The Encirclement and Annihilation

"So many crows..."

"It's truly spectacular."

People who have lived in cities for a long time rarely see such a flock of crows. Gazing at the crows, swarming like migrating birds, Conina couldn't help but sigh.

The patch of woods seemed to be glowing, with specks of fireflies shimmering in the gradually dissipating night. From afar, it looked both mysterious and dreamlike.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Having witnessed Sean's incredible magic trick, Johnson's enthusiasm for the woods reached its peak. He impatiently grabbed Jenny's hand and ran towards the forest.

"Hey, wait up, be careful!" Gennardo shouted.

Johnson didn't look back. "It's fine, the intel said the woods are safe."

The intel did say that, but it also mentioned that the young eagle birds in the area only lived in the wild bird forest, and they could get there by taking a detour. So, what was the result?

Words are dead, but forests are alive. Adventure intel is never 100% accurate.

If it weren't for Sean, they might have faced an attack from a flock of young eagle birds, and their chances would have been slim.

But it was precisely because of this that Gennardo didn't know how to advise Johnson against being impulsive.

Sean had personally proven to them that wizards truly existed in this world.

This meant that the rumors about a spring in the woods that could awaken one's magic were likely true as well.

Gennardo's expression was complex. He wasn't an idiot; how could he believe that manipulating fire to kill young eagle birds was merely a magic trick? It was just that this matter exceeded his current understanding, and he found it difficult to accept for a moment.

Wilson's worldview, built over decades, was also shaken. However, his reaction differed from Gennardo's. Amidst the shock, a fervor gradually ignited.

When an ordinary person accidentally encounters the mysterious and the extraordinary, and the opportunity is right before them, how can they overcome the intense curiosity and desire in their hearts and turn a blind eye to it?

They can't.

At least, he couldn't.

"I told you, you might die." Sean reminded them again.

If everyone hadn't taken his words to heart before, they now had to re-examine the warning contained within them. Sean wasn't trying to scare them; touching the mysterious could indeed lead to death, and perhaps he himself had gone through something similar.

But—

"A person can die at any moment."

This time, it was Jim who answered him.

Jim hadn't lost his reason, infected by Sean's "magic trick" and Johnson's fervent emotions. On the contrary, this was a choice he made after consideration. He had once been a mercenary, and even though he had changed professions, he still loved adventure.

And those who love adventure do not stop because of danger.

In this regard, he was the same as Wilson.

That's why they joined the Adventure Club and came to the Black Berry Rainforest.

"You guys think about it slowly, I'm going ahead, heh."

Jim smiled, greeted everyone, and headed towards the woods with his hunting rifle on his back.

Wilson, who had been thinking about the beautiful and fiery Conina, didn't forget to leave her a serious message before leaving: "When I return as a wizard, I'll take you on a more exciting adventure next time!"

Then, he turned around with a flourish and followed in Jim's footsteps.

With the two of them gone, only three people remained in the group of seven.

Conina hesitated, her right eyelid twitching violently.

A woman's curiosity is stronger than a man's. She also really wanted to see if the world truly held such magic, but her intuition told her that Sean was right. Beneath the dreamlike exterior of the woods lay a deadly danger; going there might mean never coming back.

Sean made the decision for her.

Because Conina had always treated him well since they met.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Did you bring rope?"

Conina didn't understand but nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Want to play with bondage?" Sean asked.

Conina: "?"

Gennardo: "Are you asking me?"

Sean: "?"

Conina: "Yes!"

She ignored Gennardo and answered without hesitation, her peach blossom eyes sparkling.

This guy... finally figured it out?

After agreeing, Conina frowned slightly. "Wait, you're not planning to have one last bit of fun before you die, are you?"

Sean: "..."

"If you say so."

Conina didn't understand. "You know there's danger, why do you still want to go? Can't you just not go?"

"No." Sean shook his head.

Those already targeted had no choice, and he was never one to just wait for death.

Sean set up a tent on the spot.

Gennardo scratched his head with slight embarrassment. "Should I step out?"

"No need," Sean said. "Just stand guard outside."

Gennardo: "Huh?"

Was he being asked to eavesdrop?

Conina's face flushed slightly, and she gave Sean a charming, sidelong glance. "You bad boy. I didn't expect you to be so playful beneath that serious exterior. Is this how all you novel writers are?"

Sean's expression remained unchanged. "You can refuse."

"No," Conina said with a shy smile. "Actually, I like it this way too."

Sean: "..."

The tent was quickly set up.

"Do you want to tie me, or should I tie you? I don't mind either," Conina said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Sean, her gaze almost tangible. She took off her jacket, and the mature camisole automatically slid down, revealing her smooth, fair shoulders.

"I'll tie you," Sean said.

"Okay," Conina winked. "Mr. Sean, don't go easy on me."

Sean: "Don't worry, I've never been gentle when I get serious."

Conina thought he was joking, but when Sean actually laid hands on her, she realized he was serious. Without a hint of tenderness, he bound her like a piglet, the two-inch-wide hemp rope digging into her skin, her fair legs squeezed so tightly they formed bulges.

