The eastern sky glowed with a faint white light, and in the morning wilderness, the air was damp and carried a chill.
The events of the previous night felt like a dream. Southwind Outpost had been reduced to complete ruins, with the evil spirit and undead gone without a trace. Only the dried bloodstains buried under the debris and the occasional stench served as proof of how sinister this place once was.
Taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness, Ye Chui, Debbie, Reisha, and Green caught a bit more sleep. Regarding the Dark Magic Book, Ye Chui had a detailed conversation with Jiji, learning about what happened that night. Listening to Jiji’s halting voice as she struggled to explain, Ye Chui and the others’ expressions turned indescribably strange. It turned out the Dark Magic Book had been buried under a pile of junk in the cabin’s hall all along.
Yawning as he crawled out of the tent, Ye Chui saw Green busy by the firepit.
The boy was an excellent logistics member. The aroma of wild vegetable and mushroom soup and bread made Ye Chui’s stomach rumble. After greeting Green, Ye Chui sat at a simple folding table to enjoy a wilderness breakfast. Moments later, Debbie and Reisha emerged from the tent.
As they ate, they discussed the current situation.
First and foremost:
“I think our task reward is definitely gone,” Debbie mumbled, her mouth full of bread. Since the Southwind Outpost bandit-clearing mission was a trap, the issuer was likely one of the dark followers. Claiming payment seemed impossible. While some gold coins could be found on the Blue Fox Mercenary Group members and dark followers in the ruins, those were cursed items, best left untouched.
“We defeated an evil spirit last night. Compared to that great achievement, gold coins are worthless,” Reisha said in her lofty nun’s tone.
“Tch, as if you don’t need to eat,” Debbie shot her a disdainful glance.
Reisha gave a coy smile. “I’ve always eaten lightly, you know.” As she spoke, she deliberately puffed out her ample chest, as if to say she could eat little and still be well-endowed.
This set Debbie off. Swallowing her food angrily, she snapped, “Auntie, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Ye Chui quickly intervened. “Can you two stop arguing? We’ve been through a lot together these past few days.” Debbie and Reisha had been at odds since they met, for reasons everyone understood. He changed the subject. “Old Nun Rosia is the mastermind behind the evil spirit. Since we killed it, she won’t let this go. She might cause more trouble. We need to hurry back and deal with this.”
“Is it because of the old nun?” Reisha’s pretty face showed a hint of worry. Unlike Ye Chui, she felt a certain affection for the kind old woman, having experienced her warmth as a child, though she now knew it might have been fake.
“We’ll set off soon. We need to get to the bottom of this. Last night, I saw the evil spirit’s past. Rosia seems to have read some Dark Bible, and she might have other terrifying methods,” Ye Chui continued.
Reisha trembled slightly at the mention of the Dark Bible, which she hadn’t heard Ye Chui mention last night. Her face paled. “The Dark Bible? That’s the monastery’s forbidden book!”
Ye Chui was about to ask about the ominous-sounding Dark Bible when a sudden “beep beep” came from him. Everyone looked at him curiously.
Ye Chui froze, then summoned his iPad grimoire.
When he saw the notification on the screen, he was stunned. “Bloody hell, someone’s adding me on WeChat!”
[Merlin Nonsidor wants to add you as a friend. Accept?]
Many app spells on the iPad grimoire could be opened but not used, including WeChat. It could be opened but was empty, with no way to add friends or unlock the function. Yet now, Ye Chui had received a friend request!
Merlin Nonsidor… that must be Old Merlin, the keeper of the Magic Tower.
How could he add friends?
Ye Chui hesitated briefly before accepting. His WeChat list now had one friend, with Old Merlin’s white-bearded, white-haired, powerful-mage-like face as the profile picture. Clicking it revealed basic info: address as Elven Prairie, Stan Town; phone number as a string of garbled code; and photo album as private.
As Ye Chui curiously checked his new friend, a crisp notification sounded. A voice message appeared in the chat. Under Debbie, Reisha, and Green’s curious gazes, Ye Chui played it.
“Wade? Is that you? I’ve reached you?”
Ye Chui and his companions were shocked.
His fingers trembling with excitement, Ye Chui pressed the voice button and spoke into his grimoire. “Mr. Merlin, hello.”
“Hello,” Merlin replied.
Ye Chui shifted excitedly in his folding chair, like a teen chatting online for the first time. “Long time no see. What are you up to?”
“I’m… wait, I actually reached you? You’re really Wade?” Old Merlin nearly got swept into Ye Chui’s pace. He hurriedly said, “How is this possible? I was trying to contact the space mage near you. How did I reach you?”
“Maybe my signal’s stronger?” Ye Chui replied.
Merlin fell silent, probably puzzling over what a signal was.
Ye Chui and Merlin’s conversation was audible to the others. As a proper space mage, Green quickly realised something. “Mr. Merlin must be using the intermediate auxiliary spell [Echo of Sound]. It’s said to enable long-distance communication.”
He paused, thinking further.
“But using this spell, if the other party doesn’t know it, communication is limited to a few miles. If they’re also a space mage, it can reach dozens of miles. If both have the spell, it can cover hundreds of kilometres!” He looked at Ye Chui. “Guildmaster, we’re 200 miles from Stan Town! When did you learn [Echo of Sound]?”
“You’re mistaken. I’m not using [Echo of Sound] but the more powerful [WeChat] spell,” Ye Chui explained to Green.
Green looked baffled. “[WeChat]? What spell is that?”
Ye Chui didn’t bother explaining, as he wasn’t sure how to. The apps on his iPad, modified into magical spells, weren’t ordinary elemental spells used by typical mages. He shrugged and sent another voice message. “Mr. Merlin, you contacted us so urgently. What’s wrong?”
Voice messages came back rapidly, reflecting Merlin’s anxious mood.
“Stan Town’s in big trouble!”
“Last night, a group of dark mages suddenly appeared and forcibly took over the town council hall. Half the town guards are dead or injured!”
“Stan Town’s three strongest guilds, due to the Relics of the Gods incident, are nearly disbanded, especially Bullhead and Kiss of the Goddess. The town’s strength is greatly weakened, unable to resist the dark mages!”
“They’re trying to kill Cass. I’m with a few guards protecting him, holding them off for now, but they won’t stop!”
“Stan Town’s in chaos.”
“Wade, as acting mayor of Stan Town, I’m issuing your guild a five-star mercenary task.”
“Eliminate the dark mages. Each one is worth ten gold coins!”
“The task takes effect immediately!”
