Magician

The curious pair, one big and one small, did not foolishly rush out. Instead, they hid in the Deep Forest at the edge of the Mine and continued observing.

They were waiting for the best opportunity—the darkest hour before dawn. At the same time, they could figure out what this adventuring party was after.

Smack! "Get back to work! Stop slacking!"

The Overseer Adventurer, wielding a long whip, struck the miners from time to time. A twisted smile hung on his face; he clearly enjoyed bullying the weak.

"Eat! Drink!"

Most of the adventuring party's members sat around the campfire, eating and drinking, stuffing themselves with meat and gulping down wine. The miners' gazes would occasionally drift over, filled with longing.

"Once we finish this job, I'm retiring and going home to marry a wife..."

"What kind do you like..."

Two adventurers who appeared to be on watch were chatting and shooting the breeze, showing none of the seriousness expected of guards.

Bang bang bang...

Crack crack...

Clatter clatter...

Amid the sounds of broken stone, the miners were drenched in sweat and occasionally lashed. Yet they dared not voice their anger. Without even time to rest, they could only dig with all their strength. They were no longer mining Lapis Lazuli; it was more like they were searching for something buried deep underground.

John and Parr watched everything happening in the Mine from the Deep Forest. Parr was just looking around blindly, while John used his experience to gauge the adventuring party's strength and planned how to deal with them at the least possible cost.

Second by second, time passed. Then suddenly, the tightly shut wooden door of the largest cabin in the Mine was pushed open from within.

Creak~

Bang! Bang! Bang! An enormously obese purple-haired woman emerged, her rolls of fat seeming ready to burst apart the white robe draped over her body. Every step she took made the ground boom, her flesh jiggling wildly, creating an overwhelming visual impact.

Mother of God!

Parr cried out in his heart. Everything in the Mine was as bright as day beneath his Dark Vision, allowing him to clearly see the woman's terrifying visage. Without exaggeration, in both this life and his previous one, this was the first time he had ever seen a woman so fat and so ugly.

But that was not even the worst part. The most eye-searing thing was that her robe was unbuttoned, and she wore nothing underneath. As for the visual impact... John's reaction said it all.

"Urgh~"

John reacted violently, turning his head and dry-heaving. Fortunately, the adventuring party's sentries were not doing their jobs properly, or the two of them might have been discovered.

"What a monstrosity!"

John wiped the corner of his mouth. Having seen countless women, he now wanted to gouge out his own eyes. How was he supposed to look directly at the women who brought him some small comfort during his travels in the future?

The adventuring party members handled it a little better, but their mouths still twitched when they saw such an uninhibited woman. They all lowered their heads and did not dare look again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The Fat Woman walked to the edge of the Mine Pit as though no one else were there and squinted as she surveyed the area by the light of the surrounding campfires.

Chatter chatter chatter...

The moment they noticed her arrival, all the miners began trembling as if the Fat Woman were some man-eating monster. The Overseer Adventurer also stopped whipping them to urge them onward, because he knew now was not the time.

"..."

The Fat Woman carefully inspected the miners, passing over those who were ugly and old. She liked young, handsome men, but these were miners who had toiled for most of their lives. How could there possibly be any...

There really was one! Among the miners was a relatively handsome young man with black hair. He hid behind an old miner with his head lowered, but the sharp-eyed Fat Woman still spotted him.

"Hehehe."

The woman's fat face trembled as she revealed a satisfied smile, then raised a hand and pointed at the black-haired youth.

"Him."

"Yes."

The Overseer Adventurer holding the long whip nodded. Then he flicked his whip, which coiled around the young man's neck like a nimble serpent. With a flex of his thick arm, he yanked the youth forward.

But while the young man was suspended in midair, he suddenly hurled the pickaxe he had been tightly clutching in his left hand at the Fat Woman. At the same time, he raised his right hand, gripping a sharp piece of Lapis Lazuli, and thrust it straight at the Overseer Adventurer's eye.

Bang! Bang! The spinning pickaxe was blocked by a white barrier that appeared over the Fat Woman's body, while the young man was slammed to the ground and subdued by the Overseer Adventurer.

The reason was simple: the Overseer Adventurer was a Bronze-level Knight among this group.

"Not bad! Not bad! A Peak Apprentice too."

The Fat Woman walked up to the young man, whom the Overseer Adventurer had seized, and lifted his head. Pinching his chin, she examined him from side to side, becoming even more satisfied.

Ptooey! "You fat hag!"

The young man suddenly spat at her and cursed. He knew he would not survive today, so he might as well vent his anger.

"Got spirit. I like it."

Rather than becoming angry, the Fat Woman smiled even more happily. She raised a hand and pressed it against the young man's forehead. A white triangular Magic Array appeared in her palm, shrank, and imprinted itself in the center of his forehead.

"Argh..."

The young man let out a scream, then lowered his head. At that point, the Overseer Adventurer released him, but he did not run.

