Chapter 309: Shadow and Fire
Zi suddenly trembled all over, her face flushed red. She heard the whispers. Uncontrollably, Zi tore off the animal skin eyepatch from her right eye with her right hand and opened it fiercely. The ringed hexagram pattern flickered and instantly enlarged.
Boom!
Invisible whispers spread. Zi half-knelt and prostrated, raising both hands high as bloody tears flowed from her right eye.
Without any words, Zi’s actions made all the Luca Alliance tribe members present turn solemn. They followed suit and prostrated on the ground as a dreamscape gradually enveloped the battlefield.
Everyone became muddled, intoxicated in the bizarre and motley dream world. When they woke up, the enemy’s corpses had vanished without a trace, and they remembered nothing of what had happened in the dream.
Zi’s right eye had closed. Ace, inside the dream, observed the changes within. They weren’t very obvious, but he could sense that the dream had become more substantial.
Or rather, the dream was closer to reality, closer to the reality of the Pocket World. A trace of a strange Pocket World rule fragment was condensing within the dream.
“War?”
Ace murmured, sniffing this rule fragment.
Deer woke up from the dream, stunned for a moment, then shouted loudly:
“We united and defeated the Kam Tribe. This is not just a victory for the Luca Alliance over the Kam Tribe, but a victory for the Invisible King over the Harvest King!
“Only unity can make us strong. I propose that the six tribes of the Luca Grassland should become one tribe under the gaze of the Invisible King!”
Eventually, with Zi’s support, the six tribes of the Luca Grassland merged into one, becoming the brand-new Luca Tribe, with the original tribes renamed as clans.
Two years had passed in the Pocket World, while in the Main Material Plane, only two hours had gone by.
High Sin Priest Ambrio, having struck a deal with the Witch, obtained her Deception Powder and quietly infiltrated the High Tower Territory, transforming into a shadow.
The shadow did not trigger any Mana detection reactions, as if it were just a very ordinary shadow.
The black shadow Ambrio was not in a hurry. Hiding in various shadows, he quietly investigated the situation in the High Tower Territory. Just then, a few Shadow Ravens caught his attention.
“Pure shadow, different from gloom, without the rotten stench of the Abyss. Oh ho ho ho, truly fascinating. The little rats let go back then have undergone such astonishing changes.
“They even discovered pure shadow creatures. Too fascinating. Such a beautiful city. If destroyed, the pain would surely bloom like fireworks.”
Ambrio, burning with flames of pain, traveled along the shadow plane and caught a Shadow Raven within the shadows. He sacrificed the Shadow Raven’s True Spirit with the flames of pain, and his entire self turned into flames of pain, surging into the Shadow Raven.
After a while, an ordinary pitch-black Shadow Raven flew out of the shadows, transforming into the most common physical Shadow Raven in the High Tower Territory. In its pitch-black eyes, a flame of pain flashed past.
Intermediate Apprentice Carlo was entertaining his friends in a tavern. He was a legendary figure among the militia.
From an ordinary militiaman to a soldier, then to a militia captain, he finally accumulated enough work points to become a Mental Overdrive user. Recently, he graduated from the Elementary Magic School and became an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice. Among the militia in the port district, Carlo was a living legend of struggle.
“You guys don’t know, the first time I saw a Lich, I was really startled!”
Carlo drank a large mug of beer, burped, and said to his comrades.
“Captain, what exactly does a Lich look like? Can they really live forever?”
“I heard Liches are similar to the Undead. Liches can’t be considered human anymore, right? Do they still have human emotions?”
Carlo waved his hand and said to the others, “Don’t ask so many questions at once. I can’t remember all of them. Liches, ah, are truly very peculiar. I was lucky enough to have shared a desk in class with the Lich Witte!”
Several people gasped and said in unison:
“To share a desk with a Lich, the Captain is simply too amazing!”
Hearing this, the corners of Carlo’s mouth turned up, and he said modestly:
“I’m not amazing. The amazing one is Lord Ace, who could create such a pioneering magic as the Lich Transformation Ritual.
“Although becoming a Lich has many flaws—for example, you can’t eat or speak like a normal person, meditation efficiency drops greatly, and it’s very unsuitable or even impossible to cast spells for certain schools of magic—but a Lich is theoretically an existence that can live forever!
“No matter how many flaws there are, as long as you don’t die, the path will extend continuously, and it is possible to see a more brilliant future for magic!”
The others nodded in agreement. One of them said with slight regret, “It’s a pity I don’t have the talent for Mana Affinity. There’s no way for Mental Overdrive. I’m afraid I’ll never be able to approach the path of magic in my life.”
Carlo gulped down his beer and said loudly:
“Don’t lose heart. Even if you can’t walk the path of magic, you have other opportunities to become extraordinary!
“It is said that Lord Formal Wizard Caruso is conducting research on implanting Monster flesh into the human body, and Lord Ace has recently been researching a method called Blood Qi Awakening. I heard both have achieved certain results.
“In a few more years, there might be mature results!”
Night was gradually approaching. Carlo left the tavern slightly tipsy. With the strength of an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice, if he circulated his Inherent Mana, the slight alcohol would soon be expelled.
But Carlo didn’t want to do that. He felt that drinking with friends would be too boring if he had to use Mana to eliminate the effects of alcohol. The feeling of going home slightly tipsy after a good chat wasn’t bad either.
Carlo lay straight back. The Magic Flying Carpet behind him automatically unfolded, caught him, and carried him leisurely home through the night.
“Almost forgot my Shadow Raven. This was my graduation reward.”
He muttered, activated the contract mark, and called for his Shadow Raven. In his daze, there seemed to be a pair of eyes with eerie flames staring at him. Carlo felt a splitting headache, as if his soul had suffered a heavy blow, and instantly fell unconscious.
On the other side, the Shadow Raven possessed by Ambrio flew quickly in response to the contract call and found the unconscious Carlo. The pitch-black Shadow Raven revealed an eerie smile and let out “caw, caw” sounds.
The Shadow Raven landed on Carlo and gently pecked his body with its beak. With every peck, a wisp of pain fire burned.
The contract mark between the Shadow Raven and Carlo gradually dissipated under the burning flames, and then a new contract mark formed. The raven seemed to have consumed a lot of power and actually panted heavily, anthropomorphically.
It cawed around Carlo, finally turning into a shadow and merging into Carlo’s shadow, hiding from sight.
Carlo felt he had dreamed for a long time. He dreamed that countless ravens with flames on their bodies lunged at him, pecking and biting him. He felt his flesh being burned away bit by bit, as if he had fallen into an eternal nightmare of pain.
Huff, huff!
Accompanied by the dissipation of black flames of pain, Carlo woke up. His expression was very fragile. The soft morning light spilling into the room actually felt somewhat dazzling and scorching to him.
(End of this chapter)
Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com