This was a stretch of grassland covered in blood-red herbage.
An elderly wizard with white hair and a kindly smile on his face was walking across the prairie with several apprentices in tow. Each of the apprentices carried a metallic collection container.
"Our existence is dedicated to the pursuit of truth! The path of a wizard is one of ceaseless seeking — studying every object and phenomenon in this world, extracting their underlying laws, and harnessing them for our own use. That is the wellspring of a wizard's power!"
The old wizard walked and lectured his apprentices as they followed behind.
"I've already explained the properties of Blood Vein Grass to you before, but you've only ever seen illustrations and samples. Now I've brought you here, to the original growing environment of Blood Vein Grass, so you can see for yourselves…"
"Arno! Come look — what's different about this Blood Vein Grass compared to the others?"
The elderly wizard addressed a freckled boy among the apprentices.
"Um! It's scrawnier than the others of its kind, and the blood-red veining on its surface isn't very distinct. Maybe it ran into some kind of natural predator during growth… The specific… The specific…"
Arno was still a big kid — a faint tuft of downy fuzz grew above his lip. He stepped forward, reaching his right hand toward the Blood Vein Grass to get a closer look.
Whoosh!
In an instant, a crimson shadow shot out from the Blood Vein Grass with blinding speed, aimed directly at Arno's face!
"Ahhh—" Arno stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground on his rear, his face pale with terror.
Crack! A beam of black light shot from the elderly wizard's hand, smacking the shadow down to the ground.
It was a crimson beetle-like creature, its back mottled with grey spots. Its sharp mandibles glinted coldly, and the teeth — occupying fully half its body — continued to grind against each other.
"That's a Sawtooth Beetle! A natural predator of Blood Vein Grass. It loves to gnaw on the roots. If you're cultivating these plants artificially, you must inspect them every day to guard against this kind of pest…"
"Arno! You didn't even take the most basic precautions during field observation! That kind of carelessness will cost you your life someday!"
The old wizard shook his head and walked off ahead.
Arno's cheeks flushed slightly. He rubbed the back of his head and quickly scrambled to his feet to catch up.
"Hey, big guy! You really lucked out. The Sawtooth Beetle's spiral-saw attack is terrifying — even a Second-rank Apprentice might not be able to handle it. If the instructor hadn't been here, you'd be a cold corpse right now…"
A female apprentice walked past, letting out a disdainful snort.
"Heh heh…" Arno scratched his head, looking rather sheepish.
"Come on. How does someone with this level of intelligence even become an apprentice? It's an embarrassment to the rest of us and to the instructor!" A neatly dressed boy — obviously educated in aristocratic etiquette — strode past, leaving Arno far behind.
"Instructor! Blood Vein Grass can enhance certain physical attributes and acts as a strong lure for certain high-energy creatures. Where it grows is often a feeding ground for those creatures. Shouldn't we be more careful?"
The noble-born apprentice ran up to the elderly wizard.
"Your thinking is sound. However, I investigated before we came. The most dangerous creature here is a Gale Chain Weasel — which falls right at the upper limit of your abilities."
The old wizard nodded, clearly approving of this apprentice.
"While Blood Vein Grass does have some physique-enhancing effects, for us humans the toxins it contains are far too potent. It must undergo detoxification before it can be refined into a potion! Your task now is to gather enough Blood Vein Grass to prepare one standard dose of physique-enhancement serum, and complete the detoxification process!"
The elderly wizard began assigning tasks.
"Understood, Instructor!" The apprentices immediately dispersed with their equipment, maintaining a loose formation centered on the old wizard so he could reach anyone in an emergency.
"Mm." Seeing this, the old wizard nodded with satisfaction.
Whoosh! A Sawtooth Beetle launched itself from a patch of Blood Vein Grass, grazing Arno's cheek and sending him sprawling to the ground again.
"Ha ha! Look at this fool! The instructor just demonstrated that these stunted Blood Vein Grass plants could easily hide beetles inside, and you still went to harvest one!"
The noble-born apprentice happened to be passing by. He raised a hand, murmured a few clipped syllables, and a corrosive sphere shot forth, obliterating the beetle. Then he proceeded to mock Arno without mercy.
"Look at this! I've already almost filled my container with raw materials, and you haven't even finished collecting the base!"
The noble apprentice popped open his own container and held it up得意地 before Arno.
"Never mind him! Levi! Come help me! The roots of this Blood Vein Grass are way too tough!" The same girl from earlier let out an annoyed huff.
"Coming! Coming right away!"
Levi immediately abandoned Arno and hurried over to the girl, eager to curry favor.
