congress after they won the title. So we can basically equate the title, grand arcanist, with the great level of legendary archmage. Even though some grand arcanists are still not legendary archmages yet, they will be soon in the future."
Lucien¡¯s eyes were full of respect and curiosity.
"And currently, there are only seven sorcerers in the whole congress who could afford the title, and be respected as grand arcanists." Astar grinned.
"Who are they?" Lucien got a bit excited.
Astar bent his fingers and started counting, "Mr. Derrick Douglas, the founder and the promoter of Arcana and contemporary magic system, co-founder of calculus, the president of the congress, the Emperor of Arcana, the Selected.
"Mr. Edwyn Brook, the founder and the promoter of the School of Electromagnetics, the definer of ¡®Field¡¯, the Poem of the Goddess"
The ancient magic empire respect the essence of magic as a goddess.
"Both Mr. Douglas and Mr. Brook are the most powerful men in the world. Their power can control the direction of which the world will go toward, and they¡¯re second only to the pope, who can borrow the power of ¡®God¡¯¡­ although only by a bit," explained Astar.
He took a sip of his tea and continued, "The Hand of Annihilation, the person who re-defined the four major elements and linked them to Force Field magic and Electromagnetic magic, Oliver Constantine.
"Ms. Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg, one of the co-founders of calculus, the Lord of Elements, the person who redefined and categorized elements, explained most of the Element magics, and also found another seventeen rare elements. Although the title of her legendary class never changed since the ancient magic empire, the meaning the title contains is totally different now because of arcana.
"Mr. Fernando Hudson, the founder of the school of Thermodynamics, Lord of Storm.
"Ms. Hellen Price, the discoverer of the law of energy conservation, the promoter of calculus, the Witch of Iceland.
"Mr. Vicente Miranda, Thanatos, the grand arcanist who has revealed part of the secret of soul, whose human body research is moving toward a micro-level world."
These were the seven grand arcanists in the congress.
"Also, at the same time, these people are the most powerful seven among all the eighteen legendary archmages in the congress right now," concluded Astar. "It seems that becoming a legendary archmage has already become a premise for becoming a grand arcanist."
"There are only eighteen legendary archmages in the congress?" murmured Lucien.
Astar burst out a laughter, "Only eighteen? Even in the South Church, there are only nineteen legendary casters, not including the legendary knights, and the South Church is already the most powerful organization in this world and even in other dimensions? Of course¡­ There are several legendary archmages who refused to join us because of their belief in their inherited ancient tradition."
"I¡¯m surely very ignorant." Lucien smiled a bit awkwardly, "I take that it is the eighteen legendary archmages who lead the whole congress?"
"Not exactly," Astar shook his head. "Seven grand arcanists, eleven legendary archmages, six ninth circle archmages who have high arcana level¡­ They form the highest council of the congress and make all the final decisions."
"I see. What about the different schools there?" Lucien asked eagerly.
"I¡¯m getting there." Astar smiled and gently waved his hand, "The eight traditional schools, which I believe that you already know, are the school of Force Field, Element, Necromancy, Summoning, Alchemy, Astrology, Illusion and Transformation. And now we have a few more: the school of Electromagnetics, Thermodynamics and Light-darkenss. Before one reaches the senior rank, it¡¯s fine if he or she wants to pursue all of the schools, but after this stage, due to the explosion of the knowledge one has to master, most sorcerers would choose to focus on a couple of them. My suggestion is that, Evans, if you are really uncertain, you¡¯d better choose your focuses before entering the senior-rank level."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Astar," answered Lucien politely. Although he wanted to become an all-school master, Lucien knew that listening to a senior-rank mage¡¯s advice was important. 
Astar¡¯s introduction of the congress kept going on until it was late in the night. When Astar noticed the time, he started wrapping up, "There are many different groups in the congress, as what you heard, big and small, formal or informal¡­ There are a few big groups: The Royal Magic Academies from each of the four major countries, Family of Sorcerer, Tower, the Will of Elements, the Hand of Paleness, the Cabin of Palmeira and Moonsong League. Each of them, more or less, owns the rites for upgrading toward different legendary classes, and some of the rites are secret, which means even the congress does not know much about them. However, keep that in mind, Evans, follow the congress and focus on your own study and research."
It seemed Astar was completely on the congress¡¯ side.
"I will." Lucien grinned, "I don¡¯t like trouble, either."
"Very good." Astar nodded, "Now it¡¯s time for you to prepare for your trip tonight. Later, Tom will be leading you and the other apprentices to set off for the congress. When you get there, Evans, you can buy most of the journals, common materials and even spells with money, but if you want to get more special and valuable stuff, you have to use arcana points, which is gained together with arcana credits, or from selling information or magic item to the congress and fulfilling the congress¡¯s tasks."
The corner of Lucien¡¯s lips twisted a bit.
"Virtual currency¡­" Lucien thought to himself.
Then he bowed to Astar politely, "Thank you for your throughout explanation, Mr. Astar. I have to go and check how my three apprentices are doing now before we leave."

Chapter 174: Boarding
				Chapter 174: Boarding
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The candle light shining through the magic silver lampshade brightly lit the whole room, and the three apprentices were still working on their exercises regarding the apprentice spell, Acid Splash.
By enhancing the understanding of this apprentice spell, the three apprentices would gain a better knowledge of the symbols of some elements and practice the basic application of geometry.
The three teenagers, although looking a bit tired, were still working dedicatedly.
At this time, there was a knock on the door.
Annick suddenly stood up straight and started to look around confusedly.
"Is that Mr. Evans?" asked Layria, a bit worried. Both Layria and Heidi dropped their quills.
Within those seven days, Lucien had been pushing them to do exercises and to practice casting every single day. All of the three teenagers felt so exhausted that simply hearing Lucien¡¯s footstep made them feel nervous.
However, at the same time, they also saw the great progress they had made. The joy of seeing themselves successively casting a challenging spell was definitely exciting and encouraging.
"No, Mr. Evans would just directly come in." Annick shook his head, "Let me see."
When he stood up, Annick felt a bit dizzy, and he saw that it was already dark outside.
When he opened the door, he surprisedly found that it was Sprint who was knocking the door, and beside him stood Katrina.
"Hi¡­" Annick was not sure why both of them were there, so he greeted with a bit hesitance, "Anything that I can help you with?"
Despite the fact that Annick did not want to admit, when he saw Sprint and Katrina fluently casting spells, he admired them. Also, Annick also had to acknowledge that Sprint and Katrina were indeed smarter than him, since their fluency and mastery did not require much of their effort.
"Ha? What are you talking about, Annick?" Sprint was very surprised but also amused, "Did these exercises mess your brain up? We¡¯re leaving for the congress tonight!"
"What¡­ Wait¡­ Is it today that we¡¯re leaving?" Annick looked completely shocked.
"The first exercise¡­ the second¡­" Heidi hurriedly counted the worksheets piling in front of her, and then she suddenly raised her head and said out loud, "Oh my¡­ Yes, we¡¯re leaving today! I can¡¯t believe that I just totally forgot it!"
"Neither can I¡­" agreed Layria, who looked a bit pale from being buried by the great amount of exercises.
"Annick, Heidi, Layria¡­ Look at yourselves right now," said Katrina out of both pride and sympathy, "Arcana is a brand new thing for Mr. Evans. If he¡¯s not on the correct path, you have to tell him. Don¡¯t let him torture you like this."
"Are you guys making any progress? Sorry, I really cannot see," said Sprint arrogantly.
"I don¡¯t agree with you, Sprint." Layria shook her head, "If I would say, seven days ago, that I had absolutely no idea what arcana was, now I feel like I¡¯m actually taking the right path."
"That¡¯s right. Mr. Evans is a real sorcerer, and he knows what he¡¯s doing. We¡¯ve progressed a lot." Annick nodded.
"Oh really?" Sprint quickly gave them a snort of contempt.
"Really? Don¡¯t tell me that you cannot see, Sprint," said Heidi seriously. "The other day, in the practice room, you saw how we cast the spells. Our progress is all because of Mr. Evans!"
Inside of the three teenagers¡¯ mind, they all agreed that, despite their great respect toward Mr. Evans, it would be perfect if their workload could be a bit less.
"Stubborn¡­" Sprint turned around, "Keep suffering then, guys."
"Ten o¡¯clock sharp, in the study, we¡¯ll be meeting there and leaving together." Katrina still remembered why Sprint and she came here, "It¡¯s okay that you three are falling behind a bit. When we arrive at the congress, we¡¯ll be sent to schools for systematic arcana and magic study."
Then both Katrina and Sprint left the room.
"They just won¡¯t believe us!" complained Heidi.
"It¡¯s okay¡­ One day they¡¯ll see." Annick encouraged his friends, "Now, no time for feeling angry or frustrated. We have to finish the rest of the exercises before we go."
Both Layria and Heidi quickly sat up straight and said at the same time, "Let¡¯s do it!"
...
When Annick was fully dedicated to his exercises, someone gently patted on his shoulder.
Before Lucien came to check the apprentices, he could not help practicing Brook Meditation in his room a bit first.
The core idea of Brook Meditation was seeking a specific frequency of vibration of spiritual power, which did not have much to do with a specific mediation environment, and thus it could be applied to other ways of meditation as well, including Lucien¡¯s Astrology Meditation and Element Meditation.
After the short period of time of practicing, Lucien found that Brook Meditation was indeed way more helpful than the ancient ways of doing meditation, at least ten times. Lucien believed that, as long as he stuck to it, he would be able to meet the requirement of spiritual power level and soul strength to become a second circle sorcerer.
"Mr¡­ Mr. Evans." Although Lucien looked quite kind and gentle, Annick often felt very nervous in front of him, "It¡¯s¡­ almost done."
"I still have a couple of pages¡­" said Layria nervously as well.
Lucien was right now in a pretty good mood since he just got Brook Meditation, so he gently waved his hand and said, "No worries. I know that you three were working hard. Since we¡¯re leaving tonight, you can hand the exercises in tomorrow night."
"Awesome!" Heidi grinned.
Both Annick and Layria also looked quite delighted.
"There¡¯s still half an hour to ten. Let¡¯s have a conversation." Lucien sat down in the couch, "Honestly speaking, do you three feel that the exercises are too demanding?"
"Although all of us feel tired, I think that¡¯s worthwhile!" Annick answered immediately. He could obviously see his own progress within the seven days.
"It¡¯s not too bad¡­ I know that we gotta work hard to gain a solid foundation for learning arcana." Layria face blushed, "But if the workload could be reduced a little bit¡­"
"But if the workload could be reduced a little bit, we¡¯d be more than happy!" continued Heidi.
"The beginning stage is the hardest. In the future, there¡¯ll be more practice and relatively less exercises." Lucien smiled, "And when you three become real sorcerers, you¡¯ll find out that the knowledge that you¡¯re learning right now is not complicated at all."
"Really?" asked Heidi worriedly. "I¡¯m already trying my best¡­"
"I believe so, and knowledge is always advancing. I think that, maybe a hundred or two hundred years later, the knowledge that high-rank mages will need to grip is going to be very abstract and difficult, say¡­ something on both micro and macro levels."
"Is¡­ is it still possible for me to become a knight?" murmured Annick subconsciously.
And both Layria and Heidi almost felt the same way.
Lucien jokingly took a glance at Annick¡¯s slim figure and shook his head, "Not very likely to happen, I¡¯m afraid."
The three teenagers all giggled, including Annick.
"We¡¯d better just stick to our own magic path," said Heidi to her peers. "You know that the real sorcerers are often very wealthy and powerful in Holm?"
"All right, all right¡­" Lucien cut in, smiling, "It¡¯s almost ten. Let¡¯s go to the study."
...
In the darkness, two pointy boats were moving along the canal, heading for the wharf.
After arriving at the wharf, the two boats continued to go out to the ocean.
Soon, a three-mast sailboat showed itself in the darkness.
Tom turned around and said to Lucien seriously, "This trip¡¯s probably gonna be tough. Because of the traitor we had, several of our secret routes have already been found by the Church. We need to rely on the back-up plan."
"What the Church is doing now? What¡¯s our back-up plan?" asked Lucien. He needed to have a throughout understanding of what they were facing there.
"Divine airships¡­ In the air, the Church¡¯s using precious airships to patrol above," explained Tom, quickly. "On the sea, there is a regular fleet belonging to Saint Helmet Knights. At the bottom of the sea, there are Kuo-toans who changed their belief and chose to serve the Church. We indeed bought off some Kuo-toans, but they should be on the fire gallows now."
"Basically all blocked then¡­ Luckily, there¡¯s no radar in this world yet." Lucien murmured to himself, "What shall we do right now?"
Tom pointed at the three-mast sailboat not far away from them, "That vessel belongs to Viscount Wright, and we have a quite solid business relation with him. Thus, we are going into the cabin on that boat."
"Is that boat safe?" asked Lucien.
"No knight and pastor would really go down into the filthy cabin and carefully check all the smelly sailors and slaves gathering together there. If we¡¯re lucky and careful enough, we should be fine. And I¡¯ll be providing water and food to you all," said Tom.

Chapter 175: Departure
				Chapter 175: Departure
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The three-masted vessel on the ocean was like a monster hiding in the darkness.
As soon as the two pointy-headed boats stopped beside it, two rope ladders were quietly dropped from the deck.
"Stay quiet." Tom whispered to the apprentices.
They were still teenagers. Now, suddenly, they felt very nervous. They were well aware of the fact that what was waiting for them was either their wonderland or the gallows.
Then Tom turned to Lucien, "I need to get on the ship to check first. After I make sure that the ship is safe, you arrange them to get on the ladder. Is that okay?"
"No problem." Lucien nodded, "Be careful."
Tom, who was a level two knight, patted Lucien¡¯s shoulder, gripped the ladder and swiftly got on the ship like a shadow.
No one on the small pointy-headed boats said a single word. They were quietly waiting for Tom¡¯s signal.
After a while, Tom dropped a white handkerchief over the rail on the boat that Lucien was on. That was their agreed symbol ¡ª it was safe.
"Spring, Katrina, you two go first," directed Lucien calmly.
The existence of a sorcerer calmed the apprentices down and also encouraged them. One by one, they secretly started climbing.
"Then Oimos and Heidi," Lucien turned around and said to them. He heard that the brown-haired teenager, Oimos, was a gifted in spiritual power, but Lucien never really paid much attention to him since the teenager boy was always very quiet.
While Oimos walked to the front of the boat and started to climb in a quick and stable way, Heidi was having a bit of a trouble there.
The fierce ocean wind was shaking her ladder relentlessly. She didn't dare to look either upward or downward. She felt that the ocean below her feet was roaring to devour her. She wanted to scream, but she could not.
Lucien was just watching. He wanted Heidi to experience it and get the task done on her own.
Following Tom¡¯s direction, the apprentices getting aboard quickly hid themselves.
Heidi was totally exhausted when she finally got on the deck, but thinking back to what just happened, her heart was full of pride and courage.
When all the apprentices were aboard, Lucien carried his black suitcase in his left hand and used his right hand to grasp the ladder, climbing up quickly and landing on the deck.
"Good job, Evans." Tom and a dark-skinned sailor walked to Lucien.
Lucien nodded to them and followed them into the cabins under the deck.
When walking down the stairs, an intolerable stench of sweat mixed with other smells overwhelmed Lucien. It was very dark down there, and the only light in the space came from the candle that the sailor was holding.
At this time, other two sailors came their way from the corner.
All the apprentices and even Lucien got suddenly very nervous.
Just when Lucien was about to cast Charm Person regardless of the divine power circles for detecting magic on the ship, the two sailors walked to them and nodded to Tom.
"Everything okay?" asked Tom.
"Yes, as usual." The two sailors turned sideways to let them keep going forward.
Seeing that Lucien and the other apprentices were rather confused, Tom smiled and said to them in a low voice, "I¡¯m the boatswain here."
The teenagers were now even more surprised.
"There are many divine power circles on Viscount Wright¡¯s ship, and even pastors." Tom explained, "If the ship was totally strange to me, how could I get you guys in and get you food and water? It¡¯s a trip that will last close to one month¡­"
Just like its name suggested, the Storm Strait that they were going to cross was not too wide. However, the thunder and lightning, together with the outraged waves and wind, often prevented a ship from going on its full speed, and sometimes, a ship had to stop to wait for a better condition.
Although many sorcerers tried to explore why the strait was full of thunder and lightning and strong wind, no conclusion was made yet.
Hearing that, Lucien could imagine how bad Viscount Wright¡¯s merchant fleet had been permeated by Granneuve, who was predominantly in charge of the labor maket in Sturk. Lucien was thinking whether the viscount, as a grand knight, was aware of this problem.
Then, following Tom, Lucien and the apprentices came to the cargo section, which was on the second lowest floor of the ship and was full of assorted stinky smells.
In a secret corner, however, there was a line of very small and narrow cabins, which did not look like they were originally built for people to live in there, but now they were relatively clean and there were hammocks in the cabins.
"Two apprentices will share one cabin. Mr. Evans will have his own cabin," arranged Tom. "You can¡¯t leave this floor during the trip. No magic, and only meditation is allowed. When you walk around on this floor, be careful, because from time to time some sailors will come down and check the cargo. When we get to Holm, the suffering will pay off."
After Tom left, the apprentices went back to their cabins with candles.
Layria and Heidi shared one cabin. As soon as they opened the cabin door, the two girls exchanged an excited look, and then they noticed that Annick was walking past, "Hey, Annick! You heard that we cannot use magic on the ship, didn¡¯t you?" asked Heidi excitedly.
"Yes, of course." Annick nodded, "We all have to bear that in mind, or we¡¯ll be in great trouble."
"I mean¡­ we finally can take a rest from continuously practicing magic casting!" Heidi happily raised one of her brows.
"And sleep late!" celebrated Layria.
"We¡­ we should still practice¡­" Although he was saying that, Annick also grinned out of joy.
"What are you three talking about?" There came a familiar, gentle voice.
"Nothing¡­ Mr. Evans." The apprentices hurriedly bowed to Lucien, but the smile was still on their faces.
Lucien nodded, "Since we can¡¯t practice casting right now, then we shall work on some exercises. Tomorrow afternoon, arcana and magic basics."
"What¡­" The smile on the three apprentices¡¯ face totally disappeared in a second.
...
Although Lucien was planning on teaching the apprentices more on the ship, his schedule was completely messed up by the reality. After the sailboat went back to the wharf and then sailed toward Storm Strait together with the other ships of the fleet, both Layria and Heidi bitterly suffered seasickness and the situation got worse when they entered the strait.
Layria and Heidi were not alone on that situation, and even Sprint and Katrina were no exception. Most of the apprentices were sick, and often they threw up in the cabins.
Surprisingly, however, the skinny, always silent Oimos appeared to be fine.
Luckily, the several deaf and dumb slaves sent by Tom who were responsible for bringing them food and water and fruit were also cleaning the vomitus.
This day, Lucien and Annick were hiding among some wooden boxes and talking about building magic models.
During the break, Annick asked worriedly, "When do you think Layria and Heidi can get better, Mr. Evans?"
"Maybe in another two days." Lucien was leaning against one of the wooden boxes to keep balance as the ship was shaking fiercely again from the storm, "Spiritual power can help, and so does the herb oil sent by Tom. I feel like they¡¯re getting better already, aren¡¯t they?"
When Annick was just about to answer, his mouth was quickly covered by Lucien.
And their candle was also put out.
"Shoo¡­ Someone¡¯s here," whispered Lucien.
Annick nodded.
Through the gap between the two wooden boxes, a young man¡¯s voice came, "My dear Chely, you¡¯re my sun! Without you, I am in endless darkness, even praying could not save me!"
"Jacques, me too!" Next came a lady¡¯s sweet and gentle voice, "But recently my father is always around, and the maids are also watching me closely¡­"
Lucien relaxed a bit. It was just a pair of lovers.
"I don¡¯t get it, Chely." The young man sounded sorrowful. "Why does the viscount want his daughter to go all the way to Holm to study in a convent¡­ There¡¯re lots of them in Sturk!"
"The viscount¡­ Viscount Wright?" Lucien was quite surprised.  "The viscount is on this ship?"
Then, the terrifying thunder started to grumble again.

Chapter 176: In the Storm
				Chapter 176: In the Storm
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"I have no idea either," said Chely. "But Jacques, I¡¯m sure my father¡¯s doing this for my own good. You know that I got no potential to become a knight, and that¡¯s the comment from my training coach. I¡¯m not good at running a business as well¡­ I tried to put my hands on my family¡¯s bank and I failed¡­ My brother was quite pissed off."
"But you¡¯re so good at other things¡­" Jacques tried to encourage his love, "The first time I saw you, you were sitting on the patio, reading a book¡­ I can never forget that beautiful picture in my whole life."
"Except for my passion for reading, I haven¡¯t achieved anything. I tried music, opera, painting, sculpture¡­ but neither of them is my thing," said Chely depressingly, but then her tone got a bit more cheerful, "But you¡¯re different, my love. You¡¯re so versatile. Piano, painting, singing, swordsmanship¡­ everything. You¡¯re like the glorious sun."
"You, Chely, only you is all I want. You don¡¯t have to learn this and that. You just marry me, and I promise you a lovely life." Jacques kissed Chely¡¯s hand.
"But you¡¯re not a real knight yet¡­" answered Chely sadly, "A noble can only marry another noble. And besides that, Jacques, I want to find my own value in my life as well. I want to develop my ability to be independent. I hope you understand, Jacques."
"I heard you¡­" answered Jacques in his low voice, "But¡­ but how can you find your independence in a Holm¡¯s convent? And what if when I finally awaken my Blessing, you¡¯re already married to someone else? Wait¡­ Is it correct that the true intention of the viscount sending to you Holm is to let you marry a noble there?!"
That totally made sense to Jacques, since this alliance could bring many benefits to the viscount and even to the Church, that could build a relationship with the conservatives across the strait.
"I don¡¯t know¡­ I really have no idea¡­" murmured Chely, "My father¡­ He never mentioned this." 
"Can you wait for me another three months, Chely?" Jacques¡¯ voice was full of depression, "I know that your parents love you a lot, and you love them as well. But can you give me three years? If I¡¯m still not able to awaken my Blessing in three years, I¡¯m not good enough for you."
"I will¡­ I will, Jacques." Chely was deeply moved, "For three years, I¡¯ll be waiting for you. And¡­ and if those three years end, if you don¡¯t mind¡­ I, I can be your secret lover."
Jacques embraced Chely in his arms, "Chely¡­"
When Annick was listening to their conversation with great interest, his ears got covered by Lucien.
"That¡¯s too much for you¡­" Lucien mouthed to Annick.
After a long, cheesy conversation, Chely leaned against Jacques¡¯s shoulder, "When we get a chance, can you play For Silvia for me?"
"Sure. I¡¯ll play anything that you like for you," answered Jacques.
Lucien felt a bit awkward, since he had the impression that For Silvia was quite ominous, based on what happened between Natasha and Silvia, although no more than twenty people knew about this.
"I have to go now. My father might be looking for me," said Chely.
Then, both of them went back upstairs.
After a while, Lucien uncovered Annick¡¯s ears.
"Mr. Evans, I¡¯m not a kid anymore¡­" complained Annick. 
"That was¡­ Even for me, that was almost too much," answered Lucien seriously.
"But it wasn¡¯t even close to the romantic operas¡­" Annick slightly slanted his head.
"That¡¯s why I don¡¯t like romantic operas," said Lucien directly.
...
In the cabin, Lucien was just standing there, listening to the roaring thunders and the splashing sound of the huge waves flapping the ship protected by many divine power circles.
Although Lucien was quite used to the noise already, the storm that day was still quite intimidating.
Somehow, as a sorcerer specializing in Astrology, although his Host Star of Destiny and his ability of fortune telling was still not impressive yet, Lucien had some kind of bad hunch.
"Is the ship gonna be destroyed by the storm?" murmured Lucien to himself, as he could not help thinking of the worst case.
Lucien could not use Astrology right now, since the storm was too bad.
He hoped his hunch was incorrect as usual, but he still stayed quite alert.
As Lucien was thinking, all of a sudden, a terrible thunder arrived, and Lucien almost lost his balance together with the ship.
"Waves? Or¡­?"
Lucien had no idea.
Then another bitter slam arrived, shaking the whole ship.
"The ship¡¯s under attack!" Lucien immediately realized what was going on based on his fighting experience.
The whipping and lashing sounds kept going on and on, mixing with the loud bangs caused by bolts of lightning striking the divine power circles. All the apprentices, despite feeling quite sick, gathered in front of Lucien¡¯s cabin, including Oimos, who was usually quite calm.
At this time, they trusted a real sorcerer.
Lucien opened the door and asked the apprentices to calm down, "No matter who¡¯s doing this, they¡¯re not coming for us. Let the knights and pastors handle them. We'll just stay here and wait." 
If even the grand knight could not stop them, Lucien and the apprentices had no chance either.
The apprentices calmed down a bit, influenced by Lucien¡¯s attitude.
Another spell bitterly struck the ship again. Many apprentices lost their balance and fell on the floor.
Something was cracking and squeaking outside.
Lucien¡¯s brows frowned. He wondered if the divine power circles were going to be broken.
Then, a great heat was sensed by his spiritual power. The heat was so powerful that even the thunder and lightning could not overwhelm it.
Lucien once witnessed the leader of a group of night watchers fighting, so he could roughly estimate the power ¡ª this heat should come from at least a level five divine spell, which meant that there was at least a cardinal on the ship!
Together with the heat, a sudden powerful blow joined the fight, and the power felt totally different from the natural storm. Lucien was pretty sure that it was from Viscount Wright, as the viscount¡¯s Blessing, Gale, was really well-known in Sturk.
Therefore, Lucien was a bit more relieved. A pastor and a grand knight should be able to handle that situation.
Although the whipping sound disappeared, Lucien and the apprentices heard the sound of fighting on the deck together with that of thunder, lightning and the waves.
Suddenly, a great wave attacked this side of the ship where Lucien and the apprentices were on, and one of the divine power circles was finally destroyed.
Then, Lucien and the apprentices saw water fiercely flooding into the cabin, mixing with white ocean foam.
Together with the water, creepy-looking creatures who had fish heads but human bodies also came into the cabin. Their bodies were covered with silver scales, and their seemingly thin and weak arms were holding aggressive, heavy tridents.
"Kuo-toans!" Lucien was very surprised.
Although these Kuo-toans were still against the Church, Lucien did not understand was why they were attacking the fleet right now.
All the apprentices¡¯ faces paled.
Even Lucien started feeling nervous.
Fight? What if the knights, pastors and sailors came down later and found them here?
Run away? But they were in the middle of the ocean right now!
"What should I do?!" Lucien asked himself in his mind.

Chapter 177: Wave Stone
				Chapter 177: Wave Stone
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the other end of the aisle, the Kuo-toan murlocs were shouting and crying when they got in the cabin, and the water was still flooding in.
Lucien felt more difficulty to breathe when the air got very humid.
Some apprentices had already lost their footing. Now, they were sitting on the water-covered floor and crying, while others were shaking out of great fear. They were just like how Lucien felt when he first got into the sewers and faced the red-eyed mice. There was no way that they could stay calm.
There were so many plans flashing through Lucien¡¯s mind. However, no matter how much Lucien wanted to both protect himself and the other apprentices and hide from the pastors and knights on the ship, obviously, it was not likely to happen at all.
At the fork of the aisle, the Kuo-toans divided themselves into two groups: most of them followed three bigger murlocs and ran toward the main cargo cabin, while the rest of them, also following a leader, were aiming at Lucien and the apprentices.
As they were dragging their tridents and quickly coming to Lucien and the teenagers, Lucien got many thoughts in his mind:
"It looks like their target is the cargo?
"Maybe there¡¯s something that interests the Kuo-toans? That¡¯s why they attacked the ship?
"If that¡¯s their real purpose, most of the murlocs should be coming to this floor, or the captain¡¯s cabin or the viscount¡¯s¡­"
And then Lucien got more determined, "Then we still have hope!"
Lucien quickly turned around and ran into his own cabin. As he was running, Lucien bent his knees and jumped up high using the momentum, and his right fist fiercely punched through the wood ceiling.
"Bang!"
After the wooden planks fell on the floor, there was a big hole in the low ceiling.
"You all, climb up through the hole, and hide in the nearby sailor¡¯s cabin!" said Lucien to the startled apprentices.
Although his tone was serious, Lucien was not panicking.
Since Tom dared let them live here, Lucien was pretty confident that the people who lived on the floor above should be people that Tom trusted, or the noise the apprentices made could easily expose them.
If the Kuo-toans¡¯ purpose was not killing but robbing, hiding in the sailors¡¯ cabins should be a good choice, and they could also hide from the pastors and knights.
Lucien quickly took out his Alert and rushed out of the cabin to stop the murlocs to earn time for the apprentices.
"Annick, Oimos¡­ You two take charge. No panic." In the last second, Lucien decisively commanded the apprentices without looking back.
He had to kill the Kuo-toans, or they would follow the apprentices to the above floor.
"Yes, Mr. Evans¡­" said the two apprentices together. Although Oimos was quite frightened, he tried his best to function properly, while Annick, who had been trained by Lucien for a while, was encouraged by Lucien¡¯s equanimity and started to think how they could get onto the floor above through the hole in the ceiling.
The two apprentices exchanged a look between each other and came up with the same strategy, "Using the hammocks¡­ and Mage Hand. Also, spells improving agility and balance¡­"
Then Oimos and Annick hurriedly started to collect the hammocks, and Katrina, Sprint, Layria and Heidi were either helping them, or trying to comfort the other apprentices.
At this critical moment, the apprentices were united together under the leadership of Lucien.
Outside the cabin, when Lucien, who was holding his knight sword with his both hands, was almost right in front of the Kuo-toans, there were sudden green waves coming out of him.
The green waves quickly reached the Kuo-toans, and most of them slowed down their pace as soon as they were touched, lost their balance and fell asleep on the floor. Even the murloc leader was influenced: for a second, it felt very exhausted and sleepy.
However, the first circle spell, Sleep, was not powerful enough to get the big one to fall asleep as well, and, currently, it only worked on those ones who were not yet of a real knight¡¯s level.
The whole aisle suddenly quieted down quite a bit. There was only Lucien, the Kuo-toa leader and a bunch of mulocs who were sleeping on the floor.
When the murloc leader realized that the human being they were facing was actually a sorcerer instead of a knight although he was using a sword, it quickly cast its own magic, Water Ring.
As the murloc leader was regaining his consciousness when it was surrounded by rings of waves, Lucien sensed the great difficulty of breathing as if he was overwhelmed by water, since the air quickly got so moist that Lucien felt he was intaking water beads into his nose and lungs.
Lucien did not panic, however. He held his breath and then shot three flashing ice blades at the murloc.
Although the murloc leader was seemingly only about ordinary knight level, Lucien still activated his magic item, since he needed to finish this creature as soon as possible.
However, the power of Fire Weaver¡¯s Bracelet was too destructive for Lucien to use right now.
At the same time, Lucien dodged to the other side to avoid the trident thrown forward by the murloc.
As soon as Lucien got back on his feet, he activated the magic model in his soul.
The water in the air suddenly could not affect Lucien at all, since he was covered with a layer of an invisible barrier, which filtered the water out.
First circle magic, Element Endurance.
Although this magic did not work well when one was facing a direct elemental attack, it was quite useful when dealing with elementally imbalanced environments, such as this very floor on the ship, which was being controlled by Water Ring.
The cold air brought by Palmeira¡¯s Frost Blades froze the waves surrounding the murloc, which also trapped the murloc itself. It was severely hurt by the three blades.
However, although there was dark-blue blood coming out of its head, chest and arm, the wounds were healing in a visible speed.
The healing power of a Kuo-toan was no inferior to that of a troll, but it could not regrow its broken limbs like a troll.
At this time, a sharp light flashed on the murloc leader¡¯s neck, and then its head fell down on the floor half a second later.
It was Lucien¡¯s knight sword, Alert, and Lucien hacked it right at the wound cut by the frost blade.
As soon as it was affected by the spell, Sleep, the Kuo-toan already lost its control of this fight, especially when the sorcerer who the murloc was facing had better magic items than most of his peers.
Of course, this edge was more about the level of Lucien¡¯s magic items, instead of the completeness of his equipment. Lucien was still wearing ordinary shoes, which were always easily worn down because of his speed, and besides, he still had no magic robe neither staff, which were basic symbols of a sorcerer.
Lucien took several leaps forward and came behind the murlocs. When he was about to cast another spell, he sensed something from the main cargo cabin.
It felt like the strong waves in the ocean.
"There was no one in the main cargo cabin, so this feeling could not be from a fight. Maybe¡­ maybe this is the thing that the Kuo-toans are looking for¡­" Lucien quickly thought to himself.
That feeling was strange but also familiar. Lucien felt that once he read something like this in one of the books.
"Wave¡­ Stone¡­" Lucien murmured, "Wave Stone!"
Wave Stone was a kind of not rare but still precious magic material, which Lucien once encountered in the book named Common Magic Related Materials Illustration. It could be used in making magic items and weapons that were over level three to bring magic effects to them such as breathing in the water, water elemental damaging, and spells such as Storm and Ice Storm.
In addition, the best quality Wave Stone could be used to make really powerful items, and it could be used in many potions to improve the growth of many water creatures.
Lucien was guessing that, since the power he just sensed was great, there was either a great amount of Wave Stone on the ship or the stones were of top quality, which should be worth at least tens of thousands of Thales.
According to Lucien, as Wave Stone was a kind of magic material, quite possibly it was being shipped to Allyn, but he had no idea whether this was a secret shipping arranged by Granneuve, or it was actually allowed by the Church. And if it was neither way, the fleet was definitely in trouble for shipping such a great amount of magic material, and there would be greater risk facing Lucien, Tom and the apprentices as well, since the Church was for sure going to thoroughly check the ships.
Another thing Lucien was quite sure was that the people who were arriving here first should be Tom and his trusted sailors.
As he was thinking, Lucien did not stop casting. He murmured sophisticated and weird spell and then suddenly pushed his hands forward.
An invisible strong blow was summoned, and all the asleep murlocs together with the Kuo-toa leader¡¯s body were pushed by the blow back into the ocean again.
First circle magic, Force Wave.
Lucien had not built the magic model of Force Wave in his soul yet, hence he still needed to cast it.
At this time, all of the apprentices had already got onto the upper floor and hid in the nearby sailors¡¯ cabins.
After Lucien quickly cleaned up all the evidence of the fight and was about to get onto the upper floor as well, his heart suddenly sank for a second as he sensed the danger.
The bracelet that Lucien was wearing flashed a streak of red light and flames were summoned to protect Lucien.
Then a head-sized water ball hit the flames right away, and the water and fire disappeared at the same time.
At the fork of the aisle, a murloc whose scales were shining light red light was staring at Lucien with its cold eyes.
Unlike other murlocs holding tridents, this one was holding a colourful coral staff.
The thunder stopped for a moment, and Lucien heard many heavy footsteps on the deck of the ship.

Chapter 178: The Murloc Mage
				Chapter 178: The Murloc Mage
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The corrosive water ball and the fire disappeared at the same time. A second later, Lucien subconsciously activated the magic model in his soul and fiercely shot two black magic missiles at the murloc with the coral staff before he dodged to the other side as quick as a shadow.
As soon as the two missiles got close to the murloc, suddenly, a transparent swirl appeared surrounding it, and the swirl directly absorbed the magic missiles.
Second circle spell, Power Resistance.
This was a spell that helped the caster resist a certain amount of attacking power. The murloc standing in front of Lucien was a mage.
Fast as Lucien was, the mage still raised its coral staff and located Lucien with it.
All of a sudden, Lucien could not help but laugh. The laughing was so bad that Lucien¡¯s whole body was trembling.
The Kuo-toan mage located him using spiritual power.
Lucien¡¯s spiritual power started fading and became weaker because of his crazy laughter. He could neither cast nor activate his magic items. His feet and arms started to feel very limp and his speed dropped significantly.
Lucien, although still laughing like crazy, was for sure very nervous. He knew that if he could not react properly, the murloc mage¡¯s attack in the next round could easily kill him.
Lucien clenched his left hand into a tight fist to feel more the coldness of the ring, Ice Revenger, in order to stay as sober as he could.
Taking a deep breath, he sent the feeling of chill of the ring to his soul and spiritual power to suppress his dangerous laughter.
As soon as Lucien felt that he could move, he quickly rolled on the ground to stay further away from the murloc.
Half a second later, a lightning ball hit the place where Lucien was previously laughing and it exploded, turning some of the apprentices¡¯ cabins into total ruins.
As small lightnings were left on the path of the lightning ball, Lucien was also affected. He felt the great pain mixing with numbness, and his hair was erected.
However, the pain brought by the lighting made Lucien recover from his laughter. He seized the chance and quickly activated the bracelet, throwing a terrifying fire ball right toward the murloc mage.
Lucien had to survive first. He could not think of how to deal with the fighting trace left by the fire ball right now.
Although the power of the fire ball was surely intimidating, the murloc mage remained very calm. Raising the coral staff again, the murloc replicated itself.
The duplicate looked identical to the murloc. Both of them had a coral staff, both of them had cold, silver eyes, and both of them were covered with scales that were shining bloody red light.
When the fire ball hit the murloc which Lucien originally targeted, the reflection of the murloc mage crashed like a mirror and quickly disappeared. However, the real murloc mage stayed totally safe beside it, under the protection of Power Resistance and a big water shield.
Lucien felt desperate for a second. He could not believe that his most powerful attack spell was just handled by the murloc mage this easily!
It was only a second circle spell, Mirror, which could produce several reflections of a caster to free the caster from a targeted attack. Before the reflections were destroyed, the real caster would not be hurt.
Sometimes in a fight, it was not all about the magic level, but about the proper usage.
Lucien had no choice. Being desperate at that moment would mean death. So, he started moving around fast again, when the murloc mage was still recovering from its last casting.
As Lucien was moving, he activated another magic model in his soul.
First circle spell, Cause Fear.
A shadow was summoned, and the shadow quickly jumped on the murloc.
Lucien was hoping that this spell could bring some negative impact on the murloc, so Lucien would have a better chance to cast, or, probably somehow back away.
However, although the shadow did hit the Kuo-toan mage, the murloc seemed to be immune to the spell. Its silver eyes were still cold and calm, as if he was watching others fighting.
Lucien saw a light flashing past the mage¡¯s silver eyes, and then he saw a very complicated, blue pattern, which was so mysterious and fascinating that Lucien could not move his eyes away.
Lucien¡¯s Host Star of Destiny, at that time, suddenly started shining brightly. It was telling and urging Lucien that danger was coming.
The power of Lucien¡¯s star connected to Ice Revenger on Lucien¡¯s left hand. Lucien felt a chill creep over him, and then, as soon as he regained some consciousness, he quickly activated the bracelet and used his Flame Shield.
Lucien was just now controlled by the murloc mage¡¯s second circle spell, Hypnosis Totem!
A huge water ball, at this time, dropped on Lucien and fully covered him. Lucien felt the great pressure from the water, and the flames around him were gradually dying out.
Another second circle spell, Drowning Bubble.
When Lucien was about to pass out inside the big water bubble, the flames he summoned just now finally evaporated most of the water and broke the spell. As the flame and water bubble disappeared together, Lucien hurriedly rolled on the floor again without a chance to take a full breath, since another lightning ball was thrown toward him again!
Lucien never felt this desperate. He also realized how lucky he had been to actually be able to beat the necromancer, Hunt.
In this situation, the choice of spells was so crucial right now that any wrong option could easily end one¡¯s life.
Lucien already noticed that it seemed that the murloc mage had cast a second circle spell on itself called Mechanized Mind, hence no spells that affected one¡¯s mental state would work.
The spell Mechanized Mind could turn creatures with emotion into mechanical things such as Steel Golems, and thus one could become immune to many spells that aimed at disturbing one¡¯s mental condition.
Lucien knew that the murloc mage was good at using defensive spells, so quite possibly, his many attack spells, if without careful planning, would turn into a total waste facing the creature.
Quickly, in his mind, Lucien was thinking of a possible strategy.
When the murloc was once again about to recover from the last casting, Lucien was planning on using the explosion of the fireball as a cover for him to jump right into the water in order to seize a slight chance to survive.
Besides, Lucien felt that the reinforcement knights would arrive soon.
"Wait."
Something came to Lucien all of a sudden.
"The principle of Mechanized Mind is equipping a creature with mechanical features. In this case, there is no hormone produced, and the creature¡¯s brain wave is turned into pure electromagnetic signal, and that is why one¡¯s can be immune to the many mental spells." Lucien quickly thought to himself, "It's said that the soul of the creature is not changed, which basically equals to the controller of an alchemical life."
Lucien sensed a slight amount of hope, hence he quickly gave up the plan on fleeing to seize a better chance to survive.
Turning himself into a shadow, Lucien launched his attack at the murloc mage again.
Invisible waves spread out of Lucien¡¯s soul, and strong magic waves were produced.
The first circle spell, Charm Person, not only worked on human beings, but also on humanoid creatures!
The murloc mage had a sarcastic smile on its face.
How was it possible that Charm Person could affect itself, thought the murloc.
However, all of a sudden, it felt that Lucien, the human being standing right in front of him, was the lord of the ocean that it worshiped.
And subconsciously, the murloc¡¯s slacked its spiritual power movement and stopped casting the second Drowning Bubble.
The murloc mage immediately realized this was not right.
Although the murloc mage¡¯s strong spiritual power did prevent it from being further affected by Lucien¡¯s spell, for a moment, due to the pricking feeling in its soul caused by this magic, the murloc lost his concentration for a moment.
This version of Charm Person spell was developed by Lucien on his own: it put more emphasis on the influence of the magic on an individual¡¯s soul, but lowered the power from the intervention of brain wave, thus working better with sorcerers!
The failure of casting Charm Person on the murloc mage also made Lucien suffer the power backfire, hence he felt dizzy for a second, but that could not prevent Lucien from activating his magic item.
A head-sized fire ball appeared in the space and flew right toward the murloc mage.
The murloc right now was only under the cover of Power Resistance and a water bubble. Seeing the fire ball coming toward it, the murloc mage looked helpless and frustrated.
It was too late for it to cast any spell or activate any item though.
Bang!
The fire ball exploded.
Part of the murloc mage was exploded into pieces of flesh, and some of the pieces were burned black.
However, the pieces of the murloc¡¯s limbs were still moving on the floor, striving to go back to the main body.
Of course, Lucien would not let the murloc come back again.
Grabbing Alert with his right hand, holding Asthenia Dagger in his left hand, Lucien jumped on the remaining major piece of the murloc.
Sharp light flashed. The murloc was beheaded.
At this time, a person came downstairs. He saw the dead murloc mage, and also Lucien.
"You killed it?!" Tom could not believe his own eyes.
Tom had a short fight with this murloc mage on the deck outside just now, and he knew how powerful this second circle mage was.
When Tom hurriedly rushed downstairs, he did it not only to protect Wave Stone, but also to help Lucien and the apprentices.
However, within one minute, the mage was already killed by Lucien.

Chapter 179: The Gain
				Chapter 179: The Gain
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The broken pieces of wood were everywhere. The cabin was half ruined by fire and lightning. Obviously, there had been a bitter fight there.
Tom was very surprised seeing that. He wondered if Lucien had some sort of very powerful magic item, or even if Lucien was already a second circle sorcerer, which, according to what he knew, was almost impossible for sorcerers who never joined the Congress and studied arcana.
Then, when Tom quickly drew his thoughts back, he said to Lucien decisively, "Twenty seconds for you, handle the mess, check the kids. Leave the rest to me."
Two seconds later, Tom quickly turned around and ran toward the main cargo cabin, where there was noise of planks of wood being broken there. It seemed that the kuo-toans were now trying to withdrawal by directly breaking their way out of the ship.
Lucien nodded. He understood Tom's command.
As he was the one who caused the mess, he should be responsible for cleaning this place up. And within twenty seconds, he was supposed to get to the above floor and hide with the apprentices as well, to avoid being found by the incoming knights and squires.
And Tom would be handling the rest of the stuff.
The red light on the murloc mage's scales stained the scales and now they looked as red as blood. Lucien knew that this was a good ingredient for making armor or magic robes to increase the wearer's defensive ability level and his or her speed under water.
However, due to the limit of time, Lucien had no time for scaling it or collecting Murloc's Lymph from it.
Lucien quickly grabbed the coral staff and took away the small purse hidden underneath a big piece of scale of the murloc mage.
Then Lucien cast Force Wave and pushed the murloc's body out of the ship into the boundless ocean.
After that, Lucien ran back into his own cabin and calmly looked around this small space. Because of the bitter fight he had with the murloc, there was no trace of a person once living in here left. So he jumped up again, grabbed the edge of the broken ceiling with his hands, and climbed up onto the floor above.
Then Lucien started collecting some pieces of wood and iron plates to fix the floor.
Apprentice level spell, Repair.
As the dim light was shining, the gaps between the broken pieces were gradually disappearing. As a real sorcerer, Lucien was able to fix bigger gaps now. Twenty seconds were almost gone, however, the spell still needed more time.
At this time, a loud explosion came from outside of the cabin, which covered the noise made by Lucien's magic.
Together with the sudden silence coming a second later, a bunch of people came downstairs and rushed to check the main cargo cabin on the other side, without even taking a close look at the cabins where Lucien and the apprentices were living.
After all, compared to the main cargo cabin where all the Wave Stones were stored, this side of the cabin was like nothing to them.
On the floor above, the gaps were all fixed. Lucien was now ready to hide. He thought to himself that what just happened must mean a great loss to Granneuve. As he was thinking, Lucien saw the door of a sailor's cabin secretly opened a gap. There were several pairs of eyes behind the door.
"Mr. Evans, here!" Annick, Layria and Heidi said to him at the same time. Their voice was full of joy and relief.
Lucien quickly got into the small cabin and locked the door from inside.
"Good job you three, especially you, Annick." Lucien nodded to them.
Annick's face flushed a bit from Lucien's words.
"We brought your suitcase with us, too, Mr. Evans," said Heidi proudly. The young teenagers were waiting for more of Lucien's praise.
Lucien smiled, "That's very considerate of all of you. Right now we're still in danger, and all of us still have to be careful. Now I have to analyze this staff, so let me stay focused for a while."
Sitting down on the messy bed, Lucien started checking the coral staff from the murloc mage.
Having no idea whether the viscount and the pastors could beat the murlocs, and whether the ship was going to sink or not, Lucien had to seize every chance to make himself stronger. Maybe the staff would be the very thing that would save his life in the last second.
The three apprentices nodded seriously. They had this sense of responsibility that they were protecting their teacher right now.
Gradually, the sound of thunder and lightning slowly disappeared, and it seemed that the fight had come to an end.
Lucien opened his eyes.
It did not take Lucien long to analyze the staff, since he had already successfully analyzed several second circle spells. Now the staff belonged to him.
This coral staff was a level two high-rank magic item named Amboula. Its user could breathe under water and cast Lightning Ball and Acid Bubble, which were both second circle spells, three times a day. Besides, it helped its owner to concentrate on accumulating his or her spiritual power when a spell was cast, and also to locate his or her enemy, especially when one was casting metal control spells.
The staff was made of the coral growing near the altar of the Lord of Ocean, Amboula, and it was a common staff for Kuo-toans.
"One who is blessed by the Lord of Ocean has the power of water." Lucien murmured to himself when he finished analyzing the magic item. This was the message left by the maker of the staff.
Holding the staff in his hand, Lucien noticed that his spiritual power had become more concentrated. He was glad that he finally got a staff as a sorcerer.
And even if the ship sank, he would be able to breathe under the water.
At this time, a loud voice came from the deck,
"The murlocs are beaten. Knights and soldiers, don't let a single one of them escape. Pastors, repair the ship."
It was Viscount Wright's voice.
Although he was saying so to comfort the people on the ship, only he and the cardinals knew whether the murlocs were beaten or they just left by themselves after obtaining the stones.
The three apprentices released a long sigh.
Lucien was now in a pretty good mood as well. He opened the small grey purse that he got from the murloc mage.
As soon as the purse was opened, a great sense of oceanic power came out of it. Lucien saw six dark blue gems in there, and each of them was about the size of a finger tip. The six gems were all covered with ripples of light.
These were high-quality Wave Stones, ten times more valuable than common ones. They could not only be used as a main material for making medium-rank magic items but also to make high-rank ones. These stones were his own trophies. Lucien was quite delighted.
At this time, he noticed that there was a piece of note at the bottom of the purse.
"What's this¡­" Lucien murmured.
After telling the three apprentices to keep securing the space, Lucien secretly unfolded the note.
"Collect a large amount of Wave Stone and bring them to the tarnished ocean area. We need a great magic circle to open it."
Under this line of words, there was a simple map for directing one to get to the so-called "tarnished" area.
As this piece of note was already copied by Lucien's spirit library, he quickly destroyed the note.
Lucien never heard about anything related to a tarnished ocean area. And it seemed that even the murloc mage had no idea where it was.
According to the map, it looked like that this area was part of Storm Strait.
However, Lucien was not sure, since the note was written in the murlocs' own language, and Lucien could only understand part of it.
"Mr. Evans, the fight is over," Annick said to Lucien.
Lucien grabbed the staff and nodded, "Then we'll see what Tom wants us to do."
As soon as he closed the purse, Lucien noticed that the power of the Wave Stones disappeared at the same time.
He wondered whether the purse was a magic item as well, so Lucien secretly cast Identification to check it.
The purse turned out to be an apprentice level magic item called Kuo-toan's Pouch, which could conceal magic waves.
Lucien was a bit disappointed. He thought it was something better.
At this time, Tom's voice came, but he was not talking to Lucien and the apprentices.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Tom's voice was loud, purposefully loud.
"The cardinal asked us to check the cabins downstairs for fixing the divine power circles," someone answered in a slight arrogant tone.
The three apprentices' faces immediately turned pale, and they were all very nervous again.

Chapter 180: An Offer from Demon
				Chapter 180: An Offer from Demon
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the apprentices thought everything was fine, another round of risk immediately arrived.
At this time, since the storm was almost gone, casting any spell could be very risky. Lucien and the apprentices were back in the dilemma again.
Lucien gently patted on his students¡¯ shoulders one by one to comfort them. Grabbing Amboula in his hand, Lucien listened to the conversation carefully while thinking of the possible solution fast in his mind.
"Pastor Cody, it¡¯s stinky down there." Tom was still talking loud purposefully, "There is no need for you, my lord, to do this. Please¡­ Just enjoy the nice black tea in your own cabin and I can handle this for you, my lord."
"Well, I¡¯m still in training¡­ You know, according to Church Law, you can¡¯t call me lord right now yet." There was an imperceptible smile on Cody¡¯s face when he was saying this. He surely enjoyed Tom¡¯s flattery, "I appreciate your kindness, Tom, But you and your sailors can¡¯t really tell where the divine power circles are really damaged. I gotta do this myself, sorry."
Tom was the boatswain, a dark knight who served Viscount Wright. This was his identity known by the people on this ship. Although a dark knight could neither become a chief mate nor a captain, Cody still wanted to keep his basic respect toward the knight.
Hearing Cody¡¯s words, Tom did not know what to say.
"All right. You two, Lohman and Boer¡­ You two go that way. Jacques and Summy, you two that way." Cody, a senior pastor in training, did enjoy giving commands a lot.
However, Tom knew that it would still take them some time before they found the room in the corner where Lucien and the apprentices were hiding.
Tom was sweating. He had horrible scenes flashing through his mind.
He could not let it happen. He could not let those horrible scenes really happen.
Tom was ready to take action. He was going to kill them all, and pretend that it was some murlocs hiding on the ship that killed them.
At this time, he felt someone gently touched his arm.
"¡­?!" Tom was beyond surprised when he saw Evans standing right beside him. Right now, Lucien was wearing a dirty sailor vest, and his face was covered with some paint marks just like the ones most sailors liked doing.
Lucien was looking down, with his head dropped.
Tom could not believe his eyes, feeling lucky that he did not burst Evans¡¯ name out.
"Down there¡­ very bad," said Lucien in his pretended husky voice.
As he was saying, Lucien was secretly writing something down on Tom¡¯s arm.
Cody did not feel anything wrong here. In his eyes, it was just a sailor who was reporting to Tom.
And there were so many sailors that Cody did not know on this ship. After all, pastor and sailor were of two totally different levels. They were not even close.
Tom, while trying to stay as calm as he could, sensed a short single word written on his arm.
"Jacques¡­?" Tom thought to himself, but he did not really get Lucien¡¯s intention right away.
Lucien pulled Tom¡¯s arm a bit toward the cabin, and Tom immediately realized, "Let he go¡­?"
Tom asked Lucien in a very low voice. Lucien nodded seriously. He had this confidence that Tom would trust him. And Lucien¡¯s confidence was right.
"Lord Cody, the bottom floor is where the fight just happened, and also the most damaged section. How about sending some people down there first to fix the major cracks? My man just told me that it¡¯s pretty bad down there right now." There was a flattering smile on Tom¡¯s thin face.
"Umm¡­" Cody was a bit unsure. He did not really want to listen to a boatswain¡¯s suggestion.
"You know¡­ Maybe some more pastors will go down there as well later. Your work can definitely impress them." Tom continued to persuade him.
And that was what Cody really cared. If Cody could get more attention from the higher-ranked pastors, he would certainly have a better chance to get promoted.
"I think you¡¯re right, Tom. Can you help assisting the other pastors in training and squires check the upper cabins?" Cody quickly made the decision.
"For sure, my lord." Tom hurriedly nodded before Cody changed his mind, and then he walked close to Jacques and said, "Mr. Jacques, maybe we can go to check the cabins down there."
Jacques was a good-looking, blond young man. His nose was straight and high, and his eyes were green.
Cody did not say anything about it. Honestly speaking, he did not like Jacques very much, since Jacques was quite popular but also arrogant in Cody¡¯s eyes. Of course, Cody did not want to leave Jacques a chance to impress the other pastors.
Asking Jacques and the other several pastors in training and squires who he disliked to check the sailors¡¯ cabins, Cody led his other people down to the bottom floor.
Although Jacques and the other people knew why they were left here, they still went downstairs and started checking carefully. After all, their own safety was connected to the security of the ship as well.
Purposefully, Tom led Jacques to the cabin at the very end of the corridor in the corner, together with Lucien.
As they were walking, Lucien secretly wrote down several words on Tom¡¯s hand again,
"Activate your power, cover me, when you see my clenched left fist."
Tom instantly understood Lucien this time, since they worked this way together before when they were trying to kill Brown. Lucien wanted to use Tom¡¯s Blood Power to cover the magic waves produced by his casting.
However, Tom felt very concerned about Lucien¡¯s plan. Since the magic waves would not be fully covered, and the storm was almost gone now, it would be quite possible for the cardinals on the ship to notice Lucien¡¯s magic power.
At this time, they came in front of this small cabin in the corner.
Seeing that the young, strange sailor politely opened the door for him, Jacques nodded with satisfaction and then stepped into the cabin.
As expected, there was no one in the cabin. Just when Jacques was about to check the wood boards close to the window, he heard a a gentle voice saying,
"Mr. Jacques, if you are still a nobody three years from now, how would you deal with your relationship with Miss Chely?"
Jacques fiercely turned around and stared at this young, bold sailor, feeling shocked, "What?!"
Jacques¡¯ right hand pressed on his sword.
"I said, you and Miss Chely." Lucien looked right into Jacques¡¯ eyes, "You don¡¯t need to know where I heard this, but tell me, are you really that confident that you can awaken your Blessing in three years?"
The sailor¡¯s eyes were as dark as a shadow, and as deep as a starry sky.
After several seconds, Jacques said to Lucien in a very angry but constrained voice, "Who are you?! It¡¯s none of your business!"
Jacques knew that he was not confident at all in awakening his Blessing. Although he did promise Chely, his love, Jacques was afraid that he might never be able to do it. After all, so many squires had failed and never managed to overcome this barrier in their whole lives.
"I guess¡­ Not really my business." Lucien had a cunning smile on his face, "Miss Chely marrying someone else is also not my business. However, I have the power that can help you awaken your Blessing."
"What do you mean? Why you¡¯re talking to me like this?" asked Jacques out of anger and fury.
When he saw that Tom was standing in the front of the door, Jacques quickly realized that the boatswain was on this strange sailor¡¯s side.
"Because I want to help you." Lucien joked in a very calm way, "Because I am a good man."
"There¡¯s no free lunch," said Jacques straightforwardly.
"Smart. I only ask for one thing." Lucien¡¯s head slightly tilted, "I want you to pretend that you saw nothing down here later."
"You¡¯re¡­ A sorcerer?" Jacques squinted at Lucien.
"And also a knight, Mr. Jacques. As you can see," Lucien reached his right hand out in front of Jacques and showed him his Blood Power, Moonlight, "I already awakened mine. If you cannot awaken your power in three years, you can come to me. If you¡¯re willing to help, I¡¯ll sign a magic pact with you. You can always find me with the pact, and I can never break the words that I promise in the pact."
"..." Jacques did not respond immediately. Subconsciously, Jacques put his upper teeth against his lower lip when he was thinking.
"We¡¯re not doing anything bad." Lucien kept pushing, "We just want to get to Holm safe. You¡¯re not betraying your faith as a knight, Mr. Jacques."
Jacques clenched both of his hands into two tight fists. His eyebrows frowned.
"Or say, you want to see Miss Chely marry someone else, be in another man¡¯s arms, and have that man¡¯s kids?"
There were a few blue veins on Jacques¡¯ forehead, and his whole body was shaking.
Jacques felt that, instead of a human being or a sorcerer, it was a demon that was standing in front of him right now, a demon from the pit of sin.

Chapter 181: A New Start (The End of Volume II)
				Chapter 181: A New Start (The End of Volume II)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Jacques¡¯ heart was beating fast. He could hear his own breathes.
Ten seconds later, Jacques finally lowered his tight shoulders like a balloon losing its air.
"How¡­ do you want me to do this?" said Jacques in a husky voice.
He felt that he was divided into two parts: one was controlled by his great desire for his love, and the other part was feeling extremely guilty.
"It¡¯s simple. You just need to sign a magic pact with me." Lucien¡¯s smile was still on his face, "Firstly, you promise that you¡¯ll never tell anyone else who we are. Secondly, you will not tell anyone on the ship that something is not right down here. Thirdly, you will also keep this as a secret after you go back to Sturk."
Jacques listened to Lucien¡¯s words, with his eyes looking down at the floor.
"In return, I promise to offer you the magic potion that can awaken your Blessing, or we sorcerers say, Blood Power, three years from now, if your own attempt fail. Even if you cannot find me in Holm in three years, the Congress of Magic will keep the words. Tom can represent the congress."
In order to make Jacques feel better, Lucien added, "And also, as long as our own lives are not threatened, we wouldn¡¯t hurt you and your friends on this ship."
"I hear you, and I¡¯ll do as you said." Jacques looked up and stared at Lucien¡¯s eyes, "You know my weakness."
As soon as he said this, he felt more relaxed.
"Congratulations, Mr. Jacques, for making the right choice. I can already see your bright future," said Lucien. Then, he took out a roll of parchment, a quill and a small bottle of magic ink from his pockets, and started to quickly write down the articles and draw mysterious patterns on it .
Lucien did not look at the parchment when he was writing, instead, he was staring at Jacques with his left hand half clenching into a fist, in case Jacques would suddenly change his mind.
Jacques did not really mind Lucien¡¯s cautiousness. He said to Lucien, and also to himself, "My future? That¡¯ll be a dark future, for sure. After all, I have betrayed my knight faith, and I don¡¯t think it possible for me to awaken my Blessing on my own. Everyone knows that the power activated by magic potion is limited, but I will do it anyway, for Chely."
"Good for you, Mr. Jacques. What a nice lover." Lucien smiled, "According to what I know, there is no universal rule as a knight¡¯s faith, and ¡®faith¡¯ itself is the most important part. With a certain faith, a person can remain concentrated and focused on his or her knight practice. If your faith is to protect Miss Chely and to guard your love, what you¡¯re doing is not breaking your belief."
Hearing that, Jacques was quite surprised, "Your understanding¡­ is very different from what my teacher told me, but your theory makes sense to me."
In fact, Lucien heard this from Natasha. He tried to make his answer blurry, "Well¡­ I know a few grand knights¡­ And maybe new potions can come out in the following several years which can help knights to further improve their power, right?"
Then, Lucien signed his name on the pact.
Lucien¡¯s words obviously comforted Jacques. A smile appeared on Jacques face, "I heard that the Church owns a kind of potion which is only available to the top nobles. This potion can turn a person into a level two knight. I also heard that the grand duke, Violet, used this potion. Wait¡­ Your name is Lucien Evans? Interesting, Chely¡¯s favourite musician¡¯s name is also Lucien Evans."
"I know that guy, too." Lucien answered casually, "Clearly, although we share the same name, we are very different."
"More than different. I¡¯d say¡­ the opposite." Jacques shrugged his shoulders. He never tried to draw the connection between the musician and the sorcerer who was right now standing in front of him, since, firstly, Lucien Evans was not an uncommon name, and secondly, a famous musician also being a sorcerer was something way beyond his imagination.
"I agree with you," said Lucien directly. He secretly turned around to see whether Tom was feeling suspicious about his name.
But clearly, Tom was still staring at Lucien¡¯s left hand, carefully waiting for his possible signal.
Lucien knew that if Granneuve had been here, with all the clues Granneuve had, he might be the only one who could tell the truth.
"Mr. Evans? Where shall I sign?" asked Jacques.
"Here." Lucien pointed at the corner of the pact.
After Jacques signed the pact, holding the pact in his hand, Lucien covered the parchment with his spiritual power.
Slight waves of magic power rose from it. Then, the power turned into light blue flame and burned the parchment into ashes.
As soon as the pact was gone, Lucien suddenly felt that there was something new in this soul, and Jacques also looked confused for a second - the magic pact had come into effect!
"If the pact is violated by either of us, the one who broke his promise would suffer from the fire burning his soul, and his soul would thus be destroyed." Lucien shook hands with Jacques, as if they were celebrating certain success, "As we¡¯re all set, I¡¯ll leave you alone to check the divine power circles, Mr. Jacques."
Jacques threw a meaningful look at Lucien, "Mr. Evans, I have to say that you¡¯re a real demon, a demon that is very good at tempting. When I was in my knight training, I never thought I would yield to a demon¡¯s offer."
Then he walked past Lucien to check the wood planks close to the window.
Lucien and Tom were just standing there, watching Jacques walking around.
"If Jacques still decides to break the pact somehow, what would you do? You know that some divine power spells can suppress the power of magic compact," said Tom.
Tom knew that the magic pact was not really unbreakable as it was often claimed to be. For example, if Lucien became a high rank sorcerer, his stronger soul would be able to manage the damage from the flame.
"The magic compact is only a form," answered Lucien in a very low voice. "The moment he decided to sign the pact with me, I knew that he would not easily break his words, because his heart chose to follow his desire. However, of course, there¡¯s still a risk, but I didn't really have a better choice."
"Interesting." Tom smiled and nodded, "The Congress will be providing the potion, after all, you protected many apprentices."
After a while, under Lucien and Tom¡¯s "supervision", Jacques checked the rest of the cabins on this side, and totally ignored the many apprentices hiding in some of the cabins.
An hour later after Jacques left this floor, nothing happened.
Lucien finally released a long sigh of relief.
...
The viscount¡¯s room.
A fancy porcelain cup made in Colette got fiercely thrown on the carpet. Instantly, it broke into many small pieces.
"Idiots! Useless idiots! The stones were robbed, and our people were almost found!" Viscount Wright shouted furiously.
In front of him stood Granneuve and Tom, with their heads very low.
The viscount stepped back and forth in his room, "Tell me, how these filthy murlocs knew that the stones were on our ship?! How do they know we¡¯re shipping Wave Stone? You two, Granneuve and Tom, it is your responsibility to get the answer!"
Although the viscount owned one tenth of the whole fortune of Sturk, this was still a great loss.
"Yes, my lord." Both Granneuve and Tom didn't dare to raise their heads.
Then the viscount¡¯s face turned cold and more gloomy, "Find a chance and kill the knight squire called Jacques. Let someone else do this¡­ According to the pact, only the sorcerers and Tom are not allowed to do this."
"Yes." Granneuve bowed and nodded.
"Wait¡­ Forget about it." The viscount fell back into his couch, looking rather exhausted, "I don¡¯t want to hurt Chely. You two get the stone thing done first."
...
A month later, although the weather was getting colder and colder, the fleet never again experienced any major setback after the murloc¡¯s attack.
Finally, the ships arrived at the harbour named Patray in Holm, across the Storm Strait.
On the second bottom floor, Lucien, Tom and the apprentices were feeling very, very excited. Experienced as Lucien, he was still not able to restrain the great joy and excitement in his heart. 
Lucien regarded this day as the beginning of his real path of magic.
With regards to the note that he found in the murloc mage¡¯s pouch, Lucien had not put much thought into it. He could not allow himself to be too greedy, especially when he didn't have enough information.
"Evans, you and the apprentices hide in the crates. Stay calm when they are checking. Just hide in there and do not panic," said Tom as he was pointing at the several long, wooden crates.
Lucien nodded and took the lead to walk into a crate. When he lay down, a layer of wood board covered him.
On the wood board, Tom and his sailors put layers of goods on top of it and sealed the crate completely with another board with iron nails.
Lucien felt that he was being buried in a coffin.
In the darkness, after a long time, when Lucien was wondering whether he was forgotten, he heard that there were people prying the crate to check the goods inside.
Although he was very alert, following Tom¡¯s order, Lucien remained very calm and stayed still.
"No problem."
It was Jacques¡¯ voice.
The crate was sealed again. And Lucien felt the great bumpiness. After a while, Lucien¡¯s crate was placed on the wet and cold ground.
After a long time again, the crate was opened once more. The goods above him were removed, and so was the lower board.
The bright sunlight came in and made Lucien squint.
A young man wearing a white shirt, dark brown vest and black long jacket was standing in front of the crate. There was a big smile on this young man¡¯s face under his top hat.
"Welcome to Holm, my friend."
Lucien also grinned. He knew that a new beginning of his life had started.

Chapter 182: Lazar¡¯s Promise
				Chapter 182: Lazar¡¯s Promise
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The Third Volume: City in the Sky
The bright sunlight, the slightly humid environment, a faint fishy smell in the air, old but elegant buildings, a busy city¡ªthose were Lucien¡¯s first impressions of the biggest costal city named Patray, in Holm.
A couple of coaches drove through the streets of Patray, in which sat Lucien, the apprentices and the sorcerer who picked them up, Lazar.
"How do you like Holm, Mr. Evans? Not bad, right?" Lazar still got a big smile on his face.
"Just call me Evans, Lazar. Well¡­ the ladies are surely beautiful," answered Lucien in a relaxed and humorous way, "And the dressing style here is quite different. Some of the dresses that ladies are wearing are sophisticated, and some are simple-designed; some have bright colors, and some are well decorated. The only thing that disappoints me a bit is that the ladies are all dressing in a quite conservative way, haha."
"Ha, Evans¡­" Lazar clapped his hands, "I see¡­ You do not appreciate the beauty of being conservative, but to me, this is another way of being sexy, which is more mysterious and can leave us with more space for imagination."
Lucien slightly nodded, "Another thing is that¡­ I think people here, no matter ladies or gentlemen, all like wearing hats. Is it right?"
In Aalto, only some of the clergy and senior citizens liked wearing hats.
"Good point, Evans. Good observation is very important for a sorcerer. In Holm, wearing hat is a manner, and you have to adapt to it as well. Ladies like wearing capelines with long ribbons and tassels and crape bonnets for formal settings, and simple bonnets decorated with flowers or feathers for daily life. Common guys wear round-top caps or men¡¯s capelines, and gentlemen like us wear men¡¯s bonnets or top hats," answered Lazar. "Besides hats, ties, suits or double-breasted coats are also important pieces."
After getting a bit closer with Lazar, Lucien switched the topic naturally, "I wonder if there¡¯s any limit on sorcerers using magic?"
"Technically speaking, a sorcerer using magic to hurt people is just like an ordinary person using dagger or sword to hurt someone, hence we would be punished accordingly by law. However, because the male sorcerers here in Holm have noble titles, if the case is not very serious, they would only be fined¡­ Look, Evans." Lazar pointed at a middle-aged man in a gray suit. 
Lucien saw that the man was standing beside a fountain on the square, surrounded by many kids. Holding his black top hat in his hand, the middle-aged man kept showing the kids all kinds of stuff from his hat, such as flowers, bread, stones and even a white pigeon.
"Is he an apprentice?" asked Lucien.
"Yes." Lazar smiled and nodded, "Since the congress started sending apprentices to magic schools to let them receive formal training, we have more and more apprentices in this country. However, that also means that we have more apprentices who cannot become real sorcerers. Fortunately, these apprentices know how to read and are more knowledgable than common people, hence they can still make a good living. This guy, an apprentice, seems to like kids quite a lot."
Lucien had already got the information from Astar and Tom, so he was not very surprised. He asked casually, "Then what¡¯s the percentage? I mean¡­ how many apprentices can actually become sorcerers?"
"Well¡­ Comparatively speaking, the number has increased a lot compared to that of the ancient magic empire. In the ancient time, apprentices who did not have strong enough spiritual power could only rely their hope on precious magic potions or risky magic rituals. Therefore, among a thousand apprentices, maybe one could become a sorcerer, but now, due to the study of arcana, we have a lower requirement for one¡¯s spiritual power, and right now the number¡¯s around five out of a hundred." Lazar looked at Lucien with his signature smile, "You don¡¯t have to worry about it, Evans¡­ I mean, since you¡¯re a sorcerer already, as long as you can focus on learning arcana, I¡¯m sure you can make progress very soon. By the way, what school do you specialize in?" asked Lazar curiously.
"I¡¯m better at Astrology and Element," answered Lucien honestly. "But I'm not sure what¡¯ll be my mastery yet."
"Ha, I happen to be a mage in the school of Element, and also a member of the Will of Elements. Did you ever hear the name of this group before?" asked Lazar.
"Mr. Astar mentioned it to me before. You want me in, Lazar?" Lucien smiled, saying in his mind that he actually knew way more about this group than just knowing its name, after all, he was even carrying the ring with himself right now.
"Come on, Evans! We¡¯re not the Hand of Paleness," said Lazar in a joking way. "The Hand of Paleness doesn¡¯t care about the quality of their members at all, which I understand to some degree, after all, what matters the most to them is body. If a member is not really qualified, his or her body can still be useful, right?"
Obviously, there was indeed great conflict between the Will of Elements and the Hand of Paleness.
"So, Lazar¡­ I take you¡¯re also an arcanist, right?" asked Lucien carefully.
Lazar adjusted himself a bit to sit slightly more straight, and tried to make his smile look more casual, "The first circle element spell, Lazar¡¯s Burning Hand, which I improved at the beginning of this year, has been approved by Arcana Review Board, and I earned another two arcana credits from it. Together with the previous eight credits that I had, I¡¯m a level one arcanist and a second circle sorcerer now, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m a member of the Will of Elements."
Clearly, Lazar was very proud of his accomplishment.
"How old are you, Lazar? You look quite young." Although Lucien did not understand how hard it was for a junior-rank sorcerer to get arcana credit, he was still quite surprised with Lazar¡¯s sorcerer level.
Lazar reached for the glass of wine resting on the small wood table in the coach, "Just turned twenty-two. Two years older than you, Evans."
As Lucien often behaved in a quite mature way, most people thought that he was twenty something, hence Lucien also told other people that he was twenty to differ himself from the eighteen-year-old famous musician.
"You¡¯re indeed a genius, Lazar." Lucien nodded and praised him sincerely.
"I¡¯m still far from being a genius, Evans." Lazar slightly waved his hand, "For example, Mr. Ulysses from the Will of Power, he is a real genius in the school of Element. He was a level two arcanist and a middle-rank mage sorcerer when he was twenty two, and a level four arcanist, fifth circle elemental mage when he was thirty three, and there is still Mr. Larry and Mr. Timothy in our group."
Lazar did not envy these geniuses, since these people¡¯s accomplishment was beyond a common person¡¯s jealousy.
"However, the person from the school of Element that I admire the most, except the grand arcanist, Hathaway, is Mrs. Meredith from Holm, who won Holm Crown prize when she was only twenty-three, and she was one of the very few geniuses whose arcana level was higher than their sorcerer level. After she had won this prize, Mrs. Meredith even became a level four arcanist when she was only a first circle elemental sorcerer! Unfortunately¡­"
Lazar released a sorry sigh.
Lucien secretly touched the ring named Mo in his pocket with a mixed feeling, "I heard about her story, too, and Mrs. Meredith is really admirable."
Lazar raised his glass to show his appreciation.
"Although we haven¡¯t been planning on inviting you to join our group, Evans," said Lazar, "as a promising young man who is already a real sorcerer in his early twenties, by studying ancient magic system you should be able to gain many groups¡¯ attention in the congress very soon."
"I¡¯m flattered." Lucien nodded politely.
Lazard took it that Lucien did not really understand what did his words mean, so he added, "Being a member of our group can bring you many benefits: the instruction of the middle and senior rank mages, countless arcana books and journals, well-equipped labs, wealth, two secret rites for improving¡ªone is owned by the congress, the Royal Magic Academy and the group called the Lord of Elements, the other is called the Creator, which is only available for sorcerers who study both Element and Alchemy. Anyway, representing Mrs. Meredith, as long as you can get a level in arcana by thirty, Evans, you¡¯re welcome to join us!"
Lucien¡¯s smile was still on his face, although he secretly thought that he himself, the person who was holding Mrs. Meredith¡¯s ring right now, should be the best representative of that talented lady between them both.
Besides, Lucien still remembered what Astar told him. When he was still a junior rank mage, it was better for him to stay away from all those groups¡¯ conflict and competition, and to focus on his own study first.
"I¡¯m very interested in Astrology and Element," said Lucien sincerely still. "The Will of Elements is for sure my ideal group."
Lazar nodded in a satisfied way, "If your mastery is in Astrology, you can also consider Tower."
It seemed that the relationship between Tower and the Will of Elements was not bad.
Then, Lazar looked out a bit and asked, "Do you want to stay in Patray for a few more days, or do you want to head for Allyn directly?"
"I can¡¯t wait for going to Allyn anymore," answered Lucien in a second.
Lazar put down his glass and grinned. Then, he asked the coachman to drive them into a house with a garden, which looked nothing special.
However, as soon as the coach went through the gate, the surroundings suddenly became blurry, as if there was heavy fog everywhere.
When the coach got out of the fog, what Lucien saw totally surprised him:
Four pairs of railway tracks and an eight-car black train were right now in front of him.
The apprentices in the coaches following Lucien and Lazar were also more than surprised.
"Welcome aboard the magic steam train to Allyn," said Lazar.
It was delightful for Lazar to see Lucien and the apprentices¡¯ surprised faces.

Chapter 183: Consideration
				Chapter 183: Consideration
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Spacious, light yellow cars, soft dark red seats, clean magic glass, and the two beautiful young girls wearing light blue dresses¡ªthis was Lucien's first impression of this magic train, and this first impression was pretty good.
"Welcome aboard Kloss. We'll be traveling past seven stations on our way today, and arrive in Allyn three hours later." The two beautiful grils from the crew bowed to Lucien politely, "If you need anything, sir, please press the button on the table."
As a guest, Lucien only smiled and nodded, letting Lazar arrange the rest of the stuff.
After taking out his pocket watch and giving it a quick glance, Lazar said to Lucien, "It's one in the afternoon right now, and we have plenty of time to arrive in Allyn before the people in the congress finish working today. Wait¡­ I bet all of you haven't had lunch yet. No worries. This train is equipped with the best chefs from all over the continent, and all of your first trip to Allyn is paid by the congress. Of course, you gotta pay for your future trips, and it's one Thale per ticket."
"That's pricy¡­" Even Lucien felt a bit surprised, not to mention the apprentices. After all, a common person with middle-level earning could only make seven to eight Thales a year. This train was way more expensive than the flights that Lucien had taken in his own world.
Seeing their facial expression, Lazar grinned, "Actually, the idea of magic train was already put forward by some arcanists many years ago. They were inspired by the equipment used in mining industry. At that time, the train was fuelled by magic circles and alchemy lives, hence why the train was very expensive to run. Besides, most sorcerers above middle rank can fly. So you can see¡­ The train was quite impractical."
"What about this one?" asked Lucien.
"Mr. Kloss later improved the train by combining magic and machine together, and started using steam as the major power for the train, which greatly reduced the cost." Lazar continued, "The train is way faster than a middle-rank sorcerer flying on his own, even faster than magic brooms, not to mention that a train can carry way more people at the same time. Therefore, the congress puts much emphasis on the planning of the railways, and now we have four routes. The one we're taking now is the first settled route, from Patray to Allyn."
As Lazar was introducing the details, he made Lucien and the apprentices order their food.
"Then why this train's still this expensive, Mr. Lazar?" asked Sprint curiously. Among all the apprentices, he was the most active one.
"Let's sit down first." Lazar and Lucien sat down on the soft seats on both sides of the table. "Because Kloss is a luxury train. That's why." After all of them sat down, Lazar continued, "For other trains, you are looking at around thirty Nars. I mean¡­ it's still not cheap, but the cost of building new railways comes from income of the tickets and the funding of the congress. We don't trust those greedy bankers to do this."
After satisfying the apprentices' curiosity, Lazar grinned to Lucien, "I'm pretty sure that the price will drop someday, with the fast development of other transportation methods. Evans, you come to the congress in the best time, and you have to seize this moment, when all kinds of great ideas about magic are thriving. Work hard on arcana, and become a worthy sorcerer!"
Without doubt, Lazar was a very delightful and optimistic young man, or he would not be chosen to be the one greeting the newcomers.
"In fact, I already started learning basic arcana in Mr. Astar's place, and I have three apprentices studying after me." Lucien smiled and nodded, and then placed Amboula and Alert in the designated area beside his seat.
In the past more-than-one-month studying, both Annick and Layria had become real magic apprentices before they arrived in Holm, and Heidi was almost there as well.
"That's great." Lazar nodded.
Then with a loud steam whistle, the train started moving.
"Wow¡­" Sprint half stood up from his seat and stared at the outside of the window. Then so did Annick and Olmos.
The surprised and excited apprentices started discussing with each other.
Lucien reached forward for the water in front of him, without taking a glance at what was happening outside.
"You look pretty calm, Evans," said Lazar in a favorable way.
Of course Lucien could not tell Lazar that he had seen this countless times in his original world, so he found an excuse, "I think I'm more interested in the mechanics of this machine. Lazar, may I visit the operation room?"
Lazar laughed, "Evans, I totally understand your curiosity, but what you're interested in is confidential. If you really want to find out how it works, the only way you can do it is to use your arcana points to exchange the materials with the congress."
Surprisingly, as the train ran faster and faster, the noises produced by the train gradually disappeared. Lucien was guessing that it was because of the magic circles cast on the train.
Outside of the window, the bleak fields in November and the small villages along the railway were passing backwards very fast.
When Lucien was about to ask, two young girls came into the carriage with a dining pushcart, followed by several violin players.
In the wonderful music, the two girls put steaks, grilled fish, caviar and foie gras on their plates.
Lucien unfolded his napkin on his lap and then cut a piece of steak. The steak was very juicy and well-cooked.
Lucien nodded out of satisfaction, "Very professional."
"I know, right? I've been looking forward to the nice cuisine in the Kingdom of Syracuse for a long time. Unfortunately, I'm still not a middle-rank mage, and I cannot fly over Storm Strait to try the food there," said Lazar while cutting the fried foie gras in his plate. "I also appreciate Aalto's music a lot as well. You know, the young musician who you share the same name with, Lucien Evans¡­ He has been gaining much popularity in a very short period of time."
Then Lucien started introducing the many cuisines in different countries to Lazar. When Lazar got very excited, he also told Lucien many things about the congress.
"Lazar, how can I obtain arcana credit?" asked Lucien, "I really want to start my arcana path."
Because Lucien knew that, in other people's eyes, he was only a beginner in arcana, he was planning on studying in the congress first for a while and then seizing a chance to compose and publish his own paper. However, from what Lazar told him, Lucien realized that having a certain level in arcana could bring him many benefits.
In addition, in the past one month, by using Brook Meditation, Lucien was ready to move forward to a higher sorcerer level, second circle.
"You know, Evans, there's an old saying, 'The more impatient a person is, the harder it is for the person to get to the destination'." Lazar wiped his mouth with the white napkin, "But I do understand, Evans, after all, gaining arcana credit is more than important to every sorcerer in the congress."
Lucien sat straight to listen carefully.
"Arcana Review Board is the organization taking charge of arcana credit awarding, belonging to the highest council in the congress, and it consists of fifty-two authorities from all of the schools. These sorcerers are at least level six arcanists."
"There are only fifty something level six arcanists?" Lucien felt quite surprised.
"Authorities, I said authorities." Lazar shook his head, "It depends on different fields. Some arcanists do have very impressive accomplishment and they¡­ well, they live long enough to have a high level, but in the fields they specialize in, if there are sorcerers who are even more competitive than them, they still cannot be members of the board. However, for some sorcerers, although their arcana level is not that high, because they are experts in their own less popular or new fields, they can be regarded as authorities."
"I see. I also heard from Mr. Astar that if one's arcana research outcome is cited by someone else, the person can also get arcana credits?" asked Lucien.
After asking the attendants to take away the plates, Lazar answered, "That's right. One credit for one citation. However, whether it can bring you more credits also depends on how important your research outcome is, and Arcana Review Board is still responsible for the judgement."
"Then what about me coming up with a new spell or improving an existing magic?" Lucien needed to understand this as much as possible.
"You can only be awarded once for that, unless your creation or improvement inspired someone else and thus that person develops a new article based on that, and in that case, you can get extra credits. Otherwise, if someone wants to learn your magic, the person only needs to pay you arcana points. For example, so far my Lazar's Burning Hand has been learned by thirty sorcerers, and that's thirty arcana points."
"That seems to be a lot of work for the sorcerers of the board." Lucien gently grabbed his chin.
"Oh¡­ That's really true. In fact, in most cases, since they are very busy, these sorcerers usually don't deal with reviewing most of the arcana and magic spells submitted, but let their students or other qualified arcanists working for different journals to make the judgement. Sometimes, there are mistakes and some sorcerers don't get their points immediately, but the deficiencies can always get fixed sooner of later. For you, Evans, the best way to get some arcana points is to submit some unique spells from the ancient magic system. If no one before you ever have submitted it, you can get the corresponding points."
"I see." Lucien slightly nodded, "The congress is encouraging the exchanging of knowledge among sorcerers."
Without doubt, all the sorcerers valued their own magic spells greatly. If there was no reward, no one would like to submit and publish one's own creation.
Then what about Lucien?
Should he submit his spells to get the points?

Chapter 184: Allyn
				Chapter 184: Allyn
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although most of the ancient ways of doing meditation had been proven innefective by arcana, many unique ancient magic spells were still popular among today¡¯s sorcerers. Every time a sorcerer explored an old relic, except magic items or materials, he or she would always look forward to finding unique spells or magic rites. After all, the only standard for judging whether a magic spell was good or bad was to see if it was really useful.
In this regard, ancient spells were definitely not inferior to those contemporary ones. The possible difference might be that the requirement for learning a certain spell today was way lower than that of the ancient time. For example, a seventh or eighth circle spell in the past should probably be a fourth or fifth circle spell today.
Moreover, unique ancient spells could inspire arcanists as well. Many arcana research outcomes came from the studies of the old spells. Therefore, the congress was always quite generous in this case.
However, in the book, Astrology and Elements, only spells of third circle and above could be counted as unique spells, and Lucien was not there yet. Therefore, it was hard for him to pick out several not very important ones for submission. Currently, Lucien was planning on submitting the several spells that he created or improved on his own.
Among all these spells, Lucien saw the greatest value in the first circle spell, Charm Person, which included two versions: one targeting mages and one for knights. Before the congress came up with the theory with regards to brain wave and hormone, Lucien would not give them to the congress. Lucien felt that he might become an explorer in a new field by further studying the two spells, and then he might even become an expert in the school of Illusion or Necromancy.
As for Professor¡¯s Oscillation Hand, Lucien could not touch it right now. Since if people knew that it was Lucien who first created his magic, it would not be difficult for them to realize that Lucien was the very Professor who caused all the messes in Aalto. Lucien did not want to submit anything with regards to discussing resonance before he got to a fifth circle sorcerer level.
In order to avoid the great impact on the school of Necromancy and on the belief of the Church, Lucien needed to keep carbamide synthesis to himself for now as well. As a beginner in this field, he could not take the risk to overthrow the two great powers. If he failed to be careful enough, those crazy necromancers and the Church would definitely try their very best to kill him.
Lucien heard about more than a dozen examples from Mr. Astar about arcanists using violence to solve academic disputes. After all, arcanists were still human beings, and they still had emotions and could still be impulsive.
That was why the congress had set quite a few small anti-magic circles into the walls of many discussion rooms.
From so many of the dangerous situations Lucien had been through, he came to the conclusion¡ªa person should never overstretch himself.
"Then what about Bat Screaming¡­" Lucien thought to himself, thrumming the table unconsciously.
Lazar decided to leave Lucien alone for a bit. He understood how hard it could be for a sorcerer to yield to the demands of the congress.
Here came the steam whistle again, loud and sharp. The train gradually slowed down and finally stopped in front of the last station.
Somehow the station looked more creepy and gloomy than other ones.
A few people wearing black ancient magic robes came aboard. Some of them were caring big suitcases.
"Oh¡­ Those necrophilia¡­ I¡¯d be willing to pay more if the train could skip Heidler." Lazar complained in a low voice. He seemed to be a bit nervous as well when he was complaining.
"Heidler¡­?" Lucien looked out confusedly, and surprisingly saw a space crack in the dust-haze.
The power of Sun¡¯s Corona enabled Lucien to see the crack connecting this world and the World of Souls!
Lucien only found five or six space cracks like this when he was traveling across the continent. To his surprise, there was one more in Holm. No wonder there were so many necromancers here.
Lazar got a bit closer to Lucien and said in a low voice, "Soon after the congress had been established, these necrophilia noticed the strong power of death in Heidler, thus they moved the headquarter of the Hand of Paleness to this city. If you travel to Heidler¡­ Well, I mean if¡­ you¡¯d see more undead creatures than living men. Some of the new undead species could even help the farmers and blacksmiths."
"Wow¡­ That¡¯s something." Lucien got a bit excited.
"..." Lazar did not know what to say.
When the necromancers got closer, both Lucien and Lazar got very surprised.
The man walking in the front was no one else but Felipe.
As usual, Felipe pocketed his hands in his black coat, and he still looked quite sick. When he was about to turn in the corner, he casually looked at the carriage where Lazar and Lucien were in.
Lazar hurriedly stood up, "Good afternoon, Mr. Felipe."
Although the congress had abandoned many bad traditions existing in the time of ancient magic empire, for example, apprentices¡¯ personal bondage to sorcerers, the tradition for respecting a really powerful sorcerer remained. Although Lazar was from the Will of Elements, facing Felipe, a sorcerer whose both magic and arcana level were way higher than his own, Lazar still had to show his respect.
Felipe, however, did not care. He nodded casually and then walked into the next door carriage.
"Mr. Lazar, who is this man? He looks quite¡­ powerful," asked Heidi. She was sitting on a soft chair behind Lucien.
It was such a relief for Lucien to see that Felipe did not act any differently. So Lucien also looked at Lazar like these curious apprentices.
"Mr. Felipe, a necromancer from the Hand of Paleness," said Lazar, and the smile on his face had disappeared, "He¡¯s a genius, a level four arcanist and a fifth circle necromancer."
"I know him! I heard this name before! I think he¡¯s the one who forced his way through the blockade line of the Church!" said Sprint excitedly as if Felipe was his idol, "Mr. Felipe is on the Cleansing List, as a middle-ranked sorcerer! Cool!"
All the apprentices in this carriage were now looking at the carriage next door out of great excitement, although they could see nothing. However, they had never been this close to a famous person.
"Well¡­ Actually we have someone like Mr. Felipe in our group, the Will of Elements, as well. We call him ¡®Professor¡¯, and he is also on the list¡­ only one place lower than Mr. Felipe." Lazar was trying to keep a good profile of the Will of Elements.
Hearing Lazar¡¯s words, Lucien wondered how the Will of Elements could make sure that Professor was really their member.
So Lucien asked, "I¡¯ve heard his name a few times, but is he from the Will of Elements?"
"That¡¯s for sure. Mr. Felipe doesn¡¯t seem to get along well with Mr. Professor. A while ago, our director Mr. Gaston found that Mr. Felipe was secretly investigating the sorcerers in our group. Mr. Gaston got pissed off and almost killed Felipe. This is probably the biggest news recently in the congress," answered Lazar.
Then Lazar took a glance at the next door carriage and even lowered his voice more, "Many arcanists who knew Mr. Felipe said that, after Mr. Felipe came back from his mission, he changed quite a bit. They said that he became calmer and less arrogant, and it seems like he¡¯s doing some secretly experiments right now."
Lucien nodded and started analyzing. According to Lazar¡¯s words, Lucien guessed that, although Felipe had told people that Professor was from the Will of Elements, he told no one else anything about carbamide synthesis, otherwise, the experiment from Professor would become the biggest news recently.
On the other hand, Lucien was quite sure that Felipe was trying to synthesize the ingredients for life himself.
Another apprentice, Catrina, seemed to be more interested in the mysterious Professor,
"Mr. Lazar, do you know Professor¡¯s real name?"
"I don¡¯t know," answered Lazar. "The grand arcanist, Hathaway, said that Mr. Professor was from the congress, but she did not mention specifically who was this mysterious Professor."
Lucien suddenly felt very embarrassed. When the directors of the Will of Elements found out that there was no such person called Professor in their group, they would definitely go to seek for the help of the higher level in the congress, which turned out to be Hathaway. Quite possibly, Hathaway had already found out who this Professor was based on the dates and the places he showed up, and Hathaway also cared for Natasha a lot.
However, for some kind of reasons, Hathaway did not expose the mysterious Professor.
At this time, Annick looked out of the window, and his mouth opened with surprise: "We¡¯re¡­ We¡¯re flying!"
Lucien just noticed that the railway tracks were now off the ground, floating in mid-air and extending upwards, while the train was still on the tracks.
The forest, the fields, the manors and the city below grew smaller and smaller like ants.
"Anti-gravitation field. There is an anti-gravitation field on the tracks close to Allyn." Seeing Lucien turned around, Lazar answered him before Lucien asked the question, "You can only see something like this here around Allyn, or the congress would definitely go bankrupt."
The apprentices flocked to the window and watched the train speeding through the blue sky. A black spot in front of the train was getting bigger and bigger, and it turned out to be a huge city floating in the middle of the sky!
The city was built on a huge peak truncated from a mountain, with the tip floating downwards. On the very broad cross section which served as the land of this city, there were gardens, woods, streets, countless ordinary buildings, and many different kinds of magic pinnacles. The whole city was about half the size of Aalto.
This was the headquarter of the Congress of Magic, the Sky City, Allyn!
"That¡¯s magnificent¡­"
"Wow¡­"
Seeing that the apprentices almost dropped their jaws out of the stunning view, Lazar smiled and said, "You folks will have plenty of opportunities to appreciate the city, and before that, the congress has an assessment for you, so then the congress can assign you to the appropriate schools in accordance with your arcana level and interest."
"Assessment? Why you never mentioned this earlier?" exclaimed Heidi and many other apprentices. Hurriedly, they sat back on their seats and opened their books to prepare.
Both Sprint and Katrina remained quite calm. Katrina said to Heidi, "You¡¯ve been studying arcana for more than a month. Why are you panicking like this?"
"I¡¯m not ready¡­ not ready¡­" murmured Heidi while reading one of the books nervously.
The train slowed down and stopped at the platform locating on the fringe of Allyn.
At this time, the two beautiful girls wearing light blue uniform dresses came into the carriage, and each was holding a hard-cover notebook. They said to Lucien and Lazar respectfully, "Dear guests, please leave your valuable suggestions here to help improving our service."
Right now the magic steam train was still on its pilot run.
Lucien took over the notebook and the quill, and quickly wrote down two words. Then he passed the notebook to Lazar.
Lazar looked at the comment left by Lucien confusedly.
On the notebook, it was written, "Five stars!"

Chapter 185: Apprentice Assessment Department
				Chapter 185: Apprentice Assessment Department
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The coaches drove smoothly across the streets, and then slowly stopped in front of the huge tower in the center of the sky city.
It was not easy for the apprentices to realize how magnificent the tower was when they were looking at it from afar, however, when they came close to it, Heidi, Layria and the other apprentices¡¯ hearts were full of wonder, as they had to stretch their necks to look up to barely see the spire of the tall tower.
Unlike the mysterious and gloomy towers in the ancient magic empire time, the tower¡¯s outer layer was made of some kind of silver-gray material that sparkled with metallic gleam. The thrilling beauty of this building was something beyond the apprentices¡¯ words.
This was one of Lucien's favorite styles, hence he had a pretty good first impression of the congress.
Seeing that both Lucien and the apprentices were all so surprised, Lazar felt very satisfied. After Felipe and the other sorcerers walked through the gate, Lazar clapped his hands gently and smiled. "The name of the tower is also Allyn, the same as the name of this city, and Allyn is the ultimate dream of most sorcerers. All right, let¡¯s go. As it¡¯s already four fifteen right now, we need to talk to the staff in the congress by six. After six, there are only security people here."
"Mr. Lazar, can we come back tomorrow? We are so tired that we need to rest," asked many of the apprentices because they were afraid to take the arcana test, and even Annick was a bit hesitant.
Lazar led Lucien and the apprentices to the gray stone steps in front of the tower, "As you just arrived today, I'm sure all of you are tired, but you need to tell this to the congress staff responsible for testing you on your own, and they will arrange another time for the assessment. What I have to remind you all is that, without going through the exam, you can't get the two badges¡ªone for magic and the other for arcana, and that can make many things quite troublesome. The earlier you start the study of arcana and magic, the sooner you can be a true wizard or witch."
Lazar was not telling the apprentices to take the test when they were tired, but to make the best use of their time.
Soon they walked in front of the gate of the congress tower. The silver-colored gate was engraved with many mysterious patterns.
When they were just about to walk in, two big black eyes suddenly appeared on the gate, blinking in a cute way, "On behalf of all the arcanists and sorcerers, I welcome you all to Allyn."
The voice was delightful. The gate was greeting them.
"Come on, Prospell, you never welcomed me like this," joked Lazar.
"Because only now I¡¯ve sensed the smell of youth," answered Prospell cheerfully.
Turning around to the stunned apprentices, Lazar introduced, "Prospell is a very powerful alchemy life born together with the congress tower. It was Douglas and several other grand arcanists who brought Prospell into life and it took them quite a long time to collect the special incomplete souls required. You can see lots of alchemy lives in the headquarter of the congress of magic. In this respect, nowhere can compete with the congress."
Since Lucien first talked to an alchemy life in Viscount Carendia¡¯s castle, he found great interest in building an alchemy life, so he could not help asking, "Lazar, when we can learn about alchemy life?"
"First you gotta have an arcana tree about soul in the school of Necromancy, and, at the same time, you have to learn at least basic alchemy knowledge. Then, when you finish learning all of those things and then become a senior-rank mage, you can start making an alchemy life," said Lazar casually.
"Sir, if you¡¯re interested in making an alchemy life, please make a lady. I got fed up with all of these male alchemy lives living in the towers in this area long time ago!"
Somehow, this alchemy life looked quite a bit obscene in Lucien and the apprentices¡¯ eyes.
Seeing that Lucien did not really respond, Prospell laughed in a bit embarrassed way, "I¡¯m just joking, haha¡­ Apprentice Assessment Department is in zone three, first floor; Sorcerer Administrative Department, zone four, first floor; zone five, Task Zone, for accepting and releasing tasks; Conversion Department, zone six, first floor, for exchanging your money, materials, items or information for arcana points, or vice versa. Common Arcana and Magic Library is in zone one, and Magic Exchange Office, in zone two."
Lucien listened carefully to Prospell to follow the information.
"If you want to do any meditation or experiment, you can go to the second to the ninth floor, where we have meditation rooms, all kinds of labs, constraint rooms, energy rooms, magic gardens and so on. Of course, you gotta pay money or arcana points to use them. On the tenth floor, there are the headquarters of the two major journals, Arcana and Magic."
"Then what about the other journals?" asked Lucien.
"The headquarters of the rest of the journals are either somewhere else in Allyn, or other countries, hosted by the many divisions of the congress," explained Prospell.
"Thank you for explaining, and please go ahead." Lucien nodded politely, treating the alchemy life like a real person.
"The offices of the several boards and the exclusive lounges for the board members are on the eleventh to the fifteenth floor; qualified arcana and magic research groups can apply for the use of the rooms on the sixteenth to the twentieth floor for free; on the twenty-first to the twenty-fifth floor, we have the best labs designed for different fields of research; high-level Arcana and Magic Library, high-level constraint rooms and material warehouses are on the twenty-sixth to the thirtieth floor; the thirty-first floor to the thirty-fifth floor are reserved for the members of the highest council, but I heard that, recently, they¡¯re considering to separate the thirty-first and the thirty-second floor to be the academy for training junior-rank mages¡­" Prospell continued.
Obviously, Prospell was a very talkative alchemy life, and the lots of information totally confused the apprentices.
"Anyway¡­ come in here now," said Prospell, and then he started singing:
"Don¡¯t touch around, cuz that¡¯s my muscle.
"Don¡¯t touch the wall, cuz that itches me.
"Don¡¯t vandalize anything, cuz organs are always vulnerable."
...
Accompanied by this strange song, when Lucien, Lazar and the apprentices walked into the silver hall, the first thing that appeared in front of them was a one-meter-diameter round disc, engraved with complicated magic circles. Around the disc, there was a yellowish green cover, extending from the first to the second floor.
Around the hall, there were signs labeling six different zones.
"The elevators are over there," introduced Lazar. "How about we go to the Apprentice Assessment Department in zone three first, and then the Sorcerer Administrative Department in zone four?"
"No problem." Lucien did not mind at all.
...
There were rows and rows of different rooms in zone three. A lanky, old man dressing in old school style was there.
The old man¡¯s name was Simeon. He said seriously to the apprentices, "All of you register first, and then you will receive arcana assessment. Based on the results, you all will be assigned to different schools."
"Mr. Simeon, all of us are very tired right now since we just arrived in Holm this afternoon, and then we spent another three hours on the train again." Katrina was not being shy. Regarding herself as one of the leaders of the apprentices, she felt that she was responsible for making this request.
Facing the reasonable request, although he was usually pretty stubborn, Simeon still nodded, "Then register first, and then do the assessment tomorrow morning at nine. All of you can stay in zone three to rest for the night, but since you don¡¯t have both badges, keep in mind that you should not leave zone three."
"We won¡¯t. Thank you, Mr. Simeon," said many of the apprentices.
When the apprentices all finished doing their registration, Simeon noticed Lucien. "You¡¯re not one of them?" asked Simeon a bit confused.
"Mr. Simeon, I¡¯m a sorcerer." Lucien smiled.
Simeon looked quite surprised, then he took a quick glance at Lucien from head to foot, "You¡¯re not even twenty¡­ You seem to be very gifted with your spiritual power. If you want to study Astrology or Light-darkness, or if you¡¯re interested in studying mathematics, you might want to join us, Tower."
Lazar looked at Simeon and quickly cut in, "We talked about this before, and Mr. Evans said that he wanted to focus on studying arcana first before making any decision."
"Interesting. Not many young people are thinking like this nowadays anymore." Simeon smiled, "Tower is relatively neutral compared to most of the groups in the congress, and we usually just follow the direction of the congress, suitable for sorcerers who do not want to get involved in all those conflicts. All right, all right¡­ I¡¯ll stop, or Lazar¡¯s gonna cry in front of me now."
There were two badges on Simeon¡¯s robe: one was black inlaid with two stars, and the other was silver with two black circles on it, looking rather cold and mysterious. According to Lazar¡¯s introduction, Lucien could tell that the former was the badge for a level two arcanist, and the latter was for a second circle sorcerer.
Noticing that Heidi, Layria and many other apprentices were busy with reviewing what they had learned, Sprint frowned a bit. "It¡¯s just useless making efforts at the last moment."
Hearing what Sprint just said, Heidi hurriedly came to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, do you have any better suggestion then?"
"Having a good rest is the most important thing." Lucien nodded, "I agree with Sprint. Maybe just roughly leaf through the books a bit."
Both Annick and Layria nodded behind Heidi, they looked at Lucien, "Will you come here tomorrow, Mr. Evans? When we¡¯re taking the test?"
"I will." Lucien smiled, "I would like to know whether I¡¯m a good teacher."
Seeing the apprentices were encouraged by his words, Lucien felt some softness in his heart. Then, he turned around and said to Lazar, "What about going to the Sorcerer Administrative Department now? By the way, if I want to make exchanges in Common Arcana and Magic Library or in Magic Exchange Office, what shall I use? Arcana points only or I can also use Thales?"
"Either." Lazar grinned, "But Evans, you gotta activate your arcana badge before going there, or you can only have some free basic arcana and magic books given by the congress. When you reach a certain knowledge level, you can take arcana assessment in the Sorcerer Administrative Department. If you can pass the test, you can get a basic arcana point to activate your arcana badge."
Lucien frowned a bit and asked, "If I want to get this done sooner, can I just submit a new spell?"

Chapter 186: Magic Badge
				Chapter 186: Magic Badge
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Of course. And this way is much faster compared to submitting a paper. It usually only takes about twenty minutes to get the examination done," Lazar nodded.
Simeon, who was standing beside Lazar, added, "But Evans, you have to remember that, although you can activate your badge this time by doing this, if you want to make progress in your arcana level, every time when you want to upgrade, you need to have this one basic arcana point that Lazar just mentioned, since the congress wants to see all the sorcerers and arcanists with solid foundation of knowledge, and you can only choose your research interest after becoming a real arcanist."
"I will find some time to pass the arcana examination in the Sorcerer Administrative Department," answered Lucien in a casual tone, as if he was talking about what to have for dinner tonight. Both Simeon and Lazar thought that Lucien would take the test after spending some time on studying magic and arcana first to make up the gap between his existing knowledge and what was offered by the congress.
After saying goodbye to the apprentices, led by Lazar, Lucien headed for zone four.
"Mr. Simeon has just become a level two arcanist. Hopefully, he can soon make another breakthrough." As they were walking, Lazar said to Lucien, "I don't know when I will have thirty arcana points."
"How many arcana points do you need for each upgrade?" asked Lucien confusedly, "Thirty?"
"At first, in order to get to a higher level, ten times more of one¡¯s last level arcana point was required, but it turned out to be quite impractical, since there were only ten to twenty thousand arcanists in total in this world. Later, a legendary archmage changed the rule, and now, you need ten arcana points to become a level one arcanist, thirty for level two, a hundred for level three, three hundred for level four, a thousand for level five, three thousand for level six, ten thousand for level seven, thirty thousand for level eight, and a hundred thousand for level nine," explained Lazar in detail. He enjoyed answering questions.
When they were walking across the hall, there were lights trying to approach them. The two badges that Lazar was wearing were glowing to prevent the lights from getting close to them.
...
There was an open hall in Sorcerer Administrative Department, where there were light yellow couches, coffee tables, wine cabinets and many other facilities for relaxing, making this place look more like a salon or a club than an administrative office.
There was a reception desk made of silver and gray metal beside the major corridor, behind which stood two lovely young girls. Many sorcerers, who were not as gloomy as most necromancers, liked to tease the girls a bit, and among them there were also some young men who were seriously pursuing them.
"Welcome back, Mr. Lazar," greeted the taller, flaxen-haired girl with a smile. Wearing a long yellow dress, she looked quite beautiful.
"Thank you, love." Lazar had a big smile on his face, and then he introduced, "Cindy, this is Mr. Evans, a twenty-year-old sorcerer. Evans, this are Cindy and Dona, two sweethearts in this department. Both of them are working on becoming real sorcerers as they are working here."
Knowing that Lazar was always like this, Cindy did not mind, but turned to Lucien, "Welcome, Mr. Evans. A twenty-year-old sorcerer following the ancient magic system¡­ Wow¡­ I have to say that you¡¯re definitely a genius. If when you become a middle-rank sorcerer, I still haven¡¯t make any breakthrough, can you have me to be your apprentice? A real apprentice?"
"Mr. Evans, can I as well?" Dona, the plump young girl, also asked while playing with her auburn-coloured hair.
The girls enthusiasm was beyond Lucien¡¯s imagination. For a moment, Lucien was too shy to say anything.
"Haha¡­ Evans¡­ I can tell you¡¯re quite inexperienced in talking with ladies." Lazar laughed. "It¡¯s okay. This is just their way of welcoming newcomers. Cindy and Dona are quite talented as well. As they were already senior apprentices when they were only seventeen, many sorcerers would like to have them to be their students, besides, what they want to specialize in is different from what you¡¯re good at, Evans."
"Ha, I thought somehow I suddenly became popular." Lucien joked.
"You are, Mr. Evans. You¡¯re good-looking and you look quite reliable. Better than Mr. Lazar." Cindy looked at Lucien with her beautiful eyes.
"Oh¡­ That hurts." Lazar made a sad look, and then tried to get a bit more serious, "Anyone¡¯s available right now?"
"Only Mr. Eric is." Dona smiled and pointed at the corridor behind the reception desk, "He¡¯s waiting for you two."
Complaining about the fact that he was becoming less attractive, Lazar led Lucien to the third office under the girls¡¯ gaze. The sign hanging on the door read "Eric, director of Sorcerer Administrative Department".
Lazar gently knocked at the door. A commanding voice came from inside of the office, "Come in please, the door is unlocked."
When Lazar opened the door, Lucien saw rows of shelves in the office. On the shelves, there were no books, but pieces of silver-colored paper like sheets of metal glowing in a mysterious way. Many silver lines grew out of these sheets and extended themselves to build their connection to the light blue wall that shone all around them.
Besides the shelves, there was a black cabinet, an iron cage with a bell, and a metal shield.
In front of the shelves, there was a desk, behind which sat a bald man wearing black suit, and there was a top hat beside his right hand.
The average-looking, forty-something man raised his head. His light gray eyes were like crystal stones that could see through a person¡¯s heart. He took a quick glance at Lucien, and then started writing something down.
"Mr. Eric. This is Evans." Lazar bowed to the man respectfully.
"Welcome, our new friend. Let's have your registration thing done and get your badges." Eric nodded, then he looked at Lazar and said, "You did your work, Lazar. Take this note with you to get your reward in Task Zone."
As he was saying, the small piece of paper Eric just wrote on flew toward Lazar.
After getting the note, Lazar said to Lucien cheerfully, "I like you, Evans. I wonder if we can have dinner later together. I think we can become friends."
Talented, reliable and easy-going, that was Lazar's impression on Lucien. He felt that Lucien was someone that he could get along very well.
"Of course." Lucien smiled, "I happen to have no idea where to eat this evening."
"Great." Lazar waved this piece of paper a bit in his hand, "I¡¯ll see you later then. Good luck with your badges."
After Lazar left the office, Lucien sat down in front of Eric. Taking a closer look, Lucien noticed that there were three silver stars and four black circles on each of his badges.
"Level three arcanist, fourth circle sorcerer¡­" Lucien thought to himself.
As Lucien was thinking, Eric took out a piece of silver paper and handed it to Lucien, "Complete the form, so I can activate your magic badge."
Lucien quickly read the form. Only name, age, level, and the magic schools that one was good at were required to report, and nothing related to the sorcerer¡¯s personal background was mentioned.
Seeing that Lucien did not start writing immediately, Eric said to Lucien with no emotion, "If you have more information to offer, you can ask for another piece of paper. The more information you provide, the easier for the congress to get ID for you in Holm or in other countries. By the way, if you want to get married in the future, please also register that with the Sorcerer Administrative Department."
Lucien nodded, and started filling in the form.
"Lucien Evans, twenty, interested in school of Astrology and Element, first circle sorcerer."
And then he made up some fake personal information on the paper.
Eric took up the silver sheet and read carefully, then there was a bit of a smile on his face,
"Lucien Evans¡­ What a common name¡­ There¡¯s a famous musician in Aalto named Lucien Evans, and several days before, the name of a junior-rank elemental sorcerer who just made his breakthrough was also Lucien Evans. Why people like this name so much?"
"Honestly speaking, I never put much thought into it¡­" answered Lucien surprised, despite the fact that Natasha told him more than once how common his name was.
Eric did not stick to this topic, but pointed at the the metal shield on the other side of the office,
"Cast a first circle spell. I need to verify your level."
Lucien nodded and shot two black magic missiles at the shield. As the magic cover on the shield absorbed the power, there were light ripples spreading out. 
Eric nodded, "The power is not from a magic item, but from your soul. You¡¯re indeed a first circle sorcerer."
As he was saying, Eric turned around and took out two badges from the black cabinet. He put one of the badges together with the silver piece of paper into the cage, and then pulled the string of the bell.
The bell started ringing, and the cage started shining. One minute later, the light disappeared.
When Eric took the badge and the paper out, there was a black circle on the badge, and a shining silver line connecting the metal paper to the light of the wall.
"The magic badge records your name, age, level, your spiritual power mark and your arcana points. You need this badge either when you earn or pay the points. Except you, no one can use it." Eric handed two badges to Lucien, asking him to leave his spiritual power mark in them. 
"All of the information, " said Eric, "is kept by both me and the document office of the highest council. Do not try to change your level and your points for any purposes on your own. With this badge, you can accept missions in Task Zone and receive the basic arcana and magic books, as well as meditation methods. Besides, as a first circle sorcerer, you can ask the congress for materials or potions worth a Thale every month, or you can use it to borrow books."
Lucien put the activated magic badge in front of his left chest, and then looked at the dim arcana badge, "Mr. Eric, what about this one? My arcana badge?"
"You write your unique magic down and give it to me, if you have any," answered Eric. "So I can send it to the Arcana Review Board. It¡¯ll take around half an hour to know the result. No worries, I won¡¯t read it."
Lucien smiled, "I see, thank you Eric. Then what about arcana papers? Besides submitting my paper to the board, shall I send it to the journals as well myself?"
"Your paper?" Eric raised his head, and looked at Lucien very surprised with his gray eyes.

Chapter 187: Developing the Paper
				Chapter 187: Developing the Paper
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Yes, I have some interesting ideas about a unique magic that I improved on my own," Lucien smiled and nodded casually, "so I¡¯d like to develop a paper out of it."
"You know arcana?" questioned Eric directly, as he could never believe that a young man who just started learning arcana could come up with any research results, no matter how talented this person was.
Lucien totally understood why Eric was this surprised, since no one from his original world would come up with any meaningful research outcome after studying a subject for a bit more than a month. Therefore, Lucien explained politely, "I cannot really regard my ideas as part of arcana, honestly speaking, but I just feel that the mechanism that I applied in improving this spell can be interesting. Of course, I also don¡¯t know if this is something that already exists."
Although Lucien knew that he needed to show his strength and talent sooner or later to earn more opportunities with a certain group or organization, as a newcomer, with very limited knowledge of the congress, Lucien had to stay humble and careful first.
When he made clear the current knowledge level of the congress and the progress of researches in different schools, Lucien still needed to do magic experiments on his own to verify whether the knowledge that he brought from his original world still worked the same way here, but after that, it would be time for Lucien to really show his capability.
Of course, in addition, the research results that Lucien was going to publish in the future must be released following a scientific order, or many sophisticated sorcerers would possibly realize that Lucien was more than a genius, but actually a freak, and alien! Then great danger would for sure come to Lucien before he could obtain enough power to protect himself.
Hearing Lucien¡¯s explanation, Eric¡¯s facial expression relaxed a bit, "I see¡­ but what I have to remind you is that, if your research outcome is based on some ancient magic beliefs, the outcome from the board might disappoint you, since many of these ancient beliefs have already been overthrown by arcana."
"It does no harm to give it a try, right?" Lucien grinned.
"I guess¡­" answered Eric with much doubt, "Then, when do you want to submit the paper?"
"I can do it today," said Lucien seriously.
"What? Do you know we¡¯re off at six? There¡¯s only eighty minutes left." Eric felt very surprised again.
"No problem, Mr. Eric." Lucien was very confident, "I already developed the draft following the format of Arcana. Eighty minutes is enough. By the way, Mr. Eric, may I ask again if I should be the one to send my paper to the journals?"
Seeing Lucien¡¯s determination, Eric handed him a roll of parchment and said, "Yes, when a paper passes the board¡¯s review, the author needs to send the paper to the journals on his or her own. Since the congress doesn¡¯t allow one to submit the same paper to multiple journals, you gotta be careful with the journal you choose. The more influential, the better. Anyway, we can talk about it after your paper passes." Eric ended the conversation, "You can go to that room. I still have more matters to deal with."
...
In the light blue meeting room, surrounded by a few magic circles, Lucien was busy with developing his first paper in this world.
"The Application of Sound Wave in Magic Sensing: An experiment investigating the flight of bats.
"Bat; Hearing; Organ; Sound Wave; Sensing.
"As Mr. Douglas once argued, there are so many seemingly common phenomena in this world that we tend to ignore in daily life, however, in fact, there are lots of great secrets hiding behind them.
"Everyone knows that bats can easily fly and hunt swiftly in the dark, but not many ever tried to investigate why they are able to avoid obstacles at night when they fly."
Lucien was very familiar with the format. Direct and clear¡ªthat was what Lucien wanted to achieve.
The reason Lucien decided to submit the paper developed out of the apprentice spell, Bat Screaming, was that the theory behind this spell was quite independent from the current arcana knowledge, and could be drawn upon the tradition of ancient magic system, which was studying assorted magic creatures¡¯ structure and power to develop and improve spells, and the only difference in Lucien¡¯s paper was that Lucien was now studying an ordinary creature.
Compared to merely submitting a spell, the benefits brought by submitting a paper were undoubtedly greater.
Although Lucien never really did this experiment, based on his knowledge, it was not difficult for him to make up the research methodology and statistics.
In his paper, Lucien set up several groups of controlled experiments to investigate how bats could "see" in the dark.
After ruling out the possible answers including bat¡¯s eyes, wings and hair by conducting these experiments, Lucien came to the final step.
In his last group of control experiment, Lucien, in his paper, set it up by disturbing the investigated bats¡¯ ears and their organs in their noses and mouths. According to Lucien, this time, the bats could not fly properly in darkness anymore.
Therefore, Lucien drew the conclusion in the end that bats used their ears to receive sound waves produced by the organs in their noses and mouths to detect objects when they flew at night, but not their eyes to see.
Following the experiment, Lucien reported how he improved Homan¡¯s Oscillation and thus created this new apprentice spell¡ªBat Screaming.
In the end, Lucien explained that because of the complexity of the structures of a bat¡¯s organs, he needed to use a real bat¡¯s brain tissue as the tool for casting the spell.
After carefully going through the whole paper again, Lucien analyzed the apprentice spell, Bat Screaming, on another piece of parchment and explained how to use it, as a new spell to be submitted to the congress.
When Lucien stood up after finishing all of the work, he took a glance at the clock and found that the whole thing only took him less then half an hour. He was quite confident that no similar research had been done before him in this area, since when he was teaching Annick, Heidi and Layria basic arcana, he never encountered anything similar to this.
Opening the meeting room¡¯s door, Lucien saw Lazar, who was walking back and forth in the corridor.
Hearing the door opening, Lazar turned around fiercely and asked, "Mr. Eric told me that you¡¯re writing a paper, are you?!"
"Yes, but nothing big. I¡¯m just introducing how I improved a spell," Lucien said casually to Lazar. "When you were improving Lazar¡¯s Burning Hand, you also wrote some papers, right?"
"Yes¡­" Lazar answered subconsciously. "But this kind of paper, you know, following other people¡¯s ideas and making improvements¡­ often cannot pass the board¡¯s review. In most cases, you can only earn points with the new spell submitted."
"I know. I¡¯m just trying." Lucien smiled and shrugged.
"I see¡­" Lazar nodded, "But wait¡­ As a beginner in arcana, you can already improve spells? How¡¯s this possible?"
Lucien answered, "Come on¡­ Ancient sorcerers also need to make improvements."
Lazar made a long "hum", and nodded seriously, "Then, Evans, I suggest you do not have too much expectation on earning any points with the paper."
As Lucien was saying, he knocked at the door of Mr. Eric's office. Lucien and Lazar walked in the office together, and handed the paper to Eric.
Eric took a look at the long parchment in his hand, then nodded, "I can tell that you¡¯re very prepared, Evans. By the way, which field does the magic belong to, may I ask?"
"Sound wave," answered Lucien short and clear.
Eric put the two rolls of parchment into two folders, and then he took a quill and wrote down "sound wave" in one side of each of them.
Putting the two folders in the cage, Eric pulled the bell again.
White light instantly covered the cage, and when the light disappeared, the folders were already gone.
"About thirty minutes later, we¡¯ll know the result." Eric sat down again, "But I suggest you do not have much hope, Evans."
...
On the fifteenth floor of the tower. In a spacious office.
There were many bells ringing here. With the appearance of the complicated magic circles, many folders showed up out of nowhere.
There were no people in this office, just a pair of arms in the air picking up the folders.
"Element, to, Mr. Ravendi, Mr.Gaston."
"Necromancy, to, ¡­"
With some kind of machine talking, the arms put the folders back into the magic circles following different orders.
According to the rules of the congress, members of the highest council could not join Arcana Review Board, but they could be invited as special consultants when a paper was beyond the board¡¯s knowledge.
For common papers, there were usually two committee members reviewing and judging a piece of work independently and then an average score was drawn. If there was disagreement, a third committee member would be involved. And if the problem still could not be solved, a small meeting would be hosted.
"Sound wave magic¡­ to Magic Exchange Office first to make sure this is a new spell, and then to Mr. Garfield and Mr. Jeffrey."
"The paper based on the same spell¡­ then, to Mr. Garfield and Mr. Jeffrey directly."
The lights were flashing in the office.

Chapter 188: The Result
				Chapter 188: The Result
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the fifteenth floor of the tower, in another room.
As a bell rang, a puppet picked up the paper and quickly leafed through it.
"Sound wave? Apprentice level?" murmured the puppet, "Master said that he won¡¯t review papers below a certain level, and master¡¯s students are not here today as well. Alas, the paper can only be handed over to the several arcanists from Common Arcana then."
After identifying the paper¡¯s level, the puppet waited for around five minutes until it receiving the message that the spell itself, Bat Screaming, had been confirmed valid. Then the puppet called a red-beaked and green-feathered bird from outside of the window. The bird¡¯s responsibility today was to bring the several papers to another magic tower.
It was not easy to use magic circles to send things among different towers.
The bird flew very fast, with its feathers producing a cover to prevent the strong wind. Soon, the bird disappeared in the sky.
...
On the third floor of a blue magic tower, in a messy room filled with books.
A middle-aged man with light-yellow mustache was looking at the books in front of him, frowning and thinking.
For sorcerers of this level like this man, he needed to continuously make progress in his own specialized arcana field.
At this time, he heard something pecking at the power cover of the tower. Smiling, the man put the journal book down and pressed the button on the table.
The energy cover was retrieved, and the window opened. The same red-beaked, green-feathered birds flew in. Walking on the table proudly back and forth, the bird dropped the papers down, "Mr. Woods, these are the papers for today. Please review them as soon as possible."
When the bird was speaking, the bird¡¯s voice was as sweet as its chirping.
Woods pulled out a handful of small white particles and gently threw them to the bird, "Is any of these for new magic reviewing, Selena? If there isn¡¯t, come and pick them up tomorrow."
While eating the small white particles happily, the little bird answered, "There's one, Mr. Woods. Please review it now."
Then, the little bird picked out one of the parchment rolls.
When Woods was reading Lucien¡¯s new magic report, a surprised look gradually appeared on his face, "Bat Screaming¡­ Apprentice level¡­ Interesting¡­"
After reading the report, Woods hurriedly searched for something among all of the parchment rolls on the desk, "Not this¡­ not this¡­ There should be a corresponding paper¡­ Yes! Lucien Evans¡­ Bats¡­"
Pulling out the roll of paper from Lucien Evans, Woods started reading carefully.
"This young man¡­ very curious. He has the potential to be an arcanist," murmured Woods. "Surprisingly, this young man carefully explored bat, this non-magical creature, while most ancient sorcerers are busy with examining magic creatures to discover their power¡­ The controlled experiment was also very carefully designed. Although the experiment does not have much to do with arcana, this young man¡¯s way of thinking is still very creative and impressive. Wait¡­ Lucien Evans is only a first circle sorcerer? That¡¯s quite surprising as well¡­"
Woods felt that Lucien Evans was too common a name for a talented sorcerer to be noticed in the academy, so Woods thought that he should suggest this Lucien Evans to put an extra word after his name for distinction.
After reading this paper, Woods stood up and asked his apprentice to catch two bats for him.
Woods only used a very short period of time to repeat Lucien¡¯s experiment and he confirmed the result in Lucien¡¯s paper. Woods got very excited, "Sound wave can really be used for the purpose of location! It's no longer merely a weapon for deterring or killing!"
Sound wave did not exclusively belong to a certain school. In fact, all of the schools had sound wave spells, for example, Homan¡¯s Oscillation belonged to the school of Force, and Banshee¡¯s Howling belonged to the school of Necromancy.
Although Woods almost could not wait to write a paper to respond Lucien¡¯s idea, he decided to sit back and write down his comment on the paper first, "Groundbreaking¡­"
The same scene was seen in another office in a magic tower, but this office turned out to be the headquarter of the journal Sound Wave.
...
In the hall of Sorcerer Administrative Department, Lucien was sitting in the couch, tasting a non-alcoholic beverage called Sky Blue recommended by Lazar. Lucien liked its sweetness.
Swirling the pure blue liquid in the transparent glass, Lucien was sipping the beverage while talking with Lazar leisurely about some common sense of the congress.
It was close to five forty in the early evening, and the magic tower was going to close soon, but the two sorcerers were still sitting in the hall chatting casually. Both Cindy and Donna were very curious, so Cindy, craning her neck, whispered, "Mr. Lazar, Mr. Evans, are you waiting for something?"
Lazar smiled, pointing to lucien, "I¡¯m with Evans to wait for his new magic assessment result and the result of his paper¡­ Well, maybe not result of the paper. You know that paper review usually takes three days, as all the board members are very, very cautious."
"Of course, the committee members always have their own business to deal with." Cindy agreed with Lazar first, then she turned to Lucien with great surprise, "Wait, Mr. Evans' paper?"
Lazar nodded.
Both Cindy and Dona were more than surprised, "Mr. Evans, you learned arcana before?"
"I started studying arcana about a month ago," answered Lucien. "Although I did make some progress, this paper is from my past experience."
"I see¡­" Cindy nodded and smiled, "Although this paper, honestly speaking, is not very likely to pass the board¡¯s review, I¡¯m sure the new magic can help you activate your arcana badge, Mr. Evans. And you¡¯re the first one I¡¯ve ever seen who submitted his paper on his first day in the congress! Your name will be on my diary, for sure!"
"My pleasure." Lucien grinned, feeling quite relaxed.
A while later, Lazar pulled out his pocket watch and took a glance, "Evans, we should visit Mr. Eric now."
"Good luck," said the two girls.
...
In Eric¡¯s office.
"The result is not here yet. It seems that the board is pretty busy today," said Eric. who also felt a bit surprised, since in most cases, the review of an apprentice-level magic should not take more than twenty minutes.
Lazar was a bit worried, "Mr. Eric, can we wait here?"
"Help yourselves." Eric nodded, and then turned around and picked up a book to start working on his own business.
Lucien remained quite calm. He was quite confident that Bat Screaming had already passed the review, or the bad news should have arrived way sooner than this, and this meant that Lucien already had at least one arcana point.
The office was very quiet.
When there were only a few more minutes before the tower closed for the day, the cage lit up with white light again.
Eric put down his quill and stood up, "Finally, here they are."
When the white light disappeared, Eric got confused, "Why there¡¯re three folders?"
Then he picked up one and read, "Bat Screaming, apprentice level magic. According to Mr. Garfield and Mr. Jeffrey, this magic is groundbreaking, but the structure of the spell is still very problematic. From the five aspects of judgement: level, theory, effectiveness, structure and meaning, three arcana credits and four arcana points were given."
Eric was very surprised. As he looked at Lucien, he murmured, "Groundbreaking? Three arcana credits? For an apprentice level spell¡­?"
Eric knew clearly that a new first circle spell could win a sorcerer two credits, and he well understood what did the word "groundbreaking" meant.
Lazar also repeated, feeling unreal, "Three arcana credits and four arcana points¡­ with Evans¡¯ new spell?"
In contrast, Lucien stayed relatively calmer. He did not really understand how generous the reward was, and he was still waiting for the comment on his paper.
Eric took a quick but meaningful glance at Lucien, and then he handed the folder to Lazar, "Yes. Unbelievable as it is, it is true."
After Lazar read the document back and forth a couple of times, he looked at Lucien as if he never knew him, "Mimicking bats?"
"Yes," Lucien confirmed his question. "Mimicking bats to detect objects."
"Well¡­ That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s very creative¡­" Lazar rubbed his forehead a bit. "I have to say that I¡¯m feeling jealous now."
At this time, Eric opened the other two folders, and he looked totally stunned, "Here¡­ are the results of the review of Evans¡¯ paper."
Lazar could not believe his ears, and there was also mixed facial expressions on Eric¡¯s face, as he thought of how he was treated when he submitted his very first arcana paper.
"Yes." Eric paused a bit and answered, "According to Mr. Garfield, this paper is groundbreaking, carefully-designed, insightful and impressive, and four arcana credits and six arcana points are suggested to be given to the author. Mr. Garfield also suggested the author to add extra words after his name for distinction."
Both Mr. Eric and Lazar were now looking at Lucien, since nothing like this ever happened before!

Chapter 189: The Choice of Journals
				Chapter 189: The Choice of Journals
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After taking a look at Lucien, Eric continued to read the comment, "As for Mr. Jeffrey, his comment is ¡®fascinating experiment design, cautious exploration and construction¡¯, and he also mentioned the insufficiency of your knowledge and some shortcomings in the new magic you created. However, Mr. Jeffrey said ¡®the purpose of the paper is not for showing how perfect this apprentice spell is, but for revealing other methods of application of sound wave, thus the paper is groundbreaking and insightful.¡¯"
Lazar was also listening to the comment very carefully, and his eyes were shining with curiosity and excitement.
"¡®However, it is undeniable that this paper still lacks depth of discussion, thus the paper might not be as sustainable as it could be. Of course, we must take the fact into consideration that the author¡¯s only a sorcerer with no arcana level, and what he has accomplished is already very impressive. At the same time, this paper demonstrates to us that non-magical creatures are also worth careful investigation¡¯." Eric read the comment from Mr. Jeffrey slowly and clear, "¡®What I have to point out here is that the author¡¯s way of thinking perfectly accords with the precious features of a real arcanist when conducting a study, which is: keen observation, bold hypothesis, careful experiment-design, rigorous analysis, reasonable inference and application. To my surprise, this author does not have any arcana level. In all respects, four arcana credits and four arcana points are recommended to be given to the author¡¯."
"So what¡¯s the final result then?" asked Lazar eagerly. He looked even more excited than Lucien.
"Combining the two board members¡¯ judgements together, four arcana credits and five arcana points were given," answered Mr. Eric.
Compared to Mr. Garfield, Mr. Jeffrey appeared to be more detail-oriented, or say, very throughout, despite the fact that both of them made very similar comments.
Meanwhile, his detailed description also gave Eric and Lazar a rough idea of the subject of Lucien's arcana paper and his new magic.
"By studying the organs of bats, your paper discusses the role of high-frequency acoustic waves in locating and probing? Wow¡­ That¡¯s something¡­ although observing creatures is your strength since you follow ancient magic system. I also often study bats as well, but I never tried to focus on anything else except their flying behaviors." As a second circle sorcerer, when Lazar was trying to analyze one of the most important third circle spells, Fly, he observed most creatures that could fly, but never found anything like this. Honestly speaking, Lazar was very regretful.
However, Lazar also knew that this way of doing research was something that ancient sorcerers specialized in, so he still felt very happy for Lucien and sincerely embraced him, "Congratulations, Evans, you are the first person I have ever met that won so many arcana credits on the first day. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have an arcana level very soon."
Many grand arcanists were able to get more than a hundred of arcana credits within one day because of their previous academic works, so getting seven credits in a day was nothing too surprising.
"Do you mind introducing your research to us a bit more in detail, Evans?" asked Lazar, "How did you develop your research based on those bats?"
Even Eric also turned around, feeling quite curious.
When Lucien was about to answer, Lazar joked, "Your paper has been reviewed by the board. Don¡¯t worry that we¡¯ll copy your work, haha. Besides, if your work is cited by someone else, you can earn more credits."
"It¡¯s actually not very complicated. Lazar, did you ever see bats flying in dark caves?" grinned Lucien, "But why they can do this without hitting anything in the darkness?"
In front of the two arcanists, Lucien¡¯s short explanation was already enough. Eric touched his half-bald head subconsciously and said, "The results of some arcana studies look very simple, but without keen observation and an arcanist¡¯s inquiring mind, they can never be found. I don't know how many times I may have missed a lot of opportunities to publish great papers."
Although Eric still doubted whether the new spell was actually invented by Lucien, or it was a unique spell invented by some ancient sorcerer from the ancient magic empire, no one could prove the fact.
"Wow¡­ Lucien, that¡¯s really, really, something! Maybe I shall raise some small creatures in my place, haha, and who knows what I can find." Lazar was very impressed. Since Lucien did not try to hide his study from him, Lazar found Lucien even more trustworthy.
"As your paper is, like the two board members commented, ¡®groundbreaking¡¯, I¡¯m sure you can publish your paper on a suitable journal. When more people start citing your paper, you can get way more arcana credits than what you have now," said Lazar excitedly to Lucien.
"That¡¯s right. About two or three months later after you publish your paper, you can look forward to getting more credits from other people¡¯s work, haha." Eric also found it pretty interesting, "If three months later, Evans, you haven't passed our arcana assessment to get the one basic arcana credit, you would be the first sorcerer who has more than ten arcana credits but no arcana level."
Hearing their comments, Lucien seized the chance and asked, "Then, which journal should I choose, Mr. Eric? Lazar? Personally speaking, I think the topic of my paper, sound wave, is quite limited, and maybe not many sorcerers would cite my work."
"That¡¯s right. Besides, after a period of time in which you can get a lot of credits, more and more sorcerers would start citing other people¡¯s paper that are developed based on your paper, but not your original paper anymore. You will still have some credits coming to you from this paper, but surely it¡¯ll get slower and more steady." Eric nodded, "If you want to have your paper to be cited more often, of course, Arcana and Magic, these two journals are the most influential ones in this magic world, but in most cases, they only publish the most important studies from the greatest arcanists, so probably they¡¯re not part of your choice by now."
Lucien nodded. He knew that Mr. Eric¡¯s suggestion was very reasonable.
"Then there are another forty-two different journals, including eleven journals belonging to different schools, seven sponsored by the divisions of the congress, three index journals, eighteen in the subdivision fields, three for junior arcanists. The other small ones have not been approved by the congress, and you will not get any arcana credits with them," explained Eric.
"I see. Can you be a bit more specific, Mr. Eric?" asked Lucien.
"Both Element and Holm Journal are very influential, but they¡¯re also very strict. Personally speaking, I won¡¯t recommend you to try these two, Evans, because your paper might not be important enough yet." As the director of Sorcerer Administrative Department, Eric analyzed carefully for Lucien.
"So I shall choose those ones in the subdivision fields?" Lucien tilted his head a bit.
"Sound Wave is obviously the most authoritative one for your paper among all of them, and it¡¯s still relatively influential. Common Arcana, while being more influential than Sound Wave, is also stricter with reviewing the papers." After pausing a bit, Eric continued, "If you send the paper to Arcana Discussion or Journal of Magic Research, the two comprehensive journals specifically for low-level arcanists, I¡¯m sure that your paper would be published, but their influence is not that good at all. So, to conclude, to take risk or to play it safe, it all depends on yourself, Evans." 
Lucien nodded sincerely, "I understand. Thank you for your detailed explanation, Mr. Eric."
"No worries. This is my responsibility." Eric¡¯s stubborn face had a bit of a smile on it, "It¡¯s almost six now. Evans, take your time to think about it tonight, and try to send the paper tomorrow before the journal is published this month."
Lazar also gave his suggestion, "I¡¯d suggest Sound Wave. After all, it¡¯s the most authoritative one in this field."
"I hear you, Lazar. And I¡¯ll definitely think about it," responded Lucien. As he was saying, Lucien handed his arcana badge to Eric to activate it.
Taking over the badge, when Eric was just about to deal with it, he noticed the third folder in the cage which was ignored by all of them just now.
Confusedly, Eric opened the folder.
"What¡¯s in there, Mr. Eric?" asked Lazar curiously.
Holding the folder in his hands, Eric¡¯s face looked even more surprised than before. Turning around, Eric first took a deep breath and then said to Lucien, "Evans, Common Arcana wants to make an arrangement with you for your paper¡¯s contribution. If you¡¯re willing to send your paper to them, they promise that your paper would be among the first fifteen most important papers this month."
As a level three arcanist, Eric never received any contribution invitations, but only many rejection letters.

Chapter 190: More Invitations
				Chapter 190: More Invitations
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although Lazar had already felt shocked many times today, hearing Eric¡¯s words, he still could not help but look at Lucien as if he was looking at a monster, "Lucien, you know what does this mean? I bet you do not. Most arcanists below middle rank would never receive any contribution invitations, and of course, I¡¯m one of them. Our arcana credits usually come from the board and most of us can never have seven credits in several years."
"I think I got really lucky here." Lucien wanted to remain humble.
"Come on¡­ Lucky?! This doesn¡¯t have anything to do with luck, my friend." Lazar excitedly waved both of his hands, "This is the fourth year since I graduated from my school. Among the papers I¡¯ve written, at least ten of them, only three of them passed the review of the board, and among the three, only one is published on Arcana Discussion¡­ the last but one paper in that month¡¯s journal! I heard that only those geniuses could receive invitations like this, say, Mr. Ulysses or Mr. Felipe."
Although Lazar felt quite sorry for himself, he was not being sarcastic to Lucien at all. Definitely, he was a very nice friend.
Eric's mouth moved a bit as he tried to say something but quickly gave it up. He spent his twenty years on earning one hundred arcana credits and becoming a level three arcanist. Finally, he released a gentle sigh, "The word ¡®groundbreaking¡¯¡­ No wonder this journal just directly sent the invitation. Although the application significance of your paper is relatively limited, Evans, it¡¯s really something that your paper can win the word ¡®groundbreaking¡¯ from the board members. Every year, except the papers from those grand arcanists and senior-rank arcanists, less than ten papers can enjoy this praise."
"I see¡­" Lucien finally realized how important this key word was.
Lazar hid his a slighty discouraged look and said to Lucien excitedly while pulling his fingers to show his points, "Groundbreaking, breakthrough, extremely important, highly pervasive, worth of great discussion, these are the key words used by the board members to speak most highly of a paper. Of course, if your paper is commented as having the ability to change the times, then congratulations, Evans, you¡¯d be one of the grand arcanists!"
When Lucien took over the folder from Mr. Eric, the bell started ringing and the light flashed in the cage again.
A new folder just arrived.
Eric picked up the folder, and when he opened it, his face looked a bit discouraged just like Lazar¡¯s face just now.
"Evans, you¡¯ve got another contribution invitation, from Sound Wave," Eric said to Lucien, trying to stay calmer, "They promise the same thing, plus that they can recommend your paper to another three index journals."
Both Eric and Lazar felt that they could not be any more surprised now, as long as no invitation from Arcana or Magic was coming.
"Which one to choose, Lucien?" grinned Lazar, "I personally still suggest Sound Wave, as it is more professional, and they gave you a better offer."
"Thanks, Lazar, but I personally prefer Common Arcana." Lucien smiled, "And my reason¡¯s simple: Common Arcana was the first to send the invitation, and that means they value my research."
Lazar didn't quite agree with Lucien, but when he was about to say something, the bell rang crisply three times.
Eric took a look at Lucien¡¯s arcana badge in his hand and said to him, "Evans, we¡¯re off today, and I¡¯m afraid you have to come back here tomorrow to activate your badge."
"Mr. Eric¡­ Can I somehow still do it today?" asked Lucien a bit disappointedly, "I was planning to visit Common Arcana Library and Magic Exchange Office."
Eric shook his head, "Prospell and the other alchemical lives never work one extra minute unless they¡¯re asked by their masters. Even if you had your arcana badge today, you could not visit the two places since they¡¯re also closed now. Come tomorrow morning, and no worries, the credits and points are always yours."
Lazar nodded, "Let¡¯s go for dinner, Evans. In most cases, those alchemical lives are quite lazy." As he was saying, he quickly took a glance at the shining wall and added, "Of course, they can be very productive and diligent when necessary. By the way, remember to follow the suggestion and add an extra letter behind your name for distinction, Lucien."
"I see. Good evening then, Mr. Eric." Lucien slightly bowed and put back his unactivated arcana badge on his clothes.
...
In the hall of Sorcerer Administrative Department, when Cindy and Dona were about to leave, they saw Lazar and Evans walking out of Mr. Eric¡¯s office.
"Congra¡­ Eh? Mr. Evans, why your arcana badge hasn¡¯t been¡­" asked Cindy, but she quickly stopped herself since she did not want to embarrass Mr. Evans.
"No, no, no¡­" Lazar, as Lucien¡¯s friend, felt very proud and started showing off, "Our dear Mr. Evans is the first sorcerer ever whose arcana paper was approved by the board on the day he arrived at Allyn, the first sorcerer who got the comment ¡®groundbreaking¡¯ with his first arcana paper, the first sorcerer who have received two contribution invitations from two major journals with his very first arcana paper¡­"
There were so many "first" in Lazar¡¯s words, that Cindy and Dona almost could not believe their ears.
The girls¡¯ eyes were shining with admiration. "Mr. Evans, you¡¯ll definitely be in our diaries today!" 
Cindy also added, "Mr. Evans, we¡¯re looking forward to reading your paper. And, again, please don¡¯t forget us when you become a middle-rank sorcerer, haha."
"What about we celebrate for Mr. Evans a bit tonight?" suggested Dona.
"If the ladies don¡¯t mind, I want to invite you two to have dinner with us." Lucien smiled. He would like to have more friends in Allyn.
"Of course! We¡¯re more than happy to go." Cindy nodded excitedly, "By the way, Mr. Evans, as you¡¯ve already gained seven arcana credits, why hasn¡¯t your badge been activated yet?"
"Ha, Mr. Eric was so shocked by Lucien¡¯s accomplishment that he forgot to do it." Lazar laughed, "When he realized it, the other people were already gone for the day."
"Wow¡­ It¡¯s hard to imagine Mr. Eric with a shocked face¡­" the two girls giggled.
When they were waiting for the ladies to go for dinner together, Lazar looked at Lucien and said, 
"Lucien, among all the comments you just got, you know which one I felt most jealous of?"
"Um¡­ Groundbreaking?" answered Lucien unsure.
"No¡­" Lazar shook his head slightly and looked a bit depressed, "It is the comment with regards to your arcanist way of thinking. In all the papers I¡¯ve sent and got rejected, the board members kept telling me that my way of thinking is problematic and not rigorous enough as an arcanist."
"Reading more and thinking more can improve one¡¯s way of thinking, for sure." Lucien comforted Lazar, "If you don¡¯t mind, I can do proof-reading for you, you know, for peer reviewing."
"That¡¯ll be awesome! Thanks, man!" Lazar cheered up again, "But no worries, my next paper won¡¯t be there in two or even three months. Ah¡­ by the way, when the apprentice assessment is done tomorrow, your teaching task will be half done, and you need to consider how to plan your life here. Well, think about what you're going to do tonight, and I will give you some suggestions as well tomorrow, when we go to the Task Zone together."
Lucien nodded seriously. His most important target now was to catch up with other people in arcana.
After the four people enjoyed grilled fish and fries, the traditional cuisine of Holm, Lucien spent the night in a nice hotel recommended by Lazar, where Lucien had a good night's sleep.
...
Early the next morning, Lazar met Lucien in the hotel and went to Apprentice Assessment Department with him.
"There you are, Mr. Evans!" As soon as Lucien stepped into zone three, Lucien heard Heidi and Layria¡¯s cheerful voice. With some books in their hands, they were excitedly looking at Lucien, and before Lucien came, they were still busy with reviewing the exercises.
"Good morning, Mr. Evans," greeted Annick. He scratched his yellow hair a bit with a happy smile on his face.
"Morning, and good luck to you all," said Lucien. All of a sudden he felt like playing a joke, "Just relax. If you three cannot pass the test, I can give you more exercises, so no worries."
"Well¡­ Thanks, Mr. Evans, but we think we¡¯re fine here." The three apprentices shook their heads together, looking quite cute.
At this time, Simeon walked out of the office and clapped his hands, "All the apprentices, come in for the assessment."
Looking at Lucien and his three apprentices arrogantly, Sprint had a confident look on his face, as he was sure that he could perform way better than the three who received some special but useless training.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Katrina was also staring at Sprint. She told herself that this time she must beat Sprint in the assessment.

Chapter 191: Magic Schools
				Chapter 191: Magic Schools
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sprint also took a glance at Katrina, and then walked into the assessment room without saying anything.
Early when they were in Sturk, and also when they were on the dangerous ship, Katrina and Sprint never stopped their competition. Often they would throw tricky questions to each other, and when they had chances to practice casting spells, they would always see who was faster. As it was Sprint who always won the games, Katrina often got quite unhappy.
Seeing Sprint¡¯s attitude, Katrina stamped her foot a bit and then got in the room with a snort.
"Relax." Lucien lifted his chin a bit to point at the room.
Annick nodded seriously, "Yes, Mr. Evans."
Then he left with Layria and Heidi together a bit nervously.
Lazar, with his hands in the pockets of his double-breasted coat, smiled, "Lucien, are they the three apprentices you taught? How¡¯s their study?"
"They just started studying arcana a bit more than a month ago, and I can't brag that they¡¯ve learned a lot from me. I just let them get through a lot of repetitious exercises to help them get the most basic parts done as solid as possible, and thus they can learn arcana and magic easier in the future." Lucien replied casually, having no worries at all with the assessment, since he knew that his students were already way more prepared than their peers.
"Repetitious exercises? That doesn¡¯t sound very appealing at all." Lazar grinned, "Aren¡¯t you afraid of killing their creativity?"
"Creativity is for geniuses, and these children are not," answered Lucien directly. "Relying on something they don¡¯t really have can only bring them disappointment. The only way out for them is to work hard, and the only thing they shall rely on is their perseverance." Although Lucien was still smiling, his voice sounded serious, "They shall obtain the arcanist¡¯s way of thinking by these repetitious exercises, and these exercises can lay a solid knowledge foundation for them."
Lazar was only chatting, not debating, so he just tilted his head a bit and said, "You¡¯re also very suitable for being a teacher, Lucien."
Lucien thought to himself that this was how he learned to be a student in his original world, then, very quickly he switched the topic, "Do you have many of the same black coats like this, Lazar? Why do I feel that you never change your clothes?"
Lazar laughed, "Come on, this coat is my magic robe! Don¡¯t tell me that in your mind only that type of robes with gloomy hoods can be called magic robes! We have all kinds of styles, say, formal, casual, coats, dresses¡­ as long as you¡¯re willing to pay."
"How much is a level two magic robe? Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t have any yet," asked Lucien a bit excitedly.
"Paean of Night," Lazar pointed at his own coat, "Level two medium rank, two hundred Thales or arcana points, from Wasim¡¯s, good price, good quality, good reputation."
Lucien was amused by Lazar¡¯s words, and then quickly calculated the money he still had so far, "I only have sixty Thales and nine points right now¡­ By the way, Lazar, is it right that one arcana point equals one Thale?"
When Lucien was traveling around, he treated himself pretty well.
"That¡¯s right," Lazar nodded, "but when you upgrade to a higher level, you¡¯ll know that arcana points actually have a much wider use than Thales. According to these greedy bankers, the points is guaranteed by the congress' own credit. It took me a long time to save the money for the robe, but fortunately, it is not hard for a sorcerer to find a job to make some money, and you can probably make ten Thales or arcana points a month, plus some extra income from other people learning your magic¡­ So I¡¯d say you can buy a robe like this within two years or so."
"I see. Definitely, two years is still a long time," said Lucien.
"I can lend you some. I still have the thirty points from submitting my new spell." said Lazar, "I know you will definitely pay me back, as you¡¯re such a talented sorcerer, and I¡¯m sure that lots of people will want to learn your new apprentice level spell."
"Thank you for your generosity, Lazar." Lucien smiled and said sincerely, "I still have some materials that I can sell for some money."
Lucien was thinking of the precious Wave Stones that he got from the murloc.
"I really envy you, Lucien," said Lazar honestly. "Sorcerers who follow the ancient magic system more or less often have some materials or magic items."
Time went by quickly as Lucien and Lazar were chatting casually outside of the assessment room. Soon, the door of the room suddenly opened and Heidi showed up cheerfully,
"The assessment¡¯s so easy, Mr. Evans!"
Following Heidi, Layria also came out of the room and agreed, "Yes, way easier than the exercises we did!"
"Good to hear it." Lucien smiled and nodded, "What about you, Annick?"
"Not bad¡­" Annick was smiling shyly as he scratched his hair a bit as usual, "Many thanks to you, Mr. Evans."
"Maybe you guys ignored some traps there in the assessment, and that¡¯s why the test looked so easy to you three." One apprentice following them commented unhappily, "How do you feel, Sprint?"
Sprint looked less confident now, "Most of the questions are okay, but some are quite challenging¡­ I¡¯m not sure."
"I feel the same way¡­" Hearing Sprint¡¯s answer, Katrina was a bit more relaxed. She thought it was her own problem that she felt quite challenged during the assessment.
"It¡¯s really difficult¡­ My head hurts¡­" agreed the other apprentices.
"Sprint, how did you analyze and construct the apprentice spell, Spectre Strike?" Seeing the door of the assessment room was closed again, Katrina asked after a bit of hesitation.
"I tried to¡­" Since Sprint was also quite uncertain with this one, he did not try to hide his own answer but to check it with Katrina.
More apprentices joined them to check the answers together, and they started discussing heatedly.
However, both Heidi and Layria felt quite confused, as they truly felt that the assessment was not hard at all.
Soon Annick, Heidi and Layria also joined the other apprentices, leaving Lucien and Lazar looking at them discussing energetically on the other side of the corridor with smiles on their faces.
When the apprentices finished checking all the answers, it was already close to ten thirty. All of them stopped talking and were waiting for the result.
It was completely quiet in the corridor.
At this time, the door of the assessment room slowly opened. Staring at the door, all the apprentices looked very nervous.
There was a folder in Simeon¡¯s hands, and he said seriously, "I¡¯m now reading the result of the assessment."
All of the apprentices held their breath, including Annick, Layria and Heidi who thought the test was quite easy.
"The first group, for those apprentices who have a solid foundation of arcana knowledge, qualified spiritual power level and spell casting ability, we have: Annick, Layria and Heidi. The three apprentices¡¯ strength is in Astrology and Element."
"What?! That¡¯s impossible¡­" The other apprentices were stunned, "How come it¡¯s not Sprint and Katrina?!"
Both Sprint and Katrina¡¯s faces suddenly turned pale, as they never thought that they would be beaten by Annick, Heidi, and Layria, and they were hoping that this was just a mistake.
However, Simeon said seriously to them, "If any of you don¡¯t believe it, feel free to discuss basic arcana questions with them."
No apprentice dared doubt Simeon. Remaining silent, they reluctantly accepted the result. At the same time, many turned around and looked at Lucien, feeling rather regretful out of different reasons.
"Then the second group, for those apprentices who have a relatively good foundation of arcana knowledge, qualified spiritual power level and spell casting ability, we have: Sprint, Katrina and Olmos. Sprint and Katrina¡¯s strength is in Force, Electromagnetics and Element, and OImos¡¯s in Summoning and Necromancy."
As Simeon was reading the results, some apprentices felt cheerful and some quite upset. In the end, Simeon announced,
"Annick, Layria, Heidi, Sprint and Katrina will be studying in Douglas, OImos in Allyn, ¡­" Based on the assessment result, Simeon assigned the apprentices to different schools. All of the schools were in Allyn, and no one needed to go to schools in other counties or even countries.
When they were following Simeon to the office for the admission procedures, something suddenly came to Layria. She looked at Lucien emotionally and asked with her black eyes grew moist, "Mr. Evans, are you gonna stay in Allyn? Can we still see you again?"
There was also tears welling up in both Heidi¡¯s and Annick¡¯s eyes.
"I think I will stay in Allyn for quite a long time, as long as there¡¯s nothing else emergent." Lucien smiled, "I¡¯ll visit you three when I¡¯m free."
"Awesome!" Heidi and Layria hugged each other and laughed, with still a bit of tears in their eyes.
Annick also grinned, but he looked aside, trying to hide his emotion.
Following Lucien and the three apprentices, Sprint remained all the way silent. After all the apprentices entered the office, Katrina suddenly bowed to Lucien, "I¡¯m sorry."
Then she quickly ran into the office, leaving Lucien no chance to say anything.
"It¡¯s so nice to be young," Lazar sighed with emotion.
...
After getting all the remaining procedures done, Lucien got the certificate from Simeon showing that his teaching job had been finished.
Then Lucien and Lazar headed for Sorcerer Administrative Department together.
"By the way, Lucien," asked Lazar, "Any idea which word to put behind your name for your paper?"
"Lucien Evans X." Lucien smiled.
The letter "X" could be mysterious, and it was also the initial of Lucien¡¯s original name.

Chapter 192: The Task
				Chapter 192: The Task
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Umm¡­ Sounds like a mysterious and vicious bastard, haha." As they were getting closer and closer, Lazar joked.
Lucien said with a pretended cunning smile, "Someday, when I do something big that can shock the whole magic world, I should leave a bloody X on the scene."
"That sounds cool!" Lazar waved his fist a bit, "That reminds me of the mysterious Professor who left the bloody letters when he killed the traitor."
Lucien¡¯s face hardened a bit nervously and he quickly started talking about the famous shops in Allyn.
This time, in the Sorcerer Administrative Department, Lucien successfully activated his arcana badge. There were seven silver dots shining on the black badge, looking rather mysterious.
Right now this badge did not have any magic effects, but Lucien was told that, when he became a middle-rank arcanist, his arcana badge would be enchanted with a spell, and one more when he upgraded to senior-rank, and the same would be done to his magic badge.
"So an ¡®X¡¯ after your name?" asked Eric, watching Lucien putting his arcana badge in front of his left chest.
Lucien nodded seriously, "Yes. Anything else, Mr. Eric?"
"Nothing but to remind you to settle down in Allyn as soon as possible and then leave me your contact information. By the way, when you respond to Common Arcana, you¡¯d better leave your address and contact information as well for further touch," said Eric casually. Then, he turned around and said to someone who was knocking at the office door, "Come in."
Seeing Eric was rather busy, Lucien and Lazar hurriedly bowed to him and left his office.
"Mr. Eric¡¯s got so many things to do¡­" Lucien looked back at Eric¡¯s office and said.
As if Lazar just heard a joke, he laughed, "Of course he¡¯s got so many things to do, after all, he only works two days a week for fourteen hours."
"Only two days? Then what about the rest of his time?" asked Lucien, surprised.
"He can study magic, do experiments, or anything he wants to do," Lazar shrugged, "and the job, as the director of the department, can still bring him thirty Thales or arcana points a month. That¡¯s why we have ten directors in Sorcerer Administrative Department, but only middle-rank sorcerers can have the opportunity to get the job."
Lucien of course longed for this job, "It's for sure a perfect job that pays well with very small amount of work."
"If the job wasn¡¯t like this, no middle-ranked sorcerer would be willing to do the tedious and troublesome work. After all, the main target for every sorcerer is to learn magic and arcana to enhance their strength, instead of dealing with those office documents. Only those who don't want make any progresses would indulge themselves in wealth." At a young age, Lazar was rather ambitious, and thus he looked down upon the sorcerers who contented with things such as those.
Then Lazar looked more serious. "What¡¯s your recent plan, Lucien? Studying arcana or accepting tasks to make more money?"
"I¡¯d like to spend some time on studying arcana and doing experiments." In the past year, Lucien was fed up with his precarious living.
"Then I suggest you choose to work for the magic schools." Lazar nodded.
"Why?" asked Lucien, as he was planning not to do any work but focus on his study before he upgraded to a second circle sorcerer.
"Well¡­ Since your teaching task is actually only half done," Lazar grinned, leaning his back against the wall casually, "later you need to choose one task out of two: One is that you can teach two apprentices to help them become senior apprentices, and the other is that you can work for a magic school. The difference is that the former won¡¯t bring you any money, but the latter can bring you salary. Besides, as long as there are six of the students in the class who become senior apprentices, your job¡¯s done."
"I see¡­" Lucien nodded thoughtfully, "It seems that I don¡¯t really have a choice."
"No, you don¡¯t." Lazar crossed his arms casually, "And am I right that you only have sixty Thales and nine arcana points right now?"
"Yup, that¡¯s right," answered Lucien honestly.
"Although that¡¯s a huge amount of money for a common person, for us sorcerers," Lazar shook his index finger to Lucien, "it¡¯s nothing. Being a sorcerer basically means burning money."
"I know many materials are very expensive." Lucien agreed.
"Yes, and it¡¯s also way more than that. You know what? In Allyn, you need money to borrow books in the libraries, to rent meditation rooms, to do experiments, to analyze spells. Everything costs your money, and when you upgrade to a higher level, you gotta spend much more, say, maybe one summoning could cost you sixty Thales."
"Once I heard a saying - ¡®Without enough money, one cannot become a great sorcerer¡¯." Lucien touched his forehead a bit and said, "Fortunately, we can still make money."
"That¡¯s right. So, in addition to accepting tasks, adventuring or making magic items to make money, the congress also provides us with two ways. One is earning arcana points, which you already know. The higher your level is, the cheaper you can buy or rent many things." Lazar then put on an admiring look, "The second is that several arcanists or sorcerers can together put forward a research proposal to the congress. If the idea passes the review of Magic Research Board, they could get lots of arcana points. However, those research projects are often led by senior-rank arcanists."
The corner of Lucien¡¯s lips twitched a bit and he thought to himself, "We also have research fundings here?"
Lazar continued, "So, for us junior-rank sorcerers, if you don¡¯t want to take too much of a risk, you want to either find a good mentor or find a good job. Among the jobs, working for a magic school is the best option."
"How¡¯s the salary then?" Lucien wondered why Lazar spoke so highly of this job.
"You can work only twenty hours a week in a magic school as a teacher, and that¡¯s ten classes. Although the salary is only ten points a month, you can feel free to arrange the rest of your time. Moreover, you can use the labs and the libraries of the school for free, and you can also get some free experiment materials."
"Wow¡­" Lucien was actually a bit of a money-grubber. Hearing Lazar¡¯s words, Lucien was a bit excited, and what made him excited the most was definitely the free use of the labs and the libraries.
"But get real¡­ Why anyone would save such a good job for me¡­" said Lucien a bit hopeless.
"Come on, my friend." Lazar patted Lucien on his shoulder, "You¡¯re not a nobody. You just earned seven arcana credits the first day you came here, and you have the word ¡®groundbreaking¡¯ on your paper! Although every year some arcanists and sorcerers would go to some remote areas to teach the apprentices there, I don¡¯t think you want to leave Allyn this soon, do you?"
"Definitely not." Lucien shook his head, "You¡¯re right, Lazar. I gotta try my best to get myself in one of the five magic schools in Allyn. By the way, Lazar, is there any mandatory task for us from the congress?"
Lucien was thinking of what he had heard from the Hand of Paleness.
"Yes, there¡¯s one every year," answered Lazar, "but for us junior-rank sorcerers, there are only mandatory teaching tasks for us, after all, the congress wants us to grow powerful first. Even when we become middle-rank sorcerers, we can still replace the tasks that are too risky for us with some new ones as long as we¡¯re willing to pay."
Lucien felt more relieved now, "That¡¯s not bad."
...
Zone five, Task Zone.
The zone consisted of rows of silver-gray metal counters, and behind each counter there was a dark green screen, showing all kinds of tasks from the congress, sorcerers, nobles or merchants.
Looking around, there was only one counter available right now. Behind the counter sat an ordinary-looking, middle-aged lady.
Seeing Lucien and Lazar walking towards the counter, the lady asked emotionlessly, "New task or get your pay?"
"I¡¯ve finished my task." Lucien handed the certificate and the magic badge to the lady.
After quickly checking the certificate, the lady wrote several words on the paper and then she put Lucien¡¯s badge on the magic circle on the right side.
After the flashing light disappeared, there was a piece of parchment on the magic circle - the parchment used in the congress had been specially processed for magic transmission.
Taking a quick look, the lady said coldly to him, "Lucien Evans, your task is only half done. For the second part, do you want to teach the apprentices chosen by the congress, or teach in the remote areas?"
As she was saying, she took out a pile of basic magic and arcana books and started reading.
"I want to work for one of the five magic schools in Allyn, Madam." Lucien remained polite.
The middle-aged lady rolled her eyes and said directly, "Don¡¯t waste my time. Please make a choice."
"Am I forbidden from applying for the job?" Although her attitude wasn¡¯t nice at all, Lucien still insisted.
"No," the lady gave Lucien a glance, "but you¡¯re a sorcerer following the ancient magic system, and you just arrived here yesterday, there¡¯s no chance for you to get this job. Please make a choice, or I¡¯ll call the security."
"Ms. Lawette, you¡¯d better help Lucien with the application process, or I¡¯ll complain to Affairs Committee about your misconduct!" Even Lazar felt quite pissed off.
Hearing Lazar¡¯s words, Lawette twitched her mouth impatiently and said, "All right, if you want to waste your time, go ahead."
Then she took out a form and a quill and handed them to Lucien.
After Lucien wrote down all of his basic information, with a second thought, he put the specific comment of his paper on the form as well.
If he was trying, he must try his best.
When Lucien was writing, Lawette urged him quite a few times. When she got Lucien¡¯s application form, her face looked quite surprised in an unhappy way, "You¡¯d better be honest with what you write, or you¡¯d be severely punished."
"Feel free to check my arcana badge," answered Lucien poker-faced, and he handed his arcana badge to Lawette.
Lawette saw the seven silver dots on the badge, and she felt shocked.
Ten minutes later after she sent Lucien¡¯s application information to the office, the result was back.
After a quick glance at the document, Lawette¡¯s face turned purple with disappointment and embarrassment.
Taking over the document from Lawette, Lucien saw the result, "Based on the schools you specialize in, Mr. Evans, we are honored to have you in Douglas."

Chapter 193: The Expensive Books
				Chapter 193: The Expensive Books
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the metallic silver hall of the congress tower, Lazar had been laughing for quite a while, and he said to Lucien, "Hahaha¡­ Did you see Ms. Lawette¡¯s face? It was purple! Purple! Haha¡­" Lazar¡¯s own face was now red from laughing too hard, "It¡¯s just like¡­ like a hundred arcana credits were given to her but, in the next minute, the credits were taken away again because it was given to the wrong person, haha¡­ You know how many people don¡¯t like her? Haha¡­"
"I just don¡¯t really get it," said Lucien, smiling. "Why did she want to give us a hard time? I mean, she didn¡¯t have to."
"Ms. Lawette is one of those sorcerers that I mentioned before who did not want to make any progresses anymore in their lives. Those people hate other people who are still striving for a better life." Lazar gently patted his chest to calm himself down. "I hope I won¡¯t be like this in my sixties."
"We can try." Lucien laughed. "It¡¯s quite hard for me to imagine you with Ms. Lawette¡¯s disgruntled look on your face, Lazar."
"Try what? How?" Lazar was confused.
"You can lend me your thirty arcana points, and I¡¯ll try my best to not pay you back, haha." Lucien joked, "Let¡¯s see if you can still be this patient with me."
Lazar rolled his eyes at Lucien, "Come on, thirty points to you is nothing. By the way, you¡¯re going to meet your students again, and that¡¯s quite nice, isn¡¯t it?"
Among the five magic schools in Allyn, Douglas ranked the best magic school, whose strength was in the school of Force, Electromagnetics, Astrology, and Element. Following Douglas were the two schools named Allyn and Pesancho. The former was known for its subjects of Necromancy and Summoning, and the latter was good at teaching Transformation and Illusion. Besides these schools, Trident was the school known for their researches in the latest three magic fields: Electromagnetics, Thermodynamics, and Light-darkness, and many students who wanted to study Alchemy, Element or Thermodynamics would also go to Alborg.
Of course, the schools all provided courses covering all the fields, despite the fact that each had its own strength.
"It¡¯s surely nice, however, I need to buy a storage bag first, which means spending money. Right now, spending money doesn¡¯t make me happy," answered Lucien.
"Then our next destination, Wasim!" said Lazar cheerfully.
...
"Level three storage bag, mass produced, middle-ranked, ¡®Shrink¡¯ enchanted. You can shrink and store your belongings to one sixteenth of its original size in this bag with only twenty percent of its weight. Magic wave covered. Four hundred arcana points," introduced the owner of the store.
Lucien¡¯s heart was bleeding. This bag just cost him three Wave Stones, fifty-eight Thales and six arcana points, and right now the palm-sized pouch was already half filled with Lucien¡¯s books, notes and materials.
Seeing Lucien¡¯s desperate look, Lazar comforted him, "Come on, my friend, stop feeling heartbroken. If it wasn¡¯t from mass production, you probably need to spend a thousand arcana points on a level three storage bag! Before, this bag was way more expensive. Besides, the bag is a must to you, and you¡¯re not wasting your money."
Lucien nodded, but still felt that he just suffered a great loss.
"By the way, next time when I need Wave Stone, can I buy some from you with a bit lower price?" Lazar tried to distract Lucien, "Anyway, when your paper is published, I¡¯m sure lots of people will cite your paper to improve your spell. At that time, you¡¯ll have lots of arcana points, trust me."
"Lazar¡­ Is your magic robe also from mass production?" asked Lucien.
"Forget about mass production¡­" Lazar was amused, "Where shall we go next then?"
"Library! Basic Arcana Library!" Lucien suddenly cheered up.
...
"What?! Pay before read?!" asked Lucien, feeling shocked.
The old librarian grinned, "You are still too young and naive, boy. Soon after the library was built, many sorcerers with great spiritual power and memory were coming here to memorize the books in the library. Later they even created some tricky magic circles to copy the books here. Everyone knows knowledge is wealth, and no one can get knowledge for free."
Although the librarian¡¯s hair was half white and was pretty short, he was still a good-looking man with graceful manners. However, Lucien did not like him at all.
"But¡­ But if I don¡¯t glance the books over first, how do I know these are the books that I¡¯m looking for?" Lucien was still trying.
"I¡¯ve been hearing this all the time, young man," the short librarian waved his index finger a bit in front of Lucien¡¯s face, "always the same reason."
Then the librarian knocked the magic circle, and smoke puffed out of it. A well-built man with naked chest appeared in the air, wearing black soft hair.
"Alex, Djinn of Basic Arcana Library, an alchemical life with great memory," introduced the librarian. "Tell him what kind of knowledge you want, and Alex can tell you what books you need and where they are, even including abstracts."
"Welcome, Alex is at your service," greeted the Djinn.
"Then¡­ How much to borrow a book?" Lucien tried to stay calm.
"The library¡¯s only available to sorcerers from the congress. You need to pay ten Nars to keep a book for seven days."
"Ten Nars?" Lucien almost burst out that this was robbery. In Aalto, he could spend only one or two Nars to buy a thick book.
"Such a pity¡­" The old librarian shook his head, "Today¡¯s young men don¡¯t understand how precious knowledge is anymore. Back in the old days¡­"
"All right, all right¡­" Lazar rubbed his head a bit, "Any other ways for borrowing books?"
"If you¡¯re willing to pay two arcana points in advance, you can borrow up to forty books in a month, the same seven days for each book," said Alex. "We receive arcana points only in this case."
Obviously, the congress was encouraging sorcerers to use arcana points.
Lucien nodded, and then handed his badge to the librarian, "Forty books a month, then."
After taking away two points from Lucien¡¯s badge using a magic circle, the librarian said to Lucien seriously, "You¡¯re a sorcerer, so never be cheap with books and experiment materials. If you want to save money, save it by buying less magic items."
Lucien nodded, as he knew that this was a sincere suggestion.
Then he turned to Alex, "May I know what are the most cutting-edge research papers on soul and human body study?"
Alex thought a bit and answered, "A Few Thoughts about Soul as the Carrier of Consciousness, from Vicente Miranda, grand arcanist.
"Discussion about Elements Consisting of Soul and Special Electromagnetic Wave, from Vicente Miranda, grand arcanist.
...
"Why Regeneration is Possible: Analysis and Simulation of Mechanisms of Cytothesis, from Felipe, level four arcanist."
"Felipe?" Lucien was surprised as to how advanced Felipe¡¯s research was. However, on a second thought, under the lead of the grand arcanist, Vicente Miranda, and with the solid knowledge foundation of the study of human body and magic creatures, the birth of such pioneering work was still reasonable.
This world was still different from Lucien¡¯s original world, or say, this world was even more advanced in a sense.
"The paper shocked the whole congress. Mr. Felipe also earned great reputation with this paper and thus became a level four arcanist and one of the most promising sorcerers in the Hand of Paleness," said Lazar in awe.
Lucien nodded. Af first he thought Felipe was too arrogant, but now he realized that Felipe was for sure talented and very competitive.
Later, Lucien borrowed the two issues of Arcana and one issue of Magic, which published the papers mentioned by Alex, and another three books about the basic knowledge regarding soul.
Then he asked, "Mr. Alex, please help me to find the papers that determine the different natures of all the current existing elements, as well as the papers explaining the connections between some of the elements."
"I¡¯d suggest you to start from reading the papers about redefining elements, Lucien," said Lazar confusedly. "It¡¯s the basic part in arcana of the school of Element, right?"
"I hear you, Lazar. As you said, as an elemental sorcerer, I absolutely need to carefully read all the fundamental papers, and I¡¯ll also borrow the corresponding books. At the same time, I also want to know the basic nature of each element and what¡¯s going on in this field lately, for the convenience of my future research and study."
"I see. You know what you¡¯re doing, my friend." Lazar nodded. Then he started considering which book he should borrow for himself.

