“Mage Felic, what do you mean?” Kayla’s smile stiffened.
“Mage Kayla, please don’t be mistaken. I don’t have anything against you…” Lin Li replied with a sincere smile, but the words that came out of his mouth nearly caused Kayla to vomit blood. He continued humbly, “I only feel that such a simple and worn-out cave is not suitable for people with high status. I heard that there’s this Undead Palace in the Shadowglen. Why don’t you live there tonight? The time now is still early, so if you rush there now, maybe you can reach there by dinnertime…”
“…” Mason was listening by the side. He nearly choked on his saliva.
“Mage Felic, you must be joking…” Kayla let out a nervous laughter. The ends of his lips curved as though he had infantile paralysis.
“What?” Lin Li stared at him with a shocked expression, and continued, “Does Mage Kayla has such high expectations that he does not take any fancy to the palace? I’ve heard that a monarch of the undead lived there before though…”
“This fella, you are going overboard!” Before Kayla could react, the short mage beside him stood out and pointed a finger at Lin Li face. He came so close that he nearly poked him.
Lin Li looked at that short and thick finger, and vaguely recalled that this short mage was one of Kayla’s followers, named Fedrick…
“You’re Mage Fedrick, right? Could I trouble you to move your finger away by a teeny weeny bit?”
Instead of putting away his finger, Fedrick came closer to Lin Li, and while he scolded him harshly, his saliva landed on Lin Li’s face.
“F*CK! You are just a level-seven mage, how could you be so cocky? If not for Mason, do you think Boss Kayla would waste his time here and listen to your crap? Scram when we ask you to, don’t wait until—”
The moment the short mage spoke his first line, the cave was filled with tension. Embarrassment appeared on Kayla’s face. He did not expect that a matter that would bring benefits to both parties would become so difficult…
But forget it… he would let Fedrick teach that impolite dude a lesson.
And Mason was just stupefied at what he saw.
He was so amazed by Fedrick. What a talent…
To point a finger at Felic! Does he feel that his finger is too long…
Does he not know that he is standing before a monster?
At that moment, not just Mason, even Orrin looked at that short mage with pity…
“Let me repeat… Mage Fedrick, could I trouble you to move your finger away…” Lin Li requested calmly.
“You motherf— aaah!” Before the short mage could complete his sentence, he saw a ball of fire rising up. What was next was a hammering pain on his hand. Before he could understand what had happened, the finger he used to point at Lin Li was alight with fire…
“Moron,” said Mason and Orrin in unison.
Kayla was utterly stunned by what he saw. Never would he have expected that the level-seven mage could use a grade-two magic spell—the Instant Flaming Hands. Not to mention a level-seven mage, even if it were him, he might not succeed in casting the spell instantaneously every single time…
At that point of time, Kayla didn’t know if he should cry or laugh.
His plan was that after Fedrick punished that cocky fella, he would step forward to mediate, and guilt-trip Mason with their relationship. After all, how could a mere level-seven mage create much commotion in the Shadowglen? At that time, not only would those insensible people volunteer to move out themselves, that dude would not even dare to reject their request of him leaving that cave…
But he only guessed the ending right.
Someone was indeed punished, but the man was Fedrick…
“AH!” Fedrick shrieked in pain again suddenly. That sound brought Kayla back to the present. Then, he started to recite a spell before his magical staff produced liquid for him to extinguish the fire on Fedrick’s finger.
“To be honest, I couldn’t believe it…” Lin Li grinned as he waved the smoke off his hand before bending down to look at the short mage.
Fedrick’s nearly entire arm caught fire, and the cold water from Kayla aggravated his pain. A series of ear-piercing cries continued; how would Kayla have the time to react to Lin Li’s gibe? Furthermore, he would not have the courage to speak against him. What if he were to lose his life due to that?
“Ooops, sorry, I guess I’ve exerted too much force.” After giving Fedrick a scare, Lin Li stood up to apologize. Yet, he was still full of smiles.