The binding was, in fact, just binding.

Poor Conina had intended to use her body to keep Sean from going on his adventure. She was confident in her skilled techniques and believed she could make Sean unable to extricate himself. But to her surprise, after tying her up, Sean did nothing else. He simply left her in the tent and departed.

Conina: "???"

"Sean, you get back here!"

Sean: "No, I'm done."

Conina: "???"

"I'm not done yet!"

"That's your problem."

Gennardo, who was smoking under a tree, blinked in surprise when he saw Sean emerge. "That fast?"

He pulled a pack of Wild Horse Brand cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Sean. "Want one?"

"Thanks." Sean politely declined and asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

Gennardo didn't answer. He looked towards the dimly lit woods and took a deep, forceful drag from his cigarette, causing him, an old smoker, to cough. Then, with a mix of dejection and relief, he flicked the cigarette butt away and crushed it with his shoe. "Forget it, I won't go."

He smiled. "My husband is waiting for me at home. This life... is pretty good now."

"You've made the right decision," Sean said. He glanced at the tent. "Take her away from here after daybreak. Don't talk to anyone you meet on the way, and forget everything that happened today."

"Okay." Gennardo seemed to have guessed something. His gaze swept over the Wild Horse Woods before returning to Sean. He said solemnly, "I wish you good luck."

"Take care."

"You too."

Gennardo watched Sean leave, his gaze following Sean's straight back as he resolutely moved forward, slowly disappearing into the small woods.

Meanwhile.

A light mist permeated the forest.

Wilson and the others had already found the Spring of Enlightenment.

The spring itself wasn't hard to find.

They were all experienced outdoor adventurers; as long as they heard the sound of water, they could follow it to the source.

It was a beautiful place. Although they saw no signs of mythical creatures like unicorns or elves, there were butterflies, birds, countless fireflies, and fragrant flowers everywhere. Coupled with the swirling mist, it looked like a fairy tale wonderland.

The center of the lawn naturally dipped downwards, collecting clear spring water.

It was already dawn, and the moon in the sky had long since vanished. Yet, beneath this spring, a full moon lay submerged, emitting a faint radiance that brightened the entire pool of water.

"It's so magical."

Johnson exclaimed excitedly, "Do you think there's really a moon hidden underwater?"

Jim joked, "Why don't you try to fish it out and see?"

"I'd better not," Johnson said. "I'm too dirty, I don't want to pollute the spring."

"What should we do now?" Wilson asked expectantly. "Can we just drink it directly?"

Johnson nodded. "Yes, drink it directly."

"My uncle said that as long as someone isn't particularly stupid, drinking the spring water will immediately awaken their cognition, grant them magic, and allow them to see the world in a different light."

As he spoke, he took out a disposable plastic cup, squatted down, filled it, and handed it to Jenny.

"Here you go, sweetie."

It was clear he truly loved this girl; he always gave her the good stuff first.

"Thank you, Ah Qiang," Jenny said with a sweet smile, then suggested, "Why don't we drink it together?"

"I think that's a great idea," Wilson said eagerly. "We can even have a competition to see who awakens first."

"That'll be me, for sure," Johnson said confidently. He poured another cup and called out to Jim, "Come on, let's toast."

"Cheers!"

After clinking their cups, the three of them drank the spring water in their plastic cups in one go.

As the sacred water that had helped countless mortals become wizards, the Spring of Enlightenment's effects were immediate. As the clear, sweet, and refreshing liquid flowed down their throats, Johnson and Jim's consciousnesses immediately blurred. Their eyes closed unconsciously, their muscles relaxed, and the cups in their hands dropped to the ground. Their bodies swayed as if they were drunk, falling into a peculiar state.

Seeing that they had all drunk it and it seemed to work, Jenny gritted her teeth and summoned her courage before drinking the spring water.

Sean arrived a little later. By the time he followed the footprints, the four of them were already having their perceptions reshaped by the Spring of Enlightenment. It was obvious they were all smart—at least not stupid, otherwise, drinking the spring water wouldn't have allowed them to enter a state of "Meditation."

As long as they closed their eyes, it meant they would definitely succeed in awakening.

Unfortunately, this might not be a good thing.

Sean sighed softly.

He hadn't brought a cup, so he had to use his hands.

He looked up at the black crows still circling above like dark clouds, his expression returning to calm. He walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down, cupped the spring water in his hands, and brought it to his lips.

The next second.

The scene before Sean's eyes changed.

Everything he saw began to rapidly fade, as if an invisible eraser was wiping away the green of the forest canopy and the branches of the trees. They turned from emerald green to withered yellow, then from withered yellow to gray and lifeless, finally turning into heaps of yellow earth. It was as if, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of springs, summers, autumns, and winters had passed, washed away by the fleeting passage of time into a boundless desert.

Sean had been to this desert before.

He saw the Cactus again.

This time, the Cactus's shape was even more anthropomorphic. Its head even had a human face—not the Quill he had imagined, but his own.