Chapter 194: Wonderful World
				Chapter 194: Wonderful World
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
This time, the Djinn did not give Lucien the list immediately. Pausing a bit, Alex asked, "Mr. Evans, what about those papers published but later proved wrong, and some assumption papers?"
"Of course, all of them." Lucien nodded, "Failure is also something precious that I can learn from."
"Ha¡­ If that¡¯s what you want," said the old librarian, "or if you just want to have an overall impression of the development of the school of Element, I¡¯d recommend you History of Element, edited every ten years by the grand arcanists. Similarly, we also have History of Necromancy, History of Astrology¡­ and History of Arcana and Magic."
At the same time, Alex¡¯s book list was also ready, "History of Element, from the highest council.
"New System of Element, from Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg, grand arcanist.
"Atom - Molecule, from Oliver Constantine, grand arcanist.
"Several Ways to Measure Atomic Weight and the Latest Atomic Chart, Octave in Elements, from Fernando Brastar, grand arcanist.
"Multiple Relationship Identified in Magic Potion Experiments, Spiral Rule in Elements, from Ravendi, level nine arcanist.
"The Common Features Shared by Some Metallic Elements and the Application, from Gaston, level seven arcanist.
...
"Common Rules among Elements and Assumptions, from Ulysses, level four arcanist.
"Comparison of Mythril and Silver and the Measurements, from Timothy, level four arcanist.
...
"The Nature of a New Element - Mo, from Meredith, level four arcanist."
...
The papers presented in the list were not all the latest, but the most relevant according to Lucien¡¯s requirements. Several papers were done many years ago.
"Paper from Mr. Ulysses." Lucien looked back and said to Lazar.
"Not surprising at all." Lazar¡¯s words were filled with admiration, "Mr. Ulysses wrote this paper when he was only a level one arcanist. Although his theory of elements¡¯ characters has been overthrown by further study, this paper was still a great shock at that time. Mr. Ulysses is very creative and good at thinking out of the box, and his spirit of exploration has inspired many elemental sorcerers, including Mr. Brastar and Mr. Ravendi. If it weren¡¯t because Ms. Hathaway was exploring the secret dimension, she might have become one of them as well."
"But from the name of the papers and books, I see nothing really about the shared law among all the elements." Lucien put forward his question.
"Because all of these theories have failed." The librarian cut in seriously, "Since spectral analysis was introduced, more than ten new elements have been discovered. And they have also overthrown all the assumptions or theories put forward previously by many arcanists. For more details, you can find them in the books recommended. Young man, this is a serious topic."
"That¡¯s right," said Lazar, feeling quite sorry. "Even the theory of Octave put forward by Mr. Brastar failed as well. Later, Mr. Brastar switched to another research direction in studying electromagnetic wave, and this announced the failure of the exploration of the shared law among elements. Right now, study in this field is still suspended."
"Any reflections on the failure, then?" asked Lucien.
"There are. Some arcanists argue that no enough elements have been discovered so far, including Mr. Ravendi, and many junior or middle-ranked arcanists insist that there are no laws among the elements."
"What about Mr. Ulysses?" asked Lucien curiously. After all, this genius sorcerer was the first one who started exploring this field.
"No much progresses from Mr. Ulysses as well." Lazar frowned, "People say that he¡¯s probably changing his research interest."
"Perseverance is important to an arcanist," interrupted the old librarian.
Feeling a bit annoyed, Lucien quickly glanced at the librarian¡¯s chest to see what level this librarian was of.
Surprisingly, there was nothing at all in front of the old man¡¯s chest, no name, no arcana or magic badge.
"My robe isn¡¯t bad, right?" The old librarian said proudly, "I know, red is quite eye-catching, haha!"
Lucien rolled his eyes again, and then directly ignored the librarian. He wondered whether this world was truly different from his original world, or the laws just still had not been discovered. To figure this out, Lucien needed to go read all the papers first.
In the end, Lucien borrowed thirty-eight books in total.
"You sure you want to borrow this many, Lucien?" Walking out of the library together, Lazar asked.
"I¡¯m gonna be working in Douglas soon, and I¡¯ll spend most of my time on teaching and on my own study. In a month, I probably won¡¯t come back to the congress again, so I want to use magic circles to copy these books first. By the way, Lazar, did you notice that the librarian wasn¡¯t wearing any badges?" asked Lucien.
Douglas was on the southeast edge of the city, remote and quiet. It would take one about half an hour to get to the congress¡¯s magic tower from the school.
"Yes, so I pulled you arm a bit in the library to remind you to be a bit more restrained when you were talking with him. Quite possibly, the old librarian was a member of some certain board, as only sorcerers of this level can walk around and control alchemical lives with no badges. And these senior-level sorcerers¡­ some of them are a bit weird."
Lucien felt the librarian was very weird.
Seeing that Lucien did not respond, Lazar thought his friend was worrying about money, so he smiled, "Actually, borrowing books from library is not the only way to pursue knowledge, as sorcerers would secretly exchange books they have themselves, as long as you can fit yourself in some sorcerer circles. Even if you don¡¯t have the books other people want, you can still buy copies with a lower price."
"Really?" Lucien felt quite curious, "The congress won¡¯t prohibit them from doing it?"
"Why do you think the library is so expensive?" Lazar grinned, "Actually, the congress encourages sorcerers to exchange their knowledge personally, so more great ideas can thus be inspired. I happen to have two friends who probably would like to exchange books with you in Douglas, and I¡¯ll introduce you to them."
"What are their names?" asked Lucien gratefully.
"Both of them are level one arcanists, one¡¯s name is Jerome, a second circle sorcerer studying Astrology and Element, and the other¡¯s name is Rock, a second circle elemental sorcerer. Rock¡¯s a bit weird, and he¡¯s applying for a funny project right now. As for Jerome, he¡¯s quite introvert. Several years ago, when he was pursuing miss Vera, he talked about Astrology and chemical reactions."
"Poor guy¡­" Lucien felt very sorry for this Jerome guy.
"Haha, you know what? They¡¯re married now, and they¡¯re very sweet." Lazar laughed.
"What?" Lucien was surprised.
"You come from the other side of the ocean, Lucien." Lazar explained, still laughing, "For girls here in Holm, nothing¡¯s more romantic than magic, Astrology, Element and destiny. And a person who studies these things is very likely to be wealthy and influential."
"What a wonderful world." Lucien sighed with emotion. Then he said to Lazar, "You want to go with me to get some experiment materials? I want to follow the papers to do some experiments."
"Sure." Lazar responded casually, "By the way, there¡¯s a guy whose name¡¯s also Lucien Evans teaching in Douglas. He added a ¡®K¡¯ in his name."

Chapter 195: Donald¡¯s Reminder
				Chapter 195: Donald¡¯s Reminder
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The next morning, when the warm sun was shining in the sky, a carriage was driving down a remote road toward a large building in a dark green forest.
"Lucien, when you're done with the procedures, I'll introduce you to Jerome and Rock, and then you'll be able to exchange your books with them," Lazar, still wearing his black long coat, looked out of the window and stared at the green trees, "but you have to remember that you can't exchange spells with any sorcerer, unless that spell is over a hundred years old. Although learning magic or arcana can be very secret, and the congress also encourages sorcerers to exchange their knowledge, but if no purchase record can be found with the new magic you use in public, you¡¯d be in big trouble. You¡¯ll need to either pay hundreds of times more money, or even stay in jail for ten years, and your corresponding memory will also be erased."
Lucien nodded. "I see. Thanks, man. I really appreciate all the help you¡¯ve offered me."
At the same time, in Lucien mind, he felt that this strategy adopted by the congress was very smart. Since one¡¯s earning of arcana points relied largely on how many times his or her paper was cited, ideas and knowledge exchanging between sorcerers could give every sorcerer better chance to get their papers to be more influential. However, new spells were different, as they directly meant power, and needed to be protected carefully.
"No worries, after all, we are friends, aren¡¯t we?" Lazar waved his hands casually and smiled, "Actually almost every influential group has a few unique spells that have never been submitted to the board, including us, the Will of Elements. Our group and Holm Royal Magic Academy jointly own a legendary magic, Element Breakdown, which is created by the grand arcanist, Hathaway Hoffenberg. If you join our group, when you become a ninth circle sorcerer, you can buy this magic and try to analyze it, and that will definitely bring you lots of benefit when you want to upgrade to a legendary level."
Lazar was promoting his group obviously, and he got a bit excited. In his eyes, Lucien was a very promising sorcerer.
"I will think about it¡­" said Lucien thoughtfully.
Actually, because of Natasha, Lucien did not mind joining the Will of Element at all, so even if one day his identity as Professor was exposed, he still had a powerful group backing himself up, however, on the other hand, Lucien was also very interested in studying soul, since this was a world where soul did really exist.
And, if Lucien was going to join the Will of Element, he wanted to enjoy more attention from the group, instead of becoming one of its common members like the many ordinary members in the Hand of Paleness.
The memory of what Lucien witnessed in the viscount¡¯s castle was still fresh.
Understanding why Lucien was being quite hesitant, Lazar grinned and changed the topic, "So are you still distressed with the money you just spent buying the materials?"
"For sure." Lucien frowned. The seventeen purified elements he just bought cost him two high-quality Wave Stones, and what Lucien had now was only one Wave Stone, two Thales, one arcana point, and some different kinds of experiment materials. Lucien felt that he just got robbed.
"Cheer up, man." Lazar patted Lucien on his shoulder, "Just be grateful that the school has the other forty-eight purified elements, and doing experiments there is much cheaper, or it could even be free if your experiment was also part of the apprentices¡¯ class. Besides, you don¡¯t even need to rent a place there! The school generously offers you a small house with a garden."
"You¡¯re right, Lazar." Lucien held his head a bit higher. He was hoping that publishing his first paper could save him out of the financially difficult situation, and before he came here, Lucien had sent his agreement letter back to Common Arcana and registered the school¡¯s address with the journal to stay in contact with them.
A while later, the carriage slowly stopped in front of a black iron gate of the ancient magic empire style. A black golem, seemingly made of iron, came and opened the gate.
...
On the third floor of the black magic tower.
Lucien, wearing white shirt, brown vest, and double-breasted black coat, was sitting in front of an old, ordinary-looking, bare-headed man, who was wearing a black magic robe stitched with silver and white patterns.
"Welcome, Evans. I¡¯m Donald, headmaster of Douglas," said the level-four arcanist, fifth circle sorcerer, who was organizing some paperworks.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Donald." Lucien stood up from his seat and bowed slightly, "Please just call me Lucien."
"Good. As another Mr. Lucien Evans we have here prefers us to call him K, I¡¯ll just call you Lucien then." When Donald was saying, he handed Lucien a folder, "Take a look. These are the courses we have so far in Douglas."
Lucien opened the folder and carefully read it. In the folder, Lucien saw Common Tongue, Ancient Magic Empire Language, Pit Language, Demon Language, Basic Magic Potion, Basic Element, Basic Electromagnetism, Basic Necromancy, Basic Magic Construction, Basic Alchemy, ..., Introduction of Magic Circle, Magic Analysis, Basic Summoning, ..., Culture and Customs, History and Music.
"Music?" Lucien was surprised.
"Ha, students also need to relax a bit, right?" Donald touched his white moustache and smiled, "Our last music teacher just got fired because he violated one of the rules of the school. Lucien, are you also interested in this position besides your other teaching job? Can you play any musical instruments?"
"I¡¯m quite good at piano and violin." Lucien nodded and asked directly, "If I also work as a music teacher, can I get a higher salary?"
"Two more arcana points per month." Donald nodded cheerfully, "But remember, keep your distance from some female apprentices. They are quite¡­ say, ebullient. By the way, I heard that there¡¯s also a musician all the way across the strait in Aalto whose name¡¯s also Lucien Evans, and he¡¯s good at playing piano as well. Quite interesting."
Lucien put on a polite smile and did not say anything. Right now, he was only interested in making more money.
"So¡­ Let¡¯s see." Donald looked down at his folder, "Since you just joined the congress, and you probably need more time to work on your own arcana study first, what about you start with teaching Ancient Magic Empire Language, Magic Creatures and Demon Language? That¡¯s¡­ ten lessons a week, and you¡¯ll be teaching two classes."
"No problem." Lucien agreed with Donald immediately. In his book, Astrology and Elements, Demon Language was introduced as part of magic pact and summoning knowledge.
Then Lucien added, "Can I choose the two classes, though?"
He hoped that he could teach the class in which his three apprentices were.
"I think so. All the courses are under re-arrangement right now," said Donald. Then, he registered Lucien¡¯s name for the two classes. One of them was the class called Thorn Tree, where Lucien¡¯s three apprentices were in. Lucien would also be teaching music there.
After all the paper works were done, Donald crossed his hands and leaned his chin against his hands, "I have to tell you something first, Lucien."
"Go ahead, please, Mr. Donald," said Lucien sincerely.
Donald¡¯s voice became low, "You know, working here in a school is a dream for many junior-rank sorcerers, and Douglas ranks the best among all the schools, therefore, we never considered anyone having no arcana level to be one of our teachers. However, you¡¯re an exception, since a gentleman in Affairs Committee spoke highly of you, and recommended you to us. Therefore, this school¡¯s a place not only for the apprentices to grow, but also for you. I personally don¡¯t see anything wrong with offering the talented ones more resources to grow, but you shall not waste the resources given. If you cannot get your official arcana level in a year, you¡¯ll be fired."
"I¡¯ll try my best," responded Lucien humbly.
"I trust you, though, Lucien. Many teachers in Douglas, although they haven¡¯t become middle-rank arcanists or sorcerers yet, have their specialities. For example, Mr. K is a level two arcanist. Exchanging with them can benefit you a lot," said Donald earnestly.
Lucien nodded sincerely, "Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Donald. May I ask who¡¯s the gentleman in the committee? I¡¯d like to thank him as well."
"You don¡¯t need to know," said Donald directly. "Maybe when you become a middle-rank sorcerer, he¡¯ll pay more attention to you. Anyway, during the day, the lab is open only to students. When school¡¯s over in the afternoon, you can use the labs for free. To conclude, observe the school rules and start working tomorrow."
Donald handed Lucien a nameplate and a few pages of paper, on which there were two hundred school rules.

Chapter 196: In the Garden Villa
				Chapter 196: In the Garden Villa
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In Douglas, Jerome¡¯s garden villa.
"Your name¡¯s also Lucien Evans?" a black-haired young man wearing a casual white shirt and a black vest grinned. "K has always said that his name is very common, and I did not believe him. Now I see¡­ haha."
This young man was Rock, a second circle sorcerer. Rock was good at the school of Element and mathematics, and he was a cheerful young person who loved playing jokes a lot.
Before Lucien responded, Rock continued, "I¡¯m gonna introduce you to K. No worries, Lucien, K¡¯s very easygoing, although he¡¯s quite introverted. Unlike some people from Electromagnetics, K¡¯s diligent, talented, and always willing to help!"
When Lucien was about to open his mouth to say something, Rock cut him off again, "I know you must wonder why I say some people from Electromagnetics are arrogant. Trust me, Lucien, I¡¯m not biased. In the last issue of Arcana, since Mr. Brook has proved that light is a special electromagnetic wave, those Electromagnetics people claim that spiritual power is also a certain kind of wave, and are laughing at us every single day, because we insist in the theory of particles! Come on¡­ There are still quite a few magic experiments that cannot be explained by waves, and the president hasn¡¯t responded to Mr. Brook¡¯s theory yet!"
Lucien was amused, and he quickly cast a glance at Lazar. Lucien thought that Lazar was already very talkative, but now he realized that Lazar was not even close to Rock. From Rock¡¯s words, Lucien got to know some new research trends in the congress, so he was listening quite patiently.
Lazar commented, "Rock¡¯s always like this. Well, since the last issue of Arcana was released, sorcerers like Rock who live in Allyn all the time and who insist to use Particle Theory in discovering spiritual power are facing quite a bit stress from the new theories. I have mixed feelings toward the new and old theories, sorry and proud at the same time."
Jerome and his beautiful wife were just listening and smiling.
It seemed that elemental sorcerers were naturally supporters of Particle Theory. Without the great pressure from the Church, there might be an intense internal strife among the supporters of different theories.
When Lazar and Rock finished their discussion, Lucien and Jerome were sitting on the couch and having black tea made by Vera. Although the brown-haired, ordinary-looking man was not talkative, happiness could be found in Jerome¡¯s eyes. His wife Vera was a red-haired pretty girl, probably around twenty-three or so.
"Mr. Evans, enjoy the tea. I¡¯m going to prepare dinner," said Vera politely and left the living room.
Rock sighed with emotion, "How could you find such a nice lady, Jerome? The girls I know have no idea how to be a good wife¡­"
Jerome grinned shyly.
"Rock, how¡¯s your project going?" asked Lazar.
"Rejected. The board thought I was joking," said Rock with a bit dismay.
"What project?" asked Lucien curiously.
"A great project!" explained Rock excitedly, "As a sorcerer from Tower, I think everything can be represented by numbers. What we can do is to figure out a standard number system to represent how powerful a spell is, or the level of a sorcerer¡¯s defensive power. By measuring and recording, in the future, when two sorcerers want to fight, numbers can directly show the result, and no one will be hurt."
"Then what if both of the two sorcerers have their advantages and disadvantages?" asked Lucien confusedly.
"That¡¯s right." Rock took a pile of paper and started writing, "For example, the total amount of my spiritual power is¡­ 105, and Lazar¡¯s is 96¡­"
"Hey¡­ Why mine is lower than yours?" Lazar was not happy with the set value.
And then they started arguing.
"They¡¯re just like this, like kids." Jerome smiled to Lucien.
"That¡¯s why they¡¯re good friends." Lucien nodded. Those "bad" words Lazar used to describe Rock were also quite suitable for himself.
Ignoring Lazar and Rock, Lucien and Jerome started discussing the school of Astrology and Element, and they enjoyed their conversation very much. The two people regretted that they had not known each other earlier.
"Dinner¡¯s ready." Vera came back to the living room, followed by servants pushing dining carts.
Putting down the tea cup, Lucien turned around and saw that Lazar and Rock were still playing their card game.
"Magic Missile, Power 5." Rock put down a piece of card.
"Flame Shield, Defense, 7." Lazar pulled out a card seriously.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Jerome curiously.
"I have to admit that this isn¡¯t a very good project." Rock frowned a bit and then grinned, "But it can be turned into a great card game! Wait¡­ I need to find a sifter."
Lucien was speechless. He could not understand Rock¡¯s way of thinking.
However, Rock had already switched to another topic, "Steak and grilled fish¡­ The smell¡¯s so beautiful¡­ By the way, Vera, why did you choose to stay with Jerome?"
Without doubt, all the three single sorcerers present felt quite envious of their sweet marriage.
After dinner, Lucien and Rock said goodbye to Lazar and walked together back to their shared villa.
The magic school only provided married teachers with a whole villa, since there were quite a few teachers in the school. Before Lazar left, Rock talked to Lucien¡¯s roommate and exchanged their places to live together with Lucien.
Lucien planned to make a potion called Stone tonight to help himself upgrade to second circle, however, he felt quite tired today, so he decided to make it tomorrow after work.
...
Thorn Tree class.
"Do you know today¡¯s Ancient Languages class will be taught by Mr. Evans?" Heidi asked Layria and Annick mysteriously.
"Mr. K? He¡¯s a level two arcanist and second circle sorcerer, so I thought he only taught senior apprentices¡­"
"No idea. I heard it from Grant." Heidi shook her head.
Hearing the students¡¯ discussion, even Sprint, who usually did not like speaking to other apprentices, sat up a bit straighter, as the name triggered his memory.
The bell rang, indicating the beginning of the class. All the students stopped talking and looked more serious. To Layria, Heidi and Annick¡¯s great surprise, it was actually their previous teacher who came into the classroom.
Lucien Evans was wearing a black double-breasted coat and a soft hat today.
"It¡¯s really Mr. Evans!" the three apprentices blurted out together, regardless of the classroom disciplines.
Other apprentices in the class were very curious, looking at their new teacher.
Seeing Lucien, Sprint and Katrina had mixed feelings. They felt both excited and also a bit worried.
Lucien took off his hat and put it on the desk. He nodded to the three apprentices first, and then turned to the whole class, "I¡¯m Lucien Evans, your Ancient Languages teacher, and you folks can call me Mr. X if you want. In my class, you can do whatever you want, including doing your own homework or sleeping, as long as your behaviour doesn¡¯t disturb other students who want to pay attention to the class. However, you gotta be responsible for your own choice. If you¡¯re so talented that you can pass the course without listening to me, go ahead, and it¡¯s totally fine, but if you¡¯re not, you¡¯d better behave yourself and study hard, or I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯d be taking this course again in next term. For students who work hard and finish homework on time, extra score will be given."
It was the first time these apprentices saw a teacher like this, and they felt very excited.
Then Lucien took out a pile of paper, "So, the first class¡­ We¡¯ll be having an assessment today."
"Test again¡­" Annick, Layria and Heidi recalled their bad memories. In their eyes, Mr. Evan¡¯s smile looked like the devil's.
The other students did not know what to expect.

Chapter 197: First Encounter
				Chapter 197: First Encounter
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the bell was ringing for the end of the class, Lucien directly collected all the test papers and left the class. Then, the students started their heated discussion, "You guys know Mr. X?" asked Grant, the head boy of the class. Grant had black, curly hair and deep-set, black eyes.
As Grant was asking, more students paid attention to Annick, Heidi and Layria, trying to get more information about their new teacher.
Annick nodded, as he really respected Grant, who was hard-working and talented, "We knew Mr. Evans before. That¡¯s right."
"Great! He looks pretty cool!" Grant was very impressed by Lucien¡¯s words, "I¡¯ve never met any teachers like him! Mr. X¡¯s not like these stubborn teachers at all. Sometimes I already understood what was being taught, but I was still not allowed to do my own stuff¡­ What a waste of time!"
Heidi¡¯s face twitched a bit, and then he said seriously, "It¡¯s true that Mr. Evans doesn¡¯t really care about whether we pay attention to his class, and he keeps saying that we gotta be responsible for our own choices and the consequences if we do not work hard, but this is just one aspect of his teaching, and he¡¯s still got another side¡­"
Lucien¡¯s words were very direct, and they won support from most of the apprentices. The students felt that Mr. X was someone who really understood them, and he was a cool teacher that possibly could become their good friend.
"What¡¯s the other side?" asked Grant curiously.
"You¡¯ll see," answered the three apprentices together. They all remembered what they had experienced with Mr. Evans before.
"Hope you guys won¡¯t hate Mr. Evans," said Heidi meaningfully.
The rest of the students were very confused, yet also curious. Then the bell of the next class, Basic Magic Potion, stopped their discussion.
...
In the teachers¡¯ office.
Carrying the test papers, as soon as Lucien entered the office, five teachers, three being men and two women, smiled and nodded to him, while another seven remained quite cold, burying themselves in their own work.
Lucien also nodded to the teachers who were nice to him, knowing that these five teachers were all friends of Rock, who had already told them everything. As for the other seven teachers, they did not get along well at all with Rock, so they decided to ignore Lucien, a sorcerer who only had seven arcana credits and no arcana level.
"Teaching Ancient Languages and Magic Creatures shouldn¡¯t be challenging to you, Lucien." When Vilnia, a blond female sorcerer, walked by Lucien¡¯s desk, she kindly reminded him, "You¡¯d better spend more of your time on studying basic arcana."
Vilnia was about twenty-five or six, a level one arcanist and second circle sorcerer, specializing in Illusion and Force. As a lady who got both mature charm and the beauty of youth, she was already married and her husband was a viscount. Every morning she took the magic train to come to work from Rentato, capital of Holm.
Because Rentato and Allyn were very close to each other, the commuting time was only ten minutes, and as a sorcerer and a noble lady, a round-trip ticket only cost Vilnia two Nars.
"Thanks for your reminder, Ms. Vilnia. I¡¯ll keep it in mind." Lucien smiled politely.
"Polite and good-looking young man." Vilnia joked, "When you visit Rentato, feel free to come to my place and be our guest."
Among all the female teachers in this school, which accounted for one third of the whole teaching staff, some were beautiful, some were charming, and some looked terrifying because of some failed experiments or magic powers which could erode one¡¯s appearance.
When Vilnia left the office, Lucien first checked the test papers to know the basic level of the class, Thorn Tree, in Ancient Languages. Then he took out a pile of paper and his quill and started reviewing a second circle spell, Mirror, which had been successfully analyzed before.
Lucien was very interested in this spell once used by the murloc mage, which could help the caster confuse his or her enemy. As the knowledge involved in this basic Illusion spell could also be found in Astrology and Elements, Lucien decided to turn Mirror into his first second circle magic, and thus to make his next breakthrough to become a second circle sorcerer.
...
Douglas, in the magic lab tower.
Finishing the first lesson of Introduction of Magic Creatures in another class, Blood Bird, Lucien hurriedly arrived here.
"Hello, may I have an alchemical laboratory?" Lucien politely asked the old sorcerer managing the tower.
The old level one arcanist, second circle sorcerer, Ines, responded seriously, "Sorry, Mr. Evans, all the magic labs have been borrowed. Please come earlier tomorrow."
"All of the labs?" Lucien looked up at the five-story magic tower. Although it was not very spacious, there were at least ten magic labs on each floor. Lucien could not believe his ears.
Ines calmly replied, "Mr. Evans, we have to reserve twenty labs for our students and the several level two arcanists. For the rest of the labs, you know, first come, first served."
"We have this many teachers who need to do experiments?" asked Lucien, feeling a bit frustrated and surprised.
"No all of them are doing experiments," said Ines. "Some are making potions and some are testing their summoning rites. Everyone knows that one of the best things working here in this school is that one can use the labs for free."
"I totally understand, Mr. Ines." Lucien did not want to give up easily, "Can I use one of the reserved labs first? Then I can leave when the person arrives."
Building a well-equipped lab here was very expensive, and Lucien could not afford it right now.
"No." Ines shook his head, "We have rules, unless you¡¯re a level two arcanist who enjoys privileges."
When Lucien was feeling quite frustrated, a low voice came from behind, "Are you Lucien Evans?"
Lucien turned around and saw a tall, ordinary-looking man wearing a black jacket, looking like a strong bear.
"Yes, I¡¯m Lucien Evans¡­ Uh¡­ X. And you?" Lucien nodded.
"I guess so." The tall man smiled, "You don't look familiar to me. Nice to meet you, I¡¯m K."
"So we have the same name." Lucien looked at K curiously.
"Rock was about to introduce me to you this afternoon, but I wasn¡¯t in the office," said K a bit shyly, "You¡¯re looking for a lab?"
"Yes¡­ but I think I¡¯m too late." Lucien nodded frustratedly.
"Then what about sharing one with me?" suggested K sincerely. "What are you gonna do today?"
"That¡¯ll be awesome!" said Lucien excitedly, then with a second thought, he asked politely, "I¡¯m making a magic potion today. Will I disturb your work?"
"Not a problem. There are plenty of alchemical circles in the lab. We can share." K was very generous.
"Thank you, K. Like Rock said, you¡¯re really a nice person," said Lucien sincerely.
"I¡¯ve received lots of help from others as well. Let¡¯s go." K was quite shy, which did not agree with his big and tall figure.
With K¡¯s permission, Ines let the two people walk upstairs without saying anything.

Chapter 198: Second Circle
				Chapter 198: Second Circle
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the lab door opened, the whole lab was slowly lit up with warm yellow light. Although the lab was not as mysterious and grand as that of the Prophet, Maskelyne, which Lucien used in the magic lock, its cleanliness, tidiness and the great amount of equipment was impressive to Lucien.
K pointed at one of the operation platforms, "You can use this one, Lucien¡­ It feels like I¡¯m talking to myself. I¡¯m gonna start doing my experiment as well."
"Thanks, K." Lucien did not ask anything about K¡¯s experiment, as someone¡¯s experiment was always a secret, and that was how plagiarism came from.
It was hard to prove that someone plagiarized other people¡¯s research outcomes, unless the person¡¯s thoughts could be investigated by certain spells. However, as for the sorcerers who dared plagiarize, they often had some powerful groups secretly supporting them from behind, thus they could easily avoid being investigated like this when there was not enough evidence, and finding other excuses to exonerate themselves was also not difficult.
What was worse was that some sorcerers would kill other people from whom they stole research outcomes by using different means.
All of these was introduced by Lazar, and when Lucien first heard it, he was quite shocked.
Stone was not difficult to make, and Lucien was quite good at making potions. After three times, a tube of brown turbid liquid was produced.
Still having some time, Lucien took out a tube of purified material and was about to test it following the papers he read. At this time, K, who was standing with his back to Lucien, said to him, "You have other experiments to do, Lucien?"
"Yes?" asked Lucien.
"I¡¯m not trying to steal your experiment, Lucien," said K in his low voice, sounding very reliable, "but I can tell you how to open the secret lock of this lab. If you have to do some urgent experiments, you can use this lab even if I¡¯m not here."
"It¡¯s really nice of you, K. I¡¯m still new in the field of Element, and I want to see the nature of all kinds of elements in person by doing many experiments. You know, as a first circle sorcerer, I could not discover many characteristics of the elements by using magic, thus doing experiments is the most reliable way to me," Lucien turned around and said to K sincerely.
Seeing K was still doing his experiment, Lucien turned his back to K again to avoid seeing what he was doing.
"I totally understand. I¡¯ll tell you how to enter this lab later," said K, standing with Lucien back to back. "However, I¡¯m leaving this school in a few months. You won¡¯t be able to use this lab for long."
"Why are you leaving?" asked Lucien, confused. As he was asking, Lucien turned on the alchemical circle to turn the purified element into vapour to test its gas density.
"Mr. Larry from our group, the Will of Elements, likes my previous paper, and he told me that when I become a middle-rank sorcerer, he would like to have me to help him with some studies. Recently, I¡¯ve been feeling that I¡¯m approaching this higher level, so I want to have a magic item by accomplishing a task given by the congress to help myself upgrade." K had no intention of showing off his accomplishment and tried to stay humble.
Among the current generation in the Will of Elements, Larry, student of Gaston, was the most promising one who would grow into a senior-rank sorcerer. Right now Larry was a level five arcanist, fifth circle sorcerer, who was even more powerful than Timothy or Ulysses. Only six or seven sorcerers from other groups and organizations could compete with him, including Felipe, who was younger than him but was already close to level five in arcana.
Lucien slightly nodded, "Congratulations. May I take a look at your paper?"
"It hasn't been published yet. The paper¡¯s going to be on the next week's issue of Element. Teachers in the school can read it for free." K was quite shy. He did not tell Lucien the name of the paper directly but switched the topic, "Hope you can complete your experiments as soon as possible, Lucien, otherwise when I¡¯m not here anymore, you need to find other places."
Lucien chuckled, "No one ever mentioned that we have a teacher from our school who¡¯s gonna publish his work on Element. You¡¯re really good at keeping your secret, K. Well, I'll make the best of my time to finish the experiments. K, you're such a nice guy."
"This is nothing. We¡¯re supposed to help each other," K answered with a smile.
Back to back, Lucien and K chatted occasionally, but they spent most of their time on doing experiments.
...
It was already early morning when Lucien went back to the place where he lived, and Rock was sound asleep.
Surrounded by the light floral aroma, the quietness of early morning soothed Lucien's soul. Feeling prepared, he opened the glass tube and drank down the brown turbid potion named Stone.
Spicy, sour and bitter, the potion went down from Lucien¡¯s mouth and burnt his throat and gullet, making Lucien want to throw up, but inside his body, his soul felt calm and powerful.
When the taste faded a bit in his mouth, he closed his eyes. Lucien soon went into the world of meditation. His consciousness went back to the starry sky, in which his Host Star of Destiny was shining, and the three basic powers, fire, wind and water, were contributing to the existence of the meditation world.
Lucien¡¯s consciousness separated from his soul, and started directing the soul. Shining lines extended out from the power of Lucien¡¯s soul and started to construct a relatively complicated spatial model.
Since the model had not involved any complex math theories such as curve, and with some new basic knowledge in arcana, Lucien handled the whole process pretty well.
When the model was completed by the last line of soul, the model burst out dazzling light which dragged Lucien¡¯s consciousness back into his soul, and covered it.
At this time, Lucien noticed the subtle changes happening around him in this meditation world!
Colourful light spots were appearing in the starry sky in a sophisticated and mysterious order, and each of the spot was showing a complicated model. It seemed that these models themselves were new spells that Lucien had never seen before! However, the structure of the models were in such a chaos, and when Lucien was about to take a closer look, his consciousness was overwhelmed by his own great spiritual power brought by this second circle spell in his soul, Mirror.
Like a small boat trying its very best to survive between the furious waves, like a warrior fighting for his hope, Lucien struggled to stay lucid and keep himself in control.
Thankfully, Lucien¡¯s great spiritual power and will passed the test in the end. A shining crystal showed up in his soul, and the level of his spiritual power reached a new record.
"Finally¡­ I¡¯m a second level sorcerer," said Lucien to himself. As he was saying, Lucien activated Mirror, and a clone was produced beside him.
Mirror, a second circle spell from the school of Illusion. Before it was cracked by any detection spells, such as some spells in Astrology, Mirror could protect its caster until the clone of the person was destroyed.
After testing the spell, Lucien removed the magic and looked back at the starry sky. The colourful particles were now all gone, as if it was just Lucien¡¯s illusion.
However, Lucien was sure that this was definitely not his illusion, so he ventured a guess:
The meditation world was created and also affected by his own knowledge. When he knew more of the truth in the world, correspondingly, more would show up in this meditation world.
Lucien was learning how to arrange elements recently, and although some elements here were different from those of Lucien¡¯s original world, he still could notice some possible orders. Lucien wondered if this was why the meditation world changed when he upgraded. Maybe when Lucien successfully completed the periodic table of elements in this world, the colourful particles would turn into someone else, say, a new magic. However, Lucien had no idea what the magic could be.
...
Heidler, the main tower of the Hand of Paleness, in a dark room.
"Mr. Rogerio, good afternoon." Felipe took out his hands from his jacket and bowed with his right hand on his forehead, "What can I do for you today?"
Felipe was being this respectful, because Rogerio was not only one of the leaders of the Hand of Paleness, but also the member of Affairs Committee, directed by the highest council.
Rogerio was wearing black suit and white, loose-sleeved shirt, looking the same when he was in Aalto, but now there were three badges in front of his chest: level seven arcana badge, eighth circle sorcerer badge, and a black-fired badge representing the Affairs Committee position.
Unlike many necromancers, Rogerio looked more easy-going, "How¡¯s your experiment going, Felipe?"
"Not bad, but still needs time." Felipe sat down in front of Rogerio.
Rogerio slightly nodded, and then said, "I¡¯ve got some news¡­ about Professor."

Chapter 199: Professor and the Musician
				Chapter 199: Professor and the Musician
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Felipe¡¯s pale face suddenly looked more serious. In his mind, Professor was his enemy, and also a genius, who was probably even more promising than Larry.
"He¡¯s in Allyn now?" asked Felipe in low voice.
Rogerio just smiled, but did not say anything. Instead, he changed the topic, "My study investigating electromagnetic interference with soul was supposed to be the leading paper in the next issue of Arcana, but the day before yesterday, the chief editor came all the way to Heidler and apologized to me that my paper would be changed to the second position. Too bad¡­ I¡¯ve been looking forward to the glory all the time."
Staying quite calm, Felipe did not keep asking about Professor, but looked a bit confused and then asked, "A new paper? Where¡¯s the new paper from?"
"Yes, a new paper," Rogerio nodded, feeling a bit sorry for himself, "from Lord of Storm."
Even Felipe was a bit in awe of this name. Fernando Brastar, Lord of Storm, besides his great accomplishment in arcana and magic, was also known for his bad temper. No one dared present arcana theories with any deficiencies in front of him, regardless what level the person was of, since Fernando would directly refute the person¡¯s proposition and ruthlessly jeer at it. Even members from the highest council often wanted to stay away from him.
"What¡¯s the paper about? Do you have any clue?" Felipe was very curious.
Getting a cup of water for himself, Rogerio turned around, "I¡¯m curious, too. So I went to Common Arcana Library and checked this paper which just passed the board¡¯s review. The paper¡¯s about the application of electromagnetic wave. And I have to admit that it¡¯s very insightful and creative. It¡¯ll be available the day after tomorrow."
Felipe did not say anything, but listened to Rogerio carefully.
"Of course, the reason why I asked you to come here today is not to recommend this paper to you, but because of another paper that inspired Mr. Fernando to develop his paper," Rogerio said seriously.
"A paper¡­ inspired Mr. Fernando?" Felipe frowned a bit.
Rogerio nodded, "The paper¡¯s hasn¡¯t been published yet, and it¡¯s about a small experiment investigating high frequency sound wave, conducted by Lucien Evans X, a sorcerer with no arcana level who just arrived in Allyn a week ago."
"Lucien Evans¡­ The musician? It¡¯s a common name though¡­" Felipe was being very unsure.
Professor and the great musician arrived at the land that originally belonged to Wilfred at the same time, so the Hand of Paleness felt suspicious. Felipe thought that it was Natasha who sent Professor to protect the musician, so he connected the musician and Professor together.
"The broken ring, made of seven-element alloy¡­ Princess Natasha and the famous musician¡­ I wonder if we can say that the ring that Viscount Carendia saw on Professor¡¯s hand was the very ring of Holm Crown prize¡­" There was a mysterious smile on Rogerio¡¯s face, "From another perspective, when was Professor's name first heard? It was when some apprentice tried to approach the famous musician, Lucien Evans. Who could benefit from the Hand of Paleness¡¯ plan of kidnapping being interrupted? Lucien Evans, the musician."
Rogerio was a bit in awe when he called Natasha¡¯s name, not because of Natasha¡¯s title, but her ties of blood with an influential person from the congress.
"So¡­" Felipe touched his chin a bit, "they were even closer than we thought?"
"Why not? A musician has fallen under the lure of an evil sorcerer, and they¡¯ve formed a close bond. Without the support of the Will of Elements, how was it possible that Lucien could become Princess Natasha¡¯s music advisor that fast?" Rogerio¡¯s hands were holding together, "I think by building a closer bond with Princess Natasha, Lucien Evans also got closer to the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy. Perhaps this is the very purpose of the Will of Elements, and they took advantage of our plan!"
"This makes sense," Felipe slightly nodded, "but something¡¯s still not right."
It seemed that Felipe and Rogerio knew something secret.
"Princess Natasha is in her three-year penance now, and for the next three years, the famous musician, Lucien Evans, will be studying arcana here in Allyn to improve himself to respond to their future challenges. This is how I view the whole thing," Rogerio continued.
Felipe¡¯s left hand missed a finger, but he still used that hand to rub his chin, "But there¡¯s no solid evidence showing that this Lucien Evans X is the very famous musician, right?"
"There is." Rogerio put on a sophisticated smile, "Remember I encountered the famous musician in Aalto once? To confirm my guesses, I went to Douglas, and I saw him there!"
"For sure?!" Felipe was surprised.
"Completely," said Rogerio. "Lucien Evans X is for sure Professor¡¯s good student. From him, we can lift Professor's veil!"
"That¡¯s right¡­ That¡¯s why Lucien Evans¡¯s first paper ever could be directly cited by the grand arcanist!" Felipe agreed.
"Good point." Rogerio knocked at the desk confidently, "Mr. Fernando¡¯s paper talks about the application of high frequency sound wave, and do you remember the mechanism of Professor¡¯s symbolic magic?"
"According to the viscount and Amores¡­ low frequency sound wave." Felipe recalled seriously, "Now I see the connection."
"Yesterday, I secretly observed Lucien¡¯s class. It was¡­ pretty interesting and creative." Rogerio quite appreciated Lucien¡¯s teaching style and his talent, "It feels like his music style, creative and always about something new."
In their discussion, Felipe and Rogerio were sure that Lucien was Professor¡¯s outstanding student.
They did not know Lucien as well as Natasha did, besides, since Natasha did not know how powerful Professor was, it was easier for her to directly connect Lucien to Professor. As for Felipe and Rogerio, they would never consider that Professor, the arcanist who sucessfully designed the experiment of synthesizing carbamide, was just a beginner in arcana.
That was the blind spot of their thinking.
"Shall we somehow get Lucien here in Heidler and check his thoughts?" Felipe wanted to know what was the next step.
"No." Rogerio shook his head, "Quite possibly, Professor is working on some important research, and if we touch Lucien right now, it would definitely alarm him. We shall keep an eye on Lucien to see what experiment he¡¯s working on and what people he¡¯s meeting, and this work is on me. Felipe, you focus on your research. If you can publish some great research results before Professor, we won¡¯t have to adopt any violent means then."
Felipe frowned his brows, "What I don¡¯t understand is why Professor hasn¡¯t published the paper on synthesizing carbamide. This is definitely a very debatable topic that could earn him tons of credits."
"Maybe he¡¯s still waiting for the final answer of his research." Rogerio smiled, "Felipe, what about you develop the paper on carbamide synthesizing yourself? Representing the Hand of Paleness, the paper can prove our great inspiration as necromancers."
After some improvement in magic rites, now Rogerio also agreed that synthesizing life ingredients was doable, but he could not find any definitive proof yet.
Felipe shook his head seriously, "My self-esteem won¡¯t allow me to do this, Mr. Rogerio, and I believe that you won¡¯t do this as well. Besides, not all the sorcerers in the Hand of Paleness are as open-minded as you, sir. If I really did this, I would be in big trouble."
Rogerio smiled, "I see. What a coincidence it is which leads us to find Professor¡­"
...
Douglas, headmaster¡¯s office.
"Mr. Donald, what can I do for you?" asked Lucien.
"Are you getting along well with K?" Donald did not get to the point immediately, "It¡¯s also quite troublesome for me to share the same name with the famous arcanist from the highest council."
There was another Donald, from the highest council, who was a ninth circle elemental sorcerer and the winner of Holm Crown prize for finding a new element by using spectral analysis. He was also one of the two presidents of the Will of Element.
After a bit casual chatting, Donald looked more serious, "Lucien, some teachers jointly complained that you¡¯ve breached the school rules since you¡¯re telling students that it¡¯s okay not to listen to a teacher. After verification, the complaint has been proved, so I need to punish you by suspending your course for a month. I hope you can learn from it."

Chapter 200: Feeling Unsafe
				Chapter 200: Feeling Unsafe
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing the unexpected punishment, Lucien was quite unhappy and frustrated, as he thought that he was maintaining quite a low profile and trying to avoid any possible conflicts with other teachers who did not like him. Still, now he was in trouble.
However, Lucien never gave up easily, "Sir, I¡¯ve been receiving quite a few positive comments from my students from both Thorn Three and Blood Bird, and that proves that my way of teaching¡¯s efficient. As you can see, my students¡¯ scores have improved as well."
"I know," answered Donald directly, and his answer surprised Lucien.
"But you¡¯ve still broken the rules, Lucien." Donald continued and changed his tone, "In Douglas, teachers should be authorities and should always be respected. Telling students that they don¡¯t have to listen has severely violated our tradition. Regardless how effective your teaching method might be, the tradition of the school can never be breached. I hope you can realize your mistake, Lucien."
Lucien was speechless. He knew that the improvement of his students¡¯ academic performance could not help him, since the headmaster valued the rules of the school more than anything else in this world, where the sense of order and class was highly respected.
Seeing that Lucien did not respond, Donald smiled to comfort him a bit, "Lucien, I know young people are always full of ideas, and among those ideas, some are good and some not. Say, I like the part where you increased the amount of exercise and homework that students should do, and now we¡¯re promoting this part in your teaching practice all over the campus."
Lucien rubbed his head a bit but still did not say anything. He felt that students in this school would hate him for sure.
...
"Yes?" Rock patted on Lucien¡¯s shoulder to comfort him, "What happened?"
"Suspending my teaching for a month. Salary cut by half. Can still use the labs, libraries and buy experiment materials for lower prices. Next time I violate the rules, I'm fired," said Lucien expressionlessly.
Rock swore a bit in low voice, "Must be those bastards from Electromagnetism¡­ you know, the guy named Beate¡­he must be the leading one! They also teach Thorn Three and Blood Bird, and the students prefer you way more than them!"
"I see¡­ That is the reason, then." Lucien finally understood where did all of these come from. In Lucien¡¯s mind, Beate looked like a quiet person, and he never expected something like this from him.
Beate had black hair and black eyes, and was an ordinary-looking man. He was pretty good at Electromagnetism, and currently, he was a level one arcanist, second circle sorcerer.
Walking downstairs, Rock said to Lucien half joking and half serious, "Lucien, although you always give the students quite a bit of homework, you¡¯re the coolest and the most popular teacher in their mind. However, I gotta remind you that there¡¯s something in this school that cannot be violated. You can have your ideas, and you can also do what you want to do, but you¡¯re never supposed to speak it out."
"Now I understand." Lucien nodded, "Thank you, Rock."
Rock grinned, "Actually, orders and traditions are all created by those big men. If you were a grand arcanist, Lucien, I bet no one would accuse you of breaking the rules, but speak highly of you that you¡¯re creative and bold, and we should all follow your practice."
"I think you¡¯re right, Rock." Lucien smiled.
...
During lunchtime, in order to comfort Lucien, Jerome, K, Vilnia, and some other teachers came to Lucien¡¯s place and had lunch with him.
After lunch, hearing the bad news, Annick, Layria and Heidi also came to visit Lucien. Surprisingly, Sprint, Katrina, Grant, and another green-haired girl were also there. The girl with dark green-hair was strange to Lucien, being around seventeen or eighteen.
"We¡¯re always on your side, Mr. Evans!" Having no idea what was proper to say at that moment, after a while, Annick, Heidi and Layria finally came up with one sentence together.
Sprint still did not say anything, but he was slightly nodding to show his support. Katrina and Grant also waved their fists and said, "Your teaching¡¯s great, Mr. Evans!"
And then Grant mumbled a bit, "Could be better without homework."
"I¡¯ll be coming back soon. Thank you all." Lucien did not encourage the students to fight against the school for him, since he did not want the students to be in trouble.
After a bit casual chatting, Heidi said to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, as students coming from the other side of the strait, we¡¯ve been feeling quite challenged in basic magic and arcana. So we wonder¡­ whether you would be willing to spend some time on tutoring us this month, Mr. Evans?"
"We can pay!" added Layria hurriedly. "Some of our experiment products were bought by the school, and we made some money from it!"
"Arcana tutoring?" Lucien was surprised, and felt this a bit strange.
However, the apprentices were pretty serious.
K decided to help the students, "They¡¯re hard-working and brave young men and ladies, Lucien. If you have time, maybe you can help them a bit, and when I¡¯m free, I can join you."
"I see¡­ then what about every Saturday afternoon?" After receiving K¡¯s help, Lucien also wanted to be nice to other people, "And there¡¯s no way that I¡¯m gonna charge you students. The tutoring is free. So¡­ who¡¯s in?"
"Me, me!" Heidi hurriedly raised her hand, followed by Layria and Annick.
Katrina¡¯s face blushed, but she was being quite decisive, "I¡¯m in, Mr. Evans."
Sprint¡¯s face also went red, including his ears, "Me¡­ too¡­"
As one of the leading students in the class, Grant smiled and said shyly, "Mr. Evans, I think I¡¯m fine so far."
The strange young girl was looking at Heidi, signalling to him.
Heidi hurriedly nodded and said to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, this¡¯s Chely, our roommate, from Sea Gull. She can¡¯t follow most of our courses, and she wants to join us as well."
"Chely¡­?" Lucien repeated the name a bit, as the name sounded very familiar to him, and the colour of the girl¡¯s hair was also very unique. If the girl was the same Chely that Lucien encountered on the ship, then the relationship between Viscount Wright and the congress would be very complicated.
It seemed that Chely understood why Lucien was a bit surprised, so she slightly nodded, "Yes." 
Chely was a quiet girl, so she did not say much.
Another example of a knight falling in love with a sorcerer, and although it was going to be very difficult, Lucien sincerely hoped that they would not copy Natasha and Silvia.
When Lucien agreed that Chely could also join them, Rock came back and said to him excitedly, "Lucien! Your paper has been cited by Mr. Brastar! Fernando Brastar! The grand arcanist! The first paper on Magic!"
Although Rock¡¯s expression was quite messy, all the teachers in the living room stood up out of great surprise, including Grant, who understood the importance of Magic and how influential Fernando was.
Even Lucien was very surprised, as his paper was published only a few days ago.
"This one!" Rock handed the journal to Lucien, "Take a look yourself!"
The first thing came into Lucien¡¯s eyes was the title - Discussion over the Application of Electromagnetic Wave, followed by the author¡¯s name and his rank - Fernando Brastar, grand arcanist, legendary class: level three, Lord of Storm.
The beginning of the paper did not comply with the standard format at all:
"My student Thompson is the member of Affairs Committee, and he found an interesting paper during his reviewing work, which conducted a series of simple experiments to study how bats use high frequency sound wave to sense things in darkness. When I read the paper, I was inspired, hence I developed this paper investigating some possible applications of electromagnetic wave from a broader perspective, and the differences in application between high and low frequency electromagnetic waves. Moreover, if sound wave can carry information, what about electromagnetic wave?"
Lucien was very impressed by the grand arcanist¡¯s great imagination. The grand arcanist got ahead of Lucien in investigating the field of application, and Lucien was about to use this to earn more credits later.
Lucien could already see the prosperous future of the application of electromagnetic wave.
After feeling impressed, Lucien suddenly felt unsafe with being directly mentioned by a grand arcanist in his paper. Without doubt, lots of unnecessary attention would come to him.

Chapter 201: Monitoring
				Chapter 201: Monitoring
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding the journal in his hand, Lucien was a bit lost in his own thoughts.
If anyone was interested in the young sorcerer who had no arcana level, and thus decided to investigate him in Sorcerer Administrative Department, the person would find out that the young sorcerer came from the continent and shared the same name with the great musician in Aalto.
It would be even worse if anyone in Allyn had ever seen Lucien in Aalto before, and if he was recognized by someone from the Hand of Paleness, it would definitely be a great trouble for him. Because of what happened in Djibouti, Lucien was afraid that many people would directly connect him to Professor.
Thinking of these, Lucien started feeling unsafe. He was regretful that he carelessly used his real name when he submitted the paper, as he never expected that his first paper ever would be cited by a grand arcanist and thus gained that much unnecessary attention. Now, he felt that he was standing under a giant spotlight.
He knew he was being overly relaxed and incautious ever since he arrived in Allyn. Again, he drew an important lesson from it.
In a couple of seconds, lots of thoughts flashed through Lucien¡¯s mind.
"Hey¡­ Hey!" Rock nudged Lucien lightly, "Are you being too excited?"
The last junior-rank sorcerer whose paper got cited by a grand arcanist was Ulysses when he was about twenty. Although Felipe¡¯s paper on the relation between cell memory and healing divine power spells won the Immortal Throne Award jointly set up by Colette Royal Magic Academy and the Hand of Paleness following Holm Crown Prize, at that time he was already a level two arcanist, third circle sorcerer. As a sorcerer having no arcana level, Lucien¡¯s achievement was definitely very impressive.
"Ah¡­ a bit¡­" Lucien forced a smile on his face. "Quite surprising¡­"
Then, Lucien hurriedly read through the paper from Lord of Storm, and he was deeply shocked with the grand arcanist¡¯s great intelligence:
"Summarizing all the experiments and statistics, we can draw the conclusion that electromagnetic wave can for sure be used in searching and locating, and it¡¯s much faster than high frequency sound waves. However, since the feedback is not clear enough, a special magic structure needs to be produced to filter and emphasize information received. The structure requires lots of calculation, thus I would consider this future magic as a forth of fifth circle spell, and here I name it beforehand - ¡®Eye of Thunder¡¯.
"At the same time, we can also see that when the vibration of electromagnetic wave reaches a higher frequency, with enough power and energy, internal molecular of the experiment target start colliding with each other and high heat is thus produced. This experiment phenomenon could be turned into another powerful spell to defeat someone who is skilled in defence from inside. I expect it to be a fifth or sixth circle magic, and following the tradition, I call it ¡®Fernando¡¯s Lightning Smelter¡¯.
"Improving the frequency to the next level, using the great heat produced in the reaction, another powerful magic can thus be created, which is also a fifth or sixth circle magic. I call it ¡®Invisible Crematory¡¯.
"If we wanted to improve the frequency to an even higher level, we would enter the field of light."
Lucien was very impressed, as the grand arcanist basically found all of the major applications of electromagnetic wave at different frequencies. If the grand arcanist had not stopped in front of the world of light, Lucien was sure that Fernando would come up with more spells!
Without doubt, grand arcanists were great geniuses. Even when they made mistakes, it was not because of their lack of intelligence, but very often they were deceived by their previous experiences, and as long as they were inspired, they would have the ability to change the world! 
"Bye bye¡­ my future arcana credits and points." Lucien sighed, "The grand arcanist did not leave me much to further explore in the application of electromagnetic wave."
Lucien handed the journal back to Rock.
When the other teacher started carefully reading the article, in the corner, Lucien was still bothered by the thought that his identity had already been exposed.
However, feeling anxious could not do much help. Right now the best solution for Lucien to take was to gain the attention of the Will of Element. If the Will of Element could see the great value in Lucien, they would definitely protect him to stand against the Hand of Paleness.
When Lucien came to himself, he saw Rock, Jerome, Vilnia and other people present were looking at him with a mixture of emotions. Only K was still reading the paper.
"Yes?" asked Lucien confusedly.
Vilnia frowned a bit and then put on a wry smile, "I can imagine what Beate and other sorcerers in the school of Electromagnetism would say. They will proudly announce that the future of the world is in the hand of Electromagnetism. However, it is you who inspired Mr. Fernando Brastar, the author of the great paper supporting their assertion¡­"
Lucien understood what she was trying to say. If felt that it was Lucien who handed the decisive weapon to win the battle to their enemies, but Lucien was also innocent.
The other teachers also felt the same way.
"I don¡¯t really mind it," said K in his low voice, trying to comfort his colleague. "Lucien did a great job, and the progress does not belong to a certain school, but to the whole congress. The truth of the world won¡¯t be changed by the meaningless arrogance of some people."
Jerome smiled, "Sorry, we just don¡¯t like people like Beate, and it¡¯s not your fault at all, Lucien."
"Come on, Lucien can publish more great papers exploring the world of elements as well!" Rock waved his arms and cheered up.
The teachers got more relaxed now, and they started discussing some related academic topics heatedly. The apprentices were listening to them carefully, as if they were enjoy some exciting stories.
When it was early afternoon, some teachers left Lucien¡¯s place, followed by the apprentices. Only Chely looked quite lost in her own thoughts.
"Hey, Chely. Time to go." Heidi patted her on the shoulder.
Chely suddenly came back to herself, and then she said shyly, "Watching Mr. Evans and the other teachers¡¯ discussion brought me back to the days when I watched my father discussing with his knights in our place. The teachers¡¯ conversation was passionate and insightful, and it¡¯s not like how people in Sturk describe sorcerers at all. Since the first day I arrived in Allyn, I am deeply touched by what I¡¯ve seen¡­ This place is like a dream, but I¡¯m also afraid¡­"
"Communication¡­" Lucien responded. "Communication¡¯s always very important when people face difficulties."
Lucien believed that if Natasha and Silvia could have communicated in a better way, they would not end up like that.
Chely nodded but still felt quite depressed.
Seeing this, Lucien walked to the piano sitting in the living room. It was the school who sent the piano, since Lucien was also teaching music.
The music Lucien started playing was very familiar to most Chinese kids - Two Tigers.
"Cheer up; Cheer up; little Chely, little Chely! The bell¡¯s ringing; the bell¡¯s ringing; Don¡¯t be late, Don¡¯t be late."
Lucien sang the young girl a cute song. A smile jumped on Chely¡¯s face, and Heidi, Layria and Annick behaved the same. The apprentices all burst out into laughter.
"Thank you, Mr. Evans. Your playing¡¯s wonderful." Chely stood up and said sincerely.
After the apprentices left Lucien¡¯s place happily, Lucien walked to his study with a smile on his face, however, he felt a bit stressed in his mind.
Since some elements here in this world were different from what he had learned in his original world, Lucien was now having a hard time grouping them in order. As he could not identify some of the elements, Lucien could only temporarily consider them as some strange isotopes, however, currently he could not go any further.
He must hurry. He must win enough attention from the Will of Elements.
Sitting in front of the pile of cards representing different elements, when Lucien was about to continue his research, he suddenly felt something hot in front of his chest.
The heat came from Sun¡¯s Corona! It was alerting Lucien that some undead creature was approaching him!
Lucien¡¯s facial expression did not change even in the slightest, but quickly he thought to himself,  "There must be some powerful undead thing staying right beside me¡­ but why it hasn¡¯t launched its attack? Is it trying to see what I am doing?"
Sun¡¯s Corona was the undeads¡¯ invincible opponent!

Chapter 202: The Power of Belief
				Chapter 202: The Power of Belief
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Since only one layer of the seal had been unlocked, right now Sun¡¯s Corona could only sense the very strong smell of the World of Souls, and the thing it sensed must be very powerful, which meant that a horrible undead was right now staring at Lucien.
However, Lucien stayed relatively calm, and when he secretly scanned the whole study, he found no one else but himself.
Although the winter sun was nice and warm, Lucien felt cold inside.
Trying his best to behave as usual, Lucien picked up a card and pretended that he was reading the notes about an element written on the card carefully.
Sun¡¯s Corona was getting hotter and hotter. Staring at the card, Lucien felt that there was a big white skull with bloody red-light eyes reading the notes right beside his face with him.
However, in the mirror, Lucien was the only one in the study.
Lucien wondered if this thing was sent by the Hand of Paleness, but he was also quite certain that they were still suspecting his relationship with Professor, instead of equating him directly with the mysterious sorcerer, or what he was facing now would be way more than just being watched. 
Although there were lots of thoughts going on in Lucien¡¯s mind, he did not show any different behavior. Like most researchers who were dedicated to their studies, Lucien kept working on his study over the elements.
In his mind, he knew that he really needed to hurry up and create his next arcana paper.
In the early evening, Lucien put down his cards and walked out of the study. The heat produced by Sun¡¯s Corona was now hard to notice, but still relatively warm, which meant that the creature was not leaving the place yet.
Lucien relaxed a little, as he knew that it was just watching him. The only thing he needed to do and could do now was act as normal as possible.
...
After dinner, Lucien came to the lab tower as usual. As soon as he entered the tower, the heat from Sun¡¯s Corona totally disappeared.
Lucien was very glad to see that the powerful magic circles protecting this tower could also prevent the undead from following him here.
At this time, K walked to him, "Lucien, I thought you wouldn¡¯t come here today."
"I¡¯m stronger than that." Lucien smiled, and then walked with K side by side, "By the way, what¡¯s your paper on this issue of Element, K? Sorry I forgot to ask you earlier."
K scratched his hair a bit and answered shyly, "It¡¯s about the phenomenon that elements always bond with fixed number of molecules in alchemical experiments. In other words¡­ something like valency put forward by Mr. Larry."
"That¡¯s the foundation of the school of Elements. Now I see why Mr. Larry appreciate your talent, K." Lucien sincerely nodded.
K was very shy. He did not respond but just smiled, lowering his head.
At this time, several people walked past and saw Lucien and K.
"Good evening, Mr. K, Mr. Evans." greeted an ordinary-looking, black-haired young man. Lucien was not sure if that was a smile on his face.
Keeping a poker face, K responded, "Good evening, Beate."
Then he turned around and walked upstairs to the fourth floor, followed by Lucien after a quick nod.
"You don¡¯t like us, Mr. Evans." Beate smiled, "It seems that you haven¡¯t realized what you did wrong."
K turned around again and said to him angrily, "You don¡¯t have to do this, Beate. Even if Lucien did break the rules, he¡¯s new here, and you could have talked to him first."
"Well¡­ well¡­ Our Mr. Nice¡¯s angry now. That¡¯s rare," said Beate¡¯s friend. Then, his long face looked more serious, "Mr. Evans needs to receive this lesson to realize how acceptable it is to break the school traditions here."
Before Lucien said anything, Beate cut in, "Now I don¡¯t care who broke the rules. The most important thing to me is the development of the school of electromagnetic wave. If you keep sticking to your wrong theories and believing that atoms are the basis of the world, K, I¡¯m afraid that your head is gonna explode as you think too hard, ha. Now we¡¯re gonna study the application of electromagnetic wave following Mr. Fernando, and good luck to you element guys."
Beate was usually not a very talkative person, but now he was feeling great, and so were his friends.
Lucien was pissed off, but there was nothing he could do right now. After they walked away, Lucien asked K confusedly, "K, what does that mean by¡­ one¡¯s head¡­ explodes?"
K answered in his low voice, which echoed in the space, "This is not a formal theory, and this¡¯s an assumption put forward by the president of the congress. He believes that one¡¯s meditative world is a reflection of one¡¯s own understanding of the nature of the world, and one¡¯s own ideas and knowledge.
Lucien nodded, and in his heart, he agreed with Mr. Douglas.
"In addition to the more than ten common meditations that suit most meditation environments, each of the other meditations has to work with its specific environment. If not, or if the environment is not stable enough, one¡¯s spiritual power is likely to explode, and that may do damage to one¡¯s soul and brain structure, or, directly blow up one¡¯s head," said K seriously. "If a sorcerer¡¯s belief was proved wrong by some new theory, and if he or she could not accept or understand the new one, his or her meditation environment could hardly change. As you may know, Lucien, changing one¡¯s ontology and understanding of the nature of the world can be very, very difficult, thus failing of adjusting oneself to new knowledge can greatly disturb a sorcerer¡¯s way of doing mediation and the stability of the mediation world. At the same time, losing confidence and belief is fatal to a sorcerer as well, consequently. People could die from it. Only few sorcerers can overcome this and come back to the right path."
Lucien was deeply shock. He could not understand why Felipe became that angry and emotional when Lucien synthesized carbamide right in front of him, but now he got to know the reason. Fortunately, his experiment was not able to fully overthrow the theory of Life Force, or he would have been killed by the crazy necromancers right on the spot.
Intelligent and hard-work as Felipe was, Lucien was sure that the necromancer belonged to the group of the few people who could switch their mindset fast enough, as mentioned by K. Lucien also guessed that Felipe was right now working on overthrowing the theory of Life Force himself in order to leave no chance to his enemies, which would make a huge difference.
No wonder the Hand of Paleness sent that powerful undead thing to watch Lucien.
Without noticing Lucien¡¯s reaction, K continued, "But all the existing theories are still under heated discussion and facing all kinds of criticism, hence they¡¯re not solid enough to completely destroy many sorcerers¡¯ beliefs. Therefore, spiritual power explosion was something very rare. Recently, however, in the past several great discussions, when electromagnetic induction was verified, a few senior and middle-rank sorcerers died as their beliefs were destroyed. It is said that recently when light was proved to be of the form of electromagnetic wave, several pastors in Holm got killed by the holy light in their bodies when they were praying. All those things prove that the president¡¯s assumption is correct, and people who can withstand those great shifts are going to become stronger."
"The development of arcana and magic comes with blood and tears." Lucien nodded, looking rather serious. He believed that the reason why he could change his meditation environment so easily was because he actually had the correct knowledge from his original world, but here he needed to verify this knowledge first.
"So, the biggest challenge for sorcerers here who originally followed the ancient magic system is that they have to switch their understanding of the world. Many of them don¡¯t accept it, and they can never make further progress," K nodded to Lucien. "But you¡¯re different, Lucien. You¡¯re not only growing together with the apprentices when you¡¯re teaching, but also even doing experiments to verify some of the arcana theories. You were born to be an arcanist, Lucien."
...
In the following month, under the watch of the Hand of Paleness, Lucien completed his verification experiments of the nature of all existing elements in this world. However, he did not show the correct order of his element cards in his study. In order to hide his findings, Lucien did the key part in the lab and his spirit library.
Then Lucien started to develop his second paper, and its title was:
The Periodic Relation between the Nature of Elements and Prediction of New Elements.

Chapter 203: Submission
				Chapter 203: Submission
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"The original purpose of me doing this research was very simple. As a beginner in arcana, I was seeking a method to better remember the atomic mass of each existing element, so I started playing with cards. I wrote down the features of the elements on the cards and put them in order.
"Surprisingly, during my practice, I found a periodic cycle of repetition of these elements, and the periodic cycle also exists in Valence, discussed in the latest issue of Element. My assumption is that the cycle is created by the mass of the atom, following the order from small to large, and I wondered whether the nature of an element is decided by the mass of its atom, as well as whether we can find more hiding elements following this order. In order to verify my assumption, I did a series of experiments."
This was the introduction part of Lucien¡¯s research. After verifying that elements in this world could also be arranged following a periodic table, Lucien was almost certain that these elements similarly also consisted of protons and electrons. However, he did not have solid evidence to prove it. Therefore, Lucien decided to stick to atomic mass so far, or people would find it very suspicious when a young sorcerer was exploring something beyond his arcana level. 
Following the introduction part, Lucian explained his methodology and theoretical framework for the arrangement, taking elements¡¯ physical and chemical properties, the nature of their compounds, as well as the nature of their alchemical products into consideration, and then he put forward a table listing sixty-five elements in order and summarized.
"In this periodic table, each vertical line of elements have similar characters."
...
"I left some table cells blank, as there is no proper elements to fill in. Here, I suggest two possible reasons: one is that the mass of some atoms are wrongly weighed, or they are new elements that have not been discovered by us yet."
...
"As for the new elements that have not been discovered, here my bold hypotheses is that they are aluminum-like element and silicon-like element, and they can be possibly found in¡­"
...
"Further researches need to be done for verification of my theories and assumptions."
Lucien put down his quill and read the paper several times. Then, after giving the parchment a slight blow, Lucien put it in his storage pouch.
Lucien did not expect that the mistakenly weighed elements could be identified and corrected soon by other sorcerers, as most of them were contributed by quite complicated reasons, such as those isotopes that could not be separated properly. Although Lucien had figured out these elements¡¯ true atom mass, he did not talk about it in this paper.
When he left the lab, it was totally dark outside as they were already in winter. Pocketing his hands in the jacket, Lucien walked back to his villa slowly, thinking of the next step of his plan.
At this time, someone behind him called his name, "Mr. Evans, are you ready for next week¡¯s teaching?"
It was Beate, who also just left the lab tower, and his tone was still not friendly.
"I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Beate." Lucien sent him back a calm smile, "I¡¯m not going back next Monday, and I already asked for the day off with the headmaster, as I need to renew my arcana badge on that day¡­ You know, to put some more credits and points on it. Since Mr. Fernando cited my paper, I¡¯ve got quite a few points now from other people citing me. Oh¡­ sorry, I forgot that you never experienced something like this."
Beate took a deep breath as his face turned purple, and then he said sarcastically, "You¡¯d better wish your good luck¡¯s always gonna be there then, Evans."
He was pissed off by Lucien¡¯s show-off. After saying that, Beate left by the side way in the garden.
Looking at Beate from behind, Lucien slightly shook his head. Compared with the undead thing, in Lucien¡¯s eyes, Beate was nothing important.
When Lucien came back to his place, his six students were still busy with doing their exercises. The lights in his place were all on, and in front of the apprentices, there were piles of paper.
"Mr. Evans¡­ Ah¡­ Good evening." The apprentices¡¯ eyes were red and their faces blushed as they were thinking so hard.
Lucien nodded, smiling, "How¡¯s everything going?"
"The questions are super difficult!" Heidi hurriedly answered, looking quite emotional.
The other apprentices all agreed.
"Those questions all require some skills in thinking." Lucien grinned, "Do it smart, not do it hard. All right¡­ Let¡¯s call it a day. Take the rest as the homework for this week and give it back to me next Saturday."
Hearing that they were okay to leave, the apprentices were all quite happy and excited. While some showed their excitement right away, some tried to hide it.
Pretending that he did not see the students¡¯ reaction, Lucien asked the housemaid to walk the young kids out.
When they passed through the gate of the villa, the apprentices looked back. The villa in the darkness was like a hiding monster, waiting for its prey.
Heidi shivered slightly and looked at the test paper in her hand, "It¡¯s almost too much for me¡­ I¡¯m feeling a bit regretful now for seeking Mr. Evans¡¯ tutoring."
"Mr. Evans¡¯ method works well, though." Surprisingly, it was Sprint who made this comment, "We¡¯re not real sorcerers yet. We should work hard like this. And Mr. Evans is a great teacher."
Katrina and Annick nodded beside him.
Heidi whined, "I know¡­ I know¡­ But I just want to have a real weekend! Mr. Evans is such a demon. I like him, I respect him, but I also hate him."
No one opposed this comment from Heidi.
...
On Monday morning, at nine, a coach slowly stopped in front of the headquarter of the Congress of Magic.
Wearing white shirt, dark brown vest, and long black jacket, Lucien put on his black top hat and stepped on the stairs calmly. As soon as he got off the coach, the undead creature totally disappeared.
When Lucien walked past the gate, Prospell greeted him in a dull tone, "Welcome¡­ You¡¯d receive my warmest welcome if you made a female tower Djinni."
Lucien did not respond, as Prospell said the same to every single sorcerer who passed this gate.
He went straight to zone four, to the Sorcerer Administrative Department.
Seeing Lucien, Cindy was a bit surprised. As she winked her beautiful brown eyes, she said to Lucien half joking and half complaining, "I wonder who¡¯s this gentleman¡­ Ah, this is Mr. Evans, who was absent for a whole month!"
As Lucien was still in Allyn, Cindy felt that, as friends, they should see each other more frequently.
"Wow¡­ This is our famous Mr. Evans, whose paper was cited by Mr. Fernando!" Dona also welcomed Lucien in a bit joking manner, "We¡¯re so lucky that you still remember us!"
Lucien smiled nicely and also felt a bit sorry, "I¡¯ve been overwhelmed in this past month, mostly developing papers. Please, don¡¯t make fun of me, ladies. By the way, is Lazar here today?"
Seeing that Lucien was still this easygoing as usual, Cindy and Dona cheered up, and they hurriedly shared with Lucien what happened in the past month in the congress.
Lazar was in Rentato now, preparing an upcoming conference of the Will of Elements in next month. The grand arcanist, Mr. Brook, who proved that light was actually a kind of electromagnetic wave, recently won his third Silver Moon Medal, jointly awarded by Brianna Royal Magic Academy, Moonsong League and Tower, which was the highest award in the school of Electromagnetics, Light-darkness and Astrology.
Besides Holm Crown prize in the school of Element and Alchemy, Immortal Throne Award in Necromancy, Silver Moon Medal in the school of Electromagnetics, Light-darkness and Astrology, there was also Sorcerer Laurel, established by Calais Magic Academy and Family of Sorcerer in traditional Transformation, Illusion and Summoning, Ice & Snow Medal set up by the far northland and the Cabin of Palmeira, and Arcana Staff founded by Tower to recognize one¡¯s achievement in Field Force, Astrology and Mathematics.
These awards all appeared following Holm Crown prize, and the congress only played a role of supervision there.
After chatting a bit with Cindy and Dona, Lucien got to know some latest news of the congress. Then he visited Eric¡¯s office.
There was an imperceptible smile on Eric¡¯s face, "Evans, you must be here to renew your badge."
Lucien nodded and smiled, "Yes, please, Mr. Eric, but before that, I also have something else to do. First, I want to submit my arcana paper, and second, I¡¯d like to take the assessment of basic arcana."
Eric was not surprised that Lucien had already come up with his second paper. In his eyes, the young man would definitely work even harder after his first paper was cited by the grand arcanist.
However, he was very surprised to know that it was an arcana paper, and Lucien was already prepared to take the test, "Really? Are you sure? As a beginner in arcana¡­?"
"Three months," Lucien said confidently. "I feel I¡¯m quite talented with arcana. And after all, Mr. Brook passed his test when he was only eleven."
"At that time, Mr. Brook had already studied arcana for two years, not three months!"
"I have solid foundation of magic theory, and I¡¯ve got cognitive competence as an adult." Lucien smiled, "And I know how to study."
Eric¡¯s light gray eyes stared at Lucien seriously. Seeing that Lucien was this confident, he finally nodded, "All right, then. We¡¯ll see if you can pass the test."
Before they headed for the test room, Eric sent Lucien¡¯s arcana paper to the board using the iron cage again in his office.
...
The same spacious room, the same bells ringing.
"Necromancy¡­ To Mr. Pesor and Ms. Tina-Timos¡­
"Element¡­ To Mr. Gaston and Mr. Overee.
...
Then, in a room where there were lots of bottles of purified elements, an Earth Elemental picked up Lucien¡¯s paper and quickly scanned it, "The Periodic Relation between the Nature of Elements and Prediction of New Elements¡­ Hum¡­ again, periodic relation¡­" murmured it. "No arcana level¡­ Let me not bother Mr. Gaston then¡­ Probably Mr. Larry¡¯s available right now."
...
When Larry got the several papers for that day, after a quick glance at the papers, the man with rough yellow beard did not read them immediately but put them aside casually.
"Mathew, pick them up in three days."
The brown owl named Mathew nodded and then flew away.

Chapter 204: Comments
				Chapter 204: Comments
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sorcerer Administrative Department.
"All A+¡­?" Eric looked the young and good-looking man from head to toe several times, and said incredibly, "How¡¯s that possible¡­? Your reasoning ability and your arcana way of thinking are similar to that of a middle-rank arcanist. Did you really just start three months ago?"
"I swear, Mr. Eric." Lucien grinned.
"I trust you, Evans." Eric rubbed his face a bit with his right hand, "There¡¯s no way one could cheat in this test, unless they had some legendary level magic item. So, Evans, here I announce that you have passed the test. After the department director signs it, you will get one basic arcana credit. Please wait a little."
There was one main director and three vice directors in Sorcerer Administrative Department, and the main director was also the member of Affairs Committee.
Watching Eric sending the test result to the director, Lucien asked expectantly, "Mr. Eric, when do you think I can get the result of my arcana paper?"
Calm as Lucien was, he still definitely looked forward to it.
Undoubtedly, the periodic table of the elements played a very important role in the whole history of science development, symbolizing the end of human being¡¯s disorganized exploration of elements, and it inspired countless further important studies.
Moreover, what was hidden behind the periodic order was an amazing, unimaginable, brand new area. In-depth study in this field could greatly shake the past knowledge of physics in Lucien¡¯s original world, and might also overturn some major theories currently supported by the congress.
Therefore, it was not improper to compare the periodic table of the elements to the cornerstone and the throne in the world of element study. However, important as it was, when Mendeleev first put it forward in Lucien¡¯s original world, no one paid attention to his research, and people even commented that his work was a total waste of time, including his teacher. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the importance of his work was finally commonly acknowledged, Mendeleev still failed to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry by one vote.
Thinking of this, Lucien was inevitably a little nervous. He knew that his paper required the support of further researches, to be done by other sorcerers.
If no one was interested in his research, or the theories that Lucien brought from his original world did not work here in this magical world, his work would never pay off.
Even if there were arcanists who could see the importance of his finding, verification still needed time, but Lucien needed attention from the Will of Elements right now, or before that, he would be killed by some powerful group, say, the Hand of Paleness.
The best way to get enough feedback as soon as possible was to publish his paper on a very influential journal, but before that, the paper needed to get through the review of the board.
"It depends¡­" Eric answered, "For an arcana paper, I would say that it varies between three days to a week or even a month. Your last paper was an exception, Evans. But there¡¯s nothing to worry about as well, as your paper will be saved by the board, and no one could take your research result."
"I see¡­" Lucien nodded. In a short period of time, Lucien believed that he was still safe, and the undead thing would not easily attack him. Although he did plan to somehow borrow the power of the congress to find who sent this thing to watch him, Lucien decided to be more cautious as he was still very new here.
A while later, the document signed by the director was sent back. Eric then renewed both of Lucien¡¯s arcana badge and magic badge.
"Evans, you¡¯ve got your basic arcana credit, while at the same time, in the latest issue of the journals, a total of nine papers cited your experiment and research result, including the one from Mr. Fernando, so that¡¯s a total of nine arcana credits." Eric looked at Lucien¡¯s arcana badge and said, "Now in total, you have seventeen arcana credits. Congratulations, Evans, you¡¯re a level one arcanist now."
Eric shook hands with Lucien, and handed Lucien¡¯s arcana badge back to him.
There was a shining silver star on the black badge, looking mysterious.
Then, Eric gave Lucien¡¯s magic badge back to him, "Because Lord of Storm cited your paper, many arcanists are interested in studying your new magic. As it is an apprentice level magic, you get one point for each exchange. In total, you¡¯ve got seven hundred and sixty-nine arcana points. Good for you, Evans."
Lucien was very surprised with the points he had earned. He knew that this number meant that close to one tenth of the sorcerers in Allyn bought his magic!
The grand arcanist was definitely influential. As a teacher in Douglas, Lucien had to at least work for six or seven years to earn this many points.
As soon as Lucien got excited, he realized that when he stepped out of this building, the undead thing would be following and watching him around again, so he quickly calmed down.
Wearing his new badges, Lucien came back to the department hall.
Cindy and Dona congratulated Lucien sincerely and felt surprised that he became a level one arcanist so fast.
After having lunch with Cindy and Dona, Lucien went back to Douglas to wait for the review result of his paper.
...
On the fourteenth floor of Affairs Committee, in an exclusive lounge.
Holding a glass of wine with his pale hand, Rogerio was quietly listening to the report of the tall undead spectre.
The spectre was wearing a black robe with a hood, which was different from the ancient style, and there were many mysterious white patterns on it. The eyes of the half-transparent spectre were shining with intimidating red light, and it¡¯s thin skin was deadly pale.
"Adol, so you¡¯re saying that Lucien¡¯s just a normal, hard-working sorcerer, and he¡¯s not seeing anyone who¡¯s suspicious?" Rogerio¡¯s tone speaking to the spectre was relatively respectful, as if the spectre was not something he summoned, but his partner.
"That¡¯s right." Adol¡¯s hood moved slightly, "His current research interest is elements, and he has just passed his basic arcana test. I did not find anyone else who was secretly watching or protecting him. You can trust my ability of traveling between the two worlds, Mr. Rogerio. No one except legendary sorcerers or level nine cardinals could sense my existence."
"I see¡­ It¡¯s getting more complicated now." Rogerio¡¯s left hand covered his right hand holding the glass, "Maybe the Will of Elements is using Lucien Evans to distract us, or how would this new sorcerer dare to use his original name in Allyn¡­ It seems that we need to do something now, in order to make some progress¡­"
...
Larry¡¯s study.
Larry did not stop his own work until the owl, Mathew, came to remind him that it was close to the deadline of reviewing the several papers sent to him a couple of days ago.
As he was reading the papers, Larry found a familiar name, Lucien Evans, but after taking a second look, he noticed that the author was actually Lucien Evans X.
Because of the name, Larry started reading Lucien¡¯s paper carefully.
In Larry¡¯s eyes, although the periodic table of elements put forward by this Lucien Evans X was quite clear, nothing could verify whether the table was right or wrong unless some new elements were discovered. The discussion and exploration of the periodic order among elements was not something new, and the previous guesses had all proved to be wrong later.
As a level five arcanist specializing in the school of Element, when Lucien boldly pointed out that the measurement of some elements could be wrong because they did not fit the table, Larry slightly frowned, as Larry himself actually did some of the weighing several times and he found no error there.
Larry was about to directly fail this paper, but with a second thought, he murmured, "I should verify the rest of the atomic weighs as well. Now I¡¯m preparing the paper for the next month¡¯s conference in Rentato¡­ I¡¯d better write this down and do it when I¡¯m back¡­"
Then Larry started to write down his comment on Lucien¡¯s paper.
At the same time, in another place, Timothy, a level four arcanist and a fifth circle sorcerer, who was the student of the seventh circle sorcerer, Overee, was also working on his comment for this paper.
...
Three days later, Lucien asked for a leave again from the school and came to the Sorcerer Administrative Department. Eric was not here today, and Lucien visited a plump lady named Lucy, who was a level three arcanist, forth circle sorcerer.
"Ms. Lucy, I submitted my paper several days ago, and I wonder if the result is available now?" asked Lucien politely.
Although there was no smile on Lucy¡¯s face, she had no intention to give Lucien a hard time. She nodded and took out a folder, "First, the paper passed the review. According to Mr. Gaston and Mr. Overee, the paper put forward a new periodic table of elements for further exploration of new elements and boldly pointed out the possible mistakes that might exist in the measurement of atomic weight, however, at the same time, there is no solid evidence supporting that the author¡¯s assumption is valid. As a paper worth of further discussion, one arcana credit and one arcana point is given."
Although Lucien was relatively prepared, he found the result still quite disappointing, or say, ridiculous. He believed that this paper would be of great importance in the history of magic and the school of Element, but this paper only earned him one credit.

Chapter 205: Invitation from Woods
				Chapter 205: Invitation from Woods
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Congratulations, Mr. Evans. You are the only junior-level arcanist I know whose first two papers passed the board¡¯s review," said Lucy politely.
Lucien had to admit that he was already lucky that this paper could be approved by the board. If he had not attached his experiment report in the end of his paper, the board members might have directly rejected the paper. Now that the paper had passed the review, Lucien needed to find ways to help it get more attention.
This required that other arcanists could discover new elements following the ideas in his paper. Lucien tried to elaborate the ideas as clear as possible. He suggested to use spectrum analysis to study the aluminum-like element and to discover silicon-like element by investigating certain alchemical reaction, and Lucien even included the possible character of some mineral substances.
To have more arcanists who were interested in the paper, and to verify its correctness, Lucien needed to let more arcanists read this paper, and he would also conduct further experiments himself. Lucien was hoping that more sorcerers and arcanists would carefully recheck the ores they had.
Among all the influential journals, the ones which accepted papers of the school of Element were Arcana, Element, Alchemy, Holm Journal, Colette Arcana Theory and Common Arcana. However, among them, only Arcana, Element, Alchemy and Common Arcana accepted individual contribution.
Lucien would not consider other journals since they were not influential enough, and his ideal journal was of course Arcana, although he knew that his chances there were slim to none. Nevertheless, Lucien still wanted to give it a try.
"Thank you, Ms. Lucy." Lucien nodded and then left the office.
After chatting a bit with Cindy and Dona, Lucien got to know where the headquarter of the journal, Arcana, was. It was on the tenth floor.
Taking the magic elevator, Lucien stood on the silver round platform and smoothly rose up. Staring at the main hall down there, Lucien felt nervous and expectant.
When the elevator reached the ninth floor, Lucien pressed the button covered with yellow and green light. Then the silver platform started absorbing the light.
When the light was gone, the silver platform suddenly shook a bit and then stopped at the tenth floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, Lucien came to the main hall on this floor - the reception hall of the journal, Arcana.
The hall was grand but also quiet. The floor was paved with fine tiles.
Lucien walked to the reception desk, behind which there was a lady and a man. Lucien asked them politely, "Excuse me¡­ I wonder how I can submit my paper here?"
The man stopped talking to the beautiful lady and turned to Lucien. After checking the badges Lucien was wearing, he looked serious, "May I ask if it¡¯s your own paper? Or your friend¡¯s or teacher¡¯s paper?"
Both the man and the lady were wearing two-star arcana badges, their own nameplates, but no magic badge. Here in this place, everything was about arcana.
"Mr. Garvin, it¡¯s my own paper." Lucien took a glance at his nameplate. The name, Garvin, was even more common than Lucien.
Garvin looked even more serious, and he said cut and dry, "Sorry, sir. We do not accept contribution from junior-rank arcanists."
"Is that right?" Lucien insisted, "I did not find this rule in the contribution regulation of Arcana."
Garvin was slightly pissed off. Although the journal did not make this rule explicit, the requirement did exist. In Garvin¡¯s eyes, there was no way that a junior-rank arcanist could compete with other senior-rank arcanists or even grand arcanists.
"We did publish several papers from junior-rank arcanists before, but all these papers, when they were passing through the review of the board, were all rated as of great significance, and then we sent them our contribution invitation letters," explained the lady beside Garvin. "We never accepted any individual junior-rank arcanist¡¯s contribution."
"But I¡¯m not breaking the rules, right?" Lucien did not give up easily, "At least Arcana should review my paper first. If my paper was not qualified and thus got rejected, I would be totally fine with it."
"Then, sir, give me your paper, and since we¡¯re only on the fourth day of the month, you¡¯ll know the result right away," said Garvin swiftly, as he was already fed up with talking to Lucien.
"Thank you, sir." Lucien handed his paper to Garvin.
As soon as Garvin got his paper, he walked away and came to a quiet and empty corridor. Then, he started reading Lucien¡¯s paper.
He was going to check Lucien¡¯s paper himself first. If he could not be certain of the actual value of this paper, he would send it to the reviewing department, but otherwise he would directly turn the paper down himself.
At the very beginning, Garvin was reading very carefully, as the periodic table of elements looked very persuasive, but later, he sneered,
"Kidding¡­ the atomic weight of Termirick is wrong? It was already corrected by several senior-rank arcanists several years ago, using different experiment methods. I can¡¯t believe this paper even passed the review of the board¡­"
Termirick was an special composition element of soul.
Garvin stopped reading and came back to Lucien. As he handed the paper back to Lucien, he said, "The arcanist who reviewed your paper could not see any value in your paper, as the paper is full of problems! He could not even see how the paper passed the review!"
Lucien puckered his mouth a bit and knew that he had tried his best. He had no choice but to go back to the first floor, and there he sent his paper to the headquarter of Element in Rentato.
...
As Garvin said, at the beginning of month, the journals were not very busy. Three days later, Lucien received the letter from Element.
It was on Saturday, and the apprentices were studying in his place. After giving them more exercises to do, Lucien stood in the corner and opened the letter.
"Mr. Lucien Evans X,
"Your paper is worth of further discussion, but since there will be a conference in Rentato at the beginning of next month, our journal is going to publish all the conference papers. Therefore, we are sorry to inform you that we cannot publish your paper.
"Element, Friend of All Elemental and Alchemical Sorcerers,
"Jan. 6th, 817"
It was Lucien¡¯s first rejection letter, and it was quite polite. Lucien knew that the conference was mainly their excuse, or the the journal would offer to publish the paper on the next issue.
Lucien had been through quite some difficulties recently, after the new year, so he carefully checked his Host Star of Destiny, but found it still remained quite blurry.
After assigning the apprentices with more work to do, Lucien headed for the headquarter of the congress and there he submitted his paper to Alchemy.
This time, the reviewing was much slower. Two weeks later, after Lucien¡¯s failed experiments of discovering new elements had cost him two hundred points, he finally received the letter from Alchemy.
However, it was still a rejection letter. The journal even told Lucien not to submit this paper again as Lucien¡¯s argument about atomic weight did not make sense.
Holding the rejection letter, Lucien felt a bit nervous. He was running out of time. If he could not publish the paper soon, Lucien would need to wait for another month.
Then, he visited the headquarter of Common Arcana in Allyn, and, for the third time, directly submitted the paper.
To his surprise, four days after, he received neither a rejection letter, nor an acceptance letter, but an invitation from a level four arcanist named Woods.
...
The headquarter of Common Arcana, in a bright office.
"I¡¯m one of the reviewers of your bat experiment paper, Evans, and it was me who sent that invitation letter to you," said Woods sitting in the chair, smiling. Woods had light yellow, handlebar mustache.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Woods, for speaking highly of my paper. Otherwise, my paper would never be noticed by a grand arcanist," said Lucien sincerely.
"Then, that would be the great loss of the whole congress." Woods nodded kindly, "Mr. Fernando has already come up with the basic model of Thunder Eye, Fernando¡¯s Lightning Smelter and Invisible Crematory. The three spells are amazing and powerful. As the models are still very complicated, Mr. Fernando is right now working on simplifying them."
Lucien¡¯s success also earned Woods great reputation, so Woods was really fond of Lucien.
"The grand arcanist is surely very intelligent." Lucien stayed humble, "Mr. Woods¡­ the reason you asked me to come here¡­ is it because of my new paper?"
"Yes, that¡¯s right," said Woods. "I¡¯ve read your paper, and it is worth of further discussion. If it didn't contain so much of your personal assumptions, the paper would be outstanding."
Having Lucien¡¯s paper in front of him, Woods politely pointed out the parts that he did not agree on.
"Even though," Woods continued, "it is still a good paper, and it offers arcanists a new perspective. So Lucien, are you okay with publishing the paper on our next month¡¯s issue? For this month, the papers are all set."
Apparently, Woods decided to publish this paper because of his appreciation of Lucien. And the reason he asked Lucien to come to his office was because he wanted Lucien to know who was helping him and who he should feel grateful towards. If one day, say, Lucien became the student of Lord of Storm, that would be a successful investment for Woods.
But on next month¡¯s issue? Lucien was a bit hesitant.

Chapter 206: Persistence
				Chapter 206: Persistence
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
For other people, publishing a paper on this or on the next issue of a journal might not make any difference, as long as the journal itself was influential enough. However, for Lucien, the reason why he forced himself to complete this paper at the beginning of this month was that he wanted it to be read by most arcanists as soon as possible.
"Any chances that my paper can still be published on this month¡¯s issue?" Lucien was still looking for some hope, "What about putting my paper at the end?"
"I¡¯m sorry, Evans, but I can¡¯t. We¡¯ve already informed the sorcerers that we¡¯re gonna publish their papers,"said Woods decisively. Although he thought Lucien was a promising young man, it was not enough for him to run the risk of pissing off other more important sorcerers because of a level one arcanist.
Lucien¡¯s back was straight, and there was still a smile on his face, "Mr. Woods, I know you¡¯re still feeling hesitant with my paper, but I hope the appendix of my experiments¡¯ record at the end of the paper can make the paper more persuasive. Although I haven¡¯t been able to prove that all the atomic weight of the several elements mentioned in my paper are wrong, my experiments¡¯ results have showed that some are definitely not accurate, as implied in my periodic table."
Woods shook his head, "Even if your experiments could prove that, there¡¯s still not enough evidence showing that your paper is reliable. I¡¯m sure that several of your assumptions are not correct."
In Woods¡¯ eyes, this paper was like one of the many papers from before, that studied the order between the elements. There was nothing special here in Lucien¡¯s paper.
"Maybe it¡¯s because¡­" Lucien stopped himself from calling these elements isotopes, but said it in a more implicit way, "because of some reasons that we haven¡¯t discovered yet, thus we¡¯re not able to measure the elements properly using our existing methods¡­"
A pair of isotopes were two elements with the same number of protons, but different number of neutrons. As they were similar in nature, isotopes could be quite confusing. However, Lucien didn't dare to put forward the concept thoughtlessly, as the understanding of elements in this world was still at the stage of atoms.
"You¡¯re a level one arcanist, Evans," said Woods. "Those who measured the elements were arcanists of at least level five."
What Woods was trying to say was very obvious.
"Then¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Woods, I¡¯m afraid I need to turn Common Arcana down, as I believe in my research." Lucien bowed to Woods politely.
Woods did not feel offended, as he had seen many young people stubborn, or say, persistent, just like Lucien Evans. So he stood up from his chair and said, "I don¡¯t blame you, Evans, but if you cannot find other journals to accept the paper, you¡¯re always welcome here."
Lucien picked up his paper on the table and nodded sincerely, "Thank you very much, Mr. Woods."
He knew that he still had one last option, and that was taking the risk of seeking help from Holm Royal Magic Academy and the Will of Elements using the ring. After all, he was being quite suspicious in the eyes of the Hand of Paleness anyway, and of course, no one knew what would happen if Lucien decided to do this.
Now, Lucien was even a bit taller. Wearing black top hat and long coat, his persistent look left Woods with a deep impression.
...
Around ten days ago.
On the fourteenth floor of the magic tower, in an exclusive lounge.
Looking at the paper in his hand, Rogerio smiled and shook his head, "Young people are really full of the spirit of challenging authority. They¡¯re brave, fearless, and crazy."
Although Rogerio did not know what Lucien was doing in the past month very accurately, since Adol could not follow Lucien everywhere, he knew that Lucien¡¯s recent paper passed the review of the board but was rejected by some journals. So he went to Common Arcana Library and bought a copy of the paper.
It did not take Rogerio long before he stopped reading the paper, since he was one of the arcanists who measured Termirick. At that time, he adopted several different measures to come to the result, and the result was supported by several influential arcanists, so he never doubted his research outcome.
Putting down the paper, Rogerio¡¯s fingers were tapping the desk. He was considering how to let Lucien show up in front of some middle-rank sorcerers in the Will of Elements, so he could watch their reactions if they recognized Lucien to find more about this mysterious newcomer.
...
Before heading to the branch of Royal Bank of Holm in Allyn, which, according to what Natasha mentioned to him before, was the highest bank in this world, Lucien came back to the school first. As once he showed the ring to the Will of Elements, he might not be able to come back very soon, therefore, he needed to inform his friends, students and the schoolmaster in advance.
"Did your paper get accepted?" Rock, Jerome and K asked Lucien as soon as he came back to school.
They knew that Lucien¡¯s second paper had been rejected by Alchemy and Element.
"No¡­" Lucien put on a calm smile, "It¡¯s turned down by Common Arcana as well."
"Come on¡­ Then why they invited you there?!" Rock was a bit angry.
Jerome took a glance at Rock to stop him, and then he comforted Lucien a bit.
When Lucien was about to find a some excuses for a short-time absence, K said to him, "Evans, I know an arcanist who¡¯s one of the editors of Element, and his name¡¯s Igna. He¡¯s a nice person, and I¡¯m thinking whether you¡¯re willing to go to Rentato with me, so we can have dinner together."
Although K was not sure whether this would work, he still offered his help. K hoped that someone could carefully read his colleague¡¯s paper again without any biases.
Lucien was very surprised, but very quickly Lucien took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, K! I¡¯m leaving for Rentato with you!"
Lucien wouldn¡¯t let any opportunities slip away.
...
After lunch, Woods took a little break, and then he walked into his lab in the magic tower vigorously. The following two hours was his own experiment time, and it wouldn¡¯t be disturbed by any of his work.
Somehow, when Woods turned on the alchemical circles and was about to continue yesterday¡¯s experiment, Lucien¡¯s words appeared his mind, and he picked up a bottle of purified element in front of him.
"He was being quite stubborn¡­ Maybe I can take a look if the measurement is right¡­ Anyway, it won¡¯t take too much work." Woods murmured to himself.
If he could find any mistakes in the current record of atomic weight of the elements, he would still be getting quite some credits.
According to the regulation of the congress, as for basic statistic such as atomic weight of an element, the first sorcerer who correctly measured it and the following five sorcerers who proved the statistic was right shared the total citation credits by a ratio of 3: 2: 2: 1: 1: 1 within one year.
As an experienced middle-rank sorcerer, as expected, Woods finished his first experiment measuring the atomic weight of one element that was pointed out in Lucien¡¯s paper that was measured wrongly.
"Umm¡­ Evan¡¯s right with this one. There is some slight mistakes in the previous method of the atomic weight." Woods nodded.
After using two other methods, Woods was sure that the previous measuring way was not right, and Lucien was right.
Then Woods continued to measure other elements.
As time went by, his face looked more and more surprised. If one right answer could be just Lucien¡¯s good luck, he did not know how to explain why the following experiment results all proved that Lucien was right, as they fit in his periodic table of elements perfectly.
Lucien¡¯s persistent look and what he said appeared in Woods¡¯ mind again.
Hurriedly, Woods stopped walking back and forth in the lab and rushed into this office. He quickly picked up a quill and started writing,
"Dear Lucien Evans,
"We think your paper is of great value, and we hope that Common Arcana can publish your paper on this month¡¯s issue..."
Suddenly, he stopped writing, balled the paper up and threw it into the waste basket. Grabbing his coat and hat, Woods rushed downstairs.
"To Douglas," said Woods to the coachman.
Flying was forbidden in Allyn.

Chapter 207: Another Invitation
				Chapter 207: Another Invitation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
At the beginning of the first month of the year, the Month of Beginning, while the cold weather was still dominating Allyn, the trees around Douglas still looked dark green.
In front of the black iron gate of ancient style, Woods asked the gatekeeper eagerly, "I¡¯m Woods, from Common Arcana, and I am a friend of the headmaster. I¡¯m looking for Mr. Lucien Evans."
"We have two Mr. Lucien Evans here, but neither of them is in the school right now," answered the gatekeeper, an iron golem, in a mechanical manner, "They left for Rentato together."
"Then when did they leave and when they¡¯ll be coming back? I mean¡­ I¡¯m looking for Lucien Evans X, when will he be coming back?" Woods hurriedly explained, "Why they¡¯re headed for Rentato?"
"They left about an hour ago," said the iron golem. "No idea when they¡¯ll be back."
Hearing the gatekeeper¡¯s answer, Woods pressed his black top hat a bit annoyedly, as he knew that Lucien would be already in Rentato by now. As the capital of Holm, Rentato was a big and a very busy city, which meant that his magic could not really help him find Lucien with limited information.
"If Mr. Evans X is back, please tell him that Common Arcana wishes to publish his paper on this month¡¯s issue, and we¡¯re eagerly looking forward to his reply. If he doesn¡¯t mind, we want to invite him to visit our headquarter again." In the cold wind, as Woods was speaking, his breaths produced white gas in the air.
Then, he went back to his coach and left.
...
Rentato, on the second floor of the restaurant called Oak.
In the vip room, Lucian looked through the window at the beautiful night with countless snowflakes falling down from the sky, and watched the people walking by in the snow. Some of them were in a hurry, some were walking slowly side by side, some were trying to catch some snowflakes, and others bent over to make some snowballs...
Igna, a tall and thin level four arcanist, fifth circle elemental sorcerer, was sitting opposite to him. He had defined facial features and some white hair above both sides of his ears.
If K had not told Lucien first, Lucien would think Igna was fifty something, however, in fact, Igna was well over a hundred years old.
When Igna was seventy, he spent all his savings on some very expensive magic rite and expanded his life. It looked like now he was doing pretty good, despite the fact that he had already been staying at middle-rank stage for sixty years.
"Cheers, for our wonderful dinner." Igna raised his glass, as his light brown eyes first looked at Lucien, and then K.
After finishing his drink, K excused himself and went to the restroom. Apparently, he did not do well with alcohol.
After K left, Igna looked at Lucien and said, "Evans, I¡¯ve read your paper before dinner, and I gotta say that this paper has both advantages and disadvantages, and it¡¯s definitely insightful. Unfortunately, Element this month cannot accept any more papers except those ones from the conference."
Before Lucien opened his mouth, Igna gently shook his glass and added, "However, as K is gonna be Mr. Larry¡¯s student soon, and because Mr. Larry and I are good friends, I have to do something for you, young man. So I¡¯m planning on suggesting to Mr. Rava, the chief-editor of Element, to make this month¡¯s issue a special edition, so we can still accept papers from elsewhere. I¡¯m not sure whether he will listen to me though. Obviously, it¡¯s not easy."
Hearing that, Lucien found his hope again, but he felt that Igna was implying something to him.
As he expected, Igna looked outside of the window and sighed, "Being young is surely nice, especially in an old man¡¯s eyes. Now I have very slight hope in further upgrading myself with coming up with some groundbreaking papers, but some powerful ancient rites might still be able to help me. However, the materials required by these rites are very, very expensive."
Then he stopped but started sipping the wine with a smile on his face.
Lucien understood that he needed to pay for what he was asking for, so he said carefully, "Sometimes getting some arcana points isn¡¯t very difficult, and sometimes we just need some good luck¡­ Say, I earned quite a few points with my last paper."
Igna took a glance at Lucien satisfactorily, "Such a good young man, and I¡¯m falling behind now¡­ I¡¯m still struggling with the last three hundred arcana points to buy Crown Stone."
"I venture to ask¡­" said Lucien, trying not to feel disgusted with himself, "if you¡¯re willing to accept my points, Mr. Igna? I don¡¯t want to see a great sorcerer be bothered by money and thus not be able to go further."
Lucien knew that publishing his paper on Element could bring him a way better chance than on Common Arcana.
"Then wish both of us success." Igna elegantly raised his glass again and smiled.
K was happy to see that Igna and Lucien had a great conversation when he came back.
...
Maybe it was because Igna was really doing his job, or maybe it was because Element was already preparing a special edition, when Lucien and K were about to leave the hotel on the next day, Lucien received the letter from Element, informing that his paper had been chosen.
"Thank you, K. Without your help, there¡¯s no way that I could publish my paper." Lucien thanked K sincerely on the platform.
K scratched his hair a bit shyly, "Your paper¡¯s valuable."
He could not make his comment more specifically, as he never read anyone¡¯s paper before it was published.
"Yeah¡­ three hundred points¡­" Lucien thought to himself, but as long as the paper could be read by other arcanists as soon as possible, Lucien knew it was worth it.
"You¡¯re not coming back with me?" asked Lucien, as he was going back to Douglas to continue his experiments.
K shook his head, and he looked a bit sad, "I¡¯ve already left the school, actually, and before I become Mr. Larry¡¯s student, I need to go back to Granlin to get something done first, my hometown."
Granlin was the most remote one among the eight counties of Holm.
"I see. I bet we¡¯ll see each other again very soon." Lucien nodded, "Do you need any help when you¡¯re back?"
K shook his head, "Nothing big."
"Alright¡­ If you need any help, K, just send me a letter," said Lucien. Seeing the train coming, Lucien waved to him.
Before K got on the train, Lucien said to him vaguely, "When you have the time¡­ you probably want to measure some elements again¡­"
K was quite confused, but he still nodded before he left.
...
In the headquarter of Common Arcana.
"What a pity¡­" murmured Woods regretfully, "Element finally got your paper, uh¡­"
Right now, Lucien was standing in front of him in the office. Knowing that Mr. Woods had visited the school in person, Lucien came to thank him, "I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Woods. If I had known it, I definitely would not go to Rentato."
He did not mention that he could have also saved three hundred points.
"It¡¯s okay, and if I were you, I would choose Element as well. For your paper, Element is only second to Arcana," said Woods generously. "Although Common Arcana has always been progressing in the past ten years, we¡¯re still not even close to Element in this specific field."
Lucien slightly nodded. In most cases, he would choose Common Arcana because of Mr. Woods¡¯ appreciation towards him, but this time, it was different.
"Hope I can have more opportunities with Common Arcana," said Lucien.
"Welcome." Woods responded politely, "By the way, Evans, I want to publish my paper with regards to the corrected atomic weight of the elements on this issue¡¯s Common Arcana as well, and of course, I¡¯m gonna cite your paper¡­ Do you mind?"
"Of course not." Lucien smiled, "My pleasure."
After going back to the school, Lucien wrote letters to Rock, Jerome and Lazar and told them which elements could be measured wrong.
Lucien was doing this not because he wanted his friends to get some credits, but also hoped them to better support his own paper. That was why Lucien had to make sure that his paper needed to be published first.
...
On friday evening, Lucien came back to his place after several more unsuccessful experiments trying to find new elements from many different ores.
When he opened the door, Lucien saw a letter on the floor.
"Who¡¯s writing to me?" Lucien carefully checked the letter and then opened it curiously.
"Dear Mr. Lucien Evans,
"As a junior-rank sorcerer, your contribution to the field of Element is impressive. Therefore, we would like to invite you to the Annual Conference of Element and Alchemy at Rose Garden, located beside the beautiful Swan Lake, at nine on Saturday morning, January 27th.
"The Will of Elements & Holm Royal Magic Academy"
And the letter was sent three days before.
Lucien was very surprised. He wondered whether his paper had already got the attention of the Will of Elements.

Chapter 208: A Mistake
				Chapter 208: A Mistake
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Rentato, Hexagram Station.
Seven in the morning, Lucien, dressing formally, got off the train in the cold wind.
After receiving the invitation, he hurriedly verified the credibility of the letter with the school and then took the very next train to arrive in Rentato.
Getting on the coach he hired, Lucien¡¯s hands warmed up a little. After telling the coachman where he was heading for, Lucien¡¯s heart was still beating quite fast.
After a while, hearing the wheels rolling, he gradually calmed down, and the tone of the invitation started to bother him slightly. In Lucien¡¯s mind, if the people from the Will of Element and the academy really appreciated the great value of his second paper, his treatment should be better than that. However, if they did not understand the importance of the periodic table of elements, why would they even bother sending the invitation¡­?
An hour and a half later, the coach stopped in front of Rose Garden. On its left side, the beautiful Swan Lake was covered by a thin layer of ice. Snowflakes were coming down from the sky.
Two blond young knights were safeguarding the gate, looking rather serious.
But Lucien could tell that they were not real knights, as they used the potion, and that was why they were willing to serve the Will of Elements.
In the field of magic potion making, the schools of Element, Alchemy and Necromancy were the best.
"Morning, sir. Can we take a look at your invitation and arcana badge?" asked a knight politely.
Lucien nodded and showed them to him.
After using a mirror-like magic item and carefully verifying the badge and the invitation, the knight slightly bowed to Lucien, "Welcome, Mr. Lucien Evans. The meeting will be starting soon, and all the guests are in the main hall."
The other knight turned around and opened the gate.
Seeing that everything went on well, Lucien was a bit relieved. So, he followed the garden path patiently and then pushed open the grand gate of the house.
In the hall, people were talking to each other in low voices, and there was neither music nor quarrel. The arcanists were exchanging their studies politely, and many were lost in the world of knowledge.
Around two hundred and ten arcanists were invited today, and among them, they were mostly middle-rank arcanists, but there were also some accomplished junior-ranks as well.
All the chairs and tables were surrounding an elevated platform. Above the platform, there was a magic circle for amplifying the speaker¡¯s voice, and there was a waist-high rostrum in the front of the platform.
Not many noticed that a new arcanist just entered the hall, but when more and more of them realized that they had never seen Lucien before, they started staring at him.
Lazar, at this time, was standing in the corner of the hall, feeling relieved that the long-prepared meeting was finally about to begin, and when he saw Lucien showed up here, he was more than surprised.
He hurriedly threaded through the crowd and grabbed Lucien¡¯s arm, "What are you doing here?" Lazar asked him in a low voice. After all, this was the annual meeting of the school of Element and Alchemy, and Lucien was not even a member of them!
When Lucien was feeling slightly nervous seeing all those strangers in the hall, Lazar¡¯s appearance comforted him.
"I¡¯m attending the meeting¡­" Lucien quickly waved the invitation in his hand in front of Lazar, "You sent this to me?"
"Wait¡­ You¡¯ve got an invitation?!" Lazar hurriedly took over the invitation from Lucien and checked it. As he frowned, Lazar murmured, "What have you done when I was absent? Is this because of your letter asking me to remeasure some of the elements? I did, and they were indeed not correct!"
When Lucien was about to say something, a young lady¡¯s voice came from the magic amplifier, "Excuse me, has Mr. Lucien Evans arrived? Please come over to the gate. Mr. Larry is looking for you."
All the arcanists stopped their conversations and looked around curiously, wondering who was this Lucien Evans.
"Rebecca! Mr. Evans¡¯s here!" Hearing his friend¡¯s name, Lazar answered proudly and loudly. Then he pulled Lucien¡¯s arm and walked toward the gate.
Many arcanists made way for Lucien, and in their mind, they wondered why such a young arcanist was invited to this important meeting.
There were three man and one woman standing close to the gate. The green-eyed lady was wearing a red long dress, looking rather pretty, but also a bit exhausted from arranging the meeting. A thirty-something, round-faced man was talking to her.
"Mr. Larry, Mr. Evans¡¯s here." Lazar bowed to the round-faced man politely.
When Lucien was about to put on a smile, Larry put on a confused look and asked, "Who are you?"
His voice was not high but deep, and his question was heard by many arcanists. More and more arcanists turned around and looked in that direction.
Larry waved his hands a bit, "¡­I¡¯m sorry, sir. I mean¡­ I¡¯m looking for my student, Lucien Evans¡­ ummm, Lucien Evans K."
Lucien realized what was going on here, and he felt that the whole thing was funny.
"Mr. Larry, we only have one Mr. Evans, and he¡¯s here." After a few seconds, Rebecca nervously explained.
"What do you mean?" Larry looked at Rebecca.
One of the two men standing behind Larry said to Rebecca harshly, "It was you who was in charge of filling out the invitations, Rebecca. I asked you to invite Mr. Larry¡¯s student, Mr. Lucien Evans, who developed the paper of atomic valence! Look what you¡¯ve done?!"
The man took a quick glance at the badges on Lucien¡¯s chest, and got even angrier. The man himself was a level three arcanist, third circle sorcerer, and his face was covered with wrinkles. It seemed that his arcana level was mostly developed by the years.
Then he bowed and apologized to the old man with half white hair and a slightly hooked nose.
Rebecca had tears in her eyes, but she could not figure out what was wrong.
"Mr. Leandro, we have two Mr. Lucien Evans in Douglas¡­" Lazar¡¯s face flushed as well from embarrassment, but he still tried to speak for Rebecca, "Maybe that¡¯s why¡­"
However, Leandro was still pissed off, "Then why didn't you specify that it was Mr. K who was invited? Why didn't you specify the person¡¯s arcana level? This guy¡¯s only got level one in arcana! Just like you!"
He pointed at Lucien¡¯s chest.
"But¡­ but Mr. Leandro, I checked¡­ There's only one Mr. Lucien Evans in Douglas," Rebecca almost burst into tears, "or I¡¯d have definitely been more specific¡­"
"Mr. Leandro," Lucien cut in calmly, "K left the school before the invitation was sent."
What Lucien meant was that it was the person who made the mistake was the one who gave Rebecca that information, not her.
"But it¡¯s still her mistake for not putting the arcana level on the invitation!" Leandro then turned to Lucien, "And you, use your brain! How is it possible that you¡¯re invited to this meeting?"
Talking to an arcanist whose level was lower than him did not require too much politeness.
"No¡­ no¡­ It¡¯s my mistake." Larry raised his hands a bit, "I asked K to leave the school, but when the meeting decided to invite K in the last second, I forgot to tell Mr. Leandro about it."
"Larry, why didn't you invite K yourself, then?" asked the old man.
"I could not find him." Larry shrugged a bit, "I did not expect that K would leave the school so quickly."
This old man in black suit with strange-looking eyes was Larry¡¯s teacher, the director of the Will of Element, the member of Arcana Review Board, a level seven arcanist and seventh circle sorcerer, Gaston.
The arcanists in the hall finally understood what was going on here, and some were amused.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Gaston." Leandro hurriedly bowed to Gaston in a pleasing manner.
"Not really her fault." Gaston nodded mildly, "Stop giving her a hard time."
Leandro nodded, and then he said to Lucien, "As everything¡¯s clear, you can leave now."
Calm as Lucien was, hearing this, he still felt humiliated. At this time, Gaston raised his hand and stopped Leandro, "Evans, are you interested in arcana of the school of Element?"
Lucien hurriedly nodded.
"Stay, then. Don¡¯t be shy." Gaston smiled, "This is our annual conference. Although you might not be able to understand much, it can still be very helpful to you. Maybe one day you¡¯ll become an influential arcanist."
Lucien was very surprised, and nodded again.
...
The headquarter of Common Arcana.
After submitting his paper about the remeasurement of the elements, Woods now was sitting in his couch cozily. This paper should be published on this issue¡¯s journal.
Feeling quite relaxed, he picked Lucien¡¯s paper again and started to read the latter part with regards to Lucien¡¯s guesses of undiscovered elements.
Woods never realized that Lucien¡¯s guesses were so in detail that he even put forward some possible ores with which some undiscovered elements might be found. Then his heart missed a beat:
The features of this ore described by Lucien were actually very familiar to him!

Chapter 209: Shocking Finding
				Chapter 209: Shocking Finding
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Wait¡­" Woods slightly raised his chin, "Black Bear recently found some special ores in the south. I remember¡­ they have similar characteristics."
As he pointed at the hangers, Woods¡¯ black top hat and long jacket directly flew toward him. Today, he was even more rushed than last time.
After taking the elevator and then the coach, Woods finally arrived in front of the strange-looking magic tower with two horns on its top.
Black Bear, whose name was actually Odonkor but Woods often secretly called him Black Bear in his mind, was a fourth circle sorcerer specializing in Transformation and Summoning. His grandfather was a very wealthy archmage who liked travelling and collecting all kinds of special things, despite the fact that he seldom had interest in conducting any serious researches.
Woods hurriedly jumped off the coach and rushed toward the gate of the tower.
"Hey, buddy¡­ Why are you rushing?" Odonkor¡¯s magic circle informed him that Woods came to visit him in a hurry.
Odonkor surely looked like a black bear, as their family tradition in studying Transformation originated from observing bears, and his relatives all looked a bit like bears.
Gasping, Woods responded, "Black Bear¡­ No, no¡­ Odonkor, sell me a couple of Flashes, the strange ore that you found in the south!"
...
In Rose Garden.
After Gaston¡¯s arrival, more senior-rank sorcerers gradually arrived, including Raventi, a ninth circle sorcerer, member of the Arcana Review Board and vice president of the Will of Elements, and Overee, also a member of the Arcana Review Board and director of the Will of Elements, aside from other three authorities.
Of course, there were way more than five people who were qualified with reviewing papers in the field of Element, but they were the most specialized ones.
Besides the six senior-rank arcanists on the top, the leader level of the Will of Elements still had another thirty-two senior-rank sorcerers. However, among them there were only twenty whose arcana level was above level six.
On legendary level, only Raventi attended today¡¯s conference, as this meeting was mostly a chance for middle-rank sorcerers to exchange their ideas and thoughts. Nevertheless, the great power that the people had who were present at this conference was still enough to destroy a whole country. The school of Element was known for its destructive power.
Raventi didn't look like anything other than a plain-looking old man, and today he was wearing a black robe embroidered with sixty-five symbols, representing the current existing elements. After his short and straightforward opening speech, the conference officially began.
The first one who gave the speech based on his paper was Timothy, the famous genius in arcana from the Will of Elements.
Timothy had black hair and blue eyes. Wearing gold-rimmed spectacles on his nose, he looked profound and elegant. In sharp contrast, the topic of his paper was rather violent: Explosive Cascade. By simplifying the fundamental alchemical formula of this magic, Timothy improved the power of the spell by fifty precent.
"Wow¡­ That¡¯s really something¡­" Lazar was very impressed and excited.
Lucien, as a guest who was mistakenly invited, could only carefully listen to the speech beside the platform, while those arcanists were sitting on their tall chairs, listening and referring to Timothy¡¯s paper for more detailed statistics and explanation. However, he could still see the great value of Timothy¡¯s paper. Facing Explosive Cascade, if someone still tried to use common strategies to avoid the attack based on their past fighting experience, the spell would turn into their nightmare. Lucien paid extra attention to the alchemical part, as he knew that this was his shortcoming in his study. If he had a deeper understanding in this field in the future, he could start trying to use nitroglycerin to create more spells.
...
After getting some Flashes, Woods borrowed Odonkor¡¯s fancy lab and started doing his experiments immediately.
Very quickly, Woods extracted the substance he wanted from Flashes and then he put the substance in a spectroscope magic circle.
The magic circle slowly started working. Woods held his breath.
When he saw the beautiful, dream-like spectral lines that he had never witnessed before, Woods¡¯ breath became heavy, and his face flushed.
New element! There was new element in there!
Beside the magic circle lied Lucien¡¯s paper. As if the author already knew what Woods could find here, the paper wrote: "This aluminum-like element can be found by spectral analysis" .
Woods was right now staring at the paper, and he could not believe his eyes. This was not a speculation, but a prophecy! And the prophecy was based on the period of elements put forward by Lucien!
Woods¡¯ head was buzzing.
Then he took a deep breath and started turning on more magic circles. He was going to try possible ways to purify the new element out of the extracted substance.
Odonkor¡¯s fancy lab definitely worked very well, and before lunch, there was already a pile of silver-coloured crystals sitting right in front of Woods.
There was no time for lunch. In the next second, Woods started measuring this new element and testing its characters.
...
"Atomic weight¡­ 69.8¡­" After adopting several methods, Woods was sure that the number that he came up with was correct. All of a sudden, he felt intimidated looking at the paper lying on the table beside him.
But deep in his mind, he remembered the paper clearly. The paper wrote:
"The atomic weight of this aluminum-like element should be between 68 and 70."
Woods could hear his heart beating so strong and so fast that his ears were drumming. With his lips closed tightly, Woods continued his experiment to measure other features of the new element.
"Specific weight¡­ 5.94¡­" Woods murmured voice trembled.
On the paper, it wrote:
"Specific weight, between 5.9 and 6.0."
...
"Non-volatile¡­ Can slowly dissolve in acid and lye." Woods¡¯ voice trembled.
The paper wrote:
"Non-volatile in normal temperature. Acid and lye can dissolve it."
...
All the predictions put forward by Lucien Evans were right.
Woods felt thrilled. He was too shocked to say anything. His mouth was partially open, and his hands shaking.
What did this mean?
What did this mean!
At this point, Woods had no more doubt or hesitance. He knew that this paper would be a milestone in the field of element¡­ no, in the history of the whole magic world!
With shaking hands, Woods completely wrote down the experiment data record, and saved the sample of the new element safely in a magic container. Bringing them, Woods subconsciously grabbed his black top hat and rushed out of Odonkor¡¯s magic tower.
"Hey, buddy! Your coat!" Odonkor called Woods from behind.
The cold wind sobered Woods a bit and he realized that his coat was left in Odonkor¡¯s place, but Woods still jumped directly on the coach waiting for him and hurriedly he said to the coachman,
"To Douglas! Be quick! As quick as possible!"
The coachman was taking a nap before Woods jumped on the vehicle, and now he was driving the coach like crazy.
...
In front of the iron gate of Douglas.
"What?! Evans is out, again?!" Unutterable frustration struck Woods.
"Yes, Mr. Lucien Evans is out," answered the golem calmly and peacefully. "He should be in Rentato now, but I don¡¯t know why."
"What the fu*k¡­?!" Refined as Woods, he could not help swearing, "Rentato again?!"
Standing in the cold wind, Woods did not leave until his face got numb. When he calmed down and then came back to his office, he spent an hour and developed a simple report on the finding of the new element and the comparison between the new element¡¯s features and the corresponding predictions made by Lucien in his paper.
Then, he arrived at the Sorcerer Administrative Department and handed the report in.
Although he was very excited with sharing the great finding with all the sorcerers, before that, he needed to make sure that there was a guarantee that his own work could also be recognized.
...
"Element¡­ To Mr. Raventi, Mr. Gaston."
The alchemical life was still following its daily routine, having no idea how important this report would be.
...
A brown-colored elemental being picked up the report in Mr. Gaston¡¯s exclusive lounge.
"From¡­ a level four arcanist. Mr. Gaston¡¯s not in the office today¡­ and his students are also in Rose Garden today together with him¡­" the elemental life talked to itself, "Well¡­ I shall just send it directly to Mr. Gaston to let him decide who should review this paper."
And it was the same situation in Raventi¡¯s office.

Chapter 210: Who¡¯s Lucien Evans X?
				Chapter 210: Who¡¯s Lucien Evans X?
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In Rose Garden, beside Swan Lake.
It was already the second half of the conference, and every speaker all received warm applause. After they gave their speech, there were rounds of discussion and comments from senior-rank sorcerers to further inspire the speakers.
After lunch, Larry¡¯s study on Valence brought the most heated discussion so far, and after Larry, there were more arcanists waiting for their turn to take the stage, even if it was already four in the afternoon.
Stalwartly-built Ulysses walked on the stage and turned on the magic circle functioning as a projector for presenting scenes. He shared his most recent study with the arcanists present: he discovered that when he tried to created a new form of a fifth-circle spell, Gaston¡¯s Poison Cloud, above a certain temperature, no matter how much the pressure was increased, gas could not be turned into liquid.
Many arcanists agreed that this finding was creative and could be of good instructional meaning. Although Lucien had knew this theory before from his original world, it was good for him to know that this principle also worked in this magic world, and Lucien was also very interested in how to apply this finding to actual construction of magic models.
At this time, a light-brown owl flew in from the window and landed on the desk in front of Gaston. Seeing that Gaston was too dedicated to Ulysses¡¯s speech, the owl gently pecked at his hand.
The guardians outside did not stop Mathew, as it was probably the most famous ¡®postman¡¯ in the Will of Element.
Gaston was a bit amused by that, and then he gently patted on Mathew¡¯s feather on its back. Then Gaston took down the several papers from Mathew¡¯s leg and put them aside. He planned to handle the papers later after the conference.
Following Mathew, Raventi¡¯s budgerigar also arrived. After circling two rounds above his master proudly, the budgerigar landed, also carrying several papers.
Then three more different birds brought papers to the other three members of Arcana Review Board present. However, all those arcanists were not in a hurry to review the papers, not only because reading others papers right in front of Ulysses was surely not polite, but also because they knew well that the review of some complicated papers could take months.
As Ulysses¡¯ explanation of his research went deeper, the other arcanists got even more attentive, except for Raventi, the level nine arcanist and ninth circle sorcerer, who was the teacher of Ulysses, as Raventi had already carefully read Ulysses¡¯ paper before this meeting, after the paper passed the review from the board.
So Raventi casually picked up the several papers brought by his pet bird, and started reading the titles of the papers.
At this time, a marked title jumped to him,
The Features of a New Element Discovered Based on the Periodic Table of Elements.
He frowned. As someone who once tried to find the law existing among the elements himself, Raventi knew what did this title mean: this meant that there was a Periodic Table of Elements that had gone through verification, and the table had led to the discovery of a new element!
Pulling out the paper, Raventi started to read it carefully. After a while, the look on his face suddenly changed.
Ulysses¡¯ voice faded away from his ears. Raventi was shocked with this paper.
Even after he finished reading the last page, Raventi¡¯s eyes were still focused on this paper. Then, he did his best to control himself as he turned around to ask Rebecca to come to him.
At this time, Rebecca was listening to Ulysses¡¯ speech carefully, and she also needed to pay attention to what was going on in every corner of the hall. After being scolded by Leandro, she was even more cautious now, afraid of making more mistakes.
As soon as she saw Raventi¡¯s gray eyes, Rebecca felt that she was struck by lightning, having no idea what she did wrong again. Then, she nervously walked to Raventi.
"Find me a paper titled The Periodic Relation between the Nature of Elements and Prediction of New Elements, from Lucien Evans X," said Raventi short and directly.
This name again! Rebecca sneaked a peek at Lucien beside Lazar. Fortunately, the title of this paper did leave her with a bit of an impression, and it was simply because the title was pretty long.
"Mr. Raventi, you can find this paper on the last several pages on this issue of Element right in front of you." At the same time, Rebecca felt relieved that her help was available right away.
Raventi quickly turned to the last article of Element, murmuring, "It isn't always true that all the editors in Element are idiots."
This comment was actually from Lord of Storm. Sarcastic as it sounded to be, this was actually a praise from this odd-tempered arcanist. Speaking of being odd-tempered, Raventi did not fall too far behind Fernando.
Rebecca was waiting aside, as the vice president did not ask her to leave. When she felt quite curious with the paper from Lucien Evans X, Rebecca saw Raventi¡¯s face suddenly got even more serious.
Was anything big going to happen? Rebecca had no idea.
"If not taking the several atomic weights without accurate experimental data into consideration¡­" Raventi murmured again, then he quickly turned around and said to Rebecca, "I need these several purified elements¡­"
Then Raventi listed a few that he did not have right now in his alchemical lab.
After that, Raventi commanded Harry, the budgerigar, "Get several Flashes from Odonkor, the grandson of Gray Bear. Don¡¯t be lazy¡­ Make haste, Harry."
"Was Harry ever being lazy?" Harry mumbled a bit unhappily and then flew away.
Although she did not understand what Raventi wanted to do, Rebecca still had to follow the vice president¡¯s command. After asking her colleagues to take care of the conference, she hurriedly headed for the second floor above the main hall.
No one noticed what was going on there, as they were all listening to Ulysses¡¯s speech very carefully.
...
When Ulysses finished his speech and his Q&A part with other arcanists, warm applause was given to him, as most arcanists felt that they learned a lot from Ulysses¡¯s sharing.
Ulysses bowed to them, and left the central platform.
When Leandro was about to invite the next arcanist to step on the stage, he surprisedly saw that the vice president suddenly stood up and walked toward the platform hurriedly.
Of course Leandro could not stop this influential ninth-circle sorcerer, and he could do nothing but watch Raventi quickly jumping onto the stage, turning on the magic circle for presentation, taking out his downsized alchemical lab from his magic pouch, and then casting to turn it into a well-equipped lab of normal size.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please forgive me for interrupting the conference." Raventi tried to sound calmer, after all, the true result still needed to be double-verified by his own experiment, "Please turn to the last paper on this issue of Element."
When all the arcanists present opened the journal and found the paper, Igna felt very nervous, and his heart was beating fast. He was afraid that Raventi was going to say that his paper was not qualified for being published on this issue of Element, but he could not understand why Raventi would do it right in the middle of the conference.
The arcanists found the paper titled The Periodic Relation between the Nature of Elements and Prediction of New Elements. Both Larry and Timothy frowned a bit, since they were the ones who reviewed this paper before it was published.
What did Raventi want to do?
At the same time, Larry turned around and took a quick glance at Lucien, looking meaningful.
Lucien was quite confused, feeling unsure as to what was going on there. However, with a second thought, maybe Raventi found a new element that fit his periodic table, and thus Lucien suddenly started to feel very expectant.
"Creative and well-organized as this periodic table may be, Mr. Raventi," said LockLynn first, a level eight arcanist and eighth circle sorcerer, who was also a member of the Arcana Review Board, "its latter part claiming that there are mistakes in the measurement of atomic weight of the several elements does not make sense to me."
And the other arcanists basically all agreed.
Seeing that all the arcanists had all roughly gone through the paper, Raventi said aloud, "Let¡¯s skip the discussion over Termirick and the other several elements first, and please take a look at this."
As he was saying, Raventi took out several bottles of purified element and started to measure the atomic weight of them with his own magic lab right in front of the arcanists present.
Although the arcanists were all very confused, no one wanted to stop an authority.
As the atomic weight data of a few elements were corrected one by one, Gaston, Overee, LockLyn and Lydia looked way more serious and they started to write something down with their quills, while other sorcerers now looked shocked.
It was not surprising that there might be mistakes in some atomic weight data, but the fact that the corrected data could be perfectly put into the periodic table of elements put forward by this paper was unbelievable.
Larry and Timothy rubbed their foreheads at the same time, feeling regretful that they did not finish reading the whole paper, and now they wanted the right ore to see if they could find a new element out of it following the paper so bad that their hearts were beating fast.
Ulysses stared at the periodic table in a daze. He just decided to give up working on periodic table of elements three weeks ago and turned to the topic that he just presented.
After Raventi¡¯s forty-minute experiment, most arcanists started reading the paper in the hands carefully, however, they were still confused.
Ulysses commented on it first, "Mr. Raventi, your experiments are something, but even the corrected atomic weights could fit in the table, it¡¯s not a decisively evidence showing that the whole periodic table is right, as there¡¯s no evidence showing that the data of some elements, say, Termirick, is not right."
"My idea¡¯s that the measuring methods that we are using now are not able to report the accurate data," said Raventi.
Overee shook his head, "This is just an assumption."
Without the most direct evidence, most arcanists would not be persuaded.
Leandro for sure did not like Lucien, "I agree, Mr. Raventi. This is just a fairy tale from a level one arcanist."
When Raventi was about to fight back, Harry, the budgerigar, came back with a magic container hanging on his neck.
Raventi grinned, "Ladies and gentlemen, let the experiment tell us the truth."
Taking the Flashes out of the container, Raventi quickly purified the needed substance from them following the method suggested in Woods¡¯ paper.
Then Raventi said to all the arcanists, "This is very similar to the mineral substance described in Lucien Evans X¡¯s paper."
Gaston, LockLynn, Garry, Ulysses and other arcanists had the feeling that something was going to happen, and they held their breath, watching Raventi put the pure substance in the spectroscope.
It was already dark outside, and that made the beautiful spectrum in front of all the arcanists even more clear and charming.
It was a beautiful spectrum that they had never seen, and the spectrum was like a cluster of fire, burning their eyes and hearts.
A new element was found! A brand new element from this world!
Raventi did not say anything, but continued his experiment to extract the white crystals.
When Raventi started to measure the atomic weight of this new element, every single arcanist present was waiting for his data.
"Atomic weight, 69.8," said Raventi seriously. He had confidence in this paper.
All the arcanists looked down at the paper, and the paper wrote,
"The atomic weight of this aluminum-like element should be between 68 and 70."
It was like lightning to them, and more lightning bolts were arriving. The paper predicted everything from Raventi¡¯s experiment. As arcanists who were qualified for the annual conference, they knew what this meant!
Their faces were burning, and their blood boiling.
Raventi literally shouted at the arcanists, "I¡¯ll not waste my words on emphasizing how important this paper is. Now, who is Mr. Lucien Evans X? Where is he?!"

Chapter 211: A New Beginning In the School of Element
				Chapter 211: A New Beginning In the School of Element
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Raventi¡¯s roaring was in every arcanist¡¯s ear. They were totally shocked, together with quite mixed feelings. Even the four members of the Arcana Review Board were no exception.
The finding of Periodic Table of Elements showed that the discovery of new elements was no longer blind and scattered or, as described by many, like a blind cat running into a dead mouse, but something that had theoretical guidance!
From now on, there was a way to proceed in the study to find new elements!
Exploring the world, finding laws among phenomena, and using the laws to explain other phenomena, this was the spirit of arcana!
"Lucien Evans X¡­ Lucien Evans X is here!" The excited but nervous voice of a man resounded, and then one more time, this time louder, but still with certain control.
Gaston and Larry, as they were so shocked with the finding, did not realize that the young man they met before the conference began was the very author of this paper until now.
No one could believe that this great finding was from a level one arcanist, first circle sorcerer!
On the platform, Leandro, who was standing not far away from Raventi, felt supper dizzy all of a sudden, as his head was buzzing.
All the people present turned to look at the direction where the voice came from. It was Lazar who raised his hand and answered Raventi¡¯s questions, and right now, he looked rather excited. 
Lazar was deeply shocked. Every time Raventi announced the result of an experiment, his heart missed a beat. And when Lazar heard that familiar name, he was totally unable to believe his ears, since although he knew that his friend Lucien Evans was quite smart, he had no idea how Lucien could put forward the periodic table and make this prediction as if he had already seen the new element before, with his own eyes!
Behind Lazar, Lucien closed his eyes. When he heard that his paper was right on the atomic weight of the new element, Lucien knew that all his hard work paid off!
For sure Lucien felt rather excited, and deep in his mind, he was wild with joy. Meanwhile, although Lucien was relatively confident, he also found himself very lucky as he celebrated in his heart that this new element was not some strange isotope, or his paper would not be found valuable this fast. And if that was the case, this paper would bring him more trouble than reputation, as most arcanists who were regarded as being blindly arrogant with their previous papers would have a really hard time publishing their next papers, and at that time, maybe the ring of Holm Crown prize would be Lucien¡¯s last protection.
Since the paper was finished, Lucien kept feeling quite nervous. Finally, Raventi¡¯s experiment proved that he was right.
One would not imagine that finding the law was too difficult, however, not many could really stick to the effort if it didn't pay off in a relatively short period of time.
Raventi, Timothy and other arcanists saw the young man standing beside Lazar. Wearing black bow and long double-breasted coat, Lucien looked handsome and elegant, and his black eyes appeared to be rather deep.
"You¡¯re¡­ Lucien Evans X?" Raventi could not believe that he was this young.
It was the same with other arcanists present. Except for Gaston, Larry and a few other sorcerers who had already seen him, the rest of the people all thought that this author only of junior-rank should at least have many years of experience in studying elements.
However, this was not true.
Lucien tried to stay calm, and he smiled, "Yes, Mr. Raventi."
Squinting a bit, Raventi secretly used a magic and read the information of Lucien¡¯s arcana badge. Then he nodded to Lucien. "Evans, come up here. I think your paper should be the last and best play of today¡¯s conference. The great meaning your paper is of is clear to every arcanist present, and using even a single word to explain it is a waste of time. This conference will be remembered by history because of your paper!"
"Before that, Mr. Raventi." Gaston stood up, "I need to apologize for my negligence when I reviewed this paper. So I would like to petition the board together with Mr. Overee for a reevaluation of this paper, so Evans could earn all the reputation, praise, arcana credits and points that he truly deserve!"
Overee also stood up and nodded.
Gaston and Overee were not stupid. After seeing Raventi¡¯s experiments, they quickly talked to each other and made this decision. On one hand, they needed to be responsible for the mistake that their students made, since it was their students who ignored this paper, and on the other hand, they would not leave their enemies any time to take advantage of this thing and thus to kick them out of the board.
Now they made themselves look rather fair and humble.
Lucien took a deep breath and then started walking through the audience toward the platform.
No one is sure who started it, but many arcanists stood up one by one to show their respect to Lucien from both sides of the aisle as he was walking.
"I¡¯m deeply regretful that I missed this paper," apologized Larry sincerely. With his hand on his left chest, he bowed to Lucien.
Timothy adjusted his glasses a bit, "Evans, if you had not put your experiments of correcting the atomic weights in the appendix, I might have visited you the very night you sent the paper to the board. Anyway, you taught me a lesson, Evans. Your paper and what happened to your paper will definitely become a famous story in the world of magic, while Larry and I would be two idiots in this story, in contrast to your great accomplishment."
Timothy had a sense of humour and he was very straightforward, which sort of explained why he loved explosive magic so much. However, regarding appearance, Timothy looked quite gentle and elegant.
"At least my paper passed your review," Lucien did not really have a bad impression of them.
When Lucien walked past Ulysses, the latter released a sigh and said to the former with a slight frustration in his tone, "There might still be some people who are gonna doubt your finding, Evans, but I totally believe in your periodic table. In fact, I was once very close to the finding, but I gave it up because of the several atomic weights that I could not explain. I¡¯m restrained by my own sense of authority and experience."
Lucien smiled and nodded, "Mr. Ulysses, without your paper discussing the possible law existing among the elements, I would not dare make such a bold assumption when I was developing my paper."
At this time, someone who did not like Leandro said to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, you¡¯re definitely qualified for this conference! Besides Mr. Raventi and all the committee members, you¡¯re the most qualified one!"
Hearing that, Leandro wanted to directly disappear of the platform.
"Mr. Evans, welcome!"
"Mr. Evans, we¡¯re looking forward to your speech!"
Although these arcanists were not familiar with Lucien, after witnessing the experiment and carefully reading the paper, they all showed their respect to this young sorcerer, which was pretty rare.
Stepping onto the metal platform at the center of the hall, Lucien first bowed to Raventi respectfully and then took the rostrum from him.
"Mr. Evans, I¡¯ve got a question," Leandro cut in before Lucien started his speech. "Finding the new element¡¯s such a coincidence. I wonder if it wasn't you who first found this new element beforehand, and then following its data, you figured out this periodic table. This seems to be the only reason that your ¡®assumption¡¯ could be this accurate, but if this is true, the finding of the new element wouldn¡¯t be able to prove that your periodic table of elements is correct, as you used its data as a basis when you developed the table."
A few arcanists in the crowd slightly nodded.
Before answering Leandro¡¯s question, Lucien activated the magic circle for presentation first, and then he calmly explained, "Let¡¯s ignore the new element first and just look at the elements discovered before my paper was published. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too hard to see that my finding could logically be drawn upon the features and data of the elements that we are previously already familiar with. Besides, feel free to check my purchase record with the congress if I¡¯ve bought any ores that contain this new element."
The arcanists present stared at the table carefully, and Lucien continued, as he pointed at the blank spaces on the periodic table of elements, "As for those undiscovered elements, I¡¯m confident that even though their atomic weights might not be exactly the same with what are on the table because of the limit of our current measuring methods, their characters should follow my prediction. Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ve all collected some pretty unique ores. Why not check them again to see if there¡¯re any that suit the description in my paper. Try to find new elements out of them, and I¡¯m waiting for your papers. Either prove me right or wrong."
Lucien¡¯s confidence influenced most of the arcanists. They started to feel very excited.
When they were considering to end this conference earlier so they could go back and do their research, Lucien said to them, "Actually, even if no new element could be found for a while, even if there¡¯re still some tiny problems with my periodic table, ladies and gentlemen, should we just ignore this periodic law existing among all these elements?"
Staring at the periodic table, which contained so many profound secrets of the world, all the arcanists present fell into silence. They had to admit that the periodic feature truly existed.
Lucien raised his head slightly and said to the people seriously, "The finding of the periodic feature in arranging the elements represents a new beginning in the School of Element. According to me, I do not think that the most significant function of the table lies in leading us to find more new elements, but reminding us to take a step back and ask why is there a periodic feature among elements? This is the question that I¡¯ve been asking myself since I've figured out this table."
Hearing his insightful words, Lucien¡¯s audience was deeply shocked, especially those senior-rank arcanists like Raventi and Gaston. Staring at this young man speaking on the platform, they recalled the great figure of Mr. Douglas, the president of the Congress of Magic, when he was giving the most influential speech in history of magic.

Chapter 212: Reevaluation
				Chapter 212: Reevaluation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"I believe that nothing in this world is of periodic pattern for no reason. Why stars follow certain tracks all the time? The answer is gravity. Then what¡¯s the answer for the elements?"
Lucien¡¯s deep and serious voice lingered in the hall, and his question directly hit every arcanist¡¯s heart. Yes, the never-ending pursuit of truth and the endless curiosity of asking why was the major drive of the development of arcana!
Lucien did not go too deep with this topic. Before the arcanists could respond to his question, Lucien put on a gentle, humble smile, "Of course, as a beginner who just started his exploration in arcana and the contemporary magic system, in most cases, I can only ask questions, not having enough knowledge to answer them. I hope that my questions can be helpful to all arcanists who are striving to move forward in this area."
Any shifts happening in one¡¯s knowledge and understanding of the world should proceed step by step. The last thing Lucien wanted to see at this point was the members of the Will of Elements having their heads exploded in front of him on the conference, simply because his speech was too shocking for them to handle.
Lucien was even a bit amused by the thought that he might be able to beat his future enemies by simply giving them a speech.
Raventi started applauding first, bad-tempered as he often was, this time he said to Lucien nicely, "Very rarely, I see a not stupid question here. Evans, although your speech isn¡¯t long, it¡¯s the most valuable one on today¡¯s conference, and this might turn into a new research direction in the school of Element."
Following Raventi, all the arcanists present started applauding excitedly, as this conference was totally a surprise to them!
"All right Evans. I have to go now. I¡¯m gonna check my collection of ores, and hopefully I can provide your periodic table of elements with more support," said Raventi to Lucien, and then he took back his alchemical lab and hurriedly left the hall.
Within five minutes, following Raventi, Gaston, Overee, Timothy, and Larry, almost all the arcanists left the hall to start their experiments, for no one wanted to miss the great opportunity to be remembered by history.
Lazar walked to Lucien and said with emotion, "The major reason why those senior-rank arcanists can have great achievements should be their passion and dedication towards arcana and magic."
Lucien smiled and nodded, "One doesn¡¯t have to be super smart, but he has to be diligent."
Some junior-rank sorcerers, including Rebecca, were still here, and were looking at Lucien from afar with curiosity and admiration. However, they did not have the courage to talk to him.
"Congratulations, my friend." Lazar hugged Lucien sincerely, "I can see a future Holm Crown prize winner standing in front of me."
Lucien patted Lazar on the shoulder for encouragement, and then he asked, "By the way, Lazar, do you know if there is any lab here?"
"What do you mean¡­?" asked Lazar confusedly.
"I¡¯m looking for a lab to continue my studies. I¡¯ve bought quite a bit of ores." Lucien rubbed his chin.
"What a monster¡­ You¡¯re surely like those senior-rank arcanists." Lazar was a bit speechless, but he still told Lucien where the spare labs were.
When Lucien left, Lazar murmured to himself, "Lucien¡­ I was about to celebrate with him a bit tonight. This kind of guy would never be popular among girls!"
"Hey, Lazar, can you tell us some stories about Mr. Evans?"
Turning around, Lazar found that Rebecca and a couple of pretty girls were standing behind him and waiting for more information about his charming and talented friend, with their faces slightly flushed.
"Oh jerk¡­" Lazar could not help swearing.
...
When the news arrived to Rogerio, he was pissed off, "What am I doing here?!"
He had spent so much time on watching Lucien but didn't find a single clue suggesting the possible relationship between him and some important middle-level leader of the Will of Elements, but now, Lucien was definitely under their protection!
More importantly, just by playing with those cards, this young arcanist worked out such an influential paper, and Rogerio had the feeling that this finding would lead to the fast development of the Will of Element.
At this point, Rogerio did not really care whether people would doubt his measurement of Termirick because of Lucien¡¯s finding.
After closing his eyes to calm down for a while, Rogerio opened them again and sighed, "What an arcana genius¡­ But this makes sense, or Professor would not have this young man to be his student."
Then he turned around, "Adol, you don¡¯t have to follow Evans anymore. He might be soon getting some attention from the grand arcanists from time to time, and if they found you, we¡¯d be in trouble. You know, Hathaway doesn¡¯t like what we¡¯re doing."
Adol made some noise as if he was giggling, "Glad to hear that. After all, it¡¯s quite boring following a little boy around."
...
It was still early in the morning when Lucien arrived at the main hall on the second day. He did not get much sleep last night, and neither did many other arcanists who were already in there.
"Any findings, Lucien?" As soon as he showed up, Lazar hurriedly asked.
"Not really¡­" Lucien shook his head, "I¡¯m not there yet. My power isn¡¯t enough to allow me to do many researches within a night."
"I¡¯m the same¡­" Another arcanist joined their conversation.
After a while, Gaston, Overee, Larry and Timothy all arrived, and then the arcanists found their seats and sat down.
Despite the fact that Leandro really did not want to do this, he still added a seat in the second row for Lucien.
After a long wait, the seats belonging to Raventi and Ulysses were still empty.
Many arcanists looked back at the hall gate from time to time, looking a bit irritated.
"Mr. Raventi and Ulysses might have stayed up too late with their experiments last night." Gaston stood up, trying to comfort the people, "Maybe we can send someone to find them¡­"
Obviously, no one wanted to go, as the whole hall suddenly quieted down. Some junior-rank arcanists quickly took a step backwards with their back against the wall, as they knew how pissed off Raventi could be if he was disturbed, either with his experiment or sleep.
"Well¡­ Then, Evans, how about introducing to us how you found the periodic law among the elements?" Gaston switched to Lucien, "And we can patiently wait for Mr. Raventi."
Lucien nodded, but as soon as he reached the rostrum, he heard Raventi¡¯s roaring,
"Evans! I found the silicon-like element predicted in your paper!" Raventi shouted at him at the top of his lungs, followed by Ulysses, "Exactly the same¡­ Atomic weight and features!"
Instantly, as if some strong, bright light lit up the whole conference hall, all the arcanists saw the extremely promising future of the periodic table of elements.
After a short time of silence, thunderous applause took over the hall. All the arcanists present were applauding for this young arcanist, and for this great finding that would be forever remembered by the world of magic!
All of them were so excited to witness this great, historic moment, and the applause did not stop until Gaston tried to calm them down with his gesture for the third time.
Gaston looked around, and he purposefully looked at Leandro for a bit longer. Then he said aloud, "I believe that there¡¯s no reason to doubt the correctness of the periodic table put forward by Lucien anymore! Arcana Review Board¡¯s going to reevaluate his paper, and my comment on Lucien¡¯s paper is ready!"
Then Gaston looked at Lucien, smiling, "Go ahead¡­ Share with us how you did your research, and your story with publishing this paper. I¡¯m sure that everyone¡¯s curious."
Raventi nodded and quickly went back to his seat with his student, Ulysses. Meanwhile, Igna, the editor of Element, suddenly got very nervous.
Lucien introduced to his audience how he carefully checked the previous papers, raised questions and worked with his cards. In the end, he came to the part when he was having the extremely difficult time with his contribution. 
"After my paper passed the review, I wanted to get attention from more arcanists. So I encouraged myself and visited the headquarter of Arcana, but I was turned down, and they commented that they had no idea how the paper passed the review."
"Idiots!" Raventi was pissed off, "They only carry their brains when they eat!"
Some editors from Arcana were now very embarrassed, but there was nothing they could do when facing Raventi, who was only half a step away from the highest council.
"Then, I turned to Element¡­" Lucien continued.
All the arcanists from Element suddenly got nervous, especially Igna, whose hands were shaking and face turning pale.
"Element made an offer that they would like to publish my paper, but only on their next month¡¯s issue," said Lucien.
"Still stupid, but better than Arcana," Raventi commented in a low voice.
More than a dozen sorcerers present released a long sigh together, and they all, including Ravana, the chief-editor of Element, felt grateful toward Lucien.
"Then, after being turned down by Alchemy, Common Arcana made the same offer that they could publish the paper next month, but I did not agree." Lucien paused a bit, then he looked at Igna, smiling, "Fortunately, at this time, my friend introduced me to Mr. Igna¡­"
All the arcanists turned to look at Igna. He was sweating and could not breathe. In his eyes, Lucien¡¯s smile was very meaningful. He could already see the picture where Raventi was scolding him bitterly and crazily.
"¡­ who nicely told me that Element was going to do a special edition this month and accepted my paper."
"Ah?" Igna was more than surprised. With a long sigh of relief, probably because of the great mood swing, he suddenly passed out.
"Igna¡­ Mr. Igna¡­!"
"He got too excited¡­ with Mr. Evans¡¯ thankfulness."
"Yeah¡­ He¡¯s not young anymore¡­"
When Igna returned to consciousness, he heard Raventi shouting, "Put Evans¡¯ paper at the very beginning of this issue of Element, followed by those papers reporting findings of new elements and correcting the atomic weights!"
...
On monday morning, Eric entered the hall of the Sorcerer Administrative Department in a pretty good mood.
"Morning, Mr. Eric. Here¡¯s the latest issue of Element," greeted Cindy and Dona.
Eric pressed his top hat a bit and asked confused, "But the conference still has several days to go."
"We¡¯ve got no idea, Mr. Eric. The journal just arrived." Cindy handed the latest issue of Element to Eric, and the cover of the journal was a picture of more than sixty different element symbols.
Out of curiosity, Eric opened the journal right in front of the girls, and the smile on his face froze. 
"Mr. Eric?" Cindy and Dona called him as they noticed the difference on Mr. Eric¡¯s face, but they got no response from him. When they took a glance at the first paper themselves, their beautiful eyes suddenly opened wide.
The title of the first paper was:
"The Periodic Relation between the Nature of Elements and Prediction of New Elements.
"Author: Lucien Evans X, level one arcanist, first circle sorcerer."
Between the title and the content of the paper, there was a long inserted comment:
"As for the great meaning of the paper, we, editors from Element, cannot describe it properly, so we directly cited the comments made by Mr. Gaston and Overee, the members of Arcana Review Board:
"This is a great accomplishment in the history of magic. The paper unveils the shocking law existing among elements from countless messy and scattered data, and the law, from now on, will direct every step of our discovery of the world. We can foresee that the periodic table put forward by Mr. Lucien Evans X will become the foundation of future study in the school of Element, and it will lead us to a broader new world of arcana.
"This is a great paper of significant meaning, which is worth a large amount of discussion and means a historic breakthrough. May I show my respect to the author here first. After discussion, the board has decided to award Mr. Lucien Evans X three hundred arcana credits and two thousand arcana points."

Chapter 213: Argument
				Chapter 213: Argument
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
As if time stopped in the hall of the Sorcerer Administrative Department, Eric was lost for a few seconds. Eric finally regained his composure when some other sorcerers entered the hall and he hurriedly started reading the paper right in front him, on the counter.
He remembered this young man, Lucien Evans X, who just started studying arcana three months ago. Eric could not believe that it was this young man who developed this groundbreaking paper! 
Furthermore, it seemed even more unrealistic that the extremely generous reward, three hundred credits and two thousand points, had been given to a level one arcanist, first circle sorcerer.
Both Cindy and Dona were also eager to see why their friend Lucien could gain such a reward. 
Although Eric was really excited with the first half of the paper, he got confused with Lucien¡¯s points claiming that the atomic weight of a few elements were mistakenly measured, and so did the two girls. It was not surprising that the data of some elements yielded by studies conducted many years ago might not be very accurate due to the limit of the techniques, but they could not believe that even the atomic weight of the lately discovered elements were also not right. After all, these newly discovered elements had been examined by many arcanists every time when a new measurement method came out.
"But Mr. Gaston and Mr. Overee made similar comments speaking highly of the paper¡­" Cindy said to Dona, "I mean¡­ this kind of paper discussing the periodicity existing among elements could usually get one or two credits."
Cindy had been working here for almost two years, and she knew the standards.
"That¡¯s right." Dona nodded, "Publishing a paper without having any decisive evidence supporting it¡­ This is not the common practice of Element."
"Wait¡­" Eric turned the page and saw Lucien¡¯s experiment report on how he reexamined the atomic weights of a few elements and proved the previous data wrong. Reading while nodding, Eric had to admit that this paper was of higher value than those which only talked about the authors¡¯ assumptions.
However, Eric still could not figure out why three hundred credits should be given to this paper.
"The Features of A New Element Discovered Based on Periodic Table of Elements¡­ from Woods, level four arcanist, forth circle sorcerer¡­" Cindy did not read Lucien¡¯s paper as carefully as Eric. Out of curiosity, she took a glance at the second paper following Lucien¡¯s, "What does this mean¡­ Mr. Eric? A new element¡­ discovered?"
"What?!" Eric was shocked, and he quickly found the paper from Woods. After reading the abstract, he fiercely grabbed another copy of Element with his shaking hand, and started to compare Woods¡¯ paper to Lucien's.
Cindy and Dona could see that Mr. Eric¡¯s face turned red as he was reading Mr. Woods¡¯ paper, and the blue veins on his forehead were very distinct.
"How is it possible¡­" Eric slightly shook his head, "This is not a paper¡­ it¡¯s a prophecy¡­"
The great value of Lucien¡¯s paper was further endorsed by Mr. Raventi¡¯s finding of another new element and the papers reporting the corrected atomic weight of some elements from Lazar and a few other arcanists. Many authors put forward their assumptions and thoughts regarding why the data of some elements were mistakenly measured.
Turning the journal back to the periodic table page, Eric stared at the table for a long time, having no idea what to say.
Cindy and Dona, the two apprentices, could not understand the great meaning lying in this table, so they were less shocked when compared to Eric.
"The periodicity looks so amazing." Cindy was still quite excited, "It shares the similar beauty with that of Brook Equation, the Poem of Goddess."
Dona agreed, "Yes. I wonder if gods controlling everything like this really exist, or why there¡¯s such beautiful periodicity in the world."
Although the power of the Church was suppressed by the Congress of Magic, it was still relatively influential among common people. The two common girls, one from a farmer¡¯s family and the other from a small town, before they were selected as apprentices, were to some extent influenced by religion. However, after witnessing how amazing and powerful magic could be, religion never again worked the same way for them.
"No wonder those comments speak so highly of this paper, and such generous reward was given." Eric slowly calmed down and released a sigh, "Except for the paper from Mr. Brook demonstrating that light is a kind of electromagnetic wave which won him even more credits than this, I could only recall very few papers in recent years which can compete with Lucien¡¯s paper. Even Mr. Donald¡¯s paper putting forward that spectrum analysis can be used in discovering new elements and Lord of Storm¡¯s paper on electromagnetic wave won them only about a hundred credits or something."
Most senior-rank arcanists never relied on winning credits from the board from their upgrade, and the way from which they could gain way more credits was citation. And this was why, in most cases, their arcana level was lower than their magic level, and only really influential and powerful arcanists could reach the balance between their arcana and magic level.
"Lucien¡­" Cindy paused a bit and then corrected herself, "Mr. Evans¡¯ arcana level is now way above his magic level¡­ Wow.. I remember that there are only eight people who were like this in the three-hundred-year history of the congress, and more than half of them are now grand arcanists or legendary archmages."
Cindy now felt a bit nervous with directly calling Lucien¡¯s name.
When someone was still of junior-rank, it was not very hard for him or her to gain a higher arcana level compared to the person¡¯s magic level, as from time to time, a junior-rank mage might be able to publish some good papers and thus earn some credits. But Lucien¡¯s case was still very rare, since his arcana level was now way above his magic level.
Among the eight people, now there were two grand arcanists and one legendary archmage, another one died from disease and two died in battle. The last two became mediocre later, and now they were just like everyone else.
Eric¡¯s gray eyes looked around and finally stopped on Lucien¡¯s paper again, "Now he¡¯s a level four arcanist, and he did this within less than three months¡­ What a young man." 
It took Eric thirty years to become a level three arcanist.
Then there was an imperceptible smile on his face, "This young man won¡¯t need to put an X behind his name anymore."
...
Headquarter of Arcana, chief-editor¡¯s office.
Drummond, the chief-editor of Arcana, was not happy at all. Looking rather gloomy, he threw the latest issue of Element on the desk. The fact that Arcana did not seize the chance to publish the influential paper was humiliating to him, and also damaged the top reputation of the journal.
Drummond was a level seven arcanist who specialized in Force and Astrology. If he had not chosen Arcana, he would definitely be qualified enough to be a member of the Arcana Review Board.
Right now his anger was burning his guts. Although he knew that it was not really his mistake for missing this paper, Drummond completely lost his face when he ran into Gaston and Overee, who made fun of him and told him that the author actually came to the headquarter of Arcana in person to contribute his paper but was scolded away by the staff here!
"Who did this?" Drummond¡¯s cold eyes looked around, "I asked¡­ WHO, DID, THIS! If you were not certain about the value of a paper, you¡¯re supposed to hand the paper to the special editors! Or to me!"
As the most influential journal, Arcana had good bonds with most senior-rank arcanists, who would become the journal¡¯s special editors mentioned when there was a need, in order to avoid the chances of Arcana missing those really valuable papers as much as possible.
Under his watch, all the editors were very nervous. No one dared to speak a word.
After a while of silence, someone said in a low voice, "Not me¡­"
And more editors followed, "I didn¡¯t see the paper¡­"
"Interesting¡­" Drummond sneered.
Behind the reception desk outside, Garvin¡¯s face was as pale as a piece of paper.
Heidi shook her head a bit, "You could¡¯ve just followed the rules and let him hand in his paper. One¡¯s never supposed to do more than their job duties. Here, we strictly follow rules, as the more we do, the easier we make mistakes."
Garvin looked at Heidi confusedly. He never knew that Heidi was this familiar with office politics. 
...
Standing in the Noble District of Rentato, there was a grand magic tower in the style of the Palace of Tria. On the facade of the tower, golden words wrote:
Holm Royal Magic Academy.
On the ninth floor, more than ten senior arcanists from the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy gathered here in the early Monday morning.
After one became a senior arcanist or sorcerer, it went without saying that they could enter the higher level of their organization. However, only those authoritatives like Gaston and Overee who made great achievement in their own fields could become one of those who could actually make decisions.
Raventi arrived here from Rose Garden even earlier. Seeing that everyone was already there, he said to them aloud, energetically, "Ladies and gentlemen, after reading Evans¡¯ paper and those papers supporting his findings, I think everyone agrees that Evans should be the winner of this year¡¯s Holm Crown prize!"
"Well¡­ not really¡­" frowned Morris Hoffenberg, the chairman of Holm Royal Magic Academy, the president of Holm branch of the Congress of Magic, one of the presidents of the Will of Elements, level eight arcanist, ninth circle sorcerer, "I mean¡­ I¡¯m not denying the importance and value of this finding, but, in my eyes, this finding does not come from a solid and profound foundation of arcana knowledge. It¡¯s more like¡­ an inspirational flash."
Some arcanists slightly nodded.
"Besides, Evans has just passed his basic arcana assessment. If he was awarded with Holm Crown prize, I¡¯m afraid that this might have a negative impact on the reputation of the prize," added Morris.
Morris Hoffenber had silver-gray pupils which was something typical in the royal family of Holm, and his face profile looked somewhat like Natasha. He was a good-looking, middle-aged man.
Raventi definitely did not care. Staring at him, Raventi suddenly flared out, as he shouted, "Just an inspirational flash?! Morris, are you kidding me? Are you trying to say that all the arcanists who tried to find the law in the distribution of elements but failed are all idiots? Are you saying I¡¯m an idiot, or Lord of Storm is?!"
Gaston and Overee grinned silently. Every time when they needed to argue for something, if they could get Raventi on their side, their job would get way easier, as they just needed to stand aside and watch Raventi snarling at other people.

Chapter 214: The Youngest in History
				Chapter 214: The Youngest in History
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing Raventi¡¯s spittle, Morris leaned back a bit and hurriedly said, "Calm down, Raventi, calm down. This isn¡¯t what I mean. What I¡¯m trying to say is that the discovery of the periodic table of elements can definitely show Lucien¡¯s talent and his unique way of thinking, but it cannot reveal Lucien¡¯s knowledge of arcana. His arcana level cannot qualify him to become the winner of Holm Crown prize."
Facing Raventi, whose arcana level was even higher than himself, Morris was a bit under pressure. He knew that if he had not come from the royal family and specialized in the school of Elements, Raventi would most likely be the president of the Will of Elements.
Raventi¡¯s bad temper, although he was a level nine arcanist, ninth circle sorcerer, definitely had prevented him from becoming a member of the highest council, and comparatively speaking, although Lord of Storm was also known for being easily irritable, Mr. Fernando¡¯s great academic competence could shut up the mouth of anyone who did not like him.
Some senior arcanists present moved on their seats a bit, as they all had been in the same position before like Morris, having Raventi¡¯s spittle dropping on their faces.
As long as Raventi believed in something, no matter who he was facing, of high or low status, he would speak for what he believed in very directly. There was rumour saying that Raventi and Lord of Storm once shouted at each other furiously face to face because of an academic question, but unfortunately, Raventi was defeated in the end, and Lord of Storm gave him a really hard time.
Nevertheless, Raventi never changed his temper, "Come on, Morris, don¡¯t be cheap! You know well enough what¡¯s the purpose of setting up Holm Crown prize¡ªto honour sorcerers who¡¯ve made great contribution to the development of the school of Element and whose contribution should be remembered by history. Then, dare you tell me again that you don¡¯t think Evans is qualified?! And if you think he¡¯s not, what about Ms. Meredith?! Do you think she was not qualified as well?!"
Morris was a bit embarrassed, as the true reason for him being this uncooperative was directly revealed by Raventi in front of many people¡ªhe felt reluctant to use those precious materials to make another Holm Crown Ring, a level seven magic item.
"Yeah¡­ I hear you¡­" Facing Raventi¡¯s roaring, Morris hurriedly covered his face with his hands, "I mean¡­ all the previous winners of Holm Crown prize have discovered some epoch-making research methods, theories or outcomes, but the periodic table of elements is more like something¡­ you know, drawn from existing findings."
Before the scenario got worse, and before Raventi continued his snarl, Gaston slightly coughed and said, "Mr. Morris, we¡¯ve seen your point, and I believe that you can see the great value in the periodic table. If we take a look at the previous prize winners, we know that Ms. Meredith won the prize because she introduced electrolysis and thus she found a new element, and Mr. Donald, who¡¯s not in Allyn right now, introduced us spectrum analysis and thus he found a new element. As Lucien¡¯s periodic table¡¯s also led to the discovery of two new elements, honestly speaking, I cannot see any reasons why Lucien Evans should not be awarded with the Holm Crown prize. By the way, Ms. Meredith was also a level one arcanist when she first won the prize."
Morris was speechless. When he looked around and tried to seek support, no one stood out for him. Florencia, from Affairs Committee, who was supposed to be Morris¡¯ ally, nodded her head decidedly.
"Alright then¡­" Morris leaned back against his chair, "I agree then. Let¡¯s vote."
Raventi looked around and saw most arcanists raised their hands, except several from Holm Royal Magic Academy.
"Well¡­" Morris slightly lifted his eyebrow on one side, "The decision has been adopted: The Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy will honor Mr. Lucien Evans with Holm Crown prize. Then¡­ let¡¯s talk about the name of the ring for Mr. Evans, and what magic the ring should be permanently enchanted with as the gift for the prize winner. As for the design of the ring¡­ Florencia, I know you¡¯re good at it."
Florencia was a blond beauty. She took a glance at Morris, "Yes, I am, and I¡¯m also more than willing to be the designer, but my dear teacher, I know you just don¡¯t want to pay a professional jewelry designer."
Florencia was right now a level six arcanist, eight circle sorcerer, who specialized in Element, Summoning, Electromagnetics and Force, and she was also especially interested in curse magic. In terms of her achievement, Florencia was actually pretty "young", as she was no more than seventy. She became Morris¡¯s student after Morris upgraded to ninth circle, and Florencia also turned herself into a senior-rank sorcerer within only thirty years. She was right now the member of Affairs Committee and Holm Royal Magic Academy.
"..." Morris looked serious, "As the president of the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, I have the responsibility to watch our budget."
"I hear you, my teacher." Florencia grinned, "Then what should be the name of Evans¡¯ ring? What about¡­ Periodicity?"
Gaston looked at Florencia with his weird-colored eyes, "Not clear or unique enough to the school of Element."
"Foresight?" suggested LockLynn.
"It¡¯s more like a name for Silver Moon Medal prize, Lynn, and I think Law is not bad," said Lydia, another female member from Arcana Review Board, who looked quite gorgeous with her succubus blood.
"No. It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with elements." Florencia shook her head.
The several ladies present were almost arguing, and the male sorcerers started feeling a bit awkward. They looked at Raventi, hoping that he could come up with an excellent name.
However, Raventi was not interested in naming the ring at all. Despite the fact that he did have bad temper, he usually did not interrupt ladies¡¯ talk.
At this time, Morris stood straight and looked more serious. After a few seconds, Morris knocked at the desk and said to all the sorcerers present, "Her Excellency, Ms. Hathaway, just told me that the ring should be named Element, as Lucien¡¯s finding covers all the elements."
As a lady, Hathaway was also interested in naming the ring.
Those senior-rank arcanists had to admit that this was the right name, but they also felt that this name might be too much for Evans, as even Constantine and Hathaway did not earn the name, Element, when they were awarded with this prize.
However, as this was a suggestion from Hathaway herself, there seemed to be no reason for anyone to say no to the name.
So Raventi hurriedly concluded, "Then Element should be the name of the ring. Morris, you decide which magic should be given to the ring."
There was no more time for the ladies to discuss.
Morris was not only a master in the school of Element, but also in Alchemy.
"And there¡¯s one more thing." Florencia added, "Lucien¡¯s a level four arcanist now, so, technically speaking, he¡¯s already a middle-rank sorcerer. So I¡¯m feeling concerned that someone might use this as an excuse to give him tasks through Affair Committee. I mean, although this is not very likely to happen, since Lucien¡¯s under our protection now, we shall leave no chances to our enemies."
Gaston crossed his fingers and nodded, "Lucien¡¯s only a middle-rank arcanist, not a middle-rank sorcerer. We should be firm that Lucien could only accept tasks related to researches, but not fighting or adventuring. Florencia, I want you to give Evans an easy research task first to keep him occupied. However, I also want to make sure that we¡¯re doing this because Evans is willing to join the Will of Elements."
Florencia nodded and smiled. Then she asked, "Then is here anyone who¡¯s willing to be Evans¡¯ mentor?"
Most of the arcanists present shook their heads immediately. How dare they be the teacher of a Holm Crown prize winner when they themselves were not even close to the prize?
Since Holm Crown prize had been set up, a total of twenty five rings were given out. Among the twenty five rings, six belonged to the grand arcanists and legendary archmages from the highest council, and among the rest of the nineteen winners, eight died because of all kinds of reasons in the past two hundred seventy years; three never went any further with their researches; one was so dedicated to the studies that the person refused to join any group. Donald, Morris, Raventi, Gaston and another three arcanists were the rest of the seven people. Now, except for Donald and Morris, the former being a member of the highest council and the latter one of the presidents of the Will of Element and a chairman to Holm Royal Magic Academy, the rest of them were all members of Arcana Review Board.
Therefore, a winner of Holm Crown prize might still not be able to join Arcana Review Board, but anyone who specialized in the school of Element and joined Arcana Review Board must have the ring from Holm Crown prize.
Gaston gently rubbed the blue-diamond ring on his left hand and said, "Evans¡¯ still young, and he¡¯s got a long way to go. Although I do appreciate his talent and way of thinking, I still want to wait a bit more to see how everything goes with him before making this decision."
Gaston worried that Lucien¡¯s achievement might just be a flash in the pan.
"I agree." Raventi nodded, "You gotta be careful with arranging the task for Evans, Florencia. And I¡¯ll pay close attention to him as well."
"Then¡­ Congratulations to the youngest Holm Crown prize winner in history! A young man who¡¯s not even twenty-one!" Morris stood up and started applauding first, "Now I gotta leave to work on making the ring. The warehouses of the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy are gonna suffer a great loss because of it."
Actually, Lucien was not even nineteen.
...
Because of Lucien¡¯s paper, the annual conference turned out to be much longer than it was planned to be. Five days later, on Saturday evening, Raventi finally declared the closing of the conference.
"I believe that what happened and what was presented by a young man during this annual meeting is definitely unforgettable to everyone who participated in this conference in person. So, the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy have made a decision: we¡¯ve decided to award Mr. Lucien Evans with Holm Crown prize in order to honour his great contribution to the school of Element! Please come over to the stage, Evans!"
Although they knew that this would happen sooner or later, Larry and Timothy were still quite surprised with how fast the two groups made the decision.
Lucien stood up, and warm applause surrounded him.
When Lazar watched his good friend walking toward the stage confidently and calmly, he felt that the recent two months were like a dream. He could not believe that the young man standing on the stage right now was the same person who was strange to everything when he just arrived in Allyn a bit more than two months ago.
Raventi nodded, and then he said, "Now, we¡¯re honored to have Mr. Morris Hoffenberg, the president of the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, to present Evans with the award."
The arcanists did not expect that the president would come, and now they were all looking at Morris.
Leading the senior-rank sorcerers from the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, Morris then walked onto the stage himself and stood beside Lucien, smiling, "Congratulations, Evans. Before I present the award to you, I¡¯d like to know how do you feel right now. Can you share it with us?"
The arcanists started applauding warmly again. Lucien first looked at the arcanists down the stage, then he lowered his head, smiling.
When he looked up again, Lucien started his speech seriously, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Chapter 215: Ring of Holm Crown Prize
				Chapter 215: Ring of Holm Crown Prize
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Hearing Lucien¡¯s words, most arcanists first felt a bit confused, then they smiled and started applauding again. What a humble but appropriate beginning!
Raventi, Ulysses and other arcanists who once studied the distribution of elements smiled, as they felt satisfied to know that their work was never a waste, and it was their work which laid the foundation for Lucien¡¯s great finding.
"Elegant, humble and direct," Timothy said to Larry when he was applauding. "I have the feeling that what Evans just said will be remembered by the world."
Larry touched his chin a bit and grinned, "Come on, this is Holm Crown prize, and Evans¡¯ the twenty-sixth winner in this more than two hundred seventy years. Whatever he sayd would be remembered. But¡­ well, yes, what he just said definitely showed the charm of his personality, and maybe it would even inspire some poets."
"Unfortunately, Larry, we played some quite stupid roles in Evans¡¯ impressive story. And we¡¯ll be remembered as well in this story, although not for such a nice reason." Timothy patted on Larry¡¯s shoulder.
Larry smiled and shrugged a bit, knowing that Timothy was only joking. Both Timothy and he never really minded, as they were more confident than this and would never hate a person only because of their great accomplishments.
But when Timothy looked at Lucien standing on the stage and watched him being surrounded by the warm applause, his desire for Holm Crown prize was greater than ever.
Lucien¡¯s success definitely inspired many young, ambitious arcanists.
However, among those pairs of eyes filled with passion and admiration down the stage, there was one pair that was calm and cold, "Although he¡¯s being humble, is he also trying to salute Professor, his teacher, when he said the word giants?"
However, only Lucien really knew who he wanted to salute.
After a few seconds, Lucien continued, "If Mr. Douglas had not raised the ten questions leading us to explore the truth of this world, we would not be present here. If the arcanists before me had never revealed the truth that the elements are composed of atoms, we wouldn¡¯t be able to go this far in the study of elements. If the arcanists had never introduced us all the new methods of doing experiments, it would be impossible for me to study the distribution of elements. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, without you all, I would not be able to present you the periodic table of elements."
All the arcanists present were touched, and again, their warm applause cut in Lucien¡¯s speech.
"However, knowing the fact that we are standing on the shoulders of giants does not mean that we can just enjoy this glory and reputation, but we need to see further and dig deeper," Lucien said to the arcanists sincerely. "As what I said the other day, our most urgent need right now is not to find more new elements following the periodic table, but to take a step back and seriously think about why there is a periodic order in the distribution of elements. I have this feeling that the discovery in this field will lead to a great storm in arcana, through which we will be able to get closer to the truth and the essence of the world."
Watching Lucien giving the speech on the stage, Lazar could not stop thinking of those great masters in history. In the world of music, someone like Christopher could be called a master, while in the world of magic, only those very influential arcanists could be regarded as masters. Right now, Lucien was on the stage and he was being so elegant and confident, as if he was already very used to the occasion.
"Where shall we start then?" Lucien paused a bit, then continued, "I believe that everyone has noticed the most obvious problem in my periodic table: why the atomic weight of the several elements still do not fit the law of distribution? The discovery of the two new elements can support my assumption that the measurement of these elements are not correct, but why?"
Standing beside Lazar, Rebecca¡¯s eyes were shining when she was looking at this young man on the stage.
Seeing that most arcanists were nodding, Lucien smiled, "I have a guess, actually. I think that it is because the measured samples of the elements were not one hundred percent purified, but, at the same time, those impurities won¡¯t affect the characters of the elements, which is also why the impurities were hard to be found and separated. In order to do a better work on refinement, I think we should focus on the fact that there¡¯s a difference between the atomic weight of the element itself and the impurities."
All the arcanists including those very talented ones were shocked, as they would never expect any arcanists to just directly share with others his or her ideas or inspiration like Lucien just did. It seemed that Lucien did not feel concerned at all that this idea, which might lead to another great finding, might be stolen by any arcanists present.
In addition to this, what impressed them as well was Lucien¡¯s strong logical thinking ability. Although he did not have very in-depth arcana knowledge, his guess sounded very reasonable.
While many arcanists were still feeling frustrated with those wrongly measured elements in the past several days, Lucien was already again way ahead of them!
This time there was no applause because all the arcanists present were busy with taking notes and writing down their thoughts with their quills. Raventi and Morris frowned, and they felt like starting to build new magic circles to better purify those elements right away.
Lucien raised his voice, "I am just a beginner in arcana, and designing a magic or alchemical circle to serve this purpose is beyond my capability. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that we can march forward in this field together in order to become giants for our later generations! To promote the school of Element to a new peak!"
Then Lucien put his right hand on this forehead and slightly bowed to the audience.
The arcanists suddenly awakened from their great surprise and shock, then, they started applauding crazily, and even the roof was slightly trembling. They were applauding for Lucien¡¯s sharp thinking, and also for his generosity!
It took Morris quite a while to calm down the arcanists. Then, he turned to Lucien, "If the way of refinement that you just suggested gets successful, it would be another great accomplishment which could probably win another Holm Crown prize. And you just shared it with us straightforwardly like this?"
Lucien smiled, partly because Morris looked slightly like Natasha, "Even if I did not want to share this idea with anyone, I¡¯m sure that, sooner or later, there would be other arcanists who could think of it. As I always respect and believe in the intelligence and wisdom of all arcanists, I think it¡¯s better just to share my idea with everyone, especially when I¡¯m not capable of doing this kind of researches right now, so I can hopefully be a giant, ha. The continuous exploration of this world needs the effort of every single one of us."
What Lucien just said again led to a thunderous applause. And Lucien was not just being humble, this was literally how he felt. He had been hearing lots of arcanists discussing this topic several times in the past couple of days, thus he knew that, in the future, no matter who found the method for separating isotopes, it would never be a bad thing to Lucien.
Besides, figuring out a way of separating isotopes still required a period of time, and Lucien believed that he should be able to utilize their research outcomes by that time to further develop his studies.
Morris put his right hand on his chest and slightly bowed, "You deserve my respect, Evans."
Then he took out a crystal box in front of Lucien, inside of which there was a shining silver ring, etched with mysterious patterns. The design of the ring was simple but very graceful. On the front side of this ring, there was a big light purple gem, and the dream-like glory of the gem was amazing and eye-catching.
"To thank you for your great contribution to the development of the school of Element, here the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy award you with the twenty-sixth Holm Crown ring, Element!"
There was an indrawn breath of great surprise among those arcanists present. Under the gaze of everyone, Lucien accepted the ring.
Beside the light purple ring, the word, Element, was engraved in common tongue. When Lucien gently stroke the inner side of the ring, he noticed that there was also a small line of words,
"817, Holm Crown prize, to Mr. Lucien Evans."
Soon, directed by Morris, the maker of the ring, Lucien left his spirit mark in it.
"Holm Crown prize, level seven perfect rank with one layer of seal. When the owner¡¯s spiritual power reaches the level of senior-rank sorcerer, the power of the ring can be completely released."
Three magic effects were permanently enchanted within this unique ring. First, improving the efficiency of doing meditation in the school of Element by thirty to sixty percent¡ªeighty to a hundred percent when the seal was gone; valid before level nine; the lower the owner¡¯s level was, the better it would work. Second, increasing the power of elemental magic by twenty to forty percent¡ªfifty to seventy percent when the seal was gone; valid before level nine; the lower the owner¡¯s level was, the better it would work. Third, increasing the recovery rate of the owner¡¯s spiritual power and vitality to the level of a fifth-circle sorcerer and a level two knight, respectively¡ªrising to the level of an eighth-circle sorcerer and level four grand knight when the seal was gone.
Besides, this amazingly beautiful ring also contained terrifying magic power. The person who wore this ring could use Powerful Fire Shield, a fifth-circle magic, twice a day, Gaston¡¯s Poison Cloud twice a day, and Elemental Swirl, a seventh-circle magic, three times a day. However, this last spell was also sealed, and although there was one opportunity to use it before sixth-circle, the user would be seriously hurt and the person¡¯s spiritual power would be exhausted.
The maker¡¯s message left in this ring was:
"Mr. Lucien Evans¡¯ finding of the periodic table of elements is of great significance to the school of Element. We award Mr. Lucien Evans with this ring in order to show our respect to him, the person who shall be remembered by the history of the school of Element.
"The crazy Elemental Swirl dispels most elemental spells and destroys everything that is made of elements.
"From: Morris Hoffenberg."

