Snowflakes drifted in the air before gradually settling back onto the ground.
Matthew waved his wand. The Treant Guardian pulled back its Greatsword, leaving a long gash in the ground.
There was no movement in the gash. From what Matthew could sense, the two wizards' magical signatures had fallen silent.
He went forward to inspect the results. The sight made him frown. Inside the enormous gash, the two wizards' flesh and blood had merged with the soil and snow.
It was his first time using this kind of Shapeshifting Technique in actual combat. When the transformed target was so large, its power seemed even greater than he had imagined.
He used the Levitation Charm to rummage through the Mud Blood Snow Pile. Apart from the two wizards' remains, he found only some misshapen metal objects and a long Black Fingertip Bone.
"Scourgify."
Even after being cleaned, the Fingertip Bone remained pitch-black from end to end. It was five or six centimeters long and didn't look human. A distinct magical signature clung to it, and Matthew guessed it was another Wizard Tool.
He also found the Eyeball-shaped Witchcraft Item nearby. This item, which could nullify Invisibility Ability, had not been smashed by the Treant Guardian.
This place wasn't far from Lady Alsha's estate. Matthew guessed they had already heard the commotion, so he quickly began cleaning up the scene.
He used the Transfiguration Spell to restore the trees to their original state, then used the Disappearance Spell to erase all traces of the two wizards. Finally, he used the Levitation Charm to turn over the surrounding snow and cover the gash.
He had only just left the estate, so Lady Alsha would certainly guess he had fought here. He was doing all this simply to confuse anyone who came looking, leaving them unsure of what he was capable of.
After tidying up the scene, Matthew Apparated straight back to his lodgings.
Not long after Matthew left, Lady Alsha and the white-haired butler arrived at the edge of the woods.
The butler took out a disc, a Wizard Tool that could detect magical signatures.
After fiddling with the disc for a while, he said, "It hasn't detected the magical signatures of Lord Matthew or the ambushers. They've probably already left."
Lady Alsha nodded. "Let's take a look."
They soon found the central area where Matthew and the others had fought. The snow here was completely different from the snow elsewhere; it was clear that someone had turned it over.
The butler continued operating the disc. "There are magical traces throughout the snow here. Someone must have used magic to clean up the scene."
Lady Alsha held out her right hand. A moment later, a mass of green wind gathered in her palm.
She gently lifted the wind mass in her hand. It drifted upward, became a gale, and swept the snow off the ground.
A moment later, the long trench Matthew had made was exposed.
The butler was surprised when he saw it. A mark like this was no easy feat to make. He stepped forward and used the disc to examine the magical signature in the trench.
The butler remarked, "The magical traces in this trench aren't very distinct. It doesn't look like it was caused directly by magic."
Lady Alsha pinched some of the soil in the trench. Even through her glove, she could feel that it was more compact than the soil around it. She began to form a few suspicions.
When the butler reached the middle of the trench, he exclaimed, "Oh? The magical traces are very clear here. There are traces of two wizards' magic. One was a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, and the other was probably a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice."
"This is where the smell of blood is strongest. Those two wizards were probably gravely wounded or killed here." Lady Alsha carefully examined the spot the butler had pointed out.
After finishing his examination of the area, the butler summed up, "According to the Wizard Tool's readings, Lord Matthew was probably a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, and a very capable one in actual combat. He killed a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice and a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice in a short time."
"A Level 3 Wizard Apprentice at such a young age..." Lady Alsha smiled faintly. "What a promising prospect."
After returning, Matthew began to see things more clearly.
He hadn't known exactly when he would leave the estate. Since the ambushers had waited there for so long after the banquet ended, they had been targeting him.
The two ambushers were strangers to him. Judging by how they operated, they had most likely been hired by someone.
He hadn't met many people since coming to Whitestone Town. Although he had clashed with Link and Anna before, Matthew had already reconciled with them. They had no reason to hire people to ambush him.
Therefore, whoever had hired the ambushers was most likely among the guests at the banquet.
Lady Alsha was very charming, and she must have had many admirers.
During the banquet, those with an eye for such things would have noticed Lady Alsha's little gestures while they danced, as well as the fact that she had invited him to the Back Garden after the banquet.
Would someone among Lady Alsha's admirers be so extreme as to hire people to ambush him over something as trivial as that?
If she was clever enough, she should know whether any of her admirers had such an extreme temperament.
Had Lady Alsha deliberately made him a target?
And if she had, why?
Was she using others to test his strength?
Matthew had many questions about tonight. He didn't know Lady Alsha well enough to guess what she was thinking.
He had too little information, so he set the questions aside for now and took out his two spoils of war: a fist-sized eyeball and a pitch-black Fingertip Bone.
He tested the eyeball first. It activated automatically when he infused it with magic, and was very easy to use.
The pitch-black Fingertip Bone was more complicated. None of the many methods he tried produced a response.
At last, Matthew tried the Runic Magic "Lightning Bolt." He found that the process of "guiding" the Runes had become faster.
Previously, it had taken him eight seconds to "guide" the Runes into a Spell Model Structure. With the pitch-black Fingertip Bone, the "guiding" process took only six seconds, a reduction of 25%.
He tested it again and found that putting the Fingertip Bone in his pocket worked too. It took effect as long as he carried it on his person.
After testing his spoils, Matthew took out the gem Link had given him. The Mage Armor spell inside had been used up, and the gem was now colorless and transparent.
He remembered reading in a book in the study that this kind of gem was called a Magic Stone. Runic Magic could be engraved into one and stored using Magic Stone Engraving.
Besides that, a Magic Stone could also serve as a medium for storing magic.
Matthew circulated his magic and infused it into the colorless, transparent Magic Stone. Its color gradually deepened until it turned dark blue.
Once the Magic Stone had turned dark blue, it stopped absorbing magic. Matthew estimated that it could hold about as much magic as a Level One Wizard Apprentice.
Matthew immediately realized that Magic Stones were immensely useful. They were like batteries that could store magic.
Unfortunately, he didn't yet have a formula for making Magic Stones. They weren't naturally occurring; they were an Alchemical Product.
After reviewing the night's gains, Matthew prepared to return to Hogwarts.
He sensed the disc in his mind. The energy in the Crystal had filled up again.
He focused, and the disc in his mind spun rapidly. A breath later, he was back in his dormitory.
His roommates were still fast asleep. Preserved Egg was still sleeping by the window, and no one had noticed he had been gone.
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