“…” Kayla was so furious that he felt like puking blood. How was that an apology? That was like slapping Kayla right after Fedrick without even changing his hand. To Kayla, nothing was as humiliating as that. But facing this insult, he could only choose to swallow his rage.
The world of mages had always been a cruel one. Whoever was more able in his skills would have more say in matters. Kayla understood that not only did he not have the ability to summon the Instant Flaming Hands like Lin Li, he also could not deal any injury to a level-10 mage just with a raise of an arm. Thus, he did not have any right to avoid Lin Li’s slap.
In contrast, he needed to lower down his tone and make explanations. “Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, that was really a misunderstanding. Mage Felic, please don’t take it to heart…”
Lin Li was still all smiles when he replied, “Mason Kayla, you must be kidding. Since you are brother Mason’s friend, what misunderstanding could there be? Do I look like that type of petty people that would put such a trivial matter to heart?”
“…” Kayla was on the verge of spitting his saliva onto Lin Li’s face.
Dammit, how are you not a petty man? Fedrick only said a few lines, and you already used the Flaming Hands on him?
Of course, Kayla would not dare to say that out loud. That was an unpredictable dude. What if he smashed the Flaming Hands onto his face if he were to say any word wrongly?
“Oh, yes. Mage Kayla…” Lin Li smiled as he brought the topic back before continuing his speech with utmost sincerity, “What do you think of my suggestion? To say the truth, I feel that this cave is a tad too small…”
“…” The smile on Kayla’s face froze. After hesitating for a while, he squeezed out some friendliness, and said with great care, “This… Look, Mage Felic, it’s the last day of the mission, and Fedrick is injured too. Could you just let us stay here for the night?
“Of course not,” Lin Li replied without thinking at all. He rejected it straightforwardly. “Larry is not in good health, what if he caught a cold from sleeping outside the cave?”
Facing Lin Li’s pressure, Kayla had no choice but to submit to him. He clenched his teeth, and said, “We will stay outside the cave!”
After saying that, Kayla looked at Lin Li again.
Do you have anything else to rebut me with? Since Shadowglen is not your house, even if you could prevent me from living inside the cave, you have no right to decide where I stay!
“You can’t do that,” said Lin Li. Who knew that he would reject this suggestion right away as well? He continued, “Hey, look. I’m a light sleeper, and I’ll get insomnia from the sound of snoring. What if you are noisy at night?”
“F*ck…” Kayla was on the verge of vomiting blood from debating with Lin Li again.
“Mage Felic, are you trying to provoke us?” Sarsen finally spoke, but his question was extremely confrontational. He was a level-13 mage, after all. The Instantaneous Flaming Hands was not a threat to him. To him, only Gryffindor was qualified to be his opponent among all the participants of the trial. This arrogance allowed him to hold back his frustration until then. Or else, he would never care to give any verbal threats to anyone.
However, the progress of the matter finally exceeded the limits he could tolerate. Sarsen did not mind teaching that cocky fella a lesson personally.
“You’re not happy?” asked Lin Li. That was the only thing he said when he turned around. The tension had reached the max now.
Kalya could not help but gasp…
Never would he believe that that fella had the balls to defy Sarsen, and with such provocative words!
Who was Sarsen? He was a rare genius coming from Nightfall City, and the man who could pose a threat to Gryffindor.
“Felic—” Mason said as he pulled on Felic’s sleeves. He wanted to remind his teammate of Sarsen’s abilities.
Before Mason could complete his sentence, the Mental Protection Field at the entrance shook with a great force.
What followed was Lin Li’s change in expression. He knew better than anyone else that the Mental Protection Field he’d put up was a high-grade magewealth. It would not bulge if it were to come in contact with normal spells. From the impact that was just created, he could tell that it was a Mental Spell of at least level-eight.
“Let’s go and have a look first.” Lin Li grabbed his Winter Staff, and dashed to the mouth of the cave, leaving behind a baffled Sarsen.