Chapter 216: The Task
				Chapter 216: The Task
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien put the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, he suddenly felt greatly refreshed, as if his body was cleansed by clear spring and the wounds in his soul were healed. The power of the ring was so great that, for a moment, Lucien thought that he got a significant upgrade in both his sorcerer circle and knight level.
Clearly, this level seven perfect rank ring was specially designed for him. Lucien, as quite a money-lover, could not hide the smile on his face. He knew that, with Element, upgrading to the third circle would probably only take him two to three years, and with the help of some potions, hopefully, he could become a middle-rank sorcerer before twenty.
Although Lucien was smart, regarding the gift in spiritual power, he was still not close to the geniuses. Therefore, if he had no other assistances but just only the book, Astrology and Magic Elements, it might take him at least twenty to thirty years to get to a middle-rank level, and that¡¯d be already very lucky of him, if he refused to use some vicious magic rites to change his body and soul.
However, with the statistics and mathematical knowledge saved in his spirit library, Lucien would find it way easier when he needed to analyze some complex magic models involving curves and spheres, thus there¡¯d be a lower requirement on the spiritual power needed to build the middle-rank models. In this case, ten years should be enough for Lucien to move a step forward. But now Lucien had Brook Meditation, the ring, many kinds of potions, lots of arcana points and his own research interests, so he was confident that one or two years later he should be able to fly in the sky as a middle-rank sorcerer.
Of course, every attempt to upgrade came with risks, and the risks were even greater when sorcerers needed to move forward to senior rank, archmage or even legendary archmage level. In the worst scenario, a sorcerer might die from it.
Lucien knew that a magic ring like Elements must be worth at least hundreds of thousands of Thales or arcana points, which could easily buy out a busy city together with its surrounding towns and villages. While the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy were being very generous, in comparison, the Congress of Magic seemed to be a bit cheap.
Staring at the ring, lots of thoughts flashed through Lucien¡¯s mind. He knew that many other prizes following Holm Crown prize also awarded their winners with great level seven perfect rank magic items: necklaces or amulets from Immortal Throne award; medals from Silver Moon award and Ice & Snow award; crowns and other headdresses from Sorcerer Laurel; staffs from Arcana Staff award¡­ Lucien wondered how would it be if he could win all of them¡­
After realizing he was grinning like an idiot, he cleared his throat a bit and tried to calm down.
Morris knew what Lucien was thinking just now when he was staring at the ring. No one knew better than him, the ring maker, how valuable this ring was. Fortunately, technically speaking, there should be only one winner of Holm Crown prize every ten years.
After the award ceremony, most arcanists left the main hall within five minutes, as they could not wait to do experiments following Lucien¡¯s suggestion.
When Lucien was about to go back to Allyn with Lazar, Gaston and a beautiful lady walked to him.
"Evans, would you like to join us, the Will of Elements?" asked Gaston directly.
That was exactly what Lucien wanted, so he also answered directly, "I¡¯m more than willing to."
Gaston nodded with satisfaction, and then he took a glance at Morris.
Morris laughed, and then he reached out his right hand to Lucien, "Welcome, Evans. As a gift for you, later you can go to the headquarter of the Will of Elements, Holm Royal Magic Tower, to pick up any magic items, potions or ingredients within two thousand arcana points in total."
For low-rank sorcerers, gifts worth of only fifty to two hundred arcana points were often given. However, despite the fact that Lucien had not updated his arcana badge, in everyone¡¯s eyes, he was already a level four arcanist who was the winner of Holm Crown prize!
After shaking hands with Morris, Lucien asked, "Any tasks or responsibilities coming with the gifts?"
Morris adjusted his purple robe a bit and smiled, "Yes, there are some. We protect our members, and we also want our members to make their contributions. But if you feel that some tasks are too risky, at a certain cost, you can replace those with something else. For you, Evans, we¡¯ll protect you as much as we can, and you only need to focus on your research so far."
"Thanks a lot, Mr. Morris." Lucien nodded. After a second thought, Lucien stopped himself from showing the president the Holm Crown ring from Natasha.
"Work hard, Evans." Morris patted Lucien¡¯s shoulder, "Well, you can go and get your gifts from Holm Royal Magic Tower now, and Florencia will tell you what task you¡¯ll be given next." 
Morris looked down at the ring on Lucien¡¯s hand, and then he left the hall with Gaston, leaving Lucien alone to deal with the mature and charming lady, Florencia.
Florencia smiled, and her green eyes glanced at Lucien from head to toe, "Good-looking, elegant, polite, smart, decent, humble, famous. What a dream lover you are, Evans. Honestly speaking, Lucien, I¡¯d love to have a date with you."
Lucien was embarrassed, or say, he was a bit scared.
Florencia was amused, "What a young man. No worries, I¡¯m married. But you definitely need to learn more about women."
Lucien put on am embarrassed smile.
"You¡¯re a level four arcanist now, Lucien," Florencia got more serious, "and according to the regulation of the Congress, you gotta leave Douglas, unless you want to be the school master. And you know what? Having a Holm Crown prize winner working in a school is definitely a piece of surprising news."
Compared to the mainland, newspaper industry here was very well-developed.
"I don¡¯t mind working in a school at all," answered Lucien, feeling a bit emotional.
"Anyway, I have a task for you right now, Lucien," Florencia said seriously. "Don¡¯t blame me for pushing you. If I don¡¯t get you occupied first, you never know what tasks those nasties would give you in order to give you a hard time."
"What is it, Ms. Florencia?" Lucien got serious as well.
"Relax¡­ It¡¯s a simple task." Florencia smiled charmingly, "Malfurion, a legendary druid and also the elder of the druids from Stroop Forest in the east, is visiting Allyn for a research program which is jointly set up by them and the Congress. The Elder has devoted his life to guarding the forests and lands, and what these druids have been trying to do is to help those poor farmers who have worked hard their whole life just to survive. They tried to use their magic power to increase the productivity of their lands, however, Malfurion¡¯s only got less than a thousand druid apprentices, so his power is far from being enough. They¡¯ve tried their best, but they couldn¡¯t even save the farmers from one single country."
"Despite the fact that their power¡¯s not enough, they¡¯re doing kind things, for sure." Lucien nodded.
Florencia agreed, "That¡¯s right. Therefore, they want to find a way together with us to see whether we can turn their magic power into some kind of alchemical items that could consistently increase the productivity of lands and could be produced relatively easily."
"It doesn¡¯t sound like an easy job like you just said." Lucien frowned.
"No, it is not. What we need to do is to analyze those druids¡¯ magic, understand the power, then simplify and popularize them, and this requires profound arcana understanding. But as Mr. Fernando Brastar, Ms. Hathaway and Mr. Vicente Miranda are taking the lead, and Mr. Raventi and Mr. Gaston are also involved, even if the project fails in the end, you won¡¯t be blamed."
Druids¡¯ power was very different from that of the Church and the Congress of Magic, which seemed to strangely sit in between the two. The congress had been trying to study it for years, and now this was a great opportunity. So of course, great emphasis was put on the project, and that was why the three grand arcanists took the lead together.
Lucien knew that what he needed to do with this task was to learn something new, and probably he could take advantage of this great opportunity to create some new spells out of the druids¡¯ unique magic.
"I¡¯ll get the task from Task Zone as soon as possible after I finish handling the things from school."
"Great." Florencia nodded, "It took me quite a bit of effort to put you in there. If you hadn't won Holm Crown prize, those stubborn druids wouldn¡¯t have accepted you."
At this time, Raventi walked to them. He quickly pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lucien, "Evans, here¡¯s my book list for you. Read those books, and enhance your knowledge foundation of arcana."
Lucien took a glance at it, and saw that there were at least forty to fifty books on it.
Before Lucien managed to say anything, Raventi took out a thick pile of test paper, "Evans, I¡¯ve heard about your way of teaching, and I appreciate it. These are the exercises that I have collected, and they¡¯re suitable to you. Take them, and finish them carefully."
Lucien¡¯s eyes suddenly opened wide. What a karma¡­
...
Soon afterwards, all the groups, arcanists, pastors and even important nobles in Holm heard the news that there was another winner of Holm Crown prize.
Lucien was the twenty-sixth winner of Holm Crown prize in the past two hundred seventy years, and, of course, he received lots of attention.

Chapter 217: In Holm Royal Magic Tower
				Chapter 217: In Holm Royal Magic Tower
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the top floor of a magic tower in Allyn.
Rogerio released a long sigh, "Holm Crown prize¡­ What a young man¡­ The youngest winner ever¡­"
As he was saying, Rogerio¡¯s hand gently touched his neck, as if there was an imaginary amulet hanging there. He had been striving for Immortal Throne award for many years, but it turned out that his talent was more in magic than in arcana.
"On the shoulder of giants¡­ shoulder of giants¡­" Adol, the undead, was right now sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in his hand, "Maybe this was even out of Professor¡¯s great expectation, and maybe he was still working on synthesizing life ingredients, hoping that he could win both Holm Crown prize and Immortal Throne award. Ha, will you guys recognize his findings?"
Looking from behind, no one could tell that Adol was actually not alive.
They had investigated Richardson, the only sorcerer who was still below senior-rank from the previous Holm Crown prize winners, and they were certain that he was not Professor.
"Depends on whether Professor, this giant, will still be alive at that time." Rogerio sneered, "Besides, Felipe has made a considerable progress."
Then he called someone in and said, "keep a close eye on Lucien Evans X, the same level we have on Larry, Timothy and Ulysses. Always keep me informed."
Now, Lucien was drawing the attention of the Hand of Paleness because of himself, not because of Professor. Therefore, he was actually safer now, as the Hand of Paleness would not just kill a genius full of potential for no important reasons, and the highest council would not allow something like this to happen as well.
"And, tell that person¡­ to continue to look for Professor." Rogerio added, "We¡¯ve promised him the rite, Lich Convert, and we always keep our words."
Sitting on the couch, Adol sneered, "Stupid humans¡­"
...
In the dark cold winter night, the lights on both sides of the street looked darker than usual.
Breaking through the thin layer of snow on the ground, a coach slowly stopped in front of Holm Royal Magic Tower, the highest building in Noble District.
The coachman opened the door of the coach and said politely, with a dim yellow light in his hand, "Mr. Evans, Mr. Lazar, we¡¯ve arrived."
Although he was just a common man, as someone who had been hired by Holm Royal Magic Academy for a long time, he respected sorcerers a lot.
Lucien took a deep breath and refreshed himself.
As soon as they entered the magic tower, an elegant, middle-aged man greeted them, "Good Evening. I am the steward of Holm Royal Magic Academy, and my name¡¯s Rodham. According to Mr. Morris, I will be helping you find what you need here, Mr. Evans. By the way, will you be staying for the night?"
The middle-aged man¡¯s blond hair was of pompadour style, and he looked rather well-mannered.
Because of the deeply rooted relationship between Holm Royal Magic Academy and the royal families such as the Hoffenberg family, in this place, there was a strong sense of hierarchy.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Rodham." Lucien nodded slightly, "Could you please show me the section where those magic items are? I need a magic robe. And yes, if there¡¯s any spare rooms, my friend and I will be staying here tonight."
"I am honored to be at your service," Rodham responded, with his left hand resting on his chest. "As the winner of Holm Crown prize, Mr. Evans, you¡¯ve automatically become our honored member here. Later I will provide you with documents, and feel free to enjoy anything we have here."
As it was already eight at night, the whole magic tower was very quiet, thus the sound of the footsteps from Rodham, Lucien and Lazar sounded quite loud.
At this time, a group of people walked downstairs from the second floor. The elder man taking the lead, who was wearing a crimson double-breasted suit and black cloak, looked very familiar to Lucien, as his silvery-gray eyes were identical to Natasha's, and he even looked like the male version of her. However, this man looked skinny, pale and sick, and this was totally different from the princess in Aalto, who always had a healthy glow on her cheeks.
On both his cloak and his suit, there was a fuchsia-colored coat of arms. Surrounded by lines representing cloud and mist, the crown supported by a sceptre and a sword looked sacred. Lucien could tell at his first glance that this was from the Hoffenberg family, the royal family of Holm.
Half step away behind the elder man, there was a middle-aged man with brown hair. His elegant long suit burst at the seams because of his weight. With a black leather bag under his armpit, there was a flattering smile on his chubby face.
"Your Highness," Rodham saluted the elder man respectfully.
This elder man was the only prince in Holm, Duke of Edenbo, Patrick Hoffenberg, Meredith's elder brother and Natasha¡¯s uncle.
Lazar and Lucien bowed slightly, but not as respectfully as what Rodham did. There was no very strict manner of hierarchy between nobles and sorcerers, unless for the sorcerers who worked for the nobles.
Patrick slightly nodded. Just when he was about to continue to walk toward the gate, he saw the shining, light purple ring on Lucien¡¯s right hand. Then he asked in his harsh voice, as if he was sick, "Holm Crown ring? Are you Mr. Lucien Evans?"
The reason why the Hoffenberg family was the most influential one in Holm, a country overtly supporting the development of magic, was directly related to the fact that many of the Hoffenberg family members were influential sorcerers and arcanists, even grand arcanists. Therefore, Patrick certainly would not miss the chance to get to know the most recent Holm Crown prize winner.
"Yes, I am." Lucien smiled, "It¡¯s my pleasure to have my name remembered by Your Highness."
Patrick nodded with satisfaction, "It seems that the name, Lucien Evans, can be heard everywhere in recent years. One is a great musician, and one is a genius sorcerer, the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize." After a slight pause, he asked, "Are you going to join the research project with the druids?"
"That¡¯s right." Lucien did not know why Patrick asked him about this.
"Good." said Patrick, "They¡¯ve decided to use the town called Sariva to be the pilot land for the project, and the small town belongs to our family. Although it¡¯s a pretty poor area there, worry not, I¡¯ll have the town officials entertain you well."
Suddenly, Patrick¡¯s words were interrupted by his severe coughing. His cough was so bad that it looked like he was out of breath. Patrick did not get any better until he hurriedly swallowed the light green magic potion from a small bottle.
Lucien did not feel a hundred percent comfortable with Patrick¡¯s sudden enthusiasm, but he still responded politely, "Thank you very much, Your Highness."
Patrick now looked better. He slightly raised his hand and said, "The royal family¡¯s glory also comes from the support of sorcerers."
After chatting casually for some short time, obviously, Patrick was not feeling that great, so he needed to leave. Before that, he said in a low voice, "Natasha sent me a letter, and in the letter, there was a latest work from the talented musician, Moonlight Sonata¡­"
Lucien was a bit surprised. He wondered if Patrick was already aware of who he was. However, he was sort of expecting this after winning the Holm Crown prize, as he was drawing so much attention, and Lucien never underestimated the Church¡¯s and the Congress¡¯ ability to gather information. Now, he only hoped that Natasha would keep her words and take care of his family.
Lucien felt that it was time to write a letter to Natasha, now that he had got rid of the close watch from the Hand of Paleness.
After Patrick left, surprisingly, the fat, middle-aged man came back for Lucien. He said to Lucien with his face wreathed with smiles, "You¡¯re Mr. Evans! What a pleasure for me seeing you here today. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll definitely be a senior-rank sorcerer some day. By the way, I¡¯m Arthur Doyle, president of Union Bank of Holm Mining, a baron."
Lucien could imagine that this man had some important nobles supporting him, or a common baron would never have the chance to become the president of Union Bank of Holm Mining.
After chatting a bit, Arthur sighed with emotion, "Young sorcerers are definitely more open-minded. Our bank has always been interested in developing new routes for the magic steam train, especially these several heading toward the harbour, but our proposal has never been approved by the Affair Committee. I sincerely hope that a young and talented sorcerer like you can join Affair Committee in the close future, so we can work together toward something."
As he was saying, he handed his business card to Lucien.
Lucien¡¯a attitude toward Arthur was not clear. He was neither enthusiastic nor cold. After Arthur left, Lazar sighed, "You¡¯re someone important now, Evans."
"I¡¯m not important to them. It is the possible benefit that they could gain from me that is important to them." Lucien smiled but shook his head.
Then, led by Rodham, Lucien and Lazar walked upstairs.
...
A magic steam train was running at its full speed on the open plain. The druids in the train were looking out the window with their eyes and mouths wide open.
Among those druids, some of them were good-looking elves, some were humans, and some were dwarves or from other races.
"Beyond imagination! This alchemical product¡­" Many druids exclaimed. The alchemical product that they were talking about was the train.
However, a pretty elven-looking man among them looked rather pissed off and he said to his friend in a low voice, "Those bastards¡­ Railways and trains like this are destroying the balances in mother nature. The land¡¯s crying, and the dead plants are cursing. Misfortune shall befall them!"
The young elf girl nodded, "That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t understand why the grand elder insists to work with those vicious people. He just wouldn¡¯t listen even when all the other elders are disagreeing with him."

Chapter 218: Demiplanes Warehouse
				Chapter 218: Demiplanes Warehouse
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
At the end of the corridor on the thirteenth floor of Holm Royal Magic Tower, there was a heavy, gray iron door. When Rodham started the gear and opened it, Lucien could see nothing clear in the shadows behind.
"This place is co-owned by the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy, half and half," Lazar said to Lucien. "I heard that Her Excellency Hathaway¡¯s magic tower is in this demiplane as well."
As a member of the Will of Elements, Lazar had been here before.
Even though Lucien tried to see through the mist with his sharp sight from the power of his Blessing, he still could not identify anything there.
"Please, Mr. Evans," said Rodham very respectfully pointing the way. Obviously, he was very well-trained.
Lucien nodded, and then he walked through the gate.
A starry sky was hiding behind the thick mist, and through the transparent crystal ceiling, the light of the stars lit up the very spacious warehouse, which spread out as far as Lucien¡¯s eyes could see.
However, there was nothing there, until Lucien, Lazar and Rodham took a step forward, as the warehouse seemed to come to life.
"Rodham, what do you come here for?" A cold and emotionless voice came to them from every corner of the warehouse, making the whole atmosphere of this place serious and suffocating, as if horrible punishment for them would immediately arrive if Rodham said something wrong.
Rodham took out a piece of mysterious-looking badge drawn with signs of elements from the ancient magic empire, "Mr. Ziderman, this badge¡¯s from Morris, and it contains his order to you. At the same time, I believe that you can easily recognize the ring on Mr. Evans¡¯s right hand, from Holm Crown prize."
"Oh?" responded the cold voice, and the badge in Rodham¡¯s hand disappeared all of a sudden. Lucien had no idea how Ziderman did this, but it seemed that doing anything in this warehouse was just a piece of cake for him.
Honestly speaking, Lucien, with his spiritual library and all the knowledge from Earth, sometimes had less respect toward sorcerers here, however, at this time, he suddenly found himself witnessing what was happening here in this warehouse in awe. Lucien knew that he was still new to magic, and he should never be arrogant and self-satisfied.
But, for sure, Lucien would still continue to work on turning knowledge from the Earth into arcana and magic, because, after all, this was what he was good at, and only idiots would give up their advantages. At the same time, Lucien wanted to study soul, mentality and spiritual power as well, in order to be a qualified sorcerer.
"The badge has been verified. Now, Mr. Evans, you can choose anything here including potions, materials, magic items, magic circles, precious books, etc. worth of less than two thousand arcana points." As Ziderman was explaining, the star light gradually revealed rows and rows of shelving units with numbers. And on those units, there were countless items, and among them, some were plain-looking, and some were dazzling and shining with dream-like gloss¡­
Lucien felt even more excited than when he was in Maskelyne¡¯s alchemical lab, as in the lab there were only magic materials and ingredients.
Under Lazar and Rodham¡¯s guide, Lucien tried his best to calm down and first came in front of the shelving unit where countless magic robes, cloaks and hats were.
"Davey¡¯s Robe (duplicate): Duplicate of Davey Rodel¡¯s legend level magic robe, level nine high rank; Reduces buffering time of spell casting by three seconds, provides the wearer with level of defence as level six radiant knight, and increases the wearer¡¯s spell resistance level to ninth circle. Prerequisite: The wearer¡¯s spiritual power shall be at least of the level of seventh circle, or one would turn into an idiot.
Davey Rodel: Although it is only a duplicate, it is still very valuable. The person who is able to offer enough (worth ten million arcana points or a duchy or a principality) shall deserve it."
Davey Rodel was a member of the Highest Council.
Lucien¡¯s eyes could not move away from this black magic robe of the ancient magic empire style. This was the best magic robe he had ever seen! Reducing buffering time of spell casting by three seconds meant that one could keep casting spells under sixth circle without any stop, so the wearer could slay his or her enemy like a powerful storm. This was definitely a robe that most sorcerers would dream to have!
However, the price was beyond Lucien¡¯s imagination. According to what Lucien knew, even the Violet family could only have a total income of eight hundred thousand Thales a year, and this robe was worth ten million arcana points.
At this time, Lucien saw another level seven magic robe which could reflect long-range and single-target attacks. However, he could not afford it either.
After quite a while, he finally found two that might suit him: one was called Nymph and the other Transformation. Other ones were either too expensive or they were not what Lucien wanted.
Lucien checked Nymph, which worth a thousand and five hundred points, enchanted with two magic effects, Gloss and Charm, and it could provide the wearer with level of defence as a level three knight.
"The wearer, no matter male or female, would be super charming, and this charm can go beyond gender. Lots of great discounts would be given to the wearer, and even free gifts! Caution, pursuers can be crazy!"
Lucien trembled a bit after reading this, and quickly put it down. Then he picked up the robe called Transformation:
"Level three middle rank magic robe, enchanted with Transformation, giving wearer¡¯s level of defence as a level two knight and magic resistance as a third circle sorcerer. The wearer can transform into a mouse, an owl and a troll once a day for each.
Assun??o Philip: the body transforms, not the heart."
This robe was worth a thousand nine hundred and sixty arcana points, and it was more expensive than other robes of the same level. However, Lucien still chose it, as he knew nothing about transformation, and he felt he was not making any progresses in studying Transformation. Despite the fact that Lucien did know a bit about Anatomy, which was the prerequisite for studying Transformation, Lucien was still having a hard time in understanding how Transformation worked.
Lucien had the feeling that this robe could be very helpful for him at some point in the future.
After telling Ziderman and Rodham his choice, Lucien cast Identification and left his spiritual power imprint in the robe, then put the robe on. After concentrating his spiritual power on the robe, Lucien turned the robe into a decent, black suit and a pair of leather shoes.
Using the rest of the forty arcana points, Lucien bought ten bottles of a dark-purple potion named Florencia¡¯s Elixir. He planned to take one bottle for each of the following ten months to better handle the greatly improved speed of him doing meditation with the ring, Element.
So far, two thousand arcana points were gone. When Lucien was about to leave with Lazar and Rodham, Ziderman said to him, "Mr. Evans, as the winner of Holm Crown prize, and a member of honor of Holm Royal Magic Academy, you¡¯re provided with a free gift, a book."
Then, a book with fine cover appeared in Lucien¡¯s hand: Matching Magic Items, by Florencia Ranka Constantine.
Lucien leafed through the book quickly. The book was about how to prevent two magic items from affecting each other when they were too close. For example, if Lucien wanted to have a ring on each of his ten fingers, he needed to arrange them properly, or put buffering rings between the rings which did not agree with each other to mitigate the conflict. However, those were always expensive, and that was why most sorcerers only wore up to two rings on one hand.
After taking one more look at the warehouse, Lucien left the place with Lazar and Rodham.
...
Early the next morning, Hexagram Station.
Wearing the long double-breasted suits of the same style, Lucien and Lazar were waiting for the train on the platform, with their hands in their pockets.
Whistling, the dark blue train slowly stopped in front of them.
A decently dressed middle-aged man got off the train. After staring at Lucien for a second, he quickly walked away together with other people.
Lucien and Lazar got on the train and picked two seats beside the window.
...
After leaving the platform, the middle-aged man walked even faster. When he entered a quiet and remote valley, he took out a scroll and put his face against it.
Divine light came out from the scroll, and the man looked in great pain, but he did not make a sound. When the light disappeared, there was a transparent piece of "paper" in his hands, and Lucien¡¯s picture was on it!
The divine spell pulled out his memory and depicted what he saw!
Then, the man went to a remote church with the piece of paper. Sitting on the chair in the front, he started praying silently.
After that, he walked out of the church, but he left the piece of paper on his seat.
A pastor walked out and took it.
The paper was delivered at various levels and finally sent to Philibell, the cardinal of Holm parish.
"Lucien Evans X, the most recent winner of Holm Crown prize, looks quite young." He murmured.
Then, he turned to the other cardinals and the leader of the Inquisition, "Improve his level to ¡®To Be Wiped Out¡¯. When there¡¯s a chance, send the night watchers to finish him, and I¡¯ll soon send the information to the Bright Hall."
Although Lucien was the winner of Holm Crown prize, he was not powerful and influential enough to be on the Cleansing List. Even Felipe, the winner of Immortal Throne award, did not get on the Cleansing List until he humiliated the Church right in the face.
"Your wish is our will," said Giendon humbly. "But I¡¯m afraid finding a chance like this is not easy. First, a promising sorcerer like him would not leave Allyn easily, and second, most middle-rank night watchers would be killed by his ring, unless we can send really good ones. But if this was the case, the Will of Elements and the congress would take their bitter revenge for sure. If there¡¯s a chance, I want to apply for using the holy relic."
The power of Holm parish was way greater than that of Violet parish, or they would have been wiped out by the congress long ago. They had enough power to resist until they could open the portal to have support from the Holy City.
Philibell nodded and sighed, "The congress never lacks young talents, even in the most recent years. We¡¯re lucky that the popes have all been putting emphasis on improving the foundation of divine spells, so we¡¯re not falling that behind."
Hearing that, the several cardinals and the leader of the Inquisition all nodded with some emotion. They felt both concerned and lucky.
...
Allyn, on the thirty-fifth floor of the headquarter of the Congress of Magic.
Nineteen out of the twenty-four members of the Highest Council, all the seven grand arcanists, and eight out of the eleven legendary archmages were present.
"According to the information provided by Malfurion, several druid elders won¡¯t work with us. So, among those druids who are visiting Allyn, some are actually from Nature Rebellion, who want to disturb our project. As some of them are actually from the royal elf family, Malfurion could only pretend that he knows nothing about it, and he wants us to handle this," said an old man with white hair and clear blue eyes. The old man was tall and still in good shape, and was wearing black suit and a bow tie.
"President Douglas, you called us here just for this?"
The one who was speaking aggressively was a short, elegant-looking old man wearing a bright red robe. His hair was a mix of black and white, and his red pupils were bright and sharp.

Chapter 219: Lucien¡¯s Research Group
				Chapter 219: Lucien¡¯s Research Group
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Am I gonna just leave those little druids alone to let them destroy our research?! Am I that stupid in your eyes, Douglas?!" Lord of Storm yelled at President Douglas furiously. Meanwhile, all the archmages present slightly leaned backwards in their chair, trying to stay away from Lord of Storm¡¯s howling.
Douglas, however, remained rather calm. Obviously, he was very used to it, and he comforted Lord of Storm, smiling, "Fernando, your major task when working with Hathaway and Vicente is to cooperate with Malfurion to reveal and understand the secrets of the power of nature. And I¡¯m sure that everyone here is willing to assist you."
The names of many ancient sorcerers who established the Congress of Magic with Douglas had gradually faded away due to the development of arcana, and right now only five of them were still here. The rest of the six grand arcanists were more or less juniors in Douglas¡¯s eyes, and two of them could even be regarded as his students.
Brook, a middle-aged gentleman wearing a wig and a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, Oliver Constantine, an elegant middle-aged man with black hair and eyes, and Hellen Price, a beautiful, elf-looking lady, all nodded slightly. No matter how they competed with each other most of the time and whether they could get along well together, right now, they were all willing to offer their help, as they knew how important this project was.
If they could reveal the secret of nature magic, they would be one step closer to cracking the secret of divine power. Once all the sorcerers could cast divine spells, most pastors, cardinals and knights would not be able to believe in their faith anymore. They would either be devoured by holy light, or lose all their power.
Nothing was more important than this to the Congress of Magic!
"Besides, Fernando, you think those druids from Nature Rebellion are the only ones who wants to interrupt our project? You think they would not report this to the Church secretly? Soon, you¡¯ll be facing the great pressure from both Nature Rebellion and the Church, but I want you all to stay focused on the project, and this is why I want to eliminate this hidden danger for you right now in advance."
It was obvious now that the true intention of the president asking them to come here was to discuss how to prevent the Church from ruining their project. The topic about the druids from Nature Rebellion was just today¡¯s appetizer.
"I see¡­ President Douglas, I am to blame. Although Philibell has been quite restrained, there are always things that are out of his control." After understanding Douglas¡¯ plan, Fernando admitted his fault straightforward.
Across the round table sat a middle-aged, pale man wearing black cloak. He looked so skinny that it seemed that there was only a layer of skin covering his skeleton. In the man¡¯s eyes, two clusters of dark-red flame were flickering.
He said in a low voice, "You never put much thought into things other than arcana and magic, Old Psychopath. I think we should secretly marginalize those incooperative druids by assigning them to famous arcanists who are actually not gonna be really involved in the project."
Being called his monicker, Old Psychopath, Fernando did not really mind, "That¡¯s why you never dare discuss mathematic and arcana problems with me, Vicente¡­"
"How famous do you think the arcanists should be, Mr. Vicente?" asked another legendary archmage, Klaus, who tried not to let the situation embarrass Vicente.
After taking a glance at Hathaway, who was sitting there silently like a statue, Vicente answered, "The recent winner of Immortal Throne award and the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize should be enough. Felipe¡¯s busy with his recent experiments, so he would not be really involved. As for Lucien Evans from the Will of Elements, he¡¯s not yet capable of analyzing divine spells. Mrs. Florencia introduced him to the project only hoping that he could learn something from it. However, their reputation should be persuasive enough for those druids."
"Sounds good. How do you feel, my teacher?" Brook, the very influential arcanist who put forward his own understanding of the form of spiritual power against Douglas, was, surprisingly, Douglas¡¯ student.
However, they seemed to be quite cold to each other. Some rumours about them seemed to be true.
Before Douglas nodded, Hathaway suddenly said to all of them, as her silvery-gray eyes looked around at all the sorcerers present, "Each of the two leads one group, in order to separate the druids who are not cooperative."
Douglas agreed, "That¡¯s even better. If everyone here agrees on this plan, we shall now move on to the next topic¡ªhow to prevent the Church from destroying our project."
...
Douglas, in Lucien¡¯s villa.
"Wow¡­ It¡¯s only been several days, and our green hand teacher, Lucien Evans, has become the winner of Holm Crown prize¡­ the youngest one!" Rock walked and jumped around Lucien excitedly, "How do you feel right now?! You¡¯re definitely the fastest one in history to become level four in arcana!"
Lucien was amused by Rock, feeling that he could become a good journalist, "I¡¯m still the same, and the only change is that people now see me differently. If I take your project to the board now, maybe it can be approved."
Rock sighed emotionally, "Reputation and status¡­ Wow¡­ Lucien, if you want to develop any research proposals, I can share some of my ideas with you! Or I can be your helper!"
Jerome and Vilnia just ignored Rock¡¯s words but continued to stare at Lucien and his ring in an unbelievable way.
After quite a while, Vilnia said, "Now I feel that I have something to show off, as I¡¯ve worked with the winner of Holm Crown prize for so long, but, at the same time, your story and the changes you¡¯ve made are just miraculous."
She paused for a second, and then grinned, "It is the trend in Holm that a gentleman shall propose to a lady with a ring. You and your Holm Crown ring is definitely a combination that no ladies could say no to you."
At this time, Rock cut in, "By the way, some time ago, Beate and those guys complained to the school saying that you were always off from school, and you were not carrying your responsibility as a teacher, so they wanted you to be fired. But you know what? As soon as they arrived at the headmaster¡¯s office, that issue of Element arrived as well, hahaha¡­! When Beate heard that you had won Holm Crown prize, he dropped his favorite Colette porcelain cup on the ground. Lucien, I wish someday your research could just overthrow their belief¡­" 
Rock was obviously very excited. When Lucien came back today, several teachers who did not like him all walked away when they were still far from Lucien.
"Lucien, who¡¯s this letter for? This¡¯s a thick one¡­" Jerome saw the envelop in Lucien¡¯s hand.
Lucien waved his left hand, "To a friend of mine."
Earlier he spent more than an hour writing this letter to Natasha. In this letter, he shared what he had seen and learned with her, and still some of his thoughts about music. Lucien also used secret codes and told Natasha that he had won his own Holm Crown ring, and part of the letter was also for Joel¡¯s family, especially his friend, John.
"To your sweetheart? I bet she must be very gentle and beautiful, or you wouldn¡¯t just ignore all the beauties here." Vilnia joked, "You¡¯re a level four arcanist and a first circle sorcerer now, and you can bring her here to live with you in Allyn."
Lucien admitted that Natasha was very beautiful, but talking about being gentle¡­ Lucien just put on an awkward smile.
At this time, Annick, Sprint and the other apprentices arrived. They looked at Lucien very respectfully, "Mr. Evans, are you leaving soon?"
They were more than proud to be Mr. Evans¡¯ students!
Lucien smiled and nodded, "Yes, but I¡¯m still in Allyn. If you guys and girls still want to study after me, you're welcome to my new place on Saturday."
Lucien had lots of homework from Mr. Raventi and now he felt quite eager to share this lovely feeling with his students.
"Really?" Annick was very surprised, and the other apprentices all grinned.
Under Mr. Evans¡¯ help, Chely was now catching up with her peers in the junior class, and even those smart apprentices such as Annick and Grant. Thus, many teachers started using Lucien¡¯s way of teaching and assigning students with lots of homework, which was driving many apprentices nuts.
Lucien nodded in a relaxed way and then he showed his perfect smile, "My test papers are all ready."
As if a lightning just struck them, all the apprentices¡¯ smiles froze.
...
On monday morning, Lucien¡¯s coach arrived at Sariva. According to the instruction, Lucien was going to meet his research group members here in Dragon Root Inn.
Wearing black top hat and a double-breasted suit, Lucien looked rather cultivated and elegant. On his chest, there was a four-star arcana badge and a two-circle magic badge.

Chapter 220: Different Ideas
				Chapter 220: Different Ideas
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Before entering the inn, Lucien took off his magic badge and only kept his four-star arcana badge on his chest. Then he put on a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that he bought in Allyn for disguise. He felt concerned that Patrick Hoffenberg might have already recognized him, so he wanted to be more careful now. Better late than never.
The fine metal chain of the glasses was now hanging beside Lucien¡¯s somewhat angular face.
Adjusting his bow tie slightly, Lucien went into Dragon Root Inn confidently, in a steady pace.
...
Sunlight came into the inn through the windows. Everything looked quiet and radiant.
Two blond, beautiful elven druids, one male and one female, were right now sitting on the couch in the corner, waiting for the sorcerer from the Congress of Magic, and they were surrounded by several pretty elven guards and maids.
There were no other guests there, just the owner of the inn and servants.
"Brother, Lucien Evans, Elemental Order, is the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize, and also a level four arcanist. Then his magic power must be close to senior-rank. What shall we do?" asked the extremely beautiful female elf out of concern.
She did not expect that they would be separated from their teachers, and their whole plan of damaging the project was thus disturbed. Now they were allocated in a small group with a young and talented sorcerer, Lucien Evans, the winner of Holm Crown prize. Anything wrong that they wanted to do to the pilot land would be so clear and obvious under this arcanist¡¯s eyes.
In order to make sure that Lucien¡¯s fame was in its best use, Affairs Committee purposefully omitted Lucien¡¯s magic circle level when they provided the druids with Lucien¡¯s information. And they also gave Lucien a quite cool title, which came from several rounds of discussion: Elemental Order.
While Felipe did not need to hide his magic circle level, he also had a new title: Hand of Rehabilitation.
"Iristine, we¡¯ll be fine. First, we can be incooperative by offering him divine spell imprints with missing parts. Second, now that we¡¯re gonna be involved in the experiments, when we need to take down important data, we can just make ¡®mistakes¡¯ all the time. I mean, what do we know about arcana?" responded Arcelion, with a disgusted facial expression that showed his repulsion toward human beings, "Our main job is to waste time here, since other elders in the royal palace are still working on stopping the grand elder. Soon, we¡¯ll be going back into our clean and beautiful forests."
Iristine nodded and smiled, "Hope we can do something here for our nature. By the way, some of the inventions from human beings are actually not that bad. This couch feels pretty nice¡­"
Arcelion quickly got very serious, "Iristine, keep in mind that those couches are made from logs, from people cutting down trees which were still alive. I can almost hear those trees crying! Do not indulge yourself in degeneration! Nothing¡¯s better than sitting on real trees which are filled with vitality!"
Hearing her elder brother¡¯s scold, Iristine felt a bit upset. However, she still nodded seriously, "I won¡¯t forget all the gifts from mother nature."
Being resolute, she secretly clenched her fists. She would definitely stop human beings from destroying mother nature.
At this time, they noticed that a young man of medium height came in, wearing white shirt, dark waistcoat, a double-breasted suit and a black top hat. The wire-rimmed glasses made him look quite profound and elegant.
As a human being, this young man didn¡¯t look bad, and he actually appeared to be quite well-mannered. This was Iristine's and Arcelion¡¯s first impression about Lucien. Since they left the forest and came to human society, they were used to judging people¡¯s appearance first.
Soon, they noticed the light-purple ring on Lucien¡¯s right hand. They recognized that it was Holm Crown ring, as told by the congress.
Knowing that this young man was Lucien Evans, Arcelion and Iristine stood up together. As members from the elf royal family, they needed to keep their good manners. Besides, deep in their mind, Lucien¡¯s deterrent title and his reputation was also affecting them.
"Good morning. Princess Iristine and Prince Arcelion?" Lucien took off his top hat in a well-mannered way. He secretly felt grateful that the committee assigned him to this group, as the prince was of level four and the princess level three, and Lucien could easily handle them with his ring, Element.
As for their noble status, Lucien did not care at all. After all, he was not an elf.
Of course, the princess' and prince¡¯s guards were more powerful. According to the information provided by the committee, Anguster was a level seven magic archer, and Tirill was a level six elven knight.
In front of this arcanist, Princess Iristine and Prince Arcelion also greeted him using royal manner, "Yes, we¡¯re members of the royal palace of Trumanner. May I ask if you are Mr. Lucien Evans, Elemental Order?"
Hearing his own title, Lucien himself was quite surprised. Half a second later, he nodded and calmly sat down with the prince and princess, "We still need to wait for another two members to start our experiments and research. The land in southeast part of the town belongs to us. Part of it is fertile, and part is poor. Thus, we can conduct contrast experiments."
Arcelion and Iristine were not interested in Lucien¡¯s terminology at all. Instead, they started talking about arts with Lucien.
Lucien was of course not afraid of this topic. In general, they had a pretty good conversation, because Lucien purposefully guided their topic to music. Lucien actually learned quite a bit and was inspired from the the prince and princess talking about elven music. At the same time, Lucien¡¯s carefully structured understanding of music and profound feelings and emotions also touched Arcelion and Iristine.
"Among all you human beings, artists such as musicians, sculptor, playwrights¡­ they¡¯re of the greatest value to the world. Arts is the best return to the generosity of mother nature." Arcelion was in a pretty good mood, as if he was talking to an artist, instead of the winner of Holm Crown prize and an authority in the school of Element.
Lucien slightly looked down at the arcana badge on his chest. He sighed with emotion in his mind, since the two noble elves really had some prejudice. For human beings, unlike elves who were born with magic tattoos, they needed to survive first, and thus human society needed so many different occupations to function properly.
When Lucien started getting a bit bored, two sorcerers came in. One was an elderly sorcerer wearing a black robe with a five-star arcana badge and a four-circle magic badge, and the other was of middle age, blond hair, whose arcana level was four, magic circle level three. They were the other two members of Lucien¡¯s experiment group, Mr. Tyrel and Mr. Urine.
After introducing themselves, Tyrel said loudly, "I was rushing earlier, and I haven¡¯t had breakfast yet. Can I have something to eat first? Honestly I cannot work with an empty stomach."
Arcelion was more than happy with anything that could waste their time, "Of course. Iristine and I also did not eat earlier. Why don't we have something to eat together? What do you think, Mr. Evans?"
Lucien nodded. Knowing that they were trying to waste time, he also wanted to keep the prince and princess occupied to prevent them from disturbing other groups¡¯ research.
...
In the dining room of the inn, Lucien was cutting his sausage, while Tyrel and Urine were working on their medium-rare steaks, which were quite bloody.
Iristine could not stand this anymore. She put down her knife and fork and said in an offended way, "Why you human beings need to harm lives to meet your own desire? Cattle, goats, chicken¡­ They shall be our friends! Mother nature has been enough tolerant with you human beings!"
Arcelion also looked pretty annoyed.
Although Tyrel and Urine felt that the two elves were being quite rude, they still put down their knife and fork.
Lucien slowly swallowed down a piece of sausage and took a glance at the fruits in Iristine¡¯s and Arcelion¡¯s plates. Then he said slowly, "Why you elves need to harm lives to meet your own desire? Did the plants do anything wrong? Why you pick off their fruits, their offsprings? According to the school of Necromancy and the Church, plants are lives as well. Don¡¯t you think so?"
"You¡­! Mr. Evans, I thought you were different. I thought you were an artist whose heart was filled with love. However, I¡¯m wrong. You are still a vicious sorcerer! Enjoy your bloody breakfast! Don¡¯t talk to us about the project until all of you are done with your bloody breakfast!" Iristine angrily left the table with Arcelion.
"Good for you, Mr. Evans." Tyrel grinned, "Although you look rather gentle, you are good at satire. And I cannot believe how hypocritical they are."
"We do need to protect nature, but we also need to survive," said Lucien seriously, and then he smiled. "Anything that prevents me from eating meat is heresy."
To be honest, Lucien did fantasy before that he might have a beautiful relationship with an elf lady here in this world, but now it looked way less likely to happen.
"I like what you said. Anything that prevents me from eating meat is heresy!" Tyrel put a big chuck of meat in his mouth and chewed it hard.
Lucien wiped the corner of his mouth gently. He knew clear that both Tyrel and Urine could not really be called arcanists, and their badges were all fake. Tyrel was, in fact, a level three arcanist, sixth-circle sorcerer, while Urine was a level two arcanist, fifth circle sorcerer. They were sorcerers who specialized more in fighting. And their true task here was to deal with the prince and princess¡¯ guards.
Lucien took a sip of water and thought to himself, "Two elven druids who do not want to work with us, plus two sorcerers who like fighting, plus me, a level four arcanist who¡¯s actually unworthy of the title¡­ What a group¡­"

Chapter 221: Wasting Each Other's Time
				Chapter 221: Wasting Each Other's Time
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
¡¡¡¡
Dragon Root Inn, inside a large room that was temporarily outfitted as a magic lab.
"Mr. Evans, these are the two level three divine spells you asked for, the ¡®Growing Brambles¡¯ and the ¡®Harvest Spring¡¯," Iristine spoke in a cold tone. She handed two pieces of a dried yellow paper over to Lucien. The paper looked old but elegant.
The elf paper was made of the elven tree bark that naturally dropped to the ground. It was a specialty of the elves and the elven paper was one of the best materials for high-level magic scrolls.
The two druids were part of the Nature Rebellion Sect and they were members of the Elf¡¯s Royal Palace. "Bumpkin" Lucien was quite surprised to see them using expensive materials as if it was nothing.
Lucien grabbed the two pieces of paper with the divine spells recorded on them and noticed that the three-dimensional imprints were complicated. It seemed like some of the imprints were broken and there was something missing. The supernatural model was unbalanced and the whole thing was a bit strange. He scrunched his eyebrows and said, "Prince Arcelion and Princess Iristine, I think the imprints of the two divine spells are incomplete. You'd better be honest if you are here to cooperate."
"Cooperate? We¡¯re here to ruin your plan!" Iristine cursed in her mind.
"Mr. Evans, we¡¯re druids, not mages, and our superior power is a gift from the mother nature. You¡¯ll be able to detect the mind of nature and construct the divine spell model from your memory if you love the nature and you¡¯re willing to protect her. We have never and will never learn to analyze and draw the imprints of the divine spells. This is the best we can do," she responded with a cold but gentle smile on face.
Arcelion was satisfied with his young sister¡¯s explanation.
"If you want to view the complete version of the divine imprints, we can try to craft a divine power item and show you the divine spell directly. However, the mind of nature forms a barrier that will destroy the content inside as soon as you try to analyze the item. Mr. Evans, do you have the ability to keep the divine imprints safe while passing through nature¡¯s barrier?" he added in an arrogant tone.
Arcelion was telling the truth. The Congress of Magic had confiscated many items that were infused with divine power, but they were still having trouble studying the mystery of the divine magic. One of the reasons was that most of the senior-level sorcerers could not stabilize the structures inside the divine imprints while bypassing the divine barrier.
Only the grand arcanist had such abilities, however, they realized that they would have to rely on the mysterious power after eliminating the divine barrier and studying the structures of the divine imprints. The mysterious power had not yet been studied and analyzed, that was why the druids¡¯ spells were so important during the procedure.
Lucien had a level nine divine item, Sun¡¯s Corona, however, the only way to activate its divine spell was by using the mentality mark left by Maskelyne and he had never found a way to analyze the divine item¡¯s divine imprints. He noticed that the two druids were not willing to cooperate and spoke in a tone that was usually used by the crazed alchemists, "Alright, I will try to analyze part of the imprints with Mr. Tyrel and Mr. Urine."
"There¡¯ll be no point for us to stay here if Mr. Evans already has the plan in mind. We¡¯ll go check the land research team and the other research teams¡¯ situations. We need the information for our future experiment." Although Arcelion was an arrogant man from the royal palace, he had some talent on finding himself ridiculous excuses.
Lucien pushed his wire-rimmed glasses slightly. "That¡¯s impossible. You need to cast the divine spells while we¡¯re doing the analysis, as we need to observe and learn the spells with our own eyes. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to complete the procedure. You¡¯re here to help us, right?"
Arcelion and Iristine could not reveal their true intention before the druid elders from the Elf¡¯s Royal Palace and the Nature Rebellion Sect gave them the next order. They were here to ruin Lucien¡¯s plan, however, they did not want to give the Congress of Magic the excuse to arrest them. Also, the Elf¡¯s Royal Palace would not want to be put in the wrong just for such a boring reason.
The two druids looked a bit disappointed, but they still responded, "Yes, we¡¯re here to help you, but there¡¯ll be nothing we can do when you¡¯re analyzing the spells. Do you want us to just sit here and watch?"
"Well, you can take a nap, pray to the mind of nature, have a short conversation, or read the books I brought here. Anyway, you need to stay here so we can find you when we need assistance." Lucien tried to imitate the expression of an arcanist that focused only on his experiments. "If you really need something to do while waiting, I have some basic math problems. What do you say?"
The math problems were designed to help Annick and Sprint train their minds.
Arcelion and Iristine looked at the thick pile of paper in Lucien¡¯s hand for a moment. The complicated numbers and formulas on the paper were like a curse to them, as the druids learned from the mind of nature and thus the numbers would give them headaches.
"Mr. Elemental Order is a true gentleman when we¡¯re not discussing the arcane power and the meat dishes. He¡¯s humorous, handsome, knowledgeable, and polite. Also, he¡¯s artistic and calm, the man is more attractive than most of the male elves. However, the gentleman will become a greedy devil if there is either arcane power or a meat dish involved, a devil that is hated by everyone!" Iristine sighed with mixed emotions, her first impression of Lucien was good, however, the man¡¯s different standards of treating different things were making things worse.
...
Tyrel looked at the complicated divine imprints as Iristine and Arcelion sat down in the corner of the lab with the elf guards, and he quickly communicated with Lucien using the Messaging Spell, "Those models give me headaches. I¡¯m counting on you!"
The short-ranged messaging spell was categorized as the second circle, however, it became an apprentice-level spell after being improved by many arcanists. It could deliver the message to the target within ten meters using a special energy.
Urine¡¯s voice echoed in Lucien¡¯s ears at the same time with the help of the Messaging Spell, he was also not happy with the physics and the mathematics involved in the analysis of the divine spell.
The two combat maniacs started looking at the divine imprints after sending messages to Lucien, and although it looked like they were writing with the quills, they were just drawing the beautiful winter scenes.
"Well, it seems like I¡¯ll be the only one working."  Lucien lost all the hope for the arcane research team. He took out a pile of white paper and started to solve the basic physics and mathematical problems given to him by Raventi.
Lucien had never put too much time into the high-level mathematics so it was a great opportunity for him to learn from Raventi. The Congress of Magic was studying the complex variables functions and it was the subject people studied during the middle part of the 19th century on Earth, but still such functions already exceeded the abilities of most people.
Besides the sealed books in his spirit library, Lucien only knew a little more than the Congress about the mathematics, such as linear algebra, the axiomatic system, and the mathematical conjectures with no answers.
The application of mathematics in this world showed the spirit of exploratory practice and magic application. That was the reason why they did not spend too much time on studying the mathematical conjectures and number theory. Lucien planned to write all the famous mathematical conjectures and publish them after he was promoted in the Congress of Magic, so the arcanists in this world could take their time and enjoy the mathematical problems.
Iristine and Arcelion looked at Lucien¡¯s handsome face and felt satisfied while watching the young man moving the quill with a serious expression on his face. "No matter how smart you are, it¡¯s impossible for you to finish the analysis procedure in a short duration without the complete version of the divine imprints. "
The two druids were happy that their plan worked. They hated to waste their precious time here but they liked watching Lucien suffer.
Time passed, and Lucien suddenly opened his mouth, "Prince Arcelion, please cast the Growing Brambles."
Arcelion¡¯s expression turned serious and he quickly cast the level three divine spell, creating green brambles that looked like barbed wires, which covered the laboratory¡¯s floor. The glinting brambles could probably break the defense of a knight easily.
"Good, that¡¯s what I need." Lucien nodded with a blank expression on his face. He turned around and started solving the problems again.
Several minutes later, Lucien¡¯s emotionless voice echoed in the room again.
"Princess Iristine, please cast the Harvest Spring."
"Sure."
The divine wave was released in the room again.
...
"Prince Arcelion, please cast the Harvest Spring."
...
"Princess Iristine, please cast the Growing Brambles again."
...
The divine waves were released again and again after Lucien requested.
"Mr. Evans, how¡¯s your analysis? It¡¯s lunchtime. Did you learn anything about the divine spells?" Arcelion stood up and asked, sounding tired. Although they used their fatigue as excuses, they could still cast the divine spells dozens of times before lunchtime.
Lucien grabbed the white paper and responded in a serious tone, "Sorry, the divine imprints are incomplete, and my analysis is not progressing well."
Arcelion and Iristine were cheering in mind but they still forced a smile on face. "It¡¯s fine, Mr. Evans. The first step is the hardest, take your time."
"Sure, let¡¯s have lunch, then." Lucien was trying his best to keep the blank expression on his face. He had already solved a whole paper of problems and it was the perfect time for some tasty dishes.
Tyrel and Urine were almost dozing off but they jumped out of the room like rabbits after hearing about lunch.
"Wait, Mr. Evans, please return the two pieces of elven paper to us. We believe that you already memorized the divine imprints." Iristine would never let this sorcerer have their precious materials.
Lucien looked a bit disappointed after hearing her request.
...
Three days later, Iristine and Arcelion were forced to stay in the laboratory upon Lucien¡¯s request, however, they heard that the other research teams already started doing experiments on the land. They were getting suspicious and decided to talk to Lucien.
The man¡¯s analysis still hadn't progressed anything. It seemed like he was just messing with the prince and the princess.

Chapter 222: Lucien¡¯s Wish
				Chapter 222: Lucien¡¯s Wish
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Iristine was wearing a beautiful dress with leaf patterns, however, she looked very cold when she talked to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, are you making any progresses with analyzing Growing Brambles and Harvest Spring? The other groups now are all ahead of us, and they have all started planting real crops. What are we doing now? Come on, you¡¯re the winner of Holm Crown prize, Elemental Order!"
Tyrel and Urine got alert. They were not sure whether the prince and princess would use this as an excuse to leave this research group.
Lucien slightly pushed his wire-rimmed glasses upwards and answered seriously, "Princess Iristine, the reason why we¡¯re making slow progress is that the imprints of the divine spells provided by you are incomplete. Maybe the druids in other groups are more gifted in arcana, and thus they could draw the imprints better. Do you think that's the case?"
Lucien was using sarcasm with a serious look.
"...Still, as a winner of Holm Crown prize, you should be better than this!" After being quite speechless for a few seconds, Arcelion insisted.
The last thing Lucien wanted to do now was to completely piss them off, so he put back his piles of paper with the mathematic exercises and answered, "Of course I¡¯ve made some progresses, and parts of the principles are now clear to me. For Growing Brambles, the spell stimulates the inner structure of a plant and the divine power turns itself into the several elements that are needed by the plant to grow fast. As for Harvest Spring, although it follows the same principles of Growing Brambles, Harvest Spring makes plants extract too much nutrition from the soil too fast. In other words, Growing Brambles requires more power from your Heart of Nature, while Harvest Spring requires less but it damages the soil. However, again, because the imprints are not complete, I cannot know what these extracted elements are."
"¡­ You¡¯ve learned this much?" Hearing Lucien¡¯s words, Iristine and Arcelion were very surprised. They could not believe that it took this arcanist only three days to make such progress with incomplete imprints.
"I¡¯m the winner of Holm Crown prize." Lucien smiled.
Of course what Lucien just said was not his own research outcome. As his task was just to waste the prince and the princess¡¯ time, Lucien was provided with all the information figured out by other groups. On the second day after the druids arrived, the three grand arcanists and the senior-rank arcanists had already figured out the principles of most of the elementary divine spells, and now they were working on analyzing the so-called mind of nature to see what it was, what it consisted of, why druids could use it and why it brought them divine spells.
This was a tough job. Thus, Malfurion¡¯s request was completely assigned to other senior-rank and middle-rank sorcerers.
According to the provided information, Lucien was certain that ordinary plants in this world still needed nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to grow, but the situation with magic plants was for sure more complicated.
"Why you did not tell us earlier, Mr. Evans?" Arcelion did not know how to respond to Lucien¡¯s words, so he hurriedly changed the direction of their conversation.
"I just figured this out last night." Lucien put on a confused look, "I did not have the time to inform you two. Soon we¡¯ll be working in the fields to do some more experiments, trying to see what elements those grains need to absorb in order to grow better."
Lucien took the advantage of the fact that the imprints provided were not complete. Of course, Lucien would not tell them that he actually knew which elements were needed, as conducting real planting experiments was the best way to waste their time.
Now Iristine and Arcelion were less doubtful toward Lucien¡¯s work, so they followed Lucien to the land to the east of the town.
Lucien marked a small piece of land and asked, "Mr. Tyrel and Urine, please measure the amount of elements contained in the soil here."
Since both Tyrel and Urine were sorcerers who were better at fighting, they did not have built-in magic structures in their souls for spells for measurement. So they needed to chant the spell and used refined elements as components to assist their casting. Thus, it took them almost two hours to record all the element contained in the soil.
"Because so far we¡¯ve only identified sixty-seven kinds of elements, there might be missing ones that are actually required by grains like oats or wheat." Lucien clarified the precondition of the experiment to the prince and the princess, and then he asked the farmers to seed oats following their years of practice.
After the farmers¡¯s job was done, in the cold wind, Lucien said to the two elf druids, "Please cast Harvest Spring to let the oats grow ripe."
A streak of green light came out from Iristine and the light covered the land. Soon, seedlings grew out from the just seeded oats. As the prince and the princess took turns to cast Harvest Spring for two rounds, within ten minutes, the oats on this piece of land had a really good harvest!
For apprentice druids, they needed to cast their apprentice-level spell for at least a month to achieve something like this.
"Mr. Tyrel and Mr. Urine, please measure the amount of elements contained in the soil now," said Lucien. As the leader of the experiment group, Lucien didn't need to do the work himself.
Watching Tyrel and Urine being busy with measuring the soil, Iristine said in a slightly confused way, "I understand that human beings need to hunt animals to feed themselves, but what I don¡¯t understand is, now that you people know how to grow grains and vegetables, why human beings are still killing animals for their meat? And in many cases human beings are killing animals not to feed, but just for fun, which is such a horrible thing to do."
Seeing that Lucien did not respond, she said to him seriously, "Mr. Evans, you¡¯ve got enough money to buy bread, vegetables and fruits, so why do you still want to eat meat? So many animals could have survived if more people refused to eat meat."
Lucien answered casually, "Firstly, human beings and elves are physically different. We need meat. Secondly, if there are any animals dying out, please tell me, and I¡¯ll try my best to protect the species. Thirdly, most animals we¡¯re eating right now are from farms, not the wild. We raise them in order to eat them."
Iristine was not really following Lucien, but she knew that there was just no chance for her to change this arcanist¡¯s mind.
"You human beings just won¡¯t give up your desires," she said.
Lucien did not fight back, but stared at the good oats in front of him. As so many people in this world were still starving, Lucien believed that surviving and growing was their current priority.
Lucien had a pretty good impression of Malfurion, the druid's grand elder. In Lucien¡¯s mind, Malfurion¡¯s effort toward increasing the production of crops was definitely admirable, which was just like how the Church overthrew the ancient magic empire which slaved people back in the days.
Even though Lucien was very careful with his every step and always wanted to protect himself first, he still wanted to make a contribution to Malfurion¡¯s great work to save more people in this world. 
Moreover, when more underclass people could benefit from the power of magic, the ruling of the Church would be shaken for sure, which in turn was good for sorcerers themselves as well.
Since Lucien arrived in this world, he experienced all kinds of inconvenience in his life here compared to his original modernized lifestyle. If he was capable, of course Lucien would like to advance the development of human society here.
"Mr. Evans, there is less nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil," Tyrel and Urine reported.
Lucien came back to reality from his ambitious wishes and then nodded. "Then, we gather materials which contain those elements for further alchemical product design and the simplification of the magic structures. What we also need to do is to divide this field into sections, so we can look at how those elements make a difference to the crops."
The other groups were doing the same thing now. Lucien wondered who could first figure out the secret of fertilizers.
Making basic fertilizers was simple. Treating phosphorite with sulfuric acid could do the job, and the congress was already capable of producing sulfuric acid in a steady volume with magic circles. However, it was not easy to understand why sulfuric acid plus phosphorite could work here. Without theoretical support, Lucien did not think that they could achieve a significant progress any time soon.
There were still other ways to improve yield in crops, such as irrigation system and cross-breeding. However, the former was already on the Congress¡¯ agenda, while the knowledge involved to produce cross-breedings was still very challenging to Lucien. Furthermore, he was also not sure whether cross-breeding technique worked the same here in this world where magic plants and creatures also existed. Much more work needed to be done in this field.
...
The Bright Hall in Lance, the Holy City.
A knight in a whole set of silvery-white armour was kneeling on one knee, "Your Holiness, the Congress of Magic is right now attempting to intrude on the realms of God, reaching their filthy hands to the holy truth of the world. So hereby I venture to make the request: we shall start the Second War of Dawn! We shall declare a full-scale war against the Congress of Magic!"

Chapter 223: Unexpected Change
				Chapter 223: Unexpected Change
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
When the knight that was kneeling on one knee and holding a helmet in his arms declared war against the Congress of Magic as he thought the realm of the God was defiled, the rest of the Episcopal Conference members were drawing crosses in front of their chests. They shouted, "We shall purify these evil sorcerers with the holy light and force them to repent while crawling under God¡¯s feet. The realm of the God shall not be explored by the mortals!"
The pope had a serious expression and was holding a platinum scepter in hand and the Holy Crown was on his head. The leader of the Ascetics named Varantine was wearing a short linen robe, he noticed the pope¡¯s situation and stepped forward.
"Your Holiness, Knight Stone is the representative of all the devout believers. They¡¯re angry because God is defiled. Please don¡¯t worry, the herectics of the north will not attack us using this chance unless they already lost their face and no longer believe in the truth. However, their base will be destroyed and I think they¡¯ll also attack the Congress of Magic after the situation gets worse," Varantine suggested.
Varantine had short blonde hair and he was not wearing anything on his feet. There was a pair of energetic blue eyes over his thin cheeks.
Behind Varantine, there were more than ten episcopal bishops, three important members of the Inquisition, and the legendary knights including Stone. They were still trying to convince the pope, "Your Holiness, please give us the order and start the second War of Dawn. We need to gather our army for the Congress of Magic but the nobles are still needed at the Dark Mountain Range."
The pope, Benedict II, raised the holy scepter to the air. His voice was so deep that it sounded like he was speaking from the sky, "I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re devout believers of God and I¡¯m sure that God is pleased with the words you just said. However, I have one question for you, are you losing your faith in God? Do you really think the Congress of Magic can find out God¡¯s secrets? The mortals can never touch God¡¯s realm! Have you already forgotten what God told us?"
It almost looked like the pope¡¯s red cloak was dancing in the gentle wind, as he was surrounded by the intense holy aura that came with the holy light. The aura was so strong that it could not be contested by anything.¡¡¡¡
The members of the Episcopal Conference were not sure how they should answer the pope¡¯s question and they were trying to find out where their anger came from. They were angry because God was defiled and they were devout believers, however, they could not decline that fear was spreading in their minds. They were worried that the Congress of Magic could explore God¡¯s realm like exploring the world. They wanted to stop the Congress and strangle the sorcerer¡¯s plans in the cradle.
"It¡¯ll be a lie if I say that I¡¯m not guilty. My ignorance blinded me from the truth. God is kind and fair, I shall confess myself and hope that God will forgive me." The members of the Episcopal Conference started repenting after a moment of silence.
Benedict II waited for them to finish repenting and opened his mouth, "The Congress of Magic will not be able to explore God¡¯s realm, however, we can¡¯t forgive them for what they have done. Varantine and Vaharall, take some ascetics and night watchers to aid Philibell in Holm. We shall eliminate the sorcerers and make them pay for what they have done!
"Also, you need to assist the druids and elves in Steloop Forest and make the sorcerers think that we¡¯re about to attack, so they can use the excuse to call back the druids that are working with the Congress of Magic."
"As you wish, Your Holiness." The leader of the ascetics, Varantine, and one of the three Inquisition¡¯s important members, Vaharall the Adjudicator, bowed to the pope at the same time.
The other members of the Episcopal Conference thought that the pope¡¯s order was reasonable, however, they had a strange feeling in mind. The incident was supposed to touch off the war and the balance of the land would be broken but the pope convinced them that they should focus on punishing the sorcerers who defiled God.
"It was a wise decision. We¡¯re strong but we¡¯re pressured by multiple organizations and the situation might get worse if we start the war without proper preparation. We should calm down and wait for the day to come." The members of Episcopal Conference had changed their thoughts, they drew the crosses in front of their chests and left the Bright Hall.
Benedict II lowered his scepter and returned to his reading room, where a cardinal was waiting for him. The cardinal stepped forward and questioned, "Your Holiness, the intel sent back by Bishop Philibell mentioned the information of the Holm Crown reward, the Congress of Magic and the druids¡¯ progression of the research on divine magic."
"Keep the intel safe, as we might need it later. We should focus on dealing with the incident for now." Benedict II waved his hand. It seemed like he was not concerned about the things that did not matter. That intel was not something that needed to be sent to all the Inquisitions, as was the Cleansing List.
The pope closed the door after the cardinal left, and then looked at the portraits of the previous popes with a blank expression on his face.
The name of the popes and the how long they had stayed in this world before returning to the arms of God were written under the portraits.
...
"Charles I, Saint Calendar year 350 - 572."
"Alfonsol, Saint Calendar year 387 šC 633"
"Charles II, Saint Calendar year 408 šC 686."
"Benedict I, Saint Calendar year 474 šC 745."
"Gregory II, Saint Calendar year 548 šC 796."
A hint of smile appeared on Benedict II¡¯s face and he muttered in a deep tone, "How can the mortals find the way to the secret of God?"
...
Saturday morning, the sun was still rising.
In a mansion beside the town Sariva, Felipe was doing some magic experiments with a serious expression on his face. Although he only visited the lab twice this week and did not stay there for the night, the man¡¯s incredible analysis skill still stopped the druids from trying to trick him. The druids could not find any excuse to interrupt the experiment so they had to change the data Felipe obtained. However, Felipe was not concerned about the progression of the experiment at all, as he was focusing on creating an important living substance from nonliving ones.
Felipe saw the colorless crystal forming in the low-temperature environment as the light appeared on the last alchemical circle.
He tried his best to calm down and started heating the translucent crystal. The crystal melted and was turned into liquid quickly. Also, the magic circle detected a gas with an irritating smell.
Felipe took one step back and cast the identifying spell, getting the result within seconds. The liquid was a fatty acid that he needed, and it was a substance that could only be found inside the bodies of living beings.
"There is no point in supporting the Human Vitality Theory anymore." Felipe forced a smile on his pale face. "I wonder how many old fellows in the organization will admit that they¡®re wrong. They need to redefine the meaning of the living substance, otherwise, they¡¯ll have to accept this new finding. I guess I should be the one to publish the result so it¡®ll be easier for the other necromancers to accept the change."
Felipe proved that the theory he had been supporting for more than 30 years was wrong and he had mixed emotions about this. He was happy, confused, sad, and excited at the same time. Professor successfully synthesized the urea and it was an eye-opening experience for him. The artificially synthesized urea changed his opinion on the theory and that was the reason why he decided to do an experiment himself.
A man wearing a long back robe knocked on the door of the laboratory softly.
"Who is it?" Felipe was startled by the noise and he questioned with confusion in his eyes.
A deep and hoarse voice came from the other side of the door, "It¡¯s me, Traquair."
"Mr. Traquair? Why are you here? It¡¯s still early in the morning," Felipe responded and he started unsealing the magic circle that locked the door.
Traquair was a sixth-ring necromancer from the Hand of Paleness, but his arcana level was just three, as he spent a long time trying to advance to the seventh ring. He was sent here to help Felipe deal with the druids.
Felipe suddenly realized something as he opened the door. He could feel that something terrifying was coming for him.
"Crap!"
Black tentacles that were formed by the power of death appeared in the laboratory, the sorcerers¡® souls would be tainted if they were touched by the tentacles, and they would no longer be able to cast the strongest spells they knew.
Also, mummies that were covered with black linen strips stood up in the sea of tentacles and they started charging toward Felipe.
...
In the Dragon Root Inn, Lucien was reading the report of the program. The questions the arcanists encountered when trying to simplify the procedure were listed on the paper. They described the unsolved problems that were stopping them from progressing without hiding anything. They would be able to obtain the arcane points after publishing their research results as long as the report was still here.
"The elements can be found in the feces and fertilizers used by the farmers but the result was not good enough. We¡¯ll have to keep a lot of animals if we want to get enough feces to mass produce the elements. However, the animals will consume a lot of food¡­
"The previous experiments proved that the plants need water and sunlight to grow, with the help of the divine spell analysis, we found out that they also need to absorb the elements from the soil. However, the mineral powder that was splashed on the soil was not effective."
...
After they finished analyzing the structure of the divine spells, the sorcerers started doing experiments with the help of the druids. However, the mineral powder of the elements that could be mass produced was useless, and they decided to do experiments on the alchemy products that contained those elements.
"With the foundation of the divine spells and the help from the druids, I think the arcanists will find the alchemy products they need sooner or later." Lucien put down the report and put on a coat. He wanted to go back to Allyn and teach the apprentices after the breakfast.
Lucien saw Iristine and Arcelion walking toward him with smiles on their faces as he opened the door.
"Mr. Evans, we¡¯re sorry that we can¡¯t help you with the experiment anymore. The elders from the royal palace ordered us to return to the forest immediately and we need to help defend the incoming attack from the Church." Arcelion bowed to Lucien elegantly as he already knew the background of the attack.
Lucien knew that it was not an emergency as the two druids did not look like they were in a hurry, so he smiled and responded, "It¡®s fine. I already found the path after checking the data of the experiment."
"What?" Iristine and Arcelion were surprised. It was them who changed the data.
Lucien still had the smile on his face. "With the help of the substances that were soluble in water and the divine spell that helps the plant grow, the oats are doing very well. Also, I compared the result with the other research teams and eliminated some unreasonable data."
With the analysis result, Lucien easily found out that the data was changed by someone.¡¡¡¡
"Well¡­" The two druids looked a bit disappointed.
Lucien took out the thesis he finished a long time ago, called 'The Conclusion of Comparing the Data Obtained from the Oats that Were Fertilized by the Sulfuric Acid Infused with Phosphate Ore', and said, "I need to submit the report to the senior-level arcanists outside the mansion. Prince Arcelion and Princess Iristine, do you want to go with me?"
"Go ahead, we need to leave." Iristine looked tired. She wanted to destroy the thesis but she feared Lucien¡¯s power. Also, Tyrel and Urine already appeared on the other side of the hallway.
...
The carriage was slowly advancing on the bumpy road outside the town. It was winter, so the light from the rising sun had not yet brightened up the area.
Suddenly, Lucien noticed the heat coming from Sun¡®s Corona on his chest and the Host Star of Destiny started warning him about an incoming attack.
Lucien had no time to think, he jumped out of the carriage and activated the fifth-circle spell Powerful Fire Shield contained within ring.
A dark shadow that was surrounded by some rotten gas appeared from the sky and hit Lucien¡¯s carriage hard. The iron strips and wooden planks on the carriage started decaying quickly.
"Huh? I didn¡¯t expect you to dodge the strike," a deep and hoarse voice echoed in the cloudy sky.

Chapter 224: Hit the Mark by a Fluke
				Chapter 224: Hit the Mark by a Fluke
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Having no time to think too much about it, Lucien instantly made a mirrored clone of himself and extended the cover of the fire shield to the clone as well. Careful as Lucien was, he even changed the side on which he wore the piece of monocle on the clone¡¯s face.
It was the second-circle spell, Mirror, and it was one of the three second-circle spells that Lucien actually had their structures built inside his soul. The other two were Mechanized Mind and Maskelyne¡¯s Acid Arrow.  
As soon as his mirrored clone showed up, a green light ray hit the clone right in its chest and destroyed it instantly into pieces! Then the light ray did not just disappear but it reflected so fast that there was no way for Lucien to dodge, as the spell was cast by a sixth-circle sorcerer!
The green light directly hit the flame shield covering Lucien. The flames suddenly rose up and quickly broke down into red particles in the air.
The green light was a sixth-circle spell, Dissociation!
Lucien was lucky enough that his mirrored clone and flame shield gained him some time, so he managed to activate Fire Weaver¡¯s Bracelet barely in time, or he would have been dissociated into those floating particles already!
Nevertheless, Lucien¡¯s robe, Transformation, still got damaged. Strange blank patches appeared on his robe, as if they were taken away by an invisible eraser.
Lucien was in cold sweat. He could not imagine what would have happened to him without the protection of the three spells and the robe.
Furthermore, Lucien was lucky that his enemy¡¯s Dissociation spell was not as powerful as he thought. After all, the Flame Shield enchanted in the bracelet was only a second-circle spell, and thus Lucien thought that his robe would be completely ruined when the green light came to him directly.
Lucien had learned a lot from his past fights. Right now he remained quite calm and activated the power of his partly-damaged magic robe.
At this time, the necromancer summoned mummies that were wrapped in black and rotten-smelling bandages. After the mummies climbed up from the ground, they all rushed at Lucien, who was still surrounded by red flame particles.
Like real knights, these mummies moved very fast. Among those mummies which were immune to spells under fifth-circle and physical attack from grand knights and below, there were also ghasts, which could exert some necromantic spells.
However, after the mummies and ghasts tore apart the flame shield, there was nothing in there. 
Lucien was gone!
Standing in the air, the necromancer wearing a hood was a bit surprised, but soon, with his spiritual power, he murmured to himself, "Umm¡­ A hole in the ground¡­ Mouse transformation¡­"
When the necromancer raised his hand, the ground started shaking violently, like an earthquake arrived.
Sixth-circle spell, Earth Shake!
The half-destroyed carriage swayed up and down together with the ground, and the coachman¡¯s rotten body was broken into pieces. The human who had been thrown over the coach from a great height was stilly lying there, seemingly completely dead. 
While in the sophisticatedly constructed system of mouse holes under the ground, Lucien, who was right now a red-eyed mouse, felt the great power as the ground shook violently. Knowing that if he stayed there any longer he might be buried alive, Lucien had no chance but to go back to the surface.
As soon as Lucien dismissed the spell and returned to his human-being form, he was ready to activate his ring, Element, to try his very best to survive.
Lucien never expected that he could escape from the attack of a senior-rank sorcerer, so what he had been doing was to waste the necromancer¡¯s time, hoping that the senior-rank sorcerers and archmages of the Will of Elements nearby could notice what was going on here and came to rescue him.
However, as time went by, Lucien realized that at that moment they were probably too busy studying the Mind of Nature to pay attention to him.
At the same time, when Lucien came back to the ground, he finally recognized the man who was thrown on the coach and was right now lying beside the remaining pieces of the transport¡ªit was Felipe from the Hand of Paleness! He was killed by another necromancer!
Lucien was shocked.
In the air, Traquair¡¯s eyes were shining with red light that pierced through the darkness under his hood. He was ready to cast Death Stare, a sixth-circle spell, on Lucien!
Just at the same time, a dim light shot out from Felipe¡¯s chest, and it immediately froze all the black mummies and ghasts within in fifty-meter radius. Then, the mummies and ghasts just exploded silently all at once!
The dark gas produced by the explosion then turned into a long sword covered with weird-looking eyes. Very swiftly, the sword directly hacked at Traquair.
Dark Sword, a seventh-circle spell enchanted in Felipe¡¯s Immortal Throne amulet! This spell could not only control the movement of the dead, but also collect the power of death, which could degrade the power of the one struck by the spell by one circle. Without some kind of special rites, the affected would never be able to recover from it!
Surprisingly, Felipe did not die. He was just pretending, and then he gave the enemy a totally unexpected strike at the most critical moment.
After the bitter fight with Felipe in the air, Traquair had already consumed all his protection spells. Felipe also used some spell which looked quite similar to Dark Sword before, so Traquair was not alert enough to avoid the attack.
The dark sword absorbed Traquair¡¯s power, and instantly, Traquair was turned into a fifth-circle, middle-ranked sorcerer. Thus, of course, he could not use Death Stare anymore.
Seizing the chance, Lucien immediately activated his ring, Element, and bright light burst out from it. Surrounding Traquair, a colourful swirl composed of black, blue, green, and golden particles showed up in the sky, and the swirl devoured Traquair in no time, tearing him apart.
Elemental Swirl, seventh-circle spell!
Lucien felt great pain from the finger which the ring was on, and the pain was so unbearable that his heart almost stopped, and all of his spiritual power dried out. Feeling extremely weak and tortured, he almost could not stand up.
This was the cost he needed to pay for casting that seventh-circle spell when the seal had not been removed yet.
Although Traquair was still struggling with casting all the defensive spells that he knew, his physical body was being torn into pieces, and so were the magic items he was wearing, as they were also composed of elements.
Both Elemental Swirl and Cracking (Advanced) could destroy magic items, but only the latter, a ninth-circle spell, could ruin legendary level items and the effect of the spell was not affected by one¡¯s defence level, as one could only rely on his or her own spiritual power and several unique senior-rank spells to fight against it.
However, the biggest difference between Elemental Swirl and Cracking (Advanced) was that the former could actually hurt one¡¯s physical body and soul, but the latter only worked with magic items and magic buffs.
Even so, before Traquair drew his last breath, he shouted at Felipe furiously, "You! The traitor of your belief! You can never overthrow Life Force Theory! GO TO HELL!!!"
The great pain drove Traquair crazy, and layers of black gas kept coming out from his body. As soon as his body and soul were completely destroyed by the swirl, a violent explosion burst forth from its center, targeting Felipe!
The Last Strike, a fifth-circle spell. When the caster was killed, his or her body would explode to attack the last defined target!
Immediately, flame and powerful blast waves devoured Felipe. Lucien, on the other side, was also thrown to the ground because of the great power.
When the air blast disappeared, Lucien tried hard to get up. He was about to mourn for Felipe, after all, they were fighting together just now, but then he saw a figure staggering and slowly standing up on the other side, through the heavy dust in the air.
"You¡¯re still alive?!" This was totally beyond Lucien¡¯s imagination. However, right now, he was also too weak to fight against Felipe.
Felipe, who was bleeding all over his body, and whose long coat was covered with holes and blood, said to Lucien, gasping, "Even if you died¡­ I¡¯d still be alive, Mr. Professor."
After witnessing how Lucien fought, and watching Lucien standing right in front of him, Felipe was quite sure that Lucien was the very Mr. Professor that he was looking for.
The fact that he was fooled by a first-circle sorcerer really pissed Felipe off. However, when he was about to cast spells to attack Lucien, he realized that his body was too weak to do anything right now from the backfire of using the amulet.
"I think you¡¯re dying, Mr. Felipe." Lucien neither admitted nor denied Felipe¡¯s words. Right now he had already got the support from the Will of Elements, he did not really care whether the Hand of Paleness could recognize him. Lucien continued, "Are you working on synthesizing ingredients for life? Is it why this guy tried to kill you? Hey¡­ You just brought such a disaster to me."
Felipe sneered, "He¡¯s from the Hand of Paleness. He could not accept the fact that Life Force Theory has been overthrown, so he tried to kill me, and he wanted to kill you as well, because he wanted to make other people think that we killed each other. However, both of us know who he really should have been after! And by the way, I¡¯m telling you¡­ I¡¯ve successfully synthesized an aliphatic acid. So I suggest you to hurriedly submit your paper about synthesizing carbamide to still get a couple of credits."
"Oh? Is that true? Then congratulations, Mr. Felipe, my dear student." Lucien smiled, "You¡¯ve proved that I¡¯m really a professor."
As both of them were too weak to fight, they were fighting using words.
"Although you¡¯re smart, you¡¯re still not even close to me, and you were just being lucky." Felipe curled up the corners of his mouth, "If Traquair hadn¡¯t got hurt by my senior-rank magic roll, his Dissociation would have killed you already!"
Although Felipe was saying so, he actually paid lots of attention to this guy who successfully fooled him before, when he was only a first-circle sorcerer!
Lucien shrugged, "Mr. Felipe, you¡¯re only a level-four arcanist as well, right? When I am in your age in the future, my level will be way higher than yours. The periodic table alone can bring me a lot of arcana credits each year, so I'm totally uninterested in publishing a paper in synthesizing life ingredients, you know¡­"
"Oh yeah¡­ When you reach senior-rank, your progressing will slow down." Felipe retorted, "And I don¡¯t think the Will of Elements really values you that much. As far as I know, you¡¯re not a student of any senior-rank sorcerers or archmages?"
Lucien took a glance at the place where Traquair just exploded, "Nevetheless, the Will of Elements is still way better than a group where its members just kill each other. By the way, I thought your experiment producing life ingredients was confidential, wasn¡¯t it?"
Felipe¡¯s pale face looked serious. He murmured, "Other than Thanatos and Demigod-lich, there are only three people including Mr. Rogerio who know about my experiment. There¡¯s no way that they would leak the information¡­ What¡¯s going on here?"
"Emmm¡­ I¡¯m not sure. Not really my business." Lucien wanted to laugh at Felipe, but the pain stopped him.
Felipe felt that his body, or say, the body he was using now, was close to falling apart. He thought for a few seconds and then said to Lucien, "I won¡¯t tell this to Thanatos¡­ Mr. Professor, what about cooperating with each other for once?"
"For what?" Lucien asked.
"I¡¯m gonna take my sweet revenge for what those old guys have done to me in the Hand of Paleness," answered Felipe fast. Of course, proud as Felipe was, he could not stand this.
"What can I get from it?" Lucien grinned a bit in pain.

Chapter 225: Preparation
				Chapter 225: Preparation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Felipe raised his left hand, which only had four fingers, with a gloomy smile on his face.
"You publish your paper on synthesizing carbamide first, and as the paper won't have enough decisive evidence, it would for sure raise heated discussion about the validity of Life Force Theory. When those old stubborn bastards believe in the theory even more as they need to persuade people during the debate, I'm gonna publish a decisive paper to completely overthrow Life Force Theory. Although we haven't been able to successfully synthesize real life ingredients like cells and thus the papers won't be shocking enough to blow up their heads, I'm sure the fact that Life Force Theory is gonna be completely overturned can prevent them from making any further progresses for a long time, or even forever. Talking about what you can get¡­ Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t want more credits, more attention from the Will of Elements, and don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t want to take revenge as Traquair also tried to kill you."
Lucien sneered, "Come on, Felipe, do you think I¡¯m an idiot? Why would I want to submit a paper that is gonna draw so much hatred to me, specially because I don¡¯t even really need to worry about earning more credits right now? With the periodic table, before level five, I think I¡¯m fine with collecting credits."
Felipe¡¯s gloomy smile was still on his face. Slowly he took back his hand and said to Lucien, "Sorry, Professor, I don¡¯t think you really have a choice here. If you refuse to work with me, I¡¯m gonna mention your name in my paper specially at the very beginning to thank you for your great contribution, as it was you who inspired me to overturn Life Force Theory. You¡¯ll still take the credit, Professor."
Lucien did not answer. Instead, Lucien was staring at Felipe, considering if he could kill him right now, as he could feel that he was recovering faster than Felipe because of the ring, Element.
"Professor, can¡¯t you tell that my body¡¯s gonna collapse at any time right now? Even if you kill me on the spot, my soul and body will reunite somewhere else." Felipe felt that he was having an advantage over Professor right now, thus he said this to Lucien in a pretty good mood.
However, careful as Felipe, he would never carelessly reveal his top secret to his enemy. Without this secret magic buff, he would have been dead already in his fight against Traquair.
Lucien put on a cold smile, "How do you know that I don¡¯t have a plan B?"
Although Lucien indeed did not have any other backup plans, he would not show his weaknesses in front of his enemy. He really wished that two more layers of the seal of Sun¡¯s Corona had been unlocked, so he could launch another round of attack toward Felipe!
Felipe¡¯s heart sank for a second. As Professor was always mysterious and cunning, Felipe was not sure whether what he just said was true. However, he still pretended to be calm, "Don¡¯t take me wrong, Professor. I¡¯m just trying to figure out a way that benefits both of us. I think the paper about synthesizing carbamide can be submitted as your research outcome as you work with the druids. When the paper raises heated debate, you don¡¯t have to mention anything about Life Force Theory or express any of your personal opinion, and I¡¯m sure people will understand, because, after all, you¡¯re not a necromancer. Following you paper, I¡¯m gonna publish my paper with decisive evidence for overthrowing Life Force Theory. At that time, all the attention and hatred will go directly to me, and you¡¯ll be out of the whole chaos."
Lucien curled the corner of his mouth in a noncommittal manner.
"In the congress, I¡¯m the only one who actually met Professor before. If you can do me the favor, I promise that I¡¯ll keep your secret. I¡¯m sure that you don¡¯t want the Church and the congress to know that you¡¯re also the great musician from Aalto, as you¡¯re still hoping to meet the princess again." Felipe continued to persuade Lucien, "Besides all the benefits I mentioned before, I promise you a rite which can improve one¡¯s life-span and soul strength, though only once."
All that Felipe wanted to do now was to take revenge on those old bastards from the Hand of Paleness who planned this assassination against him. As Traquair was already dead, Felipe was sure that most of the recent senior-level members of the Hand of Paleness would not speak for him at the risk of pissing off those old, senior-rank sorcerers.
Lucien carefully thought about it for a few seconds, then he moved his neck with difficulty, "I hope we work well with each other then, Mr. Felipe."
"Great." Felipe smiled, although still gloomy, "Let¡¯s find some time to sign a devil pact together."
After saying this, Felipe gave up his control over this body, and the body started collapsing and falling into pieces.
Before Felipe disappeared, his voice lingered in the air, "Mr. Professor, our cooperation this time doesn¡¯t mean that we¡¯ve become friends. You¡¯re still one of the people who I dislike the most. When I get a chance, I¡¯ll beat you, but before that, I hope you can grow stronger. Killing a second-circle sorcerer cannot make me feel proud."
"The same. Maybe my arcana level will be higher than yours soon." Lucien responded, smiling.
Felipe¡¯s body was now covered with white light and then the body disappeared, leaving on the ground the Immortal Throne amulet, which was made of bones, and another ring.
"Life Hiding? The ninth-circle magic?" Lucien murmured, recalling what he had read before on Book of Necromancy, "No¡­ It¡¯s different¡­ Life Hiding concentrates most of one¡¯s life force in a certain part of the body and hide that part somewhere else. What Felipe just did doesn¡¯t look the same¡­ It might be some special rite from the Hand of Paleness, but who¡¯s gonna conduct this rite for him? Who¡¯s Felipe¡¯s teacher¡­?"
Waiting for his spiritual power and energy to recover, Lucien looked at the amulet on the ground and started planning something.
At this time, the archmages and senior-rank sorcerers who finally noticed what was going on there all arrived, including Raventi and Gaston from the Will of Elements, and Pesor and Tina-Timos from the Hand of Paleness.
Seeing all the remains of the dead creatures on the ground and Lucien, who was standing there with great difficulty, Raventi became furious.
"What the heck did you bastards want to do?!" As Raventi was growling at those sorcerers from the Hand of Paleness. The air suddenly became really hot, as if they were surrounded by burning lava.
This was the signal that Raventi was going to cast his ninth-circle spell, Raventi¡¯s Flame Hell.
Wearing a long, black robe which covered all his body and had white skulls on the collar, Pesor¡¯s face was not revealed. There were only two small clusters of red flame that were flickering under his hood, "Raventi, our member was also attacked. Before we find any evidence, the Hand of Paleness is also the victim."
Pesor was a level-eight arcanist, ninth-circle necromancer, member of Arcana Review Board. He was not known for having a good temper, however, in front of Raventi, Pesor appeared to be quite mild in contrast.
Then Pesor pointed at the amulet and the ring on the ground, and he used magic to pick them up,
"Hand of Rehabilitation¡­ It¡¯s Felipe¡­"
After checking around and talking with Lucien a bit, Gaston also stopped Raventi, "It was the winner of Holm Crown prize and the winner of Immortal Throne award who were attacked, Lucien Evans and Felipe Carneiro respectively. The attacker was Traquair from the Hand of Paleness."
Then Gaston looked at the other side, "Do you two have any clues?"
Tina-Timos, the female sorcerer who had a hellish succubus look said unpleasantly, "We¡¯ll figure this out!"
...
In a secret chamber of a magic tower in Heidler, a fine box decorated with lots of beautiful jewels was placed in the center of a complicated magic circle.
All of a sudden, the box started shining with dazzling white light. A piece of a finger appeared. As it was floating in the air, the finger started twitching and growing. It grew bigger and bigger and eventually the finger turned into a naked man!
It was Felipe.
"Again¡­ I needed Mr. Demigod-lich to conduct this Life Hiding rite for me by utilizing cellular memory¡­" Felipe looked at his new body and walked toward the bedroom to put on some clothes, "I¡¯m bankrupt again¡­"
After Felipe took care of everything, Rogerio arrived. He looked very serious, "What happened?"
Felipe answered coldly, "Someone else knows that I¡¯m working on synthesizing life ingredients. We have a traitor among us, Mr. Rogerio."
"As Mr. Demigod-lich and Mr. Thanatos have got the news, and they knew how serious it was, there shouldn¡¯t be another assassination attempt. Right now we still have to focus on the experiment. How¡¯s it going?"
"It¡¯s in the final stage now." Felipe put his hands into his pockets as usual, "I¡¯m relatively confident that it¡¯s going to succeed in one week."
He did not mention anything about Professor.
...
While in another magic tower in Heidler, when Traquair¡¯s soul started reuniting inside a purple gem, a hand suddenly grabbed the gem and smashed it into ashes with the black power of death.
There were shrill cries coming from the inside of the gem, but they soon disappeared.
"Mr. Adol, thank you for your information. Unfortunately, we failed."
"Sorry to hear it."
After a short conversation, the chamber quieted down. A space gap appeared, and Adol returned to the World of Souls.
...
In a manor in Sariva.
After half day of rest, Lucien was almost fully recovered because of his own good physique and the help of the ring, Element. He destroyed the partly-done paper that he wrote before and developed a new paper:
The Method for Large-scale Production of the Several Useful Alchemical Products Found in Oat Planting Experiment and the Discussion of Their Proper Use.

Chapter 226: The Reaction
				Chapter 226: The Reaction
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
The highest council took this cooperative research project seriously, and also the project was related to the elements and souls, so most of the arcanists from Allyn that were familiar with these two fields were asked to join the research, including the middle-rank arcanists from the Arcane Review Board like Raventi, Gaston, Locklynn, and Pesor. They were the ones who were qualified and had the ability to verify the submitted articles.
A temporary article verification location was set up in a mansion in Sariva and all the arcanists who joined the project would be able to submit their research results without wasting any time.
Lucien saw Woods from Common Arcana journal coming from the other side of the hallway as he stepped out of the room that was full of magic circles.
"Greetings, Mr. Woods. I didn¡¯t expect to see you here. I thought you were an expert in force field and astrology."
 "Greetings, Evans. I¡¯m a subeditor of the Common Arcana and I need to find if any result of the arcanists can be published in our magazine. The knowledgeable arcanists of the element and soul department all joined the research project, but our journal is not big as Arcana or Magic, so I need to find the good articles myself."
Woods smiled and nodded slightly, he had already become the subeditor of Common Arcana due to the matter of the periodic table about two weeks ago. The arcane points he received for finding a new element were high, and it also proved that the periodic table worked. Woods had stayed at level four for too long as an arcanist but it seemed he would finally have the chance to advance to the next level in about one year.
There was a golden mustache on Woods¡¯ face. He looked at Lucien and said. "I heard that you were ambushed by someone after I got here and I went to your room, however, the maid told me that you were here¡­ Well, it seems like you¡¯re doing fine and it¡¯s great."
Lucien¡¯s face was still slightly pale and his body was almost recovered, however, his transformation robe needed to be repaired.
"Thank you, Mr. Woods. I was just caught in the fire, the assassins were going after Mr. Felipe, and they didn¡¯t do any actual damage to me. I activated the elemental ring that was at a much higher level than myself, and that was why I got hurt," Lucien walked as he explained.
After Raventi and Gaston took Lucien back to the mansion, Larry, Timothy, and Ulysses all visited him, but most of the others were not aware of the situation. Iristine, Arcelion, and other elves had no idea about what happened, so Lazar and some of his other friends had not come to visit him yet.
Woods¡¯ brow furrowed. "You can recover from such damage easily but there¡¯ll be consequences for your soul and your body. Your life expectancy will be shortened. It may not be a big problem for you as you¡¯re very likely to become a senior-rank sorcerer before the age of 50. Anyway, don¡¯t do that again if you don¡¯t have to."
The two chattered as they walked to Lucien¡¯s room. Woods chuckled as they stopped at the door, it seemed the room reminded him of something. "Wait, you were stepping out of the article submitting location when we met, right? Did you just finish an article?"
"Yes, it was the result of this week¡¯s research. It¡¯s about the three alchemy substances that can help the food grow and how to make them in batches." Lucien smiled and pushed the door open, it sounded like he was just talking about a regular article.
Woods was a bit surprised, he looked at Lucien. "I¡¯ve seen your reports of the project. It seems like you have reached the bottleneck. However, I can¡¯t believe that you solved the problem like it was nothing just several minutes ago."
"I got the idea from the research results on the reports submitted by the arcanists. I also analyzed the combination of wood, grass, fertilizer, and the feces. That was how I found the three water-soluble alchemy substances." Lucien asked the maid to pour a cup of tea for Woods.
Woods sipped some black tea from the cup and smiled. "Interesting. If the three alchemy substances can be mass produced, our food output would be greatly increased, so the sorcerers and knights will become richer. Also, Mr. Evans, your article will be recognized by the council."
Woods grew up in Allyn as a member of a sorcerer¡¯s family and he had no idea how hard life could be. The man was a middle-rank arcanist and he was at a much higher position than the farmers or the poor. It was just a temporary emotion that he had the compassion for farmers or the poor and Woods did not think Lucien¡¯s article was that important. The project was taken seriously by the Congress simply because the members of the highest council wanted to study the divine spells of nature.
"I hope so," Lucien sipped some tea from the cup and responded calmly.
Woods put down the cup and spoke in a serious tone, "Evans, can you let us, the Common Arcana journal, publish your article? Although it¡¯s still the first half of the month, next month¡¯s Common Arcana will be cited a lot more than usual if one of the major discoveries of the project can be included in our journal ahead of the time."
Lucien smiled. "I¡¯ve said that I¡¯ll keep contributing to your magazine if I have the chance. Mr. Woods, you¡¯re the first editor that talked to me today, so yeah, if my article can be verified by the members of the council, I¡¯m willing to publish it on the Common Arcana."
"I thank you on behalf of the Common Arcana, Evans. Can I have a look at the article, please? I want to see how I should arrange it in the next month¡¯s journal," Woods asked politely. Lucien just submitted his article and Woods did not want the man to get suspicious.
There was no point for Lucien to reject the request. He took out a copy of the article from the bag and handed it to Woods. "Sure, it¡¯s fine. I also submitted a report to the council members when submitting the article for reference and everyone will be able to read it tomorrow."
Woods grabbed the article and started reading carefully, although Lucien Evans started studying arcana just several months ago, two of his articles were taken very seriously by the council. The second one he published was a revolution to the elemental sorcerers, so Woods had to be extremely careful when dealing with Lucien¡¯s article.
"So, the plants can only absorb the elements from the water-soluble substances?" Woods decided to ask since the author of the article was right in front of him.
Lucien did not elaborate on the question but he still answered, "Based on the result of the experiment, yes."
Woods sipped some more tea and turned to the next page. He praised the contrast test designed by Lucien as they discussed the content of the article. Then, Woods moved to the last part of the article as they chatted: the discussion on mass producing the mentioned alchemical substances.
He grabbed the teacup as he finished reading the experiment on handling the phosphate ore with sulfate and he wanted to change the topic to the mass production of magic circles, however, the title of the page, "Experiment and Discussion on the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide", caught his attention.
The tea spouted out of Woods¡¯ mouth. Lucien was sitting to the right of Woods, but he was still caught by the water mist.
Lucien wiped his face and questioned, "What happened, Mr. Woods?"
"Evans, do you know what you¡¯re implying here?!" Woods stared at Lucien and there was fear in his eyes. He lowered his head and quickly scanned through the design and result of the experiment. "Did you really synthesize carbamide with just the gases?" Woods muttered, unable to believe what he had just read.
He was not a sorcerer that focused on the soul, but it still took him some time to calm down.
"Evans, did you finish the experiment by yourself?" Woods stared at Evans in the eyes.
Lucien faked a confused look on his face and responded, "Yeah, I completed the experiment with magic circles and alchemy circles. What¡¯s the problem, Mr. Woods?"
"Evans, don¡¯t you understand how important this experiment will be and how big of a problem it will cause?!" Woods shouted as he could no longer control himself.
Lucien shook his head, stilling looking confused. "I don¡¯t understand. Please enlighten me."
"What the f*ck. Again?" Woods cursed and put his right hand on his forehead, trying to calm himself down.
...
After the investigation in the morning, Raventi and Gaston returned to their reading rooms as the only thing they found out was that the assassin was Traquair. Some of the council members tried to cast the Horoscope to learn more about the incident but they were interrupted and failed to get the accurate result. The had to ask the legendary sorcerers to cast the Horoscope and spells like Prophet¡¯s Sight to find more traces later.
"Mr. Gaston, these are the articles that need to be verified today." The elemental servant brought three articles to Gaston and put them down on the desk. The other articles were sent to the mid-level arcanists like Larry.
Gaston noticed the familiar name on the first article he grabbed: "Lucien Evans X."
Gaston asked his elemental servants to send all the articles done by Lucien Evans X to him after the incident.
"Well, the young ones are doing well with their experiments but we¡¯re having trouble progressing with the study on the origin of the divine spells and the mind of nature even with the help of the grand arcanists¡­ Is it impossible for us to study such things?" Gaston sighed as he read through the article. Furthermore, Malfurion would be returning to Stroop Forest the next day.
They all knew that the Church was just trying to scare them, but it was a good excuse for the Royal Elf Palace and the elder council of the druids. The only thing that could change the situation was a revolutionary discovery.
Gaston tapped on Lucien¡¯s article slightly with his fingers. "Will Malfurion stay here for several more days if we use the findings of this article as an excuse? However, this was the reason why he joined the project, and so he won¡¯t cast any divine spells for us even if he decides to stay¡­"  While thinking about it, he turned to the next page and the title was, "Experiment and Discussion on the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide".
Gaston trembled slightly as it felt like his backbone was shocked by electricity. He suddenly straightened his back and focused on the content on the page. His expression turned serious as he stood up and quickly charged into the magic laboratory.

Chapter 227: The Stir Caused
				Chapter 227: The Stir Caused
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In a magic lab.
Staring at the white particles with a light touch of red color in the reactor, Gaston cast Identification in a serious manner. When he got the result, his weird-looking dark-yellow eyes narrowed and he murmured, "It¡¯s really carbamide¡­ Carbamide could be synthesized without using any life ingredients¡­"
After staring at the particles for a while, a sarcastic smile appeared on Gaston¡¯s face, "Those guys who play with bodies all the time in Hand of Paleness are in trouble now¡­"
Because of their different beliefs and competing interests, there had been a long history of friction between the Will of Elements and the Hand of Paleness. As the director of the former, Gaston had a poor relationship with many senior-rank sorcerers from the latter. Now, seeing the evidence that Life Force Theory might soon be overthrown, he was certainly in a schadenfreude mood. Gaston¡¯s own meditation environment only had a very limited connection to Life Force Theory, so he did not need to worry about himself at all.
He wondered why Lucien put such an important experiment in his project paper. He wanted to know whether Lucien had ever heard about Life Force Theory. In Gaston¡¯s mind, he tended to believe that it was more likely that Lucien knew nothing about it, or he would definitely be influenced by this classic theory, and he would not be able to conduct his experiment outside the theoretical framework. As for Lucien¡¯s gift in arcana, Gaston had no doubt toward it at all. In Gaston¡¯s mind, Lucien had a rigorous way of thinking, the courage to make bold hypothesis and the spirit to seek for proving. Furthermore, now Gaston felt that Lucien¡¯s ability in doing experiments was also impressive.
"Bang!!"
When Gaston was about to leave the lab, the lab door was broken open, and the magic circles on it were broken as well.
"Who is that?!" asked Gaston in an alert way. Instantly, he was covered by a colourful spherical shield.
Seventh-circle spell, Magic Reverse Enchantment.
"Gaston! Did you see the paper from Evans? The last part! The experiment of synthesizing carbamide!" Raventi was really loud.
After staring at Raventi for a few seconds, Gaston sighed, "Knock before entering, please."
"I¡¯m too excited for that!" Raventi did not really care, "I asked you, did you read the paper¡­ Wait, you¡¯ve tried it as well?!"
Raventi saw the reactor on the other side of the lab and the white particles in the magic glass tube.
Gaston made a gesture to ask Raventi to lower his voice, "Yes, Mr. Raventi, I¡¯ve proved the validity of Evans¡¯ experiment, but I think that there¡¯s still lack of a piece of decisive evidence, as the Hand of Paleness might not admit carbamide to be a life ingredient. By the way, Mr. Raventi, did you show the paper to anyone else?"
"No one except you." Although Raventi had a pretty bad temper, as a level-nine arcanist, he was not an idiot. He instantly understood why Raventi asked it, "You want to hide the paper from those necromancers first until there are any decisive findings?"
Gaston nodded seriously, "The keywords for the paper are Element and Alchemy, so technically speaking, the paper does not have much to do with the school of Necromancy. In other words, most likely, those necromancers haven¡¯t read the paper. My only concern is that, on Evans¡¯ side, he might have talked about it with other people already."
Gaston was more than happy to have this chance to attack the Hand of Paleness with some decent research findings.
"I do not agree with you, Gaston." Raventi shook his head seriously, "This is an overturning finding. Unlike some unique spells being created, this kind of finding should be revealed to the public as soon as possible, so more arcanists can join the discussion, and thus the decisive evidence, if there¡¯s any, can be found in the shortest period of time. Gaston, you still remember the fundamental spirit that the Congress of Magic builds on? Exploration of truth and candid communication!"
After thinking a bit, Gaston nodded, "All right. I¡¯m just concerned that the upcoming great debate might put Lucien in a dangerous place."
"Let Lucien move into the house between ours," answered Raventi quickly, "But before that, I need to talk to the druid leaders to test validity of the first part of Lucien¡¯s paper, so they can see some hope in increasing grain yield."
...
"Evans, now, do you understand how important Life Force Theory is in the school of Necromancy?" Woods just spent about ten minutes on explaining the theory to Lucien.
Lucien put on an "ah ha" look, "Yes, thank you, Mr. Woods. As I specialize in the school of Element and Astrology, I really had no idea about what it was, not to mention understanding its importance in history. But, Mr. Woods, I still don¡¯t know why this is related to my carbamide synthesizing experiment?"
"¡­.." Woods was speechless. What Lucien just said proved that he was literally from ancient magic background, as he did not have some common sense in contemporary magic system.
"Well¡­" Woods tried to make it easy and simple, "Carbamide is a life ingredient¡­ or say, most people regard carbamide as a life ingredient. There¡¯s no clear definition of life ingredient."
Lucien said in a half-joking way, "Mr. Woods, does it mean that my paper¡¯s accidentally overthrown Life Force Theory? Is my paper gonna get a high rating? Maybe I can win the Immortal Throne award?"
"It¡¯s hard to say, as there¡¯s no decisive evidence in your paper. Some stubborn necromancers might not admit that Carbamide is a life ingredient." Woods frowned, as he was also influenced by the theory, "If I were you, I would not be looking forward to winning Immortal Throne award, but be rather watchful after the news comes out tomorrow. You know, some stubborn and insane necromancers might¡­"
"I¡¯ll stay in the manor for the following several days, which is very close to Mr. Raventi and Mr. Gaston," answered Lucien. "Mr. Woods, are you still gonna publish the paper?"
"Of course, this is gonna be the first paper on the next issue of Common Arcana, and I think there are gonna be more articles discussing your experiment coming out later, so we can collect those articles and put them there as well." Woods planned in a smart way.
At this time, Raventi¡¯s voice came in from behind the door, "Are you in there, Evans?"
"Yes?" Thinking of all those mathematics and arcana exercises that he had not finished yet, Lucien opened the door reluctantly.
Raventi was still wearing his black magic robe, on which the order of the elements had been rearranged, "Gaston and I have reviewed your paper and the final rating from Arcana Review Board has been sent back. By the way, move into the room next to mine as soon as possible."
"I will." Lucien hurriedly nodded, and then he started reading the rating result, "The paper has successfully provided several solutions with regards to whether and how alchemical products can facilitate the growth of plants. Therefore, it is of some importance and can be quite pervasive. Among the several experiments designed and presented in the paper, the experiment focusing on synthesizing carbamide reveals, excitingly, the possibility that a classic theory, Life Force Theory, might not be valid, and this is overturning, which makes the paper rather worth of great discussion. In conclusion, the paper is overturning and of great value, thus a reward of fifty arcana credits and three hundred arcana points is given to the author."
"All of your three papers have received very high comments," Woods said a bit emotionally. As an arcanist who was already close to level five, among so many papers he had submitted, unlike that of Lucien, only a few were spoken highly of. So, Woods was feeling a bit depressed.
After a while, he cheered himself up a little and asked, "Will the project still go on? It sounds like you¡¯re still staying for a few more days, Mr. Raventi."
"Yes, Mr. Malfurion has decided to send some druids back, while he and the rest of the druids will stay longer to see if the alchemical product discovered in Evans¡¯ paper can really solve their problem," answered Raventi, looking quite serious, as Malfurion had made it clear that they would not cooperate with the arcanists to let them study the Mind of Nature anymore.
"By the way, Mr. Lord of Storm and Ms. Hathaway, after reading Evans¡¯ paper, have made the decision that any arcanists who join this discussion can get some credits, and papers cited in the discussion can still get citation credits as well."
The great significance lying in the periodic table of elements still required more time to reveal itself, and the establishment of a new field also needed time. Therefore, the great return of the periodic table of elements was not there yet.
Meanwhile, overthrowing an old, classic theory could be even more influential.
...
The early morning the second day, Menshaque, a necromancer from the Hand of Paleness, was reading the project newspaper with a plate of buttered bread in front of him.
As a senior member of the Hand of Paleness, Menshaque was almost four hundred years old, and he had already turned himself into a lich. He did not need to eat, but he ate for pleasure. Menshaque was a level five arcanist, seventh-circle necromancer, and in this project working with the druids, he was in charge of a research group.
"The Method for Large-scale Production of the Several Useful Alchemical Products Found in Oat Planting Experiment and the Discussion of Their Proper Use?" The paper instantly drew Menshaque¡¯s attention, as he wondered if those guys from the Will of Elements had figured out anything. Although the necromancers also had made some progresses, such as using life force to stimulate the growth of plants or using the undead to farm, the popularity of these methods was still a problem.
After reading the paper for a while, Menshaque¡¯s bony hands with only a thin layer of skin covering them started trembling.

Chapter 228: The Surge
				Chapter 228: The Surge
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
The steady hand that could accurately separate the dead bodies into different parts and complete the complicated casting gestures at any level was trembling like it had lost the control, although it was just trying to turn the paper to the next page.
"That¡¯s lame and absurd! How can such a paper be published in a brief report?!" The man¡¯s voice was mixed in the chilling wind, it was deep and hoarse. The voice sounded like it was filled up with pain and hatred. "Lucien Evans X, how dare the bastards from the Will of the Elements question the structure of a human¡¯s body? They don¡¯t even know the secret of life. I¡¯ll punish him if I ever meet him!"
Menshaque forgot that the brief report was just a newspaper that was used to share the research progression by the research teams and the papers published on it did not need to be verified.
"No, I need to start the experiment now and expose this despicable lie!" Menshaque suddenly stood up, the facial muscle and the skin that were created with human body parts could barely hide the dark smoke leaking out of his bones.
Similar scenes were happening in most of the research teams. Larry choked on the milk and it sounded he was about to cough to death. Timothy was pushing his glasses up, but he used so much force that the frame of the glasses was pushed to his forehead. The bread that Ulysses was chewing spouted out of his mouth and splashed on the brief report.
The arcanists that focused on elements were surprised at first but they quickly gloated over the discovery and started validating the result using experiments after the breakfast. The reactions from the necromancers varied, some torn the report apart furiously, some were walking around anxiously as they were not sure if they could prove the result wrong with experiments, some forced themselves to calm down and informed the Hand of Paleness about the situation, some were trying to slam their hatred on Lucien¡¯s face¡­
...
Inside the magic laboratory, there was a loud noise that sounded like metal objects dropping to the floor. Menshaque was floating in the air and he was not moving at all, with the red flames in his eyes almost extinguished. He looked at the lab equipment and the white substance on the ground in surprise, and the magic tube in his right hand cracked under his strong grip. The broken glass pieces pirerced into his palm but Menshaque did not seem concerned.
He had no idea how long had passed, but eventually he muttered, "No, no! I must have done something wrong during the experiment, how can the Life Force Theory be wrong? This doesn¡¯t make sense, so many body refining spells were created using the theory!"
"There is no life force involved in the creation of the carbamide using the nonliving substances in this experiment!"
Menshaque sounded like a paranoid schizophrenic. He was questioning and arguing with a voice that sounded like he was crying sadly. It took him a while to calm down.
The flame of life in Menshaque¡¯s eyes slowly recovered as the time passed, but he was still slightly panicked. "If the consciousness of the world collapsed, the spiritual power would lose control and blow my physical body and soul into pieces¡­ The good thing is that I can adapt to new concepts, also, Rogerio has said that, strictly speaking, carbamide is not a living substance."¡¡
"However, is the Life Force Theory completely true?"
Menshaque¡¯s arcana level was decent and that was the reason why he was sent to assist the research project. He could not help but get suspicious after he calmed down from the shock. A situation as such had happened more than once in the Congress of Magic.
However, Menshaque could feel that the spiritual flame in his phylactery was going to extinguish as he got suspicious about the Life Force Theory.
"No, no. I can¡¯t meditate during this period and I need to stay calm." Menshaque knew that the contradiction in his mind could only be solved by either time or some stronger evidence. However, he had no way to know if the contradiction would end with the victory of the Life Force Theory or the new concept would win and give him a new idea about the world. Also, it was possible that his meditation would be permanently impacted by the truth and one day he would be destroyed.
Menshaque did not need to breathe but it had already become his habit, so he inhaled deeply. "If I can¡¯t win the war against myself, I¡¯ll have to win the fight against Lucien Evans. He shall not live if I can¡¯t proceed further!"
Rogerio had already informed the necromancers about the possible situations and the theory about carbamide was not that shocking to them, so even the old school necromancers in the research teams were able to keep their meditation somewhat stable. Also, their heads did not explode as they did not lose control of their spiritual force. However, most of the necromancers claimed if anything serious happened, they would all go after the bastard named Lucien Evans.
Lucien was discussing the possible effects of combining the three alchemical substances with the two elves that postponed their return date back in a room beside Raventi¡¯s room, he suddenly noticed the warning from his Host Star of Destiny after the necromancers showed their hatred toward him.
He went to the washroom and cast the Horoscope spell using the Morning Light crystal ball. Lucien¡¯s conclusion was that the path ahead was full of danger but there was still a way to avoid all the possible risks.
"How many days does Felipe need before he can submit the paper¡­"
Lucien returned to the living room as he thought about it, and was surprised to see that Arcelion and Iristine were reading the brief report in front of them carefully. They looked confused and it seemed like their emotions were unstable.
"What happened? It only took me about ten minutes to cast the Horoscope spell," Lucien tried to get their attention, "Prince and Princess?"
Arcelion raised his head, the man¡¯s face was pretty and delicate like a woman's but it seemed he was disgusted by something and his face was full of hatred. "Mr. Evans, you can artificially synthesize carbamide? Did you just overthrow the Life Force Theory?"
"You can understand arcane spells?" Lucien was surprised, as he did not expect that the two elves would understand the arcana paper.
"Our guards learned about the information from the senior elder," Arcelion responded unconsciously in a polite manner.
Iristine interrupted, "Human beings, cows, sheep, magic creatures, and plants, their life force all comes from the gift of nature, so how can you synthesize the living substance with gas and ores?" She sounded a bit angry.
"That depends on how you define what is a living substance¡­" Lucien realized that all the living beings were formed by the living substances in the druids¡¯ eyes, and the creation of the living beings was not related to the nonliving substances. However, it seemed the concept would not affect how they interacted and used the mind of nature.
"No matter how it is defined, Mr. Evans, you¡¯re just an evil and fearless devil!" Iristine¡¯s last good impression of Lucien turned to the worst.
"Well, there¡¯s one more devil, actually, two more devils waiting for you," Lucien thought, but he had no time to argue with the two elves about an arcana problem.
...
*Pa*
Pesor slammed the brief report on the desk, the soul flames were dancing inside the deep eye sockets of his white skull. "Lucien Evans has submitted the paper about the artificially synthesized carbamide experiment!"
Pesor, Tina-Timos, and two other committee members of the Arcana Review Board were relatively open to new theories, so a grand arcanist, the lord of the undead, did not try to hide the matter about Professor from them, and they were well prepared for it.
The one who passed them the information was the lord of the undead and he was the most authoritative one among the necromancers. Also, the four committee members had good arcana thoughts and perceptions, so they accepted the result of the experiment quickly, and they modified some magic effects slightly to verify the result again using the reverse method.
Rogerio was standing opposite to Pesor and there was a grim expression on his face. "The Professor was alerted after Lucien Evans and Felipe were ambushed. He got suspicious and he probably already knew that we were about to succeed, that was why he decided to test us with his student¡¯s experiment. Lucien Evans will become the target even if we don¡¯t get any decisive result and if we do get any, Professor will be able to share the arcana points with Lucien by adding his name to paper. Pesor and Tina, didn¡¯t you notice that Lucien Evans hid the experiment in a paper that was part of the research project result?"
Rogerio took Felipe to Sariva town right after he heard the information.
"Menezes¡¯ situation is getting worse and we need to solve the problem as soon as possible." Tina-Timos glanced at the other important members of the Hand of Paleness, as they all knew about the situation.
Menezes was another committee member of the Arcana Review Board and he was a master of the body refining technique.¡¡¡¡
Rogerio had a bitter smile on his face. "In Heidler, Aurelio is so anxious that he¡¯s not acting like a necromancer, and it seems like he plans to kill Lucien Evans."
Aurelio was an important member of the Hand of Paleness, a member of the Affairs Committee, a level six arcanist, and a seventh-circle necromancer. The man had huge potential and he had studied in the Demiplanes Magic Tower of the Demigod Lich.
"Felipe, how¡¯s your research progressing? Just share the data with us if things are not going well so we can join the research and help you get the decisive result as soon as possible. It¡¯s not the time to hide things from each other!" Pesor stared at Felipe with a serious expression on his face.
Felipe was wearing his signature long black coat with the amulet he won from the Immortal Throne Award hanging over it, and the man¡¯s morbid face was still pale but handsome. Felipe responded with a grim look on his face, "Mr. Pesor, everything is going well, and I¡¯ll be able to artificially synthesize a fatty acid within three days."
"I hope you¡¯re not lying, otherwise, I¡¯ll punish you no matter what kind of secret background you have." Pesor was the vice-president of the Hand of Paleness and he had the right to warn Felipe like that.
Felipe bowed politely to everyone in the room. "Gentlemen, if you excuse me, I need to focus on the experiment."
Felipe walked out of the room after the permission was granted, then pursed his lips into a smile as he walked down the stairs.
"How¡¯s the investigation on the ambush?" Pesor looked at Rogerio.
Rogerio shook his head. "There¡¯s nothing we could find even with the help from the astrologer of the Tower. It seems the astrology was interrupted by a strong but unfamiliar force, otherwise, the result would be clearer."
"There are more secrets in this world than we think." Pesor sighed slightly. "Just like the rules of the world. One year ago, no one would have expected someone would overthrow a mature theory like the Life Force Theory."
...¡¡¡¡
The second day, the two senior-rank sorcerers¡¯ papers were published on the first page of the brief report in the morning.
The Demonstration of Carbamide¡¯s Nature ¡ª by Menezes.¡¡¡¡
The Meaning and Flaw of the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide ¡ª by Aurelio.
Lucien¡¯s paper did not mention anything about the Life Force Theory and they could not find any weak point to attack, so they decided to go straight to the point without talking about the result of the research project.
The grand arcanists acquiesced in such behavior, and as the arguments between the arcanists that focused on elemental sorcery and the ones that focused on soul sorcery were getting more and more serious, they almost forgot why they were invited into the research. Also, druids like Malfurion did not put their attention on the growth of the crops, instead, they focused on this "discussion".
It was like a surge in Sariva and the brief reports were like their battleground. 
However, Lucien claimed that he was not familiar with the Life Force Theory , so he would not join the discussion. The necromancers were happy after reading his claim, as they thought that Lucien was scared and they decided to put more effort into the discussion.
...
"Lucien Evans, a heretic that defiles God! A liar that will never tell the truth! I shall bring him to trial!" In Philibell's room, Holm¡¯s cardinal, Vaharall the Adjudicator shouted furiously after reading the brief papers from the last several days.
The spy of the church in the Congress of Magic could easily send the complete brief report as the Congress encouraged the discussion, but it would take the spy one day to send the report out.
The Life Force Theory was one of the fundamentals of the Creationism, and that was the reason why Vaharall was enraged after reading Lucien¡¯s paper.

Chapter 229: A Great Stir
				Chapter 229: A Great Stir
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sitting beside Vaharall, Varantine looked very serious. There was still a layer of light covering his clenched fist. Clearly, he was very mad at Lucien Evans, the vicious sorcerer who showed no respect to the deity.
Seing that, Philibell, the cardinal who had a thick white mustache, presented them with another two pieces of newspaper, "What you two just read was the first-day newspaper, and these are from the second day and the third day. Lucien Evans¡¯ not worth much attention, I¡¯d say, as it¡¯s just synthesizing carbamide, and no one would believe that any life ingredients could ever exist in those dirty excreta."
The members from Episcopal Conference all understood arcana papers to some degree thanks to the several popes contribution to the improvement of divine spells.
Taking the newspaper from Philibell, Vaharall, the tough-looking, red-haired guy started reading it carefully. The newspaper was filled with discussions about how to define carbamide, about the validity of Life Force Theory, and it was obvious that those necromancers were in a more favorable position, as those arcanists from the school of Element still lacked further decisive evidence.
"This is not as bad as we thought. It is the blessing of the Lord." Philibell drew a cross on his chest.
When he finished reading the newspaper, Vaharall also nodded, "How come that Carbamide, something contained in filthy excreta, can be a life ingredient, a blessing from God? We should define life ingredient better in Cannon, with regards to the chapter the Origin of Life."
"This is something that we definitely need to improve," agreed Varantine. "But right now, we don¡¯t have to take the risk by sending those devout Night Watchers to kill Lucien Evans. My suggestion¡¯s that we have the the Inquisitions in Holm and Colette keeping a close watch on him, and when there¡¯s a chance in the future, we take action. After all, there¡¯s no need to rush."
Although Varantine was sent here by the pope to eliminate vicious sorcerers, he understood well that the Church was overpowered by the Congress of Magic in Holm and several other countries around it. Although they might have a chance to win if the Church sent most of their cardinals here, their biggest concern was that this might give the North Church and other dark creatures as well as sorcerers from the north a great chance to avail themselves of the opportunity to get in their territory. Therefore, both Vaharall and Varantine agreed with Philibell that they should take on a more conservative manner with this issue right now.
Although they all wanted to defend the dignity of their God so bad that, facing Lucien¡¯s disrespectful findings, their blood was boiling with anger, they still knew that they needed to be careful with every step they took.
"Like what Vaharall just said, those arcana geniuses hardly leave Allyn and Rentato before they reach middle-rank, so we have to wait." Philibell nodded, as he was the one among all the cardinals who understood the congress the best.
At this time, they heard abrupt knocking at the door.
"Come in." Using God¡¯s Eyes, Philibell already saw through the door. On the other side of the door stood a pastor who looked very anxious and scared, and his holy light power was in a very unstable status, as if the power was going to devour him at any time.
The pastor hurriedly pushed open the door, and he was too scared to salute the three cardinals, instead, he said urgently, "Lord Philibell, this is the newspaper that arrived from the Congress this morning. They risked a lot to be able to send this newspaper."
"Calm down first." Philibell¡¯s voice was soft and it comforted this pastor in panic, "Do not doubt the Lord. Do not doubt the mighty power of the Lord."
The pastor kept crossing in front of his chest to control and calm down his holy power.
Philibell had some bad feeling about the newspaper, but still, he started reading the first page in a calm manner:
"An Experiment Synthesizing Fatty Acid with Several Non-life Ingredients Including Charcoal through A Series of Alchemical Reactions, from Felipe Carneiro."
In the abstract of the paper, Felipe put it proudly and straightforwardly, "Through this experiment, I can announce to all of you that Life Force Theory has been completely overthrown, and it will no longer play any role in the development of arcana!"
After quickly going through the experiment design, Philibell, although he was always quite calm, shouted angrily, "Blasphemy! This is blasphemy! This is a direct and shameful provocation of the Lord's majesty and dignity! Felipe must be eliminated immediately!"
His chin covered with white beard was trembling fiercely while he was shouting, as if he wanted to set off right now to kill Felipe. In his eyes, compared to Felipe¡¯s experiment, now Lucien¡¯s paper did not matter at all.
Vaharall, who was a harsh and bold guy, directly gave Philibell's desk a fierce punch. Instantly, the desk was totally destroyed and there were not even ashes left after his power burst forth. At the same time, Vaharall also felt lucky that he was a legendary knight and his power came from his Blessing, or his soul would have been damaged by his belief being shaken, "How dare those mortals even try to pry into the realm of God. A blasphemer must be cleared at all costs! "
"Before that, we need to make sure whether the experiment is real." Varantine did not read the newspaper, and right now he was crossing in front of his chest.
There was no way that the Congress of Magic could just destroy the cardinals¡¯ belief by a paper, and, if the cardinals had the right experiment equipment and divine power circles, they could verify the validity of the paper by conducting the experiment themselves.
"Lock away this paper. Make sure that other pastors do not learn about the existence of this paper. The last thing we want to see right now is this turning into the same situation when those sorcerers claimed that holy light was electromagnetic wave." Philibell closed his eyes, feeling a bit tired, "This is the test of the Lord to us, and our loyalty to our faith shall be manifested and examined again. We shall find the flaws of the experiment as soon as possible."
Philibell, the cardinal of the parish of Holm for almost a hundred years, had been through a lot, thus he still managed to control his power and prevent the idea of the paper from hurting his soul after reading Felipe¡¯s research design.
"All glories go to the Lord. Only truth lives forever." Vaharall, Varantine and the other pastor prayed together, telling themselves that even if Felipe¡¯s finding was true, this was still from the Lord¡¯s mighty power, which was still beyond their understanding.
After praying, Vaharall said to Philibell in a low voice, "I request to send several devout night watchers to assassinate Felipe. If there is a chance, we shall kill Lucian Evans as well."
The reason he mentioned "devout night watchers" specifically was that they all knew that those night watchers of the task were basically doomed to die. If they could kill Felipe, they were already very lucky. If they did not select carefully who they would send for this task, some night watchers who did not want to sacrifice their lives might fall onto the Congress' hands.
"Vaharall and Vanrantine, you two will take care of this." Philibell nodded, "I¡¯m gonna talk to the nobles and other cardinals to make them stay alert."
...
Holding the newspaper in his hand, Menshaque¡¯s body, which was assembled by different dead body parts, was falling apart and all these parts were turning into rotten flesh. However, the two clusters of soul fire in his eyes were still flickering strongly.
"Life Force Theory¡­ not right? It is¡­ wrong? Even Felipe has abandoned it¡­"
Although Menshaque felt that there were some problems with Felipe¡¯s research design, he had lost his control over this body. He could not believe that his hundreds of years of study were built on a mistake.
But if all his life was built on a mistake, why did he still manage to "live" this long? Why did he still manage to turn himself into a lich? Why he could still learn so many different spells?
In the end, only a white skull remained floating in the air. Before Menshaque lost all the flesh and bones, he finally managed to stop this process. He did this by continuously telling himself that Felipe¡¯s study might not be valid, and even if what he said was true, if Felipe, a person who used to follow Life Force Theory in a very loyal way, could shift his understanding successfully, why he, Menshaque, could not do this?
Menshaque believed that there was still great hope in the school of Necromancy, as its foundation theories had been overturned for three times in history, but Necromancy still thrived after that, and it had even evolving all the time. Thus, Menshaque would rather have the theory to be overthrown by necromancers themselves. He believed that Life Force Theory was not a completely wrong one, and at least it had some connections to the ultimate truth.
After releasing a sigh, Menshaque turned the newspaper to its second page, and he saw the comments from Pesor, Tina-Timos, Rogerio and other influential arcanists from the Hand of Paleness on Felipe¡¯s paper:
"Pesor: This is a great and outstanding experiment. Felipe, a genius, has led us to step into a new, correct path from the wrong one with Life Force Theory. "
"Tina-Timos: Without doubt, Felipe is a real arcana genius, as he managed to drive away the black clouds shading our path over our heads for so many years. Think about it, necromancers, why arent't we making any progresses right now? Felipe has revealed the reason¡ªit is because our foundation is problematic. If we can correct it in time, our future is going to be promising and bright!"
"Rogerio: This is an experience of great significance and meaning. It is groundbreaking, creative and definitely shocking. Felipe has shown us the great spirit shared by necromancers, proving that we never give up exploring the world further to find the truth. We are okay with accepting the fall of the Life Force Theory, with admitting that we were wrong before, and thus we can have a better future!"
With all those important people¡¯s positive comments on Felipe¡¯s finding, many necromancers started to accept the fact.
This was the power of authority.
However, despite the fact that many necromancers¡¯ meditation got a bit more stable again as they had gradually accepted the fact, not everyone could discard the past so quickly. Many stubborn necromancers knew that they might not be able to move forward anymore in their whole lives because their meditation environment had been destroyed completely, so they hated Felipe very, very much.
...
In a magic tower in Heidler, an old man wearing an ancient-style robe was shouting angrily, holding a newspaper in his hand, "This is impossible!"
Then, with a big bang, the man¡¯s head just exploded, and the remains of his body fell down onto the floor. At the same time, inside of the tower¡¯s secret chamber, a life box made of countless precious gems cracked, and then the same man¡¯s voice came out from the box viciously, "Luckily I got to know from Traquair that Felipe¡¯s experiment was already very close to the last step, or I would not even have the chance to resurrect through the life box¡­ Felipe, Rogerio, Professor, Lucien Evans¡­ Let¡¯s wait and see¡­"
At the same time, in a manor in Sariva, Felipe and Rogerio were sitting opposite to each other and sipping their wine. Looking at the direction of Heidler, they sneered at those old, stubborn guys in the city. Rogerio and Felipe were certain that those people had learned their lesson.
...
"I wish we could have put forward some decisive evidence, so the loss of the Hand of Paleness could be even greater." Morris sighed a bit disappointedly.
"It¡¯s not bad. We still all belong to the congress, and we don¡¯t want to see the congress suffer too much of a loss overnight." Raventi did not really care, but rather felt happy because a wrong theory had been overthrown. Then, he turned to Lucien, "Evans, seriously, did you really know nothing about Life Force Theory?"
"Yes, nothing," answered Lucien honestly, then he took out the Holm ring from Natasha, "I had finished the experiment before I arrived here."
After being recognized by Felipe, Lucien had decided to tell the senior-level people from the Will of Elements the truth, in case Felipe would threaten him with it, and also, he was too tired of hiding around as well.
Now that he was already a member of the Will of Elements, he wanted to be more straightforward.
"Professor?" Gaston was a bit surprised. As he once tried to kill Felipe because of this, he immediately connected Lucien to Professor.
Morris, looking at the ring, sighed a bit emotionally, "It reminds me of Meredith¡­ Evans, did you start learning arcana when you were in Aalto?"
"Yes, I learned about it from a witch, and I got some materials and knowledge from her." Lucien nodded, and through his observation, he noticed that Raventi, Morris and Gaston still all looked quite calm and pleased, which showed that they would not give Lucien a hard time for hiding his identity from them for so long. After all, in order to protect himself, what Lucien did was totally understandable.
Then Lucien continued seriously, "And I¡¯ve actually completed another experiment."

Chapter 230: Secret Conversation
				Chapter 230: Secret Conversation
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
"Evans, what¡¯s the experiment about? The artificially synthesized living substance?" Raventi¡¯s white hair was neat. He looked like a gentleman with a pair of sharp eyes, and Lucien could feel the pressure as he was being stared at.
Morris and Gaston were looking at Lucien with relaxed smiles on their faces. They were trying to guess what the man was thinking and they wanted to know if he had come up with some unusual experiments again. Lucien had brought the storm to the areas that were strongly influenced by the church and Allyn, but it was still hard to believe that he just wanted to discuss arcana problems with the senior-rank arcanists.
Lucien knew that these senior-rank arcanists had different thoughts about him, so he tried to stay calm and started explaining deliberately, "Actually, the experiment is not complete, but I have a general idea about the basics and the first experiment was done with several simple magic circles. The result met my expectation, however, the experiment environment that was built with the magic circles had too many flaws, and I don¡¯t think the result is accurate."
After submitting the paper about carbamide, Lucien borrowed the magic laboratory and completed the experiment once while waiting for Felipe to reveal the decisive evidence.
Raventi interrupted when Lucien was trying to finish the introduction, "Evans, go straight to the point."
Morris and Gaston smiled at each other as they knew that Raventi was short-tempered, his papers usually put a strong emphasis on the key points, and he hated to listen to the matters that were irrelevant to the main point.
However, they did not expect that Lucien could still talk like he did not feel the pressure from Raventi, "Alright, Mr. Raventi, I¡¯ll go to the key points now. After learning about the knowledge of arcana in Aalto, the magic experiments caught my attention, and that was the reason why I designed so many experiments, however, I¡¯m not strong enough to prepare the high-rank magic circles, there are many experiments that I can¡¯t complete and verify. Things changed after I wandered into an abandoned magic laboratory left by an ancient sorcerer during an exploration, with the help of the magic circles and alchemy circles I found in the laboratory, I finally completed some of the experiments, including the experiment about the artificially synthesized carbamide."
"That¡¯s not the key point, Evans." Raventi was almost shouting. He was not concerned about the ruin of the ancient sorcerer unless it was a demiplane or a lost magic lock from the legendary sorcerers.
Lucien cleared his throat and continued, "Personally, I think that a human body can be created with nonliving substances after completing the experiment. A small part of the life force will be able to support their activities and the rest of the life force will be used on the soul. I don¡¯t know the details as I didn¡¯t do a lot of research in this field." 
"Evans, tell me, what exactly is your experiment about?!" Raventi roared, and Morris and Gaston unconsciously backed off slightly.
Lucien did not expect Raventi¡¯s bluster to be so terrifying. The man was imposing. However, Lucien¡¯s goal had been accomplished. He did not want the three to pay too much attention to his past so he mixed the experience with the background of the experiment, only leaving a blurry impression in their mind.¡¡
"It¡¯s about an experiment that can overthrow the Life Force Theory even further. No matter if the necromancers accepted it or not, deep in their minds they already know by now that the theory was wrong. However, our biggest enemy is the Church and we can¡¯t let the necromancers recover using the chance. We need to strike them again before they can find a new theory to support them. They¡¯ll take a huge hit if we can make them lose their faith."
As a sorcerer, Lucien would not miss any chance to weaken the Church. He used some of the popular phrases from the Earth, however, they sounded a bit strange grammatically when they were translated into the universal language.
The war between the Congress of Magic and the Church would be long and complicated. Lucien had already chosen to walk the path of sorcery, so he would side with the Congress of Magic and try his best to fight against the church while increasing his power and exploring the secrets of the world.
Lucien understood that there was no way for him to win the war alone when the enemy was so strong.
Gaston stared at Lucien with his strange yellow eyes. "Again, what¡¯s the experiment? Did you and Felipe come to the agreement after being ambushed?"
One should never sneeze at an arcanist¡¯s wisdom, Gaston recalled the event and reasoned out how it happened after he confirmed that Lucien was the "Professor".
"Felipe and I are enemies and competitors, but we¡¯re not friends. Felipe wants to strike the extremists in the Hand of Paleness. For me, it¡¯s a revenge and it¡¯s also a chance to weaken the Church. However, if I successfully complete the experiment in a strictly controlled environment, the Church will do whatever they can to retaliate. I can submit my experiment to the Will of Elements but I want you to keep it a secret, also, it¡¯ll be great if you can complete the experiment and publish the result for me."
Lucien made the request with a serious expression on his face. Felipe had just attracted the haters¡¯ attention and there was no point for Lucien to share it with him.¡¡¡¡
Raventi¡¯s brow furrowed and he spoke in a loud voice, "I¡¯d never take someone else¡¯s achievement as my own. If your experiment is guaranteed to overthrow the Life Force Theory further, I¡¯ll ask Hathaway to use the Grand Arcanist¡¯s privilege and make the author¡¯s information strictly confidential. We will inform the public that the paper is completed by the important members of the Will of Elements. You can claim the honor when you¡¯re strong enough and when you¡¯re prepared for the possible consequences but I think you¡¯ll already be an important member of the Will of Elements by then."
"I¡¯ll follow the plan just for Natasha," Morris smiled. He was happy that he did not need to craft a new Holm Crown Ring.
If Lucien¡¯s experiment could overthrow the Life Force Theory further, it would be very likely that he would share the Holm Crown Prize and the Immortal Throne Award with Felipe. Although the prize and reward were used to honor the sorcerers who made great contributions, the true purpose was to award their research results.
Morris felt much better since it seemed like Lucien would temporarily give up the glory. 
"Wise decision, Evans. I suggest that you should spend some time improving your sorcery skills after completing the project and reflect the result of the research on your spells. You won¡¯t be able to complete a lot of exploration experiments without enough power in the world of sorcery."
Gaston slightly raised his head, staring at Raventi and Morris. "We and Hathaway should be the only four people that know about this. You shall not tell your students, wives, companion pets, or summoned creatures. If someone else finds out about this, it means one of us is a spy of the Church¡­"
Hathaway was studying the divine spells of nature in a secret location in Sariva town and nodded at Lucien. "Alright, Evans, tell me about your experiment."
Lucien stopped saying random things and started explaining the experiment design in a serious tone, "There are many tales describing the start of the world in the ancient magic empire. There were descriptions of the bizarre environment, such as the horrifying flood, the nonstop lightning, and the extremely high temperature. Also, the holy code of the church has similar epic records, however, the God of Truth resolved the environmental problem and created the human beings. My experiment aims to simulate such environment while adding different types of gases into it and I want to know what will happen. I saw that a source of life was created after introducing one group of gas into the environment¡­"
In the Congress of Magic, the necromancers had a deep understanding of the human body. In the living substances that they defined, the protein was considered as the footstone of living beings and the amino acids that constituted the proteins were considered as the sources of life. Lucien avoided the environmental design flaw of the Miller experiment by comparing the different gas groups since no one did any research about the initial environment of the world. He did not design the experiment to study the origin of life, he just wanted to overthrow the Life Force Theory and he did not care how the church would percept it. 
The room remained silent for a while and Raventi finally spoke in a low voice, it almost sounded like he was roaring again, "What group of gas are you talking about?!"
No matter how much a society could develop, no matter if there was magic or not, no matter if there was God or not, the same questions would be bothering the intelligent beings for a long time before they had a clear idea of the world¡¯s origin: "Who am I? Where did we come from? If God created everything, where did God come from?" 
¡¡¡¡...
Felipe published his decisive experiment and the brief reports were filled up with the slightly adjusted necromantic sorcery in the next several days. He was trying to prove that the Life Force Theory was wrong using the reverse method on his paper.
The necromancers that were willing to change started rebuilding their perceptual world and the extremists remained silent. They were not saying anything regarding the new discovery anymore.
Felipe had received the second article invitation letter from Arcana journal and he was praised by the important members of the Hand of Paleness, such as Pesor. Also, most of the necromancers thought that it was highly likely that Felipe would become the next legendary archmage.
Felipe was being protected by many archmages and senior-rank sorcerers in Sariva. He received the notification from the Affairs Committee on Friday morning:
"Due to the significant contribution of Lucien Evans to the research project, we have confirmed that there are several alchemical substances that can help plants grow. We will be trying the alchemy substances with the plants in the next step and the divine spells of the druids will no longer be involved. The mission has been completed! Arcanists, please go to the Sariva mansion to claim the proof of completing the mission at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Also, we will be holding a conclusive discussion about the mission there." 
After receiving the notification, the arcanists finally realized that their purpose was to develop a universal food growth increase plan here. They should not be discussing the Life Force Theory and they completely forgot about it in the last five or six days.
The arcanists started cleaning the magic laboratory and they wanted to have some rest in the morning before heading to the Sariva mansion.
...
In the Radiance Church of Holm.
"Nicolay, Walter, are you ready to sacrifice yourselves for God?" Varantine was questioning the two selected night watchers in a serious tone.

Chapter 231: Opening
				Chapter 231: Opening
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Both Nicolay and Walter were both originally devout dervishes, and later they joined the Night Watch for some reasons. Right now, both of them were level five pastors. One was the leader of a night watcher team from Holm, and the other was from another night watcher team called Hammer, belonging to the Lance Inquisition. Both Nicolay and Walter were particularly fanatical and steadfast in their faith, and this was why Varantine called them in, as whoever took the mission was basically doomed to die.
"Lord Varantine, I¡¯m all the time prepared to sacrifice my life to defend the glory of God. Death is not the end, and there¡¯s an eternal wonderland behind the gate of Mountain Paradise." Nicolay knelt down on one knee and crossed himself.
He was a tough, middle-aged man, dressed in a simple white robe. He had no wife, no children and zero possessions, as he had devoted everything to the God of Truth.
Although Walter, a man with brown hair, looked younger than Nicolay, his blue eyes showed that he had experienced a lot, "Lord Varantine, there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of when facing death. What is truly dreadful is to lose faith in God, as it¡¯s like being trapped in hell forever. If we die, Lord Varantine, we¡¯re just going back into the arms of our all-mighty God."
"Great. Your devotion to the Lord is noble, and I can feel the joy of the Lord. The gate of Mountain Paradise will always be open to you, and if you can come back alive from this mission, I will take you two to see the Pope in the Holy City to have his blessing, and you two will become senior-rank cardinals."
Feeling touched by the two night watchers¡¯ devotion, Varantine spoke highly of the two and promised them a lot, "You major target in this mission is Felipe Carneiro, who now ranks ninety-first on the Cleansing List. Besides him, your second target is Lucien Evans X, but always focus on killing Felipe as he is your top priority. As Lucien Evans X is right now under the protection of a few archmages and senior-rank sorcerers, don¡¯t sacrifice your life for him if you two get a chance to escape."
"All blasphemers must be cleared!" Nicolay and Walter replied loudly.
On the other side, Vaharall solemnly brought out a silver sword, which, despite its ordinary look, actually had great power in it, "This is a replica of the divine item, Sword of Truth, from Holm parish, and its power partially comes from the true sword. It can cut off any connections between a sorcerer and the person¡¯s magic items, including one¡¯s life box or soul container. As Felipe¡¯s a necromancer, we have to use it to really kill him."
The reason why the Blessing of the Hoffenberg family was also called Sword of Truth was that the Hoffenbergs enjoyed the same power.
Under no circunstance would the cardinals allow the two night watchers to take the legendary weapon, as losing the sword was the last thing the cardinals wanted to see. Therefore, three legendary saint cardinals spent several days on duplicating the sword with all kinds of magic circles, materials and their own power, and the power of the replica could be used once.
Letting Nicolay take over the sword, Vaharall said to them, "An old sorcerer whose name¡¯s Vern will put you two in the manor in Sariva where Felipe is. Be patient, and you two will certainly kill Felipe."
Vern was a level four arcanist, level five sorcerer. When he was younger, he actually accomplished a lot, and he also killed quite a few night watchers. However, as he got older, his progress in arcana slowed down and finally stopped. Vern got lost.
Vern was lost within so many fundamental questions that he asked himself ¡ª where did life come from? How magic power was born? How and where soul was originally born? As he could not find any answers in arcana, he gradually turned himself into a devout follower of God.
Therefore, only Vern would accept the task of putting two night watchers in the place where one of the most important geniuses of the Congress of Magic lived. For other traitors, no matter what reasons that made them willing to work with the Church, they didn't dare to do this.
Nicolay and Walter stood up, crossing in front of their chests, "Only truth lives forever!"
"Only truth lives forever!" Varantine and Vaharall repeated and then watched the two night watchers leaving.
Vaharall sighed, "They are the Lord¡¯s good servants. They¡¯re so devout that they should not be sacrificed. And it took us a lot of work to have a sorcerer who¡¯s willing to work for us in Allyn. This task will bring great loss to us."
"Our loss will be compensated." Varantine closed his eyes, looking rather serious, "This is not sacrifice, but dedication."
...
"Good afternoon, Mr. Felipe."
"Mr. Felipe¡­"
Outside of the manor, when seeing Felipe, who was in his black long jacket as usual, walking towards them, several middle-rank necromancers all greeted him with sincere respect.
Felipe was the only one, except those grand arcanists and legendary sorcerers, who could hopefully win Immortal Throne again, and possibly Holm Crown prize as well. Although his previous research studying the cell memory was also something very insightful and helpful, it was not even close to the study that completely overthrew Life Force Theory, the cornerstone of the school of Necromancy.
However, of course there were also many, many necromancers who hated Felipe so much that they wanted to turn him into their husk. In contrast, most arcanists from the Will of Elements were quite regretful as they wished that it was an elemental sorcerer who discovered the truth.
Facing a lot of attention, Felipe was very calm and confident. After slightly nodding to the necromancers, he headed toward the main hall of the manor, following Rogerio and other senior-rank arcanists.
Before entering the hall, Felipe took a glance at another direction, where Lucien was walking out of his house. The corner of Felipe¡¯s mouth curled a bit, and a gloomy smile appeared on his face, as if he was saying, "Good job, Mr. Professor."
Obviously, Felipe was pretty happy with the outcome of his plan. Although so far there was no necromancer who got his or her head exploded because of the new theory, many stubborn old guys in the school of Necromancy were definitely going be trapped within their arcana study for a long time.
Before Lucien reacted, Felipe walked into the hall directly. Surprisingly, a half-raised stage was built in the center of the hall. On the stage, there was an alchemical operation platform and a whole set of lab equipment surrounded by many powerful magic circles.
A few glass tubes and pipes and two glass bottles together built up a closed system with inner circulation function, and the whole thing looked mysterious and beautiful.
"What¡¯s going on here?" Felipe was a bit surprised. He thought that they were here to discuss their project with the druids.
"What do they want to do¡­? Those people from the Will of Elements¡­" Feeling rather suspicious, Felipe sat down in the middle of the row behind Rogerio and Pesor.
"You¡¯ve got any ideas what is going on here?" Rogerio asked Pesor, the member of Arcana Review Board.
Pesor nodded, "No idea. The meeting at the end of the project was suggested by Gaston."
He did not really care, as there was no way that the elemental sorcerers could put forward another overturning research finding that could hurt the foundation of the school of Necromancy after what happened to Life Force Theory, and it was almost impossible for one to overthrow the other fundamental theories in the school of Necromancy since they were just too abstract to be comprehended by human beings.
At this time, Lucien, together with Raventi, Gaston, LockLynn and other sorcerers from the Will of Elements, also entered the hall and sat down on the other side.
"Morris? Why is he here?" Tina-Timos lifted her eyebrow.
Morris was not in this research project. She wondered why Morris showed up today.
"He must be interested in the discussion over Life Force Theory as well, just like me." Rogerio did not see anything special with Morris¡¯s appearance.
At two in the afternoon, all the arcanists involved in the project were present. Meanwhile, as the representatives of druids, Iristine and Arcelion also arrived. Because Malfurion had given up the effort of working with the grand arcanists to study nature divine power, the druids were now suffering way less pressure from the forests.
Upstairs, Malfurion and several grand arcanists were also staring at the stage from a demiplane space.
"Hathaway, why do you want us to be here?" asked Thanatos, who was sitting in a fancy armchair. Although the school of Necromancy still suffered quite a bit loss, he was relieved that most necromancers had so far withstood the difficulty brought by Life Force Theory being overturned.
"To watch an experiment, simple but powerful enough to shake the foundation of the Church," responded Hathaway without turning her head. Her silvery-gray eyes were staring at the stage, "Sometimes we are trapped because we think in a too sophisticated way, but the truth might not be like this, actually. And maybe this is the same with nature divine power."
Hearing Hathaway¡¯s words, the president of the Congress, Douglas, who suspended his experiment to come here, and the vice president, Brook, all looked very serious.
Except for the Witch of Iceland and the Hand of Annihilation, who could not make it, the rest of the grand arcanists were all there.
...
Raventi, in his gray robe, came onto the stage and stood behind the whole set of equipment. Then, he said loudly, "The great discussion over the validity of Life Force Theory has inspired us, senior-rank elemental sorcerers from the Will of Elements. Combing the inspiration with legends, they¡¯ve designed a wonderful experiment. Ladies and gentlemen, as the experiment is probably going to take a long time, let¡¯s discuss the project findings while waiting for the experiment outcome."
Seeing Raventi was being very serious, many arcanists started to feel very curious.
What was this experiment?

Chapter 232: Why
				Chapter 232: Why
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
Raventi stood behind the lab equipment, being stared at by many arcanists. He wasted no time and went straight to the point, "In the tales told by the intelligent beings like the elves, the dragons, and the human beings, the start of the world is similar: lightnings, thunders, volcano eruptions, and floods. We all hate the Church but there are similar descriptions in their Holy Bible. Some arcanists from the Will of Elements were enlightened by the argument about the possibility of artificially synthesized living substances, and they wondered if we could simulate such environment. Why don¡¯t we try and see if anything will happen within that environment?"
Although Raventi was speaking slowly in a deep tone, the people in the room all knew that he was excited.
Felipe nodded slightly and it seemed he was thinking about something. "High-temperature and lightning¡­ Will methane and carbamide appear naturally under such environment? Applying the artificial synthetization method that was validated under strict experimental environment to the natural environment? It¡¯ll definitely overthrow the Life Force Theory further and the Church will be hit harder. However, who came up with this? Was it Professor or just the important members of Will of Elements? Also, according to what Mr. Raventi just said, it seems the experiment already succeeded."
While he thought about it, he turned to Lucien. Felipe noticed that Lucien was listening to the speech with a serious expression on his face, so it seemedthe man was not familiar with the content of the experiment. "It¡¯s probably someone else. If Lucien had such a decisive result, he¡¯d submit it before I knew it."
Other arcanists all had similar thoughts as it was their main point through the discussion. Also, Raventi actually mentioned where the experiment came from, so they started discussing and whispering.
"Why will there be life ingredients?"
"Well, I think it¡¯s the methane. It can be found wherever there is a volcano eruption. However, it¡¯s said that the methane is produced by the rotten plants underground and they appeared due to the volcano activity."
"So, it¡¯s not about the plants or other living beings anymore, it¡¯s now produced by the natural and original environment?"
The arcanists could not stop discussing. Walter and Nicolay were waiting for orders just like other servants outside the door. They tried their best to calm down so the senior-rank arcanists would not notice their anger.
"Those evil sorcerers that defile God want to walk even further in the God¡¯s field! It¡¯s all Felipe¡¯s fault! This blasphemer! We must purify him!"
The two hid their divine aura and power using some special divine items, they looked just like normal human beings. They sneaked into the mansion half a day earlier with the help of the old sorcerer Vern and they were waiting in the chilling wind of the Spring by the door with the other servants. 
They could only take the hot water and towels into the room when the apprentices ordered them to.
They heard the experiment introduction from Raventi before they could find the chance. They almost lost control and sacrificed themselves for God.
"Quiet, please, everyone!" Raventi¡¯s loud voice stopped the arcanists from whispering.
Raventi glanced around and continued, "Based on the analysis done with the gas around the volcano eruption and the analysis of elements in the life ingredients, we¡¯ll send the pure water, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia into the experiment device."
"The methane can be artificially synthesized by burning the carbon and combining the obtained gas with hydrogen, also, a catalyzer will be needed¡­ The ratio of the gases was selected by comparing the results from multiple controlled experiments."
Tina-Timos, Felipe, and the other arcanists watched Raventi starting the alchemy circle, preparing to artificially synthesize the ammonia and methane, but they had no idea what substance Raventi was trying to create.
The experiment on artificially synthesized methane alone could be used as an evidence to overthrow the Life Force Theory, but Raventi¡¯s acted like he was just preparing some normal substance in a magic lab.
The place was silent and the arcanists were confused. Raventi calmly synthesized the gas step by step.
"Methane can now be prepared with nonliving substances, it¡¯s no longer the production of rotten bodies and gems¡­" Many necromancers sighed in their minds after seeing Raventi calmly combine the prepared gas with the hydrogen using a certain ratio and send them into the glass bottle on the top left corner of the experiment device. It had been only one week and their old ideas were simply overthrown.
Raventi used his own magic circle to make sure that there was no other gas in the container before sending the product in, he also asked Pesor and Felipe to double check that the procedure was correct, so the result of the experiment was trustworthy.
Raventi¡¯s serious attitude made the arcanists even more curious about the result. He then injected the pure water he obtained from burning the hydrogen with oxygen to the glass bottle on the bottom left corner.
"Alright, the experimental environment and the materials are prepared, you can find everything in the natural environment. Let¡¯s start the formal experiment now."
"This is a simulation of lightning." Raventi activated the magic circle and electric pulses appeared in the bottle on the top left corner. "This is a simulation of the high temperature from the volcano eruption and the flood," Raventi explained as he activated the alchemy circle around the glass bottle in the bottom right corner.
He then opened the tap on the pipe and connected the whole experiment device. The pure water in the glass bottle on the bottom right corner evaporated and entered the glass bottle in the top left corner, contacting the mixed gases. Also, after the product was affected by the constant lightning for a while, the naturally condensed water returned to the glass bottle that was full of pure water by going through the pipe and the other experiment equipment on the bottom.
Raventi stepped away from the platform and activated the defensive magic circle around after he saw that the loop was stabilized. "This will take about one week and I¡¯ll activate the magic circle now. Also, arcanists, please set up your unique magic imprints around the circle so no one can interrupt the experiment during this period.
"One week? What are you going to do with it?" The arcanists simply did not understand the purpose of the experiment.
"Why does it take so long? Don¡¯t tell me a child will be born at the end." Timothy was joking, he looked urbane with the gold-wired glasses.
Necromancers knew that it was a joke and they were not concerned. Refining the human body parts was extremely complicated, the soul was a problem, and it would be hard for the complicated life ingredients to be created. The experiment looked simple and they could not believe that the product would be high quality.
Raventi slightly raised his head, and there was a serious expression on his face. "Yes, it¡¯ll take about one week and we can use the time to discuss if the alchemical ingredients can help plants grow. There are enough rooms for you in the four upper levels of this main building. Also, you can use the other buildings behind this one if you need to. Futhermore, please make sure that this experiment is running individually and objectively."
Pesor, Rogerio, and several other confused necromancers messaged the Lord of the Undead, then agreed to Raventi¡¯s request. They also wanted to know what the primitive environment simulation experiment could prove.
Arcelion and Iristine were sitting beside Lucien. They were interested in nature and the primitive environment, however, they barely knew anything about the magic experiment, and they had no idea what the primitive environment simulation experiment was about. Their curiosity forced them to put down the hatred and they looked at Lucien. "Mr. Evans, we know that the senior-rank arcanists of Will of Elements designed the experiment, but what are they trying to prove?"
"According to Mr. Raventi¡¯s words, the experiment is trying to prove that simple life ingredients will appear in the natural environment and the Life Force Theory will be overthrown further."
Out of habit, Iristine was rubbing her pink lips with the right index finger as she thought. The druid agreed that there was a huge difference between a living organism and a nonliving one, however, the arguments from the sorcerers had slowly changed her opinion in the last several days. "Under the natural environment, huh? It sounds good."
"The primitive nature? Without the help of God?" Arcelion was a bit confused. He was thinking in a druid¡¯s way.
Nicolay and Walter were waiting outside the door nervously, and they had two plans in mind. The first plan was to strike Felipe in surprise when they were allowed to enter the room and they were able to walk by him. If the old sorcerer Vern could not help them get the chance, they would have to use the second plan, which was waiting for the sorcerers to finish the discussion and ambush Felipe when he left the room.
They did not expect the conference to last for a whole week. The longer they stayed there, the easier they would be detected by the others.
They still had hope, as if Felipe was provided with a room in another building, he would still have to leave the hall and they would have the chance to attack him after that.
Vern was sitting in the front of the hall. He rubbed his white beard with a serious expression on his face. If the chance did not come by itself, he would have to create one, but it seemed there was nothing he could for the day.
Raventi waited for the arcanists to finish the discussion and said, "Our research cooperation with the druids went well this time. The three alchemical ingredients submitted by Lucien Evans were all validated. Those ingredients can help the plants grow and it¡¯s an important discovery for all the countries that are controlled by human beings."
"The experiment has entered an observation period without the effect from the druids¡¯ divine spells and it¡¯ll take four to five months for it to be completed, so we¡¯ll start discussing the other possible alchemical ingredients that might help the plants grow first. Also, we need to find the simplified reactions to those ingredients so we can mass produce them. Now, let¡¯s ask Evans to share how he got the results with us."
Everyone was clapping, most of the arcanists knew that if Lucien did not artificially synthesize the carbamide, Felipe would never try to overthrow the Life Force Theory. Although the decisive result was lacking, it was still a respectable move.
Some of the necromances glared at Lucien with hatred in their eyes as the man walked to the platform. They were having trouble meditating due to the interruption of their meditation worlds, but none of them had the intention to kill Lucien. It was Felipe who overthrew the Life Force Theory, so they would go after him first before going after anyone else.
Lucien cleared his throat and started explaining the procedure of the experiment in a gentle tone. Most of the controlled experiments were validated by elves like Iristine and sorcerers like Theodore. There was no problem with the experiment design, and although some of the data was changed by them, Lucien changed it back after reasoning it out. 
Everyone clapped again as Lucien finished the speech and they thought he would return to his seat. However, Lucien used a hand gesture to ask the arcanists to quiet down.
Lucien¡¯s expression turned serious as the arcanists stared at him, looking confused.
"I think you have already noticed one thing through the experiments you did and the paper I submitted. The elements that can help the plants grow are all inside the alchemical ingredients that are soluble in water, that¡¯s how they absorbed by the plants."
"That¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it? Plants need water and sunlight to grow, so only the substances that are soluble in water can be absorbed. I think most of the arcanists will notice this point after failing the experiments several times. Mr. Evans, you¡¯ve just discovered it slightly ahead of us," an arcanist spoke in a disappointed tone. He was good at both soul and element magic, so he was impacted by the matter of the Life Force Theory.
A mysterious smile appeared on Lucien¡¯s handsome face. "I have some questions for you, if it¡¯s that obvious. Why can the substances only be absorbed when they¡¯re dissolved in the water? What can¡¯t the particles that are floating in the water have the same effect? Plants do need water and sunlight, but there is no evidence proving that water is just a transportation tool. Why is an alchemical substance so different before and after being dissolved in water? For the last point, I think the arcanists here all noticed similar situations in some other experiments, but why?"
The questions made the arcanists¡¯ heads dizzy, they recalled the experiments they did, and they realized that what Lucien just mentioned was actually there. For example, the conductivity of salt changed dramatically after it was dissolved in the water. However, such situations were so simple that people thought they were just common sense.
Lucien stepped down the platform after asking all those questions. He left the rest of the time for the arcanists to discuss.
"Evans, again? I remember you asked a series of questions after the periodic table was validated, just like president Douglas." A sentimental smile appeared on Larry¡¯s round face. "You¡¯re good at finding the important problems and it¡¯s surprising, there are so many things I can learn from you."
Timothy pushed his gold-wired glasses and started joking before Lucien could say anything, "Evans, I think I have several decent nicknames that fit you well, such as, ¡®Evans the Whybringer¡¯ or just ¡®Question Asker¡¯, what do you think?"
"I¡¯m not impressed. Also, my name is in the first one, so it's not a good nickname." Lucien shook his head and walked past them, heading to the seat in the center.
Timothy chuckled, "Evans, what is a good nickname for you then?"
"One Hundred Thousand Whys¡­" Lucien sat down with a blank expression on his face.
...
In the space of the demiplane, the Lord of Storm smiled.
"So many questions," he turned around and said, glaring at the president of the Congress of Magic, Douglas.
Douglas noticed that the Lord of Storm was looking at him and thus he shifted his sight away from the experiment device. Douglas was trying to simulate the experiment in his meditation space and find the possible results, but he did not pay too much attention to the things that happened after, and he looked at Lord of Storm in confusion.
"One Hundred Thousand Whys," Lord of Storm spoke in a low voice.
Douglas had no idea what the Lord of Storm was talking about. "What?"
...
The arcanists had another thing to discuss thanks to Lucien¡¯s questions. There were people giving speeches at the platform from time to time, and they also completed several experiments using the other alchemy platforms. Some were giving hypothesis but they were proved wrong quickly. Time flew.
Lucien and Felipe were assigned rooms on the upper levels of the main building. Their servants were selected from the apprentices, so Nicolay and Walter had no way to sneak in. Vern almost tried to finish the job by himself but he was assigned to other buildings.
Nicolay and Walter had several chances to enter the hall but Felipe and Lucien were carefully sitting in the center of the hall, among many other arcanists. The water they drank was prepared by themselves so it was impossible to kill them by poison or surprise attack, and thus Nicolay and Walter were very disappointed about the situation. However, they were not detected by any senior-rank arcanists and they thought the divine items were extremely effective.
The week was ending but they had no chance to touch Lucien or Felipe. The old sorcerer Vern was getting nervous. The elemental sorcerer would not be able to assist Nicolay and Walter after Felipe returned to Heidler City.

Chapter 233: The True Devil
				Chapter 233: The True Devil
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the following Friday, after the arcanists finished their breakfast, they entered the hall in groups. According to Raventi¡¯s words, they would be able to see the result of the experiment today or at most tomorrow, which made them feel very curious.
During the past seven days, the arcanists did observe the reaction equipment through the magic imprints that they left. However, there was nothing specially new going on there. There was nothing new with the pure water evaporating, with the lightning striking the vapor and mixed gas, or with the vapor then condensed into liquid again.
Everything was just so simple and plain.
"What are we going to see? Honestly speaking, I¡¯m very curious." a necromancer from the Hand of Paleness who just re-established his meditation environment was saying in a quite excited way.
Another female necromancer, who had blond eyebrows, compressed her lips a bit, "Jason, in fact, I¡¯m not looking forward to anything, honestly. I don¡¯t see anything that¡¯s special in this experiment, and there¡¯s no way that a simple experiment like this can create an environment where life can be born. The truth is that, at that time, there were way more factors involved than we can even imagine!"
"Lily, I know¡­ I¡¯ve been staring at the lightnings for so long that I feel that they are right in front of my eyes right now," answered Jason humorously. His words were true, as many arcanists who studied discharging phenomenon also said the same thing.
Lily rubbed her eyes a bit as well, "I know, but that still doesn¡¯t mean anything special."
When they were chatting, someone that both of them were familiar with walked toward them. He had grizzled hair, deep wrinkles, and gentle, blue eyes.
"Morning, Jason. Morning, Lily," greeted the old sorcerer.
"Morning, Vern." Both Lily and Jason nodded and smiled.
"Dear Ms. Lily, may I have a request?" said Vern sincerely, "Would you mind changing your seat with me, as I want to talk to Jason about some of my thoughts over Life Force Theory."
"Why? It¡¯s something that has been overthrown already, isn¡¯t it?" Lily was confused, and she did not want to sit among a bunch of elemental sorcerers.
"Actually, I do not think so," said Vern seriously. "Can you deny the existence of life force and soul?"
"Of course not, those two things are fundamental in the school of Necromancy. Denying the existence of life force and soul is denying our own existence and values," Jason answered decisively. "It is only Life Force Theory that is overturned, and this does not have anything to do with our study of soul and life. We are re-directed in the past wrong practice of how we create human bodies, but for other theories in the school of Necromancy, especially those about soul, they are still fine and solid."
In their past belief, necromancers were convinced that humans, elves and dragons were superior to other elemental and alchemical creatures because the latter did not have life force that was stored in flesh. Therefore, they believed that only life ingredients could be used to create human bodies, until this theory was overturned by Lucien and Felipe.
Vern shook his head, "What have been synthesized so far are still far from being called ¡®the most fundamental ingredients of life¡¯, so I won¡¯t say that Life Force Theory is completely done for. You two must see the great beauty hiding within the human body, and how fascinating human bodies are structured. We are still facing lots of secrets of the human body that have yet to be solved, and if Life Force Theory is totally wrong, can I draw the conclusion that one can just live forever even without a life box, or separating one¡¯s soul, or looking for the next new body?"
"Oh¡­ Arcana¡¯s above. I can tell that you¡¯re really into Life Force Theory, Vern. I¡¯m not even close to you." Lily rubbed her forehead, as her mind was starting to get messy, "I need some time alone. I believe in the secrets of human body, but I also believe in Felipe¡¯s experiment outcome. Feel free to talk to Jason, Vern."
Arcana¡¯s above was an expression that sorcerers often used to show the impressiveness of something or to be polite.
Then she walked to the elemental sorcerers and sat down among them. After thinking to herself for quite a while, Lily drew her own conclusion: it was certain that Life Force Theory was wrong, but this did not mean that all the secrets of the human body had been solved, and much more needed to be done to further explore the field. Right now, Lily just wanted to keep her mind open, which she believed that was the best attitude.
Vern sat down on Lily¡¯s seat. When he was talking with Jason, his eyes focused on Felipe, who was sitting there three rows away to the left front of him.
Today or tomorrow would be his last chance. In order to defend the Lord¡¯s glory, Vern was ready to sacrifice himself. However, among all the necromancers he knew, only Lily¡¯s seat was the closest to Felipe's, but this seat was still not good enough for Nicolay to launch an attack on Felipe and kill him with one shot. Nicolay needed to, when the time was right, bear the risk of taking five to six steps further through the narrow gaps between the seats to kill Felipe.
"May the gate of Mountain Paradise open for me." Vern crossed in front of his chest in his mind. 
...
Soon, all the attendee arcanists had shown up, and today, it was Larry who took the stage.
Larry¡¯s round face was filled with excitement, and he said to everyone in the hall with a higher pitch than usual, "We¡¯ve discovered the wonderful relation between the concentration and conductivity of solution from Lucien¡¯s questions, thus I was thinking: what if we study something else rather than solution? What if we study pure water? I wonder how pure water¡¯s conductivity is like¡­"
Because it was a widespread fact that water was conductive, most arcanists ignored this direction. Although they could make pure water out of combining oxygen and hydrogen together, they never thought of doing this. Hearing Larry¡¯s words, they felt quite hesitant.
Larry began to make pure water to test its conductivity. When electric sparks kept appearing in the reactor, the magic circle at the bottom of the pure water for testing current actually detected nothing. Every sorcerer¡¯s face looked quite confused but also surprised, as what they thought as some kind of common sense was, again, overturned.
When the water started bubbling, Larry finished his experiment, "As everyone saw, before pure water is resolved into hydrogen and oxygen, it is not conductive, thus we can make an assumption that it is some kind of alchemical substance dissolved in water that turns water to be conductive. I¡¯m not sure what it is yet, but we can first take a look at the new fourth-circle magic that I¡¯ve created based on this experiment¡ªLarry¡¯s Water Shield, which can effectively defend against the Lightning spell."
Then, Larry started to share the general structure of the spell and how he built its model. Although he was hiding the core part of it, most arcanists were still listening to it very carefully, hoping that they could build something like this on their own.
However, Vern was having a difficult time concentrating. He kept looking at those waiters who were serving the arcanists with black tea, water and warm face towels. When he saw that there were around five or six waiters who were serving around in the hall in different places, Vern raised his hand and beckoned to a nearby apprentice.
"Yes, sir? What can I do for you?" The apprentice hurriedly came over to Vern and asked in a very respectable manner, as he knew that every single one of the arcanists present was at least of middle rank!
Vern nodded in a nice way, "Good young fella, I need some black tea with sliced lemon to stay focused."
Jason was not paying any attention to Vern, not only because what Vern was doing was simply ordinary, but also because, as a necromancer, he was very interested in spells that could block electromagnetic wave spells like Lightning.
"Sure." The apprentice respectively took a few steps back and then walked toward a door.
At this time, Nicolay ventured to take two steps forward to stand in the front.
"A cup of black tea with sliced lemon for Mr. Vern over there." The apprentice just directly talked to Nicolay, as he did not care about the order of the waiters. And the other waiter who was now standing behind Nicolay was a bit confused, having no idea why this guy wanted to please that old sorcerer.
Nicolay went to the small room in the corner of the hall and got a cup of black tea. Nervous as he was, he told himself, "God is watching me, and this is my most glorious moment. The gate of Mountain Paradise will be open for me!"
Nicolay calmed down with his belief, and then he walked toward the row of seats where Vern was. When he came in front of Vern, Nicolay handed the cup to Vern respectively.
"Your lemon black tea," said Nicolay politely, as if he was totally strange to Vern.
On the other side, another middle-rank arcanist who was siting four rows behind Lucien also requested a cup of water.
Walter knew that this was not a very good distance to kill Lucien. However, he was decisive and certain that, when his partner Nicolay launched his attack toward Felipe, it would also be his best chance to kill Lucien Evans.
Putting down the cup, Nicolay slowly turned around. Staring at Felipe from behind, Nicolay felt that the distance between Felipe and him was the path the he needed to take to get to Mountain Paradise.
In Nicolay¡¯s eyes, the distance was long, but what was at the end of the path made him yearn for it so much.
Although what Nicolay had was only a replica of the Sword of Truth, it was still a level nine divine item, thus using the replica would still cost him a lot of power and strength, despite the fact that the full power of the replica sword could not be fully activated because of Nicolay¡¯s level. At the same time, as this was a sword, Nicolay could not use it from some distance away, instead, he needed to get Felipe with the sword in a very short distance to achieve the most ideal effect.
Therefore, Nicolay needed to have someone to distract Felipe at that moment when he launched his attack.
When Nicolay was moving to the isle, he was still calculating the distance. Before he arrived at the best spot for assassination, if Vern could not offer him further support by distracting Felipe, he had to take all the risk in a sink-or-swim way to kill Felipe, even if it meant that he needed to run through the narrow seat gaps to get closer to Felipe.
Nicolay was ready to sacrifice himself.
Meanwhile, Walter, while putting down the cup of water for the arcanist, was also calculating his distance from Lucien Evans, but he would not take any chances before Felipe was attacked. 
Vern took a deep breath, and just when he was about to draw people¡¯s attention to himself, an arcanist in the front shouted in sharp voice, "The reactor! Something¡¯s changing in the reactor!"
All the arcanists looked at the reactor, including Larry.
In the glass bottle at the bottom on the right, inside the tube for condensation, something light red appeared in the pure water!
What was it?!
The arcanists almost felt that they didn't dare to ask, but their hearts were filled with the question. Several of the arcanists in the front even stood up to see clearer. Nicolay¡¯s vision was blocked, but he was encouraged - from the chaos, he could have enough time to kill Felipe. However, he was also a bit distracted subconsciously, wondering what the light red stuff was.
Raventi, who was sitting in the front, directly flew onto the stage, deactivated all the magic circles and took out the light red substance. He hurriedly activated the magic circle, Identification, to see what it was.
At the same time, more arcanists also used their own Identification magic circles to check the substance, including Felipe.
However, what they had all ignored was that Identification could only check things that were not unknown, as the spell was continuously improved by the congress.
Seeing that many arcanists were busy with casting the spell, Nicolay knew that this was his best chance to kill Felipe. Under his long robe, he grabbed the replica of the sword tightly, and then he took a solid step forward. He walked faster and faster. He did not care anymore if any arcanists had noticed him. In his eyes, there was only Felipe.
Within a few second, Nicolay had shortened his distance between him and Felipe quite a bit.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Walter also started to take action.
Nicolay was one step away from Felipe now!
He fiercely ripped off the amulet that he was wearing for hiding his divine power with one hand, and took out the sword with the other hand.
When he was about to hack the sword at Felipe, someone shouted in a hight pitch, "Aspartic acid¡­ There¡¯s Aspartic acid in there! Something originally found in asparagus! Oh¡­ Arcana¡¯s above¡­ What I¡¯ve found here¡­"
"And some other life ingredients! Although two of them have never been successfully refined yet, they are parts of the foundation of life!" On the other side, another level five arcanist was shocked, as if he just saw the real God.
"And lipid and carbohydrate¡­" Pesor and Tina-Timos all stood up. Although they were not some kind of followers, they still wanted to say that this could only have been done by God.
It was a miracle that an environment that was made up of several of the simplest factors, including lightning, gases, pure water and a mini replica model of a volcano, could just generate life ingredients!
Felipe was also astounded. In his eyes, they were now in the realm of God. He wondered who designed this model¡ªwas it Professor?!
Every single one of the arcanists knew what this experiment meant¡ªit had revealed the fact that, even though it could not completely deny that the God of Truth could create life, at least God was not the only entity that could create life. In other words, Creationism was facing a great threat.
When the arcanists were exclaiming in front of the experiment finding, Nicolay, who was only one step away from Felipe, was still shocked.
He could not remove his eyes away from the reactor, which was surrounded by many different identification magic circles. The light of the tree symbol above the reactor representing all kinds of life ingredients was so pure and bright that Nicolay, when staring at it, had forgotten his purpose for being here.
He could not believe what was in front of his eyes. He could not believe that there was aspartic acid in the reactor.
Lots of thoughts flashed through Nicolay¡¯s mind. He recalled how the experiment was built up: high temperature and methane gas brought by volcanic eruption, magic lightning used to recreate natural thunder and lightning, pure water to simulate prehistoric ocean, the main gases including hydrogen¡­ In the whole experiment, there was no intervention from God, but life ingredients were still created.
Nicolay was more than regretful that he had learned something about arcana before. He wished that he had never known what life ingredients were and how important they were.
Nicolay¡¯s head was buzzing with thoughts:
"Can natural environment also create life? So it isn¡¯t something that is only controlled by God?
"But¡­ but life should only be governed by the almighty God¡­
"Creating life¡­ is within the realm of God¡­
"Does God even exist? Does Mountain Paradise exist? After I die, where will I go?
"They are devils, true devils! They¡¯ve made me doubt God!"
In a flash, Nicolay¡¯s thoughts shook the foundation of his belief, and thus his divine power started to go out of control. And as a quick reaction, Nicolay started to pray.
However, as soon as he started praying, his power directly exploded. From the inside out, the divine power devoured him with dazzling, beautiful light.
At the same time, Walter was overwhelmed by the same holy light.
Both Nicolay and Walter exploded with their power and turned into two beautiful beams of light, just like dreamlike firework.
Seeing the light beams, the arcanists were astonished but also confused.
Before the arcanists could figure out what was going on there, Vern¡¯s head exploded. White brain tissue and fresh blood scattered everywhere.
The rest of the arcanists hurriedly tried to stabilize their own mediation environments. They were too shocked to comprehend the whole situation, and they only shared one common thought:
"This was crazy!"
...
"So, the two experiment subjects have proved the great impact that the experiment finding can bring to the Church," said Hathaway emotionlessly. Her silvery-gray eyes were cold.
The grand arcanists knew the Church¡¯s plan from the very beginning, since Vern¡¯s suggestion of putting Nicolay and Walter into the meeting was actually made up by Thanatos and was put in Vern¡¯s mind.
Vaharall and Varantine never thought that the grand arcanists would show up for this meeting.

