Time passed unnoticed, and in the blink of an eye, Leilin had been living beside the black rock for five days.
Over those five days, Leilin had employed every method he had ever learned to probe the rock, and had finally found some flaws.
Leilin could now confirm that within this rock, there was indeed a Wizard's defensive magical array, and it was in a damaged state.
By his estimates, this array had been running for over a hundred years.
The damage might have been related to the Manxter Giant Serpent's earlier escape.
"The magical array was partially destroyed by the giant serpent from the inside, which allowed these traces to leak out. Otherwise, even with my Chip, finding this place wouldn't have been so easy!"
A look of delight appeared on Leilin's face.
Based on his experience over these days, he had already worked out a set of spells with a seventy to eighty percent chance of opening the laboratory door.
However, the flaws in the magical array only appeared at specific times, and Leilin still had to wait.
The sun gradually set, and the surroundings sank into shadow.
Although the Withered Forest would gradually recover now that the Manxter Giant Serpent was dead, it would take at least over a hundred years. For now, the Withered Forest still appeared deathly silent—so quiet it was suffocating.
Leilin paid no mind to any of it. He found a flat stone on his own and began mixing potions on top of it.
Moonlight descended, quickly shrouding the forest in a silver glow. The moonlight tonight was particularly bright—it was a full moon! And within the lunar radiance, there was a faint tinge of orange.
Leilin opened the pocket watch he carried with him. "It's almost midnight!"
He stood and walked to the black rock. As the full moon's light fell upon its surface, the dark stone skin suddenly flaked away, revealing silver veins inside that pulsed continuously, as if gathering the moonlight.
"Now!" Leilin's eyes lit up as he poured the freshly prepared potion onto the rock's surface.
Ssssh!!! A large amount of white mist rose up, exposing corrosion marks on the stone surface as the silver veins went into disarray.
"Karamanda..." Leilin softly chanted the incantation, his voice low and deep, like a woman's whisper.
As the incantation echoed, the silver veins gradually stabilized, continuously rearranging themselves until they formed the shape of a circular doorway.
Seeing this, a hint of delight appeared in Leilin's eyes. The incantation's cadence changed—rapid and urgent—as he continuously tossed materials into the portal.
Boom! As Leilin's final incantation trailed off, the massive black rock had completely transformed. Near where Leilin stood, the silver doorway had vanished, replaced by a dark, yawning opening.
"They even made a fake passage!" Leilin shook his head and shrugged.
Perched on his black robe was a black raven, its eyes gleaming with intelligence.
"By borrowing the spell's effect, I can use this raven to enter the laboratory for a short time. Whatever it sees will be relayed back to my eyes!"
Leilin closed his right eye and gently brushed his hand over the raven's head. The raven let out a cry and flew straight into the dark opening.
Behind Leilin's tightly shut right eye, images suddenly appeared before him.
It was as though he himself were flying, the scenery below materializing in his mind one scene at a time.
The passage was short, and after a moment the raven flew out the other end.
What Leilin saw next was a small villa-like house that suddenly appeared before him, its walls shimmering with magical light.
Green vines crawled across the walls, with red flower buds scattered among them.
"This is..." Shock appeared in the raven's eyes. "Devil's Vine and Bone-Eating Flowers? I thought they had gone extinct. I never expected to find them here!"
Near the villa's main gate, there was a round hole in the wooden door, about the size of Leilin's palm—presumably the spot where the juvenile Manxter had escaped.
Not far from the hole, on steps made of grey stone, there lay a skeleton wearing a black robe!
"Judging by the skeleton's posture at the time of death, this was obviously a Wizard Apprentice like me who stumbled upon this place and was killed here while trying to enter the villa!"
A chill ran through Leilin's heart. He maneuvered the raven to land beside the skeleton and nudged it with its black talons.
Clatter! A small pile of items tumbled out from beneath the black robe.
A book, several sheets of yellowed parchment, a collection of bottles and jars, and a brass ring engraved with a symbol resembling the letter "k."
"This seems to be some kind of identification!" Leilin casually fiddled with the ring before moving to the book.
Using a feather, he brushed the dust from the book's surface, and a line of ornate text appeared before his eyes.
"This script? It seems to be ancient Goblin! I've seen it in the library!"
Leilin was momentarily stunned, then began deciphering the text in the book: "Gob... Goblin! Goblin Alchemy, by Duoluoer!"