"Come."

The Fat Woman turned and left. The young man followed behind her with his head lowered, step for step. It looked like he had been controlled.

Chatter chatter chatter...

The other miners who witnessed this trembled even more violently, their teeth chattering as they lowered their heads and did not dare look again. Only after the Fat Woman took the young man back into the cabin did the miners resume work beneath the Overseer Adventurer's whip.

"This is troublesome!"

In the Deep Forest, John sighed. Parr tugged at his clothes and said, "Uncle John, that woman is a Magician!"

"Yes. That's exactly why I said it's troublesome!"

John nodded, then stepped back to a tree and opened the small bundle piled beside the large pack. He began putting on light armor. For the sake of mobility, he had not intended to wear armor at all, but now that a Magician had appeared, it was safer to put on the light armor.

Seeing how serious John looked, Parr could not help asking, "Uncle John, are Magicians really that scary?"

Thump thump!

After putting on the light armor, John hopped a few times before answering, "Not scary—troublesome. You can't judge a Magician's profession by rank alone. No one knows how many tricks a Magician has or what strange spells they know. They're a real pain to fight."

"I see!"

Parr gained a preliminary understanding of a Magician's strength. Seeing that John had no intention of giving up, he would keep following him. "Kid, take this. We might have to rely on you once the fighting starts."

Fully equipped, John took out the Church's Honorary Knight Badge and handed it to Parr. Then he led Parr back to the spot where they could see the Mine and pointed at the cabin the Fat Woman had entered.

"Now that we know there's a Magician, we have to take her out first. We'll sneak around, rush into the cabin, and I'll draw her attention and break her shield. You watch for an opening and deliver the killing blow."

"Mm-hmm."

Parr nodded without objection. The two planned to continue waiting for the best chance, but at that moment, they saw the cabin door open again.

Creak...

The controlled young man came out dragging two corpses wearing Azure Stone City Patrol Team uniforms, then tossed them to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Just like the corpses hanging from the thick wooden pole, these two were nothing but skin and bones, as though they had been drained dry.

Clap clap!

The young man clapped his hands and returned to the cabin. Having seen everything, John pulled Parr back. He was preparing to make his move.

"We can't wait any longer, or another person will die."

Rustle...

Swish swish...

Under the faint glow of the waning moon, the night was particularly dark. A slightly chilly breeze stirred the trees and flowers in the Deep Forest, and the faint sounds it made were barely noticeable. John and Parr took a wide detour around to the back of the Mine's cabin, where they discovered a window.

It was an ordinary wooden window, standing open wide enough for someone to pass through. A soft glow similar to that emitted by the crystals in the Adventurers' Association hall shone out from within.

"Good. We won't need to break through the wall."

John crouched and carefully crept forward, with Parr close behind. The two moved quietly and did not draw the Mine adventurers' attention.

"First step successful!"

With his back against the cabin's outer wall, John edged over to the window and cautiously poked his head inside to assess the situation before deciding what to do next.

"Ugh..."

In an instant, John covered his mouth and pulled his head back. His dark red eyes were wide open, and he looked thoroughly disgusted.

What happened?

The question rose in Parr's mind, and he cautiously leaned over to take a look as well.

"Er..."

Parr froze. What had he seen? No! He had seen nothing!

Parr immediately pulled back his little head and shook it repeatedly. The sight inside was far too shocking. He chose to forget it, or he feared nightmares would wake him in his sleep.

What exactly was happening inside?...

A fist-sized glowing crystal hung from the ceiling, its soft light illuminating every detail of the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Beneath the soft glow, the Fat Woman rose and fell continuously atop the young man. Like a massive iron hammer, she pounded him until the youth—who had regained his senses—stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes. Forget resisting; he did not even have the strength to run. He felt as though his body were being hollowed out.

After a long while, the Fat Woman opened her mouth and let out a satisfied roar.

"Ah..."

What followed was a blood-colored crescent flying in through the window, along with John's hysterical voice.

"You who have made it impossible for me to look at women! I'm going to chop you to death! Take this! Blood Moon Slash!"

Bang! A white barrier appeared out of thin air before the Fat Woman, blocking the Blood Moon Slash and John, who leaped through the window right after it with murder written all over his face and sword raised to strike.

"Who are you?!"

The Fat Woman cried out and tried to stand, but she had just finished strenuous activity. Her obese body became her greatest burden, and for the moment, she had no strength to rise.

"The man who'll kill you!"

John roared, thick Red Battle Qi surging from the sword in his hand.

Bang! Yet the white barrier was unexpectedly sturdy, with only several cracks appearing across it. By then, the Fat Woman had finally recovered from the sudden attack and regained the composure expected of a Two-Star Magician.

"Vinewood Ropes! Air Quagmire!"

The Fat Woman waved out two streaks of white light. One shot into the ground, and the other into the wooden wall. Green and translucent Magic Arrays instantly appeared.