Chapter 234: Action
				Chapter 234: Action
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the demiplane, seven fine silver chairs floating in the darkness formed a semicircle, and the five grand arcanists sitting on the chairs looked like Gods overlooking the mortals from high above.
A senior elf was right now sitting on one of the two chairs that originally belonged to the other two grand arcanists who did not attend the meeting today. Right now, he was staring at the reactor down there as if he had forgotten everything around him. The senior elf was staring at every single change happening in the reactor¡ªlightning, vaporization, condensation¡­ There was light in his pupil.
After a while of silence, Brook, the Emperor of Control, with his fingers crossing as usual, said to the rest of them in a voice that somehow mixed with calmness and excitement, "The experiment revealed a brand new possibility of how life was originally born and how life can be born, and this has provided us with a new direction in our research. Before this experiment, we arcanists tended to treat this topic in a too complicated way."
"Are you trying to say that we can synthesize a baby in a lab merely using carbon and some gases?" Fernando, Lord of Storm, disputed directly, "I admit the great importance of this experiment, but I also believe that the truth is way more complicated than this, maybe even more complicated than we thought? We have no clear idea how life ingredients managed to evolve into life foundations, how other life ingredients were born, how body and soul are connected¡­"
Brook was already used to Fernando¡¯s bad temper, so he pressed his hands downwards a bit to calm Lord of Storm down, "I did not make it clear enough. What I was trying to say was that the original environment pictured by us before, for giving birth to life ingredients, was too complicated. In arcana study, sometimes being simple and direct is also very important."
"Then, have you asked yourself, what is hydrogen? Why do volcanos erupt? Why are there oceans and the reason behind the tides? Why is there lightning and thunder? Before those things were born, how did the world look like? Why does the world look like this now?" Douglas, the president of the congress, looked around at the rest of the grand arcanists, "The experiment is surely simple, and the process of synthesizing life ingredients is surely not complicated, but what hides behind the experiment is not simple. We shall never take them for granted, and we shall always ask why."
"One hundred thousand whys¡­" Lord of Storm murmured.
Hathaway nodded slightly, "The ocean of arcana is boundless, and we¡¯re fishermen who have just set our sails. We are still far from understanding the essence of the world, and we must hold the world in awe."
"That¡¯s why arcana¡¯s so charming." Brook smiled, pushing his glasses a bit upward.
Thanatos also grinned, "Although we have just set our sails, the Church must be more than shocked. What we are watching now, in the Church¡¯s eyes, is something that is totally unacceptable and beyond offensive, in the forbidden zone of God and divine power. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how the pope and those cardinals will react when they hear about the experiment. I bet that they¡¯d still find some excuses with something related to soul. But one day, when we thoroughly understand soul and divine power, it will be the end of them. What a pity that the experiment needs to take so long to reveal the findings, or we could directly show it in front of the Church¡­ Think about it¡­ How destructive that would be to those pastors."
Every grand arcanist present understood that not every cardinal or pastor from the Church would be destroyed by their own divine power when seeing the experiment. The reason that Walter and Nicolay were devoured by holy power right on the spot was that they had spent seven days staying here, witnessing the very beginning of the experiment when the reactor was being built, and after a long time of wondering and feeling insecure waiting for the final answer, the research finding was too shocking for them to keep adhering to their belief.
Without this gradual, building-up process, most of the pastor and cardinals would definitely first doubt the validity of the experiment, and they might even say that the experiment was fake. Then, they would find any possible reasons or pieces of evidence to fight back and to comfort themselves, so they could continuously stick to their belief.
However, of course, those grand arcanists would not waste this great chance to give the Church a hard time. Although the experiment, of course, could not completely wipe out the Church, many pastors would start to doubt their belief to some extent, and their chance of breaking through their levels would be slim to none.
"We¡¯ve turned our blind eye to some people for quite a while, and now it¡¯s time to let them show their value," said Hathaway in a cold and ambiguous way.
Lord of Storm agreed, "The Church shall still suffer from this finding. I really wonder how many pastors and cardinals will be devoured by the light."
The grand arcanists soon reached an agreement, and Douglas started to give orders to the Affairs Committee.
At the same time, Hathaway turned around and looked at Thanatos, "Do not use Invade Brain to investigate who designed the experiment from the Will of Elements. I don¡¯t want them to be chased around by the Church, and thus not be able to go to other dimensions."
Although Invade Brain and Weaving Memory usually did not work well with senior-rank sorcerers, Thanatos, as a master of these two spells, once before managed to invade a level eight cardinal¡¯s brain. He read most of the cardinal¡¯s memory, and even changed part of it, leading the cardinal to hate the pope, in order to make the cardinal kill the pope. Unfortunately, the part of changing the cardinal¡¯s memory also changed his cognition of this world, and the cardinal¡¯s belief suddenly got destroyed, and, in the end, he was devoured by the holy light, bringing failure to Thanatos¡¯ plans.
However, the congress gained a lot from Thanatos invading the brain of the cardinal, and most of their first-hand materials of divine power came from this. This was why Thanatos ranked eleventh place on the Church¡¯s Cleansing List, even higher than Hathaway and Lord of Storm.
"All of your senior-rank aranists from the Will of Elements are on the list already. Why would this matter?" Thanatos was a bit confused.
Hathaway did not answer him.
Thanatos put on a slightly embarrassed smile, as he did not want to speak against Hathaway in front of other grand arcanists, and then he nodded, "The mage who designed this experiment has combined belief and one¡¯s own cognition world together¡­ quite interesting."
At this time, Malfurion finally sobered up from his tons of thoughts and said loudly, "Mind of Nature! This is the mind of nature!"
...
Down below the demiplane, staring at the holy light and the blood, all of the arcanists were shocked. They all of a sudden felt that the lightnings in the reactor looked fabulous but cruel.
The future of arcana was further lit up by the experiment, but behind the experiment, there was blood and darkness.
After quite a while, Timothy asked loudly and confusedly, "Is this holy light?"
"Are those people¡­ from the Church?" Larry heard of something like this before, but he had never witnessed people being devoured by the light.
The crowd started to feel nervous.
"Be quiet!" Raventi looked quite pissed off, and he spoke to the crowded loudly, "Do not panic! Right now, we have to figure out why the Church¡¯s people were here!"
Hearing Raventi¡¯s shouting, the rest of the arcanists all started to look around alertedly.
Noticing that the person from the Church was only one step away from him, Felipe answered gloomily, "They came here to kill me. And the sorcerer whose head exploded¡­ should be the traitor."
After the holy light disappeared gradually, there was nothing of Nicolay or Walter left, but a silvery-gray blade lying on the floor.
"This is the replica of the Sword of Truth!"
"This thing is of research value!"
The sword from Holm parish was so famous that most arcanists recognized it immediately.
Lucien knew that the Church¡¯s second target was him, but in the Church¡¯s eyes, he was not as important as Felipe at all. Lucien also wondered whether the Church would rank him the top fifty on the list if they knew that this experiment, the Miller-Urey experiment, was put forward by him.
Lucien felt lucky that, when he submitted this experiment to the Will of Elements, he requested to be behind the scenes.
Rogerio from the Affairs Committee came up to the stage and started to direct sorcerers to take different actions.
Those who did not get any tasks stood on the other side and were talking to each other, "It¡¯s unbelievable that a simple experiment designe like this can generate life ingredients¡­"
"And what¡¯s also unbelievable is that two pastors turned into holy light right in front of us! The light is even more beautiful than new year fireworks, ha."
"Those necromancers should feel lucky that the previous studies from Lucien Evans and Felipe had overthrown Life Force Theory first, or today¡¯s experiment would for sure be mind-bugging enough to explode their heads directly."
"If there wasn't those previous studies serving as a buffering thing at the first place, they would not just show this experiment right in front of us over the meeting. Those grand arcanists know how shocking this thing is and they know that they have to ease us into it."
"I know¡­ I wonder who designed this experiment¡­ It¡¯s seems like 'God' is revealing the truth in front of us."
"But making people¡¯s heads explode is still too cruel¡­"
In the corner, Lucien listened to their conversation silently, and at this time, Iristine¡¯s voice came into his ears, "Mr. Evans?"
"Yes, your highness?" Lucien turned around and asked.
Unusually, there was a sincere smile on Iristine¡¯s face, which made her look even more beautiful. Her faced blushed as she spoke to Lucien, "You people have proved the greatness of nature. And I think you guys are not all bad."
"Mr. Evans, please forgive my rudeness before. Sorcerers can see the greatness of nature as well, and you guys can use arcana to show the miracle." Arcelion also agreed, "After witnessing this experiment, I¡¯m deeply shocked."
Although Lucien did not really understand why the elves could change their attitude toward sorcerers because of one single experiment, it was always not a bad thing to have allies, especially with druidic elves.
...
Radiance Church, Holm.
Three cardinals were waiting for the result of their assassination plan in Philibell¡¯s study.
At this time, a pastor came into the study, with a confidential letter in his hand, "My lord, here¡¯s the result. It¡¯s secretly sent by a sorcerer that we bribed from the congress."

Chapter 235: Impact
				Chapter 235: Impact
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Philibell jumped up from his chair and took over the letter with his slightly trembling hands. He wondered if the Congress had declared war against them.
In his mind, he believed that the assassination had succeeded, because this was the only explanation why the letter was sent by the sorcerer that they bribed, instead of their other channels. If the Congress managed to take over Holm, the fact that some sorcerers were working for the Church would be easily found out. For the sorcerers who wanted to gain as much benefit as they could, the best scenario would be the one where the balance between the Congress and the Church was maintained.
Casting holy light from his eyes, Philibell first scanned the letter to make sure that it was safe to open. He had been dealing with the sorcerers for so many years since he took over the Holm parish, thus Philbell knew how cunning and crafty those sorcerers were. For example, the letter could possibly contain some kind of medium for casting the spell, Invade Brain.
After making sure there were no magic traps in the envelope, Philibell finally opened it and unfolded the thin piece of paper in it:
"The Will of Elements presented a simple experiment simulating the pre-historic natural environment. Under the close watch of many arcanists and the two night watchers, and without the intervention of neither magic nor divine power, after a week of cycling, life ingredients were created in the reactor, including aspartic acid and more. The two night watchers and one old sorcerer who followed the God of Truth could not handle the research finding with their collapsed ontology, and thus they were devoured by their inner power right on the spot.
"God created the world in seven days¡­ Cardinal Philibell, is this how it was?"
Then the letter briefly introduced how the reactor was built, how the experiment was conducted, and what the findings were.
"Life ingredients¡­? pre-historic natural environment" Philibell murmured the words as if he was dreaming. And he recognized the handwriting immediately¡ªthe letter was not from a random sorcerer that the Church bribed, but from Douglas, the president of the Congress of Magic!
Douglas mentioned every single step of the experiment. Philibell knew what this meant: Douglas, as an outstanding grand arcanist, was too proud to lie, and he was a hundred percent confident that the experiment was valid and correct.
Philibell¡¯s hands had senile plaques on them. Holding the letter, his hands started to tremble fiercely, "My Lord¡­ What shall we do here? What are you trying to tell us? Why do you want mortals to enter your realm?"
His pure, crystal-like soul appeared in the air above his body, whose light lit up the study in a gentle way. The piece of paper gradually dropped onto the ground.
"Philibell, what¡¯s wrong?! Don¡¯t let your belief in the Lord be affected!" as Vaharall was shouting at him, black waves appeared and surrounded Philibell to stabilize his power.
"I¡¯m okay¡­ and I¡¯ve never doubted God." Philibell calmed down a bit and slightly shook his head, "Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m not going to collapse. I did forecast this before when the sorcerers successfully synthesized carbamide and fatty acid, but I just did not expect that the result could be so shocking that it almost hurt my soul."
"What¡¯s on that letter?" Varantine picked up the piece of paper on the ground. He believed that he was already mentally prepared for this.
Philibell did not stop him, but stared at Varantine to see his reaction with a pair of meaningful eyes.
"Bastards!" Without even finishing reading the letter, Varantine swore aloud out of rage. He could not believe that those vicious sorcerers actually did this experiment to pry into the forbidden realm of God. He could not believe how disrespectful they were and how they dared do this!
Doing an experiment like this, in Varantine¡¯s mind, was enough to push someone into hell thousands of times. His core understanding of this world and fundamental belief in God was built on Creationism, and after reading this letter, something warm and sweet upwelled to his throat.
Golden blood gushed out from his mouth, and his body was covered with dim light. Despite the fact that his soul was injured, Varantine gnashed, "We shall declare war! An all-out war! We shall purify the Congress of Magic to defend the glory of God!"
Luckily for Varantine, he had already gone through the most difficult time when the previous two researches came out, so he didn't get severely injured when facing the words from the president of the Congress of Magic, Douglas. However, this was still the first time in the past a hundred and sixty nine years that Varantine spat blood like this since he had come to this level.
In contrast, when the bad-tempered Vaharall finished reading the letter, he was not too shocked, but his face still looked very gloomy. Slowly, he squeezed the words out of his teeth with great rage, "We shall not always focus this much on the heresy sect in the north anymore. It¡¯s time to pull back our attention and put it on those vicious sorcerers who are trying to reach their bloody hands to the exclusive realm of God!"
Vaharall was a legendary knight, and his power was from his own Blessing. Therefore, the great impact on his cognition might affect his belief in God to some degree, but could not kill him.
"What we shall do right now is to block the information, calm the pastors down, and then gradually modify their understanding of Creationism," Philibell said to them.
The pastor who brought the letter was standing in the corner. He dare not read the letter on the desk.
At this time, there came some hurried footsteps outside of the study, and cardinal who was wearing a red robe and long shawl rushed in the study, and, as a relatively powerful pastor, he still looked helpless and nervous, "Lord Philibell! A pastor in Radiance Church just got devoured by holy light! And many parishes have reported that most pastor, even cardinals, are experiencing great impact on their cognition of their belief! Although so far we only have two pastors who were devoured by their power, most of the pastors are feeling confused and desperate now. They¡¯re urgently begging you, Lord Philibell, to prove to them that the experiment which produces life ingredients in a pre-historic natural environment is fake!"
"What?!" Philip was even more shocked now. He had never expected that the Congress could spread the news so fast.
...
In the early morning, a bunch of newspaper kids were yelling on the streets energetically,
"Newspaper, newspaper! Latest Holm News! Earlier than usual!"
Hearing that, many people on the streets started looking for five Fells in their purses, as they knew that there must be something important in the newspaper.
Influenced by those magic schools, common people living here in Holm were more educated than the average people in other countries across the ocean, and they also more or less cared about the development of magic. Therefore, newspapers here, especially in Rentato, sold better.
Meanwhile, those nobles who did not need to rush to work were right now enjoying their breakfast while reading Holm News as usual, and those people included many pastors and cardinals.
A young pastor left his room and came to the cathedral¡¯s dining hall. After his praying, there was buttered bread and sausages on the plates in front of him. Beside the plates, there was a pile of newspaper.
"Holm News?" the pastor was a little bit surprised, and he asked the pastor who was still in training sitting close to him, "Isn¡¯t this issue earlier than usual?"
"My Lord," the pastor answered respectfully, "I¡¯m not very sure, but it¡¯s said that something big just happened in Rentato."
"Oh?" The pastor picked up the newspaper. As usual, the first page was about the old king, who just went for hunting the other day, followed by lots of nobles, but Prince Patrick was not there.
However, when he turned the newspaper to the second page, a striking black title appeared in his sight, "An Experiment Simulating the Pristine Natural Environment."
"Experiment?! Those sorcerers are on the newspaper now?" The young pastor was shocked. As he read it even further, he added, "Lie! Shameless lie! This is blasphemy!"
The other pastors in training were all scared. When they saw that the pastor started throwing plates and bowls onto the ground, they all took a few steps back.
After a long time, the pastor murmured to himself in a puzzled way, "Lie¡­ This must be a lie! I¡¯m gonna report this to the head Cardinal, and he will prove that it is a lie!"
The same scenario occurred in most of the churches and cathedrals in Holm parish, and almost simultaneously in churches in the Kingdom of Colette.
The Congress of Magic had shown its great influence!
...
"That's basically what happened." The other cardinal slowly calmed down a bit.
Philibell asked seriously, "But why would Holm News publish this experiment?"
"The headquarter and divisions of the newspaper are right now under the control of the Congress. They¡¯ve printed out the latest issue of Holm News in every city," the cardinal explained. "However, all people involved in this had fled."
Philibell was still confused, "But how can they communicate with each other in real time? Sound transmission spells cost a lot and casting those spells means lots of work¡­ How could they take action so fast?"
"So far, we have no idea yet, Lord Philibell," answered the cardinal.
Vaharall said to Philibell seriously,
"Philibell, you stay here and control the situation. I go to see the pope for his instruction."
When Philibell was left alone in the study after everyone got their own tasks, he signed slowly, "What is your true will, Lord?"
...
Lance, the Holy city.
Benedict II, the Pope, was right now calmly looking at the cardinals standing in front of him. Then, lifting his scepter, he said to them seriously, "Have you all forgotten the word from Lord? It is always the soul that goes up to Mountain Paradise, not one¡¯s flesh and blood!"

Chapter 236: Lucien¡¯s New Magic
				Chapter 236: Lucien¡¯s New Magic
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After experiencing the great shock brought by the previous two experiences, the fact that Life Force Theory was overturned was not such a big surprise for those grand cardinals. However, they had imagined that the Congress was right now targeting Creationism, the realm of God.
The success of the experiment forced the grand cardinals and legendary knights to doubt Creationism, and they started to question themselves whether this was a true forbidden realm that only belonged to God. They did not know what to do, and showing their great anger seemed to be the only way right now that they could hide their inner fear and guilt.
Over the past hundreds of years, the several popes had all put emphasis on introducing arcana to improve divine spells, and thus all the grand cardinals were also relatively profound in arcana. If a grand cardinal went to the congress, within a year or two, he or she would probably be around middle-rank level. Therefore, despite the fact that they were all very angry, they still had countless ideas going on in their minds, using all their wisdom to find a loophole in the experiment. As long as they could find one, they would say that the experiment was a mistake, and so they could defend Creationism.
Before the Pope spoke, the Bright Hall was just as noisy as the market in Lance.
"This experiment is just a prototype of the prehistoric natural environment described by legends, and no one can say that this is the real environment where the God of Truth created the world," said the Pope, Benedict II.
"But that¡¯s also what Canon tells us¡­ Lightning, flood, volcano¡­"
"What Cannon describes is only the tangible environment, but what about the gases? It is possible that the gases involved in the experiment are not the original ones when God first created everything. Did any of you notice that there was no oxygen used in the experiment? In the Congress¡¯ eyes, oxygen is the most useful gas to the human body."
"But¡­ This is just our assumption¡­"
"We do not need to prove their mistake. We only need to emphasize the possible errors existing in this experiment," said the pope. "It is the sorcerers who should prove everything, not us. If they can't prove it, they can never overturn Creationism."
The pope¡¯s new perspective comforted the grand cardinals. They were less angry now, and they started listening to the pope in a relatively calm way.
The pope's tone was getting tougher, "Regardless of whether the experiment is valid or not, I admit that the experiment indeed has proved the fact that life ingredients can be generated by a natural environment. However, is it something that can just shake your belief in God? Can you just say that life is not bestowed by God?"
The cardinals remained silent.
"A body needs a soul, but a soul does not require a body. A soul without a body can be the Holy Spirit, petitioner, or life in other forms. So, let me ask you¡­ What is the essence of life?
"It is the soul that ascends to Mountain Paradise, never the flesh. I think that the reason why you are feeling confused right now is that the first pope who started the composition of Canon did not make this point clear enough.
"So you tell me¡­ Who created nature? Who created the laws of nature? It was God. God owns the glory for life ingredients being produced following the laws of nature!"
A series of questioning and answers had clearly established and interpreted a new Creationism. The great anxiety in the grand cardinals mind gradually disappeared, and then they became devoted again.
The saint cardinal, Sard, who moved through a magic portal directly from Aalto to Holm, was crossing in front of his chest. His eyes, which were often dim, right now were beyond clear, 
"All glory shall go to God. Pope Benedict, please let all our pastors and cardinals hear the true will of God, so they can feel the might and glory of God."
Compared to the time when Lucien saw Sard in the Psalm Hall, Sard now looked even more aged and sophisticated, and his eyes appeared to be deeper and darker, as if they could absorb the light around him.
"This is the most important thing for us at the moment. We shall have all the cardinals and pastors in every parish feel Lord's true will." The Pope calmly commanded, "At the same time, send more people to Holm and Colette to help Philibell and Varahall with reassuring their people."
Although it was clear that the most important task in front of them right now was stabilizing the Church¡¯s belief foundation, and thus not a good opportunity to go to war against the Congress of Magic, Stone and other knights were still being quite restless.
"Your Grace, shall we just let those sorcerers go? They¡¯ve insulted the Church to this degree, and they must pay the blood price. If we do nothing, those sorcerers would see us as being weak and timid, and they would keep attacking us."
"That¡¯s what they want. They want us to declare a war against them when we are not ready. And If we do, we will definitely suffer from great loss facing our north Church enemies and the heresy followers and dark creatures in the Dark Mountain Range. Although they will for sure also suffer a great loss, we¡¯ve got more enemies than they do right now. Without we distracting them, the Congress would grow very fast," answered the pope calmly. "The sorcerers know that we will be having a great war sooner or later, so they always want us to start the war when we are in an unfavourable position, because defending is always much easier than attacking. We serve God, so we value the glory of God the most, not ours. We¡¯ve permeated the Congress to some degree, and we will make them pay, but not now. However, of course, we shall start switching our major attention to the Congress side from now on."
Then, the pope turned around and started giving orders, "Stone, you lead the Knights of Grail to Holm to assist Philibell. Augusta, you go to the north and try to parley with the North Church to ask them to show their resolution in defending God¡¯s glory by facing the sorcerers as well. This is a tough task, and I hope your faith in Lord can help you with it."
After receiving their tasks, the grand cardinals started leaving one by one. In the end, only the pope was left in the Bright Hall.
When he dropped his scepter, the Pope looked just like an ordinary senior. The light surrounding him made him look very lonely.
...
The research project was over, and what they needed to do was just to wait for another four to five months until the crops turned ripe. So the druids were now about to head back to Stroop Forest by taking the magic steam train.
The druids felt that they had experienced and seen a lot in this trip, especially with the experiment. Although all those human being¡¯s creations such as the train were quite nice, they were still not even close to the greatness of nature, which could produce and nurture the miracle of life!
"Then, Mr. Evans, see you five months later." Iristine waved her hands toward Lucien through the train window with a sweet smile on her face, "I really hope that the alchemical product that you found can save the farmers from starving."
To some degree, both elves¡¯ and human beings¡¯ way of thinking could be quite strange. When an elf or a person hated someone, no matter what that the person did, everything appeared to be nasty. However, once they changed their impression toward that person, everything started to be more acceptable.
"Mr. Evans," said Iristine in a nice way, "honestly speaking, I feel that you¡¯re pretty thoughtful with your understanding of how we should protect mother nature from our recent conversations. The only thing is that you always take your human being¡¯s perspective."
Beside her, Arcelion turned around and slight nodded, "Mr. Evans, you are welcome to visit Stroop. I believe that when you¡¯re actually there, you¡¯ll appreciate mother nature even more. Of course, you¡¯ll find nice elven music there as well."
Lucien, with his one hand in his long jacket pocket, waved the other hand slightly, "Your highness, see you five months later. Actually, I¡¯m more interested in the old books developed from the long history of elves."
Lucien¡¯ magic robe, Transformation, was already fixed, and the Hand of Paleness paid for it.
The train whistle tooted. Gradually accelerating, the magic steam train left the station.
Putting the other hand into the pocket, Lucien walked to the other end of the station to meet with other senior sorcerers from the Will of Elements, and there he saw a familiar face.
"When did you come back, K!" Lucien was quite surprised. Without K¡¯s help, Lucien would have never published his periodic table of elements paper on Element.
K did not change much in the past month. He was still strong and tall, wearing the same long, black coat, and he was still shy.
"I just came back. And I met Mr. Larry." K lightly scratched the back of his head.
"Was everything okay when you went back?" asked Lucien in a concerned way.
"The problem¡¯s been solved," said K mildly. "It was actually not a big deal. My parents got scared when a senior official from the city council was giving them a hard time. Since I¡¯m a sorcerer, I¡¯m also a member of the city council, and that was why they wanted me to go back."
"Great. Let¡¯s go back to Allyn together, then?" Seeing the train was arriving, Lucien asked him.
K took a quick look at Larry who was standing beside him a bit shyly, "Thanks for your invitation, Lucien. But from today on, I¡¯ll be following Mr. Larry around and doing research after him. I¡¯ve heard your stories, and they were amazing. I could not believe that you not only won the Holm Crown prize but also led to the overturn of Life Force Theory within the past one month. You know¡­ I feel like you¡¯re still a teacher in the school, measuring elements behind my back. Life¡¯s just amazing."
Shy as K, he was more talkative than usual as he was trying to express his great surprise.
"I¡¯m going to stay in the Royal Magic Tower of Holm for a while." Larry joined their conversation, "Those questions put forward by you offered Mr. Gaston and me lots of ideas and great inspiration, and we are heading toward a new direction in studying the dissolution of some alchemical products. Thank you, Lucien. Your sharp way of thinking is really valuable."
Then, Larry quickly shook hands with Lucien.
"By the way," Larry continued, "the fifth circle spell, Fernando¡¯s Electromagnetic Message, which was inspired by your bat experiment, really helped us a lot this time. From now on, communication between middle-rank sorcerers and above shall be much easier. Of course, we can still improve the spell further. Right now, the way of communication is facing a few problems, such as its confidentiality issue, the fact that it can be easily interrupted by lightnings, and that it cannot go through the barriers between different spaces¡­ But anyway, this is a great spell, especially when you think about how expensive casting a voice messaging spell can be."
Lucien nodded, "I¡¯m sure that the spell will be further improved."
In his mind, Lucien was very impressed by this spell created by Lord of Storm after combining radio wave, cryptology and electromagnetic wave together. When two sorcerers agreed on a certain wave frequency, they could talk to each other directly. Even for those junior-rank sorcerers who could not learn this spell, they could still buy a magic item enchanted with this spell with their approximate ten-year¡¯s saving.
Lucien knew that there was still a deep and wide gap between Lord of Storm and himself. Although the invention of this spell was because of his bat research, Lucien was not going to be blindly proud of himself. He knew that it was time for him to study hard again, in order to create some of his own new spells, and one of them would be called Lucien¡¯s Infrared Eyes.
Gaston gave Lucien a sign to get him aboard the train, then he said to him, "Evans, because of your great contribution to the project, the congress and the Will of Elements have decided to give you a garden villa in Allyn as your reward, equipped with a magic lab set up by a senior-rank sorcerer, where most low to middle-rank experimental facilities are available. We hope that you can focus on studying arcana, so for the next whole year, you won¡¯t be receiving any tasks from either the Congress or the Will of Elements."
"That¡¯s great." Lucien nodded. After waving to Gaston, Larry and K, he boarded the train.

Chapter 237: Two Sides of the Land
				Chapter 237: Two Sides of the Land
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
The vibrant and colorful flowers were dancing in the wind. They made the pink-whitish buildings look alive. Inside the mansion, there were several platforms with complicated patterns engraved on the surface of them within a spacious room that was locked. Equipment like glass bottles, reaction burners, and connecting tubes were placed on top of those platforms. When compared to the normal lab equipment Lucien had seen on Earth, the equipment on the platform looked mysterious due to the enigmatic magic runes on them.
He had changed to a long lab robe from the black frock coat so he could move freely in the room. Lucien was focusing on the magic circles that could simulate the different parts of the spell models. A ball of red shadow appeared in the dark and it slowly stabilized after combining the models. Although it was a blurry shadow, he could see that it was a creature that looked like a rat with different colors on its body parts due to the difference in temperature.
Lucien deactivated the magic circles with a satisfied look on his face. He then whistled and turned on the arc lamps in the lab room. A palm-sized tiny house that was built with bricks and wooden planks appeared on the platform as the room was brightened up. Inside the house, there was an iron-eating rat with a modified bloodline, that was captured recently.
"Finally, Lucien's Infrared Eyes is completed but it seems the effect is weaker than I expected. Sadly, it's just a second circle spell, but I can use it as a way to check my surroundings." Lucien was familiar with the principles of the infrared thermal imaging technology but he was having trouble applying them to the patterns, runes, and incantations of the magic structure. He spent months studying the basics in the Congress of Magic and finally had the ability to create formal spells, as he could only create apprentice-level spells before that.
Lucien turned off the arc lamps after memorizing the spell model he created in mind.
The complicated and tongue-twisting incantation slowly echoed in the darkness as the shiny powder of the sun stone slid down Lucien's hands. His spiritual power vibrated and changed as he chanted the incantation, quickly constructing the core of the spell model under Lucien's control.
Lucien's left pupil turned from black to red, reflecting the image of the iron-eating rat in the cage, but the layering of the image was lacking.
Lucien turned his head to the window that was covered by the black curtain, he looked outside with his red left eye and saw a "red" bird flew by.
Lucien brought the light back to the lab room after making sure that the second circle spell was working. The redness faded away from his left eye and he could construct it in his soul when meditating during the night.
However, the strength of a sorcerer's souls was limited, and they could only construct a certain number of spell models at each rank. They needed to match their spells in a reasonable way, for example, supportive spells did not need to be constructed in the soul, they could just cast it with incantation, casting gestures, or magic materials when necessary.
There were many books like Spell Matching Technique in the Congress of Magic, explaining the knowledge of this specific field.
Although Lucien's Infrared Eyes was a supportive spell, it was very likely that he would cast it when being ambushed by an assassin. It would be important for him to cast it faster in that situation so he could track the assassin down easier.
Lucien rested for a while and opened his magic notebook, stopped at an extremely complicated image of a spell structure, closed his eyes, and started meditating.
The starry sky of destiny was surrounded by the wind, fire, and water elements. The elements were the ones which composed Lucien's meditation environment.
In the meditation environment, the colorful elements were moving following several specific paths. They looked like glowing fireflies moving in an endless night sky. They matched up with each other and then separated from time to time. It was a mysterious scene that was hard to be understood, and displayed the secrets and rules among the elements. 
Lucien grabbed the quill and started drawing the paths that he sensed during the process after finishing his meditation. They quickly turned into magic patterns and runes.
Lucien stopped drawing as the spell model was almost completed. The model was built with straight lines, curves, and curved surfaces, but he was confused. He was trapped in the problem that had been bothering him since he started learning sorcery.
"Why can those magic patterns and runes represent some of the spell structure? Why can I cast the spell after they're combined with the spiritual power? Why did the structure appear after I completed the periodic table and the meditation environment resonated with the real world? K, Lazar, and Rock have already accepted the periodic law of elements and mapped them into the meditation environment but none of them resonated with the real world after I checked with them¡­
"What is the nature of the sorcery?"
Lucien put down the quill after writing down his questions and synchronized them to the magic notebook in the soul library. He started thinking about the third circle spell that was about to be constructed.
"The spell came from the periodic law of the basic elements. It basically involves controlling, switching their electrons, and returning them to their original positions. It can be used to decompose chemical compounds like alchemy products, magic items, human body parts, and some spells. The more unstable the compound status is, the easier it can be decomposed. However, the ability to control them will only improve as the sorcerer rank goes up. It's like the weaker version of the legendary spell from Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, Elements Resolve."
Lucien had already read some core information after joining the Will of Elements and the information introduced the ability, statuses, and the materials required for the advancing ritual of the two legendary classes: Lord of the Elements and Innovator. Also, the abilities of the legendary spells that came with the classes were also explained.
"It seems I'll be able to complete the third circle spell before I become a middle-rank sorcerer. If I can successfully advance to the next rank, the two spell models I'll construct will be this and the flying spell. So, how should I name it? Lucien's Elements Resolve? Evan's Elements Control? They either sound bad or repetitive." Lucien thought for a while and recalled the cool nickname Florencia gave him, "Alright, I'll just call it Elemental Order!"
A third circle spell with a name that was similar to those of a ninth circle and a legendary spell, Lucien's guilty pleasure was satisfied. It was a signature spell, just like his Professor's Oscillation Hand.
Lucien calmed down from the excitement and, when he was about to start the next magic experiment, he realized that he used up most of the magic materials, so he was disappointed.
In the last several months, Lucien purchased the White Glycerin, the Silver Pearl, and the Oak potions to help progress the meditation with the elemental rain. The three potions were very effective for junior rank sorcerers. The White Glycerin and Silver Pearl would help strengthen one's spiritual power and soul. The Oak and Florencia's Elixir helped him stabilize his foundation. Lucien's sorcery skills were increasing at an unbelievable rate with the help of those things.
However, potions with strong effects were expensive. The White Glycerin was ten arcana points per bottle, the Silver Pearl was twenty arcana points per bottle, and the Oak was eight points per bottle. He needed to purchase three bottles of each potion every month.
Lucien would get forty-five arcana points from the Congress of Magic every month after becoming a level four arcanist and second circle sorcerer, but he had to use some of the arcana points he saved in the past. Also, he needed to purchase materials for his spell practice, magic analysis, alchemy study, potion craft, and the magic experiment. In this last case, the required materials were extremely expensive. He needed to use high-rank material, like the sun stone, before constructing Lucien's Infrared Eyes in the soul. Lucien had more than 2670 arcana points five months ago but he only had about 1100 points left after all that.
"Arcana points are so hard to earn, but I can't do anything without them," Lucien looked at the empty glass bottles that previously were filled up with magic materials and sighed. Lazar heard him saying something like this several days ago and he was jealous. It was nearly impossible for a normal second circle sorcerer to use magic potions and materials like Lucien. They would spend about fifty arcana points when they were about to advance, but only fifteen points per month under normal circumstances.
In Lazar's words, Lucien was living the life of a forth or fifth circle sorcerer, and that was why he spent so many arcana points. Also, Lazar admitted that it was normal for a level four arcanist to use so many points.
Lucien calmed down and cleaned the magic lab.
He smiled and shook his head. "No pain, no gain. I can try to advance to the third circle and become a middle-rank sorcerer before I use up all my arcana points. I'll be able to fly in the blue sky using my own will.
"Well, I need to go to the magic tower of the headquarter and the Allyn division of Will of Elements to purchase materials and potions again. The good thing is that I can get a 20% discount as a level four arcanist and it'll make me feel better¡­
 "July the 30th again¡­"
...
The City of Psalm, the ground level of an abbey in Aalto.
Natasha was wearing a long linen robe with her feet bare. The long purple hair trailed over her shoulders, and her silver-purple eyes were deep like an endless sea. It felt like the danger was hiding under the peaceful surface of the sea. Natasha had not left the place for over a year and she successfully cured the consequences of the surge force in her bloodline power. She was getting closer and closer to level seven without any problem.
The room was dark but Natasha's eyes could see everything clearly. She sat on the floor on her knees and was reading a letter from somewhere far away.
"Haha, this guy will stand on the center of the stage and bring chaos to the land no matter where he is. I'm glad that he safely arrived at Allyn." It would take about half a year for a letter from Holm to be delivered, but Natasha already learned that a genius sorcerer named Lucien Evans X artificially synthesized the carbamide from the intel department of the Church and the Republic months ago. The discovery forced the Church to redefine the Creationism.
The Church focused on dealing with Felipe and they did not pay too much attention to this genius sorcerer. Although Natasha assumed that it was Lucien, she was worried until the letter that was written in special codes arrived. Also, she started arranging a plan for John so the Church would not retaliate after they found out who Lucien really was.
Natasha bit her lips with her clean teeth and talked to herself with mixed emotions, "Are you the reason why they modified the Holy Canon?"
Natasha was a relatively devout believer. She trusted the Creationism a lot in the past, and it was an unpleasant experience when what she believed was proven wrong.
She had a strong mind and that was what helped her finish the letter. Natasha's expression loosened as she was attracted to the events that unfolded during Lucien's trip. The story was much better than the operas or the ones told by the bards.
Natasha was a bit surprised as she read through the letter, "He was awarded the Holm Crown Prize as well?" She spoke in a caring tone, and a gentle expression appeared on her face as she thought about her mother.
Natasha chuckled after thinking for a while. "How long has this guy been studying arcana? How did he get the prize? Don't tell me he's more talented in arcana than in music.
"Anyway, he's definitely not talented in communicating with girls, ha, he's still alone, and I should probably teach him the way of dealing with girls. Hmm, Lucien will cooperate with the elves and druids? Will the music of nature from the elves inspire him? Rhine? Haven't heard about him for a while¡­
"I sent him a letter last month but I don't know when he will receive it."
The dark room was quiet and the atmosphere in there was light.

Chapter 238: Partner
				Chapter 238: Partner
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Sorcerer Administrative Department.
Eric took out Lucien's arcana badge from the magic cage. On the badge, the four shining silver stars looked beautiful and mysterious against the black background, as if there were innumerable secrets behind the stars.
"Seven hundred and eight arcana credits in total. Even if you stop publishing arcana papers for a while, you would have no troubling upgrading to level five in one year or two." Eric, being quite emotional, handed the badge over to Lucien, "You'll be the youngest level five arcanist ever in history, but also, among all the level five arcanists, your magic level is the lowest."
Eric, a level three arcanist, still had hope in upgrading to level four since there was only a difference of two-hundred arcana credits between the level three and four, and with his years of efforts, there were only more thirty-six points to go before he could move forward to the next level. However, level five, in Eric's eyes, appeared to be so inaccessible. Thus, when he saw this young man who just joined the congress less than a year ago and was already on his way to become a level five arcanist, Eric inevitably sighed in his mind.
As long as this young man could keep working hard and avoid being arrogant, Eric was sure that sooner of later, Lucien's magic level could catch up, and, for sure, the congress would help such a young, talented sorcerer with further upgrading to senior-rank. So, in Eric's mind, Lucien was right on his way to become a senior-rank sorcerer.
Lucien took the badge over and shortly played with it in his hands, then he smiled, "Mr. Eric, thank you for you nice words, but the past two months have shown that the sweet time of sitting there and gaining credits won't last any longer."
Due to the heated discussion over Life Force Theory, at the end of the Month of Dormancy, the second of the year, Lucien gained a hundred fifty-eight credits, and only forty-two credits were from other people citing his periodic table and atomic weight re-measurement paper.
However, after that month, because Felipe's experiment and the experiment simulating pre-historic natural environment¡ªpeople called it the Experiment of Miracle now¡ªclearly overweighed Lucien's experiment with synthesizing carbamide, way less credits went to Lucien. Instead, as more arcanists started putting forward their research findings based on his periodic table and atomic weight re-measurement paper, Lucien gained a hundred forty-three credits on this side, and his paper on using alchemical products for increasing crop yield also made a contribution of almost ten credits.
Then in the recent two or three months, there was a sharp decline in the number of times his papers were being cited, and then it got more steady¡ªaround ten times every month. This was why Lucien could draw the conclusion that, if he did not come up with something else new, it might take him around two years to become a level five arcanist.
"Your paper on the periodic table of elements is part of the foundation of the school of Element, so I'm sure that it will consistently bring you a good ammount of credits every month. When your arcana and magic level reach level five and fifth circle, you can come to me and apply for the magic rites to help you upgrade further." Eric nodded, "And¡­ you don't have to call me Mr. Eric all the time, after all, your arcana level's already higher than mine."
Then Eric handed Lucien his magic badge, "Two points from other people learning your new spell, and forty-five from the Congress, as your subsidy."
According to the congress, a level one arcanist could get a subsidy of one Thale or point every month, or magic material of the same value; level two would reward five points; level three was twenty; level four was forty; level five was eighty; level six was three hundred; level seven was five hundred; level eight nine hundred; level nine, two thousand. This was the same with one's magic level, and they could overlap.
Before taking over the magic badge with the same two black circles on it from Eric, Lucien first put his arcana badge on his left chest, and instantly, he felt very refreshed. This was a new magic buff enchanted in the arcana badge when the badge was upgraded to middle-rank. When Lucien became a senior-rank arcanist, he could get one more buff, which was the same with magic badge.
"Thank you, Mr. Eric. I think I gotta go now." Lucien picked up his top hat from the chair and slightly bowed, "I need to go to Exchange Zone to get some materials."
As soon as Lucien left Eric's office, he saw Felipe walking out of another office. Still, both of Felipe's hands were in his pockets, and his face always had a sickly look.
Felipe also saw Lucien, and he was a bit surprised. After nodding to him slightly, Felipe took a quick glance at Lucien's left chest, and then there was a gloomy smile on his face, "Still the same, uh? The two badges¡­"
Hearing that, Lucien quickly looked at Felipe's badges in front of his chest. There were five mysterious stars on Felipe's arcana badge, surrounded by countless little light spots, and even more surprisingly, on his magic badge, there were six black circles on it!
That meant Felipe was a senior-rank now.
Finally, Felipe became the first senior-rank mage among the younger generation, and that was to say he was one of the leaders of the Hand of Paleness now, since they only had a bit more than forty senior-rank sorcerers, including those lich masters who had been existing for a very long time.
Before Lucien said anything, Felipe directly walked past him. Beside his shoulder, Felipe said to Lucien in a low voice, "Don't fall behind too far."
The corner of Lucien's lips twitched a bit.
...
When Lucien walked back to the hall along the corridor, Cindy first winked at Lucien, then she said to him in a professional tone, "Mr. Evans, someone's waiting for you over there."
Lucien was confused, having no idea who it was. Then, when he looked at the other side of the hall, Lucien saw a middle-aged man, as chubby as a ball, sitting on the couch beside the bar. Right now, he was tapping his forehead to remove the beads of sweat on it with a piece of handkerchief. The hot weather has been like that for a while.
"Mr. Arthur Doyle?" Lucien did not know why the president of Union Bank of Holm Mining wanted to see him.
Seeing Lucien was there, Arthur hurriedly left the handkerchief to his beautiful secretary, and then he came to Lucien, followed by his two strong safeguards. He grabbed Lucien's right hand enthusiastically with both of his hands and said, "Mr. Evans, I first went to your place, and your steward told me that you were here. I was in such a hurry coming over here, so I'm right now covered with sweat. And I think it's better for me not to hug you, haha."
The chubby president was quite polite. Lucien's impression on him was not bad.
"Mr. Doyle, what can I do for you?" asked Lucien.
There was a friendly smile on Arthur's chubby face, "Mr. Evans, let's get something to drink first."
Cindy brought two glasses of Rentato's well-known drink, Sky Blue, to them, and out of curiosity, she did not walk away. She wondered why the famous businessman, and also one of the most wealthy people in Rentato, wanted to talk to Lucien.
Behind the counter on the other side, Dona was very curious, too. However, she could not just leave the reception desk at her own will. Right now she was staring at Cindy, who was playing the role as Lucien's secretary, in a slightly unhappy way. However, Cindy just looked away and pretended that she saw nothing.
Arthur shook his glass slightly and took a sip, "This is really refreshing."
After taking a glance at Cindy, Arthur continued, as there was nothing to hide, "Mr. Evans, I'm here today seeking for a partnership with you."
"I see¡­" Lucien gave the liquid in his glass a swirl.
Arthur's secretary took out a thick pile of documents and handed them to Lucien, and Arthur continued, "I've been to Sariva already, and the yield of crops in your experiment plot is beyond my imagination. I can't see anyone, nobles or farmers, say no to the alchemical product that you found. From Prince Patrick, I know that you guys've already got a mass-production plan. Mr. Evans, because it was you who first found those products, according to law, you can make the decision regarding who you want to work with. And according to the Congress, if we can set up a company together, the Congress shall get fifteen percent of the share, and you have fifteen percent as well. Let me put it this way¡­ I hope that we can work together to promote and sell these alchemical products. Neither the Congress or you need to spend even a single Thale on this, as our bank can pay for everything. So I can assure you that we are the best partner."
Lucien quickly leafed through the documents, and he knew that the mass production of some of the alchemical products also required the assistance of Mining Association. Thus, Lucien was quite opened to the offer.
"Honestly speaking, Mr. Doyle, I'm interested in it, but I still want to take a closer look at the articles in the contract." Of course, Lucien would like to have a steady income, but there was no way that he would not agree with Arthur right away.
Arthur grinned, "Mr. Evans, you're a talented sorcerer, valued by both the Congress and the Will of Elements. I'm just an ordinary businessman, well¡­ noble businessman¡­ but so what? The last thing I would do is to lie to the Congress and you. Honestly speaking, I don't want to die yet right now."
It was clear that, in most ordinary people's mind, sorcerers were intimidating. Although many people would like to be a sorcerer, they did not really like those people who could easily decide their destiny.
After negotiating with each other for a while, Arthur lowered his voice and whispered beside Lucien's ear, "Actually, I'm sent here by Prince Patrick. If you agree on working with us, Prince Patrick will provide you with another extra five percent of the share, as a gift from His Excellency."
Lucien grinned as someone he knew in Aalto jumped into his mind, but then slightly shook his head, "Actually, because of His Excellency, I'm willing to give up my original insistence, which is thirty percent. Then, I hope we have a pleasant cooperation."
"Great! Thank you, Mr. Evans." Arthur Doyle was so happy that his smile lifted his cheeks almost to the point where his eyes disappeared.
After checking and signing the contract, Arthur asked Lucien, partly to please him, "Mr. Evans, can you come up with a product name for us? You know, a simple and good name for promoting the products¡­"
Lucien searched in his mind for a while, and offered his name, "Jinkela1."
________
1Jinkela: The author played a joke here. Jinkela is a brand fertiliser produced in China. Because of the company's exaggeration and super fake way of advertisement, in China, the fertiliser brand is regarded as a joke.

Chapter 239: The Elves' Second Visit
				Chapter 239: The Elves' Second Visit
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Jin¡­ ke¡­ la¡­?" Arthur was very confused. He even repeated this word to himself a few times to feel the possible meaning of it, which almost made Lucien burst out laughing.
"Well¡­" Lucien rubbed his cheeks a bit to stay serious, "Because soils are different, sometimes we have to use those alchemical products separately. When they're all mixed together, lets call it Jinkela. Then we have Jinkela No. 1, Jinkela No. 2, things like that¡­"
Seeing that Lucien was being quite "serious", Arthur put on his typical businessman smile, "Great name, Mr. Evans. Great name! Let's call it¡­ Umm¡­ Jinke¡­ la."
Lucien, in fact, never found any of his talent in naming, just like Mr. Victor and Rhine.
After having the product name, they together named the new company Holm Mineral and Harvest.
Mr. Eric being the witness, Arthur and Lucien signed another contract, and Mr. Eric also signed it, representing the Congress of Magic.
"Cheers, Mr. Evans, Mr. Eric." Arthur lifted his glass.
Lucien smiled and drank all the liquor in his glass, "Hope we can work well together, Mr. Doyle. When you promote the products, make sure that you put the dosage clear, because overuse can do damage to soil."
"Of course, we always respect an arcanist's opinion." Arthur nodded, and then he asked the secretary to take out another thick pile of documents and handed it to Lucien.
"This is our mass-production plan. Please take a look at the magic circles design, Mr. Evans, to see if there's anything that should be improved. After all, you're the one who's professional." Arther tried to flatter Lucien in the end. After all, Lucien was a level four arcanist, and the winner of Holm Crown prize.
Lucien quickly leafed through it and recognized that the plan was basically based on the paper about how to minimize energy consumption and cost of large-scale alchemical magic circles by transferring energies into different forms, published on the latest issue of Alchemy. In other words, according to the paper, the author suggested to build magic towers over rivers of great runoff volume to collect potential energy, and then transfer it into electricity through magnetic field. 
"Magic hydropower station¡­" Lucien murmured.
Lucien knew that no matter how those alchemical magic circles were arranged, they were going to be very expensive, because they would need high quantities of special magic gems, which could continuously gain power from sunlight, moonlight or shadow to function properly, and even if those magic circles were not set up for permanent use, replacing parts would still cost a lot.
Either way, Lucien smiled and handed the proposal back to Arthur, "This is the best plan, and the extra power might still be used somewhere else."
"Great. I'll keep in touch with those alchemical arcanists, and, please, Mr. Evans, give us your suggestions when you come up with anything." Arthur nodded, "The first year of setting everything up might not be able to bring you any profit, but you should be able to see the money in the second year, Mr. Evans."
After Arthur Doyle left, when Lucien turned around to say goodbye to Eric, he saw that the two receptionist girls were staring at him with their hands supporting their chins, and their eyes were shining.
"It's so nice to be profound¡­ Mr. Evans." Cindy sighed with mixed emotions, then she waved her right fist a bit, "I must become a sorcerer! I want to earn other people's respect like you, Mr. Evans! And I want to have the wealth that I deserve!"
Born in a common citizen family in Rentato, Cindy, when she was still a little girl, heard the name of Arthur Doyle all the time, from adults and Holm News. When she saw how Arthur Doyle talked to Lucien, she really realized what being a sorcerer meant in this society. She now deeply believed in the power of knowledge and hard work. She believed that as long as she worked hard, her efforts would pay off.
Dona also grinned, "Mr. Evans, we all should learn from you. Your story keeps telling us that hard work really matters. By the way, are you still taking more students with your arcana tutoring class? Can we also be your students?"
In front of Mr. Eric, Dona chose to call Lucien by Mr. Evans, however, in her mind, she was also a bit in awe of Lucien although they were friends, especially when she saw Lucien's arcana and magic badges. Lucien was making such an amazing progress that all of his friends felt that they were left behind.
"If you've got time, feel free to come on Saturday," said Lucien, he wondered if the arcana tutoring class was going to grow bigger and bigger, and maybe in the future, the class could turn into a group like the Hand of Paleness or the Will of Elements.
Eric looked at Lucien, trying to say something, but in the end, he just tried to comfort him, "Evans, did you just run into Felipe? Don't mind him¡­ He's always like that."
He heard the first part of Felipe and Lucien's conversation in his office.
Cindy and Dona suddenly quieted down, because of one thing. Felipe won the Immortal Throne prize again because of his experiment overthrowing Life Force Theory, and besides, he also won Holm Crown prize together with another anonymous leader of the Will of Elements, being now the twenty-seventh winner of the prize. Felipe's reputation and fame just peaked.
However, in the eyes of Hand of Paleness, the experiment synthesizing carbamide was not important enough, and the experiment of miracle required further investigation for specific purpose of use, this was why they did not offer Lucien the Immortal Throne prize.
Therefore, both the two girls and Eric believed that Lucien did not want to see Felipe.
This time, Felipe won a magic robe as the Immortal Throne prize, and last time it was an amulet. The name of the robe was Life, and the name of ring he received for winning the Holm Crown prize was Sager Acid, from the fatty acid that he synthesized.
And of course, facing the fact that Felipe got another two level seven, perfect rank magic items, he was jealous.
...
Sariva.
Holding his farm tools, farmer Roy walked past the pilot field. He knew that he'd been doing this for so much time, but he still could not stop himself from staring at it.
How beautiful and full those grains were! How beautiful the harvest was!
"I wish I had those¡­" Roy murmured to himself, and his heart was filled with hope. He wished that one day his crops could be like this, so after paying all the taxes, he could still be able to feed the kids, and so they would not be so starving that they could not fall asleep at night.
And if he could have crops like this for a few years consecutively, he could save some money, then he could send his son, William, to knight training.
As a father, all in Roy's mind was his kids. However, soon, with a second thought, Roy looked frustrated.
At this time, a group of beautiful males and females with long ears approached him. And the leading girl asked him, "Can I ask you why you don't look happy when you see the harvest?"
Seeing that the girl was even way more beautiful than the town mayor's daughter, like an angel, Roy answered nervously, "¡­Lord¡­ I'm¡­ I'm not being unhappy. I'm just thinking that¡­ that something that can make crops grow like this must only belong to masters¡­ I¡­ I mean¡­"
Roy was not educated. He did not know how to put it.
This time, taking the magic train, Iristine and Arcelion came back secretly without letting the Congress know, since they wanted to see what was really going on here, with their own eyes.
Seeing the harvest, they were beyond cheerful.
"Don't worry." Iristine smiled, "Those alchemical products are invented for you, for all farmers. You'll have the same harvest very soon."
"But¡­ I've got no money." Roy's body twisted slightly out of his stress. He was worrying that they were going to be forced to buy those products, like taxes.
"The products are cheap." Iristine tried to comfort him, "Those rich people know how to do math."
Hearing that, Roy cheered up a bit, then he asked a bit urgently, "Can we use them first, and then pay?"
"Maybe." Iristine had no idea how this worked. So she left in a hurry with her group.
Seeing them leaving, Roy thought to himself, "Are they¡­ elves? Long ears like that¡­"
But soon when he looked at the harvest field again, his heart was filled with real joy.
When he was about to thank God, he suddenly realized that those products were invented by sorcerers.
Soon Roy found a way to comfort himself, "Anyway¡­ I work for my master. If he uses it, I'll follow."
Roy was not really such a devout follower. He cared more about his kids' future.
...
When Iristine and Arcelion were heading toward the alchemical factory, soon they sensed some pungent smell.
They were confused, so they walked faster. Then, they saw the big factory.
The factory was huge, like a great magic tower. Besides the great noise and the horrible smell, the water beside the factory was slightly black, and there were dead fish floating on it.
"Demon¡­ We've released a¡­ demon¡­" Iristine murmured like she was in a nightmare.

Chapter 240: The Elves' Good Impression
				Chapter 240: The Elves' Good Impression
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Southwest of Allyn, in a beautiful garden villa.
Two maids were serving tea in fine porcelain cups to Iristine and Arcelion. Although they were well trained, they still could not help stealing a look at the two elves, because they were pretty and charming, and their long ears looked very unique.
In the living room, the apprentices were doing their arcana exercises on the big dining table. Sighing over and over, they felt overwhelmed, but at the same time, they were also peeking at Mr. Evans and the two elves, feeling very curious about what was going on there.
Although it was not the first time that the apprentices saw smart creatures of other races, such as elves, dwarves, and giants, they were still very impressed with Iristine and Arcelion's appearance, who looked gorgeous and elegant.
"That's what we saw, Mr. Evans, and may I know your opinion?" Iristine described what she saw beside the factory with a bit of an exaggeration. Right now, she was looking at Lucien, expecting his answer.
Although they were noble Sun Elves, this was only their second time leaving Stroop forest, and last time they had Malfurion, the grand elder, with them. This time, Iristine and Arcelion needed Lucien's help. They were hoping that Lucien, the winner of Holm Crown prize and the author of the alchemical product paper, could help them negotiate with the Congress.
"Mr. Evans, last time we came here we got along well¡­ Well, I mean¡­ in the end, we got along well with each other," said Arcelion sincerely. "I know that you're a nice human being who cares about nature a lot, despite the fact that, as a human being, you have to speak for your own race, but I also know that you're aware of the severity of this thing, Mr. Evans. You don't want to see human beings dying like those fish, right? I hope that you can propose to the Congress to shut down the factory, and probably more factories alike, to protect mother nature for all races."
Lucien took a sip of his tea and said slowly, "First of all, I want to say that¡­ we cannot shut down the factory."
"What?" Iristine and Arcelion were obviously very disappointed.
Lucien used his hand gestures to let them cool down a bit and then he continued, "Without those alchemical products, most human beings would keep living in famine, and they'd die because of poverty even before they could see the consequence of doing damage to nature. And from a sorcerer's perspective, I'd like to see the development of human beings, since we always need money to grow. Therefore, either as a human being or a sorcerer, I would not agree on shutting down the factory."
Before Iristine and Arcelion went off on him, Lucien continued, "But, of course, we cannot deny the detrimental effects brought by the industry. We can design and set up more new magic circles to break down those contaminants to minimize the adverse impact on nature. We cannot just shut down all the alchemical factories simply because of the side effects and completely ignore their value."
Honestly speaking, dealing with pollution was way easier here than on Earth. Many elemental spells, such as Elements Resolve, Elemental Swirl, or Elemental Order, which was owned exclusively by Lucien, could handle the pollution perfectly. Moreover, Elements Resolve and Elemental Order could even recycle pure elements for further experiment use. The only two things that Lucien was thinking of now was the cost and the fact that he did not want to reveal his own exclusive spell right now, and thus he needed to redesign a fourth or fifth-circle magic by combining Elements Resolve and Elemental Order.
Hearing that, Iristine was relieved, and a smile appeared on her face, "Mr. Evans, we knew that you'd never disappoint us. We were basically shocked just now¡­ You know, seeing the factory¡­ We're sorry, Mr. Evans. We were not being reasonable. As long as the Congress is willing to increase the amount of magic circles, I believe that we'll be having more cooperations in the future."
Both Iristine and Arcelion learned a lot and grew more mature by dealing with human beings, and they started to understand the value of compromise and negotiation, as well as the necessity of keeping a balance between nature and human society. Of course, this kind of change was based on their overall good impression with sorcerers who proved the greatness of mother nature.
"Your Excellency, things are more complicated than this. I'm sure that we'll be expecting more factories in the close future, and we cannot just keep adding more magic circles after those factories are built. What's also concerning me is that, most people who run those factories might not want to listen to me, since adding magic circles increases their production cost, and things will thus go out of control. I'm planning on propose to the Congress that both the Congress and Holm should introduce laws and regulations forcing those factories to have cleansing magic circles integrated beforehand," said Lucien, and this was his original plan as well.
Arcelion jumped up from the couch and said to Evans excitedly, "Mr. Evans, thank you so much! You're a great friend of nature, elves and druids! You're way more thoughtful than us!"
"Mr. Evans, please stick to what you just said, and I'm sure that you're influential enough for this," said Iristine gratefully and sincerely. "If you need us, please feel free to ask. If things work out well, we can¡­"
Iristine was about to make some promises, but she stopped herself because she was not the one who could make decisions.
Lucien put down his cup and stood up, "Let's go to talk to the members of Affairs Committee."
There were three committees under the Highest Council:
Arcana Review Board: responsible for reviewing papers, evaluating spells, giving credits and assessing journals. The fifty-two sorcerers who worked there were all authorities in arcana, and they were respected the most among the three committees. Most of them were not busy at all.
Magic Research Board: responsible for examining and approving arcana and magic research projects, and sometimes the board released its own projects as well by establishing their own research groups. Besides that, the board was also responsible for managing magic labs and libraries. The board only had twenty-three members because they were also not very busy, and most of them were senior-rank arcanists who did not like fighting or adventuring. Some of the members also worked for Arcana Review Board.
Affairs Committee: responsible for day-to-day management of sorcerers, including apprentices, punishing, defending the Congress, intelligence, regulations making, Task Zone and Exchange Zone management. In other words, it represented the Highest Council, and it was the most powerful one among the three. The committee was further divided into different departments, and each department took care of one section. Forty-two committee members worked there, and most of them were outstanding battle sorcerers or senior-rank sorcerers who were good at handling affairs.
Six out of ten members of the three committees were from the senior level of the six magic groups, say, the Will of Elements or the Hand of Paleness, and the rest of them were either with the Congress or had their own smaller groups.
...
On the thirteenth floor of the magic tower, Lucien, Iristine and Arcelion were stopped by the gold golem guard.
"Three guests," said the golem in its low voice, "What's the purpose of your visit? Which committee member are you looking for?"
The fifteenth floor of Allyn Magic Tower belonged to Arcana Review Board, the eleventh floor to the Magic Research Board, and the floors between them all belonged to Affairs Committee, which had a lot of stuff to deal with every day.
"Hello. We're looking for Ms. Florencia," answered Lucien. He was only acquainted with two people here in this committee, and the other was Rogerio, who he met in Aalto before. Rogerio was from the Hand of Paleness, and there was no way that Lucien would go for him. Lucien was already lucky that Rogerio did not reveal his musician identity here.
The golem pointed at the couch, "Please wait here. I need to check if Ms. Florencia is available."
At this time, the elevator door opened. Felipe walked out of it. When he saw Lucien, he was a bit surprised.
"Dear Mr. Felipe, anything I can do for you?" The golem bowed toward Felipe, a senior-rank sorcerer, very respectfully.
"I'm seeking Mr. Carrol." Felipe slightly nodded. Carrol was another committee member here from the Hand of Paleness.
"This way please, sir," responded the golem.
Felipe just took a quick look at Lucien, and then he walked away with his hands in his pockets.
"Mr. Evans, do you think we shall contact Trumanri and the grand elder?" Iristine whispered in Lucien's ear. What just happened made her realize that Lucien was not as influential as she thought. However, both Iristine and Arcelion were still very grateful toward Lucien, or even more.
Lucien did not mind Iristine's suggestion, and he answered, "Let's first see what we can do here. If it doesn't work, I guess we have to have Mr. Malfurion here."
Facing the North Church and the South Church, the Congress of Magic was more than willing to work with elves and druids, but Lucien was not sure how much effort the Highest Council and the druids would like to put into this, so he wanted to try to do this himself first.
And gaining approval from the elves and druids was just a windfall for Lucien.
After a while, the golem came back, "Mr. Florencia is in her personal lounge, and she wants to see you there. Room 1314."
Lucien was surprised that Florencia was also here on Saturday. He really hoped that he could persuade her, as she was not only a leader of the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy, but also the wife of the Hand of Annihilation.
However, to be honest, Lucien was not really confident, as they had only met each other once. Lucien really wondered how he could make Florencia agree with him.

Chapter 241: Making Effort
				Chapter 241: Making Effort
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Inside room no. 14, on the thirteenth floor of Allyn Magic Tower.
Florencia was wearing a light blue dress today, which style was close to that of Tria or Aalto. In this dress, she looked even hotter and more charming, in a slighty more mature way.
Right now, Florencia was sitting opposite Lucien, with her left hand supporting her head, and her long blond hair gently falling over her shoulders, listening carefully to Lucien, who was explaining his purpose in coming. Then, her green eyes looked at Lucien when he finished his words, and she put on a smile.
"Evans, do you think this proposal can get approved within the Affairs Committee? You know¡­ a proposal that can increase the cost and cut down their profit..."
Her attitude remained ambiguous with this question.
Lucien did not know her well, so he tried to be careful with his answer, "Possibly, I think. Firstly, the cost can be shared and spread out on the prices of the final products, and secondly, I'm sure that many members in the committee understand Astrology. They can see the possible future of our next generations with their own eyes if we do nothing right now. Thirdly, it's also a great chance for us to show our friendly manner to elves and druids, which is beneficial to the development of the Congress."
"What an eloquence¡­" Florencia made a bit fun of Lucien, then she got more serious, "But any increase in price will definitely affect the sales volume, which is directly related to how much money can actually go into many sorcerers' pockets. As a sorcerer, Evans, you know that we always need more money¡­ for materials, for experiments, for magic rites¡­ I'm afraid that not many sorcerers really care about the long-term future as much as you do, especially when it comes to their own interest."
After a short pause, Florencia continued, "I admit that Astrology might help a bit, but there are so many spells that can be used for sorcerers to protect themselves, or they can just go to other dimensions for good. Not everyone can see long-term interest, and what they can see is just the a few meters right in front of their feet. With no doubt, you're very talented, Evans, however, you're still too naive. Even if the committee decides to be on your side, many sorcerers would find their own ways around it anyway, not to mention the fact that pissing off their big supporters is the last thing those committee members want to do."
For a moment, Lucien did not know what to say.
Florencia reorganized the documents in front of her again, and said, "Evans, your idea of using Elemental Swirl to deal with pollution is great, but my question is, again, did you ever consider its cost? Enchanting your ring, Element, with the spell, cost us a lot, and it can only be cast few times in a day. Even if the hydroelectricity magic tower in the alchemical factory could provide enough power for simplifying the spell to fourth or third circle, and even if the recycled pure elements could be reused, the cost is still there. Thus, the price, just like what I mentioned before, is still the biggest problem."
Lucien had no idea how to refute Florencia. After a while, he looked at Florencia sincerely, "Ms. Florencia, the cost is not that much."
"I know, but for many wealthy people, they would rather waste their money than invest the money in the future." Florencia nodded, "As this proposal is related to our cooperation with elves and druids, I will bring your proposal to the committee meeting, but I don't want you to have too much hope with it."
Her implication was clear. The reason why Florencia was having this conversation with Lucien was that Lucien was a young, talented sorcerer from the Will of Elements, and the reason why she was willing to bring proposal to other committee members was the cooperation relationship between the Congress and the elves and druids.
Promising as Lucien was, at this stage, Florencia was not going to spend too much time or effort on supporting this young second-circle sorcerer and level four arcanist.
"I really appreciate it, Ms. Florencia." Lucien knew that he was not some kind of big potato, thus he was aware that the outcome of this conversation was already not bad.
"Then, as a gentleman," Florencia smiled, "are you gonna invite me to dinner tonight?"
"Ah..? Yeah¡­ I mean¡­ of course." Lucien nodded. In fact, Lucien was about to visit Raventi later to see if members of High Tower could do anything for this issue, after all, High Tower had quite a good relationship with the Will of Elements, however, Lucien knew that he should obey Florencia's will right now.
"Ha¡­" Seeing Lucien's facial expression, Florencia grinned, with her hands covering the lower part of her face, "Don't be nervous, Evans. I was just joking. My husband, Oliver, will be back tonight from the other dimension, and we'll be having a nice dinner together."
Florencia simply liked making jokes of young and single males, but that was it, as she did not really mean anything.
...
Hearing from Lucien that Florencia was going to put forward the proposal, both Iristine and Arcelion were a bit relieved. At the same time, they also sent a message back to Stroop forest in order to gain more support.
Then, they came to the Royal Magic Tower of Holm with Lucien, to visit Raventi.
Raventi, who was wearing a gray magic robe, embroidered with mysterious symbols of elements, said to Lucien, "Evans, for you, I'll try to talk to the members, but honestly speaking, I don't understand why you care this much about it. Alchemical factories indeed do damage to the environment, but there's no difference between this and farmers cutting down forests to grow crops. We can make the factories stay away from cities as far as possible, so human beings would not be affected that much."
Although Raventi valued Lucien way more than Florencia did, and he knew Lucien's talent well ever since Lucien first put forward the periodic table of elements, unfortunately, Raventi knew nothing about being environmentally friendly.
Lucien tried to explain the consequences to Raventi, and in the end, he concluded, "Mr. Raventi, I admit that there is nothing to really worry about for archmages and senior-rank sorcerers like you, but please think about our apprentices and human society as a whole. What would they be able to do when the environment got really damaged?"
"Well¡­ I need to talk to the astrologists from High Tower right now. If they say that the pollution could actually turn out to be that bad in the future, I'm on your side then, Evans." Raventi listened to Lucien, and realized the significance of this issue to some degree. However, this was the furthest Raventi could go at this stage, after all, he was a senior-rank sorcerer, and he understood the world very differently from those elves and druids.
Raventi was the vice president of the Will of Elements, and he could possibly be on their side. Lucien was encouraged, and so were Iristine and Arcelion.
Lucien, Iristine and Arcelion waited for Raventi for a long time, after he left the meeting room and used Fernando's Electromagnetic Message to talk to his old friends from High Tower.
When Raventi came back, he looked quite serious, "According to the several senior-rank astrologists, they could see greenish yellow gas spreading everywhere in the air, human beings and animals dying, forests withering, waters turning black and smelly. Although what they could see was vague and it was only one possibility of future, we should still try our best to avoid it. I'll persuade the several members that I know relatively well in the committee to support you, Evans."
Lucien knew that he got lucky here, as what those astrologists saw was definitely the worst scenario.
When they were about to leave the magic tower, Iristine said to Lucien sincerely, "Mr. Evans, thank you so much for what you've done for nature. Your persistence really impressed us, and you're a real gentleman."
"Well, this is also for myself. There's no way that I'm just gonna let those horrible things happen, and especially when I'm part of it, the person who first found those alchemical elements," Lucien responded. Right now, Lucien was planning on doing his meditation practice this evening, after all, upgrading was always his priority.
At this time, Patrick, the prince of Holm, walked down the stairs, followed by Arthur Doyle, who was like the prince's personal servant.
Wondering why the prince came to the Royal Magic Tower of Holm so often, Lucien took off his hat and bowed slightly, "Good evening, Your Highness."
After all, he was Natasha's uncle.
Noticing that it was Lucien, a kind smile appeared on Patrick's wizened face, "It's you, Evans. You're making great progress in both of your arcana and magic levels. Congratulations. Why are you here today?"
Lucien was about to visit Arthur tomorrow, but as he met the prince and Arthur here, Lucien directly invited the prince to a spare meeting room and told him what he was trying to do.
"So you want me to introduce the law that all alchemical factories must equip themselves with cleansing magic circles?" frowning slightly, Patrick asked. After several coughs, the prince continued, "I cannot control you sorcerers, and a proposal like this has no chance of passing the noble parliament. Those nobles won't agree on a decision that's gonna sacrifice their interest for something that they don't even care. As for Arthur's factory, don't worry, Evans. You don't have to give up your next year's profit for this. Arthur'll take care of this."
Lucien had just suggested that, regarding the factory that he was involved in, he was willing to give up his next year's profit to place cleansing magic circles in it.
"Yes, Mr. Evans. I got this. The only detail is that placing the magic circles will drag down the following several years' profit, especially since we're in agricultural industry, and the price of those grains can never be really high¡­ Just want you to know this¡­" Although Arthur did not want to agree on this at all, the prince had already made the decision.
Disappointed as Lucien was, he still said with determination, "I'm not desperate for money right now, but I still hope that Holm Mineral and Harvest can last long and the profit can be consistent. The last thing I want to see is that the company will just shut down in several years because of all kinds of reasons. Besides that, I hope the alchemical products can be available for all farmers, so the price cannot be high. If they still don't have money, we can provide them with interest-free loans and so on."
This would definitely make farmers become less loyal to the Church.
It looked like Arthur started to think seriously. Lucien continued, "Your Highness, is there really no other ways around to introduce the law?"
Patrick slightly shook his head, "In most nobles' eyes, I'm a prince who's always sick, and they do not respect me as much. But actually I have another suggestion¡ªwe can turn this into an encouraging thing by offering subsidy to the factories that set up cleansing magic circles in the first place when they are built, and this subsidy can come from the annual profit of my share in Holm Mining Association."
Hearing that, Lucien was totally speechless. He could imagine how big the loss would be for Patrick. Honestly speaking, Lucien felt it suspicious that Patrick, as a prince, was always this nice to him. After all, even though he knew that Lucien was the famous musician and also that Lucien was his niece's good friend, Lucien still could not understand why Patrick was willing to go this far to help him. He was going to be the future king of Holm!
However, on the other side, Lucien had to admit that this was a great idea, and only a sophisticated, cunning brain could come up with something like this. Lucien could suggest this to Florencia, as well as punishment for those factories which accepted the subsidy but refused to follow the regulation.
After making the decision, Lucien looked at Patrick from behind, who was still coughing when he left the meeting room with lots of questions in his mind. Lucien wondered why the prince was willing to support this proposal at such a big cost¡­ Was it because he could foresee the possible horrible future as well?
...
Early Monday morning, Lucien, Iristine and Arcelion arrived at the main hall of the Affairs Committee on the twelfth floor. According to Florencia, she was going to put forward Lucien's proposal over today's regular meeting, and they would vote to make the decision.
As soon as they arrived here, the golem came to them, "Mr. Evans, Ms. Florencia wants you to give a speech later as a special invitee of this meeting, together with our two elven guests."

Chapter 242: Lucien, the Friend of Nature
				Chapter 242: Lucien, the Friend of Nature
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
"Huh?" Lucien was surprised by the arrangement. He did not prepare for a speech and he doubted the content would be effective.
Lucien had planned to prepare a speech and convince the members of the committee, however, as Florencia did not mention anything related to the speech, Lucien thought he did not need to do anything. He got lazy and just forgot about it.
Iristine and Arcelion looked excited, as they kept saying, "Make sure you explain the balance of nature theory completely. The theory is what we druids believe and you need to convince those sorcerers of it!"
Due to the excitement, the two elves did not feel the pressure, and their words made Lucien's head ache. He needed to give a concise but strong speech as long principles would not be effective.
"What should I say? I can't construct any convincible content in such a short period of time!" Lucien thought.
Lucien decided to help deal with the pollution because he knew that it was good for the environment he lived in and it was just a reasonable action. He could not convince the members with an emotional speech as he just could not relate to the situation. It was impossible for him to cry for the pollution.
"Well, let me check if anything helps in the spirit library."
Led by the Adaminite Golem, Lucien, Iristine, and Arcelion arrived at the side door of the Affairs Committee. They sat down on the soft long couch and waited to be summoned.
*Tick Tick*
On the opposite end of the hallway, there was a clock making monotone mechanical noises. Iristine got nervous after the excitement cooled down and she stared at Lucien. "Mr. Evans, what should I say?" It was nothing like the Tree Ritual hosted by her in the royal palace, as she couldn't just complete the mission by following the procedure. Also, this time, she had to face the evil sorcerers instead of her elf friends.
"Why did you get excited so early?"  Lucien thought, speechless for a while.
He looked at Iristine with a gentle expression on his face. "Talk about the consequences of failing to deal with the pollutions and the possible revenge from nature. It's what you're good at, isn't it?"
"So, the consequences of the pollution and the revenge of nature¡­" Iristine kept repeating those words while she tried to calm down. Arcelion was not nervous like Iristine, as he had hosted many important events in the royal palace and communicated with the guests as a representative of the royal chamber. Unlike his sister, he had a lot more experience in giving speeches.
*Chi*
The side door opened when Iristine was still trying to construct her speech. A girl with the badge of a level four arcanist and fifth-circle sorcerer stepped out of the room. The girl was about 20 years old and she looked energetic, but everyone knew she was older than that.
"Honored guests, who'll be the first to give the speech?" She spoke in a crisp tone with a low voice, it seemed like she did not want to disturb the committee members inside.
Arcelion looked at his sister and stood up. "I'll be the first one, miss." He knew that Iristine was not prepared yet.
"You can just call me Rachel, Your Highness." The young girl nodded slightly and smiled.
Lucien heard the name and raised his head unconsciously. It was an average-looking girl with flaxen hair and a pair of flaxen eyes. The girl gave Lucien an energetic and positive feeling, making him feel that they had met before.
Rachel was a genius in Astrology, Force, and Illusion, and was a member of Tower, just like Larry, Timothy, and Ulysses. She was about 28 or 29 years old, and although her progression was similar to Felipe's in the past, the necromancer was much faster now.
Rachel noticed Lucien's sight and responded with a smile. She then led Arcelion into the hall and closed the side door.
About five minutes later, Rachel opened the door and Arcelion stepped out of the hall.
"Brother, how was your speech?" Iristine was concerned.
Arcelion shook his head with a serious expression on the face. "They listened to my speech but they sent me out before saying anything."
The atmosphere became heavy. The committee members had a discussion before asking Rachel to invite Iristine inside.
Iristine arranged her simple green druid long robe. It was designed for climbing, and she was trying to make herself look calm and trustable.
Again, five minutes later, Iristine came back with a depressed look on her pretty face. It looked like she was about to cry, and she looked at Arcelion. "The first thing I said was 'talk about the consequences of the pollution and the revenge of nature'. It was the same as what Mr. Lucien just told me¡­"
"You repeated that sentence too many times¡­ What happened after?" Arcelion tried to distract his sister.
Iristine bit her lips and continued, "Miss Florencia calmed me down with a smile and I finally said what I wanted to say. They did not say anything, but I heard people arguing when leaving the hall. It seems like someone didn't like the idea.
Lucien tried to comfort the two elves while reading the information from the spirit library, "You've tried your best¡­"
"I wonder what the result will be¡­" Iristine looked at the closed side door, a bit worried. "If we fail, our relationship with the Congress of Magic will get worse¡­ However, Mr. Evans, you'll always be our friend no matter what happens."
Time flew in the silent environment. The side door finally opened again after a while. Rachel smiled at Lucien and spoke in a passionate tone, "Evans, your turn."
Lucien was wearing a white shirt with a black tuxedo and a pair of gold-wired glasses on his eyes. It was a formal outfit. He nodded and smiled after hearing Rachel's words. He arranged the collar and the cuff before following her into the door.
Behind the side door lay a narrow and quiet pathway. There was a polite smile on Rachel's face, but she did not say anything while leading the way.
Lucien turned at a corner after about ten steps inside and saw the committee members that were sitting around a large table.
Some of them were wearing magic robes and the others were wearing different types of formal attire. There were several empty chairs and there were fewer people here than Lucien expected.
The members of the Affairs Committee, excluding people like Florencia, had many things to take care of outside the committee, just like what happened to Rogerio some years ago. That was the reason why there were usually only half of the members in Allyn, however, there were only nineteen committee members there today.
For the rule to be passed, only two-thirds of the committee members needed to agree with it.
Rachel took Lucien to a seat opposite to all the committee members, and he saw the gentle smile on Florencia's face. She raised her right hand and slightly waved it to ask Lucien not to get nervous.
Lucien cleared his throat and opened his mouth slowly, "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I think most of the committee members here have their own bloodline inheritors, relatives, and friends, right? The air they breathe, the water they drink, and the resources they acquire from the sea, the forests, and the mountains, are the reason why they're still alive."
Lucien's started his speech in a different way and it helped the committee members to forces. Rogerio was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.
"If we fasten the development by destroying nature, your beloved ones will¡­" Lucien described the worst situation possible, as the prophecy told by the astrologists.
Lucien tried his best not to laugh and concluded with a blank expression on his face, "Without a doubt, we need to get what we want when developing, however, during the process we can't destroy what our inheritors' lives will depend on. I think our development must be sustainable, and we need to develop the magic and collect resources, but we can't destroy the environment that will help our inheritors survive. The development will never stop if nature is not damaged to a point where it can't recover by itself anymore."
Lucien copied the idea from a book related to politics¡­
"Sustainable development. Good concept. Evans, you can leave now. We'll tell you the result after the vote," Florencia said with a warm smile on her face.
Lucien bowed slightly and followed Rachel out of the meeting hall.
"When will I become the one who can stay in the hall and discuss the things related to the Congress of Magic? I don't want to just wait outside and listen to the result."
A small flame appeared in Lucien's mind.
...
Outside the meeting hall.
"Mr. Evans, how was your speech?" Iristine questioned curiously and nervously.
Lucien repeated what he said in front of the members and spoke in a gentle tone, "I don't know if my speech is good enough to convince the members, and we will have to wait for the result.
Lucien, Iristine, and Arcelion waited on the long couch quietly outside the door. The noise made by the clock was making them nervous.
It felt like time was slower than usual in the heavy atmosphere. Half an hour later, the side door slowly opened when Arcelion was about to stand up and leave. Florencia stepped out of the hall, wearing a purple-tiered skirt with a six-star arcana badge and an eighth-circle magic badge on her chest.
"Prince Arcelion, Princess Iristine, and Evans. The result is out. There were ten votes against the proposal and seven votes supporting the proposal in the first round, so the proposal was rejected. However, we discussed how we should modify the proposal and in the second round, there were sixteen votes supporting the new proposal and three votes against. The new proposal was passed. The rule is not as strict as you thought. There'll be a mild punishment for the alchemy factory that violates the pollution disposal rule. To encourage them to follow the rule, we decided to provide them with subsidies and benefits in the recycling of the separated elements."
Florencia looked at the two elves with a serious expression on the face. The reason why they passed this new proposal was to improve the Congress' alliance with the elves and druids. The sorcerers knew that if the Congress was defeated, they would not live a happy life in the future. The sorcerers that were hiding on the other side of the Storm Strait and survived in the dangerous Dark Mountain Range were perfect examples.
Arcelion and Iristine were tortured by the hope and loss of hope multiple times. They were satisfied with the result, at least, as that was a clear rule that came with benefits. They put their right index fingers on their foreheads. It was how the elves showed their respect.
"We can see the sincerity of the Congress of Magic. We hope that the rule will be stricter as the number of alchemy factories increases and the sorcerers change their thoughts about the environment. Also, we'll report the situation to the elders and the royal palace immediately."
Florencia watched the two elves walk into the hall and start sending messages. She smiled at Lucien and said, "What, Lucien? Disappointed?"
"Well, my goal is somewhat fulfilled." Lucien was indeed slightly disappointed.
Florencia put her hands on her back and stared at Lucien with a pair of green eyes.
"You're not strong enough and your words are not taken seriously by the committee. If you can make most of the sorcerers respect you and have the power that will make anyone fear, everything you say will be passed. Young man, that's what makes a mature man attractive, and you still have a long way to go.
"My husband, Oliver, is a man like that. Although he's a playboy, I still love him deep in my heart. Young man, I hope you can become a man like that in the future, and there'll be a girl that loves you deep in her heart." Florencia waved her hand and turned to the meeting hall to host the next discussion. 
Lucien clicked his tongue as the side door closed.
"Grand Arcanist, huh? There's definitely a long way to go."
Iristine and Arcelion returned as he thought about it.
"Mr. Evans, thank you for what you did for us. Although the result was not what we expected, it was still a success. Your help was the reason why we succeeded. It's hard to find a sorcerer that has the foresight and loves nature like you. I'll apply for the title, the Friend of Nature, for you after I get back to the royal palace. It's the symbol of friendship for elves," Arcelion opened his mouth first.
Iristine smiled and said, "Mr. Evans, don't worry, I'm sure the rule can be improved. We know how much you did for us. I'm glad that I have a friend like you. I want to give you the Bless of Elf." 
She took out a piece of leaf that looked normal but it was infused with the energy of nature.
Lucien did not decline the offer, as it was the main material for an important potion.
The potion was called Flight and it was the best supportive potion that could help him advance to the middle-rank. The material requirement was a leaf that dropped from an elven tree and the leaf must be blessed by an elf, and that was why the material was so rare. Using the potion when advancing, he would be able to create a spell model for the flying spell in his body, and his spirit power would be 50% higher than a normal 3rd circle sorcerer.
It was something he did not expect.
"Thank you." Lucien grabbed the leaf and realized that there was another blessing on his body, from the wraith girl named Marry. The blessing had been with him for a long time but nothing happened. He decided to find some magic books related to the souls, wraiths, curses, and blessings after advancing to the third circle.
"I shall write down the piano song named as Storm and gift it to Natasha as a birthday gift after I get back today. I need to focus on improving my sorcery skills and try to advance to the third circle within half a year. My words won't be taken seriously if I'm weak." Lucien thought quietly.

Chapter 243: Flying
				Chapter 243: Flying
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The spacious living room was right now filled with a cheerful melody. Annick, Layria, Sprint and all the apprentices who studied there were dancing with the music, trying to picture how those nobles danced in those fancy parties. At the same time, the apprentices were also peeking at Mr. Evans.
Mr. Evans' upper body was very relaxed, and his fingers moved fast and flexibly. His profile was charming, as he was very dedicated to his playing, with a big smile on the corner of his lips. The whole scene looked like an elegant picture.
Finishing his playing, Lucien stood up from the piano chair and said to all the apprentices, "Ladies and gentlemen, happy new year."
"Mr. Evans, happy new year!" the apprentices said together happily.
Their voices were quite different¡ªsome were low, some were hoarse, and some were clear. Among those teenagers, some were experiencing their voice-changing period, which made Lucien a bit emotional. After all, another year was gone, and all of his students were growing and changing.
"Today's the first day of 818." Lucien picked up his glass from the table, "I wish every one of you can make further progress in your study this year!"
The apprentices also lifted their glasses, "Wish you become middle-rank sorcerer this year, Mr. Evans!"
During the new year period, all of Lucien's friends went back to their own hometowns to see their families, so he invited all the apprentices from across the strait to his place to get together.
In the past year, because of Lucien's teaching, Annick, Layria, Heidi, Sprint and Katrina had all moved to senior apprentice class, and Chely also had become an apprentice.
The dinner was pleasant, and after it the apprentices started saying good night to each other and heading toward the guest rooms. Because they were too excited for the whole night, they were feeling quite tired now.
Chely was the last one who left the hall. When she was walking upstairs, she turned around and said to Lucien a bit shyly, "Mr. Evans¡­ I just want to say¡­ When you were playing piano, you really looked like the talented musician from Aalto, who wrote For Silvia, which always reminds me of Jacques. I'm sure that he's still striving for our future, and I feel really encouraged. Thank you, Mr. Evans¡­ Thank you for your playing."
"That's very romantic." Lucien smiled and nodded.
After the servants came in, Lucien went back to his study upstairs. Sitting in his armchair, he turned on the desk light and opened the letter lying on the desk.
The letter was sent from Aalto half a year ago, but just arrived today:
"... My Blood Burning Syndrome is gone now, and my power is becoming more and more stable. I miss my sword. I miss the blue sky. I miss those fights. I miss that wonderful music.
"... You must have arrived in Allyn. I wonder if the City in the Sky still looks the same...
"Is food in Holm monotonous like what I told you? In my mind, Holm food is the worst. Every time when I thought of the fact that you have to eat grilled fish and fries everyday, I felt that it was bad and funny at the same time...
"When I was young, my mom always told me stories about arcana and magic, and that is a fabulous world full of mysteries. I hope that you can forget all the pain and suffering you had from before and really enjoy exploring this whole new world. And I'm confident that you, my friend, can become a middle-rank sorcerer in a few years...
"By the way Lucien, did you ever meet my uncle Patrick? I wonder how he's doing right now. He never mentioned about his health condition in his letters, which makes me feel quite worried...
"Your friend, John, has awakened his Blessing and become a knight. What slightly surprises me is that his Blessing is Elimination. Fortunately, he does not serve the Church, and thus he will not join the Night Watch, or it would be another horrible joke from destiny, like what happened to Silvia and me. However, even so, I believe that you will never yield to destiny, my friend, and you will beat down the so called destiny and stamp on it! For me and Silvia¡­ It was a mistake, but I don't want to complain and I won't. Because this was Silvia's and my own mistake, and we should be responsible for it.
"Anyways, let's talk about some pleasant things. Your uncle, Joel, still enjoys playing on the streets a lot, and your aunt, Alisa, just lost her job working in Textile Association because no one dared let a knight's mom wash clothes for them. Right now, Alisa is majorly managing John's manor and also yours.
"As for Iven, he's learning how to read and write now, and he's also receiving knight training after Lord Venn. Elena has left her job in the Musicians' Association to focus on her violin playing. Mr. Victor and Felicia have come back from their trip and they really like your Moonlight Sonata. Right now, Felicia is preparing her own concert, and I'm really happy for her.
"Mr. Rhine never showed up again after the music festival. I'm not sure what happened in Aalto at that time...
"Lucien, please don't forget what I told you before¡ªlife is more than just magic. We have music, cuisines, fights, friends, and also romance. I know that you're a gentleman, Lucien, and I know that you're still waiting for your dream girl. Be brave when you find her! Chase her! Conquer her! Don't be shy! If you need more strategies, feel free to write to me and ask!
"In the end, happy birthday, my friend.
"Natasha,
"June, 30th, 817"
Lucien was smiling when he was reading the letter. The words in the letter were for sure not fancy, but it comforted Lucien a lot, as if he was sitting right in front of an old friend, and he felt very peaceful. Although they had not seen each other for a long time, Lucien still felt close to Natasha.
But seriously, Lucien thought to himself, still with the smile on his face, that if he was really going to ask for Natasha's suggestions to chase a girl, he would definitely lose the chance because their communication would take a whole year...
Feeling peaceful and refreshed after reading the letter, Lucien stood up from his chair and came to his meditation room.
After closing the door and sitting on a special chair, Lucien took out a flask of green potion from his storage pouch. The green potion looked clean and tasty.
This was the potion called Flying, and it was made of the fallen leaf of and elven tree and other precious ingredients, which cost Lucien more than seventy arcana points. Together with all the money that he spent on doing experiments and making magic potions, Lucien only had sixty-one arcana points now. He had to say that learning magic basically meant burning money.
Feeling rather peaceful, Lucien slowly pulled the potion into his mouth. The potions tasted cool and sweet, way better than many other potions that Lucien took before.
Lucien suddenly felt that his soul was very light, and he easily entered his meditation environment. This time, his meditation world was clear like crystal, like the limpid water of a still lake.
The potion was slowly absorbed by Lucien's soul, and his spiritual power rocketed. Then, a complicated magic model appeared¡ªit was the spell, Flying.
The model was constructed with distorted lines and curved cambers. A sorcerer who had zero understanding in arcana or who was not good at mathematics needed to manually draw a real magic model based on this half-transparent model from the potion, which required high level of spiritual power. However, Lucien, as an arcanist, did not have to worry about this. He had previously calculated and analyzed the model, and thus he could use his spiritual power more wisely by referring to the power of his Host Star of Destiny and the elemental particles around him to build the model of the spell.
Once Lucien could analyze third-circle spells using his own arcana knowledge and become a middle-rank sorcerer, which meant that his knowledge had a solid mathematical basis, he could choose his own study interest in arcana.
Lucien right now was surrounded by those complicated mathematical symbols and formula, and he stayed focused and paid all his attention to finishing the construction of the model.
As soon as the model became complete, dazzling light suddenly burst out of the model, and it started to absorb spiritual power like crazy. Lucien's soul was enveloped in it as well. 
Lucien's spiritual power was enough for nurturing the model, so he calmly prevented the extra spiritual power from the magic potion from approaching him, while at the same time let the dazzling light change his soul.
Feeling slightly itchy and numb, Lucien's soul was almost substantialized because of the power, and it looked more clear and pure. All the magic models that he constructed in his soul before had shrank to small crystal size and were now rotating around a bigger magic model, Flying, as if they were worshiping it.
It was the symbol of a successful upgrade to the third circle!
However, Lucien did not stop, but continued to construct magic models for Elemental Order and Lucien's Great Fire Ball. The latter was an attack spell based on the study of nitroglycerin, and it was as powerful as the fourth circle magic, Chain Explosion, improved by Timothy. The only shortcoming of Lucien's Great Fire Ball was that it was not stable enough, and sometimes a fire ball might explode before it arrived at its destination, and thus extra shaping spells were needed to assist the casting.
After a long time, the window of the meditation room suddenly opened, through which Lucien flew out of the window and soared into the air.
The starry sky above Allyn right now looked close enough to touch, and the night wind refreshed Lucien. When he looked down at the city below him, his chest was filled with the pleasure of freedom.
This was how flying felt like!

Chapter 244: Simple Task
				Chapter 244: Simple Task
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In ancient magic system, Flying belonged to the school of Astrology, but in the contemporary magic system, it belonged to both the schools of Force and Astrology, because the principle of the spell was using the gravity of stars to counteract the one from the ground.
Lucien closed his eyes and enjoyed the night wind when he was flying free in the sky, and he felt that he was totally released from all the constraints. The only thing was that his flying was pretty slow, and he also needed to pay attention to the stars to calculate his directions and flying angle. In order to save some trouble, Lucien knew that he needed an auxiliary magic circle helping him with the calculation, and before he learned Flying (Advanced), sixth circle, he could never fly as fast as a magic steam train, but maybe he could use hydromechanics or aerodynamics to improve it a bit.
When Lucien was still indulging in the wonderful experience of his first-time flying, he heard a low male voice, "Sir, you've violated Allyn's Controlling Regulation, the eighteenth article¡ªflying is prohibited in Allyn unless special permission is given from the congress. So¡­ penalty or imprisonment?"
Lucien suddenly opened his eyes at a loss and he saw the young sorcerer in front of him who was wearing a black magic robe and a flame badge, which revealed his identity as a battle sorcerer. The young, black-haired sorcerer looked rather serious, and from the badges in front of his chest, Lucien knew that he was a forth circle sorcerer and he worked for Punishment Department of the Congress.
However, the young sorcerer was also wearing a white-feather badge, which meant that he had got the special permission for flying, but Lucien did not.
Lucien realized that he was so excited that he forgot the fact that flying was prohibited in Allyn. He rubbed his forehead a bit embarrassedly and asked, "How¡­ How much is the penalty?"
Before the young sorcerer answered, Lucien thought of the fact that right now he only had sixty-one points left, so he hurriedly changed his question, "I mean¡­ How long will I be kept in prison?"
Seeing that Lucien was being quite cooperative, the young sorcerer looked less serious now, "We're in the rural area of Allyn right now, so, fortunately, the punishment is not as severe as what you'd get if you flew above the city center, and also, this is your first time, sir, so the penalty is thirty points, and if you'd rather go to the jail, you'll be kept there for one month."
"A month?! All right¡­ I choose the penalty." Although Lucien did not want to lose the money at all, he did not want to stay in prison for a whole month either. Lucien decided to regard this as a special upgrade "celebration" for himself, in order to make himself feel better.
"All right¡­" the young sorcerer signed a ticket and gave it to Lucien, "Just bring this to Punishment Department and pay for it." Then he grinned a bit when he saw the beautiful ring on Lucien's right hand, "Mr. Evans, congratulations, you're a middle-rank mage now. You're another sorcerer who became a third circle mage before the age of twenty-two. I believe that your momentum will still last before you move on toward the senior ranks."
In fact, this body was not even twenty, but if talking about Lucien's real age, the age that he had had before he came over to this world, it was twenty-five.
Lucien put on a polite smile and said, "Thank you. You're the first one who said congratulations to me. Can I know your name?"
The young battle sorcerer responded humorously, "Of course. I'm not afraid of your revenge, Mr. Evans. I'm Jurisian, from both Punishment Department and Battle Sorcerer Department. My colleague saw you from Allyn's Eye and found that you were a level four arcanist, so I'm here to handle you, sir."
"Wait¡­ You're Jurisian? The talented arcanist in the school of Electromagnetics?" Lucien was quite surprised. Lazar, Rock and Lucien's other friends kept infusing lots of information into his brain about the young geniuses in the congress, so Lucien recognized the name immediately.
Jurisian, a level four arcanist, was once very close to winning Silver Moon Medal because of the finding of photoelectric sensing, but at the same time, he was very enthusiastic toward fighting and duelling, so he applied to Punishment Department and Battle Sorcerer Department on his own.
Jurisian smiled and said, "I'm not gonna call myself a genius right in front of you, Mr. Evans. In most young sorcerers' mind, we've only got two geniuses. One is Mr. Felipe, who has won Holm Crown prize once and Immortal Throne prize twice, and the other genius is you, Mr. Evans. I have to say that you two redefined the word 'genius', because now no one dares call himself or herself a genius if they haven't won the highest honour in their fields. So, Rachel, Arthur, Samantha, Larry and many other sorcerers, including me, are just like common people."
For sure, Jurisian was very smart with his words. He showed his respect to Lucien in an indirect way.
After chatting a bit, Jurisian activated Allyn Magic Circle and disappeared in the air, leaving Lucien staring at the ticket in his hand alone.
Lucien was glad that he could have a sixty-point subsidy every month from now on, and his living and experiment cost could basically be covered. However, his budget was definitely tighter than before. Thinking of that, Lucien started to feel a bit regretful with his idea of setting up cleansing magic circles for the factory, or he would earn way more than what he was making right now.
Putting the ticket in his pocket, Lucien started to descend slowly for landing. At the same time, he looked at the darkness in the west. He wished that he could find a chance to go back to Aalto to see all his friends there.
When Lucien was about to land on the windowsill of his villa, a window beside him opened. It was Layria and Heidi.
The two young girls woke up and could not fall asleep again from their great nostalgia, so they opened the window to look at the starry sky.
"Mr. Evans?" They were surprised.
"You two cannot fall asleep?" Lucien smiled, "What about having another set of arcana exercise?"
The two young girls suddenly sensed great danger and took a step backward together, "No, thanks, Mr. Evans. We're fine here. We just want to¡­ close the window. Happy new year and wish you become a middle-rank mage this year!"
Then they closed the window right in front of Lucien.
Two seconds later, the window opened again. The two girls were right now staring at Lucien who was floating in the air, and they looked shocked,
"Mr. Evans, have you upgraded already? Did we just sleep in for the whole year?!"
...
In the past two weeks, Lucien constructed another third circle magic, Maskelyne's Star, in his soul. After making sure that his new power was already stable, Lucien was now heading for Allyn Magic Tower to upgrade his magic badge.
So far, Lucien had constructed twenty-seven first-circle, seventeen second-circle, and three third-circle spells in his soul, and that was twenty percent more than the amount that a new third-circle sorcerer could have on average. Furthermore, the best thing was that all of Lucien's third-circle spells, except Flying, were all his exclusive spells!
In Sorcerer Administrative Department, Eric's surprised look was nothing new to Lucien anymore. He reached out his hand and said, "Congratulations, Evans, you're really a genius. Even though you used the magic potion, you still have a very solid mathematical foundation. In most cases, soon some senior-rank sorcerers or archmages will want you to become their student."
"Thank you, Mr. Eric." Lucien shook hands with Eric and handed his magic badge to him, "Except for Element and Astrology, I'm still very new in other fields."
Eric took a look at Lucien's magic badge and reminded him, "Now you can choose a permanent magic buff on it. What do you want?"
"Can I choose other stuff other than a magic buff?" Having the ring, Element, Lucien did not really need a middle-rank magic buff on his badge, so he asked for alternatives directly.
It was not the first time that Eric encountered this question, so he asked cut and dry, "What do you want? It cannot outvalue a middle-rank magic buff."
"I want a sculpt spell, Mr. Eric, to increase the effective length of a spell." Lucien needed it for Lucien's Great Fireball. Although he had to spend twice the amount of spiritual power to cast both the spell and the sculpt spell, that could stabilize the effects of his own fireball.
The congress had been developing various kinds of enhancing spells, including silent casting, quick casting, enhanced casting, all kinds of sculpt spells and so on. Arcanists or sorcerers needed to meet level requirement to get those spells by exchanging, and they were not cheap for sure. The sculpt spell that Lucien was asking for was the cheapest.
"It's about the same value." Eric nodded, "But still, you might need to pay an extra ten to fifty points."
"No problem." Although Lucien said so, his heart was bleeding. He just paid for his penalty, and right now he only had thirty-one points. And this thirty-one points was from what was left after he sold his Grimsteel Dagger from before. If he still needed more money later, Lucien needed to sell his Asthenia Dagger then.
Eric put Lucien's badge together with a piece of note in the magic cage and then pulled the bell. Silver light burst out and the items in the cage disappeared.
Ten minutes later, the bell started ringing. The badge was sent back, together with a thick roll of parchment.
Eric handed the badge to Lucien and frowned a bit, "Evans, you just paid thirty points for the sculpt spell, and you've also got a mandatory task."
Lucien was a middle-rank mage now. Receiving one mandatory task from the congress was just normal, and it happened to be the beginning of the new year.
However, Lucien was still a bit surprised that he just got his task so soon. He took over the badge and the parchment roll written with the sculpt spell, and started to sense the task information contained in the magic badge.
"Demon Cleansing (Simple): In Mount Kapas, Holm, a third-circle sorcerer tried to summon low-rank demons but failed. The sorcerer died from this and the demons occupied his castle. You need to eliminate the demons together with other sorcerers who were also given the task. Reward: fifty arcana points."

Chapter 245: Mr. Evans
				Chapter 245: Mr. Evans
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien put on his upgraded magic badge, and although the magic steam train had recently introduced a new route from Allyn to Kapas, he didn't board it to get his task done, but instead hired a coach and headed for the magic tower of the Will of Elements.
The task was given to Lucien in way that he considered suspicious, because it arrived right after Lucien upgraded. He wanted to have some senior-rank arcanists from his own group check it first to make sure everything was fine there.
In an office of the magic tower of the Will of Elements, Gaston listened to Lucien's description of the task quietly with his fingers crossed. His dark yellow eyes looked a bit suspicious and Gaston said seriously, "This doesn't look like a dangerous task. With your ring, even if you cannot fulfill the task, protecting yourself and escaping should not be a problem. But for your safety, I still need to ask Florencia¡­ maybe she knows something else."
Letting Lucien wait for him in the office, Gaston walked into another room and talked to Florencia via Fernando's Electromagnetic Message. 
Lucien took the chance and started to think carefully whether he had some potential enemies in the Congress who might want him dead. The issue about Life Force Theory was gone now, and it was Felipe who drew most of the attention, and with regards to placing the cleansing magic circles, Lucien did not think that someone would want to kill him because of that, especially because in the end it was just an option for those factories.
Lucien wondered whether he could draw the conclusion that no one was trying to use the task to kill him.
After a while, Gaston came back.
Gaston elegantly sat down first and then he said to Lucien, smiling, "I've talked to Florencia. She said that it was an emergency thing, and it should be safe. But because we value you very much, Evans, and you've become a middle-rank sorcerer within a year, I can lend you a magic item."
Gaston took out a nice monocle with a fine silver chain and handed it to Lucien, "This monocle has been enchanted with Fernando's Electromagnetic Message permanently. If anything goes wrong, contact me immediately. This is my exclusive frequency and code¡­"
As he was saying, he wrote down all the information for Lucien on a piece of paper.
Obviously, Lord of Storm, when inventing that spell, had already taken confidentiality into consideration.
Lucien left his spiritual power mark in the monocle following Gaston's instructions, and then put it on. The gold-rimmed glasses he was wearing before were put into his right pocket, and there was a pocket watch on the left one.
When Lucien picked up his top hat and was about to leave, Gaston stood up and smiled, "Evans, congratulations for upgrading to the third circle, which is a very important threshold for many sorcerers. The fact that you've made it means that you've surpassed seventy percent of the sorcerers, and from now on, the Will of Elements will be giving you forty arcana points every month as your subsidy."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Gaston." Hearing that, Lucien sincerely grinned.
...
Near the entrance of Mount Kapas, Fraser town.
The town was very remote. One needed to first take a six-hour train from Allyn to Kapas' city center, then spend half a day riding a long-distance coach to get to a town named Tenning, and then bump along the mountain road for another two hours to get there. Of course, sorcerers who could fly did not have to worry about it.
There were lots of trees and wild animals in the mountains. Most residents here in the small town worked as hunters or lumbermen. Several sorcerer castles here controlled part of the mineral veins, and because some sorcerers, many magic apprentices, and also miners lived there, this remote town was actually quite lively instead of being very isolated as one would image. Many adventures and mercenaries even came here to seek for precious gems, ores, plants or secret fortune.
The most popular tavern in Fraser was called Gold Cup. Many adventures and mercenaries were there right now, drinking and chatting. They were used to carousing every night before they entered the mountains, as they had no idea that whether they would still get a chance to see the next day's sunrise once they went in there.
In the strong smell of alcohol, some adventures were chatting in low voice, "Have you heard that the third-circle sorcerer in Bertren Castle was killed by the demons summoned by himself?" A dwarf with long blond beard asked the guy who he just met in this tavern.
The guy, who was of middle age and got a scary scar on his face, nodded seriously, "The two apprentices who managed to escape said that castle was like hell. People were burnt to death, corroded by strong acid, torn into pieces by sharp claws, hacked in half¡­ There was blood and guts everywhere."
As the man was saying, he carefully pointed at the two apprentices who were beyond drunk in the corner of the tavern. One was male and one was female. Although they were drunk, they still looked very terrified, as if they were stuck in the nightmare.
"You wanna go there to see if we can find something there?" asked the greedy dwarf, "Maybe get around those demons and get some treasures there. That guy was a middle-rank sorcerer, so think about how wealthy he could be!"
Another middle-aged woman looked at the dwarf contemptuously, "Are you out of your mind? Those demons killed a third-circle sorcerer! Do you just want to die that bad?"
"I agree. And the Congress definitely has sent some sorcerers here to handle this. Don't tell me you want to take those treasures from those crazy people¡­ Your power from the magic potion is nothing in front of them¡­" said the scar-faced man.
At this time, the tavern's door opened, and there came in a young battle sorcerer wearing a black magic robe. He first looked around at the people in the tavern with his blue, threatening eyes. Feeling his oppressive aura, no one in the tavern dared look at him directly. Then, he walked to the two apprentices in the corner who were still drinking although they were already beyond drunk.
The battle sorcerer grabbed their wood cups and threw them onto the ground, and the golden liquor was everywhere. The two apprentices slowly looked up at the sorcerer, confusedly.
"I'm Charlie. I'm here to solve the problem in Castle Bertren. You two answer my questions carefully," said the young man seriously. His years of experience in fighting gave him this kind of oppressive manner.
The two apprentices looked a bit more sober now, and they started trembling. The female apprentice with burgundy-colored hair responded in trembling voice, "Mr. Charlie¡­ I'm Susan and this is Scott. We were Mr. Bertren's apprentices¡­ At that night, Mr. Bertren tried to summon¡­ those things¡­ in his chamber¡­."
At this time, a black, short-haired lady came into the tavern. She was wearing an elegant, purple magic robe, and her brownish-yellow eyes were cold and sharp. After looking around, she directly walked to Charlie and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Sandra, middle rank. I'm also with the task."
"I'm Charlie, middle rank." Charlie nodded. Neither Charlie nor Sandra wanted to reveal their specific level right in front of so many people, and both of them were wearing their badges underneath their robes.
The golden-bearded dwarf turned around and took a quick glance at them, then murmured to the middle-aged woman and the scar-faced man, "Of course, the Congress has sent people here already¡­ Look at them¡­ They're at least of fourth circle. Just one of them could just destroy the whole castle¡­ even the whole town."
Those adventures rarely saw real sorcerers, not to mention middle-ranked ones, so they were curious and regarded those sorcerers with fear and reverence.
"I told you¡­" The scar-faced man looked a bit intimidated.
Charlie and Sandra, on the other side, were listening to the apprentices carefully, and they did not care how those adventurers were commenting on them at all, because they were just too powerful and confident to be bothered by things like that.
This kind of attitude impressed the adventurers even more.
"I heard that we have one more sorcerer for this task?" After listening to the apprentices, Sandra asked Charlie.
"That's right." Charlie nodded, "He's not here yet. Let's wait for him a bit longer. We can be safer with one more person's power, and I think he should be middle-rank, shouldn't he?"
"For sure," answered Sandra simply.
"Are they waiting for someone?" The middle-aged woman looked at the tavern door.
"Come on¡­ They don't have to¡­" the dwarf murmured, "They're of at least fourth circle!"
"It's always good to be cautious." When the scar-faced man was saying this, the tavern door was opened again.
Subconsciously, all the people in the tavern turned around and looked at the person who just came in.
It was a young, good-looking man, who was wearing a black, double-breasted coat, a black top hat and a fine monocle, which made him look gentle and elegant.
Those adventurers in the tavern all wondered why a young noble would come there.
Charlie and Sandra looked at him cautiously, as they were not sure whether he was the sorcerer that they were waiting for. After all, the man just looked too young to be a middle-rank.
At this time, both Charlie and Sandra noticed the purple-gem ring on the young man's right hand. The ring was very unique and gorgeous.
They recognized the young man immediately.
The man was the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize, an honorary member of Holm Royal Magic Academy, the genius who managed to upgrade to middle rank within a year!
Watching the young man walking to them elegantly with a smile on his face, both Charlie and Sandra suddenly stood up together and greeted him respectfully, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Evans."
Their attitude surprised everyone present.

Chapter 246: Castle Bertren
				Chapter 246: Castle Bertren
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the tavern, Gold Cup.
Lucien pulled a chair for himself and sat down, then he nodded to them, smiling, and said, "Nice to meet you two as well. How do you want me to call you?" As he was asking, Lucien showed them his Holm Crown prize ring purposefully but in a casual way to make them understand who was the leader of this group, so he could possibly be in safer place later in the castle.
"Charlie, battle sorcerer, middle rank."
"Middle rank, Sandra."
Both Charlie and Sandra briefly introduced themselves in a respectful way to Lucien. Although they were confident in their own power, they knew that Lucien once killed a senior-rank sorcerer with Felipe before, thus they understood the power difference between the young man in front of them and themselves.
Moreover, according the tradition of the Congress, when two sorcerers were of the same rank, the one with higher arcana level would be more respected. As a level-four arcanist, and the winner of Holm Crown prize, Lucien of course was of a higher status than most middle-rank sorcerers.
However, despite the fact that Charlie and Sandra had naturally regarded Lucien as their team leader, experienced in combatting as they were, they were still waiting to see if Lucien could prove that he was capable of being a leader, or they simply would not follow and listen to him blindly.
Lucien nodded, and then he turned around and started talking to the apprentices, "I'm Lucien Evans, and I need a guide to the castle. Who volunteers?"
Before the apprentices answered, Lucien said to Charlie and Sandra, "Tell me the detailed information about the castle when we're on the way. We cannot waste too much time here, or more demons would be summoned by the magic circle in the summoning room."
Charlie and Sandra slightly nodded. They liked Lucien's decisive style.
The two apprentices, who were still beyond scared, obviously did not like Lucien's plan at all, "M¡­ Mr. Evans¡­ We can tell you everything¡­ You don't really need a guide¡­"
Susan's face was pale, and her teeth were striking against each other. She could not stop thinking of the blood, the guts, the chunks of limbs and the fire¡­ They were driving her nuts.
Scott could not even speak a single word.
Lucien shook his head and said to them in a gentle way, "You two should know that there's no magic under the ninth circle which could completely read your memory, and that means very possibly we will be missing some important information, including the layout of the castle. So we do need a guide to help us, and please trust that we're capable of protecting you."
Lucien used some hypnosis skills when he was talking.
His gentle voice comforted the apprentices, and Susan started to wonder whether Lucien was a senior-rank sorcerer based on the other two sorcerers' respectful attitude toward him, and maybe in the future, he could offer her some help in the Congress. Living in a remote town, neither Susan nor Scott knew that Lucien was the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize, and although she did not expect to become Lucien's student, as an apprentice who lost her sorcerer teacher, she needed that help.
Taking the courage, Susan nodded, "Mr. Evans¡­ I can be your guide, but¡­ but please¡­ please make sure that I'll be safe."
As she was speaking, Susan took a quick glance at Scott, who was still trembling slightly in the corner. Susan had a bit of joy in her mind as she finally surpassed Scott this time. Scott was more talented in the study of arcana, and his spiritual power was more abundant, but his biggest problem was his timidity. Susan had been feeling envious of Scott for more than a year, and right now she was proud of herself.
"Very well. Your courage has impressed me." Lucien nodded, "And courage is very important to a successful sorcerer. This is not a time of peace, and we always need to fight."
Then, Lucien stood up and took out his pocket watch, "Right now it's five in the afternoon. Hopefully, we can finish the task before it gets dark. If we can't make it on time, we should probably leave the castle, as some of the demons would get way stronger at night."
"Yes, Mr. Evans." Charlie and Sandra also stood up.
After they left the tavern, those adventurers finally felt at ease and started to talk to each other excitedly.
"Is the young man actually a senior-rank sorcerer?" exclaimed the dwarf. "Why those two middle-rank sorcerers were being so respectful to him? But he's just too young!"
Most adventures had never seen a real senior-rank sorcerer. Most senior-rank sorcerers either were important nobles or lived in Allyn, or were exploring in the Dark Mountain Range and other dimensions. Even if those adventurers could run into one in Rentato, they would not recognize them as such.
The scar-faced man laughed, "Come on¡­ Maybe he just look young, and maybe he's a few hundred years old¡­ Older than your great-great-great-grandma, ha!"
...
In the cold wind, Lucien, Charlie and Sandra were flying toward the castle called Bertren. Looking from above, the forest below was covered with a thick layer of snow, sprinkled with a few green spots from those evergreen pine trees.
"That's about it." Sandra, who was carrying Susan flying using a spell called Coil, just told Lucien all the information they had got.
Seeing Susan being pinched with cold, Sandra cast Element Endurance on Susan. Element Endurance was an ancient magic, although it did not work well for defending against magic attacks, it was rather useful in extreme cold or hot environments. Spells from the school of Thermodynamics such as Coldness Endurance and Heat Endurance could make one feel being exposed to nice spring weather even in an extreme environment ranging from minus ten to sixty to seventy degrees.
Lucien adjusted his monocle a bit and said, "Susan and Scott were in panic at that time, and they only noticed a few kinds of low-rank demons. So we shall never lower our guard. I'm a third-circle sorcerer, specializing in Element and Astrology, and I've got some good magic items. What about you two?"
"Fourth-circle battle sorcerer, specializing in Element, Force Field, Thermodynamics and Transformation. And I have some decent magic items as well," answered Charlie, staring at the castle located next to the mountain not too far from them.
Sandra also noticed the castle in the front, and she answered briefly, "Fourth-circle, Electromagnetics, Light-darkness, Force Field and Summoning."
"Great. You can handle the summoning magic circles later." Lucien nodded. A layer of golden-white flame covered his long coat and soon formed an all-round shield like an eggshell.
Knowing that they were close to the destination now, Lucien directly activated Powerful Fire Shield enchanted within his ring, Element. The shield could last for ten minutes before it was broken.
Charlie and Sandra also cast their own most powerful defensive spells.
Charlie's magic robe started to shine with moving light consisted of countless transparent magic symbols. This was an exclusive magic created by the congress called Douglas's Absorbing Wall, from combining Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Protection from Energy.
Sandra's skin and clothes quickly turned stone-gray like a statue. Five colourful magic light balls were now surrounding Susan's head and her own. They were fourth-circle magic Stoneskin and Palmeira's Power Magic Spheres.
Lucien also cast Mechanized Mind on himself to make sure that he was absolutely cool-headed.
Castle Bertren was a black castle built around a main center pinnacle. The sky started to get a little bit dusky, and the castle looked like a terrifying monster waiting for its prey.
The gate of the castle opened wide, and the strong smell of blood from inside of the castle was overwhelming. The gate was just like the huge mouth of a monster.

Chapter 247: The Apprentice Hall
				Chapter 247: The Apprentice Hall
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing the wide-open gate, Lucien, Charlie and Sandra were a bit relieved, because that meant the magic circle of the castle itself had not been activated. Either the core of the castle had been damaged when the summoning failed, or the low-rank demons just had no idea how to control the magic circle.
Either way was a piece of good news for them, as a sorcerer castle with an activated protective magic circle could be one or two levels even more powerful then the owner himself. This castle, designed and constructed by a third-circle sorcerer, could have the power of a fourth or fifth-circle sorcerer, and if the castle's magic circle had been activated, that would cost Lucien, Charlie and Sandra quite a long time to break into it.
However, cautious as Lucien was, he did not directly rush in there, but he stopped in the air, staring at the castle from above.
His left eye covered by the piece of monocle started to use infrared lights to check the whole place through the darkness in the open gate. Lucien could see clusters of red light in there¡ªcoming straight from hell, those demons that were raised with flame and sulphur had way more amount of infrared coming out of their bodies, and that couldn't even be hiddden by the castle's thick walls.
Charlie and Sandra also used their own spells to scan the whole castle. After their brief discussion, Lucien had a rough map in his mind of the layout of the castle and those demons' activity range in there. After combing Susan's description, they quickly worked out a plan. Lucien said to Charlie and Susan in a calm way, "We have to destroy the magic circles in the summoning room first to prevent more demons from coming out, and then we sweep away the rest of them down there. So¡­ I'd say that¡­ entering the castle through the gate and getting to the second floor is the best route."
"Agreed." The other two sorcerers nodded.
At this time, lightnings started to gather in Sandra's hand and a long electric spear took shape. She directly threw it toward a magic energy well in the garden and the spear perfectly hit the target. Something in the magic energy well slightly caused a small explosion, but the noise was not too loud. The well, together with more wells in different places of the castle, gathered power that they absorbed from sun and tide to provide to the defensive magic circles of the castle.
They needed to blow up more wells to prevent the circles from being activated after entering the castle.
The black well was now covered with countless magic symbols, as if it was resisting the power from the electric spear.
When Sandra was about to summon another electric spear, she saw Lucien reaching out his right hand and a head-sized fireball showed up above his palm. She instantly felt the contained power in the fireball.
Lucien pushed his right hand forward, and the fireball directly flew toward the energy well. As soon as the fire ball hit it, the whole energy well just exploded, from which rose a small mushroom cloud and dense smoke.
When the smoke dispersed, Sandra saw that the whole well was gone. She opened her mouth a bit but could not say anything. She did know that the school of Element had the most powerful explosive spells, however, what Mr. Evans just cast was simply too impressive, almost like the fifth-circle spell, Great Flame Explosion.
She wondered if it was the Will of Elements or Mr. Evans' exclusive magic, as both Sandra and Charlie knew clearly that Lucien did not use any magic items for that because they were right beside him, a third-circle sorcerer.
After seeing that, they trusted in Lucien's magic power for sure.
"Before the demons gather because of the noise, we shall get in there right now," said Lucien at a fast speed.
Lucien's Great Fireball, a third-circle level spell, was a attack magic combining the power of explosion, which was the major one, and a burning power. In addition, the magic buff from Lucien's ring, Element, increased the spell power by another thirty to forty percent, and the spell looked almost like a fifth-circle one.
Lucien would have been able to cast the spell more than twenty times consecutively, however, since he also needed to use the sculpt spell for assistance, the number reduced to seven to eight times. Fortunately, the ring, Element, boosted Lucien's spiritual power recovery speed to aproximately that of a fifth-circle sorcerer. Unless he kept casting spells without any interval, he did not need to worry about the fact that he might run out of his spiritual power in a battle that lasted less than thirty minutes.
The ring, Element, was definitely a fabulous magic item, especially for Lucien's level.
Lucien, Charlie, Sandra and Susan landed in the castle's garden in front of the iron gate. They cast Speed and Endurance on her to make sure that she was able to follow them.
As soon as they landed, they formed a standard battle formation. Charlie and Sandra were in the front, and Lucien was at their back. Susan was right in front of Lucien, behind Sandra.
There were spots of blood on the ground of the garden. They could hear the evil roaring from the castle. Obviously, the demons had noticed their arrival.
Passing through the garden at a fast speed, Charlie directly blasted the iron gate away with a fireball, and they rushed into the castle.
In the main hall, incomplete human bodies were everywhere, and on their ripped faces, the great fear was still there. Limbs, guts and blood covered the floor, and the smell of blood was so strong that they almost threw up.
Making sure they were heading toward the right direction, they started running to the stairs, stepping on those guts and chucks of human bodies.
The whole place was filled with light smoke. When Susan saw the black staircase, she was a bit encouraged. However, as soon as they were about to approach the staircase, some kind of buzzing sound came into their ears. From the corridors around the hall, teams of huge hornets were coming for them, and each of the hornets was twice the size of a human being.
Besides being huge, each of those hornets actually had a female human face with white pupils on its head. The female faces looked dreadful, as if they were in great pain. On the top, there were short tentacles, and the chin part was distorted into an arthropod mouthpart. At the bottom of those hornets' body, there was a shining black sting.
Seeing the female faces, Susan started screaming, as if she were in a nightmare, whereas the three middle-rank sorcerers remained very calm.
They were demons called Tiger Hornets. Lucien, Charlie and Sandra knew for sure that they were just of low-rank because they had no yellow, orange or red strips on their bodies.
A powerful streak of lightning showed up out of nowhere and struck one of the demon hornets which was trying to grab Susan, when a bit of its black, toxic secretion was already produced at the tip of the sting.
The demon hornet directly fell onto the ground like a big piece of carbon coke. The lightning on its body extended onto other nearby hornets and paralyzed them. The affected hornets were right now twitching on the floor, while those hornets which were relatively far from them were throwing fire clusters toward them like crazy.
At this time, cold wind was summoned and snowflakes started to fly in the hall. Soon, fist-sized hailstones took shape in the cold wind and fiercely smashed many hornets.
Ice Storm, a fourth-circle spell, from Charlie.
Most demons were immune to common flame and toxin, but they were more vulnerable to acid, ice and snow. Experienced as Charlie and Sandra were, they knew what to do.
Lucien also cast Maskelyne's Acid Arrow. Lots of light green arrows fiercely penetrated the demon hornets.
After this whole round of casting, the more than twenty demon hornets were all killed.
Two years ago, Lucien never expected that one day he would have such power. For a second, the scene reminded Lucien of how scared he was when he was sent down into the sewers at that time, and later when he needed to kill Baron Laurent.
The bodies of the hornets soon disappeared, which meant that they were not entities but projections. Lucien was a bit disappointed as he intended to collect some materials from them, and he also felt a bit suspicious.
However, he could not put too much thought on it right now, as they still needed to move forward and maintain the formation.
Soon, they came to the second floor. They were now in a spacious hall, which was filled with lots of bookshelves and desks with paper and quills on them.
Some desks were on the floor, and those books on the floor were drenched with blood. Some desks in the corner remained standing there as usual, as if nothing ever happened. An apprentice was killed on his own seat, and the demons cut him right open. His guts were still hanging there.
"This is the Apprentice Hall. We used to study here," Susan said briefly with her trembling voice. "The summoning room is at the end of the corridor after the hall."
Although Lucien wanted to copy all the books here, he understood that this was certainly not the right time. The four of them carefully walked between the bookshelves to get to the corridor.
In order to show their respect, they did not want to directly destroy all the books.
When Lucien walked past a bookshelf, he noticed that there was a mirror on the wall beside. In the mirror, he saw himself walking in the end, following Charlie and Sandra, and Susan was in the middle.
As Lucien turned his head to analyze the mirror, his reflection also made the same movement. His reflection was also wearing a monocle on the left eye.
When Lucien was about to look away, he suddenly saw his own reflection in the mirror start to smile in a creepy way. The eyeballs of the young sorcerer in the mirror started to swell, and greenish-gray pimples started to cover his face!

Chapter 248: Distortion
				Chapter 248: Distortion
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The greenish-gray pimples soon covered the whole face of the young man in the mirror. His eyeballs were protruding, and his nose started to get rotten. Chunks of gray flesh were falling, and white bones and two black eye sockets were revealed.
Lucien was shocked. Seeing what was happening with the familiar face in the mirror, Lucien felt goosebumps rise from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. Although the spell Mechanized Mind did help, Lucien still got frozen there, and he could not think clearly.
At this time, the rotten face in the mirror put on a smile like an ugly clown.
Everything in front of Lucien's eyes went black and his heart stopped beating for about three seconds. Three seconds later, Lucien got his heartbeat back, and it was beating so fast, so bad, as if it was going to jump out of his chest.
Lucien's head started to buzz like crazy. Every single vein in his body was bulging, and all his blood rushed to his brain. He found that what he could see all turned into blood red now, and everything looked very blurry and weird.
Lucien felt that his life force was escaping from his body.
Fortunately, thanks to Lucien's strong will and the spell he had cast on himself, in the last second, he stopped himself from just running away like ordinary people, but instead covered himself with a layer of light, in which many magic symbols were appearing and disappearing as if they were alive.
A second later, the rotten Lucien in the mirror took a step forward and directly came out of the mirror. Its red tong reached out from its mouth and turned black. Shooting out, the tongue directly went through Lucien's Powerful Fire Shield like it did not even exist.
Lucien sensed the smell of death.
Thanks to the newly cast spell, the black, illusory tongue was stopped by the magic-symbol light shield. As soon as the tongue touched the shield, it was burned, and black smoke rose.
The forth-level divine spell, Death Ward!
After Lucien made it to middle-rank, the second layer of Sun's Corona's seal had been unlocked. So he could cast three more divine spells in a day: Burning Radiance, third circle; Death Ward, fourth circle; and Flame Strike, fifth circle, but among them, Death Ward was the very conqueror of any death-related power.
At this time, Charlie and Sandra noticed Lucien's weird behaviour¡ªstaring at the mirror like he was possessed, Lucien's body was protected by some divine power. However, when they looked in the mirror, there was nothing in it, not even any reflection!
Sandra pointed her purple magic staff at the mirror, and instantly very strong light burst out of the mirror, but the light somehow could not go beyond a radius of ten meters. Beyond the ten-meter radius, the darkness was still thick.
Burning Sun was the fourth-circle spell in the school of Light-darkness, and it was only used for resisting demons or the undead from other dimensions. The power just did not feel as holy as the divine spells.
In the pure brightness, a few pieces of black smoke leaked out of the mirror, and when they united together, a horrible monster showed up.
The hood it was wearing did not hide its face. The demon had scarlet eyes, and its skull was covered with only a very thin layer of rotten skin. Its two rows of teeth were directly revealed because it did not have lips. However, this appearance did not look real at the same time, as it kept changing all the time, just like some kind of illusion.
The demon was tall, and it was wearing a really fancy black robe, embroidered with mysterious patterns, and they all looked evil.
The demon, surrounded by black smoke, blocked the light from Burning Sun behind it, and it started laughing. At the same time, gray shadows showed up around Charlie and Sandra.
Although the magic-symbol shield around Charlie worked, however, the gray shadows were just too many, and the shield started to get dim.
At this time, Charlie flew directly towards the bookshelf, or more specific, he dropped onto the bookshelf on the other side of the hall, as if gravity was messed up.
It was the fourth-circle spell in Force Field, Virtual Gravity!
Close beside the mirror, the five magic power spheres above Sandra's and Susan's head were now spinning very fast, and every single gray shadow which tried to jump on them got absorbed by the magic spheres. The magic balls, at the same time, started to get bigger, as Sandra pointed her magic staff at the demon, the spheres fiercely flew toward it.
Two magic spheres directly hit the black smoke around the demon, and the smoke started to be driven away.
Seizing the chance, the strong light from the magic, Burning Sun, reached the demon, and the demon burst out a dreadful scream.
Charlie raised up his right hand wearing the white glove. Instantly, a huge illusory palm showed up beside the demon and directly grabbed it.
Douglas's Huge Palm, a fourth-circle Force Field spell, and it was said that the spell was an improved version of an ancient one.
The ring on Lucien's right hand, Element, was helping him recover. Lucien felt that he could move now, but he did not. Standing there, Lucien took out a crystal ball from his storage pouch. 
The crystal ball first dimmed like there was a night sky in it, and then stars showed up in the night sky, moment when the crystal ball burst out pure light.
Floating in the air, the crystal ball stopped twenty centimetres above Lucien's head. Twelve spots of light surrounding Lucien formed the same pattern with the formation of stars in the crystal ball. The stars were spinning around the ball, and together they formed a small astrology system.
This was a nightmare demon, and Lucien knew that common attack spells would not work on it. So, he directly cast Maskelyne's Star, which was a multi-aspected astrology spell combining illusion detection, enemy's luck alteration, supernatural power absorption and a star sphere attack. On Astrology and Magic Elements, there was a corresponding ninth-circle spell called Maskelyne's Star Map.
As soon as Maskelyne's Star was fully constructed, beams of star light shot out from the crystal ball and directly cast light on the demon. It was for identifying whether the demon was just a projection!
In the star light, the demon was still there.
Charlie pointed his black magic staff at the demon and cast Magic Resistance Reduction on it. Then the demon looked a bit faint.
Capturing the moment, both Sandra and Lucien launched their attacks at the same time, one in the front and one behind. They worked together perfectly well!
A shining big net caught the monster, and it started to become tighter and tighter. Black smoke came out of the demon in the net like it was bleeding!
One of Lucien's star spheres shot the demon right in its center. Like a piece of glass, the demon was torn apart silently in the extremely bright light.
When Susan, who was beyond scared watching them fighting, was just about to give a sigh of relief. The parts of the demon body started to distort, along with the floor, the walls, the light, and even the huge Force Field palm!
Actually, the whole space was distorted!
And then everything broke down!
Like a broken mirror, the space was falling apart, and smoke started leaking out from the cracks in front of them.
Although the smoke was not thick, Lucien realized that he had lost his spiritual power sensing and his intuition. He started to get slow, and he could only see about twenty centimetres in front of him. At the same time, the smoke was affecting how his brain hormone and brain wave worked.
Were it not for Mechanized Mind, Lucien would already have become an idiot there at the same moment, or maybe completely broken down.
Fifth-circle spell, Mind Mist!
Lucien realized that the demon might be of level five, however, the sorcerer had never read much about this kind of demon before!
Although the star spheres spinning above his head lit up the place quite a bit, he still could not see through the mist.
In the terrifying silence, Lucien cast another defensive spell inside his Powerful Fire Shield, which was all he could do right now. He could not see where Charlie, Sandra and Susan were in the mist, and he could not even feel them being around!
When his spiritual power had recovered a bit, Lucien cast a second-circle spell, Dissipate Smoke. This was a spell that was designed for driving away magic smoke.
Lucien had no idea whether this would work, but he really thought it wouldn't. However, the mist did start to disappear, and he could see more clearly now.
Charlie and Sandra also cast the spell, and they saw each other around.
"The mist might be the demon's last struggle¡­" Sandra tried to grab Susan who was already freaked out, but her tone showed that she was not sure.
"That's impossible! There's no way that the horrible demon would just die like that!" said Susan, whose face looked beyond pale. At this time, using all of her strength, she got rid of Sandra's hand and ran toward the corner of the hall.
When Charlie was about to catch her with his Force Field hand, Susan ran into the copper statue in the corner and then she grabbed the statue's ear.
Susan twisted the ear, and a secret door opened in the wall.
Susan did tell them that there was a secret chamber in the hall, which was built by Bertren. Several apprentices found it, and that was their secret.
The sorcerers were not surprised by the existence of the chamber. However, their eyes opened wide when they saw that there was a young teenager boy in the chamber!
The teenager boy was squatting down on the ground, with his hands covering his head. He slowly looked up, and his eyes were filled with fear.
They found another survivor!

Chapter 249: An Ancient Rite
				Chapter 249: An Ancient Rite
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"What's your name?" asked Sandra, who was trying to put on a nice smile on her face and soften her voice. However, the boy still got very scared. Screaming and shaking his head, the teenager boy used his hands and feet to drag himself toward the corner farther inside the chamber.
Lucien did not rush them to get to the summoning room, because the fact that the demon just disappeared like that was too weird. Now they found a survivor here, and they should get more information from him.
Exchanging a look with Sandra, Lucien slightly lifted his chin toward Susan, "Use a magic potion to calm her down. Let Susan talk to him."
Sandra nodded. Experienced as she was, Sandra always carried some magic potions with her around. Although she preferred to directly cast hypnosis on the boy to ask him questions, which was more of her style, she was also concerned that casting any spells on him right now might lead to some unwanted consequences, so Sandra took out a light blue tube and made Susan drink it using Mage Hand.
Lucien adjusted his monocle and activated the spell enchanted on it, Fernando's Electromagnetic Message. Although three of them had enough power to kill a level five demon, he had no idea whether this battle was just a start or not.
Lucien did not hide it from Charlie and Sandra. When the surface of the monocle was covered with magic ripples, Lucien directly called Gaston's name.
"Mr. Gaston, this is Evans."
Currently, this fifth-circle spell could only turn sound vibration into electromagnetic wave.
There was no response from the other side. Lucien raised his voice, "Mr. Gaston? Hello?!"
Still nothing came back.
Lucien started to get a bit concerned. He looked at the wall on the other side of the bookshelf, where there was a window. Outside the window, he could see light fog coming in. Everything looked mysterious, as if they were in a nightmarish maze.
"This is similar to Mind Mist, but not exactly the same. The mist can block and absorb electromagnetic wave¡­ I've never seen something like this¡­" Lucien really wished that he could have read more books in the libraries!
Watching Lucien calling Gaston's name a bit anxiously, Charlie put on a bitter smile, "We're probably in trouble now. The simple task is actually not simple."
When Lucien first received the task, he indeed felt quite suspicious, and he was actually not very surprised with the fact that things were getting complicated. If someone really wanted to give him a hard time, he had no idea how the person managed to fool both Ms. Florencia and Mr. Gaston.
Although lots of thoughts had flashed through Lucien's mind, he stopped himself from sinking into the thoughts. It was not the right time! And dangers might come to them at any moment!
"We need to figure out what is going on here first, then we decide whether we should move on or go back." Lucien looked at Charlie and said.
At this time, Susan started to calm down a bit because of the magic potion she took a minute before.
Adjusting his black battle sorcerer hat, Charlie nodded calmly, "I also checked this place before we came in, and I saw only three kinds of low-rank demons, just as what you have told us, Mr. Evans. So the question is¡­ Where did the demon hide itself, and how?"
"You guys don't know what the demon was?" Lucien asked.
Both Sandra and Charlie shook their heads seriously.
That was not good news. If neither Sandra nor Charlie had any idea what the demon was, it meant that this kind of demon was not registered in either the Encyclopedia of Demons or Handbook of Monsters. Without enough intelligence, it was hard for them to make right decisions. For example, the reason why they did not use Invisibility here was because demons and dragons could easily see through it!
"Maybe in most cases only senior-rank sorcerers would deal with it¡­" Sandra murmured in low voice. Seeing that Susan was almost ready, she pointed at the teenager boy in the chamber and asked Susan, "Do you know him?"
Susan was first a bit confused. When she turned around, she exclaimed, "Oh my! Bill, you're still alive?!"
Hearing her voice, the teenager boy slowly lifted his head, "S¡­ Susan?"
"It's me, Susan. We've come back for you, Bill." Susan put on a comforting smile, "Bill, calm down¡­ Don't be afraid."
"Who is he?" asked Sandra in a low voice beside Susan.
Trying to get closer to Bill, Susan said to them, "He's the youngest student of Mr. Bertren. His spiritual power was very abundant, but he was not doing that great in arcana, so some other apprentices often made fun of him. Scott and me often tutored him, and we were relatively close to each other."
"Ask him what happened in the castle later." Lucien tried to follow Susan to approach Bill.
However, as soon as Bill saw Lucien moving, he lost his mind again. His whole body was trembling, and his eyes opened really wide, "Stay away from me!! Stay away!!"
Lucien nodded and slowly stepped backwards with Charlie. Sandra grabbed Susan's hand to show that she was a friend of Susan.
Although Bill's body was still trembling, he was a little less frightened now.
"Bill, tell me. What did you see in the castle?" Susan squatted down in front of him.
Sandra squatted down as well, and, at the same time, she secretly cast a second-circle spell, Distinguish Lie, around Bill. Because the spell did not work directly on Bill's body or mind, the spell was safe to him.
All of a sudden, Bill reached out his hands and grabbed Susan's arm. Susan got scared as well and she felt on the ground.
Bill said to her, panic-stricken, "All died! All died! Andy, Debra, Stevens¡­ they all died! At first¡­ they almost had killed all the demons, almost! But¡­ but there was one¡­ They couldn't kill it. By no means they could kill it¡­ And they all died¡­ I ran¡­ and I hid here¡­ Susan, get me out of here! I'm so terrified!"
Andy, Debra and Stevens were all first-circle sorcerers in the castle.
The dim light around them from the spell Distinguish Lie did not change, which meant that Bill was not lying.
Susan tried her best to withhold her fear, and started to ask Bill about the details.
Looking at what was going on in the chamber, Lucien and Charlie were on the other side. At this time, Lucien noticed a piece of half-burned parchment written in ancient magic empire characters.
"V(erased)'s special summoning rite:
"You need a rune written in your own blood, a brazier, and Pain Fable¡­"
The rest of the parchment was burned.
Lucien felt the rite was quite funny, as he had never seen any rites requiring a fable book. He collected the following several pages of the parchment from the floor and started to read the few lines that were left there:
"When everything's prepared, read the seventh story, chapter ten, in Pain Fable. Read it over and over again, and transcribe the fable onto the parchment written with the blood rune."
...
"Open the Encyclopedia of Demons, rip off the pages containing the information of the demons that you want summon, then throw the pages into the brazier."
...
"Chant the spell. Keep chanting. When the flame is as tall as you, you'll see your gift."
Charlie also read it, and he commented, frowning, "It looks like a stupid trick. Many of the steps are just nonsense¡­ I mean, what kind of rite would require a fable book? That's ridiculous¡­ The fact that it is found in the apprentice hall shows that it was just a joke. Only idiots would probably try."
"Have you ever read Pain Fable?" Lucien was a bit hesitant, "Ridiculous as it is, the fact that Bertren died when he tried to summon demons here makes me feel nervous about any weird rites that are related to demon summoning."
Charlie paused for a second and then answered, "No, I have never, but someone told me about it before. Those fables were folktales originating from the border between Holm and Brianne in ancient magic empire, and those fables are not cheerful at all. The book is called Pain Fable because those fables teach people lessons by making people feel sad, depressed, resentful and angry. I don't read stuff that makes me feel bad. By the way, Mr. Evans, don't you think the style of the parchment is of the ancient magic empire style? Something before the War of Dawn¡­"
"It is." Lucien took a glance at the bookshelves around, "I wonder if we can find Pain Fable here¡­"
At this time, Susan finished asking questions. As soon as Sandra got the basic information, she cast Charm Person on Bill for further verification.
"So, according to Bill, the summoning room lost control first, and low-rank demons invaded the castle and killed most people here. At this time, Susan and Scott managed to escape. Then later, when the several level one sorcerers that assisted Mr. Bertren got the control of the castle core back and managed to kill most of the low-rank demons there. However, things went wrong when they arrived at the summoning room. They met the demon there and were killed." Based on all the clues, Sandra made this conclusion. She walked to Lucien and Charlie and said, "So, it is almost certain that the demon resurrects every time at the summoning circle when it is killed. We need to destroy the summoning circle to really kill the demon!"
As soon as Sandra finished her words, the floor and walls started to ripple as if they were liquid. Many half-transparent, pale arms fiercely reached out.

Chapter 250: Brazier
				Chapter 250: Brazier
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
¡¡¡¡
Countless illusory pale arms rose from the gray stone floor. Those evil arms were infused with hatred and they were trying to grab the things above them. It seemed like they would tear apart anything that fell into their hands and drag it to hell.
There were countless muscular arms with pale skin spurting out of the wall on the left and the bookshelf on the right. It almost looked like they formed a wall of arms that came straight from hell.
The pale arms around Lucien, Charlie, and Sandra detected their presence. The arms quickly moved toward them and tried to grab their ankles, arms, or edges of their clothes.
The 11 crystal orbs that were rotating over Lucien's head released eye-blinding light as the arms reached his body. The pale arms were burnt into white smoke in the intense light.
Susan and Sandra were surrounded by Sandra's three remaining energy orbs and the energy rays of the orbs were destroying the pale arms around them. The arms that touched Charlie's body left the floor and the wall, being absorbed into Douglas' Absorbing Wall. The flowing magic runes quickly expanded in size and they looked as if they would explode any time.
Charlie, Sandra, and Lucien did not deactivate their defensive spell when waiting for Bill's speech.
However, the more arms they destroyed, the more arms would appear from the walls and the bookshelf. It felt like those endless pale arms came from the deepest abyss.
Three translucent strings originated from Sandra's head, flying to Lucien, Charlie, and Susan.
Lucien and Charlie recognized that the spell was a third circle spell named Lesser Mind Connection. They did not block the strings and let them contact their minds. Susan saw that the two sorcerers took the strings like nothing and decided to take the string as well.
"The only way to solve the problem is to destroy the summoning circle in the binding room. The monsters will get the chance to revive and they will do whatever they want to us if we try to escape." Sandra's thoughts were transferred into Lucien, Charlie, and Susan's mind through the translucent strings.
The spell could help the sorcerers to communicate directly and it was much faster than speaking using their mouths. Lesser Mind Connection and its advanced version were the best choices for communication for the sorcerers when they were battling or adventuring. The weakness of the spell was in the short effective range and also due to the fact that the connection could be interrupted by the spells that could affect their mind.
Charlie agreed with Sandra's plan without any hesitation. "The mist is thick outside. I think if we don't destroy the summoning circle and kill that monster, the mist will never go away. Also, if we wander into the mist, the monster will eliminate us one by one."
The two aggressive sorcerers decided to strike, since they had no way to contact the others. They had two choices: the first was to defend at their current position; the second one was to strike or run away after fighting through the path of the pale arms. They could only wait desperately if they decided to defend their current position. Also, it seemed like the monster was still reviving, since it had not attacked them after the wall of arms appeared. It was the best chance they had.
They would not be able to utilize their power when escaping, as they would be anxious and they might get lost.
"Let's head to the binding room." As the leader of the team, Lucien wasted no time and made the decision.
Bill sealed the secret chamber after the wall of arms appeared, but Sandra had no time to check if he was still safe. Sandra asked Susan to follow after her as she knew that Susan was terrified of the situation.
If Susan was left behind or out of reach in such a dangerous environment, Sandra was certain that she would risk her life for Susan. 
Susan was one of the two survivors that escaped the castle, and thus she could protect herself to some extent. However, if the place was too terrifying, she wouldn't be able to do much without help. Thus, Susan followed closely after Sandra, who just summoned the energy orbs again.
Lucien was following after the team and he was running at full speed with the help of the knight-level speed that was buffed by the spell named Speed. He was moving so fast that his body blurred. The starlight of Maskelyne's Star splashed on the ground and the pale arms from the walls were purified. However, Maskelyne's Star was just a third circle spell and only eight stars out of the eleven were left, since there were so many pale arms. Also, it could not eliminate all the pale arms fast enough, so Lucien's body and outfit were grabbed several times.
Luckily, Lucien still had the Death Ward and the Powerful Fire Shield, that successfully destroyed the arms that escaped from the starlight.
Lucien thought he was walking on some rotten meat or slippery moss as the arms rose up from the ground. It was a horrifying scene and an unpleasant experience.
The sorcerers knocked down more than ten bookshelves before entering the hallway, they had no time to dodge every object on their way.
The hallway was more terrifying than the apprentice's hall. Pale arms were no longer reaching out of the walls, but they were replaced with arms from dead bodies. Those rotten arms were covered with bloody wounds and there were red tongues hanging down the ceiling.
Sandra pointed her wand forward as she ran and the whole hallway was brightened up quickly. The light gathered together and burned the translucent arms, bloody arms, and the tongues into ashes.
Charlie also cast a spell. Two intense flame walls appeared on both sides of the hallway. The arms had to pass through the flames before reaching the sorcerers, but the flames could deal a large amount of damage to both the bloody and the translucent arms. Those arms would lose their power even if they could pass through the flame walls, and Sandra's Burning Sun could easily purify them.
The two sorcerers who were good at offensive spells cleared the path and Lucien could travel at full speed without casting any extra spells. Lucien had the chance to focus on checking the surroundings, so he could react as soon as possible to any potential threats.
That was usually how the sorcerers fought during intense battles.
Although the hallway was long, the sorcerers were traveling so fast that they reached the end quickly. The pale arms, dead arms, and the bloody tongues were getting stronger and stronger. Some of them passed through the flame wall and the Burning Sun, landing on the sorcerers' bodies. Those hands and tongues almost broke through their defenses. It meant that the monster would be revived soon.
The arms on the ground slowed down the sorcerers greatly and the arms almost formed a forest by the corners.
Lucien quickly created a large fireball and released it. The fireball went over the sorcerers in front of him and landed on the ground.
*Bam*
The noise was loud in the narrow space of the hallway and the shockwave blew a lot of arms away. The doors on the walls were also destroyed, and numerous cracks and holes were left on the ground.
Half of the forest made of arms was destroyed, and Charlie, Sandra, and Susan passed through it easily as the rest of the arms were no longer a problem. However, a lot of arms spurted out of the ground again when Lucien tried to pass through.
Lucien changed the rotating trail of the eight light spheres over his head. Two of them crashed into two other, as if they were trying to change their destiny. The four light spheres quickly disappeared into the air after crashing into each other.
Lucien walked to the corner after making changes to the spell, Maskelyne's Star. The translucent arms and the bloody arms reached out to him but they were centimeters away from contacting Lucien's body. Some of the arms grabbed each other after missing the target.
Such situation only happened several times when they were running through the hallway but it was happening all the time at the moment.
It was one way to use the Maskelyne's Star. The target would lose its luck and it would not be able to do anything after its destiny was changed by the stars.
One second later, the arms returned to normal but Lucien was already past the corner. He saw that Charlie's defensive force field palm perished in the air and the absorbing wall reached its limit. Four of the energy orbs above Sandra's head also broke into pieces.
There were no longer arms reaching out of the walls and the door of the binding room was not visible to them. Instead, enormous eyes formed a giant wall that blocked the path. Their black eyeballs and white pupils were everywhere. They were like the messenger that brought the desperation to this world.
Lucien felt like his soul turned black after being stared at by those eyes, he felt that he was losing himself in the abyss. The Maskelyne's Star above his head extinguished right away and the crystal orbs dropped to the ground after losing their color. The Powerful Fire Shield was fading away and the rotating divine runes of the Death Ward appeared in the air.
Suddenly, a thin layer of pure light appeared on Sandra's body. Rays of light were released by her and the rays flew toward the Wall of Evil Eyes like fireworks.
It was a fourth circle spell named Arcana Light. The spell was created based on the level four divine spell named Light from the Heavenly Mountain. Although Arcana Light was not infused with the mysterious power of a divine spell, it could still be used to eliminate evil creatures.
Lucien activated Sun's Corona at the same time and holy light landed on the Wall of Evil Eyes. The twisted eyes were purified in the light one by one.
Level three divine spell šC Burning Radiance.
Meanwhile, Charlie created a clear mirror in front of the Wall of Evil Eyes and forced the eyes to stare at themselves. It was a second circle force field spell named Staring, that was designed for the staring attacks.
The mirror broke into pieces under the pressure, but at the same time the evil eyes exploded one by one. Black liquid splashed onto the ground and it sounded like metal being corroded. The rest of the eyes were perishing in the light from the Burning Radiance and Arcana Light.
When the situation was complicated, low-level spells might be more effective than the high-level ones.
The Wall of Evil Eyes fell down without making any noise, revealing the door to the binding room.
A fireball was released from Charlie's white gloves, it blew the door and the wall into pieces. The sorcerers finally had the chance to see what the room looked like.
There was a normal-looking magic circle in the binding room, but there were dead bodies lining up on the end of each string. Blood that dripped down from the dead bodies was transferred to the core of the magic circle through the strings.
In the center of the magic circle, there was a brazier containing dark flames, but it looked like a common, kitchen brazier. From within the flames, a body covered with a luxurious long black robe was rising, with its two skinny pale hands placed on the borders of the brazier to push its body upward.
The skull with a thin layer of rotten meat and a pair of bloody red eyes was staring at Charlie, who was the closest to the door. The expression on the skull's face did not look as if it was anxious, angry, or threatening. It was simply a strange mocking smile.

Chapter 251: Bitter Fight
				Chapter 251: Bitter Fight
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When the demon's scarlet eyes looked at Charlie, Lucien noticed that Charlie's face froze immediately, and the symbols on the magic shield started to swell and break into pieces. Then, the whole shield was destroyed. As soon as the shield was gone, Charlie was enveloped by a heavy black fog.
It happened so fast that neither Lucien nor Sandra managed to take any actions.
After a second, the black fog disappeared all of a sudden. A small black pig showed up at the spot where Charlie was, and it looked beyond lost. Turning around in circles, its thin tail kept wagging.
"Baleful Polymorph!" Sandra's voice came to Lucien's mind through their telepathic bond, "We need to kill it before it gets out of the brazier!"
At the same time, dark clouds gathered under the celling. Among those clouds, streak lightnings were flashing, turning the whole place into a lightning forest.
The forth-circle spell in the school of Electromagnetics, Lightning Clouds!
A big fireball was created in front of Lucien, and he threw it fiercely at the demon at the center of the magic circle.
The demon might be immune to flame and blast, but the magic circle and the brazier should not. As long as the demon lost its rebirth ability, the sorcerers were confident that they could kill it again.
At the same time, Lucien was being cautious not to cast Elemental Swirl right away before making sure it was effective to do so with the demon, because if the demon was completely spiritual, Elemental Swirl would not only lose its power but also hurt Lucien badly.
The second before the fireball hit the brazier, a dark mist rose, expanded very fast, and devoured the whole room completely, even including the lightning and Lucien's fireball.
However, at the same time, the lightning and fireball also made the mist look quite thinner, as if both sides were fighting for the dominant right of the space.
Sandra's lips were half open, murmuring. The darkness in the space started to be distorted by some kind of invisible power. The lightning showed up again and fused together into a lightning ball. The target of the ball was the center of the room.
The forth-circle spell in Electromagnetics, Distorted Magnetic Field.
Seizing the chance, Lucien pointed his coral staff at the demon and cast the second-circle spell Sadism on it with the assistance of the staff's power. The spell, in the intersection of Astrology, Necromancy and Light-darkness, could build a special connection between a sorcerer and their enemy: when the enemy was hurt, the sorcerer would reach quite a significant improvement on his or her life force, spiritual power, attack and defence, and the enemy would be hurt even further!
At this time, only spells like this could work in this magnetically distorted environment.
When the demon was hit by the lightning ball, it burst out hoarse and terrifying scream.
All of a sudden, Sandra's shadow became alive, and the shadow directly grabbed her ankles and pulled her toward the deeper shadow pit nearby, that looked like a well.
Lucien heard Sandra's scream in his mind, and lots of lightning exploded in the shadow well!
That was totally out of Lucien's expectation. He was about to activate Sun's Corona, and he hesitated for a second¡ªshould he save Sandra first or keep attacking the demon?
As soon as Lucien had the two thoughts, he already made the decision. He decided to continue to launch his attack. He had to be prepared for the moment when the demon got rid of the control of Distorted Magnetic Field, so that his spell would not be distorted as well.
The moment when the distortion and lightning completely wore off, the demon covered itself with black fog again, as if it was just prepared for Lucien's attack.
However, somehow, everything suddenly got quiet, silent, more relevant, and the fancy black robe that the demon was wearing cracked. From the crack, rotten flesh covered with white tiny maggots was revealed.
In a corner of the room, Charlie's figure slowly rose. However, the little black pig was still near the room entrance. Charlie looked pale, and his black battle robe was gone. There was a weird-looking book page written with mysterious characters that quickly disappeared in front of the white glove that Charlie was wearing on his right hand.
Lucien recognized it immediately: it was a forth-circle spell in Transformation, Demon Elegy, a exclusive spell from the Congress!
It seemed that Charlie just used some kind of magic buff on his robe or some unique spell and somehow avoided Baleful Polymorph, then he attacked the demon with a totally unexpected strike!
When the demon was screaming out of great pain, Lucien suddenly felt refreshed and activated Sun's Corona immediately. A streak of flame came down onto the demon directly. In the flame's holy light, the demon's fancy black robe was burned into ashes, and most of its body was also burned down together with those maggots crawling over it.
Flame Strike!
Lucien did not stop. When the remaining part of the demon was still writhing from the pain, Lucien's left hand pointed at the brazier. It was his next target!
Seeing Lucien's gesture, the demon was more than scared. Turning itself into black mist, the demon rushed at the brazier, dragging the flame around, to stop Lucien.
The brazier was close to the demon, and it had been improved by magic, so it would not be destroyed by Lucien at one shot easily.
However, as soon as Lucien pointed at the brazier, a cracking sound came from its inside, and colourful light quickly covered it. On the next second, the brazier suddenly swelled and broke down into small pieces of different colors!
The third-circle exclusive spell, Elemental Order!
The demon paused for a second out of great shock and was forced to come back to its previous form, wearing the black robe, because the brazier was already gone. At this time, clusters of flame which smelled like sulphur covered its body, and its rotten flesh and bones started to swell.
Seeing that, Lucien quickly activated Powerful Fire Shield again, and his body was covered with a layer of white and golden flame shield again.
At this time, Sandra, who just got rid of the shadows and came out from the shadow well, instantly cast Palmeira's Power Magic Spheres again on herself as well as on Susan.
On the other side, Charlie also activated Douglas's Absorbing Wall decisively.
The demon exploded. The great explosion sound buzzed Lucien's ears. Through the layer of flame, he saw heavy black smoke mixed with flame billowing, and in the smoke there were chunks of rotten flesh as well.
The flame shield was shaking from the great surge of power created by the explosion. Although Powerful Fire Shield did not work facing attacks targeting the soul or spirit, as a fifth-circle spell, the fire shield could definitely handle it.
When the explosion settled and the heavy smoke started to disappear, everything was a great mess in the summoning room. The floor was covered with chunks of rotten flesh, and the summoning circle was completely destroyed. Even parts of the walls, which were fortified with lots of defensive magic circles, were torn down, so Lucien could see the light mist outside slowly disappearing through the gaps.
"That was tough, uh?" Charlie's magic absorbing wall disappeared, and his white glove now looked ragged. His face still looked pale, and he was coughing from the heavy smoke.
All the magic spheres above Sandra's were gone after absorbing the great explosion power. Fortunately, because of Stone Skin and her purple magic robe, she did not get hurt, and Susan, who hid behind Sandra, was also fine, except that her hair was beyond messy.
Checking her surroundings, Sandra released a long sigh, "We finally sent the damned demon back to hell, at great cost."
"My precious magic robe has been ruined!" Charlie took a glance at the burned little pig body, "I've gotta report this to the Congress for compensation."
If a sorcerer's own magic item or potion was destroyed or used in this kind of forced task, the Congress would compensate the sorcerer.
Lucien also relaxed a bit, but he still felt that something was not right, "The brazier keeps reminding me of the ridiculous summoning rite that we found in the apprentice hall. I wonder if Bertren really tried the rite¡­ And also, don't you guys find it weird that the thing just exploded itself in the end? I mean¡­ it did not have to. The thing at least should try to escape¡­"
"Maybe it was not able to." Charlie looked at the thin mist outside, still coughing, "Maybe it was trapped within the brazier, and once the brazier was destroyed, the thing could not exist any longer. When we leave this place, Mr. Evans, please contact Mr. Gaston. It's way safer to let those senior-rank sorcerers investigate this place further."
Charlie leaned his back against the wall and took out a tiny, fine tin box from his pocket. After a click, the lid of the tin box popped up and Charlie took out a cigarette from it.
"Want one?" Charlie puffed out the gray cigarette smoke, and started to feel soothed, "Top tobacco from Tria."
"No, thanks." Lucien shook his head.
"The mist's almost gone now. Mr. Evans, why don't you try contacting Mr. Gaston?" Sandra rubbed her forehead a bit. "And we can check whether Bill is still alive in the apprentice hall."
As she was saying, Sandra looked around at the metal pieces on the floor to see if there was any precious material left.
A metal piece on the floor reflected Sandra's tired-looking face. Suddenly, the face put on a creepy smile, and two white, fat maggots crawled out of the eye and the nose!

Chapter 252: Hatred
				Chapter 252: Hatred
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Lucien activated his monocle, before he could try to contact Mr. Gaston again, he suddenly sensed a great magic power and subconsciously cast Maskelyne's Star. The crystal ball that Lucien had just picked up from the floor rose to the air again above his head, surrounded by twelve shining light spheres.
Charlie was slower than Lucien, but not by much. The giant palm made of force covered him again.
Susan, however, was completely lost. Without Sandra's protection, she had no idea what she could do, but only watched the electric sparks in front of Sandra's chest fighting against the cluster of black smoke. Very quickly, the black smoke was driven away from Sandra.
As soon as the black smoke left Sandra's body, the several metal pieces on the floor in front of Sandra turned burned black.
"The thing's still around!!" Sandra's voice was sharp with fear, "I almost got controlled by it!"
The collar of her magic robe had partly burst from some kind of great power, and a deformed amulet that Sandra was wearing dropped on the floor with a crisp sound.
The sorcerers had killed the demon twice, and they had revealed all their strongest spell, but the demon was still around! Experienced as Sandra was, her back was still covered in cold sweat.
With star-like spheres spinning above his head, Lucien looked around cautiously, and he tried to call Gaston through the monocle. However, it still did not work.
Charlie cast Lesser Mind Connection, connecting the four of them together.
"We should leave this place!" Susan was experiencing another nervous breakdown again, "It never dies!"
Lucien remained calm, and he made a quick analysis, "We thought the demon summoned by Bertren needed the brazier as a medium to keep coming back, and now we know that's not true. Mr. Bertren understood arcana, and it is very unlikely that an arcanist would try such a ridiculous rite. It must be someone else who summoned the demons!"
"Bill..?!" Charlie responded quickly, although he still felt very tired. "He's the only one who's still alive in this castle."
"Impossible," said Sandra. "I've checked him with Charm Person. Wait¡­ unless¡­"
"What?" asked Charlie.
"Unless the demon helped Bill¡­ Unless the demon erased part of his memory!" Sandra murmured.
Hearing that, Susan suddenly stopped crying. She was shocked.
"Susan mentioned that Bill was often bullied by other apprentices, and the kid's mind was probably filled with anger and hatred. He wanted to take revenge, but he did not know much about arcana, so he decided to try that vicious rite, no matter how ridiculous it was in other apprentices' eyes." Lucien nodded, then he turned to Susan and asked her through their telepathic bond, "Did Bill ever read Pain Fable?"
Susan frowned, trying to search the answer from her memory, and then her eyes suddenly opened wide, "Yes! Bill¡­ Bill told me reading Pain Fable made him more determined to put more effort in learning arcana!"
"Let's go," said Lucien decisively. This time, they must completely kill the demon before it regained its power again from Bill.
Bill just lied. He misled them to the summoning room to buy more time for the demon!
In the battle formation, the three sorcerers headed for the apprentice hall. Susan took all of her courage and followed Sandra.
Lucien, as usual, still felt something suspicious. He wondered why when they entered the summoning room, they indeed saw the demon getting out from the brazier. However, he had no time to figure it out right now.
To leave no time for the demon, they moved really fast. On their way back, there was no creepy, pale arms or disgusting, bloody tongues, which meant that the demon was still recovering!
When they got back to the chamber, they saw the eyes of the copper statue were swelling, and many eyes, with black eyeballs but white pupils, covered the doors and nearby walls.
Seeing the Wall of Evil Eyes was not even completely formed yet, the three sorcerers were slightly relieved, as they knew that they came back in time. Right now, the demon must be very weak!
This was a great opportunity!
Quickly exchanging their thoughts through the telepathic bond, they figured out a battle tactic within a few seconds. Then, Lucien fiercely threw a powerful fireball right at the gate of the chamber.
An instant before that, Charlie had cast Staring in front of the forming Wall of Evil Eyes. As soon as the eyes saw themselves in the mirror, the creepy eye wall collapsed together with the mirror screen.
So, Lucien's great fireball directly hit the chamber gate.
The defensive magic circles on the chamber got destroyed layer by layer from the great explosion, and the stone gate was exploded into pieces and stone dust. Following that, Sandra's purple magic staff illuminated the whole chamber with Arcana Light.
In the light, Bill half knelt on the floor of the chamber, where dust and smoke was everywhere.
Bill's eyes, staring at the sorcerers, were filled with great hatred and anger. However, there was the same creepy smile on his distorted face. His muscles kept bulking and his skin together with his apprentice uniform was torn up. His whole body was covered with swollen muscle and blood, and even his veins could be seen. Among his muscles and veins, white maggots were crawling. Some even came out from his mouth, nose, eyes and ears!
"Bill? You¡­" Susan was shocked. She thought that it was Bill who summoned the demon, but now, seeing that, she realized that the demon was Bill himself!
A transparent wall showed up in front of Bill, in which countless black, weird magic symbols were floating. He burst out laughing, "They slapped me in my face! They mocked me! But when I saw how terrified and desperate they were when I killed them, I realized that they were just timid, filthy dirty mice! Look, only a strong will can bring you power, and power derives from pain! Pain has awakened me!"
His words were sharp.
Two streaks of white light directly hit the transparent wall, and some magic symbols started to disappear. Neither of them wasted their time having any kind of chicken soup conversation with Bill, but directly used a third-circle Force Field spell called Dispel Magic, which had a chance to remove a magic buff or a defensive force field from the target.
At the same time, three Maskelyne's stars above Lucien's head collided with the other three, and dazzling light burst out, which improved Charlie and Sandra's Luck to maximize the power of Dispel Magic.
"This is not power! This is evil!" Susan cried.
Bill laughed, "No, this is not evil. This is ourselves! Hatred, jealous, greed, anger¡­ We all have it!"
As he was laughing, his lips fell off, revealing his teeth, and his eyes became scarlet.
The transparent wall had been destroyed. Obviously, its power was not back yet, not even a small part of it.
As soon as the wall disappeared, both Charlie and Sandra activated their magic items and recast Dispel Magic again!
The layer of black smoke on Bill disappeared with Charlie's casting, and then clusters of smoke started to come out after Sandra's spell hit him!
Lucien's right hand was now covered with purple light, as if he was holding a small, purple sun. Instantly, colourful light spots in golden, silver, black, white, purple and more, surrounded Bill, and they started spinning at great speed around him, like a crazy swirl. The swirl was tearing Bill's body apart!
The monster might be pure spiritual, but Bill was not! Bill was still made up from elements!
This was the right time for the last strike!
The swirl was getting bigger and bigger, and the light brighter and brighter. The whole place was filled with dazzling light.
Lucien felt great pain in his heart and head. His soul was very weak and his spiritual power was scattered. He could not even open his mouth to speak, but leaned his body against the bookshelf.
At this time, Charlie came to his aid. Using Mage Hand, Charlie made Lucien take the magic potion called Water Song.
Sandra, in the front, stared at Bill intently, protecting Lucien and Charlie.
When the swirl slowly disappeared, the chamber was completely destroyed. Through the several huge holes on the floor, they could see the hall downstairs.
Except for a burned mark on the floor, there was nothing left of Bill.
"Did we¡­ kill it?" Sandra was a bit hesitant. When she looked out of the window, the mist was completely gone, and the sunset was quite nice.
"Not sure, but now that the mist is gone, we should contact Mr. Gaston," said Lucien. He felt much better after the potion, although he could still feel pain in his soul. Trying his best, he activated Electromagnetic Message.
Water Song was definitely the ideal healing potion for middle-rank sorcerers. However, right now Lucien could only activate magic items, but not cast any spells.
"Mr. Gaston?"
After several seconds, Gaston's elderly voice came to them through the monocle, "Any trouble there, Lucien?"
"Yeah. A demon." Lucien briefly told Gaston what happened there. During that time, he relaxed a little bit.
After a moment of silence, Gaston said, "You four find a safe room. Go in there and cast defensive magic circles around it. Stay in the room and wait for the nearby senior-rank sorcerers to get there."
Hearing that, all of them felt a little more relieved. They started to head for the power room through the other corridor of the apprentice hall to wait there.
"Yes, Mr. Evans?" Seeing Lucien frowning, Charlie asked, "Is there anything wrong again?"
Lucien nodded, "Yes, something¡­ I'm just thinking, why the thing attacked Sandra and alerted us before it was fully recovered?"

Chapter 253: Behind Them
				Chapter 253: Behind Them
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Maybe the thing knew that we had relaxed our guard after destroying the brazier, and since you still could not get in touch with Mr. Gaston, we would find out very soon that the thing did not die completely. So, controlling one of us and launching an unexpected attack might be the best way in its mind at that time." Charlie tried to analyze what just happened, "Also, according to Bill's words, this kind of demon comes from negative emotions, and very often they can't control themselves, not to mention figuring out the best tactic."
As his body was gradually absorbing the magic potion, Lucien felt much better, although he still could not run or use magic. Listening to Charlie's words, he slightly nodded, "I know what you mean, Charlie, but I just feel the whole thing is quite suspicious¡­"
The two ladies were walking in the front. Hearing what Lucien just said, Sandra quickly looked around with great caution, while Susan looked very terrified and her voice trembled, "Mr. Evans¡­ Are you saying that the demon's still alive?!"
In this great nightmare, Susan could bare no more.
"I agree. The demons' contradictory behaviour pattern is quite beyond our understanding." Charlie nodded.
Hearing that, Susan almost fell to the floor.
After a moment's pause, Charlie continued, "However, from many ancient notes and legends, we know that demons are indeed disordered. After all, they come from a place of chaos."
"Mr. Charlie¡­ You really scared me there." Susan could not help complaining a bit.
"That's true." Lucien was totally okay with Charlie putting forward his opinion, "Those pit demons are of various kind. Especially on Skeleton Land, new demon species are being created every day, and of course we cannot recognize them all."
Susan let out a long sigh of relief. She trusted Mr. Evans' words.
However, Lucien then changed his tone, "But no matter how disordered the demon was, it would not give up the chance of killing us. The thing got enough power to kill me, either using Baleful Polymorph or Shadow Well, because I had nothing specifically to defend myself at that time. However, what the thing cast on me were spells that targeted the soul or spirit, although the thing knew that I was protected by Death Ward, so the spells could not directly kill me."
As Lucien was saying, he concluded that his study in arcana was too imbalanced. Although he was very dedicated to the school of Element and Astrology, he ignored other schools, so he did not have enough variety of spells to face the demon. When he went back to Allyn, he would need to branch his study in a wise way.
"Maybe, when it was trying to attack us using the mirror reflection, the demon just could not use other spells except those ones targeting at one's spirit or soul." Sandra had her own understanding, and her comment definitely made sense. When the demon was casting other spells, it wasn't inside the mirror.
"Discussion really helps." Lucien smiled, "Thank you for aswering my questions, but I've still got some: first, why the summoning room looked just like what the rite instruction described, if Mr. Bertren never tried that ridiculous rite? Bill had no right entering Mr. Bertren's summoning room. Second, why the half-burned parchment was there? Why we happened to find it? Why it is just half-burned?"
"Well¡­" Charlie found those questions quite hard to explain, "For the first question, maybe Bill went back to the summoning room after Mr. Bertren was dead, in order to make his teacher be blamed for it. And the fact that the summoning room looked like that also distracted us and directed us to the wrong direction. And the second one¡­ I don't think Bill wanted to burn the instruction. When they were fighting, the parchment was set on fire by accident."
"Yup, and we just found it." Sandra nodded. Then, they came to the corridor that lead to the power room.
"Then I've got no more questions." Lucien took out his pocket watch and said, "Now it's 5:25 p.m.. In fifteen minutes, the senior-rank sorcerer should be here. Let's be patient."
"Okay." The other three nodded.
Although they had found answers for all of Lucien's questions, those questions still made them feel nervous. Therefore, neither of them lowered their guard. The colourful power spheres were still spinning above Susan and Sandra, and a power absorbing wall was protecting Lucien and Charlie.
When they walked down the corridor, Susan looked at one of the rooms of which had its door open, and she looked a bit confused.
Lucien, Sandra and Charlie also looked at the inside of the room. It was empty. There was nothing there.
"Susan?" asked Sandra, "Any problem?"
Susan frowned a bit and answered, "This is Mr. Bertren's vault. He stored all his treasures like gold, silver, and precious materials here, but now they're all gone¡­"
Knowing that demons and monsters definitely had no interest in those things, instantly, they all got nervous again!
"Let's not panic for nothing." Sandra was being a bit hesitant, "Maybe¡­ maybe that thing needed precious gold, gems and materials to maintain its existence¡­"
However, although she was saying so, Sandra herself was still quite nervous, checking the surroundings by looking around.
"I don't think so¡­ Bill was not summoning dragons. Those demons do not need treasures to be summoned." Charlie could not agree with Sandra, "Let's stop moving and just stay here. This place is surely weird, but I think it's because of something else, not that thing. There's no way that the thing can come back again."
Then, Charlie and Sandra started to cast defensive spells around them, and Susan also tried to help, while Lucien was still leaning against the wall, feeling quite weak. Right now his spiritual power was only enough for activating magic items.
Soon the magic circles were all ready. They could finally take a rest there. Anyone or anything that were lower than fifth-circle needed to use at least ten minutes to break their defence, and the two fourth-circle sorcerers behind the magic circles were confident that they could easily make it last until the senior-rank sorcerer arrived.
Charlie and Sandra were standing on each side of the gate, Lucien was leaning against the wall, and Susan was hiding in a corner. They could see their blurry figures in the smooth stone wall surface in front of them, including Sandra's ripped collar, Charlie's torn vest and Lucien's monocle.
Lucien said to them seriously, "The demon might have died, but someone, or something, is behind all of this."
When he was saying it, all of a sudden, he saw that his own monocle-wearing figure in the wall grinned. The smile was not creepy, but more like a victor's smile!
Lucien immediately activated Sun's Corona, although his headache was still very bad. A streak of holy light hit the wall.
"What?!" Sandra and Charlie immediately got ready for another battle, but there was nothing there. Only the light from Lucien's Holy Strike was shining on the wall.
Lucien carefully checked the surroundings. Nothing happened.
He told them what he saw, and then said, "I might be too nervous¡­ I don't know. It can be just my illusion¡­"
"If the demon was really there, it could have attacked you directly, Mr. Evans, instead of revealing itself in front of you for nothing," said Sandra. Both Sandra and Charlie believed that it was just Lucien's mind playing tricks on him.
Lucien adjusted his monocle a bit and said, "I don't know. Anyway, the senior-rank sorcerer should be here in a few minutes. We shall still remain vigilant."
...
In the apprentice hall, the black, corrosion marks started to wriggle and then suddenly shot upwards. A giant creature with strong body and long neck showed up in the hall. The creature's head looked like that of lizard, and on its back, there was a pair of transparent wings similar to those of a bat. The creature's body was covered with a layer of big scales. In the light of sunset, its scales were shining in a dream-like manner. As soon as the creature showed up, the whole place was filled with a strong, oppressive aura.
This thing was a giant dragon!
In the corner of the hall, the air suddenly rippled, and a figure slowly showed up.
It was a handsome-looking, middle-aged man wearing a fancy magic robe. There was a notebook and a quill in his hands.
As soon as the dragon saw the man, it leaped forward and put its huge front claws on the force shield surrounding the sorcerer, showing its red tongue. The man's shield was cracking, however, he was not scared at all. Instead, he wrote something down on his notebook and smiled, "You're a good actor."
The dragon's nose made an "uh-huh" sound. Clearly, the dragon was quite cheerful and proud. It kept licking the sorcerer's force shield. 
The sorcerer stopped writing and read his notes in a low voice, "Cautious, agile, decisive, calm¡­ Facing danger, the sorcerer outperformed most of his peers. Choice of spells and magic combination can be quite problematic, however. Majors imbalanced¡­ A lot of work shall be done to fix this problem¡­"
After closing the notebook, the middle-aged sorcerer stared at the dragon seriously, "Atforest, you should know that the treasures belong to the Congress. You cannot have it."
The giant dragon was still licking the force shield happily and directly ignored his words.
Observing the rising number of cracks on his shield, the sorcerer shook his head slightly, "All right, all right¡­ You can take part of it, as your reward."
"Huh!" the giant dragon's nose made a happy noise again. Then, to show its happiness, the dragon licked the shield again. This time, its long red tongue licked it into pieces.