Though they were still children, adolescents on the South Coast tended to mature early, and certain signs were already beginning to show.
The elderly wizard watched the scene, a nostalgic gleam in his eyes. "This… is youth," he murmured softly.
He pulled out a pipe adorned with golden trim and began to puff on it. Ring after ring of white smoke drifted up from the bowl.
But at the very moment he was lost in reminiscence, a faint tremor rippled through the ground.
"Hmm? What's this?" The old wizard immediately extinguished his pipe. The abnormality had instantly grabbed his attention.
A few seconds later, the trembling grew stronger and stronger, until eventually the very earth beneath them was shaking violently.
From the distant horizon, a massive horde of strange creatures suddenly appeared — two-headed giant wolves, elk with freakishly overdeveloped limbs, and every manner of high-energy creature, mundane animal, carnivore, and herbivore, all fleeing together in a vast, surging tide.
At the very front of the tide, the old wizard spotted several colossal beasts that radiated a vague but unmistakable sense of threat.
"Gather up! Converge on me!" the old wizard bellowed, his voice cracking with tension.
"What the hell is going on?!"
The noble apprentice Levi raised his head, staring at the scene in shock. In the next instant, he was engulfed by a swarm of Sawtooth Beetles rising from the Blood Vein Grass. The girl who had been with him suffered the same fate. The wet sounds of flesh being gnawed carried through the air without ceasing.
The swarm rose from the grass like clouds of grey dust, merging into a dark mass that joined the stampede as well.
"What's happening? How could an animal stampede occur at this time of year? Is some extremely dangerous creature driving them?!"
The old wizard muttered to himself, not even sparing a glance at Arno, who had fled in a panic and cowered at his feet.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A figure tore through the sky at incredible speed, the twin trails of displaced air leaving long ripples in the void.
"You can't escape!!!"
A thunderous voice boomed from behind the dark figure, and with it, a massive orb of white light materialized in an instant, forming a towering shield.
"Scorching Touch!" The dark figure swept out a hand, and two beams of red light pierced through the shield, blowing two enormous holes in it. But under the white light's constant flickering, the shield's surface quickly mended itself.
Blocked by the shield, the dark figure came to a halt, revealing the form of a young wizard — black hair, handsome yet sinister features.
Behind him, a beam of white light hurtled forward, carrying overwhelming pressure.
Hummm! An invisible energy barrier radiated outward from the beam's center. A domain filled with radiance and beauty suddenly descended upon the land.
"A… a High
The old wizard's jaw dropped and his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Who on earth is he chasing? Could it be another Third-level Lord?!"
The light dissipated, revealing the figure of a wizard with platinum-white hair.
"Leilin the Venomous! You dare slay one of my bloodline! Jonathana may have been trash — but our family's honor will not be sullied!"
Countless rays of light erupted from his body, coalescing into the shapes of countless lances.
"Holy Temple Lances!"
The dense storm of lances rained down toward Leilin like a downpour.
"Gall of Venom!" Leilin spread both hands wide, and a massive wave of corrosive energy surged toward the lances. Sizzle! Thick plumes of white steam rose as the holy-light-forged lances corroded audibly, their shafts pitting and buckling.
But though greatly weakened, the enormous lances still hurtled toward Leilin.
"Scale of Komoyin!" From Leilin's body, countless black scales surfaced, each inscribed with incomplete runes. The dark glow on the scales flared brilliantly, coalescing into a massive shield of defense before him.
Crack! Crack!
The lances pierced through the black runic shield and struck Leilin's body in a dense volley, sending up showers of sparks!
An unnatural flush rose to Leilin's face as his entire body was blasted backward. Mid-flight, he thrust out his hand.
"Shadow Fireball!"
Searing black flames enveloped the earlier shield of light, raging fiercely.
The light shield, already thinned from the Scorching Touch, flickered wildly under the Shadow Fireball's assault before finally shattering completely — dissolving into motes of milky-white light that were immediately seized and consumed by the black flames.
"Domain of Light!" The platinum-haired Third-level Wizard across from him suddenly spread his arms wide in an embracing gesture.
Boom! The barrier of light expanded violently, engulfing Leilin within it.
A tremendous pulling force erupted from the white wizard's body, drawing Leilin steadily closer.
"As expected of a Third-level Wizard. Even though this Light Domain is an artificial imitation, it still suppresses my abilities to some degree!" Feeling the sharp spike in Light-element energy particles in the air and the precipitous drop in Shadow-element particles, Leilin's expression grew even graver.
"Die!"
A sphere of white light brimming with terrifying destructive force rose in the Third-level white wizard's hand, pushing forward toward Leilin.