The sultry night, heavy with a sense of oppression, waited for the downpour to arrive.
Lucian took an entirely different route from last time and spent just over ten minutes making his way to the vicinity of the abandoned house with the tall willow tree out front.
However, Lucian did not step out into the open right away. Instead, he observed from concealment. Standing in the willow's shadow were three figures in black robes, their faces hidden beneath hoods. Judging by their height and build, one was Smale, one was Sage, and the third—Lucian could not be sure which Magic Apprentice he had met before.
He circled through the nearby shadows but found no ambush. Still, he did not let his guard down. After returning to his hiding spot, he reached into the row of small pockets sewn into his belt's inner lining and drew out, with practiced precision, a black, oddly shaped piece of casting material.
Then Lucian opened his mouth as if to recite an incantation, yet no sound emerged. Only the casting material in his palm began vibrating rapidly, faster and faster, as invisible waves rippled outward from it in all directions.
"Bat's Scream"—the first spell Lucian had created entirely on his own.
He had modeled it on the principle of how bats use ultrasonic waves to "navigate"—essentially a biological version of radar. It combined ultrasonic waves with the apprentice-level spell Detect Magic Aura and spiritual energy to scan the surroundings for hidden presences.
When Lucian had learned Detect Magic Aura, he knew that both Magic Apprentices and formal mages had numerous magical means of concealing their own magical aura. But below the sixth circle, every method of masking one's aura required that no beneficial or defensive spells be simultaneously active—unless the effect was permanent. Under normal circumstances, once a concealment spell was cast, it left one vulnerable to other detection methods, which meant Bat's Scream could be enormously useful.
Of course, sufficiently resourceful mages who knew about Bat's Scream in advance could still find ways to evade it. At the very least, Lucian knew one could phase into an incorporeal or spiritual form first and then cast an aura-concealing spell. In mage combat, therefore, choosing the right spell was a significant part of one's overall strength.
If it were not for the fact that apprentice-level spells involving light were exceedingly rare, Lucian would have loved to construct an infrared-type spell for detecting body heat. After all, one more detection spell meant one more layer of safety.
Ultrasound waves spread outward from the black casting material in Lucian's hand like ripples on a pond. Whenever they struck an obstacle, that portion of the wave bounced back to the dark, irregularly shaped orb, and with his spiritual energy focused upon it, a picture of the surroundings gradually formed in Lucian's mind—clear as daylight despite the pitch-black night.
[Within a spherical radius of a hundred meters centered on me, aside from the interior of the house which I can't scan, there are only a few rats with no magical aura.] Lucian assessed the spell's performance and simultaneously lamented that he had not created an infrared spell, which would have let him see inside the house as well. [Wait—there's an owl in that tree. Hmm, it's
Upon seeing it was the crow, Lucian actually relaxed considerably. Based on last time, the crow's master was the cautious sort—someone who would not act without absolute confidence. And during this entire period, Lucian had taken no action and made contact with no one, so he was certain no information had leaked. It seemed the crow's owner still wanted to test and observe him.
Lucian ended the Bat's Scream spell, and the black magical material in his hand withered as if wind-dried, crumbling into a pile of fine sand that drifted down from between his fingers to the ground.
This was the "Bat's Pituitary." Lucian's own spiritual energy was not yet sufficient to sustain ultrasound waves beyond a certain intensity, so he had to rely on the organ of an actual bat as a casting material to complete the spell.
Just as Lucian was preparing to keep observing a while longer—waiting to confirm no other anomalies before stepping out to meet Smale and Sage—another Magic Apprentice suddenly spoke up: "Respected Professor, I believe you must have arrived nearby. Your reluctance to show yourself is perhaps because you spotted me. In truth, the one who discovered the trail of the evil creature this time was my master. He wishes to express his goodwill and hopes to exchange ideas with so learned a mage as yourself."
No amount of deliberate alteration could fully conceal the distinctive husky sensuality of her voice. She was the Magic Apprentice known as "White Honey Sugar."
After hearing her words, Lucian considered for a moment, then emerged from the shadows at the back of the house as though stepping out of the darkness itself, walking slowly toward the base of the willow tree. "Please convey my thanks to your master. I know, of course, that there is a pair of eyes watching us from that tree, but I nonetheless wish to formally express my gratitude through you."
"How did you know, Professor?!" White Honey Sugar nearly forgot to disguise her voice in her surprise. She turned her head to look up at the tree, but in the thick darkness she could see nothing. [How did he detect Ashley? In this darkness, with his aura concealed as well.]
This Professor only grew more mysterious and unsettling in White Honey Sugar's eyes.
The crow looked as though it had been struck by lightning, nearly falling from its branch. It managed to spread its wings in time, circled once, and flew off in another direction.