Chapter 254: In the Library
				Chapter 254: In the Library
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The middle-aged sorcerer looked around the hall and signed a bit sympathetically, "It's so unlucky of Bertren. He was just summoning a couple of demons for his experiment, having no idea that his youngest apprentice was also secretly conducting a summoning rite in the chamber, or there was no way that an experienced sorcerer like him would fail to notice what was going on in his own castle in time."
"Well¡­ Thompson, I don't see this as just merely bad luck." The dragon pulled out a bulky bag from under its belly satisfactorily, and started to count the gold nuggets, coins and precious magic materials, "According to my experience, when the kid was trying to seek for power from Pain Fable, the hatred demon had already cast its projection in his mind, and started to affect his way of thinking, behavior, and emotions. The special rite later was only made to reinforce the demon's power."
The dragon's voice was, surprisingly, like that of a kid and also sounded genderless, which was in sharp contrast to its great power.
The sorcerer named Thompson looked at the dragon, who squatted there counting his treasures, smiling, "Atforest, what do you mean by 'your experience'?"
"I mean it. Every time I see shining treasures, a demon projection arises in my mind, and the demon's called Greed," the dragon said innocently. "The demon projection affects me so much that I cannot stop myself from taking all the treasures away. It's not really my fault¡­"
"Where's the demon from?" Thompson was a bit amused, "Now that you can explain all of this to me, I'm sure that you are in control of your thoughts now. Atforest, why don't you give all the treasure back?"
"But¡­ But you've promised me, Thompson. This is my reward." The dragon shook its head, "And I don't know where it comes from¡­ maybe the ancient hell¡­ I don't know. It's just there."
Atforest's nonsense made Thompson think, "Several grand arcanists have explored hell and even met some dukes and counts there. From their adventures and those ancient legends, the grand arcanists heard that once there were seven powerful and mysterious demons in hell, and each of them represented the seven negative things¡ªarrogance, greed, envy, anger, pain, acolasia and hypocrisy, but unfortunately, there's no solid evidence for this. And there's also another saying¡ªsome believe that the seven negative things were symbols from those cunning and evil demons in hell, and each demon had at least one of the traits."
"I see¡­" Atforest was not interested in Thompson's words. It secretly hid away some small-sized, precious items from the bag for himself. After all, Atforest knew that some of them indeed belonged to the Congress.
Thompson pretended that he did not see what Atforest was doing there but continued, "It is necessary that we pay more attention to the book, Pain Fable, since it might be connected to some secrets of the world. The demon's power and even its existence were so strange and mysterious. Without you, Atforest, I might have failed the mission and the demon could have escaped from me. Your ability of casting those spiritual and soul spells is very important."
The senior-rank sorcerer also felt that the demon was very strange and mysterious.
Then Thompson took out his badges and put them on, in front of this chest.
...
In the corridor, because Lucien all of a sudden attacked the wall, Charlie, Sandra and Susan got very nervous again, especially Susan, who didn't even dare to breathe.
And when all of them heard the solid footstep reverberating through the corridor, the tension peaked. A middle-aged man wearing a flame-like magic robe walked to them. He had black hair and blue eyes, and he was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. The man was elegant and good-looking.
"Hello, I'm Thompson, from the Affairs Committee. I happened to be around in Caspar, so the Congress sent me to deal with the rest of the stuff here," said Thompson with a kind smile on his face in front of the magic circles and the defence wall. Apparently, the three sorcerers were still very cautious and alert.
Thompson was wearing three badges on his chest: one was a six-star arcana badge; one was an eight-circle magic badge; and the third one was the black-fire badge representing Affairs Committee.
Lucien stopped Susan, who was just about to step out of the magic circles and defensive wall due to her excitement, and he said to the man, "Mr. Thompson, we mean no offence, but to make sure we're safe, we want to check your badges. The demon was very creepy and unpredictable."
Both Charlie and Sandra nodded. They had heard more than once that bad things happened when sorcerers lowered their guard in front of a transformed demon.
Thompson did not mind. Smiling, he took down his badges and let them check it freely.
After making sure the badges were not fake, Charlie walked out of the magic circles and reported to Thompson directly, "Sir, the demon was very weird. When we first entered the castle¡­"
It was supposed to be Lucien's job reporting to Thompson, however, he was too weak to talk that much right now.
After listening to Charlie carefully, Thompson nodded, "This task turned out to be tougher than we thought, and the correct level of the task should be 'Dangerous'. You will all receive way more arcana points later than what was promised, and all the magic items and potions that were consumed in the task would be compensated by the Congress. Just write them down into a list and submit the list to Task Zone. That will take about a week."
"So good to hear that." Sandra was relieved. Clearly, the amulet she was wearing was precious and must be very important to her.
Charlie was also glad to hear that he would get the same magic robe back as well.
Thompson blocked the whole castle using magic, and he decided to first send the sorcerers back to Fraser town.
...
In the coach heading for the major city of Kapas, after a long time of silence, Sandra said to the rest of the people in the coach a bit hesitantly, "This task was surely creepy and mysterious, and the only thing we could be certain was that an apprentice summoned a terrifying and powerful demon through a ridiculous rite, which could not yet be explained by Summoning arcana. The whole thing has been bothering me a lot¡­"
Among them, Sandra was the only one who specialized in the school of Summoning. Thus, she was the one who was influenced the most.
Although the School of Summoning, compared to other schools, fell behind in its arcana study, and it was still of the strong style of ancient magic empire, the summoning rite that Bill followed was even ridiculous in the ancient empire's understanding of Summoning.
If an apprentice could summon a demon which was at least of fifth-circle, what should sorcerers from other schools do with themselves? This whole thing was beyond Sandra's understanding, and for most ancient summoners, a summoning rite like this must sound like a joke.
Charlie nodded, "Only part of the summoning instruction was left. We cannot draw any solid conclusion before we see the full version of it. Indeed, the whole thing was very creepy."
"I feel that the demon was Bill himself¡­" Susan also made a comment. Honestly speaking, if the rite could really improve the power of an apprentice directly to fifth-circle level, it was actually quite alluring, although she would never want to lose control of herself and look that ugly.
Lucien had recovered a lot, and he looked at Susan and Scott through his monocle and asked, "Have you ever read Pain Fable?"
Susan shook her head, while Scott looked very terrified, "Mr. Evans, I was closer to Bill. Once, I saw the book in his room and I did read a couple of stories in it. All the stories I read were more than gloomy and desperate, and they made me feel so angry and dark that I almost wanted to destroy this world of pain. I don't understand why they can be called fables¡­ Someone might use them to terrify children who don't want to go to bed¡­"
"We need to go to arcana library to get more information, and also I need to expand my magic reserve with two more schools." Lucien nodded. He was planning on borrowing some basic works in Force Field and Necromancy, and he also had a copy of Book of Necromancy.
The school of Force Field had many powerful defence spells, and for Necromancy, its spells were mostly about soul, spirit, blessing and cursing. As for the School of Electromagnetics and Thermodynamics, Lucien believed that his arcana understanding was solid enough so far that he did not need to dig into them right now, thus he might just pick up some useful ones in the two schools and upgrade several spell models in his soul with some new ones, and it was the same with Illusion and Transformation spells.
Selecting and focusing was very important in further progressing in arcana study.
Of course, the major idea that the Congress pursued was that, despite the existence of the different schools, the word could finally be understood with a fundamental as well as ultimate explanation. Thus, most senior-rank sorcerers also studied other fields in addition to what they were good at.
Charlie and Sandra both nodded. As arcanists, they had this consistent impulse to understand all mysterious things.
...
In the basic arcana library, Alex, the djinn librarian, said to Lucien politely, "Hello, Mr. Evans, what can I do for you today?"
Wearing the level-four arcana badge, Lucien could enjoy half price for borrowing a book there, which was one point for forty books.
"Do you have Pain Fable here, Alex?" After submitting the task report and loss-item list, and because the reward arcana points of the task needed to be reevaluated, Lucien, Charlie and Sandra came to the library together.
Alex shook his head, and due to the style of clothes he was wearing his chest was revealed, "Sorry, Mr. Evans, we only have arcana books here. If you're looking for fables, you might want to try Allyn City Library or Rentato Royal Library."
"Then, can you find a book containing the sentence 'special summoning rite of V¡­' or something like that¡­" Lucien kept trying, using Alex like a searching engine.
The searching took Alex a while, and then he listed, "There are five qualified books - Special Summoning Rite of Verlam, Special Summoning Rite of Viken, Special Summoning Rites in Vertra¡­"
Lucien asked for all of them and started leafing through the books with Sandra and Charlie.
"I found it! Mr. Evans, it's Special Summoning Rite of Viken!" Sandra held the book high.
Lucien took over the book and he indeed saw the exact same summoning instruction that he read in the apprentice hall. Furthermore, the whole thing was even more ridiculous compared to the version with missing parts, including crawling and dancing around the brazier, and telling the brazier one's painful past, and so on.
Lucien turned the book back to its first page, and there was a comment left by a sorcerer, "This ridiculous book borrowed Viken, the ancient legendary archmage's name, and other than that, it is totally a joke. The book should be kicked out of the library."
"Viken?" Although Lucien was complimented as a "historian" in Aalto, he was not an expert at all with the history of the land across Storm Strait.
Charlie explained, "Viken was an ancient legendary archmage, and his territory was today's Brianna. He was very cruel. Once, in order to study a spell, he blockaded a city of twenty thousand people, and he let those people kill each other out of desperate and starvation¡­ They ate each other¡­"
"I've never head his name before. What's his legendary class?" asked Lucien out of curiosity.
Sandra answered in a casual way, "No idea. He disappeared before the War of Dawn."
The book Lucien was holding suddenly dropped from his hand and fell on the floor.

Chapter 255: A New Journey Again (The End of Volume III)
				Chapter 255: A New Journey Again (The End of Volume III)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Mr. Evans?" Sandra looked at Lucien a bit confusedly. She did not understand why what she had just said was surprising at all.
"Uh¡­ My hand just trembled, from the reflected damage from the ring¡­" Lucien quickly found an excuse and picked up the book.
What Lucien said was not true, and the truth was that he was shocked by Sandra's words, because Viken was not the only sorcerer who disappeared before the War of Dawn. Maskelyne also did.
Although Sandra and Charlie knew part of the story, they did not know those details: Maskelyne, the Prophet, went missing deep into the World of Souls, together with his several friends mentioned in his notes, and at that time, they were all working on some important magic experiment. The whole thing got even more weird with the fact that Maskelyne could make divine items with magic, and his symbol, the Grand Cross, looked very much like the Church's Cross of Truth.
This made Lucien think whether Viken was one of Maskelyne friends and whether he was part of the experiment. Also, did the experiment had anything to do with the special summoning rite? Lucien wondered if the ultimate secret of the world lay deep inside the World of Souls? The place must be very, very dangerous!
"One day if I can become a grand arcanist, or even a legendary archmage, I'm definitely going to explore the World of Souls." Lucien decided to keep this information to himself, but when he was ready, he wanted to invite other legendary archmages or grand arcanists he trusted to go together with him.
Neither Charlie nor Sandra doubted Lucien's words. His words made totally sense.
"No matter how curious we are, the last thing we should do is to try the rite." Sandra reminded them. As a sorcerer who specialized in Summoning, she was very concerned with such a creepy summoning rite and its unpredictable consequences.
Lucien smiled, "I'm not gonna touch it before I become a senior-rank. I don't think I can handle the demon right now, and I believe that the Congress will soon gather more information about the demon."
"The Congress should. If we had had more information, we would not have been so lost when facing the demon." Charlie agreed.
Sandra nodded, "The Congress can take away some pressure, so we don't have to worry about it too much, but I still want to read Pain Fable to see whether it is as desperate as what Scott described."
"Me, too, but I still need to borrow a few other books from here first," said Lucien. Then, he asked Alex to find him some basic arcana books in the schools of Force Field and Necromancy and basic magic books in other schools.
Charlie put on his hat and said, "I've still got some other stuff to deal with, so I have to go now. Nice to meet you, Mr. Evans, Ms. Sandra, and I hope we can work together again in the future."
"I'm heading for Allyn City Library as well, Mr. Evans. You're not that kind of arcanist who can only survive in labs. You're reliable, and you're a good leader." Sandra was also going to leave, and before that, she shook hands with Lucien.
Lucien said to them in a humble manner, "You two are very experienced sorcerers, and I've learned a lot from you two. Without you, Sandra and Charlie, I would certainly have died in the castle already. We should stay in contact with each other to exchange ideas from time to time."
...
At the bottom floor of Aalto Abbey, a female voice was humming an old and solemn tune, as if the sky was being covered with dark clouds before the storm came. The voice was a bit hoarse but sexy.
The pitch got slowly higher, and the voice became softer but sad. Then, the melody got faster and more pressing, like rain drops hitting the ground and wild wind blowing.
After a while, the female eased in a soothing and gentle tune as if an isolated but pure mind was recalling all the memories with emotions in the storm. And in those memories, lightnings were forgotten; thundering was forgotten; harsh raindrops were forgotten; and as well as all the depression and sadness, and even the whole world.
The storm was still lashing her mind, but soon, at the end of the first movement, the melody became warm and nice.
Natasha finished humming the major melody of Storm Sonata, and then she looked at the letter in her hand. It was the one Lucien sent on July 30th. She was very satisfied with the sonata, her birthday gift from Lucien.
"Although Storm Sonata is not as outstanding as Pathetique and Moonlight, it is still impressive, and it shares the same theme and spirit with Symphony of Fate¡ªperseverance and faith. It's a great birthday gift," Natasha murmured in a low voice. Then she looked up and started to read the rest of the letter again. It was all about Lucien's interesting experiences in Allyn, including how he tortured the apprentices with lots of exercises, those apprentices complaints and jokes, the story when he was mistakenly invited to the conference because of his name, and so on.
Natasha was comforted by Lucien's letter. She felt that Lucien, her old friend, was telling her all those stories right in front of her relaxedly.
"Why do I feel those stories are more interesting than the music itself?" Natasha rubbed her chin a bit and asked herself confusedly, "Is it because I haven't talked to other people for too long?"
...
In the Month of Flower, the fifth of the year, the weather was getting hot. However, Allyn, as the city in the sky, still remained relatively cool.
In the magic lab of Lucien's garden villa.
The light white, tear-shaped mark on Lucien's left hand burst out gentle light, and slowly rose up into the sky. Lucien added the powder of Sunstone and some more magic materials into the tear mark and started casting.
After a long and complicated process, the tear looked less transparent but more solid. It's light still looked pure and gentle.
At this time, the light spots in the crystal ball in Lucien's right hand flew out of it one by one. The light spots surrounded the tear and formed a stellar map, and then, the map was absorbed by Lucien's left hand.
When the dazzling starlight disappeared, nothing was left on Lucien's left hand. However, Lucien could control the power anytime he wanted to use it by lighting the tear-shaped mark up.
According to Lucien Blessing Book, with all the materials gathered by Lucien and the mark left by the little girl, Lucien created his first permanent blessing, Innocent Gratefulness. It could help Lucien protect himself in the environment full of dead and rotten bodies, and also improve his defence level against soul attack spells.
In order to build the permanent blessing, Lucien spent his two hundred arcana points that he earned from Bertren Castle. In the recent months, he fully relied on the subsidy from the congress and the Will of Elements to continue his study of Life Force and Necromancy.
Currently, in total, Lucien had a hundred and two arcana points, and he had constructed another five third-circle spells: Dimensional Cage, Protection from Energy, Curse of the Putrid Husk, Secondary Telepathic Bond and Lightning. So far, as for second circle spells, Lucien had twenty of them, and he reconstructed many of the spells to make them work better.
After finishing his work, when Lucien was about to leave the lab, he saw his steward Charles, who was an elegant old gentleman, coming over.
"Mr. Evans, Mr. Gaston, from the Will of Elements, wants to see you in his office," said Charles.
...
In Allyn, the Will of Elements' division.
"Evans, I heard that you've been reading Pain Fable recently, did you find anything in it?" Gaston made Lucien sit down and asked him casually.
"Not really." Lucien shook his head lightly, "I feel that those stories were dark and gloomy for the sake of being depressing. The only purpose of the book was to make people feel painful and discouraged and upset. By the way, Mr. Gaston, has the congress made any progress in investigating the demon? I mean¡­ if it's confidential, you don't have to tell me."
"So far not a single senior-rank sorcerer involved in the study has managed to summon the demon you guys encountered in the castle, and that makes the special summoning rite very suspicious in their eyes, and they wonder if Bill had hidden other parts of his experience¡­" Gaston directly told Lucien what was going on.
After a bit of a pause, Gaston stared at Lucien with his dark yellow eyes and said, "The reason why I asked you to come over here is that we have a mandatory task for you from the Will of Elements. A gentleman asked the Will of Elements to send a letter for him to Mr. Stanis, the King of Nightmare. Because you're from Violet, Lucien, we want you to take the mission. The reward is a thousand arcana points. Don't worry, the King of Nightmare would send his people to guide you through the Dark Mountain Range, so you'll not be alone there in the mountains."
Gaston's words brought Lucien's memory about the Duchy of Violet back instantly. Although Lucien had a pretty hard time there, he also had lots of good memories. In Lucien's mind, Aalto was like his hometown.
Seeing Lucien did not say yes immediately, Gaston continued, "Of course I'm not saying that it's gonna be a completely safe and sound trip. If you don't want to accept the task, it's also okay, and you can choose something else. But if you're willing to take it, you can get the one thousand arcana points in advance, as well as enjoy a year long subsidy, so you can go and buy all the materials and potions you need to get prepared."
All his friends' faces showed up in Lucien's mind, giving him mixed feelings. Then, Lucien nodded, smiling, "I'll take this task, Mr. Gaston."
"Be careful, Evans. You'd better take the north route as the Church is strengthening their patrols over Storm Strait." Gaston patted on Lucien's shoulder, "You still take the monocle with you, but because of the electromagnetic interference of Storm Strait, when you get to the other side, it will be hard for you to contact us."

Chapter 256: The East Haven
				Chapter 256: The East Haven
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
¡ª Volume IV: The Dark Mountain Range ¡ª
In the Month of Hot Wind, the eighth of the year, the weather would be torturing hot in Allyn or Aalto, as if even the air was on fire. However, in this narrow and busy city across the continent, filled with buildings of mixed styles from different countries, the breeze was still cool and gentle like that of the Month of Life.
This was Segru, deep in the northwest of the far northland, the East Haven surrounded by countless giant, towering trees.
Because the Cabin of Palmeira of the Congress controlled the many busy cities along Storm Strait, and their control extended all the way up to the far northland, the Cabin of Palmeira had driven away lots of orcs, dwarf tribes and trolls and built up many cities. Therefore, in many people's mind, all of the far northland was the Cabin of Palmeira's territory, an area under the control of the Congress of Magic.
However, in fact, because of the vast territory of the far northland¡ªSchachran Empire's northwest province to the west, Mintuck, an ice-free port which was close to the marine outfall of Boundless Ocean to the east, the empire's Flame Fortress and Storm Strait to the south, the polar region where the sun never set for the six months to the north, the congress and the Cabin of Palmeira could only control the southeast part of it, and deep into the land lived horrifying trolls, orcs, snowmen and ancient sorcerers who spent their life in solitude.
Because of the special location of Segru, sitting at the junction of the broad primeval forest in the northeast of the empire and the central part of the far northland's coastal area, where the Church's and the Congress of Magic's power reached a stalemate, Segru became a place that was neither under the control of the former nor the latter. Lots of noble šŠmigršŠ from Schachran Empire and other convicts gradually gathered here and built up the city and the many manors around it. Thus, Segru was called by many people the East Haven.
Although the first people of this place had set up some rough rules and law here while they were fighting against monsters such as trolls and doing smuggling trades, power, which basically came from either magic or sword, was still the ultimate law in the far northland.
There was a saying here, "The law of magic and sword was the law of the far northland!"
Known for its smuggling trades, the city had been attracting countless money-longing merchants and adventures to come here in order to seek for great fortune, thus the city was busy and prosperous. Of course, most merchants here had their own experienced mercenaries, or they could be killed at any time and their bodies would be thrown into the forest to feed the beasts.
At that moment, Lucien was wondering at leisure on the major crossroads of Segru, and his destination was the wood cabin up ahead. According to the information given by the Congress, in the cabin Lucien could find the relatively good intelligence organization in this city.
Lucien was wearing white shirt, a black, double-breasted long suit, top hat and the monocle, which made him look elegant and handsome, but he did not look deterring enough here in this brutal East Haven. On the street, in many people's eyes, Lucien was a perfect target, and they were trying to figure out what kind of perfect chance they could get to kidnap him. 
"Look at the way he's dressing¡­ We probably can get a good fortune from him." Two bulky guys were talking, "Even if he's actually poor¡­ Look at his face¡­ We can still sell him to the nobles. They must love this perfect toy!"
"Don't rush. Don't do anything before you know more about the person." The other guy responded, "He dare come here alone, and he must be more or less confident. Lots of idiots have died here because they judge other people only by their appearance."
Those people who were still alive here in this place were not brainless. On the contrary, most of them were very cautious. However, as soon as they could make sure that the target was a really good one, they would show the darkest side of human nature.
Before Lucien left Allyn, he bought some magic potions, materials, gold and the spell, Sorcerer's Cabin, and he also got a bottle of potion called Blood Cleanser, which helped him cure from the soul damage caused by Crying Soul. Now, Lucien was about a real knight's level, so he could hear the conversation between the two guys without even using spiritual power. Lucien lightly shook his head with a smile, "What a place¡­ the East Haven."
However, this was as far as the potions from the Congress could go so far in improving one's Blessing power, since after this level, one's faith as a knight would play a more important role, and that was not Lucien's direction.
Pretending that he did not hear anything, Lucien still walked on the street calmly. Soon, he came in front of the cabin drawn with camellias.
"No child here." When Lucien was about to walk in, a strong and bulky man beside the door reached out his right hand and stopped him.
As he was saying, the man purposefully showed his tanned muscle to reveal his power.
Lucien did not get pissed off but asked, "What kind of people can be here, then?"
The man snorted and then pointed at the doorplate. Beside the camellia patterns, the doorplate read, both in Schachran characters and in common tongue, "Money, or power."
Lucien smiled and nodded, "I see."
All of a sudden, this husky guy bowed deeply towards Lucien and said to him, "Sir, please come in¡­ please come in¡­ I was being stupid just now. Please forgive me."
At the same time, he kept slapping himself in his face.
Watching the guy reverently leading the young man into the cabin, the other guards around the cabin were more than shocked.
"Has¡­ has Tony been possessed?" Another guy murmured, thinking that what he saw was very creepy. A few seconds later, he realized that the young man might be a real sorcerer, so he quickly turned around and ran into the cabin to report.
The two traffickers, who were following Lucien, also saw what happened. They swallowed with great difficulty, and felt lucky that they were not being stupidly reckless. They knew that a sorcerer who could cast spells without producing stirred magic waves was definitely not an ordinary sorcerer. Some ancient senior-rank sorcerers in the East Haven might not even be able to do this!
In fact, the spell, Charm Person, which was improved by Lucien, was known for producing only very limited amount of magic waves. As a third-circle sorcerer, Lucien could cast the spell perfectly, and those people whose power was not even close to that of a real knight had absolutely no way to sense the minor magic waves, not to mention that they did not even have any magic or divine items!
...
The cabin was actually of decent size, and it was divided into many small booths. There were different people selling information in those booths, and the overall environment was quiet and nice.
Tony led Lucien to the stairs in an absent-minded way, and in front of the stairs, there were two beefy guys with long sword.
"Tony, who's this?" The guards stopped Tony with their swords.
Tony's back was still bent. After taking a quick glance at Lucien respectfully, he said to the guards, "This is Mr. Guzon's important guest. Don't stand in his way."
Lucien simply smiled, but did not say anything.
"I never heard of this before. I need to talk to Mr. Guzon first," the guard said to them and was about to walk upstairs.
As soon as he turned around, Tony directly punched the other guard out with his right fist.
When the guard on the stairs was about to hack at Tony with his sword, suddenly he felt great dizziness, and then a big smile appeared on his face, "I'm so sorry sir. He's an idiot. How dare he try to stop you. Please, please, sir, follow me this way. Let me guide you to Mr. Guzon."
Lucien sightly pushed up his monocle and nodded. He knew that his current spiritual power could only control three people at the same time.
"Mr. Guzon, attack!" exclaimed another guard upstairs, who saw what was going on there.
Guzon walked out of his room with a thick cigar in his mouth. Wearing a black long jacket, he looked down with great sense of stateliness, followed by a guard covered in a complete set of black armour.
"Mr. Guzon, I'm here for the intelligence." Lucien looked up and smiled.
"You're not welcome here. You broke into this place." Guzon looked pissed, "Take him!"
Although Guzon had Blessing from the magic potion and he also had a pretty useful magic item, he decided to use the two dark knights that he hired with good money.
Also, the young man downstairs looked skinny and not aggressive at all. He even thought that the young man was probably sent by his competitors to kill him, so he should not let the young man walk any closer to him.
In the corner, a shadow suddenly shot out from the corner and jumped on Lucien. At the same time, the body of the black-armored knight bulged fast, then the knight rushed downstairs toward Lucien with a flaming great hammer.
Other guards also quickly besieged Lucien.
Guzon watched what was going on downstairs with the big cigar in his mouth. However, after a surge of magic waves, his level two knight was now on the floor, trying his best to escape from the young man. The other knight was not doing any better. In fact, he directly ran into the wall to run away and left a big hole on it.
Those guards were all right now on the floor. Around their crotches, it was all suspiciously wet.
The big cigar in Guzon's mouth fell on the ground, but he didn't even notice. Staring at Lucien, he started to step backwards.
After casting the second-circle spell, Scare, Lucien slowly walked upstairs with his hands in the pockets, and he smiled, "Can we talk now, Mr. Guzon?"
"S¡­ sure." Guzon's teeth were chattering.
In the East Haven, Lucien followed their rules¡ªmoney, or power. It was the best solution.
Although Lucien's magic power was nothing in Allyn, in fact, a middle-rank sorcerer could easily rule a whole small city. Even in a messy place like the East Haven, most of the scoundrels here were still ordinary people.
Lucien's leather shoes were making crisp sounds on the stairs, and he said slowly, "Mr. Guzon, I need a guide. A guide who can lead me to travel through Schachran Empire."
Although it was not hard to fly across the border, flying over the entire empire was of course time-consuming and tough, and if Lucien was not careful enough, the North Church would easily notice and chase after him. Therefore, Lucien needed a fake identity and a guide who played the role of his butler.

Chapter 257: A ¡°Good¡± Introduction
				Chapter 257: A ¡°Good¡± Introduction
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Guzon repeated in a confused way, "Through Schachran Empire?"
Lucien stopped walking closer to Guzon but just stood on the stairs, where those guards were still lying on the floor, with his hands in his pockets. Those guests who came here to buy information were all hiding in the booths, feeling terrified.
"Yes, I want to take the way through the empire and get to the countries following other gods northeast of the Dark Mountain Range." Lucien nodded, "I'm sure that you can tell I'm a sorcerer, Mr. Guzon. I need a guide who really knows well about the country's geography, custom, and powers to help me get to my final destination without being chased after by the North Church."
From Gaston, Lucien knew that the church was tightening their control over Storm Strait, so he decided to take the magic train and to later get to the famous city in the north called Deep Sea Port through the Kingdoms of Holm and Colette. Then Lucien spent another two months traveling through the forests where lived trolls and orcs and finally got to the East Haven, whose primeval forest was right beside the empire's Flame Fortress in its northeast.
During that time, Lucien had constructed another very important third-circle spell, Dispel Magic.
The reason why Lucien wanted to take this way was that the empire bordered the Duchy of Violet in southwest.
After Lucien's half-true explanation, Guzon got a rough idea of Lucien's request. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to gain his leader's manner back, "Sir, because of the Church, you don't want to fly across the empire, but want to take the land route with the help of a local guide, is that right?"
"Exactly, Mr. Guzon." Although Lucien was smiling, he really wished that he could just fly to the duchy, which would only cost him three to four days, and that was way faster than taking the land route.
Guzon saw that Lucien was not that kind of vicious sorcerer, and after a short pause, he said, "Sir, I'd recommend you Leo, who was the assistant of the biggest smuggler in Schachran Empire, and their business once extended all the way to those countries northeast of the mountains and even Violet, but later he pissed off the smuggler, and the smuggler killed Leo's family. Leo was the only one who survived and escaped here to Segru with a precious magic scroll of his. His strong will of taking revenge and his power that's close to that of a real knight made him survive until here, although in a hard way. Now he's accepting any tasks he can take to save money to buy magic potions in order to be stronger for his revenge. Also, Leo was very good at changing one's appearance using non-magic methods, and he knows the empire very well."
Lucien responded, with the smile still on his face, "He might not be the one I'm looking for. After we get to the empire, if he encounters the smuggler, he might get too emotional."
"No worries, sir. Leo has his knight belief. As long as you two have signed the contract, I'm sure he would not break his words and he would do his best to complete the task," insisted Guzon. "Maybe this was why he pissed of the guy. Sir, Leo is your best choice."
Lucien thought about it for a while and nodded, "Then I should see him first."
"You won't be disappointed," said Guzon. "The only thing is that he's not showing up regularly as usual for some reason. What we know is that, most recently, someone saw him in a bar called Taran."
At this time, Guzon noticed that both of the young man's eyes, the one with the monocle and the bare one, had fast spinning swirls in them, and then his mind got lost.
Lucien cast Charm Person on Guzon and verified all the information he provided. Then, he also cast Hypnotism on Guzon to remove the key parts of his memory about himself. Although Lucien was not able to rewrite his target's memory, and neither completely remove all the person's memory, removing part of the key information was not that difficult, so Guzon would not be able to provide any useful information about Lucien if someone was going to chase after him.
Also, even his memory about Lucien's appearance was not accurate, because Lucien carefully disguised himself before setting off.
As the winner of Holm Crown prize, Lucien was not sure whether the Church, either in the north or south, knew what he looked like. Because cardinals and night watchers could easily tell the first circle spell, Disguise, and also because Lucien was not good at Transformation, he used some physical ways to change his appearance: insoles for increasing height, brown eye contacts made of the pupils of a magic creature to change his eye colour, and even a decent, well-trimmed moustache, together with the monocle. With those gears, Lucien looked quite elegant.
After a long time, Guzon finally slowly came back to his senses, like just waking up from a nightmare.
"Where are the knights?" Guzon tried to recall what happened, but as soon as he tried, his head hurt badly. As the leader of an intelligence organization, he immediately realized what just happened¡ªa powerful man was here, and the man must altered his memory, so he directly gave up thinking about it.
Looking at his men lying on the floor higgledy-piggledy, Guzon was pissed, "Damn, you useless jerks! Get up and change your fu*king pants! And get the stupid knights back!"
...
The board outside of the bar wrote, "Taran, the East Haven's Taran".
Lucien pushed the bar gate open and entered the place. As soon as he stepped into it, he attracted all the people's eyes in the bar, but very quickly, in the next second, all the eyes drew back and the laughing, talking and shouting continued as if they had never stopped.
When Lucien mentally controlled the cabin guard, Tony, right in public, he did it on purpose to show those East Haven people his power. Some guys in the bar knew what kind of power Lucien had, so they tried to stay away from him. Seeing that, the other people who did not know Lucien's power also wanted to be cautious first.
This was how they survived here in the East Haven! Outcomers who came here without power or relationship could only expect one ending: death.
Most people here did not want to spend their whole life here at all. They wanted to make a fortune here and move out. Of course, some of them did enjoy this place. They enjoyed the excitement and freedom here very much.
Obviously, Lucien's calm and elegant manner revealed the fact that he did not belong here. Walking through the chairs, Lucien came to the bar counter, "Hello, I'm looking for someone." 
Wiping the cups, the blonde bartender responded without even lifting his head, "You need to buy something first."
"A glass of Lesse, please." This was the first kind of alcoholic drink that Lucien knew in this world.
The blonde young man finally looked up. He was a good-looking young guy, and he had this kind of unruly manner gained from this wild place.
After pulling Lucien a cup of golden drink, he asked, "Looking for who?"
"Leo." Lucien stared at the golden liquor like he was appreciating a piece of artwork, "I'm looking for Leo."
"You're not alone there." The bartender gave Lucien an ambiguous answer.
"I'm here to hire him." Lucien looked at the bartender.
"So were they," said the bartender a bit sarcastically.
Hearing their conversation, several strong, armored men sprang up from the chairs. Their armors were making clacking noises.
Their leader was a man in his thirties. His left eyeball was missing.
Dragging a great sword on the floor, his armoured shoes clacking, the tall and bulky man came in front of Lucien. He slightly bent forward and asked Lucien in a threatening way, "How did you know Leo? When was the last time you saw him? I'm asking you this for a big man here in the East Haven. You'd better not bullshit, or you won't see tomorrow's sunrise."
"I don't know Leo. I just want to hire him to protect me here," Lucien answered calmly. In his mind, he started to feel that looking for Leo might not have been a good idea, since clearly right now he was in some kind of trouble.
The man missing his left eye did not leave Lucien alone, but continued to push him, "Who introduced Leo to you! Protect you for what?"
As soon as he finished his last word, Lucien's left, glove-wearing hand quickly left the cup and grabbed the man's throat.
It was fast, very fast. The man only saw shadows.
Lucien smiled, "Did your mother ever tell you curiosity kills the cat?"
"You¡­ you'd better let go of me, if you want to leave the East Haven alive!! The big man behind me¡­" The man was still threatening Lucien, however, in the next second, he was chocked because Lucien tightened his grabbing on his neck.
"You know what? I'm not sure if I can leave the East Haven alive, but if you continue being stupid, I'm sure you cannot leave the bar alive. And to tell you a secret¡ªI'm a big man, too."
The man's face flushed bright red out of anger, but he could not say a single word. When his people finally realized what was happening here and were about to pull out their swords to save him, a man wearing black armor in the same style as the others yelled at them from the bar's back door,
"Leo's here! In the bar's chamber!"
The bartender's face suddenly turned white. As soon as he was about to rush out from behind the counter, he was stopped by a swordman. Other guys all rushed towards the back of the bar, as if they had all forgotten the existence of their leader.
On the other side of the hall, two guys whose power was close to that of a real knight also jumped up from their chairs and ran toward the back door.
Lucien was a bit amused. Releasing the hand grabbing the man's throat, Lucien slightly shook his head out of sympathy, "Too bad¡­ The big man you were talking about doesn't seem to care about you a lot. Even if I kill you, he would not care. Which suzerain sent you here?"
"How do you know he's a suzerain?" asked the man out of great surprise.
Lucien slightly patted his clothes and stood up from his chair.

Chapter 258: Warren, The Young Master
				Chapter 258: Warren, The Young Master
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing that his guessing was correct, Lucien smiled confidently, "There're only thirty or forty people here in the East Haven who are qualified for being called 'big man', so it's not very difficult to guess. And there's no way that you work for one of the nine city lords, or you wouldn't need to hide his name."
The metal armors were banging against each other from the back of the bar. It seemed that the chamber was underground, since the whole floor of the bar was shaking slightly.
Seeing that, the guests started leaving the bar, not because they were afraid or nervous, but because they were really used to it and they did not want to bother to be part of this at all.
Lucien, with his hands in his pockets, also headed for the bar gate. In the East Haven, countless people were from Schachran Empire, and Leo definitely wasn't his only choice. Also, Lucien did not want any trouble at this time.
Seeing that Lucien was leaving as well, the man missing his left eye looked a bit confused, but he was smart enough to leave Lucien alone, since the young man had shown his great power. Instead, he turned around and ran toward the bar counter to stop the bar owner from getting out and rushing at the chamber.
If one without any backgrounds wanted to survive here in the East Haven, the person must know how to be patient and tolerant, since those who did not all ended up becoming food for the wild animals in the forest, or materials for necromancers¡­
Here, only the rule of sword and magic worked.
Lucien walked toward the gate casually, looking on the fight between the bar owner and the man missing the left eye. Their ways of using sword were all direct and simple, which was the typical Schachran style.
"How dare you people fight in Taran! The several city lords will make you pay!" shouted the owner. The bar owner had the power close to that of a real knight from the Blessing that he got from the potion many years ago. If he had been younger, he could have beaten the man quickly. However, now he was old, and the fight between them was intense.
In the East Haven, if a person wanted to run a bar like Taran, he or she must need to get the support from those big people.
The man missing the left eye hacked at the bar owner but the momentum of his greatsword was stopped by the bar owner's shield. Quickly, he shifted the position of his greatsword to shove aside the owner's sword. After a loud bang, the two of them took a few steps backwards, and seizing the chance, the left-eye-missing man sneered, "The young master doesn't like Leo, and you hid Leo right down in your bar's chamber! Leo pissed off our young master, and even the city lords cannot say too much about it!"
When most of the guests in the bar had already left, at this time, with a huge bang, the bar gate was broken into pieces by force and the pieces fell backwards. Several drunkards were hurt and their heads started bleeding.
Lucien slightly tilted his head and perfectly avoided a piece of wood from the broken gate. Through the broken gate, a bunch of guys walked in wearing black armors of the same style as the one that the one-eyed man was wearing. A young man with a gray cigar in his mouth looked like their leader, since he was not wearing any armor but, like Lucien, he was wearing a Holm-style white shirt, brown waistcoat, long jacket and a top hat. His face was featured, and his nose was tall and straight. In general, he was a good-looking guy, but he looked very gloomy and cold with his messy, black eyebrows.
Two guys stood beside him, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the left was short, and he was also dressing in Holm style, while the other guy on the right was big and muscular.
The young man looked around at the hall and casually picked a chair that was close to the gate and sat down. As soon as he reached out his right hand, a beautiful blond girl went down on her knees to undo his sleeve buttons. When she was doing this, the girl had no facial expression on her face, and her bust was seductively half-revealed in her Tria-style blue dress.
"Sir Jarolim, please go and get Leo," the young man said to the short man standing beside him with a smile. Finally, they had found Leo, the guy who ruined their great plan. Right now the young man's anger was burning.
"Yes, young master," Jarolim answered in a plain tone.
Jarolim's leather shoes were shining. Taking a step forward, his figure turned into a shadow, rushing to the back of the bar. Clearly, he had a real knight's power. The power scared the remaining people in the bar, and they felt too nervous to move fast. Those people blocked Lucien's way as well.
When Lucien finally got right beside the gate, Jarolim had already come back, grabbing Leo's collar in his hand. Obviously, Leo's power was not even close to that of Jarolim, not to mention the fact that he was besieged by so many people.
Seeing that they had caught Leo, the bar owner and the bartender stopped fighting against the swordmen and started thinking what they should do next.
Lucien took a quick glance at Leo out of curiosity, who was still trying to get out of Jarolim's hand. Although he was only in his middle age, Leo's hair was black mixing with white. His face looked gaunt, and his eyes, which were tightly closed right now, were surrounded by wrinkles.
Jarolim threw Leo to the ground right in front of the young man, Warren.
Leo's body was covered with a layer of black flame, which had consumed all his strength to the point where he could not even stand up on his feet.
"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Leo." Warren leaned his body forward and slapped Leo's face with his right hand, "You wanna say anything to me?"
Warren's blue eyes were filled with violence.
Leo opened his eyes using great effort, and it looked like there was great pain in his green eyes but there was zero regret, "Warren, I just reminded the noble lady¡­ I reminded her that you are a trafficker! Dare you say how many human beings, elves, dwarves and orcs have you sold to Schachran? I can't let you do this to her!"
Warren sat back and smiled, "What a nice guy you are, Mr. Leo."
Then he fiercely kicked Leo's stomach. Leo burst out a painful groan and was now writhing on the floor.
Then Warren sent his right foot in front of the blond beauty and made her clean his shoe carefully. He rubbed his chin a bit and said, "I'm confused, Leo. Why you always want to mess up with me? You don't even know the chick? You like her?"
Leo was coughing, and he tried his best to answer, "This is¡­ my principle¡­ You cannot do this¡­ to anyone."
"Wow, wow¡­ Mr. Leo, aren't you such a man with great knight spirit?" Warren suddenly took back his right foot and stepped on Leo's head, grinding it against the floor, "What a pity¡­ You're not a real knight. You only deserve this¡­ Your head being stepped on by a bad man's foot, ha.
"Oh, I forgot the other thing you deserve¡­" Warren added, "There must be a reason that your whole family was killed, isn't it?"
That really hurt Leo. His throat was making hoarse noise like a wild beast giving dying kicks. Seeing that, some other people present felt sympathetic, for Leo, and also for themselves.
Warren looked at the bar owner, "You don't say anything. This guy has been messing up with me, and I have to show people how I deal with guys like him, or they would forget who they were."
The bar owner could not say anything.
Then, Warren said to his men, "Beat him up, then cut off his arms and legs. Hang the remaining of him on the wood frame out of the city gate and let the coyotes finish him at night."
As he was saying, he kicked Leo toward the man missing one eye.
As soon as the guy got Leo, he and his men started punching Leo fiercely.
At this time, someone was stamping on the floor, making a door-knocking noise. When the people in the hall all stopped what they were doing and looked back, a young man stood out and smiled to them, "Good afternoon, every one."
All the people present were more than confused right now.
Although Warren was also confused, he asked cautiously, "Do I know you?"
Warren was not stupid, although basically his powerful father could take care of everything for him. He knew that he must be careful with a guy who decided to show up like this in this kind of situation.
Lucien pointed at Leo casually, and all of sudden, Leo floated in the air and came next to Lucien.
"Mr. Warren, I need to hire Leo right now for my mission. You two deal with your stuff when the mission is done," said Lucien in plain tone, as if he was giving a command.
What Leo had done revealed that he was a principled, righteous person, and that was the kind of person that Lucien needed for his trip through Schachran, not to mention how he would feel if Lucien saved his life.
Sometimes, people felt that a person's honorable characters and qualities were worth of nothing, but in fact, someday, they might save your life.

Chapter 259: Leo¡¯s Suggestion
				Chapter 259: Leo¡¯s Suggestion
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Thanks to his Blessing, Frost Giant, Leo did not pass out yet. Hearing Lucien's words, he opened his eyes with great difficulty, looking at the strange young man in front of him both surprisedly and worriedly.
Facing Lucien's direct command, the bar owner was shocked as well. He wondered if this young man knew who Warren was and who his father was.
Warren first laughed a bit as if he saw something beyond ridiculous, then, suppressing his anger, he said to Lucien, "Why do you think I'd let you take Leo? Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this?"
Clearly, Warren was on a bad mood. His great deal with a duke in Schachran Empire had been ruined by Leo. When he finally found Leo and was about to make him pay, some random guy just showed up right in front of him and commanded him to let go of Leo. No one except his own father and the nine city lords dare talk to him like this!
At this time, Jarolim took a step forward, with a pair of black daggers in his hands, ready to launch his knight-level attack toward Lucien.
If Lucien was intimidated, Jarolim would know that the young man was actually only doing his bravado, so then Jarolim could directly take him down.
Jarolim's gray eyes aggressively looked into Lucien's eyes, letting Lucien feel the power of a knight.
All of a sudden, he saw a quick flash of white light in Lucien's brown eyes and, in the last second, he felt something dreadful sneak into his brain.
Then, Jarolim started to feel extreme pain and a tingling sensation throughout his body. Before he realized what was happening to him, several people in the hall started screaming, as they saw that Jarolim's hands and face were festering with light yellow pus bleeding out.
Knowing that this was magic, Jarolim quickly covered his body with layers of black flame. However, the festering quickly put out the flame and kept spreading all over his body.
Warren and his guards also noticed what was happening on Jarolim's body. Within only a few seconds, Jarolim became beyond weak. Right now he was kneeling on the ground, using all of his strength to gasp for air. Although the festering had stopped, clearly it would take a long time for him to recover from it.
Looking at him, Lucien was just standing there, smiling. He did not continue his attack.
The third-circle necromancy spell, Curse of the Putrid Husk.
"Are you¡­ a necromancer?" Warren tried to stay calm, although his voice was trembling. After all, necromancers never enjoyed good reputation, especially in the north.
Lucien was just smiling, but offered no answer.
The other tall and strong knight leaned forward beside Warren and whispered to him a bit.
Warren stood up, his facial expression looked meaningful, "So¡­ Mr. middle-rank sorcerer, are you from the Congress, or some place here in the north?"
Hearing how Warren called this young man, the rest of the people present were all shocked. This guy was a middle-rank mage!
Although a middle-rank mage was just an ordinary person in Allyn, a middle-rank was of the level of a grand knight or a bishop. Apart from a few big cities such as Lance, Allyn, Rentato, and Aalto, a middle-rank mage, a grand knight, or a bishop could stay in charge of a whole city. In the East Haven, only the nine city lords were that powerful, and the rest of the suzerains here were only about Lucien's level.
In fact, because of the variety, a middle-rank mage's power was basically the same as that of a grand knight who was actually one level higher.
Lucien's Holm ring was right now being covered underneath his glove. He adjusted his monocle and answered the young man calmly, "It doesn't matter where I come from. What's important is that I want to take Leo with me. Are you okay with it?"
Lucien's tone reminded Warren of those genius sorcerers from the Congress of Magic, especially those ones from the Hand of Paleness. He quickly put on a smile and shrugged, "You know what¡­ You've shown your power, sir, and it's time for me to leave."
Although Warren was still under his father's protection, he knew the rules here in the East Haven. He knew what was a wise decision in that situation.
"You're smart, Mr. Warren." Lucien smiled.
Honestly speaking, Lucien really hated traffickers like Warren. However, here in the East Haven, he could not directly attack a important local leader's son with no sufficient reason, and that was why Lucien kept pushing Warren to make him lose his head.
However, Warren's face only twitched slightly. Then, he left the place without another word.
The other guards also followed Warren and left the bar. When Jarolim was walking toward the gate, he had to lean on the other guards' arms.
"Mr. Warren, I'll send you the bar's loss quote! You gotta pay, or we'll see each other on the city lord meeting!" said the bar owner aloud.
Warren almost tripped over the doorsill.
...
In the room behind the bar, Leo slowly recovered with his strong life force as a knight. Lucien had released him from the black flames covering his body.
When Leo was lying in bed, he saw Lucien casting some strange spell, and the light spots in his hand quickly disappeared.
After a surge of magic waves, Lucien's mouth slightly opened but he did not make any sound.
"What are you doing here, sir?" asked Leo gratefully and curiously, "Anything I can help with?"
"Nothing, just being cautious." Lucien smiled and shook his head.
Leo did not chase after the answer, but switched the topic, "Sir, how do you want me to call you? What's the mission about?"
"For now you can call me Mr. X. I need your help to guide me across Schachran Empire and get to the northeast part of the the Dark Mountain Range," said Lucien directly.
As Leo suffered a lot of pain back in the days in Schachran Empire, he frowned a bit, "What's your specific destination, Mr. X? Traveling through the empire without being noticed isn't too difficult, but I need a more specific destination to figure out which route we should take and what kind of fake identity we should use. If you don't feel comfortable with telling me these, we can sign a magic compact first."
Leo just accepted the job without even asking what kind of dangers they were expected to face in this task. He knew that, without Mr. X, he would have already died.
Lucien nodded and took out the compact that he had prepared before.
After signing the compact and watching the roll of parchment being burnt down by light blue magic flame, although Leo had known Lucien's name, he still said to Lucien respectfully, "Mr. X, Schachran Empire's nobles are conservative and corrupted. Except the nobles themselves and those clergies, common people are always expected to have a very difficult time traveling through the whole empire. If you want to get to Aalto, playing the role of a noble from the empire's northwest province should be our best choice, as the real ones don't usually leave their own territory."
When a sorcerer reached the sixth circle, when he or she needed to sign a low-level magic compact, the sorcerer could hide or change his or her real name using strong spiritual power and magic skills, but Lucien right now still had a long way to go.
"I see." Lucien nodded with satisfaction. Leo was professional.
Leo pointed at the northwest territory of the empire on the map in front of them, "The Vladimir family is ruling this area. As one of the ten most powerful families in the empire, the Vladimir family has one duke, one marquis, three earls, lots of viscounts, barons and lords. Therefore, without their genealogy, no one could know that you're actually not their relative, even including the duke Vladimir himself. "
"But people wouldn't just buy into our words. We need something to prove our identity." Lucien was hesitant.
Leo answered seriously, "In the empire, winners laugh, and losers cry. If one decides to fight over the succession but fails in the end, his sufferings soon ensue. In the East Haven, there's a knight who used to fight against the duke Vladimir over right of inheritance of the title, and he knows how to make the identity documents of the Vladimir family and he still has all the family stamps. His name's Valentin."

Chapter 260: A New Identity
				Chapter 260: A New Identity
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The wind was warm. The sunshine was warm. Everything seemed to be warm and drowsy.
On a street of Segru, Lucien, who had changed his whole set of outfit, was heading for Valentine's secret residence following Leo.
Once Leo recovered, he showed his good disguise skills: he changed Lucien's Holm-styled black long coat to the typical tight surtout in the style of Schachran Empire, with white breeches and black long boots. Using hair oil, Lucien's hairstyle was now slicked-back, together with the make up and his moustache, Lucien now looked like a serious and calm gentleman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
Since in the East Haven there were lots of people who managed to escape from Schachran Empire and finally came here, Lucien and Leo's way of dressing was more than common. Cautiously, Lucien and Leo walked through the crowd to prevent being followed by anyone. After all, the duke Vladimir sending assassins to kill Valentine was not a secret at all, and also, if anyone saw that they visited Valentine, their fake identity would be seen through easily.
Segru was not a small city. To be more specific, the city was about half the size of Aalto, but the buildings here were very disorganized, and the streets were thus very narrow and messy. However, Leo was very used to the environment and familiar with the surroundings. Like a fish in the water, Leo had confidently guided Lucien across many streets, alleys and crowds to get rid of any possible pursuers.
Half an hour later, Lucien and Leo walked out of a quiet alley and came back to the busiest street, then crossed it and entered a grocery. Directly ignoring the grocery owner, Leo walked to the stairs. From the shadow, two bulky, butcher-like men stopped him.
"The griffin over Nigreen River." Strange words came out of Leo's lips. The words were Schachranese.
Hearing that, the two men lowered their guard. After glancing at Leo and Lucien carefully, they gave way to both Leo and Lucien.
The stairs to the second floor were squeaking. Lucien sensed that the whole place was protected by dangerous magic circles, and they were purposefully revealed to people who could sense them directly to be a deterrence. Lucien was not sure whether there were more hidden magic circles around.
The cost of placing all the magic circles could be easily over ten thousand Thales. Only the man who once could compete against the duke could afford this. Lucien estimated that this place's security level was about the same as that of Bertren Castle. Obviously, when Mr. Valentine ran away from the empire, he must have carried a great fortune with him, so he could afford having middle-rank mages to set up this place for him.
The floor squeaked when Leo and Lucien walked on it with their leather shoes. Other than that, the whole place was beyond quiet.
When they came to one of the rooms on the second floor, Leo knocked at the door gently and said politely, "Mr. Valentine, I'm Leo. I'm here on business."
"Come in," responded Valentine in his dull and old voice. He already knew it was Leo from the magic circles downstairs.
Leo pushed the door open like a butler, and he signalled to Lucien to enter the room, "Mr. X, please."
Lucien nodded and walked in the room covered by thick, black curtains. The whole room was very dark.
In the shadow in front of the curtains, there was a desk and an armchair. In the chair sat a man wearing black suit with his back to Leo and Lucien.
As Leo slowly closed the door, the man in the chair slowly turned around and looked at them.
His blonde hair had started to get thin, but his face was still featured, although it already looked quite old. Lucien estimated that this man should be in his sixties. According to Leo's words, when Valentine first came to the East Haven, he was a level-four grand knight. However, after this twenty to thirty years, no one knew for sure whether this man's power had improved even further, or dropped.
Valentine did not have much interest in them. After taking a glance at Lucien, Valentine said to someone else in the room, "Tea for the two guests."
From the shadow walked out a decently-dressed elder man. He bowed to them politely, and then he walked into the tea room.
Leo, as Lucien's guide, said, "Mr. Valentine, my employer wants to enter Schachran Empire, thus he needs a fake identity."
"So you want to pretend that you're from the Vladimir family?" Valentine asked directly, and his way of looking at Lucien became sharper.
Seeing that Mr. Vladimir was looking at him, Lucien had to talk to him on his own, "Yes, Mr. Valentine. A relative in the Vladimir family. How much shall I pay?"
After a couple of seconds of silence, Valentine burst our in laughter, "If you can kill Ilyich for me, I won't charge you anything. Well, well¡­ I guess you would not be here if you were that capable¡­"
Ilyich was the first name of the Duke, Vladimir.
Pausing a bit, Valentine took out a cigar from the drawer and lit it with a match.
In the gray smoke, Vladimir said to Lucien slowly, "The more you make this kind of fake identity, the easier it is for you to get caught. In the past twenty years, I've made six of them so far, so a fake identity is very expensive. Five hundred Thales or the equal value of Schachran gold. If you cannot afford it, you might want to consider doing me a favor."
Although the expense for the task would be covered by the Congress later, right now Lucien only had some gold and gems with him, worth about a hundred Thales, plus other magic potions and materials.
After considering for a while, Lucien smiled, "I prefer to pay. Unfortunately, I don't have enough with me right now. I wonder if you're willing to accept magic items as well, Mr. Vladimir?"
Lucien did not want to be involved in Valentine's stuff, even though the task might not be that difficult, the task might still be part of his contend against the duke.
"Pity," Valentine responded in a monotone. "Mr. X, I do accept magic items, and the value estimation here in East Haven is very fair."
For Valentine, getting a magic item was way better than getting money, since in many places other than Allyn, magic items were very valuable because very often they were not available on the market.
Lucien took out Rosan Aaron's Asthenia Dagger and said, "This is a level two magic dagger¡­"
Valentine coughed a bit, and then an hook-nosed, elder sorcerer wearing a robe in the style of the ancient magic empire entered the room. The elder sorcerer first took a weird glance at Lucien, and then grabbed the dagger.
From the magic waves surrounding the elder man, Lucien could tell that the old man was a sorcerer that followed the ancient magic system.
"Level two, middle-rank, enchanted dagger. It can corrupt other people's weapon, and wounds left by the dagger are hard to heal. It should be around three hundred and eighty Thales, but because of the scarcity of magic items on the market, one could sell it for four hundred and twenty Thales."
"Let's just do four hundred and twenty, then. So you can save some time selling it around," said Valentine directly.
Hearing the price, Lucien was very surprised. As a person who had always been kind of a moneygrubber, he almost wanted to trade magic items between Allyn and the East Haven to make a fortune, however, this was strictly prohibited by the congress.
Lucien nodded to agree on the price. Then he took out some materials that he would not use for a while and some gold to pay Valentine. 
After playing with the dagger a bit, Valentine took out a piece of special paper from the Vladimir family and started writing. As he was writing, he said to Lucien, "Peter Joseph Vladimir. His father was Lord Joseph, the son of Ilyich's grandfather's youngest cousin, and he died many years ago. You'll play the role of Peter, who failed to inherit the lord title, and was secretly killed by someone during one of his smuggling trades in the East Haven. You remember, Joseph was mean, alcoholic, and rough, while Ilyich is mean and a pervert, but he likes pretending he's nice and loving."
Valentine was providing Lucien with detailed information within the family to help Lucien do a better job in his role-playing. It was easy to see that Valentine had still got support from the inside of the family. He even knew the several new knights from the family very well.
...
After Warren left the bar and turned around at the corner, the big, strong man beside him suddenly started to cast a strange spell, and the magic waves started to ripple around him.
The man was not a knight, but a real sorcerer!
"What are you doing, Mr. Reja?" asked Warren, a little surprised.
"Lord Warren, most sorcerers are vicious and cunning, and I was checking if he had left any marks on us to track us." Reja opened his eyes and answered, "But it seems he's not one of them."
Warren nodded unhappily, and then turned to the armed guard beside him, "Keep an eye on them."
Then Warren went back to his garden villa in Segru.
Around four in the afternoon, in his study, Warren said excitedly, "So Leo and the sorcerer visited Valentine?"
"That's right, young master," the middle-aged man responded in a flattering manner.
Although Valentine had been hiding himself well since he arrived at the East Haven, there was no way that he could completely disappear under the nose of Warren's father, the member of the city lord conference. The reason why all the important people in the East Haven had reached the agreement keeping Valentine in this place was that they saw the potential and the possible great future value in Valentine.
In order to keep a close eye on Valentine, Warren's father had put a servant around him.
When the servant left his study, Warren calmed down a bit. Looking outside of the window, there was a vicious smile on his face, "Hiring Leo¡­ Visiting Valentine¡­ You want to get a fake identity and pretend that you're part of the Vladimir family¡­ You'll see what I can do once you enter the empire¡­"
Warren always took his revenge!

Chapter 261: Shut the Mouth
				Chapter 261: Shut the Mouth
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding his together behind his back, Warren looked at the clouds outside of the window for a while, then walked to the one-eyed swordman standing beside the door of the study. "Lorban, keep an eye on Leo and the sorcerer, especially on what they buy and where they go." 
As there was still a small chance that Leo and the sorcerer visited Valentine because of some other reason, Warren needed to make sure his guessing was correct. However, even if he could not make sure of their intention, he would still write to the big nobles and remind them to be more mindful.
"Yes, Lord Warren," responded Lorban with great respect.
Because of what happened in the bar, Lorban felt that, as one of Warren's best guards, he let the young master down. Now he was trying to leave Warren with some good impression with his extremely respectful manner.
The task was not risky, since Lorban would not need to lead a whole bunch of guards to follow a middle-rank sorcerer, which would be basically the equivalent to comitting suicide. What Lorban needed to do was only to tell those bar owners, gangsters, and smugglers what the young master, Warren, wanted. As long as Leo and the sorcerer were still in the East Haven, they would always know where they were and what they were doing.
Watching Lorban leaving with some other guards, Warren's mood became pretty good. Imagining the picture of the young sorcerer's dead body lying on the ground surrounded by the cardinals from the empire, he walked to the bar in his living room and poured a glass of fancy golden rum for himself, celebrating his upcoming victory,
Sipping the amber-colored liquor, the spicy taste heated up his throat all the way down to his stomach. Warren released his breath smelling of liquor and put on a mocking smile, "What a pity¡­ The sorcerer's actually a pretty good-looking guy. Given one month, I could turn him into a great toy, like what I did to those good-looking young boys and girls."
Thinking of the naked girls and boys in the secret chamber of the villa, Warren felt aroused. So he put down the glass and was about to go there to vent his desire with his lash.
Warren felt a bit too warm from the liquor, so he decided to take off his long jacket first.
He was wondering which boy or girl he should torture first when he got there, and when he stared at himself in the mirror, a strange man wearing brownish-red jacket suddenly showed up behind him in there!
Warren's eyes suddenly opened wide and he was about to quickly turn around to defend himself.
However, he realized that he could not even remove his eyes from the young man's eyes, as if his eyes were two magic swirls!
At this time, a flash of blue light burst out of Warren's chest and that light refreshed his brain. Warren managed to escape from the young man's eyes.
As the son of a grand knight, the man in charge of a notorious human trafficking group, Warren was arrogant, but he was also very cautious. In case of his mind being controlled by someone else, Warren bought a Unicorn Necklace, which had cost him a lot of money. The necklace could protect him against low-rank spells targeting his mind and brain.
Although the necklace did not work immediately, it still managed to protect him!
However, one second after Warren got rid of the young man's control and felt lucky, the young man started casting a strange spell again. Some kind of weird power sneaked into Warren's body and he could not move anymore!
The third-spell magic, Hold Person!
Warren was so scared that he wanted to scream, however, he could not even move his lips.
"Don't overestimate the power of the magic item." Lucien stopped behind Warren, smiling gently. "And also don't underestimate a cautious sorcerer."
Being full of cunning tricks was one of the symbols of being a qualified sorcerer. A good sorcerer should always be prepared for many possibilities in a fight.
As Lucien was saying, using Mage Hand, Lucien took off the necklace from Warren's neck and removed Warren's spirit imprint in it with the skill from the Congress.
After leaving the bar, because Lucien never trusted such an immoral and viperous man like Warren, before Leo recovered, Lucien used the first-circle, Unseen Servant, to follow Warren and his men to see what they were going to do.
The fact that Reja was actually a sorcerer was out of Lucien's expectation, but fortunately, the servant strictly followed Lucien's order and stayed a hundred meters away from them when Reja was detecting the surroundings. Then, the unseen servant sneaked into the villa following the guards and hid in Warren's villa. Then, it witnessed the whole scene where Valentine's servant sold him.
After that, when Lorban left the villa, the unseen servant also managed to leave the place and then it found Lucien on the street using the connection between the summoned and the summoner.
Hearing the unseen servant's words, Lucien decided to remove the trouble thoroughly.
Thanks to the many servants and guards going in and out of the villa, Lucien did not really have a difficult time getting in here. To be cautious, Lucien used his improved version of the spell, Charm Person.
Feeling his own spirit imprint in the necklace being destroyed by Lucien's great spiritual power, Warren's face turned pale. His eyes were begging for mercy.
Lucien's brown eyes looked into Warren's eyes again, and they started becoming mysterious and deep.
Although Warren was still trying to threaten Lucien with his eyes, he realized that begging did not work at all, as Lucien did not care. He had the Will of Elements behind him, and even the whole Congress of Magic.
Warren's eyes gradually lost focus, then an admiring smile appeared on his face, "Sir, I'm at your service."
Lucien smiled.
...
When Reja was working on his magic experiment with a useless dwarven girl abandoned by Warren, he heard someone knocking at the lab's door.
"What?" asked Reja aloud.
"Mr. Reja, the young master's looking for you," answered the familiar voice on the other side of the door, "About the sorcerer and Leo."
Reja frowned a bit and murmured in low voice, "Why look for trouble? He's a middle-rank sorcerer!"
As a low-rank sorcerer, Reja knew clearly how big was the power difference between each circle, not to mention the power difference between mages of different ranks.
However, since he relied on Warren a lot to get money and magic materials, Reja walked out of his lab and came to Warren's living room.
Warren's cheeks slightly flushed, as if he was drunk, and his voice was lower than usual, "Mr. Reja, come here and grab a drink first."
"I'm working on an experiment now. A cup of Sky Blue will do." Reja did not feel suspicious at all.
When Reja approached the bar, Warren quickly walked toward him and gave him a big hug. To the great surprise of all the servants present, Warren shouted, "Reja, I love you!"
"What?" Reja was confused. Then quickly, he had this strong sense of danger coming to him. Although he tried his best to get rid of Warren's hug, he could not. After all, Warren had awakened his Blessing with some magic potion. Being hugged by him, Reja's spiritual power could not concentrate.
At this time, a big fireball fiercely shot out of the room beside the living room, and directly hit them. A great explosion filled the whole place. Apart from the fireball, the explosion was also contributed by the explosives around Warren's waist, tearing Reja's magic robe into pieces.
When the blast waves faded, there were only pieces of flesh of Warren and Reja left.
Like in a nightmare, the servants were all trying to run out of that place. However, together with the voice casting a spell in the room, their movement was immediately slowed down.
After finishing the two major enemies, Lucien started to clear away Warren's men, including Jarolim and Lorban, who later came back.
...
The human and elf prisoners in the chamber all heard the great explosion. They waited there with great hope to see whether anyone would come for them. However, no one came, so they started trying to open the magic gate themselves.
Surprisingly, the gate was not hard to break. When they left the chamber, they found the whole villa quiet like a tomb.
A human among them said to the rest of them aloud, "We should stay united! Or we would be sold again by those bastards in the East Haven!"
They all agreed with the human, and they started to search for more slaves in the villa and freed them.
After that, they secretly left the sinful place.
...
In the evening, in the manor outside of Segru, Jacob got the news.
"What? Someone killed Warren and destroyed his place?!" The veins on Jacob's forehead were bulging.

Chapter 262: Clean Up
				Chapter 262: Clean Up
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the fierce thump of hooves, seven or eight strong Dragon Scale horses rushed southeastwards through the city gate of Segru.
"Bastards! Don't you see people?!" shouted a gatekeeper, who was almost knocked over by one of the horses.
Apart from special situations, Segru's city gate was never closed.
Another gatekeeper shot him a warning glance and lowered his voice, "Didn't you see the man on the horse? It was Lord Jacob! How dare you!"
Hearing that, the first gatekeeper immediately closed his mouth tight and looked around alertly. He started to get worried that someone would remember what he just said and put him in trouble.
After a while, he asked the other gatekeeper confusedly, "What happened in Segru? Why was Lord Jacob in such a hurry?"
"Lord Jacob¡­ I head that¡­ Lord Jacob's son is dead! He was killed by someone in his own villa, and all his guards were killed, too!" answered the other gatekeeper in a frightened but also excited way.
"Wow¡­ I mean¡­ What?!" Hearing that, the first gatekeeper felt not only greatly shocked but also excited. Warren's name was notorious. Most people hated him very much. This was definitely a big deal, a big deal that had not happened in the East Haven for years! He wondered who had the guts to challenge the authority of a suzerain by killing his only son!
Hearing their conversation, several other gatekeepers gathered closer. The guy who got the fresh news was flattered, so he said to them excitedly, "All the slaves in Warren's villa were gone! Maybe the young master pissed off someone he shouldn't have, and the person directly killed every single one of them!"
The first gatekeeper looked back and released a sigh, "Warren's the only son of Lord Jacob. Lord Jacob must be beyond furious now. We was being really careful recently, in order to stay away from any trouble."
"That's true. Some people said that this happened in the afternoon, however, the noise was blocked by the villa's own magic circles, so no one found out about it until evening. I bet the guy who did this must now be hundreds of miles away from here. It's almost impossible for Lord Jacob to catch the guy. Lord Jacob's Blessing, Werewolf, will definitely drive him crazy. Many people in the East Haven will die for nothing just because of his anger." The informed gatekeeper sighed. Fortunately, they were the gatekeepers of Segru, not the East Haven. Jacob would not easily vent on them because of the nine city lords.
Jacob was a level-four knight with Werewolf Blessing. He was fast, strong, tough and was able to heal fast from injuries. At the same time, he had also got the powers known as Rampage, Unholy Blight, Dark Asthenia Halo, and Roaring, all derived from his Blessing. The only shortcoming of the Blessing was that Jacob could not launch long-range attacks, and he could not stay conscious in moonlight, instead, he would turn into a real huge wolf.
...
In the living room of Warren's garden villa.
Jacob stared at the blood and flesh pieces on the floor with his eyes wide open. He could not believe that the son he had raised for almost thirty years now had turned into the remaining pieces in front of him!
Wolf fur started to come out from his armor, covering his clenched fists.
Smelling the air, Jacob said in an extremely suppressed tone, "The smells of blood have mixed together. Bastard¡­ He did this on purpose!"
Jacob's men started to search the place, thinking to themselves that they could only bury the relatively big pieces of Warren. At this time, no one wanted to stand in front of Jacob to take his violent rage.
"Mr. Spencer, please check out the place using magic to see if we can find any clues." Wolf fur started growing on Jacob's face, as his great anger and his intense urge to kill were going to explode at any time. He must and he would find the bastard who killed his son. He was going to make the guy's body kneel in front of Warren's tomb, for hundreds of years, thousands of years, even when the body had turned into pure bones!
A middle-rank mage was qualified to be a suzerain in this place, or at least a major consultant of the nine city lords. Therefore, Jacob, a level-four grand knight, could never afford a middle-rank sorcerer, not to mention that he was not even qualified for having a middle-rank sorcerer working for him. Due to the mysteriousness of magic, however, Jacob still needed one, so the Spencer guy he just talked to was a second-circle sorcerer, and together with his apprentices, Spencer worked for Jacob as his consultant.
Spencer took out a crystal ball from his pocket and put in on the top tip of his black magic staff. Then, he started to cast some Astrology spell.
The crystal ball turned black, as if a night sky was in there. Stars in the crystal ball all had their own track.
"Astrology cannot provide the direct answer, so the sorcerer who killed the master should be good at Astrology, and since he killed the young master with a Fireball spell, the sorcerer should be¡­ around third-circle¡­" Spencer could not find answers from the crystal ball, but he had some assumptions based on his experience.
Jacob's eyes had turned red. Pointing at the flesh and blood on the floor and the completely destroyed bar counter, Jacob yelled, "This kind of explosion¡­ from a third-circle sorcerer?!" Clearly he did not trust what Spencer just said.
Bottles of wine were shattered by his furious voice, and the liquor covered the floor. The whole place was filled with the mixed smell of blood and wine, which made Jacob's nose less sensitive than usual.
Spencer pointed at some of the glass pieces on the ground, "Lord Jacob, look at these. My guessing's that lots of alchemical materials exploded together. So maybe the sorcerer controlled the young master or Reja first, and then he or she tied lots of explosives to one of them. When the sorcerer cast the fireball spell, the explosion thus turned out to be this powerful."
"I don't want to hear how Warren died. I just want to know who the fu*king bastard is!" Jacob started roaring like crazy.
Spencer took a deep breath and then started casting again. This time, there were no stars in the crystal ball, but a creepy, old voice came out from it, "Carry the unknown destiny, flash back the ever-running time¡­ The sorcerer who summons me¡­ You can use five gems to get an answer, but only one."
This was a third-circle spell called Question. The caster could ask a question to an unknown evil existence at the cost of five precious gems, and the thing only provided the answers between yes or now. If the level of the question was not too much above the caster's own knowledge level, the accuracy was about seventy-five percent.
It looked like Spencer's magic staff was a level-three magic item.
The five beautiful rubies disappeared as soon as they touched the crystal ball, then Spencer asked, "I want to know whether the sorcerer who killed Warren had known Warren for just a few days?"
With smaller time range, the investigation would be easier.
The vicious voice answered immediately, "Yes."
Hearing that, Jacob hurriedly commanded, "You, you, and you, go and check it right now! We must be quick! Before the bastard gets out of here!"
Most of the knights hurriedly left the villa, and Spencer and another two knights checked the rest of the living room, but found nothing useful. So they decided to go to the chamber where those slaves were to see what they could find. Spencer also sent messages to his students to come and help.
Jacob rubbed his forehead and said, "Mr. Spencer, I gotta leave this in your hands right now. I'm too disturbed by my rage to think properly. We must find the fu*king bastard!"
Spencer nodded and hurriedly left the place with the two knights to see if there were any other clues they could find.
The living room suddenly became quiet, and this made Jacob feel even more bothered.
As he was walking back and forth in the living room, gray spider webs came out from nowhere on his feet and Jacob got entangled tightly in the webs!
A figure showed up in the corner where the wine smell was very strong. The man was wearing brownish red tight jacket, white breeches and black boots, as well as a monocle on the man's good-looking, smiling face.
Lucien never left the place! He hid himself in the safe corner under the cover of the mixed smell of wine and blood! No one ever expected this!
Lucien was very patient. He had been waiting here for four to five hours, waiting for the chance to kill Jacob together! If he did not, Jacob would finally find out what happened, and that would make his effort of killing Warren become in vain, so Lucien needed Jacob to die! Once Jacob was dead, all the suzerains would be busy with fighting over his land and wealth, and no one would care about how he was killed or who killed him!
That was how Lucien cleaned up things afterwards!

Chapter 263: Get Rid of Future Trouble
				Chapter 263: Get Rid of Future Trouble
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
No one, including Jacob, Spencer, or the many knights, ever expected that the sorcerer who killed Warren and Reja was still waiting here. In almost every case, the murder would hurriedly escape from the site as fast and far as possible. Therefore, when Jacob and the knights first arrived at the living room, they were only looking for clues and evidence, but it never occurred to them that there was another person there!
Lucien took advantage of this, and he called it the psychological magic.
When Jacob saw the gray spider nets covering his whole body and noticed a person slowly showing up in the space, he immediately realized what was going on there. He was not frightened, instead, he was furious. He tightened all his muscles under the armor to break the fibres, but the threads were stronger than he thought. He could not move at all, not to mention reaching to the sword around his waist called Ice Break.
The second circle spell, Spider Web!
Experienced as Jacob was, he knew that being trapped here meant his demise. He had to keep intervening Lucien's casting to buy himself more time to get rid of the threads. Thus, he opened his mouth wide and the tusks in it grew longer. When he was about to use Roaring to stun the sorcerer, Lucien pointed at him with his coral staff, and a middle-sized lightning ball directly dashed into the open mouth!
The second circle spell of the Ambola staff, Lightning Ball.
If Jacob could move right now, there was no way that Lucien could do this. However, in Lucien's eyes, Jacob was just like a fixed target for practicing casting!
Jacob's whole brain was instantly numbed by the lightning ball, and he could not make any sound at all.
However, due to his powerful Werewolf Blessing, Jacob recovered from it quite fast. After all, this was just a second circle spell, and the fact that it was cast by a third circle sorcerer could not make it any more powerful.
Lucien knew this. After Lightning Ball, he started to cast another spell in a weird intonation. A beam of gray ray shot directly out of Lucien's right hand, which was covered by a white glove, and it instantly hit Jacob's body.
The third-circle Necromancy spell, Enfeeblement Ray, and it could quickly exhaust the person's stamina.
Jacob's black armor lit up to prevent the ray from affecting his body. However, although his armor was great against physical attack, it did not work that well with magic. The gray ray went directly into his body, and Jacob immediately felt cold. He felt tired, but again, because of his powerful Blessing, he was not entirely exhausted.
The ring on Jacob's right hand flashed, and lightning was summoned, going directly toward Lucien.
Jacob knew that he was not good at ranged attack, so he bought this expensive magic ring. 
At the same time, Jacob's relatively good-looking face started to get distorted. His cheekbones started to protrude, his eyes became red, and wolf fur started to grow out of his face. Jacob's whole body bulged and his size increased by half, even including his ten knuckles!
Within two seconds, Jacob now looked just like a huge wolf!
Werewolf's Rampage. Once it was activated, the person's strength and speed would be greatly improved, and would also be immune to most mind-affecting spells. At the same time, however, the person was not able to use magic items in Rampage.
The spider webs suddenly became too fragile to stop Jacob. Gasping, Jacob marched forward toward Lucien with great effort.
Lucien quickly covered himself with a layer of golden and white flames and shielded himself from the lightning. After a few seconds, when Lucien was ready for another round of casting, the crystal ball rose above his head and burst out dazzling light.
Lucien clenched his fists and the light shone on Jacob. Instantly, Jacob felt that the living room's floor was like a mire, dragging him downwards, thus he had to make a lot of effort to pull his feet up to keep moving. The rest of the spider threads all over Jacob were not making it any easier for him.
The second-circle Astrology spell, Grasping Earth!
Jacob's bent wolf back suddenly straightened up, and a wolf shadow came out from him. The shadow was free from the spider webs and the sinking floor, and it jumped right toward Lucien.
Werewolf Blessing, Unholy Blight!
Holy light burst out from Lucien's chest, and a beam of flame-like light from the roof directly hit the shadow and made it disappear in a second.
Divine spell, Flame Strike!
Jacob became weaker when the shadow was destroyed, and he almost stopped moving forward.
Seizing the chance, Lucien cast Enfeeblement Ray on Jacob again.
Being hit by the gray ray again, Jacob did not even have the strength to roar. He knew that things could not keep going like this, so he, at the great cost of feedback damage afterwards, activated Rampage again! Only a grand knight could do this twice within this short period of time! Jacob started advancing toward Lucien again!
Lucien's left hand shone with cold light, and the frost blades perfectly struck Jacob's shanks! Although the blades could not really hurt Jacob because of the heavy armor he was wearing, the frost quickly turned into ice and froze Jacob's legs to the floor.
However, because of Werewolf's power, the ice instantly broke into pieces.
When Jacob was ready to bite Lucien's throat open, layers of new spider webs covered his body again. Jacob roared furiously.
Lucien was prepared for this fight. He had his plan and strategies in mind. This was the power of a sorcerer. In front of a prepared middle-rank sorcerer, if a level four knight did not have some secret power or great magic items, basically the knight would have no hope in winning the battle.
Again, with Lucien pointing the Amboula staff at Jacob's huge mouth, another lightning ball rushed in there. Jacob's roar was thus instantly cut off.
When Jacob was still trying his best to get rid of the new spider webs, he heard the sorcerer casting the same weird spell again! The gray ray hit him again!
Jacob's knees suddenly lost all the strength, and he almost kneeled down on the floor. However, the spider webs not even let him fall down!
Jacob was gasping. His throat was making a harsh noise. However, it could not turn into a roar. Jacob's eyes, staring at Lucien, were filled with great despair and anger.
Finally, Enfeeblement Ray worked!
There was still a smile on Lucien's face, but he directly ignored the way Jacob stared at him. Lucien was waiting for his cooldown time to cast the last spell.
After a few seconds, Lucien's raised his right hand and pointed at Jacob's left chest. A black hole appeared in front of Jacob's chest and the magic item he was wearing turned into colourful particles in solids, gases and liquids.
That was Lucien's special spell, Elemental Order, and Lucien also liked to call the spell Item Destroyer.
Jacob's eyes opened wide, and the veins in his eyeballs almost exploded. When Jacob was still striving to recover his power, Lucien cast Elemental Order again.
Jacob was shocked to find that the wolf fur in front of his chest and his muscles started to dissolve due to some mysterious and unstoppable power. His flesh was turned into colourful particles and his heart was thus directly revealed!
Jacob heard something about this horrible spell before. He could not believe the young sorcerer in front of him had this kind of power!
Before Jacob's muscles and skin could grow back, Lucien lifted his Amboula staff again and shot a strong acid ball directly toward Jacob's heart.
The strong acid immediately covered Jacob's heart, and the wolf-like man burst out a miserable, shrill cry out of the great pain.
At this time, Lucien cast a green acid arrow and the arrow fiercely penetrated Jacob's heart.
The level four knight just died like this. In front of a sorcerer, Jacob did not even manage to have the chance to make use of his strengths such as his power, speed and agility.
"Go meet your son in hell," said Lucien very calmly. Then, a big fireball was summoned and Jacob's body was blasted. Lucien did not want to leave any evidences here that could reveal his special power, Elemental Order.
Although the fireball was powerful, Jacob's black armor still looked pretty solid. The fire covered Jacob's whole body when the spider webs were lit on fire.
This was why Lucien did not choose to use fire to attack Jacob¡ªthe spider webs would be burned down.
Lucien closed his eyes and started to sense the surroundings using his spiritual power. He saw that Spencer, instead of rushing to save his master's life, hurriedly turned around and escaped away. He must have somehow confirmed Jacob's death.
Spencer was only hired by Jacob. There was no way that Spencer would risk his own life to seek revenge for Jacob and Warren.
Lucien knew this well. So he did not bother killing Spencer. Lucien took away Jacob's sword, armor, money and the rest of his magic items. He also left the unique marks of the Congress of Magic and the Will of Elements to show the East Haven people their power. So, they would draw the conclusion that Warren and Jacob were killed by a sorcerer because they pissed off the Congress and the Will of Elements. Therefore, Lucien could be totally free of future trouble.

Chapter 264: Set Off
				Chapter 264: Set Off
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Ice Break, level four medium rank magic sword, bonus damage of ice and acid, balance improvement. Jacob had spent almost ten thousand Thales on it, however, in the last fight of his life, he did not even have a chance to draw the sword.
Lucien picked up the sword from the floor and slightly shook his head. The sword was glowing in a greenish-blue light. Together with the armor named Demon Soul, the ring named Punishment, which could cast Lightning three times a day, and some gold coins and gems worth around forty Thales, Lucien put the sword and other trophies into his magic storage pouch.
To collect the pieces of equipment, Jacob made countless filthy smuggling deals. Now they all belonged to Lucien. However, Lucien was not planning on using them, because some nobles in Schachran Empire could probably recognize them, which definitely meant unwanted trouble. Therefore, Lucien was going to have Leo sell them.
The unicorn necklace was an exception. Because a necklace could be very unnoticeable if it was properly hidden, Lucien was going to ask Leo to wear it to be immune to mental spells. This was good for both of them. And because Lucien was wearing Sun's Corona, he could not wear the two items together.
Collecting trophies made Lucien quite cheerful. He put back the crystal ball in his pocket¡ªmany astrology spells, due to the mysteriousness of destiny, still required casting materials when used. Maskelyne's Star was a typical example. And Astrology was not alone here. Other schools of magic also had this kind of special situation. Therefore, the completion of building a magic model in one's soul did not always mean that the caster would never use the corresponding casting materials.
With a flash of magic waves, Lucien's figure quickly disappeared and he secretly left the villa.
...
The basement of the common-looking house was one of Leo's secret hiding places.
"Mr. Peter, Jacob's death had made a great stir in the city. The suzerains have started fighting against each other for Jacob's land, wealth and resources, and the issue has been brought to the City Lord Meeting. Some nearby ancient sorcerers have also arrived here. They hope to join the East Haven's meeting to share the wealth." Leo, although there was no one else around, still carefully called Lucien's fake name.
Lucien was a bit surprised, "Is Jacob that wealthy? I did not find too many valuable items on him."
Leo answered, like a real butler, "Because most of the earnings of Jacob's manor had to go to the nine city lords. He also had to buy lots of precious materials for improving the power of his own Blessing such as Moonlight Stone and werewolf blood¡­ plus his extravagant way of living, he could only use probably one tenth of his wealth to buy magic items. Also, high level magic items are very precious in the East Haven, and in most cases, the items would go to the city lords. Finding a level four or five magic item is already hard, not to mention finding a suitable one. So it took Jacob several years to gather his whole set of equipment."
Lucien slightly nodded. This was one of the major advantages of joining the Congress of Magic and the Will of Elements. As long as he had money, there were always great magic items there for him to choose. Every time Lucien went to the congress's Exchange Zone or the Demiplanes Warehouse of the will of Elements, he wanted everything there and he always had a difficult time making decisions.
"What about the nine city lords? Did they say anything?" this was what Lucien cared about the most.
Leo, wearing the makeup of an old man, shook his head, "Mr. Peter, no one has heard anything from the City Lord Meeting yet, but the owner of the bar told me that the city lords' people have only been there once for investigation, and no order for arrest has been released yet. The several suzerains claimed that Jacob and Warren were killed by the Congress of Magic, and this has nothing to do with the East Haven. According to the local law, it was totally fine for them to fight for Jacob's wealth."
"I see. Anyway, we shall still wait for a few more days to make sure we're safe before we set off for Schachran Empire." Lucien nodded, "Can you please find a way to secretly sell the magic items and use the money to buy a level four or five magic sword?"
"Mr. Peter, you'll at least suffer a twenty percent loss in a hurry trade, and a level four or five magic sword is quite hard to find. I cannot promise that I can find you a good one." Leo was straightforward.
"Not a problem." Lucien smiled and adjusted his monocle, "This is just for temporary use, as long as it doesn't have a high requirement on the user's strength, agility and willpower."
When they were in Schachran Empire, Lucien wanted to try his best to avoid using magic, therefore, a powerful magic sword became really important. Lucien did not really care about the features of the sword, since he was going to sell it when he got back to Allyn later anyway.
"As you said." Leo slightly bowed and left the the basement.
...
A few days later, in the early evening, Leo came back with a fancy sword inlaid with rubies.
"Mr. Peter, this is your magic sword. Level four high rank. Twenty three thousand Thales. After selling Ice Break, Demon Soul, the ring and the gold and gems, you have one hundred and sixty Thales left." Leo handed the sword to Lucien, and he also showed Lucien the evidence that he did not make up the prices and profit from the trades.
Lucien drew the sword and gently stroke it. The sword felt cold. Although the major body of the sword looked rather simple, the hilt was very sophisticatedly designed and it was covered with complicated patterns.
Following the method that he learned from Natasha, Lucien easily left his own power in the sword, and he got the message from the dwarf maker:
"Frost, level four high rank. Built by the special material called Jade Ice found from the deep Northland. The sword can slow down your enemy with freezing damage when it hits the target.
" Everyone likes fighting with an enemy who gets slower and slower! ¡ª Adaaran, the Copper Hammer"
The most outstanding feature of the sword was the fact that it could slow people down, but that was it. This was also the reason why Jacob chose Ice Break.
Lucien wielded the sword and felt the power in it, as much as that of a level four knight. And then he put the sword back into its scabbard, and hung it on one side of his waist ¡ª Alert was on the other side.
Lucien did not take a single look at the evidence but directly ruined it, "I trust you, Leo. And as a sorcerer, I also have a rough estimation of its value. Is there anything going on outside?"
Leo was a bit excited about Lucien's trust, "Mr. Peter, I have confirmed it with Mr. Valentine and the owner of Taran. The nine city lords have connived at the fact that the suzerains can take Jacob's wealth and land, and they have announced their final decision after contacting the Congress¡ªwhat happened was due to Jacob and Warren's personal conflict with the Congress, so the city lords and the East Haven will not get involved in this. This is over."
Lucien had this feeling that the nine city lords had more or less of a connection to the Congress. It was not easy for the East Haven to remain neutral among this many powers.
Lucien stood up, "Leo, there's no moon tonight. We shall set off."
...
In the darkness, Flame Fortress was like a giant dragon safeguarding the best entrance of the mountain range. The rest of the places were full of terrible monsters, deep forests and snow cliffs.
Lucien, taking Leo with him, was right now flying in the night sky, as if they were part of the darkness.
According to the information they had, Lucien avoided the magic circles for the purpose of guarding in the sky and the patrolling routine of the airships, Lucien easily went through the fortress. They did not land until they arrived at a small town in Schachran Empire.
Without special magic or divine spells, there was no way that one could fully block the endless sky!

Chapter 265: The Superrich
				Chapter 265: The Superrich
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the year 819 of Saint Calendar, the end of the Month of Beginning.
In the afternoon, the gray sky started to reveal a touch of cheerful blue. The great storm had finally stopped.
Snow accumulated in front of the unique-looking buildings with domes, and the snow was so thick that the doors of the buildings had been blocked. Some Schachran Empire residents got out through the windows. They started pushing aside the snow with big shovels, drinking spirits at the same time.
Most people here had blond, light blond or black-colored hair and were well-built. While young ladies looked beautiful and elegant, those middle-aged ones tended to have put on extra weight. Many of them were double the size of their husbands, and they could easily roll the big snow balls, which were even very heavy for many young lads, with one single hand.
On the second floor of a hotel along the main street, through the window, two youngsters were looking at the joyful scene when people down there were busy with cleaning the snow. Grabbing her hands together, the blond, blue-eyed girl grinned. "I've never seen this big snow in Ural before. It's already the end of the month, wow!"
The district of Ural was located in Kirov Province, southwest of Schachran Empire. Ural was two provinces away from the north fortress of the Duchy of Violet, and it was known for its ores and skills in making weapons. Therefore, Ural was also responsible for the logistics of Marinov's line of defense.
The young lady was beautiful, and the long coat made of fox fur she was wearing showed her nice figure. The short-haired young man standing beside her was a bit hesitant but still said to her, "Yielena, you've been spending quite a bit time with¡­ Mr. Peter?"
"Yes, Igor?" Yielena turned around, feeling a bit confused, "Mr. Peter is profound and humorous. I like spending time with him."
As she was saying that, there was a little smile on her face.
That smile irritated Igor. He stamped his foot and said to her in an eager tone, "Yielena, he's a noble! And his wife must be a noble!"
Yielena's beautiful eyebrows frowned together, and she felt a bit offended, "So what? We're just friends. Come on Igor¡­ There's nothing between us. If Mr. Peter was here, he would never upset me like this. He would talk to me about the fun games we can play in the heavy snow¡­"
"Mr. Peter, Mr. Peter¡­ Yielena can't you just stop mentioning him for a second? Nobles are hypocritical!" Igor lost his temper a bit, "He looks elegant, uh? Who knows what he does for a living? Who knows what he has done before? Look at his showy swords. And he treats well every beautiful girl with us in the caravan! That means he doesn't care about you! He's a playboy! He hasn't even activated his Blessing yet!"
This was not the first time that they had this conversation, however, Yielena never listened to Igor. Igor could not bear this anymore.
Seeing that Yielena lowered her head, Igor softened his tone, "I care about you, Yielena¡­ This is why I upset you. He's trying to get you to¡­" Igor stopped there. Although he talked dirty when he was with those mercenaries, he knew how to stop himself in front of Yielena.
Yielena now looked really upset. There were tears in her blue eyes. She said to him, in her trembling voice, "Igor, why do you always think Mr. Peter is a bad guy? He has refused two good-looking single ladies in our caravan. And I'm not an idiot as well!"
Then, she turned around and walked back to her room, slamming the door loudly. Igor started to apologize on the other side of the door.
On the other end of the corridor, two men were also looking outside of the window.
"Mr. Peter, I have to say that Vladimir family is really well-mannered. You're the most upright noble I've ever seen in front of women." The elder man with a brandy nose smiled. He was Berdychiv, Yielena's father, member of the caravan.
Lucien, or say, Peter Joseph Vladimir, put his hands in white gloves on the window rails and smiled. "In fact, there are many nobles who are loyal. Think about all those romantic stories."
In order to play the role better, Lucien dyed his hair blond using a special tree sap, and he also changed his eye color into blue. Now, he looked more lively.
"Both of us know that those stories are for those innocent young ladies, to get them to become the nobles' lovers." Berdychiv laughed, "Mr. Peter, you wanna have lunch together? I still have a good bottle of wine."
Lucien withdrew his right hand and shook his head, "Thank you, Mr. Berdychiv, but I cannot drink. I injured myself slightly when I was traveling around."
"Haha, Mr. Peter¡­ This is the only thing in you that it's not that pleasant!" Berdychiv had been acquainted with Lucien for a month. He could now joke with Mr. Peter in a more relaxed way.
Schachran Empire was also known as the Empire of Knights, because they had way more knights than Violet and Holm, and this was also why the empire had been standing for hundreds of years against the South Church.
This made lots of adventures believe that harsh environment was good for fostering one's strong willpower, so that they could awaken Blessing sooner.
In the dinning hall, Lucien found a table in the corner. Leo, who was right now his butler, stood next to him.
After a while, when Lucien was having his Borsch, a middle-aged man wearing black jacket and marten waistcoat came in his direction, followed by his servant. His blond hair was shaped in slicked-back style, and a thick cigar was in his mouth. On his ten fingers, there were at least seven or eight dazzling rings.
"Hey, Mr. Peter. Can I sit here?" asked the bulky, middle-aged man passionately.
Lucien looked around and saw there was no spare seat left, so he nodded, "Sure, Mr. Sergey." The heavy snow trapped many tourists here, so the restaurant was busier than usual.
Sergey joined the caravan around five or six days ago, and he was heading for Ural city. He was straightforward, generous and talkative, so he had got familiar with most people in the caravan already.
After ordering some Bulin, which was a kind of naan bread, caviar, roasted veal and lamb, Sergey grinned, "Mr. Peter, I gotta say that you've really reminded me of Count Kutuzov also from Vladimir family. Both of you are very graceful and well-mannered. I mean¡­ when I was doing my business in Volck, I met him a couple of times¡­"
Lucien cut his chicken into pieces, and he smiled, "Uncle Kutuzov? Is he still suffering from arthritis in rainy days?"
Kutuzov was important in the family, therefore, Valentin did mention some details about him, such as his diseases from his failure of breaking through the level of grand knight.
"Still the same, the same¡­" Sergey put on a smile and switched the topic. He started talking about other nobles he knew.
After sharing his stories with all the nobles, Sergey had built up the picture of himself¡ªmysterious and superrich. Then, he released a slight sigh, "It's such a pity that I have to say goodbye to you soon, as we're already very close to Ural. I got to know Count Witte through Baroness Carleena's personal connection and I bought a recent discovered gem mine in Ural. Although the project will be tough, the value of the mine is beyond imagination. Lots of people are craving for it. So I'm afraid I'm gonna stay in Ural for a long time."
Count Witte's land was half the size of Ural District, and he was the actual ruler.
Lucien chewed his chicken well. After a while, he asked the question that Sergey was expecting, "Beyond imagination?"
"For sure! Experts have proved that the value of the mine's equal to a whole county! Thanks to the fact that Count Witte just doesn't want to bother and he'd rather make money from tax, or I'd definitely have zero chance to get it!" Sergey took all the documents out from his suitcase and showed off in front of Lucien.
Many spells needed gems as casting material and many magic items were made of natural gems.
"Congratulations." Lucien smiled politely.
"Thank you, Mr. Peter. But you know this isn't an easy trade. I almost went bankrupt just to please the count. Now I have no money for hiring people and buying all those equipments. I've been running around recently trying to collect money from my friends, and I'll pay them back double! But I'm still expecting a bit more¡­" Sergey looked worried. "I really hope the empire has banks that give out loans like those in Sturk and Holm¡­ Now I'm even considering selling some of my share¡­"
After finishing his words, Sergey stopped and waited for Lucien's answer patiently.
However, Lucien did not say anything for quite a while.
"Well¡­ Mr. Peter, you don't want to say anything?" Sergey raised his wine glass.
"Sure." Lucien wiped his mouth with napkin, "I've finished my lunch. Mr. Sergey, take your time and enjoy."
Then, Lucien elegantly stood up. After adjusting his two fancy swords a bit, he left the dining hall with Leo.
For a second, Sergey's smile froze on his face. Then he smiled, and took a sip of his wine.
...
In the afternoon, when the snow had just been cleaned a bit. An invitation arrived at the hotel. The invitee was Lucien, and the invitation was sent by Baroness Carleena.

Chapter 266: Winter Hunting
				Chapter 266: Winter Hunting
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Dear Mr. Peter,
"It is so nice to hear that we have a Vladimir family member here in Ural. Now, the storm has stopped and the weather has cleared up, therefore, in order to celebrate the upcoming spring and welcome our distinguished guest from afar, I would like to invite all the nobles in town to join together for a winter hunting in the forest belonging to my manor. May I have the honor?
"Baroness Carleena Lottnico."
That was a fancy invitation, made of fine cardboard and printed with sunflower patterns, with her elegant and beautiful handwriting in Schachran language. The invitation also had the unique feminine scent, left by the mature and beautiful noble lady who wrote the invitation.
"Baroness Carleena Lottnico¡­" Lucien just heard the name from Sergey, who he suspected to be a swindler, so he was now feeling a little hesitant.
The caravan members saw that Lucien did not say a word after reading the invitation, so they asked out of curiosity, "Mr. Peter, which is this noble inviting you?"
It was not Lucien's first time receiving invitations like that. Many suzerains had invited him before because of the family name, Vladimir. Out of a noble's courtesy, Lucien had accepted many invites and attended many parties.
Although after when the suzerains knew that Peter was only the son of a lord who failed to inherit the title, they became quite cold to Lucien, those invitations still brought the caravan good convenience in the empire.
"It's from Baroness Carleena," answered Lucien straightforwardly. Schachran Empire had a vast territory and countless important and small nobles. Lucien really did not know them well, except Count Witte, and he was expecting that the caravan members could provide him with more information.
After having some good wine with his lunch, Berdychiv's face looked flushed, and his red nose looked even brighter, "Baroness Carleena! Haha¡­ A real beauty from Ural! A widow! She has all the wealth left by the baron, and Mr. Peter, you've got no idea how many young nobles are longing for winning her affection. The beauty, the manor, and the wealth¡­ Think about it."
Berdychiv was still a bit drunk. He looked at Lucien trying to give him hints, as this had always been the traditional topic among men.
"Baroness Carleena is called Black Widow and the Vain Fox," added a blonde and green-eyed girl, a bit unhappily. "She was born in a noble family, and she's also the niece of the count's second wife. But years ago, she rejected all the young nobles who were pursuing her and married Baron Lotnikov, a widower with no offsprings, who was at that time forty-six years older than her for the sake of wealth and his title. Baron Lotnikov's health condition was quite good when they first got married, but five years later, the baron aged a lot and got really sick. Soon, he passed away."
"Irina, don't spread rumors," said a gentleman in the caravan. "Look around, we're in a fancy hotel in Ural, not in the middle of nowhere. What if some nobles heard it?"
Berdychiv waved his hands, "Relax. Trust me, those nobles want people to spread Baroness Carleena's bad name. So they can have less competitors. Those nobles don't care about the baroness's reputation. They want the title, the money and the beautiful body."
"She does have a bad reputation. She started inviting young nobles to her manor and having those extravagant parties only half year after the baron passed away."
"Anyway," Lucien smiled, "the baroness has invited me, and we're not in any hurry to leave. I should be polite and not let the hostess down."
Lucien had to play and maintain his noble reputation well. As he was not the only noble invited, the winter hunting should not be risky. And as long as he refused to be greedy, Lucien was confident that he would not be swindled.
After all, at that moment, Lucien himself was, in fact, a swindler as well.
Hearing that, the several caravan members had mixed feelings. Some started playing jokes, while some did not look too happy.
Lucien stood up and slightly nodded to them with a smile, "Then, see you tomorrow, everyone."
After he said that, he closed the book §²§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§Ñ§Ñ§Ü§ä§×§â§Ñ§ß§Ñ§Õ§ã§à§Ò§à§Û (An Actor Prepares) in his spirit library.
...
The land was covered with a thick layer of snow. Tall and big pines, from time to time, shook off the snow to get rid of the heavy burden. Several big, black Ural dogs shot out as fast as arrows, chasing after the rabbits.
Suddenly, an arrow shot from afar penetrated a gray hare very precisely.
Applause followed. A young noble tried to please the noble lady, "Impressive! Carleena, your archery has improved even further!"
Carleena lifted her bow in a triumphant way, then she turned around and said to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, now it's your turn. Vladimirs are all good archers."
Baroness was around twenty seven or twenty eight. Her soft blond hair was tied back, and there was always a smile matching her big blue eyes. Her slightly pouty red lips were like flower petals. The black hunting jacket outfit showed the beauty of her figure lines. Seeing that, many young nobles could not even remove their eyes from the baroness.
Lucien had seen women more beautiful than her, so he just took a polite glance at her and replied, "Thank you, Lady Carleena. The glory all goes to the family. But, honestly speaking, I'm more of a close combat person than an archer."
Lucien pointed at the two swords on his waist. Then, although he was being polite saying this, Lucien still quickly shot an arrow and it directly got a hare in the snow.
The key point of archery was stability and good vision, and they were no problem for Lucien.
"Umm¡­ Clearly, you're really being humble, Mr. Peter. Your archery is close to knight level. You should teach me when you have time." Carleena stared at Lucien with her big blue eyes out of admiration.
This made other young nobles quite unhappy. A black-haired noble picked up his bow and said, "He's close to knight level. But let me show you what real knight-level archery is!"
After saying that, he shoot an arrow so fiercely that it was almost covered by fire. The arrow directly shot through a huge tree and went right into the eye socket of the animal behind it, leaving its fur totally undamaged.
He turned around and put on a complacent smile, "Peter, you see that? Of course, I wouldn't mind practicing sword with you either."
Before Lucien said anything, Carleena smiled sweetly, "Nice extraordinary bow, Barshac."
The implication of her words were clear. Then, Carleena turned to talk to other nobles. Her great social skills made this whole evening warm and cheerful.
...
In the forest some distance away from the nobles, two guys in black cloak were staring in Carleena's direction. When the young nobles started to scatter in the forest in order to find the best gift for Carleena, one man said to the other, "Mianka, you turn yourself into a winter bear later and attack Carleena. Make sure that the first round of attack miss the target. Then, you attack the blond noble guy beside her. After injuring him, you run away pretending that you were beaten by him."
"No problem, Niake." As the tall guy was saying, his body was covered by a layer of gray light. When the light disappeared, the guy had turned himself into a big, white bear.
Winter bear was a common magic creature in Schachran Empire. A fully grown one could have the power of a knight.
Niake grinned and said, "Mianka, control yourself a bit, so you won't directly beat him by accident. And be a good actor when you retreat. Don't make him suspicious."
"Relax. I got this," responded the white bear.
After a couple of minutes, a huge winter bear popped out and directly rushed toward Carleena. Screaming, Carleena barely dodged the bear's attack and then she hurriedly sought for Lucien's help.
Then, the huge winter bear raised its giant paw in front of Lucien. Seeing that, Niake put on a smile. Everything went exactly how they planned. Now, the next step would be Mianka hurting the noble man and then running away.
All of a sudden, after a flash of light, the winter bear fell over in front of Lucien's horse with a bang!
Lucien, on the horse, was holding a long, blue sword, with his back straightened. As he stared at the bear, it burst out gray light again and revealed its real look¡ªthe black-coated guy.
Seeing that, Niake almost dropped his jaw, "What's going on here?"

Chapter 267: The Hero and the Beauty
				Chapter 267: The Hero and the Beauty
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It seemed that everything stopped for a few seconds, even including the chilly wind.
Carleena and her guards were shocked and were just standing there, watching the huge winter bear jumping toward them. Then, with a flash of sword light, the winter bear fiercely fell onto the ground, stirring the snow everywhere.
They could not believe their eyes. How could a fully-grown bear just be killed like this?
Blood oozed out of the thin line throughout the bear's forehead, nose, mouth and its body. To be more specific, the blood did not manage to come out literally, but was frozen into some kind of shining, blue ice.
Then, mysterious gray light burst out from its body. When the light disappeared, the bear was gone, and instead, a man wearing a black cloak was on the ground. There was a deep wound on his face, right in the middle, and his cloak was also cut in half.
The man was still alive, writhing. Obviously, if they decided to do nothing and just left the man there, he would definitely die in a few minutes.
Facing such a sudden attack, Lucien was always direct and sharp. He always used his full power.
"A druid? Or a sorcerer who specializes in the ancient school of Transformation?" Lucien thought to himself. Clearly, seeing the man, Lucien was also a bit surprised. Because of the gray light he just saw, Lucien would say that the guy was a sorcerer.
However, before figuring out what was the man's intention and plan, Lucien would not save him in front of people just because he was a sorcerer.
After staring at the man for a few seconds, Carleena finally realized what just happened and she burst out a sharp scream, "Assassinator!"
Piles of snow on the pines were shaken off by her scream, and the young nobles around all hurried back to her.
At the same time, Carleena's face turned pale, and her body suddenly lost balance. She was going to fall from her horse, and she fell toward Lucien's direction.
The same calm look remained on Lucien's face, and his right hand was still grabbing the sword. At the same time, Lucien reached out his left hand and helped Carleena sit back on her horse again. Lucien asked politely, "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Thank you so much, Mr. Peter. Without you, I might have died already." Carleena's look was like a little white flower that needed to be taken care of tenderly. After sitting back on the horse, her hands gently entangled with Lucien's left hand, and her full body started to lean against Lucien's arm, as if she was seeking for a shelter and a reliable place. Lucien could smell the mixed scent of her make up and perfume.
Lucien's nose was a bit irritated. He was not used to this, and he almost subconsciously cast Air Filter Bubble to get rid of the overly sweet smell.
The thing happened all of a sudden, and Lucien already did not trust the baroness because of Sergey, so Lucien had absolutely no feeling toward the beauty holding his arm. So, he politely pushed Carleena away and said, "Good to hear you're not hurt. There still might be other assassinators around. We're still in danger. Do not distract me."
Carleena was just about to lay her bust against Lucien's arm. However, after hearing that, she got a bit pissed. Carleena thought to herself that what kind of man would say "Do not distract me" to her¡­ What the hell¡­
Nevertheless, she still managed to maintain her manner. After a bit of a pause, she responded, "Okay then, Mr. Peter. You're surely brave and cautious."
At this time, Carleena's servants surrounded her to protect her from any possible following attacks.
Carleena was not totally inexperienced. Gradually, she calmed down a bit, and she said to her people, "Take the assassinator! Don't let him die! Bring him back to Pastor Nicolay!"
"As you command." Several servants stepped forward and took out magic-blocking robes and healing potions.
Barshac and the other young nobles just came back. They hurriedly asked, "Carleena, are you alright?"
Carleena's face looked a bit pale, which made the young nobles want to take good care of her even more.
Carleena forced a smile on her face and said, "I'm alright. Mr. Peter beat the assassinator. Surprisingly, he's a real knight, and he stopped the bear with one single movement."
As she was saying, Carleena took a quick glance at Lucien, and her face flushed.
Seeing that, Barshac was very jealous. He stared at Lucien and clenched his fists. But soon he realized what Carleena had just said, and he asked out of great surprise, "Peter's a knight?"
Although people here had a greater chance to awaken their Blessings, the status of a knight was still a dream for many young nobles. Barshac was now twenty-four, and his goal was to become a knight by thirty. If he could marry Carleena and get her wealth, even if he failed to do so, he could still buy those secret potions from the smugglers to obtain the power.
Within the Congress of Magic, the Blessing-awakening potion plus Blood Cleanser was about five hundred Thales, however, nobles in Schachran Empire, this inland country, were willing to pay even ten thousand Thales to get the potion. Only nobles themselves understood how badly they hankered for power and titles.
Therefore, the trade of the potions was an industry of excessive profits. Because the empire was not really an enemy for the Congress, the Congress chose to smuggle a limited amount of potions from time to time to the empire to make a great fortune. Also, some ancient sorcerers nearby in the East Haven were also making a small amount of the potions to make extra money.
Carleena nodded, "Yes, Mr. Peter's a real knight. He's strong and brave."
The young nobles all looked at Lucien with mixed feelings. Some felt confused, some upset, and some jealous.
Holding Alert, Lucien said, "I've been traveling around Flame Fortress for many years, and I've been put in quite a lot dangerous situations, thus I managed to awaken my Blessing¡­ You know, just like how eyases are pushed out of the nest to learn how to fly."
Carleena sensed the awkward atmosphere. So, she coughed a bit and said to the nobles, "Distinguished guests, because of what just happened, we have to end our winter hunting earlier than we expected, but our welcome party for Mr. Peter is not affected. No worries, in the manor, we have lots of guards and pastors there!"
It was a bit too late for the young nobles to go back to Ural from Carleena's manor, and also, the last thing they wanted to do was to leave Peter the chance to spend time alone with Carleena. So they all agreed to attend the party.
...
Unlike Aalto or Tria, Schachran music was unique and had an outburst of enthusiasm.
The floor of the spacious hall was covered by thick red carpet, and the young nobles were socializing with wine glasses in their hands. The long dinning tables in the corner were loaded with the empire's signature liquor, Gold Lega, and also butter, white bread, pancake, creamy roasted fish, caviar, roasted lamb, fried chicken, steak, borsch, beef soup and all kinds of fancy dessert.
Carleena, as the host, was leading Lucien to meet the guests.
She was now wearing a black evening dress, and her nice figure was thus perfectly outlined. Carleena chose to only wear a pearl necklace tonight, showing her beautiful neck and bust.
"This is Mr. Ivanovszki, our famous businessman in the empire. From Storm Strait to the provinces in the northwest, evening including the land where Marinov line of defense is, you can see his businesses," introduced Carleena. Wearing a pair of gilt-edged glasses, Mr. Ivanovszki looked quite elegant, but his figure was quite well-built, like a winter bear.
Ivanovszki kissed Carleena's right hand and said, "My lady, your beauty is more precious than any jewels. I'm just an ordinary merchant working for nobles."
Then Ivanovszki shook hands with Lucien, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Peter. I've heard your name in the northwest province. Congratulations for awakening your Blessing so fast. I'm sure that when you go back to your family, you'll get the title very fast. What a pity that your father cannot share the joy¡­"
"Well¡­ He got excited easily and he was always drunk, so¡­" Lucien responded casually. According to Valentine, Peter and his father did not get along with each other well at all.
After chatting casually a bit, Ivanovszki smiled, "If I can have the honor, I hope we can cooperate to make some good money in the future. Now I must leave you and Carleena alone for your opening dance."
Carleena nodded, and she said to the guests in a louder voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Mr. Peter Joseph Vladimir from the northwest!"
The applause was not too warm, but Carleena did not care. She looked at Lucien like she was fascinated by him, "Mr. Peter, as the host, I invite you to have the opening dance with me."
Lucien bowed to her slightly and reached out his right hand, "Lady Lottnico, my great honor."
With a sweet smile, Carleena put her soft hand in Lucien's, and they started to dance in the music. They were doing Ilia Circle Dance.
Carleena leaned her body against Lucien's chest, and her eyes became alluring, "Peter, you know what? When the bear was coming for me, I was totally helpless and desperate. But you stood in front of me and saved my life! When I was looking at you from behind, I felt the great sense of security that I have never experienced before. I feel that you're the one who can shelter me from any wind or rain, and you're the one who can make me happy and forget all my fears and worries."
"Thank you, Carleena, but I was also protecting myself," Lucien answered.
"No matter why¡­" Carleena's lips approached Lucien's face, and her breath became faster and warmer, "When you save me from the bear's paw, you're my hero¡ªmy brave and reliable hero! My heart beats fast for you, and I've never felt this before, even when I married my husband¡­ He was more like a father to me, and I was touched¡­"
Lucien thought for a few seconds and then said to the woman seriously, "Carleena, you're a great person¡­"

Chapter 268: Leo¡¯s Finding
				Chapter 268: Leo¡¯s Finding
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"What?" Carleena was confused.
"I mean¡­ we should be friends," said Lucien seriously.
"¡­ I heard you¡­" Carleena put on quite a few facial expressions within a few seconds. Finally, she put on a delicate and charming look, and her big eyes stared at Lucien's face with some tears in it, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Peter. I've troubled you this much."
Although most guys would probably be touched by the way she looked right now, Lucien was an exception. He was still wearing the polite smile, "I really appreciate your affection. But you're just not the type I like. I'm sorry."
The song gradually ended. Carleena looked down, and her tears dropped onto the carpet.
Her nose was a bit stuffy, "I know I'm only a widow, and I don't deserve you, Mr. Peter. Anyway, I've told you my feelings toward you. Thank you for dancing with me. Feel free to come back to Ural in the future."
When the music stopped, Carleen quickly turned around and left the dancing floor.
Seeing that, Barshac and some other nobles all left their dancing partners and followed Carleena, trying to check her out and comfort her. However, Carleena quickly hid in the lady's dressing room in the corner and locked the door from inside.
Barshac stared at Lucien with mixed feelings. He was not sure if he should feel lucky or angry, but he knew that he was definitely jealous.
However, facing Lucien's power, no one dared to challenge him directly.
In the dressing room, Carleena raised her head, and her beautiful face looked very angry. She murmured to herself in a bitter way, "A great person? How dare you say this? Who do you think you are? Damn it! I'll make you regret it!"
...
In the dungeon behind the manor, Mianka slowly came out of his coma, and Niake was right beside him.
"Finally, you woke up¡­" Niake started to put some magic potions back into the small box.
"Where¡­ where's this place?" Mianka was confused, "What happened?"
"Come on, Mianka¡­ I told you to pretend that you were beaten. I never told you to commit suicide! Your winter bear form at least had the power of a real knight. You should be the one telling me what happened¡­" said Niake quite pissed.
Mianka scratched his head with effort, "The guy was fast. When I saw his sword coming, I was not able to dodge at all. Then, I fainted¡­ I thought my winter bear form could handle at least the power of a level two knight¡­"
"His sword should be at least of level two high-rank¡­ We've underestimated this guy. I need to report this to the master," said Niake. Due to their lack of information, their plan of playing the hero and the beauty almost turned into a disaster.
...
After putting on some make up, Carleena went back to the dancing floor with the same sweet and cheerful smile on her face as usual. The only difference was that now her attitude toward Lucien was rather cold, as if what happened was all an illusion.
That relieved Lucien. He was only passing by that place. He wanted nothing from this party, and he only wanted to stay away from trouble.
When the party ended, Carleena started to send guests to their guest rooms. When Lucien put on his coat, he noticed that his butler, Leo, was gone!
Looking around, Lucien did not see Leo. When he was about to use spiritual power, Leo popped out from behind a pillar in the corner, "My lord, the party has ended?"
His wrinkled face looked a bit pale, as if he was trying his best putting up with something. And on the face, Lucien also saw fear.
"Are you alright?" Seeing that all the butlers and servants had followed their masters to the rooms upstairs, Lucien asked Leo in low voice.
"You look tired, my lord. Maybe you want to take a rest now." Leo gave Lucien the eye.
"Alright." Lucien got it right away.
When they went back to the guest room, and after they carefully checked the place, Leo said to Lucien in fervent hatred, "My lord, I saw the smuggler¡­ in the party."
"The smuggler who killed all your family?" Lucien slightly adjusted his monocle.
Leo nodded seriously, "Yes, it was him. I remember his face all day and all night. When I was waiting for you beside the hall, I saw him with his new assistant. I was afraid that he might recognize me, so I hid behind the pillar. I saw him walking into the main hall."
"¡­What's his name?" asked Lucien thoughtfully.
Leo lowered his voice even more, as if he was using this way to restrain his emotion, "He's changed his name. I heard other nobles and butlers calling him¡­ Mr. Ivanovszki"
"I thought so¡­" Lucien slightly nodded. Carleena's acquaintances were either swindlers or smugglers, which meant that she probably had many secrets as well. She was just playing the role of a widow whose heart was filled with vanity. And very possibly, Sergey worked for Ivanovszki.
However, Lucien was now even more confused. If Carleena knew the big smuggler, why would she kept throwing herself in his arms? For what?
Although Lucien's sword, Frost, was quite pricy, for Carleena, twenty thousand Thales was nothing. She had several manors and three major mines from the baron, not to mention the gold. Also, as the niece of the second wife of Count Witte, it was just absurd that Carleena would approach Lucien because of the sword, unless she was crazy about wealth, which was very unlikely to happen.
"No worries, my lord. I'll not break my promise, since I've signed the compact, and you've saved my life. One day, I can break his neck."
"I trust you, Leo. But you can tell me more about him." Lucien nodded. Although he felt sorry for Leo, in Schachran Empire, he could not take the risk to take revenge for Leo, since big smugglers like Ivanovszki were always under lots of protection. And if Lucien was going to take revenge for Leo, it was very likely that the north church would notice that a sorcerer had arrived in the empire.
Leo had great grief in his eyes, "When I first met Ivanovszki, he was already the most famous smuggler in the East Haven. It was said that he had a big noble and two city lords behind him. He was also connected to some ancient sorcerers, so he could sell magic items and potions. Ivanovszki's so influential that he can ignore all the nobles other than the count."
Lucien nodded. He was listening to Leo carefully.
"He has several good magic items. He always has middle-rank sorcerers or grand knights protecting him. His smuggling business accounts for at least twenty percent of the industry in the empire. When I worked for him, mostly just trading some materials in Brianna like Black Nightingale, I protected him once, and I helped him connect to the southwest black market of the empire, so I was awarded with the magic potion and awakened my Blessing." Leo continued, "After that, once he planned on robbing a village and selling all the villagers to an ancient sorcerer as his experiment material. I could not bear this¡­ so I told his plan to the church, and he suffered a great loss from it. After that, I changed my name and everything. Although I thought I did this secretly, he still managed to know it was me who did it¡­ Before I could send my family to a safe place, he¡­"
Lucien rubbed his chin, "He could escape from the north church¡­ It sounds like Ivanovszki does have the support of a big noble¡­"
Knowing that Ivanovszki was protected by some middle-rank sorcerers, Lucien had decided that he should leave Ural as soon as possible.
After getting more information from Leo, Lucien did not go to sleep immediately. After Leo went back to his own room, Lucien blew off the candles and sat down in the couch. He started to build the magic model of the fourth-circle spell, Professor's Infrasound Resonance, while looking at the moonlight outside of the window.
Lucien sensed the smell of danger. He wanted to wait for the daylight.
"Remember me whenever you see the moon¡­" Thinking of the past, Lucien suddenly smiled.
At this time, Lucien heard someone knocking on the door.
"Who's it?" asked Lucien calmly but alertly.
"It's me, Ivanovszki. Can we talk, Mr. Peter?" the man's voice sounded friendly and relatively familiar.

Chapter 269: Ivanovszki¡¯s Plot
				Chapter 269: Ivanovszki¡¯s Plot
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien purposely asked in a confused tone, "Mr. Ivanovszki? It's quite late now¡­"
Ivanovszki's response was quite cheesy and suspicious, "I'm visiting you this late, Mr. Peter, because of the good news. I know several viscounts from Vladimir family, so I felt quite close to you the first time I saw you, Mr. Peter, not to mention how your courage and fighting skills impressed me¡­ So I'd like to share the good news with someone I like."
All of Ivanovszki's words only reminded Lucien of a fraud. However, as powerful and influential as Ivanovszki, why would he be interested in Lucien, a nobody?
After thinking for a few seconds, Lucien decided to listen to him to see what the good news was. Getting more information was never a bad thing, since Lucien would probably be able to see through Ivanovszki's secret plot during their conversation.
Lucien used his knight instinct and sensed that there was someone else on the other side of the door with Ivanovszki, but the person was not trying to hide himself¡ªthe person should be Ivanovszki's assistant or something.
With his left hand holding Frost, Lucien opened the door casually.
Ivanovszki still dressed in his party suit, like a winter bear wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Beside him there was an old man wearing a black suit and bow tie. The old guy looked gloomy, his eyes dull, face wrinkled and cold. Holding a black suitcase, he was shorter than Ivanovszki.
Seeing that Mr. Peter opened the door himself, Ivanovszki looked a bit confused, "Mr. Peter, where's your butler? How come you do this yourself?"
"He's sick because of the storm. I asked him to take a rest." Lucien explained casually, "And this is?"
Ivanovszki pointed at the old man and grinned, "This is my assistant, Matvienko. He's talented in doing business, and he's got his own understanding of economy."
"Oh¡­ Mr. Matvienko, may I ask for your thoughts on the production, circulation and distribution of wealth? Do you think the market is controlled by an invisible hand and follows its own rules?" asked Lucien seriously. Obviously, he did not like this old guy at all, who was not so much an economy expert as a aggressive safeguard.
Matvienko frowned, offering no answer, while Ivanovszki's smile froze on his face. After a while, he laughed out of embarrassment, "Haha, Mr. Peter, it's really hard to find a noble and a knight like you who's this profound in economy¡­"
"I'm just a beginner in economy. Some related knowledge is helpful for when I have my own land in the future, isn't it?" Lucien did not keep giving them a hard time. What he just said was more like a warning¡ªdare you mess up with me!
Ivanovszki put on an impressed look, "Good idea. Young nobles like you, Mr. Peter, do have different understandings and thoughts." He also did not mention anything professional in economy.
Lucien let them in. When they sat down on the couch, Lucien poured each of them a cup of water, "So, what is it about, Mr. Ivanovszki?"
Ivanovszki's big hands were holding the porcelain cup like a toy. He smiled, "Mr. Peter, you do know that Count Witte has part of his blood from family Vladimir, right?"
"Of course. The count's mother was family Vladimir's member. She awakened the family Blessing, Frost, as a knight and a lord." Lucien replied, "But so what? Count Witte's Blessing, Withering, is still from his father's family, and Count Witte is the first one in his family who managed to become a radiant knight, not to mention all his brilliant exploits on the battlefields¡­ His achievement has way surpassed the glory of his mother's family¡­" Lucien seized the chance to show that he knew the family well.
Ivanovszki's put on a meaningful smile, "Just as you said, Mr. Peter¡­ the good news is that you will be provided with the title of a count, and the wealth of a local count."
Because of the many mines in Ural, most nobles here were way richer than nobles in other countries and areas.
"What do you mean?! What's gonna happen to Count Witte?" Lucien pretended to be shocked, "Why me?"
Ivanovszki slightly nodded to calm Lucien down, "As you know, Carleena's the niece of the second wife of Count Witte, and she's thus close to the count. According to Carleena, Nevskiy, the cardinal in Ural city, asserted that the count could only live up to another half year. No divine power can cure this, because it's the count's natural aging."
Lucien maintained the shocked look on his face.
"Because of his Blessing, Withering, the count has had a difficult time in having offsprings, and he spent most of his best years in the south, fighting against the south church. Although he married three wives in total, Count Witte only had a son, but his son died before ten," continued Ivanovszki.
"So?" Lucien asked calmly.
Ivanovszki put down the cup in his hand, "Mr. Peter, you should know the fact that the count successfully awakening his Blessing was a miracle, a miracle that was made come true by family Vladimir. The count lost his parents because of the war when he was young, and he failed to awaken his Blessing until twenty-five. Before that, his remote relatives gave him a very difficult time because they wanted to take over family Witte's land and title. It was some members from family Vladimir here who once helped him."
"I know." Lucien nodded.
"The count has revealed his plan to Carleena. He wants to have one of the male members from family Vladimir to be his stepson and give this stepson his title and wealth. To do this, the stepson must marry a lady from family Witte, who's not closely connected to the core family, leaving the rest of family Witte no hope to touch what he has. Mr. Peter, you're elegant, strong and good-looking, and you have even awakened your Blessing! You can't miss the great opportunity! The count will of course like you!"
Now Lucien understood what they were planning on. The count title and the great fortune equal to half of the wealth of the whole Ural district was beyond alluring to everyone, not to mention a greedy smuggler.
After that, Lucien asked casually, "So, Carleena's also from family Witte?"
Ivanovszki first was a bit surprised and then laughed, "Yes, several generations ago. Although it's quite remote, no one can deny. Without Carleena, we would never know what the count likes specifically. She plays an important role here. I mean¡­ marrying a beauty and gaining the title and a great fortune¡­ can anyone say no to this?"
Lucien now understood Sergey's true intention. Sergey was not trying to get his gold or sword, but to control him using the business. So, when both Sergey and Carleena failed, Ivanovszki came to Lucien and tempted him directly.
However, what Lucien did not understand was why the count would be dying so soon twenty or even thirty years earlier before he reached the average life span of a radiant knight. Was it because he was somehow severely injured during the war?
And Lucien was quite sure that no matter who married Carleena and got the title, the person was only going to be another piece of evidence pointing that Carleena truly deserved the name people called her by¡ªBlack Widow.
Therefore, Lucien put on a smile and said, "It's a hard decision, but I'm still saying this. Mr. Ivanovszki, I cannot agree on the plan. I won't work with you guys."
Although Lucien often craved for money, in Schachran Empire, he could not take any risks, not to mention the fact that he was not even a real family member of Vladimir, as the cardinals would test his blood.
A less greedy person was always smarter.
"What do you mean, Mr. Peter? Literally, you're saying no to a count title, half of the district's wealth, lots of mines and manors¡­" Ivanovszki could not believe his ears. He did not believe that anyone would reject the offer, not even the emperor in San Ivansburg!
Lucien said to Ivanovszki seriously, "I cannot give up my surname. My name is the glorious representation of my family. I believe that one day I can become a count myself under the name Vladimir!"
After that, Lucien added, "I'm proud of my name!"
Ivanovszki looked at Lucien as if he was lunatic, "I thought those kind of knights who only pursued glory had all disappeared in the empire, but you shocked me, Mr. Peter."
Then he stood up and bowed to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, good luck with your faith."
Although Ivanovszki tried his best to be respectful, Lucien felt that he was not saying what he was really thinking.
"Before the decision is made, I'll keep the secret for you." Lucien still pretended to be super righteous.
Ivanovszki put on a nice smile, "I trust you, Mr. Peter, a noble knight. Maybe we can work together in the future."
Then, he left Lucien's room with his assistant, Matvienko.
"Be careful, my lord." Leo walked out of his room after Ivanovszki and Matvienko had left, and he reminded Lucien worriedly, "He's more ruthless than one can imagine, and he does not like any latent troubles."

Chapter 270: The Count¡¯s Invitation
				Chapter 270: The Count¡¯s Invitation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Holding the fine porcelain cup, Lucien slightly nodded, "I know. People like Ivanovszki are definitely ruthless, or they wouldn't be able to survive. I wish I knew who was protecting him, so I could¡­"
Although Lucien's tone was gentle, his words made Leo feel cold. The person he was working for right now was a sorcerer who was beyond calm. If this young man knew more about Ivanovszki, then through a series of analysis, he would kill Ivanovszki as soon as possible.
"When I was working for Ivanovszki, in public, he only had a grand knight or a middle-rank mage protecting him, but as you said, he must still have more people. I've seen it several times. Those assassinators sent by his competitors never made it into the place he lived. There was one time¡­ a level two knight whose Blessing allowed him to hide, and thus he seriously injured Ivanovszki's grand knight. The moment when Ivanovszki was going to be killed, the assassin fell on the ground, dead. I still remember the look on his face¡­ it was horror." Leo told Lucien what he knew altogether.
There was smile on Lucien's face, "I just sent my unseen servant to follow him, and he almost noticed it. But the servant still managed to make sure that his room was protected by some spells. It's hard for us to spy on him. If we want to kill him, we need to make him step out of those places that he knows well. We want him to follow our plan."
"My lord¡­" said Leo, a little hesitant, "If you give me a middle-rank magic item, I'll seize a chance and die together with Ivanovszki."
Lucien looked around and said, "Suicide attack? Not necessary yet. Go and have some rest, Leo."
Lucien's biggest advantage now was the fact that Ivanovszki did not know anything about his power as a sorcerer. No matter who Ivanovszki sent to kill Lucien, it was always going to be a mistake, which was a great chance for Lucien, since he could consume Ivanovszki's power bit by bit. Of course, if Ivanovszki was not planning on killing him, that was the best. 
At the same time, Lucien also cast a secret magic circle invented by the Congress around his room. The magic circle did not block other people from spying on the person in the room, but it could reinforce the caster's spiritual power for sensing any magic waves, so the caster could detect even the slightest amount of magic wave disturbance.
The moonlight was gentle and delicate. Lucien sat in the couch and slowly closed his eyes.
In the darkness, everything was very quiet. At this time, Lucien sensed a tiny amount of magic waves. It was only like part of the night breeze, so, if Lucien had not placed the magic circle, there was no chance that he would notice this.
The magic waves gradually settled, however, it was still there¡ªlike a mirror, watching Lucien.
Lucien, in the couch, adjusted his position from time to time, as if he had fallen into deep sleep.
Just like this, nothing ever happened throughout the whole night.
...
Ural City, Green Vine luxury hotel.
After selling most of his goods in this busy city and buying some more local ironwares, Berdychiv was quite relaxed.
He sat in the hotel's corner after having breakfast, drinking his liquor and looking at the many guests in the hotel. He and another juice head were remarking upon the guests' appearance and manner.
"Father, are you seriously drinking in the morning?" asked Yielena a bit angryly. She had accepted Igor's apology last night, and they were planning on having a tour in the city.
Berdychiv let out a belch. The strong smell of liquor was rising from his stomach. "Yielena, come on¡­" Berdychiv laughed, "Tomorrow we're heading back home. Just let me drink today. The more I drink, the more revitalized I am."
The caravan's next stop was the provincial capital of Kirov.
"You've been drinking for two days!" Yielena frowned, "You have to promise that you won't drink a single drop on our way home!"
Berdychiv laughed, "Yielena, you think I'm drunk? Ha, you cannot cancel my breakfast drink, lunch drink, and dinner drink from the list!"
After saying this to his daughter, Berdychiv suddenly stood up, rolling a bit back and forth, "Mr. Peter, welcome back! I thought you were gonna stay in the baroness' manor!"
The ambiguity of Berdychiv words contradicted his age. 
Lucien, followed by Leo, was right now walking into the hotel. After having breakfast in the manor, Carleena, who was obviously much colder to Lucien than yesterday, sent Lucien and Leo back to Ural City, which was what Lucien wanted exactly, but he would not lower his guard. 
"Morning, Mr. Peter." Yielena grinned. She always believed that Peter was a decent gentleman.
Lucien also smiled, "Good morning, Miss Yielena. You two are good again, aren't you?"
Yielena's face flushed, and although Igor did not like Lucien, he also scratched the back of his head shyly, having no idea how to answer. 
Berdychiv patted on Lucien's shoulder and comforted, "You're still popular among young girls, Mr. Peter. Maybe¡­ Maybe you're just not lady Carleena's type, you know¡­"
Although Lucien was a few centimeters taller with his disguise, compared to most guys in the empire, he was still small.
At this time, Igor said to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, there's one thing¡­ I live next door to you, and last night I heard some noise in your room. You might want to go back and check your luggage, or maybe it was a mouse¡­ I'm not sure."
Lucien quickly exchanged a look with Leo, and then said to Igor calmly with a smile, "Thank you. I'll go back and check it right now."
...
In the room, Lucien carefully checked almost everything including the secret magic marks he left, his cups and kettle, then he said to Leo confusedly, "Nothing¡­ Maybe it was a mouse?"
"I don't think so, my Lord. This can't be just a coincidence." Leo knew what kind of person Ivanovszki was.
Lucien nodded, and he started checking around again.
Opening his suitcase, Lucien searched through his clothes, some folk music transcripts and some special souvenirs¡­
At this time, Lucien noticed the set of stacking dolls in the corner. When he examined the dolls with his spiritual power, he finally detected a tiny amount of vicious power in it, which made the look of the doll quite creepy.
"Curse¡­" Lucien murmured. He had been studying curse-related things for almost a year.
Leo also saw the dolls. He asked, "My lord, what shall we do?"
After thinking for a while, Lucien smiled, "Do as nobles do."
He activated Sun's Corona in front of his chest, and the holy light immediately covered Lucien's body.
Then Lucien opened the stacking dolls, one by one.
When he opened the fourth layer and an old grandma's face was revealed, black smoke burst out and came directly and fiercely toward Lucien!
However, the holy light blocked the smoke completely, and the smoke disappeared.
When the light was going to disappear, Lucien started to roar out of great anger, "A sorcerer tried to kill me! A sorcerer! In this empire!"
As he was shouting, Lucien asked Leo to wrap the dolls with clothes, and they directly walked towards the church nearby, leaving Berdychiv and other people feeling astonished in the hotel.
...
In a secret room in the church.
"You must know what I just said is true. My divine item just saved my life!" said Lucien to a city lord. Lucien was still furious, or say, pretended to be furious.
The cardinal was like a big bear wearing white robe. He nodded and comforted Lucien, "Yes, I know, Mr. Peter."
"Good. Then, Cardinal, please get the damned sorcerer as soon as possible! I have no idea how the bastard dared to do this to me in the empire under the close watch of the church!?" As Lucien was saying, he even quickly took out his Sun's Corona in front of the cardinal. With only two layers of seals unlocked, Sun's Corona looked like a level-five divine item.
"I understand, Mr. Peter, but we still need some time to investigate," said the Cardinal calmly. 
"But I do know who did this! It was Ivanovszki! It was Carleena! They are craving for the count's wealth! That's why!"
Then Lucien told the cardinal what happened in the manor.
"But, Mr. Peter, the baroness and Mr. Ivanovszki are not doing something immoral. Most people would do exactly as what they are doing if they could get the information ahead. Nevskiy also knows this." The cardinal felt that this young noble was overreacting a little, "Of course, thank you for providing us with the information. We'll look into this."
Lucien spent half an hour in the church asserting that it was Ivanovszki who did this. After that, he gradually calmed down and left the church.
Following Lucien, Leo asked in a low voice, "My lord, why you did not mention Ivanovszki's a smuggler?"
"They won't trust me. Or they probably know this already. An influential businessman like him must have great support behind his back." Lucien slightly squinted, "I've done what I can do. Now let's see how Ivanovszki will respond."
...
As soon as they came back to the hotel, a middle-aged gentleman greeted him.
"Mr. Peter. Count Witte heard that an outstanding young man from Vladimir family has arrived in the city. Count Witte would like to invite you to his castle." The man smiled.
Lucien was a bit surprised. It looked like his plan on dealing with Ivanovszki was going to be disturbed by the count's invitation.

Chapter 271: The Old Count
				Chapter 271: The Old Count
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the warm afternoon sunshine, a fine coach was heading toward the center of Noble Zone in the southwest of Ural City. Its destination was the count's castle, Dry Vine.
All the pedestrians, when seeing the coach, yielded to it respectfully, as they could easily recognize it as the count's coach.
In the coach, Lucien pretended that he was just going sightseeing, however, he was checking out the empire's map in his spirit library and he paid extra attention to the surroundings of Ural City.
The count's invitation was a surprise, and Lucien could not find any excuses instantly to turn it down. The role Lucien was playing had brought him much convenience, but also some trouble.
Also, because the invitation was out of everyone's expectation, Carleena and Ivanovszki's plan could be interrupted by this. Lucien had no idea what they would do to have things back in their control, but definitely not something good, so he had to be prepared in advance.
Lucien was sure that the invitation was not part of Carleena and Ivanovszki's plan, since before they could be certain that Lucien would work with them, there was no reason that they would want to expose Lucien in front of the count. If the count did like him, but another young lady from family Witte was designated, Carleena and Ivanovszki's effort would all be in vain. And this was one of the reasons that Lucien decided to accept the invitation.
What Lucien felt confused about was that he thought Carleena and Ivanovszki would severely control what Count Witte could see and know. Why this invitation went out of their control? How did the count send out this invitation under Carleena and Ivanovszki's close watch, especially, according to Ivanovszki's words, when the count was so sick and the most trustworthy person for the count was Carleena?
If Ivanovszki did not know how to control the count, Lucien believed that Ivanovszki should rather drop his smuggling business and go home to find a safer job. Smuggling and craving for the count's wealth was not suitable for him.
As he was checking out the map, Lucien casually asked Leo beside him about the surroundings of Ural City, especially whether there were some haunted places around. Lucien wanted to be as prepared as he could.
"Mr. Peter, the Church is around, so those haunted places only exist in the stories to frighten children, or were made up by those sorcerers living deep in the mountains. According to what I know, several mines to the west of the city are called Cursed Place or The Cave to Hell because collapses often happened and many people died there." The servant of the count, Nicolay, when hearing the conversation between Lucien and Leo, joined them and introduced.
Nicolay was a knight, and he was also a lord. However, he had been working for the count for most of his life since the war against the south Church, and he was saved by Count Witte many times. Therefore, Nicolay was willing to stick around and became the count's servant.
These kind of people were actually not that uncommon. They could often be found around big nobles, dukes, kings and emperors. Unlike those knights whose duty was to protect the nobles because they had joined the Knights, these people were willing to give up their land to stay close to and protect other nobles for various reasons:
Some had passed on the right and title to their offsprings, and by protecting bigger nobles, they could have the chance to obtain an even higher status than the family's hereditary rank of nobility; Some, like Nicolay, wished to pay his gratitude; Some were cultivated by other nobles, so they had made the promise that they would serve the nobles for an amount of years by protecting them; Others worked for nobles just because of the secret methods for improving Blessings that were passed down by inheritance in the noble families.
After hearing Nicolay's words, Lucien smiled, "Mr. Nicolay, I do know that there are haunted areas in the northwest province and they are right now under the Church's control." By providing information about the northwest territory, Lucien was trying to show the fact that he knew the family very well.
"Maybe it's true. Maybe there are some places like this around Ural City and they're under the Church's control. But we cannot know for sure." Nicolay had spent many years on the battlefield, so his way of talking could be quite straightforward.
Lucien did not mind. He kept talking to Nicolay and Leo to get to know more about the surroundings.
...
Half an hour later, the grand castle covered by dry vines was in front of Lucien.
Just as Lucien got off the coach, he saw a fancy coach coming from another direction in a hurry.
As soon as the horses stopped, a beautiful lady wearing a white wool dress got off the coach with the help of her maid hurriedly.
"Mr. Peter¡­"
"Lady Carleena¡­"
They were both surprised to see each other in front of the castle gate.
Lucien first smiled and said, "So you're here to visit the count?"
"That's right. I heard that uncle Witte just invited a guest, and I was worried that he might now follow the doctor's words and get too tired. The count needs good rest right now." Carleena also put on her bright smile again.
"No worries. I won't bother the count too much." Lucien slightly bowed to her, "After you."
"Mr. Peter, you have the best manner among Schachran Empire. I do like it." Carleena nodded to him and then went inside the castle gate.
What she said was true. Most Schachran nobles did not like following rules and manners at all. Instead, they preferred spirits and fights. So they were often called by the nobles in the south as savages.
As Lucien guessed, this invitation was out of Carleena and Ivanovszki's expectation. Lucien wondered what happened in the castle. He followed Carleena and entered the gate.
...
The bright fire in the fireplace warmed the whole space of a living room in the castle, which was not very big.
Lucien took off his coat and handed it to the servant. Then, he bowed to the old man politely in a noble manner, "It's my great pleasure to meet you, Count Witte."
The old man was sitting in the couch right next to the fireplace. Wearing black, heavy coat, the old man was still trying to wrap himself up with the coat tightly, as if he still felt very cold. His face was pale, although the figure of his face still looked more or less fortitudinous. His eyes, that used to be clear blue, now looked dim and cloudy. The black beret that the count was wearing covered his thin hair. Lucien's overall first impression of the count was that the man who used to be beyond brave and strong was now like a withering plant.
Seeing that the count, who was a level seven radiant knight, now looked this weak, great fear rose in Lucien's mind when he thought of aging and dying. Fortunately, there were many ways for prolonging one's lifespan in the world of magic. Everyone feared death. Human beings, with their very limited lifetime, always pursued ways to live longer and keep their youth.
"Mr. Peter, pleased to make your acquaintance," said the count in a weak voice and with his pale lips. "It's hard for me¡­ to see an outstanding Vladimir family member in Ural."
After saying this, he gasped a bit and said, "This is my niece, Carleena. You two should have met each other already. This is my steward, Semenov, my good steward."
Carleena was on the count's left side and Semenov on the right. Semenov's hair was already gray, and although there were only a few wrinkles on his face, they were all quite deep, so it was hard to tell Semenov's real age.
It was said that Semenov was a grand knight, and unlike most stewards, he was a quite interesting person.
"Yes, my lord. Lady Carleena invited me to her party before, and she's really nice," said Lucien in a pretended sincere manner, and then he sat down in the couch.
Carleena did not like what Lucien said, but she also had no idea how to pick on his words. She could also curse him that every single girl he met in the future would say the same thing back to him.
The count smiled, "Yeah¡­ Carleena's a nice girl. Actually¡­ I've been looking for a young man from family Vladimir, and you, Peter¡­ here you are¡­"
Before he finished his words, he started gasping again. He was really in a bad health condition.
Carleena got nervous all of a sudden. Her hands grabbing the count's arm became stiff, and the veins in her hands stuck out.
Lucien politely waited for the count.
The count lowered his pace of talking and said, "I'm old now¡­ really old. I am not that firm and strong anymore¡­ I start to like looking back. I remember¡­ when I was young, I went to the northwest province with my mom. Are there still those many strange trees, flowers and animals in Tula forest?"
"I haven't gone back for many years as well, my lord. But I do remember almost everything in the forest¡­ especially the red magic trees that can move and hunt like animals," answered Lucien confidently.
Carleena felt a bit more relaxed.
The rest of the conversation between the count and Lucien before lunch was all about the count's memory, and the conversation went pretty well. The count invited Lucien to have lunch with him and to stay there tonight. The caravan was going to leave tomorrow.
There were many grand knights and knights within the castle, so Lucien agreed. Things had gone sideways, and now Lucien had to see how things could go.
...
It was getting darker. In one of the many rooms in the castle, Dry Vine.
"How did the count know Peter?" Ivanovszki questioned Carleena a bit angrily.


Chapter 272: Night Falls
				Chapter 272: Night Falls
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
¡¡¡¡
Carleena responded in confusion, "what does it have to do with me? Ivanovszki, I thought the intelligence agents that worked for uncle Witte were under your control. Why is he asking to see Viscount Fyodorov after he woke up and had the breakfast?" She sounded frustrated and angry.
¡¡¡¡
Viscount Fyodorov was the senior brother of Barshac and it was obvious that he had heard about the matter regarding Peter.
¡¡¡¡
"I've checked the situation. It's impossible for Count Witte to meet Viscount Fyodorov just because of the intel, and none of the agents contacted Count Witte secretly. Carleena, there might be a problem with the servants and maids you selected." Ivanovszki denied the allegations and accused Carleena of selecting the wrong people.
Carleena shook her head with confidence in her eyes. "No, their parents and relatives are under my control. They won't leak any information of uncle Witte to the public without my permission. They only talked about the situation of the manor and the snow. Also, they executed all my orders. The agents are the only ones who are allowed to visit uncle Witte. They told the Knights who wanted to visit that uncle Witte needed rest, so the Knights could only send letters or oral messages to him."
No one expected the incident. Carleena and Ivanovszki were at the same position. They were trying to find excuses subconsciously so they could blame each other. No one wanted to take the responsibility.
Ivanovszki remained silent for several minutes and pushed his gold-wired glasses up slightly. "Maybe Count Witte just suddenly had this idea. Anyway, it has become a problem and we should make sure that the Count doesn't leave his legacy to Peter. We need to¡­" He gripped forward with his right hand and the behavior looked like he was about to break someone's neck.
¡¡¡¡
"Are you crazy? This is the Dry Vine Castle, there are several Grand Knights and more than 20 Knights guarding this place! You'd be burnt at the church's stake if they caught you after!" Carleena spoke in a surprised tone, her pretty eyes were wide open, and she was staring at Ivanovszki as if he was crazy. She could not believe what Ivanovszki just suggested.
¡¡¡¡
The nobles like Viscount Fyodorov that served Count Witte would take turns to guard the Dry Vine Castle with their own Knights in the district of Ural. It was a duty that the Knights had to their lords. When there was no war going on, they needed to serve the lord for two months every year. It was their chance to communicate with other nobles and show their loyalty to the lord.
Ivanovszki pulled his collar slightly, it seemed like his collar was a bit tight.
"We planned to kill Peter but we don't want anyone to notice what we're doing. The problem is, we failed to strike him by surprise. Peter realized what our plan was and reported us to the Church. The situation was bad enough and we shall do what an empire noble would do. It's the simplest method, but it'll be very effective!" He spoke in a cold tone.
"The Grand Knights, Knights, and the Priests in the castle are not a problem. We have Mr. Matvienko, which is a middle-rank sorcerer, and¡­ that one¡­"
Carleena suddenly calmed down after hearing the word, it almost looked like she never got nervous. She spoke in a worried tone, "Let's just follow your plan if you already made the decision. I just think something is off here. It almost felt like those things happened for no reason."
"Don't worry, Carleena. There's only a dying old man on this floor beside the servants and maids that are already under your control. Although the old man was a Radiant Knight, he already lost his ability and his will. We just need to be careful and he won't notice anything. He didn't do anything when we killed those faithful attendants, right?"
The anger and anxiousness were no longer bothering Ivanovszki. He rubbed his lips and calmed down.
"Also, Peter probably thinks he lives in a safe environment as there are so many Grand Knights and Knights guarding this place. Our chance of assassinating him is high."
Carleena's expression changed several times, and she spoke in a calm tone, "Destroy the body after we kill him. Ask Mianka and Niake to transform into Peter and his housekeeper. They can just leave with the caravan and sneak out on the way. Make sure you send the strongest assassins to kill Peter. I don't want anything like what Mianka did happening again. We spent way too much time on cleaning the mess." 
Mianka became the laughing stock of the group after the Winter Bear Incident.
Carleena continued before Ivanovszki responded, "Although Peter tried to hide his Knight-level power with his footwork, I still determined that he was just a normal Knight after checking his heart rate, blood flow, and skin when we were dancing. Peter is a Knight that has high agility and speed. That's why he defeated Mianka with a sword. The problem is that it seems like Peter carries two enchanted long swords and one of them is at the middle-level."
With her keen sense and clear analysis, it almost felt like she was not a normal female noble who spent a lot of time on hunting.
"According to Mianka's description, the sword might be a level three or four magic item. However, a normal Knight has no way to survive a fight against a Grand Knight and a middle-rank sorcerer with just a middle-level magic item. Also, he has a level four or five divine item that will protect him from curses and spells that might kill him instantly, so the Grand Knight should be the assassin and the middle-rank sorcerer needs to make sure the Grand Knights at lower floors don't notice anything."
Ivanovszki stopped for a second and continued, "What did Peter experience at the northern continent? A man that became a Knight not so long ago has such an expensive magic long sword and a divine item? He's probably richer than me! However, they'll be mine after tonight." It sounded like he was jealous of Peter. 
Carleena completely calmed down, and there was a seductive smile on her face.
"I'll take the divine item," she chuckled.
They thought that a normal knight like Peter was lucky enough to acquire two magic longswords and a level four or five divine item. He probably had a suit of magic armor at the most. Peter probably found some magic items during an exploration and he sold the items to purchase the gear.
After the discussion, Ivanovszki turned to Matvienko, who was standing on the side with hands on his back, and said, "Mr. Matvienko, please make sure that no one notices our action and prevent Peter from activating any magic item that can help him teleport away."
Ivanovszki respected Matvienko in private as the man was a third circle sorcerer that was good at curses and transformations. Matvienko could ambush and kill other level five classes when they were not prepared, including sorcerers and bishops.
Matvienko nodded with a cold expression on his face. "Sadly, Peter has a divine item with the Death Ward, or I could just kill him with my curses, just like what I did to¡­"
Ivanovszki smiled. "Mr. Matvienko, I trust you. Also, please make sure you don't stay too far away from me so you can continue to protect me. I'm sure there are people that want me dead."
Ivanovszki knew that his own safety was the most important part, and he was trying to imply that Carleena might be a threat to him, but it sounded like he was not concerned when he talked to Matvienko.
 "For sure," Matvienko responded quickly. There was still a sexy smile on Carleena's face. It looked like she did not care.
Ivanovszki clapped his hands after he gave Matvienko the order. "Mr. Petrov, I'm counting on you for the assassination."
A deep voice came from the darkness in the corner, "yes, Mr. Ivanovszki."
Narrowing her eyes, Carleena looked at the corner, but the only thing she could see were the shadows.
"A Darkness Blessing or a Shadow Blessing?" She opened her mouth.
"Dark Blessing, level three," Ivanovszki spat out several words and did not say anything else.
The smile froze on Carleena's attractive face. A level-three Dark Blessing was at the same level as the top-level blessings like the Sun, the Shield of Truth, the Sword of Truth, the Silver Moon, the Vampire, the Devouring Beast, the Destruction Beast, the Devil Duke, and the Demon Lord. One of the nine city lords in the East Haven, Onegin the Dark Sky had the same blessing, and he could fight a level eight Knight with a normal blessing as a level seven Knight.
The power of the blessing was famous for its defensive ability, for example, with the Darkness Blessing, one would be immune to the supernatural effects that could impact his mind and body. The spells and divine spells that had a lower level than the owner of the blessing would do no damage to his body. Also, the owner of the blessing was immune to necromancy and transformations. Physical attacks that involved acid, explosion, or ice, would do absolutely no damage.
¡¡¡¡
Matvienko suddenly disappeared as the night fell.
Ivanovszki sighed slightly, "God the Father bless us."
Carleena was also drawing a strange cross, which was longer in the horizontal direction and shorter in the veritical direction, in front of her chest. "God the Father bless us."
¡¡¡¡...
In the guest room of the Dry Vine Castle.
Leo felt unsettled and anxious. "Master, the invitation from Count Witte probably interrupted Ivanovszki plan. It's highly likely that Ivanovszki will try to solve the problem with a simple but effective way. Please be extra cautious after you leave the castle tomorrow.
Leo had served Ivanovszki as an assistant for about ten years and he knew the man well. However, Leo thought that Ivanovszki would attack them after they left the castle. The castle was owned by a Radiant Knight, Count Witte, and there were also many Loyal Grand Knights and Knights guarding the place.
 "Leo, I understand and thank you for the information. You can go rest now."
The smile disappeared from Lucien's face after Leo fell asleep in his room. Narrowing his eyes, he knew something was about to happen as he dropped a teacup accidentally just a while ago.
It was a warning from the Host Star and it was the power of the star, also, it seemed like no one interrupted the Host Star's power.
"An enemy that is stronger than me or a mysterious spell? Will they take the risk and try to attack us tonight?" Lucien did not use the astrology as he did not want to alert the knights in the castle. He checked his psychological blind points and had several thoughts in mind.
"Anyway, I should stay alert tonight."  It was a simple but effective decision that he made without thinking for too long.
¡¡¡¡...
¡¡¡¡
It was dark at night and the darkness in Lucien's room was dancing like it was alive.


Chapter 273: Slaying
				Chapter 273: Slaying
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The dim moonlight behind the curtain did not light up Lucien's room, but made the whole place very quiet and somehow even darker.
The darkness in the room was not evenly distributed, as if the darkness had life. But when one took a closer look at it, there was nothing in the darkness.
Lucien was lying in the bed, and his breath was long and smooth. It seemed that he had fallen into a sweet dream in his deep sleep.
"The darkness shows¡­ He's indeed in the bed¡­
"His swords¡­ two swords¡­ about ten centimeters from his hands. He's very alert¡­
"Breath¡­ heartbeat¡­ spiritual power¡­ all normal. Hands are covered by the blanket¡­ hard to tell¡­ His posture is awful¡­ not like a noble at all¡­
"He's in deep sleep. Maybe the many guards in the castle made him feel safe¡­ 
"He's still wearing the amulet. The amulet can be activated very fast, but it only works facing lethal magic spells and curses. It cannot protect him from any physical or elemental attacks, nor can it hurt the attacker.
"Maybe he still has more magic items, but I should be able to get him before they actually work¡­
"I'm ninety-nine percent sure¡­ I can send him to hell before he wakes up!"
After close observation, Petrov had made up his mind.
In the darkness beside Lucien's bed, a figure suddenly showed up! The figure fiercely took a step forward and the dagger shining in green light directly stabbed toward Lucien's throat!
Just now Petrov dared not to get too close in case Lucien could sense the danger with his intuition. Although Lucien had a magic sword and a quite useful divine item, Petrov was not afraid of them. In the darkness, he was totally confident with his Blessing. However, his only concern was that, if the divine item was too powerful, the magic circle set up by Matvienko for blocking the noise might collapse, and then the grand knights in the castle would notice what was going on here.
Petrov was fast, and his blade was even faster. However, as soon as his dagger cut Lucien's throat, he sensed a surge of familiar magic waves. He could not believe the first idea flashing through his mind, but it was true¡ªit was magic!
Feeling shocked, Petrov saw Lucien's figure breaking down into pieces like a broken mirror.
The second circle spell, Mirror!
Although Darkness Blessing was immune to those lower level spells, this was only for defence. When the power was used to attack, it would still be affected by magic.
In the moonlight, the mirror broke into shining pieces, just like a beautiful dream.
"A Sorcerer?!" Petrov's heart suddenly sank, but soon he realized that the information was not accurate. In the next second, he was ready to go back into the darkness to retrieve!
However, it was already too late. He saw Lucien's real figure beside the bed, and holy light lit up in front of his chest.
Immediately, the whole room was filled with the bright, burning light.
The darkness that Petrov heavily relied on was instantly dispelled, and his figure was revealed.
The level three divine spell, Burning Radiance!
Petrov fought to bear the great pain but released no scream. In great effort, he tried his best to move away from the light, but the pain made him move way too slow.
Without hesitation, Petrov activated the magic ring on his left little finger.
However, as soon as the black smoke started to rise out of the ring, Lucien directly cast Elemental Order!
Bang!
The ring first cracked, then the power in the ring lost its balance. When the ring exploded, the power completely covered Petrov and blasted his light-brown blood everywhere.
With Lucien's outstanding spiritual power as a third circle sorcerer, when he cast Elemental Order, if his enemy did not have anything for defence, Lucien's power was enough to destroy most level four alchemical items.
Seeing that the ring just exploded, Lucien was a bit upset. His possible trophy was gone now. No wonder all the powerful sorcerers were very careful with using the ninth-circle spell, Cracking, since most enemy's magic and divine items under legendary level would be destroyed by the power, leaving one with no gain at all from the fighting.
Also, Cracking was a spell with an area of effect. If one still had his or her teammates around, it would be a great concern to the caster. Therefore, comparatively speaking, Lucien's Elemental Order was much more convenient to use.
Petrov was still writhing on the floor, trying to reach the shadow in the corner. Lucien, of course, would not leave him with any chances, so he activated Sun's Corona again. The flame summoned directly hit Petrov.
One second before, Petrov had no other choice and activated his ultimate and forbidden power, Darkness Assimilation, however, the flame put an end to all his hope.
In the flames, Petrov's figure was quickly overwhelmed. His mouth and throat were burnt into ashes instantly, thus his howling of great pain and fear was restrained in his chest. He could not believe that he had failed this fast, after all, his power was not fully revealed at all! Still, very quickly, nothing was left of him.
Petrov's dagger dropped on the floor.
When Flame Strike was cast, the divine power in the room peaked, but the power was still a bit away from destroying the invisible magic cover. As Lucien expected, the grand knights in the castle sensed no difference.
Because they estimated that the divine item Lucien had was about level four or five, in order to be careful, Matvienko also built a level five magic cover.
Seeing what just happened in Lucien's room, Matvienko was so shocked that he was distracted for a second, thus his figure showed up in the air outside of the window from Lucien's room, right beside that of Ivanovszki!
Lucien's buffering time for casting had passed, and thus he immediately looked at Matvienko in the air and locked him with spiritual power. Lucien's eyes were shining with dim light. He was ready for another round of fighting!
As soon as they started spying on him, Lucien instantly found out what they were planning.
Magic waves spread. Matvienko, who had cast Mechanized Mind and Magic Armor on himself, saw that his invisible covers were silently broken down.
For a second, Matvienko suddenly felt that Lucien was a quite nice guy. However, he quickly realized that Lucien had cast Charm Person on him, but now he felt a little dizzy.
Matvienko had no idea why the spell, Charm Person, could be this powerful. Although his spells had countered most of Lucien's spell power, for a short period of time, he still could not stay concentrated with his spiritual power.
Fortunately, Matvienko could still use his magic item. After seeing what happened just now, without any hesitation, Matvienko activated his magic boots and disappeared in the air.
The third circle spell, Short Distance Teleportation!
Matvienko had just witnessed how Lucien fought¡ªhis fast, continuous attacks never left his enemy any chances to fight back, so Matvienko instantly decided to run away.
Lucien was still in his buffering time for casting Elemental Order, thus he could not destroy Matvienko's boots. However, Lucien had many powerful magic items. Now, he calmly activated his ring, Element.
Outside of the window, a cluster of greenish yellow smog was released, and the smog in the air surrounded the building.
In the smog, several tall and thick pines quickly perished, and even the bugs hiding in the trees were not exception, as if nothing could survive in the smog.
The fifth-circle spell, Gaston's Poison Cloud!
Without any preparations for this, one could die from the smog even with a small amount of it inhaled!
Matvienko's teleportation could not make him move far enough to avoid the toxic smog. When he showed up in the air again, he was surrounded by the greenish-yellow gas.
As a sorcerer, Matvienko was alert enough to know what to do right now. He instantly held his breath and cast Air Filter Bubble.
Matvienko decided to protect him first, and then cast Dissipate Smoke, because dispelling all the smog could take some time.
However, he was greatly shocked when he saw that the filtering bubble was being dyed by the greenish-yellow smoke bit by bit.
"Damn it!" Matvienko had no idea how many middle rank magic items Lucien had. Since he knew that Air Filter Bubble could only manage to handle toxicants produced by spells under the fourth circle, he understood how dangerous the smoke was immediately.
At this time, Matvienko noticed that his skin started to fester!
He could not believe the fact that the toxic smoke could affect his body directly!
"A unique spell¡­?!" Matvienko's brain started to get slow. With great effort, he managed to retain his consciousness, and activate the spell enchanted in his magic robe, Gasification.
He wished to turn himself into gas for a while to temporarily get rid of the toxic smoke, at the cost of not being able to cast any spells during that time, only being able to fly.
Lucien would not let his wish come true for sure. He cast Elemental Order again, and many holes appeared in Matvienko's magic robe!
"What¡­" This was Matvienko's last thought before he turned into pus.
Since Lucien cast Charm Person, everything happened within just a few seconds.
At this time, a big hand formed by force field suddenly showed up in the air, trying to grab Matvienko, but it was too late.
Also, a fierce wind blew off the greenish-yellow smoke completely. Then, a man flew out of the window of the count's room. He looked furious, as if he was very mad that he failed to save Matvienko.
Lucien sensed great danger. The man's anger was like the boiling waves in a rough sea.
The man had gray hair and deep wrinkles. It was Semenov, Count Witte's steward!
"Senior rank mage?!" Lucien was shocked.

Chapter 274: Good Actors
				Chapter 274: Good Actors
Translator: _Leo_  Editor: Vermillion
When the dark assassin Petrov was killed by the Flame Strike, Ivanovszki and Carleena only noticed the waves from the divine spell. They knew something went wrong but they had no idea what happened in Lucien's room.
When the short but intense magic battle between Lucien and Matvienko happened, they finally learned the "truth" as they focused in the scene mid-air.
"He's a middle-rank mage?! Damn liar!" Ivanovszki's eyes were wide open, it almost felt like he was about to break his gold-wired glasses. After the surprise, the man started cursing furiously.
Ivanovszki could understand how reluctant Petrov was before he died and how desperate Matvienko was at the moment.
Carleena was so surprised and confused that she could not close her half-opened mouth, exposing her neat teeth to the air.
"Peter isn't a knight? He's a sorcerer?! Wait, he's probably not Peter Joseph Vladimir! Liar, what a liar! All he did was telling lies!" She started cursing in her mind.
Sadly, it was too late for them to save Matvienko. The battle ended quickly and they saw Matvienko's rotten body falling at full speed. 
After that, they shouted at the same time, "Mr. Nikonov!"
They addressed the man in a respectful way. It was Semenov, who was flying out of Count Witte's room, and he was a senior-rank mage with a power that was deep like the abyss.
What they did not know was that Semenov was not the Nikonov they knew.
¡¡¡¡...
The housekeeper Semenov, who was called by the surname "Mr. Nikonov", was floating outside Lucien's room, staring at Lucien through the window and curtain that were damaged by the Flame Strike and Burning Radiance.
His sight was so cold that it felt like he was staring at a dead man.
Lucien was surprised by the fact that Semenov was a senior-rank mage, however, he had successfully fought and eliminated a senior-rank mage by luck before. He was not terrified by the difference in rank like a normal mage would. Lucien had fought many life-or-death battles, so he quickly calmed down and got ready to activate the transformation robe.
It was a large castle, so Lucien had the chance to survive if he transformed into a rat and moved around. Also, if the priests, knights, and grand knights noticed what was happening in the Dry Vine Castle, they would be able to send the signal to Cardinal Nevskiy, who resided in the Ural City.
If Lucien cast the Elemental Swirl, the spell could barely do any damage to a healthy senior-rank mage, and he would put himself in a bad position.
Lucien was about to activate the transformation robe using his mind, however, he suddenly noticed he had trouble thinking, and he could barely control his spiritual power. He could not even activate the robe.
"Am¡­ I... impacted¡­ by¡­ a¡­ spell¡­.?" Lucien was trying his best to think but it felt like his brain was acting like a rusty gear that was barely spinning.
¡¡¡¡
The power of a well-prepared senior-rank mage that had not experienced an intense battle was terrifying.
Lucien finally realized how hard it was for Felipe to escape the chase of a senior-rank necromancer, feign death, counterattack, and force necromancer to waste a lot of strong spells and magic items. That was probably the reason why Felipe was the best of all of the geniuses in this generation.
However, Felipe was already at fifth circle when he encountered the senior-rank necromancer, but Lucien was two circles below that. Also, Lucien did not have a spell like Life Hiding as a final resort.
¡¡¡¡
Semenov casted the sixth circle spell, Distraction, to impact Lucien's soul and mind. Although he was calm as a spellcaster, the burning rage was striking his mind. His best student and the most loyal servant were killed in front him. Semenov underestimated the target and he failed to rescue him in time.
Semenov spoke in a cold tone due to the shame and anger, "I'll turn you into a frog and torture you. You'll learn that sometimes it's better to be dead than alive!"
It almost felt like those words were pushed out of the gaps between his teeth by some chilling wind.
Semenov did not care if this bastard was from the Congress of Magic or a strong inheritor of an ancient sorcerer. The man must pay for what he did and there was a strong organization backing Semenov up.
 "As long as¡­ he doesn't¡­ kill me¡­ right away¡­ I still have¡­ a chance¡­"¡¡¡¡
Lucien had not given up in such a desperate situation and he was trying his best to deal with the Distraction spell, he would not let any chance slip by.
One shall never give up even though it might be his destiny.
One shall keep trying until the last breath!
Lucien's ability to think started recovering slowly due to his strong willpower and a bright light that burst out of his soul.
However, it was too late. His opponent was a senior-rank mage, and although there was a gap between every spell Semenov cast, he could still deal more damage than Lucien could heal.
Semenov was much stronger than Lucien.
Semenov's deep blue eyes looked like a calm and depressing sea when the storm was about to come. Lucien noticed that his body was being decomposed and reformed following a certain pattern.¡¡¡¡
Baleful Polymorph!
A ball of black smoke appeared beside Lucien. Leo was in caught inside it, he wanted to push Lucien away, but he was too slow.
Suddenly, the dark sky that was illuminated by the silver moonlight turned yellow, and dried tree roots that looked like dark tentacles appeared everywhere. Those strange shadows gathered together and wrapped around Semenov like a ball.
In the castle, the land with the muddy fragrance was decaying quickly, the flowers which just survived the coldness withered, and the vibrant needle-like leaves of the trees started drying out¡­
It was a power that was at a similar level as a senior-rank mage.¡¡¡¡
"Withered Shadow!"
"Uncle Witte!"
It was Ivanovszki and Carleena who were shouting in surprise. They thought Witte would not be a problem, but the thing that worried them the most still happened.
"A level seven radiant knight, a strong knight that survived countless intense battles, a knight that owns his unique honorable title, is he really under our control?!"
 "He's getting old, his body was weakened by the serious illness, and we have Nikonov, who's a sixth circle senior mage. We placed a curse that is hard to notice and his body will be weakened even further, but his name still terrifies us."
Today, when everything was finally about to end, the things that Ivanovszki and Carleena worried about actually happened, as if it was a nightmare.
In the withered ball, a strange glow flashed upon Semenov's body, and he disappeared into the air, teleporting to the shadows on the far side. Also, an energy armor was created on the surface of his body.
A sixth circle spell, Magic Trigger!
It was a signature spell that separated the senior-rank mages from the middle-rank mages. If the spell is created in the soul, it meant the sorcerer had another life, and a chance to fight back.
The spell would be triggered under different circumstances, based on how the sorcerers set it up. The spell might be triggered when the sorcerer was about to die or when there was a strike that was too hard for him to block. When the requirement was met, the Magic Trigger would instantly cast two spells that were stored in the model, which were at a level that could not exceed half of the sorcerer's level. Also, those two spells could not be interrupted and they were perfect for life-threatening situations.
The situation was under Semenov's control after he dealt with the Withered Shadow using two 3rd circle spells: Shadow Step and Greater Mage Armor.
The withered ball turned into a human being, revealing Count Witte. He looked old and weak but he stood there with pride.
He was holding a dark greatsword using both hands, the wrinkles and weakness were still displayed on his face, however, the fierce expression on his face made him energetic, and he did not look like a normal old man at all.
"I can still kill even if I'm about to die," Count Witte raised his eyes slightly and spoke in a cold tone. He slashed forward with the greatsword. It turned into blurry shadows and went toward Semenov.
His patience finally granted him the chance!
The Baleful Polymorph was interrupted by Count Witte at the most important moment and the black smoke disappeared before it completely surrounded Lucien's body. Lucien noticed that his body returned to the normal form and the impact of the Distraction was no longer a problem.
"Move!" He glanced at Leo and jumped down the patio of the castle. A fight between the radiant knight and the senior-rank mage was about to begin, this was Lucien's best chance to escape.
No matter if the senior-rank mage who disguised himself as Semenov or Count Witte the Withered Shadow won the battle, Lucien was certain that they would kill him. He killed the sorcerer's student and the radiant knight had killed countless sorcerers in his life. Also, this was the Schachran Empire, a country that would hunt and burn sorcerers.
¡¡¡¡
Lucien decided to escape the castle using the knight-level speed because the shadows in the air would catch him if he used the flying spell that was relatively slow.
Leo noticed that Ivanovszki was observing the situation in another window before he jumped. His body suddenly expanded and was quickly surrounded by a frost aura. He jumped to the window with his muscular body and a long sword in hand.
"Ivanovszki's middle-rank guards were eliminated and this is my best chance to kill him! Doing so will temporarily pause the intel web of the smuggling organization and Lucien will have an easier time escaping. Lucien saved my life and I want to repay him, also, I want to avenge my family. I shouldn't let this chance slip even if I need to risk my life for it!"
Ivanovszki was worried that he would be caught in the fight between two strong individuals and he wanted to jump to the patio just like Lucien. However, he did not expect the strike from Leo.
Although Ivanovszki was weaker than Leo, he still pursed his lips into a sneer, "It's you."
"Die!" Leo could feel that his blood was boiling as his sword was about to hit his enemy.
However, Leo saw Ivanovszki striking forward with his right fist, and the next moment his sight turned black. Leo could not handle the attack, and was sent flying in the air like a kite with a broken string. 
"Grand Knight?! He's a grand knight!"
Ivanovszki's tight suit was changed into a silver full-body armor and there was a cold expression on his face. He jumped down with a greatsword in hand and started chasing after Lucien.
The infamous smuggler was a real grand knight and his bloodline was not granted by potions.
That was the reason why he survived the attacks of the assassins.
Carleena muttered after seeing the scene, "A grand knight? He's a liar too!"
"Ivanovszki, a smuggler and a grand knight that disguised himself as a knight squire. Mr. Nikonov, a senior-rank mage that disguised himself as Semenov the housekeeper. Uncle Witte, who made it look like he did not notice anything and he was just waiting for the death to come. A middle-rank mage and knight that disguised himself as a member of the Vladimir Family. An enemy of Ivanovszki that disguised himself as the housekeeper of Peter. Also, I disguised myself as a weak woman who hasn't activated her bloodline power. What an incredible stage. It shows we're all good actors¡­"

Chapter 275: Entrance Gap
				Chapter 275: Entrance Gap
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien's room was on the third floor of the castle, more than ten meters above the ground. Even a knight would get hurt if he fell onto the ground from this high. However, casting Feather Fall was also not a good idea, since Lucien would for sure become an easy target when he slowly glided toward the floor.
Therefore, Lucien jumped out and did not cast any spells, so he fell freely for half a second, then he quickly cast Flying, using the gravity of stars to slow down his falling.
With that perfect calculation, Lucien landed on his feet safely in the garden. Although the controlling of the right time was greatly challenging, Lucien's strong spiritual power and outstanding calculation ability made the whole process simple for him.
After landing, Lucien quickly dodged the colorful light pieces falling from the sky, and directly rushed to the castle gate.
Since Leo had a magic ring enchanted with Feather Fall, Lucien thought he would be okay when he jumped down. Lucien's only concern was that Leo would become the target when he slowly fell down, therefore, Lucien chose to be the first one taking actions in order to attract all the attention. Also, Leo was not as important as Lucien in their enemies' eyes.
However, as soon as Lucien started running, his spiritual power field sensed that Leo was fiercely punched back by Ivanovszki, like a rag dool. Bang! Leo's body hit the ground hard.
The magic circle for blocking noises and magic waves set up by Nikonov had nearly reached its limit, but it was still there. The grand knights and other knights in the castle still had no idea what was happening there right now. As the fight between Witte and Nikonov was so bitter, neither of them had a chance to either reinforce the magic circle or to break it for the knights' help.
To Lucien's great surprise, the powerful punch revealed the fact that Ivanovszki was in fact a grand knight. Before that, Lucien had no clue at all about it.
Although through training, knights could hide their power by adjusting the way they walked, the strength of their muscle, heartbeat, blood circulation and so on, real knights, especially those high level ones, could easily reveal their identity by showing their vigor and imposing manner. However, despite the fact that Lucien had talked to Ivanovszki twice in person, Lucien never doubted that Ivanovszki was just a common knight who awakened his Blessing through a magic potion, and that was it.
Lucien felt lucky that he did not take any reckless actions when he was in Carleena's manor. Then, he sensed that after releasing a painful moaning, Leo quickly stood up again, while Ivanovszki also jumped down from the window and started to chase after Lucien.
Ivanovszki's bitter punch hurt Leo badly. He had pain in his body everywhere. He knew that right now even a high level squire could kill him. Fortunately, he had activated his Blessing, Giant, when he was attacked, or his head would be like a watermelon broken into pieces right now.
However, Leo's cheekbone on one side was broken, so the side of his face had sunk, and blood covered his whole face. He felt great dizzy, and his organs were severely damaged as well. He was not capable of fighting now!
This was the gap between the power of a grand knight and someone who had just awakened his Blessing. Although Leo had spent much money on those magic potions to improve his power, the gap still existed!
Compared to the great pain in his body, Leo's pain in his heart was even bitterer. His revenge now seemed to be hopeless after he realized that his enemy was a grand knight. He now saw no hope at all.
At this time, he heard Lucien's voice, "I'll attract Ivanovszki's attention to cover you. You run. We meet at the place we agreed before¡­"
The second circle spell, Electromagnetic Message.
Leo suddenly realized the situation, feeling greatly depressed, but he knew that it was not a good time to let himself be immersed in grief. He wanted to live¡­ at least he still should pay Lucien back.
After sending Leo the information, Lucien kept running and soon came in front of the castle gate.
Activating Fire Weaver, a huge fireball hit the gate directly. The great explosion opened a gap in the solid iron gate. And Lucien directly ran out of the castle to the west of the city.
Ivanovszki's landing made the ground shake a bit. He was not hurt by jumping down at all. Without taking even one look at Leo, he ran out of the castle chasing after Lucien.
The ignorance depressed Leo greatly. He knew that he was not a threat to Ivanovszki at all, so Ivanovszki would not waste a second on him. However, Leo knew that he could not let the depression catch him again.
Quickly, Leo took out a tube of Storm and drank it. After the injury became under control and the potential of his body was driven, Leo activated once more his Blessing, Giant, and started to run toward the castle gate.
At this time, he tripped lightly on something on the ground. Looking down, it was Matvienko's boots. Although the color of the boots looked dim because of the fight, it was barely damaged.
"The master might need this¡­" Leo murmured. After quickly wrapping the boots up with his clothes, Leo used all his strength and ran out of the castle. He must leave this place before the fight between the count and Nikonov drew the attention of the grand knights in the castle!
In the room, staring at the fight in the sky, Carleena looked confused. When she saw Ivanovszki started chasing after Lucien and left the castle, she swore, "Damn you, Ivanovszki¡­"
A second later, she also jumped out of the window. Before she hit the ground, her body started to change and a pair of black wings grew out of her back. Also, two tiny horns grew out of her forehead, which looked quite cute. Her fair skin was now covered in a whole set of half-transparent black armor.
Carleena was a knight too! Her Blessing was Succubus!
Her black wings flapped, and Carleena landed safely. But when she was about to fly up again, in the middle of her forehead, a thin blood line appeared, and her body quickly withered like a piece of autumn leaf. Her big eyes were filled with great fear as she died in a few seconds and her dried body hit the ground.
Among all of them, the count hated her the most. He really liked and supported this niece before, and he even helped her inherit the wealth left by Baron Lotnikov. But now, she was taking advantage of the fact that he was now old and weak to benefit herself together with some other people. The count could never forgive her. Had the count not gotten some information from the projection of a powerful person, he was sure that he would eventually die under Carleena and Ivanovszki's watch.
Seizing a one-second chance, Count Witte killed his niece directly. Now, the knights and grand knights in the castle had all seen the fight, and they were supporting the count and informing the church and other nobles.
...
Casting Speed on himself, Lucien managed to keep some distance away from Ivanovszki for a while. Then, the two of them went out of Ural City over the city wall and ran northwestwards.
A while later, Lucien sensed that Ivanovszki had slightly changed his direction.
As Ivanovszki definitely knew the surroundings better, Lucien wondered if Ivanovszki was taking a shortcut to get him.
However, after a while, when Lucien was about to stop and try to kill Ivanovszki in this suburb place, he found that Ivanovszki was gone.
Lucien was surprised that Ivanovszki was not chasing after him, then he realized that Ivanovszki would never try to kill a middle-rank mage himself, not to mention how many powerful magic items and strange spells he had. Ivanovszki was not trying to take him down, but to run away!
If the count won the fight in the castle, the last thing Ivanovszki wanted would be to stay there, and as a grand knight, he could not help Nikonov, a senior-rank mage, at all. If Nikonov managed to kill the count, he would also not be blamed, since the reason why he left the castle was to chase the sorcerer.
Lucien was impressed with Ivanovszki strategy and his talent of being a great actor, since the anger and determination that Ivanovszki just showed was so real.
Shaking his head slightly, and after checking the direction, Lucien started to run toward the mine to the west of the city.
...
In the mountains, Lucien was flying low over the trees, looking for the closed mines because of the frequent collapses. After picking the most creepy mine pit, Lucien secretly sneaked in, and he started using Sun's Corona to look for an entrance gap connecting to the World of Souls.
Based on his experience, the creepier a place was, the more likely an entrance gap might show up, but Lucien was not sure. This was part of Lucien's plan. If he was going to face great danger, Lucien could enter the World of Souls to escape.
The tunnel in the mine was dark, long and crooked. Walking alone there, Lucien felt quite uncomfortable. 
When he had almost reached the end of the mine, Sun's Corona informed Lucien that there was an entrance which could not be seen by eyes or sensed by spiritual power, just as Lucien expected.
Near the entrance gap, Lucien found a corner and hid. After a few minutes' rest, he heard the sound of someone's footsteps.
It was Ivanovszki!

