Sky Sniping (Please Read On)

Upon returning to his dormitory, Richard released Munin and controlled him as he flew toward Jacques's laboratory.

During this time, Richard had already implanted the Soul Seed. Not only could he now share Munin's vision, but he could also control Munin to carry out certain actions. Through Munin's eyes, Richard could clearly see apprentices on the ground from nearly a thousand meters up, even at night.

This was also the source of Richard's confidence.

After handing Munin over, Richard began making "bullets."

The choice of material for the bullets was extremely important.

Richard knew that Joseph definitely possessed defensive Magic Armor. It was most likely an all-round defensive spell, offering dual protection against both physical and magical attacks.

To break through that protection, Richard decided to spend heavily and use Magic-Repelling Metal, which cost one Magic Stone per gram, to make the bullets.

Magic-Repelling Metal possessed a certain degree of Magic-Breaking properties. When it collided with a mana barrier, it would "push aside" the mana, making it the best choice for breaking defensive spells.

Shaping, grinding, polishing... Richard spent an entire night making the bullets. By the time the morning sunlight streamed into the room the next day, four dark gray metal warheads with boat-tail points sat on his desk.

With the bullets finished, all that remained was to test their power and figure out how to eliminate the effects of strong winds.

According to Richard's plan, he would control Munin to fire from five hundred meters in the air. But that brought another problem: how could he avoid interference from the wind?

At a bullet's speed, even a slightly stronger wind could send its impact point flying off to grandmother's house.

"Perhaps I can offset it with a spell." Richard stared at the bullets, deep in thought.

Although the bullets were made of Magic-Repelling Metal, the metal's properties would weaken or even dispel spell effects.

But that weakening took time.

He only needed the spell to last for less than a second to block the wind's influence. The weakening process would have no effect on him.

With an idea in mind, Richard immediately added a cartridge-like structure to the rear of the warheads. He inscribed a cantrip called Airflow Barrier into it, allowing the bullets to remain unaffected by air currents during flight.

"Caw! Caw!"

A burst of crow cries came from outside the window. Richard turned his head and saw that the modified Munin had returned to the balcony.

From the outside, Munin did not look any different. But when Richard controlled him to open his mouth, a section of steel pipe protruded from his throat.

A sheet of parchment was tied to Munin's leg. Richard untied and opened it, finding instructions on how to care for Munin.

After the modification, Munin obviously could no longer eat with his beak. So Jacques had installed a mouth in Munin's abdomen. Food could be chewed by the abdominal mouth, then sent directly into the digestive system.

Richard used food to lure out the huge mouth concealed beneath Munin's belly feathers. In an instant, a cavernous mouthpart filled with sharp teeth appeared before him. Richard fed the flesh inside, and in less than two seconds, it was ground into a mass of minced meat and sent into Munin's digestive system.

"Wizards' biological modifications... they really let their imaginations run wild." Richard sighed, then took Munin to the Test Area.

After renting a private site to avoid the Academy Watcher's surveillance, Richard spent another ten Magic Stones to rent a metal target equipped with a mana barrier.

Controlling Munin to fly to nearly five hundred meters in the air, Richard carefully adjusted Munin's position. At an altitude of five hundred meters, even the slightest deviation could cause the bullet to miss the target.

"Three, two, one, fire!"

Richard silently counted down, then controlled his mana to activate the Magic Armor.

Mana flowed through the Magic Conduction Circuit, activating one Rune after another. Then the propulsion spell activated, and the bullet began to move.

Bang!

A burst of sparks erupted from the metal target. Its built-in mana barrier merely reduced the Magic-Repelling bullet's velocity somewhat. The bullet that passed through the barrier easily punched through its metal body, leaving behind a bullet hole with glowing red edges.

"Not bad." Richard smiled in satisfaction as he looked at the hole.

Next, Richard tested targets with double and triple barriers. In the end, he determined that Magic-Repelling warheads could effectively kill through three layers of barriers. Beyond three layers, the warheads would lose all power.

"This is enough. If he can put up four layers of protection, I'll accept that I can't kill him." Richard muttered as he touched the bullet hole.

News of the Curse's failure soon reached Joseph's ears. The people of Corner Alley refunded half the deposit, indicating that they had abandoned the job. The other half they had not returned was their payment for making the attempt.

"A bunch of trash!" Joseph slammed his fist onto the table, smashing a large crater into the surface of his newly bought desk.

Although he had been somewhat prepared for this result, towering fury still surged within him.

He had hired a high-ranking Curse Wizard from Corner Alley. Logically speaking, even if Richard had an Agent and a Curse Wizard helping him, the Curse might not take his life, but it should at least have hurt him somehow.

So why had he heard nothing at all?

It was impossible for there to be no news whatsoever about an Alchemical Apprentice making a fortune in the Commercial District being severely injured by a Curse.

But now, everything was calm and still.

Joseph paced restlessly around the room. If Richard did not die, his Magic Potion business would never recover.

He had seen Richard's Magic Potions. Their almost terrifyingly consistent quality made his scalp crawl.

How could anyone in this world make a hundred Magic Potions a month while keeping their quality nearly identical?

In the end, after circling the room an unknown number of times, Joseph flicked his sleeve and walked to the drawer. From within, he took out a Curse Worm and a Scarecrow-like piece of Magic Armor.

He knew that his attempt to Curse Richard could not possibly remain hidden. He had handled it too crudely; anyone who knew the connections involved could infer that he was the culprit.

But fortunately, even when a job failed, Corner Alley would not reveal the employer's name. For now, he did not need to worry about being arrested by the Academy Watcher.

In the short term, he only needed to guard against Richard retaliating in the same manner.

After putting away the Magic Armor and the Curse Worm, Joseph left the Central Black Tower to get some fresh air.

And the moment he left the Black Tower, a pair of eyes fixed upon him.

"Finally came out?" In a room on the Central Black Tower 56th Floor, Richard sneered as he watched Joseph through their connected senses.

Against the pitch-black night sky, Munin's beating wings almost blended into the darkness. He continuously circled above Joseph's head to adjust his position, while Joseph on the ground inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine.

He felt as though something was watching him.

"Who's there?" Joseph warily swept his gaze across the surrounding woods. Two pale blue barriers appeared around him as well. "Attacking within the Academy is against the school rules."

There was no response from the woods, yet the sense of danger in his heart continued to rise.

"Who is watching me?!" Joseph kept turning around, trying to find whatever was staring at him. But he never saw it. High in the sky, mana light was shining from the mouth of a crow.

Richard smiled. A black gleam shot from Munin's mouth. With the help of the Airflow Barrier, the bullet did not even touch the air during its flight, maintaining its maximum speed all the way.

Bang!

Magic-Repelling Metal collided with the mana barriers with a resounding crash, and a cloud of blood exploded with a bang.

In the sky, the Death Crow let out a joyful cry.