Chapter 69. Discovering Traces

Night, and all around was still! Withered old trees dotted the surroundings, and on their branches a few Crows were preening their feathers.

Crack!!

The grass beneath the trees was swept aside, revealing a dark passage.

Leilin was cloaked entirely in a black robe that concealed his face, making his features impossible to discern.

In the manor not far away, a few lights still flickered. The patrolling mercenary guards had no idea that their master had already slipped away in secret.

In Leilin's laboratory, there was a hidden passage leading directly to the outside, one he had arranged himself. No one else knew about it.

"Since that Manxter Giant Serpent was an experimental subject, there must be a Wizard's laboratory nearby! Moreover, the fact that the Manxter Giant Serpent camped in the Dark Night Forest for years without any Wizard coming to retrieve it can only mean one thing!"

Leilin's eyes flashed. "That laboratory must have already been abandoned! The Wizard inside, due to some other circumstance, was unable to keep watch — or may already be dead! That's what allowed the giant serpent to escape!"

For Wizards, exploring ruins had always been one of their greatest passions.

Remnants of ancient Wizards, the laboratories of official Wizards, and similar places often left behind many rare experimental materials, advanced fields of research, powerful spells and magical artifacts — things every Wizard dreamed of obtaining.

There was no shortage of stories about some Wizard Apprentice who had been utterly worthless, only to discover a ruin and strike it rich overnight.

Of course, there were just as many tales of failed explorations, ending with nothing but corpses left behind by ancient mechanisms and curses.

But for Wizards, exploring ruins was still a highly profitable endeavor.

For a Wizard's laboratory capable of producing a half-grown Manxter Giant Serpent, even the smallest thing that trickled out could make Leilin instantly wealthy, granting him rare materials and knowledge that would pave the way for his future advancement to official Wizard.

"Since I've found traces — I absolutely have to check out that laboratory!"

Leilin's gaze was resolute. He did not fear adventure, especially when the risk was low and the reward was high.

For this expedition, he had prepared many items specifically, enough to handle any sudden crisis.

As for those subordinates? They were liable to leak information, and under the traps of an official Wizard, even Knights were nothing more than slightly larger ants — completely useless. Leilin had chosen to keep even his own people in the dark.

Leilin traveled through the night. With no outsiders around, he could employ many methods freely.

A splash of green potion hit the ground, releasing a ripple of green wind-element energy particles that enveloped his body. His entire form seemed to transform into a gentle breeze, vanishing into the night.

What Leilin used was an acceleration potion he had formulated over the past few years.

As an excellent Apothecary, Leilin was equally adept at using potions whether for travel or combat.

The original cavern — the place where Leilin and the others had fought the Manxter Giant Serpent.

The severed limbs on the ground and most of the serpent's body had already been transported back to Polar Night City by people sent from the city lord's manor. All that remained were the pockmarked ground and traces of fire and ice, still telling the tale of how fierce the battle had been.

"I already recorded the previous situation with the crystal ball issued by the Academy. As proof of task completion, it should be more than sufficient."

During the last battle, Leilin had used a crystal ball to record most of the details of this exploration mission, particularly the Manxter Giant Serpent's corpse at the end.

With some materials from the corpse and the crystal ball's recorded proof, Leilin's mission in Polar Night City could be considered successfully completed.

But he had no intention of leaving.

Setting aside the fact that the Black Bone Forest Academy was currently mired in war, even if a victor had already been decided, Leilin did not want to return during this period.

He had just successfully developed an alternative formula for the Azure Potion and was using potions to push himself toward Third-rank Apprentice — how could he dare return to the Academy and expose himself now?

In Polar Night City, Leilin had not seen a single official Wizard, which meant he could carry out his experiments and advancement in peace.

After three years, the war at the Black Bone Forest Academy would certainly have settled, and with a three-year buffer, even though Leilin's advancement to Third-rank Apprentice would still be fast, it would seem far less conspicuous!

By then, with some other excuses, it would be easy to gloss over everything.

As for the apprentice corpses on the ground, they had naturally already been inspected by Leilin. After collecting everything of value, he had left with the gravely injured Jackson and Meierfeile.

"But that bunch of apprentices were all penniless — no more than ten Magic Stones at most! Only that half-beast Wizard Apprentice had one Cold Ice Alchemical Rune, which was a decent find!"

Leilin grumbled inwardly as he made his way to the center of the cavern.

Under the glow of the flash jellyfish overhead, the entire cavern was brightly lit. Leilin could see that on the ground at the center, a ring of track-like impressions was clearly visible — traces left by the Manxter Giant Serpent from years of coiling there.

"It actually pressed such deep marks — the Manxter Giant Serpent really is as lazy as the books say!"

Leilin crouched down and ran his fingers over the soil inside the imprint.

"Chip! Record the composition!"

"Recorded. Compared to standard soil sample data in the database, the target contains an additional 0.005% material residue. Preliminary assessment: Donuo Alloy."