Chapter 276: The Unexpected Encounter
				Chapter 276: The Unexpected Encounter
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Ivanovszki?!
Lucien was more than shocked. Luckily, Lucien had made himself stay concentrated when he heard the footsteps and he was always quite good at staying calm, or his Invisibility spell would have expired already because of his sudden mood swing.
Ural City was as big as Allyn, and its suburb area, surrounded by great mountains, was even broader. How could two people who were both trying to avoid each other just meet like this in the end of a mine tunnel?!
Lucien tried to calm down and restrain his idea of killing Ivanovszki, as a grand knight could sense nearby danger, including someone's intent to kill. He wondered if this was a coincidence or in fact Ivanovszki was following him all the way.
Hiding in the corner, Lucien saw that Ivanovszki stopped in front of the end of the tunnel and looked around.
Maybe it was because Ivanovszki just assumed that no one would be here. He did not use any other methods to check the surroundings. Then, after releasing a sigh, Ivanovszki looked more relaxed.
Turning around, Ivanovszki got down on one knee in front of the invisible entrance gap and started to pray with his hand crossing in front of his chest, "God the Father, may thy Kingdom come and live in us; may our filth and sin be purified; may our soul be saved¡­"
Praying? At this time? Lucien was confused. He totally did not expect that this great smuggler would be a loyal follower of the God of Truth.
However, soon Lucien realized that neither the North Church nor the South Church addressed the God of Truth as God the Father. Lucien also noticed that the cross that Ivanovszki was wearing looked quite different¡ªthe vertical was shorter and the horizontal was longer, like a lying down cross.
Therefore Lucien guessed that Ivanovszki was a follower of some other gods, but soon he rejected this idea. According to the book he read before, no followers of any gods, in order to avoid the influence of the Saint Truth, were using crosses as their symbol.
Which power was behind Ivanovszki? Lucien was getting more and more confused. He tried hard to stop thinking, or his spiritual power might be noticed by Ivanovszki due to his active mind.
When Ivanovszki's praying ended, holy divine power and white light surrounded him.
To Lucien's great surprise, the power was indeed that of the Saint Truth. Although the followers of different gods could all cast divine powers, the powers had their unique features and varied slightly.
The holy light went into Ivanovszki's eyes. Smiling, Ivanovszki reached out his right hand and it directly went into the entrance gap to the World of Souls.
"Thanks, God the Father¡­ for helping me find this secret world, so I can temporarily shelter myself," Ivanovszki murmured to himself in a relaxed manner.
However, the look on Ivanovszki's face suddenly changed! Grabbing his heavy sword with his left hand, Ivanovszki fiercely hacked at the corner where Lucien was hiding in.
Lucien was greatly shocked when he saw Ivanovszki found the entrance gap. For a second, Lucien was distracted, and the grand knight instantly noticed it!
Luckily, as soon as Lucien had this sudden mood swing, he knew what was going to happen. Trying his best to calm down as soon as possible, Lucien activated the magic model in his soul. 
Circles of blue light spread out surrounding Lucien like ripples.
The third circle spell, Deep Sleep! This was another new spell Lucien constructed in his soul in those couple of months he had been in the empire.
Using Spider Web should be Lucien's best choice. However, this second circle spell, although Lucien had built its magic model in his soul, still required casting reagents just like the spell Maskelyne's Star.
Although Ivanovszki was very fast, as Deep Sleep was a ranged spell, there was no chance that he could avoid it.
When Ivanovszki hacked his heavy sword at Lucien, his body was covered with a layer of white holy light. So, Lucien's blue light was directly cut off.
Some spilled blue light affected Ivanovszki slightly, but it was only for a second. Squinting a bit, Ivanovszki became sober again, and his attacks did not stop.
That was totally out of Lucien's expectation. Fortunately, he still had a plan B. Activating his spiritual power, his body was covered by a magic flame shield, using the power of the ring, Element.
When Ivanovszki's heavy sword hit the flame shield, sparkles burst out everywhere.
The flame shield shook fiercely and cracked a little, while Ivanovszki let out a painful moaning when the flame burned his skin black.
Powerful Fire Shield was not only for physical, elemental and pure power defence, but it could also reflect damage with the flames. The fifth circle spell did not show its full power because Lucien's previous enemies were all using creepy and strange necromancy, curse and soul spells.
"Damned it! How many magic items does this Peter guy have?!" Ivanovszki also found Peter. To his surprise, Peter used another fifth circle spell. 
Although Ivanovszki was very pissed seeing that Peter's magic items seemed to be countless, as a grand knight, he quickly forced himself to focus on the fight again. As soon as the holy white light mitigated the pain, Ivanovszki swiftly dodged sideways to avoid being located by the sorcerer, and then used his heavy sword and hacked at Lucien again.
Again, the heavy sword hit Lucien's flame shield. The shield's structure was damaged. And the great impact brought by Ivanovszki's hacking buzzed Lucien's mind, making it hard for Lucien to focus, thus, Lucien's buffering time for casting spells became longer.
"Interference? A pure Blessing for hunting sorcerers!" As a sorcerer, Lucien was of course relatively profound. He quickly recognized what he was facing.
The Blessing, Interference, could greatly disturb a sorcerer's casting and could even dispel spells. Therefore, it was regarded as one of the most powerful Blessing for hunting sorcerers. As a Saint Knight, Ivanovszki's divine power could strengthen the Blessing even further.
Although the flame shield was almost destroyed, Lucien was still calmly analyzing Ivanovszki's movement and his way of launching attacks. Although his strength should be at least of level five, his shortcomings were speed and agility¡­ which were below level four. Quite possibly, he was using some items to reinforce his strength. As Saint Knights having Interference Blessing always had more requirements when it came to wearing magic or divine items, in most cases, they could only wear bigger items such as armor, boots and gloves enchanted with extra magic circles, in order to counteract their own power.
Holding Amboula in his left hand, Lucien tried to concentrate his spiritual power. It seemed that his experience of fighting against the sixth-circle spell, Distraction, had somehow improved Lucien's soul power slightly. Under Ivanovszki's fierce attacks, The recovery speed of Lucien's soul was faster than Lucien's expectation. Finally, Lucien's buffering time passed.
Ivanovszki was now only a step away from completely destroying the shield. He was confident that he could take away Peter's life with his next attack!
Suddenly, Ivanovszki sensed great danger from the sorcerer. Decisively, Ivanovszki quickly turned around and made a dive for the entrance gap to the World of Souls.
A cluster of greenish-yellow gas came to Ivanovszki. As soon as he touched a bit of it, Ivanovszki instantly felt dizzy and weak. However, he did not slow down his movement, but became even more concentrated on his target¡ªthe gap. Holy light burst out of his body, and Ivanovszki successfully jumped into the gap.
Ivanovszki felt lucky that he still had the World of Souls to hide and shelter himself, and the path was informed by God the Father. Only those ones who were favored by God the Father could get to know this path. No any other creatures could.
As soon as he entered the World of Souls, most colors faded, and only black, white and gray were left. This was a silent world, a world of no lives.
Ivanovszki still felt dizzy from the poisonous gas. Half kneeling down on the ground, he activated his Blessing to drive out the toxin from his body. Drops of pus came out, and his life force started to recover quickly.
When he finally relaxed a bit, a great dizziness hit his brain bitterly, then he felt the torturing stabbing pain in his brain like countless needles were penetrating his head. The attack was so out of Ivanovszki's expectation that his Blessing did not help him too much.
Charm Person¡ªthe special version against knights!
Seeing Lucien standing in front of him in the World of Souls, Ivanovszki's eyes opened wide.
"How come?!" Ivanovszki could not move because of the great dizziness. Lucien's sword directly hacked at the crack on his armor, left by the corrosive gas.
No sound was made. No obvious damage was left from the hacking. But Ivanovszki felt his thinking and body started to become slow¡ªlike slow motion.
It was because of Lucien's sword, Frost. The sword could slow down his enemy's movement.
After hacking at Ivanovszki's armor twice, Lucien took a few strides backwards. Pointing at Ivanovszki's helmet, which had been partially corroded from the gas, Lucien cast Elemental Order and broke the helmet down.
As soon as Ivanovszki's helmet was gone, Lucien activated Fire Weaver's Bracelet. A head-sized fire ball flew right toward Ivanovszki' head.
Ivanovszki was too slow. He could not do anything at this point.
After the silent explosion, Ivanovszki's head was covered with lots of wounds, and his blood, which now looked black, white and gray, was everywhere.
However, as a grand knight, Ivanovszki did not die yet. Instead, he got rid of the negative effect left by the sword. Now, he could move faster.
The only problem was that Ivanovszki's brain was now a complete mess, thus it was hard for him to make any correct decisions. What he knew was to run around to avoid being an easy target.
Unfortunately, another fire ball, a much bigger one, hit his head again.
A small mushroom cloud rose.
The serious injury together with the toxin that remained in his body finally killed Ivanovszki. Staggering and stumbling, his body hit the ground hard.
The level three Saint Knight, Ivanovszki, died.
Lucien did not lower his guard. Decisively, he hacked Ivanovszki's head off. Then, he finally felt a bit more relaxed.
Lucien entered the World of Souls for two reasons: to kill Ivanovszki, and to avoid the toxic gas himself.
Casting Gaston's Poison Cloud in a narrow place could be very dangerous to himself. This was why Lucien did not use it at the very beginning.
"This is¡­ the projection of Dry Vine castle?!"
Now, Lucien finally had the chance to look around. This place looked exactly like the count's castle, spacious and quiet, but the only difference was that it did not have colors other than black, white and gray.
Suddenly, Lucien heard that someone chuckled! In the World of Souls!
Looking up, he saw a young man sitting in a throne above, holding a glass of wine in his hand.
The silver-haired young man had a beautiful face that Lucien was quite familiar with. He was wearing red shirt and black coat with high collar.
He raised the glass slightly and said, "Welcome."

Chapter 277: Rhine¡¯s Request
				Chapter 277: Rhine¡¯s Request
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Mr¡­ Mr. Rhine?! Why are you here?!" Lucien was more than surprised. Although he was still alert, it was still a big relief to Lucien.
It was Rhine who was sitting in the throne up there, raising his glass to greet to Lucien. Just like when he was in Aalto, Rhine still looked very relaxed and casual, as if he was here just waiting for Lucien.
The fancy gold throne in this glorious castle built by Count Witte himself to honor his great achievement in the countless battles now looked boring in this world of black and white. When facing death, all those valuable things including feelings, glory, loyalty, treasure and cuisines had lost their meaning. In the world of death, everything was the same meaningless.
However, Rhine was the only colorful existence in this space. Silver, red and black¡­ he was so out of tune here, a living man in the world of death. He lit up the space, but also made this space seem a bit absurd and so unreal.
"Why am I here?" Rhine swirled the wine a little and grinned, "I'm here for you, Lucien."
"Come on, Mr. Rhine¡­" the corner of Lucien's lips twitched a bit. Rhine still liked playing jokes, which made him feel a little more relaxed.
Lucien did not believe Rhine's joke. After all, they had not met each other for a long time. Even prophesy could not be this accurate.
Rhine shook his head and put down the glass. When he slowly stood up, Lucien saw the pair of huge bat wings behind his back. The wings were so huge that the whole castle was filled with them, and the dim light on the wings rippled like water.
"Vampire¡­ Legendary?" After seeing that, Lucien finally became certain that Rhine was not a human being. Although he had much of this thought when he met Rhine's grandson, Viscount Carendia, now his guess was finally proved right.
Rhine slowly walked down the stairs and smiled, "I am not joking. Lucien, I am waiting for you. I even cast my projection into Count Witte's dream."
Although this Rhine in front of Lucien was acting in a quite casual way, Lucien suddenly had this weird feeling that Rhine was using all his power to maintain his own existence. Maybe this Rhine was not real. It could be a projection!
"I see. What can I do for you, Mr. Rhine? You also know the World of Souls?" Lucien became more serious.
Rhine nodded, "I was sent by the Dark Council to Aalto for a task, but later I found the real seal of the Master of Argent. Because the seal was part of a very important story that had created much of a stir before Saint Calendar, and the secret of the World of Souls, I changed my plan and chose to work with my enemies."
"Sard¡­ The grand cardinal?" Lucien murmured thoughtfully. Across Aalto, the grand cardinal seemed to be the only one who was qualified to be Rhine's enemy and to work with him. The other two legendary-level people were all in the north fortress¡ªone was God's Glory, Bellia, the leader of Sword Brothers, Natasha's teacher, and the other was Snake the Chaos, Milton, who had a very close relationship with Violet family. To Lucien, it was just absurd and creepy thinking of the fact that a Saint Cardinal would work with the ancestor of a vampire¡­
Rhine's smile was as charming as before, "Brilliant. Then, our goal was basically fulfilled. But when I was exploring the Word of Souls, I ran into some¡­ some accidents, and I got trapped somewhere here, like Maskelyne, who left you with the amulet."
He took a glance at Lucien's chest as he was speaking.
"How do you know¡­?" Lucien burst out a question. However, he instantly realized that Rhine was watching him all the time before he entered this world. It was not hard for Rhine to know that Lucien had found Sun's Corona left by Maskelyne.
When they were now standing face to face, feeling the existence of Sun's Corona should be even easier for this legendary level vampire. Maybe Rhine also knew where Maskelyne was in the World of Souls¡­
Thinking of this, Lucien hurriedly asked, "Mr. Rhine, but you look different, as if you and Mr. Maskelyne are both trapped here? What's the secret of this place?"
Lucien had been bothered by this question for days and nights, especially after he found that Maskelyne might have something to do with the establishment of Saint Truth. Finally, Lucien had someone in front of him that could probably answer this question!
Rhine shrugged a bit, "It's a long story. I am always cautious, so before I entered this world, I was quite prepared. Also, because I can borrow someone's power, even trapped as I am right now, I can still cast my projection. Unfortunately, this projection does not have much power. To communicate with the material world, I can only pick those lives that are close to death to cast my projection in their dreams. In fact, what Count Witte has encountered so far is related to something in this world, so I have been watching him for a long time. From Mianka, the Transfiguration sorcerer's dream, I got to know that you were going there."
Lucien nodded seriously. He had no idea how complicated everything was behind the story on the surface.
"Because you've known the existence of the World of Souls; because we're, haha, quite close friends; because you're the weakest one among all of us who know this world, and thus the safest one; because I cannot cast my projection into your dream¡­ I had this plan and decided to use Count Witte to lead you into the World of Souls again to talk to you." Rhine grinned.
"But Mr. Rhine, what does Count Witte's business have to do with the World of Souls? Is this place related to the gods? You want me to save you, right? But before I become a legendary archmage, I'm afraid I am not capable of digging into this world¡­" Lucien asked a lot of questions. He was shocked and also lost.
Rhine nodded, and this serious look on his face was rare, "I don't know for sure what the ultimate secret of this world is. In my mind, according to the information that I have, this place is indeed related to gods and the true immortal. Unfortunately, I haven't met Maskelyne or his friends yet, so I cannot answer your questions, Lucien. Maybe you'll find your own answer when you explore this world more yourself."
After pausing a bit, Rhine continued, "As for Count Witte, someone who was very close to the secret of gods like Maskelyne sent his people to get the count's wealth. I don't know why he is doing this. After all, the wealth should be meaningless to him."
Lucien nodded seriously and said, "Then, how can I help you, Rhine?"
"Two stages," said Rhine. "First, when you become a senior-rank mage, go to several places, quite dangerous I must confess, and activate the things I left there. Also, find a person for me. If everything goes well, I should be able to leave this place without stage two; If stage one fails, then we'll wait until you become a legendary archmage, or a grand arcanist, which would be the best, to save me, like what Maskelyne asked."
Lucien was a bit surprised with how well-planned Rhine was. Then, he said to Rhine seriously, "Mr. Rhine, you've helped me many times, and I'll always keep this in mind. If I can become a senior-rank mage, of course I'll try my best to help you. But as for reaching legendary level¡­ I'm not sure if I am that capable right now¡­"
"I like your personality, Lucien." Rhine smiled. "We both know that this thing is dangerous, and I am only asking for your help, not forcing you to do this by making you vow or promise anything. It's always up to you. Also, I won't make you help me for nothing. When you become a senior-rank mage, go to the place where I store my treasures, and take three items that you like the most. If you can save me or become a legendary archmage, you can go to the bottom floor and pick one of my most valuable items out of my collection. Don't say no, Lucien. The more powerful you are, the bigger chance I have of being rescued."
Lucien nodded slightly, "I will do it for you, and also for me. As an arcanist, after knowing such a big secret, I cannot stop myself from exploring further."
What Lucien did not mention was that his fear toward aging was also part of the reason.
Also, as sophisticated as Rhine, Lucien did not believe that he was Rhine's only hope.
"Lucien, before you reach the legendary level, do not tell this to other people and ask for their help, no matter if he or she is a legendary knight from Holm, or a grand arcanist, or a legendary archmage. What's most likely to happen when you tell such a big secret to someone powerful like them is that they'll kill you to keep the secret."
Lucien nodded with great caution and in a very serious way. This might be the biggest secret of the world. Once the secret was revealed, the world was going to face a horrible storm.
After staying silent for a few seconds, Lucien asked, "Mr. Rhine, can you tell me more about this world?"
"Knowing too much all at once might not be a good thing, Lucien. When you are qualified to know more, I'll cast my projection in your dream to tell you." Rhine put on the charming smile again.
When Lucien just found that what Rhine said was a bit contradictory to his previous words, Rhine said to him, "Right now, let me give you some pay in advance."
He took a step closer to Lucien and a great power burst out from his body. Lucien could not move at all. Four sharp fangs grew out of Rhine's well aligned teeth.
It was not horrible or scary, but beautiful in an unique way.
"Mr. Rhine?" Lucien did not panic, since he knew that Rhine had no reason to kill him after this long conversation.
Rhine's voice was gentle, "Relax, this isn't the Embrace." Then, he lowered his head and bit on Lucien's neck.
Lucien's neck felt some pricking pain, and he felt dizzy. Then his blood started to boil, and the heat became some kind of power, running toward Lucien's soul.
His body quickly became very weak, while his soul was strengthened at an even faster speed!

Chapter 278: Improvement
				Chapter 278: Improvement
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
While the power in Lucien's blood was profoundly nurturing Lucien's soul, his skin started to get pale and dry, like an old mummy buried in a tomb for many years, or a dying poplar tree struggling in the desert.
Lucien's legs were trembling, his muscles became slack, and his heartbeat slowed down. However, his refreshed soul rose in the air and looked down at his withered body.
The creepy feeling came to Lucien so suddenly that it made him feel he was in the world of meditation.
When Lucien thought he was going to die when his Blessing power had been drained by the growth of his soul, some strange power penetrated into his body from Rhine's sharp teeth, and the great improvement in Lucien's soul immediately stopped. The remaining slight amount of Blessing power was stimulated by the strange power and thus started to rapidly recover in Lucien's veins.
The paleness of Lucien's skin gradually vanished, and his skin began to look tight and healthy again. There was an explosive power in his muscles, and although his heartbeat was still slow, it was steady and solid. As for Lucien's brain, now it worked even faster.
Rhine's let go of Lucien's neck, leaving a slight amount of numbing pain.
Rhine's body now looked a bit transparent, and there was tiredness in his silver-colored eyes, but his smile was still bright and elegant, "A distinguished gentleman is never stingy to pay."
Now Lucien could move his body again. After checking himself, he was surprised, "My soul¡­ its power has reached the level equal to that of a fourth-circle sorcerer. My physical strength has reached the level of a level two knight¡­ Are you alright, Mr. Rhine?"
Seeing that Rhine stumbled a bit and his huge wings started to shrink, Lucien hurriedly asked.
Rhine smiled, "There are many magic rites that can help people strengthen their soul and spiritual power. And ancient sorcerers just love doing this. But there are two problems: one is that very few sorcerers could afford these rites, and comparatively speaking, the cost of magic potions is much smaller. Therefore, sorcerers who really need these rites are those ones who either have a hard time improving themselves or must achieve a higher goal within a short period of time."
Knowing what Lucien was thinking, Rhine explained further, "The second problem is that these rites can leave side-effects, which are mostly from the materials consumed and used in the rites. People can also meet further obstacles because of their lack of understanding of magic. If the side-effects could not be eliminated soon, a sorcerer would need to rely more and more on similar magic rites, which might lead to one's twisted disposition. But you, Lucien, you have neither of the problems, because this is my pay for you in advance. What this rite just consumed was my Original Blood, and what nurtured your soul was your own Blessing power, so there is no side effects. Also, since your Blessing is Moonlight, it does not conflict with the power of a vampire."
Lucien listened to Rhine's words carefully and nodded.
"Although your physical strength has also been improved, since the further development of a knight depends on great willpower, unless you want to give up arcana and focus on becoming a knight, there's no way that you could become a grand knight. Of course, you can also do as what some of the sorcerers do to get strong but creepy physical body and longer lifespan¡­ You know, this was why they started using human beings to develop different Blessings. For you, the winner of Holm Crown prize, magic and arcana knowledge should not be a problem at all."
Lucien was finally relieved. After a couple of weeks, when Lucien could handle the newly strengthened spiritual power better, he could try to hit the target of becoming a fourth circle sorcerer, which was two years earlier than expected.
"Mr. Rhine, when I become a senior-rank mage, I'll go and activate the devices you left. But, where are they?" Lucien asked.
Rhine pointed at Lucien's neck and said, "I left a mark on your neck, so I can cast my projection into your dream through it and talk to you. Of course, only under your permission. Also, you can reach me through the mark backwards as well."
Lucien quickly checked his neck using his spiritual power. Like Rhine said, there was an unnoticeable, crescent-shaped mark there, like a birthmark.
"I can tell you really don't want me to know too many details right now, Mr. Rhine." Lucien grinned.
"If you are really interested in knowing more, go to the Congress's Arcana Library and find those books about the history of the church. Read them carefully, and maybe you can find something interesting. The most shocking secret can be hidden in the most ordinary things." Rhine smiled. Then he put his right hand on his chest and excused himself, "After the rite, I'm too tired to maintain my projection. Now, I must go."
As soon as he finished the last sentence, Rhine's body turned into countless black bats, flying everywhere in the space. Then, they all disappeared.
The World of Souls went back to being the colorless and silent world again.
"It was just like pigeons flying up on the square, but they were bats." Lucien smiled and murmured, but no voice could be heard.
After looking around the hall, Lucien looked at Ivanovszki's body. He was a tough enemy, and his Blessing was indeed a big trouble to sorcerers. Were it not for Lucien's many powerful magic items and the fact that they were of the same level, Lucien would be the one who needed to run for his life.
Lucien got really lucky when Ivanovszki lowered his guard after he entered the World of Souls. After all, it was not an easy thing to kill a Saint Knight who was fast and agile.
Ivanovszki's whole set of armor had been completely damaged, so Lucien could only pick some pieces. Maybe they could be used as alchemical materials in the future.
Ivanovszki did not have any rings, necklaces, amulets or belts, because of his special Blessing. He only had a heavy sword and a pair of silver-gray gloves:
"A divine heavy sword built for cleansing sorcerers¡ªCleanser: level three high rank heavy sword (requires both hands). Before senior-rank, user's magic defence can be improved by one level. Every time when the target is hit, the physical attack is doubled by the holy power attached."
"One can only rely on power!¡ªOgre Glove: level five middle rank. User's power can be improved to the level of an ogre leader, which is equal to that of a level five grand knight."
Although both of the items were more of less damaged by the toxic gas, Lucien was confident that he could fix them.
Putting the two items in his magic pouch, he decided to give Leo the sword and keep the gloves to himself.
Lucien also searched Ivanovszki's clothes and tried to see whether there was more that he could find about Ivanovszki, but the effort was in vain. Ivanovszki was very careful. Except for a small money bag, Lucien found nothing.
After dealing with the body, Lucien stared at the black-and-white castle hall and his mind started wandering¡ªwho was the person behind Ivanovszki? Did the person know anything about this world? Were any other wise creatures here? ¡­ What were the secrets of gods? What was the immortal side of the world? A world whose physics and chemistry were so similar to what Lucien had learned on Earth¡­
...
In the material world, Dry Vine Castle.
"Cardinal Nevskiy, sorry for troubling you and the night watchers¡­" said Count Witte, brimming with energy and vitality, "Please get Nikonov."
Having lots of strange magic items and spells, Nikonov managed to escape when Count Witte was distracted with killing Carleena.
Since Nikonov could tell that Count Witte was only overusing his body to get back to the peak time of his power temporarily, if he could make this fight last longer, quite possibly, he would be able to kill the count. However, the church had received the message at that time, so he had to withdraw immediately.
Wearing a red robe, the cardinal looked upright and kind. His blue eyes sincerely looked at the count and said, "I'm very sorry for my mistake, Count Witte. I did not find what was hiding behind your disease¡­ the curse."
"Now that they dare do so, they must be very confident with hiding the curse. It's not your fault, Cardinal." The count smiled, and then he switched the topic, "By the way, Cardinal, I've sent my will about my heritage to His Majesty using my own secret way safely. I'm His Majesty's knight, and I believe that there is no better way than let His Majesty select my inheritor."
Nevskiy nodded and smiled, "Proper decision, Count Witte. His Majesty must know your will and select the best inheritor for you. I'm sure the selected one will be as outstanding as you. Well, I gotta go back to the church now."
"Walk Cardinal Nevskiy out," said the count to a knight standing beside him.
Watching Cardinal Nevskiy walking out of the hall, the count suddenly took a few steps backwards from the great sense of tiredness. At the same time, a sneer appeared on his face.
When the red-robed cardinal left the castle with several pastors and bishops, in the light of dawn, Nevskiy looked up and started to cross in front of his chest with his right hand.
The vertical was shorter and the horizontal was longer.

Chapter 279: The Red Robe
				Chapter 279: The Red Robe
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the World of Souls, Lucien stopped the many thoughts in his mind and was about to find a room in the projection of the castle to take a rest. He planned to meet Leo later at the place they previously agreed, when this whole thing settled down.
According to Lucien's estimation, this would take three to four days. Leo and he had agreed on meeting each other a week later, so he had plenty of time. He could use this time learning how to control his newly-grown spiritual power.
Lucien felt lucky for not meeting any undead creatures here. The deeper one went, the more dangerous this space was. Lucien was only a middle-rank mage right now, and he knew his own limit.
When Lucien was going to step on the stairs, the castle started shaking fiercely, like a boat in the ocean meeting a great storm.
Then, the castle was torn into countless pieces of shadow. A second later, the shadow all disappeared.
This whole thing happened too fast. Lucien did not manage to cast any spells to protect himself. All of a sudden, he was exposed to the wild, and he could feel the sense of death from this world.
He was confused.
At this time, the white tear-shaped mark on Lucien's left hand refreshed him like a breeze. The breeze comforted Lucien greatly in the dreadful surroundings.
Lucien's was cheered up, feeling lucky for having the young girl's blessing wish. At the same time, he looked around and realized that he was on the west side of the mine of Ural. He silently murmured to himself, "This should be the real reflection of the material world¡­"
According to Lucien's knowledge of the World of Souls, unintelligent things in the material world, like a building, could be mistakenly reflected there. For example, a building in the west of a city could appear in the north in this creepy world. However, the mistake usually would not go beyond a certain range, say, within a city or a village. Still, the fact that Lucien entered the gap entrance in the mine but directly arrived at Dry Vine castle was out of his expectation. After all, they were quite far from each other.
Now, after witnessing what just happened to the castle, Lucien realized that it was Rhine's power that dragged the projection of the castle there. After Rhine left, the world recovered itself.
Actually, it was also a good thing. Lucien did not have to worry that the others might have the evidence that he killed Ivanovszki.
"But wait!!"
An idea suddenly struck Lucien and he immediately ran toward the gap exit close to him.
If Ivanovszki knew the existence of the World of Souls and the entrance, what about those who worked for or cooperated with him, say, the senior-rank mage, Nikonov? Did he know how to get into this world? If Nikonov also chose to hide in the World of Souls and saw the evidence of the fight between Lucien and Ivanovszki, he would definitely know that their enemy was also here! The secret of this world could have been revealed!
To all the people on Ivanovszki and Nikonov's side, and to the person pulling the strings behind them, the fact that someone else knew the existence of the World of Souls could be even more threatening than the fact that their plan toward the count had failed. If they found out about this, they would spare no effort on killing Lucien by searching around the entrance very carefully, and probably setting up some sensing traps.
If Lucien wanted to find another exit, he would need to go deeper in the World of Souls. And, very possibly, he would meet some horrible undead creatures!
Therefore, Lucien must take the risk and eliminate all the evidence at the bottom of the mine, and then find another place to hide.
Before going back, Lucien carefully sensed the other side of the gap with his Sun's Corona. Making sure that there was no one around there, Lucien activated Powerful Fire Shield, which was his last chance of using this spell today, and came back to the bottom of the mine again through the heavy "curtains" in the gap.
There was no wind here, so the toxic cloud was still around. Rocks, bugs and mice were being corroded.
After casting Dissipate Smoke easily using his stronger spiritual power for a few times, there was finally no toxic gas in the air. Then, Lucien started to deal with the bodies of the dead bugs and mice, as well as the damaged stones, making sure that no one could tell that once there was a bitter fight here, in a very organized way.
After less than ten minutes, Lucien's work was almost done. If one did not check around carefully, it would be very hard to notice. And as time went by, there was no way that one could tell any evidences here, except if he or she directly used the ninth-circle spell, Retrospective Sight.
After carefully checking around again, Lucien cast Invisibility and was ready to leave the place.
However, when he just took a few steps, all of a sudden, Lucien sensed that Nikonov had arrived there, as expected!
Maybe it was because Nikonov did not expect anyone to be there, or he was too confident, but Lucien was lucky to find it out in time, and thus had enough time to hide.
Lucien quickly restrained his spiritual power field and looked around. He knew that he could not hide in a corner like he did the last time. Nikonov was a senior-rank mage!
A senior-rank mage's spiritual power field was solid and very powerful, which could sense every single creature in the space. In the narrow pit, only the fourth-circle spell, Greater Invisibility, could hide the caster properly.
Therefore, decisively, Lucien entered the World of Souls again.
...
Black, white and gray. The bushes and trees were like concrete. Lucien ran fast on the open field, with dim shadows following him. His destination was the plain, because he had a greater chance to meet undead creatures down there.
This time, Lucien did not avoid the undead creatures, but tried to find them on purpose. He used the crystal ball and Maskelyne's Star at the same time. When the light balls and the stars hit each other and burst out shining pieces, Lucien's luck was improved.
Lucien did not believe in fate. This time he wanted to take the initiative and try his best to survive here! Even if he was doomed to die here, Lucien still wanted to fight for himself till the last second.
In this chaotic world, Lucien arrived at the plains in a very short time. There, he saw groups of ghouls. The way they looked¡ªtheir rotten flesh and hanging pieces of skin¡ª, in Lucien's eyes, was quite familiar.
And this time, Lucien felt lucky that he found the ghouls.
Smelling the air, the ghouls found Lucien¡ªa live creature! Immediately, they became agitated and crazy. They were coming for Lucien!
At this time, Lucien silently cast a spell, and his smell suddenly changed. His body was shrouded by a dense smell of death, and his flesh started rotting. Soon, Lucien changed himself into a disgusting ghoul!
The unique second-circle spell from the Congress, the Undead Transformation!
The spell was invented based on two ancient spells: Death Cover and Undead Disguise.
The brainless ghouls felt very confused. After looking around, they accepted the fact that, all of a sudden, they had got a new friend.
The leader of the ghouls released a silent howling, asking Lucien to join the line.
Soon after Lucien joined this group of ghouls and wandered around, he saw a figure flying in the gray sky. The man was wearing a black magic robe. He was Nikonov.
Apparently, Nikonov was not interested in the ghouls at all. He did not even take an extra look at them, not to mention using his spiritual power to scan them carefully.
Lucien was quite nervous when he was walking among the real ghouls. After making sure that Nikonov had really left, he released a long sigh in his mind.
It seemed that Nikonov never expected his enemy to be here at all.
Just in case, Lucien kept wandering with the ghouls for a while. A little later, a figure wearing a black loose rob drawn with lots of complicated patterns flew across the sky. The aura that the figure had was one of absolute death!
The figure also directly ignored the ghouls, that could be found everywhere in this world.
Based on the direction, Lucien wondered if this figure was chasing Nikonov. He was not sure whether the figure was an intelligent undead creature or not.
After a while, Lucien started to get bored. When he was just about to leave and find the exit gap, he saw another figure flying across the sky again.
This time, Lucien was greatly shocked, because the figure was wearing the robe that was only meant for the cardinals!
Although Lucien could not tell the real color of the robe, he was completely sure that the style and shape was exactly the same!

Chapter 280: Lucien¡¯s Finding
				Chapter 280: Lucien¡¯s Finding
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien stared at the sky like a real ghoul, and he murmured to himself in his mind out of confusion, "Is the red-robed cardinal from the North or the South Church? Why is he here? Is he chasing after Nikonov?"
The main divergence between the North and the South Church was their different understandings of some doctrines and prayers. The North Church especially doubted the status of the pope as "the Speaker of God on the Land of Truth". Therefore, after the secession, the North Church referred to the pope as pontiff, and a pontiff should not enjoy the lofty status of being respected as the spokesperson of God, but only a leader of the grand cardinals. Through the grand cardinals, a pontiff could lead the church. And that was it.
Therefore, in order to prove their own legitimacy, the hierarchy of the two churches still followed the tradition: the grand cardinals, then red-robed cardinals, then bishops and then pastors. Furthermore, the religious clothes they wore and their symbol¡ªthe cross¡ªwere basically the same.
As soon as Lucien had these questions in his mind, he mocked himself silently, "Come on, Lucien, are you muddled from the fight? The cardinal came in through the gap at the bottom of the mine, so he must be from the north!"
At the same time, Lucien also realized who that person was, since there was only one single cardinal who had this power and might know about the existence of this world¡ªthe level seven red-robed cardinal, Nevskiy¡­
One might have this thought that the person could also be some red-robed cardinal from the south who had secretly arrived in Ural because of some important task. However, it would be almost impossible to see a like that cardinal just carelessly wearing his own cardinal robe and flying around, considering how much the North and the South Church hated each other.
Then, Lucien's mind was filled with many new thoughts. He wondered how the cardinal knew about the existence of this world¡ªdid he learn this a long time ago? Or did he find the place when he was chasing after Nikonov? Lucien hoped the answer was the latter, but if it was the former, the cardinal's relationship with Nikonov could be quite complicated. After all, the secret of the World of Souls was not as easy to get as cabbages sold on the market.
Also, Lucien wanted to know what kind of undead creature was that thing which just flew across the sky some time ago.
The secret of the World of Souls was like its own existence, as both of them were covered in a thick cluster of fog.
Lucien decided to leave the place later, because the cradinal might come back at any time, and he might have left some complicated traps around the exit to make sure that no one was following him. If Lucien hurriedly left this place, he would put himself under great risk. Also, there might be more senior-rank people coming.
Patience was always a good thing in most cases.
Waving his arms, Lucien wandered on the wild land aimlessly just like the many ghouls. Pretending that he was seeking dead bodies, Lucien was waiting for the cardinal to come back.
At the same time, Lucien was reading the books about the history of the Church that he had collected so far, trying to find what happened before and after the secession.
Facing the secession, both the South Church and the North Church were trying to glorify themselves and bring shame on the other by destroying all the history records that were not on their side. Lucien was slightly amused by the fact that both sides had totally different comments on the same thing or the same person. For example, according to the South Church, the pope Gregory I was merciful and devout, while the first pontiff Ivan, was pictured corrupted and greedy as a big liar.
However, according to the North Church, Ivan, the first pontiff, was the one completely devout to the God. In order to prevent the world from being deceived by the pope, Ivan bravely stood out and chose to fight. Meanwhile, they denounced Gregory I, the pope who led the Saint Truth to the period of great prosperity, as the primary defiler, who kept stealing the glory of God, and should be purified first of all.
Although the Congress of Magic collected and saved the copy of lots of history records from that time and tried to stay neutral when understanding the history, there was nothing special or really valuable in the plain records, except the scandals of some important people from the church.
Part of the book Lucien was reading recorded the grand opening of the Highest Theology Conference,  "¡­On that day, God stared at the Holy City. The four Saints¡ªIvan, Aleksey, Uriel, and Felix¡ªand the seven Saint Cardinals including Sotte, Alester, and Siricius, stood in the holy light and denounced Gregory as the avatar of the Lord of Hell¡­"
The Saint was a holy title in the Saint Truth, following the Speaker of God, and the Saints were regarded as the archangels sent by God to the mundane. Although the title did not necessarily represent one's power, they were closely connected together. Pastors or cardinals could upgrade more asily under this title. Therefore, in most cases, they were the most powerful ones in the Church, following right after the Pope.
When reading this record, Lucien frowned. "Mr. Rhine said I could find something interesting, but I've found nothing here. There were some interesting anecdotes, but they're not what I'm looking for¡­"
Having nothing else safe to do, Lucien continued reading the books.
After a while, the red-robed cardinal flew back through the sky. Ignoring the ghouls on the ground, he directly left here through the gap. However, neither Nikonov nor the senior-rank creature showed up. The world then became dull and dreadful again.
When reading a book called The Saint Ivan, Lucien saw the cardinal flying across the sky. He wondered what happened, and maybe it was time for him to leave the place now.
Lucien had to leave this place, to avoid meeting other grand cardinals in case the cardinal decided to bring them to this place. Meanwhile, he also did not want to rush before making sure the red-robed cardinal had really left the place. The proper timing was very important here.
When Lucien closed the book, The Saint Ivan, he took a glance at the sentence on one of the pages, "¡­ so the Saint Ivan accepted the command and headed toward the land under Wilfred's control. They needed to purify this extremely vicious and horrible sorcerer¡­"
A strange idea struck Lucien's mind suddenly, like a flash of lightning.
"Wilfred¡­ the Great Master of Paleness¡­ Wasn't he the legendary necromancer who once worked with Maskelyne and his partners?"
Lucien got this information from Hunt's notebook. Meanwhile, Lucien also saw this name, Wilfred, many times in other books that he had read. Unlike Maskelyne, Viken and the other three legendary archmages who got lost or were trapped in the World of Souls in the end, Wilfred died in the encirclement of the several grand cardinals.
Maybe due to some reasons, Wilfred did not manage to join the team exploring the deep secret of the World of Souls¡­ That was Lucien's guess. At the same time, he quickly searched the Church's record of the important encirclement.
To his surprise, which also concerned Lucien a bit, the search results were mostly from the North Church and the Congress, while the South Church chose to be very brief on this historical event, without even mentioning the leader, the Saint Ivan.
"The six grand cardinals¡ªIvan, Aleksey, Nicon, Uriel, Geno, Felix¡ªlaunched a surprise attack on Wilfred's Demiplanes Magic Tower. In this bitter fight, the six grand cardinals killed the necromancer and destroyed his life box¡­ Nicon was killed by Wilfred."
Lucien repeated the names in his mind, and he felt that the tip of the horrible secret had been revealed¡­
Nicon was killed by Wilfred¡­ but what about Geno?
Searching the materials quickly, Lucien saw the last record of this grand cardinal, "During the fight against the vicious necromancer Wilfred, the Grand Cardinal Geno, was severely injured the last second before Wilfred died. Geno's soul was entangled by the power of death. Seven years later, Geno died in Lance, the Holy City."
The book was left open on the spirit library table. Lucien was lost in his thoughts¡­
After a while, Lucien realized what the most important thing was right now. He forced himself to calm down and secretly left the ghoul team, running toward the exit gap.
After scanned and sensed the whole place using Sun's Corona, Lucien passed through the heavy and cold "curtains" in the gap and came back to the material world. Quickly, he left the mine pit and hid in the mountain range.
...
One week later, beside a pond deep in the Ural mountain range.
Leo secretly popped out from the bushes and checked the surroundings very carefully, making sure no one was following him.
Some unnoticeable marks were left beside the pond, guiding Leo to go somewhere else.
Leo followed the signs, and the location for them to meet was changed a few times. Finally, Leo heard the gentle voice, "Leo, is the Church and the empire still searching for us?"
Leo quickly turned around and saw Lucien standing on a giant pine tree with a heavy sword in his hands.
"Yes, they still are. We might have a few tough days going to Duchy of Violet through the forests¡­" Leo's voice suddenly trembled, then he asked in an unbelievable way, "My lord¡­ This heavy sword is¡­?"
Translator's Thoughts
Kris_Liu Kris_Liu
Hi ladies and gentlemen, I've got a few words to say to you,
1. Thank you all so much for supporting TMA. I know we're being quite slow recently as we're waiting for our editor to fully recover. He's a great editor and the one who make sure the quality of the translated novel. We won't give up TMA and we'll try our very best to present you with an even greater adventure in the close future.
2. Here I also want to clarify one setting here: In order to be short, I chose to use "cardinal" to refer to "red-robed cardinal". As you may have noticed, in this chapter, I specified the concept to show the difference between a cardinal/red-robed cardinal and a grand cardinal. A grand cardinal is much more powerful then a (red-robed) cardinal.
Many thanks! In the next chapter, Lucien's going back home, Aalto!

Chapter 281: The Missed Music Festival
				Chapter 281: The Missed Music Festival
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Although the heavy sword in Lucien's hands did not look fancy, the design of it was solemn and sacred. However, the look and the value was not the reason that made Leo's body slightly shake and his voice tremble.
"That's right. The sword's called Cleanser, and its last owner was Ivanovszki. I killed him." Lucien nodded. When he said this, there was a calm smile on his face.
Lucien was not worried about the possibility of someone figuring out that he also knew about the existence of the World of Souls, after all, no one could tell that, instead of chasing after Lucien to kill him, Ivanovszki was actually running for his own life toward the mine pit.
Sneaky as a sorcerer could be, there was still chance that Lucien could end Ivanovszki's life using some kind of strange magic items or traps. Also, Nikonov did not find any evidence at the bottom of the mine pit, and neither did he find Ivanovszki in the World of Souls. Therefore, Lucien should be safe.
In addition, it was not easy for a middle-rank sorcerer to control a grand knight's will using spells, not to mention that Ivanovszki had the Blessing called Interference, who was very resistant to mental control. At least a ninth circle spell, such as Invade Brain, should be used if a senior rank mage wanted to get the information about the World of Souls from Ivanovszki, which was definitely the most significant piece of information, well protected by Ivanovszki's subconscious, or the target would soon wake up from the great sense of revolting.
From another perspective, those reasons above were also why the important people behind Ivanovszki would feel secure to tell him how to enter the World of Souls.
From comparing and contrasting the list of the saints who were against the pope over the Highest Theology Conference and the list of the grand cardinals who jointly killed Wilfred, the Great Master of Paleness, Lucien felt that he was already right in front of the great, shocking secret, and thus he had a better understanding of the great value of the World of Souls. Once the fact that he was also aware of the existence of the World of Souls was revealed, regardless of what others would do to him, Lucien was certain that the saints and the pontiff from the North Church would definitely kill him in person.
But why didn't the North Church hide the list, but made them available to almost everyone? Because they knew it well that there was a premise if one could really see the great secret existing between the two lists¡ªone must be aware that, although Wilfred, the Master of Paleness, did not end up missing, he had a very close connection to the several missing legendary archmages. They did some secret experiment together, and he also knew the secret of immortality hidden in the World of Souls. However, those people who knew this much did not need the list to figure out what happened.
This was why the Congress of Magic, although having all the records from both the South and North Church, still got findings at all.
Although Lucien's answer was quite plain, Leo's eyes in his wrinkled face suddenly lost their focus. At this second, the purpose of his life had ended.
His hands were shaking fiercely. His lips slightly opened but his throat could not make a sound.
After more than five minutes, Leo forced a smile on his face and said, "Thanks, my lord¡­ for taking the revenge¡­ for me."
Lucien could tell the mixed emotions in Leo's voice. There was joy, regret, depression and confusion. And Lucien totally understood.
"The dead belongs to the past¡­" Lucien tried to comfort Leo, but was interrupted by him.
"Sorry, my lord. Please give me a few minutes."
Lucien nodded. Then Leo walked toward a huge rock on the side. Although he looked relatively calm, he almost fell over because of the tree root. He kept stumbling forward.
In front of the rock, Leo's knee suddenly dropped to the ground. Crossing in front of his chest, he kissed the dried moss on the rock, and murmured some names¡­
Lucien walked to the side to show his respect. Knights who grew up under the influence of the church always drew the cross in front of their chest when they felt emotional, no matter whether they believed in the God of Truth or not, and no matter whether they had any impious behavior. They drew the cross and pray, and it was a stamped habit left by their parents or families, not necessarily piety.
Lucien's mind wandered a bit. He was thinking of a new arcana research topic¡ªthe influence of one's early childhood experiences on one's behavior pattern.
After a few minutes, Leo slowly walked back. Feeling a bit tired, he said to Lucien, "My lord, let's set off right now. We gotta leave Ural as soon as possible. The night watchers and knights have been searching for us like crazy. Fortunately, I am quite familiar with this area, or I would not be able to meet you here, my lord¡­"
Although his heart was still filled with all mixed feelings, Leo reminded himself of his own duty.
Then, he took out a pair of boots embroidered with dark gold patterns, "My lord, these are the boots I found¡­ from the sorcerer's body."
Sidestep, level three middle rank magic item. The boots could improve a sorcerer's agility to the level of a level three knight, and also provided the sorcerer two uses of third-circle spell Short Distance Teleportation a day.
After checking the boots carefully, then smiled, "Ok, we can go through the Ural mountains directly. I can handle the beasts and creatures in the mountains, and I also have Sorcerer's Cabin."
Pausing a bit, Lucien comforted Leo, "When we arrive in Aalto, Leo, try to stay there and do not come back again. You should think about your future life and probably have your offspring again. Take the sword, Leo. You'll need it in the mountains."
Hearing the word "offspring", Leo's face dimmed a bit. In this world, where Blessing, title, treasure and glory played the most important roles, one's offspring mattered a lot.
Leo took over Cleanser silently, as if he was lost in his own thoughts. After checking the sword carefully, Leo started walking in front of Lucien, with the heavy sword in his hand.
... 
In the early evening of the Month of the End of Spring (April), 20th.
A coach from Tiran Province in the north arrived at Massawa town, which was only less-than-a day's travel away from Aalto.
Lucien, whose hair was blond and eyes were green, stepped out of the coach, followed by his butler, Leo. He walked into the familiar hotel and looked around.
Lucien left Aalto on April 9th in the year 816 of Saint Calendar and arrived in this small town. Now, after a whole three years, Lucien finally came back. He was a bit emotional, as everything in this place was triggering his memory. He was excited about going back "home".
After leaving Ural, Lucien and Leo travelled through the deep mountain range. Although they encountered beasts and other creatures many times, they handled them very well with Lucien's further-grown power as a fourth-circle sorcerer, so they arrived at the fortress in the north as planned.
However, because the north fortress had God's Glory and Snake the Chaos guarding the gate, Lucien and Leo had to climb over the great snow mountains to enter the Duchy of Violet, thus their trip had been delayed for almost a month.
Massawa was just a common town, so the hotel was not nearly as fancy. The hotel hall was its dining hall. People wearing different styles of clothes with different accents were eating and chatting in the heated atmosphere. Here, no noble manner was required.
"Compared to the music festival held three years ago, this year's Aalto music festival is¡­ Umm¡­ just so so, but¡­ I mean, it's still a great feast of music. I've stayed here a week longer than I planned," said a wealthy middle-aged man wearing a silk shirt to the other guests sharing the table with him.
Hearing the man's words, Lucien suddenly realized that April was the month of Aalto Music Festival. Unfortunately, he had missed it. However, Lucien was also glad that Natasha should be free now. He wanted to reach her as soon as possible, or coming back to Aalto as the famous musician could bring him a lot of trouble from the Church.
As the winner of Holm Crown prize, Lucien was quite famous in the Congress of Magic. Lucien was very careful with disguising himself, as the Church might have found some clues connecting the great musician Lucien Evans to the genius sorcerer Lucien Evans X.
Lucien signalled to Leo with a glance. Leo nodded and walked to the middle-aged man and asked politely, "Excuse me sir, do you mind if we take these seats?"
Lucien hoped to get more information about his friends and what recently happened in Aalto. After he finished building in his soul his fifth fourth-circle spell, Professor's Infrasound Resonance, he would directly head for Aalto on the following day.
"No problem at all." The middle-aged man found Lucien young and elegant, so he nodded immediately. The other three guests also agreed.
Lucien sat down in front of the dining table and smiled, "Good to meet you all. I'm Michel, from Syracuse."
"I'm Glinton, a businessman traveling between the fortress of the Dark Mountain Range, Aalto and Tria." The middle-aged man made a brief self-introduction, followed by the two men and the lady.
Lucien put on a regretful look and sighed, "I tried my best to attend the music festival in Aalto, but still missed it¡­ A lot of things happened during my trip. What a pity¡­ Mr. Glinton, from what I heard from your words, it seems that you just came back from Aalto. Do you mind sharing with me some of what you've seen over the festival?"
"That's indeed a pity." Glinton nodded in an understanding way, "This year's music festival was not bad¡­ Actually, I should say it was pretty good. However, you know¡­ The festival held three years ago was too impressive to be compared¡­ And this year's festival, without the presence of Mr. Christopher and Mr. Evans, appeared to be a bit plain and disappointing¡­ But, of course, this year, Mr. Victor's playing in the Psalm Hall was still very stunning¡­"

Chapter 282: Come Back Home - Aalto
				Chapter 282: Come Back Home - Aalto
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien was glad to hear the news about his music teacher, Victor. The fact that Victor held his concert in the Psalm Hall during the music festival showed that his music achievement had been acknowledged. With a pleasant smile, he asked, "Which piece did Mr. Victor play?"
Seeing that the young man was interested in this topic, Glinton also got excited and started to blatter, "Four pieces in total! All of them were fantastic! Personally, I like the last piece, Symphony No. 8 in C minor, the best, of which love is the theme, but it is also more than love! It's like an autobiography! Each chapter conveys different emotions and feelings one could have with love. Sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter¡­ It reminded us of our own love stories! After Mr. Victor finished playing, people applauded sincerely. Love touched our hearts deeply¡­" As Glinton was saying, there was also a sweet smile on his face, and then he lowered his voice, "I heard that this music piece was written by Mr. Victor himself in memory of his dead wife, Winnie. It took him ten years to finish it. Symphony No. 8 in C minor's a piece of artwork. In my eyes, it is no inferior than Fate, the War of Dawn, Sonata PathšŠtique and Moonlight!"
Love and music was always a combination that most ladies could not resist. The only lady took out her handkerchief and gently tapped the corner of her eyes, saying regretfully, "We missed this music festival because of the absence of Mr. Christopher and Lucien Evans. What a mistake¡­"
Lucien knew well the love Victor always had toward his wife. He sincerely felt happy for Victor as he could put all his love and thoughts in music, which must be a great comfort for Victor.
Lucien's voice also became gentler, "Were there any new musicians on the music festival?"
Elena, Felicia, Pierre, Grace¡­ He wondered how his classmates and friends were doing right now, and whether they were still pursuing their music dream.
"There was one, a female¡­ named Louise. Her piano playing skill's really impressive and her music work has those kind of special feminine features. Also, she's a knight in training. She even has a beautiful white wolf as her pet!" said Glinton.
Lucien never heard this name. So, he took a sip at his lemonade and asked, "Anyone else?"
"Sure. Aalto Music Festival's always the heaven for young musicians." Glinton started listing the names as a way of showing off.
When Lucien almost lost his patience, he finally heard a familiar name.
"Mr. Victor's student, also, Mr. Lucien Evans' classmate, Felicia, also held her first concert over the festival. She played one symphony piece, one sonata piece and a couple of piano pieces that she wrote when she travelled through the continent. Also, she played Moonlight written by Mr. Evans to show her playing skills. I mean, although Miss. Felicia cannot yet be considered an outstanding musician, she's on her way and, as a noble lady musician, she's definitely very promising."
Lucien nodded slightly. He knew that Felicia must have worked very hard in the three years.
Over the meal, Lucien had a pretty good appetite because of his good mood. At this time, Glinton sighed, "Speaking of Moonlight¡­ It's such a pity that we've never heard the great musician, Lucien Evans, playing Moonlight in person. Although the playing of his student, Miss Grace, was quite good, we're still looking forward to the great musician showing the real beauty of Moonlight¡­"
The lady sitting beside the table also nodded, "Mr. Evans' accomplishment in the field of piano playing is¡­ incomparable. He created the brand new playing style as well as the foundation of fingering. I bet one person must have heard Mr. Lucien Evans playing Moonlight."
Lucien's face felt a bit hot when hearing all the compliments. He was also glad that Grace indeed followed his words and came to Aalto.
Another man laughed, "Of course, Her Majesty. It is said that the first movement of Moonlight was already written by the time Mr. Evans set off for his trip, and that he had played it in person in front of the princess."
People around the table laughed.
Lucien felt a bit embarrassed, so he cut off a small piece of steak and started chewing. Then, he asked in a casual way, "It's been three years since Mr. Evans left Aalto. When's he coming back?"
"Maybe in a year or two. No one knows except the princess." Glinton answered, "But the best thing's that he's still working on producing great music pieces¡­ Moonlight, Storm¡­ I really look forward to the day when he comes back."
It was more than normal that a musician could only produce one music piece within a year or so, not to mention the fact that Lucien Evans was still on his trip.
Hearing that, Lucien thought to himself that no matter whether the church had known that the great musician was in fact a vicious sorcerer, they had not told the public yet.
Lucien got no information about Elena, but it was not out of Lucien's expectation. After all, she just started learning music three years ago.
As for John, Joel and aunt Alisa, because they had nothing to do with the music festival, Lucien didn't dare to ask randomly.
...
The second day, the first orange light of morning had just appeared.
At this time, Lucien finished the complicated magic model in his soul with the last piece of arc.
Light covered the model and disappeared. When the model appeared again, it was already surrounding Lucien's Host Star of Destiny like many other magic models on the track.
It was Professor's Infrasound Resonance, that could harm or even kill an enemy using infrasound resonance. Its power was penetrating, which could go through most power or elemental shields. However, it would still fail in front of magic-immune or magic-reflection defensive shields.
If Lucien's spiritual power was enough, the spell could be used to affect senior-rank mages. However, currently, as a fourth-circle sorcerer, Lucien was not able to do so.
Looking at the thirty-six first circle spell models, twenty-eight second circle models, twenty third-circle models and five fourth-circle models, Lucien let out a sigh of relief.
It was the third time that Lucien tried to construct the model of Professor's Infrasound Resonance, and he finally succeeded, as the complexity of this spell model was already close to fifth circle. Fortunately, Lucien had a solid foundation of arcana knowledge.
Half an hour later, Leo knocked at Lucien's door.
After Lucien opened the door, Leo said to him respectfully, "It's time for breakfast, my Lord. Then we shall set off for Aalto."
"Alright." Lucien stood up and adjusted his clothes a bit. Taking a glance at the early morning sky, Lucien took a deep breath of the fresh air. Once again, he stayed awake for the whole night.
Because the Dark Mountain Range was very dangerous, Lucien had been working hard constructing the magic models. Therefore, he had analyzed and constructed five fourth-circle spells, including Professor's Infrasound Resonance, Douglas' Absorbing Wall, Douglas' Huge Palm, Arcana Light, Arcana Eye.
...
After breakfast, Lucien got on the coach and set off for Aalto.
On his way, he had mixed feelings. He missed Aalto, but he also had fear in his mind.
He knew that he could not directly go back to uncle Joel and aunt Alisa, or he might bring trouble to them. First, he should find Natasha to make sure he was safe.
In Aalto, Natasha was the only person to whom Lucien could safely reveal his identity, but soon he frowned¡ªhe had no idea how to find Natasha!
Natasha was the princess, the heir of the duchy. Although she was already a radiant knight, she must still have a lot of knights, guards and servants following her around the palace. As a nobody, Lucien basically had zero chance of randomly running into the princess.
Also, Lucien assumed that Natasha would not want to go to the Musicians' Association after Silvia died¡­ Now he finally realized that if he had not chosen to study music, he would never had the chance to get to know Natasha¡ªthey were different people from different worlds.
Although Lucien did write the letter to Natasha telling her that he was coming back, Natasha still had no idea what the specific time would be and how Lucien would look when he came back.
Lucien did not have a really good plan right now. He decided to see whether he could know Natasha's common routine first, and then see if there were any chances that could be created.
In the afternoon, the tall city wall appeared in front of Lucien. Aalto still looked the same grand and prosperous.
"I'm back." Lucien murmured to himself.
Then, he got off the coach and got ready for the inspection for entering the city.
At this time, the crowd was divided into two sides on its own. A group of knights slowly went through the city gate, and the leading knight who was wearing black armor was a very beautiful young female. Her beauty was not the typical kind of female beauty, but the mix of femininity and heroism.
It was Natasha, the princess who had dream-like, purple-colored eyes. She looked like a flourishing violet.
"Natasha?!" Lucien was very surprised.
When the knights slowly went past the the crowd, Natasha suddenly turned her head around and looked at Lucien, who right now had blond hair and green eyes.
A stunning smile appeared on her face. She winked at Lucien quickly and then kept moving forward followed by the knights.
Lucien could not believe that the trouble that bothered him so much was solved just like this.
At time time, several people started talking to each other, "The princess is visiting the manor again?"
"Yeah¡­ That's quite strange. After the princess finished her practice in the abbess, Her Majesty has been visiting the manor everyday in the afternoon, and coming back to Aalto the next morning¡­"
The corner of Lucien's lips moved. A smile appeared on his face.

Chapter 283: Welcome Back
				Chapter 283: Welcome Back
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the early morning, in a fancy hotel in Nolan district.
Lucien had sent Leo to the room next door to sleep quite a while ago, and he also told Leo not to panic and just continue to sleep if he heard some weird noise from Lucien's room that night.
After running into Natasha, Lucien was sure that, as a princess and a radiant knight, as long as he did not hide himself on purpose from her, it would not be too big of a trouble for Natasha to find him in Aalto.
Holding a glass of red wine in his hand, Lucien sat cozily in the couch. He did not drink the wine, but just swirled it in the glass, staring at the red ripples. His mind was filled with thoughts and memories.
The wine, Berne, was produced in the chateau of Felicia's family. In most cases, only the family's guests could enjoy it. But this hotel was closely connected to the Hayne family, so the hotel was able to store a few bottles here and promote the wine as a main feature of the hotel.
Knock, knock¡­ Someone knocked the window from outside.
Lucien smiled and turned around. Just as what he expected, Natasha, wearing a long purple dress, was standing on the balcony, followed by, as usual, Camil, in her black dress.
Natasha was indeed a radiant knight. Although Lucien was expecting her to visit tonight, he still failed to notice her arrival in advance.
Putting down the glass, Lucien walked to the window and opened it.
"Evening, Lucien," greeted Natasha casually. "Do you want to take a walk with me to enjoy the fantastic silver moon tonight?"
Lucien laughed, "Natasha, come on¡­"
A simple joke pulled them together as close as they used to be a few years ago.
Maybe due to the power of a radiant knight, Natasha still looked the same, twenty-something. However, maybe from her facial expression, or maybe her behavior, Lucien felt that she became much calmer and maturer. 
"You haven't changed much¡­" said Lucien.
"You've become quite mature, like a real gentleman now¡­" said Natasha at the same time.
The two good friends looked at each other and laughed together.
"Good evening, Lady Camil." Lucien then nodded to Camil politely, who was following Natasha like a shadow all the time. 
After seeing the power of Count Witte, Lucien knew how horrible Camil's power, the Blue Tide, could be.
Camil just nodded to be politely, but did not say anything. She was quiet all the time.
Taking a few steps forward with her long legs, Natasha sat down in the couch casually like she was in her own palace, War Gallery. She lifted her purple brow slightly and said, "Although this doesn't look bad, I prefer your original look. Black eyes and black hair¡­ That works better for me."
"Why do you always treat me like a lady?" Lucien also joked. When he first arrived in this world, his look was already not bad. After the following years and after experiencing this much, Lucien had become more elegant and calm. His Blessing, Moonlight, also contributed to his appearance. However, of course, Lucien's appearance was nothing compared to Rhine and those who were already born good looking.
Natasha grinned and she said in a proud manner, "Since I left the abbey, I was expecting you to come back soon, or at least in two or three months. I was worried that you could not find me, so I estimated the possible time that a traveller from Tiran Province might arrive at Aalto and go through the city gate. So I have been visiting the manor outside of the city every day at the time I estimated to see if I could run into you. And also, it would be convenient for you to know this as part of my daily routine. But I directly sensed the familiarity in the air today, haha! See? My plan's perfect!"
She was obviously very proud.
"Yes, a perfect plan. On my way back, I was worrying about how I could find you¡­" Lucien told Natasha his concern honestly, and then he smiled. "Now, all problems have been solved by our smart, brilliant princess!"
Lucien now sat close to Natasha. He saw the dream-like color of Natasha's eyes, the mix of silver and purple. Her eyes were deep and attractive, like a swirl that could pull people in. After the three years in the abbey, she had got a very good control of her Blessing power.
Hearing the compliment, Natasha was quite satisfied. Then she started to ask Lucien to share more of his adventure in Allyn, Holm and other places with her.
Because Natasha knew about the collapse of the Magic Lock called Grand Cross, she was definitely aware of the existence of the World of Souls. However, she probably only regarded it as another dimension for the dead, like most other people who knew the World of Souls did. Therefore, Lucien only hid the important parts related to the ultimate secret of the World of Souls, and shared the rest of his adventure honestly with Natasha, bit by bit, either mentioned in the letters or not.
Natasha was a good listener. She knew when to listen and when to interact. Lucien was encouraged and their conversation did not finish until midnight.
At this time, Natasha put on a strange look and asked, "Haven't you been in any romantic relationships? Come on, Lucien¡­ In Allyn, you don't have to hide anymore. What a pity!"
"Um¡­ When I first arrived in Allyn, I had no idea what arcana was and I was¡­ busy. Yup¡­ Very busy¡­ so no time for pursuing ladies¡­" said Lucien a bit embarrassedly. "Maybe¡­ in the future¡­"
Natasha reached out her right hand and rubbed her chin. The strange look remained on her face, "That's not right¡­ Girls in Allyn¡­ They're even more beautiful than the girls here. You're the winner of Holm Crown prize, and you're good-looking, and powerful¡­ So there's only one answer to this ¡ª you like men!?"
Natasha just let her imagination fly.
"That's impossible! I'm really, really busy! Like¡­ super busy!" Lucien immediately denied, "I mean¡­ I do have a few ladies trying to be close to me in Allyn, but I had no feeling toward them. I'm not that kind of person following every single lady he meets! I put quality before quantity!"
Natasha patted on Lucien's shoulder and said, "It's okay. I understand¡­"
"I'm not¡­" Lucien tried to clarify this, but he knew that probably Natasha had already had a whole touching love story developed in her mind.
Natasha laughed in a cunning way like a fox which successfully got a chick. Then, she quickly changed the topic, "Why some important sorcerer would ask you to send the letter to the Dark Mountain Range¡­ It's such a waste of time, and, of course, it's dangerous. A legendary archmage could easily use stars as pedals doing space leaps, and get to the Dark Mountain Range from Allyn using a very short period of time¡­"
Natasha had a very close relationship with the grand arcanist Hathaway. Sometimes, she even knew more than Lucien.
"I'm not sure either. Maybe there are reasons¡­ Say, Nightmare King refuses to see sorcerers above middle rank in order to avoid modern arcana theory impact¡­" Lucien guessed.
Natasha frowned, then she said, "It's hard to say. But don't worry, Lucien. I'm sure the Congress wouldn't send you, a promising young sorcerer, to die in the Dark Mountain Range. Also, no legendary archmage would go to this much trouble just to kill you¡­ There's no reason." 
Then she looked up at the clock and smiled, "It's almost five now! I forgot to welcome you officially, Lucien!"
So Natasha stood up and grinned, "Welcome back, my knight!"
Lucien also smiled and held Natasha's right hand. He gently left a kiss on Natasha's hand and said, "It's great to see you again, Your Majesty."
After becoming a radiant knight, her power became more internal, and her hands became softer.
Then, Natasha said to Lucien, "Did you forget to ask me anything, my knight?"
"Oh, right¡­" Lucien rubbed his forehead, "I was about to ask at the very beginning¡­ Did the Church learned my identity as a sorcerer? How's John, Joel, Iven and Elena doing?"
Natasha made a surprised look and said, "Wow, that's a lot of information required¡­ Where shall I start¡­ Well, according to what I know, after you won the prize, your appearance, age and your power level have been recorded by the Church. However, the series of following experiments brought the Church to great impact and put them under a lot of pressure, so you haven't been put on the Cleansing List. Violet Duchy, for now, hasn't got any information about you."
She got to know Miller experiment from Lucien's letter. Natasha also felt very confused for a long time, but before the Church revised the theory, Natasha had calmed herself down and it seemed that she kept being the same devout.
Then, Natasha said to Lucien seriously, "I'm sorry, Lucien. I made a mistake."
"What?" Lucien was confused.
"The reason I suggested you to keep the identity as a musician was that I hoped you could have a proper excuse for traveling through the continent. I did not expect you to win such a prize this soon. Now, the identity as a musician has become your burden. So, find a chance, say, after a splendid concert¡­ to let your musician identity die. It's better than telling people who care about you that you ended up missing during your trips¡­"
"I understand, Natasha. I'm okay with letting this identity die personally, but if I do so, uncle Joe, aunt Alisa, and John and Iven¡­ They'd be very sad," said Lucien. "Also, in the future when I am included in the Cleansing List, the Church will still be able to link the sorcerer to the musician, which's still not a good thing to the family¡­"
"I did not say you must lie to your relatives, Lucien." Natasha smiled, "As you said, yes, sooner or later, the Church will find this out, and indeed the people you care would be brought into big trouble. I'd suggest that you directly tell your families the fact that you're a sorcerer and ask them to move to Holm with you. If they could accept both the fact and your invitation, that's the best result, but if they did not want to leave, I can watch them until you leave Aalto again. Later, I'll ask them to report this to the Church and make it look like they are cutting off with you. Under my help, I can assure you that they won't be affected that much because of you in the future if they decide to stay in Aalto."
When Natasha was talking, she was so calm that she looked just like a grand duchess.
"That's quite cruel¡­" sighed Lucien.
"You know¡­ Sometimes cruelty can also be a kind of mercy," replied Natasha.
"You sound like a philosopher." Lucien tried to play a joke.
Natasha also slightly sighed and put on a bitter smile, "Every person who's lost their love is a philosopher."

Chapter 284: Mr. Evans Is Back!
				Chapter 284: Mr. Evans Is Back!
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien did not know what to say. He just wanted to play a joke, but the joke poked the softest and the most painful part of Natasha's heart. He wanted to comfort Natasha, but he did not know how.
Seeing Lucien's embarrassed look, Natasha bit her lips lightly and said, "It's okay, Lucien. No matter what happened, it's a part of me. I always try to appreciate it and learn my lesson out of it. That's my attitude. Don't worry, Lucien. I'll never blame you for saying something you never really mean to say."
"Well¡­ If so, let me be honest, Natasha," said Lucien in a pretended serious way. "The only thing that I learn from memory and history is that... we can learn nothing."
Natasha first paused a second and then burst out laughing with Lucien. She was laughing so hard that she even could not keep her back straight like a knight, like a flourishing violet.
"Maybe what you said is true. Next time when I meet my love, I'll still give her all I have," said Natasha in a bit coarse voice from the good laugh. "I learn nothing."
"Good luck, Your Majesty. Hope you can meet a great lady and have a really good relationship soon," said Lucien sincerely.
"Soon?" Natasha lifted her good-looking brows and said, "Am I that kind of person who can just quickly forget her love and past? Come on¡­ I'm not!"
Although she looked angry, Lucien could tell that Natasha now felt much better by letting out the sorrow that she could not share with other people.
"Umm¡­ You're not that kind of person. Then, can I say you do not have much relationship experience yourself? You've been telling me that you can teach me, but now I highly doubt it." Lucien grinned.
"Better than yours." Natasha quickly talked back, "Also, let me remind you, if you didn't notice¡ªI'm also a lady, and at least I've experienced a complete relationship. In front of you, I'm still qualified as a teacher to tell you how to pursue a girl. You haven't even touched a girl's hand!"
Lucien shrugged his shoulders, "Don't keep mentioning this¡­"
"Okay, another topic then. Your first kiss is still there, right?" Natasha put on a sneaky smile, "What a pity¡­ Girls' lips are¡­"
"Hey¡­ Don't act like a pervert, ok?" Lucien rolled his eyes.
Natasha clapped her hands and laughed, "Just admit it, Lucien, you innocent little boy. Admit that I've got enough to teach you about these things!"
"Okay, okay¡­ You win." Lucien put up both of his hands.
The princess smirked, like a flower. Then she looked at Lucien and said in a gentle tone, "Thank you, Lucien."
"I'm your friend." Lucien nodded to Natasha, smiling.
"Good laugh always reminds me of the fact that losing love doesn't mean the end of my life," said Natasha. "I still have my father, my relatives, aunt Camil, and you, my friend. I can overcome this," said Natasha. "And then I'll introduce you to a good lady."
"Let me handle this on my own¡­" Lucien shook his head and smiled.
Natasha now got a bit more serious and started to tell Lucien how his family was doing, "After awakening his Blessing, John has become a knight and given the title as a Lord. Like his teacher, Venn, John serves my family, the Violet. Now he has his own land and a garden villa."
Lucien grinned. He truly felt happy for his friend.
"You uncle and aunt Alisa have been learning noble manners in these years to help John around and reach out to other nobles." Natasha continued, "Although they were often looked down upon by other nobles, for their son, they finally did it. Now your uncle Joel, known as 'the Eight-fingered Harpist', has gained some reputation among nobles. But I guess that, among the nobles, your uncle could only feel really happy when he plays music¡­"
"Good for them!" There was nothing better than seeing that all his relatives and friends were also striving for their better life like Lucien himself.
"As for Iven, he's grown quite a bit and he's a young man now. Iven's still under tough knight training. Felicia just held her very first concert in her life, and it was not bad. She's ready to start her career as a musician. Elena, after working hard on studying music for three years and fighting against her arranged marriage, now has been hired by a big band. So now she has her own career and does not need to rely on a man anymore¡­" Natasha smiled. "Pierre, after being quite depressed for two years, finally overcame the barrier and started to study the fingerings that were first developed by you. By combining the skills with the fingering of Harpsichord, he has found his own playing style. Your student, Grace, has been working hard all the time and is spoken highly by several musicians. Both Lott and Herodotus have also become good master instrumentalists¡­"
Lucien felt really touched in his mind, because he heard the news of his friends and family, and also because of the fact that, as a princess and the future Grand Duchess, Natasha kept collecting these nobodies' information just for Lucien.
"By the way, John isn't in Aalto now. According to the rules, new knights must join Violet Knights and guard the Dark Mountain Range Fortress or the North Fortress for five years, and then he'd be sent to other places according to the duchy's needs. He's at the Dark Mountain Range Fortress right now. If you can stay here longer, maybe he could come back during his vacation¡­"
As she was saying, Natasha stopped and looked at the gentle smile on Lucien's face, feeling a bit strange, "Lucien, why are you looking like me like this?"
"I really, really appreciate your help," Lucien said sincerely. "Thank you for collecting all these information for me."
Natasha grinned, "Of course. I'm the best!"
Their conversation lasted until dawn. When morning light slightly lit up the sky, Natasha stood up in an unwilling way and said, "I'm afraid I gotta go now."
Then she said to Lucien, "Your uncle and aunt should be out of town right now in John's manor, so you probably want to visit Mr. Christopher and Mr. Victor in the Musicians' Association first. Then, hold your concert as soon as possible, so you can say bye to your identity as a musician. Unfortunately, you don't have any new pieces of symphony of the same level of Fate, or your last concert would be definitely recorded by history, and you'd leave no regrets in your career as a musician. I mean¡­ Moonlight and Storm are good. The concert's still going to be a great success. Don't worry."
"When I was traveling, I did have some thoughts on different styles of music, and I do have a few movements. But I'm not sure if I still have enough time to finish it¡­" sighed Lucien slightly.
Lucien used music to relax himself. By combining the different styles of music all over the world, Lucien developed quite a few movements on his own based on New World Symphony by Antonšªn Dvo?š¢k. Because Lucien was still far from being a real master musician, the symphony he wrote and New World Symphony were very much alike.
"Wow¡­ Can't wait to hear it." Natasha looked excited, and her face was glowing. "Do you have any interests in religious music? I think a piece of music work praising God be good for you when the Church¡­ Never mind, I was being stupid¡­ You're a sorcerer with no belief."
Lucien grinned and shook his head. It seemed that Natasha was getting less serious about religion, or at least the Church.
Their conversation lasted a bit longer when it came to music. When the sun was rising, Natasha finally realized the time and said goodbye to Lucien.
When flying in the early morning sky, Camil looked at Natasha's right hand a bit confusedly and strangely.
"What is it?" asked Natasha. She saw no difference on her right hand.
"Nothing." Camil shook her head.
...
In front of the unique building of the Musicians' Association, Lucien, after shaving and removing the dyed color on his hair, was staring at it.
It felt a bit weird. This building looked familiar, but also strange. In this building, Lucien even still had his own exclusive lounge.
After Natasha left in the morning, Lucien told Leo that his mission had been finished. However, Leo wished to follow Lucien to Allyn and became his real butler. After carefully considering it, Lucien agreed. But he asked Leo to wait for him in Aalto first until he came back from the Dark Mountain Range. Lucien was not sure whether he could protect himself properly in the mountains, not to mention taking care of Leo.
Some passerby's laughter woke Lucien up from his thoughts. They were tourists who stayed a bit longer in Aalto after the music festival, hanging around the Musicians' Association casually to see if they could luckily meet the musicians they liked here.
After adjusting his jacket a bit, Lucien walked to the stairs. There were a few young musicians and instrumentalists standing there.
A guard took a step forward. When he just about to stop the young man, the guard quickly rubbed his eyes and his mouth opened big, "Mr. E¡­ Evans¡­ Good morning, Mr. Evans!"
His voice was loud. Several tourists turned around, and so did the young musicians and instrumentalists on the stairs.
After seeing clearly the face of the young man, the musicians and instrumentalists lowered their heads slightly and said in a respectful and excited manner, "Good morning, Mr. Evans. Welcome back!"

Chapter 285: Lucien, the Respected Musician
				Chapter 285: Lucien, the Respected Musician
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The hall of the Musicians' Association was the same, grand but quiet. No matter where, the Musicians' Association was always the most quiet place among all the professional associations, as most musicians and instrumentalists were busy with all kinds of stuff¡ªincluding training the bands, rehearsal, looking for music sheets in the library and so on. Therefore, very few of them would come to the association in the early morning.
Also, the Musicians' Association was supposed to be a quiet place to let the musicians stay focused on their music works.
The two young girls behind the reception desk looked sweet and nice. Right now, they were a bit nervously talking to Mr. Hank, who was responsible for the association's daily routine. Mr. Hank was introducing a beautiful young lady to them.
The young lady was about twenty something. She had impressive, long black hair and a pretty face. However, what attracted people's eyes more was the white, huge wolf sitting beside her, which looked quiet and intelligent.
"Ms. Louise, we'll ask other musicians whether they're interested in nature music, and if we find any, we'll tell you as soon as possible," said one the young gir whose name was Polly respectfully to the new musician.
Ms. Louise was the envy of many people who had music dreams, including the receptionist girls. She was born in a noble family and she showed her music talent at a very young age. With the heritage she got and the money she made by playing music, she bought the magic potion and awakened her Blessing, which pulled her closer to animals and nature. This strange Blessing also made her playing skills even better and unique, and therefore she made herself famous over this music festival.
But for Polly, the person who she really admired was Miss Elena. Miss Elena started as a receptionist just like them, but she turned herself into a instrumentalist by working hard and now she was making good money.
Louise smiled and said politely, "Thank you. Music theme that is inspired by mother nature is not common in Aalto. Even Mr. Hank has no idea whether we have musicians who've put some thoughts into it. It all relies on you two now. Please ask the musicians for me carefully. Thanks a lot."
At this time, a young, good-looking man wearing black suit and bow tie entered the hall through the stained glass door, followed by a few young musicians and instrumentalists.
Polly had been working there for a year, but she never met the young, good-looking man walking in the front. Meanwhile, she knew all of the several musicians and instrumentalists following him. Somehow, Polly felt the young man's face quite familiar.
Hank turned around. He first looked confused, and then a big smile appeared on his face, "Welcome back, Mr. Evans!"
"Mr. Evans?!" Polly and the other girl suddenly realized who this young man was. They saw Mr. Evans' brand new conducting skills and piano playing skills over the music festival in Aalto three years ago. The two girls were very young at that time, but they still remembered Mr. Evans' elegance and talent.
"Good morning, Mr. Hank." Lucien smiled and nodded. After the three years, Mr. Hank seemed even politer and more enthusiastic to him.
When Lucien walked to the reception desk, Polly and the other girl bowed to him excitedly and politely, "Good morning, Mr. Evans."
"Good morning, Mr. Evans," greeted Louise, also a bit excitedly.
Young girls in their age sort of spent their adolescence time with the company of Lucien's music. Therefore, their excitement could be imagined.
Lucien, keeping the polite smile on his face, looked at the white wolf whose ears were pointing upwards and said, "You must be Miss Louise. I've heard people talking about your music, and I also heard your music. Very nice¡­"
Lucien made the hotel band play some popular music works over the dinner last night. Of course, only those ones that did not require a whole symphony band to perform.
"Thank you, Mr. Evans. I still have much to learn." Louise's face flushed. For a young musician, a sentence of compliment from a great musician like Lucien meant a lot to her. It was for sure a great encouragement, and it could also contributed to her career development a lot.
After greeting around, Lucian asked Polly and the other girl, "Nice to meet you. May I know if my teacher, Mr. Victor, and Mr. Christopher are here today?"
After finishing his last concert, Christopher has become the association's honorary chairman.
"Yes, yes¡­ Mr. Evans¡­" said Polly, a bit stammering. "Mr. Victor is the association's director now. He's always got a lot of things to do, especially after the music festival. He's been working in his office for a while. Mr. Christopher's also here. Recently, it seems that he has got some new music ideas."
Lucien slightly nodded. No wonder Natasha asked him to come to the association first. She must have known that, very possibly, Mr. Victor and Mr. Christopher were here.
Lucien also checked whether Felicia and Elena were here today, but the answers were no. So then Lucien walked toward Mr. Victor's office on the third floor under Hank's guidance.
On his way, a few musicians who Lucien knew from before all greeted him respectfully.
Before Lucien left Aalto, no matter how big an achievement Lucien made, for those musicians and instrumentalists who witnessed the poverty he suffered before, Lucien was always the poor boy who started with collecting rubbish and working in the library, but then the poor boy suddenly became an overnight "millionaire".
However, after those three years, Lucien's talent did not fall like most geniuses who only made an overnight hit for once. Instead, his new music works, especially Moonlight Sonata, which was known as the most touching piano piece, still received huge success.
The fact that Lucien had been away from Aalto for three years left people with a greater room for imagination. Therefore, when Lucien came back, people respected him as a real great musician, a significant figure in the world of music!
Polly and the other young girl watched Lucien and Hank walking away from behind. After their walked upstairs, Polly held her face with both of her hands and said to the other girl excitedly, "Mr. Evans's even more elegant than I thought! I really wonder what kind of music he's brought back!"
...
"Good for Mr. Christopher." Lucien chatted with Hank casually when they were close to the third floor, "He's still composing¡­"
Hank nodded, "Although Mr. Christopher has finished his last concert, his passion for composing never stopped. Using his words¡ªit should be called 'Where there is life, there is music'. After hearing the splendid chorale over the music festival, Mr. Christopher wants to compose a piece of religious music. But you know, among so many religious music works, it's really hard to make your own music outstanding. Right now, Mr. Christopher's kind of stuck."
Before Lucien brought the trend of theme music to the public, religious music played the major role on the stage. Religious music had become the eternal theme of Aalto, after the cardinal, Charlie I, set up the standards of chorale. Lucien believed that the status of religious music would still not be shaken for a long time, and the many classic pieces could hardly be challenged.
"Religious music¡­" Lucien nodded thoughtfully.
Soon, Lucien and Hank came in front of the door to Victor's office.
"You might want to knock the door yourself, Mr. Evans¡­ to give Mr. Victor a surprise," suggested Hank.
Lucien agreed and knocked at the door gently.
Then, he waited in front of the door. With his sharp listening, Lucien heard that Victor was slowly walking toward the door.
Mr. Victor's manner was still the same, which never changed after he became a director. Most directors would ask behind the door first to see who was visiting, and then decide whether they wanted to open the door.
The door slowly opened. Victor's face also did not change much over the three years¡ªlight mustache, black curly hair, blue eyes. A man in his age was neither like a youngster who changed his look all the time, nor a man over fifty who aged very fast.
Victor looked in quite good spirits. The gloom he had before now turned into piece and calm, probably because the completion of Love Symphony had comforted his soul.
Seeing the young man standing in front of him, Victor first looked a bit confused. Then, he scanned the young man from head to toe, as if he was making sure if the young man was real.
After that, Victor reached out his right hand and put it above Lucien's right shoulder. After a slight pause, Victor patted on Lucien's shoulder and said to him in his low, gentle voice, "You're back¡­ Good¡­ You're back."
Although his voice still sounded calm, Lucien could tell his excitement and joy from the hand on his shoulder.
Lucien felt the true emotion from the hand, trembling and grabbing his shoulder a bit hard. When his heart was filled with bitter nostalgia and joy, the melody that Lucien had been working on for a long time became complete.
True music came from true feelings.

Chapter 286: A Fan of Lucien
				Chapter 286: A Fan of Lucien
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In Victor's office.
After both of them calmed down a bit, they started exchanging what they had seen and experienced during their own trips, including the assorted local conditions and customs throughout the continent, and, of course, all kinds of folk and traditional music. Their warm conversation was full of joy.
"Good, good! You've grown a lot from your trip, Lucien!" Victor nodded approvingly. He could tell that Lucien now had a much better understanding and perception toward different music genres.
Because Victor himself also held concerts throughout the continent, instead of lying that he came back from Holy Heilz Empire or the Kingdom of Syracuse that Lucien in fact had never been to, Lucien told Victor that he travelled from the south central part of the continent to the Storm Strait and then returned the same way he came. Because he appreciated the folk music a lot there in that region, he stayed there for quite a long time.
Hearing his own teacher's praise, Lucien grinned, "I've seen a lot of great, unique music genres during my trip. I'd like to have them to be part of my music."
"This is why I always believe that a musician should leave the place he or she stays in from time to time to see more and to experience more," said Victor, sharing all his thoughts with Lucien. "I can tell that you've been still practicing during the three years. You did not come to me with a solid foundation of music, but now you've filled the gaps."
Three years ago, despite of the fact that Lucien had excellent memory and great body coordination, it was still hard to grasp all the parts of the foundation of music. Although when talking to common musicians and instrumentalists, Lucien was fine, when he talked to master musicians like Mr. Christopher and Victor, he made many mistakes. Fortunately, they were all tolerant people, and they knew that Lucien was still new, so they did not give Lucien a hard time but corrected him in a nice way.
During his spare time in Allyn and the rest of his trip, except for studying arcana and teaching the apprentices, Lucien relaxed himself by playing music.
Most sorcerers had their own interests and hobbies during their spare time. Although being dedicated was one of the major conditions for a sorcerer to be successful, sorcerers needed to find the balance between magic and life. For example, the Hand of Annihilation was an outstanding painter, and also a playboy.
At this time, someone knocked at the door politely.
As the student, Lucien stood up and opened the door.
"Mr. Christopher?" Lucien was surprised.
Although having aged quite a bit, Christopher still shaved his beard well, like how he did three years ago.
Seeing Lucien, Christopher smiled, "Lucien, welcome back."
"Thank you very much, Mr. President." Lucien still called Christopher by the title president, even though the current president was Othello.
Christopher joked, "This old man was waiting for this young fellow to visit him. He has waited for so long that he's decided to come over and find you. I'm very interested in what you've seen during your trip and your new music."
Three years later, Christopher had become more playful.
"I was about to¡­" Lucien was a bit embarrassed.
"Just kidding." Christopher grinned. "Actually, I'm here to invite you two to attend a small concert held by a young man. He's from the southern Gusta. A tough young man who suffered a lot but is still pursuing his music dream. Finally, he made it to Aalto, and I heard his playing on the street. It was quite interesting. So I invited him to come over to the association and hold a small concert."
"On the street?" Walking to them, Victor asked.
It was quite strange to Victor. If this young man's playing on the street was that impressive, he should have heard his name as well. However, he never did.
Christopher nodded seriously, "He's got no money for renting a venue. He was playing piano and singing on the street. His music style was popular over the music festival, but most musicians in the association looked down upon it, because of their bias. By the way, his name's Franz."
"I see." Victor smiled, "Is it starting now?"
Christopher pointed at the floor above and nodded, "Yes, let's go. There're people waiting for us."
Lucien and Victor each walked on one side of Christopher. When they were heading upstairs, Christopher smiled, "Franz told me that your music has given him a lot of energy and power. Without your music, he said he could not have come this far."
"Uh?" Lucien was quite surprised.
"Franz did not come from a wealthy family. His father was an ordinary man, working in an business association. Although the family did not have the money to send him to study music, he was selected into the church choir because of his beautiful voice, and he also managed to learn some basic vocality and composing skills. Later, he was kicked out of the choir because he refused to be a castrato. He studied music really hard since then." Christopher introduced, "Unfortunately, his music did not win the affection of nobles or the public. After his father passed away, his life got even tougher. He was a worker on the port, a warehouse keeper, a bartender, a bard¡­ Life was hard to the twenty-something young man, both physically and mentally, until he heard your Symphony of Fate and started to make money by sticking to his music style. Now, he's in Aalto."
Victor smiled, "What a tough young man. This kind of story always touches my heart."
"I'm really happy that I can help him," said Lucien sincerely. The story made him a bit less guilty. 
...
Soon, they arrived in the hall on the fifth floor.
In the hall, many musicians, instrumentalists and music students had gathered together here out of curiosity. They all wondered what kind of young man could win the appreciation of Mr. Christopher.
Although the hall was almost full, the first row of seats still remained empty. They were saved for the top musicians.
"Mr. President."
"Mr. Victor."
"Mr. Evans."
When they walked in the hall, all the musicians stood up and greeted them. They watched them walking toward the first row.
Soon, the small concert started. Franz, wearing black suit, walked on the stage excitedly. He bowed to the audience many times.
He was about twenty-four of five, with thin face and curly, tangly black hair. His face looked very serious, as if he was praying in the church.
He looked at the famous musicians seating in the front. Franz knew that they were Mr. Christopher and Mr. Victor. But who was the young man?
Soon he realized who this young man was. His hands started trembling and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Then, he sat down in front of the piano. A castrato came to the center of the stage.
The melody of the piano piece was like stream flowing. The poetry-like lyrics sung by the castrato were touching.
The structure of the piano piece was complete and full of varieties. The deep emotions in the music combined perfectly with the piano.
The audience in the hall was immersed in the melody. Some were slightly nodding along with the music.
The songs of different styles completely caught the heart of the people present. The hall was quiet. No musicians ever thought that a young man could give bard songs new life and this great sense of elegance.
When the first part of the concert finished, Franz stood on the stage, waiting for the musicians' comments nervously.
This was part of the small concert.
Christopher smiled, "Evans has just come back. Let him say something first."
Franz's hands were held together tight. He was beyond nervous.
Lucien tried to be humble in front of Mr. Christopher, but the president insisted. So, Lucien smiled and said, "The music has led us into a new world by making us forget the common form of ordinary songs."
This was a very high comment, and this comment came from his idol. Franz waved his right hand slightly out of the great joy. There were tears in his eyes.
Lucien continued, "You've greatly explored the possible forms of songs, which is a brand new path in front of us. I have some ideas about developing long verse into songs, and hope we can have a good talk after the concert."
Lucien was inspired by Franz's songs.
"Of course¡­ Thank you so much, Mr. Evans. You might not know this, but I have to say that during the darkest days in my life, when I was about to end my music life, it was your Symphony of Fate that saved me¡­ You might have no idea how shocked and encouraged I was when I heard it¡­"

Chapter 287: Reunion
				Chapter 287: Reunion
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Franz got emotional with his memory, "I labored, in a hard way¡­ I was also staying up all night studying music and composing. Soon, my body became weak, and my mind was bothered. I could not focus. People around me said I was like a walking dead body, and they were all telling me to give up music, although they knew that my music wasn't that bad¡­ I knew it, too. I could not feed my mother and young brothers and sisters with music. I was so overwhelmed by the pressure from life¡­ I was at my limit every single day. I was about to give up my dream, because I could not just live for myself. I still had a family."
Franz sounded as if he was going to cry. Many musicians and students present felt the same way. They knew how tough this path was, and how big was the pressure they were under. They were facing continuous fatigue all the time, waiting for the day that their talent would be revealed.
Of course, they had to admit that the difficulties they were facing was nothing compared to what Franz had experienced. Therefore, they all became more determined that they must work hard and stick to their dream until one day they could stand on the stage like Franz.
In their mind, Franz, after showing his great piano playing skills and receiving Mr. Evans' high comment, had already become a successful musician. The attention Franz was receiving now could compare to the time when Mr. Evans was spoken highly by Mr. Christopher.
Looking at the young man on the stage, Lucien was touched as well. If he had not taken the great risk improving his spiritual power, and hence strengthened his memory, even though he had the spirit library, Lucien would still have great trouble studying music at that time. Without a proper music knowledge foundation, even though Lucien had the great masterpieces in the library, he would not dare present it to the public. 
Tears rose in Franz's eyes. Looking at Mr. Evans, Mr. Christopher and Mr. Victor, he added, "When I was about to give up my music dream, I decided to go to a cheap concert as my farewell to the career I love. However, I underestimated my passion toward music. When I was at the concert, when my heart was being seized by the symphonies, sonatas and concerto, I realized that my life meaning depends on music. The great pain covered me, so I was about to leave. But¡­ at that time, I heard the breathtaking opening of Symphony of Fate! The intense rhythm and pace overwhelmed me, just like all the great burdens from my life. But in the symphony, I heard great determination¡­ I heard heroic courage! I heard Mr. Evans asking me¡ªare you gonna give up and yield to life? Is it life that makes you give up music or it is yourself? Are you gonna fight or retreat like a coward? When the symphony ended, I found the answer. After that day, I left my work and became a bard. Honestly speaking, I always looked down upon bards at that time¡­ Every time when I felt having reached my limit, I played Symphony of Fate and PathšŠtique for myself. Gradually, things started to pick up. I started to be able to support my family, and felt free to pursue my dream."
Franz put his right hand on his chest and bowed to Lucien with great respect, "Without you, sir, without your belief and courage in your music, I could have never gone this far. You're my true mentor, and it's my greatest honor having you here listening to my very first concert in my life. Thank you again, Mr. Evans."
Thunder-like applause echoed in the hall.
"You're the one who made the right decision," said Lucien emotionally.
Then, both Christopher and Victor also gave Franz pretty good comments.
Later, this encouraged young man revealed his unique music style in the symphony part. Although his music was still not mature, the true feelings and the great hope contained in his music were like gentle spring breeze that soothed everyone's heart.
When Lucien was attentively listening to Franz's symphony, three ladies came into the hall: one had red hair and pouty lips; one had green eyes and looked sweet; and the black-haired one looked mature and elegant.
Felicia, Elena and Grace, after hearing the news that Lucien was back, they hurriedly arrived at the hall at the same time.
After seeing the young musician sitting at the first row, they all released a sigh of relief¡ªit was him.
Lucien noticed that his friends had arrived. He turned around and grinned. Then, he put his finger on his lips to let the ladies remain quiet and enjoy the music first.
Felicia, the noble young lady from three years ago, now looked much more mature. Apparently, her trip with Mr. Victor had taught her a lot. Elena's appearance also changed a lot: her slightly tired-looking face and elegant updo made her look sweet and beautiful. Grace was now in a much more relaxed state after the heavy burden on her mind had been removed.
Three years had passed. Although they often saw Lucien's name on newspapers, they still felt a little strange when facing Lucien.
And Lucien felt the same way.
...
After the concert, Lucien made an appointment with Franz the next day to talk about developing music based on long verses. Then, he visited the familiar address¡ªNo. 12 Snehva Street¡ªtogether with Mr. Victor and his friends. Victor was going to have a luncheon to welcome Lucien back in his place.
After Victor left to talk to his steward, Mr. Athy, Felicia and Elena, who had remained silent on their way back, finally talked to him, "Welcome back, Lucien."
It had been a long time, and they had no idea where to start and how they should talk to Lucien. 
"Mr. Evans, thank you for the letter." Grace also showed her appreciation.
Lucien smiled and started to talk about some of the interesting experiences he had during the trip. Gradually, they started to get more comfortable.
At this time, a servant opened the room door and a strong, big woman wearing a tight long dress ran in. She directly gave Lucien a big hug and sobbed, "Finally! Finally you're back! I thought you met robbers and wolves¡­"
After receiving the message from Victor, she hurriedly came over with Joel and Iven.
"Alisa, let go of Evans." Joel smiled, "He's not afraid of those things¡­ And, welcome back."
The noble life did not slow down Joel's aging. Many years of hard work had brought him a few more wrinkles.
"I've been missing all of you all this time," said Lucien emotionally.
Joel said to his son, "Iven, come on¡­ say hello to Lucien."
Iven had changed a lot. To be more specific, he should be the one who changed the most. He had now grown even a bit taller than Lucien. Looking like his elder brother and father, Iven's teenage face started to look handsome and to have beard.
Looking at Lucien, Iven looked rather shy, as if he was facing a stranger. Lowering his head, Iven said to Lucien, "Welcome back."
Three years was a long time to Iven. It was normal that a young teenager would now feel rather shy.
...
After chatting for a while, Lucien started to feel a little exhausted from facing aunt Alisa's effort to try to find him a wife and urging him to have kids, thus he excused himself to go to the washroom.
At this time, Grace followed him, "I've got something to tell you, Mr. Evans." Grace lowered her voice a lot.
"Yes?" Lucien was a bit surprised.
"After I came to Aalto, once there was a clown-looking man secretly asking me about you." Grace came to the point directly.

Chapter 288: Testing
				Chapter 288: Testing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"A clown-looking man? What did he ask you?" Lucien frowned. He wondered if someone here had known the fact that he was a sorcerer already.
Grace shook her head seriously, "I have no idea who he is. His creepy look made me beyond nervous. I'm sorry, Mr. Evans¡­ I failed to resist¡­ He asked me how I met you in Sturk, how I got your help and how you introduced me to Mr. Christopher and Victor. Right¡­ he also asked me whether at that time there was someone else with you¡­ I'm really, really sorry, Mr. Evans¡­ I was afraid that he might kill me, so I told him all of it. I knew this might bring you trouble, but I really could not control myself at that time¡­" apologized Grace sincerely.
Lucien listened carefully and slightly nodded, "In my eyes, this might bring trouble to you. Now, someone else has known that you once used my name to promote yourself without my permission. But since this thing happened a long time ago and now you're already a well-known musician, I can earn some good reputation out of it. Other people'll know me as being generous and forgiving."
Grace grinned and then she said, "Fortunately, I did not tell the clown that, in order to have your forgiveness, I was asked by you to send the message to Granneuve. Instead, I told him that you had mercy on me, and¡­ and we spent a night together¡­ I told him so because I was afraid that he would not believe it that you forgave me just because of generosity."
When she was saying, Grace carefully observed Lucien's facial expression.
Lucien responded seriously, "There was nothing really to hide. I was just trying to help a friend of mine reach Mr. Granneuve at that time. What you said can do no harm to my reputation."
As long as Viscount Wright was still there, and as long as Granneuve was still hiding his true identity properly, even if Grace told the stranger the whole story, they should be fine. Lucien told Grace to keep this a secret at that time mainly for being careful with Granneuve.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Evans. I was the one who had a dark mind." Grace hurriedly apologized again, "I thought hiding this secret for you was very important, as you asked me to do so."
"It's okay." Lucien's facial expression was kind, "I understand. Just don't do this ever again."
"You're definitely a generous and forgiving musician." Grace relaxed a little, "I have to go back to the living room now, or they would think there's really something between us."
Watching Grace leaving the corridor, Lucien's put on a calm smile.
In his mind, Grace was never a strong-willed person. Instead, although she was relatively talented in music and piano playing, she could fall prey to temptation from time to time. Also, Lucien did not think Grace would put her life under risk because of her appreciation toward Lucien.
Therefore, Lucien would not believe that Grace was able to hide the key part in front of the life-threatening danger.
Going into the washroom, Lucien thought to himself, "Night Watch? An investigator from the Hand of Paleness, or Argent Horn? An intelligence man from the duchy?"
Lucien reasoned that the man should not be an investigator from Argent Horn because Argent Horn would not wait until Grace came to Aalto.
Also, because the intelligence department of the duchy was now under Natasha's control, there was no need for her to investigate Grace.
For the remaining two, either Night Watch or Hand of Paleness came undoubtedly without good intentions. Still, since when they noticed the connection? What happened over the Feast of Death should only be among the necromancers and Viscount Carendia.
Therefore, Lucien made an rough conclusion. He believed that those people still had not got accurate evidence to prove that the great musician was a sorcerer, or he would not be able to enjoy the temporary peace right now.
Wiping his hands with the tissue, Lucien put aside his many thoughts and went back to the living room.
...
Over the pleasant lunch time.
"Lucien, so, aside from Moonlight and Storm, do you have other new compositions?" Victor took a sip at his wine and smiled, "I'm sure folk music has greatly inspired you. We're all looking forward to it¡­"
Hearing what Victor said, all of the people around the table looked at Lucien with great expectation, except Iven, who was still sticking to dinning manner in a restrained way.
"I do have another two pieces of symphony. One of them is almost done, but still requires some final touches according to the outcome of the band performance," Lucien answered, while thinking about what happened earlier. "Because the inspiration comes from folk music, the new symphony has a less strict structure. Maybe it will receive broad criticism."
Because of their conversation before lunch, Felicia now felt more comfortable talking to Lucien, "Among the many titles you have, Lucien, I like the Innovation the most. We're always expecting you to create something new, instead of sticking to the common path."
Three years later, she was now more approachable as a noble lady, and also more humorous now.
"Yes, Evans, I'm really looking forward to your new symphony. Your aunt and I grew up in the south of the duchy, and we've never really left Aalto after we had decided to live here. So I really don't have many chances of learning music from other countries." Talking about music, Joel felt sincerely happy, as his face was glowing with excitement.
As an common instrumentalist, Elena was still shy to talk in front of other people. After they all made their comments, Elena asked Lucien with a sweet smile, "What about the other music piece? Are you going to hold your coming-back concert until after you finish it?"
For a great musician like Lucien, as long as he wanted to hold a concert, the Psalm Hall was always available.
All of them looked at Lucien, and even Iven also put down his folk and knife.
"It's almost there, but I still need some time¡­ Maybe two or three weeks¡­" said Lucien, whose mind was full of thoughts about the clown.
"Awesome!" said Grace excitedly. "There're countless people waiting for your second concert."
Lucien's relatives and friends around the table all grinned and nodded.
After this lunch, the news that the talented young musician, Lucien Evans, was going to hold his second concert in a month would be known by everyone in Aalto.
...
After saying goodbye to Elena, Grace came back to the garden villa she rented in Gesu. In Sturk, she had saved quite a sum of money.
Ignoring her servants' greetings, Grace hurriedly walked to her bedroom and locked herself in the room.
As soon as she closed the door, Grace collapsed in the bed. Extremely fine black threads retreated from her body like tides.
After a while, Grace left the bed and murmured to herself, "Why do I feel so tired today? Did I get too excited seeing Mr. Evans? Why was I acting like that toward him? In my mind, I was trying to¡­ seduce him¡­? That's not right¡­ Although I admire him, I'm actually also afraid of him¡­"
...
In a random house.
A grinning clown face suddenly took several gasps. It was very consuming controlling a person remotely for a long time.
"Leader, did you find anything?" A gentle female voice asked eagerly.

Chapter 289: Seizing the Chance
				Chapter 289: Seizing the Chance
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The creepy smile on the clown mask never changed, but the voice coming from behind it was rather deep, "Not really. Lucien Evans seemed to be quite frank and open with why he sent the message to Granneuve using Grace. Maybe he's not the one we are looking for."
"You really think so? He is the only one we can investigate right now who is directly related to Professor," said the battle priest, Juliana, who lowered her head in dismay and held some of her black hair in her hand unconsciously.
Professor was just a code name, and it had not been used much anymore. If they lost the clue here, they had to rely on using the spies in the Congress of Magic to steal files for them, which the grand cardinals would never allow them to, since it was such a waste of resourses.
Minsk, the Red Dragon, growled like a real dragon: "Impossible! Lucian Evans for sure has something to do with Professor! At least he knows who Professor is! Professor first appeared because there were apprentices asking him information. Then Professor dragged us into the fight against Argent Horn. He killed the traitor, and also, Lucien Evans' uncle and aunt were rescued. During Lucien's absence, Professor never showed up again¡­"
Hearing Minsk's words, both Juliana and Lend slightly shook their heads. Minsk was just trying to justify his opinion, and what he said was not completely true. For example, after killing the traitor, Professor had already never showed up, and Lucien left Aalto almost half a year later.
"Although Minsk's reasoning isn't that persuading, we shall not forget the message from Djibouti parish. Felipe and Professor, the two famous men on the Cleansing List, once showed up together on the land once possessed by Wilfred," said Clown.
Before, the Church did not know about the Feast of Death. However, the fact that Felipe forced his way through Storm Strait leading a whole bunch of sorcerers pissed the Church off, and they also noticed that they were all necromancers following the ancient magic system, thus the Church started to intensively investigate the area once possessed by Wilfred, since it was the only place that could gather so many necromancers.
Even if Felipe did good preparation before they set off, facing the Church's focused searching, finally a magic apprentice was caught by the Night Watch. Therefore, although the Inquisition 
failed to get the name list for the Feast of Death, they still got the basic information from the apprentice¡ªthere were two famous men attending the event. One was Hand of Rehabilitation, and the other was Professor.
Involving two men on the Cleansing List, Djibouti parish sent the information to the Holy City, Lance. Then, the cardinal in charge passed on the message to all the parishes and inquisitions.
"Others may not know, but we've been watching Lucien Evans for so long! He was in Djibouti at the same time, exactly in the Wilfred area! That was the exact time when Professor attended the Feast of Death!" Clown raised his voice angrily, "But when we reported this to the Violet Inquisition, they did not care at all! They said that there was not enough evidence, and they even did not bother doing some investigation! Don't you know why?"
"I think, like the inquisitor said, the biggest chance should be that the princess sent Professor to protect Lucien Evans on the way," said Lend, the Devil Hunter Knight, who was not as emotive as Clown.
A parish's inquisition had three main positions¡ªExecuter, Censor and Arbiter. However, powerful parishes, in order to control all the inquisitions, always sent a cardinal to each inquisition, who was the one who really got the power.
Minsk growled, "Plus all the coincidences? If Lucian Evans doesn't have anything to do with the Professor, I'm willing to be sent to hell! Lend, I'm telling you¡­ those people in the inquisition do not want to piss off the princess¡­ that's why. Princess Natasha was a faithful follower, the future duchess of Violet, an important weight in balancing the power between the nobles and the Church! The inquisition just won't investigate her sweet lover just because a middle-rank mage killed some useless night watchers!"
"You tell me, Lend¡­ Have you forgotten Salvador's death? He died on his way saving Natasha, and his body was reduced to ashes!" said Clown with a sad voice, "At that time, only a few grand knights were chasing after Natasha. Salvador could fly, and he had powerful divine items, but he was just killed like that, before anyone could come to help. Guess who he met at that time, and who killed him?"
The muscles of Lend's face twitched a bit and he buried his head. "I don't know."
Hearing Clown's words, Juliana was the saddest one among all the night watchers. She sobbed, "No inquisition cares. Our leader, a level five pastor died, and no one ever tried to investigate this thoroughly. The princess was only imprisoned for three years. The life of a devoted guard of God only deserve that? I chose to be a night watcher because of the sentence in the Canon¡ªat the foot of God's throne, all his devoted lambs shall be equal. But now¡­ I finally realized that lambs are never equal¡­ Although I'd still rather believe that this isn't the will of God."
Hearing that, while crossing in front of their chest, they all prayed, "Only truth lives forever." The way Clown and Minsk drew the cross was closer to the classic cross before the Saint Calendar.
"Next, what should we do with Lucien Evans?" Lend calmed down a bit after praying.
Clown turned around to look at Lend. "We directly attack Lucien Evans to see if he's a sorcerer or not."
"What?!" Lend did not expect Clown to be this crazy, "This would annoy Natasha so bad. Right now she is a radiant knight with the well-known title, the Sword of Adjudication! And the Blue Tide, Camil, always follows her around. The two can directly destroy the entire Night Watch in the duchy, and the inquisition is not going to protect us for sure¡­"
After becoming a radiant knight, Natasha also got her own honor title.
Clown laughed, like a real creepy clown, "Sure, they can, but they cannot always keep an eye on Lucien. I'm a level five grand knight, I have my own way of doing this. No matter who Natasha sent to protect Lucien in Aalto, they should hardly be above grand knight level. They would not notice how I approach Lucien. Don't forget how they called me before¡ªI was the Killing Puppet in the Dark Mountain Range. All I need to do is to secretly enter his place, control his mind and get the information I want. If Lucien only has the power of a knight in training like what we know about him, this should be just a piece of cake. If he casts magic spells, that's exactly what we're waiting for¡­"
Looking at the creepy clown mask, Lend could not say no. He nodded lightly.
...
A few days later, late at night.
An almost invisible figure secretly entered the garden villa owned by Lord John. The guards from the Intelligence Department did not notice anything special.
On the corridor, a maid was walking downstairs holding a candlestick. Earlier today, she left a piece of her accessory in the living room, so she hurriedly got back and tried to find it back.
The dim candle light and the early spring temperature made the maid a little scared. Suddenly, the wind lightly swayed the curtain and the maid shivered. She saw some illusion-like figure flashing across, like a ghost!
However, a second later, when the maid looked around, there was nothing there.
The maid hurriedly went back to her room, drawing a cross in front of her chest. She decided to come to the living room the next day.
The door of the guest room where Lucien lived opened silently, and a creepy clown mask appeared in the darkness.
Clown, wearing a colorful costume and plain black gloves, lifted his hands and started to move his fingers like playing piano, as if he was looking for the invisible threads in the air.
Suddenly, in the bed, Lucien's body bounced up! His arms and legs looked distorted. However, silver light shimmered around his hands, and the invisible threads were pulled apart.
"Level five grand knight?" Clown was very surprised. At one moment, he got nervous, because facing a grand knight, he might not have much chance to win.
However, soon Clown realized that the power came from an extraordinary item that Lucien was wearing. No matter who, either Professor or Natasha, gave Lucien this, that was very generous.
Seizing the chance. Lucien's left hand pulled apart the threads on his throat and shouted out loud:
"Assassin!"
The young musician's voice spread well.
Although he tried, Clown failed to completely control the musician. Instead, Lucien managed to grab the blue sword to protect himself from the many threads in the air.
Knowing that the power only came from an magic or divine item, Clown was confident that he still had the chance to fulfill his task.
However, the secret guards from Intelligence Department, before Juliana and Minsk could do anything, had already lit the signal flare. The firework light lit up the sky.
Staring at Lucien's face for two seconds, Clown decisively turned around and jumped out of the window. He ran as fast as he could in the darkness, since he knew that if he wasted another second, the princess or Camil would definitely come after him.
Lucien did not use magic. Right now he was using the sword to cut the puppet threads. The threads could not only control one's body, but could also poke into the body to hurt the organs.
"Are you alright, Mr. Evans?" A guard ran into his room and asked concernedly.
A thought flashing across, Lucien started coughing hard to let the blood come out from his throat, "I'm okay¡­ just some small injuries¡­"

Chapter 290: The Last Movement
				Chapter 290: The Last Movement
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing that the corner of Mr. Evans' mouth, chin and chest were covered with blood, the guard insisted, "Hold on there, Mr. Evans. Have you got any medical potions? I have one here. Take it. If you still don't feel good, I'll ask for the bishop's help from the Golden Cathedral!"
Of course Lucien did not want the bishop to come over, so he painfully took out a bottle of healing potion and slowly drank it. Then, he waved his hand and said, "Not a problem at all. I'm also a knight. No worries. The assassin didn't really hurt me."
Hearing that Lucien was still able to talk fine but only coughing a bit, the guard felt more relaxed. He pulled out his sword and stayed with Lucien, in case there would be another assassin coming for Mr. Evans.
The guard also reminded Lucien, "Mr. Evans, some dark powers are creepy. Although sometimes one doesn't feel badly injured, one's organs could be gradually corrupted or poisoned. And when it shows, it'll be too late. Even a red-robed cardinal would not be able to do anything with it. So, Mr. Evans, you probably still want to have a bishop to check it for you tomorrow."
"Thank you. We'll see then." Lucien pretended to be rather stubborn.
"Alright." nodded the guard.
Many people were just like this. They were afraid of death, but they were also afraid of visiting doctors or bishops. They worried that they might have some problems, but they also did not want to know what problems they had.
A while later, Alisa and Joel, followed by their guards, rushed into Lucien's room. Seeing that Lucien was okay, they released a long sigh of relief.
"Who's the bastard?! The bastard wanted to kill you?! You're only a musician¡­" Alisa had tears in her eyes, "Wait¡­ Did one of your competitors send the assassin?"
"Stop, Alisa. It's impossible. No musician could afford an assassin of a grand knight level." Joel got some information from the guard, "What did you see, Evans?"
At this time, Natasha and Camil arrived. Natasha smelled the air, then she became really serious, "Lucien, did you see the assassin?"
"I saw only a figure¡­ It felt familiar¡­ Maybe he's from Argent Horn." In front of other people, Lucien did not say exactly what he saw. He put the blame on Argent Horn because of what happened before.
"Argent Horn?!" Alisa's face turned pale, and she took a step backwards. She could never forget the day when one of her fingers was cut off.
Joel's fists tightened. His deep voice sounded extremely angry, "They're still coming after you¡­"
In fact, Argent Horn really did not have anything to do with that.
After sending Joel and Alisa back to their room and dismissing all the guards, Natasha looked at Lucien and asked with a bit of a smile on her face, "So, what happened? Was there really an assassin? Or it was just part of your plan to kill the musician identity?"
"There was really an assassin. Probably a level five grand knight, wearing black gloves and a clown mask," said Lucien honestly.
"Ummm¡­ sounds familiar¡­"
"The night watchers' leader, Clown," said Camil seriously. "I've seen him a couple of times."
A night watcher's information was strictly sealed, and only the leaders of an inquisition or cardinals of a parish could have access to it. Night watchers called each other by their pseudonyms.
Those night watchers had been walking in the darkness for a long time, shading their faces with masks and hoods. So Natasha was not sure who Clown was, and neither did Lucien. Lucien had no idea, during the fight between Argent Horn and the Night Watch, how many night watchers actually survived and who they were.
"I see¡­" Lucien had mixed feelings hearing that. On one hand, he felt worried, since he knew how those night watchers would act once he became their target; On the other hand, he also felt a bit relieved, because the way Clown came over and tried to test him showed the fact that those cardinals were not part of this thing, or those cardinals could easily use divine spells to examine Lucien, say, over a feast or concert, and directly draw the conclusion.
"He's one of the night watchers who survived that night in Melzer Black Forest," said Camil with a cold face. She totally disliked Professor.
"Now I remember¡­" Natasha clapped her hands.
Lucien finally realized why those night watchers were stilling tracking him. The loss he brought to the night watchers was massive.
"This can be a good thing. I was going to have someone else conduct the concert to make people know you're sick badly. Then, after the concert, we would be able to announce your death," said Natasha. "So you won't be checked by some red-robed cardinals who suspected you during the concert. Now, we do not need to bother."
"That's good. Although I could suppress the power in my soul using Blessing in the Psalm Hall in front of those red-robed cardinals, in front of Sard, the Saint Cardinal, I won't say I'm gonna be lucky. Last time when I saw him I was only an apprentice, so the difference could be ignored, but now I'm a fourth-circle. I really don't feel secure standing in front of him¡­"
Natasha looked serious, "Since the Grand Cross collapsed, the Saint Cardinal never really showed up again over any events or concerts. He only attended the grand cardinal conclave once. So, you don't need to worry. Even if he comes, you still have enough time to pretend to be sick and have someone else conduct for you."
She seemed to worry about Sard's health condition.
Then, Natasha's facial expression changed. Rubbing her chin, she asked surprisedly, "Wait¡­ You said you are¡­ a fourth-circle sorcerer?"
Because this was related to the secret of the World of Souls and Rhine, Lucien did not mention this to Natasha during their conversation.
"Sometimes great danger could awaken one's soul potential, like what happened to me down in the sewers," explained Lucien, which was quite a good excuse.
"Good for you! You're still two months away from turning twenty-one, but you're already a fourth-circle! Even in the a hundred years when the Congress has been producing lots of talents, you're one of the most outstanding ones!" Natasha felt sincerely happy for her friend, "You must have great gift in arcana, and I'm sure your future path will be even brighter."
Lucien smiled, "This is nothing compared to what you've achieved. I remember that when you were eighteen, you were already a grand knight, and then you've reached level five when you were twenty-one."
"I'm glad to hear your compliment, Lucien. But for knights, although strong willpower and knight spirit are important, the Blessing also plays a significant role. I was trained in a hard way, but my mixed Blessings helped me more at that time. So I would say that I was more proud when I became a radiant knight, which was better evidence to show my willpower," said Natasha honestly.
Lucien grinned, "There are people who are born with mixed Blessings but never manage to awaken the power."
"Sure, I'm gifted as a knight." said Natasha proudly.
Then they started to talk about their following plan.
...
In a house.
Wearing the creepy mask, Clown entered the chamber gloomily.
"Leader, what did the Arbiter say?" asked Juliana hurriedly.
Lend and Minsk also looked at Clown in a worried way.
It was totally out of Clown's expectation that Lucien had a very precious level five extraordinary quality item and a sword of at least fourth level with him. Clown failed. What was worse was that Lucien saw him, his mask and black gloves. The inquisition soon received Natasha's serious complaint.
Clown shook his head, "The Arbiter said it was Argent Horn pretending to be a night watcher. After all, they don't want this to be known by more people. They want to hide it as much as possible. But the Arbiter also did not listen to me. He gave me the most sever warning. If this happens a second time, I'm gonna be put on the secret court."
"Are we giving up just like this?" Other night watchers asked, feeling rather reluctant.
Clown looked out of the window and said in a low voice, "I awakened in the darkness. Following God's words, I became a night watcher. No matter how crazy I was, ever since I became a night watcher, I've been fighting against the evil. So, even if I cannot get the support from the Church, I won't give up. I cannot just let Professor enjoy his life after killing so many of us. My belief won't let me give up."
At first, Clown felt that Professor made him lose his face, but now, his primal belief and faith was challenged.
The other three also agreed.
Clown turned around and looked at them, "Okay. Then we'll wait until another chance comes."
...
Lucien's bad cough made Franz, who was helping Lucien with the lyrics using a long verse, feel very concerned.
"Shall we take a break, sir?" asked Franz. "We can continue when you feel better."
Lucien's face was pale, but he shook his head firmly, "The last movement is almost there, and I feel the even stronger passion and inspiration coming out from my life. I don't want to stop, and I can't. You understand, Franz?"

Chapter 291: Everyone¡¯s Waiting
				Chapter 291: Everyone¡¯s Waiting
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Franz totally understood. When he was under poor health condition, many times he still pushed himself to an even further limit just because the passion and inspiration could not be shut down at that moment.
Therefore, Franz nodded with a sincere smile, "I see, Mr. Evans. I'll try my best to help you. When I first heard the fourth movement of the symphony, the chorus movement, I was totally shocked by its beauty and grandness. And the idea of adding chorus in a symphony is a great innovation! It's my great pleasure to be part of this helping you complete this masterpiece. It's gonna be one of the most memorable things in my life."
In order to fit the long verse in, to avoid those parts that were disrespectful to God, and to keep its original linguistic beauty, Lucien and Franz had spent a lot of time and thoughts.
Franz was a very dedicated musician and a great fan of Lucien. In front of his idol, Franz praised the movement with great excitement.
Lucien coughed hard and then asked in an excited way, which was a bit strange, "Thank you, Franz! Now our job's almost done! Then, the lead singer and the chorus shall start practising and provide us with feedback. Do you think it's... too hard?"
Franz shook his head, "It's hard, but I wouldn't say it's too hard. Any changes would take the beauty away from the movement. A great singer and a chorus should be able to handle it."
"I think so too." Lucien grinned.
At this time, someone knocked at the room door, and then the door was gently opened. It was Victor. Lucien and Franz were now in the piano room of the Musicians' Association, on the fourth floor.
"Mr. Victor, we just finished our work." Lucien smiled.
"I really picked a good time. Congratulations, Evans." Victor smiled. Then he took a step aside and introduced, "This is Mr. Fabbrini, a great singer. Mr. Fabbrini's the lead singer of the Golden Cathedral Chorus."
Before Ode to Joy (The Symphony No. 9 in D minor from Ludwig van Beethoven) was completed, Lucien asked for Victor's help to find him a great singer and a chorus.
Mr. Fabbrini was in his early twenties, had blue eyes and blond hair, looking like an angel serving the God of Truth. Unlike most men, Fabbrini was wearing light make up. In his fancy clothes, Mr. Fabbrini had this sense of feminine beauty.
Lucien was not too surprised, because most outstanding musicians were castrati, not to mention a lead singer of the Golden Cathedral Chorus.
Lucien smiled, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fabbrini. Hope we can work well together."
Here in this world, castrati were very popular. A countess in Gusta crazily loved their voice and once even started a war for a castrato.
"Mr. Evans, I'm going to meet the chorus and we'll be waiting for you there in the concert hall. You don't look very well, sir. Please take care," said Fabbrini in his gentle voice.
After Fabbrini left, Lucien started coughing very badly, as if his lungs were going to come out.
"Are you alright? You still haven't recovered, have you?" asked Victor concernedly. "Maybe we can put off the concert until you feel better."
Lucien shook his head firmly, "It's okay, Mr. Victor. I'm a knight, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Maybe the fact that Lucien was a knight really assured Victor, so he nodded, "We're both musicians, so I do understand. But as your teacher, I still think having a doctor come over is necessary."
"I will. Thank you, Mr. Victor." Lucien was confident that he could deceive a doctor and have the doctor believe that although the injury could not be cured shortly, it would not be a life risk.
...
After more than a week, in the middle of the Month of Flower. In the concert hall on the fifth floor of the Musicians' Association.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Fabbrini?!" Lucien pretended that he was a bit out of control, "Why do you keep making mistakes here?"
Fabbrini looked at Lucien's pale face and hurriedly explained, with tears in his eyes, "Mr. Evans¡­ This part's too challenging¡­ I need¡­ need more practice¡­"
"But we've practiced a lot!" Lucien waved his arms.
Fabbrini took a deep breath and said, "Still not enough, sir. Please give me some more time, or maybe you can alter this part to make it simpler."
"No way! This is perfect, and I'll never allow it to be ruined! Fabbrini, just try harder. I believe you can do this! We can put off the concert a few days as long as¡­" Lucien started coughing very bad. And he squatted down beside the stage.
Franz hurriedly lent a hand to Lucien. Fabbrini also comforted him, "I'll try even harder, Mr. Evans. I won't let you down."
At the end of this rehearsal, when he walked down the stage, Fabbrini, in his black shirt embroidered with golden threads, somehow looked back at the stage, as if he could still see Mr. Lucien standing there, acting crazily but full of passion.
...
"¡­Maybe at that time, Mr. Evans already had the hunch, so he was that pushy and strict, which was not at all like how people commented on him as being polite and gentle." A few years later, Fabbrini recalled what he remembered of Mr. Evans when preparing the concert. "He was that dedicated, that hard-working, and that crazy¡­ as if he was trying to burst out all the energy and radiance left in his life to leave no regret. I was blessed by God, so I was lucky to know Mr. Evans at that time, and finished the symphony with him. I saw, as the brilliant musician he was, his great passion towards music, and his piety to God."
...
Glinton, the merchant that Lucien met in Massawa town, headed for the north after leaving Aalto.
In the Kingdom of Syracuse, he sold all his goods and then again bought some Syracuse goods, ready to leave for the fortress in the north of Violet.
This morning, when he was having his greasy breakfast, a glance at the newspaper suddenly stopped him from cutting the brisket. He could not believe his eyes, and he double checked a few times.
He was very surprised, but also a bit upset. He did not expect that Mr. Evans would come back as soon as he left Aalto.
"May twenty-sixth¡­ the Psalm Hall¡­ 'Return' Concert¡­" Glinton murmured to himself. He wondered if he should spend sixteen days going back to Aalto. Right now, it was already May fifteenth.
Putting down knife and fork, he took a few steps back and forth. Then he finally made the decision. He had missed Mr. Evans' first concert, so there was no way that he was going to miss the second one, not to mention the fact that Mr. Evans just came back from his three-year trip.
Glinton decided to leave right now and leave the goods to his butler. He was not going to sit in a coach, but would ride with several guards. If he was quick enough, eleven days probably would be enough. Knowing quite a few nobles, Glinton was confident that he should be able to get a ticket. At least, he should try.
...
When Glinton arrived in Aalto, it was already May twenty-eighth, thirteen days later.
He was not upset at all, because he heard that the concert had been put off to June first.
Without taking any rest, Glinton directly headed for the Psalm Hall.
"What? Sold out? But¡­ but there're still four days!" Glinton was a bit pissed off, "I know Knight Mitch of the Hayne family, and¡­"
Glinton started listing.
The man sitting in the ticket office pointed at the many citizens around and said, "I'm sorry, sir. The tickets are sold out. There are just to many people waiting for the concert, and as far as I know, even Knight Mitch also failed to get a ticket."
Glinton was very discouraged. Looking back, he saw crowds around the Psalm Hall.
In the corner, a journalist from Aalto Weekly quickly wrote down what he saw on his notebook, "Except for Aalto Music Festival, we've never seen a concert like this that can attract these many people to come to Aalto, as if they have forgotten that the Psalm Hall tickets are not usually for common folks¡­
"Lucien Evans has become an idol that the whole city or even the whole duchy has been crazy about¡­
"This has become a phenomenon. Maybe we should create a new word for this¡­"

Chapter 292: Moonlight on Everyone¡¯s Heart
				Chapter 292: Moonlight on Everyone¡¯s Heart
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
¡¡
Seeing the crowd, Glinton was very upset. It was totally not fair that those important nobles and pastors were directly invited to the concert without buying tickets.
Turning around, Glinton saw the grand Psalm Hall. For the first time, he felt the coldness underneath its magnificent appearance. This place was never for the devoted followers, but for those nobles and pastors up there.
Glinton murmured to himself, "Not all lambs are equal¡­"
When most of the people were leaving with great disappointment, a black horse rushed over here and gradually stopped in front of them.
Then the knight on the horse said out aloud,
"All civilians, Her Highness, Princess Natasha, Violet Duchess, believes that music should not only belong to nobles, but for everyone. Therefore, Her Highness has decided to offer support at her own cost to the Church and open the divine circles for Mr. Lucien Evans' return concert on the Municipal Square, so that everyone could enjoy the great music here in the city of music!"
The crowd suddenly became quiet, and then people wild with joy started to cheer like crazy.
"Her great Highness!"
"God bless you, Highness!"
"Long live her Highness! Long live Violet!"
Among the people, Glinton was very excited as well that he also cheered together with them. He was glad that he made the right decision to come back to Aalto.
...
The first day of June was a happy day, at least for people in Aalto.
After welcoming the grand duke, the princess, Mr. Christopher, President Othello, and Mr. Victor, Lucien was now preparing at the backstage surrounded by Franz, Grace, Fabbrini and some of the instrumentalists who he was familiar with.
Lucien picked the band which once worked with him before, but the lead instrumentalist was no longer Rhine.
A bit away from Lucien stood other instrumentalists, castrati, and kids from the choir.
"Mr. Evans, I can already imagine the great shock that the Symphony in D minor would bring to the audience. I can't wait to step on the stage. God bless us. It's is the most breathtaking music piece I've ever heard! I'm afraid I might have tears in my eyes later¡­" said Fabbrini out of great excitement before the performance.
Tonight, Fabbrini was wearing a red bow tie, and his lips were as red as fire.
The symphony Fabbrini was speaking highly of was called Ode to Joy, by Lucien Evans. As their several rehearsals went better and better, Fabbrini's heart was now filled with admiration toward it.
Hearing Fabbrini's comment, Grace looked at Lucien out of curiosity, "Is it that impressive? It seems that Ode to Joy can win over Fate?"
"They're different. People might have different opinions. But I do think it's a great music piece." Lucien smiled, as if he was commenting on someone else's music.
Franz relieved a long sigh and said, "Actually, I was quite worried about the Symphony in E minor would not be accepted by most musicians and critics, although I like it quite a lot, especially the beginning of the second movement. I mean¡­ its structure's just too advanced to be recognized. But now because we have Ode to Joy as the finale, everything will be just fine."
"Music comes from one's heart, and structure is only a tool," explained Lucien. "When the tool starts to become a burden, we shall be brave to get rid of it and find a new one."
Lucien was actually talking about the transition from classical music to romantic music.
In fact, compared to most music works in the later period of Romanticism, Antonšªn Dvo?š¢k's New World Symphony, which had been renamed here by Lucien as New Country Symphony, was already close to traditional classical music. After all, Antonšªn Dvo?š¢k was still deeply influenced by classical music.
Hearing Lucien's words, Franz nodded thoughtfully. Maybe he was reflecting on his own composition.
The violoncellist, Thomas, also commented, "I think New Country Symphony's a great piece of work. Although it can receive some negative comments, I believe anyone who really understood music and appreciates its beauty can see the great value in it. Time will prove that New Country Symphony is a masterpiece. Both Ode to Joy and New Country Symphony are masterpieces, I should say. You have my greatest respect because of your courage for inspiration and revolution, Mr. Evans."
Thomas was very sincere, and he believed that the concert would be the greatest success ever. He also could see how much he was going to benefit from this concert. After playing with Mr. Victor and Evans, the band Thomas was in was now already the best one outside of the palace, and also the most expensive one.
"Thank you all for the encouraging comments, but we still have to see after the concert." Lucien smiled, "It's time now. Let's go."
After taking a few steps, Lucien added with emotion, "In the following four hours, let's forget everything, and live for music!"
"Live for music!" All the instrumentalists, band members, and singers responded aloud.
Lucien adjusted his bow tie and grabbed the baton. But at this time, he suddenly started coughing badly.
"Mr. Evans?! Are you alright?"
Lucien gasped, then waved his hand, "I'm okay. It's been a while like this. I'm fine. Let the band out to get prepared first."
"You sure, Mr. Evans?" Thomas did not leave with the band but asked again out of concern.
Lucien took out a small bottle of pink potion and drank it all. Then, his face was no longer pale. He said to Thomas, "I've got the potion. Don't worry."
Seeing that Lucien was still able to talk fluently, Thomas was relieved. Then, he left the backstage to get prepared.
After Thomas left, Fabbrini asked gently, "Mr. Evans¡­ This¡­ doesn't look like some simple potion for cough-relieving. A potion cannot work this fast."
As the lead singer of the Church's chorus, he knew more than most people.
Lucien was now totally refreshed, and he said to Fabbrini with a smile, "A bit something else in it to bring out the best of me in the following four hours. It's okay. I'll take a good rest after the concert."
Then Lucien grabbed the baton and walked out of the backstage in an elegant manner, leaving the rest of the people behind with a straight and impressive figure.
Fabbrini did not say anything for a while. Mr. Evans' determined smile was still in front of his eyes.
...
On the municipal square, when people saw Lucien walking to the center of the stage in the Psalm Hall, they started to applaud, and then the applause became louder and louder. No matter if Mr. Lucien Evans could hear this or not, all of the people were expressing their joy and excitement. They were welcoming the talented young musician, and also showing their gratefulness to Her Highness' generosity.
In the history of Aalto, there was never a concert like this that could receive such warm applause before it even started!
Glinton was now standing along the edge of the square. Looking at the crystal screen, he felt joy and was very satisfied. Finally, he could be here and enjoy Mr. Evans' live performance with his own ears and eyes.
The repertoire was already available: the concert would start with the famous Symphony of Fate, followed by a piano solo of Moonlight and PathšŠtique. Next, Mr. Lucien Evans was going to show his playing skills by doing an improvisation playing. Then it would be the symphony called New Country, and later Ode to Joy, the Symphony in D Minor, would serve as the ending of the concert.
When the first several music notes jumped out, the familiar melody awakened everyone. They became very quiet, waiting for the feast of music.
After Symphony of Fate, Christopher smiled to Victor and said, "After the three years, now Evans' conducting is even better. He used to be a bit crazy when conducting, but now he knows where to let the emotions out and when to restrain them. His personal features are still there, and serves a better support and guidance of Fate."
Lucien's conducting was no longer inexperienced but mature. Now his conducting matched the great symphony piece.
"He's the one who never forgets to work hard." Victor also spoke highly of his own student, "Among the so many times Fate was played, only when Lucien conducted did the music have the most impacting power."
After a ten minute break, the band left the stage for now. The whole stage was left with a black piano and Lucien, who also dressed in black.
The divine power circle focused on Lucien, covering Lucien with a dim layer of light.
Sitting in front of the piano, Lucien closed his eyes. He knew that this concert was a farewell to the people who liked him. In order to make sure that his relatives and friends were safe, and knowing that, sooner or later, his name would be put on the Cleansing List, he had to let the young musician die, and say goodbye.
He did not know what kind of choices uncle Joel, aunt Alisa, John, and Iven would make, and he was also not sure whether if one day he could still be able to see Victor, Elena and all his friends again. He had no idea whether one day he would still be able to come back to Aalto without hiding himself carefully¡­
Maybe¡­ maybe after becoming a senior-rank mage, Lucien would be able to take a look at them from afar¡­
The great sorrow seized Lucien's heart, and his hands pressed down on the piano. The peaceful and gentle melody flowed like a stream in the Psalm Hall, and it brought everyone back to the lake that was shining under the moonlight, just like a dream.
People were immersed in the peace and quietness. They were enjoying every second of the heartfelt sweetness, gracefulness, and also sorrow.
Underneath the sweetness of the melody, they did somehow feel sad.
Felicia noticed that Elena, who was sitting next to her, wiped the tears from the corner of her eye and murmured, "I don't know why but¡­ I feel like crying¡­"

Chapter 293: A Master¡¯s Piano Playing
				Chapter 293: A Master¡¯s Piano Playing
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The touching melody revealed the complicated emotions and feelings in Lucien's mind perfectly: there was tenderness, melancholy, and lots of thoughts, just like a shimmering lake under moonlight, bringing the audience to a dream-like world filled with Lucien's sentiments.
People forgot the anxiety and agitation they were usually under most of the time and started to contemplate. Many had tears in their eyes¡­
The first movement ended, but the cheerful second movement immediately followed, as if it was comforting people's heart. The emotions changed perfectly.
Many musicians present exchanged a surprised look. They were more sensitive than those unprofessional nobles and common citizens. They had noticed that there was no pause at all between the two movements, but it brought people the excellent transition and the sense of fluency.
Those musicians did not dig into it but continued to listen to the playing carefully, because this was a great opportunity for them to listen to Mr. Lucien Evans' playing of Moonlight here on the stage. The only thing they wanted to do was to appreciate the beauty of music.
The cheerful second movement slowly became more restrained, but just when people were about to take a break to enjoy the following exciting movement, Lucien directly led them to the third movement.
The melody full of passion immediately seized people's heart, and they felt the great enthusiasm and tension, like picking flowers along the cliff.
They saw Lucien's hands jumping around and dancing on the keyboard, as if they were blessed by God with power, and therefore a touching and infectious passion flowed. His silhouette on the stage had great charm, and the passion he had now was totally different from the mood he was under when he played the first movement, which formed a sharp contrast.
The signature high notes ended the playing. As soon as people were relieved from the intensity of Lucien's playing, warm applause followed like tides. 
Betty, with a short bow on her back, said to Joanna and Simon full of joy, "Compared to Mr. Evans' playing, the versions of Moonlight that we heard before were nothing. Only Mr. Evans could present the great passion, the sadness and the joy in the song!"
In the past three years, she had grown more professional in appreciating music.
"That's true. After all, Mr. Evans is a musician, not a common instrumentalist." Joanna looked at the crystal wall on the square and smiled, "Betty, I remembered that Mr. Evans once promised you that he would play a song for you. Is it right?"
Betty's face flushed, "Don't make fun of me. I know I still have a long way to go before awakening my Blessing, but I'll work very hard!"
Lucien once promised that he would play a song for Betty if she could awaken her Blessing and become a knight.
"The Duchy of Violet is a perfect place for us to awaken our Blessings. It's very close to the Dark Mountain Range," said Simon. In the past several years, he had made much progress in training himself as a high-level squire. Now, he was much closer to awakening his Blessing. 
Betty first nodded, then she looked at the young musician on the stage who was taking a short break and said with a sweet smile, "I know that Mr. Evans was just trying to encourage me. I'm not really expecting him to play for me. Having a chance like this to be on his concert is already enough for me. But I'll still work hard and always keep this encouragement in my heart."
Glinton, while applauding, said to people beside him, "It's just awesome! Listening to Mr. Evans' playing Moonlight already made me more than satisfied with this concert. I believe no one can compare with Mr. Evans when it comes to playing Moonlight! This is how a master of music plays!"
In the noble balcony in the Psalm Hall.
"I see¡­ So there should be no pause at all between each movement. Then the contrast of different moods can be more defined and the structure can be perfect," murmured Natasha. "No wonder when I was playing, I always felt that something was missing¡­ He did not mention this in the letter¡­"
"Maybe he thought that Your Highness could figure this out," joked Christopher.
Since Lucien left Aalto and started his traveling, he only wrote letters to the princess. Even those letters to his family were all first sent to Natasha and then delivered by her. Although many would concede that this was the most convenient way, there were still lots of people who believed that there was something between the young musician and the princess, just like the rumors said.
Natasha did not mind the joke but continued to talk about how one's personal style mattered when playing music with Mr. Christopher.
Hearing their discussion, the grand duke was pulled out of his sweet and sad memory brought by the music. When the grand duke looked at Natasha, his eyebrows slightly frowned but he also had a relieved look on her face.
Those musicians and instrumentalists were comparing Lucien's playing with their own versions and trying to improve their own skills, but they were not going to just copy Lucien's version because Moonlight varied in everyone's mind.
...
After taking a short break, Lucien started to play Sonata PathšŠtique.
It felt very familiar, but compared to the first time Lucien played the sonata, the belief that one should never give up hope despite the many great difficulties in life was more prominent, and people now also had a better understanding to appreciate the theme.
When he finished playing Sonata PathšŠtique, Lucien coughed hard on the stage with his right hand covering his mouth. Franz, Grace, Fabbrini and many who knew about Lucien health condition suddenly felt rather worried.
Fortunately, Lucien stopped coughing soon. With flushed cheeks, he stood up as usual and thanked the audience. Then he sat back on the piano bench.
"What is Mr. Evans going to play to show his skills?" asked Fabbrini. Because this part was a solo playing, Fabbrini had no idea what this part would be like.
He thought Franz, as Lucien's assistant, and Grace, as his student, should at least know something about it.
Franz shook his head, "Mr. Evans never rehearsed this part in front of us. No one can ask a great musician like Mr. Evans to go through the whole repertoire for the concert. So neither of us know what he is going to play."
"That's true," agreed Grace. "But the teacher said that this part is for showing a pianist's skill, so I suppose it's going to be very challenging."
At this time, the whole Psalm Hall and the square quieted down, because they saw that Lucien had put his hands on the keyboard.
Then, Lucien started to play.
Immediately, they thought that they heard countless bumble bees flying and buzzing beside their ears.
Faster and faster, the sound of bumble bees flying around filled in the space. People were shocked to see how fast Lucien's hands could move ¡ª they were too fast to belong to a human being!
Faster and faster, people started to become crazy with the great passion for music.
Although Flight of the Bumblebee lasted for only a few minutes, when Lucien pressed down the last key, people took a couple of seconds to recover and then started to cheer aloud for this great young musician!
They had never heard something like this before, but they could feel the freedom underneath the playing skills.
Seeing Lucien's excellent playing skills, those musicians including Christopher, Victor, and Othello all nodded with satisfaction, but at the same time, they felt that this part was a bit too strange and creative for them to accept for now.
Natasha, however, spoke highly of it and whistled, "Awesome! I wonder if he could be even faster!"
She understood that being fast was not all that mattered. As a radiant knight, speed was not a problem. However, if one wanted to play very fast and still bring the audience the beauty of music, this was not easy, but a great test to a musician.
...
After the solo part, the audience started to talk to each other when taking a short break, because there were still two long pieces of symphony following.
Some of them were phrasing Lucien's outstanding conducting and playing skills; some were trying to recall how fast Lucien's hands moved; and others held great admiration toward Lucien's inspiration¡­
Fifteen minutes later, Lucien, in a black tuxedo, came back to the stage. He first bowed to the audience, then came to stand in front of the band.
Christopher stood straight and his mind was full of expectation just as other musicians and the audience. They wondered what kind of symphony New Country was.
For music in Aalto, symphony was the mainstream, the most shining and precious gem on the crown of music.
Lucien slightly closed his eyes, and the baton in his right hand started to stir. The band followed his instruction and started to play. The gentle but profound melody was like a long story gradually unfolded.
This was Lucien Evans' music! It seized people's heart immediately and made all the musicians present nod out of satisfaction.
The latter part of the introductory movement suddenly became intense and full of surges. The trumpets were indicating a more passionate theme of the symphony.
However, the following first movement made most musicians frown, as it was just so folk-music style and away from the traditional symphony structure.

Chapter 294: Nostalgia
				Chapter 294: Nostalgia
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Facing this unique style, most musicians subconsciously felt a little bit uncomfortable. However, the composer was Lucien Evans, one of the top musicians, known for his spirit of reform and innovation, so they still listened very carefully.
Soon, most musicians who were not originally from Aalto found that the passion in the music was contagious. It reminded them of the busy life they lived when they first arrived in Aalto.
The life back in the days was beyond busy. They had to run around every day just to make a living as an instrumentalist. During their very limited spare time, they were either pulling hair seeking for a piece of melody or playing instruments despite the pain in their hands. They could only find peace in music.
Then, they heard a brand new style of music, which came from another country's exotic folk music. The new world of music brought the audience great shock, just like when they first arrived in Aalto and heard the music there. The totally different style let them have a new understanding of music and expanded their horizon like never before.
Christopher's knitted brows gradually unfolded. He had lots of memories in his mind.
With his music dream, Christopher left his hometown and finally arrived in Aalto after going through great difficulty. However, Aalto was a place that never lacked talented musicians and instrumentalists. Christopher knew it well that without outstanding talent and accomplished playing skills, it was going to be very hard for him to stay here in this city.
Therefore, Christopher had no choice but to play music on street. At that time, he lived on very little money given by strangers. During the countless nights, Christopher studied the music from Aalto crazily. At the same time, he was also saving money to learn how to read and to borrow books.
By chance, he met Mr. Lessing, a person who changed his life completely and opened the gate toward symphony for him.
When he first listened to a symphony, he felt that he had arrived in a brand new country.
Christopher had to say that Lucien's music perfectly reminded him of his past experience, Despite the stereotype he had in his mind towards the music style.
Then the band started to play together. The melody was full of passion like strong waves, and the two secondary themes were revealed. Flute and oboes brought out the sadness and feeling of alienation in the two themes.
The new structure of the music surprised the musicians present. At the end of the first movement, they finally found how the recapitulation part was arranged in such a unique way. After several turns and delays, the recapitulation part finally started.
Most nobles and common folks did not have this strict sense of structure. Although they had some feeling that this symphony was different from the ones they listened to before, and some could even tell which parts were different, they all agreed that New Country was an outstanding and touching masterpiece.
They were listening to the music using their ears and heart.
After pausing a bit, Lucien raised the baton again, with his eyes slightly closed. The bass part brought out the mysterious yet gloomy atmosphere. Lucien had lots of memories in his mind, and those memories had all turned into many pictures that he missed:
He missed his family and friends, and the memory of them together was still so fresh; Mr. Victor, who was always nice, kind and upright, had offered him so much help and support; uncle Joel and aunt Alisa took care of him just like his mother and father, who lent him all their savings and tried their best to protect him from the gangsters; his friend, John, chose to fight with him facing the gangsters; Natasha, the humorous and generous princess, had helped him so much wholeheartedly, and they had gone through a lot of things together¡­
He missed the shabby shanty in Aderon. Lucien fixed the wood door himself, and underground there was a ruined magic lab. Living in the shanty, Lucien learned how to read, fought against the heretics of the Argent Horn, and became an apprentice¡­
He missed his garden villa, although he only lived there for a few months. He remembered clearly the stone bricks and vines covering the walls. In the garden villa, Lucien played For Silvia and Moonlight. There, Lucien got to know the existence of the Congress of Magic from Mr. Rhine¡­
He missed the Musicians' Association, its soft and thick carpet, quiet atmosphere, big library and well-designed instrument rooms¡­ They had all witnessed the countless times of practicing and how Lucien came all the way there until today¡­
Those pictures were all in Lucien's mind, but what was even clearer was the fact that he was going to say goodbye to all of these.
The sorrow had been turned into the music notes flowing along Lucien's baton.
Then, the oboes played the melodious part, filled with mixed joy and sorrow. The melody seized the audience's heart.
Christopher felt that he was in a dream. For a moment, he felt that he was brought back to his small hometown. He wondered whether the classic two-storey buildings still looked the same old and a bit gloomy, and whether the ghost stories were still being told. He also wanted to know if the river running along the town wall was still that clear and if the apple tree in front of his old place could still produce fruits¡­ and also, whether the lady he admired when young now had wrinkles all over her face just like him, and whether his families were still visiting their ancestors' graves¡­
The melody brought Christopher great nostalgia like never before.
Betty, Joanna, and Simon also lost in their thoughts listening to the music. They thought of the mountains and winding roads in Djibouti, as well as the horrifying stories about those necromancers. They missed their childhood friends, their parents, and their old house¡­
Betty and Joanna's eyes started to get full of tears. They suddenly wanted to go back home.
The music reminded Joel and Alisa of the small town in the south, the patio that carried their love story, and even trees and stones there. They still remembered the moss in the corner of the stone wall and the taste of the cuisines¡­
In the music, Grace saw Sturk. She saw the stone bridges over the rivers, the boats with a pointed tip, and the wax statues in the museums. Also, she saw her parents who were getting old day by day and her elder brother, who labored all day¡­
In the weeping-like beautiful melody, all of the people present, no matter nobles, musicians, businessmen or common folks, had been overwhelmed by the great sense of nostalgia.
Many of them had tears in their eyes.
Then, the first theme of the symphony slowly pulled people back to reality¡ªthe reality that they were all alone in a strange place by themselves.
The violin ended the second movement with the chord.
There was no applause. People were silent. People were lost in their thoughts and their own memory of the past.
The third movement burst out the great passion that was full of different colors, bringing people the beauty and charm of the new country.
Then the fourth movement was grand and exciting, and it reviewed all the previous themes again with the movement's unique power¡ªthe power from people's wish to go back home and the belief that they would go back home one day, with a better life!
Like a flowing river, the fourth movement ended the symphony in joy and hope.
And the new country slowly faded away.
The strong feelings in the symphony won the heart of everyone present. Thunder-like applause burst out of the crowd. And people started to cheer for the young musician and the symphony.
The applause just would not stop. Lucien had to keep bowing to the audience.
People were still applauding, although their hands felt numb, and their faces were covered with tears.
Lucien's music expressed the nostalgia and their wish to go back home for them!
Christopher said to Othello, Victor, and Natasha in a gentle voice, "Tomorrow, I want to go back to my hometown to take a look."
After pausing a bit, Christopher added, "This is the most touching lento I've ever heard in a symphony, and I forgot to focus on the structure¡­ Maybe when a person gets old, he misses his hometown even more¡­"

Chapter 295: Feedback and Expectation
				Chapter 295: Feedback and Expectation
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien bowed to the audience in the warm applause for nine times, and then went back to the backstage to prepare for the ending symphony, the most important symphony piece of tonight's concert.
On the municipal square, people were still immersed in the great nostalgia. An old man in his late sixties said to a stranger next to him to let off his emotion, "Maybe you don't know, but I'm from the Kingdom of Shaq. That's a country in the south part of the continent, close to the Federation of the Free Cities. We have the great navy, and I was in the navy, too, fighting against the pirates¡­ The thing in Aalto that I'm the most unhappy with is that the liquor here is not strong at all, not even close to the liquor called Peled in my hometown. When you take a sip of it, the burning feeling in your throat and stomach is just¡­ I cannot describe it with my words. Also, we have a special kind of white wine made from the grapes growing in the high mountains. No one who's ever tried it can forget the sweet and refreshing taste. But only Count Lucio and the king could enjoy the wine¡­ You know how I got the chance to taste it? It was on Count Lucio's wedding. At that time, I was a guard, and I was lucky to find some of the wine left in the glass¡­ Come on¡­ don't go. Just let me finish. You know the pork paste made in Lucio? Also we have goat cheese, the best honey and roasted lamb¡­ Girls in Lucio are like glowing flowers and they are as passionate as fire! They like brave guys who can beat bulls¡­"
The middle-aged man was not interested at all. Slightly shaking his head, he felt quite bothered, since he also missed his own hometown.
The old man did not know what to do after the middle-aged man took a few steps away from him. Then, he started to murmur to himself, "I haven't mentioned the small house I have in the countryside in Lucio. The green vines must be covering the entire wall, and the light yellow flowers are more beautiful than any other flowers. The floor in the corner must be crooked now, but I cannot go back to fix it¡­"
The old man had been away from his hometown for more than thirty years. He was afraid that he would die on his way back to his hometown.
His voice became deeper and deeper. Tears came out of the corner of his eyes. He kept asking himself, "Go back? Shall I go back?"
Then, suddenly, he made up his mind. His fists forcefully waved and said out loud, "I'm going back!"
Glinton was a bit startled and asked, "Are you alright?"
The old man grinned, "Yes! I'm going home!"
His face was glowing.
Then he added, "Before I die, it is such a great blessing that I have the chance to listen to this symphony here from Mr. Evans. This is a masterpiece as a combination of folk music and symphony! After I get back home, I think I'm gonna miss Mr. Lucien Evans and his great music pieces!"
Glinton hurriedly nodded and agreed, "You're definitely right! When the first movement came out, I was a bit hesitant. I wasn't sure how to comment on it. But after listening to the second movement, I can say it for sure that New Country Symphony is more than just outstanding. It's going to be a classic masterpiece! Maybe just this little behind Symphony of Fate¡­"
Glinton used his two fingers to suggest how close New Country Symphony was to Symphony of Fate. In his mind, Glinton still preferred the latter, probably because he could always go back home from time to time.
Then Glinton sighed, "I wonder what kind of symphony can be used as the ending piece if even New Country Symphony isn't qualified."
It was totally within people's expectation that Fate was played at the very beginning, because it represented Lucien's past accomplishment, however, in their mind, they felt that this masterpiece, New Country Symphony, was totally enough for being the ending piece of the symphony, but it was not.
The old man smiled, "Maybe it's even better than New Country Symphony. I believe in Mr. Evans."
"Me, too." Glinton turned to look at the crystal wall again.
They were not alone. People were waiting for the ending piece with the great expectation and the belief in the young musician in their mind.
...
In the Psalm Hall.
Elena wiped off her tears and said to Felicia in a low voice, "I can tell how much Lucien missed his hometown, relatives, and friends in the past three years. The feelings are so real in the music, and the true feelings are beyond touching."
Felicia's eyes also looked a bit red from her tears, "It reminded me of my trip with Mr. Victor. At first, I did not feel much, but after a month, I started to miss my parents and my bedroom like crazy. I tried to turn this emotion into music, so I wrote the piano piece you heard. But it can never be compared to Lucien's presentation. His music has greatly inspired me again¡­ Maybe, maybe I started to admire Lucien¡­"
As a student who studied music with Lucien together in Victor's class, although Felicia was surprised and even shocked for a few times with Lucien's talent and the music pieces he wrote, and she also respected him as a great musician, she never felt this admiration in her heart right now.
"Me, too." Elena smiled.
Felicia put her right hand in front of her chest and said, "Let's wait for the last piece of symphony. Let's admire Lucien even more!"
"Grace said to me that both Mr. Franz and Mr. Fabbrini praised Ode to Joy very highly, even higher than New Country Symphony," said Elena. "Lucien won't let us down. When I get old, I can tell my grandchildren by the fireplace that I am a friend of the legendary musician¡­"
...
In the balcony for the nobles, after hearing what Christopher said, Natasha asked, "Mr. President, are you leaving before finishing the religious music piece?"
"Maybe my hometown could inspire me even more." Christopher smiled peacefully, "Your Highness, did Lucien ever mention New Country Symphony to you in the letters? You look the same impressed as we are, as if it were the first time you heard it."
Natasha slightly lifted her brows and said, "It is my first time. He was good at keeping secrets. But I am not surprised with the theme because I could tell how much he missed Aalto from his letters. Of course, I have different feelings toward New Country Symphony, after all, Aalto is my hometown, and my memory belongs here. Lucien's music reminded me more of my childhood when I was traveling in Holm."
The grand duke agreed. Although the symphony provoked lots of memories in him, as a man born and raised in Aalto, he did not feel much nostalgia.
"I feel the same way, but I did feel the nostalgia when I was doing the tour concert." Victor nodded and spoke highly of his own student, "At that time, I missed Aalto a lot. I missed the place that Winnie and I built together. But my Love Symphony is not about this, and I also don't think I can compose such an excellent music piece¡­"
Othello slightly shook his head and said, "I have mixed feelings toward the symphony. I like the second movement a lot, but I don't like the structure of the other parts. I hope Ode to Joy can be more consistent."
"It must be a great piece of music that can be compared to Symphony of Fate." Natasha had faith in her friend.
Although it was not hard for her to listen to Lucien's rehearsal beforehand, she restrained herself from doing so and left all the excitement for today.
Victor also nodded, "I'm sure Lucien won't let us down."
"Don't put too much pressure on a young fellow." Christopher grinned, "But I have to say that I'm very, very excited as well."
The grand duke said with mixed feelings, "Let's wait and see."
Count Hayne, Count Rafati, the cardinal Gossett and many others were all waiting for the ending piece of the concert.
...
In the backstage.
Lucien's coughing was getting worse.
"Mr. Evans, are you alright? Maybe we should have Mr. Franz to conduct..." suggest Fabbrini gently.
Lucien covered his mouth and shook his head, "I'm¡­ alright. It's just temporary. I've been doing fine for almost three hours, and I'll be still fine in the last hour. After all, I'm a knight!"
Because Lucien had been coughing quite a lot, but nothing big really happened, people in the backstage listened to Lucien and were not very concerned.
Lucien looked at Fabbrini sincerely and said, "There's no excellent baritone singer in Aalto, so¡­ please, Mr. Fabbrini, although I know it's hard."
Opera was not as popular as Symphony in Aalto, therefore, it was also hard to find really good opera singers here.
Mr. Fabbrini's face flushed a bit under Lucien's gaze, "I assure you, Mr. Evans. I've been practicing a lot, and I won't let you down."
Using some secret techniques from the church, Fabbrini now could make the best use of his throat to sing different parts, which required a lot of practice time.
Lucien nodded and stood up. He looked around at the singers and chorus members, and then raised his arm, "My friends, let's forget the same old platitudes and sing for joy!"
"Sing for joy!" All of the people in the backstage repeated out of great passion.
When Fabbrini and the chorus members were prepared, Lucien adjusted his suit a bit and walked out of the backstage with confidence.

Chapter 296: Glory
				Chapter 296: Glory
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the municipal square, around the crystal walls, when the several famous singers walked out from the backstage together with the adult and children chorus and stood behind the band in a half circle, people were very surprised.
"What is this? Why is Mr. Fabbrini also here? Is this a chorus?"
Being informed that the last piece was Symphony in D minor, people had no idea what was going on there.
Betty asked Jonna, "Is Mr. Evans gonna add the chorus part in it?"
"Impossible. I've never seen anything like this." A man who was a symphony fan cut in.
Joanna responded, "Mr. Evans is known for being a reformer. His Symphony of Fate and New Country Symphony do not strictly follow the typical structure of a symphony either."
People were talking to each other, and they were getting even more curious.
In the Psalm Hall, when Christopher saw Mr. Fabbrini and the chorus showing up on the stage, Christopher said with a smile on his face, "He's gonna add a singing part in the last symphony piece¡­ What a brave innovation."
Although Lucien tried to make it a secret, it was impossible to hide the fact from the many musicians in the association. Many musicians and instrumentalists already had a brief idea of what Lucien was going to do.
Being used to the fact that Lucien loved seeking for changes, most musicians were taking a neutral standpoint. At the bottom of their heart, they were expecting some new forms of symphony, especially those open-minded ones like Christopher.
"I heard that it's an excellent symphony piece!" said Natasha confidently, who was always on Lucien's side. In her mind, she blamed Lucien a little bit for never telling her anything about the new symphonies in the letters. After all, there was no chance that Lucien could finish composing both New Country Symphony and Ode to Joy within the few months after he came back to Aalto.
Othello shook his head, "No one has tried this before. We will see."
At this time, Lucien, who looked very handsome in his black tuxedo, walked out of the backstage and bowed to the audience.
The whole municipal square and the Psalm Hall became very quiet immediately.
This was the power of a great musician.
Turning around, Lucien stood at the center of the semicircle. He raised his hands and got ready.
Again, slightly closing his eyes, Lucien immersed himself in the memories. He remembered the day when he sat in the crate and saw Lazar wearing the black, double-breasted coat welcoming him, the day he finally arrived in Holm. That day was like a strong beam of sunlight that drove the dark clouds in the sky away!
Without enough life experience, a musician would find it very difficult to present a music piece in the way he or she wanted.
The baton and Lucien's left hand rose and fell gently in the air like they were trying to catch the original emotions and feelings from afar. Then, the deep and profound melody followed, and the trill part brought the audience the blurry picture of a distant view.
Victor felt thrilled with the trill in his soul, either from the excitement when he heard the melody or from the reverence in his mind toward the deep emotions lying in the music notes.
Victor was not alone here. Including the cardinals, the entire audience had this essential, deep and direct sense of feeling in their mind toward music. The music was grand and serious, as if there was growing power in it, and also as if there was some kind of gloominess hiding in it. It was the great difficulties that everyone must experience from one's birth to death!
Then, the power grew greater and greater. The strong rhythm shook the audience's heart like waves. The secondary theme made them feel retained, just like the feeling that no one would like to face the difficulties and one's fate. The two themes together presented the fighting spirit in the first movement, which was also the main idea of Fate and Pathetique.
From time to time, some more peaceful and gentle pieces of melody were used alternately, signifying the belief that darkness would definitely be overcome!
The first movement lasted for sixteen minutes, and the audience was completely lost in the music. Warm applause burst out. People applauded with great passion to show their appreciation to the movement.
"Grand opening! Profound and full of images! Very outstanding!" Othello finally spoke highly of the music.
Natasha agreed proudly, "If the following three movements can be of the same level, without doubt, Ode to Joy would be able to be compared to other classic masterpieces like Fate and the War of Dawn. What a great concert!"
However, the grand duke was a bit hesitant, "Although the first movement is for sure impressive, I feel that there's something missing here¡­ say, a climax."
"That's true. The structure, techniques, the melody¡­ are all perfect. But it's not as imposing and overwhelming as Fate, neither as touching as Moonlight and Pathetique," said Christopher. "It still needs a point that people can remember. Right now, the first movement is like an extinct volcano with magma boiling underneath. The emotions need to burst out."
"I totally agree." Victor nodded, since he also felt the sense of oppression, "I'm expecting that Lucien can push it forward in the following movements."
Count Hayne, Count Rafati and Cardinal Gossett found it hard for them to add any comments here, but they also had the same feeling.
The feeling was in fact shared by everyone.
Soon, the second movement began. Unusually, the second movement did not follow the tradition of using lento but adopted a cheerful and lively pace, as if an army was chasing after its enemy in the mood of victory under the blue sky and in the sunshine.
"Again, he's not following what we expected." Christopher had a spoiling smile on his face.
Othello first did not feel comfortable with it, but soon accepted the change here, since, according to the theme of the second movement, he did not have a better way to present the music other than using Allegro, and also Lucien's way of transiting movements was quite acceptable to him.
The ones on the square who had even a little understanding in symphony had all noticed the difference there, but they focused more on the music itself, instead of on its structure. To them, the second movement was simply beautiful, so the change in structure was deemed as being necessary in their eyes.
The victory continued, but the darkness approached again. Enemies came back again from all directions. People felt nervous again with the fast pace of the music.
The second movement ended in a sense of nervousness. The audience applauded warmly again to encourage Lucien as well as themselves, as if the warmer the applause was, the more powerful they could be to fight against darkness and evil.
No one talked. They were silently tasting the sense of oppression and anxiety deep in their hearts, where the volcano deep within was still gathering more terrifying power¡­
After a short break, Lucien waved his baton again, and the third movement started.
The sweet and gentle melody made people think. No one ever tried to argue whether this movement should be lento or allegro anymore. Instead, they were simply contemplating. They needed some time after the first two movements. They needed time to think¡ªwhy were they fighting? What was the meaning of fighting? What did it mean by victory? How did they come all the way here?
Did they ever meet difficulties?
Did they ever feel the sincere joy after overcoming the difficulties?
Did they ever feel that the difficulties in life seemed to be endless?
Did they ever want to give up when facing the difficulties?
Victor recalled the hard time he experienced. It was never easy for him to become a musician. He had to forget everything and lock himself in the room to work on his music, and he had to force himself to socialize with other musicians and nobles to have a chance to hold a concert. However, his first concert was a failure, during which many people directly left their seats¡­ At that time, he was surrounded by bitter taunts and great pressure. Luckily, he had Winnie's encouragement and then he worked harder ten times more. In the end, his dream was achieved, but he had never been able to see Winnie again¡­
Natasha recalled her own past. Although she was from a top noble family and had the most powerful Blessing, as if she was especially blessed by the God of Truth, her life as a princess was also not free of pain. Within a short period of time, her elder brother died on the battlefield, and her mom passed away. Therefore, she closed her heart and devoted herself to the hard knight training to escape from the pain. When she finally found her own knight spirit and decided to be brave for her love, the person she loved betrayed her and she had to kill that person with her own hands. Her cousin tried to kill her for power, but, fortunately, she was saved by her friend, Lucien¡­
While conducting, Lucien was also thinking of the great difficulties he encountered from before, as well as how his power grew out of the process. In the darkness, he never stopped running toward the sunlight and success with hope and belief.
Did they ever feel depressed facing the endless darkness in life?
Did they obtain power and lessons out of it and move forward with an even stronger will, or let themselves sink?
Did they long for brightness and success?
Were they prepared to face the challenges and pain on they way of pursuing them?
In the sweet and gentle melody, people were thinking and asking themselves these questions. They were still waiting, although their full-hearted emotions were almost ready to burst out. They were waiting for the very moment in the next movement to help them let it out.
The third movement ended. People could not wait any longer.
Lucien's movement of waving the baton suddenly became forceful. The beginning of the fourth movement set off like an erupting volcano, giving all the thoughts and emotions great power to explode and to beat the darkness and all the enemies!
The audience on the square and in the Psalm Hall immediately got encouraged and excited, as if they could see the victory and sunshine ahead of them!
However, the darkness was still lingering, and the great difficulties did not disappear on their own. The fourth movement repeated the first three movements in fragments, and thus again gave people this strong sense of tension.
Victory was not there yet. They still had to march forward! They still need to run toward the light!
The major melody of Ode to Joy was played by double basses, comforting people and giving them hope.
But it was still not enough! Not enough!
People had made their effort, and they were already right at the edge of darkness and light, but they were still not there yet!
The melody of Ode to Joy started to become the major theme of the movement. The different parts of the band were joining together and playing the same song, like countless streams joining together into a great current.
But it was still not enough! Not enough!
It was just like when Lucien first arrived at the port in Holm, but the lid of the crate that he was in was not yet opened. Everything remained unknown and was still in darkness.
All the audience, including Natasha, clenched their fists, waiting for the last moment of victory.
At this time, a baritone sang with his deep and profound voice, "O friends, no more of these sounds! Let us sing more cheerful songs. More songs full of joy!"
"Joy!"
"Joy!"
Like being struck by lighting, like seeing an angel falling, the thrill in the depths of everyone's soul surged and covered their whole bodies.
The whole space was filled with the passionate praise and the joyful and sacred melody. And the music was going to overwhelm and conquer everything!
"Joy! Joy!"
"Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium,
"Fire-inspired we tread,
"Within thy sanctuary."
...
People finally could let out their many strong emotions from their heart, and thus everyone's soul became light and relaxed, full of the ultimate and sacred joy.
It was like after going through seemingly endless darkness and then finally seeing the first beam of sunlight piercing through the clouds and lighting up the world.
It was like Victor, that after experiencing lots of setbacks and difficulties, finally received warm applause and won himself the victory. At that moment, his eyes were filled with tears.
It was like when the lid of the crate was open, and Lucien saw the blue sky and Lazar's big smile. His heart was full of all kinds of emotions and he realized that he could finally be entirely free from those worries he had in Aalto. All his hard work and the risk he took finally paid off.
If there was no bitter taste, there was no taste of sweet.
If there was no pain, there was no gain.
If there was no hard work, there was no success.
If there were no great sufferings, there was no ultimate and pure joy like this!
At this moment, people felt that they were shocked deep within their souls, and they were lost in the melody sung by the four parts. They found the ultimate joy with tears in their eyes, praising for the blessing from the God of Truth!
"All creatures drink of joy,
"At nature's breast.
"Just and unjust,
"Alike taste of her gift."
...
People believed that Ode to Joy was the praise to the God of Truth. Fabbrini also felt touched by the grandness and the divinity of this symphony. As he was singing, tears streamed down his face.
Since he was born, he suffered from the inhumane operation and forced himself to practice endlessly. For the first time, he felt the ultimate, pure joy given by the God of Truth. His tears were out of joy.
When he could take a short break when the choruses were singing, Fabbrini looked at the conductor standing in front of the band, watching how devoted this young musician was when presenting this great masterpiece to everyone.
What a great musician!
When it was his turn again, Fabbrini sang in an even more sincere and dedicated manner:
"Gladly, like the heavenly bodies,
"Which He sent on their courses,
"Through the splendor of the firmament,
"Thus, brothers, you should run your race,
"Like a hero going to victory!"
Listening to the lyrics, all the cardinals and pastors present, including Gossett, started to cross in front of their chests.
Again and again, the combination of human voices and the band was just perfect!
When the children chorus started to sing "Joy! Joy! Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium" again, the audience was beyond thrilled when they let go of all their restrains and depression fully and delightfully.
They felt free. It was the ultimate freedom!
The sunlight kissed the whole world, and the world was filled with joy. Lucien's baton made the last movement, and the symphony ended there in a perfect way.
After a few seconds of silence, people started to get crazy. The applause beyond warm was like an erupting volcano, making the whole space tremble. They could not control themselves but tried to go forward to stay closer to the great musician. They had tears in their eyes. They wanted to kiss the great musician to show their crazy admiration and respect!
Many nobles in the Psalm Hall hurriedly stood up and ran toward the stage.
The people on the square stopped in front of the crystal walls and cried aloud:
"Lucien Evans!"
"Lucien Evans!"
"Lucien Evans!"
They believed that their cry could be heard by this young musician, so he could know how much they loved him!
No concert had ever been crazy like this.
For a second, Fabbrini felt it was like a dream, but soon he realized their great success!
"Mr. Evans¡­ It's time to give your regards to the audience¡­" Fabbrini reminded Lucien, since he saw that Mr. Evans was still standing there with his head low.
Lucien slowly looked up, but his face was beyond pale.
After a big smile, Lucien turned around. His right hand was on his chest, and he started to bow.
To the great shock of Fabbrini and the audience, they saw Lucien falling to the floor like a swan that had lost all its strength in its wings.
The scene suddenly turned into black and white in Fabbrini's eyes. On one side, there were people crazily cheering for the great success of the concert like boiled water; on the other side, the young musician's body slowly collapsed to the floor.