Sean's pupils contracted. As if possessed, he looked down and was shocked to find that his own body had transformed into the shape of a Cactus!

They were two identical things.

Him eating the Cactus was like eating himself.

In that instant, Sean understood.

"Autophagy!"

So the dream he had on the car wasn't a dream, but Meditation.

His eating the Cactus when he was hungry was the process of autophagy. He should have eaten it raw, but by choosing to roast it with sunlight, his method of consumption, different from ordinary eating, had generated extra energy in his body. That's why, after waking up from the dream, he had gained half a Rak of magic.

As Sean figured this out, the scene in his eyes changed again.

The yellow sand beneath his feet began to tremble and float, then rolled back into the sky as if weightless. Countless grains of sand converged from bottom to top, covering everything. Accompanied by a strong gust of wind, it made it difficult for Sean to open his eyes.

He instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes and vaguely saw through his fingers that the sand had formed a giant vortex, with a void of blackness at its center. It started as a small dot, but as the sand vortex grew larger, the blackness expanded rapidly, as if tearing the sky apart. A powerful pulling force erupted, directly sucking him in as he spun.

Sean's vision was swallowed by blackness. When the light returned, he saw a familiar young girl's face.

It was a long street with ethereal outlines, like a painting submerged in water. The lines were distorted and wavering, and the colors were dim, giving it a very unreal, illusory feel.

The girl was walking down the street. Seeing the figure that suddenly appeared, her eyes widened slightly, her expression stunned.

"Sean??"

Sean was also taken aback. "Miss Flame Crow?"

"You don't have any magic, so how could you enter the Void Arts Space?" As the girl spoke, she seemed to realize something, and her tone turned sharp. "Don't tell me you went to the Black Berry Rainforest."

Sean was silent for two seconds before replying, "Yes, I'm in the Black Berry Rainforest right now."

The girl: "???"

"Are you trying to die??"

"Have you forgotten how your friend died?"

"The Spring of Enlightenment in the Black Berry Rainforest is a trap! They'll kill you once you complete your awakening and gain magic!"

"I know."

Ever since he heard the name Floris Family from Johnson, Sean had understood that this was a setup. Thinking deeper, if an ordinary person like him could deduce the location of the Spring of Enlightenment through Chris's past actions, how could the powerful Floris Family not know?

"You know and you still went?!" the girl exclaimed in frustration. "No one can save you this time!"

She was tens of thousands of miles away from the Black Berry Rainforest. Even if she set off immediately and flew there, it would be too late.

Sean, however, started to laugh. Meeting the Flame Crow Girl here put him in a good mood. More importantly, the girl's words, "without magic, one cannot enter the Void Arts Space," implied that the "magic" she referred to was the smallest unit commonly used in occultism, 1 Rak. This meant that the "enlightenment" brought by the Spring of Enlightenment had been completed.

In other words, at this moment, he had truly become a Rank 1 Wizard, possessing enough magic to cast True Formulas.

So--

"You've misunderstood, Miss Flame Crow," Sean said with a relaxed smile, a sense of relief washing over him. "I'm not here for help."

He didn't need anyone to save him.

The girl thought Sean was just putting on a brave face. Normally, she would have argued with him, but with lives at stake, she suppressed her temper and calmly said, "You need to return to reality immediately. Run as fast as you can and don't waste any more time."

Every second Sean lingered in the Void Arts Space was a second less he had to escape. By the time those people surrounded the forest, he wouldn't be able to run anymore.

"Alright."

Sean didn't argue with the girl. He was planning to leave quickly anyway. Entering the Void Arts Space was purely an accident, but it had been fruitful. Not only had he met the Flame Crow Girl, but he had also understood something—under the Witch Hunt, every wizard was in a precarious position, facing the threat of extermination at any moment. However, the Void Arts Space connected the wizards, suggesting they might not be alone.

After Sean left, a phantom woman's figure walked over from the side. She looked at the spot where Sean had disappeared and curiously asked the girl, "Your friend?"

"An idiot," the girl said angrily.

She briefly recounted her encounter with Sean in Holkodo. The woman's expression changed slightly as she listened. "Then he's as good as dead?"

"Serves him right! Who told him not to listen to advice?" the girl grumbled, grinding her teeth.

The woman asked, "Do you want to try and save him?"

"No. He said himself he doesn't need saving," the girl refused.

But what she said and what she did were two different things.

"I have something else to do, I'm leaving now."

With that, she returned to reality, picked up her hotel phone, and called her informant within the Floris Family. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Find a reason to make the hunters in the Black Berry Rainforest stop their actions. At least slow down their net, the longer the better. Do it now."

"Yes."

In the small grove.

Sean had already woken up.

During Meditation, a person's muscles would relax on their own, and their body would lose its support. His squatting posture had shifted to lying down. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a funnel-shaped vortex swirling in the sky, colorful and magnificent.

The crows had all turned colorful.

Sean heard heavy, dense footsteps.

They were here.