Karl Black

"Wait... How could that be?"

Every Witch Hunter in the Floris Family had received professional training. Some were hardened criminals, others mercenaries who had seen battle, and still others were retired soldiers. How could a force made up of such formidable fighters have been wiped out so easily?

"What exactly happened?"

"I don't know."

The man had been just as stunned when he first heard the news. His first thought was that one of their colleagues had used the Spring of Enlightenment as bait to set an ambush and kill Winster and the others. But according to the people there, they had found no signs of a fierce struggle. Most baffling of all was the cause of Winster and the others' deaths.

"They were all killed by bullets," the man said.

Some had been shot in the head, some through the neck, and others were riddled with holes, their flesh mangled, their bodies nearly torn apart. Every bullet that killed them had come from their own guns.

Flame Crow Girl: "?"

The woman beside her wondered if she'd heard wrong. "What do you mean?"

"You're saying they killed each other?"

"It sounds absurd, but right now, it's the only explanation that makes sense," the man said.

Perhaps Winster and the others had turned on each other during the mission.

That infighting might not have been intentional. Someone could have controlled them; certain mind magic could do that.

But that raised another question: who was capable of it?

For wizards, mind magic was more demanding to cast than Illusionary Form spells. Even if someone among those who drank the Spring of Enlightenment had awakened a talent for it, they couldn't have mastered it right away.

A first-tier wizard's magic and mental strength weren't enough to sustain the cost of mind magic.

Besides, there had been more than twenty hunters in the group. Controlling just one wouldn't have been enough; at least half would have had to be controlled. Even many high-ranking priests who specialized in manipulating people couldn't control multiple targets at once, let alone a Newborn who had only just learned to meditate.

The man believed that some other wizard had killed Winster and the others.

"An enemy's enemy is a friend." The girl didn't reject his theory. Picking up where he'd left off, she said, "It's expensive to raise Smell Crows, and so many people have died. The Floris Family will surely investigate this to the end. Keep an eye out for any news about it. If you find any loose ends, do what you can to help clean them up."

"Understood. I'll head back, then." The man nodded. His hazy figure gradually faded until he vanished.

Throughout the entire conversation, Sean hadn't said a word. He'd acted as if none of it concerned him.

The man and the girl seemed to have overlooked him, which was a good thing. He didn't want to reveal his strength just yet.

But after the man had left, the girl fell silent for a moment, then turned and looked up at him. "You killed them, didn't you?"

Sean: "..."

Yes.

Oh, no.

"No."

"I'm only a first-tier wizard. How could I beat so many Witch Hunters?"

He deliberately brought up what she'd said before. "Didn't you say yourself that I had little potential, and that the bit of magic I had came from the Spring of Enlightenment? How could I know mind magic?"

"I never said it had to be mind magic." She hadn't contradicted the man earlier, but that didn't mean she agreed with his theory. Looking into Sean's eyes, she said, "I can't guess how you made them turn on each other, but I'm sure it was you."

This wasn't some woman's intuition. She simply didn't believe in coincidences like this.

She'd thought back to that morning, when she'd met Sean in the Void Arts Space. He hadn't seemed worried at all, and had even said he wasn't there to ask for help. At the time, she'd assumed he was too proud to ask her for help and was putting on a brave face. Now it seemed he hadn't been bluffing. He'd truly had the confidence to do it.

He'd known the Black Berry Rainforest was a trap and had chosen to turn it against its makers.

So even if Sean wasn't the wizard who'd wiped out Winster and the others, he had to be closely connected to them.

But she didn't press him further.

Everyone had secrets of their own. She and Sean weren't close enough to tell each other everything. It was enough to know that an entire team of Witch Hunters had been wiped out and Sean was still alive. Nothing else mattered.

The woman beside her could clearly tell that the girl was in a much better mood than before.

Taking the opportunity to change the subject, Sean winked at the girl. "Miss Flame Crow, this is our third time meeting. Surely you'll tell me your name now?"

She'd promised to tell Sean, so she naturally wouldn't go back on her word. She studied him for a moment, then gave a soft huff and replied, "Elvily."

Elvily Nyx Seraphina.

Sean very considerately made up for the compliment he hadn't managed to give her last time.

"Beautiful name," he praised. "In the Old Tongue, Elvily means beautiful, kind, and pure, while Seraphina means seraphim, symbolizing power and strength. Names with such profound meanings are usually hard for ordinary people to live up to, but on you, Miss Flame Crow, I can only say... perfect."

"No one could suit this name better than you."

Sean made his case with such confidence that he almost sounded like an expert, making the woman beside the girl giggle.

"No wonder you write novels. You certainly know how to sweet-talk people."