Chapter 297: A Good Actress
				Chapter 297: A Good Actress
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the streets around the municipal square, people were crying Lucien's name. Seeing that the crystal walls were slowly disappearing, they cried out loud, over and over again:
"Lucien Evans!"
No any other music pieces ever touched their soul like this, and no other music pieces ever won this much emotional resonance. They felt great pain and ultimate joy in the music. When Fabbrini started to sing, they were beyond thrilled.
This excitement lasted a long time even after the crystal walls disappeared. Although now they could not see the great, young musician who brought God's will to them, people on the square were still crazily showing their respect and deep affections toward Lucien.
However, in the Psalm Hall, the audience was completely shocked when seeing Lucien Evans collapsing to the floor like a falling angel, and they would never forget that moment.
Then, with a silvery-purple lightning flashing on the stage, the princess, Natasha, who was wearing a long purple dress, showed up beside Lucien and grabbed him with her arms before his head really hit the floor. Then, after turning quickly, Natasha took Lucien back to the balcony she was in within a second, leaving the nobles around the stage stunned.
The princess was quicker than anyone. When people realized what just happened, many started to feel certain that the rumor was true.
"Cardinal Gossett, please save him!" Although Natasha remained quite calm, her voice trembled a bit. Her hand held Lucien's hand tight.
Gossett nodded, "Only the most dedicated follower can produce this grand praise to the God. The God of Truth won't take away his life like this. I'll try my best to cure him."
Although Victor tried his best to come closer, Natasha was hugging Lucien in her arms like a mom guarding her own child. Staring at Lucien, Victor walked back and forth fretfully, until he saw the cardinal started to cast the divine spell on Lucien with the Saint Truth Badge.
Through holding Lucien's hand, Natasha infused her own power into Lucien's body, trying her best to disguise the differences in Lucien's soul when compared to common people, since he was a sorcerer.
Seeing that Lucien was not really dying, Gossett only used the most common divine spell for checking. Therefore, the cardinal did not notice much difference.
About a minute later, under the worried gaze of people, Gossett smiled, "He's alright. Mr. Evans just fainted, since he's been sick for some time and got too excited when conducting. Of course, if he does not receive any treatment for a week or so, he would probably die, even as a knight, but right now he'll be fine. God bless him."
The healing divine spells also had limits. From the Church's point of view, these divine spells could only work on the basis of one's life force. If a person's life force had been greatly lost because of some kind of long-time disease, the divine spells would also be ineffective. At that time, maybe only the God of Truth could save the person.
What Gossett did not mention was that Lucien Evans seemed to be a level-two knight. However, thinking of the relationship between him and the princess, he did not think it was a big deal.
"But why? As a young knight, unless being very weak or because of some kind of bad pestilence, he shouldn't get this sick." Hearing the cardinal's words, Natasha asked in a calmer way.
In fact, she was well aware of the fact that it was because Lucien cast the fourth-circle spell, Pestilence, on himself a few weeks ago.
Lucien did not do anything to treat himself after casting the spell on himself, instead, he completely relied on his own immunocompetence. As he wished, the disease brought by the magic spell slowly developed into a chronic disease, which was very hard for others to find out.
Gossett thought for a few seconds and said, "Maybe it's from his organ injury from before."
"I see." Natasha nodded, "Then please do something to help him."
Gossett reached out both of his hands and sacred light burst out. When the light covered Lucien's body, there were small, black clusters of miasma rising from Lucien's body, and the miasma clusters were seemingly made of invisible tiny worms.
Level three divine spell, Remove Disease. It was not a fancy spell, but sometimes worked very well.
Disguising the difference in Lucien's soul with her own power, when seeing the miasma slowly disappear in the holy light, Natasha put on a relieved look.
Seeing the look on Natasha's face, and the hands that held tight, the grand duke had mixed feelings in his heart. He had to say that he did not like the fact that his own daughter was going to leave him to be with some bastard boy, but also he was glad that his daughter finally went back to "normal", so the family blood would not die out.
Count Rafati grinned, "At least he has awakened his Blessing. Better than nothing."
The grand duke once told them that, no matter if the guy had awakened his Blessing or not, no matter whether he was a noble, and even no matter whether he really pulled Natasha back to "normal", as long as his daughter could get married and have offspring like a normal person, he would not interfere with Natasha's other choices too much.
The grand duke released a long sigh and nodded, "That's true¡­"
After Gossett cast another level four divine spell, Recover, Lucien slowly opened his eyes. He looked around confusedly and asked, "Why¡­ What happened?"
Victor's brows tightly knotted together and he said in a very caring way, "You shouldn't have pushed yourself this hard. Health should always come the first place. Do you really think that it's right for you to hold this concert when you're sick like this? Couldn't you just put if off a bit?" 
Hearing Victor's questions, Lucien was a bit touched, "I'm sorry, Mr. Victor. I was¡­ just too excited about this concert, and I failed to stop. Now I'll take a good rest."
Gossett slightly nodded, "Mr. Evans, although the disease has been cured, you still have to take a long time to recover your life force."
"You almost made my heart stop beating, but I guess it was worth it. I was totally impressed by Ode to Joy, so I've got nothing really to complain." Seeing that Lucien was fine, Christopher joked a little.
Natasha released a sigh of relief and said to the cardinal, "I gotta send Lucien back first. Then I'll be back so we can have a conversation about his future treatment."
"Natasha, remember to tell people that I'm alright." Lucien reminded her.
"I got it." Natasha nodded. "You just take a good rest."
Seeing that Lucien was lying in Natasha's arms and their faces were so close together. Many people, including the grand duke, Christopher and Victor, put on an a slightly weird look.
After Natasha carried Lucien in her arms and left the hall, many nobles started to take glances at the grand duke, as if they were saying congratulations¡­ The grand duke had no idea how to respond.
...
In the sky, Natasha said to Lucien with a smart smile on her face, "After you 'die', I think my father won't force me to get married for a long time."
Then her voice became a bit sad, "He knows how it feels to lose your beloved ones in a few years."
"I have to say that you're a good actress," said Lucien sincerely.
"Of course. I like drama a lot!"
"So when you suggested that I should let the musician die, you already had this plan to use me to get rid of the pressure from your father?" Lucien grinned.
"Come on¡­ It just came to me¡­" Natasha put on an awkward smile.
"Friends don't lie. You can just admit it." Lucien lifted his eyebrows like Natasha.
Natasha switched the topic and looked around, "Well, we gotta get you back home first, so then I can talk to Gossett to make sure your next step of the plan can work."
Flying beside them and looking at them, with no facial expression on her face.
...
In the Psalm Hall, knowing that Lucien Evans was okay, the nobles were more relieved, and then they started to leave the hall, still feeling very excited.
What they did not know was that the moment when they saw Lucien slowly collapse to the floor like a black swan would in fact be their last look at this great musician.
After Christopher, Victor and Othello walked out of the Psalm Hall, when they saw the crowd that still lingered on the streets and around the square, they were very impressed.
Christopher said, "I've never seen something like this before. Maybe I won't be able to see this again before I die."
"Ode to Joy deserves this crazy affection," said Othello seriously, who just could not resist the power of this kind of sacred music. "As far as I'm concerned, Ode to Joy is the best symphony piece ever!"
Although he was right in front of Mr. Christopher, he still had to say so.

Chapter 298: The Angry Clown
				Chapter 298: The Angry Clown
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the Golden Cathedral, Aalto.
"What? Sentence Clown to death? He's the leader of the Night Watch!" Although Gossett, the red-robed cardinal, knew that Natasha would be pissed after seeing the black miasma, he totally did not expect this.
Natasha's silvery-purple eyes looked at the cardinal seriously, "Yes, Clown must be sentenced to death."
As a cardinal, Gossett was good at controlling his emotions. Although he knew that Natasha was not here for negotiation, he still said to the princess in a nice way, "Your Highness, Mr. Evans will be fine. No side effects will be left. Maybe you can let this thing go. After all, we cannot make sure that it was Clown who attacked Mr. Evans. Quite possibly, it was some heretic who wanted to frame Clown up."
"Cardinal Gossett, this is simple. If you think Lucien accused the wrong person, just let him ask Clown a few questions himself, and use the divine spells to test if Clown is lying, so everything would be clear," Natasha said in a very pushy way. After all, both of them were of senior-rank.
Facing Natasha's proposal, Gossett was a bit speechless. Because, in fact, the pastors and cardinals all believed that it was Clown who did this, and it would definitely bring very negative words to the reputation of the Church if the fact was proved.
"Alright¡­" Gossett used in the same gentle voice and said, "Let's first assume that Clown did it. Why would he do it? The only possibility is that Mr. Evans might have something to do with Professor, the evil sorcerer on the Cleansing List, so Clown decided to test him¡­"
"You've got any evidence?" Natasha took a step forward and there was stateliness in her eyes, "It's not in the War of Dawn, and you cannot randomly accuse someone of having 'something to do with' a sorcerer. Clown almost killed Lucien Evans because of his terrible assumption, so can I say someday the Church can directly kill a noble because of a baseless suspicion? No noble would want to live in this kind of fear. Also, although knights might not worry that much about themselves, they would still worry about the safety of their family!"
Gossett felt great pressure.
"On behalf of all the nobles of Aalto, I insist that Clown shall be sentenced to death to warn all the night watchers. No one can break the pact between the Church and the nobles!"
Gossett wished that they had lived in a few hundred years ago, so he could just ignore the unreasonable request from Natasha. However, the power of the nobles had increased a lot, and when they were united together, their power was strong enough to affect the decision made by the Church. Also, what Natasha said was not just nonsense.
"Your Highness, you're a devoted follower of the God of Truth. Fortunately, Mr. Evans is fine. And even though Clown made a bad mistake, sentencing him to death isn't the only solution, right?" Gossett softened his tone, "We can send Clown to the Inquisition, where he will get the punishment he deserves."
Natasha crossed in front of chest, "Only truth lives forever." Then, she said seriously, "I'm a devoted follower, so I don't want to see anyone ruining the relationship between the Church and the nobles like Clown did." Natasha's voice became very firm, "Clown must die."
Gossett remained silent for a while and said, "I'll send your request to the grand cardinals. I'm sorry I cannot make the decision for the Inquisition."
Natasha nodded, "I'm sure that the grand cardinal and cardinal Amelton know how serious this thing is, and I'll be waiting for the final decision."
...
In a common house in Aalto.
Clown was reading the information collected, trying to find clues out of it to figure out the relationship between Lucien Evans and Professor.
All of sudden, the door was pushed open. Juliana, the battle pastor, rushed in and said out of panic, "You gotta leave now, right now!"
"What? Calm down, Juliana." Clown looked up at Juliana with his ridiculous-looking face.
Juliana took a deep breath, "The Inquisition has decided to sentence you to death. You have to run now."
"What?!" Clown could not believe his own ears. He felt that he was abandoned by the whole world. He could not believe that all the effort he had made to defeat the evil for Lord, for the Church and the Inquisition now meant nothing at all.
Juliana said in a great hurry, "Lucien Evans passed out at the end of his concert an hour ago. Cardinal Gossett said it was because of the injury he had from before. The princess is very angry. Representing the nobles, she's imposed great pressure on the Church. From Lend's words, it seems that the Church has compromised. They're planning on arresting you and sentencing you to death secretly to pacify the nobles without damaging the Church's reputation."
"Sentence me¡­ to death?" The ridiculous-looking clown face was still grinning, but the voice behind the mask was beyond desperate.
Juliana thought Clown did not believe her words, so she explained further, "You should trust Lend. I know we didn't get along well with him after what happened in the Black Forest, but as soon as he was selected to be the one to arrest you, he took a great risk and told me this. He needs you to leave Aalto right now. Someday you can come back using another identity. Several cardinals in the Inquisition are still on your side!"
Clown started murmuring to himself but just stood still there, as if his soul had been stolen. When Juliana was about to urge him to leave again, Clown burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha¡­ Haha!"
The laughter sounded crazy.
"Are you alright?" Juliana asked concernedly.
The laughter suddenly stopped, and Clown replied in an extremely calm way, "I'm fine. I just find it funny. A musician who is close to an evil sorcerer and a princess who has special connections to the Congress of Magic can force the Church to kill their most loyal servant. I wonder if the Church has belonged to those sorcerers. How can the grand cardinals¡­ How can Sard, Amelton, and Gossett let this happen?"
"It doesn't matter. I trust you, Minsk trusts you, Lend trusts you, and many night watchers are also on your side. Two out of the three leaders of the Inquisition have mercy on you! This is just temporary. One day the darkness will be driven away!"
Clown shook his head, "I'm okay, Juliana. You have to trust my willpower, or I wouldn't be able to control my Blessing power. I'll hide properly until I find the solid evidence. Then I'll accuse Lucien Evans of connecting to the evil sorcerer right in front of the Inquisition, or¡­ it'll be even better if I can kill Lucien Evans right in front of Natasha's eyes."
"Don't! Right now Lucien Evans must be under great protection." Juliana hurriedly reminded him, "Maybe this is a trap for you!"
Although she was aware that Clown was able to control his emotions to avoid making stupid mistakes, Juliana also knew that a dark Blessing could make people more or less crazy.
Clown looked out of the window and sneered, "I know. I know how bad Lucien Evans was injured by me. I did not have the time to really harm him. As a knight, even without those potions, he should be able to recover within a few days. It was Lucien Evans himself who turned this into a bad disease, and thus Natasha could find the reason to kill me using the Church's hand. I'll be careful when investigating him. This time, I'll get him."
His eyes on the clown mask looked cold.
...
In the garden villa.
"Lucien, are you sure that someone will tell Clown the news?" asked Natasha with uncertainty. "Don't tell me you learned this from your magic crystal ball."
"How did you know?" Lucien pretended to be surprised, then he said, "It's just a simple reasoning. What you asked for was too much, and the cardinals and the leaders of the inquisition must more or less sympathize with Clown, not to mention that based on the number of night watchers that survived in the black forest, there must be other people who hate Professor very badly just like Clown, and those people must be on Clown's side."
What Natasha said to Gossett was previously agreed by the two of them.
"I see, but this is just your reasoning. Those cardinals and the Inquisition have always been taking a ruthless position when it comes to maintaining their relationship with nobles, so maybe Clown will be killed, and then your plan wouldn't be able to continue." Although Natasha was impressed by Clown's resolution in fighting against darkness and evilness, she was on her friend's side firmly. She knew it well when she should have mercy and when not.
"Even so, those night watchers are gonna be so worked up that they won't just let go of Professor."
Also, Lucien thought to himself that, if that person noticed something, he would not blow this chance. After Clown attacked him, Lucien found another way of using this chance and this was also the foundation of his reasoning.
"I hope so." Natasha smiled, "You've got that person's information. You should go now. I'll stay here for you."
...
Although he failed to awaken his Blessing, Viscount Klein was still very energetic in his fifties. His black hair was taken good care of and his green eyes were like deep lakes. He was an archon in the town hall of Aalto.
After attending Lucien Evans' concert in the Psalm Hall, he was too excited to fall asleep. So he just got up and started to read the books he collected in his living room.
It was getting late. Putting down the old book in his hand, Klein was ready to go to his bedroom.
When he put on his pajamas in front of the mirror, a mysterious figure showed up in it, like a reflection. The man in the mirror said to him in a hoarse voice:
"Long time no see, Mr. Philosopher."
"Professor?!" Klein was shocked, and in the next second, he activated mage armor. In the past years, he finally became a sorcerer.
Viscount Klein was one of the apprentices, Philosopher. Because he was close to Silvia's father, or say, White Honey's father, Natasha got his information but never told this to anyone.
Klein carefully looked back but saw no one behind him. However, the man wearing the black robe in the mirror was still there.
The fourth-circle spell, Figure in Mirror?

Chapter 299: The Guide
				Chapter 299: The Guide
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Ten o'clock at night, on the 3rd day of the Month of Passion, the sixth of the year.
When the entire city was still immersed in the great charm of the concert, when people all over the streets were still humming the melody of New Country Symphony and Ode to Joy, those who lived in the darkness had come back to their original life, and now they were seizing the chance to have their secret gathering.
In a common-looking house in Purple Lily District, about ten people gathered in the basement. Most of them were wearing the same black robes, while some were wearing the common masks drawn with bear or goat that kids could easily buy on the streets.
"Hanger, why is Mr. Philosopher still not here?" A woman asked. Although she was wearing a loose black robe, one could tell that her figure was quite nice. Despite the disguise, her voice was still sweet.
They were standing around a round table, on which there were several white candles, many books and pieces of paper.
Hanger answered in his cold voice, "Why do you ask me, Mercury? As a sorcerer, Mr. Philosopher doesn't have to arrive here early."
In this dangerous city, Aalto, after becoming a real sorcerer, Philosopher did not leave the magic apprentice circle, instead, he chose to play the role of teacher for the apprentices. He taught the apprentices a lot and sometimes offered the apprentices useful potions and materials by exchanging some things. Now, he was already the leader in this circle. Thanks to Philosopher's effort, Hanger was also close to becoming a real sorcerer, and other apprentices had also improved a lot.
"Five more minutes. If Mr. Philosopher is still not here, I'm afraid we must go." Before Mercury said anything, the man wearing a reindeer mask said in a hoarse voice.
Other apprentices all agreed. It was not that they did not want to show respect to Mr. Philosopher. For a secret meeting like this, if anyone was late, that might very possibly be a sign of danger.
Hearing that, Morning Star said in frustration, "I'm really fed up with this kind of life¡­ worrying and hiding all the time."
"If you don't want to worry and hide, consider Fire Wolf's solution." Hanger was being ironical.
Suddenly, all the apprentices quieted down. Although they were not there on the spot in the black forest, they heard the rumors and some were even directly told that Fire Wolf was the traitor.
Mercury released a sigh, "If Mr. Professor hadn't left Aalto in a hurry, if there hadn't been a traitor, maybe we would have known where the Congress of Magic is already, and we wouldn't be this confused and lost now."
When mentioning the name of Professor, she felt in awe. The name represented profound knowledge and terrifying magic power, and the name was even on the Cleansing List!
Hearing Professor's name, the apprentices who joined the gathering not long ago all felt very curious. They totally believed what Mercury just said, as the name was even intimidating for those sorcerers belonging to other circles!
"I thought Mr. Professor was a common middle-rank mage, but his power was way more terrifying than I thought¡­" Hanger murmured.
At this time, someone knocked at the door in a unique way.
"It's Mr. Philosopher¡­" The apprentices felt a bit more relaxed. They then all stood up to show their respect.
Mercury walked toward the chamber door and asked carefully in a low voice, "Mr. Philosopher?"
The house they were in was a two-storey one with lots of windows that one could get in. Therefore, they did not place any detection spells beside the house door, instead, they placed many magic traps on the corridor towards the chamber. They had special ways of knocking the door to know who it was, and if there was any dangers, they could escape through the secret magic hidden path in the basement.
"It's me," the man answered, whose voice sounded old.
The voice was familiar, and the tone was calm. Their spiritual power told the apprentices that there was nothing wrong.
Every time when someone was at the door, each one of the apprentices had their guts lurched up in their throat, which made them feel horrible.
Dismissing the magic trap, Mercury opened the door and saw Mr. Philosopher wearing the black robe and hood.
"Good evening, Mr. Philosopher." All the apprentices put their right hand on their forehead and bowed with great respect.
But after they looked up, they all gasped as they were completely shocked. There was another man wearing a big black robe standing beside Philosopher, but they were not aware of this at all just now when they used spiritual power to scan around!
"Who is he? Why are you bringing a stranger?" Mercury was angry. It was strictly prohibited by the gathering.
With no notice in advance, no one could bring any strangers here.
Although other apprentices also felt offended, they did not say anything right in front of Mr. Philosopher. After all, he was a real sorcerer.
Seeing Mercury's reaction, these apprentices guessed that very possibly Mercury had already become a real sorcerer, and she was just hiding her power.
Philosopher remained calm and grinned, "Calm down, Mercury. He's not a stranger. He's been here before."
"What? Who?" Mercury and the other apprentices were all very surprised.
"Mercury, Hanger, Morning Star, Reindeer¡­ you all don't remember me anymore?" said Lucien in his pretended hoarse voice, and he released his great spiritual power completely to let the apprentices feel it. 
This power did not come from any magic items, but from a real middle-rank mage.
In Hangers and the rest of the apprentices' eyes, the black-robed sorcerer was beyond dreadful. His power was like an endless pit of darkness, and just taking a step closer to it could take away all their strength and make them feel freezing cold. If the man really intended to use his power on them, their limp legs would not even be able to let them stand there still, not to mention casting any spells.
With no doubt, he was definitely a middle-rank mage!
His power was terrifying, and in front of his power, the power of the apprentices was just nothing.
Although Mercury also took a few steps backward, and her beautiful hands were slightly trembling, she was still able to move in front of the great power.
"¡­ Mr. Professor?" Her voice trembled as well, "You're Mr. Professor!"
Professor was the only middle-rank mage she once had a connection to so far.
"I'm glad you can recognize me," said Lucien coldly. Although he laughed when he was talking, the laughter was also cold. He was aware that Mercury did not recognize him because of his appearance¡ªthe fake hoarse voice he was using was not special at all, and he made himself look even a bit taller.
The rest of the apprentices were beyond shocked.
"Mr¡­ Mr. Professor?!" They repeated the name subconsciously. They could not believe that the sorcerer whose name was on the Cleansing List at the three hundred and sixtieth place was standing right in front of them. Professor, the name which had been bothering Night Watch for more than three years, was a legend in the circle of magic of Aalto!
They totally did not expect this.
The apprentices suddenly felt very proud and excited. Also, the hope that they might get to know where the Congress of Magic was started to grow fiercely!
Lucien was there before, so he totally understood what they were going through right now. Therefore, even though he had no other purposes, he would still find other ways to tell them how to get to the Congress.
After the apprentices bowed to Professor respectfully, Philosopher introduced, "Mr. Professor, among the apprentices you know from before, some left Aalto as they saw no hope here, like Oak and White Glove; some died, like Owl and White Honey¡­ Now we still have Mercury, Hanger, Morning Star, Reindeer and me, and the rest of them are new members."
Lucien was a bit emotional as his memory was awakened. He did not expect that Smile died during his adventure, and he wondered if Lord Doro managed to escape. As for White Honey's death, no one knew better than Lucien.
After the introduction part, and after Professor sat down, Mercury asked hurriedly and eagerly, "Mr. Professor, can you tell us where the Congress of Magic is? I'm willing to do everything that I can for the information! Please tell me if there are any conditions?"
She wanted to get the information as soon as possible. No one knew what would happen in the next second.
Under the gaze of the apprentices, Lucien replied, "There's no condition required, as it's my duty as a sorcerer to introduce more of you to the Congress to help it grow. I'm here for you all as a guide, and I'm willing to help."
Lucien differed himself from Felipe and those people from the Hand of Paleness.
After a short time of silence, Mercury's voice trembled as she almost cried, "Mr. Professor, I have no idea how to express my gratitude. Thank you so much. Can you tell us where it is right now?"
Only people who were there themselves before understood the great nervousness and intensity as well as the depression these apprentices were under every day.
"If we can get there, Mr. Professor, we'll never forget your help!" Hanger was excited as well.
All the apprentices presented showed their feelings of gratitude. Then, Lucien smiled and said, "The Congress of Magic is in the Kingdom of Holm, across the Storm Strait. It's a floating city close to the kingdom's capital, Rentato, and the city is called Allyn."

Chapter 300: Clown¡¯s Action
				Chapter 300: Clown¡¯s Action
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"It's a city in the Sky?! In the Kingdom of Holm?" Mercury repeated the words out of great surprise.
Hanger and Reindeer were also shocked, "Rentato? Near the capital?!"
It was totally out of their expectation, like how Lucien felt when he first heard where the Congress was. They simply could not imagine that the Congress of Magic could exist above board right in front of people's eyes in the country across the strait.
They thought that the Congress was probably deep into the mountain ranges, or even in another dimension or demiplane, which was secretly connected to the main material world.
Philosopher, Viscount Klein, had more or less heard something from Count Hayne, Count Rafati, and some other big nobles, so he remained relatively calm.
Looking at the surprised faces of the apprentices, Lucien felt quite satisfied, "Yes, the Congress is in Allyn. It's gained some support from the nobles in Holm, and its power has way surpassed that of the Church in the kingdom. Right now, if it was not because of the nobles' wish to maintain the power balance between the three parties, and if it was not because of the great cost the Church has paid to hold the Radiance Church, the kingdom would have been under the Congress' control."
"It's¡­ It's unbelievable¡­" Mercury murmured, and she still could not believe what she just heard. She was born and also grew up in the Duchy of Violet, and in her mind, the Church's power was greater than anything else, even across different dimensions. If the Church had not been divided, most sorcerers would have died out already. How was it possible that the Congress of Magic could overpower the Church?
Mercury was not alone here. Even including Philosopher, the apprentices present were all very surprised and confused. Although Philosopher had heard something about the kingdom across the strait, because he was not qualified enough to sit close to the grand duke, the information he had was also very limited.
In order to give him more confidence, Lucien briefly told them the history of the development of the Congress of Magic, the achievement made by some great arcanists from the Congress and its current situation. In the end, Lucien said to them, "The Congress has been the second most influential power across the continent. In Allyn, you can learn arcana and basic magic for free, and you don't need to hide anymore. Instead, you can earn yourself status and wealth that you deserve by learning magic."
Lucien was not trying to exaggerate anything, but his plain tone made the apprentices thrilled. Their great excitement left their body slightly shaking, as they finally saw the light in the seemingly endless darkness.
Although Mercury was quite calm most of the time, now she almost burst into tears, "Then Mr. Professor¡­ What shall we do? I think the Church must have blocked the strait¡­ Can you lead us to get there?"
What she said reminded the other apprentices¡ªthey realized that they were not in Allyn yet, and there were still lots of dangers waiting for them ahead.
"I've got my own things to deal with. I cannot do this for you." Lucien first rejected them and then told them the two possible routes to get there. Then he added, "If you've got any magic items that can make you fly, consider to take the route in the north through Schachran Empire. If you don't, go to Sturk and find Ferryman. There you have to prove to them that you're qualified to be sent to Allyn. So try to show them your ability and potential if you haven't become a real sorcerer when you arrive in Sturk."
Lucien did not tell them who Granneuve was, because there might be a spy from the Church among the apprentices. Lucien only told them how to find Ferryman.
Learning from the lesson a few years ago, the liaisons from the congress now had a strict series of procedures to observe, question, identify and test the apprentices. So even if the spy told the night watchers how to find Ferryman, it would still be very hard for the night watchers to get to Allyn.
Mercury calmed down a little, "Thank you, Mr. Professor. If there's a chance, I hope to see you in Allyn."
The apprentices including Philosopher knew that they had to work really hard to prove that they were useful to the Congress in order to obtain the chance of going to Allyn. This was the cost they had to pay, and they were well aware of it.
"I hope that you can tell this to other apprentices and sorcerers who you can trust. Don't be selfish. Give others the chance to choose." Lucien nodded, and then he added, "After tonight, you might want to change an identity and find another place to hide. I'm concerned that there are still spies from the Church in other magic groups."
"Got it, Mr. Professor," the apprentices answered seriously. They completely trusted Professor's words, and no one wanted to fail when they were almost there at the edge of the light.
After a while, Hanger said to Professor with some passion, "Mr. Professor, you mentioned something about arcana and basic magic. As a profound middle-rank mage, can you make some brief introduction of them? As for the pay, you can pick any magic materials that we have here¡­"
"It's free to make some basic introduction..." said Lucien in a plain tone. In fact, the materials here brought by the apprentices were just nothing in his eyes.
Hearing that, all the apprentices including philosopher stood up and gave Lucien a respectful salute following the manner of the ancient magic empire.
Then Lucien started to explain magic system using the arcana way of thinking. All of the apprentices were shocked, as they had never heard something like this before, but the new way of thinking definitely had brought them lots of thoughts.
It was different from last time when they read the journal, Arcana. Last time they were totally lost, while this time because Lucien was great at explaining profound theories using simple language, the apprentices saw a new gate behind which there was an ocean of knowledge!
At the end of the gathering, the apprentices and Philosopher were still immersed in the new world of knowledge. Even though there were parts that contradicted what they knew, what Professor said was very persuasive.
At their current level, and because they had never received any systematic education after a profound leader, it was the best time for them to absorb new knowledge like a piece of sponge.
After leaving the basement, the apprentices and Philosopher again gave Lucien a respectful salute with their right hand on their forehead, "Hope we can learn more from you if there's chance in the future, Mr. Professor."
In their eyes, Professor was not just some mysterious and important sorcerer on the Cleansing List anymore, but more like a representation of arcana and the Congress of Magic.
Lucien grinned, "My students don't like me that much. If there's chance, I hope you all won't regret."
"¡­?" The apprentices were very confused. Then they watched Professor and Philosopher leaving together.
...
Down in the sewers of Aalto.
"What? Professor's in Aalto right now?!" Clown suddenly stood up and his eyes stared at Juliana like they were going to burn.
Juliana was both thrilled and nervous, "Yes, an hour ago, we've confirmed it from our spy that he just attended the gathering of the magic group. "
The spy reported to them immediately after the gathering. After all, Professor was on the Cleansing List, and what he had done could never be forgotten by the Night Watch.
Clown suddenly became silent, then he burst out laughing, but his laughter sounded crazy and sad, "Lucien Evans is in Aalto. Professor then also shows up in Aalto. If they are not connected, I'd rather put myself on the burning post! Those cardinals up there should see now¡­"
"Just stay here and wait for the good news. When we catch Professor and find the evidence that shows Lucien Evans is connected to him, you can go back to the Inquisition!" said Juliana joyfully.
Clown shook his head, "No, I need to seize the chance. I need to catch Professor myself."
"It might be Professor's conspiracy¡­" Juliana hurriedly said to Clown. "Professor might be here just because of you! Let us do this for you!"
The three leaders in charge of the Inquisition were all level six radiant knights, although they were not as powerful as the level-seven red-robed cardinals, they were enough to catch Professor. Any conspiracies were simply nothing in front of the absolute power.
Clown shook his head firmly, "Maybe there'll be someone behind controlling the Inquisition or the Church to buy Professor more time. I have to be quick, and I must take revenge for the more than twenty teammates of mine who died in that forest. I'll never forget what happened to us. I'll be very careful."
Clown had no idea what Professor's purpose was. There seemed to be pointless for Professor to kill him.
"I see. Please take care." Juliana knew that Clown would not change his mind, so she nodded.
Clown laughed, "Professor could never expect that we've got all the information about Philosopher!"
The night watchers had spent months investigating apprentices who were relatively close to Professor. Although they lost Owl because he died in the remains of the Magic Lock, Philosopher finally led them to find Professor.
"Then you'd better hurry. You want to find Professor before the other night watchers come." Juliana reminded him. After all, Clown was also on the night watchers' target list.

Chapter 301: The Last Smile
				Chapter 301: The Last Smile
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In Viscount Klein's study.
Viscount Klein was tied to the chair, and his black hair looked messy. His green eyes stared at the man wearing a ridiculous-looking clown mask standing in front of him.
"You must be the crazy Clown! Just as the princess said, you're out of your mind!" Klein, the archon of Aalto's city hall, scolded Clown out of fear.
Clown laughed, "Mr. Viscount, please don't tell me that the spell you cast just now was from a magic item. I see nothing wrong with a night watcher catching a vicious sorcerer, or do you want me to call you¡­ Mr. Philosopher?"
Klein was shocked, "How do you¡­"
He did not finish his sentence. Instead, he stopped himself very quickly. He thought that this might be a trick.
"We've been watching you all this time, Mr. Viscount, but we never really did anything to you because we were waiting for you to confess and to realize what you've done is completely wrong. After all, you're a noble. But unfortunately, you didn't. However, you've still got one more chance. As long as you tell me where Professor is, you can keep your status as a noble and archon¡­ and you only need to secretly join the Night Watch," said Clown. As he was talking, he looked out of the window, feeling a bit worried that the rest of the night watchers might arrive here anytime.
Klein realized that he was not the real target, then he sneered, "I see. You're here for Professor. Sure enough, hanging out with one on the Cleansing List means great risks. But I don't trust you, Clown. You're not part of the Night Watch anymore, and the night watchers are even after you as well. I'd rather wait until the real night watchers come."
As what Clown expected, although Klein had no plan on keeping the secret at the cost of his life, he was as sneaky as many other nobles. If the reward was tempting enough, they could even work with demons! People like Klein knew how to make decisions in this kind of situation.
Klein was trying to get a better offer!
Clown's face got close to Klein's and he said, "Good try, Mr. Viscount, but you're negotiating with me, and I'm in a hurry, so I don't feel like negotiating."
Klein's facial expression suddenly changed, and Clown's ten fingers started moving. Clown's fingers controlled the muscles in Klein's face and whole body, and his eyes and mouth started to open and close following Clown's movement.
Gradually, Klein's will and soul were also controlled. Unlike other night watchers, Clown could get the information he wanted even without using divine power.
"What's your pseudonym? Are you a sorcerer? In what school?" Clown first used a few simple questions to see if his power worked.
Klein's eyes finally found focus, and he looked just as usual, except for the smile on his face, "Lord Clown, I'm a sorcerer. My pseudonym is Philosopher, mainly major in the school of Astrology. At that time, I failed to awaken my blessing, and I had no potions to rely on, so found the magic books left by the sorcerers who were killed by my ancestors to see if there was anything I could do to awaken my Blessing, but then I got interested in the school of Astrology, and could not stop myself anymore."
Clown was not interested in Klein, so he asked directly, "How did you meet Professor? How can I find him?"
"Lord Clown, it was Professor who found me after I came back from the concert. To be more specific, he used the fourth-circle spell, Figure in Mirror, to talk to me. He wanted to attend our next gathering to tell us the information about the Congress of Magic." Klein told Clown everything, "After I agreed to help, we met each other once. It was beside an idle garden villa in Gesu, No. 116. And we had this secret code¡­ But I don't know where he is right now. He decided on the place where we met."
Of course, Professor was very cautious and cunning, and Clown knew it well. Suddenly, it came to him that the address belonged to Lucien Evans! The villa was in a remote corner, and it had not been rented out yet. Only an old servant was keeping the house. So it was a perfect place for Professor to hide.
Clown's blood was boiling, and his body was shaking out of thrill. He was glad that he paid attention to the details.
However, knowing how cunning Professor was, Clown forced himself to calm down and thought, "Lucien Evans is taking his rest in the house in Noble district right now, and it is said that Natasha is being occupied with all kinds of stuff in Ratacia Palace today and never left the palace. If both of them all of a sudden showed up in the idle house, people could easily tell that this was a conspiracy."
He also considered whether Professor would lead him to another powerful sorcerer and make them fight, but it was not very likely to happen, after all, they were in Aalto. If a big fight happened, those cardinals would arrive immediately.
Although Clown knew that the best option right now was to wait for Juliana and the other night watchers to handle this, the anger and the wish to take his revenge were burning his guts. Also, he was confident in his own power as well.
After making a quick analysis, Clown made up his mind to go there. He knew that he must be very careful, and if there was anything out of his control, he would hide and leave Professor to the rest of the night watchers.
After sealing Klein's spiritual power using his special Blessing, Clown wrote down the information that he got from Klein to save some time for the night watchers coming after.
Then Clown left the noble district and arrived at No. 116, Gesu District.
The garden villa was covered in the darkness like a terrifying monster.
After checking around, Clown saw no magic traps around. Feeling a bit relieved, he decided to take one more step further. As quick as a shadow, he sneaked into the garden villa.
There was only an old servant here in the villa. After making the old servant fall asleep, Clown carefully checked the rooms one by one, trying to find some clues.
Soon, Clown had finished searching the basement and the ground floor. With great caution, he walked upstairs.
...
In Viscount Klein's place.
Waldo, the Executer, led a night watch team secretly to the second floor. They were still looking for the viscount.
They avoided making a great stir, in case Professor would notice and run away.
As soon as they came to the second floor, Waldo smelled blood.
Juliana suddenly became worried. She was afraid that Clown had lost his control.
Waldo's face was half covered by his beard, but his nose was very sensitive to smells. He said seriously in front of the door of the study, "Only one dead person in there. It's the smell of Millstone family."
The viscount was from the family.
As he was talking, Waldo opened the door. The strong smell of blood blew to them.
When the night watchers got in the room, although they were very used to blood and death, in front of what they saw, they all frowned.
The room was like a slaughterhouse. Tiny pieces of flesh and blood were everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor, leaving not even a complete piece of bone or organ. This whole scene was beyond disgusting and cruel.
"This looks¡­ familiar¡­" murmured a night watcher.
The rest of the night watchers knew what he was talking about¡ªalmost all of those who had been caught by Clown's strings ended up like this.
"Impossible¡­ Clown wouldn't kill the viscount¡­" Juliana's face turned pale.
Stepping on the pieces of flesh and the pool of blood, Waldo directly walked to the desk and picked up the piece of paper under the ink bottle. After taking a quick look, he said to the rest of the night watchers, "This was left by Clown. He left the secret code that no one can mimic. He's confirmed that Viscount Klein is Philosopher, and, according to Clown, Professor might be at No. 116 in Gesu District."
Hearing that, Juliana gasped. She started to think that it might be Clown who had done all of this. When he got the information he wanted, he might have got too excited to control himself.
Because the viscount had been confirmed to be a vicious sorcerer, his death did not matter that much.
"Leave the viscount thing to the Inquisition. Now we should get to Gesu District as soon as possible!" Waldo said to the rest of the night watchers. In his heart, he was still on Clown's side.
"Got it!" replied the rest of the watchers together. They did not care about a vicious sorcerer's death.
...
Clown had searched most of the second floor but found nothing special.
One room after another¡­ When Clown felt disappointed, he suddenly noticed that there was someone in the study! As a grand knight, Clown sensed that a man was standing beside the window, enjoying the cool night wind.
Clown was very surprised. He did not expect that it would be this easy for him to find Professor, and, more importantly, it seemed that Professor did not even notice him!
Although having lots of questions and thoughts in his mind, facing the evil and powerful middle-rank mage, Clown did not want to waste even a second. Instantly, he fiercely launched the puppet strings right toward the man beside the window.
Letting out all of his power, Clown destroyed the door within a second at the same time. However, to his great shock, he saw Lucien Evans standing beside the window.
Being tightly bound, the way Lucien Evans was standing was weird and distorted. And there was a creepy and fake smile on his good-looking face. Under that certain mysterious power, his body directly and stiffly fell backward, like a swan shot by an arrow.
The messy black suit Lucien Evans was wearing, the creepy smile on his face, and the moment when he fell backward like a worn doll¡­ became an eternal, mysterious painting in Clown's memory.
To frame him, Professor chose to sacrifice Lucien Evans?
Clown totally did not expect this.
Before hitting the floor, Lucien Evans' body exploded like a blooming flower. His flesh and blood were everywhere.

Chapter 302: The ¡°Sad¡± Princess
				Chapter 302: The ¡°Sad¡± Princess
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In fact, at the very beginning, before he arrived at No. 116 Gesu District, Clown did consider the possibility that Professor and Lucien Evans would work together to frame him, say, Lucien Evans would pretended to be severely injured by him, and then the princess and Camil would arrive right on time and stop him. Then he would be caught for sure, or even killed right on the spot.
However, after a careful analysis, Clown did not think that they were going to do this because of the many points questionable through the whole plan. If the princess killed him right on the spot, those leaders who were on his side from the Inquisition definitely would not simply accept the result, instead, at least they would require an interrogation against Lucien Evans, which was of course not a good thing for someone like the musician, who had so many secrets related to Professor. Even as a princess, Natasha could not say no to the Inquisition's reasonable demand. After all, a question would be part of the procedures when things like this happened. No matter how powerful and influential the princess was, she could not interfere with the balance between the Church and the nobles.
And if they could not kill him right away, there was big chance that he could still prove himself as innocent. He had so many questions to ask¡ªhow did Lucien get hurt? What did the wounds look like? Was it possible that the wounds were left by his Blessing? Why Lucien Evans showed up in the middle of the night at No. 116 Gesu District?
And the most important thing was that he could directly ask the Church to use the divine spells to test whether he was lying when questioning Lucien Evans.
However, Lucien Evans just died like that, which was totally out of Clown's imagination. The picture of Lucien Evans falling to the floor kept lingering in his mind, and he was not able to get rid of it.
At this moment, he believed that Lucien Evans really died. Since the cost of faking Lucien Evans' death was too much to bear¡ªthat meant that the great young musician would never show up again, and Clown would never know that Lucien Evans had decided to abandon this identity as a great musician forever.
After losing himself in his thoughts for a few seconds, Clown's eyes suddenly became alert.
He saw the gorgeous princess, Natasha, who was wearing a fancy purple dress, show up in the air. Her lips were red, and her eyes were full of light. It seemed that she was here to meet her lover.
However, a second later, Natasha's eyes had lost their focus. As if she had lost her soul, she unbelievably stared at the flesh and blood on the floor and the walls.
Run¡­ Run. Run!
That was the only thought left in Clown's mind. He would not want to stay here even a second longer in front of the powerful woman who just witnessed her beloved man's body on the floor in pieces!
At this moment, she would not listen!
Clown instantly exerted all his strength and power, and countless invisible strings rose in the darkness. Stepping and grabbing the strings, Clown rushed into the forest behind the house very quickly.
At this time, he heard the bellow full of anger and brief, or it was more like a plaintive cry, making the air and the ground shake.
Clown knew that the princess was coming after him. As soon as he started moving again, a silver sword hacked his back.
The light of the sword pierced the light of the divine items covering Clown like cutting a pile of paper. Clown's body suddenly became distorted, and it suddenly became like a doll covered with black strings.
The strings were broken by the hacking, and a deep gap appeared in the back of the black doll. 
A second later, Clown showed up from the strings again. However, part of his body on the right side fell onto the ground. Pieces of guts and blood were everywhere.
Clown started to lose his consciousness, but he knew that he could not stop. He needed to seize every tiny chance if he wished to run away from a radiant knight who had the strongest Blessing.
As long as the princess did not kill him with the first hacking, he still had a chance to survive!
Like he said, Clown did have strong enough willpower to keep running as fast as he could, despite the horrible injury he suffered that could make most of the cardinals feel limp in their legs. In the darkness, as he was running, Clown calmly wriggled what was left on the right side of his body and covered the wound by a layer of invisible film to prevent his blood from coming out more, so he would not leave any marks.
Although Clown knew that he would not be able to avoid the princess' second round of attack, he would not give up until the last second.
Despite the fact that he disliked Lucien Evans a lot, Clown agreed on the spirit of perseverance contained in Lucien's music.
Miracle happened. Until Clown disappeared in the darkness, the second round of hacking never arrived.
...
"Are you trying to stop me, Waldo?" Holding a silver sword in her hand, the coldness in Natasha's eyes looked terrifying.
In the strong air flow caused by Natasha's fury, Waldo's hair became tangled and messy, but he was still standing in front of the princess and said to her calmly, "I've sent the night watchers out to get Clown. Before things become clear, I think it's better to keep him alive. So¡­ What happened, Your Highness?"
A distance away from them, Camil was still following the princess, but the distance was purposefully left.
"Clown killed Lucien." Natasha answered with restrained great fury. Her silvery-purple eyes were as cold as ice.
"What?!" Including Waldo, all the night watchers were shocked.
Juliana's face suddenly became very pale.
Lucien Evans, the great musician, died?
This was totally out of their expectation as well!
Natasha closed her eyes, as if she agreed to leave this to the night watchers, since the grief in her mind was too heavy to bear, "I saw Lucien die with my own eyes, and Clown was right there."
Her voice was full of sorrow and great desperation.
Waldo unnoticeably gasped. He saw the pieces of flesh and blood drops on the grass. Based on the motivation and the way of killing, Waldo had to admit that it could be Clown who did this.
"Your Highness, I understand how you feel¡­" Waldo crossed in front of his chest. "Mr. Lucien Evans is so outstanding and brilliant that the God of Truth wants him to go and play his music in Mountain Paradise."
After comforting the princess for a bit, Waldo became serious, "But I'm sorry, Your Highness. Right now I have to ask you some questions and check if this is Mr. Evans' blood. I'm not doubting you, but I have to follow the procedures of the Inquisition. I hope you can understand, Your Highness."
Before Natasha nodded, Waldo was very cautious. He was afraid that the princess would lose her mind out of great sorrow, and her power was just beyond horrible.
After several seconds of silence, Natasha opened her eyes. The light in her eyes was cold.
"Go ahead," she said.
Waldo sincerely appreciated the princess' courage. He first asked several night watchers who did not go after Clown to collect the blood left, and then he asked the princess carefully, "Your Highness, why did you come here tonight? Wasn't Mr. Evans still taking his rest?"
Natasha put on a sad but stunning smile, "He used to live here. In the bedroom, he played the first movement of Moonlight for me. So we wanted to come here tonight in memory of our past¡­"
Natasha covered her face with her hands to stop herself from crying.
Hearing that, Waldo looked down upon himself for those vulgar thoughts he had had in his mind.
"I see." Waldo slightly nodded. 
After asking a few more questions, a night watcher of bishop level came to him and whispered in his ear, "Moonlight Blessing. It is Lucien Evans' blood."
"Mr. Waldo, Clown was severely injured by me, and he should die within an hour. I hope you can find him as soon as possible." Natasha told Waldo the true reason why she stopped chasing after Clown.
When Natasha looked to the side, she saw an iron ring on the grass. So she flew down there and picked it up. The look on her face was extremely sad but seeing the ring seemed to warm her heart up a bit.
Seeing the moment, Waldo felt that this was like a dream. The princess was not usually this feminine, but more heroic and decisive. The look on her face was as gentle as the moonlight in Lucien's music.
Waldo knew well what the iron ring was. It was the broken Holm Crown Ring left by Natasha's mother, and now it seemed that it was also a token of love.
"It's our fault, Your Highness." Waldo comforted her again, "We did not catch Clown in time."
"It has nothing to do with the Church. After all, the Church has made the decision to sentence him to death." Natasha slightly shook her head.
Hearing that, Waldo nodded out of relief. What he felt concerned the most was that, because of Lucien Evans's death, the Church and the future ruler of Violet would have an unfixable gap between each other.
"You're such a dedicated follower, Your Highness, and a wise leader," praised Waldo.
When the night watchers started to check the house and the surroundings, Natasha unnoticeably released a sigh of relief. She felt it quite cheesy with what she just said. But she also had strange feelings when she was talking about what once happened between Lucien and her.
But what was more important was that Waldo did not show suspicion for what she said, and things were going the way they wanted them to.
As a devoted follower, Natasha was fine with putting some pressure on the Church to help and protect her good friend and to maintain the status of the nobles, but she would not be willing to do great damage to the reputation of the Church and the balance between the two sides despite the fact that there was a chance, since she still had her bottom line, and she hoped that Lucien could understand.
...
In a house, a man wearing a black hood sat down in the armchair, weak and limp.
"Morning Star¡­ He didn't talk much. It was totally out of my expectation that he was the traitor, until I saw his response when knowing where the Congress was," signed Philosopher. He looked weak from losing a lot of blood.
Professor was still wearing the black robe. He reached out his hand and wrote down letters with the blood on Morning Star's back.
"The end of the betrayer. Professor."
"Why do you want to leave the words and the body, Mr. Professor?" asked Philosopher. "Morning Star's dead, and we can just put all the blame on Clown and the Church. Now, you're catching all the attention."
"To teach other traitors the lesson." Lucien smiled. But in his mind, he said to himself that Natasha had helped him a lot, and he would not bring more trouble to her.


Chapter 303: Him
				Chapter 303: Him
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After leaving the letters, Lucien and Philosopher quickly left Morning Star's place and disappeared in the darkness.
In fact, as this was not the first time that the Inquisition dealt with Professor, the Inquisition indeed considered the possibility that Professor was playing the same trick again¡ªthe purpose of Professor showing up in Aalto again was to find the spies in the circle of magic, so what happened to Fire Wolf would happen again. Therefore, the inquisition was ready to put several of their spies hiding in the magic groups under this risk. After Mercury and the other apprentices told more magic groups the information about the Congress, the spies in those groups would also report the message to the Night Watch.
However, what was out of the Inquisition's expectation was that Professor could locate Morning Star so quickly. The fact that Morning Star was killed only half an hour later after he sent out the secret message showed that Professor had been watching him all the time. On the other side, the fact that Philosopher blew his cover as well as what Clown did also made the leaders of the Inquisition believe that Professor's target was Clown and the rest of the night watchers, so they did not have time to set up traps and send out enough people to protect Morning Star. Therefore, Lucien killed Morning Star pretty easily.
Lucien and Philosopher took many turns along the streets in the darkness. After passing quite a few blocks, they came to the secret hiding place set up by Philosopher a few years ago.
"Mr. Professor, I didn't expect that you are not only good at Astrology and Element but also Necromancy." Philosopher felt that they were safe for now, although he was still weak from losing lots of blood.
After witnessing that Professor made a body in the necromancy circle using one-third of Philosopher's blood and the limbs they collected in the Black Forest, Philosopher was deeply shocked. In Philosopher's eyes, this power should be possessed by the divine gods. Although he was not young anymore, he had made up his mind to head for the Congress of Magic.
Lucien replied in his pretended hoarse voice, "I'm far from being 'good at it'. I just started looking into Necromancy a year ago, but the Congress has made great progress in synthesizing the human body. The theory of cell memory can explain why your blood could be used to synthesize your own body. Right now, the Church still isn't able to tell the difference, unless a grand cardinal uses some level nine divine spells."
After a year of study, plus Lucien's solid arcana and magic foundation, as a fourth-circle sorcerer, Lucien's skills in synthesizing human body was not bad. 
"'Far from being good at it'? Then what is a master necromancer like?" Philosopher was shocked, then something came to him, and he asked. "There's a necromancer I once heard about¡­ Felipe Carneiro. Two years ago, his name suddenly soared on the Cleansing List to No. ninety-one, and at that time, he was only of fifth-circle. Is he a master necromancer?"
As the previous archon of the city council, Viscount Klein had access to the Cleansing List.
"I have to admit that he's a genius in the school of Necromancy." Although Lucien did not really like Felipe, he still made an honest comment. Despite the fact that in many young sorcerers' eyes in the Congress, both Mr. Felipe and Evans were geniuses, Lucien was well aware that he was still far behind.
The higher the circle was, the harder it became, and this was especially true with several key stages. When one wanted to reach the senior-rank as a fifth circle sorcerer, he or she needed special magic rites to move forward. Without enough preparation, this was very likely to fail.
Then Lucien switched the topic, "I'm sorry for involving you in this without telling you the details. Honestly speaking, I was not sure whether Clown would kill you or whether I had enough time to save you before the night watchers' arrival. I'm very sorry for putting you under such great risk."
Lucien was concerned that Clown would find more details when questioning Philosopher, so he did not tell Philosopher the whole plan. What Lucien told Philosopher was that he would save him from the great danger that he was going to encounter tonight.
"It's okay, Mr. Professor. I trust you, and I know that there's a cost if I want to find the path to the new life." Philosopher did not mind it.
Lucien slightly nodded, "Anyway, what I did is bad. Morning Star's magic items are yours now. Don't refuse. I have my way of doing things. Take some rest after taking the potion, and then you should leave Aalto as soon as possible."
"Alright, Mr. Professor. Actually, I'm feeling much more relaxed now." After becoming a sorcerer, the pressure and stress on Philosopher's shoulder kept accumulating. What his noble status brought to him was not glory or enjoyment, but fear. And he was getting older. As the family had already recognized a proper heir, now this pseudocide had freed him from the heavy burden, and he finally could pursue what he wanted.
...
In Ratacia Palace, Natasha, who looked gloomy and cold, gave the grand duke a quick hug and said, "Father, I'm okay. I'll be alright quickly. I've been through a lot of things, and I think they're the tests from God. I'll get better for myself, for you, and also for my mom and brother in Mountain Paradise."
"I believe in you, my poor Natasha, but don't push yourself too hard." The grand duke touched her hair. He knew that Natasha must be very sad. Her mother was a sorcerer, so there was no way that her mom's soul could be in Mountain Paradise right now. He felt bad for his daughter that both of her two love stories did not manage to have a good ending.
What was a comfort to the grand duke was that his daughter could still fall in love with a man. As long as he knew this, the grand duke would not push his daughter too much.
"Father, can I stay alone for a while tonight?" Natasha forced a smile on her face. Truly, in her mind, she did not feel good tonight as well. She did not like lying to her father, and although this was a play, it still reminded her of Silvia. So far, she still preferred being with a female. Natasha felt that she needed some time to figure out what she really wanted.
The grand duke nodded and touched her hair again, "You can do this, Natasha."
Watching Natasha, followed by Camil and several guards, walking back to War Gallery, the grand duke suddenly became worried¡ªwould this tragedy turn Natasha into one who would fall for neither men or women?
...
In War Gallery, Camil was sitting on the couch quietly, while Natasha was playing piano in a slight upset way.
"This is the best PathšŠtique I've ever heard you play. But can you stop for a while and tell me what happened in the house? Did Clown and the rest of the night watchers notice anything?" Surprisingly, there was one guard who hadn't yet left the room, and the guard talked to the princess trying to cheer her up, as if they were close friends.
Natasha stopped playing and took a deep breath, "Good body-making skill. They've noticed nothing different."
After leaving Philosopher's place, Lucien secretly met Camil and played the role of the princess's guard to hide here in Ratacia Palace.
"The body cost one-fourth of my blood, so I'm quite confident." Lucien tried to play a joke to comfort the princess, "What really concerned me was that you probably would burst out laughing when you were describing how much you loved me."
Natasha snorted, "Come on, my playing wasn't bad. I felt I could go and play opera! But the role wasn't very suitable for me¡­ I shall be like this."
Natasha quickly stood up and came to Lucien. She put her right hand on her chest and slightly lowered her head. Then she looked into Lucien's eyes and said to Lucien in a man's manner:
"Every time you see the moon, you will think of me."
Natasha's and Lucien's face were very close to each other. Somehow, when they looked into each other's eyes, they felt a bit awkward.
Natasha took a few steps backward with her slightly embarrassed smile. Lucien also took a step aside.
"By the way, why didn't you let me kill Clown? Why did you want me to severely injure him and then let go of him?" Natasha asked. "Although I'm confident that he won't live long, we could have taken the safer way."
In fact, Natasha was impressed with Clown's will of fighting against darkness, but she was also concerned that a crazy man like Clown could do anything to achieve his objective. If it had not been for Lucien's words, it was impossible for Natasha to miss the target.
Lucien put on a mysterious smile, "I'm waiting for him to show up."
"Him?" Natasha was confused.
Lucien did not make it all clear, instead, his words were very ambiguous, "Although we haven't met each other yet, I sort of know what he's thinking. He's helped us a lot with this thing¡­"
"Can't you just be more specific?" Natasha did want to push Lucien.
Lucien shook his head and said, "You'd better not know, but I'll give you a final outcome."
"About what?" Natasha felt that Lucien was getting more and more mysterious after he came back from the Congress.
Lucien just smiled but did not say anything else.
...
After finding an empty room in War Gallery for Lucien, Natasha sat on a chair and looked at the moon outside of the window. Her facial expression was still a bit gloomy.
Although they were good friends, the gap between a sorcerer and a noble who followed the God of Truth was still more of less revealed by itself from what happened. She wondered if she had gone beyond her bottom line to help her friend out.
At this time, Camil opened the door and walked in.
"Any news out there, Mrs. Camil?" Natasha asked without turning around.
As usual, Camil looked serious, but right now she also looked a bit confused, "Professor showed up again, and he left the words 'the end of the betrayer'. So the night watchers believe that it was Professor who killed the musician to frame Clown up. But, of course, Clown should be dead anyway, for severely violating the agreement between the nobles and the Church."
Natasha was a bit surprised. And then the look on her face became very gentle.

Chapter 304: The Elegy of Night Watch
				Chapter 304: The Elegy of Night Watch
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In an ordinary-looking house in Purple Lily, Aalto.
Leaning against an old wardrobe, Clown took out a tube of potion from his robe and drank it with his left hand¡ªthe one that he was left with.
Clown had lost part of his right body, so right now he was even having a hard time breathing, and the only thing that was supporting his life was the strong willpower of a grand knight. After arriving at the secret hiding place, Clown was totally exhausted, and he was not even able to take a few more steps to go down into the secret chamber.
The divine potion helped Clown's guts and flesh to start growing, but as soon as the newly-grown flesh touched the cut, it shrank and withered, as if an invisible wall was preventing it from growing further.
Clown could feel that he was losing life force very fast. He wondered if he was going to die there. It was his first time seeing how powerful and terrifying the top Blessing could be.
At this time, he heard footsteps from the other side of the door. Clown opened his eyes with great effort. He knew it was the night watchers.
When the door opened, Clown was a bit surprised to see Juliana, as well as Lend and Minsk, who were not carrying the mission this time.
Seeing his partners, hope started rising in Clown's chest. He tried his very best to talk to them, "Not me¡­ Professor¡­ did it."
Clown thought that he was being very careful, but he still ended up in Professor's trap. But what tortured him the most was that he still had no idea what was Professor's purpose!
Why?! Why did Professor do all of these?!
The miserable situation made Juliana's eyes turn red with tears, "I know¡­ I know¡­ Professor did all of these. You'd never kill Lucien Evans right in front of the princess. I'm here¡­ Let me cure you!"
Although Clown did something about catching Lucien Evans right in front of Natasha, what happened right now made the words he said rather ironic.
When Lend heard what Juliana said, although his face always looked very serious, he frowned his eyebrows. He knew that very unlikely Juliana's divine power would work, but he was also praying for a miracle.
As a battle priest, Juliana was used to using divine power to cure people. However, neither her own power nor the divine items worked. The cut absorbed all the divine light like an endless pit. 
"Captain Lend¡­" Juliana almost burst into tears. Lend was close to senior level, and if there was nothing that Lend could do here, Clown was going to die very soon.
Lend took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then, he lifted his long sword and his body was covered with a layer of peaceful light. The light thus extended the sword, together with the black mist from his black gloves.
Lend shouted and then hacked toward the horrible cut on Clown's right side, as if he was trying to chop off the endless pit connected to the cut.
His Elimination Blessing could make any supernatural power that did not belong to the real God become invalid!
Air was stirred from the hacking, but nothing changed.
Lend did not want to give up. He tried again and caused a strong wind blow, but Clown's flesh still could not grow any further.
"It's okay¡­ Unless you're¡­ a radiant knight, you can't¡­" The craziness and fury in Clown's eyes had disappeared. Right now his black eyes behind the ridiculous-looking mask looked rather calm.
"No¡­" Juliana cried.
She had followed Clown for more than seven years and was saved by Clown many times. When facing evil, the captain was always the team's strongest support. Although many night watchers described Clown as crazy and crooked, she completely trusted him.
So far, they had encountered Professor twice, but the whole team was already almost gone.
Clown murmured in an obsessive way, "Not me¡­ Professor¡­ did it."
"I know¡­ Captain, I know¡­" Juliana hurriedly nodded. "I told the leaders of the Inquisition that we needed to hurry, but they spent too much time on discussing what Professor's true purpose was and if this was Professor's trick to lure us away from the base, or we could have caught him!"
Facing the great pressure from the nobles, the Church became hesitant.
Lend was not in the team chasing after Professor. He met Juliana when looking for Clown after hearing what happened.
Lend told Clown the latest information, and his voice was cold, "Morning Star's dead. Professor killed him. 'The end of the betrayer'¡­ Professor left the words."
Right now, if he could catch Professor, Lend would tear him into pieces.
"I see¡­" Clown's anger started burning again, and he said with great effort, "The Church's corrupted¡­ and too timid. If it was like before¡­ there would be no way¡­ for Professor¡­ to toy with us like¡­ like a cat playing with mice¡­ twice!"
"Lots of them in the Church have lost their faith." Minsk was so furious that his body was covered with a thick layer of flames, "They bend their knees in front of the nobles and the darkness!"
Clown started to get hyper, and he talked in a more fluent way out of his unusual mood, "Although I killed many innocent people when I first awakened my Blessing and lost my mind, after being touched by¡­ by the dervish's words, I've devoted my heart and soul to the God of Truth! For no second¡­ did I ever forget my oath! I live in darkness¡­ to fight against darkness! I don't care how other people see me¡­ ruthless¡­ or crazy, I do not regret it. I did all of these to drive away darkness!"
Clown gasped hard. He had used up all his strength. His breathing started getting very weak and short. Looking at Lend, Juliana, and Minsk, Clown said, "Don't forget¡­ our oath. Don't let off¡­ Professor¡­"
"We won't..." answered Juliana with tears but in a determined way.
Lend crossed in front of his chest and started making the vow of the Night Watch in front of Clown,
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall keep watch over the darkness and abandon my all. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the opposite of darkness, the mortal enemy against evil. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that pierces the darkness. I pledge my life and honor to God to be the keeper of the light, for this night and all the nights to come."
Juliana and Minsk repeated with tears, "¡­I pledge my life and honor to God to be the keeper of the light, for this night and all the nights to come."
Clown reached out his left hand with great difficulty. With the hand shaking, he crossed in front of his chest, "¡­ I pledge¡­ my life and honor¡­ to¡­ to God¡­ to be ¡­ the keeper¡­ of the light¡­ for this night¡­ and all¡­ all the nights to¡­ come."
Clown's voice became lower and lower. His eyes slowly closed, and he could not see clearly anymore.
At this time, with his blurry consciousness, Clown heard footsteps!
Lend was the first to turn around and was shocked, "Lord Amelton!"
The female red-robed cardinal was wearing a unique-shaped biretta. She had long, black hair, and her beautiful face and eyes looked full of mercy.
"Lord Amelton!" Minsk and Juliana were also shocked to see the top leader of the Inquisition¡ªVila Amelton.
Was she there to catch Clown?
Would she also punish them?
However, Amelton quickly walked toward Clown and checked him using divine power. After a while, she said, "I'm here late. Clown's soul has been cut off by the Sword of Truth."
As she was saying, the white light in her hand slowly closed the horrible cut, but Clown's flesh never grew back again. His life force had been exhausted.
"Lord Amelton?" Lend noticed the different tone from the cardinal. It seemed that she was not here to take Clown.
Amelton looked at them and said seriously, "The nobles have forgotten what the Lord's given them. The Church is being timid and they have lost the glory. I believe that you all know what I am talking about."
Although feeling exactly the same way, Lend and the rest of the night watchers still didn't dare to show direct agreement in front of the highest leader of the Inquisition.
Amelton turned to Clown, "You're the most loyal guard of the Lord. On behalf of the rest of us who are discontented with the situation, I show my great respect to you. No matter if it's on the ground, or in Mountain Paradise, we're always with you. The Lord's glory will be with you. You shall never be alone."
Clown could not speak, but his heart was full of ecstasy.
"Lord Amelton, you're one of those who is discontented with the situation?" Lend asked very cautiously.
Amelton stood up and looked at them with mercy, "Yes, will you join us?"
Thinking of what happened and what was going on right now, and thinking of the glory they once had, Lend, Juliana, and Minsk crossed in front of their chest, "Only truth lives forever. We guard the Lord's glory with our life."
Clown's consciousness went completely faint as if he had fallen into a dream from which he could never awaken. He knew that death had arrived.
The last second before Clown's consciousness was gone, in his dream, he saw a silver-haired man wearing a red shirt and black coat. Holding a glass of wine in his hand, the man had a mysterious smile on his face.
"He's trying¡­"

Chapter 305: The Other Purpose
				Chapter 305: The Other Purpose
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the night sky, lots of stars were circling around Lucien, who was standing on his own Host Star of Destiny, staring at the deep darkness. His black hair became messy in the wind, adding a slightly wild look to this quiet and calm young man.
Suddenly, the starry sky turned red, and a full silver moon rose quickly to the sky, which expelled the darkness. 
Then, the silver moon turned into Rhine, who was wearing a red shirt and black coat. His huge bat wings extended widely in the space.
"It seems that you really like stars. Your dream is exactly the same as the last time. Is that why you chose to major in Astrology?" Rhine joked. "Come on¡­ Of course, I know that you purposefully controlled your brain and soul before falling asleep to hide your secrets from me, Lucien. Sorcerers are boring¡­ I prefer you as a musician¡­ What a pity¡­"
Lucien was in his own dream, so he was quite confident, "Mr. Rhine, did you find anything in Clown's dream?"
"Did I ever let you down?" Rhine grinned. "Someone important came before Clown died, and the person invited the rest of the night watchers present to join them."
Before carrying out the plan, Lucien had called the projection of Rhine through the mark and asked him to enter Clown's dream to see what happened to Clown before he died, which was the reason why Natasha did not kill Clown on the spot.
"I see¡­ So, was it Sard or Amelton?" asked Lucien calmly.
A smile slowly appeared on Rhine's face, and he asked out of some curiosity, "How did you know? It was Amelton¡­"
"Without Sard's silent support, it was almost impossible for Natasha to push the Church and the Inquisition this hard to their limit, and Clown wouldn't be sentenced to death this easily. Sard chose to turn a blind eye to the whole thing, so my plan worked perfectly. And the red-robed cardinal, Vila Amelton, remained silent all the time. All she did was pass on Sard's will," said Lucien. By killing the musician identity, Lucien also tested Sard, which was his other purpose.
Sometimes a scheme did not have to be very complicated, as long as it seized the enemy's true desire and will!
After Clown attacked him, Lucien added this second purpose to his plan. From the Church's response to every step he took, Lucien managed to learn what he wanted to know. And Rhine's projection into Clown's dream was the final confirmation.
Even Natasha only knew part of Lucien's plan, not to mention Clown. Therefore, Clown got very confused and fell into Lucien's trap.
Rhine smiled, "He cannot wait anymore. He's trying his best to seize every chance to break the Church apart and to increase his power, just like how the saints did before. As for the World of Souls, obviously, he even knew more about it than me. So I'm trapped here right now, but he managed to escape. I'm not sure¡­ but probably he saw something else here. Anyway, this is a good thing for the Congress. If Sard's power manages to develop, the South Church would divide again. Seize the chance and make the right choice, Lucien."
"I don't think the Church will be further disrupted. Sard is neither a fool nor a madman. He knows what will happen if the Church splits again. No matter what Sard's purpose is, weakening the power of the Church and losing the number of its followers are not good news for him. I think he wants to be like a parasite, sucking the essence and power of the Church. One day, when he's fully prepared, say, when he becomes the pope, he is going to replace the Church with something else without changing what it is on the outside." Lucien made his own analysis, and then he continued, "So, according to me, I think when Amelton was recruiting the several night watches, her excuse should be the corruption of the Church, and the Church should go back to the right path. It's not like many years ago how the several saints divided the Church, they have decided to take a more revolution-like way, although, in fact, the ultimate purpose is still the same."
Rhine was obviously quite impressed, "You've become a wise and mature man, Lucien¡­ although I still think the young teenager who just started learning magic was more interesting."
Then, Rhine confirmed that Clown had been dead by telling Lucien what he saw through Clown's dream.
That was a relief to Lucien. It was obviously quite a risk letting Clown run away. If Sard was involved, which, according to Lucien, was very unlikely to happen because Sard would not want extra trouble from Clown, the night watcher could still be saved. Then one day when Clown came back, Lucien's friends and family would be in great danger.
After Clown's death, Lucien felt very relieved. The last step was the funeral for the great musician, and Lucien definitely did not have to attend it.
...
Waking up from his dream, he saw the moonlight, still gentle and quiet.
Opening his eyes, Lucien thought of the grief that his relatives and friends were going to suffer from, and the thoughts made him feel pain. In order to make sure that no one could tell the difference, Lucien had to wait until the day before he left Aalto to tell uncle Joel and his family the truth and let them make their choice.
This several days were going to kill them, and Lucien felt the same way. Although his plan worked, he did not feel joyful or excited at all.
It was safe here in Natasha's War Gallery. So, Lucien got up and walked to the window. He stared at the moon and tried to calm himself down.
"You can't sleep as well?" In this quiet night, Natasha's voice also sounded very gentle.
Lucien slightly turned around and saw the princess taking a walk in the garden under the moonlight. Because of the power of the divine circle, violets and lilies in the garden were all blossoming in the sweet floral aroma.
"I can't fall asleep thinking of how horrible my family and my friends would feel tomorrow¡­" confessed Lucien. "I wanted to tell them the truth tonight, right now."
Natasha waved her hand, asking Lucien to come out of the room and join her.
She directly sat down on the railing of the garden, which was not a princess manner at all. However, Lucien didn't mind it either, so he sat down beside her.
Lucien smelled the light scent from the princess, but it was not from any makeup or something. The scent was clean and pure.
"I understand, Lucien. When I was lying to my father and making him sad, I felt bad. And I know it's a hundred times harder for you." Natasha patted on his shoulder. "But we can't let this affect our judgment and will of knowing what to do. We've made the decision, and we must stick to it. Maybe it sounds cold, but it brings us the best result. Being sentimental and hesitant can neither save us nor help to protect those people important to us. Just like I said, cruelty can also be a kind of mercy."
Lucien slightly nodded, "I know. I know it almost too well. I'm doing what I should, but inside my heart, I suffer a lot from the pain."
"So, just talk to me. You'll feel better," said Natasha supportively. "To be fair, we exchange things that we feel bad about."
"Sounds good. So¡­ I feel I'm despicable. I'm using the genuine emotions of human beings as part of my plan. I let my family and friends suffer¡­" said Lucien in a low voice.
Natasha leaned sideways with her back against Lucien's, "The fact that you're feeling this way means you're not despicable. You're doing this for their good as well. I'm different. I know what my father wants, but I ignore it, and I don't even want to try for him. I'm the bad one."
"We cannot deviate from our path because of the expectation of someone else. We only live once. Sometimes we compromise, but sometimes we just cannot give up." Lucien did not look back but tried to comfort her.
Taking turns, the sneaking and cruel sorcerer, Professor, and the decisive and tough knight, Sword of Adjudication, shared their pain and sorrow.
Until midnight, their voice slowly became lower, and both of them felt much better.
The night was very quiet. Lucien could feel the warmth from Natasha's back. Lucien said to Natasha without turning around, "Be careful with Sard."
"Okay." Natasha knew that this was the result Lucien promised.
...
In the early morning, in the Musicians' Association of Aalto.
Franz walked into the association's building with the latest Aalto Weekly, which was another newspaper about Mr. Evans' return concert he collected.
Under the title¡ªThe Greatest Concert Ever, The Unparalleled Symphony Feast¡ªthe columnist commented, "This night was the greatest stir ever. People were crazy about this young musician, Lucien Evans, and I was one of them¡­"
Franz was very happy seeing these praises. After the concert, he admired Mr. Evans more than anyone else, so he felt genuinely delighted as if he was sharing the honor.
When Franz was reading the newspaper while walking, he suddenly sensed the different heavy atmosphere. Turning around, he saw the princess walking into the hall, followed by a group of guards.
The princess' sorrow and depression made the air heavy and thick.
"What¡­ happened?" Franz thought to himself.

Chapter 306: The Bad News
				Chapter 306: The Bad News
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The princess was wearing a simple black dress on that day. Her purple hair was tied back and covered with a piece of black crape, showing the curve of her long and elegant neck. She looked sad and solemn.
Walking past Franz, the princess continued toward the stairs in a cold way, as if there was nothing in her eyes.
Franz felt a bit worried. He looked around.
All the people in the hall, including the receptionist, Polly, looked as confused as him. They had no idea what happened that could make the future grand duchess this sorrowful.
Was it¡­ the grand duke?
No¡­ If it was the grand duke, the princess should first send the obituary notice to all of the nobles and then send the coffin to the Golden Cathedral as the pallbearer. In the Golden Cathedral, she would be crowned by the grand cardinal, Sard, and become the new grand duchess.
Was it because the heretics from the north had pushed through the northern fortress and they were right now approaching Aalto?
No¡­ Instead of immersing herself in the sorrow using music, as an honored knight, the princess should be the noble leading the Violet Knights to fight against the enemies.
Was it because of a famous musician who just passed away?
No¡­ Except for Mr. Christopher, who once taught Natasha music, no one in this association was qualified for the great respect and deep grief from the princess.
¡­Wait!
The thought came to everyone present. People in the hall wondered whether the thought was true, but no one dared to ask for verification.
Although the great young musician passed out after the concert due to the combination of excitement and his chronic disease, the princess' imperial guard had announced that Evans was going to be fine, despite the fact that it would take time for him to recover. After two days since then, except for Mr. Evans' close friends and family who managed to visit him once or twice, no one outside of the manor knew Mr. Lucien Evans' health condition.
It happened many times that acute diseases managed to take away lives within just a few minutes before a priest's arrival!
If it was Lucien Evans, the young genius, who just impressed everyone with the Symphony in D minor, Ode to Joy, and who once caught people's heart with his masterpieces, he for sure deserved the future grand duchess personally coming over to the association and breaking the grievous news.
What was more important was that the young genius musician's close relationship with the princess had been recognized, and many believed that Lucien Evans would be the future Duke of Tilan¡ªin the Duchy of Violet, if the heir was a female, her husband would be ennobled with the title of Duke of Tilan, which brought the husband no real power, and the title was non-inheritable.
If it was Lucien Evans, the way the princess was dressing now and her irrestrainable grief all made sense!
"God¡­ Mr. Evans is not even twenty-one¡­" Polly covered her mouth in a shocked manner, and there were tears in her eyes. She tried to persuade herself that it was not Mr. Evans. She prayed that it was not Mr. Evans¡­
After the concert, Polly had regarded Mr. Evans as the angel in charge of music and joy, and the musician who she admired and respected the most.
The newspaper slowly fell onto the floor from Franz's hands. When he visited Mr. Evans on the first day morning after the concert, the latter looked okay. After coming back from the manor, Franz immediately immersed himself in the passion and inspiration of creating his own music and thus he did not hear anything from the outside world for lots of hours.
Today, Franz left his place and came to the association. He was not here especially for collecting the newspapers praising the concert, but to find some materials in the library and then see if he could visit Mr. Evans again.
"No¡­ No¡­" murmured Franz, whose thin face looked very shocked. Not being able to control his feet, Franz followed Natasha and Camil upstairs. He wanted to hear the final answer. He wanted to know Mr. Evans was fine.
...
In Mr. Christopher's office.
Othello helplessly said to this music master, "Mr. President, are you still working on the review? This month's Music Criticism and Symphony News have been postponing their issue for two days."
Although Othello was the current president of the association, he was still used to calling Mr. Christopher the president.
Victor, standing on the side, quickly took a glance at the pile of paper in front of Christopher on his desk.
Because Lucien's return concert was held on June 1st, both Music Criticism and Symphony News had decided to postpone their issuing until June 2nd. And it turned out that the concert was of such a great success that was out of anyone's expectation. When the two journals were about to hurriedly select the contribution from their regular music critics, they found that they were overwhelmed by the countless articles praising the excellency of Lucien Evans' concert. The review articles from those passionate and motivated musicians and critics were of very high quality, so both Music Criticism and Symphony News had decided to publish a supplement for this month. However, although the space for the first leading article was reserved for Mr. Christopher, this music master had been delaying for two days, and thus the journals had no choice but to wait.
Christopher seemed to be quite relaxed, as he had his own pace, "Ode to Joy has seized my heart, and its theme, structure, and melody have surpassed the level of any other symphony pieces I've ever heard before. I want to use the best and the most sincere words that I have to develop this article, and I think the article is not there yet."
"Maybe too much thinking and revision aren't going to help¡­" Victor was being euphemistic.
"It makes sense." Christopher nodded, "Take a look at it for me, Victor."
As Christopher was saying, he pushed several sheets of paper to Victor.
Victor picked up and sheets and read in the gentle voice, "¡­This is a masterpiece beyond people's imagination, the most precious treasure in the palace of symphony for anyone who is fond of music. I have this feeling that, for a long time, there is not going to be another symphony piece that can be on a par with Ode to Joy¡­
"But we do not necessarily have to feel sorry about it, instead, we shall feel proud and excited, for we just witnessed this glorious moment and had this firsthand experience of how thrilling a great masterpiece could be. This is a masterpiece that is going to be remembered by history. So let's leave our seats and show our great respect to Lucien Evans and his magnificent creation¡­
"Lucien Evans' name is well qualified to be put next to the glowing names of the music masters in the palace of music. The spirit of perseverance when facing difficulties and the will of fighting against darkness contained in Lucien Evans' music will shine forever, and thus his music pieces will shine endlessly as well!"
Following it was the comment on the symphony structure and theme. Hearing Victor's reading, Othello had a smile on his face, "Mr. President, obviously, you are a very generous man when giving praises, and your comments are, I have to say, really high. But I shall say that the comments are very accurate, as no symphony has ever fascinated me like Ode to Joy."
Before Christopher responded, someone knocked at the door, slowly but firmly.
"Yes?" asked Othello.
"Her Highness," said the guard on the other side of the door.
Othello hurriedly stood up and walked to the door together with Christopher and Victor.
When the door opened, they saw Natasha wearing the long black dress, and the sorrowful look on her face. They hurriedly asked, feeling some panic, "What happened, Your Highness?"
Natasha slightly lowered her head and crossed in front of her chest. Using the flat tone, she said, "Lucien Evans was¡­ recalled by God in the early morning."
Her flat tone could not hide her deep grief.
"¡­ What?!" They could not believe their ears.
Victor's head suddenly buzzed and he almost fell to the ground. Othello grabbed his arm.
Hearing what the princess just said, Franz looked very confused. Like losing his soul, Franz started wandering in the corridor. Then, he was stopped by a guard.
"I'm very sorry to tell you this, but¡­ Lucien Evans was killed by an evil sorcerer in the early morning, because of a conspiracy that was not even really related to him," said Natasha using the Church's explanation.
People knew how close Natasha was to the young musician, and thus they all believed that what the princess just said must have been carefully verified as true. Sorrow started to spread in the corridor, and some started to sob, cursing the evil sorcerer.
Victor's face turned pale. He opened his mouth but his throat could only make some hoarse noise. Mr. Christopher's wrinkled face looked heartbroken.
Othello gently patted on Victor's shoulder, "Don't be overly sad, please, Victor. Evans' talent is incomparable, and he just created the greatest music piece in this world. God has decided to call him back to Mountain Paradise, so he could play for God. Evans is loved by God, and up there, he is going to have the eternal joy. We shall pray for him. We shall not let the pain and sorrow torture us. Evans is going to watch over us from Mountain Paradise."
"I hope so, but I'd like to be left alone right now." Victor murmured, voice trembling. Then he turned to the princess, "Your Highness, can I¡­ can I at least take one last look at him?"
Natasha slightly shook her head, "The evil sorcerer destroyed his body¡­ Only some¡­ some¡­ is left."
The tough female knight could not say the word. It was too cruel.
"What¡­ What can we do now, Your Highness?" Othello helped Christopher sit down and then asked.
Natasha said in the same flat tone, "On behalf of the association, release the obituary notice. On the newspapers, journals, in front of the association building, across the many city zones¡­ Tell this to all the people who like his music. In three days, there will be a funeral¡­ for us to say goodbye to him."

Chapter 307: The Whole City¡¯s Sorrow
				Chapter 307: The Whole City¡¯s Sorrow
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In a nice house, Purple Lily District.
Ryan walked to the dining table and noticed that there was a pile of newspaper on his right side, so he asked a bit confusedly, "I thought we already had the latest issue of Aalto Weekly yesterday?"
Managing a trading business, Ryan needed to know what was going on in Aalto in different fields to decide what to buy and what to sell. Therefore, he subscribed to the most comprehensive newspaper¡ªAalto Weekly.
After making sure that their little son was sitting on the chair safely, the wife, Elena, answered in a pretty good manner, "It's a supplementary issue, the delivery man told me."
Elena could not read. She had no idea what was on the newspaper.
Then, she started humming the lyrics of Ode to Joy in the kitchen. The family was in a quite happy mood.
Picking up the newspaper, Ryan also hummed the melody together with Elena. He started his career as an apprentice in the trading business, and although he was not the smartest among the apprentices, he was definitely the most hard-working one. Because of his perseverance, he slowly got rid of poverty and also learned how to read. Right now he was managing the business and he had a lovely family that was relatively well-off.
Therefore, his heart was deeply touched when he first heard Symphony of Fate. He fell in love with Lucien Evans' music instantly, and soon his family members all became the followers of Lucien's music.
He unfolded Aalto Weekly, and saw the bold black letter in the headline¡ª"Obituary".
Ryan's first thought was that an important person's death was very likely to affect the price of many goods.
He continued to read, and the black typed letters looked rather depressing:
"Lucien Evans, the immortal music master, the great pianist and conductor, the innovator, the leader of the current trend of symphony, the founder, the finisher, the music genius loved by God, was recalled by God in the early morning on June 4th."
Ryan did not get it at that moment. After a while, he realized that his ears were tingling. He just could not link the obituary to Mr. Lucien Evans, who was so young and so talented¡­
He though that Mr. Evans could lead the development of music in Aalto for at least another several decades!
Ryan continued to read with his vision slightly blurred. The lines on the newspaper hurt his heart:
"... Mr. Evans came from the slum and managed to play in the Psalm Hall as a music master. His life has shown us the spirit of perseverance and his great willpower. His life was a glorious legend!"
"¡­ Let us use our most profound condolences to pray for the talented young musician, wishing him the bliss in Mountain Paradise. His song of praise shall always be with God. May God bless him."
Elena walked out of the kitchen with the breakfast. She was so surprised when seeing the look on her husband's face that she almost dropped the plate.
"What happened, darling?" asked Elena hurriedly. "Why are you crying?"
"Am I¡­?" Ryan did not even realize the fact that there were tears in his eyes. He only knew that his eyes felt swelled and he could not see very clearly.
A tear dropped on the newspaper and it was quickly absorbed. The letters nearby became blurred.
"I can't believe it. His leaving is the greatest loss of the field of music! ¡ª Christopher"
"Maybe God wants him to play in Mountain Paradise, so Evans had to leave earlier. ¡ª Othello"
"He brought us the joy and the spirit of perseverance, but he has left us without taking anything with him. I don't want to cry, but I can't help it. ¡ª Felicia"
"He has set off for Mountain Paradise, leaving us a peak in the world of symphony that is beyond hard to conquer. The treasure he left with us is equal for everyone¡ªyoung or old, rich or poor. A grateful and unyielding heart is the most valuable thing in one's life. One day, when I die, I hope to be buried close to him. ¡ª Franz"
Ryan stared at the tear stain on the paper and murmured, "I really¡­ cried."
...
Beside the gate of Aderon District that led to the market, sad people gathered together. Some were silent, while others were sobbing. Many young ladies hugged each other, shedding their tears.
Betty, Joanna and Simon saw these people on the street as soon as they stepped out of Copper Coronet. At the same time, they saw a notice on the city wall.
They could not read, but the color of the notice told them that this was an obituary.
"Which important figure passed away?" asked Betty curiously. In her mind, she saw no reason why these poor people in Aderon should cry for the death of an important person, say, a noble or a cardinal.
Out of curiosity, Betty asked the two gate guards who also looked sad, "May I ask what this notice is about?"
Most people in Aderron did not know how to read. So one of the guards answered in a rather depressed way, "The pride of Aderon¡­ no, The pride of Aalto¡­ Mr. Lucien Evans¡­ has passed away due to his serious illness."
Except Lucien's close friends, some nobles and some major members of the association knew that the young musician was killed by the evil sorcerer called Professor, other people were told by the Church that Lucien Evans passed away because of his illness. The Church had asked for the permission of the princess.
The fact that a very successful and popular musician was killed by an evil sorcerer right in Aalto would make the followers doubt the capability of the Church. They would wonder if the Church would be able to protect them from the evilness like they claimed they could.
If it was not because of Natasha's insistence, the Church would try to hide the truth from everyone.
Betty was frozen. She felt that she had lost her soul.
"Betty, what?" asked Joanna concernedly.
Betty suddenly burst out crying. She buried her head in Joanna's arms, "Evans¡­ Mr. Evans¡­ die¡­ died."
Although she had been traveling around for three years, Betty was still a young lady under twenty, who was not able to control her emotions very well.
Joanna could not believe what she just heard, but she also knew that the guard would not play jokes on this. So, she patted on Betty's shoulder, although her own eyes were also holding tears, and said, "Mr. Evans was just recalled by God to Mountain Paradise, because his talent was just too outstanding. Don't cry, Betty. Work harder to become a knight and don't let Mr. Evans down¡­"
Betty sobbed and nodded.
...
Riding his Dragon Scale, John led a group of guards heading for the city gate of Aalto that faced the black forest.
Aalto was the last major city very close to the Dark Mountain Range, therefore it was also not far away from the fortification. It only took John about a day to come back to Aalto. He had applied for his annual ten-day vacation as soon as he received the letter from his family that his old friend had come back.
However, due to the strict regulation of the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range, and also because Natasha and Lucien were worried that John, as a knight, would notice the different power from Lucien if they lived in the same villa together, his vacation did not get approved until the third day after the concert.
Wearing the silver set of armor and purple mantle, the blond young man's eyes were full of joy. He was looking forward to reuniting with his family and old friend.
Although from time to time John had got some letters from the princess, the joy was not even close to that of talking to his old friend face to face. On his way home, John heard that his friend's concert had just achieved a huge success and everyone was humming the melody of Ode to Joy. His heart was beating faster and faster as he approached the city gate. John almost wanted to push his horse to rush back home, but there were too many people on the streets.
However, John noticed that something was wrong. Those people on the streets all looked very sad, and he heard that people were all saying the name¡ªLucien Evans.
The look on John's face started to get more and more serious. He sent his servant to ask what happened.
Then John heard the passerby's answer very clear, "Mr. Evans was recalled by God¡­"
The horsewhip in John's hand suddenly dropped onto the ground, and the sound was crispy.
...
The Aalto Weekly published later recorded this day as following:
"It seems there is a huge piece of cloud covering Aalto. People have lost their smile from the great shock. The angel of music has left this world in such a young age, and that is the whole city's sorrow."
...
Three days later, Aderon District, beside the old shanty Lucien once lived in.
A black hearse pulled by four bulls started to move slowly, following the life path of Lucien Evans, from Aderon to Gesu, then to the administrative district, and finally it would arrive in the noble district. The funeral would be held in the Golden Cathedral.
Wearing the black knight suit, John walked silently on the right front side. Behind him were Joel, Alisa, Iven, Elena, and Lucien's other friends. On the left side, Victor stood in the front, followed by Othello, Felicia and Lucien's classmates.
Christopher, because of his age, and Natasha, because of her status and the fact that she had not had a settled relationship with Lucien, were waiting in the Golden Cathedral.
The black hearse moved slowly. There was only sobbing in low volume in the air.
A poor man from Aderson district silently joined the procession.
Then, more and more people joined them. They wanted to see off Lucien Evans for the last time.


Chapter 308: The Musician¡¯s Funeral
				Chapter 308: The Musician¡¯s Funeral
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The sky was covered with dark clouds, and it started to rain. Everything in Aalto was shaded with a thin layer of a veil, as if nature was also crying for the young musician.
The black hearse pulled by the four bulls kept moving forward slowly and steadily. More and more people gathered along both sides of the street in the rain, watching the hearse leaving.
The splendid concert that made the whole city crazy was held just a few days ago, and the melodies played were still lingering in the air. People felt that this was like a dream, a more than painful dream.
For the spirit of perseverance that Lucien Evans brought to them, and for the precious and pure joy Lucien Evans presented, people voluntarily stood along both sides of the street to see off the young and talented musician.
The fine rain drops fell on their faces, mixing with their tears.
If it had been a week later, or if it had not been in Aalto, it was almost impossible for one to see this grand and solemn scene. It seemed that people of the whole city were out to send Lucien Evans off.
When the hearse was about to leave Aderon, some more people who admired Lucien Evans a lot rushed down the street and joined the funeral procession.
Wearing black suits, those heartbroken people made the funeral procession grow bigger and bigger.
So, when the hearse arrived in the noble district, the nobles who were invited to attend the funeral were shocked. They saw a huge crowd behind the hearse, like black tides safeguarding the last part of the journey of the beloved young musician.
Except for the municipal square during the music festival, they had never seen so many people gathering together for the same purpose. The nobles had this feeling that these people, when uniting together, were unstoppable with their overwhelming power.
Some nobles were so impressed by the fact that Lucien Evans was loved by this many people that they thought to themselves, "If I could have these many people sending me off when I die, it would be such a glory¡­ I wouldn't have any regrets if that was the case."
When the hearse passed by, the nobles also joined the procession, although they were not quite willing to stand this close to the common people, this was part of the funeral manner of the Saint Truth.
When seeing the massive crowd, the look on Gossett's face slightly changed. Standing in front of the Golden Cathedral, he unconsciously crossed and said in low voice, "Only truth lives forever!"
After the hearse was sent into the Golden Cathedral, the common people who were not invited to the funeral refused to leave. In the fine rain, they stood surrounding the cathedral and prayed for the musician.
The scene made the pastors and cardinals feel that they were going to bury a saint.
...
In the cathedral, the coffin was placed below the cross, showing that the musician was a loyal follower.
The funeral music stopped. Holding a white cross in his hand, Gossett said in a solemn way, "Merciful God, here we shall pray for our brother, Lucien Evans, who has finished his path in this world and is now heading for the path toward Mountain Paradise. We firmly hold true that all of us who believe, who accept, who follow, and who respect will finally be saved by you, Father, and we will rest in peace forever in Mountain Paradise."
The nobles, musicians, and instrumentalists sitting in the cathedral all started to pray with their eyes closed.
"He was a pure and devout nobleman. His music has your power and has brought people faith and joy. Wish he will continue to play the paean in your kingdom¡­"
Finishing praying, Gossett looked at Natasha, Joel, Alisa, John, Victor and Lucien's other friends in a merciful and loving way, "Lord teaches us that death is like the dark night, but when the dark night is over, light shall return. One shall not fear death, as all of his followers will eventually reunite at Mountain Paradise. We shall be together, we shall always be connected, and we can always pray for each other."
Then, Lucien's relatives and friends started to speak one by one on the stage, recounting Lucien Evans' life story. Some could not stop weeping; some hid the profound pain in their heart; some followed the Lord's instruction and comforted the rest of the people to stand strong for a better future.
At the end of the funeral, Natasha walked onto the stage and stood beside the cardinal.
Wearing the long black dress, with the black veil covering her tied-up long hair, the princess recounted the happy moments she spent with the young musician. Then, she calmed herself down and said formally, "He once told me that if he had passed away without leaving the will, he wanted me to donate his manor, Brons, to the Musicians' Association."
Hearing that, Othello slightly nodded. Lucien Evans was for sure born for music, and his love toward music was precious and pure. He had decided to donate most of his asset to the association.
Natasha continued, "Lucien hoped to use the profit of the manor to set up an award and a piano competition. The award is for the most outstanding music piece across the continent selected every three years by the members of the Musicians' Association of Aalto. The competition is also going to be held every three years in order to promote the development of this new musical instrument and encourage more young pianists to devote their passion to this career."
Lucien's manor, Brons, was selected by Natasha. When the princess gave Lucien the manor as a present, it was worth a few thousand Thales, and its annual profit was also quite good, which was around a hundred Thales, equal to a famous musician's a whole year's income. Therefore, three hundred Thales was a lot to a young musician who just got started.
"Mr. Evans had a kind heart made of gold. He cared about the development of music all the time as well as the growth of other young musicians." Othello stood up and showed the appreciation on behalf of the association, "Here I suggest that we name the award as 'Evans Music Award' and the competition as 'Continental Evans Piano Competition'. Also, the association has decided to build stone figures for each music master who made a great contribution to the development of music. The stone figures will be built on the top of Mountain Kaseya beside Belem River, so everyone who comes to Aalto and every child who plays beside the river shall see the figures and remember the brilliant names."
Christopher, Victor, and other association members all nodded.
People applauded in a serious but warm manner to show their respect toward this lofty and gracious musician and his love and passion for music.
At this time, Natasha added, "I'll add the profit of one of my personal manors on top of the prize, so the prize of both Evans Music Award and Continental Evans Piano Competition shall be three hundred Thales."
"It's very generous of you, Your Highness." Othello slightly bowed.
Lucien's relatives were also fine with the decision.
Only the red-robed cardinal, Gossett, frowned slightly. In his eyes, Evans Music Award sounded very much alike Holm Crown Prize or Immortal Throne Award. Maybe Lucien Evans was inspired by the princess or Professor.
But in such an occasion, Gossett could not oppose the proposal. And there was also no serious reasons other than that for him to say no.
After setting up the award and the competition, the memorial part of the funeral was completed. The funeral guests started to sing hymns led by the choir. The funeral was sacred and solemn.
In the end, Gossett sprinkled holy water on the coffin to wash off all the sins from this world.
The coffin was lifted up again toward the cemetery beside the Golden Cathedral. Lucien's relatives and close friends followed while other nobles and musicians were ready to leave.
As soon as they walked out of the cathedral, the nobles were shocked. They did not expect that the crowd was still waiting.
Seeing that the nobles were leaving, people started to flow to the noble cemetery nearby. On the other side of the iron fence, they saw the black coffin slowly sinking down into the ground.
The rain had stopped for a while, and a few rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds. But when mud started being thrown on top of the coffin, the grief became unstoppable again.
The mud slowly buried the coffin, as if it was cutting off the last piece of string connecting the dead and the mourning. Alisa, Felicia, and Elena could not stop crying, while Joel, John, Victor, and Natasha closed their eyes.
People on the other side of the iron fence also started weeping.
At this time, a girl started singing in her slightly hoarse voice:
"Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium¡­"
Although the theme of Ode to Joy did not fit the atmosphere of the funeral, its spirit matched the impression that Lucien Evans left to people.
When facing darkness and pain, do not give up.
When facing darkness and pain, one shall still head for the destination where there are brightness and joy.
More and more people joined the singing.
"Fire-inspired we tread¡­ Within thy sanctuary¡­"
The singing became louder and louder. Felicia and Elena cried even harder, while Natasha also joined the singing.
"All creatures drink of joy,
"At nature's breast.
"Just and unjust,
"Alike taste of her gift¡­"
Goodbye, Lucien Evans, the young musician who once brought people the pure joy, the ultimate beauty of music.
"Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium¡­"
In the singing, the tombstone was erected, on which there was a short line of the epitaph.
"Here was buried an angel of music."
...
In the late night, in a noble villa.
John and his relatives were sitting on a couch. They could not fall asleep.

Chapter 309: Choice
				Chapter 309: Choice
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The night of the Month of Passion, the sixth of the year, was still relatively cool. The gentle breeze was refreshing.
However, in the hall of John's house, the atmosphere was freezing cold because of the deep grief.
Sitting on the couch, the family members were all very silent. None of them talked, as they were lost in their memories.
Alisa wiped off her tears with the handkerchief from time to time; Iven's young face was written with sorrow, and his hands were clenching tight; Although Joel had a bottle of spirit in his right hand, right now his biggest habit other than music could not help him with relieving the pain; John, however, was justing sitting there like a statue with a glass of wine in his hand.
"¡­I'm getting old, and it's becoming harder for me." Joel released a sigh. "When I was in Aderon, when Evans' father passed away¡­ I was sad, but I recovered a few days later. But now¡­"
Aderon was a very poor area, where the poor people living there struggled every day to make a living. Therefore, it was common for one from Aderon to see that a sudden disease took away a person's life overnight. Thus, Aderon was the area with the highest mortality rate in Aalto, and Joel and his relatives were relatively more ready for the loss.
Alisa stared at Joel and said in a sobbing voice, "This is different! Our little Evans¡­ He was¡­ not even twenty-one! He was so talented, so hard-working, and he was the best musician ever! He¡­ He's got no wife, no children¡­ The Evans family has ended here!"
After a few years living as a noble, the way of her talking became more polite.
"If this didn't happen, we would be able to attend Evans' wedding in about six months." Joel sighed again. From what happened at the concert and the funeral, Joel was quite sure that as long as the grand duke agreed, the two young people in love would get married very soon. And, of course, the grand duke would not oppose the marriage. After all, Lucien was a man!
Silence seized the moment again, and then John stood up and said to them, "Let's get some rest. Lucien wouldn't want us to be like this."
"Alright¡­" Joel stood up and patted on John's shoulder.
As the backbone of the family, John's words counted. Alisa slowly stopped crying and said, "John, try to get some rest as well. You are going back to the fortification soon. It's tough there. Be careful with the evil sorcerers¡­"
Although she had heard things about the evil creatures and monsters in the Dark Mountain Range from other noble ladies, Alisa did not worry too much. However, what happened to Lucien Evans made her worry about John a lot. After all, the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range was way more dangerous than Aalto.
John's hands slightly twitched when hearing the word "sorcerer". He gently hugged Alisa and said, "Mom, don't worry. I'll be careful. I need to work harder to become a grand knight in ten years, so I can better fight against the evil¡­ the bastard sorcerers¡­"
At this time, the breeze suddenly turned into a wind blow, making the noise sounding like ghosts crying. Moonlight disappeared, and the light of the candles also started flickering, as if they were going to go out at any time.
"Who is it?" John sensed a bit of a magic wave in the wind, and he knew that someone was slowly walking downstairs. Taking a big step forward, John fearlessly protected his family standing behind him and, at the same time, pulled out the extraordinary sword.
He could feel it that the person was not intended to do any harm. However, John was also concerned that if he took the initiative to attack, his parents and brother would be left unprotected. Therefore, he chose to stay where he was.
Compared to his experienced elder brother, Iven, who had just started his knight training a few years ago, looked very nervous and confused. It took him a long time to find his sword.
It was very late and the dead silence reigned in the big living room. The person did not answer. The loud footsteps were stimulating their nerves.
Alisa was very nervous and fearful, while Joel was looking at his two sons worriedly. He and his wife were both over forty and they had enjoyed the noble life for a few years. Even if they were going to die there, they did not have much to regret. But his two sons were still young, and they should still have a future.
"Who is it? Who is there!" John did not give up. Slowly, he calmed down, as he knew that there were many knights and even some radiant knights living in the area. The longer the fight took, the better chance they had to win.
When the dim candlelight appeared in the corner of the stairs, John was totally shocked and the name burst out of his mouth:
"Lucien?!"
Wearing the black suit and bow tie, Lucien Evans, the musician who just passed away, slowly walked downstairs!
"E¡­ Evans?!"
"Lucien¡­?!"
Joel, Alisa, and Iven also saw the person's face. Under the candlelight, the familiar, good-looking face looked rather healthy.
"It's me, uncle Joel, aunt Alisa. Hi¡­ John, Iven¡­" Lucien tried to smile, but he failed.
Alisa cried out, "Little Evans¡­ You've got the permission of God to come back to visit us for the last time?"
Alisa could not understand what was going on right now. She tended to use the divine will to explain everything she could not understand. She was very excited, ready to jump out and hug Lucien.
"Mom, be careful! He's not Lucien! This is an evil sorcerer turning himself into Lucien to fool us!" John directly stopped Alisa.
Under the great spiritual pressure from Lucien, John was only able to stay on the defensive.
"John, I must say that you're half right and half wrong. I am Lucien Evans, but I'm also a sorcerer. I never died. I was just using it as my way to get rid of the identity as a musician." Lucien stopped at the bottom of the stairs, as Joel, Alisa, and Iven, where hearing what John said, all took a few steps back, trying to keep some distance away from him. John's sword was ready to attack at any time.
Therefore, at this moment, Lucien knew that the distance was good for both sides, despite the fact that he felt quite sad in his mind.
"Lucien¡­ a sorcerer?" John repeated the words and became furious. "You bastard! You damned sorcerers! You killed Lucien, and you're now ruining his reputation! Even the Inquisition has proved that Lucien was a pure and noble man!"
Joel and the rest of them were influenced by John's words. Although they were confused for a second, now they were all staring at Lucien in an extremely hostile manner.
John continued, "I'm a knight, and I know sorcerers can change their look! Why are you here? Why are you slandering him?"
"John¡­ Do you still remember our talk about the knight spirit and the creed before we beat the gangsters? Do you still remember what we said after we beat the gangsters? We were hoping to travel across the continent, and we were even discussing whether a Cynocephalus was edible?" What was going on right now was within Lucien's expectation, so he was prepared.
John looked surprised, but soon he became calm again, "So what? There're tons of ways for you to get the information from Lucien."
Although Lucien was always very impressed with a knight's strong willpower, now John's willpower brought him quite headache. Lucien tried to avoid involving more details because he had no idea what happened between Lucien and John before, when they were kids. So he said, "John, you can ask me more questions about this. You'll see."
The look on John's face was very serious and disagreeable.
Seeing that John was not going to ask him any questions, Lucien started to talk on his own, "I did not start studying magic right after I knew the witch, therefore, I was able to pass the interrogation from the Inquisition. But later when the pastor, Benjamin, sent me and several knights down into the sewers to find the witch's lab, I found a set of notes and books left by her, and so I started studying magic¡­
"Uncle Joel, aunt Alisa¡­ John! Do you still remember why all of a sudden I wanted to learn how to read? Because I wanted to read the magic books and notes!
"John, you want to know why I could find the conspiracy of the Argent Horn? That was because I was practicing magic down in the sewers!"
...
Lucien's words slowly shook their faith. His strict logical thinking made them speechless.
After a while, John growled in a deep voice, "Lucien! Why do you have to make me believe?! Why do you have to let me know that my best friend is a sorcerer! A sorcerer who fooled the whole city and deceived all the people who admired and loved him?!"
In his mind, the image of his friend had been completely destroyed.
Alisa shook her head. She could not believe the fact that her child was an evil sorcerer. And if Lucien Evans never died, the solemn funeral now looked like a vicious trick.
Joel saw the pain in Lucien's eyes, and the sick look on Joel's face was slightly relieved, "Little Evans¡­ I understand that you probably didn't have other choices to make your life better when you just started studying magic. But why are you still chasing after magic after showing your talent in music? Are you that obsessive with power that you have decided to betray God?"
"Uncle Joel, that's not true. I pursue magic because I love it. I want to see the truth of the world. I want to know how our lives came into being; how this world was born and in what form does this world exist? I want to know the secret of stars above us¡­ This world with so many things unknown is very charming to me¡­" answered Lucien sincerely.
Then, Lucien turned to John. "I made people believe I was dead because, sooner or later, people would know that I'm a sorcerer. So it's better letting the great musician live in people's mind forever. I'm very sorry¡­ for making them feel this sad. I swear¡­ after becoming a sorcerer, I've never purposefully hurt anyone innocent unless to protect myself or save other people. I know you might not able to accept my identity, but I want you to know that I'm not that kind of evil sorcerer, and neither are the most sorcerers in the Congress."
John softened his tone a bit and asked, "So¡­ Your plan has worked out. Why are you here? You don't worry that we might tell this to the Church?"
Seeing that they were now less nervous, Lucien took a step forward. But Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven all took a step backward. They were still afraid of Lucien.
Lucien slightly shook his head with a bitter smile, "I'm here¡­ to ask if you all are willing to go to the Kingdom of Holm with me. Although there are many sorcerers, the Church is still influential there, and there are still nobles. We live in peace right now. And I'm confident that the nobles in the Kingdom of Holm will accept you all."
"Holm? The Congress? ¡­ Her Highness¡­?" Some ideas came to John.
Lucien shook his head again, "This has nothing to do with Natasha. I planned this together with my mentor, Professor. Later I'll be visiting her to tell her the truth as well and apologize."
Lucien lied about it.
Then, Lucien asked again, "Do you want to come with me? You'll still have the same life there."
What was waiting for Lucien was silence. Long-time silence.
After a while, when Lucien was about to ask again, John shook his head alertly, "Lucien, I'm a knight of the Duchy of Violet and Violet Knights. I have the land to protect. I can't."
The rejection was firm. The way John looked at Lucien was strange.
Joel tried to put on a smile and said, "Little Evans, we're happy that you're still thinking about us. But Aalto is our home¡­ I just can't¡­"
"Me, too, little Evans¡­" Alisa also rejected. "It's hard for me to imagine the life living with the sorcerers. I'm a devoted follower of God."
Iven shook his head as well.
Seeing their attitude, Lucien slightly closed his eyes and released a sigh, "Alright, I see¡­ So, after I leave, please go to the Church and tell them I'm a sorcerer."
"What? What are you talking about?" They were shocked.
Lucien's smile was a bit sad, "The Church will sooner or later know that I'm a sorcerer, and that'll bring you all trouble. So if you take the initiative, the Church would not give you all a hard time."
If the family reported this to the Church, they would not become the tool for the Church to threaten Lucien.
John, Alisa, Joel, and Iven were so shocked that they could not say anything. Although they were very afraid of Lucien and felt betrayed just now, they had never thought of reporting this to the Church!
Lucien put his left hand on his chest and bowed deeply, "Cruelty can also be a kind of mercy. I have to leave now. Hope we can see each other in the future."
Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven were silent. This was a cruel truth that was very hard for them to accept.
Lucien felt heartbroken. However, he turned around and walked to the door. Maybe they would never be able to see each other again.
When Lucien was going to step out of the living room, Alisa'a trembling voice stopped him, "Little Evans¡­"
Lucien was surprised. He looked back. He was waiting for the favorable turn.
Alisa bit her lips and then said, "Be careful in that¡­ what is it called¡­ the Congress. It must be dangerous there."
"I will, aunt Alisa." Lucien's eyes welled up.
After the inner struggle, Joel sighed, "I still believe that you have a kind heart. If one day you want to leave the Congress, this place is still your home."
The look on John's face was complicated. The veins of his hands grabbing the sword twitched. Finally, when he saw Lucien was about to leave, the words escaped his lips, "Dare you to do bad things! Don't let me catch you!"
Pausing a bit, John's voice lowered down, "Be careful."
A big smile appeared on Lucien's face. He again bowed to them, and then walked into the darkness.

Chapter 310: Feeling Uneasy
				Chapter 310: Feeling Uneasy
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Aalto was still immersed in the sorrow from the funeral earlier, in the suburb area, in the air above the Melzer Black Forest, Lucien was bidding farewell to Natasha.
"Please take care of my family, Natasha. I have this feeling that my mission to take the letter to the Dark Mountain Range will change my life greatly in a short period of time. Maybe I'll become stronger, but this would bring me more attention from the Church, and they probably will know that my death is a lie. So, if my family does not report me to the Church, be careful, so you can be more prepared when the Church finds it out. This is also another reason why I did not let you kill Clown on the spot. Normally, if we had colluded, you would have killed Clown directly," said Lucien gently and sincerely.
Natasha was still wearing the black plain dress, and she was quite impressed, "I feel the pressure of being a sorcerer's friend. You guys always have more than one purpose when doing things. Come on, Lucien, are you still hiding anything from me?"
In fact, yes, there was still a lot, but Lucien put on an embarrassed smile and hurriedly denied it.
Natasha was just joking. And she did not really care if Lucien was telling her everything. So she nodded, "If the family still doesn't report you to the Church in half a year, I'll put more pressure on them and force them to do so. Don't worry. I won't hurt them."
After promising Lucien, Natasha said a little excitedly, "There are many powerful creatures in the Dark Mountain Range, more than several hundred as we know¡­ Dragons, evil elves, trolls, mutated spiders, scarlet trees, lightning eagles¡­ Be careful, Lucien. Also, most sorcerers who follow the ancient magic system are cruel and ruthless. They do forbidden experiments, and they control people's will. Their own desires are more important than anything else. Be very cautious, Lucien, they're not like the arcanists in the Congress. Although you're bringing the letter for some important person, and normally the Congress should be prepared and would not send a promising young arcanist to die there for nothing, you still have to rely on yourself."
Natasha's caring words comforted Lucien who had just bid farewell to his family, so he joked, "I hear you. But why do you look so excited?"
"Of course! It's gonna be a great adventure! Don't you think it's super exciting adventuring in the Dark Mountain Range, fighting against different powerful creatures, and seeing extraordinary powers?" said Natasha full of passion. Then, she sighed. "I wish I could go with you when I first heard about your mission so I could protect you, but I can't. I'm the future grand duchess, so I have to live and fight for the duchy. I can't just leave."
Although she saw it as a great pity, Natasha was not complaining. She knew her job very well, as she was trained to be the leader of the duchy since she was a young girl.
Lucien felt a bit embarrassed when hearing that Natasha once planned to protect him. "It's okay, Natasha. I believe that as long as I'm careful enough and I don't wander around in the mountains, I should be able to handle most of the dark creatures. When I come back, I'll tell you all the stories."
"Of course, I believe in your power. You've got a Holm Crown Ring!" Natasha nodded. But then she took out a pair of earrings in the shape of violet petals, "This is a gift given to me enchanted with the spell called Fernando's Electromagnetic Message. If you are in trouble, you can find me through this. I know you have something similar to this. Although the thunder and lightning in the Storm Strait cut off the connection between you and the Congress, in Aalto, you've still got someone who you can ask for help."
As a knight, and because of her more masculine character, except for every year's New Year Banquet, Natasha usually did not wear any accessories. Therefore, Lucien did not know that the princess also had a magic item, and according to Lucien, the earrings were possibly a gift from Hathaway.
"I'll ask for help for sure if I'm in trouble." Lucien nodded seriously. At the same time, he said to Natasha, "It's a pity that we can't contact each other because of the Storm Strait¡­"
"That's true¡­ What a pity." Natasha sincerely nodded.
It suddenly came to Lucien that maybe he should work on studying sending some magic satellites to the sky as signal stations, so they could talk to each other very often.
But what if other people somehow knew that the birth of magic satellite and the development of telecommunication was because a sorcerer wanted to contact a girl far away? That was not good¡­ too embarrassing. That was Lucien's thought. Then, more thoughts came to him. He still had to first figure out if there were planets in this world and whether they followed any orbits¡­
"Lucien, what are you thinking?" asked Natasha, "It's okay. We can still write, you know. I like writing letters."
Natasha's voice dragged Lucien back from his boundless thoughts. Lucien panicked a bit when he realized what he was thinking¡­ They were just good friends! Natasha was not interested in men!
Lucien quickly threw out his many weird thoughts and nodded, "That's right¡­ Writing is good. But¡­but we should have a new set of code in case the Church notices."
After agreeing on the new writing code, Natasha smiled and said, "I don't know how long it's going to take for you to come back from the Dark Mountain Range, but very possibly, I'll miss your birthday again. Seriously, since we first got to know each other, I was never there for your birthday. So right now, may I have an opening dance with you, and wish you happy birthday in advance?"
She slightly bowed. With right hand on her chest, she reached out her left hand, which was a typical manner of men.
Lucien was a bit amused, "I'm the man, Your Highness. I shall be the one to invite. Seriously, I've never been there for your birthday either. So please allow me to be the one inviting you for the opening dance."
Then Lucien followed the same manner.
Natasha grinned and slightly lifted her eyebrows. Then she stood up straight, reached out her right hand, and put it on Lucien's left hand.
There was no music but only quite strong wind and clouds. But both Lucien and Natasha were good at music. And their dance steps were neat and elegant.
Although Lucien was still a bit shorter than Natasha, he had grown quite taller in the past several years. When they were dancing, they could look directly into each other's eyes, and their breaths were also very close.
Looking into Natasha's silvery-purple eyes and gorgeous face, feeling her sweet breaths and soft body, Lucien suddenly felt very uneasy. Although this was not his first time dancing with the princess, he felt very different this time¡ªhis heart was beating very fast.
Seeing that Lucien's eyes somehow started to look away and his face slightly blushed, feeling that his steps were getting slower and his hands stiff, Natasha also sensed the difference. When Lucien's breaths started to get heavier and heavier, Natasha was sure that the atmosphere was not normal¡ªin fact, it was very strange, and she somehow felt nervous.
"Are you alright?" asked Natasha directly. "Are you worrying about something?"
Lucien was very embarrassed. He shook his head and answered, "Not really. Just my first time dancing in the air surrounded by clouds¡­"
"I see. That's true." Natasha grinned, "The wind is quite strong."
Trying his best, Lucien finally finished the dance with Natasha relatively perfectly.
"Lucien, happy birthday."
"Happy birthday, Natasha."
They said it at the same time when the dance was over. Then they smiled at each other.
...
After saying goodbye to Natasha, Lucien was now flying toward the Dark Mountain Range with his eyebrows slightly frowned. After a while, he murmured to himself, "That wasn't true. I just haven't been that close to a woman for a long time. I can't have these thoughts with Natasha, and she doesn't even like men!"
...
Flying back to Aalto with Camil, Natasha slowly stopped in the air and put on the violet-petal earrings. Feeling a bit strange, she slightly shook her head.
Then, she noticed that Camil was looking at her ears carefully, so she asked, "What? I have to wear them, or I might miss Lucien's signal."
"Nothing. You have beautiful ears," answered Camil casually. "Even better with the earrings."

Chapter 311: The Dark Mountain Range
				Chapter 311: The Dark Mountain Range
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien's first impression about the Dark Mountain Range could be defined by the word "huge". The peaks were huge, trees huge, vines huge, as well as the beasts in there.
Tall trees of over a hundred meters were everywhere, and somehow their leaves were black, blocking the sunlight from above, so even if it was daytime when one walked in the mountains, it always felt like nightfall.
Stepping on the squashy soil and layers of rotten leaves, it was hard for one to tell where the solid ground was and where the dangerous gobs were. At the same time, one should be very careful with the vicious snakes and spiders that no one could predict when and where they would pop out from.
Some rotten stuff in the mountains brought forth some toxic miasma. Standing some distance away, the miasma even looked colorful. Even the knights could really use some caution there.
However, in this harsh environment, Lucien walked calmly in the forest wearing a white shirt, black double-breasted suit, and his monocle, as if he was wandering on the streets of Aalto or Rentato.
"Mr. Elvis, how long do we still need to arrive at the magic tower of the Nightmare King?" Lucien asked the liaison beside him.
The liaison, Elvis, looked very ordinary. Most of the time his job was to buy some materials and goods from the adventures and then sell them to the sorcerers living close to the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range. Many adventures knew his connection to the ancient sorcerers, so when they dealt with Elvis, they were quite careful.
However, Lucien knew him better due to the information provided by the Congress. Elvis was not simply a businessman, instead, he might have some connections to the Nightmare King. Lucien found Elvis in a campsite for adventurers, and within his expectation, although he described his mission using quite ambiguous words, Elvis instantly understood what Lucien was there for.
Wearing the black tight suit, Elvis walked fast and swiftly like a cheetah full of strength. Hearing Lucien's question, he responded without looking back, "At least half month, Mr. X. You should know that this isn't a good place for flying unless you're of legendary level, and rushing around can also put you into serious trouble."
Lucien did not tell Elvis his true name. He used X as his pseudonym.
Lucien slightly nodded. It was said that above the Dark Mountain Range in the sky, there were lots of space gaps that connected to other dangerous dimensions. Furthermore, dragons in the forest were also constantly watching their territory as well as the sky above, not to mention those lightning eagles, griffins and carrion birds patrolling around.
Stepping on the soft, squashy leaves, a greenish yellow snake suddenly sprang up and bit Lucien's calf.
However, the bite almost broke the snake's fangs. The snake twitched and then escaped away hurriedly in the rotten leaves and branches.
As soon as they entered the mountains, Lucien had carefully cast Stone Skin and Douglas' Absorbing Wall on himself. He knew that this was a place where he had to be extremely careful.
"How did I fail to sense it?" Lucien murmured. He was asking Elvis, and also himself. It did not make any sense that a fourth-circle sorcerer failed to notice that a snake was going to attack him, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the miasma.
Elvis also slightly frowned, "My sense is also less sharp here. I wonder if there are any senior-rank creatures around¡­"
The route that he was taking with Lucien was through gaps between the many territories owned by the magical creatures.
After checking around, Elvis slightly deviated from their planned path. Then, they kept moving forward. After all, there was not really a "path" in the Dark Mountain Range.
As soon as they took another few more steps, Lucien heard some strange squeaking noise.
A huge spider unexpectedly dropped from the sky. Its colorful pattern on the back was like a human being's face smiling in a creepy way, and its sharp poison fangs were like threatening daggers. At the bottom, there were two huge human arms covered by the black carapace. Each of the twelve fingers on the hand had a hundred and twenty joints in total.
When the spider landed, its white and thick threads joined together and become a huge web. The web shot out directly toward Lucien and Elvis.
Light flashed on Lucien's wrist, and a big fireball was instantly summoned. Then, the fireball burned down the spider web in a few seconds!
As a sorcerer, Lucien, of course, had some basic knowledge about the common magic creatures. 
Although the spider was huge, it moved very swiftly like a level three grand knight. Its joints were making squeaking noises.
At this time, the noise became louder and louder. More huge, colorful spiders had arrived, surrounding Lucien and Elvis in the center.
Transformed spiders lived exclusively in the Dark Mountain Range. They had heads like human beings. After growing mature, its power could match that of a level three knight. They moved very fast, and they often hunted together. Because they could use illusionary magic and they were good at teamwork, those spiders could kill enemies who were even much stronger than them.
Lucien knew the facts about the spiders well. In the next second, he cast Scare, and invisible magic waves extended in all directions.
Elvis was not affected because of the magic item he was wearing.
Most of the spiders panicked and their team formation became dispersed. Making the eerily noise, the rest of the spiders managed to resist the magic power and rushed fiercely toward them.
Some of the spiders used Hypnotism; some spread out thick webs; and some were going to directly attack them in their face with their fangs, pincers, and venom!
Elvis quickly took a glance at Lucien to complain because he did not take him into consideration when casting Scare, and then he lifted a black hammer about the size of a human head to get prepared for the fight.
Although he understood that Mr. X had enough reasons to use the ranged spell, and the influence of Scare was not permanent. He still felt a bit unhappy with the fact.
Every time when he dropped the hammer at the spiders, there was the powerful flame. After a few strikes, a spider was completely squashed by Elvis. The spiders illusionary magic did not work because of the amulet he was wearing.
It seemed that Elvis should be a level-four grand knight. However, Lucien still had no idea what his Blessing was.
Lucien was protected by a wall written with countless magic symbols and patterns, absorbing all the green waves from the spiders' Hypnotism and the black smoke to make people panic. At the same time, using his Amboula Staff to pinpoint the enemies, Lucien quickly killed another spider with a big fireball.
After the buffering time was gone, Lucien pointed at the spiders who were casting spells and shooting spider nets some distance away with his magic staff.
Dark clouds appeared above the spiders and then they were directly struck by the summoned lightning bolts. The spiders were burned black within seconds.
This was the fourth-circle Electromagnetics spell, Thunder Cloud. Lucien built it in his soul after coming back to Aalto. Another spell that he built was a unique spell, Maskelyne's Curse.
After a while, all the spiders were killed by Lucien and Elvis.
"Mr. Elvis, any problems?" asked Lucien when seeing Elvis' serious look. In Lucien's mind, in the Dark Mountain Range, encountering monsters and magic creatures was more than normal. Lucien was even about to collect the spiders' fangs and venom.
Elvis looked around in an insecure manner and said, "Mr. X¡­ there shouldn't be these many spiders, unless¡­"
There was one horrible possibility.
Before Lucien asked, he suddenly felt very nervous from the power he sensed.
Hurriedly, Lucien saw a huge lizard-like creature flying in the air with its bat-shaped wings, as if it was running away from something.
"Red Dragon?!" burst out Lucien. A red dragon was at the top of the creatures chain!
Lucien was quite regretful that he did not have a cellphone to take a picture of the dragon. After all, it was the first time that he saw a huge dragon with his own eyes.
However, Elvis panicked, "We're in trouble now! We're in the devil's territory!"
Then, he started to run out of panic.
"What do you mean?" Lucien was confused. However, he had no choice but to run after Elvis as fast as possible.
Elvis calmed down a bit, as if he was looking for something. He answered Lucien fretfully, "It is said that there was a legendary peak in the Dark Mountain Range that could move around like a living being. People cannot tell the difference between it and the normal hills. As long as one enters the area, the person can never get out! There was only one way to tell¡­ Creatures close the area would become crazy! No rules could be followed anymore!"
Lucien had never heard anything like this in the Congress. When he was about to ask, Elvis gave out a shrill cry! Countless huge vines burst out of the ground and tightened around him! Then many sharp, dark red thorns penetrated his skin!
Hurriedly, Lucien was about to cast Elemental Order to save Elvis. However, on the trunk of a huge tree beside them, two rows of big, black eyes suddenly opened!
Colorful rays shot out of those eyes, and they hit Lucien's protection wall directly.
The magic symbols and patterns on the wall instantly swelled and exploded, and the wall was gone within seconds!
In this strange area, Lucien totally ignored the fact that this was the horrible Scarlet Tree. He got hit by several magic rays with many negative effects that could paralyze, slow down or freeze people, or make them feel drowsy. Lucien really had no chance to activate his flame shield!
Feeling drowsy and dizzy, he started to lose his eyesight. In the last second, he used all his effort and activated his Holm Crown Ring, Element.
Colorful light spots appeared around Lucien and together formed a few extremely dangerous swirls, preventing other creatures or things from approaching Lucien.
This was not for attacking, but to defend!
Lucien hoped that Elemental Swirl could keep him safe. Then, in the next second, his mind sank into the boundless darkness.

Chapter 312: Shackled
				Chapter 312: Shackled
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The darkness was boundless and seemed everlasting.
Lucien was floating in this space. The certain power in his chest was shouting some words that he was not able to hear clearly. But the words were so powerful that the darkness almost started to surge, as if a storm was going to arrive.
Suddenly, dark green vines quickly rose from the ground beside Lucien's feet and tightened their grip around him within a couple of seconds. The dark red thorns on them were covered with dried human blood, and the dangerous sweet smell from it could paralyze people easily.
Lucien tried very hard. He tried to cast spells, but there was no spiritual power left in this strange space.
The thorns fiercely stabbed into Lucien's body and the unbearable pain made him cry out loud like Elvis. And, at the same time, his whole body felt frozen.
However, the great pain woke Lucien up. Rays of light that were too bright to look at came into space and pierced the darkness.
Lucien felt very dizzy. He squinted in the sudden bright sunlight. Very quickly, he recalled that he had been hit by the many magic rays from the scarlet tree. And he did not even have the time to activate his boots¡ªSidestep.
Subconsciously, Lucien cast Short Distance Teleportation to avoid the following attack from the tree.
It seemed that Elemental Swirl worked, so Lucien, fortunately, had had enough time to recover. But what about the vines in the darkness? Were they from Lucien's subconscious to make him wake up as soon as possible?
However, as soon as Lucien used the spell, he instantly realized that, just like what happened in his dream, his spiritual power had been drained by using Elemental Swirl. Therefore, he pressed his hands against the ground and dodged sideways.
As a level two knight, Lucien's life force became stronger. Thus, unlike what happened before, after using Elemental Swirl, Lucien was now still able to move relatively swiftly.
But after he rolled over, he noticed that there was nothing underneath him. When Lucien's eyes were more used to the light, he was shocked to find out the fact that he was in a small room painted white. There were no vines, no creepy trees, and no eyes!
Bang! Lucien fell onto the floor.
A knight's body was tough. Lucien did not feel much pain. He quickly looked around.
It was a small room. Except for a small wooden bed, there was only an open wood box here. And nothing was in it. 
The room was not dirty, but it was so simple that Lucien wondered if he was in a cell. Maybe he did a space-time travel again?
Lucien lifted his hands and saw that they still looked the same. He touched his neck and felt the summoning mark was still there. Lucien finally believed that he was still Lucien Evans.
But that did not bring much relief to Lucien, because there was a black bracelet on each of his wrist. The black bracelets were shining with a creepy light. Furthermore, when Lucien touched his neck, he felt that there was also a collar on it.
What was even worse was that all his magic items were gone! Sun's Corona, Fire Weaver's Bracelet, Sidestep Boots, Transformation suit, Ogre Gloves¡­ all gone!
There were tiny needles on the bracelets, piercing into Lucien's skin. The look on Lucien's face was very serious. He guessed that the bracelets should be used for confinement and the collar should be used to prevent him from using his spiritual power. No wonder Lucien felt that his spiritual power was drained even more compared to the time when he cast Elemental Swirl still as a junior-rank mage!
Being able to use neither his spiritual power nor his Blessing, Lucien tried to get access to his spirit library. However, it was blocked by some strange power. 
Lucien wondered if his spirit library required his spiritual power to be accessed.
Lucien kept trying. He tried to use the mark on his neck to see if he could summon Rhine in his dream. Rhine had the title called the Observer, so he should be the one who could provide Lucien with the most useful information about the Dark Mountain Range!
However, he failed again. For a second, Lucien felt very helpless, just as when he first arrived in this world.
"But I've got a healthy body, a strengthened soul. I think and take actions way better than I used to. Calm down, Lucien. There's hope." Lucien comforted himself, "Try to gather more information about this place. So I can figure out the next step."
Lucien was quite experienced with all kinds of difficulties that he ran into since he arrived in this world. He never gave up easily, and he always tried to stay positive. He believed that his true treasure was not the magic items, instead, it should be his knowledge in his brain that no one could take away from him! For example, he knew well about the bracelet, the collar, and many magic circles!
Lucien tried to pull the iron gate, and, of course, it was locked. So he walked back to the bed and sat down, trying to see what he could do with the bracelets.
At this time, Lucien heard the sound from some tinkling keys.
Someone inserted the key into the keyhole. With a click, the iron door was slowly opened.
A young man whose face looked drunken walked in with a big chain of keys. His back was used to bending forward. But as soon as he saw Lucien in the cell, he stuck out his chest a bit and said to him in a bit arrogant way, "Since you've woken up, follow me to see the master."
He was wearing a black short robe and a long trouser. There was nothing on his wrists or neck.
"Master?" Lucien hurriedly asked? Before he saw the so-called "master", he needed to know what this place was for and why he was here.
"How dare you say the word 'Master'? You were saved by master only because there's a lack of experiment materials! Keep this in mind¡ªyou're just the most trashy experiment material in this magic tower!"
Lucien's heart missed a bit. The ending of being the material for some magic experiments was not really better than death.
However, Lucien was still alive. He still had hope!
"I was saved? Where is this place?" Lucien pretended that he did not understand.
The young servant looked a bit pissed, "I was born here! I don't want to waste my time on explaining to you what kind of place this is! What I can tell you is that those people who came here by mistake and never managed to leave called this place the Devil's Territory."
Lucien realized that he was really not a lucky guy. He slightly released a sigh.
After finding Elvis, the liaison, Lucien thought that his mission was almost done, as Elvis was very experienced in commuting between the campsite and the magic tower of the Nightmare King. However, the Devil's Territory got them!
"So¡­ what happened to those people who never managed to leave? ¡­ Where's my companion?" Lucien kept asking, following what the young servant said.
It seemed that what Lucien just asked amused the young servant, so he answered, "Your companion? He's already a dried body now! Those people either ended up feeding the beasts or becoming the experiment materials of master. Two¡­ no, three¡­ are still alive¡­ Wait, bastard! Shut your mouth and follow me!"
It was the first time that the young servant saw someone like Lucien, who had endless questions in this horrible situation. When he realized what was going on here, the young servant suddenly looked worried and afraid.
Lucien did not want to push him too much. Wearing the bracelets and the collar, Lucien followed the young servant and walked upstairs in the magic tower.
On their way upstairs, Lucien stared at the back of the young servant, making the evaluation that whether this young man was strong and trained from the way the servant walked, and whether he could break the servant's neck or knock him out.
When they were on the fifth floor, Lucien stopped evaluating and started to recall the material he once read in the library of the Congress¡ª a book called About the Human Body Experiments Conducted by Ancient Sorcerers.
They came in front of a black door drawn with mysterious patterns. The young servant gently knocked at the door and said, "Master, the material that you picked back has woken up. He's here."
"Bring it in," said an old, female voice.
Lucien was not surprised with the fact that the sorcerer was female. Both male and female ancient sorcerers were equally dangerous.
The black door opened automatically. Lucien saw the entire lab. It was similar to the lab left by Maskelyne. Lucien saw the gray liquid called Aether flowing in the tubes, the complicated structure of tubes and pipes covering the whole lab, the many pale human hands hanging up there, as well as the dissecting table, the platform for alchemical experiment usage, and lots of weird-shaped lab devices and containers.
An old woman in a red magic robe whose back was badly crooked forward stopped her dissecting work and turned around to look at Lucien.
Her hair was basically all white. And her skin was sagging like a loose bag. She looked beyond ugly and horrifying.
After staring at Lucien with her cloudy green eyes for a while, she slightly nodded. And her old voice sounded a bit crazy: "Electric shock first."

Chapter 313: Trying
				Chapter 313: Trying
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The old woman's green eyes burst out with weird light, and Lucien instantly lost consciousness.
When he recovered, he realized that he was lying on a silver platform, like a patient waiting for his surgery or a body waiting to be cut open.
With several clicks, Lucien's wrists, ankles and neck were tied tight to the platform by the silver-gray shackles. Fine needles penetrated his skin, bringing him the indescribable prick and the feeling of numbness.
Lucien did not panic. Instead, he calmly told himself that the old ancient sorcerer was at least of senior-rank. Although his spiritual power had been restrained, as a fourth-circle sorcerer, Lucien would not have been mentally controlled so easily unless the old sorcerer's power way surpassed that of his level.
The two thin tubes like two black tentacles reached out and attached to both sides of Lucien's temple, as if they were alive.
From the magic circles and the magic materials used here, Lucien guessed that the old woman would record the change of his soul by striking him with electricity, therefore, Lucien hurriedly said to the ancient sorcerer, "Lady, are you doing the experiment observing one's change of soul under electric shock? I can be way more useful as your assistant rather than lying here."
Hearing that, the old woman giggled in a creepy way like an owl, "In fact, you're way more useful being my experimental subject. Finding a middle-rank sorcerer isn't easy. Your mutant soul can provide me with precious information for improving my rite."
Seeing that Lucien still wanted to say something, the old woman said a weird word, and then Lucien found it that he could not make any sound, although his mouth was open.
"Little thing¡­ Language is the most useless weapon. My decision can't be changed. The only rule here is my rule." The ancient sorcerer became a bit crazy, "I've read the letter you carried. But the two legendary sorcerers have nothing to do with me. They can't find this place! They can't threaten me! I can't even leave this bloody place. I need to finish my experiment as soon as possible to be more powerful, or I would never get out of this place¡­"
Lucien tried hard, but he could not pronounce a single word except for the harsh noise in his throat.
Knowing that this was not helping the situation, Lucien thought to himself seriously. The old woman's words were confusing, and she seemed crazy. Communication would not work, unless Lucien could find something that she really wanted.
From her words, it seemed that she was also a sorcerer imprisoned in the Devil's Territory. Maybe she was the third survivor mentioned by the young servant. She probably had been here for a very long time¡­ No wonder she was crazy like this.
But what did she want? Lucien knew basically nothing about this place.
The old woman lifted her magic staff that looked like a black snake and pointed it at Lucien. Then, instantly, tiny and fine silver-colored electric snakes showed up on the shackles and swiftly entered into Lucien's body.
Lucien first felt the burning pain in his wrist and ankles, and then the numbness put Lucien through the great pain.
He wished that the old woman could directly push the electricity to the highest limit, so he could directly pass out.
But, of course, the old female sorcerer would not let it happen!
The electric current slowly became more powerful. The fine little snakes joined together into a whip, lashing Lucien's body and soul.
Lucien had zero strength. What he had was was only faith. His soul started to swell under the stimulation of the power, as if all of his potential had been discovered. The pain was becoming more and more intolerable.
In half-dream, Lucien heard the old woman's voice, "A minute and twenty three seconds¡­ His soul started to change."
"Four minute and ten seconds¡­ He's still hanging in there. There's something¡­ supporting his soul and brain."
"Can faith influence one's soul in the opposite way? Most people say that faith can only contribute to the willpower of a knight."
"Willpower's also from human body, so maybe willpower and soul are somehow connected¡­"
"Maybe¡­ essentially, all the extraordinary powers are the same. Thanos, Sun King, and the many legendary sorcerers have been trying to see the essence of power. The world is complicated, but also simple. Maybe there is one thing in this world that can form everything."
The old woman sort of forgot her original purpose of conducting the experiment. Her observation went sideways.
After a long time, when Lucien thought that he was going to be trapped in the electricity jail forever, he felt less numb, but soon the bad pain and the feeling of weakness seized him.
"Very good. You're even better as an experiment material than I thought," commented the old woman, which was definitely not something that Lucien would like to hear.
Then, she stared at Lucien carefully with the creepy smile, "When your soul recovers, we can do the following experiment. As long as you can survive, probably you can learn a lot from this."
Lucien realized that he was able to talk now, so he said to the old sorcerer carefully, "Lady, with regards to the researches on human body and soul, I have some pretty valuable information and many new magic spells. I might be able to help you."
"Hmm¡­ A boy is trying to teach me¡­" the old woman's voice sounded vicious, and she walked back and forth with her walking stick, "You know senior-rank spells? You know how they work?"
"I don't. But I'm from the Congress, where there are lots of legendary sorcerers, archmages, and senior-rank sorcerers. They have done countless researches on studying human body and soul. I can find all the information in the library." Lucien felt that he was slowly recovering from the pain and numbness.
The old woman grinned, but her teeth were almost all gone. Her eyes looked crazy, "So what? You cannot get the high-level information¡­ Can you bring my youth back? Can you help me get out of this place?"
Her mood had gone a bit crazy, so she let the young servant take Lucien back to the cell.
Lucien knew that he could not talk to her when she was crazy. He hoped that she would change her mind later when she calmed down a bit.
He first tried to make sure that he would not be the old woman's experiment subject next time.
...
When leaving the lab, Lucien was still being disturbed by the sequela of electric shock, so he walked very slow, but the young servant did not care, walking quite ahead of him.
Lucien was surprised to find out that the electric shock seemed to have helped with improving the power of his soul, as if he had been taking potions for a month.
He took a deep breath and carefully felt the power in his soul. He realized that the electric shock had stimulated the potential of his soul, which meant that this method could not be applied to magic apprentices or junior-rank mages who did not have a soul strong enough.
When Lucien came back from analyzing his soul, he saw another young servant bringing a tall man out of the cell next to him. The man had blond hair and blue eyes. He was quite good-looking, and the way he walked was very determined.
Lucien guessed that the man was another survivor being used as the old woman's experiment material. But he was not sure, since there were people born here in the Devil's territory, such as the young servant beside him.
Lucien and the man quickly exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.
...
Click. The iron door was locked from the other side again. Lucien lay in the bed for more than half an hour until he felt a bit better.
Then, he raised his hands and carefully observed the patterns on the shackles, which usually had lots of connections to the magic circles inside.
Lucien knew most of the magic circles for blocking the power of Blessing, and he also had analyzed some. However, when making magic items, almost all the sorcerers would add more magic circles in addition to the core circle for different purposes, such as offering extra support, punishment or sending messages. Therefore, Lucien had to figure out the additional part of the magic circles in order to know the complete inner structure of the shackles, and then open them.
Although the hope was rather dim, especially when Lucien's spiritual power and Blessing had been disabled, he would not give up. He still had his memory, knowledge, as well as his calculation ability.
So, after an hour or so, Lucien had already had some basic ideas with the structure of the shackles. However, for the next step, Lucien had to activate the power of the shackles, so he could be able to see the movement of the magic runes inside!
Lucien was very concerned because he was not sure whether this pair of shackle, when sensing the resistance or the tendency of breaking it from the prisoner, would punish him or directly send the information to the guard.
The second situation was the last thing that Lucien hoped to happen, which might bring Lucien very horrible consequences.
After a second thought, Lucien decided to try. Based on how much the old woman seemed to need her experiment materials, Lucien believed that she would not directly kill or severely injure her prisoners with the shackles.
Making up his mind, Lucien put his right hand on the black shackle around his left hand.
Although Lucien was quite confident with his reasoning, he still had fear in his mind. A crazy sorcerer's behavior was just unpredictable.
Lucien tried to lift the shackle up and pull the fine needles out to awaken his Moonlight Blessing power.
Dark light burst out of the shackle and electric currents went directly into Lucien's body and numbed him again. The pain was hard to describe. At the same time, the weird power from the shackle had dispelled Lucien's Blessing.
When the light disappeared, Lucien closed his eyes out of the torturing pain. Then, he saw the magic runes, patterns and symbols in the darkness in front of his eyes.
Lucien was surprised to find out that the consequence of trying to break the shackles was only physical punishment, and no messages were sent out to the guards. The only problem was that the time given to Lucien was too short and so he only managed to remember a few runes and patterns.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien waited until he felt a bit better. Then, he tried to lift the shackle again¡­
After many times of trying, Lucien's face had become contorted from the great pain. He bit his lips so hard that they were now bleeding.
Lucien forgot how many times he had tried. Finally, there was a smile on his face¡ªHe had got the complete structure of the shackles in his brain!
"Knowledge is power¡­" Lucien sighed.
At this time, someone knocked at the wall on the left side of Lucien's cell.

Chapter 314: The Adventurers
				Chapter 314: The Adventurers
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Feeling still numb, Lucien looked at the wall on the left side in a confused way. His brain was working way slower than usual from the electric shock. After a few seconds, Lucien finally realized what was going on. He walked to the wall and asked in a low voice:
"Who is it?"
"Your neighbor, Adam. We've just met, buddy," answered a man.
Then, a brick in the wall was removed. The man on the other side pulled the brick out.
Lucien saw a pair of dark blue eyes through the hole in the wall.
"No magic circles on the wall?" Lucien was quite surprised and he lifted his left eyebrow slightly, like Natasha usually did.
In this senior-rank mage's magic tower, Lucien could not believe that the bricks and walls were not protected by any magic circles to prevent them from being easily destroyed!
The blue eyes were smiling, and the man answered, "Because this is the Devil's Territory! Although there are quite a few ore resources and assorted magic creatures, the resources for building up a magic tower are still very hard to obtain. The fact that the old woman has built a magic tower here shows that she's very powerful and wealthy. So, except for the exterior and the core of the tower, nothing is protected by special spells. By the way, buddy, what's your name?"
Adam seemed to be very talkative. Maybe he had not found anyone to talk to for too long.
"Mr. Adam, you can call me Lucien." Lucien was used to being polite, "How did you remove this brick?"
Adam blinked at Lucien through the hole in the wall, "You've really got some good manners, man. Are you a sorcerer or a knight? What is your rank?"
"Sorcerer. Middle-rank."
Adam grinned, "Come on, man. We are both in the same bloody situation, so just call me Adam. I'm a grand knight. Dark Blessing."
He reached out his right hand and his long nails were as sharp as knives, "I used my nails. These shackles can suppress my Blessing power, but it cannot change my physical strength."
Lucien took a glance at his neat nails and joked, "If there were only ordinary guards here, we could use your nails to break out of prison. Adam, do you know anything about this place? And what this old woman is working on? I passed out in the mountains. When I woke up, I was here¡­"
Adam's voice now sounded more serious, "Buddy, knowing a bit more about this place doesn't really help¡­ at least for me¡­ I know that in the area covered by the magic tower, there are two cities and some villages. People who live in there should be the descendants of the human beings trapped in the Devil's Territory. It was said that once a whole village next to the Dark Mountain Range was devoured by this place."
Then, Adam added, "On the margin of this area, there is a big forest of huge trees. It's a very dangerous area where there are lots of scarlet trees, killing vines, three-arm trolls, feather snakes, stone lizards and many other horrible creatures. I was there when I first stepped into the Devil's Territory. I almost died there. I'm not sure what is outside of the forest. But, according to the law that the further it is from the Devil's Territory, the more powerful the creatures are, I'm afraid there will be chimeras, soul catchers, sphinxes or dragons¡­"
Adam's voice became deeper and deeper, "There is an ancient remain underneath the magic tower, and it seems to be related to the secret of this place. The old woman has been working on it for a long time to get out of this place. But she kept failing and she believes that it is because she's not powerful enough as a senior-rank mage, so most of her experiments are about improving her power using limited resources. An experiment accident has contaminated her body and soul, so she can't make herself look young anymore, and she's losing her life force very quickly. She's still trying to solve this¡­"
Lucien asked concernedly, "Has she already found a way out? Maybe we're her solution¡­"
Adam's voice was full of fear, "Her soul has been damaged. She tried several bodies of the young girls she caught but it never lasted for more than a minute. She believes that the major problem lies in her soul, so what she is trying to do is to see the possibility of cutting her soul into parts and only keeping the parts that are not contaminated. She will then raise the parts that are clean, so they can grow and become her new soul."
Lucien was a bit shocked, "Then, which part will be in charge? Which part will be the old woman?"
As far as what Lucien knew, so far, no one ever succeeded with those experiments trying to divide one's soul. And this was different from how those people save part of their soul or a finger in a life box in a Lich Convert rite since the parts were still connected to the major piece of the soul and body.
No matter how far they were from each other, only when the major part died, the small piece of soul in the life box could come back to life. There was no conflict in philosophy or cognition. If the process of the small piece of one's soul coming back to life was disturbed by some certain power, the revived soul would also be injured.
Adam slightly shook his head, "Who knows. All of her experiment subjects died. And their souls were completely destroyed."
Adam pointed to the wall behind Lucien and said, "The guy in that cell is going to be her experiment subject tonight. If he fails, he would die. If he did it, he probably would also die but hopefully, we could be set free."
"If the experiment works¡­" Lucien murmured. He knew what it meant¡ªit was a path to being immortal.
The currently available rites could extend one's lifespan, but one's soul would still age. Even if one could successfully separate the part of his or her soul that had not aged from the whole, the influence could not be removed. Therefore, the sorcerer who lived the longest recorded by the Congress was a legendary archmage at the age of six thousand four hundred and forty-nine. Other either died before this age or somehow went missing.
Adam lowered his voice, "Man, I gotta remind you. Be prepared."
"What?" Lucien looked at Adam's blue eyes.
"The old woman has been seeking for a powerful soul like yours. You're gonna be her main experiment subject for sure. But before she conducts the experiment on you, she's gonna improve the power of your soul as much as possible. This is dangerous, but this is also a chance."
Lucien took a deep breath and slightly nodded, "I will. Adam, can you tell me how much you know about the inner structure of this tower? Say¡­ where's the energy core?"
"Sure. Anytime." Adam was very straightforward.
After their conversation was over, Adam put the brick back in the wall. 
Lucien walked back to the bed and sat down. He knew what Adam was planning: Adam wanted Lucien to find the way to escape, so he could follow him. On the other hand, Lucien was totally fine with it. Also, he got some pretty useful information from him.
The servant sent him dinner. Lucien grabbed something to eat and went to sleep. He had to recover his physical strength as much as possible. And the next step would be getting rid of the shackles.
...
At midnight, the iron door suddenly opened. The young servant said to Lucien coldly, "Master asked me to bring you to the moonlight outside. Good for the recovery of your soul and body."
Lucien now felt that he was totally a prisoner. However, for sure, he would not reject a chance to go outside. So, he followed the young servant to the patio on this floor.
The silver moon was up in the sky, covering everything with a thin layer of white light.
Every single cell in Lucien's body was craving for the moonlight. The moonlight greatly cured Lucien's injuries.
"Hey, buddy." It was Adam's voice.
Lucien turned around, "Also here for the moonlight?"
"Yup. I was part of the experiment earlier this afternoon as well." Adam grinned. Then, he lowered his voice and said, "He didn't make it."
"What a pity¡­" nodded Lucien.
The patio was not very high above the ground, but the old woman was confident that they could never escape with their power restrained. Lucien and Adam decided to take a break here and chatted randomly.
At this time, the small hill in front of them suddenly burst out bright light, making the area look like it did during daytime.
Lucien saw that two males and two females ran out of the hill. Quickly, they came rushing to the magic tower. It seemed that they just stepped on some magic traps.
"Wow, cool. Two level two knights, a level one knight, and a second circle sorcerer." Adam was a little excited when looking at the people down there working hard on killing the skeleton guards. 
Lucien was very confused, "What is going on here?"
"The old woman, except for studying and doing magic experiments, is very lazy. In order to have endless experiment materials, she's been leaving magic books and ways of awakening Blessing power in the nearby villages and hid the magic tower to let them grow. At the same time, she spreads the words that anyone who could find the hidden magic tower and kill the vicious witch here could gain everything, including great power and wealth. So, those experiment materials just come to her automatically."

Chapter 315: The Date of the Experiments
				Chapter 315: The Date of the Experiments
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The light of spells being cast and the sound of metal colliding slowly disappeared. The four brave adventurers had finished all the skeleton guards and unlocked the seal on the gate. Now, they had made it inside the magic tower.
In the darkness, the magic tower was like a monster waiting for its prey. The gate was its mouth, opening wide. After devouring the adventurers, everything went back to normal and quieted down.
On the patio, as the seal was removed, Lucien sensed the rotten leaves and soil smell in the air. He said out of sympathy, "They must have worked hard to become knights or sorcerers, especially in this kind of remote place. Unfortunately, they have been all lured by the power and wealth in the tower. When they stepped on the trap, they did not choose to retreat, but to force their way into the tower. This isn't usually how we sorcerers do things. When the magic tower is sealed and one cannot detect what is in there, a sorcerer would use familiars or other ways to make sure they know well enough about the target place."
Therefore, Lucien had no plan for helping the adventurers and then escaping this place with them. Under the monitoring of a senior-rank mage, it was better for Lucien to do nothing. Trying hard did not mean trying in a stupid way.
"Desire gives people drive and power, but it also blinds people's eyes and heart..." said Adam like a philosopher. Then he smiled, "So, as a sorcerer, Lucien, take a guess as to what floor they could make it to?"
Lucien looked back and took a glance at the two young servants who seemed to be quite relaxed, "I think we'll meet them pretty soon."
And then Lucien turned around and said, "I wish they could make it to this floor. So we could probably be free."
Lucien did not mind the fact that the two young servants could hear him. The servants stared at him angrily, but they did not do anything to Lucien. After all, it was super normal as a prisoner's wish.
"Having more experiment materials is a good thing for us. We're middle-rank materials, so we'll be used in a more cautious and safer way. Although this place's quite resourceful, most people do not have the power to get the resources. And also the witch did not provide the villagers with all the necessary knowledge, so all the adventurers coming here are only of junior-rank." Adam grinned as if he just made a joke.
As their conversation went further, the young servant scolded them, "Shut up. The time's over. Get back to the cell!"
Lucien and Adam exchanged a look with a smile on their faces, and then they did as the young servant asked.
...
When they were in front of the cell, Lucien was a bit surprised to see that the four adventurers had been captured and sent here under guard.
Only within a few minutes, the adventurers all failed. Lucien threw Adam a quick wink telling Adam that he was right.
The four adventurers were all pretty good-looking. Both of the two blond men were wearing silvery-white armors. One was of middle-age, and the other was younger. They armors made clashing sounds while they were walking. The two ladies were also blond. One was wearing a tight amor made of black scales and the other was wearing a loose, red magic robe.
Carina was walking with great fear in her heart. She could not stay focused anymore as a caster. She thought that her team could at least manage to escape even if they failed to kill the vicious witch under the guidance of the notes left by other adventurers. However, they did not even have the chance to see the witch. They were caught by the flesh-golem knights in the tower right away.
Now she saw the power difference between the witch and themselves. She doubted herself and this whole team. At the same time, she felt rather desperate with finding other ways to get out of this place.
With all these thoughts, Carina was sent to the cell under guard.
At this time, she heard someone laughed and then sighed, "Man, you do know sorcerers way better than I do."
Carina wondered who was it. Then she saw four men walking in this direction. Two of them were obviously servants in the tower, while the other two were wearing simple linen clothes.
The man who was talking was tall and had blond hair. At a glance, he looked even more like a knight than Alva and Bullard. And the black-haired young man who was listening to him was very elegant, although he was wearing the simple linen clothes.
Carina wondered if the black-haired young man was the witch's toy-boy. The vicious legend of the witch had been added by people with all kinds of weird, creepy or raunchy stories. Carina hated the witch but also had to admit that the witch's life was sort of nice.
Then, she suddenly realized that the black-haired young man was wearing the shackles and even a collar. Carina then wondered if they were other adventurers who had been caught and imprisoned here. Carina's partners, Ophelia, Alva, and Bullard all looked a bit confused.
However, the fact that they were not yet the witch's prisoners made them very nervous and feeling lost. Under the watch of the servants and the flesh-golems, they didn't dare to talk directly to Lucien and Adam. Just like how Lucien and Adam first met each other, they just exchanged a look and then they were sent to their separated cells.
Carina's cell was right beside Lucien's, on the right.
When Lucien walked past the cell, he saw the flesh-golem knight take out the shackles and collars to make the new prisoners wear them. So he walked a bit slower and carefully watched how the shackles and collars worked, in order to have a better understanding of the collar and to make sure his analysis of the shackles was correct.
As soon as she put on the collar, Carina felt that her spiritual power was suddenly drained.
She realized that the collar was for preventing one from casting spells. So, that being said¡­ The black-haired young man was probably also a sorcerer.
She looked out the door and happened to meet Lucien's gaze.
As if he understood what she was thinking, the black-haired young sorcerer slightly nodded toward her. And then he walked faster, following the servant.
Carina wondered who he was. She tried to recall all the sorcerers who went missing, but she could not connect with this young, good-looking man to any sorcerers that she once heard about.
In this remote place, knights and sorcerers were powerful people standing high above the average people. They were important members of the Adventurers' Union. However, most of them went missing in the end somehow. Therefore, to get rid of this destiny was also another reason why Carina and her partners came here.
When she was thinking, Carina realized that the flesh-golem was pulling her magic robe. She was very scared, but failed to cast any spells. Carina hurriedly punched at the golem, but the golem did not care at all. It took off Carina's robe very easily.
Carina had never thought of this before. She screamed and retreated into the corner.
However, the golem did not do anything else to her. It threw her a set of linen clothes, and then took away her magic staff, robe, and necklace.
The golem left the cell and locked the door from outside.
Carina felt lucky that the golem did not have its own will, and the owner of the tower was a witch.
...
In the following period of time, Carina, Alva and the rest of the team were all sent to the lab one by one. When they came back, they had great fear on their pale faces. Obviously, they had realized what an experiment subject had to go through.
Lucien experienced another set of electric shock. According to the witch's words, she was working on awakening the potential of Lucien's soul power.
That night, all the prisoners were sent to the patio to bath in the moonlight. For the first time, they finally met each other.
The four adventurers stood in a circle, talking about their horrible experiences in low voices. The servants were just guarding beside the door. They did not care what the adventurers were talking about.
On the other side, Lucien and Adam were also talking to exchange some information.
"Adam, have you ever noticed that the witch didn't conduct any experiments at the end of last month and the beginning of this month? Or say, she never conducted any researches that require a living person..." asked Lucien thoughtfully.
Adam grinned, "That's right, man. Good for you. I've been kept here for a very long time. Even when she had enough experiment materials, for the first two days and the last three days of each month, the old woman never brought anyone to her lab. So my guess is¡­"
Adam stopped here but pointed downwards at the ground.
Lucien slightly nodded. He understood what Adam was saying. When the silver moon was dim, the witch was probably trying to break the seal of the underground remains, which would be the greatest chance for them to escape from the place.
At this time, Carina and her team walked toward Lucien and Adam, hoping to get some information from them.
"Hi, I'm Carina, a sorcerer," greeted Carina in a low voice. She was still feeling a bit scared with the servants.
Adam would love to meet some more helpers, so he smiled and nodded, "Adam."
"Adam?! The Dark Lord?" Ophelia, Alva, Carina, and Bullard were all very surprised when hearing the name.
Adam rubbed his hair a bit and put on an a slightly sad smile, "I didn't expect people from outside would still remember me."
None of them expected that this humorous and easygoing knight was the man in the legend. He was the only level-five grand knight that this area ever produced!
Seeing that Lucien was a bit confused, Adam shrugged, "After I left the bloody forest, I had some pretty good time outside, until I was caught by the witch."
Carina's eyes opened wide. Adam, the level-five grand knight, was imprisoned by the witch for so many years! The power of the witch was beyond their imagination.
They suddenly felt that their adventure was just a joke.
Trying hard to calm down, Carina looked at Lucien. Compared to the grand knight, she was more curious about the young sorcerer.

Chapter 316: Building the Image
				Chapter 316: Building the Image
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Carina tried hard to put a smile on her face and then asked, "What about you, sir?"
She was born in a relatively big family, so Carina was often very confident and proud. However, in front of Adam, the most well-known knight in this area, Carina felt nervous. In her eyes, the young sorcerer who stood beside Adam was probably also a very powerful person.
Lucien slightly shook his head and smiled, "I'm a nobody. I was caught only a day earlier than you guys. You can call me Lucien."
"A day earlier? Are you from somewhere else?" asked Ophelia surprisedly. The rest of the team also looked quite surprised.
The way they looked at Lucien made him feel that he was a rare animal in the zoo, being watched and observed by human beings outside of the cage. He grinned and said, "Haven't you ever seen an outsider? I think most people here are the descendants of the outsiders."
Carina realized that they were directly staring at this young sorcerer. Her face flushed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lucien, we have never seen any outsiders. Although like you just said, we're descendants of the outsiders, we are trapped in this isolated area and we rarely see people from outside."
Adam grinned, "In fact, there are outsiders coming to this place all the time. But some of them chose to directly integrate into the local people, while most of them soon lose their lives in the forests. Some were like Lucien. As soon as he stepped into this area, he directly became the old woman's target."
"The old woman¡­" the four of them all gasped at the same time. They wondered how dare Adam directly call the owner of this place as old woman.
Adam saw their reaction and shrugged, "It's okay. She doesn't care. She only cares about her experiments and her face. Not even those servants care."
Noticing that Adam just took a glance at them, the red-faced servant stared at Adam, "One more word about this¡­ I'll lash you with my thickest whip!"
The servants dared not to report this to the witch. Many years ago, a servant tried to show his loyalty to the witch, so he told the witch that all the experiment materials were calling her "the old witch" behind her back. In the end, the witch killed all the people who said the three words, including that servant.
Carina saw the servants' reaction, so she felt a bit more relaxed, "I see¡­ So, Mr. Adam, you were an outsider. No wonder when you first showed up, you were already a grand knight. I guess you're not alone here¡­ Those people should also come from the outside world¡­"
Out of curiosity, the young knight, Bullard, asked, "Mr. Adam, Mr. Lucien, what is the outside world like? Are those poetries and stories true? They say that the outside world is a great place, and there are many powerful sorcerers and knights."
Adam pointed at Lucien, who looked a bit lost in his own thoughts, "I've been imprisoned here for too many years. Lucien shall be the one answering your questions."
The servants also stopped talking and looked at Lucien, as they were just as curious about the outside world.
Lucien found something worthy of attention from Carina's words. Realizing that they were all looking at him, he answered, "The outside world¡­ is much, much bigger. It has horrible dark forests, jade-like lakes, lofty mountains, boundless plains, busy and prosperous cities, as well as a city in the sky¡­"
Although Lucien's description was very rough, his words still seized all of his listeners' heart, especially when Lucien was talking about the city in the sky and the magic train. They longed for the place that Lucien was describing.
"The world's so wonderful¡­ I've never heard of something like this¡­ a city in the sky." Carina murmured as she looked at the silver moon. Then she asked out of great passion, "Mr. Lucien, how big is the Congress?"
Lucien looked up at the rest of the floors of the magic tower above and said calmly, "A magic tower like this is everywhere in the Congress¡­"
Hearing that, even Adam was shocked. He could never imagine that there was a place in this world where senior-rank mages like the old witch could be seen anywhere.
"I'm only talking about the truth. At least, it's the truth for me." Lucien grinned. "But to live a really good life there, you have to win the Holm Crown Ring and the recognition from an organization or group, say, the Will of Elements. In the Congress, only powerful people have the right to talk. And there are lots of sorcerers who are a hundred, or even a thousand times more powerful than the old witch."
There was more respect in Carina's eyes when she looked at Lucien, the same as everyone else.
Lucien's purpose had been achieved. He was not an arrogant guy, but right now he decided to talk in this bragging manner to make the prisoners believe that he was the leader that they could follow. He continued, "I'm on my mission to send a letter to an important person. Before long, the Congress will send someone here to save me, a legendary sorcerer. In front of a legendary sorcerer, the old witch would only be like an ant¡­"
Hearing that, the servants all looked a bit concerned. The crazy old witch did not care, because she was insane. However, they did.
Lucien stopped at this point, leaving them with their own imagination. He believed that the image of himself that he wished to build in their mind was already there.
"Legendary sorcerer¡­? How powerful is a legendary sorcerer?" Carina could not help but ask.
Adam answered this question for Lucien, "A legendary sorcerer can easily destroy this magic tower, the nearby cities and villages, and even this whole Black Forest."
This was just Adam's guess, but his answer still shocked the adventurers and the servants.
After a while of silence, Carina looked at Lucien with great passion, "So¡­ Mr. Lucien? What level are you of, as a sorcerer? What about the old witch? What do you do in the Congress?"
Lucien released a sigh and replied, "You don't have to call me a mister. We're all prisoners here. In the Congress, I'm one of the many middle-rank mages, and I still have a long way to go to reach the higher level. The old witch¡­ should be about the seventh or eighth circle."
Telling them that he was a middle-rank sorcerer was enough. Lucien did not mean to reveal more of his information to them.
"I knew it! You're a middle-rank mage!" Carina was very surprised. In this remote place, middle-rank sorcerers were very rare. Becoming a middle-rank sorcerer was even harder than becoming a grand knight. Carina, as a sorcerer, admired Lucien a lot just like how Alva, Bullard, and Ophelia admired Adam, the grand knight.
However, the other adventurers looked very concerned, "The old witch is of¡­ the seventh or eighth circle?"
In their eyes, Carina, a second-circle sorcerer, was already quite powerful. They could not imagine what a senior-rank sorcerer could do. They wondered why she stayed in the magic tower instead of choosing to rule the whole territory?
Adam knew what they were thinking, so he said, "Ruling isn't the old woman's thing. She's only crazy about magic and her experiments. All the rumors and stories about this magic tower were all spread by her."
Hearing that, the adventurers all felt very desperate, including Carina, who was still feeling very excited a second ago.
"So we are¡­ her lambs now," murmured Ophelia hopelessly.
Lucien directly asked, "Since when did the stories about the magic tower start to emerge? Since when did those sorcerers and knights start to go missing?"
"About five hundred years ago." Carina was not very confident.
Lucien nodded and thought to himself. It seemed that the old witch was trapped in the Devil's territory before the Congress of Magic was established, so she probably knew nothing about arcana. If Lucien could somehow become her assistant, and seize a chance to show her some "wonderful" experiments, maybe her brain would directly explode. However, since the old witch was quite insane, Lucien did not think that she would allow him to be her assistant. Therefore, he still had to find other ways around.
The most important thing for Lucien to do now was to get rid of the collar and the shackles. In order to do so, and without the help of his spiritual power and Blessing, Lucien had to find the place in the magic tower where the anti-magic circle was in, to make the collar and the shackles lose effect. However, so far, Lucien had no idea where this place in the tower was.
A while later, through talking, the adventurers slowly calmed down a little. In their eyes, Lucien could be their hope.
...
Two days later, when Lucien was still digging in the wall using his nails, the old witch unusually sent her servant to bring Lucien back to the lab.
On his way to the lab, Lucien carefully remembered the locations of the flesh-golems who were guarding the important parts of the tower with sharp axes and swords in their hands.
The lab's door opened. Lucien saw that Ophelia was tied to the operation table. And the old witch was casting some weird spells with a black mirror in her hand, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
Lucien was very confused.

Chapter 317: Taking Action
				Chapter 317: Taking Action
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The mirror was black, and there was nothing in it. However, the voice from the mirror said to the witch in a flattering way, "Eudora, you've always been the most beautiful woman in the world."
Feeling satisfied, the old witch put down the mirror, "Good, very good, Trius. You're the most honest mirror in this world, not like those I've destroyed before¡­ They were all liars."
The mirror started to sing joyfully, "Ah¡­ Eudora's hair is as glossy and shiny as the sun; her eyes are as green as the jade-like lake; Her red lips were like rose petals¡­."
The old witch's voice was also damaged by the curse and sounded very harsh, "Good boy, Trius. After we leave this bloody place, I'll decorate you with all the most precious gems you like."
Laughing hard, the witch put down the mirror and turned to Lucien. Then, she started to scream. Her voice was so sharp that it even gave Lucien a headache. Lucien took a few steps backward due to the dizziness.
"Close your eyes! Close your bloody eyes!" screamed the witch.
Lucien had no idea what was going on here. But he knew that he had better follow the witch's command. He heard the witch walking back and forth and cursed, "Are you bloody blind? You damned blind bastard! In your eyes, I look so ugly¡­ I'm gonna cut out your¡­"
Lucien did not let the witch finish her words, "Ms. Eudora, you were looking for me, right?"
Lucien would not give the witch the chance of making up her mind to cut out his eyes! Dealing with a lunatic could be very dangerous!
Eudora was distracted by Lucien's question, "¡­ I need your blood¡­ to mix with the blood of the girl."
Lucien was a bit relieved, feeling lucky that the witch could still calm down a bit when talking about her experiments. Then, he asked a bit confusedly, "She's a level two knight, and her Blessing is no inferior to mine. Why do you want to mix our blood together?"
Simply mixing two kinds of blood together was not like giving birth to a baby, so the baby that inherited two top Blessings could have some even greater power, such as what Natasha's family did.
Talking about the specific experiment, Eudora became passionate, "When you passed out, I got some of your blood. It turns out that your Moonlight Blessing is more powerful than it should be at your level, and it seems that this improvement comes from the power of a senior-rank vampire. The power can also help overcome the rejection reaction when two Blessings are mixed. Hopefully, this level two knight can get your lovely self-healing power, so she would have this honor to be my new body!"
The level two knight, Ophelia, who was right now tied to the dissecting table, felt beyond desperate. All her tears had been drained.
Although Lucien totally understood Ophelia's feeling, right now there was nothing really he could do for her. So he could only walk submissively to the other dissecting table and lay down.
The metal shackles kept Lucien in place on the table, and then a thick needle like a venomous snake's fang stuck into Lucien's skin. The sharp pain seized Lucien's nerves instantly, and then the needle started to draw his blood. The blood went directly into the body of Ophelia drop by drop through the tube.
Her body was entangled with many thin tubes like tentacles. The blood that went into her body had been mixed with assorted gem powders and magic plant powders.
Ophelia's lifeless eyes now had great pain in them. The blue veins in her neck stood out like they were going to explode at any time.
The old witch pointed at Ophelia with her black, snake-like staff, and the magic circles underneath Ophelia's body started to shine in six different colors: blue, gold, silvery-white, dark green, black and red. The two types of blood started to blend.
The pain and suffering were intolerable to Ophelia. She wished that she could die right now.
When the six kinds of colors started to join together into a weird hexagram, Ophelia's bulgy veins suddenly sucked in and her skin was covered with a layer of silver moonlight.
"Is it working?" The old witch's voice sounded very excited.
However, at this time, the veins in Ophelia's body exploded. Her blood spread everywhere, like a blood rain.
The last second before Ophelia was gone, there was a peaceful smile on her face. Finally, she did not have to suffer anymore.
Lucien was shocked, and he could never forget this moment. He saw a living life being tortured to death because of a person's greed and desire.
Lucien finally realized that it was an irresistible trend that most of the ancient sorcerers had been washed away by the progress of the time. He had to admit that he once sympathized with the ancient sorcerers, but now he understood why the ancient magic empire completely collapsed within such a short period of time. Those ancient sorcerers who refused to follow the path of arcana but stuck to conducting this kind of cruel experiments should be erased by history, as they did not deserve to be saved.
"No!" The old witch screamed. She hurriedly rushed to a magic circle placed with lots of gems and led great energy from the tower to the magic circle.
The magic circle started to burst out milk-white light, as pure as life.
At the same time, the last magic circle under Ophelia's body was also activated. However, it was pure black.
Gradually, the milk-white light was infused into the black.
Lucien believed that it was a great chance for him to kill the old witch. He tried his best to get rid of the shackles, however, unfortunately, he failed, despite the fact that both of his wrists were now bleeding from his attempt.
When the light slowly disappeared, all the wounds on Ophelia's body had already healed. Her veins had all recovered from the power. Now, her skin had this healthy glow.
Ophelia started to cast the spell to free herself from the table. Jumping down from the table swiftly like a young deer, she hurriedly picked up the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror, tell me now¡ªwho in this land is fairest of all?"
"It's you, Eudora!" The mirror answered directly. It was not completely black anymore, instead, this time, the mirror showed the witch Ophelia's beautiful face.
Touching her blond hair, the old witch was very satisfied with her new look.
Lucien felt it very creepy when he heard the conversation again.
The witch could not lay the mirror down, as she was so obsessed with her new look¡ªthe blond hair, the nice-curved eyebrows, the straight and delicate nose, the fair skin and red lips¡­ Her heart was filled with ecstasy.
However, all of a sudden, her skin lost the gloss and her green eyes quickly became cloudy. Wrinkles soon covered her entire face.
Within a minute, the old witch had returned to her original look. Her straight back bent forward again.
The witch's bitter scream broke the glass tubes in the lab one by one, and there was even a crack in the magic mirror.
Lucien's head buzzed again. He felt that the witch's scream was like the real Banshee's howling. 
After a long time, the old witch finally calmed down. She looked at Lucien in a very cold way, as if she was planning on something. Then, she removed the shackles on Lucien and let the servant bring Lucien back to his cell.
The witch did not leave Lucien any chances to lure her with arcana to bring her youth back. She drove away Lucien like whisking the flies off.
After Lucien left, the old witch murmured, "¡­ I can't rebuild and use his body¡­ He's for the soul-dividing experiment¡­"
...
On his way back to the cell, Lucien silently paid special attention to the several flesh-golems holding huge axes and swords again. The wounds on his wrists, although had already started to recover, made Lucien frown. He knew that he had to find a way to get out of this place as soon as possible, as no one knew what a crazy person would do next!
That night, when the rest of the prisoners were sent to the patio, as usual, they all got the horrible news that Ophelia had been killed by the old witch. It took Ophelia's teammates quite a long time to accept the fact. They even talked to each other during the breakfast time!
This was not a night for conversation. All the prisoners remained silent for most of the night. 
Getting back to his cell, Lucien knocked at the wall on the right.
"Mr. Lucien?" asked Carina. Her voice sounded weak.
Lucien pulled out the brick in the wall and asked, "You wanna leave this place, Carina?"
"What?" Carina suddenly kneeled down and looked into Lucien's eyes through the hole in the wall, "Mr. Lucien, you've got any plans? I don't want to stay here for even a second longer!"
Ophelia's death was a great shock to her.
Lucien said to her seriously, "It's risky but better than we just sit here waiting to die. If you want to follow me to leave this place, I need you to do one thing for me. But it's gonna be very painful. Are you okay with it?"
Seeing Lucien's attitude, Carina took some time to consider. After a while, she nodded firmly, "Yes, Mr. Lucien. As long as we can get out of this place, I'm willing to do anything."
"Bring your neck closer, then." Lucien said to her in a gentle voice, to comfort her.
Carina did as Lucien asked, and then she realized what Lucien was trying to do, "Are you trying to analyze the collar preventing us from using magic?"
"That's right. I cannot see mine," answered Lucien honestly. "Hang in there."
"I will." Carina nodded.
Lucien reached out his right hand through the hole and touched the collar on Carina's neck. Based on his understanding, Lucien turned a special part of the collar. At the same, he knocked on the wall with the other hand to create some unique vibration of a certain frequency, which sounded like a weird spell.
Under turning and vibrating, the collar started to burst out electric sparks, underneath which there were flowing magic symbols and runes.
Carina's body started to tremble from the electric shock. She bit her lips hard without letting out a single groan.
Although the capability of calculation in Lucien's soul was still there, without the help of his Blessing, Lucien could not control the vibration frequency very well.
So Lucien had to take it slowly. The vibration frequency could help to reduce the efficiency of the collar to some degree, so Carina could hang in there longer. Or the collar could very possibly directly damage Carina's vertebra, as she was just a junior-rank sorcerer with no Blessing power.
After the first try, Lucien left Carina with some time to recover. At the same time, he made sure that he remembered the runes and symbols that he saw.
"Can we do it again, Carina?" asked Lucien.
"Yes¡­ I can!" answered Carina decisively. Although it was very painful, the pain brought her hope!
"Good for you," said Lucien sincerely.
It took Lucien a week to completely figure out the complete structure of the collar. Now, they were waiting for the end of the month.
...
Lucien did not take any actions until the last day of the month. He slept well and ate well, in order to make sure that his physical and mental condition were the best.
On the night of the last day of the month, the dim silver moon was fully covered by the clouds.
Lucien suddenly sat up in bed.