The moment Lin Li exited the cave, Orrin and Mason followed suit immediately. The trio had always been moving together. Naturally, they understood Lin Li’s actions more than anyone else. It had to be a terrifying thing to be able to change Lin Li’s expression. They grabbed their staffs without any delay.
The moment Lin Li set foot out of the cave, he heard a low voice from afar that was not the usual recitation for spells. The sound was mellow and distant, and underlying it was a tinge of sinister and deadly force.
As the recitation continued, black smoke clouded the air. A huge amount of Death Energy filled the surroundings, and a dark figure started to emerge from the black smoke. From afar, it seemed to be a ghost in a dark night.
“Why are we so unlucky…” Mason complained as he followed behind them. Right after he saw that the figure had a Bone Staff and it was Death Energy that it was emitting, Mason was terrified. He started stuttering, “T-t-that’s a freaking lich!”
“Troublesome.” It was rare for Orrin to frown.
Since even Orrin showed signs of disapproval, it was obvious that the undead creature was an extremely troublesome one.
The birth of the undead creatures was a slow and complicated process. There were many different conditions required to birth one creature. If any of the factors were to be absent, it would be impossible to breed a true undead creature.
No one could define how complicated such a process was—not even a wise and knowledgeable man like Andoine.
The only thing certain about those creatures was that their power would be determined by that from their previous life.
For example, the most common creatures in the Shadowglen would be Skeletal Warriors. In their previous life, most of them were adventurers with their own skill set and fighting abilities. After death, and under the influence of the massive aura of death in the Shadowglen, they got converted into Skeletal Warriors very quickly.
And what was more powerful than the Skeletal Warriors would be Hell Ghouls. They were usually the reincarnation of mages, and their levels were decided by the level the mage was at when he died.
If nothing were to go wrong, mages who were above level-10 would generally transform into Hell Ghouls. Compared to Skeletal Warriors, Hell Ghouls were a more powerful existence. They retained a small amount of magical knowledge from their previous life, and were to a certain extent intelligent as well. With those abilities, they would be able to achieve breakthroughs and upgrade themselves into a real Lich!
As for mages who were at least level-15, they had great possibility of becoming a Lich immediately.
A Hell Ghoul and a Lich only differed by one level.
Yet it was that single level that classified them into high-grade and low-grade monsters.
One would only become a high-grade undead creature after becoming a Lich.
The Hell Ghouls, on the other hand, retained a small portion of magical knowledge. Apart from summoning Skeletal Warriors, they only knew a limited number of low-grade magical spells. On top of that, they had weak cognitive ability. If they were to meet enemies a little slyer than them, they would naturally be at the losing end.
But for Liches, it was another matter.
Especially the Archmages—they’d transform into Liches immediately after death. Not only would the knowledge they gained stay with them, they would also be mightier than a normal Archmage. Their accumulation of the Death Energy and the proficiency in the spells of the undead—particularly in the mental field—would make them the master of everyone!
And because of that, their intelligence was no different from a normal human being’s. Their long lifespan as undead would give them unlimited time for rationalizing. A Lich that had lived for a hundred years would be like a living encyclopedia, and the amount of knowledge it had would intimidate everyone.
If possible, Mason would rather be faced with 10 Hell Ghouls than one Lich…
But unfortunately, there were just some things that he could not choose not to deal with.
While the mellow recitation continued, black smoke moved towards the Lich. Everybody knew that that Lich was absorbing the Death Energy—it was a skill that empowered them to become a high-grade undead creature.
Its abilities would increase at the rate of its absorption of the Death Energy.
After its energy had reached the maximum capacity, what they need would just be one favorable circumstance. With that opportunity, they would be able to transcend into a higher-grade being.
Since there had been a battle between the undead near the cave, there were countless dead bodies—many Hell Ghouls, numerous low-grade Vampires, countless Death Knights, and of course… a level-18 Vampire. To any undead creature, the energy they’d left behind would be a deadly temptation…
Unfortunately…
The Death Energy got wiped off by Lin Li’s crystal the moment it was released, and its remnants would be far from meeting the needs of a Lich…
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