Rather than complimenting her directly, he praised her name instead. He'd managed to offer plenty of flattery without coming across as abrupt or presumptuous.

Clearly, the guy knew how to talk, and he was handsome, too. He'd be quite the social butterfly among wealthy older women.

Everyone liked hearing nice things, especially when they were phrased so tactfully. It was easier to accept than an over-the-top, blunt compliment. Elvily found his words pleasant, too, but she wouldn't show it. She wasn't some shallow girl who'd warm to someone after a few pretty words. Keeping a straight face, she asked, "Are you trying to get close to me?"

Sean honestly spread his hands. "It's mainly because I don't know anyone else here..."

The Void Arts Space was still completely unfamiliar to him. It was like arriving in a city he'd never visited or even heard of. The hazy, mirage-like sights all around him only deepened his confusion, leaving him unsure what to do.

He needed a "guide."

And some friends, too.

The woman, ever considerate, held out her hand to Sean and introduced herself with a smile. "Hello, Mr. Sean. I'm glad to see you're still alive. I'm Iris, Elvily's friend."

Sean politely shook her hand. "Hello, Miss Iris."

The woman teased, "After listening to you two talk for a while, I think I understand why our Miss Flame Crow has taken such an interest in you."

Taken an interest?

What interest!

Elvily shot her a glare. "Stop talking nonsense."

She admitted she'd underestimated Sean before. This handsome man wasn't just a pretty face, but that didn't mean she was attracted to him.

Iris looked innocent. "I meant your potential."

Elvily: "..."

"Oh."

They really were cultivating wizards with potential.

When Sean had first entered the Void Arts Space, he'd assumed any wizard could get in. But that wasn't the case.

The Void Arts Space was an illusory world built entirely from mental energy, using the bed of the River of Origin Consciousness. It had no direct connection to magic. So learning to meditate wasn't enough. Ordinary Newborn wizards often couldn't even find the entrance to the Void Arts Space. They had to reach a higher level of mental strength before they could gradually sense its existence.

Yet Sean had entered the Void Arts Space as soon as he became a wizard. That was completely at odds with Elvily's initial assessment of him. Sean wasn't untalented; on the contrary, he had tremendous talent. Even setting aside the fact that he'd wiped out more than twenty Witch Hunters, his mental strength alone already surpassed that of most wizards.

The requirements for entering the Void Arts Space were strict, but in return, it offered wizards considerable help.

It wasn't merely a place where wizards hunted across the world could gather and talk. Its greater purpose was to accelerate their progress.

Wizards could meditate in the Void Arts Space, too, and it didn't interfere with meditating in the real world.

Both were essentially activities of the mind, much like dreaming. If meditating in the real world was a dream, then meditating in the Void Arts Space was a dream within a dream.

Controlling the second layer of a dream was undoubtedly harder than controlling the first. But wizards couldn't feel that extra difficulty. They only had to enter a meditative state as usual, and they would naturally hone their mental strength and control over their bodies. That let them fine-tune the way their cells underwent autophagy and improve their magic conversion rate.

And that was only one of the benefits of the Void Arts Space.

At the center of this illusory city stood a seven-story hall called the Hall of Truth, also known as the Holy Temple. It held countless powerful spells and potion recipes left over from the Scholar Era, making it a veritable treasure trove of knowledge.

They said the top floor also held clues about the Divine Path, the ultimate mystery that even Archmages above the seventh tier longed to glimpse.

Unfortunately, no one could set foot on the top floor of the Holy Temple.

They couldn't even talk about it without sounding a little arrogant, let alone enter it.

As things stood, they couldn't even reach the third floor. They could only make it to the second—and even that was limited to a tiny number of powerful wizards. The Dawn Meeting was held on the second floor of the Hall of Truth.

"In any case, the Void Arts Space is a good place. As long as you keep yourself safe, you can come here more often," Iris said. "Even if you're tired and don't feel like meditating, it's good to exchange experiences with other wizards. Just remember not to reveal where you are in the real world."

Sean was focused on the deep meditation. He smacked his lips. "You can even speed up cultivation? That's amazing."

He looked at the hazy outlines of the streets and the figures walking around him. Creating a space like this, almost like a small world, was already incredible. But it also gave every wizard an experience boost and housed a hall of knowledge... Just how powerful had the creator of the Void Arts Space been?

"Tier ten?"

"Higher."

Elvily glanced at him and chimed in. "You know this person."

"Hm?" Sean paused, momentarily at a loss.

"I know him?"

When had I met him? Why didn't I know about it?

Elvily replied, "The protagonist in your book. The legendary archmage, Karl Black."

Sean: "Huh?"