Chapter 318: Power Released
				Chapter 318: Power Released
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Cool wind sneaked into the place. There was no moonlight outside at all that night.
In the darkness, Lucien was sitting in the bed and listening carefully. He quickly went through his whole plan again in his mind. Making sure that there was no major mistake in it, Lucien took a deep breath and got off the bed. Slowly, he put on his shoes, bent forward and tied his shoelaces. Then, he slightly adjusted the sleeves of his linen shirt. He did these things slowly but carefully, in order to mentally prepare himself for the rest of the night.
This was the night when Lucien was going to get out of this place!
After failing again to obtaining a new body, the witch would definitely work even harder on removing the seal. Therefore, right now it was the best time for Lucien to carry out his plan!
Although Adam's and his own reasoning could be wrong¡ªthe witch could be in fact not working on cracking the seal underground every month when the silver moon's power declined¡ª, Lucien decided to take the risk, since he knew that the longer he stayed here, the more likely he was going to die here. Adam, the prisoner who had spent several decades here, was most likely just an exception.
Warming his body up a bit, Lucien walked to the wall on the right and gently knocked at it.
The brick was pulled out from the other side. Carina, although still feeling a bit sleepy, was quite excited, "Yes, Mr. Lucien? Are we leaving now?"
She had been waiting for that day for quite a long time. From the conversations, Alva, Bullard as well as Carina had all known that the end and the beginning of every month was the best time for them to get out of this place. In the past several days, Carina saw Lucien sleep and eat well as usual, so she felt quite anxious. She also dared not to ask, since after all, Lucien was the one who had the plan and the power to carry out the escape.
"Yes, get yourself prepared. If I fail, you have to be the one getting the servants in here," said Lucien in a very calm way, as if they were just having a casual conversation.
Before tonight, Lucien had never told anyone his plan.
Carina suddenly felt nervous, "Got it. I'm at your command, sir."
Lucien nodded. And then he walked to the iron door and started to hit the door with his right palm. The noise was loud. The two servants on the night shift tonight exchanged a confused look, and then the red-faced servant scolded Lucien, "Bastard! What are you doing? You want the taste of my whip?"
It was late. The servants had never experienced a jailbreak there before. As the prisoners had all lost their power, their major duty was to make sure that their master's experiment materials were physically and mentally fine, or the job could directly be given to those flesh-golems who did not have any consciousness and thinking ability.
They were about to fall asleep when Lucien started to make the noise. They were both pissed.
Lucien seemed to be quite pissed as well, as he responded angrily, "The dinner I've just eaten sucked! I'm hungry now! I need food!"
"Jerk! Who do you think you are? Are you out of your mind?" The red-faced servant cursed, "You're just a fu*king prisoner! You want food? I've got some whips for you! Shut the fu*k up!"
Lucien did not care. He continued to kick the iron door. And the rest of the prisoners were wakened up.
Lucien shouted to them, "You two disgusting things! I said I want food! Right now! Keep this in mind! I'm a prisoner, but I'm also the most valuable experiment material your master has ever got! If my body becomes weaker from starving, the witch is gonna really teach you some lessons! You guys are like her dogs! No, not even close to her dogs! I command you to bring me food right now!"
The red-faced servant now was totally furious. His eyes squinted and roared to the guy on the other side of the iron door, "You bloody bastard! Let me teach you¡­ who is the dog here!"
He picked up the thick whip and was about to rush into the cell.
At this time, the taller servant stopped him. He said to the red-faced in low voice, "Wait¡­ It's not like him. He is probably playing some tricks¡­"
"Remember what he said on the patio? He said he was gonna kill the master like an ant! He's always been an arrogant lunatic bastard. He was just pretending to be elegant and polite!" The red-faced servant had found Lucien rather annoying for some time, especially when seeing Lucien acting like a well-mannered gentleman even after becoming the prisoner of the witch.
He lowered his voice, too, in case Lucien could hear their conversation. And then the red-faced servant added, "He's wearing the collar and the shackles. Even if he's got some tricks or plans, there's nothing to worry about. You stay here, and we've still got the flesh-golems on the way out. What can he do? This bastard needs to learn some manners here."
Since the red-faced man had become a servant here in the magic tower, no prisoners who had lost his or her power dared to challenge them or try to escape. Besides, his power was also of the level of a high-level squire. Facing the young sorcerer who always looked humble and elegant, the red-faced servant had never seen him as a threat.
"That makes sense." The taller servant nodded and put down his hand that was grabbing the other servant's arm. "He's a sorcerer. Although he's also a knight, the power must come from some certain potions. He can't be physically really strong. I'll stay here. You go and teach him how to be a good boy!"
Holding the whip, the red-faced servant took out a big chain of keys and said to Lucien with his teeth grinding, "I've got some food here. If you need anything else, you can tell me later."
"Good. You're a dog, so you'd better be a good dog!" Lucien was still being rather rampant.
The red-faced servant inserted the key into the iron door and opened it.
Hearing the sound, Lucien swiftly dodged to the corner behind the door and stood there with his back against the wall.
The red-faced servant fiercely pushed the door open and snapped his whip, "Come and get your food, boy!"
The whip had lots of barbs on it. The end of the whip directly went to the messy blanket on the bed.
At this time, a strong hand suddenly reached out from aside and grabbed the servant's face. The hand firmly held the servant's head and directly bumped his head against the iron door using all of its strength!
Bang!
Like a bell ringing, the red-faced servant collapsed onto the floor with blood covering his face.
Although Lucien's Blessing power was blocked, he was still a way more experienced fighter than the servant.
Without even taking a look at the servant on the floor, Lucien rushed out of the cell like a cheetah and targeted the taller servant.
The taller servant was even slower than the red-faced one. He had no idea what was going on there until Lucien was right in front of his face.
When he hurriedly lifted the whip, it was too late. Lucien directly punched him in the face. The taller servant's head instantly buzzed, as if there were many stars circling around in front of his eyes. In the next second, Lucien pulled him closer with his left hand and kneed the servant fiercely in his soft stomach.
The taller servant instantly bent forward from the great pain. He couldn't even release a moan because of the acid in his throat.
However, this was not the end. Lucien's right elbow dropped directly at the center of his spine. After a crispy crack, the servant died right on the spot with his eyes open wide.
Lucien did not have time to celebrate. Hurriedly picking up the red-faced servant's keys, Lucien did not forget to break his neck at the same time.
Then, he opened the rest of the cells and let out Adam and the adventurers.
"What shall we do now?" Carina was both excite and scared.
Before Lucien answered, Alva quickly said, "We go to the patio. There's only one golem guarding the door and we can distract him easily without directly fighting against it. We can just jump down from the patio. It's not tall enough to kill us."
"I agree." nodded Bullard.
Carina slightly frowned. Jumping down from the patio might not be a big problem to the knights, but as a sorcerer, Carina was not very confident. Still, they had a grand knight there. Adam should be able to help her.
Adam did not say anything but looked at Lucien with a meaningful smile.
Lucien slightly shook his head and turned around. He directly walked to the core of the magic tower and said to them without looking back, "We can't just leave like this. As long as the magic tower's here, we can never leave this place. You guys want to spend the rest of your lives in the Black Forest?"
"We're gonna die!" shouted Alva. He was not determined to fight against the witch. He said to Lucien aloud, "With the shackles and the collar, how can you destroy the core of the magic tower? Let's go! We'll have some future plan!"
At this time, a flesh-golem ran toward them. The heavy armor it was wearing clanked from its great moving momentum. It must have heard the noise from here.
A flesh golem's power was of the level of a knight. Building them was expensive, therefore, the whole magic tower only got some.
"Watch out, Mr. Lucien! We will split up to distract it! It's not smart at all!" Carina hurriedly yelled at Lucien.
Lucien was now right in the path of the golem.
Adam also said to Lucien aloud, "I'll go with you, man! But you have to survive first! Let's find a way to get rid of the shackles!"
However, to their great surprise, Lucien did not listen but started to run toward the golem!
They all wondered if Lucien was crazy.
The big and tall golem wielded a huge axe, aiming right at Lucien. With such speed and strength, there was no way that Lucien could handle this hacking right now!
Lucien slightly took a step aside and calmly lifted his left hand against the huge axe.
No miracle happened.
The huge axe easily cut off most of Lucien's left arm. Blood gushed out. Lucien's left arm, as well as the shackle on it, dropped on the floor. Seizing the chance, Lucien quickly concentrated his Blessing power, which was temporarily free, and then hit a special part of the shackle on his right hand using the power.
Weird light shone on the shackle on Lucien's right hand. Silver moonlight burst out. The shackle broke into two halves and fell from Lucien's right wrist.
Now, Lucien's Blessing power was completely free. Lucien's right foot thrust against the floor and turned into a moonlight shadow. In the blood rain, he avoided the following strike of the huge axe.
Adam and the adventurers were all shocked.

Chapter 319: The Energy Core
				Chapter 319: The Energy Core
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The horrible pain from losing an arm made Lucien feel extremely dizzy. Every single one of his nerves twitched. However, the painful feeling did not affect his actions. Clenching his teeth tightly, Lucien ran toward the golem at his highest speed. He avoided the huge axe and came right in front of the golem.
Lucien punched the golem in its iron face mask. With a big bang, the black iron mask became sunken. Lucien's right hand thus bled badly.
The golem fiercely wielded the axe again. Lucien squatted quickly and avoided the attack. Once more, he accelerated and quickly ran around the golem, like a shadow. Again and again, Lucien seized every chance to punch in the golem's mask with his right fist.
One time, two times, three times¡­
The mask was severely damaged. However, Lucien's right hand also had become a mass of bleeding flesh. The sharp pain brought by every punch was beyond horrible.
The fourth time, the fifth time, the sixth time¡­
Lucien managed to come right in front of the golem's chest. Using its heavy armor as the fulcrum, he turned his waist and punched again with all his strength.
Bang! The bones in Lucien's right hand were instantly revealed. And the iron mask directly broke into countless pieces!
Under the mask, there was a big, pale face imprinted with creepy black patterns, as if it was sewed together by several pieces of face skin. The momentum of Lucien's fist was so great that his punch did not stop when the mask broke, but instead directly hit the disgusting face made of rotten flesh!
Without the protection of the metal mask, the flesh-golem with no intelligence had no way to defend that vital part. The golem's head was its most vulnerable part!
This was Lucien's plan. He did not want to waste too much time on the golem. So, he directly targeted the golem's head!
In the spreading flesh and blood, the broken metal pieces fell onto the floor, as well as the huge axe in the golem's hand. When the golem knelt on the floor, his heavy head lowered. That was the end of it.
Carina's green eyes saw the bright red blood everywhere on the young sorcerer's linen clothes. Blood was still gushing from the cut of Lucien's missing left arm, although the flesh of the cut already started to wriggle and grow. Carina could see the white bones in his right hand, with blood dripping on the floor. However, as if he did not feel the pain, Lucien walked back toward them like a warrior who just went through a bitter war.
She wondered if he was really a sorcerer. Sorcerers did not fight like this.
She saw that Lucien picked up the heavy axe on the floor and walked toward her quickly.
The strong smell of blood rushed into Carina's nose and made her feel a bit dizzy. She saw that Lucien held the axe under his armpit and reached out his right hand to press on the collar on her neck.
The sorcerer started to cast some weird, incomprehensible spell. Now Lucien looked just like a devil from the abyss.
He kept focused. Like a knight using a magic item, Lucien used his willpower instead of spiritual power to activate the spell that was built based on the structure of the collar, and at the same time, the Blessing power in his right hand pierced into the key part of the collar.
Electric sparks burst out, and Carina twitched slightly. However, the collar clicked, and all the pain instantly disappeared.
Seizing the chance, Lucien grabbed the collar and threw it away.
In the air, the collar closed again!
Lucien could only open the collar shortly. He dared not to remove the spiritual imprint left by the old witch, or even in the underground remains she might know that something was not right here.
Carina's spiritual power instantly recovered, as if a barren river was nurtured by the rainy season.
"Thank you¡­ Thank you, Mr. Lucien." Carina was very surprised, as her most precious thing had come back.
"Remember this spell." Lucien directly cut her off, and his voice became a bit hoarse from losing too much blood, "Then, use your spiritual power to stimulate the parts of the collar where the sunflower, Throne Tree, and the constellations patterns are."
Although Lucien could get rid of the collar on his own, the great pain and the dizziness from losing too much blood kept distracting him. Carina was also a sorcerer, so he did not have to take the risk.
Remembering spells quickly was a sorcerer's basic skill. After Lucien repeated the spell for three times, Carina already mastered it.
She focused and started to cast the spell in front of Lucien. Her spiritual power followed as she was casting and the power targeted the collar on Lucien's neck.
Several electric sparks burst out of the collar, but Lucien was already very used to it. After hearing the click, he quickly grabbed the collar with his right hand. His movement were way faster than Carina's!
Lucien felt that, instantly, his spiritual power had all come back. He also realized that both his soul and spiritual power had reached the fifth circle, which was probably not only because of the electric shock Lucien had received, but also some other reason.
Lucien did not have the time to think of the possible reasons. He instantly activated a third-circle necromantic spell, Healing, in his soul.
Since Felipe figured out the connection between the memory of cells and the healing power of grand knights based on the fundamental experiment contributed by Vicente Miranda, known as Thanatos, healing spells were not exclusively owned by the Church anymore. Each level of the school of Necromancy had some healing spells, however, when compared to the divine spells of the same level, necromantic healing spells were less effective, as if there was something important missing. Therefore, necromantic sorcerers sometimes also needed to use healing potions.
The milky white light covered the cut of Lucien's missing arm. The bones started to be repaired and the flesh started to grow. Soon, the horrible cut stopped bleeding and was covered with a thin layer of membrane.
Then, Lucien started to help Adam to get rid of his shackles. Carina copied his method to help Alva and Bullard out.
In Lucien's plan, ideally, he could have at least two assistants. The more assistants he had, the better it was.
As soon as the shackles on Adam's wrists were removed, his body suddenly blended in the darkness in the corner.
"Thanks, man!" Adam felt his power coming back to him after so many years, and he could not help laughing.
Lucien quickly turned to Alva to help him, while Carina helped Bullard out.
While keeping an eye around, Adam looked at the broken arm on the floor and said, "Man, you're really cruel to yourself. You got rid of the restraint at the cost of your arm, and you seem to keep so calm! Like¡­ like this was not even your arm! There's no way I would do this¡­"
Lucien put on a smile but did not say anything. If it had been Adam, even though he was willing to lose an arm, he would still not be able to open the shackles.
Without understanding the entire structure of the shackles based on one's profound knowledge, one could never seize the chance to get rid of the shackles, even when his or her Blessing power was free for a very short time.
Also, for a knight, losing an arm was a horrible loss. For a long time, the knight would not be able to fight properly from losing his or her balance and speed. However, it was different for Lucien, a sorcerer. Losing a hand would not affect him too much.
After helping Bullard out, Carina turned around and said to Carina sincerely, "Mr. Lucien, thank you so much. We'll find a way for you to get your arm back later."
"We shall go to the energy core right now." Lucien could still feel the sharp pain in his cut, so he did not want to waste even a second. Turning around, he quickly ran toward the witch's lab. According to his observation, the energy core was close to the lab. However, neither Lucien nor Adam knew exactly where it was.
Lucien knew that the Congress was able to help him get his arm back, but he had to survive first. In order to survive, losing an arm was nothing to Lucien!
At the same time, to his surprise, after getting rid of the shackles and collar, Lucien was still not able to enter his spirit library or reach Rhine, as if there was some certain power in this place which blocked everything connected to the outside world.
After taking a few big steps, Lucien suddenly stopped and picked up his broken arm. Hanging the broken arm on his girdle, he continued to run toward the lab holding the huge axe under his armpit, and at the same time, cast defending spells on himself.
Carina and the rest of the adventurers felt what Lucien just did very creepy. However, knowing that they did not have much time to waste and the old witch might come back at any time, they followed Lucien quickly. Adam was the fastest one among them all.
...
The heavy sword in the flesh golem's hands fiercely struck downward, but Adam pounced on the golem directly with his body covered with a thick cluster of dark smoke.
As if the heavy sword just fell onto a pile of cotton, the hacking failed to do any damage. The darkness completely covered the edge.
A second later, when the darkness retreated. The golem's armor, as well as its body, became corroded by the dark smoke. Adam purposefully left the sword intact.
Alva knew that the sword was left for him. He quickly picked up the heavy sword on the ground. Adam probably did not need a weapon as he was very powerful, but Alva must have one.
On their way to the lab, because of Adam, the level five knight, and Lucien, the powerful sorcerer, all the golems guarding the key positions, as well as their leader, a level two flesh golem, had been easily killed by them. The magic item warehouse was not in this direction, so they did not have the time to find their items back first.
Right now they were very close to the core of the magic tower.
"The energy core was one of the forbidden areas in the tower, and it was protected by some very powerful magic circles. It's all on you now, man," Adam said to them cautiously. "If the witch notices what we are doing here, we're basically done."
Lucien slightly nodded. Although the magic tower of every senior-rank mage was more or less unique, their shared foundation was still The Guidebook to the Construction of Magic Towers and a Hundred and Seven Types of Magic Towers. Also, at that moment, the witch, which was the controller of the tower, was not in it, so Lucien was relatively confident that he could break the protecting magic circles, but he had no idea how long this was going to take.
He had to be very careful. One single mistake could alert the enemy or get himself killed by the senior-rank magic circles.
There was only one chance. 
When Lucien was about to start, a strong wind blew from the other side.
Adam, in the darkness, instantly rushed in the direction. However, after a sharp cutting sound, Adam's figure appeared in the darkness again, but his face became pale.
In the corner to the right, a golem twice as tall as a man took a step forward with a huge hammer in its hand.
Its eyes were glowing in the red light, and its entire body was built with metal.

Chapter 320: The Contemporary Sorcerer VS. The Ancient Golem
				Chapter 320: The Contemporary Sorcerer VS. The Ancient Golem
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"Steel golem, large construct, immune to bludgeoning and piercing from nonmagical weapons; immune to psychic attacks; immune to blessing, cursing, necromantic and death spells; immune to poison; immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form; Very high level of defence; immune to most elemental spells under the fifth circle; Can be damaged by strong acid; can be slowed down by electric shock or affected by strong magnetic field above the fifth circle. Dutiful, can understand commands; One of the most popular guards among sorcerers."
Lucien quickly retrieved the information in his mind to decide on his fighting plan.
The golem took a step backward and the floor slightly trembled due to its weight. The golem was so heavy that even itself was not able to maintain its balance all the time.
Carina did not waste a second hesitating. She summoned three dark green magic arrows and shot them directly at the golem.
The second circle spell, Acid Arrow!
The arrows did a little damage to the metal body of the golem, but it was nothing to the huge steel monster.
Dragging the heavy hammer, the golem started to run toward them. It was not very fast, but the floor was shaking.
Facing the steel monster, Lucien and the rest of them all felt nervous. The corridor was not very spacious, and the size of the golem made the whole space rather limited, thus they did not have much space to show their advantages as being swift and agile.
Lucien lifted his hand, and there were instantly countless colorful light spots surrounding the head of the golem. A second later, the piece of iron and steel covering the golem's head became thinner.
Carina was shocked seeing the effect of Lucien's spell. She could not believe that the power of Lucien's spell surpassed the golem's immunity and even dissolved part of the metal.
She had only read about something like this in legendary stories!
Although Elemental Order worked, Lucien knew that this was far from being enough. It seemed that he had to cast the spell for at least ten times in order to do some real damage to the golem.
Also, due to the rather limited space, the options of using other kinds of spells such as Lightning had all become impractical. In Lucien's mind, taking the golem to an open place should be the best plan for now.
However, this would bring them a problem. A steel golem worked like a robot and it only followed the preset command. Therefore, very possibly, the golem would only patrol a certain area instead of following them to another place. If they could not finish the golem as soon as possible, it was very likely to send the alert message to the witch!
Lucien was in a dilemma right now.
He wished that he had constructed the fourth circle spell, Distorted Magnetic Field, in his soul, as strong magnetic field could interfere with the golem's inner operation and slow down its movement, which was the most useful spell when a sorcerer faced a steel golem. However, with a missing arm, Lucien could not cast the spell using hand gestures.
At this time, an idea came to his mind. If the golem's inner operation system could be affected by a strong magnetic field, that spell should also be able to work.
Since electro-magnetic induction was discovered, lots of magnetic field spells had been invented. So, when the sorcerers were building steel golems, most of them chose to add the parts for resisting a strong magnetic field. Although they did not expect the parts to work perfectly, as parts like this contradicted the fundamental mechanism of building a golem, the parts were still relatively useful. At least a level five or even more powerful golem would not be easily defeated by a fourth-circle spell anymore¡ªwhen electromagnetic spells first came out, many sorcerers' steel golems were destroyed or damaged by very simple spells. At that time, only those very precious Adamantine Golems or Mythril Golems could have a good chance to survive.
This was the development of the magic, and, obviously, the old witch was an ancient sorcerer!
Adam saw that the golem was coming for them, he forced himself to stand out to confront the monster. The air surrounding Adam had become dark because of his Darkness Blessing.
This was called Dark Assimilation, the top power among all dark Blessings. The power could turn all nearby things into darkness and devour them. However, using it would exhaust the user for at least a few minutes. Adam knew the consequence well, and he wished that Lucien could seize the chance and finish the golem with him as soon as possible.
The steel golem, as well as its heavy hammer, were surrounded by the dark ripples. The darkness was like the stomach of a monster, wriggling.
Lucien lifted his right hand and his lips moved slightly. Slow and invisible waves spread out into the darkness.
As if the darkness was startled, it suddenly retreated. Many parts on the steel golem became sunken, and right now it was sitting on the floor, trying its best to stand up again with the heavy hammer.
Adam was exhausted, and his figure reappeared in the corner. He felt dizzy from the spell cast by Lucien, and it was quite surprising for him since most spells would not be able to do so when he was part of the darkness. However, in Adam's eyes, the spell seemed to be not that useful, being far below the one Lucien cast before.
Adam knew that Dark Assimilation could absorb many spells, and probably that was the reason why Lucien's spell did not work very well. He wondered why Lucien did not want to wait until his attack finished, but he believed that the sorcerer had his own reasons.
"It's your turn now," Adam hurriedly said to Lucien using Secondary Telepathic Bond when the steel golem stood up again. Adam believed that if Lucien could cast the elemental spell for another two or three times, the golem which had been damaged by Dark Assimilation would reach its limit, as long as Carina knew when to use electric spells to slow down the golem.
Facing the powerful golem, there was nothing much that Alva and Bullard could do there.
Carina did not let Adam down. She pointed at the golem with her hand and countless small electric balls instantly smashed into the metal body. The golem thus became a bit slower.
Lucien's buffering time for another round of casting was over. When the golem stood up again, Lucien raised his right hand again and concentrated the slow and invisible waves, making them move forward.
"You guys step back. Carina, slow the golem further to help Lucien," Adam said to the adventurers, giving commands through their telepathic bonds.
The rest of the team followed Adam's instruction, however, before Adam finished his words, the body of the golem started to crack fiercely as if inside there was a big hammer thumping around.
The red light in the golem's eyes flicked. Then its big and heavy body hit the floor hard, making the entire floor shake from it.
"What?"
"What was it?"
"What kind of spell is it?"
Through the bonds, Lucien could hear their exclamations.
It was the fourth-circle spell, Professor's Infrasound Resonance!
Lucien released a light sigh. When he first created the spell, he had taken record of the inner vibration frequency of some most common creatures and constructs. However, the frequency of the golem was a bit different, and that was why the spell failed the first time.
Fortunately, after some quick modification, the penetrating and powerful infrasonic waves finally led to the resonance of the precise parts inside of the steel golem, and the destructive power was quite considerable.
If the power of casting was enough, Lucien could completely break up this huge piece of steel!
Like when those magnetic field spells were first invented, Lucien's spell using the power of resonance was destructive to metal constructs, and Professor's Infrasound Resonance had an even wider application.
"Adam, you take some rest. Alva and Bullard, stay alert." Lucien did not answer their questions but quickly commanded, "Carina, you help me with analyzing the magic circles outside of the energy core."
...
Probably due to the lack of resources, the magic circles outside of the energy core were nothing special, which saved Lucien a lot of time and trouble.
For ancient sorcerers, analyzing the magic circles was not an easy job. However, this was not that challenging for sorcerers from the Congress of Magic, as they had all kinds of materials for references and all they needed to do was to copy the methods available.
The different organizational forms and ways of conveying knowledge formed a huge gap between a contemporary and an ancient sorcerer!
After more than ten minutes, the gate of the energy core silently opened.
Countless colorful light beams from the energy wells and gardens joined together and became an afflux to the energy pool, providing pure energy to the different zones of the magic tower.
After roughly estimating where the core of the magic tower was based on the flowing direction of the energy beams, Lucien said to the adventurers, "I'll build a magic circle here to restrain the flow of energy. You guys stay here, and when you see the energy pool starts to boil, activate the magic circle instantly. This will give me about ten seconds to control the core, and you guys must leave the energy core room within the ten seconds, or you'd be turned into ashes by the gushing power."
Although Alva and Bullard's original plan was to run away, after seeing the power of Lucien's magic and Adam's Blessing, they started to believe that it was possible to control the magic tower, so they nodded solemnly together.
Carina asked, "But Mr. Lucien, have you got any materials for setting up the magic circle? We don't have anything with us¡­"
Lucien smiled and pulled out his broken arm from his girdle, "I'm a level two knight. My blood and flesh can be quite useful materials when building a necromantic magic circle. But as for the core part of the magic circle, we need Mr. Adam's flesh and blood¡­"
Adam laughed, "No problem."
As a level five grand knight, as long as he was not going to lose an arm or leg, his blood and flesh that were going to be taken away could easily grow back again.
Seeing that Lucien was talking about how to use his own flesh in such a calm way, Carina saw the ruthless and hardheaded soul under his elegant and polite appearance.

Chapter 321: The Old Witch
				Chapter 321: The Old Witch
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien started to draw the mysterious patterns surrounded by many circles using the blood and flesh from his broken arm. The patterns looked very creepy and it seemed that they contained the ultimate myths of the human body, the world, and the whole universe.
Carina stared at the magic circle that Lucien was building and murmured, "The three symbols represent spirit, consciousness and their carrier¡­ They are at the same level, probably stands for the soul. The five symbols in the outer ring are the traditional symbols in the school of Necromancy, representing blood, bone, flesh, organ and life force¡­ They might stand for the body. And the rest of the four symbols¡­ sun, silver moon, stars, and darkness represent the world where an individual lives in. Is this a magic circle combining Necromancy and Astrology? And it seems that the different positions and lines have different functions¡­"
This was a very precious chance for Carina to learn about an advanced magic circle.
When he finished drawing the basic patterns of the necromantic magic circle named Miranda 12 Circles, Lucien turned the rest of the bone, blood, and flesh into some thick liquid. He used the liquid as ink and drew several special lines for connecting the twelve circles, surrounding the mysterious symbols.
Then he used the rest of the liquid as the magic conductor in the power passage of the magic circle. Using the flesh and blood from Adam, Lucien rebuilt the symbols standing for darkness, blood, and consciousness.
Lucien's spiritual power lit up the lines in the magic circle, and it felt that the light was full of life force. Very quickly, the circles were all integrated together, and the light was suddenly restrained within the area of the magic circle.
The magic circle now looked more organized, and every part had connected to each other as if the magic circle was alive. From some angles, the magic circle looked like a three-dimensional structure.
Carina saw the magic circle as a piece of artwork.
At this time, Lucien said to her, "Carina, when the energy pool starts to boil, you use your spiritual power to activate the symbol representing darkness."
Carina suddenly pulled her thoughts back.
Lucien repeated his words, and Carina hurriedly nodded with her flushed cheeks, "I will, Mr. Lucien."
He nodded, as trusting Carina was his only option right now. He had not managed to learn simulacrum spells to use a duplicate.
He turned to the two knights, "Alva and Bullard, you two protect Carina. Don't let anything distract her."
"As you command, Mr. Lucien," Alva and Bullard responded seriously.
Lucien nodded. Finally, he said to Adam, "Let's go to the central section."
"Yes!" Adam was very excited, as he had been waiting for this moment for several decades!
...
Bang! Bang!
Two steel golems fell onto the ground. Their limbs were still twitching.
Looking at the golems, Adam said to Lucien sincerely, "If I was all by myself here, it would be very difficult for me to finish even one golem because of the limited space. I have to say that you sorcerers are really powerful."
"This is the power of knowledge," Lucien answered briefly. He stared at the patterns of the magic circles on one of the golems and slightly shook his head, "Most things usually have their advantages and disadvantages. Without the magic circles, building a stronger layer of a metal shell for resisting magnetic field interference would be possible, but if that was the case, on the other hand, pure steel could not handle the power of a grand knight or the elemental spells. The solution could only be provided by the next evolvement of knowledge."
Adam did not really understand Lucien's words. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "You probably want to crack the protection magic circle first. The old witch might come back at any time."
The magic circle at the center of the tower was way more complicated than the one in the energy core. Fortunately, it still followed the mechanism of most senior-rank magic circles. It took Lucien about an hour and a half to crack it.
This an hour and a half were beyond torturing to the prison breakers. Even Adam, the determined level five grand knight, could not avoid walking back and forth, feeling extremely anxious. 
Lucien knew that Carina, Alva, and Bullard might also have reached their limit. At this time, even a common flesh golem could break their nerves.
However, because they were too far away from each other, Lucien could not contact them using Telepathic Bond. He had to trust them.
Seeing that Lucien opened the black gate, Adam released a long sigh and said, "This is the longest half an hour in my whole life. We're lucky that the old witch hasn't come back."
"Let's go. This isn't the end." Lucien stepped on the stairs behind the gate.
Having no idea what was waiting for them in the front, and also when the old witch would come back, Lucien too felt very nervous and anxious.
Adam's body was again covered by the dark mist, and he carefully followed Lucien to the stairs. 
Suddenly, the stairs started to wriggle!
The gray wall and stairs quickly became as red as blood and flesh and they started to produce white and green acid. As soon as the acid touched the absorbing wall protecting Lucien, it made very disturbing sizzling noises.
Adam, although having turned himself into part of the darkness, was still slightly hurt by the acid, which was totally out of his expectation.
"Damn it!" swore Adam, "The acid shouldn't be able to hurt me!"
Lucien answered him through the telepathic bond, "It's the witch's special spell, not some common acid! It can corrode and digest one's soul!"
As he was saying, Lucien started to run as fast as he could. There was no way to deactivate the magic circle. Every time the old witch came back, the magic circle would work, but she must be always prepared for this.
This was one of the most effective ways for many sorcerers to protect the places that were important to them. Fortunately, both Lucien and Adam did not lower their guards, instead, they had equipped themselves with all kinds of protections very well.
The red stairs were wriggling like crazy, like a human being's intestine digesting food.
Struggling, Lucien and Adam climbed toward the way out crazily.
Like an open mouth, close to the exit, there were lips and teeth. However, right now the mouth was closing, as if there was a time limit for one to leave this place!
Using the spell Speed, Lucien and Adam moved very fast. The exit was closer and closer to them!
However, at this time, the absorbing wall had reached its limit and in the next second, it collapsed into shining pieces.
Lucien did not waste his time on casting Douglas' Absorbing Wall again, instead, he grabbed Adam's arm and used Short Distance Teleportation.
Following the flashing, Lucien and Adam appeared on the stairs a few steps away from the exit!
The spell could not move them far enough!
Lucien knew this well. Regardless of the sharp pain in his skin, he shot out like an arrow. Rushing through the teeth, he fell onto the thick carpet. He quickly dodged to the other side as Adam followed right behind him. Lucien felt a bit relieved and then started to look around.
That place should be the old witch's study. On one side, there were several rows of bookshelves. On the opposite side, a couple of beautiful statues of women were placed there. In the middle, there was a fancy desk, on which center there was a crystal ball. Inside the crystal ball, the mini model of the whole magic tower was displayed!
However, the old witch wearing the red robe was sitting right behind the desk!
Her skin sagged horribly and wrinkles covered her whole face.
Both Lucien and Adam were startled when seeing the witch!
When Lucien was about to cast spells, he realized that something was wrong here. So he hurriedly stopped Adam and said, "It's okay. It's just a mirrored reflection."
Adam was still very nervous, "Reflection?!"
"This is a sixth-circle spell that produces a mirrored reflection of the caster. The reflection could move and speak under the control of the caster as well, however, it cannot use magic. If we attack it, the witch will know," said Lucien, trying his best to slow down his own beating heart.
Then, Lucien started to cast spells to cure the wounds on himself and Adam left by the strong acid.
Adam complained, "The bloody witch looks crazy, but she's still very insidious."
After that, Lucien cast a few defensive spells on himself and then walked to the crystal ball, trying to analyze the controlling hub.
About almost an hour later, when it was already close to midnight, Lucien finally finished his analysis. He put his right hand on the crystal ball and started to cast the spell. He pierced his spiritual power into the crystal ball like a needle.
In order to control the crystal ball. Lucien must not only crack it but also remove the spiritual imprint in it left by the old witch!
His spiritual power swam around in the crystal ball through many obstacles and finally reached the core part, where the old witch's spiritual imprint was in.
Feeling the threat, the crystal ball suddenly lit up like a shining sun.
All the magic patterns and symbols in the crystal ball were shining, concentrating the power of the entire magic tower to kill the intruder.
In the energy core, Carina saw that the energy pool started to boil. She instantly activated the magic circle left by Lucien.
The twelve circles lit up at the same time, and the darkness from the magic circle suddenly filled up the whole space. Everything seemed to have been frozen.
Being very decisive, Carina, Alva, and Bullard hurriedly turned around and ran toward the gate in the darkness.
The energy flow had been cut off. The crystal ball lost the protection!
If Lucien failed to remove the spiritual imprint, he would die from the great energy that would bounce back.
Ten seconds¡­ That was all Lucien had.
At this time, the mirrored reflection behind the desk suddenly started to become alive. The angry voice came from afar, "You two nasty flies! I'll turn you two into dried bodies!"
The life force in the reflection was getting stronger and stronger. Within a second, the old witch had come back!
The sixth-circle spell, Position Exchange!
After using this spell, the two preset targets within the range of five hundred meters could be connected together. Within a second, the two targets could switch their positions! This was probably this old witch's unique magic!
No one could ever look down upon a sorcerer, even if he or she was an ancient sorcerer!

Chapter 322: The Beholder
				Chapter 322: The Beholder
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was totally out of Lucien and Adam's expectation that the old witch would come back so fast.
Before trying to control the crystal ball, Lucien had carefully checked around to make sure that there was no teleportation circle in the core section. However, he did not expect that the witch could directly cast Position Exchange on her mirrored reflection!
If Lucien and Adam chose not to destroy the reflection, she could come back as soon as she sensed that the core section was being invaded; If they chose to attack the reflection, she would immediately be able to get the message and use other ways to come back in time.
Despite the craziness of the witch, she was also a very smart sorcerer!
However, right now Lucien was still working on removing the spiritual imprint in the crystal ball left by the old witch and could not let himself be distracted, so he wouldn't. Once he lost the chance to control the core, Lucien would never have any opportunities again to fight against the witch, a sorcerer at least of the seventh-circle!
Lucien had made up his mind. He did not even take a look at the old witch. Instead, he focused on the flow of his spiritual power in the crystal ball, regardless of whether or not Adam would run away and leave him alone here or whether or not his defense spells could handle any single attack from the old witch. He had decided to stay focused and seize the slightest hope!
When the old witch started to cast Position Exchange, Adam had to admit that the fear that had been piling up in the past so many years made him take a step backward. His body shook slightly and he felt that he probably would kneel down or run away at any time. However, he felt Lucien's great determination from the mind bond, and that gave him great courage as well.
Adam clenched his fists tight. He knew that he did not have a way to go back. If he was going to die, he would rather die in a bitter fight as a hero instead of a coward!
As a level five grand knight, his willpower in fighting was never absent, as it was the foundation of being a knight!
With a low growl, Adam turned himself into a cluster of black mist and jumped directly onto the old witch behind the desk, who just finished casting the position exchanging spell. As long as he could handle the first round of the witch's attack, Lucien would be able to have a few seconds during the witch's buffering time! That was their only hope!
Seeing the dark mist, the old witch started to scream. The sharp scream brought invisible magic waves that suddenly froze the mist. Like a piece of glass, the dark ripples collapsed and disappeared.
When Adam's figure appeared again, his head and the left side of his chest had been vitrified.
The sixth-circle spell, Dulag's Glass!
The spell could turn a creature or an item within a certain size into glass!
A single spell had disabled Adam. Thanks to his powerful life force as a grand knight, Adam did not directly pass out.
However, the two seconds that Adam earned for Lucien were precious. Lucien's spiritual power inside of the crystal ball started to spread and vibrate in a strange way all of a sudden. As the spiritual power produced the invisible waves and the waves extended, the whole space started to shake fiercely.
Spirit Swing, the relatively new research outcome of the Congress in the past fifty years, could help junior or middle-rank sorcerers remove the spiritual imprint in a magic item, and it worked especially well with ancient magic items!
This was why Lucien wanted to try to control the magic tower!
In the core of the crystal ball, the old witch's spiritual imprints started to break down. However, it was still an imprint left by a senior-rank sorcerer, so Lucien could not completely remove it within those two seconds.
This was a life-and-death fight between the modern magic system and an ancient sorcerer!
The old witch lifted her left hand on which there were two rings. One had a big, purple gem on it. It was Lucien's ring, Element. The other was a dark blue ring in a unique shape, decorated with many small precious stones.
Surprisingly, the old witch did not choose to cast Elemental Swirl on Lucien. She was probably concerned that the spell would hurt herself and damage her desk and all her precious collections in this room.
The dark blue ring lit up. Countless chains made of flesh and blood howled and lashed out at Lucien.
The sixth-circle spell, Howling Chain, was mainly for interfering with spell casting by constricting and cursing its victim!
The unearthly howl tried to sneak into Lucien's soul to distract him. However, Douglas' Absorbing Wall could handle the power of most spells under the fifth circle. Therefore, when the howling chain lashed on Lucien, although his Flame Shield instantly went out, the Absorbing Wall did not break into pieces until a second later.
Even one second was very precious for Lucien. As his spiritual power was vibrating more and more fiercely, more and more cracks appeared in the old witch's spiritual imprint.
The absorbing wall had disappeared. Stone Skin failed as well. The howling chain winded around Lucien's body and ulcerated his skin.
The howling definitely affected Lucien's brain and soul. Fortunately, the spell Mechanized Mind helped Lucien a little. Lucien felt that his soul was being pulled in different directions by countless crying ghosts. He felt piercing pain in his soul, that was becoming torpid.
However, Lucien's soul had become much stronger under the old witch's electric shock treatment. Right now, the power of his soul had reached the fifth circle. Also, because the power of Howling Chain had been reduced by the layers of protection Lucien cast on himself, he managed to stay focused despite the very uncomfortable feelings in his soul. When the vibration of his spiritual power peaked, the old witch's spiritual imprint was completely removed!
The old witch's experiment, in the end, helped Lucien!
In the next second, Lucien condensed his spiritual power and left his own imprint in the crystal ball.
The crystal ball burst out bright light and rose up in the air. In its center, all of the magic circles and symbols in the magic tower were very obvious.
Lucien cast a simple spell with the crystal ball, and instantly a beam of light surrounded by many magic symbols shot out from the wall on the left side. The light beam hit the red-blood chains and the chains immediately disappeared.
The sixth-circle spell, Advanced Dispel Magic!
As soon as the chains disappeared, Lucien cast another spell whose target was the old witch.
The seventh-circle spell, Antimagic Ray. It could remove the magic effects on its target and also produce a small antimagic field, in which the target could not cast any spells!
Although Lucien could only use the powerful spells built in the magic tower by the magic circles, for the first time, he genuinely felt the great power of being a senior-rank sorcerer.
The old witch just recovered from her casting buffering time. When she saw the ray, she angrily screamed again. And a big mirror drawn with many mysterious symbols appeared in front of her. The ray hit the mirror, and when it broke, the ray reflected back and hit Lucien. All of Lucien's magic effects for protecting himself were removed!
The mirror was the seventh-circle spell, Spell Turning!
Based on the caster's level and knowledge, the spell could even turn back a ninth-circle spell!
Lucien tried to extend his spiritual power, but it did not work. Fortunately, right now he could control the whole magic tower. He did not have to rely on himself to cast the spells.
Lucien used the seventh-circle spell, Forcecage, and trapped the old witch in the invisible force walls. The cage could only be broken by several special spells, such as Dissociation.
A magic tower did not have to wait for buffering!
When Lucien continued to cast spells, the old witch's left eyeball suddenly bulged out and became a yellowish-brown, wriggling sphere.
Like a newly-born cub, the sphere was covered with blood. In the center of it, there was a big, yellowish-brown eye. Small eyestalks crowned the sphere and extended out, connecting to the veins in the old witch's left eye socket!
It was a beholder! It was one of the most famous monsters in the Dark Mountain Range!
There was a seventh-circle spell that could turn the caster into a beholder temporarily. However, the old witch chose to turn her left eyeball into a beholder, as ancient sorcerers were very good at it! Thus, they did not have to wait for the bothering casting buffering time anymore.
Several green rays of the spell, Dissociation, were shot out from the small eyestalks, and at the same time, the big eye in the center released the antimagic ray.

Chapter 323: The Surprising Change
				Chapter 323: The Surprising Change
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The invisible force field was wiped out by the dissociation rays. Furthermore, the antimagic ray targeted the crystal ball in Lucien's right hand, trying to hit it and thus build a small antimagic field inside the crystal ball in order to cut off its connection to the magic tower.
Since Lucien had been hit by the antimagic ray, he could not cast any spells on his own for now. He slightly turned around and blocked the antimagic ray with his own right arm. At the same time, he continued casting the creepy spells with the magic tower. Since he was using the great power of the magic tower, hurriedly interrupting the chanting process would bring horrible damage to Lucien's soul from the backlash!
Several powerful flashes of lightning were summoned from the ceiling, turning the whole space into an ocean of lightning and thunder. Except for the desk and the floor carved with reinforcing magic symbols, the rest of the things in the study were destroyed completely.
The seventh-circle spell, Lightning Storm!
A piece of shadow embedded with complicated patterns instantly surrounded the old witch, safely protecting her from all the bolts of lightning.
The seventh-circle spell, Energy Immunity¡ªLightning!
Then the old witch's yellowish-brown eyeball launched colorful light rays again. Some could charm people; some could make them fall asleep; other could slow people down or turn people into stone. The eyeball in the center released the strong smell of death.
The seventh-circle spell, Finger of Death!
After this fierce round of attacks, the old witch's left eye now looked dim. The eyeball had to wait for a while before launching the next round.
In most cases, no beholder would fight like this. The different eyestalks would cooperate with each other and fight using strategies to make sure that they would not run out of their spells. However, right now it seemed that the old witch had lost her mind, or maybe there were other reasons.
Lucien put his hand on the crystal ball and summoned Forcecage again to protect himself.
The colorful rays hit the force field cage but could not go through it, until the green dissociation ray quickly broke the cage down.
If the witch had not lost her mind, she could have launched the dissociation ray in the first place. If that was the case, Lucien would have been in great trouble!
After this round of attack, Lucien saw that the old witch quickly took a glance at the several statues of beauties in the corner to her right.
Lucien was very surprised. He did not notice the fact that the statues remained completely intact from the flashes of lightning. Why did the old witch choose to protect them so well?! Were they even more important than her magic books?!
However, right now he did not want to waste any time on thinking about it. Lucien quickly cast another spell and a huge hand with sharp nails broke out from the floor. The hand tried to grab the statues in the corner.
The seventh-circle spell, Sajeman's Ice Hand Prison!
The magic tower's power also had its limit. Including the spells that Lucien had used, there were nine kinds of spells altogether. Lucien wanted to finish the fight as soon as possible, as once he used up all the magic tower's spells, the old witch could easily kill him.
Therefore, as soon as he noticed that there was something wrong with the statues. Lucien decisively switched his target.
The old witch screamed angrily, and black miasma spread out. Adam, who just recovered from the witch's spell and was climbing to his feet on the corner suddenly felt completely exhausted.
The seventh-circle spell, Dying Waves. This was a spell enchanted in her magic robe, as she was still waiting for the buffering time.
Lucien did not panic. He calmly finished chanting a spell. Then, a dark ray shot out from the wall and the ray instantly built up a small antimagic field around Lucien.
When the waves died out before reaching Lucien, the statues in the corner burst out bright light and countered the power of the hand.
Within Lucien's expectation, they were not just common statues.
As soon as Lucien entered the study, he felt it very strange that the old witch would want to put some statues of beauties there to make herself upset. Also, if the witch's body and soul had been cursed so badly, why was she still alive?!
Lucien believed that the old witch would put all of her most important things in the core section of the magic tower!
Lots of thoughts filled his mind. The crystal ball rose into the air and a red light ray shot out at the statues!
The seventh-circle spell, Ruby Reversion Ray, could remove the strongest defending effect of the target!
After the several rounds of attack, some of the defending magic circles on the statues had been worn out. When the ruby ray hit them, one of them lost all its protections and the original color of the statue was revealed.
The old witch went crazy. She immediately gave up attacking Lucien and instead turned her force field into a huge palm. The palm grabbed the statue and brought it back to the old witch.
Obviously, these statues were the weakness of the old witch. Lucien seized the chance and summoned a powerful lightning again.
At this time, a beauty statue was struck into pieces. A piece of soul disappeared together with the lightning.
The old witch suddenly aged. Her back bent forward even further, and her left eye instantly became sunken.
The old witch put part of her life in the statues!
Lucien continued casting. More and more bolts of lightning were summoned. And the statues were broken into pieces one by one.
The old witch's flesh started to rot. She could not use magic anymore.
Lucien saw victory, but at the same time, he could not help doubting himself. How come he could just kill a senior-rank mage like this?
The old witch had been making mistakes choosing what spells to use from the very beginning. Fortunately, Lucien's guess with the statues was correct¡­
At this time, he heard Adam's voice in his mind, "Good for you, man! You killed the witch! We're free now!"
"I'm not sure about it, Adam¡­" Lucien murmured.
Then he saw a creepy smile on the old witch's face.
"¡­?!"
When Lucien was just about to take actions, the magic tower started to shake fiercely. Chunks of bricks and stones started to fall down¡­
Lucien's vision became blurry. He passed out in the darkness.
...
Lucien saw light again. However, when he instantly tried to sit up, he found that both of his arms and legs were tied up by something.
"Good, very good. Your foundation to learn magic is very solid." The old witch giggled, "The development of magic in the recent several hundred years is really impressive¡­"
Lucien was shocked. He saw the old witch, wearing the red magic robe as usual, walking back and forth in the lab. Lucien was lying on the table as if he had just received another round of the electric shock treatment.
"What¡­" He was confused.
The old witch was quite proud of herself and said, "Dream Casting, sixth-circle. I've seen the spells you know and how developed the current magic system is."
Lucien was still confused when knowing that the escape adventure was just a dream. However, this explained the many questions that he had had in his mind: why he could not use his spirit library after getting rid of the collar; why he failed to contact Rhine; and why the witch made so many mistakes during the fight¡­
"I have to say that your so-called Arcana has impressed me." The old witch seemed to be in a pretty good mood, "I'll take you to the underground remain, where there's a maze in it. I hope that you can surprise me."
Lucien quickly calmed down and bargained, "Ms. Eudora, I think I can do a better job for you without the collar."
"No problem. I'll free you before entering the maze." As she was a powerful sorcerer, Lucien was not a threat to her.
Lucien followed the old witch to the ground floor of the magic tower. Then, they walked downstairs to the underground passage.
The passage paved with huge stone slabs had a height of five or six meters and a width of seven to eight people side by side. The slabs were carved with pictures of ancient people fighting against monsters from the underground world.
"Magnificent¡­" Lucien said sincerely.
The old witch did not say anything. Everything down here was more than familiar to her.
At the end of the passage, there were ten gates. Each gate had different, mysterious patterns on them.
Pointing at the gray gate in the middle, the old witch said, "Here, the maze."
Lucien saw that the patterns on the gate were quite familiar. They looked like mathematical symbols. So, he asked confusedly, "What is in the maze? I could be more prepared if you told me."
"There's no monster in there. Just¡­ difficult questions." The old witch looked a bit upset. Then, she removed Lucien's collar and shackles and urged him to enter the maze.
Feeling that his spiritual power had recovered, Lucien pushed open the gate and slowly walked into the maze. If there were no monsters in there, it should be a pure intelligence maze.
As soon as he entered it, the gate behind him closed silently. Lucien, with his dark vision, saw himself standing on a bridge with no ends, in the middle of nowhere. He was confused once more. He took a couple of steps ahead and saw stars appearing in front of his eyes. Then, the stars connected to each other and formed a line of words.
"Prove that any even number larger than 2 is the sum of two prime numbers."
"What¡­?" The question was totally out of Lucien's expectation. Then the stars formed more mathematical questions.
The questions looked very familiar to Lucien. It seemed that they were all from the exercise book that Lucien once read before¡ªDemidovich Problems in Mathematical Analysis.
The mathematical symbols, numbers, equations, and hypotheses moved around Lucien's head and made him feel dizzy. Suddenly, the darkness broke into pieces and light came in again.
Lucien opened his eyes and shook his head. When he looked around, he saw Elvis, who should have been dead in the Black Forest.
Elvis covered his nose and mouth with his hand, where blood was dripping down. He said to Lucien angrily:
"What the hell is it in your head?!"
Translator's Thoughts
Kris_Liu Kris_Liu
Many thanks to SRandom for correcting my translation on the math problem!

Chapter 324: The Reason for All of These (The End of Volume IV)
				Chapter 324: The Reason for All of These (The End of Volume IV)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien looked around and realized that he was in the small cabin where he lived in when he found Elvis. Everything looked the same in the cabin, including the strong alcohol smell lingering in the air. Right now Lucien was sitting in a wooden armchair, while Elvis was sitting on his left side next to the fireplace. Lucien could still hear the noise outside, from the adventurers' campsite. The only difference was that the wooden ladle that should be in Elvis's hand was now on the floor, and the copper pot fell over in the fire. The tomato cream soup that spilled out from the pot made the fire sizzle.
Lucien realized what was going on here and the words escaped his lips, "Your Excellency¡­ Nightmare King?"
Elvis did not deny, although his face looked gloomy, "Are you¡­ really a middle-rank mage?"
Lucien recalled the mathematical exercises in the maze in his dream. He put on a slightly awkward smile and answered, "I've been working on my fundamental mathematics, so the questions should be mostly for senior-rank mages."
Pausing a little, Lucien switched the topic, "Your Excellency, may I ask why did you put me into the dream? And¡­ am I still in another dream?"
Waking up from his dreams twice, everything felt so real and also not real. Lucien was confused with the difference between dream and reality. Although he had successfully entered his spirit library, Lucien was still not sure whether he had come back to reality.
This was the most creepy magic that Lucien had ever seen!
Elvis¡ªno, Lucien should respect him as the Nightmare King¡ªlooked very serious. Stennis, the Nightmare King, said to him, "An old friend of mine requested my help. He thinks your level of magic cannot match your arcana level. So he asked me to put you into a dream constructed by me and let you go through things in the dream to fully develop the potential of your soul. You may feel it right now."
Hearing that, Lucien immediately entered his meditation world. He felt something real in this virtual world. Hurriedly opening his eyes, Lucien was very surprised, "It is stronger¡­ Now the power of my soul is indeed at the fifth-circle level. Is it because of the electric shock from the old witch? No¡­ it was a dream, but what I experienced in the dream helped me in reality¡­"
Lucien's soul was now as strong as a fifth-circle sorcerer, however, it would still take some time for his spiritual power to catch up.
The Nightmare King, slightly nodded, "All the dreams were built upon your own cognition foundation, mental activities, and your own memories. What you have experienced in your dream has also affected your body and soul. However, for most people, the power from their dreams was too weak for them to make any actual signs of progress. In this world, I am the only one who can make the full use of dreams and use them to develop the potential of one's soul. Of course, a person's potential is also based on his or her actual power. Using dreams cannot solve all the problems."
"I see¡­" Lucien finally realized why the dream about the old witch was a bit weird, for example, the part when the old witch asked the mirror who was the most beautiful woman in the world.
Lucien asked subconsciously, "So, electric shock can improve the strength of my soul?"
Stennis put on a cold smile, "What do you think?"
"¡­Never mind," answered Lucien awkwardly. He had so many questions to ask, but finally, he chose the most bothering question in his mind, "Your Excellency, how can I tell the difference between dream and reality? How do I know if I'm still in a dream?"
Stennis was more than used to questions like this. He put on a vicious smile like the old witch and said, "Why is it so important? What is a dream? What is the reality? They are both your response to the outside stimuli. When my class reaches the highest level, maybe I will be able to create a dream of reality."
"So, that being said¡­ if my certain response in my dream cannot be predicted or is mistakenly designed by the dream maker, that would be the time for me to know what is a dream and what is reality." Lucien murmured. At the same time, he thought to himself that he could also get out of a dream if his cognition world way surpassed the cognitive ability of the dream maker, and probably the dream maker's head would explode because of this. Lucien thus decided to try to think about something complicated later such as the wave-particle duality of light or quantum theories to testify if he was still in a dream.
Stennis was quite impressed with Lucien's answer, "Good. No wonder my friend appreciates your talent. In fact, in your dream, I was trying to avoid things related to arcana research. In the maze, I also purposefully chose the field of mathematical basis, but it turned out¡­"
The look on Stennis's face was a bit complicated.
"No wonder the old witch wasn't interested in arcana at all!" Lucien was suddenly enlightened, and then he laughed, "So you were playing the role of the old witch. I have to say that your playing was quite impressive."
Stennis said seriously, "Technically speaking, I'm only one part of the role of the old witch. The other part of the witch consisted of your own fear. By the way, I am also Adam, Carina, Alva, Ophelia, and Bullard."
Lucien was a bit embarrassed knowing that this dream was all about him, so he hurriedly asked another question, "So¡­ bringing a letter to you isn't the true task. The task is an opportunity for me to be able to see you and get myself improved in your dream, is that right? Can I know who your friend is? I'd like to know who I should be grateful to¡­"
A friend of the Nightmare King¡­ Lucien guessed that the person must be a legendary archmage.
Stennis was a bit gloomy, "This was also a test. If you failed to bring the letter here, you would not be the person that my friend is looking for. As for my friend¡­ he probably appreciates your talent and potential and wants you to be his student. You should have already experienced something strange like a test for you before."
That reminded Lucien of his strange experience in the castle, but it seemed to be true that the legendary archmage, Viken, also had something to do with the missing legendary archmages including Maskelyne. Lucien was confused, having no idea whether what happened in the castle was just a pure test or a combination of things, so he asked again, "May I know¡­"
"You'll know when you get back to the Congress." It seemed that Nightmare King was very reluctant to mention his friend's name, "The letter you were bringing is actually a special magic scroll. A fatal attack can activate the scroll and bring you back to a certain Demiplane. If you want to save some time getting back to the Congress, you can activate it on your own."
Lucien guessed that the special scroll was at least of ninth circle, and he wondered how valuable it was. Lucien knew that he would feel really regretful if he had somehow lost the scroll.
At the same time, he also stopped blaming the Congress of Magic, because, after all, they never meant to put him in mortal danger.
Then, Stennis waved his hand to Lucien and said, "You may leave now. I'm going back to the magic tower now."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Lucien stood up.
The power of Lucien's soul had surpassed the fifth circle, and his arcana knowledge was never a problem, but the only problem was that his knowledge in illusion and transformation spells was still insufficient. Lucien at least should make sure that his fundamental knowledge in all fields was solid. He was deeply impressed by Nightmare King's power, and that made him want to know more about the magic in other fields.
Stepping out of the cabin, the strong smell of alcohol in the campsite sneaked into Lucien's nose. Feeling relaxed after completing the task, he walked casually in a good mood. However, a question suddenly jumped into his mind:
As an ancient sorcerer, why did Nightmare King suffer a recoil when seeing the mathematical questions in Lucien's brain? If he totally had no idea of what those questions were, he could just let Lucien himself complete the dream.
...
In the cabin, Stennis, Nightmare King, did not leave immediately. Instead, he murmured to himself,
"Enclosed devil's place¡­ High tower as a prison¡­ These are the things that he fears the most. It seems that these are the representatives of this world. But why does he feel imprisoned in this world¡­
"Staying calm in danger¡­ it's a very good quality. But when Ophelia died, he accelerated his pace to escape the tower. This reveals the fact that his mindset has been greatly changed probably because his friends or family members were once hurt or even died before.
"As for Adam¡­ Adam should be the collective reflection of the male friends who have helped him before. Someone once sincerely helped him, and once also tried to make use of him. Carina represented his female friends. There were things ambiguous and romantic in the dream. And that means he's still not sure about his inner feelings, or he feels very worried about these things.
"After becoming a prisoner, he had the hope that the Congress would send legendary archmages to save him. So he is more or less mentally dependant on the powerful people who once helped him.
"The old witch was smart, vicious and crazy, representing the enemies he has encountered so far. The Church, the ancient sorcerers, the arcanists¡­ but why was the representative a female?
"Furthermore, what does the electric shock stand for? Why did the old witch ask the mirror who was the most beautiful woman in the world?
"He's definitely got the side that was decisive and coldhearted, as he was willing to lose an arm to bring himself a chance to escape. But no one actually died in the fight when he tried to escape, which means he's still got a soft side in his mind, and he valued friendship and help a lot.
"As for the underground remains¡­ This is a secret in his mind. Maybe it is the representation of real remains somewhere. Also, his unique magic is pretty interesting, and his ways of removing the magic circles and spiritual imprint were also quite smart."
Opposite Stennis, there was a wood armchair. A figure sitting in the armchair slowly appeared. An elder man wearing a bright red robe had mixed white and black hair but still looked hale and hearty. His red eyes stared at Nightmare King vigorously as he said, "The progress that arcana researches have made way surpassed the achievements of the ancient magic empire. Stennis, get real. Don't let yourself go too far in the wrong direction."
Stennis remained silent for a while and said, "Give me some more arcana books, then. But I don't want the books related to what appeared in the boy's dream. They're¡­ a bit too much for me."
Translator's Thoughts
Kris_Liu Kris_Liu
Congratulations arcanists and ancient sorcerers!
We've completed this volume! And more great stories of Lucien's adventure are waiting for us ahead! Thank you for being with us!

Chapter 325: Decision (Volume Five: Crimson Moon)
				Chapter 325: Decision (Volume Five: Crimson Moon)
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The ocean wind from Storm Strait drove away the dryness and heat in Allyn. The fine drizzling rain was very refreshing.
Standing beside the window in his own study and looking at the bright flowers in the garden outside, Lucien was lost in his thoughts.
...
Because the power of his soul had been greatly developed, Lucien had to consolidate the remaining part of his foundation. Also, he was eager to know who was waiting for him in the Congress. Therefore, Lucien activated the precious magic scroll and returned to Allyn together with Leo.
Before he left, Lucien found Natasha and told her what had happened.
On the previous night, in a manor outside of Aalto, after carefully listening to Lucien's narrative, Natasha smiled and nodded, "It makes sense. You're talented and full of potential, so no matter how terrible the inner conflict in the Congress is, those sorcerers should never send you out for such a dangerous task. By the way, who's gonna be your teacher?"
Natasha believed that Lucien would not say no to that mysterious legendary archmage. Since the archmage had been observing Lucien for a while, he must have already talked to and convinced those other important sorcerers who also intended to have Lucien to be their student. Also, his way of testing Lucien was not cruel or vicious, instead, it was rather proper and considerate, which meant that the archmage knew Lucien quite well. And becoming the student of a legendary archmage was definitely an honor.
Lucien put on a slightly awkward smile and said, "I don't even know who he is. I hope that what he specializes in is also what I am interested in."
Natasha was very happy for Lucien. She had a big smile on her face, "I can assure you that your teacher is not Hathaway. Her personality isn't like this. Don't worry, Lucien. Most legendary sorcerers in the Congress are not that horrible, as long as you don't have major conflicts with them. As a student, as long as you study hard, you would not be given a hard time. I believe in you, Lucien."
Natasha herself was also a student of a legendary knight¡ªBellia, known as God's Glory, the leader of Sword Brothers. So she knew quite a lot about it.
Then Natasha looked more serious, "You're going to be a legendary archmage's student, and you're also the winner of Holm Crown prize. I'm sure that you'll gather quite a lot of attention from the Church, including the cardinals and grand cardinals from those parishes. So¡­ I'm afraid that I have to rush John's family to take actions now."
"You always know what is on my mind, Natasha." Lucien also looked more serious, "I didn't expect that something important like this would come to me so fast. I thought we still had time. You know how important this thing is to me, Natasha. Please, I owe it to you."
Natasha rubbed her chin slightly and smiled, "No worries. I'll take care of it. But you cannot stay in Aalto any longer. The Church can be crazy."
Then, they hugged each other to say goodbye. When she turned around and walked away, Lucien looked at her from behind with all kinds of emotions in his eyes. After finding Leo, who was waiting for him nearby, Lucien activated the precious magic scroll and went back to Allyn with Leo.
The hyperspace jump made Lucien's soul and brain feel extremely dizzy. He was not sure whether he was traveling at a very high speed or the space structure was being reorganized. Without the protection of the scroll, Lucien would have already been lost.
After reaching a demiplane where lightning and thunder were flashing and roaring in the air, Lucien started to reflect on how the magic scroll worked. However, his thinking was then interrupted by the second round of fast movement. The power of the magic scroll dragged Lucien and Leo shifting and jumping between the different dimensions until they arrived at a small hill near Allyn.
From the position of the silver moon and the stars, minus the time difference Lucien assumed, the space jump took them about half an hour¡ªwhich was only about the time that a high tea in Holm would cost.
...
The window started to become a bit foggy, which was usually very rare to see in June. However, because of the special location of Allyn, Lucien was quite used to it.
He released a sigh when thinking of John and his family. 
A while later, when his feeling of guilt slowly quieted down, something new started to bother him.
Lucien had finally decided to stop denying his feeling and lying to himself¡ªhe had confessed to himself that he admired Natasha. He had no idea when this affection started to accumulate, but he could feel it grow stronger and stronger especially after he had gone through those great dangers.
He wanted to take actions. Being practical as he always was, he started to analyze the current situation calmly and work on making a whole set of plans to win Natasha's heart.
Natasha was a knight believing in the God of Truth and Lucien was a sorcerer studying arcana, so there was the fundamental conflict between them. Fortunately, because of the love story between her mom and father, Lucien could still have a great chance to convince her if he was patient enough and could take it easy. However, the biggest problem was that Lucien could not give up studying arcana and move back to Aalto for Natasha, and it was also very unlikely to happen that Natasha would be willing to leave her father and give up the entire duchy for Lucien.
Also, Lucien was not sure whether Natasha only liked women. If she still liked maleness, Lucien also wondered what kind of man Natasha was fond of and what he should do¡­
...
Lucien had so many thoughts in his mind. Having zero experience in romantic relationships, he realized that, in his mind, he had already started to deal with the difficulties that he assumed Natasha and he would encounter after getting married. And he had to admit that this was not easy.
At this time, someone was knocking at the door and that brought Lucien back to the reality.
"Yes, Leo?" Lucien knew that it was his new butler outside.
Leo opened the door and said to Lucien respectfully, "My lord, the Will of Elements wants to see you."
Lucien wondered if his teacher was going to finally show up. Calming himself down, he put on his black top hat and said, "Get me a coach, Leo."
After Leo left, Lucien slightly clenched his fists and made a temporary plan for himself: he would write one more letter to Natasha every month! Although he knew that winning Natasha's heart was rather hard, he would not easily give up. Right now, he should first work on improving his magic and arcana level.
...
Late at night, outside of the Inquisition of Violet, a fat figure approached the inquisition very carefully. However, the figure looked rather hesitant, as it tried to walk in the building but had failed a few times.
"Alisa, what are you doing here?!"
The cold voice startled the figure, Alisa, and she hurriedly turned around.
It was Joel, who languished in the past few days.
Alisa shivered, but she still disputed, "I'm¡­ I'm doing what Evans told us to do."
"But can you?!" Joel asked sternly in a low voice.
Alisa raised her voice pitch and answered in pain, "What else can I do? Waiting for the day to come when John and Iven are tied to the gallows?! There's nothing much to regret if we die! But¡­ but they're still young¡­ They should have a bright future!"
"It's not gonna happen¡­ Don't scare yourself." Joel felt Alisa's pain, so he hugged her and gently patted on her back, "John's a knight, serving the Violet Family. The punishment of being deceived by a sorcerer isn't that horrible. The inquisition would carefully investigate it. They won't be put onto the gallows¡­"
Alisa hurriedly shook her head, "It's not true. I heard it from the several noble ladies earlier tonight that some knights ended up rather miserably because they failed to draw a clear line between themselves and the sorcerers, and then the inquisition found it out. Say¡­ the family of Thistle in the War of Dawn. I know John can't do it. So¡­ as his mother, I will do this for him. I'm willing to bear all the pain and sufferings."
Joel said to Alisa angrily but also helplessly, "Are you out of your mind, Alisa?"
"It's enough, mom, dad."
Joel and Alisa heard the familiar voice. It was John, followed by his younger brother, Iven.
He looked the same, but his blond hair looked a bit messy.
"Iven, you take care of mom and dad. I'll do the rest of it, as a knight." John slightly sighed and then walked toward the Inquisition in firm strides.
"John!" Alisa called his name from behind.
John did not stop. He slightly closed his eyes and murmured, "To make sure they are safe¡­ To make sure you won't be threatened¡­"
...
The Will of Elements, Allyn branch.
Lucien met Gaston again and was about to return the monocle to him.
"Just keep it, as your reward for the mission." Gaston was being very generous. As long as Lucien could become the student of the legendary archmage, the archmage's connection to the Will of Elements would definitely get reinforced.
Lucien nodded and put the monocle back. Then he asked out of curiosity, "Isn't Mr. Raventi here today?"
"He isn't in a very good mood recently," answered Gaston, with a strange smile on his face. "Follow me. You know why you're here today, right?"
Lucien nodded, and then he followed Gaston into a small meeting room behind his office.
In the meeting room, there were three men and two women. One of the female sorcerers looked a bit like Natasha, but she seemed rather cold. Next to her sat a short elder man with red eyes. And a little farther away from them sat Morris, Florencia, and Thompson.
Lucien guessed that the female sorcerer who looked rather cold should be Hathaway. As for the short elder man sitting beside her¡­ Wait! Wasn't he the creepy old guy in the library?
Lucien had a not very good foreboding.
The short elder man said to him with a meaningful smile on his face, "Lucien, I think you could have impressed me better."

Chapter 326: No Need for the Ceremony
				Chapter 326: No Need for the Ceremony
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Hearing the short elder man's words, Lucien thought to himself that his future teacher was quite cheap with giving compliments.
However, Lucien still responded very politely, "Yes, sir, I still have a lot to learn and to improve." Lucien decided to show his respect to this legendary archmage who was qualified to sit beside Hathaway.
Gaston smiled and introduced, "Evans, this is Her Excellency, Hathaway, a grand arcanist."
"Arcana's above, Your Excellency's glory has lit up the whole world of elements." Lucien put his left hand on his chest and his right hand on his forehead, using the most formal manner to greet Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, the member of the royal family of Holm who was a relative to Natasha although she was probably several hundred years elder than Natasha. There was a unique, short greeting piece for each legendary archmage according to the Congress's tradition.
When Lucien greeted Hathaway, he felt a bit nervous, not because she was an archmage, but because she was a senior member of Natasha's family.
Hathaway did not have much expression on her face. She lightly nodded, "On the path of arcana to the truth, one can never stop making progress."
Then Gaston turned to the short elder man wearing the bright-red robe, and there was a bit of fear on his face that Gaston himself did not even notice. He was worrying that he might say something wrong and thus piss the legendary archmage off.
"Evans, this is¡­ His Excellency Fernando Brastar, a grand arcanist." After weighing his words, Gaston decided to use the simplest way to make the introduction.
The Lord of Storm? This little old man was the Lord of Storm? Lucien was very surprised. According to the rumors that he had heard about the Lord of Storm, Lucien thought this grand arcanist should be a serious and fusty scholar with a very bad temper. However, the little old man sitting in front of him looked quite pleasant and easygoing, and one could still tell the good-looking features on his face when he was young. When Lucien first talked to him, this little old man's humor even left Lucien with a deep impression.
Anyway, Lucien still carefully greeted the Lord of Storm with great respect, "Arcana's above, Your Excellency, you're storm, lightning, and the master of the sky."
Lucien was very cautious to make sure that every single word that he said was correct.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I only argue with people when it comes to arcana or magic. Say, when Oliver was saying something about paintings and dramas, I never said a word." Fernando provided an explanation for himself to make Lucien feel more relaxed.
However, other people did not think so. Florencia mouthed the words to Lucien, "That is because he knows nothing about paintings and dramas."
Before Gaston made further introductions, Fernando said to him directly, "Lucien, when Thompson read your first paper, he recommended your paper to me, and I was thus inspired. I was interested in you so I went to the library to meet you there in person. It turned out that you were a pretty interesting young man, and I like people who are not boring. Your following two papers were also not bad, which was quite impressive considering your age. You know, some papers from the Highest Council members even have made some ridiculous mistakes!"
Although Fernando was giving him a pretty good comment, the tone and the way that Fernando talked to him made Lucien feel a bit strange. Also, it seemed that Fernando totally did not care about the fact that there was a member of the Highest Council present.
"How you handled things in the castle and how you carried out the task bringing the letter to the Dark Mountain Range have revealed some of your qualities that the Congress appreciates. I hope that you can stick to them." Fernando continued, seriously, "Lucien, I think your talent goes beyond the school of Element and Astrology, and you should enter a way broader domain. So, I'd like to have you as my student and I'll teach you arcana and magic. What do you think?"
According to what Lucien knew, although the Lord of Storm was a grand arcanist mainly specialized in the school of Thermodynamics, he was also good at the school of Element, Electromagnetism, Force Field, Illusion, and Light-darkness. Among all the grand arcanists, Fernando was definitely one of the most energetic ones. He had won the highest award in four different fields: Ice & Snow Medal, Silver Moon Medal, Holm Crown Prize, and Sorcerer Laurel.
Therefore, a second later, Lucien nodded firmly, "It would be my great pleasure to be your student."
"Good. You're my student now," answered Fernando seriously.
"What?" Lucien, Gaston, Morris, and Florencia were all very surprised. Only Hathaway and Thompson still looked the same calm.
Fernando grinned, "Yes?"
That was it? Lucien felt it so unreal that all of a sudden he had become the student of a legendary archmage. Gaston, Morris, and Florencia were also very surprised because, according to the tradition of the ancient magic empire and the Congress, taking a student was a very important and solemn thing, and a complicated and very formal ceremony was always required.
They knew that Fernando was always in a rush and he hated complex procedures a lot, but they did not expect that he would just skip the entire ceremony!
Seeing that Lucien looked confused, Fernando slightly frowned, "This is between you and me. Since we have both agreed on it, why do we need those troublesome procedures?"
"No, we don't." Lucien also disliked the tedious ceremonies, so he answered directly. He believed that the teacher and student relationship did not have to rely on all the external forms.
Gaston now felt that Fernando had really found the right student.
Fernando grinned, "Very good. Today my students will gather together to exchange their findings in arcana and magic. You should join them later as well. It is good for you to know more about the latest research focuses so you can find your own research interest. I still have to talk to Hathaway. You and Thompson can wait for me outside."
When Lucien left the room with Thompson, the latter smiled to the former and said, "Mr. Fernando rarely speaks highly of someone. The comment Mr. Fernando just made on you was already very good."
Lucien put on an uneasy smile. He still had to take some time to get used to the fact that he had become a student of a legendary archmage.
Noticing the awkward smile on Lucien's face, Florencia smiled, "Mr. Fernando is strict with his students, but we all know that he takes good care of them. If it was someone else who wanted to be your teacher, Her Excellency Hathaway might not show her approval. In fact, at the very beginning, Hathaway preferred Mr. Raventi to be your teacher."
"Mr. Raventi?" " That would not be a bad choice either" , Lucien thought to himself.
Gaston still had the same strange expression on his face, "I heard that Mr. Raventi found the Lord of Storm and talked to him. And they had a big argument. When Mr. Raventi left the office, his face was completely pale. Now every time when someone mentions this, Mr. Raventi would still be quite pissed."
...
Aalto, in the Inquisition.
Waldorf, the Executor, grabbed the report in his hand and growled in great anger, "Lucien Evans¡­ Lucien Evans is a bloody sorcerer! He fooled the Church and the whole city playing a fake death! And we were acting like a bunch of idiots! We must catch him and put him onto the gallows!"
"Has it been verified?" Vila Amelton, the red-robed cardinal, asked calmly with her eyes half closed.
The Censor's deep voice contained great fury, "John reported this to us. And we have questioned the people involved using divine power. We've confirmed that Lucien Evans is still alive. What happened in the villa was a trap set up by Lucien Evans and Professor. Together they managed to send away the sorcerers to the Congress of Magic, killed the traitor, and also framed Clown up, because Clown had found Lucien Evans suspicious."
"Is Natasha involved in this? Was she deceived? Or did she help Lucien Evans?" Amelton opened her eyes. And the light in her eyes was terrifyingly cold.
The Censor shook his head, "According to the depositions, Her Highness did not know the truth at that time. Also, when Waldorf arrived, she stopped chasing after Clown, but instead, she agreed to let the night watchers chase him down. If she was part of this, the princess would try her very best to kill Clown directly, leaving no chance for us. After all, it was possible that the night watchers would find Clown and send him back to the Church to cure him. Therefore, most possibly, Lucien Evans lied to the princess. But later, according to what Lucien Evans told John's family, he tried to seek for her forgiveness. So the princess might have already known the truth."
"Good," said Amelton briefly. "Compared to Professor, Lucien Evans was still too young. He wanted to bring the whole family to Holm, and the family turned him in."
The Executor said in resentment, "We shall tell the people the truth! We shall break his undeserved glory into pieces and tear down his sinful, fake tomb. Everyone in Aalto should hate and despise him!"
"Then what?" responded Amelton coldly. "Telling everyone that the Church is completely idiot? We told the public that Ode to Joy was the glorious hymn to the Lord, but are we going to tell them that it's actually a piece of work from the demon? What a joke¡­ We can never let this happen."
"So¡­" asked the Arbiter thoughtfully.
"The great musician is dead. The vicious sorcerer disguised himself as the great musician and deceived everyone. They are two different people," said Amelton.
Then she added, "Tell the parish in Holm what Lucien did. Let them keep a close eye on him. Also, send a few night watchers there. The night watchers shall be glad to have the chance to see their 'old friend' again."

Chapter 327: Lucien¡¯s Classmates
				Chapter 327: Lucien¡¯s Classmates
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
On the thirty-third floor of the Congress of Magic, in a not very big room, the large windows let in the sunlight, covering all the desks, chairs and shelves with a thin layer of golden halo. The place looked rather clean and quiet.
Fernando received a letter from one of his old friends after bringing Lucien and Thompson back here. So, he entered a small separate room to carefully read the letter, leaving Lucien and Thompson outside waiting for the arrival of their other classmates.
"Mr. Thompson, thank you for allowing me to work in Douglas Magic School. It really helped me a lot when I first arrived in Allyn." There were only the two of them in the lecture room. To be friendly and polite, Lucien found a reason to talk to Thompson.
Thompson slightly lifted his gold-rimmed spectacles and smiled, "You're welcome. Actually, it was your own papers that helped you with getting that job. I can say that most arcanists could see the inspiration and value in your papers."
"But Mr. Thompson, you also recommended my paper to our teacher." Lucien looked around the lecture room which was like a study but also like a small meeting room and asked a bit confusedly, "I thought our teacher would bring us to his demiplane magic tower for the gathering."
Thompson smiled, "According to the regulation of the Highest Council, at any time, there must be at least one grand arcanist staying in Allyn. So the grand arcanists have agreed that they would take turns every five years. By the way, we're both the students of the Lord of Storm, so just call me Thompson. Also, your arcana level should have reached level five, and mine is only level six."
Thompson took a glance at the badges that Lucien was wearing on his left chest. Lucien had not had the time to upgrade his badges, so they remained at level four and the third circle.
"It's probably still gonna take three or four months for my arcana level to reach level five." Lucien answered uncertainly. When he left Allyn, he only had eight hundred and fifty arcana credits. He was away from Allyn for the mission for about a year and a month. Usually, Lucien could get ten credits from his papers and the magic spells he invented every month, therefore, Lucien guessed that he had not become a level five arcanist yet.
Thompson shook his head and sat down on a random chair, "You know better than me how great influence the Periodic Table of Elements has on the researches in the field of Element. This year is the year of elements. Many papers developed in this year are about valence state analysis, and the Periodic Table of Elements is the foundation of these researchers. So, based on the number of papers in the field of Elements I have read, I believe your credits should have gone over a thousand several months ago. However, many arcanists are certainly jealous, so they applied to the commission that there should be a time limit for those fundamental findings such as your Periodic Table to earn points."
Thompson stopped here after triggering Lucien's curiosity. Thompson specialized in the school of Elements and Thermodynamics and was an expert in casting spells using explosion, flame, and high-temperature. However, he was not a member of any organizations. Like the Lord of Storm, Thompson was a pure supporter of the Congress. Thompson appreciated Lucien's talent in the school of Element and he would love to be Lucien's friend.
"So¡­ What did the commission say?" Lucien asked as Thompson hoped. Lucien also felt happy for K, as he knew that K was right now delving into the field of valence state analysis with his teacher, Larry.
Thompson smiled, "There's no way that the commission would say yes. Although there are a lot of papers citing your findings right now, after about two years, most of the following papers will not directly use your paper as part of the reference but other later researches based on the Periodic Table of Elements. So your credits gained from it will drop significantly, but it'll also become more stable."
"That makes sense." Lucien nodded. Actually, Lucien had a plan for this. He was going to modify the Periodic Table of Elements from time to time, so his gaining of the credits could be more sustainable. Due to the limited conditions, Lucien left out some details when he first published the table, but now things were different.
Then Lucien and Thompson started to talk about valence state analysis.
A while later, someone knocked at the door and then a young man walked in. His face was very thin, making his cheeks look rather protruding. His eyes were as blue as the summer sky, clear but looked a bit sad. In Lucien's eyes, he was more like a poet than a sorcerer. However, the badges in front of his chest revealed his power: there were seven silver stars on his arcana badge and seven black rings on the magic badge. Also, he was wearing the badge from Arcana Review Board, on which there was a hand holding a quill, as well as another badge drawn with lots of ice-crystal patterns.
"Lucien, this is Cole, another student of the Lord of Storm. Cole is a member of Arcana Review Board and an expert in studying molecule movement in Thermodynamics. Right now, he is working on further investigating in the second law of Thermodynamics using Probability and Statistics," introduced Thompson.
The second law of Thermodynamics was first put forward by Fernando and some other experts in order to refute a hypothesis developed years ago. When Phlogiston Theory was abandoned, more and more sorcerers started to realize the connection between heat and energy. They also came to understand that when the temperature of an object dropped, energy would be released, thus many believed that they could use the heat from the endless ocean water to run the magic circles forever, but they kept failing.
Then Thompson turned to Cole, "This is our new classmate, Lucien Evans, the winner of Holm Crown prize."
Cole put on a friendly smile, "Hi, Evans." He was not very talkative. After greeting Lucien briefly, Cole sat down in the corner and stayed in his own world, as if he was the only one in the lecture room.
Later, another two seventh-circle sorcerers arrived. The female sorcerer was Ashikana, and the male named Lacie Carter. They both looked not too young and also not too old. When it came to their achievement in magic and arcana, they fell behind Cole.
When Lucien was about to talk to them, someone knocked at the door eagerly in a rude manner. Lucien's classmates all smiled, and then Thompson stood up and opened the door.
It was a dragon, with a beautiful layer of scales like crystal.
It was Lucien's first time seeing a dragon this close. He could not hide his curiosity.
The dragon also took a glance at Lucien curiously and said to him in a child-like voice, "I know you. You're the sorcerer with that good-looking ring!"
Then the dragon stared at the ring, Element, on Lucien's right hand, and it could not move its eyes away. He said to Lucien, "Can I have it? I can sell myself to you for a hundred years!"
"Alferris, that's enough," Thompson said to the dragon and then turned to Lucien, "He has sold himself, and he can't do this again."
Lucien was a bit startled by the dragon's words. Hearing what Thompson said, he was a bit relieved. Buy why was there a dragon here?
Alferris unwillingly looked way. After covering itself with a layer of light, the size of the dragon shrank and it walked into the lecture room like a big hound.
"Alferris is a crystal dragon. When our teacher found him fifty years ago, Alferris was still in his eggshell. He has been studying magic and arcana after the Lord of Storm with us, and he has revealed his outstanding talent in arcana. Due to a mistake in an experiment years ago, Alferris was cursed, so he cannot grow bigger or transform his look in about a hundred years." Thompson explained to Lucien.
Therefore, the dragon was both Fernando's pet and his student.
"So, Alferris, what have you been working on recently?" Seeing that the dragon was still peeking at the ring Lucien was wearing, Lacie, the blond and green-eyed sorcerer, smiled and asked.
"Uh? Recently?" Alferris looked rather casual, "I've been sleeping. Not doing much recently."
Thompson said to Lacie directly with a big smile on his face, "Alferris sold himself for money, and he is being studied by someone else recently."
Alferris' appearance warmed up the lecture room. Soon, Fernando walked out of the separate room.
Fernando sat down on a random chair and said to his students seriously, "As usual, we hold a meeting like this every month to share our research progress and discuss the problems we encounter. Hopefully, we can all be inspired."
This was an explanation made for Lucien, the new student. And then Fernando continued, "I just got a letter from one of my old friends. I think I shall read part of the letter to you, so you can know how other arcanists understand and perceive the development of magic and arcana. This letter is from Viscount Lauren, an archmage, member of Arcana Review Board, the winner of Silver Moon Medal and Ice & Snow Medal."
Viscount Lauren was a nobleman from the Kingdom of Brianna, and he was right now also living in Brianna.
Then, Fernando started to read the important part of the letter, "¡­ Along with the establishment and improvement of Electromagnetic System Theory put forward by Mr. Edwyn Brook, the overall system of arcana has gradually come to shape. The system represents a mature, advanced and wonderful arcana world in which Mr. Derrick Douglas' theory serves as the sun while Mr. Edwyn Brook's theory as the silver moon. Everything found in this world is connected by those strict and stunning laws. Although we are still on our way of exploration, and although we are still seeking for more laws to better explain the connections, the two systems I mentioned above shall be the only two fundaments supporting to the world. Our further findings shall all belong to the two major systems."

Chapter 328: Direction
				Chapter 328: Direction
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
When Fernando spoke the common tongue, he had this a sharp and creepy Brianne accent¡ªan accent that was looked down upon by most people in the Kingdom of Holm, who regarded Brianne accent as the tongue from the countryside folk. At the same time, in Holm, most people who had Rentato accent were proud of their way of speaking and regarded themselves as the noble and elegant representatives due to complicated historical reasons.
Of course, in front of the grand arcanist, no one dared to mock the way he read the letter. The students all listened to his reading very carefully.
Fernando continued, "¡­Perhaps you may think my words leave no space for any possibilities, but this is what I believe: No matter what we are talking about¡ªTransformation, Illusion, Elements or Summoning¡ªthey shall all be included in this fundamental system, and the finding of the Periodic Table of Elements has further confirmed my belief: Alchemy is in fact a kind of electromagnetic response. For example, when an object is heated up, the electromagnetic waves radiating from it can reveal different colors, and this can only be properly explained by the natures of the atoms, the most fundamental, non-further-dividable units of everything in this world. My assumption is that due to the quantities and masses of different atoms, the electromagnetic waves that they release also vary. I wonder why and how these atoms act like this, but I can assure you that this is not the arrangement from the God of Truth. Although so far there are no solid experiments that can yet confirm my guess, I'd like to share with you my thoughts, my friend. Again, here I repeat my point: although we're still facing problems with regards to the spread medium for light and the existence of the stars, and despite the fact that there are schools of magic that still cannot be properly included in the comprehensive system, no one can deny the fact that we have entered a world in which arcana system has been established overall. Our future work shall be focusing our effort on further modifying, solidifying and improving the system and seeking for its wider application in magic."
Lucien carefully listened to the letter, and he sincerely felt the great passion, pride, and confidence inside of the archmage's heart. Even a calm and disengaged person like Cole felt encouraged and excited.
Fernando read the last part of the letter, "I am glad that we live in such a wonderful era, being able to devote ourselves into the world of arcana and magic. Our vision becomes possible because of the establishment of calculus, making us able to know and calculate the sequential world. We can see the beauty of balance and symmetry in the influential formulas put forward by Mr. Douglas, Mr. Brook, and many other great pioneers. In my eyes, the formulas are much more beautiful compared to poetries, music pieces, paintings or sculptures."
Lucien would never arrogantly regard himself as an omniscient of this world, despite the fact that he had a whole library with him from the other world. Lucien knew that he had to do many experiments to verify his knowledge in practice to see whether his knowledge was part of the world's truth.
"So¡­ any ideas?" Fernando folded the letter and then asked.
Thompson was the eldest one among all the students of Fernando who were still alive, so he answered first, "Mr. Lauren's opinion is shared by many other arcanists. Like what he said in the letter, although we are still working on proving the existence of the stars, we have already used Mr. Douglas' theory and created powerful magic spells. Perhaps we're still some distance away from the essence of the world, and maybe we haven't been able to combine the two fundamental systems and the nature of atoms together perfectly, but, yes, the world of arcana has been established."
Thompson was being euphemistic. As an arcanist specializing in the school of Element, he noticed that Lauren's letter had ignored the importance of atoms. Thompson believed that if the two systems were the sun and the silver moon in the world of arcana, atoms should be the wide stretch of land!
At the same time, Thompson understood that this was just an informal letter between two friends, and he knew that Lauren was a firm believer of Energy Essentialism, who did not recognize the existence of material or spirit but saw energy as the essence of everything. Believers of Energy Essentialism argued that everything in this world ranging from atoms to human body all consisted of energies in different forms showing different features including showing gravity, releasing electromagnetic waves, etc, which was the only explanation in these arcanists' eyes to why there were transformation spells, why catalysts could be used in alchemy experiments, and why spiritual power could interfere with reality and help to cast spells. Lucien's Periodic Table of Elements, as they believed, further supported their point of view.
"That's true. Even the overthrow of Life Force Theory is only part of the progress of the grand world of arcana," said Ashikana, whose blood came partly from the elves. When talking about arcana, her eyes were sparkling out of excitement, "My friend Isabella and her student Rachel have found out that several substances are secreted when people are influenced by a certain illusionary spell. They thus believe that people's illusions come from these substances."
"Wow, their work sounds pretty cool!" Alferris, who had shrunk its size, cheered, "This finding has included some illusionary spells into the world of arcana, and thus Mr. Lauren's letter is supported. The finding deserves Sorcerer Laurel! I wish I could discover something! I want the beautiful shiny crown!"
Alferris's tail swayed from one side to the other, hoping that the finding belonged to itself. But it was too late. The fact that Ashikana directly shared the finding with them showed that Isabella and Rachel's paper should have already passed the review of the board.
Lucien realized that some arcanists had already found out the existence and influence of hormone, so he decided to disclose the two versions of his Charm Person spell before they lost their value. Although a big part of the school of Illusion was still outside of the system of arcana, this finding had contributed to the progress of covering the three schools¡ªTransformation, Summoning, and Illusion¡ªwithin the arcana system. In the past, the arcana system had always failed to explain how the three schools properly worked.
Cole's face flushed slightly, "Although I don't agree on Energy Essentialism, I can't deny what's been said in the letter."
Before the next student, Lacie Carter, made his comment, Fernando growled angrily, "Stupid! Stupid! This letter is full of ridiculous errors! Are you all out of your mind? You do not know how to find the historical documents from the ancient magic empire?! At that time, those ancient sorcerers had no idea what gravity, electromagnetic induction, and electromagnetic wave were but they still managed to create the spells using the powers! Look at yourself! How arrogant and blind you are! We are making progress just because the system of arcana is a bit closer to the truth of the world! How dare you agree with Lauren on his nonsensical pompous words?! How dare you say that an advanced world of arcana has been established when there are still so many disputes and questions on what the form of spiritual power is? There are lots, lots of arcanists who do not see the current main belief as being correct, even including Mr. Douglas! He shall never be convinced until the spread medium of light is discovered! He's still looking for evidence to overthrow what we think we've known! What if one day he finds it? Is half of the arcana world gonna collapse? What if it is proved that the stars, in fact, don't exist, but are just the illusionary representatives of divine power? What if gravity is proved to be one kind of divine power? Is the whole world of arcana going to collapse like that? The closer we're to the truth, the harder we shall remember¡ªwe shall always be humble and persistent, or we'd be deceived by errors!"
Facing Fernando's growling, all the students flinched, including Cole. 
Fernando put away the letter and said to his students calmly, as if he had never shouted to them just now, "Currently, I'm working on a few projects, such as the one with Hathaway investigating the reasons behind the distribution of the elements, and the other one is for creating a legendary spell of the school of Thermodynamics. But because I've finally worked out a spell for Thermodynamics experiments, I can get the accurate statistics for the thermal radiation. So I am going to first work on figuring out the formula for thermal radiation. So many spells in the school of Thermodynamics can become simpler."
Then he also mentioned some difficulties that he was currently facing.
Finishing his words introducing the projects, Fernando turned to Lucien, "You're my new student. If you don't have any urgent, personal research interests so far, you can be my assistant in one of the projects."
"I'd like to work on the experiment on studying thermal radiation," Lucien hurriedly answered. He had been having a difficult time collecting related data of the researches in the school of Thermodynamics, which could be an important part for him to understand the difference between this world and the one he came from. Being able to study Thermodynamics was thus a major reason for Lucien to be Fernando's student.
Fernando nodded but did not make any comments. Instead, he turned to other students and said, "Now¡­ Let's talk about what project each of us is working on right now and the obstacles that we've encountered recently. You first, Ashikana."
Ashikana sat to the left side of Fernando, right beside Lucien.
"I've been studying the method to approach absolute zero, making more senior-rank snow and ice spells more powerful. Unfortunately, making further progress is quite difficult. I'm still about twenty celsius degrees from absolute zero," Ashikana said to the rest of the class, and then she shared more details of her experiment with the class.
Lucien learned quite a lot from Ashikana's sharing, which expanded his knowledge in ice and snow spells greatly. After that, all the students' eyes looked at Lucien, in which there was great curiosity toward this young talent in the school of Element.
"I'm trying to reach the fifth circle. Except for being the teacher's assistant, for now, I'm not able to work on other projects," said Lucien honestly. "But some of my messy thoughts have become more organized and clear after I heard Mr. Lauren's and Ms. Akashina's sharing. These thoughts came from my study on the spell, Mechanized Mind, my understanding of Illusionary and Necromantic spells, as well as Nightmare King's analysis of dream. I think there are weak but special electromagnetic waves in human beings' brain that affect people's emotions, feelings and behaviors. One's soul can also be influenced."
Akashina was shocked, "Evans, do you know what are you talking about?"
What Lucien Evans just said plus Isabella's research outcome would be able to explain a large part of the school of Illusion using the system of arcana!

Chapter 329: Fernando¡¯s Questions
				Chapter 329: Fernando¡¯s Questions
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
All the sorcerers present were at least of senior-rank, although Lucien's description remained rather blurry, they knew immediately how important and meaningful his finding was.
Both Thompson and Lacie Carter, for a moment, felt the situation was a little like a dream. This was Lucien's first time attending their gathering, and he shocked them already with his findings in the field of Illusion and Electromagnetics. Lucien was a geniu, they knew that, but wasn't it a bit too much? In their memory, only a few grand arcanists once had similar experiences. However, Illusion and Electromagnetics were not the fields Lucien specialized in!
"After Lauren has accepted Energy Essentialism, he once thought of the possibility that human being's thinking was actually an outcome of a dual effect of electric current and magnetic field. But his researches are everywhere, and he hasn't been able to focus on one direction when being busy with preaching to people that the problems in Energy Essentialism, in fact, are not true. If he had stuck to his Brain-Electromagnetic Field Theory, he should have accomplished something big already," commented the Lord of Storm. Obviously, his words were quite sarcastic. After all, his friend, Lauren, just missed the opportunity of further improving the system of arcana.
It was ridiculous that Lauren stuck to Energy Essentialism when the theory itself still had so many problems that could not be explained.
Then, Fernando looked at Lucien and said, "Give us more details on your finding. We can make a bold assumption, but at the same time, careful verification is always the key part."
When it came to arcana, Fernando had zero sense of humor. Unlike Lucien's first impression on him in the library¡ªa creepy little old man in the bright red magic robe¡ªright now, the Lord of Storm looked rather serious and calm, and the pace of his speaking was very moderate. Fernando did not get all excited like the students when hearing that there were probably special brain waves in human being's brain.
In such a gathering held by Fernando, Lucien had no worries. None of the other students would try to steal his research outcome. Also, Lucien did not worry at all that his teacher, Fernando, the Lord of Storm, would take it away from him, as Fernando was way more keen on pursuing the ultimate truth of this world instead of the reputation like soap bubbles.
"By chance, I got part of the Book of Necromancy. From a part of the structure of the spell Charm Person, I learned that it works partially on human being's soul. However, I wondered how the other part works. After a long time studying, and again, by chance, I compared the structure of Charm Person to that of Mechanized Mind, and I found some similarities between them. Then I worked on improving the spell, Charm Person, and I succeeded."
Lucien introduced with confidence. In fact, he changed the order of how he got the finding. Bringing the knowledge from his world with him, Lucien could find the similarities in the two spells because he had been already aware of the truth and thus he had the accurate theoretical guidance first. However, in his words, he explained the process by inverting the order and following the common methodology of doing arcana research, which was very acceptable to the rest of the arcanists present.
"Like I said, 'by chance' is a large part of the reason why I've found the direction, so I must say I'm very lucky. But at that time, although I've created a new spell that works based on my assumption, I was not able to understand the meaning behind my finding, thus I've been working on studying the spell for a long time, until one day I came to know Electromagnetic Wave Theory¡­"
Fernando slightly nodded without making any corrections, which was rare, and he let Lucien continue to speak. Lucien was not the only one - in fact, many arcanists were lucky enough and they had also created new spells by chance, but most of them failed to dig into the true reasons underneath the spells, and thus they missed lots of valuable findings.
"I was in a total mess. I found the existence of the very weak electric current in the human body, and I also spotted the special waves sent out by a human brain. I did have clues but always failed to connect them together. Then, the dream from Nightmare King and his perception of dream inspired me. In today's meeting, the words from Mr. Lauren that human body, in fact, consists of energy and electromagnetic waves is the evidence that touched me, and the research outcome from Ms. Isabella has shocked me. I finally realized what is behind the new spell that I created. When encountering different situations, a human brain can produce different special waves, stimulating body to produce the special alchemical substance found by Ms. Isabella, thus emotions and feelings are brought out," said Lucien. He said a lot of things, and he did it in an illogical way to show the fact that he was totally unprepared.
Fernando nodded seriously, "So you've found the electric current in the human body and the special electromagnetic waves. Anything about the magnetic field of the human brain?"
"Nothing yet. Maybe the requirements for finding it are too high, and the interference in my experiment environment was too strong." Lucien shook his head.
"I see. Then how many kinds of the special electromagnetic waves did you find? What are their corresponding functions?"
"There are several¡­ By adjusting their intensity, it is obvious that¡­" Lucien briefly introduced what kind of emotion and illusion could be brought up by each kind of waves.
Looking rather serious, Fernando asked Lucien many questions. Lucien gradually felt more and more nervous and started to stammer.
Finally, Fernando made his comment, "There are so many kinds of feelings and emotions owned by human beings. It is hard for the several brain waves that you mentioned to direct all of them. You still have a long way to go on this. But you should still develop a paper on this as soon as possible, so more people can join the discussion and exploration. If you don't mind, why not show us the two versions of your Charm Person?"
"Try it on me!!" The dragon Alferris jumped up. It was a big fan of Illusion magic that worked on one's mind and spirit.
Thompson released a sigh and said to it, "Alferris, we're talking about Charm 'Person', not a dragon¡­"
"Ohh¡­ That's right¡­" Alferris looked at them in an innocent manner, with his tail swinging back and forth.
After Lucien cast the two versions of Charm Person, Fernando slightly nodded and said, "Your practice has surpassed the progress of your theory. Using the improved spell, your theory shall be more acceptable. Many sorcerers who are good at Illusionary spells are rather conservative. Although they accept arcana, many of them are not willing to let arcana explain Illusionary spells since they regard themselves as 'nobler' than mages from other schools. But they do have their reasons. Those sorcerers enjoy the high social status and are very powerful, and they have lots of students. They control the direction of the development of the school of Illusion."
Lucien nodded seriously. He knew that the growth of any advanced theories would be challenged, which was always the same in both worlds.
After the examination of a series of questions from Fernando, Ashikana stopped looking at Lucien like a monster. She smiled and said, "Evans, you can probably share the Laurel with Isabella, as long as those fuddy-duddies from the Family of Sorcerer can accept your idea."
"My theory is far from being fully developed since it still has many problems. It's gonna be very difficult for me to win the Laurel. Ms. Isabella is very well prepared, and I'm sure she's got enough support and evidence," said Lucien honestly.
When hearing the word, Laurel, Alferris suddenly turned around and stared at Lucien with its big, amber-colored eyes. Then it reached out its two front claws and laid them on Lucien's shoulder. At the same time, Alferris licked Lucien's right hand with its red tongue in a very intimate manner. Lucien directly jumped back and activated the Absorbing Wall, feeling startled. 
Alferris continued to lick the magic wall, and the wall was shaking under the dragon's strength.
"Add my name on your paper after you, sir¡­ May I?" Alferris swung its tail covered with crystal scales and said very sincerely.
Lucien wondered if Alferris was, in fact, a puppy. Fernando was definitely a bit out of his mind like other arcanists said. He had trained his dragon like a dog. However, it seemed that Alferris also enjoyed it.
Fernando made a fake cough and said, "Alferris, go back to your seat. Cole, it's your turn now."
Alferris withdrew its claws and tongue reluctantly and hurriedly added, "I'm really good at mind, spirit, and soul spells. I'm of senior-rank, and I can fight physically as well. I am fine with you dressing me in whatever way you like. I can play with your students or kids. I can write papers and do math for you, also experiments! I can help you send letters and flowers to ladies¡­"
Cole waited until Alferris finished his wordy self-promotion. Before he started to share, he first said to Lucien, "Evans, Mr. Lauren's words in the letter about the fact that human body consists of energy is not rigorous, since there's zero evidence. Even though the human brain can produce electromagnetic waves, it doesn't mean that Energy Essentialism is accurate. Human brain is complicated. You can't easily believe in Energy Essentialism."
"I won't. I believe in evidence," Lucien responded.
Cole slightly nodded and started to share his research on investigating the second law of Thermodynamics using Probability and Statistics. Also, he said that he had been spending much time arguing with people who believed in Energy Essentialism. Cole himself was a loyal supporter of Atom Foundation Theory. He looked a bit depressed when mentioning this part.
"Put aside the argument first, Cole. Focus on your research," Fernando commented very briefly but did not give Cole any harsh words or questions.
"You're right, sir." Cole was relieved that his teacher did not give him a hard time and thus he looked a bit more cheerful.
Later, Thompson shared with the class the difficulties that he was encountering now with his study regarding high temperature, while Alferris shared how it felt as a research subject.
"Lucien, so you come here every morning to help me with the experiment on thermal radiation. You can spend time in the afternoon trying to reach the fifth circle," Fernando said at the end of the meeting.
...
When leaving the thirty-third floor of the magic tower, Alferris waved its front paw to say goodbye to Lucien. It had forgotten what it had promised Ashikana. So, Ashikana dragged it to the lab.
Lucien went back home directly. He was going to update his badges when he submitted the new paper.
As soon as he came back, Lucien saw Leo walking toward him.
"Master, Mr. Arthur Doyle is waiting for you in the living room. It seems that you've been invited by the prince," said Leo.

Chapter 330: Gratefulness
				Chapter 330: Gratefulness
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After a year, Arthur now looked even fatter. His belly was so big that it almost burst out of the front of his vest. He was wearing a beret of the same color as his vest, and he behaved in a rather casual and comfortable manner in front of Lucien.
In Holm, no matter if it was hot or cold, dressing formally was always important for these gentlemen. They either wore suits or tuxedoes, and sometimes the hunter's outfit. It was impossible to tell the seasons from what they wore.
However, the magic robes that Lucien and other sorcerers wore were very different. These robes could automatically adjust the temperature and humidity inside to make the wearers feel rather comfortable. Lucien thus wondered if these gentlemen would have a heat stroke in the south in Gusta Empire or Brianne.
"Welcome back, Evans." There was a lovely smile on Arthur's face.
Because of their cooperation on Holm Mineral and Harvest, Lucien now was closer to Arthur.
Taking off the top hat, Lucien handed it to Leo. Then he smiled and said, "Arthur, you're the first one coming over! I haven't told other of my friends yet that I've come back."
"Keep your hat on, Evans. The prince is inviting you to his party. I'll tell you more on the way." Arthur rubbed his hands excitedly, "In the past year, the several versions of Jinkela have received a very warm response from the market. We've been making a lot!"
Lucien was a bit confused, "To the party? What's the party for?"
"It's a party for uniting the nobles who are very open-minded toward sorcerers." Arthur explained briefly, "After seeing the big success of Jinkela, the nobles all want to work with sorcerers to seek for more profits in the field. Also, they're very curious about you."
Lucien did not respond immediately.
Seeing that, Arthur thought that Lucien might not want to go probably because he was not good at socializing, so Arthur said to him, "Evans, it's a great chance for you to know more important people. In Rentato, these nobles have lots of resources in each county. Although I understand that, as a sorcerer, you probably don't care, knowing more people and having more connections can do you lots of favors in the future and save you trouble. Also, those nobles more or less have connections to some senior-rank mages."
"I see. It's very kind of His Highness." Lucien grinned, "Let's go now."
Although what Arthur said was true, in fact, as the student of the Lord of Storm, Lucien did not need the nobles to get to know the senior-rank sorcerers. However, Prince Patrick was Natasha's uncle, and he had helped Lucien a lot with the company, Holm Mineral and Harvest, using his own resources and wealth, so Lucien believed that he should go to show his appreciation.
Also, working with the great nobles and making common citizens become accustomed to the use of magic was important to the further development of the Congress and was efficient to weaken the Church. Lucien sincerely regarded himself as part of the Congress, so he would like to do the favor.
...
With a long blast of the whistle, the magic steam train started to rush forward faster and faster in an unstoppable manner.
"Although I've been on this train many times, every time I see it speeds, I still feel beyond impressed. The train has really changed our lives by shortening the distance between the two cities. Especially the freight train¡­ it has greatly lowered our transportation cost of the ores from the mines. Evans, I still don't understand why the Congress keeps saying no to us on extending the railways. It has been several years¡­ but we currently only have less than ten regular routes," said Arthur a bit bitterly.
Lucien grinned, "Like you said, what a great resource it is! And of course, the Congress would like to seize it in its own hand. I believe that the royal family can see the value as well."
To build railways in Holm, one must obtain the permission of the royal family. Thus, the royal family had been making a lot from it.
"That's right! The railways¡­ the trains¡­ are all resources." Arthur curled his lips, "His Majesty takes care of this project in person, or we probably still can try¡­"
Soon Arthur pulled back his drifting mind and took out an envelope, "Evans, for the first year, because we were during the primary construction period, we did not have the dividend. Until the recent eight months, after our successful promotion, Jinkela has become very popular. This is yours. We pay you monthly, as you're a sorcerer."
Lucien opened the envelope and saw a small paper pad in it, on which there were a magic and an arcana imprint. His dividend was 13,000 Thales.
Eight months, 13,000 Thales¡­ That was more than a thousand a month. If Jinkela was also successfully promoted in the other three countries, it would be possible for Lucien to earn over ten thousand Thales monthly. At that time, he would not need to worry much about the cost of being a senior-rank mage.
Obviously, what was behind a senior-rank mage was lots, lots of money. One should at least be a very wealthy count to support a senior-rank sorcerer.
"Knowledge is a real treasure," Lucien said sincerely.
Arthur was very confident. "You'll wait and see. When our promotion goes further, you'll receive at least five thousand, no¡­ six thousand Thales every month."
However, all of a sudden, Arthur sighed, "But many senior-rank mages also want the money. For the rest of the three countries, they have found new alchemical substances like Jinkela and they've also found the nobles to work with them, or we'd be able to double the profit."
This was within Lucien's expectation. Money was always the great motive for most people.
Seeing that Arthur was staring at him with hope in his eyes, Lucien smiled and comforted him, "We're the first one, which's our biggest advantage."
In Lucien's mind, he believed that it was a good thing that more farmers could enjoy the joy of harvest.
...
Rentato, Hexagram Station.
Poc Beever, the coachman of the royal family of Holm, was very excited when knowing that the great sorcerer was attending the party. Walking back and forth on the platform, Poc focused his eyes on the exotic buildings very different from what he used to see in Rentato. Buildings here looked cold and mysterious.
More railways being built, more stations showing up, more alchemical factories rising, the Congress was stepping out of the mysterious and creepy mist and had revealed itself in front of common people, who started to become less afraid of the Congress of Magic.
The Church could not do much here as most of the nobles had chosen to turn a blind eye toward it because of the great profit.
Poc was quite different from most common people who were afraid of sorcerers. He never dreamed to become a glorious hero or a priest, instead, he wished to become a powerful, terrifying and mysterious sorcerer. However, unfortunately, until his middle age, Poc finally accepted the fact that he did not have the talent.
In the past decade serving the royal family, Pac had seen some sorcerers, but he had never felt this excited.
He still remembered clearly what his mother said to him and her great excitement and joy when she came to town to visit him:
"I was¡­ totally shocked when I saw our oats in the field. It was golden everywhere. For the first time, after we handed in the portion to the lord, we still have this much left¡­ I know, the¡­ the Jinkela thing's a bit expensive. But it's worth it! We don't have to starve anymore! It's much less burden for you!"
This was all from the great sorcerer who invented Jinkela!
For the farmers living at the bottom of the world, their biggest dream was not to starve anymore. If they could even save some money for their kids, they could never ask more from the Lord!
In Poc's mind, the sorcerer was the real hero. When the train arrived, Poc adjusted his clothes a bit to look good.
The door opened, and Poc saw a young good-looking man wearing a black, double-breasted, long jacket get off the train with Mr. Arthur Doyle. The monocle the young man was wearing made him look more elegant.
Poc thought to himself that Mr. Evans must have used some magic potions to look this young.
He hurriedly took a few steps forward and said, "Sir, I'm the prince's coachman. My name's Poc. Are you Mr. Evans?"
Although Mr. Doyle was right beside him, he still needed to confirm.
"I am." Lucien slightly nodded.
The next second, Lucien was very surprised to see that Poc kneeled down in front of him and kissed the corner of his cloth in the manner praying in the church.
"Thank you¡­ Thank you for bringing hope to us farmers," said Poc with tears in his eyes.


Chapter 331: Liberals
				Chapter 331: Liberals
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Seeing that the coachman was being this emotional, Lucien almost burst out the answer¡ªserve the people! Fortunately, he was able to stop himself in time and instead said to the coachman gently, "It's just my conscience. It's what I should do."
Maybe because opera was very important in Holm, the way that the coachman showed his gratefulness was also a bit dramatic.
Poc was not a poet and was also not very well educated, thus he kept repeating the words like "thanks", "thank you", "survive", "farmer", and "harvest".
Finally, the coachman realized what his job was, and he hurriedly said, "Mr. Evans. I'm so sorry¡­ I'm just too excited¡­ Please, please get on the coach."
"It's okay. We're not in any hurry," said Lucien. He casually looked around and noticed that there were quite a few people looking at them out of curiosity, wondering why the coachman was using such a courtesy.
Lucien and Arthur got on the coach painted with a purple and red royal coat of arms, followed by Arthur's guards.
"Rustic countryman!" Arthur murmured. In his eyes, what Poc just did was a shame representing the royal family. However, he did not show it directly on his face. Instead, Arthur flattered Lucien, "You're such an angel! An angel of harvest, ha! We are lucky that no one really got close to us on the platform, or you'd probably be thrown into the prison because the coachman just used the highest courtesy¡­"
Lucien looked aside as if he could see through the board of the coach, smiling, "According to some historical documents, after the establishment of the Saint Truth, there were divinities of death, sun, moon, life and harvest/hunting, and then more gods and goddesses followed. Now, only a bit more than ten countries in the northwest beside the Dark Mountain Range were still worshiping them."
Very long ago, human beings had started to worship the divinities, but most of the heritages failed to be retained because of the harsh, pre-historic environment. What was left were only some wall paintings. Meanwhile, when human beings were suffering at the bottom of the food chain, some people born with greater spiritual power gradually figured out how to cast magic using the special patterns of the magical creatures. Finally, the ancient magic empire arose.
Many years later, within the empire, nothing related to divinity could be found. Therefore, if a sorcerer wanted to study divinity, he or she needed to invade other dimensions.
The Saint Truth, together with the powers worshiping other divinities, defeated the ancient magic empire. Then, however, the Saint Truth, after growing strong, changed the side of the war and ended the power following other beliefs. Only some small countries in the far northwest managed to survive. Now, there was a subtle balance between these small countries and the countries of other races.
Hearing Lucien's words, Arthur didn't dare to make any improper comments. Although he was totally fine with working with sorcerers, and honestly speaking, he already started to doubt the Church after Creationism had been overthrown, what he was taught during his early childhood still had a great influence on him.
Lucien noticed the look on Arthur's face. So he switched the topic back to business. Then they had a pretty good conversation.
...
The party was held in a private villa beside Verosa River in Rentato. The villa faced the river that looked like a golden strip of light, and in the back, there was a big garden where many flowers were blossoming. The view was wonderful.
In the villa, Lucien saw Prince Patrick, Natasha's uncle, again. He looked even more aged and slim than a year ago. Lucien could hardly tell that the prince was only in his middle age.
"Welcome back, Evans. I thought it was going to take longer." Holding a glass of wine, Patrick stood in front of his several guards who were protecting him from the cool wind from the patio, "I've always been longing for a trip throughout the continent, but my health condition won't allow me to do so. By the way, how's my niece doing? She must be much taller now."
Lucien grinned, "Your Highness, Natasha's doing fine. She's gradually stepping out of her bad memories."
The conversation was warm and casual, mostly about Natasha, Aalto and Lucien's trip. Patrick patted Lucien's shoulder and said, "Evans, I'll introduce some friends to you before the dinner starts."
Not coughing much, it looked that Patrick was in a good mood today.
Leading Lucien through the hall, the prince nodded to the several nobles slightly and then entered a separate room. Then the three nobles and a middle-aged man wearing a long black magic robe followed in.
"This is Count Hackson, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the kingdom," introduced Patrick.
Count Hackson, the elder man wearing the white wig, had sharp blue eyes.
"This is Russell, Duke Wolfburg, and this is James, Duke Paphos. They're both very influential members in the Parliament."
Wolfburg County and Paphos County were both quite prosperous counties in the Kingdom of Holm. As for the two dukes, one looked rather charming and elegant with his blond hair, and the other one was bald and looked a bit intimidating. Lucien knew that both of them were in fact elders, but they managed to retain a middle-aged look because they were radiant knights.
In the end, Patrick introduced the black-haired and black-eyed sorcerer to Lucien with a smile on his face, "This is Viscount Harrison from Holm Royal Magic Academy. He's also the member of Family of Sorcerer and the noble parliament. I'm sure you've heard his name. Harrison's a very famous illusionist and an alchemist."
Lucien slightly nodded. Viscount Harrison was quite famous not only because of his achievement in the magic world but also the fact that, as a sorcerer, he still managed to inherit the title. According to the rules between the Church and the nobles, when there were other inheritors, sorcerers were not allowed to obtain the title. Very rarely could sorcerers become inheritors because a noble always had lots of close or distant relatives. The best situation for these sorcerers was to later become the members of the parliament. However, there were still some lucky ones, for example, Viscount Harrison.
What made people envy him most was that Harrison was only a fifth-circle sorcerer when he inherited the title, and then because of the family's wealth, Harrison became a senior-rank mage in only fifteen years.
But that was not what Lucien heard about him. Lucien knew him because Harrison had refused to join the Will of Elements, instead, Harrison chose to be one of the leading mages of Family of Sorcerer, which was incredible to most sorcerers in Holm Royal Magic Academy. It seemed that Harrison was fond of Illusion more than Alchemy.
The prince coughed a bit and smiled, "I'm sure you all know who this young man is. Let us welcome the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize, the talented young sorcerer, Mr. Lucien Evans."
James, the baldheaded duke put on a big, warm smile, while the other three nobles maintained their manner and only slightly nodded.
"Arthur's really lucky," said James directly. "He's very fortunate to be your partner. Jinkela right now equals gold. I wonder what you're working on recently. I'm interested in working with you."
"I'm sorry. I just got back to Allyn. Currently, I'm not working on anything new." Lucien would not tell someone who he met for the first time too much.
James did not mind Lucien's attitude. He smiled and said, "We'll see if there's any chance in the future. By the way, I've been working with Harrison on a new product. Are you interested?"
"What is it?" hurriedly asked Count Hackson greedily before Lucien responded.
"It's based on the Lord of Storm's Electromagnetic Message. The spell enables people to talk when being far from each other. Although there's noise and it's easy to be interfered, it's enough for daily use! Much cheaper than using a teleportation circle! Think about it¡­ when you're hunting in the forest, you can tell your friends in the city what you find any time you want! You can save lots of time communicating!" said Harrison holding the glass of wine.
Unlike most illusionists, when mentioning money and the product, Harrison's face was glowing with excitement.
"It's still a level-five magic item. Not many people can afford it." Count Russell slightly shook his head. He was not very optimistic about the product's future. In Holm, due to the high price, most nobles could only choose to buy the magic items that they really needed.
"We're trying to simplify it, say, using stored the power of electric current to replace the permanent magic circle. There are more and more electricity magic towers built by the Congress using the energy of the river flow, so this is doable. If this works, we can avoid using part of Fernando's exclusive right on the spell to further lower the cost. But, yes, the price's still a problem. After all, the magic item still needs to use the fifth-circle spell." Harrison looked a bit bothered, as he was not good at Electromagnetics spells.
He turned to Lucien, "So, my young fellow. Any ideas on it?"
"So far¡­ nothing..." said Lucien honestly. He once tried to simplify the spell as well. However, the power of the fifth-circle spell was just irreplaceable.
Lucien's answer was within the several nobles' expectation. After all, the solution equaled a great amount of money!
The following conversation was a bit boring to Lucien. The nobles were sometimes busy with criticising the secretary as being too laggard, sometimes commenting on the speaker as being too conservative. They viciously guessed that it was probably because the old speaker was going to die soon, and the speaker needed to follow the Church closely to rise into Mountain Paradise.
"Boring, right?" Harrison walked next to Lucien. "But sometimes it isn't bad to get some information like this. At least, we can know who we should work with and who we shall be careful. These people are all liberals."
Lucien took a sip of the liquid, Sky Blue, and smiled, "I'll rest my brain a bit with this conversation."
"Good. Promising young man," said Harrison, "later, let me introduce more senior-rank sorcerers to you. It's good for your future."
"Thank you very much, sir." Lucien casually smiled.
Then they started to discuss magic. Harrison mentioned the paper by Isabella. Because some arcanist who reviewed the paper had leaked the information, many sorcerers had heard about the paper before this month's journal was published.
"The paper's totally shallow! She only sees the things on the outside!" said Harrison a bit angrily, "She has forgotten why these alchemical substances in human body are secreted. Mind and soul should be the solid foundation of illusion spells. Human beings' mind changes all the time, thus arcana cannot control the human mind. Only illusions can!"

Chapter 332: Atom Institution
				Chapter 332: Atom Institution
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
The corner of Lucien's mouth twitched. He wondered if he needed to bring some Chinese dream reading skills here to continue the conversation.
"I can't believe that many sorcerers think Isabella will be the next winner of the Laurel. For what? Just because her theory can include Illusion in the system of arcana? The finding's still shallow and immature. And it doesn't comply with the spirit of magic!" Harrison continued.
He did not notice the strange smile on Lucien's face. Harrison just argued with some arcanists about this in the afternoon, thus his anger still lingered in his chest. Facing a sorcerer from other fields who had no preset viewpoint, Harrison could not help talking all the time.
Holding the glass, Lucien listened to Harrison's complaint smiling. Thinking of the paper that he was going to submit, Lucien had a subtle feeling in his mind.
Finally, Harrison stopped talking before the dinner was about to start.
Harrison nodded to Lucien, feeling satisfied, "Evans, you are an outstanding arcanist. You know how to think of Isabella's paper. If you have any questions on Alchemy and Illusion, just feel free to ask me."
Before Lucien responded, Harrison left the hall with other nobles.
"I didn't even make any comments¡­" Lucien murmured to himself. He had no idea why Harrison just regarded him as his supporter. However, it seemed that Harrison liked to call himself a witch, instead of an arcanist, following the tradition of the ancient magic empire.
It was the first time Lucien talked to a senior-rank illusionist. Lucien naturally tried to understand Harrison based on his way of talking.
"Okay, Evans. Let's get out. I'll introduce you to everyone who's open-minded about magic," said Patrick, who just got some rest in the back and drank a tube of magic potion to recover.
Lucien stopped analyzing the viscount in his mind and followed the prince.
After all of the nobles saluted, the prince introduced Lucien to them, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lucien Evans. Tonight's party is for celebrating Lucien Evans becoming the student of the Lord of Storm!"
Without being informed in advance, the nobles first looked lost, but then they started to applaud warmly. Every single one of them had heard the name of the Lord of Storm, the grand arcanist, and the leading role in the Highest Council, and thus his student must be an important sorcerer as well. The fact that Lucien Evans showed up on the party suggested that this young sorcerer was also from the side that supported the nobles, therefore, they all welcomed him.
In the warm applause, James, the baldheaded duke walked to Lucien and said, "Evans, you didn't make any comments when we were talking about electromagnetic messaging. Were you trying to say in your mind that we, this bunch of fools, were all heading in the wrong direction? As the student of the Lord of Storm, we wonder if you can talk to Mr. Fernando and see if he can simplify the spell to the second circle. It would be our great pleasure to have Mr. Fernando as our partner."
Although it sounded that James was complaining a little, in fact, he was trying to get closer to Lucien by talking like this.
"I'll definitely try. But sir, you must have heard of Mr. Fernando's temper. All the students have to be really careful when talking to him." Lucien was very good at using Fernando's reputation as an excuse.
Harrison first stared at Lucien for a while when Lucien was talking to James, and then he said, "Congratulations, Evans. I indeed thought you would have a teacher from the board. I didn't expect it would be the Lord of Storm. The award you've won really helped you."
"Sir, I'm afraid that the compliment only might not be enough here." Lucien smiled sincerely, "I'm still waiting for you to introduce me to more senior-rank sorcerers. I don't know a whole lot of people in the Congress."
Harrison instantly understood that Lucien was trying to build up his connections, "My friends and I are looking forward to discussing arcana and magic problems with you, Evans."
The music was relaxing and wonderful. The atmosphere was warm and casual. Lucien had talked to quite a few important nobles both inside and outside of the kingdom guarding the territories. What was out of Lucien's expectation was that James was already a level nine gold knight, and there were a few radiant knights among the nobles as well.
...
After the party, Lucien returned to Allyn. When he was about to work on his paper in the study, Leo knocked at his door and said, "Lord, a gentleman named Lazar and a few apprentices have come to visit you."
Lucien was very happy to hear it. Obviously, his friend was quite well-informed. Lucien planned to finish his paper first before telling his friends and students that he had come back.
Lucien hurriedly said, "Let them come in."
Brown vest, white shirt, black double-breasted long jacket, and top hat¡ªLazar still dressed the same way, and his smile was still bright. Annick, Layria, Heidi, Sprint and the other apprentices, however, had changed much on their look and had grown much taller. Now they did not look like kids anymore.
Lazar gave Lucien a big, warm hug and said, "You never told us you'd come back! Katrina is the receptionist for the committee. She was the one who told us! Congratulations, the student of the Lord of Storm!"
The apprentices were both a bit nervous and excited, "Welcome back, Mr. Evans."
"Receptionist? Katrina, you have graduated?! What about Cindy and Dona?" Lucien was a bit surprised.
Three years later, as a fully grown lady, Katrina now looked very beautiful and mature, which made Layria and Heidi feel quite envious. Katrina smiled, "Mr. Evans, you once worked in the school. Don't you remember that the annual graduation season is always in June? We've studied in the school for three years and we already passed the exams of the senior level. We've also passed the Arcana Basic exam and got the basic arcana credit."
While Catrina was saying, Heidi, Layria, Annick, and the other apprentices were all quite proud. Only Chely looked quite depressed and said, "I haven't graduated yet¡­ I'm still in senior class." 
Lucien put on a sincere smile, "I do know that apprentices can graduate in three years, but very rarely can students meet the requirements. I'm proud of you all."
Hearing the praise, all the apprentices were very encouraged. Only Sprint lowered his head.
Lucien did not ask about Sprint in front of those people. Instead, he looked at Lazar.
Lazar grinned, "Both Cindy and Dona are busy with getting their first circle, so they're not working right now. Katrina got the job because she was Douglas Magic School's excellent graduate, and if it wasn't Katrina, we wouldn't know you were back. Now you've become the student of the Lord of Storm¡­ Ummm, I thought it would be Mr. Raventi."
The excellent graduates could have the chance to get some good jobs. Although the schools also offered the other apprentices some positions, most of them preferred to find jobs on their own.
"It's out of my expectation as well." Lucien nodded, "So Annick, Layria¡­ What have you all been busy with?"
Heidi said proudly, "We're working in the headquarter of the Congress. I'm in Apprentice Assessment Department. Layria is in Conversion Department. Annick's in Task Zone."
Then Heidi suddenly switched the topic and put on a begging look, "Mr. Evans, please, please help Sprint."
Sprint suddenly turned around and stared at Heidi. Obviously, he did not want Heidi to continue.
"Go ahead," said Lucien.
"Sprint¡­ was absent from school too many times. He was dismissed."
"Dismiss?" Lucien looked at Sprint. Honestly speaking, Lucien was not too surprised.
Sprint answered a bit gloomily, "Magic Potion, Basic Element, Magic Analysis, Magic Structure¡­ I understood all these courses from the handouts left by you, Mr. Evans. I was still attending Magic Practice course¡­ I just did not want to waste my time. I wanted to spend my time on what I haven't learned."
"That makes sense. But the old fogeys in the school won't accept it." Lazar grinned.
Layria took a glance at Sprint with sympathy and said to Lucien, "Mr. Evans¡­ Sprint was dismissed¡­ No decent place is willing to hire him. He's currently working as a waiter in a restaurant. Can you¡­ Can you help him?"
In these apprentices' eyes, Mr. Evans, as the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize and the student of a grand arcanist, was basically almighty!
"It's okay, Mr. Evans. It's just temporary. When I become a real sorcerer, it'll be different," said Sprint in pride.
Lucien rubbed his chin. After a while, he said, "I've been thinking about this for a while, but I couldn't make it come true in the past. Now I've become Mr. Fernando's student, so I think it's time now. I want to start an arcana research group. Do you want to be my assistant, Sprint?"
"A research group¡­" Lazar and the apprentices had never heard of something like this.
"Sprint?" Lucien asked again.
"I¡­ Of course! Of course! Thank you, Mr. Evans," said Sprint. There were tears in his eyes.
Hearing that, Lazar thought about it for a while and said, "Lucien, my spiritual power has reached the middle-rank level, but my basic mathematics and magic analysis knowledge is still not solid, so I'm pretty much stuck. I'm thinking if I can resign my job in the Will of Elements and be your assistant as well in your¡­ research group. Your arcana knowledge is profound. Working with you can for sure be beneficial to me."
"Of course. But you have to wait until my application is approved." Lucien smiled.
Lazar was a level-two arcanist, second-circle sorcerer. He put on a bright smile and said, "I'm sure I can learn a lot from you, Lucien. By the way, does the research group have a name?"
The apprentices all got excited. They came up with all kinds of names such as Storm Lab or Evans' Institution.
Lucien thought about it carefully and said, "Let's call it Atom Institution."
"Sounds cool." Heidi nodded.
Annick got up the courage and said, "Mr. Lucien, I don't like my job in Task Zone. It's too noisy and too trivial. Can I join the group as well?"
"I need people to work with me." Lucien nodded.
"Me, too!"
"Me, too!" cheered all the apprentices, even including Katrina after a while of hesitation.
Heidi joked, "Now the institution has turned into an arcana tutoring class."
In the world Lucien came from, this was called "one organization with two nameplates", he remembered.

Chapter 333: Persuasion
				Chapter 333: Persuasion
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
After Lazar and the apprentices left, the place suddenly became quiet. Leo closed the gate in the front and turned on the protection magic circle. Lucien went back to his study and started to work on his paper.
In the quiet night, Lucien's mind was rather sober. On an ordinary piece of paper, he wrote down the title¡ªThe Experiment on Human Body Electric Current and Brain Electromagnetic Wave and the Application in Illusion.
Books related to the researches studying brain waves in Lucien's spirit library were very limited, since even in the world that Lucien came from, researches in this field still remained underdeveloped. Therefore Lucien had to study a few illusionary spells to make the paper more reliable.
The paper was very challenging for him. The several papers that Lucien published in the past were other experts' findings already available. The only thing he had to do was alter the findings based on the real situations in this world. These papers only took him two to three hours each.
Releasing a sigh, Lucien did not start developing the paper based on the materials he gathered right away. Instead, he was going to talk to the Lord of Storm on the following day. As the student of the grand arcanist, Lucien would not waste the chance.
Lucien closed his eyes and enjoyed the coolness of the night for a few minutes. Then, he took out another pile of paper and started to write the application of his research institution.
Even writing the application was not easy. If not being careful, Lucien would reveal his understanding of atoms that could shock the whole world. He could not directly tell the public that an atom could still be further divided, and within in an atom, there was a very wonderful structure. But if he completely avoided talking about this, the application would be very unlikely to be approved. Lucien was in a great dilemma.
In the end, he chose to describe his purpose and research interest in a rather general way.
When he read the application himself, Lucien sincerely thought to himself that the fund was not easy to get. If this application failed, he had to switch to a more specific research area and give up using the name Atom Institution, but this would mean that every research topic was only going to be a short-term one.
As a researcher who was extremely interested in getting funds, Lucien hoped to set up a long-term research project to save as much time and money spent on doing experiments as possible, so he could save his profit from Holm Mineral and Harvest for future use. Everyone knew that becoming a senior-rank mage could cost a lot of money. A senior-rank mage had to build his or her own magic tower, buy all kinds of alchemical materials, and prepare for the rites. 
Lucien also decided to show the Lord of Storm this application to his teacher. If Lucien could win his support, the whole thing would be much easier. If necessary, Lucien could reveal some of his real thoughts on atoms in front of Fernando. Maybe Fernando would yell at him, but it was still worth trying.
After a while, he calmed himself down and started to analyze the fifth-circle spell, Fernando's Lightning Smelter.
It was his first time analyzing a fifth-circle spell because he never expected that his soul and spiritual power could reach the fifth-circle level so fast. There were still many third-circle and forth-circle spells that Lucien had not studied. His plan was to focus on the difficult ones first and then go back to the lower ones.
...
Next day in the morning, Lucien came to the headquarter of the Congress of Magic.
"Good morning, Mr. Evans," greeted the tower guard on the gate. It was the alchemical creature, Prospell.
Lucien said politely, "Good morning, Prospell. How're you doing recently? Sorry, I didn't see you yesterday."
"The same¡­ You know, having sorcerers coming in and out through my body all day long." Prospell would not admit that he did not want to show up yesterday because the Lord of Storm was there, "Mr. Evans, I heard you've reached the fifth circle. Good for you! When you become a senior-rank sorcerer and start to build your own magic tower, don't forget your promise. A female tower guard. Gentle, soft, considerate¡­ much better than me!"
Lucien wondered since when they had this promise. He finished talking to Prospell, who was feeling a bit excited, and entered the magic tower.
It was still early. The headquarter was still quiet. On Lucien's way to Fernando's study on the thirty-third floor, he barely met any people.
Fernando, the Lord of Storm, was still wearing his favorite ancient-styled, bright-red magic robe, sitting behind his desk and reading the letters.
"Lucien, if you don't have anything else to do, help me with the letters first. Use my tone and reply to these letters. After you finish, we go to the lab," said Fernando directly. He did not give Lucien a word of praise for coming here early.
Lucien hurriedly nodded, "I've finished the draft of the paper. Please take a look."
"Good." Fernando nodded. Fernando took over the pile of paper and read it very carefully. He did not treat it casually just because it was written by a middle-rank mage. From time to time, Fernando even cast the spells on his own for verification.
Seeing Fernando frown, Lucien's heart was grasped by a big hand.
"Illogical¡­ How do you want to persuade the board using this?!" Fernando commented. 
Although the comment was very straightforward, Lucien was glad that Fernando did not yell at him. His response was still within Lucien's expectation.
Lucien hurriedly nodded and put on a humble-student look.
After criticizing Lucien's paper from the very beginning to the end, when Lucien started to feel that his draft was basically just a piece of trash, Fernando softened his tone a bit and said, "Of course, compared to all the shitty papers from those fools, this paper is still relatively interesting and creative. Nothing in the paper is a real mistake. Revise it and develop it into a decent paper. Don't put my name on it like some people. I don't want my name to appear on such a paper."
"Yes, sir." Lucien felt he just sweated a lot. Although Fernando did not yell at him, Lucien still suffered greatly hearing all the mistakes he made in this draft when Fernando pointed them out one by one. Because he relied on himself when writing half of the paper, Lucien knew that he would make a lot of mistakes, but he was still under huge pressure just now.
Before Fernando picked up these letters again, Lucien hurriedly said, "Sir, I'm applying for starting a research group. This is my application."
"Research group? Are you still not busy enough?" Fernando took over the application form, "Atom¡­ Atom Institution. What a big topic¡­ Umm¡­'The institution aims at studying the relationship between the periodicity of elements and atoms, exploring more factors resulting in the characters of elements and atoms', combining the findings with elemental, electromagnetic, light-darkness spells, etc. In conclusion, the institution is established to facilitate the development of elemental magic and arcana system¡­'"
It seemed that Fernando was a bit amused when reading Lucien's application. Fernando did not take a serious attitude toward it. "So¡­ you need a big and fully-equipped lab, a lot of precious materials, and lots of arcana points as allowance. Young man, you don't get funds like this. This general, ambiguous application will not be approved by Magic Research Board. And you seem to be quite ambitious. You want to turn this into a long-term research? That'll make your application even harder."
Lucien was prepared, "I think¡­ I think the way that the Congress currently reviews all the applications is to some degree quite short-sighted. Arcana is developing very quickly, and there are new fields emerging all the time. The new fields are not specific yet but we cannot give them up, nor can we merely rely on the senior arcanists' private researches. The resources should be allocated equally, so more arcanists can be involved. This is another reason why I want to set up Atom Institution. I believe that more and more arcanists have realized the importance of studying atoms since the periodicity was found."
When he was saying that, he looked rather serious.
"You made me feel I was listening to a speech in the city council¡­" Fernando grinned. "Tell me more about how you understand atoms. If you want to win my support, you have to persuade me first."
Lucien knew that the cunning, old grand arcanist would not be deceived easily. He had to go further on this topic.
Lucien's brain quickly worked and he tried to be very cautious with his words, "Since the periodicity was found, I've been seeking for something deeper behind the laws, but I was at a total loss. Then, by chance, the idea struck me that maybe we should step out of Atom Theory and question what we think we've already known. If atoms are the smallest units as people believe, why the features of atoms vary so differently?"
Lucien paused a bit. Fernando looked at him thoughtfully.
"Maybe¡­" Lucien was a bit hesitant, "Maybe an atom can still be further divided!"

Chapter 334: Assistant
				Chapter 334: Assistant
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Lucien finished his words. There was a total silence in the study.
Lucien knew that overthrowing Atom Theory, one of the fundamental theories in modern arcana system, was beyond crazy, and he was expecting Fernando's growl. However, the smile remained on his face, but Fernando did not make any comments yet.
Until Lucien felt the atmosphere making him slightly unable to breathe, the Lord of Storm slightly nodded, "In fact, after you put forward the Periodic Table of Elements, I talked to Hathaway many times and we've reached the consensus: if we want to go deeper down into the field of elements and atoms, we have to abandon some of the ideas first, as they're probably not the truth, but they're restraining us from exploring further. Like what you mentioned, we also believed that the most fundamental existence should also be the simplest."
"What¡­" Lucien did not expect that the two grand arcanists had already taken a big step in the micro-world. How came they were not afraid of the fact that their brain might explode because of such a cognition shift?
Recognizing the look on Lucien's face, Fernando put on his symbolic, sarcastic smile, "Lucien, don't tell me that in your mind, we grand arcanists are just a bunch of fogeys who never want to accept new things and are reluctant to admit the mistakes we've made."
Before Lucien managed to answer, Fernando continued as if he was just talking to himself, "Standing at the top of the world, we're close to the nature of everything. However, we know that we've just discovered a few stars if the truth can be compared to the starry sky. We shall stay humble and determined. We shall be aware of things that should be abandoned. As long as we see problems, we can never just ignore them. Completely destroying a legendary archmage's cognition world isn't an easy thing. It has to be strong and fierce¡­ totally out of expectation, or the worst scenario was just to add a limit for further progressing to the archmage. Of course, maybe what we've known is still too little. We haven't encountered anything like this so far that can shake everyone's understanding of the world."
It seemed that what Fernando just said was a bit different from what Lucien knew.
"Meanwhile, legendary archmages' understanding of the world can never be easily shaken. Without solid, rigorous reasoning and profound exploring, most archmages would stick to their beliefs. It also took Hathaway and me a long time to reach the consensus."
Lucien nodded thoughtfully. Fernando's words sounded a bit contradictory, but it was not. What Fernando was saying was about persistence and modesty.
Fernando concluded, "There's a saying among every grand arcanist: 'sometimes, our past experience and knowledge can be our hindrance.'"
Lucien slightly released a sigh, and then put on a sincere smile, "Then¡­ since I'm not talking nonsense. Can you support me with setting up the institution?"
"Emmm¡­ only one new point¡­ maybe not enough. You have anything else to share?" grinned Fernando cunningly like an old fox. He wanted to see if Lucien still had more strange but creatives thoughts in his mind that could possibly inspire him.
"No." Lucien shook his head in a determined way, "That's why I'm applying for setting up an institution, sir."
"Well¡­ Let me put it this way. Before you reach the fifth circle, you work for me so I can tell if you can really accomplish anything with Atom Institution. You know, if I let you have a research group right away but you fail to find anything, you'd become a joke." The fox-like smile on Fernando's face was still there.
Lucien knew what Fernando meant. He seriously nodded, "I'll try my best."
Before coming to senior rank, Lucien was confident that his knowledge if the field of math, element, and electromagnetism should be enough. Lucien's biggest problem was that he was still having a hard time combining his knowledge of astrology with celestial mechanics. Say, he still had not figured out how to understand these cursing and blessing spells.
As they had reached the agreement, Lucien asked, "So¡­ how can I improve this application then? I know it's too generous¡­"
"Why do you need to improve it?" Fernando made a surprised look, "Your signature on it makes the application form look rather ambiguous and generous. But with Hathaway's and my signature, the application will appear to be very profound and provident."
Lucien was speechless.
"Alright¡­ Let's get back to the letters. Read them for me, one by one." Fernando sat back in the armchair and closed his eyes as if he was meditating.
Although Lucien was not sure why Fernando did not want to directly read the letters himself, as he was not that type of people who always liked showing off, Lucien still picked up the first letter.
The handwriting on the letter was very beautiful and elegant. Lucien took a glance at the envelope and saw the name, Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg.
"This¡­ this letter should be confidential¡­" Lucien was very hesitant.
"Hurry up," Fernando urged.
Lucien nodded and started reading, "Fernando, according to your suggestion, I have improved the design of the magic circle and now it can separate the substances even more specifically. This is the improved structure¡­"
As he was reading, Lucien was surprised and also a bit amused.
He felt surprised because the two arcanists were actually heading for the right direction: separating isotopes!
Through the application of the Periodic Table of Elements, more and more arcanists had realized that the measurement of atomic weight was indeed not correct due to the limit of the methods currently applied. Fernando and Hathaway were trying to use electromagnetic force and centrifuging to purify the atoms. Only legendary archmages could do this.
What amused Lucien was how Hathaway described things. As a grand arcanist, her ability of expression was not very impressive and organized. She had to use a lot of magic symbols to make her words clear.
Reading the letter was not an easy job. Lucien finished reading, and Fernando grinned, "It's torturing reading her papers and letters. When she was still the princess, she never passed her literature course. Every single one of her papers had to be polished first by her students or the younger arcanists."
Lucien just got to know a big secret of Hathaway like this.
"What do you think of the letter?" asked Fernando, "I remember you mentioned something about this before."
Lucien thought it for a while and said, "This method works better when there's a bigger difference in mass¡­ So heavy elements are ideal¡­"
Then Fernando asked Lucien more questions based on the paper. If Lucien failed to answer properly, Fernando would explain in details and even use some experiments to make the explanations even clearer.
Then Fernando finally asked Lucien to reply the letter for him.
Lucien started to realize Fernando's true intention. Fernando was using the letters between the legendary archmages to let Lucien know what the most cutting-edge researches were and to broaden his horizon.
Therefore, Lucien became very focused when reading the next letter.
The second letter was from an even more famous arcanist, Derrick Douglas.
"¡­ As all arcanists know, transmission requires media, but how light and spiritual power transmit in the space? We believe that no matter how secret a matter is, or how carefully it hides, we shall finally find the clues. However, people were saying Aether was the medium for the transmission of light, but it hasn't been proved yet until today."
Aether was also the name for an alchemical material. It could be quite confusing for beginners.
"Brook and his supporters believe that the theory of Psychic Wave has won the game, but I'm not one of them. A simple experiment has revealed the problem hiding in this theory¡ªif Aether indeed exists in the space, when our world revolves around the sun, there should be a resistance, thus the speed of light should change as well¡­"
Fernando listened carefully and commented, "Douglas has been working on Particle Theory for a long time. He's the leading figure opposing and questioning Wave Theory. Many arcanists have chosen to take a more neutral standpoint facing Wave Theory. So¡­ What do you think of the experiment Douglas mentioned?"
Lucien was quite pessimistic, "Even if it is proved that Aether does not exist, I'm afraid that Mr. Douglas' effort would still not be recognized, as the experiment is designed based on his space model. However, we haven't found a single planet yet. This experiment is not persuasive enough."
Fernando slightly nodded, "What you said makes sense, but Douglas won't give up. The experiment has still provided us with a new perspective to examine the existence of Aether."
Then, Fernando asked Lucien more questions on Particle Theory and Wave Theory. Those questions really gave Lucien a hard time.
In the end, Lucien felt a bit exhausted. For those questions that Lucien did not answer very well, Fernando kept providing detailed explanations.
Then more letters followed. They made Lucien feel both nervous and excited. These letters covered all the eleven schools, which was out of Lucien's expectation.
Finishing reading all the letters, it was already close to noon. Fernando took Lucien to the lab where they built a black, hollow sphere, which was an ideal thermal radiation model.
"Okay, you may leave now. Tomorrow, we do the same. Letters first, and then experiment," said Fernando.
Lucien felt dizzy after all the work when he walked out of the lab.
At this time, he saw that Thompson came over. Seeing the look on Lucien's face, Thompson was not surprised, "Evans, you must have worked very hard. Trust me. It's really good for you."
"I can tell¡­" Lucien released a sigh of relief, and then he asked, "Why are the archmages still writing letters to communicate when Electromagnetic Message has been invented?"
"Writing can make them stay more organized¡­ That's one thing." Thompson put on a meaningful look, "And the other thing's that¡­ they would rather write letters because¡­"
Thompson looked at the direction of his teacher's lab and grinned.

Chapter 335: The Comment on the Paper
				Chapter 335: The Comment on the Paper
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
It was close to the time when the headquarter of the Congress was about to close. Lucien took the paper which had been revised by the Lord of Storm to the Sorcerer Administrative Department.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Evans." Katrina was very surprised to see Lucien.
Katrina was very good-looking and in good shape. Many young sorcerers here who weren't married often tried to get closer to her, and it was the same today, even though it was already late afternoon. Some were pretending they were just having a drink; some were talking about the latest arcana theories to show their profoundness, using hard words that most people did not understand; some who were more straightforward just directly talked to the young receptionists, making those other sorcerers quite pissed off.
Hearing Katrina greeted Lucien gladly, they all looked at the young sorcerer who just entered the hall.
Good-looking face, elegant dressing, and the dream-like purple ring on his finger¡­ This young man was Lucien Evans, one of the most outstanding young sorcerers. It was said that he was already a level five arcanist!
The sorcerers all stood up and greeted respectfully, "Good afternoon, Mr. Evans."
Meanwhile, they were all guessing the relationship between them Lucien and Katrina. They heard that Lucien Evans once had some students, and therefore many of them more or less envied Katrina for she could have such a famous teacher. Although Lucien Evans was still a middle-rank mage, he had been recognized as the most promising candidate for becoming a senior-rank. The several papers Lucien published had shown his profound knowledge in arcana. 
Following such a teacher meant a bright future. At least, it shouldn't be hard for Katrina to become a real sorcerer and an arcanist.
Lucien nodded to the sorcerers and then walked to Katrina, "Good afternoon, may I know who is available today? "
"Mr. Eric, Mr. David¡­ Basically, they're all available," answered Katrina. "Are you here for your new paper?"
"Yes." Lucien nodded, "The application thing's going to take some time. Don't worry. Also, tell others when you see them."
"No matter whether the application can be approved or not, being your student is still a great thing." Katrina knew that the other sorcerers present were all jealous of her. She knew that her choice was absolutely correct!
Lucien talked to Katrina casually for a short while and headed for the office in the back. Of course, he would go for Mr. Eric, as they were old acquaintances already.
When the other receptionist saw that Katrina felt so comfortable and at ease when talking to Mr. Lucien Evans, she was a bit jealous but also had a sense of inferiority. As an excellent graduate just like Katrina, she felt that she was like a little girl when discussing magic and arcana with the other. She tried hard to tell herself that people had different strengths, however, what she just saw frustrated her again. She wondered why Katrina was so lucky.
"Katrina, you've never told me that you know Mr. Evans," the young receptionist asked Katrina and pretended that she was just asking casually, "and he's your teacher?"
Katrina smiled, "Mr. Lucien Evans and I were on the same boat from the other side of the ocean. He taught me a lot on the way, and then, fortunately enough, I met Mr. Evans again in the magic school. He tutored me arcana."
"This is destiny¡­" The young receptionist sighed. That was what the other sorcerers were thinking as well.
Katrina was still young. Of course, she was very proud. She thought to herself that Mr. Evans was also the student of the Lord of Storm, but she would not brag about it.
...
"One thousand one hundred and twenty-four arcana credits, sixty-five arcana points. Now you've become a level five arcanist. It's a year earlier than I expected." Eric handed the badge with five silver stars on it to Lucien, "These years, the development of arcana is amazing. If one stops studying arcana for a short while, one would be left way behind."
What Eric said was true. Even Lucien was also a bit confused when hearing other sorcerers talking about the latest arcana topics after coming back.
"Mr. Eric, you've also become a level four arcanist." Lucien took a glance at the badge that Eric was wearing.
Hearing Lucien's words, Eric's face lit up, "I've also contributed three credits to your total gaining. By the way, are you here to submit your new paper?"
Lucien did not mention that his magic badge could also be updated to the fifth circle, and Eric did not expect it either. So the topic had been switched to Lucien's new paper.
"Yes. I was inspired by my mission. It's about Illusion." Lucien handed the paper to Eric. In his heart, he was quite expectant. After all, half of the paper was from Lucien himself.
Eric first submitted the paper and then asked a bit curiously, "Every single one of your papers more or less have caused some stirs. What's this paper about?"
"It proves that human brain waves can send out a special electromagnetic wave that leads to the secretion of certain hormones", thus people's emotions are affected and illusions are caused," said Lucien honestly.
Eric was a bit surprised, "Is it related to Ms. Isabella's paper? Her paper has caused a lot of discussions. Some arcanists support her viewpoint and believe that she should be the winner of Sorcerer Laurel, but more illusionists think that the paper's too shallow and not persuasive enough. Probably your paper is also going to be involved in the debate and be attacked. But your paper could also make Ms. Isabella's paper more complete. Perhaps you can share the Laurel with her and become the second arcanist in a hundred years who can win the highest awards in two different fields."
"My paper is not there yet. I just wish this paper can get a good score." Lucien joked, "Maybe in the future I can win the Laurel with a better paper."
Because Lucien had used the two versions of the spell, Charm Person, to support the paper, Eric told Lucien that he should be able to get the result the next day.
...
"¡­ When studying photoelectric sensing, I found something strange. No matter how I enhance the power of a kind of low-frequency light, no electric current can be produced, which is contradictory to the previous inference¡­" Lucien was reading the letter from the grand arcanist Edwyn Brook, Emperor of Control, the Poem of the Goddess. He had noticed the unusual thing in the photoelectric effect.
Brook had not seen the nature of light current because cathode ray still remained undiscovered. However, Lucien knew that it was just a matter of time. He felt the urgency of setting up his Atom Institution.
"What do you think of Brook's experiment, Lucien?" As usual, Fernando asked again. He did not care whether Lucien's thoughts were right or wrong. This was just a method of teaching.
Lucien answered cautiously, "I've never done this experiment before, so I'm not sure. But according to Mr. Brook's description, maybe the foundation of his inference is wrong."
"You're just repeating¡­ Maybe this is a chance for Douglas." Fernando was more inclined to Wave Theory, but he was not the supporter of either side as there was no specific evidence yet.
Then Fernando explained the experiment to Lucien in detail, but he did not make Lucien reply the letter until he had finished part of the heat radiation experiment with Lucien. Fernando asked Lucien to send the data to Brook, and also to Douglas.
...
The second day after lunch, Lucien went to Eric's office for the result of his paper.
"The result was sent back in the morning." Eric looked the same serious, "The result isn't bad. The board members won't change their review standards because of their own preferences."
When receiving the document, Lucien was quite nervous like a young student receiving his final score.
The document wrote:
"Augustus: The paper proves the existence of human body electric currents and brain waves and how emotions and delusions are caused using the experiment the spell. The idea is well organized and presented, but the sample size of brain wave is limited and thus the paper is less persuasive. The author has also admitted this. To conclude, the research creatively leads electromagnetism into the field of Illusion, providing further support for including part of the school of Illusion in the system of arcana. The paper can lead to great discussion but it still lacks decisive evidence. Therefore, thirty arcana credits and three hundred arcana points are recommended as the reward."

Chapter 336: Drummond¡¯s Visit
				Chapter 336: Drummond¡¯s Visit
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
Charlie, the other board member, made a simpler comment, "This creative paper has proved that human body electric current and brain waves can cause illusions. It is for sure a breakthrough. However, the paper still lacks solid support for wider application to cover more illusionary spells. Therefore, the importance of the paper remains to be further proved in the future. Twenty-five arcana credits and three hundred points are recommended to be given."
In the end, the document concluded, "Creative and groundbreaking. Worthy of detailed discussion. Well-organized and clearly presented. However, the application of the paper is relatively limited as it currently cannot cover the entire field of Illusion, and many key parts remain ambiguous. Twenty-eight credits and three hundred points are given as the award."
A smile appeared on Lucien's face. Although it seemed that those board members did not really like his paper, as they did not give him many credits, the comments given by them were not bad. Lucien had found the right research direction, thus his paper was, of course, creative and was a breakthrough.
Eric slightly shook his head and said, "Those board members are just fusty. They don't like yours and Ms. Isabella's paper. They gave you the least credits within the standard. Normally speaking, your paper deserves at least forty to fifty arcana credits, but Ms. Isabella's paper should get at least eighty."
"How many credits did Ms. Isabella get in the end?" asked Lucien. As he was prepared, Lucien was not angry. He was looking at getting more credits by other sorcerers' future citation.
"Fifty¡­ Those guys¡­" Eric lowered his voice, looking the same serious, "If Ms. Isabella wasn't a senior-rank mage, probably they would give her forty."
Ms. Isabella was a member of Tower, a level six arcanist, and a seventh-circle sorcerer. Although Isabella specialized in Astrology and Illusion, she was still outside of the core group of Tower and had not been selected into Arcana Review Board. Rachel was her student.
"I see¡­ It would be hard for Ms. Isabella to win the Laurel, then," Lucien commented casually.
Eric stared at Lucien with his light gray eyes and said to Lucien after making sure that he was not expecting to win the laurel, "So the number of Sorcerer Laurel winners have always been fewer than that of other awards. And most of the Laurel winners are the members from Family of Sorcerer, and their findings were all related to the three schools of magic from the ancient magic empire. But Ms. Isabella's experiment is very well designed and sufficiently proved. If the Laurel is not going to be given to Ms. Isabella, this honor would become a joke."
Lucien realized that who could win the award was also of political concern. He could not help thinking how he could win the Laurel.
...
When Lucien got back home, he was told by Leo that he had a guest.
"Mr¡­ Drummond?" Lucien was a bit confused. He could not remember the name.
Leo hurriedly reminded him in the low vice, "Mr. Drummond's the chief editor of Arcana."
That was right. Lucien clapped his hands. As for every single arcanist who worked hard to publish his or her paper on Arcana, Drummond was a name that they had to remember. But Lucien was an exception. He did not have to worry about where to publish his papers.
"Why is he here? And Leo, how do you know him?" asked Lucien confused. Drummond was a level seven arcanist and an eighth-circle sorcerer, the chief editor of the famous journal, the winner of Arcana Sceptre prize. Why did Drummond come to visit him in person?
Leo answered as a very decent butler, "When I was working for Ivanovszki, I had to remember the names of all the important people to handle all kinds of stuff. So after I came to Allyn, I've collected some names, just in case."
"Thank you." Lucien was very satisfied.
When Lucien saw the chief editor, Drummond was wearing a dark vest and suit, holding a black stick. His black eyes were sharp and serious like the eyes of an eagle.
"The Lord of Storm once gave me some very useful suggestions in the field of Force Field, and his achievement in many arcana fields is incomparable. I'm sincerely glad for you that you can become his student, Lucien." Drummond tried to be closer to Lucien.
Lucien greeted Drummond and said, "Every morning I have to go through Mr. Fernando's brainstorm. Every morning time seems to pass by very slowly."
It took Drummond a few seconds to figure out what brainstorm was. He smiled, "Not many people are willing to stay beside the Lord of Storm when discussing arcana and magic questions."
Lucien and Drummond walked into the living room. Lucien asked politely, "Mr. Drummond, it's my great honor having you here. Honestly speaking, I did not recognize your name immediately as I never expected you to come and visit my place in person. I should be the one visiting you, sir."
Holding the stick, Drummond said, "I just got the news from the board that you've got a breakthrough in studying the factors affecting hormone secretion, and you've introduced Electromagnetic Theory into the field of Illusion. By the way, hormone is the term put forward by Ms. Isabella to call the certain human body alchemical substances. I've read your paper, and I think your paper is of great value. I am here to invite you to publish your paper in our journal. The theme of our next month issue accords with your topic well. I think it's better than sending you an invitation letter to express my sincerity, and also to apologize for what happened to your previous paper. I've fired the editor who rejected your contribution."
Arcana was the most well-known and reputed journal in the world of magic, and its chief editor came to Lucien in person for his paper! Drummond was treating Lucien like a grand arcanist or a legendary sorcerer! But, of course, apologizing for what happened last time was also part of the reason.
"No worries. Thank you very much, Mr. Drummond." Lucien and Drummond sat down on the couch in the living room. Lucien asked, "You mentioned the theme of the next month issue¡­ Does Arcana have a theme?"
Before getting more information, Lucien would not say yes casually. Not to mention that Mr. Woods from Common Arcana was an old friend of his.
"Since Ms. Isabella's paper passed the review, great controversy has been caused. In the past week, many senior-rank arcanists have developed papers or designed experiments to refute Ms. Isabella's theory. So, in the next month's issue, we have decided to give the most space to these papers. This was the theme. We're hoping that your paper can achieve the expected outcome as your paper is the best support to Ms. Isabella's theory," said Drummond sincerely.
"To achieve the expected outcome¡­" murmured Lucien. He soon realized what Drummond was talking about.
Lucien guessed that most members in the Highest Council were not happy with the fact that Illusion and some other schools of magic had never belonged to the system of arcana, which caused the barrier between the sorcerers from Family of Sorcerer and most arcanists. So they were using this as an opportunity to let Lucien's paper become the solid support of Ms. Isabella's theory, thus the conservatives could feel the pressure. If Isabella won the Laurel, arcana would win, as the sorcerers from Family of Sorcerer had to admit the fact that the arcana system could at least explain part of the school of Illusion.
Of course, Isabella's paper itself was good enough to win the Laurel. This was the premise.
Lucien crossed his fingers and said in a low voice, "Mr. Drummond, Mr. Woods from Common Arcana has helped me a lot, and I've promised that I would first consider publishing my papers on Common Arcana first. I keep my words."
Lucien was expecting a better offer.
"Evans, Arcana Review Board is discussing something recently. It is totally unfair that publishing a paper on different levels of journals gives a sorcerer the same credits. Therefore, they are going to give each journal a corresponding coefficient. When deciding on future citation credits, a sorcerer can get more credits by weighting the base credit by the corresponding coefficient," answered Drummond, well prepared. "They've decided to evaluate each journal every five years based on the influence of all the papers published previously. The coefficient varies from one to three. Common Arcana is doing a good job these years, so the coefficient Common Arcana deserves shouldn't be bad. But I have to say that Arcana currently still enjoys a higher reputation. Arcana credits are very important to sorcerers, and this is also the will of the highest council. I am sure that Mr. Woods will understand. Also, if you support us this time, we will always reserve a place on Arcana for you and your paper. We can negotiate the schedule."
Arcana only did this for people who were at least members of Arcana Review Board!
Lucien nodded. After all, this was part of the plan of the highest council. He smiled, "If Mr. Woods won't blame me, I'm willing to publish my paper on Arcana."
Later, in Lucien and Drummond's casual talk, Drummond said with pity, "If Ms. Isabella did not publish her paper before you, and if your paper was more precise, your paper would be the focus. If that was the case, you probably would become the second arcanist in the past hundred years who could win two highest prizes before reaching senior-rank. But you're still young, so you still have a lot of potential, especially as the Lord of Storm's student."
After Drummond left, Lucien went back to his study and continued to work on analyzing the fifth circle spell.

Chapter 337: Further Experiment
				Chapter 337: Further Experiment
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
In the study on the thirty-third floor of the headquarter of the Congress, Lucien was holding a letter from Oliver Constantine, "¡­Since the fifth circle, a sorcerer's every single progress involves the interaction between one's soul and one's cognitive world. In the progress, substantialization happens. In order to become a legendary archmage, one's cognitive world has to be half solidified to remain between being virtual and real¡­"
Lucien was too shocked to continue reading as he knew that the information in this letter should be confidential to a middle-rank sorcerer like him. Although the letter was about the secret of the legendary level, Fernando still closed his eyes like there was nothing special.
Although the book Astrology and Magic Elements also contained the rites of legendary level, as of now Lucien could not read that part, as he was not yet a senior-rank mage. Neither was he qualified to use the higher level arcana and magic library to gather more information. Therefore, before Lucien read the letter, he knew nothing about how to become a legendary archmage and how it was like to be one. However, Oliver Constantine's letter just revealed the secret casually.
Of course, Oliver Constantine was writing to the Lord of Storm, a grand arcanist. This was not a secret at all between them.
"Keep going," Fernando said in a plain tone. "Don't tell me you're not interested in becoming a legendary archmage."
This was the benefit of becoming the student of a grand arcanist. Lucien could find many secrets and all of them would contribute to his future growth.
Lucien continued to read the letter:
"Fernando, as you know, the closer one's cognitive world is to the real world, the easier the half-solidification progress is, thus reaching legendary level can be easier. From what I know about Florencia, I think this is going to be her biggest challenge in her future progressing. Therefore, I've been studying the half-solidification progress for a while.
"As my research went deeper, I've noticed that after excluding the parts consisting of the different cognitive worlds formed based on assorted arcana theories, in the meditation environment, the space structure and the real world conflict badly. Perhaps the mathematical basis that we adopt in describing space is wrong. Maybe we need to start all over again to reexamine this part. I think¡­"
It seemed that Oliver's math was not as good as his arcana. Fernando found a few mistakes in the letter and pointed them out in front of Lucien directly. Using the letter, Fernando again started to test and teach Lucien.
"You're not really stupid when it comes to math," commented Fernando with no any facial expressions. Then he grinned, "Although Oliver was a playboy and he was even fooling around with his female students, Florencia's definitely his true love¡­ like an opera."
Lucien hoped that Fernando could mind his words a bit in front of him. Lucien felt that Fernando had two sides. When it came to arcana and magic, he was very short-tempered and impatient like an approaching storm, however, in other cases, was often humorous and sometimes even a bit dirty. Thus, some people secretly called Fernando "the old pervert".
Seeing that Lucien did not answer, Fernando continued, "Oliver has to be careful. Maybe one day Florencia will be totally pissed if he keeps contacting his previous little lovers¡­ Maybe Florencia will find a lover to take her revenge. Umm¡­ Imagine the look on Oliver's face¡­ I wonder if one day Oliver, the Hand of Annihilation, will annihilate Florencia?"
Although Lucien was more or less prepared, Fernando's passion for gossiping was still out of Lucien's expectation, which further confirmed Lucien's impression of his teacher¡ªan old pervert!
"It's¡­ quite impossible. No one dares to steal a grand arcanist's wife," Lucien tried to end this topic.
Fernando took a glance at Lucien and said, "What do you know? There are always young guys who are bold and crazy about love. When I was young, I was even crazier than Oliver! But now I'm old. I'm not interested in anything else other than exploring the truth of the world."
Shaking his head, Fernando said, "The next letter."
After reading all the papers, Fernando did more thermal radiation experiments with Lucien to gather more information for the derivation of the formula.
...
In the study in Lucien's garden villa.
Lucien received a letter today form Viscount Harrison, the senior-rank illusionist.
"¡­ I've read your paper, Evans. I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed as you have given up your advantages in the field of Element and Astrology and carelessly stepped into the field of Electromagnetic Wave, Hormone, and Illusion that you're not even familiar with. Thus, your paper is not enough thorough just like Isabella's paper. And it is even less persuasive compared to Isabella's work since there are many things in your paper that cannot be proved.
"Of course, your talent in arcana impressed me. You've also put forward some creative findings even in the fields that you're not good at. Maybe I should admit that some illusions were from the interaction between the electromagnetic waves and the alchemical substances. Your improvement on the spell, Charm Person, is marvelous. Perhaps, in the future, when you have a better understanding of the essence of Illusion, you can make an even greater contribution¡­"
Then Harrison spent more than twenty pages on explaining how he understood Illusion. Although he was more or less bragging about it, his words also solved some of the questions in Lucien's mind in the school of Illusion.
At the end of the letter, Harrison wrote,
"¡­ The debate over whether the Laurel should go to Ms. Isabella has been growing more and more intense. Family of Sorcerer has decided to gather us senior-rank mages together next month to discuss it. It is a pity that your paper hasn't been proved decisive, or I would be able to nominate you to share the Laurel with Isabella. So you can be one of the two most outstanding arcanists in the past a hundred years."
Family of Sorcerer retained the conservative style from the ancient magic empire. They looked back the whole year's achievement in the three major schools of magic at the end of every year to decide about who could win the Laurel, if there was anyone qualified for the prize.
As for Holm Crown prize, things were different. A great achievement could lead to the activation of the reviewing process immediately and thus whether the sorcerer could win the prize could be decided very fast unless it had to take years for the value of the finding to be proved.
Obviously, this time, great pressure was confronting Family of Sorcerer.
Putting down the letter from Harrison, Lucien started to write his own letter.
Picking up the quill, he slightly dipped it in the ink. However, the tip of the quill stopped above the paper. The first letter was of course for the princess far away from him. However, Lucien was a bit nervous writing the letter.
He calmed himself down, trying to figure out what Natasha's preference was. He knew that he should avoid talking about arcana and magic too much. In the world that Lucien originally came from, people made fun of such nerds all the time.
But what else could he write about? Lucien found it rather difficult.
A while later, Lucien started writing,
"¡­ My teacher is Mr. Fernando, the Lord of Storm. He is a strange person. When it comes to talking about magic and arcana, he is very bad-tempered and impatient. He was even yelling at me a few times¡­ You know, I'm always quiet and cautious¡­ When he is angry, it's more than dreadful, like a violent storm. But at other times, he is pretty casual and humorous, sometimes even a bit too much."
Just in case, Lucien did not use the word "pervert".
"¡­ When I was reading the letters from these archmages, I could tell their different personalities from the ways they wrote the letters. For example, Ms. Hathaway is not very good at using words to express herself, but when it comes to arcana and magic, I can tell that she is very determined and intelligent, although the sentences she used were rather simple¡­
"Mr. Douglas seems to be a graceful senior man. He rarely gets angry. The only problem with him is that he always asks why. Mr. Brook is gifted in writing and is always very cautious about using his words. Meanwhile, he is quite old-school and stubborn.
"¡­ Mr. Oliver, when talking about things other than magic and arcana, is always full of passion just like a poet. He is like the typical elegant and favorable playboy pictured in the operas. But he basically shows no resistance to woman's beauty¡­
"¡­ Ms. Hellen Paris' words are always simple. She rarely talks about things other than arcana and magic. But according to Mr. Fernando, she is actually quite talkative in front of people she knows well, but she just focuses more on exploring the nature of the world.
"Vicente Miranda, Thanatos, rarely writes to Mr. Fernando. I can say that he is relatively¡­ careless. He only wrote to Mr. Fernando twice, but both of the wrinkled letters were stained with the oil from the dead bodies in the back. It is quite disturbing¡­"
...
After finishing the letter for Natasha, Lucien felt much relaxed. Then he wrote more letters to all of his friends to tell them that he had come back. He also wrote back to Viscount Harrison and briefly explained his understanding of dream and of simple behavior psychology.
...
In the past a few days, many friends visited Lucien or wrote back to him.
This morning, Lucien stepped into Fernando's study on time.
"Good morning," said Lucien politely.
Fernando looked quite pissed, "I'm not good! Not at all! Why did I bother doing this damned thermal radiation experiment!"
Lucien's heart suddenly missed a beat. He wondered if Fernando had collected all the data. However, as he was being busy with studying the fifth-circle magic these days, Lucien had not found any time to analyze the numbers.
Comments (47)

Chapter 338: The Constant
				Chapter 338: The Constant
Translator: Kris_Liu  Editor: Vermillion
"So¡­ you can't find the law from the data collected?" Lucien asked carefully. He had found the way to talk to Fernando. Lucien had to purposefully make some mistakes to hide the fact that sometimes he actually knew more than his teacher.
Fernando walked back and forth impatiently in the study, "No. Based on the Equipartition Theorem, I've worked out a formula. Although it works perfectly with long waves, it just produced a stupid error with short waves. Can you imagine what the formula told me? It told me that the shorter the wave is, the greater the energy that can be produced. If that is true, the pope would be kneeling on the ground and kissing the tip of my shoe right now!"
Anything, such as the sun and the fire, that was above absolute zero could produce thermal radiation. It was a common belief in the Congress that the nature of the thermal radiation was the electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths. Meanwhile, as the temperature rose, more short waves of different frequencies would emerge. Within the spectrum, the visible light could have different colors. For example, the pure flame had colors including dark red, crimson, tangerine, orange-yellow, bluish-white and so on, which was in line with the change of the wavelength.
Hearing Fernando's growling and feeling his bad temper, the name, Ultraviolet Catastrophe, suddenly came to Lucien in his mind. He did not expect that Fernando first figured out this formula.
"Can I¡­ Can I take a look at the formula?" Lucien asked very cautiously.
Fernando yelled, "I've been staring at it for the whole night! I didn't leave anything out!"
However, Fernando did not stop him. Lucien picked up the piece of paper curiously and saw the formula Fernando scrawled. The formula was exactly the same as the one in Lucien's memory!
Seeing that Lucien was just holding the paper there but did not say anything, Fernando thought that he was verifying the formula. He waved his hand very impatiently and said, "Forget about it! This is so stupid."
When Fernando was pissed, he was also very tough with himself.
Lucien did verify the formula. What Fernando said was true.
After a while, Fernando released a long sigh, "Read the letters for me first. We'll do another round of experiment again later."
"Yes." Lucien nodded. Then, he picked up the first letter. It was from Douglas, the Emperor of Arcana.
"¡­Based on the experimental data you gave me, I figured out an empirical formula from my perspective. I still believe that the nature of the thermal radiation is not the electromagnetic waves, but molecular emission from heating¡­"
Fernando cut in, "When it comes to thermal radiation, he's still talking about his Particle Theory."
"Maybe we can change our perspective¡­" Lucien tried to be euphemistic.
Fernando curled his lip and said, "Maybe he's the only one who can say these things without being affected. Go ahead. Let's see what the formula is."
Lucien was a bit nervous. If the formula was again the same as what Lucien learned in the world that he originally came from, a world-shaking finding would be approaching them.
"¡­This is my formula. But it only works with short waves. As for the calculation of long waves, it has failed¡­" Lucien was totally shocked. The formula was the same!
Maybe the data collected was not accurate? Lucien could not help wondering. The closer they were to the answer, the more nervous and suspicious Lucien felt.
"It works¡­ with short waves¡­? So, Particle Theory can lead to a formula that works with short waves¡­" murmuring, Fernando was confused.
Lucien stayed focused and started to verify the two formulas in his mind using the two theories. Meanwhile, his heart beat faster and faster. He felt that a corner of the world's truth was going to be revealed.
Was the constant going to be the same?
According to Lucien's understanding, if there was a big difference between the two worlds, the physical constants should be different as well, which was possibly the reason why magic existed in this world. However, if the physical constants were the same, Lucien should be still in the same universe, unless there was something else that he did not understand!
After a while, when Lucien just finished verifying the formula using Particle Theory, Fernando finally calmed down a bit, "Write back to Douglas and attach my formula in the letter. See what he says. Also, copy the letter to Brook, Hathaway, Oliver, Hellen, and Vicente. Give them both of the formulas."
Lucien stopped thinking and tried to slow down his heartbeat. He pointed at the other letter on the table and said, "Mr. Brook also sent a letter here."
"Open it," said Fernando briefly.
Lucien read the letter at a moderate speed, "¡­Based on your data, I've worked out an empirical formula from the Equipartition Theorem. But the formula is ridiculous. It only works with calculating long waves, but it's like a disaster when it comes to short waves¡­"
The letter was basically the same as what Fernando just said, and so was the formula Brook provided.
Fernando remained silent for quite a while. And then he said in a low voice, "Write the letters as I said. I need some time to think."
Then, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair.
After Lucien finished writing the letters and gave them to the Adamantium Golem, he also started working on verifying the other formula.
Time passed by. The other formula, after being verified, still remained exactly the same as Fernando's and Brook's answer.
Lucien's mouth was a bit dry. His heart was beating fast again. Lucien was very nervously waiting for the answer. Staying focused and calm, he started to put the two formulas together to make it fit both of the scenarios. When doing this, everything faded away from Lucien, except the voice of demon and devil lingering in his ears, which made him feel dizzy from time to time.
Lucien's black eyes became cold. He was totally dedicated, and the formula slowly came into being.
...
In the headquarter office of Arcana.
Drummond pushed open the office door and pointed at the couch, "Ms. Isabella, please."
Isabella was wearing a long, light green dress, decorated with fine laces and designed pleats. There was also a nice-looking floppy hat on her head. A long, light-purple ribbon banded her hair.
Taking off the hat, Isabella handed it to her student, Rachel. There was a gentle smile on her face, and her blue eyes showed her sincere appreciation, "Drummond, thank you very much."
"I was just pushing it a little bit. Most importantly, those grand arcanists want you to win the Laurel." Drummond smiled and pointed at the upper floor, "Also, your research findings deserves the prize."
Isabella was a typical Holm beauty. She had black hair and blue eyes, looking rather elegant and well-mannered. She slightly shook her head and said, "There are still lots of people who oppose my finding like it's always been. In the past, countless arcanists missed the Laurel. Without your help, maybe I would also be one of them."
"Don't doubt yourself! You finding's a huge progress! Think about the influence your paper has brought to the Congress. Most sorcerers needed to admit that the paper has made a great contribution to including Illusion into the arcana system!" Drummond seemed to be a bit worked up. He was totally on the side of the Congress, and also a determined arcanist. He disliked the division between the organizations and groups a lot, especially Family of Sorcerer, the typical conservative and old-fashioned one following the ancient tradition.
...
About twenty floors above the headquarter office of Arcana, Lucien had finished putting together the two formulas. The formula looked so familiar to him that he felt difficult to breathe properly.
After a few minutes, he finally started to bring the sample data into the combined formula.
As Lucien knew that, for the first time, he was going to see part of the truth of the world, he was so nervous and anxious that he was experiencing auditory hallucination as if horrible enemies were trying hard to make him distracted.
"Stop! Stop right now!" The devils in the abyss were shouting. They were going to tear Lucien apart with their sharp claws!
"Stop what you are doing! I'll give you power and wealth and anything else you want in the world!" The demons from the hell were also terrified. They wanted to lure Lucien.
"My child, come here. This is the bosom of the mother, the bosom that once hugged every deity. You will enjoy the eternal peace and happiness here!" said the angel to Lucien mercifully.
These words failed to get in Lucien's ears. He only cared about the constant.
...
In the headquarter office of Arcana.
Standing beside the window, Drummond stared at the pedestrians as small as the ants down there on the streets and said to Isabella confidently, "This is another major victory of arcana. Your name and your contribution will be remembered by the whole magic world and the history."
"This is a wonderful era for arcana." Isabella smiled sincerely.
...
"Maggot! Trivial human beings! I'm gonna kill you and take out your guts! I can smell your blood!"
"Anyone who does not show respect to the demon shall be punished by destiny!"
"You profaner! The origin of the evilness in the world! You shall stop now, or you'd bear endless agony!"
These were all the different voices in Lucien's ears.
Lucien was only a step away from the final answer. He paused a bit and then broke through the barrier.
The demons, devils, and angels all burst out the sharp scream and they melted like the piles of snow under sunlight.
Lucien saw the constant. The familiar constant now looked very creepy.
The constant¡­ was the same as the one from the Earth?
It was the same!
All the illusions broke into pieces. Begging for mercy, the angels and demons disappeared completely. The world went back to normal.
However, in Lucien's eyes, everything looked different now!