Tap, tap, tap—
Dragonhide Combat Boots struck the stone steps and corridors, producing sounds loud enough to draw attention.
The sound bounced back and forth between the walls of the corridor, carrying farther and farther...
Cypher had not done this without reason.
It was like one of the clauses in the contract.
No one was allowed to act with malice against members protected by the contract.
That malice was influenced by subjective intent.
Some evil wizards, for example, believed that sending someone to the afterlife with Avada Kedavra was helping them escape the suffering of life.
At such times, the oath would judge that they were helping rather than acting with malice.
Of course, the remaining wizards here probably were not that extreme.
But the technique of hypnotizing oneself to circumvent the contract's conditions
was no secret among adventurers from all walks of life.
So Cypher had mixed the effects of the Enervation Curse and the Obscuring Curse into his footsteps.
The purpose was to prevent anyone from ambushing him.
He knew that his silent, rapid Shield Charm had intimidated quite a few people who had been itching to make a move.
But once they fought, they would discover that his strength matched his outward appearance almost perfectly.
A few extra tricks could not make up for the gap in magical power.
The first three underground levels were occupied by wizards, leaving no room for other races to survive.
Moreover, the wizards on these three levels appeared relatively civilized.
In other words, there were no bizarre outfits or anything of the sort.
But above the third level, the wizards' appearances began to grow increasingly unrestrained.
Some had replaced an arm with a lizard's forelimb, while others had a fist-sized eyeball like a fly's compound eye embedded in an eye socket...